We're In This Together

4. Deep, Dark, Rabbit Hole

Charlie's POV

"So, you want to be a teacher and handle kids all day?" I ask, arching my brow at her.

We've stopped paying attention to the movies a while ago, getting caught up in conversation. I would like to say we ended up Netflix and Chillin' but we didn't, and I have a feeling I'm holding back on it. I don't know why, but she's different.

Roxy smiles. "Yeah, I know the money I make won't be that good but I've always wanted to be teaching kids, preparing them for the next step of their lives."

I give her a cheesy grin. "Oh, don't worry about the money. When you're married to me, I'll handle all the money, babe."

The slight tent of redness on her cheeks from my comment makes my grin even bigger. She rolls her eyes, but I can see her not being able to wipe the smile off her face.

Wow. She's beautiful.

"Oh, yeah? And what do you want to be?" She challenges, a sense of flirtation in her voice.

When I tell you I want to fuck this girl, right here and right now. You have no idea how serious I am.

I grin. "I want to be a therapist. You know, I want to help other people and change them for the better." I just can't be one yet, cause in order to be a good therapist I have to take care of myself first.

We're both sitting on the couch, knees facing each other, Roxy still in her panda pajamas, and me still in the same leggings and croptop. But the mood in the room makes me wish these clothes were off of us and on the floor.

"So, why aren't you in college to be a therapist?" She asks, her voice more quiet as I feel our faces getting closer.

"Why aren't you in college to be a teacher, yet?" I challenge, with a smirk.

She shrugs her shoulders. "My mom never had the money. When I got out of college I couldn't pay for it and with my mom going through some...financial stuff, she couldn't afford to help me out."

My eyebrows raise in surprise. She actually opened up to me. In response, I asked, "You didn't get a scholarship?"

"I did. But all of them were too far away and at the time I didn't want to leave my mom alone," She admits.

Maybe she has a single mom like me. But I honestly think there's more to that story. I want to pry her open even more, but I can see how her eyes are starting to water and she's zoning out. I know that face and it isn't good.

"Okay, then." I give her a soft smile and she furrows her eyebrows at me in confusion.

"You aren't going to pry more?" She asks.

"Not when it's hurting you to talk about."

She stares at me, mouth opened a little, in shock. "Um, okay. Thank you." She gives me a soft smile and I return it.

"Don't thank me, Roxy. It's a normal thing to do. I'm not fixing to force you to talk about anything you don't want to. It's not like we don't have all the time in the world," I tell her.

In my mind, I realize what I said. I said it so weight free. I said it as if I don't feel like I'm dying and I said it as if I didn't want to leave. And it's not just that. It meant that I wanted to stay to learn more of her. And honestly, I do.

Ever since I met this girl, I've been doing my 'hobby' less frequently. There are only five marks that I made from the last few weeks that I've known her and that's a major improvement. At least, for me it is.

Roxy smiles brightly and scooches over beside me and rests her head on my shoulder. After this, we fall into a comfortable silence, with a few laughs every now and then, as we watch Step Brothers.