A/N: After positive reviews, I decided to finish and publish this second chapter. I want to try and keep the characters as IN CHARACTER as possible, so please let me know if they drop out of character at all because I don't want to mess that up at all. That's my least favorite thing to have happen.
Chapter Two
Tommy stared at his phone the majority of the night, wondering if he should just send her a quick text that would allow her to have his phone number. He couldn't think of a situation where he'd just contact her out of the blue, but that didn't mean he didn't want to see her again. It wasn't his style to pursue, especially since he didn't know what he was doing in this situation in the first place. Tomorrow was a Saturday, which meant that he wasn't working and he was going to be visiting his two nieces, brother, and sister-in-law. He hadn't been by in a few weeks. The five-hour drive was always a bit taxing for him, but he was usually in high spirits when he saw the smiles on Rosie and Emily's faces.
Tommy still hadn't sent her a text or even touched his phone by the time he went to bed around two in the morning. When his alarm went off at eight, he fumbled to the coffee pot and choked down a scalding cup of black coffee before hopping into an icy shower. He didn't have time for breakfast and was already running late as he got in the car and hit the turnpike towards Philly. He couldn't help but think about her on the drive, staring at his cell sitting in the cup holder.
Who did she think she was showing up back here and coming looking for him? She didn't have the right to do that. Not in those fancy clothes with her fancy life in New York City. But damn, she looked good. She looked better than she did in high school and she was gorgeous even then. But, personality-wise, she hadn't changed at all. She was still just as light and airy as Tommy remembered. That was what he'd liked about her. She had a way of helping him not take the world so seriously. It refreshed him. When everything was going bad, he could always count on her to cheer him up by dragging him onto her adventures.
When he arrived at Brendan's house, the welcoming party was already waiting for him on the front porch, Brendan and the girls. It was already past two in the afternoon, which meant he would be staying for dinner. Of course, Tess wouldn't let him leave without getting a meal in him.
"Hey, Tommy!" Brendan called, waving from the porch as Tommy got out of the car. He gave a very halfhearted Tommy-esque smile back as the two girls rushed him, the smaller one hugging him around the leg and the bigger one around the waist.
"Hi, Uncle Tommy! We missed you," Emily squealed, smiling up at him. "We get to play all day, don't we?"
"Yeah, yeah," Tommy said, letting out a small laugh. Brendan was beaming, of course. It was so rare to see Tommy smile and laugh. He looked genuinely okay lately and it was incredible. "Go inside, let me talk to your daddy real quick, girls." The two girls released Tommy from their death grips and dashed inside to where Tess was waiting, looking out the door at him. She smiled as she shuttled the girls inside.
"How've you been, Tommy?" Brendan asked as the two brothers gave each other big bear hugs.
"Been alright. Not much to report, really. Oh, 'cept my old high school girlfriend showed up at the gym looking for me yesterday," Tommy joked. Brendan made a face that was somewhere between confused and genuinely interested.
"What'd she want? This is the one who's wall you punched through, right?" Brendan asked. Even though Brendan and Tommy had their differences growing up, the two stayed in touch. They never saw each other, but they talked, very sporadically and usually the conversations were very short. That is, until after Tommy graduated high school and went off into the Marines. It was somewhere around then that Brendan asked Tess to marry him and the two got hitched.
"Only one…but, uh…I dunno, man, she said she wanted to get a drink and catch up."
"How long had it been?"
"Somethin' like ten years or so."
"What are you thinking?"
"I dunno. It's weird."
"You gonna see her again?"
"I dunno, Brendan, ya know? I dunno if I wanna go strolling down memory lane like that."
"Yeah, I can understand that…maybe just give it a chance though?"
"Yeah…we'll see."
The day went by much faster than Tommy expected and wanted it to. With the money from Sparta, Brendan had bought the girls in a trampoline and Tommy spent a good two hours playing on it with them. They tried to teach him how to do a flip, but mostly they settled for playing games. Once they were done with that, the girls made a show of riding on Tommy's back like a horse through the entire house, which didn't necessarily make Tess the happiest person in the world.
"Tommy, please be careful!" she would almost shriek every time one of the girls came anywhere near falling off. Tess had made a delicious dinner and after he ate, Tommy went and sat on the front porch for a while with Brendan and the two talked. About their dad, about Tess, about the girls, about their jobs, about their gyms, about everything. It was nice, even Tommy had to admit it, having someone to talk to who actually cared about what he had to say. It was days like these where he didn't feel as nagged by a guilty conscience about Manny and the others in his unit who had died when Tommy had been the only survivor. Tommy knew he had no reason to feel guilty, but for a long time he had wished he died along with them. Then he realized that surviving meant he could provide for Manny's family. And now they were set for life. The guilt hadn't faded away completely, but it had definitely started to ebb as time went by.
"All I'm saying is give the girl a chance. Hate to see you miss out on being happy, Tommy," said Brendan with a smile, clapping Tommy on the back as the sun started to dip below the horizon. Tommy didn't say anything, but he took note of his brother's words. Brendan seemed really happy with a family, madly in love, living comfortably. Tommy wasn't jealous of his brother at all, but he did notice how much happier this Brendan was than the Brendan of their childhood.
When it was getting close to seven, Tommy started his drive back. There wasn't any traffic because of how late it was, so he was able to make the trip in less time than earlier and got in around eleven. He had made the decision that he would let a day or two go by before he shot a text over to Charlotte. He realized how pathetic that was, planning out his text messages like he was in high school, but he knew it was probably the right thing to do. If he texted her too early she might get the wrong idea and never leave him alone.
It was around five in the afternoon two days later that Tommy finally just said fuck it and sent her a text while he was in the locker room changing back into his regular clothes after having worked out all day – since he had the day off – and showering.
Charlotte, it's Tommy. Realized you didn't have my number. So here it is.
That was all he was going to send and she could do with it whatever she wanted. He hoped she wasn't going to be too annoying, but she didn't respond right away, so that was a good sign. Tommy went to the strip club bar that night to have a beer before going home. It had been a few hours and she hadn't answered. Once Tommy got home, his phone still remained dead silent and he passed out in his bed in just a t-shirt and boxers. He was woken up at six in the morning by his phone vibrating on his nightstand with a text from Charlotte.
Hey, let's paint the town tonight, party hard for old time's sake. And honestly, I'll probably need it after everything I have to do today. Let me know. –Charlie
Tommy was somewhat concerned. What kind of rough day did she have in store that she'd need to legitimately get hammered to deal with it? One thing Tommy knew about Charlie from high school was that she could put away some alcohol. But when she really wanted to get messed up, she was a hurricane. Back in the day, he had been the only one to really keep her from tearing the world to pieces when she got like that, which probably had a lot to do with her proposal.
Sure.
He didn't think he needed to write back more. She would know where to find him whenever she was done with what she needed to do. After that, Tommy passed back out until his alarm went off at nine. Even though he wasn't opening the gym, he had to be down there at ten for work and was working until five. When he got there, he took his place behind the front desk, kicking his feet up on the counter and watching ESPN on the television that was hooked up in the corner. The gym, despite the publicity it received during Sparta, rarely received new members. With Mad Dog and Tommy both working out there, most of the guys who didn't actually know what they were doing didn't wander in anymore looking for trainers or a place to exercise. It was too intimidating. The only people who came in, usually, were the regulars. All the big and intimidating guys and their trainers and managers.
Tommy's job was a joke, but it paid well and he didn't have to do much, which was how he liked it. On some days, he got some extra money on the side by throwing down with the other fighters. But it was more of a survival game. How long can your guy last in the ring with Tommy Conlon? The answer was usually very far under a minute.
And Tommy always won, even when he was asked to fight Mad Dog again and again. How many hits this guy's pride could take wasn't Tommy's problem. The two hundred dollars Tommy got paid for "keeping Mad Dog warm" was an added bonus to making sure the punk kept himself in check and stopped strutting around everywhere like he was god's gift to the world. Tommy would probably beat the crap out of the guy for free. After Tommy knocked him out in Sparta, Mad Dog had to stop fighting for month while his face healed. Everything from both of his eye sockets to his chin were busted and broken.
Once five o'clock rolled around, Tommy shuffled up to the locker room and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a wifebeater, shoving the pair of jeans and t-shirt he had worn into the place into the locker. Tommy was planning on staying to work out until whenever Charlotte showed up to meet him. He assumed, at least, that she knew to meet him there. She didn't show until after nine o'clock while Tommy was winding down from his workout and was in the ring going at the pads with one of the other guys. She looked like she'd been crying. Her eyes were red, but her make-up was still perfectly in place. Still, Tommy could tell that something was off about her.
"Whas' a matter, sweetheart?" he asked, popping out his mouth guard. She just shook her head, which Tommy took to mean that she would tell him later.
"Let's just get going, Tommy. I could really use a drink," she sighed. He peeled his gloves off and headed up to the locker room while she took a seat in the front. While Tommy was upstairs, he had the displeasure of running into Mad Dog. Mad Dog was just leaving the locker room as Tommy was exiting the shower.
"Yo, Balboa, who's that little dime been showing up 'round here for you?" Mad Dog asked, the look on his face showing some pretty impure intentions. Tommy didn't feel like answering and just sort of grunted as he started to get dressed. "Seriously, what's the skinny on the bitch?"
"Call her that again, you'll have to go on bed rest while your face heals again."
"Shut the fuck up, Conlon. You and I both know you wouldn't do that. You don't got the balls. Tell me about the little tart." Tommy didn't answer, just kept getting dressed. If Mad Dog wasn't going to call her anything too derogatory, he wasn't going to react. He wasn't in the mood to go to jail for assault any time soon. Once his jeans were on and a wifebeater, he left the locker room with a hoodie in his hands. He wasn't going to put up with Mad Dog any longer than he had to. She was still waiting for him when he got to her, though she looked much more pulled together now. Her eyes weren't as red and her face wasn't blotchy.
"Nice tats, Tommy," she said with a laugh, reaching out to trace the outline of the one on his shoulder before looking up at him. "Should we get going?" Tommy just nodded and held the door open for her as she walked out. Tommy pulled his hoodie on as he felt the autumn wind give a slight chill.
"Where ya wanna go?" he asked her, matching step with her as he pulled his hood over his head.
"Anywhere the drinks are cheap and it's open late." Tommy smirked as he led the way to one of the bars downtown that he hadn't been to in a while. It was a relatively younger crowd, but it was always open until two-thirty in the morning and the drinks were always relatively cheap. The two took a seat at the bar and Tommy was about to order two beers.
"No, fuck the beers. Bring us three tequila shots each, salt and limes," she ordered. The bartender's eyes widened along with Tommy's.
"Rough day?" he asked, watching the shots be placed in front of them one by one. She put a dab of salt on her hand, licked it, and took one before putting the lime in her mouth. She took a deep breath after she got the taste out of her mouth.
"Had to meet with dad's lawyer today to set up the terms of his will. He's been doing worse and worse each day and the doctors are saying he's probably not going to make it more than a few weeks. I went to see him at the hospital today afterwards and he wasn't even awake for most of it, and when he was awake, he could barely speak. I don't know if I told you, he has cancer." One thing Tommy appreciated about Charlotte was that he didn't have to push the conversation forward or even ask polite questions. She always answered whatever polite questions he may have had just by watching his facial expressions. Tommy simply shook his head and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder before taking one of his own shots.
By the end of the night, they were both laughing and joking, playing a game of pool. Tommy won, of course, but she definitely gave him a run for his money. They were both pretty hammered. Charlotte kept trying to drag Tommy onto the dance floor with her, but he wouldn't have it and he watched as she danced with other guys, making sure to keep an eye on whether or not anyone got too handsy with her. But, no one was going to make a pass at her with big hulking Tommy sitting right there watching. Once she was done dancing and the song ended, she stumbled over to Tommy and threw her arms around his neck, planting a sloppy kiss on his face, her lips smiling as she did it.
"Tommy, I'm so drunk. That doesn't count," she giggled, grabbing her beer off the bar and downing what was left of it. Tommy just shook his head, smirking. "You should probably take me home," she slurred and he almost let out a laugh as he helped her to her feet and settled the tab. She made it out of the bar okay, but as soon as she got to the sidewalk, she was stumbling quite a bit and Tommy wound an arm around her waist to help her stay upright. "We…we should go to your place, Tommy. I dun wanna be by myself, tonight."
It made sense to Tommy and he wouldn't have taken advantage of her drunkenness regardless of whether it was a come-on or not. So, he headed in the direction of his apartment. The walk took all of twenty minutes, and she was getting more and more sloppy as she went. By the time they got to the apartment building, he had to carry her up the stairs to his door. Tommy had to fumble to get his keys and hold on to her at the same time, but once he stumbled into the door, he was fine. Her tiny frame was incredibly light and Tommy was so strong that he had absolutely no trouble carrying her.
He had to kick the door to his room open, but when he looked down, he realized she was already passed out. He gave a small smile as he laid her down on his bed and pulled her boots off for her, brushing a strand of her brown hair out of her face. She looked so peaceful. Tommy remembered the days like this in high school, when her father would practically be breaking down the door to his and his mom's house trying to find her. Charlotte's dad always suspected the worse, but Tommy never took advantage of her. The two of them didn't talk much about their pasts to each other, but Tommy knew that there was something dark in hers just as she knew his was shadowy as well.
She stirred slightly as Tommy looked at her and her eyes blinked open for her a split second, bright and emerald as always. A smile lit up her face as she looked at him.
"Hi, Tommy," she said, her smile getting bigger. He just shook his head at her, trying his best not to smile. "I missed you." Tommy let his smile come through and she reached for his hand, he gave it to her. Unfortunately, she yanked his surprised self onto the bed and he had to catch himself to keep from landing on her, but his hands found spots on either side of her head and he hovered above her, their bodies not touching, though it felt like electricity was flowing between them, pulling them towards each other. But, he wouldn't do this when she was drunk. He had more honor than that.
That didn't stop her from grabbing his shirt and yanking his face towards hers to give him another kiss. He pulled away, though, before anything else could happen and stood up.
"Charlie, get some sleep. I'll be just through that door," he assured her, trying to wiggle his hand out of hers. She smiled at him.
"You're a big sweetheart. You've always been a big sweetheart. I see you, Tommy Conlon. You never fooled me," she said, rolling over and placing her head on the pillow, eyes closing. Tommy shook his head before heading back into the living room and turning on the TV. She was right about that, he never did scare her even when he thought she should be scared of him. That last day when he punched a hole through her wall, she didn't even flinch. Tommy had seen Brendan flinch at less than that.
She had always been such an interesting creature to him. She was a livewire, scorching everything in her path and everyone who met her had always been irreparably changed by her. She had a knack for drawing certain qualities out in people that they didn't even know they had. In Tommy, she drew out a sweetness that almost no one ever saw. But she also drew this willingness. Tommy could be as stubborn as a mule when he wanted to be, but he always gave in to her. Even after all this time, ten years of the two of them not exchanging a single word and she could still convince him to go have a drink with her.
Tommy couldn't help but remember back then. She would drink wine from paper cups in his backyard and stay over all night and sleep in his bed with him. She would get angry about the stupidest things that were totally out of her control. She had so much wrath in such a tiny beautiful frame. Sometimes she swore so much people wondered how someone so pretty could have such a nasty mouth. She loved it when he kissed her neck. And she never stopped dancing. Somewhere on her body, something was moving. Whether it was her toes tapping or her hands gently fluttering at her sides. She couldn't help it. It was like music in sweet mahogany tones flowed through her veins. She was like poison that you wanted to imbibe.
The two of them fought constantly. They would scream profanities at each other in public spaces just as easily as private spaces. But they always seemed to make up. And when they made up, he would pick her little body up in his arms and throw her over his shoulder and take her to his bed and they would go at it like animals. He had been her first and she had been his first.
Tommy wondered if he loved her, if he even knew what that kind of love was back then. He'd said it to her plenty of times and she'd said it back. But Tommy didn't know what love was. Maybe he still didn't. Either way, he thought he had loved her back then. He didn't know where he really expected this whole thing to go, but he knew he wasn't going to put the horse in front of the cart. He would pretend he didn't care until pretending wasn't possible anymore. He had to admit, though, when she kissed him it felt like going home. Even though her lips tasted like beer and she smelled like lavender, and even though she was drunk as hell, he knew it felt good and knew it felt right.
It didn't take long for Tommy to fall asleep on the couch with the TV still on. He didn't have any memorable dreams that night. Which was rare. He was used to nightmares of his unit being killed in Iraq. It was a nice change of pace not watching Manny die again. When he woke up, the TV was off and the smell of coffee filled his nose.
"Morning, sleepyhead," came a soft voice from the kitchen. Tommy jumped to his feet, feeling his head pound from the hangover and he groaned, pressing his fingers to his temples.
"Charlie, what the hell are you doing?" he moaned.
"Making breakfast. Here," she said, pushing a cup of coffee in front of him. He took it and sipped it and felt his headache begin to feel a bit better almost instantly as he watched her move about the kitchen with eggs, pans, vegetables, turkey, cheese. Omelets. She did make a killer omelet. "I ran to the store this morning while you were still sleeping. No offense, but you don't have a very well stocked, kitchen. You're not very good at being an adult," she joked. Tommy looked her over to note that she was wearing his clothes. She must have changed into one of his t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants while he was still asleep. He had to admit, he liked how it looked.
It didn't take long for the breakfast to be done cooking and she split it between two plates and shoved that in front of Tommy, too, opting to eat her own at the counter.
"My clothes smelled like vodka. I must had spilled some on me last night. I threw them in the wash. They're in the dryer now. Hope you don't mind," she said with a shrug. He just waved his hand at her, scarfing down the food in front of him.
"What are you doing today?" he asked her, swallowing his mouth full of food. She shrugged.
"I actually don't have anything to do. What about you?"
"Off work today, probably should go to the gym."
"Or we could do something fun," she suggested with an impish smile that only made Tommy roll his eyes. He knew her definition of fun and he knew what that smile meant. It was never good news. He looked at the clock and saw that it was already almost noon and, as he finished his food, he placed his plate in the sink.
"Like what?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"Oh, don't give me that look," she shot at him. "I don't know, you pick something."
"You know I'm no good at that shit, Charlie," Tommy muttered, looking down at his coffee.
"Yeah, that's true. You never were too romantic, huh?" she joked. She walked by him to the washer and dryer and threw her clothes from the night before from the washer into the dryer without much care. "I have to get back to the hotel before we do anything though. I don't think I should walk around in yesterday's clothes, clean or not." Tommy just shrugged and mumbled something unintelligible. "Maybe we should just meet up later?"
"Sure, sure," Tommy mumbled.
"As soon as my clothes are done drying. I do want to give these back to you," she said with a smile, mussing his hair as she walked by and plopping down on the couch. Tommy followed her and sat down next to her, turning the TV on as she kicked her legs up and rested them across his lap, leaning her head on the armrest. Tommy turned the channel to UFC fight and Charlie just groaned.
"Do we have to watch fighting?" she asked.
"Do we have to have arguments from ten years ago again?" he shot back. She glared at him and ripped the remote from his hand. He tried to grab it back, but in fumbling for it, she planted her feet against his chest, pushing him back.
"I made breakfast. You could at least let me pick what we watch," she said, her impish smile returning. Tommy could have easily overpowered her, but she had a point and he let it slide as she began flipping through the channels and settled on a football game. Tommy barely watched it. He was too busy watching her fidget and scream at the TV. He had started to drift back to sleep with her legs still across his lap when he heard the buzzer for the dryer go off. She was already fast asleep and he gently moved her legs to get the clothes out of dryer.
He looked at her, sleeping there. He realized then just how much she'd already managed to bring his walls crashing to the ground and he became uncomfortable. So, he shook her awake, told her that her clothes were done drying and that he'd had a bit too much excitement for the past few days since she'd showed up and wanted to take a day off. She stood in his doorway, eyes wide and blinking, mouth hanging open and wanting to say something, but Tommy just closed the door and said he'd talk to her later before collapsing on his couch.
A/N: Wouldn't be Tommy if he didn't abruptly push someone away without warning, right? Not sure how I'm planning on continuing from here quite yet, but I'll start working as soon as I get some ideas flowing. If you have any suggestions, fire away. And please review! Again, let me know if anyone dips into the out of character realm.
