The Roadtrip

I'm no father figure

At 7pm, it was clear that everyone was too exhausted to carry on with the journey - even Erik who looked as though he was about to fall asleep behind the wheel.

When the idea was suggested that they stop for the night at first Erik seemed hesitant however after Charles stated that it would be good to rest so that he was fit to drive again tomorrow, he agreed and pulled into the nearest motel.

Erik got out and went to check to see if there were any vacancies and came back holding 2 room cards.

"Do you realise there are 6 of us?" Raven asked pointedly.

"This was all they had, one room has a king bed and a single while the other has 2 queens and a double bed." Erik responded glaring at Raven.

"We can make this work." Charles smiled encouragingly "Erik, would you get my wheelchair?"

Erik nodded and retrieved Charles' wheelchair from the boot of the van. He helped his husband get into his wheelchair (more tenderly than Peter would have imagined) before stating "so I'm assuming we get the room with the king bed."

Hank looked as though he was going to protest however he realised that it made sense since they were sharing, "sure, so long as I get one of the queen beds."

"I want the other queen." Raven announced.

Peter nodded then nervously asked "Prof-Charles, could...I stay with you and Erik then Kurt can have the double bed."

Slightly confused, Erik nodded and Charles smiled "of course you can Peter."

Peter nervously grinned at his dad's husband.

"Shall we get to our rooms then?" Kurt suggested with a smile.

The others nodded and they walked (or in Charles' case rolled) to their rooms.

Charles opened the door and wheeled himself over to the bed, with practiced ease, he lifted himself out of his wheelchair and onto the bed. He settled on top of the covers and smiled over at Peter who had just walked in. Peter threw himself onto the single bed causing Charles to chuckle slightly.

Erik sat down stiffly on the bed and Charles stated "come darling, you can relax now. You've exerted yourself enough for one day."

Glancing over at Peter, Erik made no move to sit, instead he stayed where he was. Peter glanced over at his dad and caught his eye, the uncomfortable expression on his face made it quite clear that he wasn't wanted so he got up.

"I'm going to talk with Kurt if that's ok." He mumbled before walking out the room.

Erik wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He had been fine in the car but now...
Peter was a good kid however Erik still couldn't help but be wary around him, he had trouble letting his guard down around anyone that isn't Charles.

"There's no need to be afraid of him." Charles stated.

Erik sighed then laid down next to him and hid his face with his hands.

"I don't know what's going on with me, everything was fine in the car but as soon as we got into the room I couldn't... I've just made a giant fool of myself" Erik mumbled.

Charles gently grabbed one of Erik's hands and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Peter has a great deal of respect for you, I highly doubt this will change his opinion on you."

"Why on earth would anyone respect me?" Erik stated matter of factly.

"I respect you a lot you know." Charles whispered.

"Yeah but we both know you are mental, you married the monster who took away your ability to walk after all." Erik responded.

Charles whacked Erik on the head "you are not a monster darling." He said firmly.

Erik looked at his husband whose eyes had turned a deep shade of blue. Erik knew everything about Charles and when his eyes turned this specific blue he knew that he should not be messed with since he was so passionate about what he was talking about.

"But why does Peter respect me?" Erik asked.

"You'd have to ask him that however I was talking to Raven and she told me that Peter was desperate for you to come on this trip so that he could bond with you." Charles explained.

"Really? I had no idea." Erik gasped.

Charles nodded "reading between the lines, I'd say he thinks of you as a father figure."

CRASH.

The lamp beside Erik had been forced off the bedside table by its metal switch.

Erik's thoughts began rushing through his head too fast for him to be able to comprehend them. His throat closed up and his breaths began to quicken as thoughts ran through his mind. Father figure. Father figure. Father figure.

The vivid image of his sweet little daughter (Nina), gone but not forgotten, materialised in front of him.

"All the people I love get killed." Erik thought.

"I'm sorry Erik, I didn't mean to upset you." Charles whispered, "not all the people you love get killed - I'm still here after all."

At the sound of Charles' soothing voice, Erik began to regain a sense of where he was and what was going on around him. When the worst of his panic had subsided he whispered "I'm no father figure."

Charles reached over and wrapped his arm under Erik's back before pulling him into a comforting embrace. Erik leaned in desperately to his touch and instead of struggling to stay calm, he let himself cry. Tears silently streaming down his face and onto Charles' shirt.

"Shhh it's alright love." Charles murmured, stroking Erik's hair with one hand.

"Look at me Charles. I'm broken. I can't even hear the word father without breaking down." Erik croaked.

"Erik you are not broken. You have been used to holding in your emotions your whole life, it's only natural for you to be overwhelmed. You lost your daughter, that's a huge impact on your life. No matter what I'm here for you as I love you so much and I want to be able to support you through everything." Charles responded, his voice thick with love and care.

Erik wrapped his trembling hands around his husband and pulled him close "Thank you mein Liebling."

Soon after they both fell asleep, wrapped in a tight embrace.

Neither of them noticed that Peter was yet to return from talking with Kurt.