Painted Ivy and Wax Hearts

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: And hello there my wonderful readers! Are you ready for the explosion? Cause it's coming in this chapter. But don't worry they're going to figure things out... next chapter! As always don't forget to leave a review, or drop a fav and a follow and I'll see you guys next week!

Chapter 16

Bo was floating on air.

Literally.

He couldn't stop grinning.

He had finally gotten what he wanted last night. Which was Charlie. All of Charlie. Every single last bit of her.

And fucking her was just like he thought it would be. She fit to him, melded to him, let him do everything he wanted her to. For the first time since she had entered his life she had been malleable, controllable, and Bo had taken his fill of her.

But he woke up in the morning hard for her, ready to go again. He never should have let her go back to her own room last night. But she had insisted and he hadn't wanted to press her. He was trying to prove that he could be just as nice as Vincent.

So she'd stop preferring him.

Though he was the first to get her in bed, so it was confirmed that he was her favourite now. He just had to make sure that Vincent knew it. So he'd leave her alone and let Bo get all the time he wanted with her.

And now that they were fucking, he was going to want spend all their time in his bed.

So he let Charlie sleep in, she was probably tired, mainly because he wanted to prove that he could be as nice as Vincent, and also because he wanted her primed and ready for round two. Which meant she needed to get all the rest she could. He figured he'd make her breakfast, just to keep on racking up the bonus points with her.

He wasn't good at pancakes so he was going to make what he and Vincent used to have before Charlie showed up and made them all fancy. Eggs, bacon, sausages, home fries and toast. With baked beans on the side.

He was part way done with Vincent came down the stairs, which was good for Bo because it wasn't until he started making the food that he realized he didn't actually know how Charlie liked… well… anything.

"Good, glad you're up," Bo said as Vincent watched him from the kitchen table, a suspicious look on his face. "How does Charlie like her eggs?"

"Scrambled and very very dry," Vincent answered right away. Yeah, Bo figured that he'd know the answer. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Had a great date last night," Bo answered shooting a smile over his shoulder "How doe she like her bacon."

"As crisp as you can make it," Vincent said. "Uh… a good date you say?"

"Yep. Could you make her tea?"

Vincent nodded and then together the two of them finished off breakfast. Bo got everything on the plates, handed one to Vincent, and then took his and Charlie's to the table. He'd have to wake her up now, but first, first he'd have to talk to Vincent.

"About last night," he said as he took a seat at the table and Vincent took his. Normally he'd be sitting beside Charlie, but after today she'd be sitting with Bo.

Vincent looked up to him. "Charlie and I… we… we fucked."

The nervous smile faded right off Vincent's face. "You… did…"

"Yep, so now that things are… you know… well, she's mine now," he said and Vincent's eyes narrowed at him. "She's with me now, so this thing with you and her. It's going to stop. No more hanging around each other all the time. No more inside jokes. No more sleep overs. She's mine now, and you're going to give her up."

Vincent's face was passive but Bo knew that he had beat him, that this had crushed him. "Did she… did she agree to that?"

"Basically."

And there was that narrowed look on Vincent's face again. Like he thought Bo was lying to him. Like he thought there was no way that Charlie would pick him over Vincent. As if Vincent was the natural choice here.

"You might as well give it up, Vincent. She picked me last night, not you. She's not going to want you now that she's gotten a taste of a real man."

Vincent just nodded. "Sure. You're right, you're always right," he said softly. "I'm… I'm going to go get her for breakfast… you know… before it gets cold. Since… you worked so hard on it…"

Now it was Bo's turn to narrow his eyes. "Okay," he said carefully and then Vincent left the table to go back upstairs.

But he knew better then to just let him go. Vincent was going to approach Charlie about what he had just said. He would twist his words, no doubt, to make it seem like Bo was the bad guy here. Charlie had given Vincent a backbone and he was going to use it to keep Charlie to himself even though she clearly had feelings for and belonged with Bo.

So Bo counted to ten, to give his brother a head start, and then followed him up the stairs. He was going to catch Vincent in the act of twisting his words, save Charlie from him, and solidify this relationship for once and for all.

But none of that was what happened.

-HOW-

Charlie woke up when the boys woke up.

In fact, she hadn't quite slept.

She had laid awake hating herself for what she had done last night. All she could think was that when Vincent found out he'd be heart broken.

When she had gotten back she wanted nothing more than to go to Vincent and have him cuddle her. But Bo had been insisting on getting her into his room, no doubt for round two and she couldn't bring herself to do that.

If Vincent had woken up in the morning and found her with his brother it would have just been salt in the wound. She couldn't do that to him.

So she went to her own bed, wishing for Vincent and feeling too… dirty, to actually go to him. Worried he'd take one look at her and see the sin on her skin and hate her for it.

She got very little sleep and when she heard the boys moving that morning she had gotten up but had not left her bed.

She just lay there staring at her name on the wall, the little wax fairy Vincent had made her staring down at her with judgemental, how could you eyes. She knew she had to tell Vincent what happened, preferably before Bo managed to but she was just dreading it.

Mainly because she didn't know what to tell him.

Did she have feelings for Bo? She had no idea… maybe… kind of. Was this a one time thing? She didn't know. Did she want to do it again? Actually, yeah, she did. Because for some reason the sex had been fucking phenomenal.

Not that sex with Vincent wasn't good it was just… a different kind of good.

Vincent was the kind of sex you saw on the movie screen. It was passionate and romantic and slow and torturous, branding even. He had needed a little coaching but he had been more than willing to learn and had learned well.

Bo was the kind of good you saw in a porno. He knew what he was doing and he did it well. Did her, really well. Her legs had shook for a good hour once he was done with her.

God why did the sex have to be so fucking good?

Why was it the second she started making out with someone her mind went fucking blank? Even when she should have stopped she couldn't, because his mouth had found every single one of her weak spots.

She could smell someone making breakfast, she was going to assume Bo because she could hear him whistling. She knew that someone was going to come up to get her soon as it wasn't like her to sleep in this late.

She just really, really didn't want to face Vincent.

So of course, because karma and the universe were not on her side, Vincent was the one who came into her room as she was tying her boots.

Figured she'd need to have them on in case she had to try and out run either brother. Cause… she figured telling Vincent what happened was going to end in some kind of argument. Either one between her and him or one between him and Bo. Who knew, but it wasn't going to be pretty.

"You slept with Bo?" Vincent hissed and Charlie glanced up to him.

What? How… how had he known that? Really? Just from looking at her.

A hand flew to her neck right away, Bo had been rather attentive to her neck last night. She hadn't seen any marks before bed last night, had they come in while she slept?

"I… what… who told you that?"

"Bo did," he snarled. "Bo did. Said it happened last night. Did you? Really? Did you sleep with him?"

Charlie winced under the pain and betrayal she heard in his voice. "Oooohhh… I really wanted to be the one to tell you that happened."

The realization that she had done it hit Vincent like a freight train, she literally watched it hit his frame and send him stumbling a whole step back.

"You really did? Why… why would you… why would you do that?"

"I unno it just happened, I'm sorry!" she cried. She reached out a hand for him but Vincent moved away from her.

"How could you?" he growled. "You know what he's like to me… what he'd do… why would you… how could you…?"

"I… uh… I… oh god I really don't have a good excuse. Did we ever agree on being official?"

That might as well have been a dagger in Vincent's chest.

"Are you seriously bothering her about this?" Bo asked from the hallway. He then muscled in past Vincent and into the room. He got in between them and glared down at Vincent who was frowning now. His attention focused onto Bo. "You really shouldn't be mad at her, I mean, you had to know this would happen."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Vincent," Bo said turning to her. "He's not very good at sharing." Dear lord did he know that they had been sleeping together? "He seems to think that because you two are friends he has the right to lay claim to you…" Okay so he didn't know. "But don't worry, he might sulk a bit but he won't stay mad for long. He doesn't have the right to be mad, you've done nothing wrong."

"No, I think he has a good reason to be mad at me…"

"Oh, don't let him make you feel like that Charlie, you don't owe him anything."

"She was fucking me first," Vincent growled and Bo turned to him. "We've been sleeping together for months! Months!"

Oh… well… fuck. Now the cat was out of the bag. This really wasn't going to end well.

Bo took that in and then turned to Charlie who was wincing. "What?"

"Okay… so this is not how I wanted all of this to come out. I mean…. Did you just wake up this morning, grab a bowl of cereal and go "I fucked Charlie…"? I mean there's guy talk and then there's just being malicious…"

Bo shook his head. He completely ignored all her counter questions and asked: "Wait… but that doesn't… don't try to chance the subject. Did you fuck Vincent first, or not?

Oh boy. Yeah, she should have realized that he wouldn't have just let her flip the conversation like that. She sighed heavily, just knowing that this was not going to go well.

"I mean yeah…" she said. "He's like… the perfect guy minus the whole turning people into wax thing and… I mean… don't get me wrong you're hot but like… that's it…."

Both men stood before her shock on their faces. Yeah that probably made everything so much more worse.

"Right, so that might have been the wrong thing to say, right now… but you guys have kind of put me on the spot here."

Bo took a step towards her an ugly angry sort of look on his face. Charlie actually backed away.

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you been fucking my brother behind my back?"

"Uhm… since… since New Years?"

Bo blinked his wide eyes as he digested that. "So let me get this straight, you've been fucking him for four months… why… why the fuck did you pick him? You just said I'm the hot one!"

"Cause he's nice to me, Bo!" she cried. "He's nice to me and you're like a colossal douche all the time. And you keep like… hitting me and… well damn I didn't know you were interested and… and… being mean to a girl is not the way to show her you care… and… there's absolutely nothing wrong with Vincent I just…"

She had just continued to back away, her eyes finding Vincent who had seemed to have folded in on himself, like the realization that she had slept with his brother was causing him actual physical pain. This was her fault, she had built up that self esteem and then tore it down with her own two selfish fucking hands.

She really was as horrible as all her foster parents had said she was.

"God I shouldn't have I… I'm sorry Vincent… I…"

"Shouldn't have? You mean me?" Bo asked sounding literally the most shocked he had ever been. "You're calling me the mistake."

"Well… yeah! I know I like him… I don't know what the hell I felt for you but it is quickly evaporating!" Charlie cried.

For a moment Bo just stood there staring at her. His eyes were wide and hotly glaring at her. His nostrils were flaring like an enraged bull and he was shaking. From his hands to his face he was shaking.

And the Bo just charged her.

He slammed her into the wall. Charlie hadn't been quick enough to get away from him. He had been too close and she hadn't been able to duck or dodge him like she usually was. She struggled with him, tried to swat his hands away, but he not only deflected her but got his hands around her neck. He only had a hold of her for a few seconds, had just started to squeeze, before Vincent grabbed him and threw him off her.

"You always do this!" Vincent shouted, standing in between them now. "You take things that are mine! Charlie was mine! Why did you have to have her?"

Charlie had coughed. She had gotten her breath back quickly, he hadn't managed to squeeze her that hard, but it was enough to at least put spots before her eyes. She was heavily offended that he had tried to kill her… again… but there was something Vincent said that set her off more.

Seriously her priorities had become horribly skewed since stumbling upon Ambrose.

She straightened herself out and came to stand at the side of the two brothers. "Uh… living person… don't belong to anyone… cause I'm not a slave…"

But she was ignored.

"She wasn't ever supposed to be yours!" Bo hollered. "I let her stay her under the implicit understand that she would be mine."

"Again. I don't belong to either of you!"

"Well she picked me!" Vincent snarled. "And maybe last night was an accident but it's not happening again!"

"Yeah and who's going to fucking stop me? You?"

They were squaring up to fight and Charlie was getting more and more panicked. She didn't want them to fight. She didn't know who'd win.

Yes, Vincent was a sensitive artist but he was strong. Just as strong as Bo. And Bo, well, she knew that he wasn't going to play fair.

She didn't want either of them to get hurt.

"That is enough!" Charlie shouted getting in between them which was probably a really, really stupid thing to do. "Both of you just shut up."

Bo opened his mouth to argue and she pointed a finger in his face. "SHUT IT!"

Normal he would have grabbed that hand and twisted it but instead he just fell silent, too shocked at this turn of events. She had never really screamed at him before, not like this. Though, either way she was surprised he listened to her.

"Right now, I don't want to fuck EITHER OF YOU!" she hollered. "I am my own person and neither of you own me! And if I want to fuck Vincent I will."

Bo opened his mouth again but she shook her head and turned to Vincent. "And if I want to fuck Bo, I will."

Vincent just frowned at her and said nothing.

"But right now, right now I'm so mad at both of you that I don't want to see either of you for the rest of the fucking day. Now get the fuck out of my room and I better not hear any fighting cause if I have to break up a fight I'mma leave both your asses here with just your god damn hands to pleasure yourselves!"

Neither man expected that from her. They just stood there in the wake of her demands clearly in a state of shock.

"GET OUT!" she roared and both Bo and Vincent scrambled out of her room where she then slammed the door shut behind them and then just stood there.

God she had made such a mess of things.

What the fuck was she going to do now?

-HOW-

Vincent had always found solace in wax but after that morning… not even wax could lift his spirits.

He just sat in his lab, staring at a block of wax unable to shape it into anything.

Any time he tried it would turn into Charlie and Bo together and he'd crush it in his hands.

God he knew this would happen. He knew, when he let her go on that date with Bo, that something like this would happen. Granted the two of them sleeping together right away had been the worst case scenario, but still.

He knew this would happen.

He was absolutely furious.

Furious with himself for not trying to talk her out of that date. Furious with Bo for once again stealing something he loved out from under him. And furious with Charlie for actually fucking his brother.

And on the first date too.

Though, to be fair, the only reason it took him and Charlie so long to get to the sex part was because neither of them had condoms and she was very clear that they needed to have safe sex.

And he agreed.

Having to explain to Bo how he got Charlie pregnant would not have gone over well, though he would have rather had that conversation over the one they had that morning.

Now he was wondering if she had safe sex with Bo or if she had let that rule slide too.

God, this was just so typical Bo. He never let Vincent have anything.

Vincent had no idea how long he had been down in his basement lab, he only knew when Charlie showed up.

He had turned to find her walking through the door to his lab and heading towards him.

"Hey," she said. "I know you're probably mad at me… but uhm… can we talk?"

Oh lord, was she going to do it? Was she going to properly leave him for Bo? Here in his lab?

He'd literally hang himself right here in his lab if that was what she was about to do.

It would probably take em day to find him. Too busy fucking to care that he was missing.

"Sure," he muttered glumly, figuring he might as well get this conversation over and done with.

Charlie came to sit beside him and then looked around at all his machines and tools. "Is… is all of this for turning people into wax?" Vincent nodded and she winced. "That's actually super creepy, we could turn this into a haunted house, scare the pants off of everyone in the mid west."

"What do you want to talk to me about Charlie?" he asked.

She had been teaching him to be more direct. She meant with Bo, but he might as well use it on her.

"About us," she said softly. "I… I guess I want to know how mad you are with me right now."

Vincent normally would have said that he could never be mad at Charlie, except he was. Oh god was he.

"Pretty fucking mad, Charlie."

"Yeah that's fair," she whispered.

"Why… why Charlie? Why did you have to sleep with him? Why wasn't I enough?"

"It wasn't like that," Charlie cried. "It really wasn't."

"Then what happened?"

"God Vincent why does it matter? We… we're having fun right? But we weren't official. You wouldn't even tell Bo that we were seeing each other… and as I said upstairs I don't belong to either of you."

"We couldn't tell Bo because Bo takes things that are mine!"

He had shouted that at her, which was stupid because she literally just reminded him that she was not his property. She scowled at his choice of words and he softened, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I didn't mean it like that…"

"Then what do you mean?"

Vincent stared at her for a moment and then took a deep breath.

"Bo has always taken everything I wanted. All our parent's attention, all the girls I liked. The only thing I had that he didn't have was the wax house, cause he can't mold. Not well anyway. And then… and then he didn't have you. I just… I wanted you to be the one thing of mine that Bo didn't have. Even if you weren't really mine…"

"Oh."

"If I told Bo that you and I were… were doing whatever it was we were doing… he would have amped up the charm and swept you off your feet so much sooner and… and… I just…"

"God, Vincent. I'm sorry. I am. I'm really, really sorry, I should have told you what was going on with me but I just… I didn't think he'd pull off a romantic date, or that I'd get swept up and… god I've been so stupid…"

"Do you love him?"

At that Charlie scoffed. "Not even fucking close."

Why did those words embolden him so much? Why did they make his heart sing with hope?

"Vincent, the only person here I have actual feelings for is you," she said and he struggled to keep that smile to himself. "The problem is… I guess… since Bo saved me those few times I've just… I've managed to start feeling something for him too. Like I guess… a little crush… and well, he's hot. Like the unattainable, see it on a magazine hot and… well you know what I'm like with kissing."

That was true, he did know what she was like. Most people had a spot that you had to press, or caress to get a response, for Charlie you just had to kiss her and she'd practically climb into your pants.

Vincent hated kissing. Couldn't help it. His face wasn't made for it.

"He just wouldn't stop kissing me, Vincent and I… I should have stopped him but I'm weak and stupid and… and the sex was good, not gonna lie."

Okay now that hurt.

"Like better than with me?"

"No," she said softly. "More like… well it's just different. Everything is different between you and Bo."

But what did that mean?

"With you, it's all rainbows and flowers and happy feelings and safe and secure and just… nice," she said. "That's how I feel for you. And the sex is great, it's that kind of soul scorching, slow moving, torturous kind of sex, where I can feel everything, body and soul. Like… when I'm with you there's nothing else there. Just me and you. That kind of feeling, you know?"

Maybe, he wasn't sure what normal sex was like, he had just had her and the few left overs when Bo was done with his girls… you know before he turned them into wax.

"With Bo it's all flash, you know? It's like Fireworks. Like a quick build up, a big explosion, all this heat and for the moment everything's beautiful and awe inspiring. The sex was like that too. Quick, powerful, and it felt good. But it did nothing for the soul, it was just good sex and then it was done. I don't feel anything after. It fades away… just like the end of a firework show."

Oh.

Okay, that kind of made more sense.

"Not that it really matters, cause you two are acting ridiculous so I'm not going to be sleeping with either of you anymore."

Yeah that was fair.

They did kind of put their feet in their mouths today.

"I… I've been thinking… well… I've been thinking a lot since Bo came back. That you know… what Lester said, about me ruining things between the brothers… and… he's right. I ruined this between you guys and Lester…"

"Charlie, how could you think that?" Vincent cried. "Lester attacked you. There wouldn't be a problem with Lester if he hadn't attacked you."

"Okay true, but the point I was trying to make is that I'm fucking things up between you and Bo. I mean, granted he's been emotionally abusing you for years, but I never thought it was physical. Like… he never physical hurt you."

"Well no…"

"You two were about to get into a literal fist fight for me," she cried. "Over me. And… I just… I don't want it to come to that."

"Okay…" All he had to do was tell her that she had to agree to stop seeing Bo. No more dates, no more sex.

But that wouldn't solve the problem. Bo would probably just get more violent.

But she couldn't choose Bo either, because that would literally be the death of Vincent. He'd never get over seeing Bo and his Charlie together. He just wouldn't.

So what were they supposed to do?

"I think… I think it's time I left."

No… no… no!

"I think, I think it might be better for all of us, seeing as… well… I know I can't decided. Deciding between you two won't fix the problem, and… my feelings are all conflicted and it just… it wouldn't be fair. So leaving, leaving is the best option."

God, this couldn't be happening.

"I just… I just wanted to say good-bye to you."

"You're leaving now?"

"No, I've still gotta pack, but uhm… I wanted to talk to you before I leave. Just to… you know at the very least apologize. I know I fucked up and you didn't deserve that. I just… I'm sorry."

"Are you going to… say good-bye to Bo?"

"No probably not," she said and for a moment Vincent relished in the thought that she had picked him again. "If I tell him what I'm doing he'd probably knock me out and hog tie me again and I'd rather not see him after he tried to strangle me this morning."

"I wouldn't have let him, Charlie."

"I know," she said right away and then rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you, Vincent."

For a moment they stayed that way, her head on his shoulder, him wanting to wrap an arm around her to hold her close and being too afraid to reach out. Eventually she straightened, pressed a single kiss to his cheek and whispered good-bye once more.

Vincent almost burst into tears right then and there. He watched her climb back up the stairs to the house and his heart practically began to splinter into his chest as the gravity of the situation began to really press its weight into him.

Dear god. He was going to loose Charlie. They both were.

Her leaving Ambrose was so much worse than Bo having her.

He couldn't let her leave.

So he rushed through the dimly light halls that lead to the town, going for the one person who could help him convince Charlie to stay.