A New Life

Chapter 7

Erik went to high school by the end of the autumn, and found out that he actually liked it. The atmosphere was completely different than in grade school, and Erik liked it immediately. He made friends with some of his new schoolmates, but no really close friends. Erik thought he was just muchmuch of a hermit to let anyone – save Logan, of course – come that close to him.

He slept in his own room nowadays, and although it had been difficult to get used to the feeling of being alone in bed at nights, he did cope. He rarely had any severe nightmares about the horrors at Auschwitz anymore, but sometimes it happened, and then he missed Logan’s presence terribly. Whenever he cried he tried to choke his sobs, since he didn’t want Logan to think he was still the same cry-baby.

One night when he was 16, and had one of those nightmares, he woke up to find out that practically his whole room was shaking, and all things metal had flown to a wall and stuck to it, like the wall had been some kind of a huge…magnet. Erik had been terrified, but shortly after he woke up, the connection broke, and all things dropped to the floor again. He had been too scared to tell Logan about it, and dismissed it as yet another nightmare when Logan asked why he hcreacreamed the following morning.

“I had a nightmare,” the boy explained, trying to avoid Logan’s eyes.

“Poor angel,” Logan said compassionately. “Why didn’t you call me? You know you can do that if you need me.”

“It wasn’t that serious. I coped,” Erik said with a tiny smile.

Logan smiled too. It was about time Erik stopped being so meek and sensitive, and instead got a little more grown up and manly. Although “manly” was hardly any word to describe Erik. First of all, he was simply too beautiful to be called “manly”, and secondly he still was a frightened little child in many ways.

“I know you’ll cope,” Logan said. “You do enjoy having a room of your own, don’t you?”

Erik went quiet. He didn’t want to lie to Logan, but he also didn’t want Logan to know how badly he wanted to move back into their joint bedroom.

“It is…nice,” he finally said with a little shrug.

“Yeah, of course it is,” Logan agreed. “And think about the privacy! I’m sure you’ll think that when you bring your first girl home,” he said with a wink.

Erik lowered his eyes and started to blush. He had never thought of girls that way, or any potential girlfriend. He was still shy, and wouldn’t have dared to make a move even if he had wanted to, but the biggest reason was that he simply wasn’t interested. Girls could be good friends, but he had no “such” feelings for any of the girls he knew. He much rather spent his time with Logan.

“I don’t think so…” he murmured.

Logan laughed. “Not found anyone you like yet, Erik? Oh, but you will! I promise! You’re so pretty the girls should be fawning over you!”

//I only like you,// Erik wanted to say, but he didn’t. He wasn’t sure why, but something made him hesitate. Why did he feel it was inappropriate? He liked Logan, of course, and Logan knew it, but he wasn’t supposed to “like” Logan like he should “like” girls. That was just…not right.

“Maybe…”murmmurmured with his head down, not wanting to face Logan.

“You will, don’t worry, boy. Now eat your breakfast.”

And Erik started to eat, although he didn’t expect himself to find any girl he liked enough to bring home.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That year Erik’s mutant-ability – the power to control and create magnetic fields – started to display itself more frequently. Whenever he had some kind of accident, or felt mentally or physically distressed, every object containing metal would start rattling and shaking.

This frightened Erik very much, and once he learned that his powers often manifested when he felt scared or insecure, he started trying to avoid situations that might cause those feelings. He became afraid of accidentally hurting himself or others. He became introvert and tried to avoid contact with other people, desperate to keep his powers secret.

Logan knew of course, and wanted to help Erik control his gift, but since he knew nothing about the powers there wasn’t much he could do.

“Just try to stay calm, and you’ll cope,” he said often. “That’s all you can do. And try not to let anyone see it.”

Logan didn’t know what else to say; the boy’s dormant and violent powers practically scared the shit out of him sometimes, but he couldn’t tell that to Erik. What Erik needed was real guidance, and Logan wasn’t the person to give it to him. But Erik only trusted Logan, and they were both strongly determined not to let anyone else know.

Erik managed to keep his powers under control for nearly two months in a row. He had regained some of his confidence, and almost believed they wouldn’t bother him anymore. He was wrong.

One evening Logan was working late, and Erik thought it might be nice to surprise Logan with dinner. Cooking wasn’t his strongest side, but he was very enthusiastic and eager to please Logan. He was happy that his uncontrollable powers hadn’t pestered him in a while, and happy that he was able to enjoy life again.

Erik decided to make Logan’s favourite food; beef steak with mashed potatoes and meat sauce. Logan was always hungry when he came home from work, and would surely appreciate not having to cook his own dinner this late. Surprising Logan was always fun.

Erik padded around the kitchen carrying pans and casseroles, feeling very domestic. He put the steak in the oven, and decided to deal with the mashed potatoeile ile he waited for it to ripen.

Happily humming, he reached for a din in one of the cupboards, but when he was taking it out, it slipped from his hands and fell to the ground, breaking into hundreds of tiny, razor-sharp pieces.

Erik gave out a terrified cry and reflexively backed on step, not realizing that he stepped right into a porcelain splinter. The sharp, pointy piece penetrated his foot and he cried out again, with pain this time, and sank down on the floor, sobbing, with a large piece of porcelain embedded in his foot. The intense pain made his face crumple up and his hands ball into fists; he almost thought he’d faint.

Soon the stove started to shake, and the pans and casseroles, plus all other nearby objects made of metal started to rattle and shake as well, like an earthquake was coming.

Erik, dismayed that he was causing it, buried his head in his hands and started to scream, “Make it stop! Please, someone, make it stop!”

Some glasses and plates fell to the floor and shattered. Knives, forks and spoons flew around in the room. A hammer flew right across the room and hit Erik’s back, almost knocking him unconscious.

“Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop…” Erik chanted, curled up in a fetal position on the floor. This was worse than ever before. It always used to settle after a while, but it didn’t seem so now. Finally it did, though, but Erik didn’t notice, but kept chanting, still curled in the same helpless position.

That was how Logan found him. Dismayed, he looked at the destruction in the kitchen, and then saw Erik, lying on the floor, apparently unconscious, giving Logan the shock of his life. He rushed to Erik, not paying any attention to the smashed plates and glasses, and took the boy into his arms.

“Erik!” he exclaimed when Erik’s limp head lolled from one side to the other. “Oh, Erik… What happened? What’s wrong with you? Oh, please, say something…”

Erik gave a weak moan and opened his aching eyes. Logan was there now, holding him, and he looked mad. Erik started to cry.

“I’m so…sorry… I didn’t mean to…” he sobbed in a very weak voice. “Logan, please…”

“What happened, angel?” Logan asked softly. “Please tell me what has happened here.”

“It just… I couldn’t make it stop this time… Everything started to shake, and… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Your powers?” Logan asked. “Do you mean you… did all this with your…mental powers?”

Erik nodded weakly. “I’m so sorry, but I lost control. I couldn’t help it. Please, don’t be mad.”

“Of course I’m not mad. I’m worried, Erik. Are you hurt?”

“My foot…”

Erik was barefoot, and when Logan checked to see what he meant, he saw the huge splinter buried in the sole of Erik’s foot. “Oh, fuck!” he exclaimed, appalled by the injury. It looked gruesome.

“It hurts…” Erik groaned, his face white with pain.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, I’m gonna take it out,” Logan promised. “Now, clench your teeth, this might hurt a bit.”

Erik did what he was told, and barely suppressed a high-pitched cryn Lon Logan removed the splinter from his foot. It started to bleed immediately, and the blood trickled down on the floor, forming large red stains.

Logan wrapped a dishtowel around Erik’s foot, and then lifted him into his arms and carried him into his own room. He gently placed Erik in his bed, and went inhe bhe bathroom to bring alcohol and bandage.

The dishtowel was getting red with blood, and Erik was holding his injured foot, breathing heavily and raggedly. Logan returned with a bottle of alcohol and a tourniquet.

“Lie down and try to relax, angel,” he said seriously and almost pressed Erik down onto the bed, forcing him to lie down. He then removed the blood-soaked dishtowel and took another look at the injury. It actually looked worse than it was, and the amouf blf blood could have made anyone freak out.

“I have to clean the wound,” Logan explained, and carefully took Erik’s foot into his large hand, holding it like it had been a wounded little animal. Erik’s face crumpled up again when Logan cleaned his wound using the alcohol, but he endured it, and managed to suppress his cries.

When he was done cleaning the wound, Logan tied the bandage around Erik’s foot, hoping it would stop the bleeding.

The boy lay panting in the bed, still sweating and pale, grimacing at the pain he felt. It wasn’t only the foot injury, but his head ached also. As did his chest, and his stomach. Erik was still unaware of this, but when he overstrained his powers like thiis bis body had to pay for it.

“Do you think you can sleep now?” Logan asked gently and stroked Erik’s sweat-slick forehead.

“I can try…” Erik whispered.

Logan crawled down into bed with him, determined not to leave Erik in this condition. He put the boy’s head on his lap, and started brushing his stick, soft hair back. His caresses were gentle and soothed Erik. Gradually he began to relax, and the pain in his body faded. His foot felt kind of numb, so it didn’t cause any real problems.

“I was going to cook you dinner…” he tried to explain to Logan. “I dropped the din, and… cut my foot… and then…”

“Schh…” Logan said. “You don’t have to explain. It’s alright. The important is that you’re okay. I was afraid you’d hurt yourself seriously.”

“I’m alright…” Erik breathed.

“Try not to scare me like that again, Erik,” Logan said gravely. “For a second I thought…I thought you were dead.”

“I’m sorry…” Erik murmured sleepily.

“It’s alright. Don’t think about that now. Go to sleep, angel.”

Logan waited until he was almost sure Erik was asleep. Then he carefully left Erik’s bed, and covered the boy with blankets so that he wouldn’t freeze. He kissed his angel’s forehead before he left, heading for his own bedroom.

He was worried about Erik, and had a feeling that it was serious this time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Logan was about to go to work in the morning, Erik still had woken up. Logan went into his room to check on him, and found Erik lying motionless in his bed.

“Erik,” he said. “Time to wake up, sleepy-head. Come on.”

He lightly shook Erik’s shoulder, but was met by a moan, and the boy just buried his head in his pillow.

“I’m not going to school today…” Erik murmured. “I am ill…”

“Ill?” Logan asked worriedly and kneeled beside the bed. “How so, Erik?”

Erik lifted his aching head and tried to meet Logan’s gaze. “I…I have a terrible headache, and…then I’m nauseous. I can’t…go to school today.”

Logan could tell by the way Erik looked that he was serious. He became instantly worried.

“Oh, no! What do you want me to do, Erik?”

“You go to work…I’ll be fine…” Erik croaked.

“No,” Logan said resolutely. “I’m not leaving you alone in this state. I’ll call my job and tell them I have to stay home today,” he decided.

Erik was too weak to object, and besides he wanted Logan close. He just sighed and tried to smile at Logan. “You don’t need to,” he whispered.

“But I want to. You’re more important to me than that stupid old job. And I’m gonna take care of you.”

Logan went and called his job and announced them that he wasn’t coming today, and then hurried back to Erik. He lifted the sick boy into his arms again, and carried him into his own bedroom. He noticed that Erik was warmer than he used to be, and suspected the boy had a fever. He grew more and more worried. Erik wasn’t ill often, and when he was, it was usually nothing like this.

Logan made Erik some hot camomile tea, hoping it would soothe his stomach. It didn’t make Erik feel any better, but at least he got to keep it. Logan stayed in bed with him all day, holding him and speaking to him in a soft voice. It had been long since Logan held him like that, and Erik regretted that he was too sick to enjoy it properly.

Erik managed to slumber at times, falling into restless sleep that didn’t make him feel any better; on the contrary. When he woke up, it was dark in the room, and his head felt heavy and disorganized. Logan was still there, though, holding him in his arms.

Logan instantly noticed Erik stirring, and placed his hand on the boy’s forehead to check his temperature. He seemed a bit cooler than before, and Logan believed the fever to have dropped. That was a good sign. At least it meant he wasn’t getting worse.

“Erik?” Logan whispered. “Are you awake, angel?”

Erik murmured something soft and confusing in reply. He felt like going back to sleep again, but he didn’t want to. “Logan…” he murmured and lifted his head from Logan’s chest. “What time is it…?”

“It’s late, Erik,” Logan replied. “But it doesn’t matter. Would you like something to eat, or would you rather go back to sleep?”

“I think I want…sleep.”

“Okay,” Logan said. “You can stay here with me tonight, would you like that?”

“Yes…” Erik whispered.

TBC