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By the end of the night, she was exhausted, but it had been one of the most fun nights she could remember. She didn’t want it to end, but Charlie had work, and she needed to get to prepping for the Winter Festival. Neither of them could stay out any later.
But she knew something had shifted. The slate had been wiped clean. They both knew when to stop themselves, and they both had fun teasing each other without it getting serious.
When she looked at him, she no longer saw the guy that hurt her. She saw a guy who had been as blind sighted as she had been. She saw a man who had still let her into his home despite their bad blood. She saw the person who she had once liked.
Charlie could have been something more if things hadn’t changed - if Lauren hadn’t ruined it. Back then, when she had been asking for help with her paper, she had also been wondering whether she should ask him out too.
But then she saw the comments on her paper, and she never let herself think of it again.
Now, though, she remembered why she liked him, which was a dangerous thought to have.
~
Charlie
Over the next week, things shifted. Violet ventured into the living room, and Charlie made peace with her magnetic power being around him at all times. It became normal for him to look up and see her sitting at the dining room table.
And he had one major problem with it.
Of course, it wasn’t Violet. She hadn’t done anything wrong. It was him.
He hardly recognized himself anymore.
Normally, when he was at home, he didn’t socialize. He didn’t look up and hope anyone else would be there. When he was within the four walls of his house, he wanted no one.
Until now.
Not only did he have Roo to hang out with, but Violet too.
Whenever Charlie would see Violet after work, he wanted to know how her day was. When she would cook, he couldn’t wait to sit down with her and eat. When she would go up to the guest room, bitterness coiled deep within him because he wanted her to stay.
None of it made sense.
Charlie wasn’t like this with friends, much less a relationship. Usually, he would be tired of Lauren in a day or so, and he would need to go home to recharge. The same sometimes applied to Lewis.
Violet was the exception, and Charlie didn’t understand why.
By now, he should be lonely. Lewis had been gone for over a week, and Charlie hadn’t talked to him or Lauren in that time. Usually, he would be calling Lewis to hang out, or waiting by the door for Lauren to come back to him.
Instead, he was content.
And they didn’t even have to be talking. Having her in the same room as him was enough. Sometimes he would be playing with Roo and see her watching them from the dining room table, and all he could feel was how right it all felt.
It was terrifying.
Charlie had no idea if Violet felt the same way. She seemed to like being around him, enough to come out of the guest room when she was home, but he didn’t know anything else.
Violet had always kept everything closely guarded. Beyond the night of the wedding, they hadn’t talked about the paper. She had said she wanted to work on their friendship, but he didn’t know where she stood. Did she feel anything similar? Was she as terrified as he was?
Sometimes he would see her smile and hope she was feeling half of the things he was. But then he would lay awake at night, replaying every callous word he said to her. He hated how stupid he had been.
And if she was doing the same, he could only imagine what she thought of him.
She still rarely let him help her. Violet insisted she cook breakfast for herself, and then she started cooking for both of them. After breakfast, she would clean the kitchen without being asked.
After two days of being treated to breakfast, Charlie decided to start feeding her dinner in return. At first, she wouldn’t accept. Then he made her favorite food, Alfredo with garlic bread, and she finally gave in.
They were falling into a rhythm; one so comfortable Charlie didn’t even believe it was real. Sometimes he wondered if she was only playing along to humor him.
