Metanoia | Chris Evans

4.3

Charlie smiles as she watches Chris and Scott play with the kids and the two dogs, keeping them thoroughly entertained to the amusement of the rest of the adults present. They're lucky that the weather is dry, and slightly warmer than it's been in the last few weeks, so they can actually spend their time together outdoors. They met up for lunch as a group earlier and then decided to move their get together to the park, to make the most of the sunshine and also to give the kids a chance to run off some of their excess energy; Scott and Chris were quick to volunteer to help, both family men that love spending time with the kids and acting like big kids themselves.

"So, is everything good between you two again now?" She turns her attention back to the others at the sound of Shanna's question, meeting the younger woman's gaze across  the table they're amassed at with a confused frown.

"What do you mean?"

Carly chuckles in disbelief. "You think we didn't notice that you and Chris had a falling out over something for a bit?"

She shrugs, "I didn't think you would, no."

Lisa pats her arm, transferring Charlie's attention to her. "But, you two figured it out and are on good terms again by the looks of it."

Charlie nods with a reassuring smile to the older woman. "Yeah, we're good now."

"Do you mind if we ask what it was about?" Carly gently prompts, before shrugging innocently when her mother shoots her a look. "What? Chris wouldn't talk about it but he was in a bad mood with everyone that spoke to him the whole time."

Charlie huffs in amusement, glancing over at the guys and seeing Chris looking over. He smiles when he sees her looking before being dragged into a game of chase by one of his nephews. She turns back to the table to see them all looking at her, waiting to see if she'll answer.

"I've been temporarily re-enlisted, which he doesn't agree with." She states, seeing an array of reactions around the occupants of the table. "I didn't tell him for a while and the pressure of hiding it from him got to me and I took out my stress on him, then ghosted him because I didn't know how to talk to him properly without blurting it all out."

"Ouch." Shanna mumbles under her breath to which Charlie nods as she watches Scott with one of the kids.

"He found out from Scott in the end." She finishes the explanation, exposing the last nail in the coffin that contributed to their disagreement of sorts.

"Scott knew?" Chris' dad asks, not exactly needing the clarification but wanting to know he heard that right.

Charlie nods. "I talked to him about it before I even knew if it was definitely going to go ahead."

"How long are you going to be gone for?" Lisa grips her arm.

"They don't know how long they're going to need us over there, but I'm hoping it's around 18 months, like last time"

They all nod as they take in the information, before Shanna asks the question they've probably all been thinking since she told them she's leaving again.

"When do you leave?"

Charlie glances over when she hears footsteps, seeing Scott and Chris coming over to join them, the dogs panting while following them, within earshot enough to have heard their sisters question based on the looks on their faces. Chris sits next to her while Scott reclaims his seat on the other side of the table, next to his dad and older sister.

"In 3 weeks, roughly." She finally answers the question as she reaches down to stroke Aslan as he lays down between hers and Chris' feet. "I'm making the most of the time I have with everyone, so I hope you're all cool with seeing a lot of me around."

The last bit gets everyone to laugh before Lisa seems to realise that she's had enough of dwelling on the subject of her leaving and distracts the group by bringing up a story from her work. Just when she thinks the attention has completely shifted from her, Scott brings up the next topic she's been dreading just as Chris wraps his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, Charlie bear, I forgot to ask the other day, who was the cutie with you on Instagram?"

Chris and everyone turn their undivided attention back to her, the sound of the children playing acting as backing music to her awkward reaction to the younger male's question. She coughs to clear her throat before shrugging.

"That was just Luke."

"Luke?" Chris asks with a frown as the woman at the table perk up at the mention of Charlie with a guy, which is exactly what Scott was aiming for.

Charlie nods as she turns her head to face him. "My coworker, Luke. You've met him before."

"The guy that was always trying to subtly flirt with you when I used to pick you up from your appointments at the facility, before you started working there?"

"Oh, it wasn't subtle." Charlie laughs as she shakes her head before waving off the look on his face as he gets the confirmation of who they're talking about. "Trust me, I've made it very clear that nothing is going to happen between us, and we occasionally go out for drinks after work, nothing special."

"You looked close." Carly comments with a smirk and teasing wink. "Plus, Scott's right, he did look pretty cute."

Charlie laughs before shrugging. "He's not my type but, yeah, he's quite the looker."

Lisa decides to join in on the teasing as Chris' dad watches them all interacting with amusement while also keeping an eye on the kids. "So, what is your type, if not him?"

"Nope," Charlie shakes her head immediately. "Not talking about this."

"Why not?" Shanna teases, reaching over the table to poke her shoulder before Chris bats her hand away. "I'm sure the guys won't mind."

"We mind." Chris states straight away, making Charlie huff in amusement and nudge him with her shoulder.

"No, you mind. I definitely don't." Scott retorts, smirking in triumph at his brother as the others enjoy the amusing turn of events the conversation has taken.