The top section was inspired by an episode of Dawson's Creek. I used a couple quotes from it too. Also, I know my movie choice came out later than when this story would occur but just go with it
Today was the day they were going to sit down and watch a chick-flick of Stephanie's choice. However, before they could do that, she was insistent they needed to make a stop at J-Mart for some snacks. They'd pooled their money together and were going to take whatever they could. It was the only good outcome of this. He'd hoped she might have mercy on him and forget about the whole thing but no such luck. She was dead set on making him suffer.
"Hey, I'll be right back," Stephanie told him.
"Yeah, okay," he said, watching her briefly as she went in the direction of the bathrooms. His attention fell back upon the candy display in front of him. To get something chocolatey or gummy, he rubbed at chin decisively.
They'd waited until the sun had faded away and the moon shone brightly at the top of the sky. The store was all but empty, except for the workers. He preferred it this way. His parents often went grocery shopping later on in the evenings. Not always, but usually. On more than one occasion, he'd been dragged along with them. It was nice and quiet, with no obnoxious people around.
He heard Stephanie's shoes thudding against the floor as she returned, getting a little too close for comfort. But at first, he didn't think much of it. Not until she started to whisper and her voice was pretty close to his ear.
"I need you," She said quickly.
He hummed. "Codependency isn't attractive, babe."
"Stop playing around," She hissed. "I'm serious. Come with me!"
He side-eyed her. "Come with you?"
"Yes!"
"You're telling me you can't go to the bathroom by yourself?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, that's exactly it," Her voice had lowered significantly, her expression pointed.
"What?" He was confused.
"Come with me," she urged him and he finally gave in and followed her. She took him to the back where the bathrooms were located. Right away, he spotted the woman's bathroom as having two pieces of yellow tape over the door with an out of order sign on the floor in front of it.
"And what do you want me to do about that?" he said.
She seemed embarrassed by what she was about to say. "I need you to stand and watch the door so no one comes in."
He tried not to laugh. Honestly, he did.
"It's not funny," She grumbled.
"It is a little," he grinned.
"Will you just do it?" She begged.
"I'll think about it."
"Charlie!"
"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "Go on. I'll be right here." She handed over her basket, which he took. She seemed to hesitate a little but then groaned, going inside. He was going to have fun with this one. Anything to use against her-for playful purposes, of course.
He waited less than five minutes. She came back out, rubbing her hands along her thighs.
"Now is your sense of adventure really so lacking that you couldn't just go by yourself?" He asked as she fell into step with him.
"Someone could've walked in," She said.
"Who?" he said incredulously. "There's no one here."
"A worker," She said stubbornly.
"You're paranoid, Tanner."
She bumped into him on purpose, which didn't even cause him to stumble. "And you're a jerk."
"Only for you," he said as they rounded the corner, walking through the freezer aisle. Being that it was summer, Stephanie only wore a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jean shorts. She folded her arms, shivering slightly.
"It's freezing over here."
"Freezing in the freezer section? What an outrage!"
"Shut up," She laughed.
"It's not even cold," he shrugged.
"It's plenty cold," she rubbed up and down her arms for warmth.
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He set his basket down momentarily, taking off his red and black checkered plaid shirt, putting it over her shoulders. She seemed surprised. "There you go, Tanner."
It was pretty funny. It was like she didn't know how to function.
"You didn't have to do that," She said once she regained her ability to speak.
"Just take it, Steph," it was his turn to groan.
"Alright..." She said slowly and put it on. She let the sleeves stay down instead of rolling them up. Her body relaxed with that added layer of warmth. "Thanks," she said with a smile.
"Anything for you," he said jokingly.
/
They seemed to have luck, more often than not, when getting Stephanie's house to be empty whenever they got together. Just like right now, it was the two of them and they were on the couch in the living room. Their snacks were covering the coffee table. Stephanie had just put the cassette tape into the VCR, returning to the couch with a plop. She was still wearing his shirt but he didn't really mind.
"What are we watching?" He asked, feeling bored already.
"13 Going On 30," Stephanie beamed.
"You can't tell me you actually like this crap," Charlie grumbled.
"I like this one," Stephanie said. "It's cute. I've watched it like ten times."
"I'm sure I'll love it," he said dryly.
"I don't know what you have against chick-flicks," Stephanie poked him in the side.
"Other than them being stupid?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Yes."
"Full offense, babe, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out with nails," he said.
"Uncle Jesse's toolbox is in the garage," she said.
"Funny."
"I thought so," she said.
They were on either side of the couch, like the day he'd stopped by to pick her aunt's recipe cards for his mom. He watched as she leaned forward to grab a can of soda and couldn't resist pulling her hair.
He smiled innocently when she raised her eyebrows at him.
"Oops."
"I swear you're a five year old," she muttered.
"I'll take it as a compliment. People love kids."
She kept her eyes on him as she tugged on his hair.
"Ow," he deadpanned.
"You didn't even pull my hair this much in fifth grade," she said.
"That's because I've found a new hobby," he said, reaching out to pinch her cheek. She swatted his hand away.
"Find a new one."
"And risk taking joy out of your life? I don't think so, babe," he smirked.
They fell silent as the beginning credits faded away. Charlie despised admitting this but once they got to the halfway point, he found that it wasn't as terrible as he believed it to be. It was still crap but a slightly more tolerable one.
"Why did you take my hand at the cafe?" Her question startled him. For breaking the silence for the first time in a while and for the question itself.
"Just watch the movie, Tanner," he shifted.
She glanced down at her lap. "I was just wondering."
Well don't
Much to his dismay, she kept talking. "I was just confused. You said you didn't like touching but then you touched my hand."
Do I have to explain everything?
"Didn't want you messing it up," he tried to keep his response simple. "You weren't exactly stealthy, Tanner."
She didn't say anything else.
"I told you...it's different if I initiate it."
He wasn't technically lying. It was the truth. He could handle it better when he knew what was going to occur rather than feeling like he was at the mercy of the other person.
But that hadn't fully been why he'd done it.
He'd been curious. Dealing with a sense of wonder as to how her hand would feel in his. He could still recall her fingers lightly touching along his forehead. When the opportunity arose, he didn't want to waste it.
Soft. That was all that ran through his mind. Her hand was soft and smaller than his. It fit nicely and he'd almost been strangely disappointed when she pulled away.
But there was no way he was letting her know any of that.
"Oh," was all she said. "Right." She went quiet before thinking up something else to say. "I got asked out the other day."
What?
He was sort of caught off guard by that. "You did?"
She nodded without taking her eyes off the TV screen. "His name's Henry. He was in my chemistry class last year."
"And he asked you out," Charlie frowned.
"Yeah," Stephanie had a small, bashful smile. She shrugged a little. "He's kinda cute.
"What did you say?" Charlie asked nonchalantly.
"I said I'd think about it."
"Should've just said yes if that's what you wanted," he didn't know why he felt annoyed. But he did. "Why can't girls just say what they're thinking?"
The irritation fizzled out as quick as it came and he felt embarrassed for that little outburst.
Stephanie didn't really acknowledge it. Well, not the embarrassing part, anyway. "I'm not sure if I'd really go for Henry. I think I'll just tell him no thanks."
He didn't say anything.
"I guess I felt bad just saying no. He's nice and all but I don't think I could see myself dating him."
"Why?" Charlie couldn't help but ask.
"He's not my type."
"I know what your type is, Princess," he snorted, "trust me, you're not helping yourself there."
She ignored that. "He's too...Dad would like him. But he's just not...he's too safe."
"Safe?" he echoed.
"He's not really the adventurous type, you know?" She said, "he'd be nice for DJ if she wasn't engaged to Steve. He's just-" She trailed off, not knowing how to further elaborate.
Deep down, Charlie was satisfied. He couldn't care less what her reasons were but just the fact that she hadn't agreed to the date was good enough for him. He didn't know why, he knew he was being weird.
"He's probably a dork, anyway," he said. "And I refuse to be around you when you're hanging over some guy, making out with him."
"Right, because this is about you," she said but with a teasing smile. "That's okay, I wouldn't want to see you makeout with some girl either."
"Because you'd be overcome with jealousy?"
"You caught me," she sighed dramatically. "I couldn't stand to see you in the arms of another woman!"
"Don't worry, Tanner. You'll always be my side-chick."
"And they say romance is dead," Stephanie said fondly.
By the time the movie was finished, all of the snacks had been eaten and all of the drinks were finished with. The end credits were rolling when Charlie exhaled; looking over at Stephanie, he found that she was starting to look tired.
"Don't tell me you're going to fall asleep?"
She shook her head. "No," she mumbled sleepily.
"Mhm," he was doubtful.
"It's been a long day."
"I can go then," he offered. "My parents probably want me home anyway."
Where they could interrogate him and act as though this had been a date of some sorts. They were still insistent that something was going on between him and Stephanie. Lately, they'd toned it down but he knew his mom was just waiting for him to bring Steph home as his girlfriend.
She seemed more awake now, shaking her head. "You don't have to."
"You're not making me watch another chick-flick," he said even though he knew she wouldn't.
"No," she said, pausing as if inwardly deliberating on what she was going to say next. "You can pick something this time."
"Something with blood and murder," he said purely to see how she would react.
She briefly contemplated. "There's a horror movie marathon on," she took the remote, flipping the channel until she reached it. It landed on a scene where a mask-covered man was chasing a woman with a chainsaw.
"I'm impressed you knew that."
"I watch them sometimes when Nicky and Alex aren't around."
Charlie was pleased. "Maybe you aren't so bad after all."
"You're just figuring that out?" she said rhetorically. She curled on her side, knees facing his direction but she wasn't touching him. "Oh," she murmured, "I'm still wearing your shirt."
"You can give it back tomorrow," he said quietly. "I don't care."
She lifted her head, glancing at him. "You're sure?"
"Yeah," he muttered.
Their eyes were on each other; seconds passed and a scream from the TV echoed throughout the living room but neither seemed to care.
It was only when the front door opened that they abruptly jumped to their feet, startled out of...whatever that was. They both went red in the face, laughing somewhat nervously. He thought it would be her uncle or Joey or her Dad.
But it wasn't.
"DJ!" Stephanie beamed and went to embrace her sister. She flew past Charlie. He watched as the two of them hugged, with them speaking a mile a minute.
He felt awkward.
Like he had to look away.
He just didn't know how to handle affection, whether it was romantic affection or not.
Stephanie snapped back to it. "Oh, Deej; this is Charlie. You remember him, right?"
DJ's eyes fell on him. She gave him a warm smile and he tried to give a smile of his own but he wasn't so sure it looked like one. "Hi," she said, extending her hand. He shook it. "I'm DJ. I'm Steph's sister."
"Uh, hi," he said.
"You were here once, right?" Dj asked.
"Well-"
"Yeah, you called him a little brat," Stephanie said, saving him from the possibility of having to talk about that afternoon. He was thankful. "Don't you remember?"
It wasn't like he could deny that. He'd been a little jerk as a kid, admittedly.
"Steph," DJ was embarrassed. Her eyes flickered over to Charlie, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry. It was just-"
"Don't be," he shrugged with a small smile. "I wasn't the best at eleven."
"Neither was Stephanie," DJ said.
"Hey!"
"I hope you don't have a diary or journal, she'll read it," DJ leveled her sister with a look.
"I haven't done that for years," Stephanie cut in.
DJ crossed her arms. "But you'll listen in on a phone call."
"That's different."
DJ rolled her eyes. "You should watch it. I have plenty of stories I could tell Charlie."
Stephanie looked alarmed. "He doesn't want to hear any of that."
"Yes, he does," Charlie smirked when she gave him a dirty look.
"No, he doesn't!"
"Then watch it," DJ clicked her tongue. "Or I'll tell him about the car."
Charlie was perplexed. Even more so when Stephanie's face went pink.
"Fine, fine," Stephanie muttered. She looked over at Charlie. "Hey, do you mind if we cut this short? It's been a while since me and Deej hungout."
DJ interjected, "You don't need to do that, Steph."
Charlie lowered his eyes to the floor. He tried not to feel like-tried not to assume-
Was she getting rid of him on purpose?
Was she embarrassed by him and didn't want him around her sister?
They'd been fine before DJ showed up.
"Yeah," he ended up saying. "That's fine. I better anyway. I'll help you clean up first."
"You don't have to," Stephanie said.
He frowned.
"I've got it, Charlie. Besides, DJ can help me."
"Oh, sure," DJ dawled, "I've only been traveling for a bit. I'd love to."
"That's the spirit," Stephanie nodded to which her sister rolled her eyes again.
He ran a hand through his hair. I'll just go then," he smiled through the hurt that was cutting him on the inside. "See you, Tanner. Bye, DJ."
"Bye Charlie!" DJ called, picking up one of the bowls that had been filled with chips. "It was nice meeting you again!"