When you opened your front door, two people stood before you, two people you never thought you'd see again. One stood as a past lover and the other was once a shoulder you had to cry on. But, as time went on, you learned to move forward with your life, and not once did you ever think that they would be a part of it again. Without saying a word—what was there to say?—you stepped aside and allowed them to come inside. Erik's eyes lingered on you as he did, with a look of longing and hope, while Charles followed and gave you a small smile, but it was pained. When you closed the door and turned back around to face them, Charles was looking around the neatly decorated house, moving to go into the living room on the left, while Erik stared at one of the pictures along the wall that went up the stairs. Erik turned back to face you, his mouth slightly parted as if he wanted to say something, but the look on your face told him not to, and instead, he simply turned back around and followed Charles into the living room. It had been years since you had seen them last. After Cuba, you had stayed with Charles before leaving, no longer being able to take the pain of staying in the mansion with all the memories you had made there with Erik. Since then, you had moved on and had hoped that they had too.

"You, uh, you look good," Erik spoke softly, which wasn't how you remembered him being.

"Thank you," you replied quietly, trying to offer him a smile. "You both look good." It was awkward and uncomfortable, and you could only hope that it ended soon, that they would get to their point and leave.

"So, I, um, I see that you're married now," he continued, pointing behind you, referring to the picture that hung up on the wall.

You glanced back at the picture. "No, not yet."

"Engaged?" Charles spoke this time, his eyebrows drawing together slightly as he tried to hide his shock and confusion.

With a small smile, still feeling rather out of place in your own home because of them, you held up your left hand, showing the ring on your finger. "Six months ago."

"Oh, congratulations." Charles looked like he had just been punched in the gut while Erik looked like his life had just ended right there on the spot.

"Thank you." You cleared your throat. "Why are you here?" You asked in a quiet voice, just above a whisper.

It was too much, having both of them just show up unannounced at your home, and you knew that, at any minute, your fiancé would be coming back in from walking the dog and would more than likely want to talk to them, seeing no harm in the gesture. There was no doubt in your mind that he would ask them to stay for a drink and want to get to know them, all because they were part of your past. You knew that the second they saw him, they would know that he wasn't a mutant—at least Charles would, and he would probably tell Erik—and they would, for some reason that was beyond you, have a problem with him. Just as you thought about it, the front door opened and your five-year-old Golden Retriever immediately ran over to you, wagging his tail while jumping up at you. Your fiancé, who finished putting the collar and lead on the hook by the door, turned around and stepped into the living room, pausing as he saw Erik and Charles watching him, obviously having no idea who the two strangers in his house were.

"Hey," he greeted them, furrowing his eyebrows as he smiled, not entirely sure what was going on. "Who are they?" He asked you quietly.

"Just some old friends from a few years ago," you replied smiling at him, petting your dogs head with your right hand while you held your left hand out to your fiancé.

"Oh!" Your fiancé's confusion disappeared and he stepped over, taking hold of your hand while holding his left hand out to shake theirs. "Well, it's nice to meet you both."

"Likewise," Charles responded, shaking his hand back while Erik seemed to stare at him with a look you've never seen before, but you knew it wasn't anger, but you still weren't entirely sure what it was. Erik took a second before he shook your fiancé's hand.

"Would either of you like a drink?"

"We won't be staying long," Charles answered. "We just need to talk to your fiancée for a moment, and then we will be on our way."

"Don't you want to catch up?"

There was a short pause. "Uh, yes—" Erik finally spoke, but Charles cut him off.

"Perhaps... another time, maybe."

"Right," your fiancé said, still feeling rather confused about it all. "Well, I'm going to give this little one a bath," he informed you, pulling the dog away from you so he could take him upstairs. "It was nice to meet you both." He nodded over at Erik and Charles before he turned around and left.

Once he was up the stairs, with your dog, and you could no longer hear him, you turned back around to face them. "You said you came to talk, so talk, and then get out." You crossed your arms over your chest.

"We need your help rebuilding the school," Charles told you.

"What do you mean?"

"It was destroyed, we lost Alex, and we need your help."

"Alex is dead?" You uncrossed your arms, remembering when you would train with him and learn how to control your powers together. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Will you help?" Erik asked, ignoring your comment.

With a sigh, you nodded. "Yes, I'll help, but after I do... I'm leaving, and I don't want to ever go back. You're my past for a reason."

"Does he know what you are?" Erik raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he knows." You nodded. "So, don't try anything, don't start shit up, and don't make me regret opening my door for you."

Charles cleared his throat. "You should pack for a few days, just to be safe, and then you can come back here and forget about us. If that's what you really want."

The look on his face showed that he was hoping for a different answer, not one that you were about to give, "It is."

"We'll be outside." Charles began to move towards the front door while Erik continued to stand in the same place.

"Is it really what you want?" Erik asked, hoping that you'd change your mind with him.

"It is, Erik. Give up," you replied. He sighed quietly to himself and nodded, following Charles outside while you went up the stairs and packed a small duffle bag with some clothes and other items that you'd need. When you moved to go to the bathroom to say goodbye, your fiancé was washing the shampoo off your dog. "Hey," you spoke softly, with a smile on your face.

Your fiancé turned his head to look back at you. "Have they gone?"

"Yeah. Well, they're outside."

"Why?"

"They need my help with the school. I will be gone for a few days, but I will be back before you know it." You watched as your dog tried drinking the water that was coming out of the showerhead, before you looked back over at your fiancé and spoke softly, "I love you." You stepped into the room and placed your hands on his face, pulling him into a kiss before you pulled back and smiled at him again.

"I love you, too. Stay safe, and have fun catching up with them."

"Mmm, I will," you hummed, but you didn't exactly mean it. You had wanted to leave them behind and start your life again, but apparently, you were asking for too much.

Once you left your house and got into the car with them, you tried your best to keep the conversation short, making it clear that you weren't happy about being there. Charles wanted to know what you had been up to in the last couple of years, so you told him that when you had left, you had joined charity groups and went to different countries to help out as best as you could, which was where you had met your fiancé—as he had been serving in the same country at the time, as a trauma surgeon, and happened to bump into your charity group. Charles tried showing that he was happy for you, even though he wasn't. He didn't need to be open about his feelings, you already knew he had feelings for you during and after Cuba. It was obvious, even if he tried being discreet, considering your relationship with Erik had just ended at the time. Erik, however, was a different story. During the car journey, Erik tried and failed, to get you to admit that you still had feelings for him—when you didn't. He was adamant in making you remember old memories that you had with him, even if they weren't exactly appropriate with Charles seated beside him in the front, in the hopes that it would spark something inside of you—it didn't.

When he turned down the road to the mansion, you could see the mess that had been created—the mess that had killed Alex. The second Erik stopped the car, you got out and walked closer to the rubble. A few of the students stood outside and stared too, while some looked over at you, trying to figure out who you were. You had to tear your eyes away from the mess because you knew that if you didn't, you would probably start crying, and you didn't want that to happen. As you looked away you spotted Hank, and called out his name, "Hank!"

He looked over and seemed to relax in relief that it was you. You walked over to him, weaving in and out of the students, and pulled him into a hug. "It's good to see you again," he told you.

"You too, although the circumstances aren't that great."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded, a small frown appearing on his face.

"I heard about Alex, and I—"

"Don't try to console me about Alex, you were closer to him than I was."

With a sigh, you nodded, turning back to look at the mess. "Does his little brother know?"

"Scott?"

"Yeah."

"He's here."

"He's what?"

"He's a mutant."

"Little Scott Summers?"

Hank opened his mouth to reply, but he breathed out a small laugh at your response. "He's not so little now," Hank told you, pointing behind you. When you turned around, you saw a more grown-up Scott—compared to the younger Scott that Alex had a picture of—and you sucked in a deep breath. You knew that at some point during your stay, you'd talk to him, but for the moment you had to help rebuild the school. As you pushed your way through the crowd of students, and towards Erik and a red-headed girl, you could feel your chest tightening. Your best friend was dead, and the place you had spent years living in was mere pieces of rubble and dust. You stood next to the red-headed girl and glanced over at Erik, who was on the other side of the girl. Erik was already looking at you, and he gave you a slight nod, which you returned before you looked back over to where the building once stood.

"Okay," Erik spoke up, talking to the girl and yourself. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," the girl answered him while you hummed in response.

-

It had taken two days to fully repair and rebuild the mansion. Erik and Jean had completed the foundations and walls of the mansion while you had gone in after it was safe and fixed everything inside. Some of the other students had helped fix the inside, putting the furniture back to where it used to be. After it was done, you made sure to go see Scott and talk to him. In all your years of living, you couldn't think of a time where the sight of a young boy, who was trying not to cry over his dead brother, hurt more than the sight of seeing Scott trembling and furrowing his eyebrows as his fists clenched and his breathing shallowed, trying to compose himself when he didn't need to. When you pulled him into a hug, his hands instantly wrapped around you and held onto you tightly, clinging to you as if you were Alex at that moment. You had given Scott your number so he could call you and talk to you about Alex whenever he wanted to because you knew that there were some stories that you had of Alex that Scott would want to know about.

You had said goodbye to a few of the other students you had spoken to while you were there, including Jean, Hank, and Charles—saving Erik for last because you knew that that goodbye would be the hardest one to make. There was a taxi waiting for you, just outside of the mansion, while Erik stepped out of the front door and closed it behind himself. When he looked over at you and stepped closer, you could see how the past years had affected him. He no longer looked as young, or as lively, instead, he looked worn and tired. There was a small smile on your face—one that wasn't forced like the others—while your bag was by your feet and your hands were clasped together in front of you.

"I suppose this is it then?" He asked, glancing over at the taxi before he looked at you.

You sighed and nodded, wishing that things had been different between the two of you, but at the same time, being glad that things happened the way they did. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"You don't have to do this, you know?" He didn't get a verbal response, but, instead, saw you frown slightly and tilt your head with your eyebrows knitting together, not knowing what he meant. "You could stay. Charles could make your fiancé forget you, and you could stay... here, with me."

"No," you spoke softly, shaking your head, feeling your heart ache at his words.

"Why not?"

"Because if Charles makes him forget then he's going to have to make me forget. There's no way that I'm throwing all of those years of my life away for you, at least, I won't do it again."

"You think that all of those years with me was a waste?" He took a step away from you, clearly pained by your words.

"No, they weren't a waste. But I'm happy now. Happier than I can ever remember being. I have a job, a house, a fiancé who loves me in ways that I don't deserve to be loved, a new family that I'm about to be apart of—one that doesn't betray each other to take over the goddamn world. Erik, I'm—" You paused, letting out a deep breath through your nose. "I'm starting my life over, maybe you should too." Erik watched as you picked up your bag and made your way down the stairs.

"I still love you, you know?"

The taxi driver opened the door for you and offered you a smile before you turned around. "I know you do, and I think, deep down, some part of me will always love you too. But I don't truly love you like that anymore, Erik. Goodbye." When you turned back around and got into the taxi, the driver closed the door and walked around to his side. You looked out the window, towards Erik, and saw that he was still watching you, staring at you with love and pain, right up until the moment the two of you could no longer see each other.