Chapter 3 - Charlie
CHARLIE
Parking my car on the side of the road, I pull my phone off the holder and compare the front of the house before me with the one on Google Maps Street view.
When I’m sure I’m in the right place, I climb out of the car, locking it behind me and make my way down the slightly overgrown path.
I can’t see any lights on inside the house and a quick look at the empty driveway has me pausing.
Should I have waited until tomorrow? He could be sleeping or not even home right now.
Figuring I have nothing to lose, I shake out my hands and take a steadying breath to alleviate my nerves as I raise my hand and knock.
The sound echoes through the quiet night and I hold my breath and wait but there’s no movement on the other side of the door.
Just as I’m about to turn and head back to my car, I hear footsteps followed by the sound of someone tripping over.
They curse and everything in me freezes because it doesn’t matter that there’s a closed door between us and that the voice was muffled.
I’d recognise that voice anywhere. The door swings open and there he is.
Jace freezes when he spots me, his eyes quickly look behind me like he’s looking for someone else, but I’m alone. My name falls from his lips but neither of us say anything more.
Instead, we just take each other in. He’s aged since I last saw him.
His dark brown, almost black hair is longer than he used to keep it.
Like he’s either growing it out or hasn’t had it cut in a while.
It’s currently pushed back and roughed up as though he’s been running his hands continuously through it and pulling at the strands and from this angle, I can see a few grey strands already starting to line his face.
It suits him.
But the bags under his eyes don’t. He has frown lines and crow’s feet marking his face where he once had laugh lines and his stubble is also overgrown, looking a little wiry and unkempt.
My eyes drift down to find his clothes that are a little too big on him. I frown, has he lost weight recently? But the biggest change is how much muscle he has on him, defined from the hard labour that comes with working construction rather than working out in a gym.
I take all of him in, noting every difference and similarity with the fifteen-year-old in my memory.
Suddenly, the house lights up and I look over my shoulder to see a car pulling into the driveway. The headlights go out as the driver turns the car off and jumps out, closing the door and running around the front of the car.
“Hey Jay, sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bit-ch,” is voice staggers over the last word and he stops in his tracks when he sees me watching him. “Who’s this?”
The question sounds a little accusing and my eyes flick between Jace and the new guy, taking in his muscled figure, tattooed arms, and thick beard.
His eyebrows pull down in a frown while he sizes me up, looking between Jace and I before slowly approaching. “Jay?”
Jay.
Not Jace.
“Oh,” it slips out as it occurs to me that they’re together. “I didn’t-I-you,” I stammer, my eyes continuing to look between the two of them.
Still, Jace doesn’t say anything and the longer he’s quiet, looking almost horrified as we look to him for answers, the more I realise this was a mistake.
Mia gave me his number along with his address. I should have called instead. Should have waited until tomorrow. Should have-
I take a few steps back, nearly tripping over the slightly raised edge of the porch. “I’m sorry…I-I’m gonna go,” I falter before spinning on my heels and racing toward my car, not stopping even when Jace calls out my name.
Climbing inside my car, I blink the tears threatening to surface away and shove the key into the ignition but stop when I see Jace kneeling on the ground, clutching at his chest and pulling at his hair as though he’s in as much pain as I am.
Meanwhile, the other guy – his boyfriend, or whatever – just stands there, watching as Jace cries out my name, pleading with me not to go.
I shake my head. Jace is clearly upset and hurting and this guy just looks uncomfortable, making no move to comfort Jace.
Sighing, I remove the key from the ignition, contemplating my reaction. Even if Jace is dating this guy, running away like I did was childish and it’s not who I am.
At the very least, we were close friends, and I haven’t seen or heard from him in eight years. I owe it to him, and myself to face this.
I need to know what happened, that he’s okay and if they’re together…I’ll be happy for him. It’ll suck but I’m an adult and if I’m being honest with myself, I knew this was a possible outcome.
Jace is an amazing person, he’s smart, caring, kind and always puts others before himself. Who wouldn’t want to date him? It shouldn’t surprise me that he isn’t single, still clinging to what is essentially a childhood fantasy like I am.
My head hits the back of the seat, and I look up at the ceiling. I’m an adult. I can walk back up that path and sit down and have a conversation with my childhood best friend.
He deserves to know what Mia found out about Bonnie if he doesn’t already know. If he doesn’t know where she is himself, then he should know I’m still looking for her because I refuse to believe she’s dead.
Slowly, I climb out of the car, pocketing my keys and making my way back over to Jace. I can hear the other guy asking Jace if he should go but Jace doesn’t answer him, doesn’t even seem to hear him as he keeps his head down, still curled in on himself.
“Jace?” I hedge, my voice quiet as I approach but his head snaps up instantly, tears streaming freely down his face and he launches himself at me, whispering over and over again that he’s sorry.
He may have aged, and it may have been eight years since we’ve seen each other, but my arms automatically wrap around his familiar body.
I know I shouldn’t. I know it’s immature and petty, but I can’t help the satisfied smile that stretches across my face at the thought that Jace, in this moment, chose me and my eyes close as I sink further into his embrace.
After a beat, I hear a scoff, but I don’t look, not even when I hear the guy's car start up and he peels out of the driveway. I just hold onto Jace, listening as he mutters that he’s sorry over and over again.
I have no idea what he’s sorry for. If anything, I should be the one apologising. I took one look at his guest and ran without waiting for an explanation. “I’m sorry,” I mutter back, holding him tighter and running my hand down his back in an attempt to offer any semblance of comfort.
After a while, Jace starts swaying a little on his feet, sagging against me so I guide him back inside.
As we cross the threshold, Jace yawns and I fumble around, trying to feel for a light switch in the dark. When I finally find it, my eyes instantly snap closed at the sudden brightness, and it takes a few blinks to adjust.
There isn’t much in the way of furniture throughout what I can see of the house and the thought that he might be in the middle of moving occurs to me but when I try to pull him away enough to ask him anything, he just clings to me tighter.
Deciding to try and find his bedroom, I head to the first open door I see. Finding a bathroom, I quickly close the door.
Just as I’m about to open the next door, Jace tucks his face into the crook of my neck and takes a deep breath in. Is he sniffing me?
The thought has me smiling as I open the door to find a lone mattress in the middle of the room when I turn the light on.
At this point, I’m practically carrying Jace as I help him into the bed, pulling his shoes off his feet and throwing the rumpled blanket over his body. Turning to leave the room, he reaches out and grabs my arm, almost causing me to fall on top of him.
“Please don’t leave me. Don’t go,” he sleepily begs and I’m helpless to fight him.
“I’m not leaving,” I reassure him, mind made up. “I’m just going to lock up and turn the lights off, okay?”
“You’ll still be here when I wake up?” I take a moment to consider his question.
On one hand, the guy who was here earlier could still be his partner and if that’s the case, staying here could be misconstrued if he returns, especially after what happened earlier.
But on the other hand, this is Jace. The boy I’ve loved for as long as I can remember and he’s begging me to stay with him.
“Yes,” I answer. There’s no way I can walk away from him now. Not when there’s so much we need to talk about and he’s in no state to talk right now. If he wants me here, then here is where I’ll be.
“Promise?” He releases my arm in favour of sticking his pinkie finger out and I smile at the familiar gesture, looping my pinkie around his.
“Pinkie promise.” I wink and he immediately settles back into the mattress, his soft snores reaching my ears before I make it to the door and turn his light off.
I quickly lock the front door and take a seat on the couch, pulling my phone out to call Ari after a quick look at the time to make sure it isn’t too late.
“Did you find him?” she asks, answering before the first ring even finishes.
“Yeah, I found him,” I whisper into the phone, my eyes flicking to Jace’s closed door.
“And? How did it go? Is Bonnie with him? Was he happy to see you? Did-”
“One question at a time,” I interrupt her rapid line of questions, chuckling but it fades into a sigh as the past hour replays in my mind.
“It…went?”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound very promis-”
“Hey treasure, have you seen my- oh, sorry didn’t realise you were on the phone,” Eric says softly but once she tells him who she’s on the phone too he abandons his whispering.
“Oh, hey man! How’d the reunion go? Was it a throw yourself at each other and the nearest piece of furniture kind of reunion?
” I shake my head, huffing out a laugh at his antics.
I can practically see him wagging his eyebrows on the other end of the phone.
“Really?”
“What? I’ve heard reunion sex is one of the like, five top types of sex.”
“Oh? And where exactly did you here that?” Ariana asks him and I sit back on the couch, waiting to see – or rather, hear how this plays out.
“I read,” he answers her, and I mean, as far as answers go, it’s a plausible one. I’d believe it.
“Maybe you should read less,” Ari teases him, and I kick off my shoes, grabbing the discarded blanket off the couch and lying back.
“Me? What about Charlie? And Ethan?”
“Me?” I say indignantly at the same time I hear Ethan ask the same question.
“You guys read too much.”
“What’s going on here?” Elias asks as he joins them and I shake my head, feeling myself relax. This is exactly what I needed. Eric’s ridiculously obsessive antics never fail to make me laugh.
“She’s picking on me. Told me I have to read less.” Eric pouts.
“Well, you do have a tendency to fixate on fantasies.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“What on earth makes you think that?”
“It’s in the brothership bylaws. I’ll send you a PDF,” Eric deadpans. “Now, Charlie. Runion sex. Yay or nay?”
“Charlie?” Elias asks, his voice closer now. “How did it go? Everything okay?”
“I don’t know,” I answer though it comes out more like a question than a statement and I let out a sigh. “Some guy showed up before we could talk. He wasn’t exactly happy to see me and when Jace threw himself at me, he took off.”
“You think Jace has a boyfriend?” Elias asks, always the pragmatic one. Meanwhile, Eric takes…a different approach.
“Jace threw himself at you? Fuck yes! Fuck that guy. Jace is yours.”
“Eric, they could be together.”
“The dude fucked off, that’s his fault. Besides, they’re not together. I can feel it. Trust me, I know these things.”
“So, what are you doing now?” Ariana asks. “Are you coming back here or,” her voice trails off, leaving the question hanging in the air.
“I promised him I’d be here when he wakes up.” We continue talking for a couple minutes after that, before I wrap up the phone call, knowing Eric and Ariana have an early start tomorrow. If I didn't, they’d stay on the line all night with me if that’s what they belived I needed.