The sun had just begun to set. The sky was painted in blues and purples, slowly fusing with oranges and pinks the closer it got to the horizon. There was a gentle breeze, it was warm, and it felt comforting as it grazed your skin. No one else was outside, not anymore at least. You could feel the presence of the others still lingering in the area where you now stood, even if they had left a few hours ago. There were some sharp, but mostly unclear, images that flashed in your mind as you stood still. Both Erik and Charles had made their mark on the gravelled stone beneath the soles of your shoes, even if they didn't realise it. Everything leaves a mark, everything has something that remains, even after it's long gone. Their voices waved in and out of the moment as you closed your eyes, trying to focus while the heat of the setting sun had warmed your face. The sounds merged, slowly stitching together until you could just about make out what was being said, even if it sounded like it was mostly underwater. After a deep breath in, feeling the energy pass through your body, you breathed out, opening your eyes to see ghostly silhouettes of past Erik and Charles.

     Erik shook his head while rolling his eyes before he turned to look away from Charles, who seemed to ask a lot of questions about things he shouldn't be asking about. He rested his hands on the low stone wall in front of himself, feeling the rough grit of the half wall that overlooked the rest of the garden. You could sense that Erik was on edge, that his anger was rising, and that he was trying to build a mental wall up between himself and Charles—who simply stood with his hands in his pockets, his back was straight, and his eyes never once shifted to look away from Erik. Charles was calm, although slightly annoyed, beginning to become frustrated, although not as frustrated as Erik was as his hands gripped the wall tighter.

     "You have no idea what you're talking about," he muttered through clenched teeth.

     "Don't I?" Charles asked while tapping his temple with two fingers.

     Erik turned his head to look at Charles. "Did I say you could do that?"

     Charles smiled faintly. "I knew you never would, so I had to. You need to know that it's okay, that you're not the only one who—"

     "Who what, Charles?" He yelled, stepping away from the wall, the stones underneath his shoes crunched quietly. "You always seem to think that you know what's best, but, for once, you don't know anything. You don't know what's going on, no matter how much you think you do. So, just drop it!"

     "Erik—"

     "Just stop! These are my feelings involved here, not yours, you don't get to meddle, or intervene, you don't get to do anything because you know for a fact it won't be you getting hurt. I don't care why you believe you're doing this, but I need you to stop. I need to you listen to me and just stop. Stop before you do something that ruins this any further." Erik's harsh words caused you to flinch. He didn't wait to hear what Charles would say next as he walked away, his shoulder collided with Charles', who simply stumbled from the force, not once making a move to stop him and continue the, clearly unwanted, conversation. You watched with a small frown on your face, not liking how upset Erik had been. His ghost passed through you, and you turned to watch his retreating figure, the ghost soon disappeared for good as it reached the second step. You knew Erik had made his way back into the mansion and towards his room. Charles' ghost sighed, and before you could turn back and look at him, he was gone.

     With a sigh of your own, you looked over to where the sun was barely peeking over the trees. Some part of you knew how Erik was feeling, for you at least, but you were still trying to get used to your abilities, to control them, to truly understand what it was that you were feeling. You knew what love was, long before you ever got to experience it yourself. But you had also known denial and heartbreak like the back of your hand. As you turned to walk up the small set of stairs, and back into the mansion, you lifted your hand, twitching it slightly, and as you did so, the door in front of you opened, allowing you to walk in without stopping. The door closed softly behind you as you made your way to the stairs leading up to the bedrooms.

-

     The voices of Charles and Erik had grown louder and clearer as you made your way down the stairs. Their voices carried from one of the rooms filled with books—that had been well-loved and taken care of over the years but were now beginning to collect the settling dust. Your stride had slowed as you got closer to the door, hearing their argument becoming filled with anger and annoyance, much like their previous conversation earlier that morning. The light that peaked out from underneath the door was now slightly blocked by the presence of someone walking across the room, the shadow filtering across the wooden floorboards. At the sound of your name being mentioned, you stepped closer, barely making out Erik's hushed tone. The door quickly opened and Charles stepped half out of the room, one hand shoved in his trouser pocket, while the other motioned for you to enter the room. Realising you had been caught, you slowly walked inside.

     "Everything okay?" You asked softly, looking between the two of them.

     Erik, glaring at Charles, muttered through gritted teeth, "Everything is fine."

     "Everything is not fine!" Charles argued loudly.

     "Don't," Erik warned.

     "I'm tired of this, I'm putting an end to it!"

     Erik huffed, shaking his head. "It's not your place to say anything."

     "It is when it's affecting your control, your concentration, your sleep, your happiness."

     "What's going on?" You asked, crossing your arms over your chest, trying to hide the shaking of your hands by hiding them, squeezing them tight to your chest.

     "You two are the masters of sending bad signals. For the love of all that is good, you like Erik, and Erik, as I was trying to say before, he likes you back. I'm tired of listening to the both of you, just... pining after one another." Charles turned to face you, sending you an apologetic half-smile, sighing as he understood the stress that he had caused by taking matters into his own hands, not once consulting you. "Yes, I get it, you didn't want to force Erik to admit how he felt, but he obviously needed the push, so I pushed. He thought you had no romantic feelings towards him, so he never made any move to show you he had them for you—you distanced yourself too much, I mean, I understand why, but it obviously wasn't going the way you had planned for it to go." He then turned to Erik. "And you, just take a damn chance, would you? You stare longingly, you make an effort to help him whenever you can, you put the work in, but you back out at the last minute. You're both as bad as each other. The whole 'dancing around' each other, and your feelings, have only made something, that's meant to be easy, more difficult and painful. So, talk it out, be open... communicate. I'm going to bed."

     Charles let out a sigh, feeling the weight lifting off his shoulder before he turned and walked out of the room, leaving both you and Erik to stare after his retreating figure, unable to process that he had just outed the both of you to each other as if it wasn't something you were trying to let happen naturally. You turned away from the door and looked down at the floor, feeling the beating of your heart hammering at your chest, a heavy feeling beginning to sink in your stomach. Erik had continued to look at the door, despite the fact that Charles wasn't going to return. The look on his face conveyed shock, and slight horror before he tried to neutralise his expression when he glanced over to you.

     "So, uh..." Erik cleared his throat.

     "The feelings mutual, just so you know." You shrugged, staring at the herringbone floor, rather than him.

     "He wasn't lying?" Erik asked quietly.

     You shook your head, furrowing your eyebrows. "No. He wasn't lying. I didn't say anything because I knew you weren't ready to accept how you felt. I know the relationships you have had in the past... how they ended... and I didn't want to add any more strain on top of that. I wanted you to be comfortable with yourself and how you were feeling before I ever tried to show you that I felt the same. I'm sorry if I had come across as uninterested, that couldn't be any further from how I actually feel about you, Erik. I like you; I have for a while now. I understand if you still need some time to think things over and to get your mind settled, I'm more than happy to wait, so long as it's your choice as to when things move forward, if that's what you want, of course." You cleared your throat, looking up from the floor and to him. "I've waited this long; I can wait a little longer."

     Erik clenched his jaw and shifted on his feet, his hands twitched at his sides as he let out a breathy laugh, licking his bottom lips before he nodded faintly, a smile beginning to grow on his face. "How about not waiting at all?"