Stand-Ups in New York

Chapter 17 - Different

Pete didn't know what to do when he walked out of the bedroom and saw Charlie crying into Alec's shoulder. He stood in the doorway for a moment. Alec looked up and met his gaze, then motioned towards the door and mouthed Don't worry, she's good. Pete nodded and went back into the bedroom.

He wondered if he had done something wrong or offended Charlotte in some way. Pete couldn't think of any time that Charlotte had even seemed upset. He sat on the bed and considered texting his mom. He couldn't decide whether asking for her advice at the moment would be sweet or pathetic. As he contemplated, Charlotte entered the room.

"Hey," she said, "Have you been up long?"

Pete studied her face. Charlotte had a small smile on as she looked back at him, but her eyes were red and swollen. "Not too long," he said, walking over to her. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, crossing her arms. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought I might have heard someone crying earlier." Pete stopped where he was. He was going to hug Charlotte, but she suddenly seemed so closed off. Her face went blank as she stared into Pete's eyes.

"No one was crying," she said. "We had a good talk."

Charlotte walked out of the room. Pete wondered what to do. He had only known Charlotte for a short time, but he wasn't expecting her to close herself off like this.  Pete followed her out and saw her sitting on the couch. She scrolled through her phone while drinking from a mug.

Pete sat down next to Charlotte, but she didn't look up. He watched her for a moment before taking her phone and putting it on the table. "Did I do something that upset you?" he asked. "Was it meeting my mom or something I said?"

Charlotte looked at Pete and her face softened a little. "You didn't do anything wrong. I loved meeting your mom, and you have been so sweet to me."

"Then what was wrong?" Pete asked.

Charlotte pulled her legs up under her chin and hugged her knees. She looked at Pete for a moment. "Alec was asking me about you, and he told me that gossip sites are already talking about us dating."

Pete felt his pulse quicken. Those sites had said so many nasty things about him and his relationships. That's why he had taken a break from dating in the first place. "What are they saying?" he asked.

"He said they're just speculating about whether or not we're dating."

"Oh, that's not bad," Pete said, then he saw Charlotte's eyes tear up. "Hey, hey, it's okay." Pete pulled Charlotte in. She unfolded her legs and leaned into him. He could feel tears on his bare chest, but at least she wasn't crying as hard as she was before.

Charlotte tucked her head into Pete's neck. "I'm sorry," she said.

"You never have to apologize for crying," Pete said. "I cry all the time."

She laughed and took Pete's hand, squeezing and releasing over and over. An anxious tick, he thought. Charlotte breathed in and out a few times, then moved back to look at Pete again, continuing to hold his hand. "I wasn't planning on talking to you about this, but I guess that if people are already noticing us spending time together we should probably talk about the important stuff."

Pete nodded, and Charlotte continued. "I was in a relationship for a few years. We were engaged and living together. Then, when we were seven months away from the wedding, he decided he wasn't ready to get married."

Another tear released from the corner of Charlotte's eye and she quickly wiped it away. Pete rubbed his thumb along Charlotte's hand. "How long ago was it?" he asked.

"I think it was around the same time you and your fiancé broke up," she said.

Pete felt the memory of his own broken engagement like a stab through the heart. He joked about it, but the pain he felt when he was confronted with the memory was still fresh. An unhealed wound. "Do you have all the dates of my break-ups memorized?" he asked, half joking.

Charlotte's mouth turned up at the corners as she shook her head. "No, I just remember being in a very man-hate-y place when I heard that you guys broke up. I spent about a month silently hating your guts because of it."

"I think most of the world hated my guts after that," Pete said.

"Well, it wasn't justified, for them or me. I think it was something to put my energy into, you know? I hated my ex but it was easier for me to channel it into you. But this is getting way off topic and it has nothing to do with why I was upset today." Charlotte paused for a moment and looked at Pete's face as he stared back to hers. Even crying she was still beautiful. "I am terrified of people knowing that I am dating someone. I know that it makes no logical sense, but I feel like every time something doesn't work out I'm just disappointing everyone around me. So now I never let myself get invested, which hasn't been much of an issue because pretty much every guy I've seen since then has not exactly been a love connection, but now things are different."

Pete brushed a piece of hair behind Charlotte's ear. "Things are different?"

Charlotte looked at Pete, her cheeks turning red. "I really like you and I feel like you could make me happy. And that makes me even more scared to talk to people about us."

"Well, for what it's worth, I think people would be more disappointed if you stopped yourself from being happy."

"I know." Charlotte took Pete's hand in both of hers and kissed it. "And trust me, I'm trying really hard not to be insane about all of this."

Pete smiled. "If anyone knows how to deal with some insanity, it's me. Now, let's go to bed so we can be ready for the pitch meeting tomorrow."

Charlotte hugged Pete once more. He felt her body's heat, her hair sticking to his bare chest. He held her for a moment before she said, "That sounds perfect."

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Author's Note: Not gonna lie, I did not proofread this chapter more than once, so I apologize for any errors that are in here. This chapter was hard for me to write and I just wanted to post it so I could move forward. Maybe I'll get back and proofread it at some point, but for now I'm leaving it as is! Thank you to all who read this chapter!