A Kiss is Just a Kiss

I Was Born To Love You

The next morning Erik woke up at noon with a headache. He drank his usual remedy, went to the bathroom and took a refreshing shower that made him feel a bit less hungover. It wasn't until 1 pm during his breakfast/lunch when he suddenly realized that Charles was in his flat last night.

"Oh, damn!" he said to himself. "Damn!"

In his confusion Erik was still unsure if it wasn't still just a strange drunken vision of Charles that he saw. Erik was in no mood to sit around and question his own sanity so he grabbed his phone and called Darwin.

"Mr. Lehnsherr!" Darwin greeted pleasantly over the phone. "Are you up, sir?"

"I'm fine... mostly fine..." Erik shrugged. "Look, this may seem like a really strange question but-- last night..."

Darwin didn't need to hear the rest of the question.

"So in the evening your friend arrived and wanted to see you but you weren't home. So naturally I couldn't let him in. But he insisted on waiting. So we spent a lovely two hours talking about funny nothings until you stumbled in, drunk as a sailor. We helped you to your flat, luckily you didn't throw up on neither of us - you behaved perfectly for a man in your condition, sir - and that was it."

"This friend... was his name Charles?" Erik asked cautiously. It was possible that in his drunken state Erik mistook Logan for Charles. He had to be sure who exactly this said friend was.

"Yes. Charles." Darwin confirmed. "Blue eyes, brown fluffy hair, average height, pale, very red lips - I suspect he uses chopstick or something, dressed in a tuxedo for some reason..."

"Charles was really here..." Erik said softly, more to himself than to Darwin.

"Yes, he really was." Darwin replied nevertheless.

"Right. Thank you very much, Darwin. Remind me to give you a tip."

"Well, if you can't remember yourself to give me a tip, I guess I didn't deserve it, did I?"

"You deserve it and I will remember." Erik said determinedly. "Oh, and um... Did Charles return this morning or...?"

"No, he didn't. ... But he is now."

"WHAT!?"

"Charles. He's approaching the door to the building. I think he's coming your way, sir." Darwin said quietly but urgently.

"Damn it! I'm not ready!" Erik gasped over the phone, jumping to his feet and rushing to check his reflection in the mirror. He looked a mess. It was a disaster. Charles mustn't see him like that! "Distract him for 5 minutes, okay? Please!"

"Did you actually say please, sir?" Darwin asked surprised. Erik Lehnsherr was popular in the building for being grumpy, solitary and not talkative. Now he seemed like a pretty decent guy to Darwin and the doorman took it as his mission to improve Erik's reputation around the place.

"Yes! Yes, I did and I'll do it again. Please, keep him there 5 more minutes!" Erik sounded really panicky.

"And how am I supposed to do that!?" Darwin shrieked

"I don't know! Be creative! Pretend you don't know him and don't let him in just yet!" Erik blurted out.

Short silence. "You kiddin' me, right? I spent 2 hours talking to the guy last night!"

"Just do something, please!" Erik groaned and hung up.

He threw the phone on the couch, ignoring the small thump when it fell down on the floor, and dressed himself in a hurry, then fixed his hair and tried to make himself look at least a little bit less like someone who's just rolled out of bed.