"I wanted to quit every day." Harvey Specter
I woke up with my head on Jude's shoulder, a hand on his chest, and snuggled against his body with his arm around me. Feeling well-rested for the first time since Mike, I didn't want to move away let alone get up. In all honesty, I thought I was against Mike and we were in his apartment together when my sleep-dazed mind was coming to. Jude felt a lot like Mike—even resembled Mike a lot whenever I looked to him. That morning, I was nearly certain it was him. Simultaneously, my heart soared and dead-dropped.
I had been looking at Jude a while before he started to stir. When he opened his eyes, I looked back to him, hoping he doesn't just toss me from his bed. Jude smiled when he saw me. For some reason, he looked happy to see me.
"Morning," he said sleepily.
I smiled, glad for that simple notion. "Morning."
"How did you sleep?"
I took a moment, deciding on if I wanted to tell him or not. "Very well, thank you. How about you?"
Jude chuckled lazily. "Like a rock and these dorm beds suck ass too."
I giggled. "Yeah, they aren't that comfortable."
Jude chuckled, wrapping both arms around me. I felt warm against him, snuggling to him a little bit. "Don't I know it." He looked to me, probably staring at the bedhead I must have and the red marks on my face from his T-shirt. "Damn girl."
"What?" I asked nearly worried.
"You look beautiful in the morning, too."
I giggled. "I think you're drunk from last night still."
Jude chuckled. "I never drank last night."
"I think you did if you think I look beautiful in the morning."
Jude smiled and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes when I felt his lips against my skin. It took me back to last night, when I had let him do it. It felt nice to be loved, to feel wanted after what's been going on. I felt Jude's fingers tangle into my hair—that was probably something just short of a rat's nest.
"What do you say to me making you some breakfast?" Jude asked still sounding vaguely sleepy.
I smiled. "And what would we have?"
"Eggs over easy and some toast with some nice orange juice and coffee."
I nodded, feeling hungry for the first time in what seemed like a while. "That actually sounds good."
Jude smiled more, his blond hair quite the mess for someone who might have slept in the same position all night long. I started climbing off him, gathering my discarded jacket and socks from the floor. I was making the task simple until I saw my jeans next to a shirt of his on the floor. I stopped and looked down to make sure I wasn't giving Jude a peek at what kind of panties I wore on a daily basis. When I saw the light blue boxers that covered my thighs, I relaxed.
"You're the one who took your jeans off last night. I did nothing to help with that," Jude said. He was now sitting on the edge of his bed. "We were ready for bed and you said you couldn't get comfortable unless you didn't have your jeans on, so you found a pair of my boxers and pushed me out of here so you could change." He chuckled a little as he seemed to think more about it.
I blushed thinking about how the whole scene had played out. His laughter echoed throughout my mind and nearly made me stop breathing all together. I vaguely remembered pushing him out of his bedroom and closing the door. His laugh made my body warm up again. I remembered shaking my head and quickly changing before letting him in. I thought that was a dream, not reality.
Before I knew it, Jude wrapped his arms around me from behind. He rested his chin on my shoulder. I could feel his sleepy smile on his lips. "I don't care what you say, you're beautiful in the morning."
"I look like the undead in the morning like everyone else. No one wakes up like they do in movies."
Jude moved from me to a pile of clothes on the floor, gathering things into his hands.
Jude slid a shirt on and some pajama pants. "I beg to differ. I always look like a Disney prince when I wake."
I coughed at the same time I uttered, "Bullshit."
Donna was the first person I called after turning on my phone and seeing the numerous amounts of texts and calls from Donna, Harvey, and a couple from Mike. After listening to the voicemail from Mike, my heart ached, reminding me why I pulled this disappearing act in the first place. I knew it was probably the most reckless and immature thing I've ever done, but I was done with being stupid. I was ready to face whatever Harvey had coming to me for taking off without a trace. It was reality time
"Holy shit! Charlie? Is that really you?"
I felt tears form when I heard Donna's severely concerned voice. Right then, she was the closest I had to a mom. I sniffed a little, feeling a rush of emotions I couldn't control. "Yeah, it's me, Donna," I said, getting ready to tell her where I was so she could come get me. I almost feared Harvey right then and was scared of what he was going to do or say when he saw me.
"Where the hell are you? You've had everyone worried sick. Harvey nearly had a heart attack and gave Mike permission to call you."
When I heard Mike's name, the tears weren't going to stop. "I'm sorry, Donna. I was…I was just…I didn't want to deal with anything yesterday…I'm sorry…I should have told someone…"
Donna sighed, her voice going from a high pitch with concern and curiosity to a softer tone with understanding. "Where are you? I'll send someone to get you. I'm sure Harvey will understand if you explain it to him. It wouldn't be the first time someone has done anything reckless in their lives."
"N-NYU, I went to see someone here," I said as I sniffed more. Trying to stop crying and compose myself was proving to be the harder than I originally thought. "I'm done, Donna."
"I know," she said. "Someone will be there soon. Charlie?"
"Yeah?"
"You know Harvey will have to talk to you about this."
I nodded, knowing it was going to have to happen after I walked out on that stupid therapy session. "I know."
Donna made a small noise of approval before saying, "Alright, give us about half an hour to forty-five minutes to get there. Be out by the front entrance. You'll know the car. Okay?"
I nodded again, as if Donna could see me. "I will be out front. I promise. Hey, Donna?"
"Yes, Charlie?"
"Can you tell Mike I'm okay? I know he probably can't text my anymore."
Donna sighed a little, muttering something before she said, "Call him, the puppy didn't get much sleep. You might calm him down. He's edgy today."
My heart flipped when she said that. I was definitely going to call Mike. I wanted to tell him about the cousin of Jude's, Trevor that gave me his number after I told him that Harvey was my father. He had told me that if I needed anything to relax me to give him a call and he'd hook me up. Thinking about how Harvey was going to tear into me, I might need it.
"I will, I promise," I said after a moment.
Before too long, I hung up with Donna and dialed Mike's number. It only rang once before he picked up, sounding a little winded.
"Charlie?!"
I felt tears sting again. "H-Hey, Mikey," I said softly.
"Oh God, Charlie," Mike said with relief laced in his voice. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Why didn't you pick up your phone?"
I tried to keep my voice down as I said, "I turned it off. I didn't want Harvey to bother me. I'm sorry, Mikey. I am so so sorry."
Tears started flowing freely now and there was no stopping them.
Mike's voice got gentle. He said soothingly, "Shh, shh, Charlie, baby, it's alright. Calm down, calm down."
"I'm sorry; I should have told you. At least you, but he forbade me. I didn't want you fired. I didn't want to…to…" I was wiping tears more than I was focusing on talking now.
"Shh, shh, Charlie. I know you didn't want me fired. I know," Mike said in an easy voice. "I miss you, Charlie."
"I miss you too, Mikey. I still love you."
"I still love you too, Charlie."
