40. Elijah
It felt like a fire had been lit inside me when Charlie kissed me. Everything I had been wanting and thinking about over the past few weeks was finally coming true. If Theo hadn’t been in the same room, I wasn’t sure if I’d have been able to control myself. I wanted more and I certainly didn’t want to leave. I thought about her the entire way back to the police station. I thought about our date tomorrow. I thought about everything I wanted to do now that Adam was out of the way. Upon arrival, I found Daines standing in the foyer.
“He’s all tucked in his cell nicely,” he reassured me. “How’s Lottie and Theo?” I still enjoyed being the only person to call her Charlie. Despite the fact I constantly referred to her as Charlie, nobody else used it. It made me feel special, like what we had was different. I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy how it flustered Adam, too.
“They are good, I dropped them off at my place.” I hesitated, suddenly having a strong urge to tell Daines more. “I’m taking her out tomorrow.”
“Is this fake date thing not redundant now we arrested him?” He raised an eyebrow.
“For real this time,” I explained and he slapped me on the back.
“Good for you, Eli! I knew you’d finally come round to admitting you liked her,” he said, teasingly. It wasn’t often I opened up, but it felt good to talk about everything. To not be completely closed off to everything. If I wanted to be good enough for Charlie, then I needed to be more open. I was determined to be the man she deserved.
We stayed fairly close to the station for the rest of the shift. I was nervous that Adam would suddenly jail break. I knew it was slightly irrational, but I wanted to be nearby just in case. Things were finally starting to look up and I wasn’t going to have him ruin it.
When I got home, I found Lucas, Theo, and Charlie on the couch watching a movie. It felt good to be home, it felt good to have them here.
“We saved you some pizza,” Lucas said as I sat myself down next to Charlie, my hand immediately finding its way to her thigh. I saw Lucas’s eyebrow raise, but he didn’t say anything. We all sat there and chatted all evening.
Well, at least the adults did. Theo didn’t make it to the end of the movie before he passed out. Charlie cuddled into me whilst we watched the movie and it felt nice to have her close.
I found myself fantasising about what it would be like if this was our life. What would happen if they moved in one day and we got to spend our evenings cooking together, watching TV. Maybe on the weekends we would go for family walks. I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted a life with Charlie more than I ever had wanted anything before. After watching a second movie we decided to call it a night.
“You guys are welcome to take my room again. Do you want me to carry him up?”
“You don’t have to sleep on the couch. I’m happy if you wanted to come share with us,” She rocked back and forth on her heels. “No funny business, obviously.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t.” I held my hands up defensively. I’d like to think I was more of a gentleman than that. I didn’t want to rush anything with her. I wanted to savour everything.
“I know, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
“Only if you’re sure. I’m happy on the couch,” I offered.
“I’m sure, Elijah.” She smiled sweetly at me. I hesitated for a minute, giving her time to change her mind, but she didn’t. Picking Theo up, I followed her up the stairs. It was a strange sense of déjà vu, only this time, I wouldn’t be leaving. I tucked Theo into the left side of the bed whilst Charlie went into the bathroom to change before climbing into the middle of the bed. I went into the bathroom after looking at myself in the mirror. I found myself smiling at my own reflection. Every moment seemed to feel surreal. Keeping on my sweats, I took off my shirt and climbed into the bed next to Charlie. I was quiet for a minute, half expecting her to ask me to leave, but she didn’t. I wrapped my arms around her and she turned to face me, planting a soft kiss on my lips.
“I don’t usually get into bed with a man before our first date,” she said quietly.
“Technically it’s our second, if you count the gala,” I corrected.
“Of course. How could I forget about our first date.” She laughed softly. “I was worried you only kissed me because Adam was watching…”
Elijah, you idiot. “I’ve been desperate to kiss you since we sat outside in the backyard at Ma’s place. I did it because I wanted to, not because of anyone or anything else.” I kissed her again, more tenderly this time. Her arms made their way around my neck.
“I hope you regret being mean to me that first time I came into town,” she joked.
“Well, in my defence, you failed to stop for a police officer.” She hit me playfully. “Of course, I regret it. I am really sorry about that, I was having a bad day.”
“Why was that again?” she asked her hands running along my chest.
“A couple of kids got away from me earlier in the day. I get really frustrated when I make stupid mistakes, it makes me anxious. When my dad died, I chased down the guy who shot him. He got away, too. I blame myself for it and I can’t stand it when I fail.” I was surprised by how easily that admission came out.
“Oh, Eli,” she whispered. “It’s not your fault, you were only fifteen.”
“It was my fau—”
“No, it was never your fault, not for a minute,” she cut me off, her whisper sterner now. “You spent all this time taking care of everyone else and no one was looking after you.” She kissed me then and I returned it eagerly. “I’m here now, I promise I will look after you just as well as you do me.” We settled down in the bed silently after that. I fell into an uncharacteristically deep sleep that night.
Everything was better when she was near me.