Distraction

Plaid/Flannel

A/N: This is the result of an overactive mind and trying to put jumbled thoughts on paper. I hope you'll enjoy! (A re-post from my FF.net. account. Re-posted as individual chapters for format reasons).

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It probably started with those (stupid) plaid shirts of his.

Henry wears plaid a lot.

Almost his entire wardrobe is dominated by the tartan pattern. She doesn't know why he loves it so much, but mostly chooses not to comment on it (much).

But because he's almost always wearing that same darn pattern, she starts to associate plaid with Henry. And when she sees it anywhere, it brings fort some weird behaviors.

For instance, she always gets some sort of fluttery feeling in her stomach when she sees said pattern anywhere. Or, she finds herself smiling whenever someone wearing plaid appears in her line of vision.

She had once also bought a plush, tan-colored teddy bear, that wore a plaid shirt, just because it was cute.

Well, that's what she told her mom anyways when she had asked her about it.

Her mom had raised an eyebrow, smiling indulgently, one could almost say teasingly. It had seemed as if she knew exactly why her daughter had taken an interest in the bear. Charlotte of course, had immediately changed the subject.

She sometimes feels desensitized towards it though, so used to seeing him in the pattern.

Other times, she can't help but appreciate how good he looks in those shirts.

Maybe it's not the shirts or the pattern per se, but rather Henry wearing them...or Henry wearing anything.

Or maybe it's just Henry, even if he's not wearing anything (and isn't that a wonderful thought).

Oftentimes, she finds herself staring at him, cataloging how each shirt fits him so perfectly. How the blue's and yellows and basically every color he wears, intensifies the color of his eyes.

At times, she's not even aware of the fact that she's staring.

Like today for instance.

She's sitting at the back of the class, while Henry and Jasper are both sitting more towards the front. Halfway through the class, her eyes start to wander and instinctively settle on Henry's back. It's something that's been happening more and more lately. She finds herself thinking about how the blue and black plaid shirt, fits him oh so nicely.

She wonders how he consistently wears the same thing, but it still doesn't manage to bore her to death.

And do all of his shirts hug his form so perfectly?

She's pretty sure that they didn't before (and she would know, because this staring thing has been going on for quite some time). But now -probably because he's always so active as a result of his job- the shirts fit him extra nicely, still a bit baggy, but hugging his form nonetheless. Suddenly she has the urge to run her hands against his body, feel how hard and taut his muscles have become.

She's so distracted by her thoughts, that she doesn't notice Ms. Shapen calling her name multiple times. The teacher, who becomes exasperated after calling her for the fifth time, walks from the front of the class, towards her.

"Charlotte?"

Charlotte visibly startles and quickly looks up, meeting the annoyed gaze of Ms. Shapen, who's hunched over and looking her dead in the eyes.

"Why are you, my smartest student, not paying attention in class? I need that extra-extra bonus, you know? And you're the only one smart enough to help me get it." Ms. Shapen says in exasperation.

"Uhm."

Charlotte's eyes dart around the class and she flushes when she finds everyone staring at her, a few of them sniggering in amusement.

Crap.

Her eyes move towards Henry, who's staring at her with one eyebrow quirked and a smirk on his face, which makes her slightly panic.

Double Crap.

Did he see me staring?

When did he even turn around? How did I not pick up on the movement?

She tries not to think about it and sits ramrod straight, shooting her teacher a small, uneasy smile, "Sorry Miss Shapen. I was thinking about the upcoming test."

Someone snorts in disbelief (because she's sure that it sounds disbelieving!).

She doesn't know who it is, since more than half of the class are giving her skeptical looks. It makes her face warm up even more.

Ms. Shapen however does believe her. She huffs before speaking up again, her voice laced with annoyance, " Well, don't let it happen again. You can think about the test later."

She then turns around and walks back to the front of the class, resuming her lecture on...whatever it was she'd been talking about.

Charlotte tries to start paying attention again, she really does. But she finds her eyes moving back towards Henry. He's still looking at her, smirk still in place. It takes a few seconds before he turns back around.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

That smirk was way too knowing for her liking.

She doesn't think that she's ever felt this embarrassed before. It's pretty humiliating to find the whole class watching you as you stare at someone who you're supposedly 'just friends' with (which is the truth, so why do some people not believe her?).

So she vows from then on to never let plaid distract her ever again. Or better said, she will never let the person who's wearing plaid distract her again.

But apparently plaid isn't the only thing that can be distracting.

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Tbc.