Chapter Eleven

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*Charlie's POV*

It was 11am when I felt El move slightly in my arms letting me know she was waking up. When one has faced something so incredibly traumatizing, the body does one of two things. You either lose sleep, tossing and turning throughout the night from dreadful nightmares; or worse, you lie completely still, so emotionally exhausted and brain dead that your mind doesn't even have the energy to create such bad dreams.

"Good morning sleepy head," I whispered softly into her ear and watched a tired grin appear on her face. She rolled her body over onto her elbows so that she could look at me.

"Good morning Gillespie," Her morning voice felt to my soul as hiking on a trail of fresh Fall leaves; the same soothing crackle. She sat up, criss cross on the hotel bed, her hair hanging sleepily in her face. "When did you wake up?" She asked, tucking the stray hairs behind her ears.

"More like when did I fall asleep," I laughed guiltily and she pushed out her bottom lip into a pout. Her head dropped as I watched her fight the urge to apologize for being the reason behind my lack of sleep.

"Charlie," She whispered sadly. I quickly sat up in front of her and smiled.

"Hey hey hey no being sad today," I grabbed her, flipping her body over me and tossing her beside me onto the mattress. She giggled as she laid on her side facing me.

"So what are we doing today?" She asked wrapping one of my curls around her index finger. I looked back at her worriedly, gently lifting my hand and placing it against her cheek, tangling my fingers into her hair.

"You don't have to be okay El. You know we can just lay around here today. Yesterday was a lot," I assured her as I let my thumb graze back and forth across her skin. She reached her hand out and laid it onto my cheek, mimicking my movement.

"I'm okay Gillespie. I have two days left in Hawaii and I don't want to waste it," She smiled at me in an attempt to convince me she was truly okay. But whether she was lying or not, I wanted to do what she wished. I bit my bottom lip gently and nodded back to her.

"Okay then, how about I pick you up in an hour? You get ready and I'll be back soon," I winked at her before getting up and heading towards the hotel room door. She sat up curiously, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Where are we going?" She asked excitedly.

"Surprise," I smirked at her and walked out, closing the door behind me. Before I headed back to my room I knew there was an important stop I had to make. I stood in front of the door hesitantly. I took a deep breath and then knocked softly three times. The door swung open and Tori stood staring back at me in her hotel robe.

"Hey," She smiled awkwardly, holding the door open for me to come in. We stood in silence for a moment, the other one waiting for the other to say something first.

"I came here so I should probably speak. Um, look Tor, you're amazing. I mean that. In every aspect. I just don't like you the way you like me and I don't want to lead you on to believe that I do. Kissing you back was an asshole move on my part. I'm really really sorry if I hurt you," I looked down at my feet in shame, unable to make eye contact with her knowing what I did. Suddenly I felt her hand rest softly on my shoulder.

"Charlie, I don't even think you know exactly why you're rejecting me right now," She began to laugh and I looked up at her, my eyebrows squinted in confusion. "Some people are better as friends and I'm okay with that. I'd rather have you as my friend then not have you at all. But bud, you really need to get your feelings squared away because you are acting like kind of an idiot," I laughed at her comment, nodding my head in agreement.

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⏰ Last updated: Feb 04, 2021 ⏰

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