The Brother's Estate

The Third Brother Part 1

A/N: I've split this into two parts, as in Scrivener I've just wrote them as scenes and it makes sense to upload them as parts rather than all-in-one. As always, the sex in part 2 will be totally excluded to make this safe for everyone! c:

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Though it was the middle of summer, Charlotte could smell the wonderful scent of wet grass as she waited at the train station. The sky above was a dull gray, by far the best shade of an English sky in her opinion. The heat had nearly vanished, and despite the lingering humidity, she felt finally at ease with the weather.

The train pulled to a stop on the platform that she was stood at, and she took several steps back to allow people to get onto the train. People pushed past with their luggage and she decided to stand against the wall. Her eyes darted around as she tried to find Maria. Through the waves of people, she was able to locate the ice-white hair and clicking of heels she always associated with her best friend. Within moments, Maria emerged from the crowd and her made-up face showed her joy.

Charlotte threw her hands up as she went to hug Maria. "Maria! It's been so long!"

"I know!" Maria screamed playfully as she wrapped both of her arms around her, and then quickly let her go. "It's so good to see you." The scent of Chanel Number 5 flooded Charlotte's nostrils — every inch of that girl was coated in perfume, and it seemed to always be that way. Perhaps the smell was just a permanent fixture of her skin, by that point.

She waved her hand for Maria to follow her through the doors. "I know, I can't believe I haven't seen you since before I moved in. It's gotta have been, what? A month, now?"

"Yeah, you left us all behind!" Maria put her large, over-sized leather handbag onto the ground as she pulled a pink cigarette case out of her pocket. "How is everything? How's lover boy?"

"Lover boy?" Charlotte chuckled as Maria passed her a cigarette and then lit her own. "You mean Jack?"

"Of course I mean Jack, silly. How's it going with him? Has he made a move?"

Charlotte and Maria had been friends for most of their lives. Maria had always pushed Charlotte to get out of her comfort zone, and she'd been telling Charlotte to go for it with Jack. She knew he was attractive and Maria herself had swooned over him on FaceTime.

"Well, a few nights ago he came round and we had dinner together, just Chinese, nothing fancy, and... I guess I pushed him away when he tried."

Maria's jaw dropped. "Shut. Up." The way she spoke gave Charlotte a kick back to their high school days together — she was immature and playful, but one of the nicest people that Charlotte had ever met. "You gotta work on it! Like, I couldn't just let a beautiful creature like that slip away from me."

"I haven't let him slip away, he's a nice guy and all but I hardly know him."

Charlotte finally lit the cigarette; it was a bad habit that she seemed to only pick up when she was around Maria. She didn't mind, it wasn't like she smoked when she was on her own. As she inhaled it, she coughed. Maria laughed at her, and then she picked her bag back up as they walked to Charlotte's car.

"You still have this old thing? I think you should upgrade it."

She laughed as she unlocked her car door. "I know, I actually thought the same when I moved in but I rarely go anywhere, really. I still haven't found a job and my savings?" She waved her hand around. "They're pretty much all gone, I'm surviving on them to pay my mortgage."

They both got into the car and Maria threw her bag into the backseat. "Well, I'm still proud of you, girl." Maria kissed her friend playfully on the cheek. "Ah, it is so, so good to see you. I really can't wait to see the new house! Is it big? You showed me photos but not of everything."

"It really isn't as big as you'd think. It's tiny compared to the houses around me."

Charlotte started the car and opened both of the front windows.

"You're living around the rich and famous, now. Of course you're not gonna be as impressive..."

"Oi," Charlotte laughed. "I'll have you know that my house was totally redecorated and everything before I moved in, it's really nice and a damn sight better than what I was living in before."

"How far is it from here?"

"Not that far, a few miles, really."

Maria looked at Charlotte sideways. "Really?"

"Nope, I hope you're okay for a long drive."