sweet escape [c.l.]

chapter fifteen

"Easy there." Arthur exclaimed as he helped Charles get out of the car.

It was the next day and Charles had gotten the all clear to go home after he and Rory spent the whole night sleeping at the medical center.. He had tried to convince Rory to drive his car so he could go home, but she was scared of driving it and instead Arthur went to pick him up while she went to his house to get everything ready for when he arrived.

"Hey," Rory said, opening the front door.

Charles just stood there looking at her and admiring her beauty and how good she looked in his doorway just waiting for him to get home.

He smiled at her before climbing the rest of the stairs with Arthur on his tail to make sure that he didn't fall. "Hey." he told her as he softly kissed her cheek making a blush creep on her cheeks.

"Thank you for bringing him Arthur."

"No worries. Do you need any help with anything?"

"No, it's all good," she looked at Charles as he sat softly on his couch. "I'll take care of the hurt boy, don't worry."

"If he causes you any trouble give me a call."

"Sure."

Arthur walked away leaving the two of them to fend for themselves. Rory quickly took off to the kitchen to prepare Charles something to eat while he turned on the tv and searched for a movie for them to watch.

"I made you some soup," Rory said as she placed the tray on the table in front of him. "It's nothing fancy, but it should help."

Charles smiled at her. "You didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to," she replied, sitting next to him. "You need to rest and get better, I'm here to help."

He reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. "Thank you, Rory. For everything."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, the warmth of the soup and Rory's presence making Charles feel more at ease. The events of the past few days had taken a toll on him, but with Rory by his side, he was starting to feel better.

"I'm just going to take this to the kitchen and then we can watch the movie."

"Okay." Charles replied, getting comfortable under the blanket while Rory took the tray back to the kitchen.

When she returned, Charles had already dozed off. She smiled softly, watching him sleep.

She decided that while he took his nap, she would take the time to finish up some reports that she had overdue and she didn't want to abuse her luck since her boss had given her time off so she could look after Charles.

Rory picked up her computer and set up on Charles' dining table, working, while the boy slept a couple of meters away from her.

A couple of hours later Charles woke up and he could hear the soft noise of Rory's fingers making their way through her keyboard while she worked.

He didn't give her any sign that he was awake and just stayed on the couch. It had been a rough weekend ending with the worst outcome possible. But he ended up with Rory by his side, staying in his house to take care of him.

And what she had told him.

Oh...what she had told him.

She probably thought he hadn't heard what she said and that he was asleep, but did, he heard her say the 3 magic words and he felt like the happiest guy on the planet. But she hadn't mentioned it again.

He didn't know if she regretted telling him what she did or if she was trying to give him the chance to be happy that she had put in her head that he needed away from her. But he was going to prove to her that all he needed to be happy was her.

Charles got up from the couch trying to be silent, and walked close to Rory with a smile on his face that only grew when he saw her slightly dancing along to the music she was hearing on her earphones.

He leaned against the wall at the entry of the dining room and admired Rory in her natural ambience before walking closer to her and removing one of her earphones.

"Hi," Rory said, looking up at Charles with a smile on her face.

"Hi," he leaned down and kissed her forehead, "what are you doing?" he asked, looking at her computer.

"Finishing up some reports."

He started caressing her shoulders which made her lean against him subconsciously. "I thought your boss gave you a couple of days off."

"He did," Rory answered, grabbing his hand, "but I didn't want to abuse my luck so I'm finishing some of the reports I had pending."

"Fun." he replied ironically, making her push him away from her.

"You should be resting instead of interrupting me." she completely turned to face him. "How are you feeling?"

"Bruised ego, but other than that I'm all good." Rory just smiled at him. "So... I was thinking..." he turned her chair around so she would be fully facing him.

"Never a good thing but go on."

He gently pucked her side. "Anyway... I was thinking we could order in and watch that movie that we were going to watch before...".

"You have to sleep."

"I have been sleeping all day..." he pulled her by arms, closer to him. "Come on, you can't deny a sick guy what he wants to do."

"Yes I can." she replied with a smile on her face.

"Yes, you can..." he put an arm around her waist, "but you won't."

She took a deep breath. "No, I won't."

The smile on Charles' face only grew and he gave her a kiss on the cheek before closing her computer carefully and all her things and dragged her to the couch sitting down and putting the blanket on top of the two.

"Ready?" he asked eager to press play.

Rory just nodded with a smile on her face that remained there the whole movie which she barely watched because the whole time she was watching Charles excited to show her his favorite movie.