sweet escape [c.l.]

chapter ten

Rory laid in bed with her phone to her ear. "Hey," she greeted softly.

"Hey," Charles responded from the other side of the line. "Just got home?"

"Yep... You did well, Charlie," Rory snuggled deeper into her blankets, seeking comfort.

"Yeah?" Charles' smile was audible through the phone.

"Yep, Matteo said that he liked meeting you."

"Uff, at least one member of your family was happy about meeting me."

Rory laughed, and Charles joined in. They fell into a comfortable silence, both lost in their thoughts. Rory couldn't get Matteo's words out of her mind...

"Charlie?" Rory's voice came through the phone again, pulling Charles from his reverie.

"Hey."

"I thought you were asleep,"

"Just resting my eyes," he teased. "Remember the cabin we went to last summer?"

"How could I forget? That place was magical." Rory smiled at the memory of Charles' family cabin, nestled in the woods, filled with the warmth of old memories and photographs. "And I especially remember the amazing pictures of you I saw."

"Oh God...Don't remind me of that..."

Rory laughed, "They were very cute photos. Mainly the ones of grumpy baby Charles."

Charles couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the sound of her laughter, but that quickly faded when he remembered what we wanted to tell her. "Ma Chérie," Aurora hummed in response. "I was thinking of introducing you to my family."

Rory was taken back, "You sure?"

"Very sure."
"Are you going to tell them it's fake?" Rory asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"No," Charles said firmly.

"I don't get it, why do you want me to meet your family? I'm not your real girlfriend. Meeting my family was in different circumstances. And getting the people we love involved would just make this more messy when it ends..."

"Ma Chérie," Charles interrupted her, choosing his words carefully. "You may not be my real girlfriend but you are one of the most important people in my life right now, and I want my family to meet you."

Rory's heart swelled at his words. "Alright, Charlie. I'll meet them. But we need to be careful. This is just something to make Alejandro stay away from me anymore.

Charles' voice softened. "I know, Rory. We'll figure it out together."

Rory felt a sense of relief wash over her. "Okay. When do you want to do this?"

"How about next weekend? My mom is hosting a small get-together for the family, and it would be the perfect opportunity."

"Sounds good," Rory agreed. "I'll be there."

"Thank you, Ma Chérie. I can't wait for you to meet them."

The next week, Rory found herself nervously adjusting her dress as they pulled up to the Leclerc family home. Seeing this, Charles picked up her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "You'll be fine," he said, smiling warmly at her.

As they pulled up to the house, she could already see Charle's mom at the door waiting for them. As soon as they got out of the car Pascale hugged her son and Rory stayed back smiling at the sweet interaction.

"Oh sweety, it's so good to meet you. Come in, come in you two, everyone is already here."

Pascale walked in front of the both of them and Rory looked at Charles with a smile on her face and to him she couldn't look more beautiful at the moment.

"The others are outside right now. Char, sweetie, could you go get the cups?" Just as Charles was walking away Pascale turned to Rory. "Charlie has talked a lot about you but never told how you two met."

"It's a funny story actually..."

Rory started telling Pascale all about how they met in Andorra and their time there and the smile never left her face. Charles, who had easily found the cups his mother wanted, stayed leaned against the doorway watching the two woman interact and a warmth grew on his chest.

Charles cleared his throat and approached the two women sneaking an arm around Rory's waist and softly kissing her temple. "I see that the conversation is good, but I bet the other are eager to meet you, Chérie."

"Yes, let's go, or the food will get cold."

As Pascale left, Charles sneaked to Rory's front still keeping an arm around her. "You good."

"Yeah, your mom is lovely. I think she liked me."

"It's impossible not to like you, Chérie." Rory smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Charles cheek letting him lead her to where the rest of his family was.

"Rory, it is so nice to finally meet you." Arthur exclaimed as he pulled her into a hug and the rest of the family took their turns getting to know her.

"Charlie," he looked at his mom that he hadn't noticed was at his side, "she is one of the good ones, don't let her go."

Charlie looked at Rory with a smile on his face as she interacted with the rest of his family, "I don't intend to."

"Let's go eat everyone, so we can keep hearing the stories these two have to tell us."

Everyone sat on the table, Rory sat next to Charles and he immediately got up to fix her plate for her, earning a soft smile from the girl.

"Thank you so much for having us Pascale." Rory thanked after dinner as Charles was picking up their jackets so they could leave.

"Oh sweetie, you have nothing to thank me for. You two make a beautiful couple, you sure make my Charlie happy."

Upon hearing Pascale's words Rory's smile slightly faded, but she quickly made up for it. "He also makes me very happy."

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Charles came up behind Rory, sneaking his arm around her waist. Rory quickly stepped away from Charles' embrace and nodded.

The last goodbyes were enchanted and the couple made their way to Charles' car. He opened the door for her and she thanked him with a quiet thank you.

Charles got into the driver's seat and before he started the car he turned to Rory. "Did I do something?"

"What? No." Rory's eyes stayed on the road instead of turning to Charles.

"Then what is going on?" He fully turned in his seat to face her. "Talk to me, Chérie."

"I can't do this anymore."

His heart sank. "What?"

"You and me. There are a lot of people involved and I never wanted this to take the proportions it did."

"Rory..." Charles tried to reach for her hand but she pulled it away before he could.

"We can't keep this up anymore. It's not safe for your career."

Charles turned on his seat facing the road. All he wanted was to tell the truth, how he really felt about her but he was afraid that he was going to lose what he already had of Rory.

"Is that what you want?"

It wasn't what Rory wanted, all she wanted was to go back to Andorra and tell Charles that they could make it work, but it was too late and she should let him move on.

"Yes."

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A little behind the scenes for anyone who wants to know. This wasn't supposed to happen now, there were going to be a couple of chapters before all of this happened but as I was writing it just felt right to have them end their agreement now. I don't know if the book is feeling too rushed (I would love some insight if anyone would like to give) but I'm excited to keep it up and end Rory's and Charles story.