henry & charlotte man, I love them and I hope they date (AND THAT THEIR DYNAMIC ISN'T RUINED WHEN IT DOES) but here is a cute lil fic about their bam-tastic friendship.
kid I love you is hard to say
It had been about a year and seven months since Charlotte had started working at Junk n' Stuff. Consequently, it had also been a year and seven months since she began working with Captain Man and Kid Danger, the heroes of Swellview.
(Well, technically, Kid Danger was not a hero as much as he was Captain Man's sidekick but whatever. He still did a lot in her book.)
Charlotte had grown accustomed to the peculiarities of the Man Cave, Captain Man and Kid Danger's secret hideout; also where she happened to be at that exact moment - conveniently located a terrorizing elevator ride down below Junk n' Stuff. However, she had yet to grow totally used to the weirdness that surrounded working with superheroes.
Whether it was accidentally getting locked in the Man Cave for a weekend, getting kidnapped and turned into a monster freak to destroy Captain Man and Kid Danger, or having to wait four hours to get out of your best friend's bizzaro dream after scaring him from a life of sleep, there always seemed to be something freaky going on. Thankfully, today did not seem to be one of those days as Charlotte sat peacefully in front of the computer monitor.
This is why Charlotte didn't quite register the swoosh of the tube bringing someone down into the Man Cave. She was too busy watching a playback of John Stamos getting slimed by some blond Nickelodeon actor at an awards show, thank you very much. Nevertheless, she let out an obligatory polite "hey" to whoever had entered the room.
"Hi" the voice snapped, an indignant tone that she would know anywhere.
She felt her eyebrow shoot up in confusion. Knowing this conversation was probably going to take more than a moment, she paused her program before turning around in her chair to look at the poorly-disguised, upset face of her best friend, Henry Hart.
(That Kid Danger sidekick guy she mentioned? That's him. Shh, don't tell anyone)
"Okayyyy, what's got you so snappy?" she asked, crossing her arms.
Henry let out a shrug, "Dunno what you mean. I feel the perfect amount of snappy right now, thanks." He said this, following with a slam from his backpack hitting the table.
"Ok, but why are you snappy at all?" Charlotte asked, her curiosity steadily growing as she watched Henry climb to sit on top of the couch. The hand that had begun to frustratingly run through his hair came to a stop.
"Do I need to have a reason to be snappy?" Henry huffed.
"Well, usually something has to tick you off pretty badly before you get all whacky." Charlotte commented as she stood up, slowly starting to make her way towards Henry.
Henry seemed to take offense to this, "I am not whacky!"
"Your face is literally turning red right now."
"GAH!" Henry yelled, and Charlotte might have laughed at his antics had he not flapped his limbs so hard he jumped off the couch and stomped away from her. He began to pace by the empty space near the tubes.
Charlotte sighed and walked over to where Henry paced, "Ok, ok, I'm sorry I called you whacky. Seriously, what's wrong?"
Henry finally stopped and placed his hands on his hips. He looked at Charlotte as if considering her.
"Can I trust you?"
"Henry, I've been your best friend for years and have kept your Kid Danger identity a secret for almost two years. Any more obvious questions with obvious answers?"
Henry rolled his eyes but pushed her shoulder down so that they could sit together on the floor, "Ok, so, today I'm with Bianca by our locker -"
"Oh, you got the janitor to put her thumb print back in?"
"Yeah, he hates me for bothering him twice over it but anyways - we were saying goodbye when Bianca kisses me -
"As girlfriends will do with their boyfriends." Charlotte can't help but add, trying to hold back her laughter with a tight-lipped smile as Henry shouts at her for interrupting his very important story.
"So, I'm already walking away, telling her that I'll miss her when she - Henry suddenly cuts off, his lips pursing tight together as he relieves the moment in his mind.
Charlotte furrows her eyebrows in confusion, "What?"
"She tells me that -" Henry cuts off again, his mouth hanging open as if the words physically die out from this tongue when he tries to speak.
Frustrated, Charlotte grasps Henry's jaw with her hand and shifts his gaze to her. She shakes his shoulder with one hand and his jaw with the other, "What. does. she. say?"
"SHE TELLS ME THAT SHE LOVES ME!" Henry's dramatic cry seems to shake the room and Charlotte's eyes widen in surprise.
"Whoa."
"I know."
They stare into each other's eyes for a moment, Charlotte still grasping Henry's jaw in her hand, absorbing the information just shared. Though still emotionally compromised, and a little sore in the jaw, Henry feels a little more at ease. Talking to Charlotte tends to make him feel that way.
Charlotte's head is reeling at the story, "Wait, so what did you say?"
"I, uh, might've told her -insert mumbling here-"
"Henry, this is an actual, real life, literal face-to-face conversation. What did you say to the girl."
"I told her thank you."
Charlotte closed her eyes and groaned, "Oh no, you didn't."
Henry let out a little moan as he remembered what else had happened, "When she tried to talk to me about it, I started fast walking away and shouted at her to have a good day."
Henry and Charlotte let out simultaneous groans then. Charlotte finally released Henry's jaw, her forehead hitting his as he bowed his head in shame. "She chased me out the school and I told her I had to get to work right away or else Ray would punish me by setting up work hours during dates. I don't think I've ever felt more embarrassed of myself for messing up so bad."
"Nah, I think I'm probably more embarrassed than you for messing up so bad." Charlotte quipped, and Henry lifted narrowed eyes to her vision. She criss-crossed her eyes own in an attempt to pacify him with a funny antic. This worked, as they both let out a laugh and broke apart. They shifted positions and stretched their legs out on the floor, leaning on their elbows for support.
"So, what are you gonna do?" Charlotte asked, looking over at Henry's pensive face.
"I don't know. I freaked out pretty badly on her. I wouldn't be surprised if she never wants to speak to me again." Henry groaned, letting himself fall back on the floor, a hand over his heart.
Charlotte couldn't help but roll her eyes at her fallen best friend. Henry Hart was nothing if not emotional and dramatic.
"Come on, you can't possibly think Bianca would never want to speak to you again. This is the same girl that forgave you for being a total jerk to her for kissing Kid Danger, even though she had no idea that you knew."
"Yeah…"
"This is the same girl that took you back after you finally grew a commitment bone and asked her to be your girlfriend, even though you were a totally misogynistic jerk for not wanting her to be free to date who she wanted while you got to kiss your little Mad Dawg girl."
"Yeah…"
"This is the same girl who was totally understanding about you taking Ray over her to Montego's, even though she was all dressed up and already there with you and Swoz was there impersonating her and I wasn't there because wow I can't believe you didn't pick me to go with you after all we've been through -"
"Okay, I get it! Bianca is totally awesome and will probably forgive me right away if I ask her and I'm being totally ridiculous about this right now!" Henry exclaimed, covering his arms over his eyes and letting out a sigh of frustration.
Charlotte looked at her best friend with mirth, then plopped down to the ground beside him, positioning her shoulder right next to his.
"Where's the beef, boy?" Henry slowly lifted his arms from his face, his nose scrunched up in confusion at the outdated expression.
"Excuse me?"
"If Bianca is gonna forgive you, why are you really so whacked out right now?" Henry closed his eyes, curse Charlotte for always being able to see right through him.
"I dunno, I guess hearing her say - the L word - was kinda scary."
"But why? You practically screamed it out when you thought you lost her to another guy. And you guys hadn't been dating for almost six months then. What gives, Hen?"
"It's just, it's different. Back then I didn't want to lose her to another guy. Now I have her, and she's expecting me to say it back, and I don't know what to say to her."
"Forgive me for both the cheese and the pun of what I'm about to say, but why don't you try speaking from your heart."
"Speak from my heart? Henry snorted, that's such girly advice."
Charlotte flicked his forehead, "If you still want to be with Bianca, you better take said girly advice. Listen, girls like honesty and she will appreciate what you say if you're nice about it. But first, we gotta know where that pesky Hart is at. So, Henry Hart, do you like Bianca?"
"Yeah, of course I do. She's my girlfriend."
"Okay, do you love her?"
"I-I don't know. I love being around her, and she's so beautiful, but I don't know if I love her yet. I can't even tell if I love my own sister sometimes."
"Then just tell her that dummy!" Charlotte punched his shoulder and Henry let out a loud "OW! THAT HURT!"
"Just be honest with her. If she loves you, and she knows you like her, she'll understand that you just need time to catch up to her."
"So, you don't think she'll hate me?" Henry asked, rubbing his shoulder as Charlotte began to sit up.
"She loves you. You'll be fine, Hen."
Henry nodded to himself, taking in Charlotte's advice before shooting a grin at her, "Thanks Char, you're the best."
"Tell me something I don't know." Charlotte grinned and rose from the floor, poking Henry's leg so that he would sit up too. She crossed her arms and began to make her way over to the abandoned computer console to continue watching her show.
"I love you, Charlotte."
Charlotte turned slowly to him. Henry sat on the floor, a lopsided grin on his face as he took in the mild surprise on her face at his admission.
She smiled softly at him from across the room, "I love you too. Soon you'll be able to tell Bianca the same."
It has been four years since I uploaded a story on this site.
I hope this was enjoyable. please review or favorite if you so wish, I would appreciate it.
Mucho love,
Bookworm3