I don't know how I feel about this chapter...I don't think it's as good as it could be, but it is what it is. I hope you like it.
"Hi honey, are you home for the night or are you leaving again?" Rachel asked Charlie when they passed in the upstairs hallway.
"I'm gonna be home later, but I'm going out with Sebastian for a while, I won't be here for dinner." She answered.
Charlie had noticed that her mother flinched less when she called him by his full name rather than his nickname and she figured that was because she was the only one to call him that, so Rachel could distance herself from the situation easier than when Charlie called him Bass.
Charlie wanted her mother to accept her relationship with Bass but she was willing to let her work her way into it. Rachel avoiding talking about it but still speaking to her was preferable to what she was getting from Miles at least.
"Alright, have fun with your friends." Rachel said as she gave Charlie a smile and a pat on the shoulder as she passed by.
Charlie rolled her eyes and turned to find Danny standing in his door way, having watched the awkward interaction.
"Hey." She said to her brother.
Danny raised a brow. "You know what she's doing right?"
Charlie looked behind her, where her mother had just been. "Avoiding the situation." She said as she turned back to Danny.
Danny shook her head. "She's not avoiding it, she's just trying to figure out a way to support you and Miles both even though everybody knows he's being a jackass." He said.
Danny walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. "Face it kid," he said. "You broke the family." He said and then smiled to let her know he was kidding.
"Very funny." She said and rolled her eyes, playfully smacking his stomach. "And don't call me kid, I'm older than you." She frowned up at him. "Even if you are bigger than me."
Danny laughed. "Sorry, I was channeling my inner Miles. Won't happen again." He said.
…
Bass sighed as he stepped up to the front door. Charlie hadn't answered her phone and he wasn't about to sit in the car and honk like a stupid teenager just because he was afraid of who might answer the door.
After he knocked, he couldn't help the smile that lit his face when Rachel answered the door.
"Bass, hey." She said. She took a step back so he could enter. She frowned slightly. "Are you here to see Miles?" she asked.
Bass shook his head. "Ah no, Charlie actually." He said.
Rachel nodded. "Oh" she said, and he couldn't help but notice she seemed a little disappointed. "I'll go let her know you're here."
"Rachel." He said, stopping her.
She turned to look at him, brows raised. "Yeah?"
"Is Miles here?" he asked.
Rachel shook her head. "No, I was going to tell you, if you were here for him, he's out with a couple of guys from work." She said and gave him a small smile.
He nodded. "Right, ok, thanks."
…..
"So your mom…" Bass said when they were in the car.
Charlie sighed. "Yeah, she's being weird. Danny said it's her way of trying to do right by me and Miles both." She shook her head. "But at least she's speaking to me, even if it's overly cheerful, so that's one up on Miles." She said as she fastened her seat belt.
Bass reached over and gave her hand a squeeze before pulling away from the house.
…..
They were sitting at a table by the front window. They had been talking about anything and everything it seemed like to Charlie and she was having a great time. She hadn't realized that there was so much about him she hadn't known before, but she was loving getting to know him better.
Charlie took a sip from her wine glass as Bass twirled his fork through his plate of pasta. "How did I never know that you are a math whiz?" she asked him.
Bass shrugged. "It always came easy to me, but Miles was always the one that enjoyed it, so I let that be his thing when we were in school, and after school I just didn't see the need to point it out to anyone." He said and took a sip of his own wine. "I use it, obviously, at work. It comes in handy, knowing what I'm doing, but it's not a big deal."
Charlie rolled her eyes. "Right, the smart ones always say that." She said and pointed to herself. "Try being me when it comes to math. I am horrible at it, can't solve a problem to save my life."
Bass shook his head a little. "Yeah, but look what you can do with words. You're amazing when it comes to writing. I've read some of your stuff remember, you're wonderful." He said.
Charlie smiled and turned her face away. Bass cleared his throat. "Actually that reminds me, I found something yesterday that I wanted to show you."
"What is it?" Charlie asked, her eyes back on him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and smiled as he pulled a folded piece of paper out. "When you were what, about eleven, you wrote your first short story for school right?" he asked.
Charlie nodded, her brows furrowed. "Yeah, how do you know that?"
Bass held up the paper. "You gave, pretty much everyone you knew, a copy of it." He said as he unfolded the paper.
Charlie's eyes widened. "You kept it?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.
Bass nodded with a smile. "Evidently." He said. "I found this stuck in a shoe box in my closet, full of a lot of things I haven't looked at in a long time." He shrugged. "Things that have been important to me at one point or another."
Charlie smiled again. "My story was important to you?" she asked.
Bass nodded as he looked into her eyes and reached his hand over and placed it over hers where it rested on the table, giving it a light squeeze. "Of course it was." He said. "Because you have always been important to me." He said. "You're part of my family. You always have been."
…
Later, after Bass dropped Charlie off at home, she found her mother waiting for her in the living room.
"Charlie?" she said, getting her attention after she walked in the door.
She found Rachel sitting in a chair in the room all alone. "Hey mom, what's up?" she asked.
Rachel stood up and went to her, meeting her in the middle of the room. She placed her hands on Charlie's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "He makes you happy right? And he treats you well?"
Charlie nodded. "Yes, of course." She said.
Rachel nodded. "Good." She said. "And you treat him well? And he's happy?" she asked.
Charlie nodded once again. "Yes, that's what he tells me anyway." She said with a one sided smile.
Rachel dropped her hands from Charlie's shoulders. "Good." She said. "That's good. I'm…I'm happy for you." She said finally.
Charlie raised her brows. "Really?" she asked, unsure if she should believe what she was hearing.
Rachel nodded and smiled slightly. "Yeah actually, I love you both, and if you're both happy, that's great." She said. "Just," she said the smile dropping slightly. "Be careful. Ok?"
Charlie nodded. "Ok." She said, knowing as she agreed that there was no reason for the caution. There was nothing to be careful of. They would never do anything to intentionally hurt the other.
Rachel smiled again and pulled Charlie into a hug. "I love you, you know that right?" Rachel said.
Charlie nodded as she hugged her mother back. "Yeah, I love you too." She said as she pulled back from her. "And thank you, for understanding." She said. "And talking to me."
Rachel placed a hand on Charlie's cheek. "He'll come around, he loves you both too and wants you both to be happy."
Charlie nodded. "I know, I just wish he would see that we are happy, together."
Rachel nodded. "I know, me too." She said. "I'm going to go to bed now, I'll see you tomorrow, have a good night sweetheart." Rachel said, leaving Charlie alone.
Charlie watched her mother leave the room before she pulled her phone from her pocket. "Hey." She said when Bass answered after a couple rings. "You'll never guess what just happened."
OK so Rachel's on board, now we just need Miles to come around.
I have a funny little story I thought I would share...last night my whole family had gotten together at my sisters house and we were all playing a game. In this game you get 5 seconds to name off three things in a certain category, like three flavors of ice cream, or three big 10 colleges...random things like that.
Ok so my turn comes, I get, name three famous Generals...my mind goes blank and all I can think of is to shout out "Monroe! No wait, he's not real!"
Needless to say, I lost that round...lol
Anyhoo...lol I hope you liked the chapter, I am working on chapter 5 right now and hope to be able to post it later today (Thursday) but I make no promises because I might have to be away from my computer for a while. :( lol
Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!
