danger (mcfly)

Chapter 7

“CHARLOTTE!” Dougie screamed into the phone.

“Hey, Dougster,” I replied with a giggle.

“I’m glad Tom finally gave you my number. I miss you! You should come over now, and we can catch up in person!”

“Seriously?” I only needed to think about it for half a second. “I’d love to!”

“Do you remember where I live?”

“Uhh, no. Text it to me, and I can come over in like 30 minutes, if that works?”

Dougie made a squealing noise on the other end, making me giggle again. He didn’t bother to say goodbye; he just hung up mid-squeal. Forever a strange man.

I brushed through my hair once, and made my way to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee to go.

“Are you going out with Adam again?” Grace asked, cradling Henry in her arms.

“Yeah,” I lied. “Want me to pick up dinner on the way home?”

“You two are getting awfully close. Are you sure you’re not dating?”

“Yes! We’re only friends.”

“If you say so…” she said, doubting me.

“You never answered my question about dinner,” I said as I slipped a red beanie on my head. I wasn’t entirely sure if I pulled off the whole beanie look, but I liked to wear them anyway.

“Chinese sounds good. But don’t stay out too late, please. I’m going to go to bed a little earlier than usual; I’m completely knackered.”

“I literally have no idea what knackered means.” Stupid British slang, I thought. Despite having dated a British guy and having British family, their extensive slang confused me to no end.

“It means I’m tired. Now go before Adam gets too lonely.”

I shook my head at her and gave Henry a kiss on his head before leaving.  Dougie came and met me outside when I arrived. He lives in the same complex as Danny, so we tried our best to be quiet until we were standing inside of Dougie’s living room. Definitely didn’t want to risk any awkward run-ins with him.

We both plopped down on the sofa cross-legged and giggled when we realized we had nothing to do.

“I’ve missed you a lot, Doug.”

“Same with me,” Dougie wrapped his arm around me, and I cuddled up slightly against him. “How jealous do you think Tom would be if he saw us right now?”

“Uh…not at all? He has a girlfriend.” Why would Dougie even ask me that?

“He still loves you, even if he won’t admit it to himself.”

I lifted my head off of Dougie’s chest and looked at his face to make sure he was being serious. I couldn’t bring myself to believe it, and I didn’t want to anyway. I know what Grace would say if she knew what was going on. She’d tell me it was destiny. I could picture her saying something about how we managed to meet again after all that time. But I don’t believe in destiny or fate or whatever you want to call it. Tom and I meeting again was just a coincidence.

“Let’s just watch a movie or something…I don’t really feel like talking about this,” I admitted.

“Okay!”

He picked me up bridal style, despite my protests, and brought me to his rack of DVDs. The Goonies immediately caught my attention. I picked it off of the shelf, and Dougie frowned slightly. He had already been holding Titanic.