peeling off the bark

middle finger / charlie + rory

“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.” 

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.”

somewhere | jane + rory

Jane was practically eating popcorn as she heard about Rory’s situation with Owen. Of course she was in the power group with Owen (although now that she thought about it, that was probably over now that Charlie had left) but even she was scared to ever get into an actual argument with Owen. “Rory, that’s so wild that you’re here to tell the story, like you could be in hospital right now. What did he even say about Charlie?” She wondered if JJ would ever do that for her if she even spoke to another guy, but then she quickly repelled that thought. The only person she was speaking to that could be perceived any sort of way was Keira and she didn’t really want them interacting. “So usually either the main character who is trying to save the girl from a life of misery survives with his girl, or one of them dies. So your chances are… okay, but look at you serving main character energy.” 

Jane kept her eyes narrowed on Rory, hoping he was being serious about being fine with the whole friends thing and she hoped Charlie did actually see how nice it was to be friends with Rory. He was the best friend any girl could ask for. “Okay, fine, I hope she is taking full advantage of having you as a friend and maybe being away from Owen will actually do her some good.” 

At the question of the night before, Jane avoided his eyes for a little while and made a loud humming noise. Having to keep so much secret in her life right now was hard and she knew she really shouldn’t be telling anyone about the good butterflies she felt, but she wasn’t one for secrets and she already had more than enough of those. “Well, I spoke to that girl, Keira, who works at the petrol station, and she was pretty cool. Really cool. I’m going to try make her my friend, but… uh, seeing as your friends with someone you’re attracted to,” She paused, her hand mid-motion. “That person obviously being me… Is it okay to be friends with someone you’re attracted to if you’re in a commited relationship?” And then she remembered some of the other drama that Rory would actually be interested in, so in an attempt to make her question seem less important, she blurted out, “And I saw Millie and she was such a cunt.”

Rory laughed nervously and shook his head. “Ah, you know... He made some shitty comments about the farm and told me nothing would ever come of my feelings for her or anything... I dunno, he shoved me a bit but other than that he told me to leave Charlie alone, took the money I owed him and left.” He looked down at his hands, rubbing them together. “He’s probably right anyway, it’s not like farming is an impressive career or anything... But at least we can stay friends.” 

He smiled lightly and looked back up at Jane with a single nod. “Yeah, I hope so too. We’ll see, I guess.” 

The sound of Jane’s loud hum was enough to catch Rory’s attention, and he looked at her expectantly with raised eyebrows, knowing that whatever else happened would be just as interesting as what she’d already told him. As she began to speak about Keira, he nodded slowly, opening his mouth to speak but instead letting out a soft chuckle at her teasing. The question she was posing was completely serious though, so he scrunched up his mouth in thought and nodded slowly before ultimately shrugging. “I think it’s okay. I mean, it’s natural to find people attractive, ya know? No harm as long as you’re not acting on it, I think that’s the most important thing.” He smiled softly at Jane. “I’ve spoken to her a bit, picking up petrol during deliveries and things like that. She’s really quiet, seems to keep to herself, but seems really cool too. Besides,” He started with a mischievous grin, “It’ll do you some good to hang out with some new cool people.” Rory let out a slightly nervous laugh and shook his head with a wince. He’d been around Millie plenty of times at parties, and felt a weird responsibility over her ever since they first kissed. Now more often than not that led to a lot of second hand embarrassment on his part. “Do I even want to know what happened?” He mused, glancing up at Jane with a mockingly pained look.

somewhere | jane + rory

“Well, there’s not much worth remembering about him. I hope the ordeal lowers his cockiness levels moving forward.” She smiled softly with a slow nod of her head, both of them knowing how much worse it could have gotten, but Rory more than most. The Fear crept back into her head in a dark voice saying, ‘what if JJ caused that?’ JJ could be the reason Rory is going to be scarred for life and what involvement did that mean Jane had in this whole thing. She focused on her hangover pains instead as they were easier to stomach than unanswerable questions. 

Jane pursed her lips making a pondering noise as she considered the truthfulness of the situation. “Well, JJ thinks Owen was just using that girl to help with the whole case thing, so it’s probably not true, but I am a confident 75 - no, 85% sure that he did beat Nate up. Either about drugs or that girl.” Jane’s hand tensed on Rory’s knee as he spilled more out. “Ugh, I would have totally shit my pants if Owen came to my house - what the fuck? But Rory, that is so mob movie of all of you. In the mob movies, even though the big mob guy doesn’t give two shits about his girlfriend, he still owns her and if anyone else is fucking around with his property, he’s going to care. You were basically belittling him by being nicer to Charlie than he ever could be.”

As the conversation moved from mindless gossip to Rory resuming his schoolgirl crush on Charlie, Jane had to use all her facial muscles to wince at him. This behaviour over Charlie of all people was not good for poor Rory. She, of course, was ignoring the fact that she was feeling a similar sort of way over a girl. Ignore, ignore, ignore. “You say friends, but your face is saying something else, Rory.” She tutted once, shaking her head at him like he was a cute puppy who kept peeing on her floor. “It’s cute that she’s sending you songs, but that also feels wildly unlike Charlie… Just be careful.” 

Rory shook his head in mild disgust, it seemed so typical that Owen would try to use someone else for his benefit, why should this situation be any different? He shrugged. “Yeah, I’d owed him for some things I’d picked up for New Year’s, so when he came round mine it was mainly to get paid, or at least that’s what I thought until he brought up Charlie...” Rory scratched at the back of his head uncomfortably. “It was fucking scary, I hope for her sake that he wasn’t using her, and that the fight with Nate was only over drugs.” His voice grew softer, as if frightened that Owen might somehow hear, “Either way, I definitely wouldn’t put it past Owen to send someone to hospital.” Rory sighed, looking back down that his lap. “That mob mentality stuff is all so messed up, ya know? Don’t all of those movies end in everyone dead or miserable? What kind of life is that?”

The flush on Rory’s cheeks grew deeper at Jane’s teasing, and he looked down bashfully with an awkward shake of his head. “Well, I mean... I dunno, you know how I’ve felt about her. But, we’re friends for now, yeah?” He shrugged before adding, “It’s nice.” Jane shook her head at him and Rory immediately knew that she’d speak some reality into his daydreams. “Well yeah, maybe not in the way you know her, but who knows, maybe this friendship is different. I think she deserves the benefit of the doubt.” He and Charlie hadn’t spoken since he’d helped with the paper, but the longer he spoke to Jane, the more he was itching to reach out to her. Rory shook his head, once again changing the subject. “Anyway, did anything else happen at the party? Before everything went to shit at least.” 

somewhere | jane + rory

“We can talk about all drinks while drunk, but during delicate sober situations, let’s just steer well clear of the A-word.” She pretended to gag over his lap as she referred to alcohol. Giving a pathetic laugh, she stared at the ceiling, recounting the college group chats she was in that were going off about the situation. “That tosser Nate? He apparently got released this morning and it was all minor injuries, but it’s probably his fucking fault and he ruined a decent party. My party.” She swallowed back any further choice words she could have said about him, as really if things had gotten any worse then it would have been another Matt situation and that was probably hitting too close to home for Rory. She reached a hand out to pat his lap with consideration to his feelings. 

Playfully rolling her eyes, she was glad that at least Rory could take some good out of this situation. Despite herself and her currently bleak situation, Jane did love to speculate on situations. Speculate sounded like a much better word rather than gossip. She was an excellent speculator. “Okay, honey, so,” She sat up slightly to lean back on her elbows, suddenly feeling a little rejuvenated to discuss such matters. “I heard them arguing and I went to check on them and it was just Owen there. He said they were over for good. I don’t know who broke up with who, but…” She thought back to the group chat and all the gif reactions that she had shared herself about the rumours that were flying around. “Lots of people think Owen got Nate fucked up, because he’s been fucking his girlfriend. The daughter of the MP? Ally or Amelia or something, so yeah… it’s probably all related.” She didn’t think she had missed anything out, but she paused, before saying with a little smirk, “It looks like the love of your life is single now though. She might actually talk to you about things other than Matt fucking Banks now.” 

Rory nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to place Nate. “I think I remember him? Glad he’s okay either way, that sucks that he got hurt.” He let out a soft laugh and swallowed hard, having a difficult time shaking the thought that another party could have ended like his own had. Jane patted his lap and Rory smiled at her, scratching his head and looking down. “I’m glad it wasn’t worse than it was.” 

His eyebrows shot up in curiosity as Jane sat up, knowing he was about to get the entire run down of the situation. Rory’s body leaned forward just enough, the anticipation obvious. It was a lot to unpack, but only one part of the gossip stuck out to him and he felt his jaw tense slightly at the mere thought of anyone hurting Charlie, let alone cheating on her. If the rumours were correct, and Owen had done that to Charlie, it frustrated Rory even more that he threatened him to stop seeing her. He shook his head. “Shit. That’s... A lot.” He shrugged and rubbed the back of his head, flashing Jane a questioning look. “How much of it do you think is true? I mean... I just don’t understand why Owen would do that to Charlie, why anyone would do that to her.” Rory sighed. “I mean, Owen came to my house Sunday because I guess he figured out I was helping Charlie with the article for the paper, and threatened me to leave her alone. Why would he do that if he had been cheating on her with someone else?” 

Rory smiled bashfully, looking down at his lap as his face flushed. “We’ve talked about other things... like music. Did you know that band Oasis, ya know, the one that sang Wonderwall, is one of her favorites? She’s sent me a few songs.” He shrugged. “Besides, I just wanted to help out with her article, we’re friends. It’s cool.” What wasn’t cool was Rory at the moment, internally freaking out over Charlie now being available. 

somewhere | jane + rory

God, if Jane’s hangovers were this intense at the mere age of seventeen, then she really dreaded to think about what would be happening to her as she hit her twenties, or,she shuddered to think, mid-twenties. She groaned as she removed her cooling eye patch that was not cooling her enough and went through the night to try and remember where everything went downhill. Well, she remembered Keira was there… Fuck, how drunk had she been in front of Keira? And then there was Millie. She was definitely feeling feisty from a few drinks then and oh… oh shit, she had been stealing people’s drinks again, hadn’t she? That was always a tell-tale sign that Jane was a bit too drunk. Thankfully a knock on her bedroom door stopped her from having to relive the night. 

She threw her pillow at Rory, the sight of him being sober seeming too much of a terrible joke for her right now, and when she missed him, she pathetically groaned. “Yes, I am selling fun right now,” She moved over in her bed to give Rory room to sit down, because even though the cookies were a delightful present, she still didn’t have the energy to sit up herself. “You really are a lovely friend, but please, please, please, don’t mention the T word around here. Ever again.” She shuddered with minimal energy as he spoke of Tequila. 

It took her longer than it should have to answer Rory’s question, because was it good or bad overall? Things were definitely going to be very shit in her life for the foreseeable future with the mention of Charlie, but for some people… that might not have been too bad a thing. Seeing as Rory would be the only one getting pleasure from that, she decided to share it, so she could feel any joy at all over upcoming events. “Well… there was some pretty big, dramatic news last night. I mean, someone was tragically beaten to a pulp and went off in an ambulance and we had to shut down the party after that, but… Charlie and Owen are now over. For good.” 

Rory moved to join Jane on her bed as she made room for him, laughing with a shrug. “Alright fine, another alcohol that shall not be named. If this keeps on though, we’ll run out of drinks to even talk about at all.” He shook his head with another chuckle at the thought, then looked back at Jane. Rory’s eyebrows raised and he felt a familiar churning in his stomach at the idea of someone else being hurt at a party. He was suddenly very confident in his decision to stay home last night. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. “Shit, Jane. That’s... Rough. I’m sorry things got out of hand.” Rory sighed. “Who was it? Are they okay now?” 

The last part of her sentence nearly bypassed him, his concern over the violence nearly blocking out the other words she was saying. He shook his head, then paused and looked up at Jane questioningly. “Wait... What?” He cleared his throat in an attempt to not look so damn keen, and shook his head again slightly, feigning casualty. “Really... Do you know what happened?” Rory paused, finally putting her entire sentence into context. “Wait... Those two things aren’t related, right? Charlie’s okay? And Owen?” His pretense of indifference faded at the mere thought of anyone he knew getting hurt, especially someone he had feelings for, like Charlie. 

Rory slipped out the back door through the kitchen, earbuds in and a small bag of homemade cookies under his arm as he walked in the direction of town. It should have felt like every other time he’d gone to Jane’s the morning after a party, but it didn’t. Too much had changed, now. For starters, he wasn’t at the party she’d thrown the night before. He’d been invited, of course, but between residual anger from his parents over New Year’s Eve and the guilt of finding Matt that he just couldn’t shake, Rory had decided to stay home. But just because he couldn’t stomach a party at the moment, didn’t mean that he was uninterested in living vicariously through Jane, who had the same level of appreciation as he did for a fun night. 

This had been a tradition since the early days of school parties. Rory would come round Jane’s, or vice versa, the morning after a party to debrief on the night before. The two of them had an unlikely friendship - one born organically over the years through proximity and their Mums’ close friendship. He walked up the drive and to the door, opening it slowly and closing it quietly behind him before walking up to Jane’s room. He knocked on her door, cracking it slightly and giving a teasing shake of his head at the sight of Jane in bed, clearly hungover. “Oh, it’s just as I’d feared... You had too much fun without me last night. Good news is though,” Rory started, stepping further into the room as he held out the cookies. “I’ve brought just the cure. I worked on them all night... Ya know, instead of drinking my weight in tequila.” He shrugged, taking a bite of one. “They’re quite good.” Rory sat in the chair at Jane’s desk, looking at her expectantly. “So how’d it go last night?”  

Half The World Away / Rory & Charlie

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?”

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?” 

Half The World Away / Rory & Charlie

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. 

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?” 

Half The World Away / Rory & Charlie

Charlie waited with mild anticipation for what Rory was going to say, because as soon as he said it wasn’t her, she lost a lot of her interest. Maybe it would be something happening in his personal life as she could offer up a shoulder of support and then - Owen? He wouldn’t… “He did what?” She said through gritted, angry teeth. Breathe, breathe, Charlie. This wasn’t in their agreement. If he had gone to see Rory, then why hadn’t she gone to see Amelia? Was she now a step or two behind him? Here she was stupidly thinking that things could be okay with Owen and behind her back he was kicking over her well-laid plans. She clenched her free fist in her lap, he would regret that. Amelia would be a greater damage than Rory would ever be for her…

“Owen should never have gone to see you, I’m sorry, he acts a lot more possessive behind my back than to my face.” She looked down, knowing she would have to very carefully determine whether Owen potentially knew things that he was waiting to reveal at the most dramatic moment “Uh… did you tell him about the kiss?” She figured the chances were slim, as Rory didn’t have a scratch on his face, but maybe he left marks in other areas. 

As Rory continued on, she realised her hopes of having an excellent interview for the paper were going to be dashed. Honestly, Owen was such a dick-swallowing, cunt-faced bastard when he wanted to be. Of course he didn’t need Amelia’s help anymore when he told Charlie about her, but Charlie very much still needed Rory’s help and he fucked it all up, the fucking asshole. Breathe, breathe, Charlie. “I understand, Owen isn’t somebody you should have to deal with.” She spoke as delicately as she could, as if her heart was breaking. She tightened her grip on his arm just a tad. “But… does this mean you can’t do the interview then?” 

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. 

charliehops​:

Charlie felt that she had a full collection of information on Rory and it would prove useful for the duration of their ‘friendship’, she didn’t really need to collect any more as long as she had points like ‘Oasis’ and ‘the farm’ and ‘Biscuit’ as familiar topics to bring up. “I will send you over the Spotify playlist - it’s called ‘A Musical Education’. Plenty more space for other bands you have never heard of.” The slight promise of future conversations about music was a nice touch to her courting him. 

She was mid-giggling at his incident with the tea when he changed the mood immediately. Boys were so weird… had she made a fatal error by kissing him? Was this going to be a step backward in what she had been trying to do? She furrowed her eyebrows at him in confusion and firmly put her hand on his arm to stop him standing up as he seemed about to do. “I haven’t decided whether to be offended or not yet by that clear lie of yours, but if I have done something to embarrass myself and make you not want to sit here, with me, then I would rather you just say.”

Rory winced at the look of confusion on Charlie’s face at his words. Her hand was on his arm now, though even if it hadn’t been, he still wouldn’t have made any effort to move from her. He scratched at the back of his head and as he shook it. “No, no. It’s not you, Charlie... Or it’s not anything you’ve done. It’s just, well...” He winced once again and sighed. “Owen came to the farm after I saw you on Saturday, he seemed to know we had hung out and wasn’t happy about it.” He picked up the tea and blew on it this time before taking a sip with another quick glance around the cafe. “I think it’s probably best that I keep my distance, yeah? I’ve said all along I don’t want to cause any trouble, so it’ll probably just be easier if I stick to my work on the farm for awhile so things can calm down a bit.” He gave her a small yet genuine smile. “Thank you for the playlist though, really. I’m excited to listen to it, educate myself, yeah?” 

Half The World Away / Rory & Charlie

Charlie had been asked to run a silly errand for work to collect a coffee order from the cafe. She understood that she was an intern and this was an intern task, however her boyfriend had just been arrested and released for murder AND she was an alibi? Was there anybody else on the team with a more interesting story to write about? She was livid, but she would put that anger into a killer article that she would write and they would have to put in the paper. Although possibly leaving a lot of the details to do with Owen to avoid him hitting the roof. Boys were so sensitive about their arrests these days. 

As she marched into the cafe, she noticed her red-headed boy sat at the back with his own drink. It was an easy decision for her to approach him, because even though they had kissed, yes, and it would make Owen very angry, she also knew it would really pack the punch her article needed if she did secure that interview with Rory. “Well, good morning, little Rory,” She beamed, as she sat herself down opposite him. “I have been considering your Oasis education heavily and all the other bands you might not be familiar with and so, to save you further embarrassment, I have made you a playlist that you should thank me for immediately.” 

The day started like normal for Rory, he woke up early to do some jobs around the farm before heading into the village to deliver the weekly produce to the cafe. He’d chatted with Robin for a bit before the morning crowd at the cafe got too hectic and now he was sat with an all too hot cup of tea cooling as he scrolled through his phone. He was about to put in his headphones when he caught a glimpse of black hair and a charming smile. 

Rory shouldn’t have been surprised when Charlie sat across from him at the table, especially as they were friends now, or whatever constitutes acting friendly to one another and ending a casual hang out with a kiss. He was surprised though, or rattled rather, as his conversation - lecture - from Owen was still at the forefront of his mind. He set his phone down and scratched the back of his head as Charlie greeted him. “Oh, uh, ‘morning Charlie.” He glanced around as she continued to talk, hoping to avoid a certain tall and angry boyfriend. “What? Oh, nice. Thanks, you didn’t have to do that. I took your advice and listened to some more songs, ya know aside from Wonderwall. I really liked them, shame I’ve been so late to hop on the bandwagon. I get what you were saying now.” He gave a shy smile and took a sip of his tea, forgetting that it was still piping hot and immediately burning his tongue. He set the cup down and shook his head, looking around the cafe once more. “Listen, Charlie... I, um, I better get going. I have some more things to get done around town before I head back to the farm.”