Lifesaver | Nick & Charlie

Basic Conversations

Charlie Spring

We spent another thirty minutes fishing after Charlie had gone inside, but we weren't getting any bites, so eventually we gave up and went inside too. Once inside, Grandpa immediately got distracted showing my mom and grandma the fish.

"We need to bring Charlie up here more often. He's a good luck charm," Frank declared, receiving agreeing laughter and hums in response. From me too.

Speaking of Charlie, he wasn't anywhere in sight. I wanted to go into the bedroom to check on him, but I didn't know if it was smart. What if he needed some alone time?

My mind wandered back to the last time we were in the bedroom together. His explanation about his sleeping, bullying, and friends problems was devastating. I wanted to fix everything for him and assure that he never felt like that ever again.

It was so depressing that I was mostly distracted from my arm being around him. Mostly. There was something about it that I couldn't explain. It was like getting a random thrill for something that you didn't understand why.

I decided to wait for Charlie to come out of the room on the couch, scrolling on my phone aimlessly, but my mind kept retreating to the idea of why I was so... reactive around Charlie.

It was every little thing. His feelings were more important to me than other peoples. I felt more enraged and upset by his problems. I liked small moments of physical touch more when it was with him. His happiness transferred into my own within seconds.

None of it was adding up.

The only excuse I could find was that Charlie was just much different to my other friends. He was nicer, more down to earth, less immature, and more complex. How could I compare my reactions with my dumbass friends to my reactions with him when they were on completely different ends of the spectrum?

My thoughts were long forgotten when Charlie exited the bedroom, clenching his phone in his hand slightly.

"Charlie! We seriously need to hit the water again soon," Grandpa declared, causing me to roll my eyes, playfully.

"Grandpa, let him be. We literally just got back from fishing. Give him time to cool off at least." Frank scoffed, waving a hand at me dismissively.

Charlie glanced at me nervously, and I furrowed my eyebrows at it. Why would he be nervous? His eyes averted back to the ground, and suddenly an uneasy feeling was settling in my gut.

He was acting like he had when telling me everything bothering him this morning. Maybe we were close enough now that I could openly talk to him about it–

Charlie's phone started to ring. With one glance down at the contact name, he excused himself to the bedroom again. I didn't want to be invasive at all, but something about how he reacted to the contact name had me concerned.

I waited a minute or so before walking down the hallway to outside the bedroom, cautious about whether or not I could enter.

"Tori, really, it's fine," I heard his muffled voice through the door say. Tori, his sister, I recognised. "You know they don't care." Who didn't care? And about what? And I definitely wasn't eavesdropping. "Yeah, right. You know that's not true. Alright. Yes. I promise. Okay, bye."

It went quiet then, so I knocked and opened the door, acting like I hadn't just been there for the end of the conversation.

"Oh, hey, Nick," Charlie greeted, switching his phone off and discarded it to the side.