☁️Little Charlie☁️

CH 25// Reunited

The blonde boy was yet unaware of Charlie's presence. He was too preocupied with looking around for something in the meat section. He looked paler than when he saw him last, and there were noticable dark circles around his eyes. He looked dazed as he stared at the stack of hotdogs, then back at the list. It was if he had the mind set of a zombie.

As much as Charlie wanted to run up to him and fling his arms around him, pulling him into a hug, he couldn't help but fear that Alex would be mad at him. Why shouldn't he be? He abbondened him, leaving him to wonder where he dissapeared to, what he was doing, and if he was even alive. So instead, he slowly took ahold of the shopping cart and pushed it into the Ceral aile as quickly and quietly as possible. He held back his tears as he pushed the cart all the way down to the other side. Alex probably hated his guts. He felt his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted to cry so badly. It took everything he had not to.

"There ya are!" Mia said coming from behind a corner. Her smile faded when she saw the glum and lost look on Charlie's face. "Hey" she spoke in a soft tone, "Are you alright?". Charlie shook his head. A tear managed to escape and slid down his cheeck. He sniffled and immidiatly wiped it away. He hated crying, your face gets all gross and wet. Worse yet, he was doing it in public. "Here, you go wait out in the car and I'll quiclkly pay for this stuff, okay?" Mia whispered. Charlie nodded and let go of the cart, letting Mia take over. He put his hood up to hide himself as he made his way to the automatic doors.

He sniffled as he quickly walked to the car and got into the passenger seat. His head hit the back of his seat in frustration.
More tears escaped and he quickly wiped them away. He didn't want to cry. But he broke down into sobs anyway and burried his face in his hands.

A few minutes later he heard someone tapping on the window. He jumped and looked up expecting to see Mia. Instead, he saw Alex. He gasped and froze in place.

"Open the door" Alex pleaded. Charlie hesitated. His mind was racing. "Please?" Alex said again. Charlie finally gave in and opened the door. He slowly stepped out. Immediately, he was pulled into a tight hug. Alex bursted into tears and burried his face into his shoulder. Charlie sobbed once more, feeling overwhelmed and hugged back. "Why did you leave?" Alex cried out. "I...I was so worried!"
Charlie wanted to speak but his mind wouldn't let him. He just held onto the boy even tighter.

It wasn't until another three minutes went by that they calmed down. Alex pulled away from the hug and looked into Charlies eyes. "I missed you so much...I didn't realise just how much you meant to me until you were gone...sorry, thats so cheesy" Alex said starting to laugh through his teers. Charlie shook his head and smiled. They both laughed a little out of peer joy to be reunited again.

"I'm...sorry I dissapeared..." Charlie spoke up. "I..." he couldn't continue his sentance. Alex patted his pockets until he felt the notepad he started to bring with him just in case he ever saw Charlie again. He pulled it out and fished out a pencil as well. He offered it to Charlie who took it gratefully.

'I didn't know what else to do. I freaked out so much that i couldn't think. I didn't want to be taken away by some stranger...idk. the whole thing is kind of a blur...'

He handed the notebook back to Alex. "It's okay...I'm glad you're okay Charlie..." He said once he was finsihed reading. "Are you okay now? Who are you living with?"

Charlie was about to write down his response, but thats when Mia showed up. "Oh" she said when she saw an unfamiliar face that was Alex. "Why hello there, is this a friend of yours Charlie?" She said with a smile. Charlie nodded. "Oh, well it's so nice to meet you!" She left her cart by the car to shake Alex's hand. "I'm Harper- Mia Harper, Charles foster mom".

Alex smiled as he shook Mia's hand. She seemed really nice.
"Hi, I'm Alex" he replied.

Meanwhile, Charlie stood there frozen. The word "mom" rang in his head. Even if there was the word "Foster" in front of it, it still felt off. He didn't know how to feel about it.

"Well, I still have a few more places to go" Mia said. "But Charlie you can go ahead and catch up with your friend Alex. We'll meet up at the Pizza place in about...two and a half hours?"
Charlie smiled and nodded enthusiasticly. "Awesome! Alright, see ya in a bit" She said going back to her cart to load up the car. Charlie hopped in excitement and took off down the road with his best friend.