I would like to do a shout out to the greatest two writers in all of BMFM fandom. KLCthebookworm and Morning. Everything they write is amazing, and I miss reading new stories of theirs. So I love to go read their older stuff, it helps break writers block!
Oh, and to clear up some confusion for last chapter, Throttle did not succeed in unbuttoning her shirt, he was interupted before he could reach anything embarrassing. He still does not know Charley is female.
Disclaimer: Own what? What? I own something? News to me....
Chapter 4
Charley blearly opened her eyes as her alarm clock went off. She blinked hard as she realized that she had actually heard her clock go off. No insane friends had tried to jump her, woke her up, or dragged her off anywhere. For a second she was blank as to why that was, when she remembered the night before. She wondered if they were trying to give her and her--(oh god, she'd said Throttle was her boyfriend)--some privacy. Oh, who cares?! I actually got to sleep 'til seven! Its a miracle!
Of course, that miracle would feel even better if she'd gotten more than four hours of sleep. She and Throttle had been up for an hour longer trying to get things rearranged so that he could move in. Granted, he had no furniture, clothes, books, or anything else except his bike, so for the most part it was just moving things to make room for the bike in the room and him in her bed. He'd insisted that he was fine on the floor, but she wouldn't have it. It had to be some kind of bad karma to make a god sleep on the ground, she just knew it.
But then he'd refused to let her sleep on the floor, saying that he couldn't kick her out of her own bed. The argument had gone on long enough that he had finally swept her legs out from under her with his tail, caught her in his arms, and pinned her to the bed. He had practically ordered her to go to sleep. She'd been so shocked at his sudden grapple that all she could do was nod and pull the cover up over her shoulders.
Somehow, she had slept with him beside her and had not had a heart attack. Quite frankly, she was impressed at her fortitude.
The girl got out of the tangled covers, carefully making her way across the room so as to not wake him. She glanced back at him, stunned again at his good looks. Strong arms, a powerful chest, his torso long and lean, the rest of his body hidden under the sheets. Charley felt her face flush as she looked him over. His face was relaxed in sleep, almost giving him an innocent look, the shades off on the side table. He's going to live with me. How is that supposed to work out? I can barely afford to keep myself fed, let alone him too. And I cannot see him working a college student's job. Man, what are we going to do?! Charley had to shake those thoughts from her mind or she'd work herself into a migraine.
The girl glanced over to her school books, but remembered that with a cancelled class, today was completely free. She cocked her head, listening for the rest of her dormmates through the paper-thin walls. Some music still playing in Audi's room, light snoring from Varna's. But there was almost no other sounds at all. They must all be out at other classes. Oh thank god!! I can finally take a shower!
With a secret like hers, privacy was at a premium. And forget taking a shower with any other people around. Hell, she normally could only wash up wiht a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth. So this little blessing was about to be taken full advantage of. She almost skipped down the hall to the bathroom.
*&*&*&*&*&
Throttle stirred slowly as the sun found a way past the window's thin curtains. He groped blindly until he found his shades, slipping them back on his face. The god sat up and stretched, glancing around the small room. Posters of a few Earth rock bands, several more of gorgeous bikes of every year, make, and model decorated the walls. A small music player was off to the side of the room, along with some of the most banged up furniture he'd ever seen. Some tools and various parts were on the desktop along with several textbooks, and half-finished blueprints littered the bookshelves. The notebook that Charley had used last night sat in a place of honor on the top shelf.
The small kitchen was almost empty except for a hot plate, the mini-fridge, and a bag of ramen noodles beside one lone pot. No visual player, no disks, not even a game console. This kid desperately needs some better stuff. More room would be better too. And some food. Lots more food.
Now how to get him that stuff, was the real problem. According to the kid's file, he lived off an allowance his uncle sent from Earth every month, and that was barely enough just for him, let alone the two of them. Hmm. Throttle wondered if Modo would fix it so his accounts transfered to a mortal bank. The big guy could always be counted on to help him, so that wouldn't be hard. And Vinnie could probably smuggle his things down here, as long as Stoker wasn't looking. But Almighty help them if Scabbard got wind of any of this, if he didn't know already and--
The god shook off those worries. Right now, he had others things to consider. Like where his mortal charge was. The sound of running water made him perk up. A shower? In this dump? Praise the Almighty, but at least there was one real blessing about this dorm. He followed the sound, heading down the hall and through a sliding door that opened into a small locker room. Charley's clothes were in a bag off to the side of the door that led to the open showers, so he stripped out of the rest of his clothing. Might as well get a hot shower in before calling the guys.
He opened the door and frowned at the sheer amount of steam that poured out of the dimly lit room. How many people were in here? He glanced around and only saw the one figure in the haze, the pale skin and alburn hair marking his Terran as the source of all the steam. He walked over the concrete floor to ask to borrow some soap when a few things came to his attention.
First off, Charley had some astonishingly long hair. It came all the way past his waist in liquid waves. It must be an Earth custom. Second, that waist of his was oddly....curvy. So were his hips. Was that a tattoo on his lower back? Third, the kid had some fantastic legs. Long, gorgeous legs that seemed to go on for miles.....
Wait a minute. Either he was starting to play for the other team, or...
"Um.....Charley?"
The Terran, (the girl Terran, he noted in shock), whirled at the sound of his voice and screamed. "What the hell are you doing in here?!"
"Showering!" he shouted back out of reflex. He immediately blushed brilliant red when he saw the very feminine front curves of his charge, covering his eyes.
She gasped in outrage, covering as much of herself as she could, "Get out!!"
"What about you?!"
"What about me?!"
"You--I mean, when did you--How"-he could barely force his mouth to work around his shock--"You're a girl?"
"Of course I'm a girl!"
"When did this happen?!"
She stared at him. "I've always been a girl, you idiot!"
"You never said anything!"
"Wha--I thought you knew!"
"It didn't say that in your file! And your name's Charley!"
"Its short for Charlene!"
"You live in a boys dorm! How the hell did you get in here if you're a girl?!"
"They"--her voice suddenly went very quiet--"they don't know that. No one knows that."
His eyebrows went up and his hand slid down from his eyes to meet hers. "You lied to them?"
"There was no other way I could come to the Institute. I thought this was a coed dorm; I didn't find out it was men only until I was already here. I couldn't afford anything else, I mean, I couldn't even afford a ticket back home," she explained, a blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks. It went fushia when she glanced down and got a very inappropriate eyeful. "C-could you turn around or something? Please?"
His blush matched her own as he whirled around to face the other way. He took a deep breath to try and calm his racing thoughts. "So you're a girl, living in a mens dorm, and no one else knows about this? Not even your uncle?"
"No," she said quietly. "If he knew, he'd pull me out. But I can't go Throttle, I can't! The best teachers and programs in the Federation are here; I'd never learn as much anywhere else. And the guys have been so good to me here. No jerks hitting on me, no girls making fun of me because I'm a greasemonkey, its been awesome."
Almighty above, does she not see the danger in this idea? He shook his head, "What if someone finds out about this? You could be kicked out of the school. Someone could even try to blackmail you about this."
"If no one's guessed yet, I don't know how they'd find out now." She frowned to herself and touched his shoulder, "You won't tell anyone, will you?"
"Of course not," he said, offended. "I'd never betray you like that."
She pulled back from him, ducking her head in remorse. "I'm sorry."
He huffed a bit. "Its fine." After all, you barely know me. "But what now? You can't stay here like this."
"Why not? Its worked fine so far."
"Look, I'm not saying to drop out of school, just find another place to live. There's got to be another spot open somewhere."
"I've already looked," she said glumly. "Every other dorm is completely full, and there's a waiting list four years long to get in. All the houses around are rented out, and the nearest apartments are an hour away and they're booked too. The worst part is, that's all a moot point, because I can't afford to live anywhere else."
"I'll see what I can do about that."
"What do you mean?"
"I've got some savings in my accounts back home. I'll have my friend Modo wire some of it to me and set me up an account here on Mars."
"I can't live off your money!"
He frowned, "And why not?"
Her face was stricken as she spoke, "I already got you stuck here with me, I can't make you pay for all of it too!"
"You're not making me do anything, I'm offering. Not to mention, I'd like to sleep on a bed that's long enough to hold me"--his voice suddenly died. And do you remember everything that went on in that bed?
"I know, that futon is tiny even for me," she said. "But it was all I could afford to buy. I guess you're used to something a lot bigger, huh?"
No answer from him.
"Throttle? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"I....Charlene, I'm so sorry," he said dazedly.
"For what?"
"I--I hit you," the god said in horror. It was one thing to horse around with a boy like he had last night. It was something completely different with a girl. "I hit you. I swore I would never be like him, and here I strike an innocent girl"--
"Throttle, you didn't hurt me"--she tried to say but he kept going.
"I'm sorry. By the Almighty One, Charlene, I am so sorry," he said, his voice ringing with remorse as he turned and gave a low bow, his eyes firmly locked on the floor. "I--I'll leave you to your shower." He hurried out of the room, ignoring her call as he grabbed his clothes and almost ran to the small bedroom. The Martian god dressed hurriedly, his bike rolling over to him and nudging his side as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor with his head in his hands.
Way to go, genius, he berated himself. You don't leave when you see a naked girl in the shower, you stay there and shout at her for something that you really should have seen in her file! I'm sure she really appreciated being oggled at. How in the Nine Hells did I miss that she was a girl?! It would have said so right under her name in the paperwork!
And let's see just what all I've already done to the poor girl. I trashed her room when I transferred her wish. I knocked her off her feet and pinned her down on the bed--pinned her down not once, but twice! And the first time was right when--
He thought he was going to be sick. Right when I was trying to get her shirt off. Its a miracle I didn't expose her right then, for Heaven's sake, her dorm mates were right there!
You didn't know she was a girl, a little voice argued.
That's no excuse! I tried to strip her clothing off, then I practically attacked her! How is she not furious with me? She offers me the only food and water she has, insists I take the only bed--a bed I made fun of, he thought, ashamed of himself. She offered me everything she had, and all I did was act like an ungrateful brat.
I have to make it up to her--
A sudden scream split the air, making Throttle's blood run cold. He sprinted back down the hall, his bike hot on his heels, blasting out corners and doors in its way. That was Charlene!!
