think big, get bigger

rory-fitz​:

Rory had spent the better part of his morning packing up produce and eggs with his dad for weekly deliveries, and then spent the rest of the afternoon dropping them off to the businesses and households in the village. He’d just delivered the last few boxes and was walking back to the truck when he heard two hushed voices and glanced over to see Charlie ahead of him, stood just outside a house. He felt the smallest flutter in his stomach and lifted a puzzled hand to wave slightly once their eyes locked. It was only when he noticed the guy behind her, now retreating into his house, that his brain caught up to his body and pieced together what was happening. 

His mind hadn’t steered very far from the idea of Charlie now being single since Jane had told him Saturday morning, but now it seemed like the notion flooded his brain for the first time, causing him to stammer at her greeting. “Uh, hey Charlie.” He turned as she passed him, slightly perplexed by her rushed reaction. “Hey, um, I dunno if you saw my texts, but I’ve been listening to that playlist you sent a bit this week, you were right about Oasis. I think Half the World Away is my favourite so far.” He smiled, hoping that subject was enough to spark some sort of conversation. He’d sent her a few texts in the past week about the playlist or a new song he though she might like and hadn’t heard anything back. Without the shadow that was Owen Summers looming over now, it felt like the perfect opportunity for a friendship like Charlie had suggested, without needing to be secret. Rory scratched at the back of his head and shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve found a few songs I think you’d like, if you’re interested.”

Charlie felt embarrassed for Rory as he continued to try to speak to her despite her clearly trying to get away. She grimaced at the reminder that he had been texting her and she had been doing a great job of ignoring them. He hadn’t been at the top of, or even included on the list, her priorities - how was she supposed to let him know that? “Did you? I’ve not been using my phone really with all the shit I’ve had on.” She really hoped her phone wouldn’t go off in the next few seconds of this conversation to blow that cover. She didn’t bother trying to speak about Oasis, as she didn’t want to engage him further right now. “Uh... yeah, send me a playlist then.” She barely flashed him a smile as she continued walking on. 

The buzz of Charlie’s phone was the first thing that pulled her out of her deep concentration. It was her mother asking if she was planning on coming home tonight. Charlie blinked once in mild confusion. How unlike her mother to show concern on her whereabouts? Maybe she had even heard in the village rumour mill that she and Owen were over?

It wasn’t even that late for Charlie – 10 pm? Normally when she was working late on something relating to the newspaper, she would do it at home, but she wanted to make a point to the senior editor that she was working until late and get those extra brownie points. After getting that exclusive interview with Rory and having her own intel on the case, she assumed she would be given extra responsibility. And she was, but nothing relating to the case. She was currently helping with an article about the upcoming local charity bake off. She could barely contain her excitement over it, but she knew her luck would turn as soon as she started to investigate JJ more. She would be writing front page articles before the month was out.

She stayed a further thirty minutes before finally turning her desk lamp off and left the small newspaper office. As she was locking up, she heard a loud rustle behind her and despite herself, gasped and looked for the source of the sound. The lighting was poor and considering there was a murderer walking around (even if it was someone as pathetic as JJ) she should be alert. Satisfied nothing was there; she turned back to locking up, but heard a noise again the other side of her.

“Owen, fuck!” She yelled in pure annoyance, as he emerged from the shadows. She breathed deeply, trying to compose herself in front of her ex-boyfriend.

“I wasn’t actually trying to scare you.” He stated, not moving much closer to her.

“Are you sure you’re not just punishing me for the breakup?” She asked, finishing locking up and taking the steps down to his level. She raised a careful eyebrow at him. “Were you out here waiting for me to leave? Some people would describe that as stalking.”

Owen looked at her for a long moment before saying what he needed to say. It was funny that she still spoke to him as she did before, but now it felt so different. It felt like they were strangers with telepathic abilities, because he still knew how her mind worked.

“I know about the flowers.”

“No, no, get off me.” Charlie shook the hand that was trying to reach for her away, all the while keeping a stern eye on the hand like it might move back. “We’re finished now, okay?” 

It was beyond embarrassing that this guy thought this was anything other than a hookup and beyond that would want to be touched by them in public. “Chill, it was just friendly.” She grimaced, but made it look like a smile. Didn’t he know, according to the rest of Spenningdale, she was the least friendly person around? She turned away from him with a roll of her eyes, immediately setting her eyes on Rory right in front of her. Not even having time to process this, she just decided that he was way down on her list of priorities for the day and her puppy seeing her leaving another guy’s house was not the greatest for her game plan with him. 

“Oh, hey, Rory,” She rushed through, barely stopping to speak and waving a hand dismissively in his direction. “Would love to stop and chat, but I’m so busy.” 

robin-oliver​:

Robin smirked and held up her glass. “A toast to the new and improved Charlie Hopper. I’ll drink to that.” She took another sip of her mimosa and nearly choked. “No. That’s shit, Charlie. She’s sweet but… Ugh - you deserve a man, not a child interested in another child.” Robin raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “It sounds like you dodged a bullet, honestly… But I know that doesn’t make things any less shit. Break ups fucking suck.” She reached her hand out to squeeze Charlie’s. “But at least you know that you’re turning a new page, and out from under Owen’s thumb.” 

She let out a laugh and buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. “Nothing solidifies my absolute shit taste in men and my horrible life decisions quite like the sentence that just left your mouth…” Robin groaned and looked back up at Charlie. “I just feel terrible about all of it. I was an idiot for pulling Leo into this and losing him as a friend because I was too stubborn to admit that I still loved Jack.” 

Robin rolled her eyes at Charlie’s teases about being in love. Despite herself, she nodded with a grateful smile at Charlie. “I think at that point, I’ll need much more than alcohol.” A laugh escaped Robin and she rolled her eyes. “I’m sitting here talking about Owen as if once men get to their 20s they’re any better at decision-making or relationships. At what age do men just stop fucking up women’s lives?” 

Robin saw a spark in Charlie’s eye at the mention of the paper, which brought a little smile to her face. It was a nice change of conversation from their own experiences with emotionally-stunted guys and turned towards more interesting topics. However, she felt her stomach turn slightly at the mention of JJ. Robin shook her head and held up a hand, almost in an attempt to steady herself. “Wait…” She paused for a second, realizing bringing Jane at least partially into this would be unavoidable - especially with the way she’d acted last time Robin saw her. “JJ? What makes you say that? Does this have anything to do with Owen getting arrested?” 

Charlie could not nod harder in agreement at Robin’s statement of a child being attracted to another child. “I think I got a bit too much even for Owen. He prefers someone he can have control over and I ended up being in control.” She didn’t want to reference Amelia again. It didn’t feel right after everything that had happened. “Thanks, Robin, I think break ups look good on me anyway,” It was nice to have Robin acknowledge that break ups were awful, even if Charlie never acknowledged that out loud herself. 

They both laughed and Charlie put a hand over her mouth. “Was I too harsh? I need to work on that, but you can totally do the same on me.” Charlie gave a stern shake of her head, but made it very clear it was out of love by pairing it with a sympathetic smile. “Leo pulled himself into this and he pulled himself out of it. Come on, he must have had suspicions already about how you felt. I think the boy needs to move the fuck on instead of making his whole life about you. Trust me, this will end up being more of a blessing for him a year or two down the line.” 

Charlie shrugged with a look of interest on her face. “So you’re saying hard drugs then? I’m in.” She cleared her throat as she took her time to provide an answer. “Well, there’s actually a study on that where they’ve said the only way to women’s lives being fucked up is by eradicating men completely.” 

Yes, yes, Charlie was well aware she was going to fuck the situation all up, but how fun and glorious it was to just sit back and eat popcorn whilst everyone else freaked out over this stuff. She leaned in conspiratorially, “JJ saw Matt that night. There is evidence to show they got into a fight, but they’re all trying to cover that up before the police find it. He doesn’t even have an alibi.” She paused, understanding the concern Robin would immediately feel for Jane in this situation. “I’m assuming Jane hasn’t told you anything about it and if I was still with Owen I wouldn’t be saying anything, but I’m out.”

robin-oliver​:

Robin’s eyebrows shot up and she quickly set her glass down in fear of choking on mimosa. “Wait… what?” She shook her head, restraining from flashing Charlie a sympathetic look, as she knew her well enough to know she’d hate that. So, she simply settled on a grumbled, “What a prick. Good riddance.” Robin took a small sip of her drink and gave Charlie a comforting look, hopefully void of any pity, softly resting her hand over Charlie’s for a moment. “Well, you already know what I’m going to say… You were always too good for him and now you’re finally free to do what you want to do, and who you want to do, with people who actually deserve to be in your presence. Men are such fucking idiots.” She once again set the glass down slowly, remembering their conversation last week. “Does this have anything to do with what we talked about last week…?” 

She let out a small breath and gave Charlie a grateful smile for not making her feel more guilty and stupid over this situation than she already did. “Thanks, C.” Robin scoffed and rolled her eyes, taking a longer sip of her mimosa this time. “Don’t fucking remind me, I feel like such an idiot. All of this could have been prevented if I’d just been more honest with myself… It’s bullshit.” She returned Charlie’s hand squeeze and winced slightly with a shake of her head. “He was really upset, and really fucking angry… But he has every right to be. I fucked up, this was fucked up and now our friendship is ruined because of it.” Robin lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose as she revisited Leo’s words for the billionth time since early this morning. “He said everything that has already been swimming in my head - Jack only wanted me because he couldn’t have me, he’ll take it all back the second I go to him… And for all I know, he could be absolutely right and then everything is fucked.” She sighed once more and shook her head. “He told me we deserved each other and to go fuck myself… So all in all, yeah, a typical man.” 

Robin leaned back in her seat slightly, swirling the glass absentmindedly on the table. “I have no idea… I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since this morning but I’m sure once I get to his everything will just pour out. I’ve done this with Jack so many times and I’m just not sure I can handle the rejection again if it happens… I feel like an idiot for even trying, but things felt different last night, so I’m hoping they really will be.” 

Robin rolled her eyes at herself and shook her head. “But enough about the unending soap opera that is my life… What else is new? How are things going at the paper?” 

Although what Robin said was incredibly alluring to Charlie and she had been planning how they would eventually end, it still felt like a routine that would be hard to break out of. It had been over a year of her and Owen and that wasn’t something she could forget. It was ironic to her that she was the one being called a heartless bitch when she was the one thinking about the end of them, whereas Owen was moving on. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “Here, here,” She announced, raising her glass to the proposition. “I should definitely start a list of all the men who have been missing out on me and make their dreams come true.” She smiled to herself in self-congratulation. Taking a sip of her drink, she nodded her head slowly. “Your little babysitter? Surprisingly she managed to leave an impression on Owen. Poor thing, I’m sure it’ll go up in flames.” Her heart wasn’t in the scathing remark though, as the strange and unfamiliar feeling of guilt was still weighing on her after what Owen had said. Heartless, what? She wished she was. 

“Why would you want to be honest with yourself though? Admit you couldn’t get over the guy who has been piss-poor with his communication, went on to live his successful life despite being your baby daddy and comes and goes as he pleases out of your life? Yeah, I would’ve tried hard to fall in love with the perfect Leo too.” She dramatically frowned with sympathy, patting Robin’s hand in comfort. “Well,” She rolled her eyes ever so slightly at the mention of Leo’s departing words. “I guess he speaks from experience, but... you’re the love of his fucking life apparently, so a pretty calm and steady reaction considering.” She removed her hand from Robin’s to drink more. “And even if it’s all fucked still at least you’ve learnt not to try and get with Leo. That’s a good lesson.”

Charlie genuinely smiled at Robin. She hoped it all turned out for the best for Robin and Jack, even if she had little faith in men and the stories of Jack always seemed to paint him as a painful idiot. Maybe this time was the time he learnt all his lessons too. “You’re not an idiot, he is... you’re just in...” She pretended to choke. “Ugh... love, but if it does go tits up then we can just consume many, many bottles of alcohol until we can’t remember our own names, let alone the fucking existence of men.” 

At the question of the paper, Charlie eagerly raised her eyebrows. God, she had no idea how loaded a question that was, unless she knew even 10% of what her little sister was involved in. She was going to tread carefully with it, but then she remembered the glorious thing - she didn’t give a shit anymore. “Well, now that I’m out from under the thumb of Owen, I can now finally chase the story that I know will get me being a senior reporter before the year is up.” She paused for dramatic effect. “JJ did it.” 

robin-oliver​:

Robin almost choked on her drink at the news of Charlie and Owen. “What the fuck? You’ve been trying to get rid of him for ages and it was only mildly exciting? I need more details than that, what happened? How did you break it to him? How are you feeling?” She felt like she could maybe answer that herself, seeing as Charlie had nearly chugged the mimosa and was now in the process of ordering more. Robin let out a laugh, taking another small sip. “You know I’ll always support more alcohol, but I am staying at a two drink maximum this morning… I’m going to talk with Jack after this.” Although he clearly lacked the forethought to have a life-altering conversation with her sober, she refused to turn up to his drunk. 

A groan escaped Robin then and rubbed at her forehead with a shake of her head. Charlie had predicted this would happen, and now she had to admit that she’d completely turned everything upside down. “I don’t really even know where to begin… I’ve really fucked up, Charlie. And no, it’s not Leo… Or maybe it is, I don’t know. It’s not about sex though, but then again I guess it is.” Robin rolled her eyes, taking a large sip of her drink. “Things never got that far with him, it just felt off to me. He’s been my best friend for such a long time that making that jump just didn’t feel right to rush into. And then Jack…” She took another sip of her drink, shaking her head. “So I told you about the night of Matt’s memorial, right? With Jack? Well I may have skimmed over a minor detail… He told me he loved me that night and I said it back, but I didn’t actually think it meant anything because it never really has.” Robin shrugged in an attempt to downplay how ridiculous this all was. “Until he showed up at almost midnight last night, absolutely shit faced, and let it slip to Leo that we hooked up last week, then basically told me he’s still in love with me. Leo and I had an argument about it and I ended things. I think I confused the love I have for our friendship and my desperation over maintaining that with romantic love. I just don’t know if I could ever get there with him like I can with Jack.” She looked down at the table after that storytelling word vomit left her, fiddling with the napkin in front of her. “It feels different this time with him, things are just different with us. So I’m going to talk to him about it after I leave here.” Robin raised her eyebrows and looked at Charlie. “You are totally within your right to say ‘I told you so’ and tell me how stupid I’m being, by the way. I deserve it.” 

It was an interesting point Robin raised, because hadn’t Charlie been trying to get rid of him? Trying to find a way to end it without repercussions for herself, but now it had happened and it still felt like something she should be mourning. She was free, but currently sadness was weighing her down. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I’d like it to have been.” The assumption that she was the one to end it brought a slight smile to her face. Had she been the one to end it? Wasn’t she just being replaced with another girl? That’s how she got herself out of it... by not being wanted anymore. “I’m sure he’ll get over it soon enough.” She sighed, pushing away her embarrassment over the Owen ordeal to tell the full story. “I guess I’m the one who ended it, but I had to. It became very obvious that Owen has developed feelings...” Her words grew slower as if the foreign nature of them caused them to be harder to get out. “For someone else. It was all amicable, so rather boring.” She smiled, remembering one thing he had said. “He did, however, call me a cold, heartless bitch.” 

Her eyes searched Robin’s face as she mentioned seeing Jack today. “I have no issue having a bottle to myself,” She commented, still gesturing at the waiter. “A bottle, please.” 

The way Robin had no issue telling her everything about Jack and Leo made Charlie feel a little bad that she was physically unable to say anything that might feed her vulnerabilities during this sensitive state she was in. She let her speak without uttering a single word. She nodded at the right times and knitted her eyebrows together in a sensible level of concern, however the drama of it all was the perfect cure to her current relationship limbo, so she had to try extra hard to hide a flash of excitement in her eyes. When she was done, Charlie automatically slid her hand across the table and squeezed Robin’s hand. This vulnerable moment was really causing Charlie to do crazy things. 

“Although it would give me great pleasure to say ‘I told you so’, it gives me greater pleasure to see you happy.” She said softly with a smile playing on her lips. “And you sound more sure of yourself than you did about Leo. But honestly, Robin, only you could cause this much drama with such minimal effort. I envy you.” She laughed, shaking her head and giving Robin’s hand another squeeze. “I’m guessing Leo took it like a typical man? And I hope Jack isn’t going to be a typical man about all this... What are you going to say?” 

jaded | charlie + robin

The entire morning was passing Robin in a daze - getting Hazel and her things ready for daycare, getting herself ready for the day, dropping Hazel off, and now meeting Charlie to unravel the shitshow that her life had become in the past 24 hours. She never got back to sleep after Leo left last night, her mind filled with guilt, confusion, frustration, and an overwhelming amount of love, all for the seemingly wrong person. Despite the haze, there was one rotating thought at the forefront of her mind. Jack, Jack, Jack. His name was like song lyrics, a tune playing incessantly over and over in her head no matter what else she played to drown out the sound. She’d never risked this much to be with Jack before, and it terrified her. What was stopping him from treating her like he had every other time she’d crawled back to him? Even as her thoughts returned to this, she replayed their conversation from the night before in her head, then their reminiscing the weekend before, and their night together after the memorial. Yes, she was risking more than she ever had to be with him, but he had more open with her in the past week than he ever had before, and that had to mean something.

She approached Charlie, noting the mimosa already placed in front of her, and another in front of the seat meant for Robin. “Well,” She started, sitting down across from Charlie. “I was hoping your Saturday was starting out much better than mine, but judging by the drinks, I’m guessing I’m mistaken?” Robin took a sip of the mimosa, raising her eyebrow. “So what have I missed? Please allow me to live vicariously through you for a moment.”

Applying a dark purple lipstick as she stared in the mirror, Charlie noted that this was what she looked like as a single woman. It wasn’t something she had been in a while and even though it had been something she had found herself fantasising about more and more, the shock at how this felt compared to her fantasies hit her hard. There was no more protection and yet she wanted to set a fire to everything. It had renewed her focus on the paper as now she had information she could actually do something with. This murder actually might be the thing that made her CV pop and Owen had been the thing holding her back. 

She was halfway through her mimosa when Robin joined her and Charlie raised an eyebrow right back as she took an unhealthy gulp before replying. “It’s been uneventful. Owen and I broke up last night, but that was only mild excitement.” She downed the rest of her mimosa. “I think I need another one. Should I just get a bottle? I think so.” She raised a hand to try and get someone’s attention to order this. “Why is your Saturday going so terribly? Is Leo really bad in bed?” She groaned. “Ugh, does he actually have a micro penis?” 

The last time Charlie had seen Owen at the party was when he was telling her to fuck off. Despite herself, she had actually looked for him. She had never previously felt the need to look for him at a party, as he would come to her whenever he needed her, but with everything that had happened this past week with him being arrested, her having to be his alibi and the mind games they had played with each other, she felt she had to look for him. It wasn’t like she had any idea what he was going to do, but that was the thing with Owen – you never knew what he was going to do.

As she walked around the party, she realised the only thing that connected her to these people any more was Owen. She suspected he had gone for the night and wasn’t coming back, so her purpose at this party was not needed. She felt alone. Not lonely, never lonely, but she noted that without Owen, she would always be alone at things like this. She didn’t need to be here.

She had crept out the back door to have a much-needed cigarette. A group of people stood smoking, so she went out the back gate to get some peace. Midway through the cigarette, she could hear footsteps and as if thinking of the Devil caused him to appear, it was Owen. He was storming through the alleyway as if he had a mission. Despite herself, she smiled. Only briefly.

“I didn’t think you would be back, mi amor.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got business to attend to.”

rory-fitz​:

Rory nodded slowly, her explanation continuing to persuade him. It made sense that his name would need to be used, because of course he was the only one the discovery could be tied to. Even that thought made Rory’s stomach churn, and could have made him wince, had it come from anyone but Charlie’s lips. He was drawn into the plan once more as she threw her hands up in epiphany, a plan that suited him greatly. He gave a small smile and a single nod. “Yeah, that would be great, honestly. Ya know, just to be careful with everything.” 

Just as he was about to hesitate once more at the thought of Owen getting near his family, Charlie brushed it off and held out a soft hand to him. Rory hesitated for a small moment, then breathed out and gently took her hand in his with a small shake. “Sure, it’s a deal then.” He looked up at her with a small smile and pulled his hand away reluctantly, before awkwardly lifting his cup of tea back to his lips. “When do you need the interview by, then?” 

As soon as Rory gave one inch of a smile in her direction, she knew she had him hooked. Everything she had said after that just pulled and pulled and pulled him in closer. Close was where she needed him for now. Until the interview was done. After that he could be as far away as he wanted to be. The handshake was over, the deal was done, so she stood up, smiling down at him. “I’ll give you a call this evening to get it over with. Pleasure doing business with you.” And with that, she sauntered off with a plan to pitch the interview to her manager. 

An invitation to her house always meant her parents weren’t there. She loved to push her parents and get them to notice her, but since she finished school, she found Owen’s presence in her home to be embarrassing. Her parents seemed to pity the attempt of getting a reaction by bringing the known drug dealer into their pristine home. In fact they seemed to pity all of her attempts nowadays and so she had been working very hard on just disappearing completely.

Tonight was cause for a celebration and she needed Owen there on her turf, so she was thankful for her parents going off to dinner. Usually she would creep away to Owen’s at ungodly hours when his mother was passed out again, but a celebration like this needed to be in a less seedy venue.

She heard the front door from the kitchen and counted down… 3…2…1… pop of a prosecco bottle.

“What the fuck, Charlie?”

The unmistakable evil laughter drifted through the air as if it floated on little clouds. Owen was far from thrilled at what he was walking into. Charlie seeming happy was usually always worse than any other of her moods. She was always calculated with her emotions, but being happy seemed to leave her unable to plan the next move, it made her messy. He despised mess.

Of course, he was definitely contributing to the mess himself. His own fucking behaviour with Amelia – he had definitely taken that manipulation over a delicate girl a little too far. Kissing her for what? Some sort of game, because obviously it could have only been a game and -

“Mi amor, mi amor, we are celebrating.”

rory-fitz​:

The nervousness that had chilled Rory at the thought of Owen finding out about the kiss was quickly replaced by warmth as Charlie smiled at him - and once again he was hit with her beauty. The words that left her mouth next caused a small smile to grow on his face as well, the large side of Rory that loved a bit of mischief revelling in the idea of holding this secret with someone as cool and beautiful as Charlie, someone who had been interested enough to kiss him in the first place. He didn’t voice this excitement, though it definitely showed on his face as he offered up a simple nod. 

His intrigue grew as he watched Charlie seem to struggle with sharing an idea, and he instinctively leaned in slightly closer, the nervous and distant Rory from a few minutes before now nowhere to be seen. He still felt slightly on edge as his conversation with Owen never quite left the back of his mind, but as Charlie spoke about secret friends and help with the paper whilst her hand rested heavy on his arm, he was having a hard time finding the resolve he had when she first sat down in front of him. Still, he struggled for a moment at her proposition, and she seemed to notice this and continued to speak, each word pulling the fear further out of his mind. She was opening up, telling him everything he could have wanted to hear from her since college, and found himself nodding along to every syllable. “Yeah… Uh, I mean, yeah that makes sense. But, what would that mean for the interview? Would my name be used? I just need to be careful with the farm and all, I don’t want to complicate things for my parents, ya know?” 

Rory was showcasing some pretty key signs that he was back on-board with everything she was saying - the leaning in as she spoke, the nodding, the way he looked at her. She was pretty satisfied with her acting. He was a little fish on her hook and she would be eating well off it. So it was a shock when his verbal response wasn’t as encouraging as she was expecting it to be. The sheer number of questions forced her to control every facial muscle to not spasm into tutting, rolling eyes and shaking her head. Instead she gave a minute nod of her head, as if she really heard what he was saying. What she was hearing was that he was more than happy for a secret friendship, but not for the interview. The only thing she cared about. 

“Well, I think we’re fine to include your name. I think it would be very obvious it is you seeing as the interview is about you finding the body.” It was hard to refrain from speaking through gritted teeth. She threw her hands up, thinking of a way to get him back to doing the interview. “We can just pretend we did the interview before all this with Owen. I’ll spin it like that to him and he won’t be able to say anything about it. And then once the dust settles we can continue on with this friendship.” She needed to ensure the interview happened and then she would just never restart the friendship. “We could even just do the interview on the phone. Remove all suspicion of us meeting up.” She nodded, as if that settled it.

“And your parents? Owen doesn’t care about me that much to cause any trouble for you. He might threaten violence against family members, but he wouldn’t actually do anything.” To quickly move the conversation away from the faux-pas of her suggesting that Owen might threaten Rory further, she stuck her hand out for him to shake. “Do we have a deal?”

jj-jhav​:

In true Charlie fashion, she let a long, dramatic, and much uncomfortable pause linger between the two of them long after the final word left JJ’s mouth. He could feel his leg begin to bounce slightly as he attempted to suppress the anxiety that was bubbling through him. Charlie was perhaps the most important person in making sure he and Owen stayed as far out of involvement with this case as possible at the moment, aside from Keira and therefore Jane, and he knew that power could be lethal if she intended for it to be. JJ couldn’t let on how desperate he was for Owen to be helped, because he knew Charlie would pick up on how suspicious he might seem if he was too keen. 

As if sensing this, Charlie finally broke the silence with a loaded comment about both Owen and his involvement with things that night, and he knew that while she would help Owen, because like JJ, Owen had plenty of things to hold against Charlie, she wouldn’t have the same loyalty to JJ if the topic arose. So, he simply nodded, deciding that the less he spoke, the better. “It’s just, really important that he gets released, especially since you can be his alibi.” He felt like he might explode if he stayed any longer - the perfumed candles, the thick drapery, the cats - it all felt completely foreign to JJ and he was beginning to feel suffocated. “Well, I guess I should be going then… Thanks Charlie. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” He began to stand up, hoping that it would be a clean and easy out and he could go back to his cat-free flat where no one would be asking him questions and he could continue to hide away like he’d spent the past week doing. 

The words ‘really important’ caused Charlie’s eyes to flash like a cat who could see the fish nearing the bowl’s edge. She could analyse every word coming out of JJ’s mouth for hours if this conversation continued on and not grow bored. Suddenly JJ was the most interesting person in the room and she wanted to know all the meanings behind that expression. “Really important? Surely if he had nothing to do with it then he would be released soon enough or... unless there’s another reason? You’re struggling to look after the business?”

JJ wasn’t willing to play ball with her and that was very upsetting. She stood up with a beaming smile, gesturing towards the door as if she was just letting him leave. “You know, JJ, I’ve always actually enjoyed Owen’s rule of everyone owes somebody something,” She began to lead him slowly towards the front door, discussing the matter as if it was just a story for a faraway situation, not applicable for the right here, right now. “Sure, he usually always uses it to his advantage, but on the rare occasion that he owes you... well, it’s a pretty terrific affair. I think me getting him out of jail would be enough for him to owe me, right? And based on your current behaviour I would say you’re in debt to him. Hmmm...” She scrunched her mouth, as if deeply considering the answer she already had. She opened her front door, smiling again with a sweetness that only meant she was winning something. “I guess I’ll be finding out as much as Owen knows about that night. Anyway, I do have my meal getting cold as we stand here. We should do this more often.”

ameliasunshine​:

Amelia sat up straighter in her chair, suddenly unable to process anything happening around her. Nate, her boyfriend, the person she had loved for two years felt suddenly unrecognizable to her. What could she do now? He had lied to her, but what gave her the right to be angry with him when she had her own secrets, ones that Owen was tied up with too. 

Owen.

The mere thought of his name suddenly brought a dull ache to Amelia’s stomach. How could she have been so stupid? Why had she let herself get so caught up in all of this? And for what? A single kiss that’d left her with more uncertainty than she’d ever felt before. Three weeks ago, everything was fine - she was looking forward to school starting back, things with Nate were as normal as they’d been for awhile, and people like Charlie and Owen had no idea she existed. Now, it felt like every truth she’d ever known, every ounce of stability in her life - the things she had always gripped so tightly onto to maintain some semblance of control - were now crumbling around her. She felt the blood drain from her face as the realization of Charlie’s words hit her, and she clasped her hands together beneath the table in an attempt to stop them from shaking. 

The shakiness only got worse as Charlie looked directly at her in a pseudo-apology, pretending like she didn’t realize the damage she’d just caused. Amelia stood up abruptly then, lifting a hand to her mouth for a moment as she struggled to think through what to do next. She looked at Charlie with a blank expression. “I really think you should go now, Charlie.” If her reaction hadn’t given away how lost she suddenly felt, then the quiver to her voice certainly did. She held eye contact with Charlie though, hoping with every ounce of her being that she would feel satisfied enough by the chaos that she’d unleashed to go ahead and leave so Amelia could try to piece together the remains of her relationship. 

Charlie had been trying very hard to go on the right path since college. She really had. She had been reducing the time spent with Owen and the business, focusing on her work and trying to make friends with normal people, however here she was again aiming to destroy and it was worth noting, to Charlie at least, that this was all Owen’s fault again. Yes, she had been using Rory, but that was for her own benefit. She couldn’t just be expected to change overnight. Owen played around with all that though, got himself arrested and basically put Amelia into her well manicured hands. How could an addict refuse? 

The shot of excitement over Amelia’s reaction was enough for her. Now that she was getting one hit, could she go back to the heights of college torture? She had missed having the power to destroy someone with a single sentence - it was so much fun. At being told to leave, Charlie nodded sympathetically. “I do hope this is all a big misunderstanding.” She stood, calmly walking over to Amelia, taking her chin in her hand and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Be very careful with Owen, dear Amelia. I ended up being the one to help him out of this mess, not you. You’re disposable and that’s never a good position to be in around that boy.” She smiled, lightly tucking a flyaway hair from Amelia’s face. “Call me if you ever get into a pickle, I would hate to see anything bad happen to you.” 

ameliasunshine​:

Amelia stayed silent as Charlie thanked her. In any other context Charlie’s gratitude and warmth would feel completely genuine, nice even, but she knew that those were not Charlie’s true intentions. Maybe she deserved a treatment like this, she was the one who got herself twisted into this on her own, trying to meddle in a situation that didn’t involve her in the slightest. She shook her head as Charlie spoke again, her mouth dropping open for a moment before she spoke. “I really don’t think we ever will again, I just wanted to help and now I’m done. I won’t be bothering either of you anymore.” 

She sat across from Charlie after giving her the coffee, relieved to have a grounding force in the chair as a crutch, as right now she felt like the world was collapsing around her. The silence between them was deafening as Charlie slowly sipped her coffee, but the next words out of her mouth were enough to shatter any hope that had been preserved between last night and this moment. She stared at Charlie for a moment longer, dumbfounded, then shook her head vigorously. Surely she was misinterpreting what Charlie was implying. “That can’t be possible, Nate doesn’t do drugs.” Amelia felt confident in this statement. They told each other everything, and Nate had always firmly denounced Owen Summers and everything he stood for. She could feel the breath leaving her become more and more shallow as what Charlie said washed over her and she continued to speak, digging an invisible knife into Amelia’s gut. “Wait, no. This can’t be right, Nate would have told me, y-you must be thinking of someone else.” There was a hint of despair in her voice. The question that remained at the forefront of her mind was why Owen would keep something this important from her? He knew exactly who her boyfriend was, he’d let her go on about him without so much of a hint that he knew who he was. Owen never seemed to have a problem telling Amelia exactly how he felt, no matter how much it upset her; so why would he keep something like this, something with enough power to truly crush her, hidden from her?

It wouldn’t have taken much more for Charlie to let out a laugh as Amelia promised she wouldn’t be bothering either of them again. It was the most obvious reveal of fear and something she couldn’t have even hoped to receive from most people. It did lead to the question though: how did Amelia manage to speak to Owen? He was scarier than her. 

The reaction to the tea Charlie had so elegantly spilled in Amelia’s lap was better than she expected. She could have snorted as she announced Nate didn’t even do drugs. Of course, Charlie had just been dipping her toes in the water to see how much Amelia knew about Nate and it could have always come out that she knew everything, but she knew the opposite - absolutely nothing. This was a delightful turn of events. If Owen had been planning on spending any more time with Amelia, he wouldn’t be now. Why would Amelia want to associate herself with this dirty secret, with the person who makes her perfect boyfriend not so perfect? And Owen hadn’t told her a thing. So he was a liar now too. 

Charlie clasped a hand to her mouth. “Oh my God, Amelia... I assumed you knew? He’s been going to Owen for such a long time... I am so sorry. Are drugs a really bad thing for you?” She shook her head at Amelia’s last hopeful question as if it pained her to do so. “I wish it was, but it’s Nate. I mean, you can ask him and maybe I’m wrong. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m usually always right.” She sighed. This was almost too much fun considering she was sober. 

ameliasunshine​:

The smirk Charlie flashed was enough to make Amelia’s blood go cold, and she knew in that moment that her anxiety was written all over her face. The sinking feeling in her stomach only deepened at the mention of Nate. How much did Charlie know about her? “We both have a lot of revision…” In that moment Amelia didn’t know if it would have been better or worse to have Nate here with her - she could never tell him Charlie stopped by, because then he would question how they knew each other, which could turn back to Owen. No. It would stay a secret, unless Charlie decided to tell people…

Breathe, Amelia. She was trying to calm herself, which was proving difficult in the presence of perhaps the most intimidating person she’d ever been around. Charlie requested a coffee, but the pointed silence that followed indicated that Amelia would need an invitation before leaving Charlie’s gaze long enough to make a drink. Charlie stepped closer then, asking what seemed to be a rhetorical question that even Amelia didn’t know the answer to at this point. At first, she thought she was helping because Owen intrigued her, then it was just to prove a point, but after their kiss last night, she couldn’t help but feel like it had been more all along. And what kind of person did that make her? She had a boyfriend, he had a girlfriend, yet they had kissed and she enjoyed it. Was Amelia really as sweet as everyone thought? Would a sweet person involve herself in an investigation withholding evidence? Would she spend time in compromising situations with a guy who certainly was not her boyfriend? Would she happily react to a kiss behind her boyfriend’s back? No. Guilt suddenly consumed her as she opened her mouth to answer Charlie’s question. “I- I just didn’t think he did it, and since my brother is a detective I thought it might help.” That was mostly true, but Amelia could only entertain Charlie’s questions for so long until deeper reasons started to surface, or she incriminated herself for tampering with evidence. 

Charlie stepped away then, granting Amelia permission to get the coffee, and while she was relieved for a moment of solitude in the safety of her kitchen, her hands were beginning to shake and she felt a familiar shortness of breath as the conversation washed over her. She leaned against the counter to stabilize herself until the coffee was ready, then carried it back to Charlie. Amelia could feel words, apologies, threatening to spill out of her, wanting to take back everything that had happened over the past 2 weeks, but even that thought didn’t settle right with her. So, she simply remained quiet, knowing that Charlie’s interrogation wasn’t finished. 

Taking a shot at being sympathetic, Charlie made her eyes go as big as she could and nodded her head slowly. “Aww, well that’s no fun.” She then caught herself, placing a hand to her chest. “And now I’m feeling so rude for intruding when you’re so busy with revision!” She sighed, but made no attempt to rush the proceedings. Between Amelia and Rory, Charlie was really getting to flex her acting prowess. Any amateur dramatics company would be lucky to have her. 

Amelia’s response was not helpful and frankly it ticked her off; the way her sweet mouth formed the naive words made her want to vomit or at the very least roll her eyes dramatically. However she kept her face as pleasant as she could, choosing her words carefully. How could she be so sure that Owen had nothing to do with it when Charlie, his girlfriend, still found herself questioning things? She was just a try-hard little girl who thought she could save terrible people. Owen was past saving. “Well, on behalf of my boyfriend, thank you. Really, you are a saint.” She let out a delicate laugh as if she was positioned at a tea party with socialites milling around her, not in the kitchen of the girl she was about to fuck with. “Who would ever think you and Owen would run in the same circles, yet here we are.” 

- 

As Charlie waited for the coffee, she wondered if the feeling she felt was boredom or annoyance at what Amelia said. She stared at her nails, deciding to file them later that evening, and figured it was time to hurry things along to the heartbreak and destruction. She gratefully accepted the cup, blowing on her coffee and taking her sweet time before setting it aside. It didn’t taste great and she knew that already before she asked for it, but it gave her some small joy that it inconvenienced Amelia in a little way. “As I said earlier, it is curious how we haven’t met before seeing as sometimes I’m in the car or house when Owen’s clients come around, so I’m quite familiar with Nate.” She pointed at Amelia as if an exciting thought crossed her mind and she hiked her voice up by an octave or two. “Hey, now that you and Owen are so close, maybe we should double date or something?” 

rory-fitz​:

Although not directed at him, Rory winced slightly at the bite in Charlie’s voice. He just gave another half-hearted shrug and scratched the back of his head, sensing that her question was rhetorical. Rory sighed and looked down into his tea as Charlie apologized, shaking his head lightly. Possessive felt like a vast understatement after the way Owen spoke to him on Saturday afternoon. Rory’s head snapped up at the next question out of Charlie’s mouth, shaking adamantly. “No - Never. He just wanted me to pay him for some gear I’d gotten for the New Years party. Y-you don’t think he found out about it, do you?” 

Rory’s rapid heartbeat at the thought of Owen finding out about Charlie’s kiss was replaced by a tugging instead, as he became re-aware of the presence of Charlie’s hand on his forearm. He didn’t realize he was staring down at it until she spoke again. “The interview? Oh, right. Um… I dunno, Charlie. It’s just, if Owen was that angry at us spending a morning together, then how will he feel about me helping you with the paper, ya know?” The longer he attempted to explain his way out of things, the more difficult telling her no was becoming. As much as Owen scared Rory, he was undeniably drawn to Charlie, so the idea of having more reason to spend time with her was slowly outweighing his fears of what might happen if Owen did found out. He simply stared back into his tea before taking another sip, still making no real effort to remove himself from the situation. 

There was a physical weight lifted when Rory revealed he didn’t mention about the kiss, because firstly it meant she was in the clear of getting in trouble with Owen (and it was just Owen who was now going to be in trouble) and secondly Rory said the word ‘Never’ - his loyalty and trustworthiness truly being showcase. He came across in that way, but this was actual truth. He really would make an excellent puppy. She was aware her gratitude was etched in her face as she gave him a small smile and one shake of her head. “No, the secret should be safe forever.” 

The situation wasn’t hopeless. She realised she could spin this for her benefit, but she would ensure Owen couldn’t spin anything out of the mess she was going to make for him. He owed her and this was how he repaid her. To Rory, she opened her mouth and then immediately shut it, shaking her head, as if she had a crazy idea that was too wild to share. She cleared her throat and spoke delicately with a sheepish smile. “Well, maybe... we could have more secrets? If you wanted to be friends in secret and the interview?” She stared at her hand on his arm and removed it quickly as if she had forgotten it had ever been there. “It just felt like Saturday was the first time in ages I could be a version of myself I’ve always wanted to be, but thought I could never be.” She edged her eyes slightly up at him and wondered whether that was too big a shot to be making at this stage. Her delivery was fantastic, as she had a shattering revelation that it wasn’t exactly a lie. The person she pretended to be in front of Rory was a version of herself she didn’t think she would ever be. She couldn’t ever be that sweet girl who gets to be with a sweet guy.