In Charlotte's Eyes

Strong Bonds

Two months passed. The group of five planned to have a get together at Aaron’s and Carlos’ shared house. The only person that’d be absent was Carlos, because he had a family reunion on the same day. The work day had ended, and all of them were pretty beat, but they saved enough energy to stay awake for the rest of the night. None of them had work tomorrow, so they could be as reckless with time as they desired. First thing they wanted to do was play a couch co-op game to unwind and have some fun. They were able to complete the first two worlds of the game before they started messing around a lot. Attacking each other in game, shoving each other, smacking the controllers out of each other’s hands; they were all having fun and not taking it seriously. After that, they began a drinking game as they played a split-screen competitive video game. The losers each had to take a shot. Aaron ended up drinking the most. After that, Parker and Charlotte were pretty even in terms of shots taken, although Parker took a few more. After ordering some Chinese take out, they all settled down to watch a movie together.

“Hey, Aaron,” Charlotte looked to her left at him.

“Suup, Charlo?” He didn’t look at her, setting up the movie on the tv with the remote.

She snickered. “So, like, what made you want to be roomies with Carlos, anyway? He’s such a hassle.” She leaned against Parker, who was to her right, putting a hand on her chin. Parker didn’t react to the action.

“Cause he's really good in bed.” He joked, laughing loudly.

Charlotte laughed with him, then said, “No, but actually. It seems like such a hassle to deal with a roommate, even if you two are best friends.”

Aaron shrugged, setting down the remote. “Split the rent, I can always chill with him. I’ve been best friends with him for forever, so I know most of his habits.” He blinked lazily, yawning. “He’s basically the brother I never had.”

“Huh.” Charlotte considered his notion. It made sense, but she still couldn’t imagine dealing with a roommate.

“It actually isn’t that bad with strangers, too.” Suzuki butted in, wide eyed. “I had to share a dorm at Georgia Tech.”

“It depends on who it is.” Parker added. “Like, if I had a roommate, I’d want it to be one of you three.” He wrapped his arms around Charlotte and Suzuki.

“Heyy, what about Carlos?” Aaron smirked.

He snickered. “I suppose I could tolerate him, too.”

“Alright, alright,” Charlotte brushed his hand off. “Enough of the sweet remarks; the movie’s starting.”

…

About halfway through the movie, Aaron gently grabbed Charlotte’s arm. “Hey, Charlo.” He whispered. “Do you mind if I sleep on you?”

Charlotte’s face scrunched, avoiding laughter. “Uh- Sure. But don’t you want to watch the movie?”

“Movie’s not good enough for me to give a shit.” He yawned loudly, stretching. Then, he laid his back on her, closing his eyes.

…

Fifteen minutes passed. Charlotte had her arms crossed. Aaron softly and quietly snored, leaning against her shoulder. His drowsiness infested her. She blinked tiredly, trying to focus on the television screen. The story was interesting, but keeping her eyes open hurt. It didn’t take long for her shoulders to relax and for her eyes to close. Then, she fell to her right side, onto Parker. Parker grunted in slight discomfort. Suzuki and he exchanged a glance. He chuckled awkwardly.

"I can't blame them." He whispered to Suzuki.

"Don't fall asleep on me, too, Parker." He chuckled.

"I'll try." They quieted to watch the rest of the movie.

…

By the last five minutes of the movie, Parker, too, was asleep. Suzuki chuckled to himself, leaning his cheek on his hand, his arm resting on the arm rest. He wondered when Carlos would come home.

The front door to the home opened. Speak of the devil. Suzuki smirked at Carlos, who studied the dark room. "You're late." He teased lightheartedly.

"Sorry. Got caught up with my family. They're a bunch of goofballs." He chuckled gently at the end of his sentence. "Speaking of, so are these polyamorous goofballs." He set down the small container of leftovers he had from the reunion on a nearby table. He slid over to the couch and looked at the three sleeping figures. He put his hands on his hips. "Looks like these guys are staying over tonight." He looked at Suzuki. "You wanna stay, too?"

Suzuki stretched, gently removing himself from the couch. "Mmmh-, Yeah. Driving right now doesn't sound very appealing." His voice rasped. He cleared his throat.

"Okay," Carlos began working on getting a grip of Aaron's body. "I'll get Aaron back to his bed." He grunted. Then, he stifled a laugh, looking down at Parker and Charlotte. After all the adjustments and movement, Charlotte ended up sleeping on top of Parker. "We'll leave these two lovebirds on the couch." He was able to drag Aaron off the couch, but ended up dropping him. "Shit." He muttered under his breath.

"I'll help you." Suzuki offered.

"Thanks." They both knelt down and picked up Aaron, beginning to carry him to his room. "Suzuki, you sleep wherever you want." Carlos told him as they set him down in his bed.

"Do you have a spare mattress? I'll just sleep on the floor in the living room."

"Mm, yep." Carlos nodded tiredly. "I'll go get it."

Thus concluded a very fun night.

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