"Alan, pass me that spoon...and quit shaking!" Charli snapped. "I know your faking it!"
"I'm not! I really have this illness and...Okay, you got me. I'm lying. Why is it that everyone else falls for it except you?" He handed the spoon over to her.
"They don't!" Charli frowned. "They just play along with you. It's called being kind! What shall we eat?"
"Rabbit?"
"Gross!" Charli scowled. She opened the fridge and pulled out some mince beef. "Chilli, I think."
"Chilli?" Alan asked curiously. "What's that?"
"It's...spicy," Charli began to laugh. "Should give you guys a nice shock."
"Can't we have tame food?" Alan asked, taking the pan she passed him.
"No. And I want to talk to you."
He stopped in his tracks. "Uh...should I be scared?"
"No," Charli giggled. "At least, I don't think you should be..."
"Then what is it?"
"It's this lying..." Charli put the meat into the pan and left it to cook, rummaging in the cupboards. "You've got to stop..."
"What lying?" He grinned wickedly.
Charli rolled her eyes. "I mean every other word out of your mouth. How do you sleep at night?"
"Easy, I close my eyes and-"
"Alright!" She sighed. "You're missing my point. You're conscience was obviously removed at birth."
"Obviously." Alan looked at her in confusion.
"Look, all I'm saying is, one day that mouth of yours is going to land you in a lot of trouble, or worse."
"It has many a time anyway already," Alan shrugged as he took the spoon from Charli and began to stir the mince.
"Yes, but there's not always going to be someone here to save you, is there?" Charli handed him the can opener and showed him how to use it. "Think about it."
Alan narrowed his eyes for a moment or two, as if in thought, before shrugging. "Nah!" He began to laugh, but stopped suddenly when he saw the look on her face. "You're being serious aren't you?" He coughed.
"No, Alan." Charli sighed. "I'm wasting my breath being sarcastic and having a laugh. Now please open that can!"
Alan inspected the tin opener sceptically. "So…you aren't being serious?"
"Of course I am. You should learn to speak the truth from time to time." She said simply as she added the some vegetables to the meat.
"But I don't know how...and I need a knife for this." He held the tin up and frowned.
"Use the tin opener." She growled.
"No." He answered, opening one of the kitchen drawers. He pulled out a sharp knife and jabbed it forcefully into the can, sawing it open quickly.
Charli snatched the blade from him. "You'll blunt my knife, imbecile!" She yelled as she took the can off him and emptied the food into the pan. "Please, next time use the tin opener! And it's easy to stop lying. You just have to think about what you say before you say it."
"I'm not sure if I can, I'm so used to just saying the first thing that comes out of my mouth."
"I know but…listen. You and Djaq are…you know…"
Alan grinned. "No. What?"
"You know…" she began to laugh.
"No idea what you're talking about." He dead panned.
"Alan! I swear," Charli swatted him. "I don't know how she puts up with you. Anyway, all I'm saying is that you should consider the truth for a change, especially now you're in a relationship with someone."
"I'm in a relationship?" He began, but the look on Charli's face soon silenced him. He sniffed, stirring the contents of the pan again in thought. "Okay, maybe you're right. It's just that…"
"What?" Charli suspected he was about to become serious.
"I know you probably don't really care, and you've heard it all before from Will but, it's not easy where we come from and it will never will be. I've grown up in a world where to lie, cheat and steal is sometimes the only means of survival."
Charli rolled her eyes, resting her hand on his arms reassuringly. "Don't ever say that I don't care. I care about you guys more than anything in the world right now and, for some reason, I suspect you feel the same. I do understand. We're just not used to your kind of life here. All I'm suggesting is the truth; it may get you that bit further you know?"
Alan looked sideways at her for several moments, studying the girl in thought before smiling and nodding. "I'll try. Is that good enough?"
"It's a start, Alan A Dale." She grinned back before taking a deep breath. "Right. This is more or less cooked. We'll just leave it to simmer for a little longer while we cook the rice-"
"I don't care, Robin! You're not coming! It will ruin the surprise."
"And I already told you, you're not going on your own!"
Charli turned to see Tanya, followed very closely by a peeved looking Robin, head swiftly into the kitchen. "Mmm smells good," Tanya smiled at the two of them before turning on Robin again. "Whatever. Much can come with me again."
"Oh, so Much gets to see it and I don't-"
"You get to see the real thing tomorrow night." She opened the cupboard and pulled out a glass.
"Yes, but-"
"Oh shut up and stop moaning. All you do is moan." She waved him off as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.
"Fine then, go for all I care. Go get yourself kidnapped and murdered." He sniffed, but much to his disappointment, did not receive the reaction he wanted.
"Okay then, I will," she headed casually out of the kitchen. "I bet Gisborne doesn't whinge half as much as you do anyway."
"What? Tanya, wait!" Robin ran after her.
"Okaaaaaaay," Charli said chirpily. "Dinner's up in ten!"
Tanya's alarm clock went off with an unwelcome chirp and the girl started awake, sitting up in bed. "Wha-?"
"Oh good, your awake." Charli grinned, sitting up in her bed, fully dressed, the alarm clock in her hand.
"Charli! It's still dark! What time is it?"
"Three? Four? Something like that."
Tanya stared at her. "Who the hell set my alarm clock for three 'o' clock in the morning?"
"The Easter bunny?"
"Get lost!" Tanya collapsed back on her bed.
"Problem." Charli grinned. "One, this is actually my house and two, I have early morning training. How am I going to get past Robin and Will and their 'you are not leaving this house' policy?"
"You deal with it, I don't give a sh'it," Tanya buried her head back under the pillow"Oh, now that's not fair! I helped you get out of the house last night for your stupid pantomime rehearsal." Charli began to pull at the covers much to Tanya's dislike.
"My pantomime is not stupid!" Tanya growled as she tugged the covers back. "Now piss off!"
"No! Get up!" Charli yanked the covers hard, causing Tanya to roll off the bed and into a heap on the floor.
"You'll pay for that," she climbed tiredly to her feet.
"Sure." Charli muttered, also climbing to her feet. "Now are you going to smuggle me out, or what?"
"Just ask Will to go with you!"
"I don't want anyone to go with me!"
"Well, why not?" Tanya rubbed the sleep from her eyes and padded to the door. She opened it quietly and peeked into the hallway. "There! There's no one up. You can go."
Charli rolled her eyes and tip-toed to the door quietly too. "You're kidding me right? There's no way I can get out without them knowing. They're not stupid."
"I beg to differ! Much and I escaped that time for the driving lesson-"
"Yes but-Oh crap!" Charli screamed in fright when the door suddenly flew open and both Robin and Will stood there looking less than amused. "You scared the sh'it out of me! How long have you been stood there?"
"Long enough."
"Don't you ever sleep?"
"No we don't," Robin stepped into the room.
"Um...can we help you?" Tanya put her hand on his chest and pushed him backward again.
"Yes, we were wondering what you were doing and if you were planning on going somewhere without telling us?" Will answered for him.
"Yeah, we're up early so I can go training and I'm about to leave right now," Charli grinned as she pushed past the two men and headed down the hallway; she didn't get anywhere near the door. "Will, just let me go."
"Yeah, right," he laughed as he began to pull her back toward the bedroom. Charli looked to her friend for help, but Tanya, now stood leaning against the hallway wall and watching, just shrugged at her.
"Oh, so that's your attitude! If this were you, you would have been kicking and screaming at Robin by now!" She shrugged Will off her and glared at the three of them. "I have to go training!"
"No you don't." Will continued to pull her towards the room, but she dug her heels in.
"Let me go, Will!"
"No."
"Why not?"
"You know why," he rolled his eyes. "Don't make me use force."
Charli laughed haughtily in his face. "You wouldn't dare. You don't even have it in you."
Will looked at Robin, eyebrows raised, Robin smirked back. Tanya stood watching, too tired to care. Turning back to Charli, he took a step forward and stooped low, throwing her over his shoulder and marching her back into the bedroom.
"Proved you wrong." Tanya sniggered as she pushed from the wall and followed them in.
"Will!" Charli gave a small scream. "Get the hell off me! Get off!"
"Okay." Will dumped her unceremoniously on her bed and she lay there, glaring up at him.
"Seriously, I don't know what you think could happen to me going DMT training!"
"You were worried about Tanya going out for archery, and we were all there." Robin had followed them in and now stood next to Tanya, his arms folded. "And now you want to go out? On your OWN? A little hypocritical, don't you think?"
"It's totally different!" Was Charli's half hearted protest.
"You mean because it's something you want to do this time?" Robin pointed out.
Charli gaped at him for several moments, knowing he had made a good point, before shooting a warning look at Tanya. "You'd better shut him up."
"I'm not saying anything," Tanya held her hands up.
"And you're staying right there," Will pointed at the girl on the bed.
"What? Right here?" Charli pointed to the mattress she now lay on.
"If you want to, I don't care. As long as you don't go through that door."
"Okay..." Charli relaxed back onto the bed for a minute. "You know what? Screw that!" And she scrambled off the bed, ducked passed Will and ran for the front door.
Will growled and ran after her, surprised at how fast she actually was. "Charli!" He bolted through the door, having to take the steps two at a time. "Charli! Stop- Are you laughing?" He yelled in disbelief as he finally reached the bottom of the staircase and caught her.
"No," she spluttered unconvincingly as he started to pull her back up the stairs. "Will stop! Will your hurting me!"
Will paused, still not letting go of her wrist. Her laughter had stopped, although she was grinning still. Her smile appeared to infuriate Will, and he pulled her closer. "Is this a game to you? Is it?" He hissed.
"I...no..." her smile faltered. "Will..." she trailed off, the fire in his eyes frightening her somewhat.
"Because if you want to walk out there now and get yourself killed, then go!" He let go of her wrist then, shaking his head. "You obviously don't understand how serious the matter is. And you obviously don't understand how much I care; otherwise you would listen to me."
"Will..." she whispered, her hand reaching out to his arm. The path to the door was free, and yet she stood where she was, eyes captured by his gaze. "I do... I... I mean, I don't..." Lost for words, she simply looked at him, distress evident on her face, her hand still resting on his arm.
He rolled his eyes, almost in disgust, and Charli felt sick suddenly as he turned from her and began to head back. "Do what you want." He muttered.
"What..." she gaped up at him, the anger beginning to set in. "Now wait just a minute!" She ran after him this time. "I hope you don't bloody mean that!"
"What, Charli?" Will turned back to face her. "What do you want me to do? Barricade you in your room? You wouldn't stand for that anyway. So what's the point? You have no idea how serious-"
"How serious?" She cut him off. "Will! I was the one with the knife digging into my throat! Don't tell me I don't know how serious this is! Just forgive me if I don't want it to ruin what little life I have!"
Will blinked at her several times as he looked down at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but found no words there. Charli ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "I'll not let them stop me, and I'm sorry, but I'll not let you either. And just because I want to go does not mean I don't understand how much you care...god!" She growled. "I love you for Christ's sake!"
A deadly stillness fell between the pair for several moments; Charli not sure whether to laugh or cry. It was Will who broke the silence. "Can I at least come with you?" He managed a small smile.
Charli began to laugh then. "I'll stay..."
"No..." Will moved down the steps and stood facing looking down at her, unsure of how close to get. "You're right. You need to go, if only to keep some normality in your life."
"That'll be a first." Charli grinned; suddenly unsure at the distance he was keeping, not mentioning a little scared. "Besides, last time you came to training, be honest, it was a complete disaster!" She took a hesitant step towards him. "I'll stay here. I might get another hour sleep. I've not been sleeping well, not since..." she touched her neck lightly. "And I'm sorry about-" She gestured to their location.
Will shook his head quickly, all precaution flying out the window as he reached an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest. He kissed her neck softly before whispering in her ear. "I love you."
"And I love you too," her hands reached up between them, clutching tightly at his shirt. "And I don't think there's anything funny about this situation, Will...I've never been so terrified in my entire life."
"I'm sorry," he murmured and she dropped her head down onto his shoulder.
"Idiot. It's not your fault." She whispered, her breath ticking his throat. Will closed his eyes, savouring the moment as her lips kissed his neck tenderly.
"Did she get away?" Tanya's voice suddenly yelled from above, interrupting the pair. They looked up to see her leaning far over the stair railing, grinning down at them, her hair hanging loosely in her face.
"No, but you did!" Robin appeared behind her and began to drag her back in.
"Get off me Robin! You're such a-" The pair could be heard arguing as the door to Charli's flat shut behind them.
Charli giggled. "Do you think those two will ever get on?"
"No." Will grinned. "It's part of the charm of their relationship."
"It will end in both of them hurting each other unnecessarily," Charli said gravely, slipping her arms around his waist.
"Of course it will. Robin has to go back, doesn't he?" Will said, raising a hand to stroke her hair.
"I wasn't referring to that." Charli sighed. "But now that you mention it..."
Will didn't question her choice of words; instead, he took her hand and led her back up the stairwell. Charli began to giggle. "What?" He looked back at her curiously.
"I can't believe you actually picked me up and threw me over your shoulder like that."
"You really didn't think I had it in me, did you?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"You keep surprising me," she grinned.
"Good or bad?"
Charli cocked her head to one side, apparently thinking. "Good. I like surprises."
Will smirked, stopped her walking, and spun her around, quickly backing her against the wall of the stairwell. "Surprise," he muttered before pressing his lips against hers.
Charli responded almost instantly, her hands reaching up and resting casually over his shoulders as his hands found her waist and pulled her closer. "Shall we stay here all day?" He murmured into her mouth.
"I wish we could, but I think at some point we have to go back to Starbucks and take a look around again."
"If only to amuse Robin?"
"If only to amuse Robin, yes." Charli chuckled.
"You don't think we will find anything?"
"I don't want to find anything!" She sighed, kissing his neck, pulling him even closer to her. "I really, really don't. I wish we could just tell them, in a few days, that we looked but found nothing..."
"They wouldn't believe us. And even so, we're not prepared to take that risk, especially when it involves you," Will pointed out.
"Should I be flattered?" Charli grinned.
"Are you laughing again?" Will warned, but there was a hint of humour evident in his voice this time.
"No!" Charli defended. "I'm just saying...it's a really nice feeling when some one cares about you so much. I'm not used to all this attention"
"I don't understand that," Will frowned. "How can anyone not care for you as much as I do? They must be mad."
"That's not what I'm saying," she kissed his lips. "I just mean, nobody does it better than you."
"That's because there's nobody like you in the world," he kissed her back.
"Your world or mine?" Charli smirked as she linked her fingers with his.
"Both," he lifted her hands above her head, pinning them against the wall. Leaning forward, he whispered seductively into her ear. "Shall we go back to bed?"
Charli closed her eyes, her breathing quickening at his words. "For an hour maybe?"
He licked his lips, his eyes not leaving hers. "For however long it takes."
"I really don't see the point in this," Alan dead panned as they entered the coffee house once again.
"Got any other suggestions?" Charli challenged as she shoved Much toward the counter again. "Order us eight coffees-no wait! I'm feeling generous, make it eight cappuccinos."
"Wow, going all out?" Tanya cocked an eyebrow as she took a seat, much to Robin's displeasure. "What?" She frowned.
"Get up."
"Sod off."
"Up. We're going straight in there." He motioned toward the bathroom door.
"Seeya then," she waved him off.
"Tanya-"
"Screw you! I'm tired of you telling me what to do. Women in 1192 may put up with it, but we today do not, and I certainly do not either!"
Robin stepped toward her, growling, but Tanya was quick to her feet. "You even think about touching me and I'll scream blue bloody murder!" Her eyes blazed.
"They're at it again." Charli rolled her eyes as she took the cappuccinos and began to hand them out.
"Just leave them to it, it's normal for them," Much shrugged as he took a sip of his drink. "Ow! That's hot!" He grabbed for a napkin and began to dab at his lips furiously.
Charli ignored him; instead she watched the young couple having yet another spat and bit down on her bottom lip. Sure, they argued a lot. It was in their nature to do so. But lately, things were becoming much more serious between the two of them and it was starting to worry her a little. Surely it wasn't good for them? Things were going to be hard enough as it were when they would have to part. Why then make it any more difficult? She had a strange feeling this was their way of handling it…Were they pushing each other away?
"Go shove an arrow up your arse, Hood!" Tanya sat back down again and folded her arms across her chest stubbornly.
Robin growled again, something he had been doing a lot of lately, and stalked toward the ladies toilets, disappearing completely, but not before earning a few odd glances from other customers.
"You two should lay off one another. You had this wonderful time in Paris, but since we've returned, all you seem to do is fight." Charli stood, looking down at her friend in concern.
"What can I say; he's an egotistical arsehole who thinks he can get his way all the time."
"And you love him. So, go kiss and make up and let's get on with finding a way home for these guys."
Tanya smiled at the cruel irony of her friend's words before looking around at the rest of the gang. "Sorry guys. You must be sick of hearing us."
They all nodded their heads quickly, but smiled all the same. "Don't be sorry about anything," Much shrugged. "You're the best thing that ever happened to him, no matter how many times you want to kill each other."
"Besides," Alan ruffled her hair. "He needs someone to bring him down a peg or two from time to time. You're the only person I know who can do that."
"Should I feel special?" She dead panned.
"Where did he go anyway?" John asked as he tried to wrestle the lid from his coffee cup resulting in most of the drink spilling down his t-shirt.
"In there," Tanya pointed toward the door without even looking, handing John some paper napkins.
"Should we go too?" Will asked.
"No, leave him to sulk." Tanya sniffed, playing with the rim of her cup.
"Shut up. You may be in a mood with him, but we aren't. We're going in; you can stay here and sulk if you like."
"I am NOT sulking-"
"Yeah, uh huh! Whatever!" Charli cackled.
"Charli-" Tanya's anger began to boil, but her words were cut short when Robin suddenly came barrelling from the bathroom, a little out of breath, and his eyes wide in amazement.
"What is it?" Charli wasn't sure whether to laugh or be extremely worried. "Did you see a half naked woman? You know you shouldn't really just walk in there-"
"You lot should come in here…I think I found something."