With Fear or Without

46- Confession

Cleo's breaths steadied, her sobs dying down. She pulled away from Charlie first, sniffing and furiously wiping her bloodshot eyes. She felt like a mess. Puffy red eyes, tears staining her cheeks, her once-perfect hair coming apart and sticking up in places.

She opened her mouth to say something to Charlie, maybe drop to her knees and beg them for forgiveness, she didn't know. But she noticed something. Something so obvious and important she couldn't believe it took this long to notice.

"Where's Andy?"

Charlie looked incredibly uncomfortable. They wouldn't meet Cleo's eyes and their hands were busy fiddling with the hem of their jacket. "It happened last time, too."

"What?"

"I mean, losing someone. Last time we woke up and Rowana wasn't there." Their voice was taut and brittle, waving with each breath.

Cleo didn't answer. This was different, of course it was. But she knew they were both thinking the worst- whatever that was.

She took a shaky breath, reassessing their surroundings. Once again, the same hallways. The pink wispy glow was still there, floating just above the floor starting at her feet and disappearing around a corner. At least they had that going for them.

"Come on," Cleo said, gesturing to the glowing path. "We're gonna have to keep going to find her."

Charlie nodded numbly and trailed behind as Cleo trudged forwards, one hand dragging along the wall for support.

"What did you see?"

Cleo looked to her friend over one shoulder. "Huh?"

"The nightmare. What did you see?"

Cleo blinked. It hadn't even occurred to her that Charlie didn't know she was there with them. That she had seen it all. It did lift her spirits to know that Charlie didn't believe it was Cleo saying those things to their face. Not the rational part of them, anyway.

This was going to be a difficult conversation. Might as well get it over with.

"The same thing you did. I was there."

Cleo wasn't looking, but she could imagine the look of horror and realization on Charlie's face. She could almost feel it.

"How?" was all they asked.

Cleo stopped walking. One side of her body pressed against the wall, she addressed the stone floor. "It was me, but I heard my own voice. It was like I was paralyzed, I couldn't speak or move. I had to watch and listen to myself torturing you."

"Then you saw Andy, too?"

Looking at Charlie, Cleo saw what they were thinking. "It wasn't her, Charlie, not really. Just like it wasn't really me."

"Yeah, well. She wasn't lying."

"What are you talking about?"

Charlie took a deep breath, running a hand through their hair. "I mean about... about how I, you know, how I feel. About her." They risked a glance at Cleo, trying to gauge her reaction.

Cleo slowly remembered she was supposed to be surprised by this confession. Charlie was admitting their feelings for Andy, something Cleo was not supposed to know. It was rather hilarious.

For the second time that day, Cleo started snickering uncontrollably. She shook with laughter before the appalled look on Charlie's face snapped her out of it.

"It's not funny, I'm not laughing at that," she insisted, scolding herself. "It's just..." she shrugged, "I've pretty much known forever."

Charlie limited a fish, opening and closing their mouth in perplexity. That only made Cleo's urge to burst into laughter stronger.