A Weekend with Dr. Ramsey

Brunch

Charlotte Greene was wearing Ethan's shirt. She smelled conspicuously like the warm, intoxicating cologne he wore every day. She was marred with his mark. She smiled the smile she reserved for only him. She was distinctly his.

And when she walked into her apartment, everyone knew it.

Charlie didn't even close the front door behind her before her friends noticed the obvious change in her. She was a very different woman from the one they'd seen before her weekend with Dr. Ramsey. The woman they saw on Friday night was on the heels of devastation and in search of a distraction as her life seemingly fell apart, and they resisted the urge to shield their eyes as she sank lower and lower into despair.

When she disappeared on Friday night, they'd been terrified for her wellbeing and were only marginally comforted by her "I'm fine" text on Saturday morning – though much of that comfort dissipated when she refused to explain her absence over the course of the weekend. At one point, Jackie suggested they go on a manhunt through Boston and force her to face her problems, but Sienna and Elijah insisted on a gentler approach.

And now, she was home (perfectly safe and unharmed – Sienna was already visually examining her for any signs of injury or disease), and she had a lot of questions to answer.

Charlie jumped when she looked over to her dining room, finding all of her friends crowded around their dining room with an overwhelming amount of food and mimosas nearly falling off the limited space. And they were staring at her. Every. Single. One.

Swallowing, Charlie let out a weak wave and put her keys on the hook in an attempt to seem casual, "Oh, hey, guys."

"Hey, guys?" Jackie was the first to pounce, hands already on her hips as she incredulously repeated the greeting, "Where the fuck have you been, Charlie?"

"With a friend," Charlie shrugged as if the meaningless gesture could ever shake Jackie's questions off. They'd been friends long enough for her to know better.

"You're certainly dressed like you were with a 'friend,'" Bryce snorted, his eyes lit up with mischief and amusement as he helped himself to the alcohol. He'd been on Jackie's side during the discussion of a manhunt. In the last year, he'd adopted Charlie as a little sister, and the idea of something happening to her had stayed with him through most of the weekend. But now, there was something he hadn't anticipated – that she would lie to him. He'd seen enough girls leave his apartment on a Sunday morning to know what to expect, and under the smile on his face, he was hurt she wouldn't tell him.

"I had to borrow some clothes," Charlie crossed her arms across the t-shirt, hiding the cartoon turkey she'd obsessed over a few hours earlier, "I don't know what you're implying, Bryce."

Bryce cocked an eyebrow as if silently daring her to admit what he already knew. Despite his hurt and concern for his dear friend, there was a part of him that was enjoying himself. Firstly, it wasn't often that he got to tease someone else for their sexual exploits, and now that he knew she was fine, he intended to enjoy putting her on the spot.

Jackie opened her mouth, ready to tell her friend just how worried they were and how irresponsible she'd been, but sensing a fight, Sienna stepped in.

"You weren't answering your texts on Friday night, Charlie, and we were so worried," Sienna's voice was so soft that, for a moment, Charlie dropped her guard and suddenly felt guilty for having it up in the first place, "And then you were hardly answering us on Saturday and didn't come home. We love you, Charlie, and we didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

Guilt began to fill Charlie's limps, turning them to lead as her face flushed with shame. In all of her self-pity and risky behavior, she hadn't really thought about how her friends would feel. She could see them now, face twisted with concern as she evaded their questions.