Chapter 35
Mateo
“Do you have everything?” I ask, doing one last check of the closet and bathroom of the cabin we called home for the last three weeks.
Charlie gingerly places Charles Darwin on the top of her duffel bag before protecting him with clothing. She woke up like she does most mornings—quietly. But it’s a different quiet. Not a silence required to fully wake from a deep slumber, but a silence created from heavy noise inside her head.
Three weeks flew by, and for Charlie, it’s a hard goodbye—to the people she met and grew to love and to the woman she was believed to be when she embarked on the vessel.
She’s blossomed in this environment, one full of friendship and new memories, which makes it hard to leave.
I would be remiss to say I want to leave this small bubble, where she belongs to me alone. But this isn’t reality, and as much as I’ve cherished every memory made, there are millions more to be made off the boat.
“Bruja?” I place a hand on her shoulder, which shakes beneath my palm .
She makes no protest when I spin her around to find her silently crying, her lip quivering and tears staining her cheeks.
“I don’t want to leave,” she admits, her voice shaky as she drops against my chest, digging her fingers into my shirt.
“I know.” It’s safe here, in this small cabin, and I understand her hesitance, but there’s beauty in the unknown. “But the world is waiting.”
Charlie sniffles a few times before retreating and wiping the tears from her cheeks. She finishes packing her bag, paying special attention to her bobbles, and takes a deep breath before moving to the door.
I hike her duffel bag over my shoulder before she can protest, then take in one last look at the room that changed my life.
The bathroom where Charlie confessed her feelings. The bed we slept in every night. Laughter and tears, heart-wrenching confessions and whispered secrets.
It all started right here.
The click of the lock feels like the end of a chapter.
Charlie’s hand snakes down my arm from where she’s holding my bicep to interlace our fingers. I give her palm a squeeze—are assuring gesture as we walk to the galley for the last breakfast before disembarking.
“I’m sad,” she says as we move through the ship, “but grateful for all of it. For you, and Jett, and Sofía and Vivian.” She stops and nibbles on her lip before she timidly adds, “I’ll never forget this trip, because I got to fall in love with you.”
Warmth flares across my body, and I steal another kiss—her lips plush against mine.
“I love sappy Charlie,” I joke, kissing the frown that forms. “But it’s the same for me, bruja.”
“You’ll never meet her again,” she grumbles.
“Love you,” I whisper, saying it simply because I can.
It will never grow old.
She rolls her eyes, batting my stomach, but blushes all the same, a coral hue spreading to the tips of her ears.
The chatter is loud in the galley, most of the crew eating before they finish the final work needed to dock the ship. Charlie scans the room, landing on Sofía and Vivian, and her tears begin again.
She’s not the only one fighting the emotion as the three fall into an odd embrace, quiet words exchanged between them.
So much for never seeing sappy Charlie again.
I offer her privacy and drop our duffels in the corner before making us coffee. Jett appears out of nowhere, startling me as I pour a third shot into her latte.
How she’s not bouncing off the walls with this amount of caffeine is truly astonishing.
“This is for you,” he says, shoving a manila envelope toward me.
I gesture at the coffee in both hands, and he nods emphatically, following me to an empty table with enough space for all our friends.
Shaun nods as we pass, and I offer one of my own. A small kernel of smug pride flares knowing I got the girl.
“What is it?” I ask, picking up the folder with an air of caution.
“Open it,” he prods. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna jump out and bite ya.”
I’m not so sure, but I peel back the envelope to find a handful of papers and a USB.
“The paperwork lays out your percent of the profit from the videos I made while on the boat,” he explains. “You and Blondie will each get ten percent of the revenue from each video you were in. As horrible as the comments were, Charlie’s video did well.”
He points out a figure, and the number of zeros beside her name is astonishing.
“This wasn’t part of the contract,” I say, slightly dazed as I stare at the five-figure number beside my name .
“I know, but you guys made this experience special, and you deserve pay for your work.” He’s more serious than I’ve seen him when he picks up the USB. “But this is truly special. Doug and I put it together last night.”
“What is it?”
“Your love story. All caught on tape.” My stomach drops. “We parsed through the B-roll, and it was right there—evidence of two people clumsily falling in love.” He drops the USB into my shaking palm. “I cried when I watched the final cut. You and Charlie have a beautiful love story.”
His features turn somber, contemplative, before his focus flickers to the women on the other side of the room, huddled around the pastry tray. He lingers on Sofía, before he shakes his head and plasters on a plastic smile.
“Thank you,” I say, though the words don’t feel like enough. “For all of it. Approving two graduate students to advise you. For pushing me to go for what I wanted. For being a good friend.”
I didn’t expect to grow so close to Jett on the trip, but he’s surprised me with his humor, kindness, and outlook on life.
“Just invite me to the wedding, okay?” He laughs, but I nod.
He can stand right beside me as Charlie walks down the aisle if she decides to privilege me with a lifelong commitment like marriage.
We’ll probably start with smaller steps, like meeting each other’s families, but it’s a goal—getting her in a white dress and walking down the aisle.
One day, she’ll be mine forever—legally binding, of course.
Charlie lingers at the front entrance of her apartment building, her hands twitching as she glances between the building and me. She’s working herself up to ask something, and I’m not going to push her.
“I was…well, I thought maybe—” She stops, adorably nervous. This is new and unexplored outside of our bubble, so I understand the nerves, but clearly she still doesn’t realize how loopy I am for her. I would follow her anywhere.
“Yes, bruja?”
I take a step, closing the space between us and claiming her mouth until she’s melting into me while I steal the small little moans she makes.
She’s flushed and a bit disheveled when we part, but her smile illuminates her face, and joy peeks through the cracks of her earlier melancholy.
“It’s weird,” I admit, “returning to the real world. But we’ll find a way to weave our lives together.” Her cheeks flush a rosy hue. “There’s no rush or timeline.”
Her shoulders relax.
“Did you want to come up?” she asks, breathless. “I think my room is messy, but—”
“Yes.”
There’s nothing I want more than to see Charlie’s cave, which is no doubt full of crystals and knickknacks. I wasn’t sure how she would feel today—with the tough goodbye and plane flight home—but my girl is a champ and slept most of the flight, her hand tightly holding mine.
Charlie drags me into the apartment building, and the moment she unlocks the door, a blur of hot-pink hair tackles her, nearly taking her to the ground.
They slam into my chest instead, and it takes all my strength to remain standing as Charlie and Amy reunite, yelling over each other as they try to say everything they couldn’t over the past three weeks.
A goofy grin spreads across my face as I watch Charlie wiggle and squeal, laugh and huff. We’re still standing halfway in the entry, and I usher the two into the apartment.
Dozens of colorful throw pillows decorate an old couch, and the furniture is all mismatched, but it’s homey—a mosaic of Amy and Charlie.
Photos of them pepper the walls beside old posters of boy bands and musicians.
There’s a shrine to Charles Darwin—naturally—and candles everywhere, illuminating the space in soft light.
It’s exactly what I pictured: slightly messy and overflowing with love.
I’m chopped liver—completely ignored—as I drop our bags in an empty corner and walk around the room, waiting for them to grace me with their attention.
The girls have migrated to the couch, and I’m waist deep in the fridge, searching for a snack, when I hear a loud gasp, followed by a squeal, and then one final gasp.
“You told him first instead of me?” There’s a heavy pause. “Yeah, I heard it. That was insane.”
“I kinda had to,” Charlie murmurs back. My head is still deep in the fridge as I eavesdrop when Charlie adds, “It was epic, Ames. I had this whole speech, and it was under the stars.”
I snort into the almond milk.
It was epic.
“…and then he slipped my panties—”
And that is enough sharing for the moment—at least when I’m around. I’m not stupid; I know those two share everything with each other, but I prefer not to hear it.
“Jett gave me something,” I say, startling them both, and drop beside Charlie, who instantly leans into my side.
“Oh. My. God,” Amy screams. “She’s cuddling. Don’t fucking move.” She scrambles around. “Don’t move,” she wails, grabbing her phone and shoving it in Charlie’s face like a mom at a dance recital.
She doesn’t stop until Charlie is physically pushing the phone away, her iconic glare at full force. I kiss the glare—because I can—and Amy starts up again, the clicking sound filling the air alongside her laughter.
“What did Jett give you?” Charlie asks, whacking Amy as she sits back down.
I slip the hard drive from my pocket, twirling it through my fingers. I had contemplated watching it while Charlie slept since it was burning a hole in my pocket, but it felt wrong to watch it without her.
If Jett says it’s our love story, it’s only fair we watch it together. With Amy, too.
I fish out my laptop from my luggage and plug the USB into the computer, and Jett’s face immediately pops onto the screen.
“Blondie! I miss you already.” He winks on the screen, and Charlie laughs, drawing deeper against my side. “I made this special, just for you and Mateo. Love is found in the most unexpected of places, and Doug was able to capture it all on film. I’ll see you guys again soon.”
“Mateo…”
Charlie’s nerves ruminate, and I squeeze her thigh.
Music starts to play—a slow, soft song.
It begins with a video of Charlie and I boarding the boat, her yelling at me to be careful with her bag and its precious cargo, a.k.a her bobblehead and crystals.
I’m wearing a lovestruck grin the whole time.
The film switches to all of us playing Catan, Charlie staring at me from across the table.
The camera bobs back and forth between us before it turns around and Doug says into the lens, “I can feel the sexual tension.”
“I told you the tension was off the charts,” Amy exclaims .
The video continues, and my chest pounds as every moment between us plays out; a memory to keep forever.
Lingering glances.
Subtle touches.
Stolen kisses.
There’s video footage of Charlie victory dancing after she beat me in go-fish, and quiet moments shared in the lab, working shoulder to shoulder.
Mornings spent on our computers, surrounded by chocolate wrappers.
Doug captured us lying beneath the stars, our makeshift picnic spread out across the deck.
By the end of it, Amy is sobbing, her arms wrapped around Charlie and me. Amy rattles on and on about how beautiful it is and how amazing love can be, and Charlie clicks her tongue.
I squeeze her thigh again, and a smile blooms, warming my chest like a steaming bowl of my abuela’s pozole on a frigid night.
The video plays on—a montage of every time a piece of my heart became hers.
It’s the evolution of love.