A/N: I really appreciate all the reviews. They make it even more pleasurable writing this fanfic. I hope you will enjoy this in between chapter… by all means, keep letting me know!

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Charlie lay in bed staring at the ceiling not being able to fall asleep. Larry was asleep in the spare bedroom once belonging to Don when he had still lived here. When Larry had accepted the offer to stay the night they had parted where Charlie had only barely managed to keep himself together. He felt so incredibly dismayed that he was not able to tell Amita how he felt but with Larry right there next to them he merely managed to whisper that they would talk soon.

As Charlie's old habits seemed to take over as he ran the numbers in his head trying to calculate the odds on the possibility of a third evening going bad. Thinking of all the variables and information he had available to him he came to the conclusion that it must be nearly impossible, giving him hope. The only thing that he could not apply any algorithm to was how Amita felt at this point. Sure she had smiled after he had promised to tell her the reason why he had reacted the way he did, but he wondered how much more of this Amita was able to take.

That was it for Charlie. His male instincts took over once more and told him he had to do something. As he got up from his bed he looked for his cell phone. He found it, sat on the edge of his bed and flipped the lid open. His phone told him it was 01.23 am.

"I must be insane for doing this" He thought to himself but his fingers seemed to lead a life of their own as they started typing a text message.

"Some things I still want to keep to myself. I hope you know my family and friends well enough to understand why. I can't wait to see you again."

He pressed the send button. Charlie held his breath as he watched the envelope move on the screen before his phone told him the message was sent. He let out the breath he had held and felt a lot better already. He knew she kept her phone off at night, but was glad to have gotten it off his chest. She would read it in the morning hoping it would explain a bit of his earlier remarks that angered her earlier that evening.

Feeling tired all of a sudden he left his phone on the other pillow and nestled himself in bed. Just as he started to drift off in a well deserved sleep, his phone beeped.

Charlie jerked up, eyes wide open and grabbed his phone. She was awake! She replied! He had one new message. He started breathing franticly as he stared at his phone that showed a blinking unopened envelope. His hands trembled as they opened the lid to his phone to read the message while his heart raced a mile a minute

"I understand. Don't make me wait too long tomorrow. Sleep tight Charlie." The message said.

Charlie smiled in great relief; this was just the answer he hoped she would give him. He decided not to reply and give sleep another try. He was going to look for her first thing in the morning.

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When Charlie was ready to go to work he saw Larry having breakfast with his father.

"Good morning Charlie" His father greeted him with a sugar sweet smile.

"Good morning Charles." Larry greeted him at the same time.

Charlie nodded at the both of them. He had forgotten all about not telling his father yesterday that he went to see a movie with Amita and it seemed that Larry had told all about last night. This was not good.

"So, last night you and Amita went to see a movie together, huh? Larry told me he bumped into you two at the theater." Alan chimed.

Charlie gritted his teeth. This was exactly the reason why he had not wanted anyone to know as he managed to restrain himself from throwing an annoyed look at Larry for telling his father he had been out with her.

"Yes dad, we went to see a movie together" Charlie answered.

Alan smiled at his son.

"Since when do you take a girl out to see a movie Charlie? Have you been holding out on your father?" Alan teased.

Charlie sat down and prepared himself for what he was about to say. He hated lying to his father and knew he was pretty bad at it. But the way his father made him feel when he made teasing comments and the way he looked at him with that sugar sweet smile pushed Charlie over the limit.

"Dad, you can stop thinking what you're thinking. I'm not holding out on you or anyone else for that matter. As I told Larry yesterday, Amita and I are just good friends and colleagues. And I would appreciate it if all of you would stop making remarks about us having romantic feelings about each other because frankly, it's becoming quite tiring and somewhat embarrassing." Charlie said with great conviction exchanging looks between both his father as well as Larry.

"Charles… I'm sorry. My apologies for making you feel this way." Larry was the first to respond.

Alan's smile had disappeared from his face. He seemed genuinely disappointed after hearing from Charlie's own mouth that he had no romantic interest in Amita.

"I'm sorry too Charlie. I really thought you really liked Amita. I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable." His father apologized.

Charlie felt awful hearing his father and best friend apologize for something they had absolutely no need to apologize for. But he felt at ease at the same time knowing that both really believed every word he had said. The only person he had still had to worry about was his brother. His brother, Charlie thought. Where was Don anyway? He hadn't seen him or spoken him in days. The worry about his brother quickly escaped his mind as he stared at the clock. He had to hurry.

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Charlie had arrived at work almost twenty minutes earlier than usual. Thankfully Larry had the morning off, and stayed with Alan before he would make his way to his neighbor's house to collect the spare key otherwise Charlie would have been stuck with Larry again. He always made sure that he was amply on time at the University to prepare his classed and relax a little before the hectic day of teaching began. But today he was there even earlier.

He walked in a fast pace to his office to drop off his bag as he wanted nothing more than to go look for Amita. He couldn't bear to waist another minute without seeing her. It had been 5 hours, 48 minutes and 58 seconds since she had sent him the text message asking him not to make her wait too long and he had every intention to ensure she wouldn't have to wait a second longer than necessary.

As he sprinted into his office he came to a full stop as he saw Amita a sit on his desk apparently waiting for him. Butterflies surged like never before and his heart skipped a beat as he stared at her. She looked beautiful this morning.

"I brought you tea" She said with a blush on her cheeks.

Charlie finally regained control over himself after she spoke and started to walk up to her.

"How long have you been waiting here?" He asked as he came to a halt right in front of her.

"The tea is still hot." She replied as he handed him over the cup.

As Charlie reached out for the cup he brushed his fingers along hers and locked eyes with her.

"I'm so sorry about last night… "Charlie started.

"I understand Charlie, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I had a lovely evening, despite everything." Amita said.

"I'm glad to hear that." Charlie said softly as he caressed her cheek with one hand.

Amita closed her eyes and followed the movement of his hand whishing this moment would last forever. Her reaction to him touching her skin sent shivers up Charlie's spine making him crave for more. As she opened her eyes, she took the hand that touched her cheek and got up from his desk. Their bodies met causing Charlie to stop breathing as they gazed into each others eyes. She was now closer than she had ever been and Charlie fought to keep his head together. Charlie closed his eyes as she leaned in closer to him when a couple of students laughing loudly walked by.

Amita had opened her eyes as she stared at Charlie who had a pained expression on his face and took two steps back.

"This isn't right" He said with a soft tone.

Amita's eyes grew big and a frightened look appeared on her face as she stared at him in disbelief.

"No No No! That's not what I meant, Oh lord no! Charlie exclaimed when he realized what she must have thought and took her by the hand. "I meant I want to do this right, I want to make it special." He said while running his thumb along her lips down to her chin.

Amita smiled.

"You're special breed, Charlie Eppes" She whispered and bit her lower lip." If it were anybody else that just told me to wait a little longer I would have given up"

"Come over to my house tonight? We'll have dinner" Charlie asked.

"What about your father and brother?" She asked.

"Does that mean yes?" Charlie asked with a tease.

"Yes, it means I'll come over tonight." She replied.

"Don't worry about my father and Don. I'll make sure they won't be there to disturb us.

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