dont stop dreamin’

-

“Hey!” Nathan greeted Charlotte, a smile automatically appearing on his face. He couldn’t help it, it happened every single time he saw the girl, yet it was quick to fade this time as worry replaced the happiness. “Why aren’t you in bed? Aren’t you supposed to be sick?” He questioned her, brows furrowing in worry as he leaned down a little to pat Skittles’ head. At her offer, Nate almost took a step back, ending shaking his head instead so as not to spill the soup everywhere. “No! No, it’s fine, because you need to go back to the couch, or the bed, and relax. You need rest.”

“Of course I did! I don’t think they’d allow me to stay here if I didn’t bribe them with treats.” He joked, despite still being worried about Charlotte. Quickly navigating around the place, Nathan unpacked the bag he had been carrying, making sure to give a couple treats to each pet. “How have you been feeling?”

She smiled softly at him and shook her head before groaning. “I was gonna help you put groceries and stuff away.” Letting out a sigh before nodding her head, “Fine I guess you can do it.” She stuck her tongue out playfully before walking over and plopping onto the couch and covering herself with a fuzzy blanket. “You’re an extension of me and CJ you don’t ever need to bribe them.” 

Charlotte smiled wanting to try and put a front, she was always convincing herself no one could see her at less than perfect. “I-I’m fine! I just need soup and sleep-” Stopping to try and clear her throat, “I’ll be better tomorrow I know it.”

-

“Just the flu never sounds good. Soup and vitamin water, I’m on my way!” Despite his worry, Nathan couldn’t help but laugh at Charlotte’s next text. Even when she was sick, the girl could make him laugh. “Don’t let them hear you.”

“I got it, don’t worry. I’ll see you soon, don’t dehydrate or something.” He wanted to joke, but he was still worried about Charlotte. So, not wasting any time, he stopped by a couple places, getting her a new flavour of vitamin water, some treats for the pets, and some hot soup. Nate was off for the rest of the day, having had already finished up his shift, but he was willing to stay at Charlotte’s place for as long as she needed him. It wasn’t long before he reached the girl’s place, and, unlocking the door, he carefully balanced the bag before entering inside. “Hey!” Nate called out. “I brought soup!”

“See you soon. :-)” She sighed happily, excited to see him after some time. Charlotte would usually do her best to look good around him but putting her hair in a ponytail might be all she can handle. She looked around at her room, and cursed under her breath. She was usually clean but occasionally her room got messy, this was one of those occasions. “You can do this.” the brunette told herself, before grabbing every random piece of clothing thrown about her room. Throwing it all in the hamper before snuggling with Skittles a bit, she had only gotten him a few months ago but that puppy was huge. 

She heard the door open and Skittles took off to great him and she followed. “Yay you’re here!” She walked over, “Let me help you with those.” Charlotte was always offering to help, and do things even when she was sick. “Did you bring these losers treats too?” She teased looking down at the excited pup at their feet. 

With everything that was recently happening in Nate’s life, he was ashamed to admit that it had been a while since he had seen Charlotte. He genuinely missed the girl, and while texting wasn’t the way he wanted to communicate with her, it seemed like the least awkward way to do it. What he hadn’t expected, however, was that she had gotten sick- was she even capable of that? It seemed unusual and yet, Nathan was immediately worried.

“Wait, what sort of sick are we talking about?? What’s happened?” He was quick to text, worry leading him to sending multiple texts. “Yeah, I’m not letting you enjoy being by yourself with Reeses and Skittles. Is there anything you want? Soup? Pizza? Anything else?”

“Not sure but my usual preventative measures were useless against it. I think it’s just the flu, but i’d love some soup, and maybe some vitamin water?” Charlie had a small addiction to vitamin waters, she always had one on her. “And just you of course. You will definitely be better company than these losers.” 

She laughed softly and picked up Reeses and put him down at the foot of the bed. “Do you still have your key? If not i’ll get up now and unlock it for you.” She jumped up looking at herself in the mirror and pulling her hair up into a ponytail, before sliding back into her bed. 

Charlie was rarely sick and she prided herself in that. She had to always be strong to take care of CJ, but she finally got sick.  Her little brother had brought something home, and she took her vitamins, immunity boost supplements as well as the good ole gargle warm salt water. All of that didn’t help she was destined to get sick. Her brother had gone to a friends house for a couple days for the start of spring break and Nate texted checking in on her. 

She texted back, “slowly dying but happily watching battlebots and CJ is at a friends so its just me and Reeses and Skittles. If you don’t mind getting sick wanna have a lazy day with me?”

-

“No, no! It’s perfect!” He was quick to shake his head at her question, fixing his suit a little and immediately perking up at her compliment. He could easily write it off to still being a little out of breath, yet, Nate couldn’t deny that it made him feel a little warmer inside. Was this really the right time and place for something like that? Besides, Charlotte had clearly invited him here as a friend, nothing more. She had a spare ticket, and no one else to go with, and didn’t want to waste her money. That was what he was telling himself over and over again, until it sorta made sense. “Thank you.” Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but smile a little, his smile faltering as he looked over at the boat. “No, let’s go. What’s the point in dressing up fancy and not making the best out of it? We could at least check the food out there. And if it’s awful, I promise that burgers will be on me.”

“You really think so?” She said before biting her lip, hoping she didn’t sound too excited about his reassuring comment. The brunette smiled, excited for her uninterrupted time with Nathan tonight. Usually they had a couple minutes here and there with CJ always around. Maybe tonight would show signs of whether or not trying to be more would work. “Sounds like a plan to me.” Charlotte turned and made her way onto the yacht looking around. “Food or drinks first?”

Was he nervous about meeting Charlotte at a night like this? No doubt. The implication was there, and ever since the night when she invited him, Nate was overthinking it all. But that was so typical of him, and he knew he wasn’t supposed to pay attention to it. So instead, he dressed up as well as he couldn’t without showing that he cared a little too much, and, after taking a few different busses, finally made it over to where the cruise was supposed to be taking off from.

It wasn’t difficult to spot Charlotte, standing there all by herself, and yet, a smile immediately appeared on Nate’s face. “Hey!” He greeted her, a little out of breath from trying to get there in time. “You look really pretty.”

She lit up when she saw him and she slipped her phone back into her purse.  She briefly looked down at herself and then over at him. In truth she rarely dressed up, she was always in jeans and oversized t-shirts. She was excited for the chance to feel girly, but that just meant she was questioning if it was okay the entire time.  “It’s not too much? You look really handsome.” Charlie’s heart was racing, she thought tonight would be fun even just as friends but did he think they could be something more? Who knows. She wouldn’t push the topic, out of fear of rejection and losing him. He was one of the only constants in her life, and that wasn’t something she was comfortable letting change. “Is this too weird? We don’t have to.” She mentioned before looking at the boat.

She was excited to have a night out, and with Nathan. She might have gone overboard on her outfit but who cares, she was out and not home with CJ. He had a sleepover and he was gonna have a fun night with his friends so it was her turn. She waited at the entrance to the cruise, she pulled her phone out nervously checking to make sure Nate hadn’t cancelled. 

Outfit for Seattle Event 001 - Sweet Seaduction

-

“They just gotta understand that you’re there to help them out, not the other way round.” Then again, when he was in their shoes, Nate simply couldn’t recall himself being that way. “Fall apart? Mope around cause you have no one else around who’d make a fool of themselves?” He couldn’t help but joke, a grin lingering on his face before he took another bite of his pizza. On the other hand, he really couldn’t imagine his life without her, not after so many years of spending time together. “Well, I mean, I was kind of tied down to this place, you know.” He pretended as if it was the only reason why he had remained there, when there were so many; and two of them were sitting right in front of him.

He smiled once more as CJ nodded along, resisting the urge to nudge the boy. “Careful, or you’re gonna end up chocking from all that nodding. Wouldn’t want to waste good pizza.” He joked, focusing back on Charlie as she leaned closer. “I would never even dare to forget you.” Nate responded honestly, letting his eyes linger on her for another moment or two- maybe a little too long- before focusing back on the pizza. “You know what’s one of the good things of no longer being a student? No more homework. As much as I liked it, I prefer the overtime at work.”

“Yeah we’ll see if they learn that ever.” She laughed softly, “No! It’s because I wouldn’t get to see your face everyday. You’ve spoiled me.” Charlie stuck her tongue out playfully but also they rarely went a day at most from seeing each other. She took another bite of her pizza before nodding, “Of course.. your internship.” She agreed awkwardly before taking a sip of her drink and looking over at her brother. 

Charlie laughed at the interaction between Nate and her brother, “I’ve brought more than enough bud, slow it down.” She added and bit her bottom lip thinking about the ticket she got through school earlier in the day. “So...” She trailed off while fishing through her bag grabbing the tickets. “These are for a cruise thingy and I was thinking since CJ has a sleepover maybe you and i could go together?” She trailed off, “Just you and me on an adult date.”  Charlie blushed and her CJ chuckling, “I-I that’s not what I meant.. you know like friends hanging out together.” 

Eden gave the girl a look as if saying ‘you know the answer to that’ before scratching the puppy’s ears. Was she being given the puppy? Even for a few moments? Oh God, she could easily hyperventilate. “I get to keep the puppy?” she said in a dead serious tone looking at the girl for a second before quickly turning her attention back to the tiny energy ball. “You hear that!? We get to be friends for a little longer” she grinned waving her fingers enough to divert the puppy’s attention to a new play. “Absolutely, I have time. You do you and we’ll have fun!” she grinned, overly excited about this.

She sighed in relief and laughed, “for now, you can soak up the puppy time.” Charlie went over to the kiosk area and got herself a coffee before looking over at the girl who was on cloud nine with the puppy.  “Would you like a snack, coffee or something? It’s the least I can do since you’re on puppy duty.”

Verona had a lot of animals around growing up and while she currently had only one rambunctious kitten at the moment she still had a huge soft spot for pets and animals. She was just glad she had managed to get the puppies attention before it could have been lost. “ Dogs are hard work in general, when there a puppy it’s even more magnified. “ Verona replied with bright smile as she scratched the puppies ear. “ Honestly it helps to always have treats with you so they can run back, They’re really cute, what’s it’s name” 

She smiled as the woman sympathized with Charlie, before nodding happily. “This is my first dog, I’ve only ever had a cat.” She reached in her bag, and pulled out the treat giving a few to the woman to feed to the puppy. “Well i’ve been calling him puppy, but knowing someone at home, we may get another animal named after some kind of candy.”

-

“You’re really trying to make those students like you more than they already do, huh?” Nathan teased her lightly as he helped her set the table up. He never asked for payment when it came to babysitting CJ- and he never would- but warm food was nice sometimes. This way, at least, he wouldn’t have to worry about getting dinner. Besides, that also meant that he could spend a little more time with Charlie, and he wasn’t going to complain about that. “Apart from winning every single game? He’s been okay. Homework and all’s done.” He assured her, only to smile once more as she brought up undergrads. “It really was! It’s sad, isn’t it? We complained all about those years when were in them, and now look at us.”So much really had changed ever since they graduated. It was a relief that the two of them did not drift away from one another, and Nate could never picture himself without Charlie and her little brother in his life.

Once they had settled down at the table, Nate took a slice of the pizza, immediately taking  a bite. “You’re lucky Charlie’s sister tax is so low.” He commented playfully as CJ took his food, focusing on Charlie once more afterwards. “It’s been okay. It’s not all that exciting being an intern, you know? But it’s still a good start. At least I’m not the one just getting coffees for everyone all the time.” He reasoned. “Well, I mean, I sometimes do, but…still.”

“You know me, but it’ll be easier later in the semester when i need things from them.” Charlie chuckled and bit her bottom lip. “Thank you Nate. I don’t know what i’d do without you.” She said truthfully, because she really leaned on Nate, he was always here to help her. She laughed as she thought about the two of them in their intro classes together, caffeinated to the max studying. “I know everyone kind of moved away but I’m glad you stayed around..and kept the two of us company. Right CJ?” 

He nodded eagerly while he started to chow down on his pizza. “Well the tax changes on the item.” She grinned and then winked at him. She leaned over towards Nate as he spoke of work. “Well your foot is in the door. That’s what matters right?” She sipped her drink and sighed. “Don’t forget us little people when you’re a big name in the industry.”

-

The smell of hot food was the first thing to reach Nate- and, effectively, CJ- but the boys’ reaction was delayed as another game started, with the younger of the duo already getting in the lead. However, as Charlie spoke, Nate was quick to speak up, continuing to mash the keys of his controller, even if he was still very much so losing. “Hey! You’re back soon!” He called out, keeping his eyes on the screen until he no longer could. Granted, his character had lost once more, so, nudging CJ lightly, he put the controller down, standing up. “Come on, kiddo, let’s go eat.” He encouraged the younger boy, making his way over to where she was, despite the other’s protests.

“Hey.” Nathan greeted the girl once more as he walked over to her to help her out, a light smile appearing on his face. He liked spending time with CJ, and he loved helping Charlotte out. His sister had been in a similar situation all these years ago, and he admired the girl for doing the same, even if the feelings did go further than admiration. That was something neither of them were willing to discuss- not that he even thought that Charlie felt something similar- and so things remained as they were. “How was work?” He asked curiously, only to smile once more as she teased her brother. “I’ll definitely eat them all and leave nothing for you!” He called out after her, and CJ seemed to have finally put the controller down as well.

“Yeah, I thought i’d let the lab out early to come hang out with my boys.” She smiled as she grabbed plates putting them down at the table looking over at the two boys. Charlie bit her bottom lip and smiled at him, “Hey, how has he been? hope he’s not being too difficult.” She went into the kitchen grabbing a few sodas. “It was fine you know those undergrads. They are annoying but I kinda miss when we were undergrads, it was an easier time.”

She laughed softly as her brother bolted over after Nate agreed to eat the mozzarella sticks. She opened the container as he ran over, “here you go bud.” She leaned over and stole a mozzarella stick biting it gently, “But don’t forget about the sister tax.” She teased before sitting down at the table.  “How has work been for you Nate?” She asked while CJ was distracted with his food.