𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐂.𝐋

𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯

try to enjoy

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

it would be a straight up lie to say charles lennon didn't go to sleep that night - still thinking of harley deluca, and her arms that wrapped around him.

he revisited the moment so frequently, how she looked up at him, how her hands clung onto him, her cries that pained him, her cries.

now, he sat in his 4th period, his pencil tapping the desk as he looked around - just irking for the bell to ring, longing. after fourth period was when he directly passed harley, and now, this following monday, he was waiting for that.

and so when the bell rang, he rushed out. he rushed to the hallways, clinging onto his letterman's jacket that he chose not to wear. his eyes searched the hallway, until -

until he saw her.

his eyes sort of softened, they watched as she grew closer, and once harley had looked up to him, he awaited any reaction or greeting, but instead received a look of panic. harley gulped, clutching her bag before speeding up, and at that, he followed close behind.

attempting to catch up to her, watching the bags under her eyes as she looked away, charles was pulled back - he was tugged on, now stumbling backwards - and there was a small thud as he hit the others making their ways to the classes.

"what's your problem?" he asked, now meeting eyes with the one and only derrick, ronnie's best guy pal.

she stood close behind, and just from the looks she shot, charlie knew this had to do with her. he poked the side of his mouth with his tongue, sighing and as he glanced down at the hand that derrick used to hold him by his collar, he forcefully pushed him off.

"don't do that." he ordered, and at the sound of students gossiping and stopping in the hallways, harley turned.

considering it was cold now, she wore a white thermal longsleeve, with a dark brown velvet vest, and some dark washed jeans that slightly flared at the bottom. her hair was tied up, she didn't bother to do it this morning, or any mornings this past month.

she slowly walked back over, her crossbody swaying as she did, and she pushed through the crowd, watching quietly.

"think you can use your dead friend as an excuse?" derrick seethed, and he immediately swung. charles had ducked this, though it was no problem for derrick to in him against a locker. slowly, he raised up his fist to deck this boy straight in the face, and harley's eyes widened. in this time, everyone glanced to her slowly, as if these two had some sort of connection like that, and harley gulped, walking over.

it wasn't until ronnie stepped in front of her that charles had been punched straight in the face, blood beginning to seep through his nose. harley jumped at the sudden violence, and she clung onto her strap, sighing.

"he's hurting him." she spoke softly, and ronnie tilted her head, a small look upon her face as she shrugged.

harley sighed, now pushing past her as charles began to get punched, and honestly - this was the weirdest sight for the school to see.

"not an excuse at all." he smiled, and once again - he was punched straight in the face. charles lennon did nothing to stop this, instead he smiled at harley deluca who watched him in concern.

this was an absolute first.

ronnie pulled harley back, and with one swift movement, harley pushed her back. with so much force that she was able to cause this girl to slam against the lockers, causing everyone to gasp. that was also a first.

and with that, derrick stopped the punching on charles - who was now equipped with a black eye, and a few bruises upon his face.

almost seething, derrick walked over to harley - pushing her in just the same way, his head tilted as he watched her stumble back, her books in her hand falling. "shouldn't you be at a fucking funeral?"

and it was suddenly silent, no one in the hallway spoke, no one at all. harley's brows furrowed, because how could someone even say that? she immediately froze, looking as if she'd seen a ghost, because now - now she was incredibly angry, and incredibly sad.

for a split second, as if the slow motion had stopped, it was quiet, and in that split second charles lennon wiped the blood from his mouth before he threw himself onto derrick, tackling him and holding him by the torso. the two boys slammed against the lockers, and everyone began speaking again - yelling in excitement of the fight.

charlie now practically towered this boy, right above him as they made it to the floor, and he continuously punched him straight in the face.

he wanted to say so much, he wanted to yell at him and defend harley's name but he had no idea where to start.

ronnie watched in horror, yelling for them both to stop and after a few seconds, she urged harley to go and put a stop to it, because a big part of her knew she could.

harley glanced over, did she even want to stop this? derrick fucking deserved it. no one mentioned ollie's death like that, no one.

so she looked over to the boys as they tumbled against the school floors, and slowly back to ronnie. "you do it." she spoke calmly, and as if she was some sort of psychopath, she slightly smiled at the sight.

ronnie yelped at her answer, groaning and continuing to freak out. and to harley, this fight was in slow motion. the roars from her surrounding peers, the sound of them banging against the lockers, everything.

but when charles was tugged off of derrick by two teachers, it all went back to normal. charles wiped his bloody knuckles on his white polo shirt that he definitely got at some fancy store, and as they tugged him away, he glanced to harley.

he wanted to smile, he really wanted to, seeing the way her face was suddenly lit up after looking so dead earlier, he did. but nothing came but a simple nod, and at that - she gave a nod back, as if they were in some sort of alliance, but they weren't.

they were in some unspoken agreement, and they didn't quite know what it was, but charles knew his part of it was to keep her protected, as well as her family's name.

it turned out derrick would be just fine, his face might've been swollen but it nothing the baseball player couldn't get through. harley went home that day, and she accepted the fact that charles would not be attending school for a while.

she sat in her room, writing in her binder - her trapper keeper right beside her. she was in her pajamas, as usual, and it was quiet and peaceful in there.

her music played faintly, and she still looked as tired as ever, but at the sound of knocks banging upon her window, she was suddenly alert again.

she got up, walking over swiftly, and the sight she stared down at - it wasn't so terrible.

charles lennon stood against his car, wearing the same outfit but this time with her letterman's on. he wore sunglasses to hide his black eye, but she could tell once she opened her curtains, his face lightened up.

he stood there, nodding his head towards his car, and shrugging. it was charming, as much as harley didn't want to admit it, it was.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶