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

Chapter 3: An Awful Lot of Convincing

(Y/n)'s POV

Lee and I sat in silence on the bathroom floor. He hadn't said anything since I told him that I would want to get to know him. God, why did I say that?? Surprisingly, the silence was more comfortable than I thought it would be, and neither of us felt the need to fill it.

"I should probably head back to my dorm..." Lee finally spoke up.

"Yeah, it's getting late," I said, flashing him a small smile as I stood. I watched him get up slowly, and although Lee hadn't seemed too drunk a few moments ago, I noticed he was a bit unsteady on his feet. He took one confident step forward, before his legs promptly gave out under him and he slammed into the side of a bathroom stall.

It took everything in me not to laugh. "Alright, I guess I'll be escorting you back to your dorm," I chuckled lightly and slung his arm over my shoulder, wrapping one of mine around his waist. Lee held himself up as much as he could, but he was still leaning on me quite a bit, and I could only hope that I would be able to support him long enough to get us both to his dorm. Curse this man and his dedication to staying in shape — his muscle weight was too heavy. I silently prayed that Lee's dorm wasn't too far away.

Just my luck, to get to his dorm we ended up having to walk up two flights of stairs. I was practically dragging both Lee and myself across the hallway by the time we reached dorm number 467. I adjusted my grip on him slightly before knocking loudly on the door. I felt bad for whichever poor soul I was potentially waking up at this ungodly hour, but Lee was in no shape to fish out his keys and unlock the door.

"Jiminy Cricket, Lee, where the hell—" a man started saying even before he had fully opened the door, but he sputtered to a stop when he saw me. "Oh. Hello again, (Y/n)."

"Help a girl out, will you, Aaron? Lee's heavy," I grimaced as I stood face-to-face with Burr. Under normal circumstances, I would've been much nicer in greeting him, but under normal circumstances I wouldn't be holding up a man who weighed more than I did.

Aaron opened the door wider and slung Lee's other arm over his shoulders, helping me to lead him into the dorm. The two of us managed to get Lee onto his bed, and it seemed like he was out like a light the second his head touched the mattress. I envied him for being able to fall asleep that quickly.

"I didn't think I would see you again so soon — if I had known I would've just stayed with you when we met at the bar," Aaron teased.

"Yeah, well, after I dumped the boys at Herc and Laf's I hadn't expected to find myself babysitting yet another drunk. But, here we are," I sighed and glanced at Lee. Part of me was still a little concerned, but I tried to not let it show on my face.

Aaron followed my line of sight to Lee and then he looked at me long and hard. "Hey, are you okay? You look exhausted," Aaron's voice softened as he spoke, and I could tell that I was worrying him.

I tried to flash him the sincerest looking smile I could, "It's just been a long night."

"You can stay here if you want, we've got plenty of space," Aaron suggested. He looked like he wasn't sure that I wouldn't pass out at any second.

"You're too kind, sir," I chuckled. "I'll be fine, though, don't worry." I looked at Lee again and remembered something. "Aaron, could I have a small sheet of paper?"

He nodded, left the room, and he returned shortly with a sheet from a notepad. I quickly wrote down my number and a message:

In case you wanted to talk
- (Y/n)

I left the note on a small table next to Lee's bed before I turned and made my way to the door of their dorm. I said my goodbyes to Aaron, and I silently made my way back to my own dorm.