Sorry for the long wait on this one. It was a really busy month, and anyway I wanted to make sure I took my time on this part. It's the longest and most plot heavy yet, and the start of the real drama of the story -- as you could probably guess from the ending to part 3, shit is about to go down.
Thank you so much for all of the positive feedback to the first 3 parts. This is the first piece of writing, erotic or otherwise, that I've ever shown to people who aren't either one of my teachers in the past or friends and family, so it means a lot.
As always, hope you enjoy!
(Fyi, I'm combining the last two parts, so there will only be six total, not seven as I originally planned)
Part 4
Needless to say, it was a confusing week for me. That day felt like it had just turned our whole situation on its head -- all of Max's comments about my mystery girl and how I was acting, the way Charley and I had ended up during movie night, and of course -- that kiss the morning after.
Fuck, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
I knew that this was all probably a bit pathetic of me, obsessing over a kiss like I was twelve years old. But this wasn't just some girl I liked in my year 2 geography class.
This was
Charley
. The smartest, hottest, kindest person I'd ever met. The most incredible person I knew. The girl I'd been infatuated with for well over half my life.
And of course, also my stepsister. A fact which was still complicating things, to put it mildly.
But despite that little detail, I felt really, really good. Now, like I mentioned before, I had been in a somewhat permanent good mood since Charley and I had agreed to start sleeping together. But what I was feeling after that day was something else entirely. It was like this constant, fluttering ache in my chest -- which I guess sounds bad, but was weirdly the most amazing thing in the world.
Except I wasn't so sure it was a good thing at all.
It's probably difficult to see how that could be a problem. I was racking my brain trying to figure it out myself -- until I realized it wasn't actually a problem in and of itself. The problem was that there was something else I was feeling alongside it, and it was jumbling up all my emotions.
The thing is, it wasn't guilt. That was what was strange -- guilt I was familiar with, could handle. I'd felt guilty about liking Charley almost since the day we met, and I understood why. We were family, and you shouldn't be sexually attracted to your family. It was an open and shut case.
But I couldn't wrap my head around this new feeling, figure out what it was. And I definitely didn't understand what it came with -- something that almost felt like ...
fear
.
Or maybe I did know what it was, and why I would be afraid. But I just didn't want to admit it to myself.
Anyway, my mind was racing so much over the next few days that it was pretty difficult to get anything done. It was another stay-at-home period for me, playing PlayStation mindlessly, and counting down the days until Friday when I promised I'd go over to Charley's. I was simultaneously ecstatic and terrified about what would happen.
By Thursday, there was literally nothing else on my mind except my stepsister. At least, there wasn't until that evening, when my phone buzzed with a text message.
It was from my mum. My
biological
mum.
Hey, I'm back in town! Would love to meet up for lunch or coffee if you're not too busy.
As I stared at the message, I felt a strange mix of emotions. Ever since she and my dad had divorced, she'd essentially been out of the picture. Working as an archaeologist, she had always been a bit aloof, mind always focused on excavation sites, not her family. And as soon as the papers were signed, and it was agreed that I would be living with Dad, she had fucked off to Egypt or Peru or wherever it was, pretty much for good.
I made a big deal previously about how little Charley and I had kept in contact while she was at Stanford, but my mum and I were on a whole different level. Since I was six, I'd seen her a grand total of five times, spread out across fourteen years. No calls, messages, birthday cards -- nothing. Just five texts from her, alerting me she was in London and available to meet.
Luckily, I had gotten over it a long time ago. Pretty much the moment I was introduced to Miss Kim and her daughter, and was told they were going to part of the family. So, whenever I did end up seeing my mum again, it wasn't like it was a bitter reunion. I had no resentment or anything. We'd exchange pleasantries, catch up on the last few years, and then go our separate ways.
That being said, I decided to let the message sit for a while. Didn't want to make it seem like I was desperate to see her again or anything.
*****
Despite the minor distraction of my mum being back, the nervous excitement was still in full flow as I climbed the stairs to Charley's apartment on Friday.
The door was already open as I turned the corner, and Charley stood there, leaning against the door frame. She was wearing a pink apron over her t-shirt, dirtied with flour and what appeared to be some sort of cake or brownie batter.
"You're early," she remarked with a smirk, as I walked up towards her. And then she stood on her tiptoes to peck me on the lips.
I blinked back at her after she leaned away.
Looks like the kiss that morning wasn't a one-off.
"Oh. Sorry."
"Sorry? I wasn't complaining" she chuckled. "You're so cute. I'm making brownies, wanna help?"
She sauntered off back towards her kitchen, and with the kiss and the compliment rattling around in my head I ended up following her on her heels like a puppy. "Yeah, sure."
"I have two bowls of mixture, so you just get to work stirring one and I'll do the other." She handed me one of the bowls. "Shouldn't need to do it too long, just till it's smooth. All the ingredients are already in there."
"Yes ma'am." After a minute or two of intense stirring action, we poured the mixture onto a massive tray and put it in the oven.
"Just under half an hour," Charley said as she set a timer on her phone and plopped down in the seat across from me at her dining table. "You get up to much this week?"
"Eh, not really. Had to recharge my social battery after all those hangouts recently."
She raised an eyebrow. "
All those hangouts,
meaning when you helped me move in, and a single pub trip with some uni friends?"
"We can't all be extroverts," I grumbled. "Baby steps."
"Oh sure," she giggled. "Well, I'm really proud of you."
I remembered my mum's text, which I still hadn't replied to. "There is one other potential outing in the cards. My mum is back in London. She texted me, asking if I wanted to meet up."
Charley immediately became serious. "Oh, shit. That's something. When was the last time you guys...?"
"A while back. It was during your first year at Stanford."
She whistled. "Over three years ago? Damn."
"Yep."
"Are you gonna go?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Yeah, why not? It's not like I hate her or anything. And it's free food."
"Fair enough." She hesitated. "We've never really talked about her, you and me."
"What's there to talk about?"
"It must be weird, knowing you have a parent out there but not really having much of a relationship with them," she said. "I know it would fuck with me if ... well, you know."
If her dad was still alive.
"I guess," I replied. "I was pretty mad at both of them when they split up. But as soon as you and your mum came into the picture, it was never like I was left wanting for a family."
"
Our
mum," Charley corrected.
"Right," I smiled. Her comment made me feel strangely warm inside.
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way," she continued. "I know it was always the same for me, with you and Dad." She paused. "And ... I hope you know you can always talk to me about this stuff, if you want."
"Oh okay," I grinned. "You're in the therapy business now?"
She smirked back. "I'm in the amazing big sister business."
"No need to remind me," I laughed. "I remember your 'big sister' hospitality
very
well from the last time I was here."
"There's really no need to bring that up," she groaned, blushing slightly.
We sat there talking and laughing for a while, but before we knew it, Charley's phone was ringing as the timer went off. She rushed over to pull the tray out of the oven and cut us both a slice each.
I followed her over to the kitchen counter to try it, and as soon as I took the first bite, I was immediately blown away by rich, chocolatey flavor and gooey texture, with a hint of salt and something else I couldn't put my finger on. "Holy shit. These are amazing."
"I know right?" Charley replied with a smile. "It's a secret Kim recipe."
I raised an eyebrow. "Gatekeeping it, huh?"
"There's a lot I'll share with you, but some things you have to keep to yourself." She paused. "Though speaking of sharing, we should do a movie night again soon. Last Wednesday was really nice."
Oh sure, it was the movie that was nice.
I still wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that we hadn't addressed how different that night had made things. But what I
was
sure about was that I definitely wasn't brave enough to be the one to bring it up, with the risk of making things weird.
"As long as it's not