Just Like Home | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 12

A/N: Wow. It's been a hot minute since I updated this one! I never expected anybody to actually read this, and for some reason it appears to have grown a teeny bit of popularity in recent days! Thank you so much for reading and I hope it's not too completely terrible for you <3

Giddy. If there was one word to describe Eleanor after Charlie walked her home, it was giddy. She was truly elated. The night certainly hadn't gone in the way that she expected. Oh Merlin. He'd kissed her!? And they would be going on a date!? Eleanor had no idea what this meant for her, but in the moment, she truly didn't care. She got herself ready for bed and lay there with a ridiculous smile on her face. She brought a hand up and lightly touched her lip, which she was sure was still tingling from where Charlie had kissed it. She still felt breathless. She thought that she might have a crush on the mysterious red-headed man before, but there was certainly no denying it now. With butterflies dancing in her stomach, Eleanor drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Darcie went about her work whilst sending Eleanor suspicious looked throughout the day. She was waiting to be informed of how the night went, but she imagined that it was a positive outcome from the way that Eleanor was practically skipping around the tiny shop. She greeted each and every customer with warmth and vigour, a beaming smile on her face which heightened her dimples. By the time the afternoon rolled around, Darcie could hardly bear it any longer.

"You need to tell me what happened last night!" she blurted out.

Eleanor halted and looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Her cheeks flushed pink almost immediately. "It was good," was all she said.

"Good? Good?" Darcie exclaimed. "You've been beaming wider than a leprechaun sitting on a pot of gold, woman! Tell me!".

"Hemighthavekissedme..." Eleanor mumbled as she busied herself by wiping off the counter.

"He what now?".

Eleanor took a deep breath. "He might have... Kissed me... When he walked me home?".

"OH MY GOD!" Darcie squealed, jumping up and down on the spot. Luckily, there were no customers in the shop at this moment. "Tell me everything!".

"There isn't much to tell, honestly," she admitted sheepishly. "We got close over the evening, he walked me home, kissed me then asked me on a date."

"He kissed you then asked you on a date?" Darcie giggled. "Isn't that the wrong way round?".

"That's kind of what I thought," Eleanor chuckled. "But yep...".

"Oh wow, that is so cute," she gushed. "So when is he taking you out?".

"I don't know yet... He said he'd be in touch soon," Eleanor shrugged. She couldn't help the teeny, tiny sinking feeling in her stomach that was surely nothing but nagging doubt. What if he didn't get in touch? What if he already regretted kissing her?

Eleanor was dragged out of her deprecating thoughts by the tinkle of the bell on the door. A familiar red-headed man entered, but not the one that made Eleanor's stomach squirm. It was George, and he was sporting a rather mischievous smile on his face.

"Hey George!" Eleanor greeted. "How are you?".

"I'm fine, but the real question here is... How are you?". His dark brown eyes sparkled as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"I... I'm fine... Why do you ask?" she answered nervously.

"Oh no reason... Except I just had to practically wrestle a certain brother of mine to be the one to come and see you on this fine afternoon," he said pointedly as he leant his arms on the counter.

Eleanor felt her face flush beet-red again and she pushed her curls out of her face and cleared her throat. "Oh?".

"Oh indeed," George grinned, earning a laugh from Darcie. "Anyway... He asked me to give this to you, and can I grab a couple of coffees whilst I'm here?". He took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Eleanor. She accepted it with a slightly shaky hand as Darcie started on the coffees. She turned around and hastily tore open the envelope.

Ellie,

I simply don't think I can wait until the weekend-

Can I take you out on Wednesday?

Eagerly hoping that you'll agree.

Charlie x

If she wasn't giddy enough before, the letter from Charlie had certainly sent her into orbit now. She bit down on her lip to stop herself from smiling too wide, opting to fold the note back up and put it inside the pocket of her apron. Her stomach was a mess of butterflies, hell, it was a whole damn zoo in there. She couldn't shake the image of that certain fiery-haired, green-eyed man from her thoughts, where he firmly remained throughout the rest of the day.

Back at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Charlie was sitting on the sofa and wringing his hands together. He really wasn't the type of guy to ask many girls out, but he hadn't realised how bloody terrifying it was to wait for a response. Sure, last night she had already said yes, but what if she only did that because she felt like she had to? The burly man's heart fluttered when he thought of her flushed cheeks and pink lips, aching to take her in his arms and kiss her again. When George returned, Charlie practically leapt off the sofa.

"Did you see her?" he asked immediately as George stepped through the door.

"Yes. Yes I did," George grinned knowingly. "Say, what did you do to the poor girl? She was a right blushing mess when I talked about you, y'know."

Charlie felt his stomach drop. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Hell, he was severely out of practice. "What do you mean?".

"Relax, mate," George placed a hand on his older brother's shoulder. "She was giddy! Somehow, she seems to like you."

Charlie chuckled out of relief and rolled his eyes. "Thanks, mate."