Charlie Ch 33 37

Chapter 33

Nathan sat on Charlie's bed with his head in his hands. How could this girl not understand what just happened? Did she not feel anything about the way he touched her? What the fuck? He let go of his head and looked towards the bathroom door. For a brief moment, he smiled when the sound of the door lock engaged. With a small huff, he moved to the bathroom door and put his hand in the middle of it. Though the door stood between them, he could feel a larger chasm building. It was time.

"Charlie, we need to talk," he spoke to the door.

"About what? You didn't answer my questions." Nathan could hear rustling; Charlie was changing her clothes. A mental image of her naked body beneath his stirred his groin. Great! I'm about to lose her, and my dick wants to play again!

"I am not fucking with you," he replied in as neutral tone as possible. He didn't know if the door being closed was a good thing. One on hand, he didn't have to worry about her reactions stopping him from what he wanted to say. On the other hand, he couldn't tell if she was really listening. Reactively, he formed a fist and pounded once on the door.

"Hey buster!" Charlie yelled through her side of the door.

"I love you," he said softly. Nathan leaned his head against the door jam. There, I said it. The world could end, the apocalypse could overtake the last of humanity, but I told this infuriating, stubborn, achingly beautiful woman what I feel. He couldn't quite breathe. The air was tension-thick, clogging up his lungs.

"What did you say?" Charlie sounded perturbed. The faucet in the bathroom was turned on and running. The sound of clicking items came through the door.

Slightly louder, Nathan spoke, "I love you."

Charlie whipped open the door. She was already changed into her comfy clothes. Nathan's body reacted to the sight of her in a tank top and pair of panties. Sure, the large robe was helping cover more flesh; it was open in the front, teasing him with some of her skin and the juncture of her legs barely covered in panties. Nathan knocked his head against the wall and gritted his teeth.

"Okay, mumbler. Either say whatever you said, so I can hear it or get the hell out of my room." Charlie moved past him to the bed. She produced a hair tie and started pulling her hair into a half bun, half pony tail.

This time, Nathan spoke loud and clear. He made it a point to enunciate each word. There would be no confusion. No door to hide behind. No turning back. Let's get a move-on son.

"I love you."

Charlie spun around. The robe whipped further open, and the animal instinct in Nathan made him want to slide between her legs again. It was that male need to mark what was his. A smile played across his lips. It was now her turn to have her mouth drop open for awhile. Deal with that, Miss Righteous!

"What are you talking about, Nathan?" she demanded.

"I said I love you. Do you want to still argue?" He was now enjoying how she fidgeted with the seam of her robe.

"You are fucking with me again!" Charlie lashed out.

"Yes, I would love to taste and touch you again. I want nothing more than to be inside of you; however, that just the physical part. There's a lot more to this. Charlie, I love you." Charlie's eyes began to flash back and forth. He noticed she was trying to decide which door would lead to her escape.

"Don't you even think about it," Nathan growled. She had pushed this situation with her indignation. Now, she was going to participate in the conversation like an honest-to-goodness adult. Charlie's head snapped back over to meet his gaze. If he had known any better, there would be smoke coming out of her ears next.

"Charlie, I love you. Not some girl from the bar. Not some girl who spends more time dying her hair than having an actual conversation. I want you. I want the vodka-drinking painter who has insomnia. I want the girl whose OCD only allows her to keep liquids on the top shelf of the refrigerator. I want the girl who wears Mr. Bubble t-shirts and watches bad 80s movies with me. I only want you. I love you!"

By the time Nathan was done with his romantic if not irritated tirade, Charlie was sniffing back her tears. This was only the second time he had ever seen her cry. Tears welled up in her eyes and broke free to stream down her cheeks. There was something tragically adorable about how she took on the look of a red raccoon and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her robe. Nathan crossed the room and gathered her in his arms. At first, he expected there to be a fight. Instead, Charlie melted into him, burying her face in his chest. After a moment, the flight response tried to take over when she stepped backwards, but Nathan held onto her, never breaking his hug.

When she looked up at him, he smiled and said, "I love you." The girl looked like a miserable mess with tears running out of her eyes, and snot dripping out of her nose, but that was exactly the reason why he loved her. She was strong and ever-mindful of her emotions. However, the few times he had really seen her release her emotions to be angry or sad, those were the best moments of his life. They were the moments that he truly got to see Charlie.

Chapter 34

Sunlight was streaming through the window. It lit up his covered eyes. His body felt like a lead weight that was not able to move. Muscles that never got much in the way of exercise were screaming. Nathan looked down his body and saw Charlie's head resting on his stomach. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was even if not steady. Her hair was spread out across his abdomen and legs. Nathan closed his eyes for a moment and took a very deep breath, wanting to savor the moment. When his eyes opened again, he looked over to the alarm clock. It was already 10:30 in the morning. They had been up most of the night hashing out the details of their interlude. Charlie complained she was too fat and not pretty enough. He would counter with a compliment and a memory of a time she looked amazing. The only conclusion reached was he was not allowed to use the l-word.

Then, there was the first-thing-in-the-morning need to pee, but he didn't want to disturb the sleeping beauty resting on him. Unfortunately, biology won out. Nathan tried to ease Charlie off of his body easily; yet, there was no way to get her and hair unwrapped from him without some extra movements. Nathan nudged her gently. Her sleep-glazed eyes opened, taking a moment to focus on him. When the fog of sleep cleared, she smiled and stretched. Nathan took the opportunity to move out from under her body and head towards the bathroom. After relieving himself, he grabbed the tube of toothpaste and spread some of it on his finger; he also brushed some on Charlie's toothbrush. Giving her toothbrush a quick dousing of water, he opened the door. He rubbed his teeth. Charlie was already out of the bed. Her womanly body was covered with her standard clothing fare. He watched as her breasts move while she made the bed. He appreciated the curve of her ass as she bent over to pick up clothes.

With a mouth full of toothpaste, he gurgled, "Nice view!"

Charlie flipped him the middle finger as she continued collecting clothes off of the floor. When she did turn to him, she saw only one thing that would truly make her feel better than coffee. She scrambled across the room and grabbed the toothbrush from his hand. She pushed past him into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Hey! I need back in there," he exclaimed through a mouth of paste and saliva. He stood there waiting for the door to open. Instead, there was the sound of running water in the sink and the toilet flushing. Finally, the door opened, and Charlie emerged. Nathan scrambled back into the bathroom to empty his mouth; he even stopped to rinse with some extra mouth wash that was available. After re-entering her room, he found it was empty. There were noises coming from downstairs, so he grabbed his towel from the bed and wrapped it around his waist, making his way down to the kitchen as well.

The smell of brewing coffee was already filling the kitchen and hallway. His tired body perked up at the aroma. Charlie stood in front of her computer screens, holding a cereal bowl with one hand and clicking the mouse with the other. She stopped to spoon the flakes into her mouth as she read the email that was on the screen. Nathan moved in behind her and encircled her waist with his arms. His body decided it was time for another biology lesson. Being that close to her made his cock respond.

"Want some?" Charlie asked as she held up the cereal bowl. Nathan kissed her neck and took the bowl from her hands. She sat down at the computer and began typing response to the email. Nathan moved into the kitchen while he ate. He stopped long enough to pull two coffee cups out of the cabinet. He made their cups of coffee, his with milk and hers with flavored creamer and sugar substitute. Charlie pretended to focus on the computer screens, but was it really not the case. Nothing really happened. I can ignore this. It was one night. He doesn't know what he is talking about.

When Charlie entered the room, he could feel her presence. He handed her the cup of coffee he made. She held the cup with both hands as she leaned against the counter. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her. She seems relaxed. After taking a few gulps from his own cup, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled and walked back to her writing room. Cup in hand, Nathan made his way out the backdoor. He needed to get showered and dressed. This was one "walk of shame" that made him completely happy.

Charlie heard the door close while she sat on her computer chair, and she drew her legs up to her chest. With her head resting on her knees, her mind re-played the movie of last night's events in her mind. All of the touches, caresses, and kisses came back to her with the same intensity that she felt as they were happening. Don't you even think for one minute that boy actually loves you. You aren't like that, and he is kidding himself. Come on, you've seen the girls he has brought home in the past. You can't even begin to compare.

Even with these realistic thoughts lurking in the back of her mind, there were still so many questions running through her mind. The biggest question was about the "l" word. Yes, he said it. So? She catalogued all of the women she had seen come and go from his life over the years. Never in their conversations about relationships had she heard him say that he loved any of them. Never had Nathan expressed more than a passing interest in any of them. It then dawned on Charlie that he always made it a point to come back to her after each one of those women left. Their relationship post-mortems always included a bottle of wine and a fresh pizza. For her, it was crying and getting a hug. But with Nathan, he seemed almost happy that his relationships had failed. Of course he was happy. He got to continue playing the play boy. There should have been a ticket wheel hanging outside his bedroom door. Now serving 2,834!

Charlie let go of her knees and pulled up her story file. She began typing. For the first time in a long time, she did not have the story mapped out. She was simply typing anything and everything that came to her mind. It was only fitting that the scenes that she typed strongly resembled her time in bed with Nathan the night before. When she looked up at the clock two hours had passed without any writing fuss or strain. The story was moving along much more quickly than the days before. When her hands stopped moving, the Nathan thoughts came back to haunt her. Charlie decided around page 11 of typing for the day that she was going to ignore the whole situation. She could not afford to lose him as a friend, and putting anymore energy (either emotionally or mentally) meant she was hoping for something that wasn't true or really there. It's over. It never even started.

Time for more pages in someone else's love story.

Chapter 35

Once out of the shower and dressed, she pulled open the bathroom door. Nathan was sprawled out on her bed with his lap top in front of him. Her purse and cigs were next to him. He had was typing and scrolling like a mad man. Again, everything was normal. No miraculous eye contact leading to mind-numbing orgasms. No morning of panic and l-words. Everything became eerily normal. Even though Charlie's intrusively obsessive thinking wanted her to ask questions about their intimacies, she chickened out. Shhh! It might be rabbit hunting season, but I can ignore the hell out of them. Remember, this is already over.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked as she moved over to the dresser. She scanned the bottles of fragrances that littered her dresser, unsure of which one to select. She picked up a few of them, popping the tops in order to smell the contents inside.

"Green bottle on the right," Nathan answered. His fingers never stopped moving on the keyboard; his eyes never left the computer screen. Charlie reached for the bottle. It was more of a musky smell with a hint of spiciness to it. She squirted some of it on her wrists and once on the front of her neck.

"We need to go grocery shopping today," Nathan mentioned as he clicked the mouse.

"Am I out of food already?" she asked jokingly. Nathan looked over the top of his computer with a slight glare.

"I'll refrain from showing you my middle finger, and no, you have plenty of food. We need to pick up the ingredients for stuffed mushrooms. Two days until Thanksgiving."

A boulder of concern immediately sank into Charlie's stomach. While "it" might already be over, that didn't mean it couldn't be the elephant in the room in front of his family. Awkward, party of one!

"I was thinking about staying home this year," she said quietly as she dug a pair of socks out of her dresser drawer. She moved to the bed, sitting next to him, but refusing to actually look his way.

"Excuse me?" Nathan closed the laptop and sat up on the bed. He worked his way over to the edge, making it a point to sit very close to her. His body rubbing along her side. Charlie raised her foot up onto the bed and proceeded to work the sock onto her foot.

"I was going to stay home this time," she focused on adjusting the sock, so the toe line would line up correctly on her foot. Next sock please! She still couldn't bring herself to really acknowledge that he was there let alone make any comment about how close he was to her. Too much! What the hell was going on? They had sex. He loves her. Going home to his family is way too much right now.

"Not happening," Nathan responded. He leaned into her, his face so close to the side of her neck. He pushed her wet hair to the side and audibly inhaled the perfume she had just put on. Charlie swatted him away and tried to stand up. Nathan's arm pulled her back down next to him. Can't avoid it any longer. Charlie looked him in the eyes.

"Nathan, come on! It would be awkward," Charlie tried to explain. For being a writer, the words were sure failing her now.

"What would be awkward? The fact that my family adores you or how upset my mom would be if you didn't show up? I'm not looking forward to an ugly kind of ass kicking from the woman if you and the stuffed mushrooms don't show up."

Charlie dropped her head again and fidgeted with the hem of her jeans. She didn't know quite what so say. She rested her head on her knee. Okay, it wasn't quite over. Shit!

"What about last night?"

"What about it?"

"I just, I mean, you know!" She was exasperated. Was he really going to make her say what she was thinking? That could be some dangerous ground. Verbal land mines and emotional bullets galore.

"Charlie, my family already knows how I feel about you."

Charlie's head snapped up and her eyes widened. Flee Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! She bolted off of the bed and down the stairs. She swiped a pair of shoes from the bottom of the stairs and sat down on the couch to put them on. It only took a few moments for Nathan to appear at the bottom of the stairs. He sat down on the last couple steps of the stairs with his arms resting on his knees.

"When I left last week, I left you the note saying I was going to see Sheila. She and I had some great talks about you. In fact, she and my mom had already formed a conspiracy to get us together."

Charlie dropped her head and stared at the hardwood floor. There was no way she could face his family now. In her mind's eye, she would have the scarlet letter on her chest. "S" for slut. Here ye, here ye! Charlie Higgins had her legs opened here last night. Yeah, sitting around the table while passing the turkey would be a fun time, especially when his mom would stop to ask if they had fucked yet. His dad could ask about what positions they liked best. Then, Sheila could chime in with her ideas about lube.

"Conspiracy? Are you kidding me?" she asked while jamming her feet into her shoes.

"My mom has known about my feelings for you for over a year now. She talks about you all of the time when I call home. She really likes you, Charlie."

Charlie groaned and toppled over on the couch. She buried her face in the cushion and let out a small scream. Charlie was having a hard time processing all of the information. It seemed like everyone in the world knew about "this" and "them" before she did. Them? What the hell am I thinking? There isn't a "them." He doesn't love me, and I'll be another one of the ones left in the dust. This didn't happen! Ignorance could really be bliss. Right?

"It isn't that bad!" Nathan commented. "You are coming home with me. End of story. Now, let's go grocery shopping."

Nathan stood up, moved over to the couch, and held out his hand. Charlie stared at it for a moment. She really wanted to take the role of a petulant child. It would be a great reason to throw a fit. Can't a girl have an orgasm in peace? Reluctantly, she grabbed his hand and pulled herself to a standing position. Nathan embraced her. She stood there like mannequin, ridge and unmoving. Was that that the l-word again? Charlie stomped down on Nathan's foot to fully demonstrate her irritation. How am I going to make it through the next five days without a nervous breakdown?

"Can we bring a bottle of lube and box of condoms with us?" Nathan chuckled as he danced around the living room, holding his new injured foot.

"Oh, shut the fuck up already!"

Chapter 36

The smell of cooking sausage had drifted out of Charlie's kitchen and into the courtyard. It had wafted into Nathan's house as well. He stopped to take an inhale of the great scent as he stood next to his travel bag. Continuing to stuff the bag with his clothes, he was looking forward to getting on the road. It would be a two-hour drive to his parents' house, and the traffic could be a bit difficult this time of morning. He originally wanted to get an earlier start, but Charlie was her typical, not-so-punctual self. Beep!

Charlie: R U ready?

Nathan: I'm not the one who made us late this morning sleepy britches

Charlie: Get over here already

Nathan: and if i dont

When Charlie didn't respond to his last text, he knew he had flustered her. Today was not the day to mess with her too much. She had already tried to back out of the trip once again this morning. There was no way she could worm her way out of it. Nathan's mom had called the night before to confirm what time they would arrive. She even spoke to Charlie on the phone. For a moment, he thought Charlie had suffered a mild aneurysm because she wouldn't talk for about an hour. When she did turn to him to attempt an excuse, he simply reminded her that she was going.

Nathan continued stuffing his clothes and bathroom supplies into his tote bag. Looking around his room, he made sure that he had everything. Just then, he saw a condom wrapper on the night stand next to his bed. You never know? Just in case. Smiling, he skirted around the bed and opened the drawer, pulling out a number of condoms. He stuffed them into the front pocket of his bag and zipped everything closed. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he made his way down the stairs and through his own kitchen. Snagging his phone charger off of the counter, he pushed it into the pocket of his coat. Just then, his phone began to buzz the familiar ringtone he had assigned to his mom.