Fate decides who comes into your life; your heart decides who stays.
"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐼𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑."
[X-Men: First Class - X-Men Apo...
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Erik feels terrible. There's truly no other way to describe the pit of despair pulsing in his chest with every breath he takes. He does not regret bringing mutants into the light, forcing humans to confront their own inferiority, but to see that look on Ria's face...And Charles' face. To hear his closest friends' despair almost made him think twice.
In the few weeks since the White House incident, Erik has been waiting to find passage off of the continent. With the government looking for him, it has become very difficult to travel anywhere, but it seems he got lucky: someone matching his description was sighted across the country on the border with Mexico, while Erik sits tightly in Canada.
He found a flight to Europe where he can hide a bit easier. He knows the language, can blend in easily with the people around him. It's not like anyone in the US would miss him too much. Not after all the chaos he's caused.
As he walks through the small airport, he keeps his head low, the brim of his hat able to cover his face should anyone look too closely. Despite his precautions, he still tenses when he sees policemen standing where his gate is at the end of the hallway. His mind whirls as he tries to think of anything other than lowering his head.
As the policemen begin walking down the hall in his direction, he tries to calm his heart with thoughts of how idiotic humans can be and how unlikely it is that anyone has recognized him. Those thoughts only make him more susceptible to the person who grabs his jacket and presses him against the wall.
Ria stares at him, her eyes filled with nothing but innocence and a hint of happiness. Her fingers scrape against his chest, especially when she presses herself against him, further pushing him into the wall.
"What are you doing?" He asks as she gently takes his hands and wraps them around her back.
Her breath hits his face as she replies, "Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable." She glances at the policemen. "You should probably be pinning me to the wall to hide your face—"
Without thinking, a smirk pulls at his lips as he spins them around, trapping her between his arms and the wall. Her head tilts up though her eyes watch behind him, carefully avoiding his face. His heart pounds wildly even when the caution in her gaze dissipates as she says, "Thought you could leave so easily, huh?"
Erik clears his throat as Ria detangles herself from his hold only to grasp onto his hand and pull him down the terminal. "How'd you find me?" He asks.
"I thought like you," she replies with a wink. "I mean, who do you think they saw all the way down in Mexico?"
"That was you?"
"I called in a favor from someone in Florida. Those people are certainly deranged." She lets go of his hand to sit down before his gate, motioning to do the same beside her. "Have you healed?"
