Despite still feeling torn over the situation with Charlie, I went back to work the next day. I kept to myself mostly, avoiding Charlie as much as possible. The other staff could tell there was tension between us but chose to not say anything.
At the end of the day, I stood in the staffroom, packing my things into my bag and waiting for everyone to go.
"Nick?" Charlie came up behind me and I turned to face him, keeping my face emotionless.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry for lying to you yesterday. I didn't come to your house just to tell you about your student. I wanted to explain myself but I didn't think Imogen was going to let me-"
"Hey!" I cut him off and he snapped his mouth closed, just looking at me. "Don't you dare blame Imogen for anything. She was just looking out for me. I gave you a chance to explain but you refused."
"Sorry."
"Charlie, I don't understand what's going on with you but you seem to be taking it out on everyone around you and it's not okay. Until you're ready to get some help, I don't want anything to do with you." We both looked over at the sound of the door opening when another teacher came into the room. She noticed us standing there and hurried to get whatever she'd come for.
"Can we talk somewhere more private? A cafe or something?" A cafe wasn't really a place I wanted to be discussing this, in fact, any place that was considered public wasn't a place I wanted to talk about it. I knew that Imogen wouldn't be home with Abby for another hour or so as she was taking her to ballet classes after she finished school for the day and we usually stayed to wait instead of driving back and forth so many times.
"Imogen isn't home for another hour," I told him, grabbing my bag and heading for the door without waiting for him to answer. He'd either follow me home or decide this wasn't worth talking about and I'd have to start getting used to not having him as a friend. As I made my way to the car, I figured I should probably tell Imogen what was happening just in case so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed her number on speed-dial.
"Hey, how was work today?" She answered quickly and I could hear the smile in her voice.
"It was alright. Are you still taking Abby to ballet?"
"Yeah. Unless you want to."
"No. That's okay. She's probably sick of me taking her by now."
"Okay." We were silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Is something wrong, babe?"
"Not really. I was just going to tell you that Charlie may or may not be coming over to our house to talk about everything."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I don't know."
"You know how upset you've been over it."
"I know. But I can always call you if I need to, right?"
"Of course. And I'll come straight home." She promised me.
"I love you."
"I love you, too. Oh, here's Abby. Do you want to say 'hello'?"
"Sure." There was a rustle on her end of the call before Abby's voice came through.
"Hi papa!"
"Hey, princess. How was school today?"
"Alright. We read a new story today."
"Really? You'll have to tell me all about it later."
"Yeah. 'Cause mummy's taking me dancing."
"I know. She told me. You have fun, okay? So you can show me all your pretty dancing tonight, yeah?"
"Okay."
"Alright, give the phone back to mummy now."
"Bye Papa. Love you."
"Love you too, sweetie." I smiled to myself and unlocked the car, sliding into the driver's seat and tossing my bag into the backseat. I could see Charlie walking through the cars in the distance, headed for his own car.
"Nick?" Imogen's voice echoed down the phone this time, bringing my attention back.
"Yeah."
"Make sure you are okay with everything. If anything happens you're not okay with, call me and remember you can tell him to leave."
"I will. Have fun watching Abby."
"I'll be home soon."
"Bye."
"Bye, babe." I hung up and tucked the phone into its little slot beside me, starting up the car.
The drive home didn't take long and as I walked up the path to the front door, I noticed Charlie's car pulling up in the street. I sighed. Part of me had been hoping he wouldn't come. He at least had the decency to let me get inside and be alone for a couple of minutes before ringing the doorbell.
"Thanks for letting me explain." Once we were sat in the living room, on opposite sofas, he spoke up. "I feel so bad about hurting you like that."
"I never did anything to deserve that, Charlie."
"I know. I just, I have some things going on that have kind of shaken me a bit."
"That's not really an excuse. I've had things happen and haven't let it almost ruin our friendship."
"Ben's new baby is here." I just raised an eyebrow in reply. "I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does. And..." He trailed off, looking away.
"And what?"
"I'm not coping at home. Financially."
"How so?"
"I don't earn enough to cover all the bills that make the house run as it always has. I'm trying to keep things as normal as possible for Nathaniel and Alexis because I know that Ben leaving turned our lives upside down and they don't need any more upheaval in their life. They've been through so much and it's all I can do to try and keep everything normal at home for them." Suddenly, it was like a dam had burst and Charlie was telling me everything. There were tears in his eyes as he admitted everything to me and I felt a mixture of emotions coursing through me.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"There's nothing you can do. I just have to, I don't know, take on a second job or something."
"Charlie. I'm sure Nathaniel and Alexis will understand if you have to cut back on some things for a while to get back on your feet. If not now, then when they're older. Don't go wearing yourself out just to try and make some point that you can keep up the same quality of life."
"I need to. I can't let Ben see that I'm not okay without him. I know what he's like. As soon as he sees me start to crumble, he'll want back in my life, probably try and take the kids more often and I can't do that. I can't." By now he was sobbing and I moved closer to wrap an arm around his shoulders.
"Charlie, it's okay to admit that you can't do something. If you keep going like this, you'll either end up way worse off than you are or you'll work yourself to death trying to prove something ridiculous."
"It's not the only thing."
"What's not?"
"The money. It's not the only thing bothering me."
"What else is there?"
"Promise you won't hate me?" He looked up and I could see the genuine fear in his eyes.
"I promise."
"I-I think I'm getting feelings for you."
