Charles placed the bowl of chili in the fridge and quickly headed to his office. He ended up working on some papers and receiving students. Right after his last student left, he saw Erik standing there at the foot of the door.
"What do you want?" Said Charles in a polite, work-like manner. Erik closed the door and went to sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. There was a brief moment of silence between the two. Erik began the talking, "Why didn't you tell me?".
"I didn't think it was of importance--"
"Well, it is!" Erik bolted up off his chair and interrupted him in a very infuriating tone, "It is of importance, Charles, it is to me! I am one of your closest friends and you didn't tell me?!". Charles felt his hands shake and avoided making eye contact. "I was afraid!"
"Afraid of what, everyone knowing?!" Erik said as he hit the desk. "This can and will ruin me." Charles looked more demanding, he was now standing up from his seat and looking at Erik. "Now you're just saying words." Erik laughed, clearly indicating that he was making fun of his response. "This wasn't supposed to be like this." Charles looked down in disappointment. Erik came closer to Charles and took his shaking hands. "Hey, look at me," he said. Charles changed his gaze from the desk to Erik's eyes as he kept speaking. "We can work through this. I won't tell anybody."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
They leaned closer and ended up inches apart, each one deeply looking into the other's eyes. Erik smiled and said, "I think we should go to dinner."
"We should." Charles smiled back.
~~~
When they got to the dining room, everyone was chatting with each other. It was a big and elegant place, with a long table that sat all the school's faculty. Among all the talking, they heard Raven's voice.
"I thought you two were going to be late! Here, I saved you some seats," she said, pointing at the empty chairs next to her. "So, what's for dinner?" asked Erik, his stomach was growling for food. "We found some leftover chili in the fridge and---"
"WHAT?!" Raven started talking but was interrupted by Charles. "Chill out dude!" she said, "It's just some chili, why are you so upset?"
"Sorry, I'm not upset," said Charles "I just---I just love chili so much, I couldn't help myself."
"Okay..." said Raven, eyeing him with a look that read 'what is wrong with you?'.
Everyone settled down and began eating. Charles was nervously looking at the others as they ate the chili, his chili. "Wow!" said Alex as he grabbed a glass of water "This is hot!".
"Here, you might want some milk, it works better," said Erik, as he gave him a glass. "Thanks, man!" Said Alex, as he took the glass of milk. "Is it too hot?" asked Charles, nervously waiting for Alex's answer. "It's actually really good, I just didn't expect it to hit me like that," said Alex and Charles left out a sigh of relief.
"Can I have some more?" Asked Logan from the other end of the table. "Sorry, looks like it's all gone." Said Raven, as she looked at the empty pot. "Damn, it was really good. Who made this? I want to know!" Said Logan, demandingly. Erik looked at Charles, but he was frozen, not knowing if he should answer the truth or come up with a lie. Finally, Erik stood up and everybody was quiet. "It was Professor Charles---what's your middle name?" He asked Charles before continuing. "Francis," he answered nervously. "Charles Francis Xavier is the creator of this chili!" Erik finished and sat back down. Everyone looked at Charles, they were all still silent. Once again, he froze, not knowing what to do. "Charles, did you really make this?" asked Raven in a voice that almost sounded as if she was surprised. "Um...yes, I did indeed make this chili," said Charles. Suddenly, the room was filled up with everyone talking about how good Charles' chili was. Charles was relieved and smiled as he watched everyone enjoying the evening, and it was all because of him.
Erik stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "See, I knew it wouldn't be so bad.".
"I'm still mad that you didn't keep the promise...but I forgive you, Erik, because I love you." said Charles.
"As a friend, right?" Erik asked in a very confused tone.
"Yeah man!" said Charles and they both laughed.
~~~
A/N: Thank you for reading my story! If you enjoyed it and want more stories, please hit the star for a vote, I would really appreciate it.
Love you guys!,
Klo
