A/N: This will hopefully be another multi-chapter fanfiction. Its premise is that it is set about half a year after the beach scene, so it's only the four of them living in the mansion, and there's no established Havshee relationship (though mild references might be made to former Cherik). Enjoy!

-I-

Alex watched Sean intently from across the table. It was breakfast and the red-head was scarfing down slice after slice of toast as if he hadn't eaten in days, even though every morning he ate exactly the same thing. Just like how every evening the red-head insisted on having seconds and then complained if there was no dessert. Alex wondered if anybody else noticed the patterns in Sean's behaviour. The past six months it seemed that he had done nothing but train and watch Sean. Or think about Sean at least.

He knew it would be best for him to ignore his feelings for the red-head, but he just couldn't bring himself to. Every time he tried he'd just get lonely, Hank could be funny when he tried but he really wasn't that interesting for every day conversation. Glancing over at the red-head who was chatting jovially to the professor about flying technique whilst spreading butter liberally onto a slice of toast Alex couldn't help but smile.

Alex wondered if Sean knew how cute he was. Every little gesture, the way bit his lip just slightly when he was confused by something Hank said, the way he grinned at Alex every time their gazes even met, the way he ran his fingers through his hair and laughed aloud every time he landed beside Alex after flying, all of them just made Alex want him more.

Of course, he could never tell Sean this. Sean wasn't a ladies man by far, but he often joked about his many failed attempts to get a girlfriend. He would say that the hair was a definite babe magnet and Alex would chuckle, and wistfully think about how right Sean was.

"Hey Alex, stick some more bread in the toaster," came a voice from across the table, it was Sean. The red-head was flashing him a lop-sided grin, which was quite a feat considering he had his mouth filled with toast. Alex sighed.

"Haven't you eaten enough toast for one morning?" he joked, knowing the answer and pre-emptively turned around to place two more slices into the toaster. He pushed down and then turned around to hear Sean's answer.

"There's no such thing as enough toast, Alex. You should know that by now," the red-head replied. Alex watched as Sean then attempted to take a swig of orange juice from the carton, before being stopped by a scolding glare from Hank who grabbed the drink and poured Sean a glass. This seemed to be a morning routine that the two of them shared, Alex suspected that Sean only did it as an excuse to start bantering with the blue boy.

Alex contemplated whether Sean noticed that his routines were being observed so closely, but then again Sean seemed so carefree that he probably didn't even notice the little details of his mornings himself.

Alex forced his mind to turn to the more serious matters at hand.

It was a Saturday and there was no planned training scheduled, Charles has seemed a little distracted lately and no matter how hard he tried to disguise it with regular training sessions his mind was obviously somewhere else (which really was saying something for Professor X).

Today would be different though. Alex had finally worked up the determination to ask Sean out on a date. Well, not actually a date. He was going to ask Sean to hang out with him in the nearby town, which in his mind vaguely counted as a date even if one party was unaware that said date was going on.

He'd seen Sean head upstairs to his bedroom and hurried himself through the washing up so that he could get upstairs and ask Sean if he wanted to go out before he lost all confidence. Another thing that he'd noticed about Sean was that he seemed to use a lot of bowls and plates in the morning for somebody who only ate bread and butter. Alex would have to ask him about that.

Finishing up the dishes, Alex ascended the stairs. He saw Sean's door next to his (their rooms had a shared bathroom) but walked past it, deciding to change. He wasn't wearing something suitable to go for a date in - a sort-of date at least - so he might as well change before asking Sean rather than after.

Alex tugged on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless shirt, putting on a pair of trainers before exiting his room. He considered walking through the bathroom joining the two rooms like he usually did, but that somehow seemed inappropriate.

Walking a few steps so that he was face to face with Sean's bedroom door, Alex paused. Should he knock? Admittedly he usually didn't bother when he went to Sean's room, but this was a different door to the one he usually came through. Did that somehow make a difference? Alex shook his head. He was over-thinking this. He should just act casual, and acting casual meant not knocking, right? It wasn't like Sean was a girl or the professor, or even somebody he didn't get along so well with like Hank.

This was Sean, his unofficial best friend. Without allowing himself to hesitate any longer Alex pushed the door open a little too harshly. Then froze on the spot.

Sean was standing roughly in the centre of the room, and had turned to see Alex standing in the doorway, unmoving. That wasn't what had shocked Alex.

Sean was wet, water droplets clinging in beads to the straggly ends of his hair and trailing down the contours of his freckled body. And he really did have freckles everywhere. Only the bare minimum of flesh was covered by a towel that clung loosely to the red-head's hips and ended just above his mid-thigh. Sean was towelling his hair dry and turned to fully face Alex, grinning widely at the blonde and seemingly not caring that he was practically naked in front of the other boy.

"Hey Alex, have you seen my towel? I had to use one of the small ones," Sean said, moving over to Alex has he continued to dry off his ginger curls. Alex's breath caught in the back of his throat as he tried to ignore the way Sean's hips swayed slightly as he walked.

"Uh, no. Sorry," Alex replied hurriedly. Shit, Alex cursed to himself inwardly. If he didn't get away soon his attraction to Sean was going to become embarrassingly obvious to the red-head. Just as Sean opened his mouth to reply, Alex quickly interjected "Got to go, seeya!" before dashing to his own room.

Sean watched him go, a perplexed expression on his face. Shrugging it off, he closed the door and went to get a change of clothes.

Meanwhile Alex slammed the door to his own room shut, making sure to lock it before collapsing onto the bed.

Stupid! He had been so stupid to leave. Now Sean was sure to figure out how Alex felt, and of course he would be repulsed by it and stop being friends with him. Alex cursed loudly into the pillow, balling his hands into fists and giving the mattress beneath him a hard punch.

Growling in frustration, Alex let his mind wander back to the image of Sean from moments earlier. He felt heat pooling in his stomach and swore again.

It was so wrong to think about Sean this way. It wouldn't be the first time he'd jacked off to the mental image of the red-head partially or fully undressed, but it felt wrong to do the same over an image of Sean that was actually real and not a figment of his imagination.

Alex realised then that he'd been so caught up in panic and frustration that he'd barely even realised that this was the first time he'd actually seen Sean pretty much naked. Sure he'd seen the red-haired boy change his shirt but it wasn't the same.

And God Sean was gorgeous. To Alex, the red-head couldn't have been more perfect. He was exactly as Alex had imagined him under his clothes. The blonde sighed, right now he wanted nothing more go back into Sean's room and tear that towel off. He got the feeling that would end in him getting slapped though.

Alex got to his feet; he should probably take a shower.

-I-

Thirty minutes later Alex had showered and changed back into his clothes. Not knowing what to do, he had slumped back onto his bed. He was dreading lunch, because it meant he would have to see Sean. Much as he usually loved to see the red-head he wasn't entirely sure he could sit through an entire meal with him without the image from earlier popping into his mind.

Even worse, what if the professor saw what he was thinking about? He really couldn't deal with an awkward conversation about that. Alex had just begun to contemplate ways of distracting himself when he heard a knock on the door.

Frowning, Alex got up to unlock the door. He didn't usually get any visitors at this time of day. Opening it, he felt himself stiffen a little. It was Sean.

The red-haired boy smiled awkwardly, "Hey Alex," he said.

"Hey," Alex began, unsure whether he should apologise for what had happened earlier, "Something up?" was the reply he settled for.

"Not really, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out, in town or something," Sean answered, giving Alex a small grin. He almost looked shy, and Alex was a bit taken aback by the offer.

A thousand different thoughts and questions and what-ifs ran through Alex's mind, but he quickly supressed them.

"Yeah, sure," Alex replied, trying not to seem too eager.

Sean beamed at him. "Great, I'll just grab my jacket and we can head off!"

Alex stood by the door, still as Sean left. Had he just been asked on a date? He doubted it, but it would be a pleasant surprise if he had.

-I-

It was 4pm when Alex and Sean returned to the mansion, slightly exhausted from the long walk. Sean had barely stopped talking since they left and it made Alex wonder just how a teenager who spent his days flying, sleeping and eating could talk for so long about said activities. Not that he didn't enjoy hearing Sean talk.

They'd mainly gone to shops that interested Sean, record stores, food stores, a couple of cafes and a single sweet shop in which Sean had insisted on buying a pick'n'mix so that he could make Alex sample every flavour. Alex would have protested but was stopped by the tingle in his spine when the other teenager grabbed his hand and dragged him around to the brightly coloured store.

It had felt like a date, but Alex supposed that Sean was just one of those lively people who seemed to get close to everybody.

They had walked up to their rooms together before Sean parted with a wave and a "Seeya at dinner."

Once Alex was back in his bedroom he immediately began committing every detail of the afternoon to memory. He desperately hoped that he and Sean would go out again, just the two of them. Sean had explained that it got so boring around Hank and Charles, and exclaimed that without Alex around he'd have nobody to talk to. The blonde had rolled his eyes, knowing that Sean was quite content to just talk at the others, but appreciated the sentiment anyway.

That night, Alex's dreams wandered back to the memory of Sean standing in his room, so vulnerable covered only by a flimsy towel.

-I-

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I appreciate favourites, watches and especially reviews (even if you just want to complain about my awful proof-reading abilities). Hopefully the next chapter will be up within the week, and if you liked this Havshee story check my profile for others like it. Goodbye for now!