OK this chapter is full of Charloe sweetness, it has some Monica because she was too fun not to bring back, and it's got a little bit of seriousness thrown in for good measure. :) I hope everyone likes it!
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Later that night, Bass was pleasantly surprised when they got to the bar to meet Monica and her boyfriend Dave, when he found out that Dave was actually ten years older than Monica. He didn't tell Charlie, but he had been a little nervous about spending the evening with a whole group that was going to be so much younger than him. She said the age difference didn't bother her, but he still couldn't help but wonder if she would feel the same when it was so glaringly obvious.
But the evening had gone surprisingly well and he was glad that Charlie seemed to be having such a good time after her disastrous talk with Miles that morning.
"So you ever been?" Dave asked.
Bass raised his brows, realizing that he had missed part of the conversation. "I'm sorry?" he asked.
"Surfing? Monica and Charlie were saying they had never been." Dave said.
Bass nodded and laughed. "Yeah once actually." He said.
Dave raised his brows and smiled. "What happened?" he asked.
Charlie was interested in this story as well, it was one she had never heard before, and from the way he laughed about it, it must have left an impression.
Bass smiled. "When I was in the marines, Miles, Charlie's uncle, and I were stationed in California and we had a couple of days on leave. We ended up meeting a couple of girls." He said, glancing at Charlie. She smiled and he chuckled. "They thought it would be a good idea to teach us how to surf, and being the idiots that we were, we agreed.
"I was actually doing pretty well for a beginning, so I was told anyway, until I wiped out." He said.
Charlie laughed. "What happened?"
Bass held up his hand and pointed to the thin scar on his wrist. "I caught my hand on the board and broke my wrist." He said and shook his head with another chuckled "Ended up having to have surgery on it."
Charlie covered her mouth with her hand while Monica chuckled and Dave gave a quiet "ouch" of sympathy.
Bass nodded. "Yeah, ending up in surgery after my first try, kind of turned me off surfing after that." He shrugged "And not surprisingly, turned the girl off of me pretty fast also."
Bass smiled when Charlie threw her head back and laughed, not caring that her laughter was at his expense. He would take up surfing tomorrow if it would keep that look on her face.
…..
"OK I'm getting refills." Charlie said as she stood up. "You guys want another?" she asked the other three sitting at the table.
They all nodded and Bass raised his brows. "You want me to come with you?" he asked.
Charlie shook her head. "No I've got it, you guys stay here." She said, including Monica who was starting to stand as well.
"So Charlie said you two have known each other forever." Dave said, drawing Bass's attention.
He nodded. "Yeah pretty much."
Dave raised a brow. "Well her forever right?" he said with a chuckle, referring to the gap in their ages.
Bass smirked and nodded. "Well yeah." He said. "I grew up with her uncle and her dad." He said, wondering if he would feel less or more self-conscious about it himself if he just got all the information out now.
"Charlotte's Uncle Miles and I are the same age, met when we were kids and had already enlisted right out of high school when Charlie was born." He said. "I saw her every once in a while when she was a kid and we came home on leave, but mostly it was just a couple of days here and there until she was about thirteen and Miles and I both mustard out and came home."
He shrugged. "She was always just a kid though," he said as Charlie walked over with their drinks balanced carefully in her hands. "until she wasn't." he said, smiling at her.
Charlie sat down and smiled. "Are you talking about me?" she asked with a playful wink.
Bass shrugged. "Just talking about how we've known each other forever." He said as he placed his arm on the back of her chair.
"Actually," Monica said. "he's trying to figure out if it's weird that he's known you since before you were born." She said in a matter of fact manner.
Bass raised his brows and Charlie looked at him. "I thought we talked about the age thing?" she asked.
Monica waved a hand as if to brush away what Charlie said. "Oh don't get mad at him, he didn't even realize he was doing it."
"What?" Bass asked.
Dave chuckled. "You might as well just let her go, she's not going to stop until she's said her piece and she's surprisingly good at reading people."
So Bass gave her a 'go ahead' signal and sat back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
Monica took a drink and cleared her throat. "Alright here we go." She said. "You're worried that even though she says it doesn't matter, that someday she'll worry about the gap in your ages, and feel embarrassed about being with someone so much older than she is."
Bass frowned but didn't say anything so Monica continued. "Simply put, you're afraid." She said and held up a hand to stop him when Bass opened his mouth to respond. "You're afraid that you're keeping her from a relationship that would be a better fit for her."
Bass closed his mouth but the frown remained on his face, and Charlie raised her brows at him. "Are you serious? You really think that?" she asked, surprise tinging her voice.
But Monica wasn't finished. "Which also tells me that you're kind of stupid." She said and once again Bass raised his brows but still remained quiet.
"Because," Monica said. "if you heard the way she talks about you when you're not around or really saw the way she looks at you, you would know that she genuinely loves you." She said and shrugged. "Which means that there's not anyone else that's the right person for her." she shook her head. "Not when you make her so happy."
Bass turned his head and looked at Charlie, one brow cocked and she rolled her eyes at Monica. "I don't talk about him that much." She said.
Monica laughed and leaned forward, elbows on the table and looked between Bass and Dave. "Oh please," she said. "I could write a book about how much she talks about this guy." She said, using her thumb to motion to Bass.
Charlie shook her head. "No, no way, you are over exaggerating." She said.
Monica raised her brows and sat back. "Really? You want to put that to a little test?" she asked and it was Charlie's turn to lean back, arms crossed after giving the go ahead.
"This is a fun night." Dave said, looking at Bass, who only chuckled and shook his head.
Monica smiled. "OK let's see." She said rubbing her hands together like she was getting ready for something big.
"We'll start with some basics. His name is Sebastian but Charlie is the only one who can call him that." She said looking to Bass for conformation and smiled when he nodded.
"He's a righty, but, when he plays baseball he bats left handed." Another nod from Bass.
Monica smiled at her small victories. "He's forty-five, which puts him twenty-one years older than Charlie, but he acts much younger so it all evens out." She said making Bass laugh and Charlie smirked and shook her head.
"Best friends with Miles Matheson, a cutie pie who's just too friendly for his own good." She said, earning a wide smile and laugh from Bass and Charlie both and a confused look from Dave.
…
After continuing the game for a little while longer, proving to Charlie that she did indeed talk about him often Monica sat back and sighed. "See?" She said to Bass. "That should tell you that she doesn't care how old you are or young she is, she loves you for you, not your age." She said.
Bass turned his head to look at Charlie and smiled at her. "Yeah, I can see that." He said and Charlie smiled at him.
"Good, because Sebastian," she said earning herself an eye roll. "if you don't stop acting like you're doing something wrong I'm going to develop a complex." She said with a chuckle.
After that Dave started to tell a story about something that had happened to a friend of his, and Charlie turned to look at him while he talked.
But Bass couldn't take him eyes off of her. She was right, they weren't doing anything wrong. She didn't have an issue with their ages so he needed to let that go. Because even if others had a problem with it, he didn't care. She made him whole, and he wasn't going to let that go because of a number.
Just so you know, this has been the longest chapter out of all of the stories in this series so far...only by about 200 words, but still...lol
Now I'm off to the last class of the semester and then I'm done with school until the fall! woohoo!
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