Chapter 13 #3
Charlie was silent as Aspen searched, and Aspen realized this was the first time they’d been alone together.
Aspen always thrived in three-person friend groups, and they were learning they thrived in three person sexual and romantic-ish relationships as well.
There was always someone to talk to, and if one person grew tired or overstimulated, the other person could step in and chat, provide emotional and physical support, or whatever was needed.
Aspen was able to narrow down the possibilities to two hotels.
When they tried to book a room, one was almost completely booked, and the other was nearly empty.
They took a shot in the dark that the one near capacity was probably where the room block was, so they booked a king-sized room for them and Charlie for tonight.
One of the many things they still needed to discuss between the three of them was money.
Aspen had gathered that Charlie didn’t have a lot of personal income that wasn’t immediately plugged back into the shelter, and while Noah and Aspen weren’t rolling it, they were decently well off, so when Charlie parked his truck, Aspen scurried over to the parking meter to pay for parking for them through the following weekend.
“Thanks, pumpkin,” Charlie said, slinging his hiking backpack over his shoulder and placing a solid kiss on Aspen’s head.
They’d never purchased a plane ticket at an airport before, so they followed behind Charlie as he headed to one of the help desks.
He’d been right that the redeye was less expensive, and they were even able to grab seats next to each other in the back of the plane.
That left them with three hours to kill, and Aspen was determined to take advantage of this alone time with Charlie.
Maybe they could grab dinner somewhere and curl up together at their gate.
Charlie’s lap was probably one of Aspen’s top five favorite places to be in the world.
He was just so big and warm and cuddly. They wanted to crawl inside his clothes and burrow against his chest like a cat.
They made it through security with no problem, but once they entered the body of the terminal, with people streaming around them, babies screaming, and even a dog barking somewhere off in the distance, Charlie withdrew into himself.
He had both his hands shoved deep in his pockets as Aspen led them to their gate, but when they got there, they found the current flight was in the process of boarding, and it was even more crowded and chaotic.
Charlie kept glancing around, shifting from foot to foot in a way Aspen had seen some of the shelter dogs do right before bolting for the door.
“Hey, handsome?” Aspen called, standing up on their tiptoes to place their hand gently on the side of his face. He flinched away, only to shoot Aspen an apologetic glance and hunch his shoulders protectively.
“Sorry. It’s…really loud.”
Okay, new plan.
“Do you want to go to one of the restaurants? They may have some seats away from the crowds.”
Charlie nodded jerkily, and Aspen tried to take his arm, but he flinched again, so they dropped their hands to their sides. They sort of wished they had pockets, but alas, their leggings did not.
“Sorry,” Charlie mumbled again as he followed Aspen, right behind them but not touching them.
“It’s okay. Airports are pretty chaotic.
It’s like you’re in an entirely different world where normal rules don’t apply.
Want dinner at 10am? Go for it. Breakfast at midnight?
No problem. You can lie on the floor, and no one will look at you funny, or you can ride your suitcase down the moving sidewalk. ”
“I don’t think I’ve ever done any of those things.”
“I have.”
“I figured.”
Aspen knew what it was like to be overstimulated.
The clipped quality to Charlie’s words meant he was probably way past overstimulated.
Aspen hurried to find them a restaurant and ended up settling on an Italian place.
Maybe Aspen could order multiple courses, and it would allow them to stay in the restaurant for a while.
The host was a young blonde guy who batted his lashes a few too many times at Charlie.
When he led them to a table right along the walkway, Aspen insisted they sit inside, and the host tried to share an exasperated look with Charlie, but Charlie’s entire focus was on Aspen.
He looked almost desperate, his hands clenched into fists in his pockets.
“I don’t handle crowds well,” Aspen said, and the host frowned at them. “Can you please put us inside so I don’t have a very dramatic meltdown and make a scene over my spaghetti. I can be very loud.”
Aspen flipped their pink bangs off their face as if that would prove their point.
The host glowered at them but led them deeper into the restaurant to a booth in the very back corner. They had a feeling they might be forgotten back here, since there was no one seated within five tables of them, but that was fine with Aspen.
“Thank you,” they said curtly before sliding into one of the booths.
Charlie glanced at the seat across from Aspen and then wordlessly slid in next to them, so they were both facing out towards the rest of the restaurant. This finally seemed to drive the message home to the host, who rolled his eyes and walked back up to the front of the restaurant.
“Did you want to face this way? I can move to the other side if you want?” Aspen offered, but Charlie just scooted closer to them.
Usually, Aspen would take this as an invitation, but since their last two attempts at physical affection hadn’t gone well, they folded their hands in their lap and leaned sideways against the wall.
Charlie turned to the side and began rummaging through his bag until he pulled out a pair of over-ear headphones. Aspen nearly fell out of their seat when they saw they had dog ears on them, sort of like the more common cat ear headphones they’d seen.
“My…foster parents got them for me. They thought they were cute. I know they’re kind of embarrassing, but—”
“I love them,” Aspen said, reaching out to pet one of the ears.
Charlie gave Aspen a small, grateful smile before sliding them on his head. “I won’t play anything, so I can still hear you, but…it helps sometimes.”
Aspen nodded, and even though he said he could still hear them, they didn’t want to bother him. They looked over the menu, chose an appetizer and an entrée, and closed the menu again.
It took several minutes for a server to come back and take their drink orders, and she cast Charlie a curious glance.
“Coke, please,” he said with barely any intonation in his voice.
“Just water for me,” Aspen said, and Charlie scooted somehow even closer to them still without touching them.
“Would you feel more comfortable on the inside?”
Charlie glanced across the booth at the vacant seat before nodding.
They quickly switched seats, and once Charlie’s entire right side was pressed up against the wall, he reached out and took Aspen’s hand.
“I’m sor—”
“Please don’t apologize. I’m going to do weird shit cause of my ADHD, and I hope that when I do, I won’t need to apologize.”
Charlie stared at their joined hands for a moment before nodding. They sat in silence that wasn’t quite comfortable, but also wasn’t bad until their drinks arrived. When Aspen ordered an appetizer, Charlie cocked his head. “I was going to order the same thing. Would you mind if we share?”
“Of course. You know I love sharing.”
Charlie squeezed their hand and then said very quietly, “Maybe we can get dessert as well? Might…let us stay a little longer?”
Aspen squeezed his hand back once, and then twice more.
The food was okay, and the conversation was nearly nonexistent, but it was still one of the better first dates Aspen had gone on in their life.
Charlie kept his hand either linked with Aspen’s or on their leg throughout the entire meal, and his headphones stayed on, which seemed to keep his shoulders relaxed and allowed him to eat most of the appetizer and his entire entree.
When it was time to order dessert, Aspen insisted they get anything except cake, and Charlie didn’t argue.
The tiramisu they got was actually the best part of the meal, and when Charlie offered Aspen the last bite, they ate it off his spoon, all the while making flirtatious eye contact.
For just a moment, heat flashed in his eyes, and he threaded his arm behind Aspen’s back and pulled them tightly against his side.
All touching stopped when they left the restaurant, even when they managed to find a secluded corner to sit in a few gates down from their own.
They both buried themselves in their phones, and Aspen flipped back through some of their photos with Noah.
The last one had been taken by Charlie in his living room.
Noah and Aspen were asleep against each other on the couch, Noah’s arm protectively thrown across Aspen’s waist. Charlie had sent the photo to their group chat, and Aspen had been tempted to make it their background, but it felt somehow incomplete.
Just like he felt now, sitting here with Charlie.
The three of them worked so well together.
If Noah were here, he would probably know exactly what to say and what support to provide Charlie, while also entertaining Aspen and keeping their ADHD and anxiety from spiraling.
Things didn’t get any better once they were on the plane.
Or, more accurately, they didn’t get any better for Aspen.
Charlie seemed to relax, sinking against the window and taking Aspen’s hand once again.
Unfortunately, Aspen was now practically vibrating out of their skin, and they didn’t want to stim on Charlie the way they did on Noah, so they pulled their hand back and sat on both hands right up until takeoff.
“Are you nervous about flying, surprising Noah, or about potentially seeing his family?”
Aspen jiggled their leg up and down as they watched the plane pick up speed out the window. The noise of the engines and wheels speeding across the runway was nearly deafening, and Aspen wished they’d thought to pack over-ear headphones as well. “All of the above.”
Charlie pulled up the armrest between them and wrapped a heavy arm around their shoulders. They tried to resist, for all of two seconds, and then the nose of the plane lifted up, and Aspen turned and buried their face in Charlie’s chest.
“I’ve got you,” Charlie said, and that was all he said for the next twenty minutes until they hit altitude. Anytime Aspen would shift or whimper at whatever dinging, clanking, and creaking the plane did, Charlie would just repeat, “I’ve got you.”
When the captain came on the loudspeaker to announce they could move about the plane, Aspen undid their seatbelt and crawled into Charlie’s lap. They knew they wouldn’t be able to get away with this for long, but they needed a full body hug so they didn’t vibrate themself to pieces.
“I’ve got you, pumpkin. You’re okay. I’m right here,” Charlie said, crushing Aspen to his chest for a long hug, before shifting Aspen back into their seat. He turned sideways and encouraged Aspen to sort of sprawl against his side, which they did for the entire rest of the flight.
They still missed Noah fiercely, but with Charlie’s hand in their hair, they were able to slowly drift off to sleep, dreaming that when they arrived, they’d be reunited with Noah.