Chapter 2

"Drink? I think I have a bottle of wine somewhere. Just go on through. I'll not be long." Charlie said, as he closed the door behind him, and pointed in the general direction of the living room for her.

"Um, yeah, wine sounds lovely." Duffy said, as she turned to look at him, and smiled softly at him, then walked down the hallway into the living room.

Charlie then walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, as he stood and pressed his hands onto the counter and let out a large sigh, as he bowed his head, then shook his head to himself.

What am I doing?

Duffy meanwhile had looked around the living room, it had changed a little from what she'd remembered, a new sofa, new wallpaper. There were photos of Charlie and Baz on their wedding day on the mantelpiece. And of Louis, at various stages. She sighed, as she shook her head to herself.

What am I doing here?

Charlie had managed to find a bottle of wine, and opened the bottle, grabbed a glass, and sighed once again.

We're just talking, nothing more than that. Don't be stupid Charlie.

He then took the bottle and glass into the living room, knowing full well his whiskey was where he'd left it the night before, on the table next to sofa in the living room.

"One glass of wine coming up." He said, as he entered the living room.

He saw her sat on the sofa, looking down at her hands in front of her. She looked up at him, smiled softly at him, but tears filled her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He said, as he looked at her, getting worried.

"Nothing." Duffy said, as she took a deep breath in, and gave him a false smile.

"Duffy?" Charlie said, as he began to pour her a glass of wine, then handed it to her.

"Come on, tell me." He added, as he walked over to sit next to her.

"It's nothing honestly. I'm probably being silly." Duffy said, as she sipped at the wine in her hand, then put it on the coffee table in front of her.

"Then share it, and I'll let you know if you are or not." Charlie said, as he looked at her thoughtfully.

She sighed, before she began to speak.

"I think Andrew is still cheating on me. I don't know how, I can't prove it. I just know he is." Duffy said, as she put her hand to her head, tears forming in her eyes once more.

"Oh, Duffy, come here." Charlie said, as he took her in his arms and hugged her close to him.

The tears the began to fall freely, as she was finally able to let her emotions run away with her, as she sobbed against his shoulder.

"It's alright, shhh, it's ok, it's ok." He said, as he hugged her close to him.

A few moments passed before she could calm herself, when she did, she pulled back and looked at him. He saw the tears running down her face, and he couldn't help it, he reached up and rubbed them from her cheek with the back of his hand. When he touched her she didn't know how to react, she just looked into his eyes, and froze. He froze too, unable to comprehend how she felt. Then their demeanour changed. She looked into his eyes, then at his lips, and then reached over and kissed him. As soon as she'd realised what she'd done, she pulled back nervously. And looked into his eyes, trying to figure out if she'd made a mistake, or not. He looked back at her, surprised, his eyes focused on hers, then down at her lips, as he then moved towards her and kissed her back. The kiss became more passionate, his hands went to her shoulders, as he pulled her closer to him. She reached up and caressed the back of his neck, deepening their kiss further. Moments passed, as their kiss continued, one hand in her hair, as he who lowered his other hand, to her waist, then up to caress her breast. She ran her fingers over his shoulders, then to his chest, their kiss continued further. She then brought up her other hand and frantically began to unbutton his shirt. He didn't stop her, just kissed her with more desire, then he began his goal to unbutton her shirt. Fingers quickly undid buttons, as they managed to pull open each others shirts. His hand immediately went to her breast, as their kissing continued, unable to stop themselves. He then tried to pull off her shirt, as she tried to do so, he too tried to take off his shirt, but they had to release each other from their kiss to do so. As they pulled a part, the tempo of their desire for each other suddenly stopped, as they tried to pull off their shirts, failing to do so. She looked at him, he looked at her, and realisation suddenly hit them.

"Charlie? I, I, I'm sorry, I can't do this." She said, as she looked at him with horror, she looked down at herself, and closed her shirt over her breasts.

"Duffy? Um, yeah, um, you're right." Charlie said, as he too looked at her with just as much fear as she did.

"I'm sorry, um, I should um." Charlie said, as he got up from the sofa, pulling his shirt to himself also.

"Um, look, I shouldn't have." He began to say, as he put his hand to his neck.

"No, no, it was my fault, I shouldn't have kissed you." Duffy said, as she began to blush.

"Um, well, um." Charlie said, as he was a bit lost for words himself.

"Do you um, want me to um." Charlie tried to say, but got stuck on the words.

"Yeah, call me a taxi, thanks. Um. Look, I didn't come here for this..." Duffy said, as she started to button up her blouse, getting flustered.

"No, no, I know, I know. I'm sorry, it's my fault." Charlie said, as he too started to button his shirt.

"It's just me getting overly emotional at you, I shouldn't have done that Charlie. You've got Baz, you're happy." Duffy said, as she couldn't now look at him.

"No, um, it's ok, um, it's ok. It's my fault too. I shouldn't have kissed you back. You have Andrew and the boys to think about. Duffy, I didn't bring you here for that either. Oh, God, Duffy. I don't wanna be that bloke either. I'm sorry." He said, as he tried to catch her eye, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"No? No, you're right. Stupid, stupid Lisa. I shouldn't have come here." Duffy said, as she rose from the sofa, and walked towards the door and hallway.

"Duffy, just wait, you can't leave like this. Stay, wait for your taxi. I don't want you to be out there on your own." He said, as he shouted to her.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to finally look at him.

"Charlie?" She said, and broke down once again, tears filled her eyes, and she didn't know what to do. Leave or face the fear of the darkened streets or anyone out there. Or, stay and sit with Charlie after almost sleeping with him, and accept the awkwardness of the situation. She sighed, as she looked at him.

"It's ok, please. Don't go." Charlie said, as he pleaded with her, his eyes full of fear and worry.

"Um, until my taxi comes. But, don't come near me, ok. Not one step." Duffy said, as she pointed at him.

"Ok, ok, deal. Just wait there, and I'll call you a taxi." Charlie said, as he gestured to the sofa.

"Ok, ok." Duffy said, as she walked over to the sofa and sat down.

Charlie put his hand to his forehead, and sighed, he then left the room to call her a taxi.

-o-

Once he'd called her a taxi he'd walked back into the living room, put his hand to his neck, stressed, as he told her.

"Um, they said it would be an hour before they'd get here."

"Great." Duffy replied, then sighed, and rolled her eyes at him.

"Look Duffy, I'm sorry." He began.

"Don't Charlie." She'd replied, as she looked away from him.

"Please don't act like that Duffy." He asked.

"Don't what?" She said, frowning as she looked up at him.

"We're both married Duffy." Charlie explained.

"Yeah, don't you think I'd don't know that?" She said, as she folded her arms.

"It shouldn't have happened." Charlie suggested.

"Yeah, it shouldn't." Duffy replied, then sighed.

"But it has now." She added.

"Yeah, it has." Charlie replied then sighed too, as he looked down at her, still stood in the living room.

"I don't want this to change anything between us Duffy." He explained.

"Oh really?" Duffy huffed at him.

"Duffy?" Charlie said, as he knew that had hit a nerve for her.

"Duffy you're my best friend." He began, as he took a step towards her.

She sighed.

"I know." Duffy looked down at her hands.

"It's just..." Charlie said, as he took another step towards her, his hand went to his neck once again.

"I don't want to lose you." Charlie explained.

She looked up at him when she heard that.

He caught her eye, and bent down and tried to put his hand om hers.

She withdrew her hands before he could touch her.

"Don't Charlie." Duffy said, as she looked away.

He sighed, and bowed his head in frustration, "you mean too much to me," he said, but couldn't look up at her.

She turned her head towards him as soon as she heard his words. She sighed, and put her hand out and touched his cheek. He raised his head to look at her, her hand still on him.

"You mean too much to me too." Duffy said, as she softly smiled at him.

He looked into her eyes and returned her smile. They looked at each other a little bit longer than just friends would. They then leaned in to kiss each other again...

Then the doorbell rang, he taxi had arrived, a lot earlier than they'd thought.

-o-

"Um, I should, um, go." Duffy began, as she looked at him.

He sighed, at her, as he replied, "Um, yeah."

He then rose from his crouched position, and she got up from the sofa.

He put his hand to his forehead.

"Look, can we just forget this ever happened?"

"Um, yeah, yeah, never happened." She said, as she placed her hand on his chest, then quickly withdrew it, smiling shyly at him.

"Good." He sighed, as he then stroked the back of his neck.

"Well, um, I better go." Duffy said, as she then took a few steps towards the living room door.

"Um, yeah." He watched her as she walked out of the living room.

She began to put on her coat, and picked up her bag from the floor.

Charlie stood in the doorway of the living room, as he watched her.

She then opened the front door.

"Night Duffy." He said, as he looked over at her.

"Night Charlie." She said, as she turned and smiled softly at him, before walking out of the door towards her waiting taxi.

Charlie just stood where he was, and sighed heavily as he heard the door shut behind her.

-x-