Chapter 4: A new beginning
Early next morning, Chuckie lay on his makeshift bed (it was basically a mattress with a quilt and a pillow on the floor) with his hands clasped behind his head. Kimi and Susie were fast asleep as the early morning sun made the room a little brighter than it had been about half an hour ago. Chuckie hadn't slept wonderfully last night as he kept thinking of 'the incident' with Angelica. No matter how much he tried to think of something else, his mind would just play the memory over and over again. He looked at his watch, which was on the floor next to him, to see that it was 6.30am. Too early to get up really, but as he could not get to sleep he decided he might as well. At least he could go for an early morning walk and be back before anyone else had got up. He got out of bed and quietly opened the chest of drawers next to him and took some clothes out. He went to the bathroom, had a wash and got dressed then quietly went downstairs and into the kitchen to get the keys. As he headed to the front door, he heard the sound of rustling pages, possibly from a magazine being turned so he made a quick detour into the lounge to check it out. As he walked in, there she was...Angelica. Up, dressed and quite possibly down for the same reason as he was...unable to sleep. She heard the footsteps and looked to see who it was and froze when she saw him at the doorway. The two pairs of eyes looked at each other with their owners completely frozen and shocked.
"Uh...morning." Chuckie managed to say.
"Uh...yeah, morning." Angelica weakly replied.
Chuckie suddenly had the sensation to say a million things to Angelica, but he couldn't find a way to start. His mind had abandoned him as he struggled to think of something to say to her.
"So...you couldn't sleep?" He asked.
"No, I came down to read so I wouldn't disturb Tommy or Dil. How long have you been up?" She asked.
"About 10 minutes. How about you?"
"Half an hour."
There was silence for a few minutes, both waiting for the other to say something else.
"So." Chuckie said.
"So."
"Are you doing anything interesting?" Chuckie asked. He knew it was a stupid question and he knew Angelica knew it was stupid as well.
"Not really. What you gonna do?"
"Go for a walk. Erm...would you like to..." Chuckie began but stopped.
"Go with you? Well...okay I guess. I mean, it probably would be best for us to...talk." Angelica replied, knowing that they would talk about what happened yesterday.
"Great. Well...uh...let's go then."
Angelica put her shoes on and joined Chuckie outside.
"So, what do you wanna talk about?" Chuckie asked.
"I guess we should clear up what happened yesterday." Angelica said, not looking at him.
"Right. Er...well, I'm not sure what caused to happen to actually happen." Chuckie said.
"Neither do I. It...it just did. Maybe it was because I was too close to you." Angelica said, still refusing to look at Chuckie as they walked.
"I guess I should tell you. When you were on top of me, I couldn't push you off." Chuckie said.
"Of course you couldn't." Angelica said, not thinking about what he meant.
"No. It wasn't because I couldn't; it was because I didn't want to." Chuckie explained.
"What do you mean?" She asked, finally looking at him.
Chuckie stopped and looked at Angelica, who had a confused expression on her face.
"What I mean is that no matter how hard I tried to summon the strength to at least make an effort to push you away, I couldn't. For some reason, part of me was saying that I was enjoying having you on top of me. I...I just couldn't push you away." Chuckie said, shrugging his shoulders and sounding depressed. He was torn between his emotions and he just did not know what to think of Angelica or what he felt about her, even if he did have feelings for her.
"Oh my God, Chuckie!" Angelica replied, very shocked at what he said. Her jaw dropped as she struggled to think of something else to say.
"I don't know what has happened between us, and I don't know if anything like that will happen again. I'm a nervous wreck Angelica! I don't know what to do." Chuckie said.
Angelica looked at him and she placed a hand on his shoulder and gently rubbed it. She could tell he was confused and upset and she tried to comfort him when he looked at her. She had a sympathetic look on her face and a distinct hint that she had experienced exactly what Chuckie was going through. The couple started to gaze into each others eyes and almost automatically they moved closer and placed their arms around each other before their lips connected.
****
A few hours later the others began to get up. Kimi was the first to get up and she went downstairs to find Chuckie and Angelica sitting next to each other on the couch.
"Hey guys." She said cheerfully as she walked in.
"Hey Kimi."
"Hi Kimi."
Kimi picked up the TV remote and switched the TV on. She began flicking through the channels to find something good on, but in the end had to settle for the news. She looked over at her brother and Angelica to see them rather close together (not to mention reading the same magazine).
'Okay, they are reading the same magazine, yet they hate each other's guts. Something is not right here.' Kimi thought to herself as Tommy and Dil came down.
"Hey all." Dil said sitting on the arm of the couch.
"Hey Dil, hey Tommy."
Kimi got up and pulled Tommy to one side.
"What's up Kimi?" Tommy asked.
"Have you noticed how your cousin and my brother are sitting very close to each other and reading one magazine?" She asked in a low tone.
Tommy over and raised an eyebrow. Kimi was right, they were sitting close together and they were reading one magazine together. Very odd indeed.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that something has happened between them." Tommy said.
"Maybe, maybe not. It's possible that they could have set their differences aside as we are on vacation." Kimi suggested.
"Yes, that is possible as well." Tommy said nodding his head.
"Maybe we should talk to them later. I'll talk to Chuckie and you talk to Angelica." Kimi said.
"Sure. You speak to Chuckie first. Ask him to help you with something so the two of you will be alone and I'll do the same with Angelica." Tommy told Kimi.
Kimi went back to her seat while Tommy went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He decided that a good fry-up would hopefully get Angelica in the mood to chat with him. Over the years Tommy had learnt that Angelica was easiest to talk to (and easiest to 'extract' information from) when she was in a cheerful mood and that could include a number of things such as a good meal or if she had aced a test, those sort of things.
A few minutes later Phil and Lil came down. They probably had the best room in the house as they got a bunk bed to sleep in (not to mention they were the only ones in the room and for about the first 10 and a half years of their lives they had slept in the same room in their house) and they definitely had the look of their faces told Tommy that they had a good nights sleep and were refreshed. Tommy had never cooked for 8 people before, but that did not bother him as they were all having the same breakfast.
"Yo Tommy." Phil said coming into the kitchen.
"Hey Phil."
"Breakfast sure smells good. What you cooking?" Phil asked enthusiastically.
"I'd thought I'd try a traditional English fry-up. Bacon, fried eggs, fried bread, black pudding and fried tomatoes." Tommy said, cracking a few eggs into the frying pan.
"You can fry tomatoes?" Phil asked, a little cautiously.
"Yeah, Dil and I have had them before. They are really good. You'll like them, trust me." Tommy said, smiling at his friend.
"Ah what the hell. I'll have some." Phil replied as he exited the kitchen to join the others in the lounge.
The last person to come down was Susie. Tommy thought that she had probably had a shower and spent time fixing her hair.
"Hey Tommy." She said as she walked came in.
"I've just had Phil in and now you. I wonder if anyone else will come to enquire about breakfast." Tommy said.
"I don't know. Actually I didn't come to ask what's for breakfast. I came to get a glass of water." She replied, opening a cabinet to get a glass.
"Fair enough I guess." Tommy said, taking the fried eggs out and putting the tomatoes in.
"Looks good. Is it nearly ready?" Susie asked as she drank her water.
"Yeah, gotta fry the tomatoes and then the cooking will be done." Tommy told her.
"I'll set the table for you." Susie said getting the knives and forks out. "What sauces do you want?"
"Erm...the Tomato Ketchup and that Worcestershire Sauce we picked up." Tommy said.
"Smells good Tommy." Angelica said as she came in.
"Just wait until you taste it." Tommy replied.
"Can't wait."
****
About 20 minutes later, they were all satisfied with a good breakfast. Tommy looked over to see Angelica particularly happy.
'Excellent. Now would be the best time to try and force the truth out between her and Chuckie.' Tommy thought.
"Angelica? Can I speak to you in private?" Tommy asked.
"Well, ok." She replied getting up and following Tommy into the kitchen.
Tommy shut the door and leaned against the door.
"So what do you wanna say to me?" Angelica asked.
"Well, I've noticed today and for part of yesterday, you and Chuckie have been acting strangely." Tommy said.
"Have not!" Angelica replied.
"You have. Yesterday you didn't want to be left alone with him."
"Don't want to be alone with that sod." Angelica began to defend herself.
"Today you were sitting a very close to him. Almost as if you were hooked up with him."
"Well..." Angelica could not think of an excuse. She was surprised at herself.
"Nothing to say about that? I am surprised. Never mind, what has happened between you?" Tommy asked.
Angelica sighed.
"What Angelica?" He asked again.
"I...I'm not sure." She eventually said.
"But you have an idea?" Tommy asked, leaning closer to her.
"Alright! I know." She sighed. "But you have to promise that you will not tell anyone."
"This is me Angelica. Of course I won't tell anyone." Tommy said.
"Alright. Yesterday, Chuckie went outside and I followed him. I tackled him and started to fight with him. I spat on him and smacked him. He didn't resist nearly as strongly as I thought he would. I hit him because of what he did earlier. Something inside me then made me lean forwards and kissed him..." She paused as she looked at her cousin.
"You kissed him?"
"Yeah but that's not the end though. Earlier this morning, we went for a walk to talk about what had happened and we just ended up kissing again. We came back and..." She trailed off, uneasy about what had happened.
Tommy looked at her quizzically.
"You didn't have sex with him did you?" He asked.
"No! Nothing like that at all...well not as such. We...we were..." She couldn't bring herself to say what she and Chuckie did. She didn't understand what had happened herself, let alone be able to explain what happened.
Tommy sighed deeply. He thought that Angelica was probably scared of what could very well happen between her and Chuckie if they were left alone. He knows that Angelica is not one who readily shares her softer side with anyone and this gives her this aura of confusion.
'I expect that she does not know her true feelings for him yet. Although they have indeed become friendlier with each other, she is struggling to keep up her anger and hatred for him.'
She didn't want to tell Tommy what had happened. The images in her mind flowed through her brain like water out of a tap. They had embraced and kissed. He lay on the couch and she lay on top of him. They dozed for a while, finally at peace. Her mind was a mess. She hated Chuckie...yet she found him strangely attractive. One moment she could want to rip his heart out, the next she would want to embrace him. She was unsure of how she felt about him, but there was no denying that there was something between them now. Whether it was down to a change of scene or whether it was a matter of time before the change began, she knew that once the change was over she would never be the same again...for better or worse.
****
I think I got a good length chapter here. Next up is Chuckie's point of view when Kimi tries to get him to talk. I hope you all enjoy this chapter so please R&R as usual.
Oh, and they did not have sex or make out. In a way, they did sleep together (although they only dozed for an hour or so) and on the couch there would be no proof to say that they had done anything.
Early next morning, Chuckie lay on his makeshift bed (it was basically a mattress with a quilt and a pillow on the floor) with his hands clasped behind his head. Kimi and Susie were fast asleep as the early morning sun made the room a little brighter than it had been about half an hour ago. Chuckie hadn't slept wonderfully last night as he kept thinking of 'the incident' with Angelica. No matter how much he tried to think of something else, his mind would just play the memory over and over again. He looked at his watch, which was on the floor next to him, to see that it was 6.30am. Too early to get up really, but as he could not get to sleep he decided he might as well. At least he could go for an early morning walk and be back before anyone else had got up. He got out of bed and quietly opened the chest of drawers next to him and took some clothes out. He went to the bathroom, had a wash and got dressed then quietly went downstairs and into the kitchen to get the keys. As he headed to the front door, he heard the sound of rustling pages, possibly from a magazine being turned so he made a quick detour into the lounge to check it out. As he walked in, there she was...Angelica. Up, dressed and quite possibly down for the same reason as he was...unable to sleep. She heard the footsteps and looked to see who it was and froze when she saw him at the doorway. The two pairs of eyes looked at each other with their owners completely frozen and shocked.
"Uh...morning." Chuckie managed to say.
"Uh...yeah, morning." Angelica weakly replied.
Chuckie suddenly had the sensation to say a million things to Angelica, but he couldn't find a way to start. His mind had abandoned him as he struggled to think of something to say to her.
"So...you couldn't sleep?" He asked.
"No, I came down to read so I wouldn't disturb Tommy or Dil. How long have you been up?" She asked.
"About 10 minutes. How about you?"
"Half an hour."
There was silence for a few minutes, both waiting for the other to say something else.
"So." Chuckie said.
"So."
"Are you doing anything interesting?" Chuckie asked. He knew it was a stupid question and he knew Angelica knew it was stupid as well.
"Not really. What you gonna do?"
"Go for a walk. Erm...would you like to..." Chuckie began but stopped.
"Go with you? Well...okay I guess. I mean, it probably would be best for us to...talk." Angelica replied, knowing that they would talk about what happened yesterday.
"Great. Well...uh...let's go then."
Angelica put her shoes on and joined Chuckie outside.
"So, what do you wanna talk about?" Chuckie asked.
"I guess we should clear up what happened yesterday." Angelica said, not looking at him.
"Right. Er...well, I'm not sure what caused to happen to actually happen." Chuckie said.
"Neither do I. It...it just did. Maybe it was because I was too close to you." Angelica said, still refusing to look at Chuckie as they walked.
"I guess I should tell you. When you were on top of me, I couldn't push you off." Chuckie said.
"Of course you couldn't." Angelica said, not thinking about what he meant.
"No. It wasn't because I couldn't; it was because I didn't want to." Chuckie explained.
"What do you mean?" She asked, finally looking at him.
Chuckie stopped and looked at Angelica, who had a confused expression on her face.
"What I mean is that no matter how hard I tried to summon the strength to at least make an effort to push you away, I couldn't. For some reason, part of me was saying that I was enjoying having you on top of me. I...I just couldn't push you away." Chuckie said, shrugging his shoulders and sounding depressed. He was torn between his emotions and he just did not know what to think of Angelica or what he felt about her, even if he did have feelings for her.
"Oh my God, Chuckie!" Angelica replied, very shocked at what he said. Her jaw dropped as she struggled to think of something else to say.
"I don't know what has happened between us, and I don't know if anything like that will happen again. I'm a nervous wreck Angelica! I don't know what to do." Chuckie said.
Angelica looked at him and she placed a hand on his shoulder and gently rubbed it. She could tell he was confused and upset and she tried to comfort him when he looked at her. She had a sympathetic look on her face and a distinct hint that she had experienced exactly what Chuckie was going through. The couple started to gaze into each others eyes and almost automatically they moved closer and placed their arms around each other before their lips connected.
****
A few hours later the others began to get up. Kimi was the first to get up and she went downstairs to find Chuckie and Angelica sitting next to each other on the couch.
"Hey guys." She said cheerfully as she walked in.
"Hey Kimi."
"Hi Kimi."
Kimi picked up the TV remote and switched the TV on. She began flicking through the channels to find something good on, but in the end had to settle for the news. She looked over at her brother and Angelica to see them rather close together (not to mention reading the same magazine).
'Okay, they are reading the same magazine, yet they hate each other's guts. Something is not right here.' Kimi thought to herself as Tommy and Dil came down.
"Hey all." Dil said sitting on the arm of the couch.
"Hey Dil, hey Tommy."
Kimi got up and pulled Tommy to one side.
"What's up Kimi?" Tommy asked.
"Have you noticed how your cousin and my brother are sitting very close to each other and reading one magazine?" She asked in a low tone.
Tommy over and raised an eyebrow. Kimi was right, they were sitting close together and they were reading one magazine together. Very odd indeed.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that something has happened between them." Tommy said.
"Maybe, maybe not. It's possible that they could have set their differences aside as we are on vacation." Kimi suggested.
"Yes, that is possible as well." Tommy said nodding his head.
"Maybe we should talk to them later. I'll talk to Chuckie and you talk to Angelica." Kimi said.
"Sure. You speak to Chuckie first. Ask him to help you with something so the two of you will be alone and I'll do the same with Angelica." Tommy told Kimi.
Kimi went back to her seat while Tommy went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He decided that a good fry-up would hopefully get Angelica in the mood to chat with him. Over the years Tommy had learnt that Angelica was easiest to talk to (and easiest to 'extract' information from) when she was in a cheerful mood and that could include a number of things such as a good meal or if she had aced a test, those sort of things.
A few minutes later Phil and Lil came down. They probably had the best room in the house as they got a bunk bed to sleep in (not to mention they were the only ones in the room and for about the first 10 and a half years of their lives they had slept in the same room in their house) and they definitely had the look of their faces told Tommy that they had a good nights sleep and were refreshed. Tommy had never cooked for 8 people before, but that did not bother him as they were all having the same breakfast.
"Yo Tommy." Phil said coming into the kitchen.
"Hey Phil."
"Breakfast sure smells good. What you cooking?" Phil asked enthusiastically.
"I'd thought I'd try a traditional English fry-up. Bacon, fried eggs, fried bread, black pudding and fried tomatoes." Tommy said, cracking a few eggs into the frying pan.
"You can fry tomatoes?" Phil asked, a little cautiously.
"Yeah, Dil and I have had them before. They are really good. You'll like them, trust me." Tommy said, smiling at his friend.
"Ah what the hell. I'll have some." Phil replied as he exited the kitchen to join the others in the lounge.
The last person to come down was Susie. Tommy thought that she had probably had a shower and spent time fixing her hair.
"Hey Tommy." She said as she walked came in.
"I've just had Phil in and now you. I wonder if anyone else will come to enquire about breakfast." Tommy said.
"I don't know. Actually I didn't come to ask what's for breakfast. I came to get a glass of water." She replied, opening a cabinet to get a glass.
"Fair enough I guess." Tommy said, taking the fried eggs out and putting the tomatoes in.
"Looks good. Is it nearly ready?" Susie asked as she drank her water.
"Yeah, gotta fry the tomatoes and then the cooking will be done." Tommy told her.
"I'll set the table for you." Susie said getting the knives and forks out. "What sauces do you want?"
"Erm...the Tomato Ketchup and that Worcestershire Sauce we picked up." Tommy said.
"Smells good Tommy." Angelica said as she came in.
"Just wait until you taste it." Tommy replied.
"Can't wait."
****
About 20 minutes later, they were all satisfied with a good breakfast. Tommy looked over to see Angelica particularly happy.
'Excellent. Now would be the best time to try and force the truth out between her and Chuckie.' Tommy thought.
"Angelica? Can I speak to you in private?" Tommy asked.
"Well, ok." She replied getting up and following Tommy into the kitchen.
Tommy shut the door and leaned against the door.
"So what do you wanna say to me?" Angelica asked.
"Well, I've noticed today and for part of yesterday, you and Chuckie have been acting strangely." Tommy said.
"Have not!" Angelica replied.
"You have. Yesterday you didn't want to be left alone with him."
"Don't want to be alone with that sod." Angelica began to defend herself.
"Today you were sitting a very close to him. Almost as if you were hooked up with him."
"Well..." Angelica could not think of an excuse. She was surprised at herself.
"Nothing to say about that? I am surprised. Never mind, what has happened between you?" Tommy asked.
Angelica sighed.
"What Angelica?" He asked again.
"I...I'm not sure." She eventually said.
"But you have an idea?" Tommy asked, leaning closer to her.
"Alright! I know." She sighed. "But you have to promise that you will not tell anyone."
"This is me Angelica. Of course I won't tell anyone." Tommy said.
"Alright. Yesterday, Chuckie went outside and I followed him. I tackled him and started to fight with him. I spat on him and smacked him. He didn't resist nearly as strongly as I thought he would. I hit him because of what he did earlier. Something inside me then made me lean forwards and kissed him..." She paused as she looked at her cousin.
"You kissed him?"
"Yeah but that's not the end though. Earlier this morning, we went for a walk to talk about what had happened and we just ended up kissing again. We came back and..." She trailed off, uneasy about what had happened.
Tommy looked at her quizzically.
"You didn't have sex with him did you?" He asked.
"No! Nothing like that at all...well not as such. We...we were..." She couldn't bring herself to say what she and Chuckie did. She didn't understand what had happened herself, let alone be able to explain what happened.
Tommy sighed deeply. He thought that Angelica was probably scared of what could very well happen between her and Chuckie if they were left alone. He knows that Angelica is not one who readily shares her softer side with anyone and this gives her this aura of confusion.
'I expect that she does not know her true feelings for him yet. Although they have indeed become friendlier with each other, she is struggling to keep up her anger and hatred for him.'
She didn't want to tell Tommy what had happened. The images in her mind flowed through her brain like water out of a tap. They had embraced and kissed. He lay on the couch and she lay on top of him. They dozed for a while, finally at peace. Her mind was a mess. She hated Chuckie...yet she found him strangely attractive. One moment she could want to rip his heart out, the next she would want to embrace him. She was unsure of how she felt about him, but there was no denying that there was something between them now. Whether it was down to a change of scene or whether it was a matter of time before the change began, she knew that once the change was over she would never be the same again...for better or worse.
****
I think I got a good length chapter here. Next up is Chuckie's point of view when Kimi tries to get him to talk. I hope you all enjoy this chapter so please R&R as usual.
Oh, and they did not have sex or make out. In a way, they did sleep together (although they only dozed for an hour or so) and on the couch there would be no proof to say that they had done anything.