Boundaries..... It's not just a word

Chapter - 6

It took about four months before Misty finally stopped avoiding the dorm room and Lynda. Lynda was happy that she had her friend back but she knew that something had created a huge rift with all three of them. When the Skype rang and it was Charlie on the call, Misty would walk into her room and shut the door, this had put a strain on the relationship between her and Lynda though. Finally, it was just becoming too much strain on the girls' friendship and Misty knew that she would have to speak to Charlie occasionally when he called but it was quick and nothing like the calls that they had before, something changed and there was a palpable tension in the air that could be cut with a knife. The only reason she went through the heartbreak each time he called was for Lynda's sake, she couldn't hurt her friend anymore and she knew that it was creating a huge rift between the girls and that had to stop. When Lynda would call Charlie, he would ask if Misty was home, Lynda would tell him the truth, if she was Misty would come out of her room and say hi to him, she would always be polite, a simple conversation, nothing deep or important and the conversations were always extremely brief but most of the time she wasn't there and Lynda could see her brother's face change, the light in his eyes shifted and almost disappeared. Lynda knew them both extremely well and knew that something had to have happened between them to cause this amount of strain. Lynda was so saddened that they were not able to talk to each other like they used to and she knew that both of them were hurting badly. Lynda tried and was exasperated when trying to get either of them to tell her what happened. Finally, she stopped asking them but she still wanted to know, what caused their relationship to become so fractured, so wounded. One-day Lynda called Charlie and said "Enough of this bullshit! What the fuck happened that caused you both to become fucking emotional zombies? Don't tell me to mind my own business either because right now I'm beyond mad, I'm fucking furious! You two are acting like children and it is going to stop right now god damn it! So, tell me Charlie what happened?"

Charlie exhaled and said "Misty called me on Skype about four or five months ago and I had just finished working out and one of my ex-girlfriends came over and decided that she was going to strip and try to seduce me. Misty called right in the middle of the horror show, my ex threw her clothes at me and I threw them away from me. My ex walked up right behind me and said something to the effect of "let's go fuck" Misty was crushed, she closed the laptop and she hasn't really spoke to me since. I didn't even want that girl here but it's not like Misty and I are in a relationship, I mean fuck, even if I did want to fuck that bitch, which I didn't, it shouldn't have caused such an issue with her where she wouldn't talk to me!" "God damn it Charlie, are you that fucking stupid? She's in love with you, she has been since our winter break. She's never been with anyone and it must have just drained her entire self-esteem, not from you but from what has happened to her, her whole life. She doesn't see her worth and it probably caused her to look at that girl and find nothing but faults in herself. You're right you two aren't in a relationship but she is so naïve about these things, shit she still a virgin!" Lynda grabbed her mouth and said "Fuck, don't ever let her know that I said that! Fuck that slipped out. God damn it! That was a secret that she told me, please promise to never say anything!"

Misty was at home one night, she had finished all her homework and extra credit work, there was nothing left for her to do but chill out at the dorm room and watch tv. This night a call came in from Charlie and she put a smile on her face and answered "Hi Charlie, Lynda's not home right now but I'll tell her you called." Charlie looked so upset and said "Mist, wait look I'm really very sorry. That the girl was an ex-girlfriend, she would not take a hint, I told her to leave over and over again but she wouldn't and she just kept undressing herself and then threw her clothes at me and I batted them away. I know you think I'm a complete asshole and I wouldn't and didn't do anything to hurt you or your feelings. I told her to leave and that is when you called. She saw that I was talking to a girl and that is why she said what she said, I swear Mist, I didn't touch her. I should have never let her in the door, I know I fucked up and I am sorry that it caused you so much pain. But not talking to you is killing me, I can't eat, sleep or concentrate on anything knowing that you are suffering from something that didn't even happen. Mist, can we please get past this? I miss talking to you. Can we start over? Will you talk to me again, please?" Misty shook her head and said "I've missed you too. And I'm sorry I reacted that way, it wasn't fair to you, I never gave you a chance to explain. I obviously have my own issues and I shouldn't have let them come between us. I will always be friends with you Charlie and honesty there isn't much that you can do to change that, I will always be around. Just please try not to have your ex-girlfriends parade naked in front of the camera from now on, okay?" At the end of the call the two were joking around and making plans for the next time that the girls would be home. Lynda came home from her study session that night and could sense right away that there was to a change, there wasn't such a sense of depression and the energy in the room was so different to larger degree. She couldn't tell what it was but she was thankful that it was happening because honestly, she was getting sick and tired of the childish behavior that was going on between the two of them.

Lynda figured that either Misty had finally come to her senses and got over it or she and Charlie had talked it over it and had resolved the issues themselves, finally. Lynda knew that Charlie was really attracted to Misty, he didn't have to tell Lynda. She knew her brother, he lit up when he saw or spoke to her or about her and she knew that he was taking the obvious avoidance and rejection from her extremely badly. She hadn't seen him react this way except in high school, when his girlfriend and best friend destroyed his world. Lynda called Charlie on skype and said to him in a very serious manner, "Charlie, her heart is not to be broken! She's my best friend and I love her like a sister. Don't you fucking mess with her if you have no intentions of actually having a relationship with her or I'll kick you in the shins and then tell mom and dad" she laughed out loud at the face that Charlie was making a face in mock horror of his sister kicking him or of her telling their parents, but he understood, he understood completely. Charlie already knew that Misty was special and he didn't want to ruin anything that could become something between them, if he could only just get out of his own damn way, things would be fine. Lynda was finally satisfied with the conversation and she let Charlie know that the girls would be coming home soon for the break the following day.

Later when Misty got home from her last class, Lynda sat her down and said to Misty, "I know what happened with Charlie and that you took it really hard but so has he. Charlie, he really is an amazing guy but please be careful, he's my brother and I love him and I don't want to see anyone else broken, especially either one of you. He had his heart broken before and he was a complete and utter wreck for months after his high school girlfriend cheated on him with the QB of the football team, who was his best friend." Lynda continued to tell Misty "He was obviously devastated, he wouldn't eat, he stayed in his room for days at a time, he became a totally different person because of it. Charlie has never let another woman get close enough to him, he wasn't going to allow anyone close enough to hurt him again! I saw what you not talking to him did, to the both of you. I don't want to witness that again, okay? It was devastating to watch from both sides, he was beginning to fall back into that pattern and I saw what it did to you. Both of you were miserable and neither would do anything about it. Both of you are stupid too" Lynda looked at Misty and stuck her tongue out at her and then they both broke out into a laughing fit. Misty nodded her head in agreement and then the girls packed for another winter break back at Lynda and Charlie parent's house for the break. They were talking and laughing and singing along with the radio the whole drive down to Newport Beach, CA.