Ruin The Wedding (The Murphy Brothers #1)

𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞

It was 8pm and she had just gotten Aurora to sleep in her arms when the phone started to ring very loudly on her small night table. Grabbing it as fast as she could, Charlie glanced down to see if she woke up but luckily she at least looked to be on her beauty sleep. 

Did almost two years old know how to fake sleeping? Either way, Charlie checked to see who had called and wasn't anymore even surprised when it was Fabian. If you asked her about six months ago if she was happy to talk with him every day, she would have told you that you had lost your mind. 

Now wasn't time to think about what that something was but it was there and because of it, he had been on her mind a lot. It sounded impossible considering how she was worried about her daughter in the hospital every second of every day but somehow there was also space for Fabian in her mind. 

"Hey, wait a second," Charlie whispered, got out of the bed before kissing her forehead. Then she went to sit in the living room. "Sorry, I was just sleeping with Rory but now I'm on the couch. What's up?"

"Oh. Sorry. Did I wake you up?" Fabian asked. Hesitating for a second, she tried to figure out if she really heard something in his voice but it passed so fast. Maybe she was just imagining it but she immediately thought oh no, something had happened.

"No, I meant that I was getting her to sleep. I can talk." In fact, she was supposed to finish the dishes and do the rest of the never-ending laundry and usually, she wasn't too shy to tell him that she didn't have time to talk. 

But now she had to think about her words perfectly because something told her that he might need to talk with someone about something. If she even gave him a hint that she had something else planned, Fabian would not only volunteer to come do them himself and when she didn't accept that, he would say goodnight and never tell what was bothering him.

For a long time, he had become more and more her friend instead of just Asher's brother, helping her in everything while she never gave anything back because he never asked for anything. If this was her chance to finally give something back to their friendship then be it. 

The dishes could wait until tomorrow. He was more important. Hell, right now it felt like he was more important than many, many things in her life. If she could only find a way to tell him how important he was without confessing her newly found feelings. 

"No, if you want to go back to her then go. She might need you," Fabian mumbled and there was again something in his voice. It was like he was desperate for help or someone to talk with but didn't want to distract her. She knew that feeling all too well. 

"She's sleeping so I have anything from ten minutes to four hours," she chuckled, hoping that he might too but there was nothing but silence. Okay, so joking wouldn't get them anywhere. Got it. 

He still didn't say anything and she was trying to figure out how to get him to talk about whatever the reason he had for calling. When the silence had reached the minutes, she just wanted to try something. 

"So, how was your day? Anything new?" Charlie got the blanket from the chair and went back to the couch to lay under it. 

"Nah, just same old business," that didn't tell her anything but okay, good to know. "I'm going to Brussels next week for work and I will be there at least four days so I won't be seeing you for a while." 

"Oh. Well, have fun!" Charlie prayed that he didn't see her fake smile or hear the disappointment in her voice through the phone. He would be gone for at least four days? Maybe even longer? 

Now that she had gotten used to seeing him so much and knowing that he was always there if she needed help, hearing that he would be in Europe for that long almost killed her. That was insane because it was only four days, maybe longer but they were still talking about days, not years.