“I can’t even tell you that he used to be nice. He has always said shit like that to me. I would just let him. I would foolishly convince myself that it was helpful criticism and that if I just worked harder, I would be better for him. It’s only been two weeks, but I already feel like a completely different person. I am so ashamed that I ever let him treat me that way.” I can see tears forming in the corners of Charlie’s eyes, but she blinks them away and continues.
“I was lonely in Van and Brad was the first person to pay me any real attention. I think I held on because I was too afraid to be alone like that again. Which is stupid, because even with him I was often alone. Especially towards the end.”
Charlie snorts at herself and uses her good hand to wipe the moisture out of her eyes. “I’m such an idiot.”
“No, you are not,” I tell Charlie firmly. “You’re a good person firefly, who got taken advantage of by some corporatedouchebag with a god complex. If anyone here is the idiot, it’s him. He let a wonderful person slip through his fingers because he couldn’t see how good he had it. Lucky for Max, Andy, and I we all saw it right away. You deserve better than whatever that punk ass bitch had to offer.”
Charlie smiles warmly at me. “Ben, once again, you’re my hero.”
I feel a little tug at my heart, but I shrug it off. “I’m gonna need to teach you how to throw a punch. Loved the emotion behind it but your technique is terrible.”
“Well, I’m a lover not a fighter. So, sue me. But I would love it if you taught me some self-defense. Especially if I run into Chuck again,” Charlie says.
I growl when she says his name, which makes Charlie giggle.
“What the fuck do you do to these men, Charlie?” I ask rhetorically. She shrugs at me, hopping down off the stool and sauntering over to me slowly. As she gets closer, I can see a hint of desire in her eyes, and I smile down at her while my heart skips a beat. Okay maybe two.
In this moment, I can feel something locking into place for me. Charlie has been a bright spot of light in my dark life from the moment she stepped into it, and I don’t want to fight it anymore. She’s my firefly and I want her. I want every part of her she’ll allow me to have for as long as she’ll let me have it. I’ll do anything for her. Anything to hear her laugh, see her smile, or to have her give me that look she’s giving me right now.
“What the fuck are you doing to me?” I growl quietly, and Charlie shrugs again with a coy smile on her lips.
She stands on her tiptoes and gives me a gentle peck on the lips. She starts to pull away, but I wrap my arms around her and smash my lips against hers. Charlie kisses me back, and I deepen the kiss, sliding my tongue against hers the second she opens for me. I feel more than hear the faintest moan come from Charlie before she pulls away, looking up at me with lust in her eyes.
“I suppose I should go get my stuff. Wanna see my childhood bedroom?”
Chapter 34
Charlie
I still can’t believe Brad would just show up to my parent's place like that. I do not understand his motivations. At all. What changed after I stopped begging him to talk to me? Nothing good, I'm sure. But holy fuck it felt good to punch him. Just wish it had actually hurt him.
Ben’s punch ... now that looked like it hurt. I really hope Brad takes Ben’s advice and just leaves. Chuck has been a big enough problem without adding Brad into this mess. Also watching Ben punch him was insanely hot. If my hand didn’t hurt so much, I probably would have jumped him right then and there.
I feel so fortunate that Ben has opened up to me. I hope this means that we’re moving forward in our .... whatever kind of relationship this is. All I know for certain is that I am happy when I'm with my boys and it feels more complete now that I understand Ben better.
Ben, forever the good guy, followed me dutifully upstairs telling me that he’s ‘only coming to help me pack.’ But I felt that bulge in his pants when we were making out. Benjamin is full of shit.
I push open the door to my bedroom and let Ben enter before me. I went through a small emo phase in high school and had begged my mom to let me paint my walls black. She said no and Idid it anyways. My mom didn’t want to put the work in to change it after I moved so now my room is a shrine to one of the only times that I disobeyed my parents. I watch him as he takes the room in, spinning slowly until he is facing me again. “Why did I think your room would be frilly and pink?”
“I literally do not know Benjamin. I went through an emo phase in high school. What you are seeing is the only remaining proof of my teenage rebellion.” I tell him as he sits down on the bed and smirks at me.
“I still can’t picture it. You’re too sweet and innocent to have a rebellious phase,” Ben teases.
With a dramatic sigh, I come up beside him on the bed and rummage under it until I pull out my box of high school memories. I grab the yearbook from my senior year and flip through the pages until I find a photo of me.
“See? My hair was as black as my walls. I even put a purple raccoon tail in my hair,” I tell him.
I watch his face go an odd shade of red, like he’s trying to hold something in, and then he bursts out laughing. “I’m sorry, but this doesn’t even look like you! I don’t know how to reconcile the Charlie I know with the one that I am seeing in this picture.”
“It really was just a phase. Unfortunately for me and my parents it stuck long enough for my senior photo to look like that and to put black paint on my walls,” I say, giggling along with him.
“Still cute though. Then and now.”
“Well thanks Ben,” I say with a small smile.
We’re silent for a long second and I almost lose my nerve. But then I remember that Ben was brave for me, so I can be brave for him. “I know that you want to wait until you are ready, but I was hoping that I could thank you.”
I see Ben’s eyes darken briefly, but then he responds with “no thanks are necessary.”
