A/N: So this is an adjusted world, sort of AU that's been bouncing around in my head for a few months. Technically still the same. I'm not going to spell it out for you. There is an OC that will defend the badassery of Charlie. This starts between when the bombs drop and their arrival at Willoughby.
A/N2: I made some edits running on more than the three hours of sleep I had yesterday. They are mostly for spelling and grammar but some minor details have probably changed. If you see any other issues with spelling and grammar please let me know. I would like to improve my writing, not just share it. :)
Three weeks before arriving at Willoughby...
Charlie had gone down to the bar for a little time alone with a bottle. They were on their way to see a grandpa that she didn't remember with a mom who was catatonic. She needed to feel centered. In control. And to focus on getting her mom help.
For some reason though, her mind kept on drifting back to the overthrown despot that had let Randall into the tower, sealing his own destruction. She hadn't seen Monroe since he saved her, but his face remained close to the surface of her mind. He did save her after all. It didn't make it any less embarrassing that thinking of him made her wet.
In was minutes later that she spotted him. Her heart froze, the moment extending infinitely, as a million thoughts raced through her head. It was doubtful that Monroe had been looking for them. He wouldn't really know which way they would go, and from the way he was staring at his table it seemed like he had more important things on his mind.
From the back of her head Charlie heard a small voice in her head saying that she should go. Run back to her mom, Miles, and Aaron and just go. But it didn't stop there, telling her how embarrassing it was that she had grown wet thinking of a man who had just materialized in front of her, adding that she shouldn't do the only thing that had been bouncing around her brain. She might be a little drunk but after fantasizing about a man with whom something would be so wrong, she just couldn't help herself. She was probably just feeling alone and sad. And when he sat there looking like someone whose world had just ended, he could probably use someone too.
Monroe had nothing to go back to after all. He wouldn't mind being the body she used to warm her bed. After all, Charlie wasn't blind. She had seen the look he was giving her when she stood in front of the barrel of Strausser's gun for Danny. He was intrigued by her. He wanted her. She would be lying if she didn't say she wanted him a little bit too. And she needed someone to feel close to after Nora died and her mom went...
Well, after her mom left the tower. And Aaron was doing his best, but he just walked around looking shocked. He had been the one that had actually pushed the button. Yes, my mom had gotten him into the tower, but Aaron had been the one that actually turned the power back on. And Miles was so focused on Rachel. It's like he couldn't really give his attention anything else. She was always in the thoughts flitting around the corners of his brain. It was like tunnel vision. Really, it made sense. The death of millions of people should put someone into shock.
That didn't make it hurt less.
Downing her third shot of whiskey for the night Charlie worked up the courage to walk over to Monroe. She sat down at his table and waited. They stared at each other, dueling silently; neither knowing what do to next or entirely where this was going. She could see that pain in his eyes. Their light sapphire color shifted to shine with drunkenness and need, much like her own probably were. Wordlessly, she held out her hand.
§§§
He had noticed her when she got up from her stool at the bar. Charlotte. Even through his whiskey haze he recognized her. Which drink was he on? Seventh? Tenth? Twelfth? He just couldn't keep track anymore. She reclaimed his attention when Bass saw her square her shoulders; his curiosity piqued while he watched her move to his table. When she sat down he had to suppress his look of shock. He felt his eyes widen slightly but managed to keep anything else from giving his thoughts away.
They started their first silent conversation, the shutters on the windows in depths of her aquamarine eyes slowly being opened. Letting him in. Her invariable mask of the past few months was finally slipping away from her, the hardness draining from her eyes. He saw the slight glimmer first. The spark of need that had been so carefully concealed there before broke through fully. He almost couldn't believe it. There was no reason for him to believe this was actually happening. He had been aware of his fixation on her, but hadn't entertained the though that she might reciprocate. The urge to pull a self satisfied smirk was almost unbearable. He just barely managed to overcome it.
§§§
Earlier she had handed over the diamonds to pay for a room upstairs instead of going back to spend the night in an abandoned house with her family. She warned them that she might; just told them she didn't want to walk home after a night in the bar. To her surprise, they had consented immediately. She probably shouldn't have been surprised, Aaron had just looked at her blankly before nodding his head. Miles had looked at her from the chair he was sitting on by her mom's bedside but hadn't said anything, simply mirroring Aaron's actions.
After staring at her outstretched hand for several seconds, Monroe took it. His hand was warm yet unsteady, hers slightly clammy. Their fingers intertwined and his thumb feathered lightly across her palm at the base of her thumb. He let Charlie pull him to the stairs and lead him up. Her mind was focused on his movements on her plan – wondering what his fingers would do elsewhere on her body. She quivered at the thought.
They reached the top of the stairs, out of sight of anyone in the bar, and she pulled him against her body, bringing his mouth down to her. She initiated it, but he took control of the kiss. His tongue ran against the seam of her lips, she eagerly opened her mouth and let his tongue ravish her. Their tongues moved in sync as Charlie led them back to the door of her room. She took his bottom lip in her teeth and lightly bit down, making him groan. His lips captured hers again with him wearing a smile. He pushed her against the door when they got to it, and she fumbled with the key behind her back a few times before it slid home into the lock. She opened the door and they both stumbled backwards, disrupting their kiss.
The room was small, but there was a bed. Granted with the state they were in all they probably needed was a wall, but that was beyond the point.
Charlie moved to shut the door. She turned around to face Monroe. He took a step forward his body heat radiating out towards her. Charlie leaned back against the door and put her hands on his chest to steady herself. He hooked an arm around her waist and Charlie gasped as he pulled her up to him so his lips could crash into hers desperately.
She generally gave as good as she got, but she just let him invade her mouth, sliding her tongue against his. Sighing into his mouth she felt him run his tongue against the roof of her mouth and his hands... his hand seemed to be everywhere. With a practiced touch they feathered down her sides, molded over her breasts, and caressed her face. They moved to brush her hair back in an almost tender motion. He broke the kiss and stepped back to catch his breath, catching her eyes, their bottomless blue boring into hers. This isn't what she wanted. She wanted quick, hard, and dirty. He was giving her passionate. This is not what a one night stand should feel like.
Impatiently, Charlie stepped back towards him and pulled him down to her level. Then their lips met again she was the aggressor. Moving Monroe slowly back towards the bed, she kissed him hard and fast; lips roaming from his mouth to his ear and neck, nipping lightly then tracing over the stinging skin with her tongue. Roughly she pulled at his clothing, the frustrating barriers separating her fingertips from his skin. He laughed, a low raw sound, his jacket hit the floor in seconds. He unzipped her own jacket and pushed it down her shoulders. They parted briefly to pull their shirts over their respective heads. He exhaled appreciatively at the sight of her body and his hands moved to her bra. Those were different in the post-apocalyptic world they lived in, but they all generally snapped the same way. With more trouble then he would ever admit he got it off of her. He gazed at her topless figure, her smooth skin was broken by scars he knew were put there because of him. The thought niggled his brain as he ran his fingertips over her torso, pausing over each the scars that he could see briefly. She grabbed his wrist, uncomfortable with his actions, and looked at him pointedly – making sure he knew. She could see the regret in his eyes but brushed it from her mind as their lips reconnected.
Charlie took off her belt in a rush, deepened their kiss, and was unbuttoning her jeans when she felt his hands still hers. They broke apart. She looked up into his eyes and he caught her off guard, taking over for her hands and unzipping her jeans before slowly pulling them over her hips, revealing her smooth silky skin. He glanced up at her with an eyebrow raised when he realized that she wasn't wearing any underwear. She just shrugged at him. Those weren't easy to come by so she just went without. Her jeans pooled around her ankles; steadying her hands against his shoulders she lifted up each foot to help him get them off her. But when her hands moved to the button of his jeans, he pushed them away.
§§§
Damn. She looked great naked. There was absolutely nothing that Bass would rather be doing right now. He just hoped that tomorrow he would remember all of it. He had been more than half of the way through a bottle of whiskey. He took her mouth again and moved her so she was sitting on the bed. He moved down her body, feathering light kisses between her breasts. Moving lower to her stomach he started running open mouth kisses lower and lower while running his hands up her thighs, spreading them. Charlotte's breathing had started to become uneven and her hips were slowly rotating. Begging for him. The throb in his groin intensified, pulling a groan from deep in his chest.
He spoke his first words in days, breathing out softly, "God you're beautiful," right before sliding his tongue into her pussy. She was absolutely drenched and her breathing went fully erratic. She gasped slightly, but she had to have known where this had been going. Using his tongue, he slowly circled her clit and trailed his finger up her olive-skinned thigh to press into her slick folds. As he pushed one finger inside her he continued to lick and nip lightly at her clit. A second finger easily joined the first, curling to find the spot that would make her fall apart. When he found it she cried out. She was eager under Bass' touch, her fingers desperately twisted in his curls. With a groan caused by the almost unbearable throbbing of his cock he worked her faster and faster eliciting everything from moans to screams and breathy gasps. He drove her relentlessly over the edge of her first orgasm when she gasped his name. Not just his name though, at least not what she always called him. She had called him Bass.
He moved back up her body to kiss her firmly on the mouth. Then and only then did he finally let her unbutton his jeans. His cock sprung free, eager for her touch. She scooted back on the bed with him crawling up right in time with her, their lips never parting. He kicked off his pants on the way up the bed. Charlotte brushed one hand over his chest, fingertips trailing down his well toned abs before falling to his cock, tracing the veins lightly. He moaned into her mouth and grabbed her wrist. He couldn't handle it when he was so close to coming.
Bass positioned his cock at her dripping entrance. She was ready. He buried himself balls deep inside her in one stroke, pulling a moan from her and causing their kiss to break.
§§§
There was no pain as he entered her. She was ready for him. Monroe was what she had needed at that moment, and Monroe is what she got. Charlie linked her legs around his waist and snaked her arm down her body to circle her clit. Gasping and panting filled the room. His thrusts started to get erratic, and Charlie used it as a reason to roll him over on his back while he was still inside her. She could feel his cock throb inside her as she started to ride him. His hands moved to her hips, gripping with a bruising force, guiding her up and down. He felt like he was going to explode. She was moving up and down him faster and faster, riding him like she would die if she stopped. Charlie felt herself get closer and closer to her edge before she suddenly rushed over the waterfall of her orgasm crying out his name and coming around him; milking his dick. Monroe let out a brutal yell and shot himself deep inside her. Charlie knew what could happen, but at that point she didn't care. She had made no move to remove him and she had known the consequences.
She collapsed on top of him, catching her breath. He had wrapped his arms around her in another surprisingly tender gesture. They were going their separate ways in the morning, but they had now. A few minutes later, she wriggled and he released her, his cock slid out of her with a wet sound. She lay on her back next to him.
"So. What do you want to do now?" Monroe asked, looking over at her with a cocky smile. His face had lost some of the tension that she had seen on it earlier that night.
"I don't know, I'm sure we could think of something. When you're ready." She trailed her fingers lightly across his pecs and down his taut abs; the first time she hadn't gotten the chance to appreciate him as much as he had her. The only scrap of cloth on either of them was the ring of fabric hiding her brand, and they had hours before either of them needed to be anywhere.
§§§
Shortly before daybreak, Charlie slid from Monroe's arms. After a few more rounds, they had fallen exhausted into arms and sunk into blissful darkness. She had jerked awake, never being a heavy sleeper. Mostly because of Danny. Her heart squeezed painfully at the thought, but she continued to slip around the room to find her scattered belongings. After dressing silently, she stared down at Monroe's sleeping form for a few minutes, committing it to memory for lonely nights. She turned away, suddenly unable to reconcile her feelings about the man. Sparing one last look at the no doubt very hungover man in her bed Charlie softly closed the door.
She met up with Miles, Aaron, and Rachel and they continued on their way to Willoughby.
