Chapter 4 Charlie #4
Jason grabs one of the decorative cushions off the couch and chucks it at Charlie. His aim is unfortunately better than Charlie’s reflexes, and the pillow hits him square in the face, bouncing to the floor with a soft thud while Charlie groans at the unexpected hit.
“That’s our cue to leave,” Andrew says, curling his fingers tighter around Charlie’s elbow and tugging. “Come on, Charlie.”
“What if I don’t want to leave?” Charlie protests, despite agreeing with Andrew. There’s like a little flaw in his brain where even when he agrees with someone, he needs to argue about it first. “I wanted to see Emerson in a suit.”
“I’ll throw the entire couch at you if you don’t leave,” Jason says in a tone that Charlie probably shouldn’t test.
He tests it anyway.
“You’re kind of testy when you’re in love.”
“I’m not…just…get the fuck out of here.” Jason turns pleading eyes on Andrew. “Please.”
Long fingers wrap around Charlie’s wrist. When Andrew tugs, he lets himself be pulled away and guided out of the tailor shop. He waits until they’re in Andrew’s car before finally speaking.
“How long do you think it’ll be until he makes a move?”
“Given that answering that could potentially impact our bet, I’m not saying anything,” Andrew replies, starting his engine. “But it’s Jason, so.”
Charlie hums, staring out the window as Andrew pulls onto the road.
He, Andrew, and Alec made a bet a few years ago about when Jason would realize he wasn’t straight and do something about it.
Charlie pegged Jason’s bi-awakening coming in the form of Theo, part of the reason he always tried to talk Alec out of being in love with him.
Given how in love with his little brother Theo seems to be, Charlie was clearly wrong about him and Jason secretly being in love.
He’s amended his bet answers since they got together, but Andrew and Alec said no more changes were allowed, which means Charlie’s odds of winning are pretty damn low now given that he assumed Jason would get married and divorced before coming into a mid-life crisis slash sexual awakening. He really hates losing.
In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have been so blunt about Jason’s very obvious feelings for Emerson if he wanted to win, but when push comes to shove, he cares about his brothers more than any stupid bet.
For all the shit he loves to give Jason, he really is the best, and he deserves to be happy.
From the looks of things, he could be happy with Emerson—if they ever get on the same page.
“You’re really quiet, it's weird.”
“First I’m too loud, now I’m too quiet?”
Andrew makes a derisive noise. “I’ve never told you that you were too loud and you know it, asshole. You were just being too blunt. There’s a big difference. You know Jason can’t always handle that. He’s—”
“Soft,” Charlie finishes, slumping in his seat. He does know, which makes Charlie a little bit of an asshole probably. He only hopes Jason knows he means well, even if his delivery methods often leave something to be desired.
“Exactly,” Andrew agrees, merging into the right lane and flipping on his blinker before jumping onto the freeway. “He and Emerson are cute together.”
“I know,” Charlie sighs, unsure why that makes him feel mildly nauseated. “First Alec and now Jason.”
“Having his first crush on a guy doesn’t mean they’re going to settle down and get married like Alec and Theo are, you know.”
“I know but Jason is so…so—domestic. He and Alec probably have dreams about white picket fences and babies and shit.”
“Falling in love isn’t the worst thing in the world.” Andrew’s fingers tap on the steering wheel. Three times with his left hand then three times with his right hand. He repeats it again, matching the number of taps on each side, one of his anxious tells.
“Do you ever want—”
“Are you hungry?” Andrew interrupts, not letting Charlie get the goddamn question out.
Discomfort grows in his gut. Not for the first time, he wonders if somehow it’s his fault that Andrew is so uncomfortable with attention.
Growing up, he’d noticed how much his brother disliked attention and made his own personality bigger and louder to ensure his twin was safe in the shadows where he wanted to be.
Now though, now he worries he let him hide when maybe he should have tried to bring him out into the light with him.
“Annie.”
“We could stop at Juanita’s,” Andrew suggests, changing lanes and exiting the freeway before Charlie has a chance to answer. Not that he would say no. For all he loves to argue with Andrew for fun, he would never deny him.
“Sure,” Charlie answers.
“I just remembered I forgot to do my laundry.”
“Bullshit,” Charlie counters. “You don’t forget things.”
Andrew’s fingers tighten on the steering wheel. “Fine. I just…need to go home.”
“We could get takeout and watch a shitty movie,” Charlie suggests. He hates when Andrew gets like this. It makes him physically ill when Andrew tries to pull away. Alone time might be fine for other people but not for them. Andrew isn’t supposed to need time away from Charlie.
“I’m not hungry,” Andrew answers, turning on Los Arboles.
The tree lined streets give way to cracked sidewalks and weed-filled curbs as Andrew turns into the small shopping center.
Time has worn down the facade, the peeling paint for the lavanderia and the panaderia in stark contrast to the fresher paint from Juanita’s, since it’s the newest place to open in here, taking over a small donut shop that went out of business.
The familiarity of it soothes some of the agitation in Charlie, though it doesn’t abate the heaviness in his chest.
“I can come back and get you,” Andrew offers. “Just text me when you’re done eating.”
“Thanks,” Charlie replies, itching to push but equally afraid to do so. Andrew hasn’t had one of his isolation meltdowns in a while, and Charlie hates himself for how wrong-footed it makes him feel.
“You sure you don’t want me to get anything for you?” Charlie asks, hand lingering on the door handle as he swings it open.
“I’m good,” Andrew insists.
“If you change your mind, just text me.”
“Sure,” Andrew placates, even though they both know he won’t.
Charlie makes up his mind to order him something to eat for later. He’ll just need to sweet talk Juanita so they put the entirety of Andrew’s order in separate containers so nothing touches.
“You sure you’re okay?” Charlie questions, tempted to force Andrew into staying.
It’s been a while since Andrew did this.
The last time Charlie can recall him closing off like this is back when he started his new job and the stress of settling into a new routine was making him sick.
He’s been doing so well since then though.
Charlie tries so hard to respect Andrew’s boundaries, even when he hates them.
“I’m always okay,” Andrew assures him with a smile. It would be more convincing if Charlie didn’t know Andrew could smile through a goddamn meltdown if it meant no one would notice.
“You can come back and join me if you change your mind,” Charlie reminds him.
“Uh-huh,” Andrew hums.
Charlie finally gets out of the car, not because he wants to, but because he senses Andrew needs him to. He watches Andrew drive away, already pulling out his phone to text him.
Charlie
wanna make a bet on how much mole I can eat?
Eyes on his phone, Charlie isn’t paying attention as he walks through the front door.
The bell above the door jingles, someone welcomes him, but Charlie only has eyes for the pretty blond guy he hasn’t seen in weeks—a man he walks straight into, tripping over the caution sign near the doorway to alert people of the wet floor.
Unfortunately for Charlie, and his blond guy, his Crocs slide on the still wet floor, sending Charlie crashing down on top of him.
If looks could kill, Charlie would be ten feet under.
What he should probably do is apologize for knocking this guy over. Instead, what comes out of his mouth is less of an apology and more of well, Charlie isn’t sure entirely. Something that might actually get him killed.
“Can’t run away this time.”