This chapter is more light-hearted. I felt it was gettin' a little heavy.
Even though that was the idea, I felt the impulse to give your brains a
brief rest. It's a present for sticking with me this long. ^_^
I'm SO sorry for the long wait; my computer got a virus, so my dad refused to let me on. It took him awhile to bring it back to life, but it seems it might be okay now. So I'm updating! ^_^ Whoo...and Just for the sake of shameless plugs, I posted a one-shot Charlie angst fic...*cough* I'm sorry for the long wait, and enjoy the chapter!
Hotashell99- Hehehe, yeah. Charlie's a bit bipolar. *shrugs* But alas, we love'm anyway. Yeah, I think that Adam on most occasions wouldn't be mad...I was just thinking it's kind of a last straw type of thing. *shrugs* ^_^ I hope you like the update!
Allie- Ooh. I like that. "Everyone writes fluff," you say? Sounds like fun. My DC fluff was the first fluff I've written in at least a year...Yeah, it's been awhile. Scary, huh? Whoo! You mean I get to have the longest MD fic EVER?! Whoo! *does happy dance* how super-cool is that! Lol. *smiles* It's exciting. Rah for the C/J goodness. Lol...^_^ Portman, you say? *shrugs* I never was too partial to Portman. I don't really know why, he just never captured me. It's not that I dislike him, it's just he's not my favorite. Lol. I'm a bit close-minded, and I tend to have a one-track mind. ^_^ And Charlie happens to be on that one-track mind; no room for anyone else. Lol. Ooh! Yay. I get Texas Charlie! Lol...*imagines in a cowboy hat and Converse* Heehee. Have you ever seen "Lone Star State of Mind"? It has Josh Jackson in it, and he plays a Texan. Very amusing, might I add. Lol...*giggles* I have the DVD sitting next to my "Mighty Ducks" and "The Skulls" DVDs and my "Ronnie and Julie" VHS...Lol...OH! And my DC DVDs. Can't forget them! ^_~ I don't think I could ever kill Charlie...I love him too much. Oooh...*eyes glisten* Fire...shiny...ppprrreeettttttyyy...*smiles* Yeah, Julie's the optimist...Hehehe, yeah. I guess Charlie was a wee-bit mean...Oh well. Heehee. Smooth. Very good idea; gotta watch out for them A- d-a-m lusters. *nods* Yes. Julie makes Charlie abandon his bipolar ways and return to a civil human being.
Nebula- I'm sorry you're mad at Charlie. *nods* Yes, misunderstood is better. Lol. Hehehe, I'm glad the timing thing makes sense now. I hope you like the chapter.
Rachel- Yay! ^_^ *feels special* Aw, you're so nice. ^_^ I'm glad I got their emotions across. You always make me feel better about the story. *grins* I have SUCH a big head now. Lol...*hugs* Your reviews always mean a lot to me. I'm so glad you enjoy my writing.
Banksiesbabe99- *shrugs* I'm not sure how long it'll take, but we could be here for awhile. Lol...Wow, you're so compassionate. ^_^ Just kidding. Lol...I hope you like the chapter! ^_~
MDSWitter26- Ooh, I love Dawson's Creek too! ^_^ I saw it for the first time this summer too! Ooh! ^_^ I've become quite obsessive as well. ^_~ Wow, and guess what! Pacey's my favorite character. How cool is that? Lol...*cough* o.O In case you were wondering *cough* shameless plug *cough*, I have two Dawson's Creek stories if you were interested in reading them. One's a Pacey/Joey if you ship them, and one's just Pacey angst. Yeah...Just thought I'd throw that out there. *cough* Lol. ^_^ I'm glad you liked the C/J moment. I personally love them as a couple, and I think there is not enough out there. It's growing, but no where near the Adam/Julie following. We're attempting to throw them over. ^_~ My friend Liz and I actually wrote one of the first (if not the first) C/J story on the site. So yeah. We're happy that it's growing. ^_^ I hope you like the chapter!
Sarah- Lol. It seems everyone wants Charlie to be nice to Adam. ^_^ Can't imagine why...lol, just kidding! ^_^ I agree; there ARE way too many Charlie/Adam slash fics...I don't like slash, so yeah...I'm glad you're happy with my story. ^_^
MoonlightAngel16- *feels VERY honored* Aw! You're so nice! *hugs* You really think so? Yeah, I'm thinking Adam was a bit dense; the words 'psychopathic father' kind of floated over his head. Lol. Charlie would be very lost without Julie, and yes...Carrie is evil. Have fun eating. ^_^
Snorts90- Heehee...Anything's possible. *cough* Lol...I forgive you for not reviewing; my life is pretty dang hectic too. ^_~ I'm always glad to hear you enjoy the story. ^_^
Brnnttebabe12- They ARE cute together, aren't they? *dreamy smile* Lol...Call me blonde, but which fight? Lol...o.O I'm a bit slow at times. Thanks for the review! ^_^ I hope you like the chapter! ^_~
Katie- I'm glad you liked the chapter! ^_^ And thanks for the congratulations! ^_^ I was pretty excited myself. ^_~ I'm glad you don't want this to end; I'll probably cry when it does.
French Chipmunk- *grins* It's good to know it was up to par. As for Charlie and Julie...You'll just have to see. ^_~
DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Heehee...Yep, Charlie is feelin' the Julie- rays. *Charlie gets excited at the present* He thanks you. ^_^ He likes his present.
JB- Thanks for the review! I always love hearing from new reviewers as well! ^_~ I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you like this chapter too! *grins*
Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks...Disney does. And...I don't own 'The Lion King' either. Yep, you guessed it. Disney owns that too...dang tyrannical mouse...
-Chapter 48-
Julie bounded into the waiting room, unable to hide her smile. She looked around and grabbed her bag from where she had abandoned it on the floor.
"What's got you so happy?" Fulton questioned with confusion.
She just gave him a bright smile and slung the bag over her shoulder before turning around and running back to Charlie's room.
Fulton and Bombay watched her with perplexed expressions on their faces.
"That...was weird." Bombay said.
"Totally..." Fulton added, still confused.
~~~*~~~
Julie opened the door and gave Charlie a broad grin as she walked over to his side.
"Didja miss me?" she asked, pulling out the books.
"Oh, yes. Definitely. Because the thought of schoolwork coming was too just much; the thought of more studying just got me so happy I couldn't wait for your return," he said sarcastically, though it was light enough to be classified as joking.
"Bah, hush you," she said with a grin. "And just for that, I shall force you to do..." she began as she started leafing through the books. "...your...Geography first," she said, plopping the Geography book on his stomach.
"Gee, how sweet of you," Charlie said, his voice dripping with sarcasm; however, he had a hint of a smile on his face.
"I try," She said with a grin. "Now...as for Geography..." she said, leaning over as they reviewed his Geography packet and notes.
After only a few minutes of studying, Charlie pushed the Geography book farther down his lap and looked at Julie.
She gave him a confused look.
"You wanna know what?" he asked her.
"What?" she asked.
"This is boring. Let's watch TV," he said, grabbing the remote.
However, Julie's reflexes were significantly greater than his. "Nuh uh uh!" she said, taking the remote and waving it in front of his face. "Not until we're done studying."
"But we ARE done studying," he replied simply.
"No we're not," she said, sitting the remote control just barely out of his reach.
Charlie furrowed his eyebrows. "Now that was just plain mean."
"I'm just a mean person. Now get to it! You have lots of studying to do, Conway. We better get started...again," Julie said, pretending to crack a whip.
Charlie begrudgingly glared at her and opened the book again, purposely exaggerating his movements.
Julie grinned and shook her head. "You're such a baby!"
Charlie scrunched up his face slightly. "I am not!" he objected.
She only grinned bigger. "Yes you are..." she replied.
"No I am not," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.
Julie continued smiling at him and raised her eyebrows. "Okay then, you're not," she said simply, smiling.
He looked as if he was about to retort when he realized she 'agreed' with him. He gave her a skeptical look and raised an eyebrow. When all she did was continue to smile, he let out a sigh and continued skeptically watching her.
"Just do your studying," she said with a laugh.
He raised his eyebrows in a playfully mocking way and pretended to snort in a snobbish way. This caused Julie to laugh.
"If I must," he said, sticking up his nose and poshly flipping through the pages of his book in a 'dignified manner.'
Julie playfully nudged his shoulder, causing his 'snobbish' expression to crack into a sad attempt at concealing a grin. While Julie started laughing, Charlie chuckled slightly, seeing the girl's fit of laughter. Julie wasn't quite sure if it was Charlie's behavior that caused the need to laugh, or if all the studying had truly sent her flying off the deep end.
Once the laughter subsided, Julie let out a sigh.
"You okay now?" he asked with raised eyebrows, a shockingly-amused expression on his face.
She nodded. "I think so...I just had a weird moment there," she said, blushing slightly.
He shrugged. "Don't we all..."
After they sat there for awhile, Charlie let out a sigh and grabbed the remote, which had magically scooted closer to him. "We're watching TV," he said with finality, flipping the TV on.
"Are we, now?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
He nodded simply and began flipping through channels.
"I thought we were studying," she said, trying not to smile.
He shook his head no, never diverting his gaze from the TV. "Nope. I decided 'Hey, screw school. Let's watch TV.' Not like I'll remember any of it anyway." Charlie said lightly, still flipping lazily through channels.
"Such great work ethic," she joked. "That's bound to nail you your finals."
"That's the idea," he said, peeking at her in the corner of his eye before turning back to the screen. He wasn't quite smiling, but he wasn't frowning either.
"Well, at least you have your priorities in line," she said dryly, watching the screen with him.
"Hey, don't slam on the priorities," Charlie said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
She shook her head, smiling slightly. "You're a very odd person, Charlie," she said through a half-smile.
"Hey!" He said, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Heh...I meant that in the most affectionate of ways, of course," she added with a grin.
"Sure..." he said skeptically, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "That's what they ALL say..."
"What? That you're odd, or that they meant it in the most affectionate of ways?" she asked innocently.
"Very funny, Gaffney," Charlie said with a quirked eyebrow. "Real cute."
She grinned. "I try," she said simply before they both returned to the TV screen in hopes of finding something OTHER than daytime soaps...
~~~*~~~
It was closing on seven o'clock when Charlie glanced over at the small, black digital clock on his bedside table. The red numbers were slowing ticking away, counting the moments passing them by.
"It's almost seven..." he said simply.
Julie just nodded, never prying her eyes from the screen. They were glued to the final scene of 'The Lion King.' They had gotten bored, so they rented a random Disney movie.
Charlie sighed when he realized he would get no further response until the movie was over. He would have never pictured Julie as an Animated Disney Movie buff. But hey, you learn something new every day.
"Now are you ready to return to the land of the living?" Charlie asked with raised eyebrows at her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm done now. I just love The Lion King...It's my favorite Disney movie."
Charlie half-smiled and shook his head. "That's good to know," he said. "So how long are you staying?" he asked.
"'Til you kick me out," she said with a grin.
"Hm, we could be here for awhile. It's shocking; I have gone this whole time without the impulse to kick you out. It must be a good sign," he said simply, flipping the TV off and resting his head on the pillow.
"I'd have to agree. That is quite a relief," she said. They both sat there in slightly-awkward silence. Neither were quite sure what to say; continuing much further down the road they were on was bound to end in disaster. It was a pattern Charlie was noticing with everyone who had come into the room the entire day.
The air was tense around them, and it seemed they had been sitting in still silence forever before Charlie cleared his throat and looked at his lap.
"On second thought, I think maybe you ought to go..." he said softly, barely above a whisper.
Julie's face fell, and she furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't understand why he was making her go. Just a moment before, he had been at least a little happy.
"Why?" she asked, trying not to choke on her words.
He kept his eyes glued to the pale hospital sheets. "I guess I'm just a little tired..." he said, his voice still quiet.
She nodded slowly and stood up. As she was walking across the room, she stopped and turned back to him.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked.
Charlie lifted his downcast eyes to her and shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just been a mentally-taxing day. It's not your fault, it's just...I just need some time alone, you know?" he said, diverting his gaze again.
Julie nodded, though she didn't quite understand. He had just shifted from open and bordering-on-happy to distant and closed off again. He wouldn't look her straight in the eye...
"See you later?" she said as more of a question than a statement.
Charlie nodded slowly, turning his face to the outside window.
As he heard the door close gently, he let out a sigh and buried his face in his hands.
He blinked a few times and sighed deeply. He didn't know why, but he had suddenly felt an unexplainable need for solitude. He had felt himself grow uncomfortable as the seconds ticked by, and the fear of blowing up began to bubble to the surface.
Charlie figured he had burned enough bridges for one day and didn't want to lose Julie too. He could tell she had grown weary of his reaction too by her stiff frame in the chair. She seemed tense; as if she was worried he would blow up and yell at her for mentioning the events that took place before she came in.
But when he thought about it, he couldn't really blame her. He had flown off the handle with both Fulton and Adam, so he could only figure that they had told her about it.
Charlie rested his head on the pillow and rubbed his eyes. He didn't deserve Julie's compassion...or Adam or Fulton's either. He had managed to prove it to himself time and time again...They were better off without him...He was doing them a favor...
With a gloomy outlook and stubborn expression, Charlie flipped on the TV.
He rolled on his side and closed his eyes, falling asleep to the sounds of the TV softly humming in the background.
I'm SO sorry for the long wait; my computer got a virus, so my dad refused to let me on. It took him awhile to bring it back to life, but it seems it might be okay now. So I'm updating! ^_^ Whoo...and Just for the sake of shameless plugs, I posted a one-shot Charlie angst fic...*cough* I'm sorry for the long wait, and enjoy the chapter!
Hotashell99- Hehehe, yeah. Charlie's a bit bipolar. *shrugs* But alas, we love'm anyway. Yeah, I think that Adam on most occasions wouldn't be mad...I was just thinking it's kind of a last straw type of thing. *shrugs* ^_^ I hope you like the update!
Allie- Ooh. I like that. "Everyone writes fluff," you say? Sounds like fun. My DC fluff was the first fluff I've written in at least a year...Yeah, it's been awhile. Scary, huh? Whoo! You mean I get to have the longest MD fic EVER?! Whoo! *does happy dance* how super-cool is that! Lol. *smiles* It's exciting. Rah for the C/J goodness. Lol...^_^ Portman, you say? *shrugs* I never was too partial to Portman. I don't really know why, he just never captured me. It's not that I dislike him, it's just he's not my favorite. Lol. I'm a bit close-minded, and I tend to have a one-track mind. ^_^ And Charlie happens to be on that one-track mind; no room for anyone else. Lol. Ooh! Yay. I get Texas Charlie! Lol...*imagines in a cowboy hat and Converse* Heehee. Have you ever seen "Lone Star State of Mind"? It has Josh Jackson in it, and he plays a Texan. Very amusing, might I add. Lol...*giggles* I have the DVD sitting next to my "Mighty Ducks" and "The Skulls" DVDs and my "Ronnie and Julie" VHS...Lol...OH! And my DC DVDs. Can't forget them! ^_~ I don't think I could ever kill Charlie...I love him too much. Oooh...*eyes glisten* Fire...shiny...ppprrreeettttttyyy...*smiles* Yeah, Julie's the optimist...Hehehe, yeah. I guess Charlie was a wee-bit mean...Oh well. Heehee. Smooth. Very good idea; gotta watch out for them A- d-a-m lusters. *nods* Yes. Julie makes Charlie abandon his bipolar ways and return to a civil human being.
Nebula- I'm sorry you're mad at Charlie. *nods* Yes, misunderstood is better. Lol. Hehehe, I'm glad the timing thing makes sense now. I hope you like the chapter.
Rachel- Yay! ^_^ *feels special* Aw, you're so nice. ^_^ I'm glad I got their emotions across. You always make me feel better about the story. *grins* I have SUCH a big head now. Lol...*hugs* Your reviews always mean a lot to me. I'm so glad you enjoy my writing.
Banksiesbabe99- *shrugs* I'm not sure how long it'll take, but we could be here for awhile. Lol...Wow, you're so compassionate. ^_^ Just kidding. Lol...I hope you like the chapter! ^_~
MDSWitter26- Ooh, I love Dawson's Creek too! ^_^ I saw it for the first time this summer too! Ooh! ^_^ I've become quite obsessive as well. ^_~ Wow, and guess what! Pacey's my favorite character. How cool is that? Lol...*cough* o.O In case you were wondering *cough* shameless plug *cough*, I have two Dawson's Creek stories if you were interested in reading them. One's a Pacey/Joey if you ship them, and one's just Pacey angst. Yeah...Just thought I'd throw that out there. *cough* Lol. ^_^ I'm glad you liked the C/J moment. I personally love them as a couple, and I think there is not enough out there. It's growing, but no where near the Adam/Julie following. We're attempting to throw them over. ^_~ My friend Liz and I actually wrote one of the first (if not the first) C/J story on the site. So yeah. We're happy that it's growing. ^_^ I hope you like the chapter!
Sarah- Lol. It seems everyone wants Charlie to be nice to Adam. ^_^ Can't imagine why...lol, just kidding! ^_^ I agree; there ARE way too many Charlie/Adam slash fics...I don't like slash, so yeah...I'm glad you're happy with my story. ^_^
MoonlightAngel16- *feels VERY honored* Aw! You're so nice! *hugs* You really think so? Yeah, I'm thinking Adam was a bit dense; the words 'psychopathic father' kind of floated over his head. Lol. Charlie would be very lost without Julie, and yes...Carrie is evil. Have fun eating. ^_^
Snorts90- Heehee...Anything's possible. *cough* Lol...I forgive you for not reviewing; my life is pretty dang hectic too. ^_~ I'm always glad to hear you enjoy the story. ^_^
Brnnttebabe12- They ARE cute together, aren't they? *dreamy smile* Lol...Call me blonde, but which fight? Lol...o.O I'm a bit slow at times. Thanks for the review! ^_^ I hope you like the chapter! ^_~
Katie- I'm glad you liked the chapter! ^_^ And thanks for the congratulations! ^_^ I was pretty excited myself. ^_~ I'm glad you don't want this to end; I'll probably cry when it does.
French Chipmunk- *grins* It's good to know it was up to par. As for Charlie and Julie...You'll just have to see. ^_~
DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Heehee...Yep, Charlie is feelin' the Julie- rays. *Charlie gets excited at the present* He thanks you. ^_^ He likes his present.
JB- Thanks for the review! I always love hearing from new reviewers as well! ^_~ I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you like this chapter too! *grins*
Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks...Disney does. And...I don't own 'The Lion King' either. Yep, you guessed it. Disney owns that too...dang tyrannical mouse...
-Chapter 48-
Julie bounded into the waiting room, unable to hide her smile. She looked around and grabbed her bag from where she had abandoned it on the floor.
"What's got you so happy?" Fulton questioned with confusion.
She just gave him a bright smile and slung the bag over her shoulder before turning around and running back to Charlie's room.
Fulton and Bombay watched her with perplexed expressions on their faces.
"That...was weird." Bombay said.
"Totally..." Fulton added, still confused.
~~~*~~~
Julie opened the door and gave Charlie a broad grin as she walked over to his side.
"Didja miss me?" she asked, pulling out the books.
"Oh, yes. Definitely. Because the thought of schoolwork coming was too just much; the thought of more studying just got me so happy I couldn't wait for your return," he said sarcastically, though it was light enough to be classified as joking.
"Bah, hush you," she said with a grin. "And just for that, I shall force you to do..." she began as she started leafing through the books. "...your...Geography first," she said, plopping the Geography book on his stomach.
"Gee, how sweet of you," Charlie said, his voice dripping with sarcasm; however, he had a hint of a smile on his face.
"I try," She said with a grin. "Now...as for Geography..." she said, leaning over as they reviewed his Geography packet and notes.
After only a few minutes of studying, Charlie pushed the Geography book farther down his lap and looked at Julie.
She gave him a confused look.
"You wanna know what?" he asked her.
"What?" she asked.
"This is boring. Let's watch TV," he said, grabbing the remote.
However, Julie's reflexes were significantly greater than his. "Nuh uh uh!" she said, taking the remote and waving it in front of his face. "Not until we're done studying."
"But we ARE done studying," he replied simply.
"No we're not," she said, sitting the remote control just barely out of his reach.
Charlie furrowed his eyebrows. "Now that was just plain mean."
"I'm just a mean person. Now get to it! You have lots of studying to do, Conway. We better get started...again," Julie said, pretending to crack a whip.
Charlie begrudgingly glared at her and opened the book again, purposely exaggerating his movements.
Julie grinned and shook her head. "You're such a baby!"
Charlie scrunched up his face slightly. "I am not!" he objected.
She only grinned bigger. "Yes you are..." she replied.
"No I am not," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.
Julie continued smiling at him and raised her eyebrows. "Okay then, you're not," she said simply, smiling.
He looked as if he was about to retort when he realized she 'agreed' with him. He gave her a skeptical look and raised an eyebrow. When all she did was continue to smile, he let out a sigh and continued skeptically watching her.
"Just do your studying," she said with a laugh.
He raised his eyebrows in a playfully mocking way and pretended to snort in a snobbish way. This caused Julie to laugh.
"If I must," he said, sticking up his nose and poshly flipping through the pages of his book in a 'dignified manner.'
Julie playfully nudged his shoulder, causing his 'snobbish' expression to crack into a sad attempt at concealing a grin. While Julie started laughing, Charlie chuckled slightly, seeing the girl's fit of laughter. Julie wasn't quite sure if it was Charlie's behavior that caused the need to laugh, or if all the studying had truly sent her flying off the deep end.
Once the laughter subsided, Julie let out a sigh.
"You okay now?" he asked with raised eyebrows, a shockingly-amused expression on his face.
She nodded. "I think so...I just had a weird moment there," she said, blushing slightly.
He shrugged. "Don't we all..."
After they sat there for awhile, Charlie let out a sigh and grabbed the remote, which had magically scooted closer to him. "We're watching TV," he said with finality, flipping the TV on.
"Are we, now?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
He nodded simply and began flipping through channels.
"I thought we were studying," she said, trying not to smile.
He shook his head no, never diverting his gaze from the TV. "Nope. I decided 'Hey, screw school. Let's watch TV.' Not like I'll remember any of it anyway." Charlie said lightly, still flipping lazily through channels.
"Such great work ethic," she joked. "That's bound to nail you your finals."
"That's the idea," he said, peeking at her in the corner of his eye before turning back to the screen. He wasn't quite smiling, but he wasn't frowning either.
"Well, at least you have your priorities in line," she said dryly, watching the screen with him.
"Hey, don't slam on the priorities," Charlie said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
She shook her head, smiling slightly. "You're a very odd person, Charlie," she said through a half-smile.
"Hey!" He said, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Heh...I meant that in the most affectionate of ways, of course," she added with a grin.
"Sure..." he said skeptically, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "That's what they ALL say..."
"What? That you're odd, or that they meant it in the most affectionate of ways?" she asked innocently.
"Very funny, Gaffney," Charlie said with a quirked eyebrow. "Real cute."
She grinned. "I try," she said simply before they both returned to the TV screen in hopes of finding something OTHER than daytime soaps...
~~~*~~~
It was closing on seven o'clock when Charlie glanced over at the small, black digital clock on his bedside table. The red numbers were slowing ticking away, counting the moments passing them by.
"It's almost seven..." he said simply.
Julie just nodded, never prying her eyes from the screen. They were glued to the final scene of 'The Lion King.' They had gotten bored, so they rented a random Disney movie.
Charlie sighed when he realized he would get no further response until the movie was over. He would have never pictured Julie as an Animated Disney Movie buff. But hey, you learn something new every day.
"Now are you ready to return to the land of the living?" Charlie asked with raised eyebrows at her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm done now. I just love The Lion King...It's my favorite Disney movie."
Charlie half-smiled and shook his head. "That's good to know," he said. "So how long are you staying?" he asked.
"'Til you kick me out," she said with a grin.
"Hm, we could be here for awhile. It's shocking; I have gone this whole time without the impulse to kick you out. It must be a good sign," he said simply, flipping the TV off and resting his head on the pillow.
"I'd have to agree. That is quite a relief," she said. They both sat there in slightly-awkward silence. Neither were quite sure what to say; continuing much further down the road they were on was bound to end in disaster. It was a pattern Charlie was noticing with everyone who had come into the room the entire day.
The air was tense around them, and it seemed they had been sitting in still silence forever before Charlie cleared his throat and looked at his lap.
"On second thought, I think maybe you ought to go..." he said softly, barely above a whisper.
Julie's face fell, and she furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't understand why he was making her go. Just a moment before, he had been at least a little happy.
"Why?" she asked, trying not to choke on her words.
He kept his eyes glued to the pale hospital sheets. "I guess I'm just a little tired..." he said, his voice still quiet.
She nodded slowly and stood up. As she was walking across the room, she stopped and turned back to him.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked.
Charlie lifted his downcast eyes to her and shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just been a mentally-taxing day. It's not your fault, it's just...I just need some time alone, you know?" he said, diverting his gaze again.
Julie nodded, though she didn't quite understand. He had just shifted from open and bordering-on-happy to distant and closed off again. He wouldn't look her straight in the eye...
"See you later?" she said as more of a question than a statement.
Charlie nodded slowly, turning his face to the outside window.
As he heard the door close gently, he let out a sigh and buried his face in his hands.
He blinked a few times and sighed deeply. He didn't know why, but he had suddenly felt an unexplainable need for solitude. He had felt himself grow uncomfortable as the seconds ticked by, and the fear of blowing up began to bubble to the surface.
Charlie figured he had burned enough bridges for one day and didn't want to lose Julie too. He could tell she had grown weary of his reaction too by her stiff frame in the chair. She seemed tense; as if she was worried he would blow up and yell at her for mentioning the events that took place before she came in.
But when he thought about it, he couldn't really blame her. He had flown off the handle with both Fulton and Adam, so he could only figure that they had told her about it.
Charlie rested his head on the pillow and rubbed his eyes. He didn't deserve Julie's compassion...or Adam or Fulton's either. He had managed to prove it to himself time and time again...They were better off without him...He was doing them a favor...
With a gloomy outlook and stubborn expression, Charlie flipped on the TV.
He rolled on his side and closed his eyes, falling asleep to the sounds of the TV softly humming in the background.
