Chapter Twenty Six: Strangle
It was 4:27 in the morning when Charlie cracked his eyes open. He groaned slightly, shaking his head as he briefly wondered why his body would make him wake up so early. Honestly, his body could be such a douche bag sometimes. But in an instant, he was glad that he woke up so early. Despite her previous sprawled out position, Regan had some time in the night curled up and was nestled against his chest. He smiled softly, petting down her hair as he fought the urge to wake her up and kiss her senseless. Suddenly, red became black in his eyes and his hands instinctively went under her shirt and to her stomach, surprised to find that it was completely flat instead of stretched over the new life growing inside.
Charlie suddenly flinched, pulling back slightly. What the hell was he thinking? He had just met this girl a few days ago and already he was so attached to her...God, he was seriously demented. In an instant, it occurred to him that he found solace in Regan because she was so much like Angie. He shifted further away from her, inwardly scolding himself. He shouldn't be doing this; he shouldn't simply replace Angie with Regan. It would be unfair to both of them. No matter how much he wanted to cling to her and have her insult him and roll her eyes at his antics, he would just have to treat her like a friend...just a friend...
Hours later, Regan finally woke up with a loud yawn, squirming in her blankets as she took in her surroundings. She was not in her bed, but she didn't feel out of place in here. She heard a water running, as if someone were taking a shower. She blinked a few times, slowly sitting up with a heavy sigh. Her head was pounding, her temples swollen from the heavy air. The water suddenly shut off, making her perk up and wait, as if she expected somebody completely different to emerge from the room. She suddenly became nervous, half expecting Lucius to step out covered with blood. The image made her shudder and she felt relieved when Charlie walked out dressed, but his hair still glistening wet.
"Good morning," he greeted with a warm smile. "You slept for a while; thought I would have to shake you awake or something." Regan shook her head, self consciously brushing down her hair.
"Morning," she whispered. Charlie gently pushed back her hair before rustling it up with a small chuckle.
"Thank you for staying with me, I haven't been sleeping well and it usually helps to have someone beside me." He said, going into his small kitchen and putting on the kettle. Regan shrugged her shoulders, leaning back against the cool wall.
"They're going to be mad at us for sleeping together." Regan muttered.
"They don't have to know. And besides, we didn't do anything wrong."
It was true, but Regan was sure that Narcissa would report to Ron that she hadn't slept in her bed last night.
"But they'll find out and you'll get in serious trouble," Regan said in a mocking voice. Charlie laughed, pulling out two mugs and prepping them each with their own bag of tea.
"I suppose you're worth the trouble," he muttered as he waited for the water to boil. When the kettle began to sing, he promptly poured them each a cup and carefully handed a mug to Regan. She took it, still leaning against the wall as he cautiously sat down beside her and gently blew on the steaming liquid.
"I don't see why you would think that…I don't see why anybody would think that...I can't be so special that people would die for me."
One person she knew had died for her. She couldn't stand the thought of anybody else dying like Oskar had.
Charlie slowly drank his tea, his expression surprisingly calm as he simply sat and thought for a moment. Regan found the silence with him to be rather comforting; she liked it.
"You're very important to all of us…especially me." He said. "And...your hair looks very pretty this morning." He told her with a light chuckle, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Regan rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh yes, with a face like that, you'll have every man on his knees." He gently poked fun at her, happy to see her smile despite the fact that she tried to hide it.
"How can anybody be with me after I've been with him?" She bluntly asked, the smile quickly disappearing from her face. The question made him awkwardly rigid and his eyes grew dark. Clearly he hadn't given that any thought.
"I don't know." He told her honestly. "There's no way that you can get pregnant, right?" She quickly nodded, seeing him relax slightly.
"Thank God," Regan quickly said. "He makes me sick."
"If the man really loves you, it won't matter." He gently told her, taking her hand in his. She glanced down before looking back up into his calm eyes, an eyebrow cocked out of curiosity.
"All right, what the hell is wrong with you?" She asked bluntly.
"What do you mean?" He asked with a small laugh.
"You're being...nice." She said the word as if it were some foreign object in her mouth, making Charlie laugh louder. "It's weird..."
"Me being nice to you or anybody being nice to you?" He asked, finding it difficult to keep himself from chuckling at the put off expression on her face.
"Both."
"Well forgive me for weird-ing you out, but I'm a nice guy and I tend to be nice around people that I like." He explained to her, chugging down the remainder of his tea and bringing his mug back to the small kitchen. He took Regan's mug, which was also empty. She handed it over with dazed eyes, her hand hanging in the air a moment after he had walked away.
"Thank you," she muttered as Charlie rinsed out the mugs and placed them upside down on a tea towel to let them dry.
"Doesn't take much effort to wash a mug," he said with the shrug of his shoulders.
"No, for-." Right before Regan could finish speaking, there was an urgent knock on his door that made them both grow pale.
"Regan has to leave in twenty minutes. She had better be ready when I come back for her." Regan bit her lower lip as Ron stomped away from the door. Charlie fumed, momentarily considering going after his brother and giving him a hard punch to the face.
"Don't get flustered," Regan told him when she saw the look in Charlie's eyes. Charlie sighed and just nodded. She watched his jaw flex and his muscles bunch, but he suddenly just went slack and just sighed, slumping to sit down next to her. He wrapped a long arm around her, practically enveloping her entire body.
"You don't have to go," he suggested halfheartedly. "You could just stay here and Luna could just keep pretending to be you."
"I would never subject anybody to what Lucius has planned for me." Regan wasn't really sure what that was, but she was sure that it involved devious sexual acts. "He's waited a long time to have me; I doubt that he's going to hold back." Charlie shuddered.
"Can we please not talk about this?" He asked, his voice gruff and unpleasant. Another knock sounded at the door, making Charlie narrow his eyes. "My brother has a death wish," he muttered, making Regan shake her head.
"Technically we're breaking the rules." She told him as Ron knocked again, this time much more urgently.
"We don't have a lot of time." Ron called through the door. Charlie glared for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh and crossing to the door in two big strides. He yanked it open to find Ron standing on the other side with Hermione and Ginny. The women looked uncomfortable while Ron just glared at his brother, who fiercely returned the emotion.
"We wanted to see if you needed help packing." Hermione offered, knowing that there was no way that she could soothe the tense situation. Regan nodded, quickly setting down her cup.
"Yes, thank you."
Plus, having Hermione and Ginny there might keep Narcissa from scolding Regan for spending the night with Charlie. She squeezed past Ron and quickly scurried away, not offering Charlie another look. She would see him before she left and it was probably for the best that she didn't stay and get them into more trouble. She walked between Hermione and Ginny, comforted by the fact that they remained relatively close to her.
"Next time we see you, we'll all be back in London." Hermione said, trying to make conversation.
"Are you both excited to go home?" Regan asked, not really interested in hearing the answer. She really needed to work on her people skills if she was going to come off as believable when she returned to Lucius.
"Yes and no," Ginny muttered. "It will be nice to be home, but who knows how long we'll get to stay?"
"Does it really matter?" Hermione asked with a small smile. "Home is home...it'll just be good to be back."
...
A/N: So I might be moving out of state in a few months...just a heads up because there might be a possibility that I would maybe kind of sort of not post a chapter...or two...please forgive me...
Dragoon Dave: We've talked about all of this...need I say more?
