"Charles!"
His heart skipped a beat. His whole body froze. It was difficult to think straight. He wasn't there, he tried to tell himself. He wasn't with his dad. He wasn't living in that house anymore. He wasn't there. He was at the Mark's house. Alive. Free.
But that hardly mattered now.
He felt like he would be sick whenever Peter raised his voice, not even to yell-to call for him, for Lorraine, anything of that nature. He would be reminded of his dad. Of how he used to scream for Charles to go see him right now.
And it wasn't something he could simply get over. He didn't think it would ever leave him.
"Charles," Peter was in his doorway. Charles' breath caught in his throat. He remembered those nights when he tried to sleep, to forget about what was going on.
And then he would see his dad's silhouette. Holding a drink. Belt grasped in the other hand.
"Charlie," His voice came out breathy. "Call...call me Charlie."
Peter blinked. "You know you don't have to do it because I said something, right? I shouldn't have said anything-"
"Call me Charlie, please," Charles-Charlie pleaded. "Don't call me Charles."
Peter stared for a moment or two, then he nodded. "Okay. I'll be sure to tell Rae."
/
Charlie grinned goofily. Margi's tiny, cold, wet nose bumped against his. She rubbed her face against his cheek. He could feel the vibrations coming from her purring. He'd been laying on his bed when she hopped up, having curled on his chest and gone to sleep. She was awake now and adamant on getting as much attention from him as she could.
"You're so cute," he cooed. She squeaked and he laughed. "You know you're cute, huh? I bet you do."
He was a cat person, okay? He would never let anyone see him like this or hear him but he was alone in the house and Margi hadn't been getting as much attention from him as he usually gave her. He needed to make it up to her. And for her enjoyment, that meant letting her walk all over him and giving the under part of her chin scratches.
He idly wondered what Stephanie was doing. Not that he was doing a lot of thinking about her. It was just a thought that came every once and a while. She must be off doing girly things with her sisters.
It still hadn't left his head how she'd rushed him out once DJ came home. He'd reminded himself that he was being stupid, that Stephanie was looking forward to it.
He just couldn't help but feel like it was personal.
Maybe she hadn't meant it that way but that was the impression he got. Had she not wanted to be around him anymore and used her sister being there as an excuse? Or was he overthinking things? He groaned, shutting his eyes. This was so stupid. It shouldn't bother him so why was he letting it?
Margi was not happy that his attention was diverted and, as a result, that he'd stopped petting her. She whined, getting right up in his face. A small smile broke out on him.
"I'm sorry," He said, chuckling when she began doing what Dad referred to as her teething phase where she would bite and chew on anything and everything. Right now that meant his cheek. "Ow," he said pointedly, not that Margi understood him. He pulled her away from him, which caused her front paws to go swinging as that was not what she wanted to do. "You're lucky you're so cute."
"Oh, isn't this sweet!" A voice from behind said, which made him freeze. "It's nice to know you have a soft side."
Charlie gently moved Margi to the side, sitting up. He felt his face heat up, seeing Stephanie stand there in the doorway to his room. She was smirking and he knew that she'd heard him. "I was just-"
"Telling your cat how cute she is?" Stephanie did a poor job of trying to hold back her laughter.
"You tell a soul, Tanner and I'll end you."
"I'm so scared," She said dryly.
He buried his face in his hands. He felt Margi jump on his shoulder, nudging him with her head. "Oh, get off," he muttered, unable to suppress another smile.
"I think it's sweet," Stephanie told him. "It makes you seem more-"
"Attractive."
"Tolerable," She finished. "And for some reason, she seems to like you."
"She's always like that around me."
"I won't judge her," Stephanie said with a sugary sweet smile, "she's too young to understand."
"Funny," Charlie rolled his eyes. He gestured for her to sit down and she did on his computer chair. "Why are you here, anyway? Aren't you supposed to hangout with your sister or whatever?"
"Nah," Stephanie said. "She's with Dad and Aunt Becky and Uncle Jesse. They're trying to give her advice on her wedding." a moment went by and then she added quietly, "Sorry if I hurt your feelings the other day."
He looked at her but said nothing.
"I hope you don't think I was trying to get rid of you. I was excited to see DJ. I'm sorry. I should've waited."
He felt relieved...to be honest.
And a part of him hated feeling that way.
"Oh, it's fine," he shrugged. He didn't want to let her know what he'd actually felt.
"You sure?"
"Don't overthink things, Tanner," he said and then made a face when Margi yanked on his hair with her teeth. "Stop it!" He took her off his shoulder and sat her down on the bed again. She was not happy with that arrangement, squeaking indignantly.
"Good girl," Stephanie praised. He gave her an unimpressed look. "I like her."
"You would," Charlie said with a scoff. "Don't you have anything else better to do, Tanner?"
"No," Stephanie said. "I figured you'd want me here anyway."
"You thought wrong."
She wasn't put off by what he said. "Want to come over? We could watch a horror movie or something."
"And be around your whole family? Not exactly how I planned to spend the day," He drawled.
"No," She shook her head. "It'll be empty soon. We'll have the whole house to ourselves."
He flashed her a grin, unable to let the opportunity pass. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was an offer."
She rolled her eyes. It was really satisfying to do that. "If I was offering, it wouldn't be to you."
"Ouch," He couldn't help but laugh. "That's hurtful, Tanner."
"Good."
Margi crawled back into his lap, unhappy with the lack of attention she'd been receiving since Stephanie arrived. To his amusement, it was as if the cat was glaring at her.
"I think your cat hates me."
"Good girl," He said, purposely repeating what she'd said earlier.
She rolled her eyes again, glancing around his room. "Why's it so dark in here?"
The blinds were closed. He didn't usually open them unless his parents made him.
He shrugged.
"You should let the light in."
He smirked as she unknowingly echoed the same line his mom often said.
"What?" She noticed his smirk.
"Nothing," He kept his voice light. "Nothing at all."
She didn't believe him. With good reason. But she didn't push things. "Okay."
"So you said your house, yeah?" He said conversationally.
"If you want to," She said. "You don't have to. We could stay here."
He shrugged. "Rather not. Don't feel like walking." Charlie knew he heard her cough something like lazy under her breath.
"That's fine. We can watch a movie here."
"Whatever. Long as it's not a chick flick."
Her eyes twinkled. "I promise no chick flicks. I'll find the bloodiest, most messed up horror movie for us to watch."
"You really know how to turn on a guy, Tanner."
She let out a snort of laughter at this.
/
One hour later, they were bored. They'd found a channel that was playing horror movies nonstop, but so far the only ones that had been on were the cheesy, super old ones. Nothing worth watching.
He flipped the TV off, sighing. "Got any other ideas?" He watched as her face brightened up. "Do I dare ask what you're thinking?" He said dryly.
"It's hot outside."
"Is it?" He said with mock surprise.
She was not to be deterred, however. "Let's get wet."
He could say something dirty to that. But he wouldn't.
"With what?" He eyed her.
"You have a hose, don't you?" A grin came spreading across her face.
"You're not serious."
"Oh, come on," She said. "You're telling me you've never done it?" Her words sunk in a second later. "Never mind. But you could do it today."
"That doesn't sound as fun as you think it does." In spite of that, he somehow couldn't find it in him to say no.
Not when she was smiling so brightly.
/
Charlie had given Stephanie one of his t-shirts and a pair of his shorts that he'd hardly worn so she wouldn't get the clothes she came in wet. There, under the scorching sun, with his arms crossed and squinted eyes, he waited as she untangled the hose. It was taking longer than she'd thought it would-it had already been close to five minutes since she started.
"This is why you can't let a girl do a man's job," He called out.
"Then you should call one," She retorted easily. "Aha! Got it." She jumped to her feet, going across the lawn of the backyard to turn the nozzle to the left. Water started to come rushing out of the end. "Come on, Charlie! Don't just stand there!"
He'd rather do that.
"Come on," She said coaxingly. "It'll be fun."
"We really have different ideas of what 'fun' is," He said, only for his words to trail off and for him to let out a gasp of shock when he was sprayed by the ice cold water.
Stephanie took her thumb off the hose, smiling innocently.
"Holy crap, that's cold!" He exclaimed.
"Is it?"
"Oh, that's it," Charlie yanked the hose away from her, wasting no time in spraying her, causing a loud, happy laugh to escape from her. "How's that feel, huh?" When he felt she was sufficiently soaked, he stopped spraying her and lowered the hose.
And took a moment to look at her.
The sunlight fell over her, making her golden hair look like a halo as she flipped her hair back over her and out of her face. Her grin was wide as she laughed, water droplets rolling down her face and onto the ground.
He snapped out of it, clearing his throat.
"You're right, it is cold," Stephanie shivered. Then she made another grab for the hose. "My turn!"
"Not a chance, Tanner."
"And why not? Don't trust me?"
"No and with good reason," He retorted.
She raised her eyebrow.
For the next few minutes they wrestled over the hose. He didn't put nearly as much strength in it as he could have-not that his muscles were anything remarkable compared to other guys his age, but it was a little more than hers obviously.
"Give it back," She demanded playfully.
"Make me."
Those two little words ignited a sense of competitiveness within her. Her eyes sparkled, shoulders straightened and out came the adrenaline that seemed to give her a little extra strength. They yanked it back and forth until Stephanie lost her footing, knocking into him which caused them both to fall to the ground.
Charlie fell first; pain shot up his spine but he didn't have time to focus on that because she fell on top of him.
He froze.
For more than one reason.
Her damp hair had splattered water on his face and he could smell the scent of her shampoo. Having her on top of him, though strange, wasn't all bad-
But then came the flashbacks of his dad straddling him, his fist flying down through his drunken rage.
His heart sped up. "Get off, Tanner," He managed to say. "You're heavy."
A lie. That was furthest from the real issue.
"Oh, shut up," She said and he was relieved to note that she wasn't offended.
She got off him, sitting on her knees. The hose was not too far from them, water spilling onto the grass. "Sorry," She grinned, but he saw through her casualness; her cheeks had taken on a pink coloring. "Tripped."
"Yeah," He coughed. "I noticed."