Why was she sitting at a bar, downing what appeared to be her 6th shot of that evening when tomorrow was Christmas day, a holiday she had heard so much about, but had never really got what all the hype was about.
She was young when the blackout happened so what she knew about Christmas had all come from stories her dad used to tell her growing up. He would try to make it as special as he could for her and Danny, but as they got older, she started to care less and less about the stupid holiday.
Of course she put on a front while Danny was younger because she didn't want to ruin it for him just because she didn't really see the point in pretending nothing was wrong and everything was going along swimmingly…not even for one day.
Plus half of the time she was fighting with her dad about Maggie and how she wanted nothing to do with her, and not even Charlie saw the point in a cease fire for the sake of some holiday she wasn't even sure existed or not.
Thinking back to Maggie, she wished she would've just tried to get along with her…at least for that one day. Maybe it she had gotten her head out of her ass for one day she would realize how big of a bitch she was being. Then she wouldn't have wasted all that time hating her, when all Maggie ever wanted to do was help.
Those memories burned worse than the alcohol, currently making its way down her esophagus, settling onto her almost completely empty stomach.
She hadn't realized how long she had been sitting in the dingy, hole in the wall bar, miles outside of town, hoping that no one would recognize her there, or would come looking for her.
She told Miles that she was going hunting for awhile, just to get some air and get away from her mother who was even more depressed this time of year than usual, and that was saying a lot. She was the definition of a killjoy, a word she'd picked up from Monroe.
Miles put up a fight for a bit claiming that even though they may have seem a small victory, the war was still ongoing and it wasn't safe to let their guards down, even for just a few hours.
Stubborn Charlie wasn't having any of that. She didn't care about the impending doom that seemed to always follow them around. Just for one night, while everyone else was celebrating a fat man in a suit stuffing himself down a chimney bringing them gifts, she wanted to drown her sorrows in an unknown location where she could just blend.
That was a dumb idea, especially when she chose a bar of all places to try to blend in. She was an attractive girl, surrounded by hungry, ravenous sharks…the last thing she was doing was blending.
She chose a barstool at the very far end of the bar, hoping that maybe it would deter men from coming up to her, but when has anything ever deterred men? Her solitude lasted until about the 4th shot, which wasn't all that long, before a grungy older man with a chipped front tooth approached her.
His swaying and the odor of whiskey when he opened his mouth told her that he was completely wasted, "what's a pretty little thing like you doing here…and all alone?" His eyes panned down her body in hunger; internally she shuddered but didn't flinch on the outside.
Not responding at the time seemed like her best bet, in this situation it only encouraged him to bravely reach out and touch her face, laughing as she recoiled from his touch, "playing hard to get eh?"
"I'm not playing hard to get…you're just hard to want." She said she wasn't going to respond, but she just couldn't help herself, he was making it too easy.
His eyes narrowed at the bitchiness in her voice, but still tried to maintain what he thought was a flirty tone, "I don't think you're in a position to be choosy right now, kid."
She hated all of those stupid nicknames, but 'kid' was her least favorite. It was bad enough when Miles called her that and Monroe started picking up on that, but to hear it come out of a disgusting drunkard's mouth pissed her off, "I don't think you're ever in a position to be choosy."
"Listen here, I'm tryin' to be nice to ya but you're makin' it real hard…what with you being a bitch and all."
"Obviously I'm not being a bitch enough because you're still here, breathing my air," she pretended to look bored and unamused by him, scrunching her nose up in disgust.
Barely having time to react before his hand shot out and delved into her hair, pulling her head back roughly, she managed to get her other hand around to grip his head before slamming it into the counter top. He let out a yelp as his nose made contact, instantly letting go of her hair, moving his hand to cup the blood now pouring out of it.
By this time they had caused a lot of commotion in the bar and Charlie could see the faces around here, some in shock, and others looked ready to jump in at the guy's defense. Clearly they weren't used to women refusing them. The men before who were taking small, cautious steps towards her suddenly retreated back.
She turned around to see what all the fuss was about and came face to face with a very pissed off Monroe who had the guy's arm twisted so far around his back it looked like twine that was about to snap at any minute, "touch a lady like that again and I'll snap your arm like a twig."
He looked over to Charlie before leaning to whisper in the guy's ear so low that Charlie had to strain to hear it, "and if you ever touch her again, I'll make sure you suffer more agony than your small little brain could ever think of."
Still with his hand nursing his face, the guy all but ran off with his tail between his legs. Charlie grinned at his retreating form, but that smile faded into a scowl when she looked to see that Monroe was still very pissed off.
Grabbing her elbow, he attempted to haul her up, but her persistency wasn't something he accounted for, "let's go Charlotte, you're drunk," he growled at her.
Jerking her arm away with a force she wasn't even sure she was capable of being so intoxicated, she went back to her drink, turning the content upside down. "I'm not going anywhere, and I didn't ask for your help. I was fine on my own."
He snorted in disbelief, "Oh I'm sure you were, just like you were last time. Tell me Charlotte… what was your next plan of action when all these other dicks jumped in and outnumbered you? Did you think that far ahead?"
Whipping her head around she glared at him, "fuck you, last time I was drugged, that wasn't my fucking fault. I don't need life lessons on how to think about consequences…especially not from a former dictator who definitely didn't think ahead about shit."
He was used to hearing those kinds of comments, so the insult just rolled off his back. And she was right about last time, she might not have even needed his help, but that wouldn't have stopped him.
For some reason he felt this overwhelming urge to always swoop in and save her. He knew that she was the furthest thing from a damsel in distress, but he couldn't help himself when it came to her, and he had no idea why.
"Miles is looking for you, said you were only going hunting for a few hours. He was starting to get worried."
That was the half-truth. Miles did say that she was going hunting, and he seemed a bit concerned, but it was Bass who was the most worried when she didn't come back after a few hours. His mind had already started thinking of the worst things that could've happened to here, and here she was…getting piss ass wasted in some filthy bar.
"Well I lied obviously, I just wanted to be alone. Clearly I can't do that without big brother watching over me like some hawk," she motioned to Bass' form.
For the first time he actually took in his appearance, hands crossed over his chest like a scolding parent. He felt like a damn parent to a teenager. His arms dropped lightly, one hand going through his hair in frustration, "Miles made dinner for Christmas, everyone's waiting on you."
Slamming her glass on the bar she turned back around to face him, "I don't give a shit about Christmas. Hell I don't think it was ever even real, but if it is, then whoop de fucking doo. I feel no need to celebrate it now when I haven't celebrated it since…"
Snapping her mouth shut, she drew her lips in a tight line as she turned back to face the wall. The last thing she was going to do tonight was pour her heart out about all that she had lost, especially not to Sebastian Monroe of all people. She would not let him see her fall apart.
"Since when Charlotte?" She should've known he would pick up on that. He was annoyingly perceptive and liked to push her buttons.
This time she was not going to give him the satisfaction as she continued to ignore him, her buzz almost wearing off from her blood pressure shooting sky high, fighting with him. Even when he wasn't physically stopping her from drinking…he was.
"Okay fine. That's fine."
She didn't acknowledge his statement nor turn around to see what he meant, but she didn't have to. His arm slid around her waist, hoisting her up over his shoulders, until his arm locked tightly just below the curve of her ass.
Her hair cascaded in waves down his back and almost reached his feet, the glass dropped onto the bar floor, shattering sound swallowed up in the roar of the bar, "what the hell are you doing?"
Ignoring her for the first time this night, he threw some diamonds down on the bar to pay for whatever she had consumed, and made his way out of the door not paying any attention to her feeble attempts to break from his grasp.
He walked on for a few minutes, listening to her ran and curse at him, all the while wiggling and pounding on his back, doing anything she could think of to make him let go. But he wasn't going to, not until they were far enough away that she would be too lazy to walk back.
Charlie had other ideas though. She wanted down, and she wanted down now. Hitting and yelling wasn't making a difference to him, probably used to temper tantrums after spending all that time with Rachel who was just as stubborn as Charlie.
She knew that she had to really cross the line in order for him to let his guard down enough. Her hand wandered to his ass before roughly squeezing it. Just as she suspected that did the trick.
He said nothing, but his arm went slack around her legs and she was able to slid down the front of his body, instantly retreating, putting some distance between them.
That gap was filled suddenly as he strode towards her and cornered her up against the wall of a building, at the far edge of town, "what the hell do you think you're doing Charlotte?"
Fury burned in her eyes as she looked up at him defiantly, "anything I could think of to make you let go of me. Don't be so dramatic, so I touched your ass…it's not like I was coming onto you," she rolled her eyes, "It's not like you think of me that way."
She snickered until she stopped abruptly looking at he change in his body language. That was it. She hit the nail on the head and boy did she know it. The look in his eyes changed from anger to passion, realization hitting Charlie like a sack of bricks.
Pushing off the wall with her foot, she came to stand closer to him, "that's the problem isn't it? You do think of me in that way. That's why you reacted like that…it turned you on."
"You're playing a dangerous game here kid," he added gruffly, stepping back to cool down and remember she was Miles' niece. Miles' annoying, loud, bossy, confrontational, hot, ass kicking, niece.
She laughed humorlessly, "don't call me kid when you're picturing yourself pounding into me…that's a little twisted, even for you."
"Charlotte, I suggest you stop playing with fire."
The words were telling her one thing, but his pleading voice was sending mixed signals. It sounded like he was loosing all control and fighting the attraction he felt.
He wasn't going to make a move, but that didn't mean he wouldn't allow Charlie to. She moved closer to his body, revealing in the feel of the electricity and warmth flowing between them as his back touched the opposite wall she had just been on, "what if I like the feel of fire?"
Pushing her chest further into him, she stood up on her tiptoes, letting her hand travel up to rest on the side of his neck as she kissed just behind his ear.
"You're drunk Charlotte and I'm not going to let you use me to get your rocks off because you're having a shitty 'woe is me' moment," his hands clenched at his side as Charlie continued her attack on his neck. He tried everything he could to contain his moans at the feel of her hot breath against his skin and the way her tongue glided across his neck.
Any other time she might've been pissed at what he was saying and accusing her of, but right now she didn't care. She had one goal in mind: to make him break his resolve, "I may hate myself in the morning, but right now that doesn't matter. If Christmas is supposed to be about getting gifts and presents…just give me this one thing."
A pissed off Charlie he could handle, but a begging Charlie he couldn't refuse. That's how he ended up hitching her knee up on his body, moaning out loud when her center came in contact with his semi hard dick.
She wasn't expecting that he was going to give in so easy, but she melted into his body and let him take control as her hands remained on his shoulders for support. The only thing she was contributing was rolling her hips up to meet his, smiling as he hissed in pain every time her pussy rubbed against his raging hard on.
"I can't be gentle," he grunted out in between kisses.
"Good."
With that he let go of her leg, letting it drop as he maneuvered them until her front was pressed up against the side of the building.
Kissing the side of her face, he sucked on her earlobe before biting down lightly as she mewed in appreciation, "I think you've pretty bad this year…downright naughty."
"I thought being on the naughty list was a bad thing?"
"It is, being on the naughty list means you don't get a say in anything that happens tonight…no matter how much you beg."
Jutting her lip out into a pout earned a chuckle from him before going back to the task at hand. He unzipped her jeans, shoving them and her underwear down to just below her knees.
Using his two fingers he stroked her lightly, tsking her when she ground her hips up to meet his fingers, "what did I say Charlotte, I'm robbing this train. You begged for me remember?"
His smug voice and air of self-confidence made her want to turn around and punch him in the face, but all of those violent thoughts went out the window when he roughly inserted those two fingers into her.
She tried her best not to buck her hips, but when that didn't work he used his other hand to anchor her hips down, biting down hard on her shoulder blade, causing her to cry out.
They were miles away from Rachel or Miles who would probably kill Bass without even questioning what was going on. Though it didn't take a genius to see they were fucking.
Teasing turned into torture for him as he watched the way her mouth formed an 'oh,' eyes rolling into the back of her head. Removing his fingers from her heat, he quickly unbuckled his belt, and slid his pants down to his ankles.
Her eyes snapped open in anger, but they closed again when she felt the head of his dick pounding into her without even giving her time to adjust. Not that she cared; she didn't want loving and sweet at the moment. She wanted rough and fast, and she knew that Monroe…Bass, was the best person to give her that.
Moving her hands, she braced them against the wall and laid her forehead against her forearms. His hands came up beside of hers, caging her in, but they didn't last long there before he moved them to forcefully grab her hips, gaining momentum and more leverage to hammer into her throbbing pussy.
"Fuck…Bass."
That was the first time she had called him Bass, to his face at least, and if he wasn't balls deep in her that would've caused his heart to melt. But he was too far gone, loving the feel of her contracting against his dick as he went almost all the way out before slamming back in.
Her head fell back against his shoulder as her legs shook with desire. He moved his hand from one of her hips around to the front of her pussy to rub at her clit with his thumb, grinning when she moaned loudly, "Bass, Bass…don't stop. I'm—so….close—oh God…shit."
Her sentences grew to just words until that too became garbled up into sounds and moans coming from her lips. He pinched lightly on her clit, the pain making her even wetter as she hit her orgasm, juices flowing from her as her legs struggled to hold herself upright.
Bass wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her up while he finished himself off. He was close and thinking about her saying his name over and over again was definitely helping.
He went to pull out, but Charlie's hands pulled firmly on his ass, keeping his dick inside her, "I want you to cum inside me Bass."
He knew that he should've thought this through, but when she said 'Bass' in that breathy, seductive way, he was a goner. "Shit, Charlotte…Charlie," he emptied all of his cum inside her, having trouble keeping them both standing after that mind-blowing sex.
Charlie sensed this so she laid against the wall, and Bass followed suit, careful not to crush her with his dead body weight against hers. Her breathing had already returned to normal, but Bass was still behind her panting, which made her wet all over again.
Placing one last lingering kiss on her shoulder where a mark was already forming, he pulled out of her, groaning when he left the comforts of her warm pussy to pull his pants back up and tuck himself in.
Mindlessly she pulled her pants back up as well, turning around to slid down against the wall as she drew her knees up and placed her elbows on top.
She wasn't regretting the sex, that was exactly what she needed at the time, but the buzz from the alcohol had worn off, and she was coming down from the high of the sex. She felt nothing…empty…hollow.
Bass looked down at her still form and knew that look. He experienced it many times after he had come down off of a high from fighting. That empty feeling where he just felt numb to everything. He wanted so badly to take that from her.
Crouching down he placed his hands lightly on top of her knees but she didn't look up at him, "look I get why you're not the biggest fan of Christmas, especially with all that's happened, but Miles needs you right now."
Laughing in disbelief, she shook her head; "don't coddle me by pretending to know how I feel. Miles is the damn adult, why is it always my job to be strong for everyone else."
"Don't tell me that I'm pretending. I know loss just like you Charlotte…I lost my whole family and still had to carry on," he barked at her.
"Yeah and look how well you took that loss. You went bat shit crazy off the rails—"
"Stop being such a brat," he snapped.
She was immediately cut off when he stood up abruptly. She watched as his muscles flexed, and his hands clenched as he turned his back to her, trying to take calming breaths in order not to snap at her or do something else he might regret.
There was only one other woman who knew how to push his buttons like Charlie, and that woman was Rachel. At least he didn't hate Charlie.
Her gaze softened when she thought about how much of a selfish bitch she was being right now. Everyone has experienced loss, she wasn't unique in this, "sometimes I think about how badly I treated Maggie, especially during the holidays when she and dad would try to do something special for us. She deserved a lot better than my teenage, defiant attitude. I really was a brat to her."
Bass didn't turn around yet because he didn't know if he was under control or not but hearing her soft, broken voice did the trick. His anger instantly vanished and he turned back around to see her staring off into the distance.
"Danny's gone, Maggie's gone, hell even Nora's gone, but my mom is still here. Don't get me wrong I love my mom, but is it wrong that I would trade her for Danny?"
She didn't dare look at Bass because she didn't want to break, but he didn't have to look at her to know there were tears escaping her eyes.
He shook his head, "it's not wrong to miss people and to want them here bad enough that you would do anything."
She nodded her head mutely, blank expression still etched across her facial features.
Sighing he moved to sink down against the wall beside of her, leaving a few inches of distance between their bodies, but there hands were touching, "I said that you had to be strong for Miles because you're stronger than him you know."
When she snorted and rolled her eyes he laughed, "I'm serious, he may be stronger in other aspects, but emotionally you're way stronger than he is Charlie, fuck…you're way stronger than we all are."
"I'm just not good at pretending that I'm happy, I never was good at faking it for the sake of some stupid holiday, course I'm a little happier this holiday since I actually got something good," she smirked over at Bass.
He laughed out loud at her boldness, "the gift that keeps on giving eh?"
They both started laughing but Bass stopped when he felt moisture landing on his cheek. He looked up and squinted his eyes, trying to see if that was snow or rain falling, "well I'll be damned, I haven't seen it snow in years."
Charlie hadn't either now that she thought about it. It didn't snow much at the village they lived in. It snowed when she was little in Chicago, but she didn't remember much of it there, plus Rachel was an overprotective parent when it came to Danny, so if he couldn't play in the snow, neither could Charlie.
She stood up and held her hands out, catching some of the snow in her palms as Bass mocked her in amazement, "this is your sign Charlotte," she looked at him weirdly, "they always say that people are watching over you. Who knows, maybe this is Danny's doing, letting you know that you don't have to fake it this year. You can feel happy and not feel guilty that you're still alive."
The words sunk into her and made an impact on her, more than anything else he had ever said. Maybe it was Danny, or maybe it was just wintertime, but whatever it was it lifted some of the weight Charlie was feeling.
She was still definitely not a holiday person and wanted nothing to do with celebrating next year, unless it meant Bass' idea of a gift, but for the moment she wasn't pretending. She almost felt happy as she tilted her head up to the sky, smiling from ear to ear.
Bass was smiling too, feeling just as happy, only he was looking at Charlie. He was probably going to hell and Miles was going to kick his ass when he found out, but it meant seeing her like that…he would do it all over again.
Neither one of them spoke for awhile, just enjoying watch the snowfall accumulate on the ground below their feet. The circumference of the ground around them had all turned to white, light from the torches of the town reflecting on the snow making her eyes sparkle in exhilaration.
Looking at her twinkling eyes gave Bass an idea. He grabbed her elbow, gently this time, disconnecting her gaze, "come on, let's do one more thing before we head home."
"Isn't Miles expecting us? I thought you said he was worried?"
Bass smiled sheepishly at her, "yeah…about that, I may have lied too. Miles was semi worried, but really…I just wanted to you know…check on you."
Charlie smiled at his boyish face, flustered and embarrassed was a good look for him, "I should've known it wasn't Miles."
Turning back around he pulled her along behind him until she got the idea to comply and go along. Even then he moved his hand to grab hers lightly, calloused, worn out hands cradling smooth, soft ones.
He grabbed something as they went along, but Charlie had no idea what it was, she was most concerned with trying to keep up with his pace and watch the ground underneath her. Snow made it difficult to see what she was stepping on.
They went a couple miles further out when he came to a halt and peered down, examining their spot on a hill. Charlie followed his gaze downwards, trying to figure out what he was looking for, but all she saw was a hill with some snow on it. Nothing exciting there.
Obviously she wasn't impressed because she didn't know what was going on, at that Bass laughed, "You don't remember this do you?"
She shook her head no, not really sure why she would remember this place. It was literally a random ass spot in the middle of nowhere.
Again he laughed, "not the place smart ass, this," he motioned to a piece of lumber in his hand, "it's called sledding. Miles and me took you one year when you were little, but Rachel said no more because Miles was too reckless and gave in when you told him you didn't need a helmet. You bumped your head, but that was one hell of a ride you took, I swear you went 10 feet in the air."
None of this was really ringing a bell to her; maybe she got hit harder in the head than they thought. That did sound like something she would convince Miles.
Putting her hands on her hips her eyebrows knitted in confusion, "So…let me get this straight, I'm going to get on that flimsy piece of wood, and you're going to….push me? I feel like this is more fun for you than it is for me."
Bass smiled at her pretty much spot on explanation of sledding, "that's the gist of it, but if it'll make you feel better I'll ride behind you."
Cheekily she smiled, "I thought we were just doing that in the alleyway back there?"
"Humor me Charlie, just get on the sled," he was trying hard to not smile at her, but failed miserably when she threw her hands up in the air and sat down dramatically, surveying the wood in apprehension.
She turned her head around waiting for him to join, as per his statement, "we don't have all day—"
With one forceful shove, she went barreling down the hill so fast that she didn't have time to even catch her breath. That asshole tricked her into thinking he was going to join her in this ridiculous stunt.
She screeched at the beginning, clutching at the sides of the contraption, but her screams of terror turned into excitement as she skidded to a halt at the bottom of the hill, flipping over in the sled and landing on her side.
She was still laughing when he came down the hill to her side, "Shit Charlie, are you okay?"
Rolling over onto her back, she smiled up at him, "I'm not a kid anymore Bass…I'm fine. Although that was a real dick move back there pushing me when you promised you were going to ride with me," her bottom lip came out to play, feigning upset.
At that Bass burst into laughter, reaching his hand out to give her a lift up, "we can go again, as many times as you'd like Charlotte."