Author Topic:  freefall [honey]  (Read 996 times)

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1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« on: May 16, 2022, 06:48:05 PM »
 
monday 25th october 2004


Charlie turned another page, his eyes scanning the tiny font lazily. Jane Eyre certainly wouldn’t have been his first choice– it definitely wasn’t, in fact; he’d started on the cookbooks (including a quick perusal of the one he’d bought Honey for her birthday), but they hadn’t held his interest and were only making him hungry – a lack of food in the house wasn’t helping (he’d checked the pantry three times, in vain). Before that, he’d cleaned the kitchen – having tidied before that. He was, quite obviously, bored.

He had only been here since Friday night–had booked a plumber and then been surprised by the news he’d be without water for the weekend–but if anything this was proving he couldn’t live somewhere without television (his records, at least, could make the jump to a more wizard-y lifestyle, but he’d obviously left them at home – it was only going to be a few days and he wasn’t moving in— not sure why he was even thinking along those lines).

There had been the option to stay at a hotel, but when he’d mentioned that to Honey she had offered for him to just… stay (and the chances of Honey trying to work out a muggle hotel key system successfully were poor at best).

It probably felt worse because Honey was so busy in the lead-up to Halloween, starting earlier and finishing later, which meant more time for Charlie to figure out how to entertain himself. (And he was consciously trying to entertain himself here, as if he had something to prove). He had been hoping he might see his girlfriend a little more than he had, though – but at least now he sort of believed that when she said she needed to ‘work late’, she meant it.

Charlie tried rereading the same line for the third time before closing the book with an irritated sigh and placing it on his stomach (he was laying on the settee). He’d almost brought his guitar with him and was wishing now he had done so – he supposed he could go and get it, but—

The door to the shop (technically Honey’s front door) opened and Honey burst through it. Charlie curled up into a sitting position and met her eye, half-expectant, half-expecting her to only be coming upstairs to use the loo before going straight back down to her commercial kitchen – he thought about going down with her and lingering, but they were already pushing at their limit for one-on-one time. She went into her bedroom instead, then reemerged a moment later with her hair down and a jumper on.

“I forgot I have to go to London,” she said.

It only took him a second to latch onto an excuse to do something. “I’ll come,” he said quickly, hopping up and dropping Jane Eyre onto the coffee table with a soft thud.
 
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2022, 05:24:50 PM »
 The weekend extended into Monday, apparently. Or maybe she hadn’t heard him correctly when he was explaining the plumbing issue, and she wasn’t about to ask him for clarification now. She had been the one to invite him to stay, after all; it had honestly seemed like a great decision at the time, considering she wouldn’t have to go to London to see him, or make room in her schedule to stay the night wherever he was staying. Halloween was the next Sunday, and she didn’t exactly have the time, but she had wanted to see him.

But Honey didn’t think he would take the invitation literally and stay. She had assumed he knew how to occupy himself during the day; he knew other people, even in this village. It wasn’t a big flat, and somehow Honey had forgotten what it was like to share her space with someone else all. the. time. (She certainly remembered it now.)

The shop opened earlier and closed later on the weekend so Saturday and Sunday were naturally long days, but come Monday morning, Honey had woken up maybe a wee bit earlier than she needed to. Not because she didn’t want to spend time with him–she did)–but because she didn’t want to get the chance to tell him about– he didn’t need to know about it until it was something that would affect him, and it wouldn’t ever affect him, so… And it was embarrassing, besides.

She still had to tell him she was leaving, though, and she wasn’t lying, technically. She was unsure if she had only decided to tell him because she had spilled chocolate down her front and needed to go upstairs for a clean shirt, but for whatever reason– Honey opened the door to her flat and spotted Charlie, awake but not dressed. She offered him a small smile before heading back to her bedroom, finding a clean jumper, letting her hair down from its knot.

Back in the kitchen, she offered her excuse: “I forgot I have to go to London.” Charlie offered to come, immediately–Honey wasn’t in the mood to make the joke that was sitting right there–and she opened her mouth to say no, almost as immediately. She stopped herself as she took a good look at him, standing up now. T-shirt and sweats, hair that was a bit past the casual soft look. “I don’t have time for you to get ready,” she said, looking around for her bag but mostly just avoiding his gaze.
 
 
honey bea flume

1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2022, 03:02:42 PM »
 She didn’t exactly snap at him but her reply was definitely more snippy than not. Charlie’s brow furrowed as he looked down at himself, admittedly not dressed to go out but not indecent. He brought his attention back up to Honey and let his eyes take in the subtle changes from work Honey: hair down, a nicer jumper. London, she’d said, and then proceeded to not invite him along for the trip (uninvite him, even). An ugly feeling settled in his stomach and it wasn’t the lack of breakfast. There were two ex-boyfriends that he knew of, and two-for-two lived in London (nevermind that he did, too, and so there was nothing he could really find fault with in that much as he wanted to).

And he wanted to insist on accompanying her, but didn’t want to be a prick about it – his mind was just wandering, that was all, and he’d wanted to go for genuine reasons before she’d given him cause to doubt. “I need to get something decent to read,” he commented, lightly, gesturing at the abandoned classic on the table. He sauntered towards the bedroom, past Honey, and only glared backwards once he was safely in the bedroom and changing out of his trackies.

Charlie grabbed his mobile from the bedside (off, with no signal, obviously), then emerged back into the living area – only mildly surprised that she hadn’t already gone without him. “Can see if Mum’s left twenty missed calls,” he mumble-joked, slipping the phone into his pocket and feeling unnaturally conscious of his attempts to defend his desire to want to go somewhere with his girlfriend – shouldn’t she be grateful, or something?

Didn’t stop him from adding another excuse, of course; “Can get summat to eat before you proper start work, if you want.”
 
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2022, 08:10:32 PM »
 Charlie needed to get something decent to read, because the book he brought with him—she had no idea she owned Jane Eyre—wasn’t decent enough. Honey glanced at the book on the table, as if it was to blame for Charlie inviting himself along to London. She glanced back up as he passed her, though she continued avoiding his eye. She waited until she heard him moving around in her bedroom before she exhaled heavily, wanting to just be alone.

She assumed he was getting ready anyway—probably motivated by proving her wrong about how quickly he could put himself together—so what reason did she have for him not coming along? (Besides the truth, of course.) She couldn’t be meeting Ferg—he and Charlie were wee gym pals now—and she had mentioned Grace being in Egypt for the week, so… They would just have to go to Charlie’s first, and she could leave him there, collect him later.

Honey turned to look at Charlie as he approached, hoping her expression looked less annoyed than she really felt. There was a tiny laugh next—the joke about his mum was funny—and she managed a small (yet strained) smile. “Aye.” There was another beat of silence and Honey swallowed. This was awkward.

He suggested getting something to eat before she started work and she nodded, as if she thought she would be hungry at all. “Alright.” She walked to the hearth before there could be any more conversation, grabbing ahold of Charlie’s upper arm once he had joined her on the flagstones.

They disappeared with a soft pop, reappearing before Charlie’s front door a second later. She let go of him and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’ll be back in.. an hour?” She glanced down the mews street before she looked back at Charlie, her focus more on the collar of his t-shirt than his face. “I dunno.” It wasn’t like she was going to ask anyone how long these appointments usually took, so it was the best she could do.  
 
honey bea flume

1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2022, 03:20:48 AM »
 Alright, Honey said. Cool… Charlie automatically opened his palm to take her hand in his— but she wrapped hers around his bicep instead – and not in a way that would be easily attributed to a desire to just feel him up. He didn’t have long enough to wonder – let alone ask – what the fuck he had done before they were apparating (which was probably for the best, or he might have sounded really needy).

When his feet hit the ground again he opened his eyes and the familiar lane wasn’t exactly what he had been expecting – he’d been thinking more along the lines of popping into a bookshop and grabbing something, wherever they were going for her.

Charlie’s gaze went to his arm – where Honey’s hand had been gripping him moments before, but she’d dropped it reasonably promptly – then to her face when she told him she’d be an hour, insinuating he’d have to wait here. She was seemingly avoiding meeting his eye, and why was she being so secretive about whatever it was that was so important she was making a trip to London? There was an unpleasant feeling in his gut, and his chest, and he didn’t really want to admit what it was.

He stooped into her line of sight – to make a point – his brow drawn into a frown. “What’s your problem?” he asked, not bothering to soften his accusatory tone. “Have I done something?” He knew he hadn’t – had he? – but maybe she’d realise that if he asked it directly. Or maybe she was just sick of him and didn’t have the balls to tell him – no way she’d be so blatant about this if she didn’t want him finding out. That was what this was, wasn’t it? She was meeting up with someone. He’d thought they were beyond sneaking around on each other, so the only explanation was that this was intentional.
 
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2022, 08:46:01 PM »
 Charlie dropped into Honey’s eye line, and her eyes went a little wide as she finally met his gaze. It was on the tip of her tongue to say that he was her problem, though that was just misplaced annoyance, amplified by him asking such a direct question, and she held it back– barely. Of course, he sort of was the problem, or the cause of it, anyway, but as soon as he asked if he had done anything, she was back to not wanting to place the blame anywhere (least of all, on herself).

The “No,” she offered came too quickly, too harshly, and Honey scrunched her nose in thought, eyes closed, because that had been the wrong thing to say (but she couldn’t think of the right thing). Instead her thoughts went in a worse direction, figuring it would have been so easy to have just gone to London without telling him anything at all, but she had chosen that moment to be (mostly) honest about going out, like an idiot. “Not everything is about you,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at him again.

And again, it was the wrong thing to say, even if it was about him, about fifty percent’s worth. She grimaced, skipping the (needed) apology to try and back up a thought or two. “I just–” she started over, making a conscious effort to speak a little softer, maintain eye contact. The Plan had been to not tell him–or just, tell him later if there was anything to know–but she couldn’t see any better way out of it.

“Maybe,” she said before closing her mouth and swallowing hard. “The problem,” she clarified, raising her eyebrows to indicate that she clearly meant that she was talking about him. She took half a step back when she saw how his expression changed, sure that hers wasn’t much better. Charlie asked for further clarification–as if telling him he was the problem wasn’t enough information to go on–and Honey raised her eyes skyward for a couple seconds before she caught his eye again. “Maybe,” she said again, wishing that had somehow become a helpful thing to say since the last time she had said it thirty seconds ago.

Naturally, it cleared up exactly nothing, and Honey looked away, down the lane, her gaze fixated on an impossibly green potted plant a few doors down. “Am maybe pregnant,” she said, her words directed toward the shrubbery.
 
honey bea flume

1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2022, 02:53:36 AM »
 If he’d known Honey was just going to do it first, he’d have slept with someone else by now – he’d had the opportunity—opportunities—and had somehow deluded himself into thinking they could do this. She didn’t answer him immediately, and he hadn’t really expected her to own up to having any sort of problems, but she was quick enough to deny that he was the issue – too quick, right?

Her nose wrinkled and Charlie stood back up straight, suddenly terrified that she was going to start crying – he’d never seen her cry and had just accepted that she just didn’t, and if he wasn’t a little bit grateful (Kate had cried a little too much, and he’d tried to be accepting of it but it had also been too much sometimes) he might have been more unsettled by it.

Not everything is about you. Charlie’s sharp features immediately drew into a scowl, unwavering as she finally met his eye. She pulled a face—he presumed it was meant to be apologetic—and he softened his frown, enough to give her a chance to apologise properly but—

Maybe. Maybe what? Oh. He was too surprised to look angry right away, staring at her in disbelief before he rearranged his expression into something that better resembled being offended. She moved away and it prompted him into saying something: “I’m the problem?” he asked, his tone somewhere between annoyed and waiting for her to tell him she was just kidding on.

She looked up—above him, so he couldn’t step into her line of sight again, smart—then met his gaze and said maybe again. Charlie wasn’t sure what to say, or do – was this her version of a breakup? At least when he’d done it he did it properly, by making Kate do it— It occurred to him that maybe that was what she was doing, and now wasn’t the time to find commonalities between them (or was it?).

Charlie blinked and said "What?" as if he hadn’t heard her, but he had. He looked down at her belly, or lack of one. His attention was only directed at her non-existent bump for a couple of seconds before he brought it back up and found himself searching her face for the got ya, but it didn’t come – and then he thought over the maybe (all of them) again and— “There’s a ‘maybe’ symbol?” he said sarcastically, praying that she’d only done one test and so any positive could have been a mistake.

But maybe could also mean— He looked upset, now. “Maybe because you're not sure you are, or maybe because it might be someone else's?"

 
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2022, 07:26:24 PM »
 What? She didn’t think she was lucky enough for him to have not heard her, but she didn’t look at him again, make any indication–save for blinking–that she had heard him. There had to have been something else she could have told him, some woman issue she was having checked out, something to make him too uncomfortable for any follow-up questions. And then maybe that would have also explained her being ‘too tired’ the past two nights (and mornings) and fuck, she was an idiot.

Honey turned her head back to Charlie, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore– or just, not her face. It took her half a second to realize where he was looking and she rolled her eyes before she decided she was offended rather than annoyed. She didn’t look pregnant, arsehole. He looked up and Honey met his gaze with narrowed eyes, her expression dominated by a scowl.

“What?” Maybe symbol? It was her fault for saying maybe so much, but– he wasn’t helping anything. He didn’t elaborate, moving on to his next question, asking if she wasn’t sure–obviously, as that was what maybe meant–but he didn’t look like he actually wanted an answer to that question, quickly asking another one.

Honey didn’t offer the quick ‘no’ this time around, just a sharp, “Ach, fuck you,” as she shoved Charlie’s right shoulder with her left hand– keeping her wand hand free just in case she stopped caring about where they were or who could see. She thought they had made a little more progress than that, not assuming they were fucking around at every turn, but maybe that was just her, again, getting ahead of herself–

That–” the accusation– “is why I wasn’t telling you,” she lied, turning to storm off–for dramatic effect–and apparate from  somewhere else–for the appointment she still needed to make. But Charlie turned her back around, grabbing her wrist to help her along; she looked down at his hand, then had no problem meeting his eye once he had said her name. She didn’t say what?, though she figured her glare said it well enough.
 
honey bea flume

1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2022, 07:19:45 PM »
 Charlie barely moved under the pressure of Honey’s shove—if anything, he moved with it, subconsciously, knowing he deserved more than a gentle push—and he wasn’t thinking fast enough (or at least, not polite enough) to come back with anything (especially not the fact that fuck him was how they had gotten into this mess).

He blinked, processing, then automatically reached out to grab her wrist as she turned away from him; “Honey—” She met his eye and they both paused. He kept staring back as she glared at him, and he remembered her looking at him like this before—that time she’d hexed him, a few feet from here, inside his hallway—and as much as he’d been mad at the time, he’d realised afterwards that he had upset her with his accusation(s).

“Sorry, I just—” he started, then wet his lips to give himself time to figure out what he wanted to say. He didn’t think it was worth telling her he hadn’t meant that (he obviously had), but he could redirect the conversation; he wasn’t ready to be a dad, especially not with Honey (he’d feel bad for that thought later) – they were both barely functioning adults, how were they supposed to look after another human being?—

His eyes went rounder for a moment before softening again. He was still holding her wrist because he could only do one thing at a time, and he was thinking before speaking (for a change) and given the situation he really didn’t want to make things worse (how could they be worse?). “Are you going to the hospital?” he asked, careful to keep an even tone, devoid of any implications – but there were implications: was she going just to find out for sure? Or to do something about it? And if it was the latter, had she been planning to do it without telling him? Would she have told him afterwards? He was assuming she wasn’t planning on keeping it, but—

Before she could answer his first question, he added another: “Were you going to tell me?” He sounded a little more worked up about that. She had told him, but he was sure that was only because he’d been a prick.
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2022, 08:43:36 PM »
 Charlie apologized, and Honey exhaled sharply through her nose. Good, she thought– it was literally the least he could do right now, but she figured she was deserving of the apology all the same. He still hadn’t let go of her wrist, but she didn’t try to force it, either, because he just– what? What did he just? He didn’t finish the thought (aloud) but Honey knew where it was going, and it wasn’t anywhere good. It wasn’t break up with her bad, but she couldn’t see him wanting to shag her anytime soon, regardless of the outcome of her impending appointment. (Unless, of course, he didn’t believe that it–if there was an it at all–was his because she hadn’t actually said it was, but– that was an argument for after.)

She didn’t say anything, waiting for Charlie to say something–anything–useful. (She didn’t trust herself to say anything nice, anyway.) He asked her a (good) question, and Honey was about to nod yes, she was going to the hospital, when he asked his second (not good) question. She opened her mouth to tell him that yes, of course she was going to tell him, but she closed it again after thinking through it– she hadn’t planned on it, letting him know before there was anything to know.

They had had that stupid conversation–when they were talking about their parents and who knew what and who expected what–several weeks ago, marriage and children and nothing that they wanted to do, especially together. Honey wanted to blame him for jinxing it but she knew that wasn’t how this worked (and if it was, it would definitely be her fault for joking about a Banshee bairn one too many times just to make Fergie uncomfortable). She thought maybe she could blame her mum, who got pregnant with her at thirty-one, and maybe that sort of thing was genetic? But whatever the reason, or whoever was really to blame–

She wasn’t going to be honest with him, not now, because the last time she did that–two minutes ago, with the maybe thing–he handled it so well. She couldn’t see a good middle option though, any sort of compromise between the total truth and being evasive and– Honey took a breath and met Charlie’s eye again. “I might not be,” she said, going with the ‘truth’ thing (and not saying pregnant again). She thought that maybe, hopefully, she didn’t sound half as angry as before.
 
honey bea flume

1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2022, 10:11:15 PM »
 Honey was being very quiet. He didn’t like that, because he knew—from experience—it meant she was filtering what she was going to say (if anything at all). She opened and then closed her mouth, proving him right.

I might not be. He couldn’t pick her tone—was she hopeful? Upset? A bit of both? (What was he, for that matter?)—and he was acutely aware that his fingers were still wrapped around her wrist, and that he couldn’t let go now without it coming across some way – the same as moving his digits down to hold her hand properly would do, or, the opposite, really.

Honey had avoided his question, but Charlie kept his eyes on hers, and he could feel himself calming down, or whatever – reassured just by the fact that she wasn’t avoiding his gaze, too (they weren’t good at lying whilst making eye contact, which he knew from experience too). Charlie nodded once. “Right, yeah.” There was a niggling voice at the back of his head, telling him to press her more – what the fuck sort of person didn’t tell the father that they were pregnant before— But she might not be, and he reasoned with himself that she had told him, and she didn’t even know for sure yet – and, really, he didn’t want her to be, so getting wound up over it was just counterproductive, and he’d just glossed over father like that wasn’t the weirdest fucking thing—

He dropped his gaze, staring at the cobbles beneath their feet for a long second before taking the long way—via the neighbours hanging baskets—back to her face. There was a tension not only in the air between them, but through every muscle in his body; he was forcing himself not to change his grip on her, or shift his weight. It took him a minute to realise not reacting (physically) was more awkward than reacting, and that he was panicking because what if she was pregnant? She hadn’t given him any hint as to what she wanted – apart from that stilted conversation about their parents’ expectations they hadn’t broached their future at all, and even if she didn’t want kids, it was different once things were already in motion, wasn’t it? Even now, before they knew for sure, he was avoiding thinking about the logistics of becoming un-pregnant.

Charlie let go of Honey finally (unintentionally abrupt in his haste) and reached for the cigarettes in his jacket with one hand and his lighter with the other. He fumbled over opening the packet and pulling one out, and it took him two goes to get the lighter to spark, twisting away to avoid the breeze. He took a long drag and let it out in an equally long exhale; he might have to forgo the nicotine patches today.

Honey’s hair caught the breeze and his attention, and Charlie met her eyes again. He plucked the cigarette from his lips between his forefingers and blew a stream of smoke down and away from her. “Did you… Do you want me to come with you?”
 
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2022, 11:50:27 PM »
 Right, and not looking at her— it was going better than it had been, anyway. He looked at her again, and then they were staring at each other, neither of them saying anything, Honey waiting for him to speak first, Charlie probably waiting for her. He let go of her, finding the out in his pack of cigarettes. She released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding onto, glancing around them instead of focusing on Charlie and his method of stalling.

She looked back at him just in time to catch his eye, her lips parting at his next question. Her immediate answer was fuck, no but she held it back, more concerned now with him wanting to go with her. She had to say something before he could ask to, dig this weird hole any deeper. “No, I just—“ she blinked a couple of times and shook her head. His were you going to tell me sounded again in her brain, and she swallowed hard, narrowing her gaze at him.

Wanting to know, whether she was or she wasn’t, that sounded like he was concerned she was and would take care of it without letting him know anything at all— that couldn’t be right. They hadn’t talked about it, not really, but the way they had been talking about it, she thought they were on the same page, that this was the last thing either of them wanted. But maybe his mum—wanting grandchildren—had gotten to him. Or maybe his birthday—did he have a biological clock?—was getting to him. Merlin, she’d have to worry about ruining his birthday later, wouldn’t she?

But even without all of that, did he actually think he could get away with going to St Mungo’s with her? She’d like to see him try to spin that story—Charlie Baker spotted on the maternity ward—any differently than exactly what it sounded like.

Honey blinked again, her brow furrowing more. “You don’t want me to…?” He couldn’t want her to keep it because could you imagine? (No.) She didn’t realize how ambiguous her question was, how open it was to interpretation, how not being explicit before had only led to more confusion now, but being concise was the last thing on her mind.  
 
honey bea flume

1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2022, 06:31:10 PM »
 Honey declined his gentlemanly offer and Charlie felt another wash of relief, before it muddied itself with a wave of doubt. If he went with her it would make this a thing, but if he didn’t she might do something he’d regret – he didn’t think he’d regret it, really, but what if—

Honey was staring at him and he paused short of taking another drag of his cigarette, hand aloft in front of his mouth. When he thought it was safe—she hadn’t said anything yet—he went for it: took a deep breath, held it. His eyes didn’t leave hers until he was blowing the smoke to the side – he’d always been conscious of not exhaling in people’s faces, but it occurred to him now—his line of sight dipped for a brief second to her abdomen again—that there might be an extra reason to be considerate. Christ.

Charlie met Honey’s gaze again. He didn’t want her to…? What, exactly? Keep it, not keep it? He wasn’t sure which way she was leaning – wasn’t even sure himself. His head told him it was obvious: get rid of it. His heart (fucking hell)... well, he didn’t know, was exactly the point. He rubbed at his eye socket with the heel of his hand, careful to keep the cigarette from igniting his hair. “Erm,” he started, and glanced at his own front door – this felt like a conversation to have privately, comfortably, but the plumber was inside (it took Charlie until now to notice the van blocking his garage door).  He didn’t want to relocate them somewhere more public, like the café around the corner, so… His gaze landed on his front step, beneath and behind them.

He moved in a way that he thought invited Honey to join him, and lowered himself to the stoop, elbows resting on his knees. He took another drag, let it out. Honey sat beside him and they weren’t looking directly at each other now, which he thought might conveniently make this easier. And their arms were touching, so they’d recovered some physical contact that wasn’t holding hands or him having to wrap his arm around her and—

“We don’t know that you are, yet, right?” he echoed her earlier sentiment. If she wasn’t, then this didn’t need to be a problem – no decisions to be made, no feelings to hurt. But if she was… “How long…” he half-asked the question; initially curious as to how far along she was, then the concern that it might be too late (how late was too late, anyway?). And what a prick he was, just assuming they were going to get rid of it— and get rid, he was a colossal prick.

He tapped the ash off and hesitated over having another drag. “We don’t have to like, decide right away?” He didn’t know how this shit worked, hadn’t had to deal with the potential of there already being a baby (preventing one was a bit different, definitely less stressful). But surely they didn’t do walk-ins for this sort of thing – or, not in the muggle world, he supposed. He had no idea what wizards (witches) did. And he told himself he was saying this for her benefit, in case she was having a dilemma—he didn’t want her to feel bad about it—but there was definitely a part of him that, if put on the spot, couldn’t just do it, without needing more time to think it over.


 
 
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973 Posts 31 take you to the candy shop she/her played by cstine
freefall [honey]
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2022, 10:24:18 PM »
 Erm. Great, and reassuring. She looked at him as he looked away, trying to figure out what he was thinking, refusing to just ask him. He moved away from her, but not in a this is over sort of way, but she didn’t like the sort of way it was, either, the maybe we should talk about this sort, which wasn’t exactly better. Honey chewed on her bottom lip for a second, let Charlie smoke for a couple more, then figured that would probably be it if she apparated away now.

She sat beside him, not looking at him, not saying anything, not thinking too hard (or, at the very least, trying to avoid it). She did laugh–or exhale sharply enough to sound like she did–however, because we, as if he did literally anything after creating the problem in the first place. That wasn’t an argument she was going to win (without some effort, anyway). “Right,” she said, dipping her forehead forward to rest in the palm of her hand, her elbow propped up on her knee.

Honey tilted her chin toward Charlie, just enough to look at him out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t finish the question, the how long, and Honey wasn’t about to finish it for him.

There was the we again, and Honey exhaled through her nose as she looked forward again. “Erm–” That sounded like there was a decision to be made, as if Honey hadn’t already made up her mind. “No,” she said, deciding to let him down easy because she was so considerate–and that’s what this was about, right? “Am not keeping it.” Because again could you imagine? (She still could not; they couldn’t even have this conversation face-to-face.) She hadn’t even considered it.

She didn’t think she should have to be the Mature One, but she didn’t think Charlie was up to the task, either, so she straightened up and turned her head to look at him. Barely.  “Would have told you. Before.” She wouldn’t have told him anything if she turned out to not be pregnant, but that wasn’t what this was about anymore.
 
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1414 Posts 29 candy girl he/him played by laura
freefall [honey]
« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2022, 06:13:12 PM »
 

Honey let out an amused noise and Charlie turned his head to look at her, then immediately looked away before they met each other’s eye – no fear of that when she put her head in her hand. He wasn’t sure what was funny—not that she’d sounded genuinely tickled—but he figured it was just a reaction to the whole maybe pregnant situation they were in, and he didn’t think he could blame her. She didn’t answer his how long question, but he supposed he hadn’t really asked it properly, so he didn’t blame her for that, either.

Charlie had felt like he was walking on eggshells many a time in his life, with women (women), but this felt measurably worse— Am not keeping it. He let out a relieved noise, unintentionally and without being aware of it. He nodded once, not trusting himself to say anything. The way she’d said it sounded sure, like she meant it and had come to that decision without making it to keep him happy, or to test him, but— There was a small part of him that was annoyed that she wasn’t asking his opinion (the larger part of him was glad, obviously, because his opinion had the potential to make a shitshow of things).

Honey moved beside him and Charlie turned his head a little towards her, keeping his gaze low – just in case. He was glad he had when she spoke, and he took the opportunity to have an overdue drag of his cigarette. He exhaled and nodded, realising that had been a fucking dick move, asking her that. “Yeah, sorry.”  

He wet his lips and breathed in the fresh air, rather than another lungful of smoke. The noise from the main street was noticeable again now—he’d been too focused on Honey, and this to hear it before—and he remembered again why she had come to London. She was right, even if he was a little mardy about her not asking him—they weren’t parent material, let alone together—and the whole undoing of things still left an uneasy feeling in his chest, but they didn’t even know if that was going to be necessary yet.

“If you need me to… I dunno, do anything, I can…” he said quietly, chancing a sideways glance at her and holding it once he’d caught her eye. He wasn’t getting any awards for his delivery, but he meant it; he didn’t know what was really involved in… all of that, but he was part of the reason it had happened in the first place so it only seemed fair.

 
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