Charlie walked through the door, closing it behind him with a grunt. He hung up his jacket and set his guitar against the wall. He walked through the apartment flat, smelling spaghetti cooking. He smiled to himself as he sat on the edge of their bed and pulled off his shoes. He tossed them at the closet. "I quit! The band is going nowhere," he called through the house as he went into the master bath to wash his face and hands. "Oh, it'll be alright," a woman's voice drifted from the kitchen. Charlie chuckled under his breath, cutting off the faucet and drying his hands. He padded through the house in his socks. He sat at a barstool and leaned across the breakfast bar, smirk on his face.
"You don't understand, Claire," he stated, running a hand through his light brown locks.
"Charlie," Claire chides. They had been through this before.
"Liam's being a butt. A complete wanker." Charlie tosses his hands up. "He wants to change the lyrics to my song!"
"Well, maybe it's an improvement?" Claire asks, eyeing her beloved boyfriend.
Charlie shoots her a smirk. "It's the song I wrote for you." Charlie elaborates.
Claire whips around, stirring spood in hand. "What?!" she exclaims. "That song was perfect."
Charlie nods. "That's because you're perfect." Charlie tells her.
"Well, what does he think is wrong with it?" Claire asks, stirring the sauce, seething.
"He wants to change part of the second verse. You know, the one that's like," Charlie clears his throat and begins to sing, "I thought I was lost, but you found me just in time. My life was over until you came, I'll pay the cost. I'll sing your name."
"Yeah, what does he want to change?"
"He wants to change the whole bloddy thing! Says it needs to say "I thought I was lost without you, but you are mine and thiis is true."" Charlie says, rolling his blue eyes.
"What? That sounds bloody rediculous!" Claire nearly shouts as she pours the sauce over two plates of spaghetti.
"I know, love, I know," Charlie nods, rising to his feet. He pulls out forks for the table and says, "Whatever. I told him not to change it and he listened."
Claire growls under her breath as she sets the two plates on the table. Charlie laughs at her, he walks over to her, touching her elbow. He kisses her forehead. She shakes her head, sitting at the table. Charlie gets her a glass of tea and himself a glass of sweet tea. He sets the glasses on the table before taking a seat beside Claire. They bow their heads and Charlie prays over the food before they begin eating. Claire is silent for nearly twenty minutes, eating and drinking quietly. She sets her napkin back in her lap and lets out a breath.
"What?" Charlie asks, looking up from his meal.
"That's my song... He can't change it!" Claire grumbles, waving her fork at no one in particular.
Charlie laughs, taking a drink of his tea. "Calm down, Claire. We aren't changing it. And it's not like we're getting a record deal anytime soon."
"Well, it makes me mad." Claire sighs, carrying her empty plate and glass to the kitchen sink.
Charlie follows her with his empty plate and glass, too. He rinses his dishes off before placing them alongside Claire's in the washer. Claire tucks a strand of golden hair behind her ear and walks into the kitchen. Charlie closes the dishwasher and follows. Claire's eyes are on fire and Charlie raises an eyebrow at her. She marches towards the phone, snatching it off the hook. "What're you doing?" Charlie asks as she begins dialing numbers. She places the phone to her ear.
"I'm calling Liam; giving him a piece of my mind!" she exclaims.
"Hey, love, don't..." Charlie starts before reaching for the phone. She jerks back, walking into the living room. He races after her. "Gimme the phone, Claire," he calls.
"Augh! I got the answer machine." Claire states.
"Hang up." Charlie pleads.
"I'm going to leave a message." Claire protests.
Charlie lifts Claire in his arms. "No! I will leave a message!" she squeals her threat. He drops her on the couch. She lifts the phone over her head. Charlie grabs either of her wrists, pinning them above her head as he straddles her. "Hang up if you value your life," he mock threatens. "Never!" Claire giggles. Charlie leans down and kisses Claire's lips softly, but long enough to make her sigh. She releases the phone. Charlie arches an eyebrow as he looks at her. Claire stretches up and kisses Charlie. He leans down and caresses her neck. She looks up at him, asking, "Kiss me?" Charlie obliges, bringing his mouth to hers. He laughed, muttering, "You are my prisoner."
Claire giggles, eyes glimmering.
Moments later, clothes litter the floor.
Charlie wakes up early the next morning with a deep yawn. He looks over at Claire. She is gazing at him adoringly. "What?" he murmurs, rubbing his eyes. She kisses his nose. "Nothing," she whispers. He nods, sitting up. His hair sticks up every which way, crazy from sleep. Claire remains in bed, watching him shuffle around the room to gather his clothes for his morning shower. She falls asleep soon after his water starts running.
Charlie leaves a note for Claire. It reads: "Didn't want to wake you. Had band practice at Li's. Love, Charlie." Charlie pulls into Liam's driveway-- he was the only one in the band with an actual house. Charlie walks up the steps and enters the house, guitar case in-hand. He hears his friends' snickering from within the other room. He sets aside his guitar case, curiously approaching the kitchen. Bags of chips were opened and the friends were huddled around Liam. "Hey, guys," Charlie grins. Mark, the drummer, releases a guffaw upon seeing Charlie. Charlie scoffs, "What?" Liam hides something behind his back. Charlie is suspect. He looks from Mark to Liam to Greg (the lead guitarist).
"What's that?" Charlie asks, pointing at his brother.
"'S nothing. Just the phone." Liam states non-chalantly, pulling the phone out from behind his back.
Greg's face is red as he attempts to hold back his laughter. "Greg, what's so funny?" Charlie begs, feeling completely left-out.
Greg cannot answer as he snickers loudly.
"Just a funny message from some guy." Liam smiles wickedly. "You'll love it, baby brother. Press one and give it a listen."
Mark's goose laugh explodes and he has to cover his mouth with his hands.
"Alright..." Charlie mutters, pressing one and holding the phone to his ear. He hears himself saying, "Hang up if you value your life." "Never!" he hears Claire's giggle. He hears the phone hit the ground and his face pales when he hears Claire whisper, "Kiss me?" Charlie deletes the message and hears laughter and the scurry of feet as his friends and brother quickly race from the room. Charlie sets down the phone and races after them, yelling, "You are all bloody perverts!"
"Oh, kiss me, Charlie!" Liam mocks in a shrill, girly voice, offering his brother his wrists. Mark and Greg race from the room with laughter.
Charlie swings at his brother. The blow hits his brother in the shoulder.
"What was that for?!" Liam demands through laughter.
"You... You!" Charlie growls, jabbing a finger at Liam's chest. "You have completely embarrassed me!" Charlie attacks. "And you really have embarrassed Claire!"
"What? She doesn't know I showed the guys." Liam drones.
"She'll know when I tell her." Charlie states, eyes on fire.
"Charlie, don't tell her. Please?" Liam begs.
"I'm going to tell her! She'll be wondering why Greg and Mark are laughing every time they see her!" Charlie yells.
Liam winces. "Sorry, baby brother... You really like her, huh?"
"Yeah," Charlie softens, looking at his feet.
"Well, listen, I'll talk to the guys about it... And I'll apologize to Claire, but we won't let her know the guys heard. It'll be between the three of us. Okay?" Liam responds, placing a hand on Charlie's shoulder.
"Alright, Li," he grins. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."
That night, Liam came over to dinner. He received a slap on the arm from Claire, but she wasn't too mad about the phone call. She was still simmering about Liam wanting to change her song. Charlie laughs as Claire fights Liam over the lyrics over their dinner of stir-fry. Charlie and Claire defended Charlie's original lyrics. Claire and Charlie finally pursuade Liam to keep the lyrics the same. After nearly two and a half hours, Liam heads home. Charlie rinses off all the dishes and clears off the table. Claire offers to help, but Charlie insists on doing the job. Claire nods and heads into the master bath to remove her makeup and take a bubble bath. Charlie finishes up and walks into the bathroom. He sits on the edge of the bathtub and leans over, meeting Claire's lips with a kiss. She was completely concealed by bubbles besides her head that stuck out from the bubbly waters. Claire's arm emerges from the soapy waters and she pats Charlie's knee.
"How much did he hear on the recording?" she asks, blushing slightly.
Charlie looks down at her. "Not much. Up until the part where you asked me to kiss you. It cuts off there." Charlie tells her, squeezing her hand in his.
"Good," Claire smiles, sighing with relief.
"I thought you didn't care?" Charlie asks. "You acted like you didn't with Liam?"
"Well, what's done is done. I mean, I was bloody mad he listened." Claire scowled. "But I was even angrier about the song."
Charlie released a burst of laughter. "I can't believe you care that much about my song!" he chuckles.
"Well, I love you. This song is extremely important to me." Claire explains.
"I love you, too." he murmurs.
Claire closes her eyes and slips beneath the white layer of bubbles. She continues to hold onto Charlie's hand. After a couple seconds, her head reemerges, hair wet and glistening. Her face dripped with water and her eyes flutter open. She smiles at Charlie. He bends over, cupping her chin in his hand and kisses her lips tenderly. She places her hands around Charlie's torso as she kisses him back. Suddenly, Claire pulls Charlie into the soapy water with her. He yells, startled as his body slips under water. The water in the tub sloshes violently around the two as their bodies shake with uncontrollable laughter.
"What... was that?" Charlie laughs loudly, wiping water off his face with a soaked hand.
Claire shook her head as she giggled. As the giggles subsided, Charlie stepped out of the tub, stripping off his soaked clothing. Wrapping himself in a towel, he heads into the bedroom to pull on a pair of pajama pants. Claire came out of the bathroom with her head damp, wearing a silk sleeping gown. She snuggled up to Charlie in the bed and rested her head on his chest. Charlie sighed contently, running his fingers through her hair. Claire wraps her arms around Charlie, pulling herself closer to his warm body. "Charlie?" she asks quietly.
"Hmm?" he hums, still stroking her golden hair.
"We'll be together forever, right?" she asks.
"Yeah, love. Why?" Charlie whispers in response.
"I just wanted to hear it from you." Claire murmurs, burrowing her head into his chest.
"M'kay," Charlie says, kissing her atop the head. "Love you."
"Love you, too,"