Cheek To Cheek

Chapter 8

"Alright, alright, I'm coming Dodger," Chris chuckled as he finished lacing up his sneakers. "I'm coming Bubba, don't worry."

The happy dog eagerly stood by the front door, happy and excited to be up on Saturday morning and ready to go. Chris didn't feel the same level of enthusiasm to be up yet, but he wanted to please his happy companion and obliged him in a walk.

The road was empty so Chris unhooked Dodger from his leash, letting him run and chase a butterfly as they walked. The quiet late morning allowed Chris to be alone with his thoughts but right now, the only thought that came to his mind was Charlie.

He hated that tonight he had a phone meeting with his manager, otherwise he'd be able to take her on their first date today rather than tomorrow but at least it gave him time to plan the perfect day for them. Chris already had a ton of ideas racing through his mind but as he walked with Dodger, he heard someone calling out to him.

"Morning Chris," Helen called out.

Hearing this made Dodger take off running toward the house where Helen was sitting on the swinging bench she had on the porch. The elderly woman laughed and invited the dog up to sit with her while Chris made his way up and leaned against the railing.

"Hi Helen," He gave her a warm smile.

"I don't normally see you up this early on a Saturday, usually you're not out of your house until after lunchtime," She teased him with a smirk.

"Oh you spying on me now?" Chris quipped right back.

Helen just gave him a look before saying, "Christopher, I am almost 90 years old, it's not like I have anything better to do."

Hearing this made Chris slap a hand to his chest while he loudly laughed from her comment before explaining, "Well Dodge was up and wanted to go out for his walk, otherwise I would have loved to keep sleeping since I was out late last night with Charlie and my brother and sister."

"Oh yeah, she told me you all were going out," The white haired woman nodded.

Chris got a small smile on his face, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants before telling Helen, "I'm not sure if she already told you but tomorrow we're going on a date."

Helen put a hand up while saying, "Ugh, finally you asked that sweet granddaughter of mine out! It's about time you did. I told you that you two would be good together."

"You just want me to say that you were right, don't you?" He smirked while she just shrugged, causing him to laugh. "I just hope she didn't feel like she had to say yes."

"Why do you say that?"

Chris ran a hand through his short brown hair, "Well I dunno, it's just that you and I are close and her and I have become friends and my family has gotten close to her and I just hope it didn't make her feel like she couldn't say no."

"If she didn't want to go out, she would have just told you she wasn't interested," The elderly woman answered him.

Suddenly this thought plagued Chris and he felt his anxiety spike while he paced back and forth, "God I'm such an idiot! I should have asked her at the end of the night. I asked her right when I got there and Scott and Shanna were there, I'm sure she probably felt like she had to say yes. I'm such a fuckin' meatball!"

"I think that you're just overthinking this Chris," Helen tried to assure him.

"That would explain why when I texted her this morning she never responded and why she hasn't told Helen about it," He muttered to himself before turning to his neighbor and said, "Would it be alright if I left Dodger here for a little while. I want to go talk to Charlie."

The moment that Helen nodded, he was off. Chris jogged back to his house and climbed into his car and driving across town to get to the slightly run down apartment building that Charlie lived in. The entire time he climbed the stairs, his brain noise was on full blast, cursing himself for what an idiot he was and figuring out how to talk to her.

He did think for a moment that maybe Helen was right. Maybe he was just overthinking all of this. He was certain if he called his mother, she would tell him the same thing. That thought made him relax as he knocked on the door but the moment the door opened, he was back at square one.

Charlie stood there with bloodshot watery eyes the remnants of tears on her cheeks, "Um, C-Chris I wasn't expecting you... what are you doing here?"

'You even made her cry, you fuckin' idiot' Was the thought running through Chris' mind before he appealed to her, "Look Charlie I needed to come talk to you. I was such an idiot asking you out the way I did. I know you felt like you didn't have a choice but to say yes and I'm sorry for putting you in that position."

His blue eyes watched as she tilted her head, her eyebrows knitting and a look of confusion washing over her face, "...What?"

"...Isn't that what has you so upset?" Chris wondered.

She shook her head before tears started flowing freely from her eyes again, "No... today was my dad's birthday

"Oh...." He instantly felt his heart drop.

Charlie pushed her wild messy curls away from her face as she tried to explain through her sobs, "I didn't know it would be so hard on me but I just miss him so much."

"Oh Charlie," He breathed.

He didn't know what to do in that moment so he just pulled Charlie into his arms, holding her warmly against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and began to sob into his soft tee shirt. Chris leaned his head down, nuzzling it next to hers while he rubbed her back and engulfed her in his embrace.

"I'm so sorry Chris, I didn't mean to just be crying all over you," Charlie tried to suck it up while she pulled out of his arms and furiously wiped her cheeks and apologized, "I'm sorry I got your shirt wet."

In that moment as he looked at Charlie, he felt his heart breaking a little bit. It was then that it hit him. She always had to do this... suck up her emotions and be strong. Charlie didn't have her mother or sister to depend on, her dad was gone and she now took care of her grandmother. She was used to bucking up and handling what was in front of her but Chris assured her, "It's okay if you're upset, Charlie."

"I'm alright," She wiped at the last tears on her face before taking a deep breath. "It sucks, but I'm fine."

Chris took a step inside her apartment, closing the door behind him and put his warm hands on her shoulders, his piercing blue eyes staring at her before he told her, "You don't have to be strong for me. You can lean on me, I'm here for you Charlie."

It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop as Charlie searched his eyes but only found honestly and care. In that moment, it felt like a weight fell off of her shoulders and all the emotions that she had been pushing down since her father became ill started to spill out.

She practically collapsed into his arms as she violently sobbed against him. Chris walked her over to the couch, sitting her down and just held her while she cried. It felt almost therapeutic for her, like everything she had been carrying was just lifted away and she finally could be honest with someone about how she felt. It had been such a rough year and she felt like today was just the icing on the cake but somehow in this moment that she was with Chris, it all felt like it would be okay.

It wasn't until her hysterical sobbing had finished when Chris put his hands on either side of her face, a cute little smirk appearing while he told her, "And if you even try to apologize for crying to me I'm going to smack you over the head with that pillow."

This got a laugh out of her and Chris felt happy to see her familiar joyful spark come back, accompanied by that little twinkle in her eyes. There was nothing more he wanted to do in that moment than hold her warmly and kiss her deep but he didn't want to take advantage of her emotional state and instead told her, "Sorry today sucks."

Charlie gently picked one of his big hands up, cradling it in-between both of her small ones before she spoke.

"Well, having you here makes it a lot better."