Chapter 4 - Charlie
CHARLIE
I’m startled awake by a loud thump quickly followed by a whispered, “fuck.” Sitting up, I rub the sleep from my eyes and shake off the cool chill running through the house from the open front door that I definitely locked last night.
Confused, I look around the empty house, finding Jace racing around between his bedroom, the bathroom and kitchen with a trash bag in hand.
“Uh, Jace? What’s going on?” I tentatively ask, stepping into the kitchen to see him scooping the contents of the second drawer into the bag before moving onto the next one.
Suddenly, his head snaps up and he spins around, dropping the bag at his feet then he just walks straight passed me, disappearing inside his room without even acknowledging me.
Not sure what’s going on, I follow, stopping in the doorway of his bedroom and watch as he starts shovelling all of his clothes into another trash bag.
Next, he rips his blanket and sheets off the mattress, adding them to the bag before tying it shut. Bouncing on his toes, an excited smile stretches his face as he starts collecting the trash bags and tosses them out the front door.
“Jace?” I try again when he heads back inside, but still, he doesn’t acknowledge me. It’s like he can’t even see or hear me. What the fuck is going on?
Dumbfounded, I just follow him through the house, watching as he goes room to room filling up trash bags before throwing them out of the house onto the front lawn.
Disappearing into his room again, I stand helplessly in the loungeroom until he drags his mattress through the bedroom door and loungeroom.
“What the?” Why the fuck is he throwing everything out? If I thought the house seemed rather empty last night, it’s nothing compared to right now. Looking around, the only things I spot are the couch I slept on and the fridge.
Is he actually moving? Is that why that guy was here last night?
“Jace!” I snap, shouting loud enough that I finally manage to get his attention.
“Charlie!” he exclaims, stepping out from behind the fridge he was pushing through the kitchen and abandoning it in favour of crossing the room to me.
My eyes widen as he wraps his arms around my body, lifting me in the air and spinning me around. Instinctively, I grab onto him so that I don’t fall backwards but before I can even fully process what he’s doing, I’m being set back down on my feet.
Jace’s smile is infectious, and I can’t help returning it as he grabs hold of both my cheeks before kissing me hard and fast, racing off again.
“What’s going on?” I repeat my earlier question, my mind reeling over that kiss. Doesn’t he have a boyfriend?
I still have no idea what’s going on or what has him so excited but the man standing in front of me holds little resemblance to the man I met last night.
Gone is that tired air he seemed to carry around him. Now, he can’t seem to sit or stand still, bouncing on his toes with a wide smile.
There’s a spark in his eyes that wasn’t there last night either. His pupils are blown wide and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he’s high. Is he? Is that what this is?
“Do you like it? I’m almost done,” he says proudly, hands on his hips, his chest puffed out as he surveys the empty interior of his house. He frowns as his eyes catch on the couch and fridge still inside.
“Almost done what?”
“Packing!” He giggles. Fucking giggles. Even his voice is different from last night. It’s louder, lighter, less weighed down. He seems…giddy. Which is a word I never would have described him as before now.
My head spins as I try to reconcile the three versions of him I have running through my mind.
The teenage version of him who was stoic, strong and ready to protect Bonnie and I against anything the world had to offer, with the almost desolate version of him last night and now this… excitable, nearly manic version.
Is that what this is? Is this some sort of episode? Is that even a thing? I thought manic episodes were like depressive episodes. Or am I overthinking this and he’s just…happy? How do I tell the difference?
“Oh, um…okay,” my voice trails off and I do my best to keep my face neutral. Fuck, was I right? Is he moving in with that douchebag who couldn’t even comfort him last night?
Shaking my head, I force a smile on my face. He’s my friend before anything else and this just reinforces the fact we really need to sit down and talk. And at the top of the list of things we need to talk about is why the fuck he kissed me if he’s moving in with that guy.
“Okay,” he calls from somewhere in the front yard. “I’m ready to go now!” A loud crash has me running to the front only to find Jace laughing at the upturned fridge. “Whoops.”
"Ready to go where?" I ask, looking back over my shoulder. The couch is now gone from the loungeroom, along with everything else that was inside the house. Turning back to Jace, I startle when I find him almost toe to toe with me, beaming with another smile.
“Home.” He frowns, his head jerking to the side and a vulnerable look filling his eyes. “That…that is why you’re here, right? You’re here to take me home, aren’t you?”
“I-What?” He wants to come home with me?
I don’t get the chance to ask anything else before he picks up two trash bags and takes a step closer so that our noses are all but touching.
I barely register as his hand sinks into my pocket, or feel him steal my car keys, before he's taking off across the lawn. Within seconds, he has the car unlocked, the bags thrown onto the backseat and is racing back over.
Gripping my wrist, he shoves the keys back in my palm before pulling me towards the car and practically squealing, “let’s go!”
“Wait. Jace, just wait a sec,” I falter, digging my heels in and I take him in, realising he doesn’t even have any shoes on. “Let’s talk about this for a second. We can’t just get in the car and go.”
“Why not?” He looks at me, genuinely confused.
“I-Well…because. We need to talk about this first, don’t you think?”
“Talk about what? What’s there to talk about?”
“Well, for starters, who was that guy last night? I got the impression the two of you are together. Then there’s your job and house-” I gesture behind me, to the still open front door. “Which, by the way you’ve left unlocked. With the door wide open.”
“Keys!” he shouts, shooting passed me and disappearing inside. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. By the time I open them, he’s slamming the door shut and locking it behind him. “Okay, now we can go.”
“You can’t just get in the car and leave, Jace.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, my frustration bubbling over and my patience running thin.
“Why not?” There’s that question again, said in the exact same way as before, like he genuinely doesn’t understand why he can’t just pick up and leave.
“Because, you’re an adult! You have a job, a lease, friends and responsibilities; you can’t just abandon them!” My mouth snaps shut when I realise I’m no longer talking about the present.
No, my mind has gone back to that morning when I woke up to find them gone, abandoning me. Taking a long breath, I count to ten in my head, calming myself down.
“You can’t just leave. This isn’t a decision you can just make on a whim.”
“But…this isn’t a whim. I want to be with you. Don’t you want to be with me too?” Tears fill his eyes, and I feel like shit that I put that look on his face.
“I-Of course I do,” I stammer, and the kicked puppy look he was wearing a second ago vanishes, replaced with that excitable energy he’s had since I woke up.
“But, what about your job?” I ask slowly, hoping if I ask him the questions one at a time, he might have a better go at focusing on answering them.
“I’ll quit.” He shrugs, “it’s a shit job anyways and I’m casual. They won’t even notice I’m gone.”
“Okay, we can swing passed and you can give them your resignation. What about your house?”
“My lease ends in like two weeks, and I can’t afford the rent increase anyway.” He shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. That excitable energy builds as he answers each question, seeming to get closer and closer to us leaving.
His eyes flick to my car before returning to me and I shake my head. I can’t help but compare him with an excitable puppy right now. Too much energy and no idea how to expel it.
“And the guy from last night?”
“Jake? What about him? I don’t want him. I want you. You and Bonnie. I always have…Please Charlie, take me home. I want to be with you guys,” he begs, his eyes turning glassy and my stomach sinks as a thought occurs to me.
He doesn’t know about Bonnie. Fuck, this isn’t the time or place to have that conversation. Not standing in the middle of his front lawn with all his shit thrown to the curb like garbage.
“Jace…Bonnie isn’t with me,” I say hesitantly, not wanting to crush his heart like mine was when Mia told me what happened to her yesterday.
“Of course not, she’s back home. Right?”
“No…Jace…she never came back. Neither of you did.” Why didn’t you come back? I don’t ask that last question as he whispers out a broken, “no.”