Summary: Charlie finally gets up the nerve to ask out Amita…but she has a boyfriend. Is it too late for him?
Disclaimer: I do not own numb3rs or any of the characters and I am in no way making any money off of this
Note: This is my first time ever posting something I've written (and it did take me forever to decide to post it) so go easy on me. Oh and thoughts are in italics
Broken Hearted Happiness
'Alright Charlie you can do this' Charlie Eppes told himself for about the twentieth time that day. He was walking across the quad on the campus of Calsci. He was heading to his class. Classes never used to make him nervous, and that's saying something considering he taught his first class when he was only sixteen. No, he was fine teaching classes until the day he got his new student- Amita Ramanujan.
She was a grad student and him her thesis advisor. It wasn't that awkward at first. Of course the moment she walked into his office he noticed how attractive she was but that was easy to brush off. He saw many students that were attractive but he never thought anything of it. He was a man and he was bound, for a split second, to realize how attractive a woman was. After that second though part of his brain kicked in and told him that they were students and he never thought anything more of it.
But as time progressed every time he was Amita that second of noticing her beauty lasted longer and longer. They grew to be more then teacher/student. They became friends, and in doing so it was harder to distinguish that line between teacher and student. Those seconds grew to minutes, minutes to hours and soon Amita was in his thoughts almost as much as math (which considering how much he thought about math is saying something).
As he got closer to his class, he kept repeating his mantra under his breath. So maybe a few people thought he was crazy, but most just thought he was whispering equations, which he frequently did. He was so focused on his mantra he didn't notice his friend Larry sneak up next to him…
"Charles?" Larry spoke laying a hand gently on his friends shoulder
"Oh god Larry!" Charlie cried almost jumping a foot in the air. He hates in when people sneak up on him
"Sorry Charles, I tried getting your attention but you were so focused on whatever you were working on I guess you didn't hear" Larry responded switching some of his books from under one arm to under his other
"Give me some of those" Charles said taking some of the books from Larry. Anything to distract him from nearing his classroom- and Amita
"What were you saying? I tried to catch it but I just couldn't hear" Larry said looking relieved to get rid some of the heavy books
"Going deaf already Larry? I thought you'd have a few more years at least" Charlie kidded his friend. It was normal from them. Larry was much older then Charlie. They had met when Charlie started to attend school Calsci, Larry had taken Charlie under his wing because lets face it going to college when you're only thirteen is a big deal and he needed all the friends he could get
"Ha ha very funny Charles, I think you missed some of that peach fuzz you'd like to believe is facial hair" Larry retorted commenting on Charlie's age "but your changing the subject"
'Damn' He had hoped that comment would have side tracked Larry
"Nothing. Just random equations" Charlie responded averting his eyes from Larry
"Ok, now I know there definitely is something going on. Charles I know how much you love math but you NEVER just say random equations, they normally have a purpose albeit a simplistic one. That and I may not have been able hear what you were saying but I knew it was the same thing over and over. You can tell me" Larry said again putting his hand on Charlie's shoulder
'double damn…Oh well why not tell him' "I was telling myself that I had nothing to worry about"
"Oh…working on a case with Don that's making you nervous?" Larry asked referring to Charlie's recently revived relationship with his brother Don. Don is an FBI agent and Charlie is frequently called in to help Don solve cases with his math genius
"No" Charlie answered shortly praying that Larry would drop it. He didn't
"Is it your father then? Is he ok?" Larry asked, a note of concern entering his voice
I don't know whether to feel guilty that I made him think my fathers sick or touched that he's actually concerned…"No my father's fine" Charlie answered still avoiding Larry's eyes
"Well what is it then? Do you need to talk, cause I'm here if you need to talk" Larry responded turning Charlie to face him
Damn you Larry "It's class" why not it's close enough to the truth
"Oh…well why? I've never seen you get nervous before a class you know this stuff like the back of your hand"
Why can't he just drop it! "I um…oh screw it…I'm nervous cause Amita's there" Charlie finally admitted
"Why are you nervous cause Amita's there? I thought you liked her?"
"I do Larry. That's exactly why I'm nervous" Charlie glanced over at Larry to see if he caught his meaning. He didn't
"Why would she make you nervous if you like her?"
wow Larry just wow "Because I LIKE her like her Larry, for lack of a better way of explaining" Charlie exclaimed, then realizing how loud he was, scanned the crowd to see if anyone had heard and reacted. There was no one
"Oh that again. Charles you need to get over that" Larry said simply waving a hand at Charlie
"But Larry I can't stop thinking of her. Do you know how hard it is to teach when the woman you like is in the room and she smiles at you like there was nothing better in the world!"
"No but I'm sure if I did I would understand what you're feeling. Now that you're right on time for your class…" Larry said pointing to the door. Charlie stared at the door in disbelief.
You can do this Charlie "Thanks Larry. I'll see you after classes"
"Good luck Charles" Larry said waving and continuing on
"Thanks. I'll need it" Charlie said as he opened the door to start his class.
Please review. It makes me happy and want to write more :-D