Cheek To Cheek

Chapter 5

".... Um Mom... hi.... I didn't know you were coming," Charlie's eyes were wide as she saw her mother standing there before she heard the clacking of heels and her shiny blonde haired sister appeared, "Oh and Catherine, you're here too."

"We were invited, weren't we?" Her sister rolled her eyes with a hand on her hip as she looked around the room and muttered, "It seems like everyone else was."

All eyes were on Charlie as she stood there, feeling her body flush with heat feeling flustered from her mother and sister's abrupt appearance. Charlie had invited them out of formality but never thought they'd show up and now having them here with the sweet Evans family mortified her.

"Happy Birthday Helen," Charlie's mother Julie, walked over to the elderly woman and gave her a hug before telling her, "I wish Charlotte would have given me more notice, I could have come and decorated."

"Oh Charlie did decorate," Helen motioned around at the streamers, photos and balloons that were lovingly hung.

Julie just laughed and said, "Well but I would have put up some actually good ones."

"Well I love the ones Charlie put up," The grandmother stated, looking past her daughter-in-law to smile at Charlie."

The Evans family were all looking at Charlie who still was standing near Chris, feeling a wave of discomfort over her as she shifted from one foot to another. She reached up, scratching the back of her neck and bit at her lower lip, trying to figure out what to say. Charlie felt one of Chris' big warm hands come to rest on her lower back in an attempt to comfort and reassure her and this helped to bring her back to reality.

"Um, well everyone, this is my sister Catherine and my mother Julie," She started motioning to each of them before she introduced them to all of the Evans family.

"Chris Evans... you play Captain America don't you?" Charlie's sister started batting her eyelashes while she walked over to stand close to him.

"Uh yeah, I do," He simply said before trying to change the subject, the only thing he could think to say was, "I've loved getting to live down the road from your grandma and get to know her."

Catherine smiled as she obviously tried to flirt with him, saying, "It's so crazy that someone as handsome as you lives right by my grandmother."

"I can't believe this is the first I'm hearing about it," Julie piped in while they tried to engage Chris in conversation and being the polite person he was, he answered their questions.

While this was going on, Charlie shrunk to the corner of the room and went to sit by Lisa and Scott on the piano bench. Lisa wrapped an arm around Charlie and leaned over to kiss her cheek while Scott tried to get her to laugh, whispering, "Your mom and sister need to get refunds for that plastic surgery they have because it looks like shit."

This got her nose crinkling up as she laughed and Helen got the kids playing a game to get the party going again and distract Charlie from her troublesome family. Throughout the evening, each person tried to rescue Chris from the women fawning over him but to no avail. Even when they moved to play a game of charades, he was surrounded by the two.

"Okay..." Charlie trailed off while she got up, drawing a piece of paper from the bowl Stella was holding so she could see what she needed to act out for the game.

She started acting out the movie but when the timer was up and nobody on her team guessed it, she laughed and told them with a laugh, "It was King Kong! I don't know how you guys didn't get that with me pretending to swat a plane out of the sky!"

"We probably were just too distracted by the stains on your sweater," Her mother commented, making Catherine laugh.

"Well, I was um, I was cooking earlier," Charlie cheeks grew red while she looked down and picked at the dried on cake batter that was crusted on her sweater. "I think it's Shanna's turn next."

The game went on and as soon as it ended, Lisa and Charlie retreated into the kitchen to cut the birthday cake. As Charlie served up the pieces onto plates, Lisa rubbed her bad and said, "Honey, i'm just going to say one thing..."

"What's that?"

She put her hands on Charlie's shoulders, telling her, "You're a wonderful and well loved person and nobody can take that away from you."

The only thing Charlie could do in that moment was throw her arms around Lisa, hugging her tight. Eventually they parted and Lisa took the cake into everyone while Charlie decided to have a moment to herself, retreating to her grandmother's back porch and sitting on the swinging bench. The late Summer night had grown dim and she stared at the cracking boards as she gently swung back and forth. After a while, she saw a pair of adidas show up and she instantly knew who was there.

"I was wondering where you went," His voice was low and warm. "This spot open?"

"All yours," Charlie motioned.

Chris sat down on the swinging bench with her, their sides pressed together as Chris' hunky frame filled the spot and he asked, "Needed a break from your mom and sister?"

She chuckled humorlessly, "That obvious, huh?"

"Well I don't blame you," He muttered as he rubbed his hands on his jeans. "From knowing you, Helen and your dad, that wasn't at all what I expected."

"Yeah..." Charlie mused while picking at some chipping paint on the armrest of the swinging bench. "They're all about appearances but my dad was nothing like that."

Dodger wandered out to find his master and Chris leaned forward to scratch behind his ears while saying, "Kind of surprising your dad and mom ever got together."

"My dad told me once that she wasn't always like that but changed once my dad got a good job and she got a taste for money," Charlie rested her head against the metal chain holding the bench up while she confided in Chris effortlessly, "My dad was just such a good man, he wouldn't have ever left her."

She lifted her head, tucking her curls behind her ears while turning to him to laugh, "My poor Grandma though... can you imagine Helen being able to hold her tongue at family gatherings growing up?"

The thought made Chris tip his head back and burst with laughter, "No I can't."

"That's because she couldn't. Those two would pick at each other to no end, it honestly was hilarious," She snickered at the memories before Chris watched her expression fall and her tone become serious, "Things have been so hard on my grandma ever since my dad got sick and passed. My mom and sister were so terrible through the whole thing too and I just have tried to make things better for my grandma but I feel like I haven't been able to be with her through it all as much as I would have liked."

"What about you though Charlie?" He shifted to turn his body to face her while his brow furrowed.

She tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

Chris scratched his beard while he began, "I can only imagine how hard that's been for you carrying all of that. Maybe you need to let someone take care of you for a change."

Charlie just shrugged, telling him, "Oh I'm fine."

He didn't say anything at first, bringing his hand up to rest on her shoulder while his blue eyes gazed deeply into hers while his comforting voice told her,

"But you don't have to be."