I Can't Help Loving You

~ The Housewarming ~

"Emma, you're the best friend I ever had." Erik said, meaning every word of it. "Please, I don't want to lose that."

"Just a friend." she let out an almost sheepish smile

"Best friend." he corrected her.

Now her face was back to normal and they continued drinking Erik's cheap beer and unpacking.

"You have so much junk, Erik!" she laughed.

"Hopefully da roommate won't be too picky." he grinned his shark grin.

Emma's cheeks were pink from what she drank. She laughed. Erik shook his head with a tsk. He knew he was one of the few people on the planet fortunate enough to see Emma let go of her guard.

"What is your dream guy, then?" she asked, taking another sip as she threw out an old baseball glove that Erik was definitely not going to use. "The roommate, I mean."

"I just hope he's not one of those guys that demand attention all the time and expect me to actually converse with them." Erik said quickly, he obviously had been thinking about this already.

"Sounds legitimate." she nodded.

"You know, someone who won't distract me by being annoying." Erik continued "Preferably he'd stay in his room most of the time or be outdoors so he's not in my way. And he should not leave a mess!"

Emma burst into laughter at the last one. "Erik, your whole place is a mess! You're not the perfect roommate either."

He only shrugged.

They continued with the boxes until everything looked a bit less of a mess. Then both of them flopped on the sofa to rest and finish what was left of the beers.

"Your guy's late." Emma said flatly, staring at the blank TV.

"Yeah." Erik agreed.

"Maybe he won't be here until tomorrow." she said

Erik shrugged.

"He's keeping you waiting!" she chuckled "He's a tease."

"Oh, don't go there."

"You're probably gonna fall for him." another sip

"Falling for the roommate, such a cliche!" Erik laughed "Not something I'd do."

"Of course. You don't fall for anyone, do you?" she sighed

"Hey! You're the only one for me!" he said raising his beer as if for a toast. "Cheers!"

She looked up at him while he was drinking.

"Which reminds me..." he continued, throwing the empty can in the trash and looking at Emma again, "do we have any plans this weekend?"

She shook her head absentmindedly "Nothing until the boat thing with my dad." she replied, leaning in closer to him.

"Good." he nodded.

Accompanying her at such places was part of their deal. It was a pretty straight forward proposition. Emma was his best friend for ages and when she asked him to pretend to be her date at a wedding she was invited to, he agreed. After this event went so well Emma asked him to continue with the pretend dating to piss her parents off. They were giving her a hard time, making her meet with eligible bachelors of their own choice. So dating Erik who was, no offence, in no way eligible, was a the perfect way to both get rid of her other candidates and get back at her folks for the nerve. All he had to do was to appear with her here and there and hold hands. He had agreed to that too. Emma really was his best friend. She suited him as a friend. She looked cold and sarcastic but she was clever and funny and he knew what she was like underneath her icy exterior. She was a lot like Erik and he felt comfortable around her, like he did not have to explain himself to her. Like she understood his quirks and accepted them without passing judgement, sometimes even without deeming them as something peculiar. It was nice to feel at such ease with someone and in Erik's case having such a person in his life did not happen often!

"This place is still a mess..." Erik noted, scanning the room.

Emma gave no reply. When he looked back at her he felt her lips were on his, a gentle but demanding hand wrapping around his neck and pulling him closer.

It all happened in a blink of an eye. Erik did not see it coming, he was too startled to react at first.

She took this as an encouragement and tried to deepen the kiss when he had to stop her.

"Emma, Emma, no." he said, taking her hands off of himself.

"May I remind you that only a week ago you were making out with me!" she asked, challenge in her voice.

Erik sighed "You said I had to because your parents weren't buying it!"

"You're the most unconvincing boyfriend ever, Erik Lehnsherr!"

"That's because I'm not your boyfriend!" he waved his hands in ex exasperation. "If I knew this would happen I would never have had agreed on your proposition!"

She got closer to him again, putting her leg above his "Just try, Erik. What's the harm in trying?"

"Emma, you know I'm gay!" he said "What are you even trying to do now?"

"What do you think?" she breathed in his ear

"This is ridiculous!" he snapped, pushing her away, not to hard but energetically enough.

He got up from the sofa and strode to the fridge, suddenly feeling the need for another beer.

He had his suspicions that something was different recently. Ever since that stupid kiss at her sister's birthday party Emma had changed and Erik did not like it. He was afraid he was losing his friend and was determined to prevent this disaster. But if Emma was developing a crush on him... This was the real reason he did not want Emma to be his roommate! He needed a roommate that was not crushing on him! And he had to get Emma to come back to her senses, even if he had to be cruel.

When he turned around again Emma was already mostly naked, smiling at him. Why was this happening!?

"Are you sure you're gay?" she sing-songed almost playfully.

"Oh, I am really sure." Erik replied "You are a beautiful woman, Emma, I've always thought that. But you are my friend and frankly I'm looking for different body parts in my lovers."

"I've never had complaints before..."

Seeing how determined she was he realized it was time to be firm. "You're drunk and I'm not interested." he said flatly "So get lost."

Erik has seen Emma happy, sad, mad, classy, angry, flirty, intimidating, funny... He had seen Emma in many different emotional states. But he hadnever seen what a really furious Emma Frost looked like. Until now.