Negotiate a Peace, Or Negotiate a....Romance? {Charles Lee x Female!Reader}

Chapter 2: An Unlikely Friendship

(Y/n)'s POV

Charles Lee looked up at me, his brown eyes widening in shock. Honestly, it was a surprise that he was still lucid enough to register shock — Lee looked like he had had about five too many bottles of whiskey tonight. Despite that, he looked more sad than anything.

Oh god, was he one of those drunks who got overly emotional and cried for no reason? I knew plenty of people like that — John got like that sometimes if he'd had too many drinks yet not enough to get himself black-out drunk. It wasn't my favorite thing, but by now I knew how to handle it. I didn't know if Lee had gotten drunk alone, but if he hadn't I was going to need to talk to whoever had dumped him here; emotional drunks can't just be abandoned.

Reluctantly, I got down on the ground and sat across from Lee and leaned against the back wall of the bathroom. Thankfully, Kings College actually took care of its campus, so the bathrooms were hardly even dirty. Lee was still staring at me blankly, so I nudged his foot gently with my own.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Mhm?" Lee seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, but his eyes were still glazed over. "Sorry, I'm a bit...out of it. What did you say?" He still wore an expression that made me feel like he didn't completely believe that I was there — like I might be a figment of his imagination.

"Well," I started, but I wasn't entirely sure where my sentence was going to go. Would he think I'm nosy if I said that I heard him crying? If Lee was anything like I remembered from the brief encounters we had in high school, he might get seriously offended if I suggested he was vulnerable. "I heard a noise when I was walking past, and I wanted to make sure you're okay," I conceded, mentally preparing myself for Lee to explode.

Instead, his eyes became unfocused and it looked like he was zoning out again. "Oh, yeah," Lee mumbled. "I'm fine." But his voice came out as a whisper on that last part, so I think he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. So I took a deep breath and did something that two years prior I would've never thought about doing.

"If you want, we can talk. I don't really have anywhere to be."

Lee looked up at me again, skepticism etched all over his face. Still, he slowly maneuvered himself out of the stall so that he was leaning against the same wall I was, his shoulder an inch or two away from mine. It was weird being this close to him, but for some reason I wasn't uncomfortable.

"I just feel so alone," Lee squeaked out. I chanced a glance at him and his eyes were squeezed shut, his head resting fully against the wall. I couldn't help but notice how different he looked now than in high school. All his confidence was gone, and I couldn't reconcile this Lee with the one that had gotten into a fight with Laurens in seventh grade because John had called him conceited. I looked at Lee, and I couldn't see the guy who had charmed his way through every girl in the senior class when we were only sophomores. Or maybe he didn't look any different at all — maybe he had just finally dropped his facade. I quietly waited to see if he'd continue.

"It's dumb," he murmured, " but I feel like people look at me and see someone who has his life together, someone who's got tons of friends." Lee paused for moment, letting silence fill the air. "But I don't think anyone actually likes me." His voice was so even now, so resigned, that I almost didn't know how to respond. Almost.

"Maybe they just don't know you," I said softly.

It was quiet for so long that I started questioning if I had really spoken aloud. But when I looked up at Lee, I met his eyes and I knew he had heard me. His gaze was so intense that I felt an instinct to back down, but I didn't. I refused to abandon him here.

"Do you know me?" Lee asked, and I knew he wasn't asking about if I had met him before.

"I," —I twiddled my fingers trying to correctly word a response— "I know your reputation, but not much else." I didn't mention the fact that John still held some disdain for him, or that for the entirety of our junior year Herc had made sure that he was purposely marked down when we were peer-grading papers. I didn't hesitate to leave out that I was part of a group that was more than happy to exclude him.

Lee laughed bitterly, "Knowing that, would you still want to know me?" And in that split second I made a choice. Maybe I didn't think it through all the way, but it was a decision that would drastically change the course of this year. It would either leave me with broken friendships, or a new, strong bond. I looked Lee in the eye, and when I spoke again I made sure to speak clearly.

"Yes, I would."

>>>

Chapter 2 done! My poor bean Lee is dealing with some hardcore imposter syndrome :(.

But! Is a new friendship blossoming? Or will it be something more? Or, even more likely, will the guys butt in to stop this from happening?

I've got some drama brewing — stay tuned.