35 ᴍᴍ ꜰɪʟᴍ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ I 🎀 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒸𝒾𝑒 𝒜𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓂𝓈 [𝑔𝓍𝑔] 🎀

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟒: 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 34

Gracie emerged from the bathroom, rubbing her face with a towel, her hair still damp from the evening routine. She reached up to turn off the light, about to head to bed, when she noticed a faint glow from the balcony outside her living room. She pulled the towel away and moved towards the door, peering out. Charlie stood there, leaning against the railing with a cigarette between her fingers, the smoke curling lazily into the cool night air.

With a sigh, Gracie stepped out onto the balcony. "I thought you'd gone to bed," she said softly, crossing her arms to ward off the chill.

Charlie started, turning to look at her with an apologetic smile, stubbing the cigarette out in the ashtray on the railing. "I... I thought you had already," she murmured. "Sorry, didn't mean to bother you."

"You're not bothering me," Gracie replied, her voice gentle. She came to stand beside Charlie, their shoulders nearly touching as they looked out over the cityscape, the faint sounds of late-night traffic and occasional laughter rising up from the street below.

Charlie chuckled softly, her gaze distant. "Last year, I had this very... vivid dream," she began, her words slow, almost hesitant, like she was unearthing something she hadn't spoken about in a long time.

"You and me... we were living in some city somewhere. We had this little house with a picket fence and a garden. You'd laugh at me about the garden; you said I was hopeless at keeping the flowers alive. But you would tell me that it was okay and that I will get it to bloom eventually." She smiled faintly, the memory bittersweet. "But it felt real, you know? Like that was it. Like that was what life was supposed to be. It's daft, I know. A ridiculous dream, really... Wishing for normality."

Gracie's gaze softened, her heart aching as she listened. She could picture it clearly—the two of them in a life that seemed impossibly distant now. "And you... you think you've messed that up?"

Charlie's eyes dropped to the cigarette in her hand, her smile fading slightly as she gave a short, hollow laugh. "Well, haven't I? Let's be honest, Gracie... I've done nothing but make things harder for us, haven't I?"

Gracie's face softened, her gaze fixed on Charlie. "It's not daft," she replied, her voice tender. Gracie reached out, placing a gentle hand on Charlie's arm. "Hey," she said firmly, her gaze steady. "You've been through hell, Charlie. And whatever's happened... it doesn't mean that dream can't still happen."

Charlie glanced at her, a wistful smile tugging at her lips. "I don't know, Gracie," she said, a note of sadness in her voice. "The person I envisioned it with... hasn't been in my life for a year."

Charlie couldn't keep her eyes off of Gracie. "You haven't been around for more than a year."

Gracie's expression turned painful, but she quickly masked it, her hand resting on the cool metal railing. "Maybe," she replied softly, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to be here now, Charlie. Maybe... maybe we could start over."

Charlie looked down, the weight of regret and time lost pressing against her chest. "I want to make up for lost time, Gracie. I want to make up for all of it, but..." She trailed off, her voice breaking slightly. "I just don't know where to start. I feel like I've already ruined the future we could've had... Besides... I can't believe I'm saying this but I don't think... That I'm ready to be in a relationship right now."

Gracie reached over, placing her hand gently on Charlie's, the warmth of her touch grounding her. "We don't have to do anything drastic right now," she murmured, her tone patient and understanding. "Just... let me be in your life again. Let's start there, yeah?"