Authors Note: Hi guys! This chapter is a relatively new one to the story in general, as it wasn't in my rough draft. I absolutely love these two and I hope you do too. Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting! Enjoy!
-Saturn
He was told to stay put, and he was trying to. Really trying to.
But Charlie could only read so much before he got antsy.
He looked at the clock. It had only been a half hour, but Charlie missed Max already. He didn't quite know why, but he didn't feel alright without him. It worried him. Charlie had spent most of his life being independent. And now he was starting to feel like he was depending on Max. He didn't want to feel like he was using Max as a crutch. He just liked how Max held him. He liked how caring he was towards him. It was something that Charlie never had the chance to have.
Was he relying on Max too much? Everything that happened yesterday just left Charlie confused. He wasn't even sure what Max felt towards him. And he was already falling head over heels for him.
"Mine."
He remembered Max saying that last night. It was strange, and felt like a dream, but there was something in Charlie that loved that he said that. There was something in him that wanted to be Max's. He felt so safe in his arms.
This was bad. Charlie was going to wind up hurting himself if he let this go on too long. It was why he didn't get too close to people. But it was difficult keeping his distance from Max, or anyone he met here, really. Everyone he's met so far has been so nice and polite to him. Even the ones that didn't quite like him at first always treated him like a normal person. Once Isabelle and Tyler warmed up a little bit, it was easy talking to them.
They made him feel like he had a home.
They made him feel like he was home.
There was a knock at the door that snapped Charlie out of his thoughts. He welcomed it this time. Another reason why he wished Max were here was because he didn't like being left alone to his thoughts at the moment. Yesterday just brought up some bad memories and he couldn't stop his mind from traveling down that path if he wasn't doing something. He could curl up in a corner and cry about it when he got back to his apartment.
"Come in," he said. It was probably someone bringing him his lunch. Hopefully he could get them to stay and talk for a bit. Maybe just a little longer, until Max got back. Dr. Button was busy with some kind of work that Charlie didn't feel like asking about. He never wanted to feel like he was prying.
In popped some familiar faces. Nick and Katy came in with smiles and some plates of food.
"Hey!" Katy said. "Mind if we have lunch with you?"
"Of course!" Charlie smiled. It was nice to see them again. "I needed the company anyway."
Without the hair net, Katy's hair fell on her shoulders. The black hair really shaped her face well. She seemed like the type of person that didn't really have a care in the world. Nick wasn't that different either. He had the same carefree look to him when he wasn't working. His hair had a red tinge to it now that Charlie was actually able to see it.
"We were wondering if you might," Nick said. "I heard that Max was going to be in a meeting."
"Oh," Charlie was a little surprised by that. "Does everyone know when he has a meeting?" Why was he the only one that didn't know?
"Not really," Katy answered. "Nick's just a huge gossip. He loves listening in on people too."
"That's not true!" he set Charlie's plate of food down. This was a big plate of greens and lunch meat. Dr. Button had decided to try giving him more vitamins in his diet. It didn't bother Charlie at all. He was just grateful for the food.
"Oh, right," Katy rolled her eyes. "You just have some friends that are gossips."
"Yeah, and I'm looking at one right now," Nick told her.
Charlie couldn't help but laugh at the two of them. They bickered like school children. It was obvious to see that these two had been friends for a long time now. They looked as if they never went anywhere without the other.
"What made you two come over here though?" Charlie asked. "There has to be plenty of better spots to eat lunch than this little room."
"Oh, these rooms aren't that bad," Nick said. "Besides, we wanted to see you before Max came and kicked us out."
"Kicked you out? Why would he do that?"
"Him and Button said that they didn't want you getting too many visitors," Katy said, she then leaned in and winked at him. "You have a pretty protective boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Charlie tried to come off as not knowing what she was talking about, but it was too difficult to hide the blush that came with him saying that word. He was too tired from the medication to be able to hide it anyway. "What do you mean?"
"See," Nick said, half way into his food already, "I told you he wouldn't have asked him out yet. I know Max. He's been shy about love ever since sophomore year."
There were so many questions that Charlie had all at once. But he hadn't felt such a level of excitement since he got here. This might be his chance to learn more about Max without seeming like he's prying.
"You went to high school with him?" it was best to change the subject from that.
"Oh yeah," Nick shoved some more greens into his mouth. "We were both on kitchen duty when we were kids. Man, Aldi was so mad at us all the time."
"Why?" Charlie started eating his food. He always enjoyed some good stories.
"Because him and I were always starving," Nick laughed. "Aldi could never make enough to fill us up. And we kept eating all the food in the kitchen."
"You guys were so annoying!" Katy said. "I hated it. You always managed to get me in trouble too!"
"That's cus you had the hots for Max and kept following us around."
"I DID NOT!" she smacked him. Nick covered his mouth so that the food wouldn't fly out when he started laughing. "I said he looked good in one thing, and you kept it over my head for the whole rest of the year!"
"You said he looked sexy, first of all," Nick held up a finger. "Second of all, if it wasn't for your big mouth yelling at me about it at school, that rumor would have never gone around."
"I still hate you for that."
"Love you too," Nick smiled.
"I hate to ask, but," Charlie cut into their conversation. He had this weird feeling when they talked about Katy liking Max in that way. He couldn't quite be sure what it was, but he didn't like that feeling. He didn't want to have it towards her. She was so nice to him. "Are you two together?"
"Me and him?" Katy pointed her thumb at Nick. "Eww!"
"Nope," Nick shook his head. "Our parents thought we were going to wind up being mates when we were younger though. We got that a lot. We're just really close friends."
"Mates?" Charlie asked.
"Well, you know," Nick looked a little nervous as he looked around for the right word. "Soulmates. It's what we all say to shorten it around here."
"Oh," Charlie smiled. "I can see why they'd think you guys would be soulmates then. You guys just seem so close and comfortable with each other."
"I'm never going to be with someone who talks with his mouth full of food like that," Katy said. "He has no table manners."
"She's not my type," he pointed his fork towards her. "She's too picky with food."
"I am not!" she pouted. "You're just mad that I'm better at cooking than you."
"Ha!" he laughed. "You're talking to the leading chef of the breakfast team here!"
"Doesn't mean anything."
"I don't see you leading any chef team," he looked at her playfully. Charlie always admired the people that could talk like this and still be the best of friends. To be that close to someone to a point where you could press their buttons without really hurting them.
"I always thought the idea of soulmates was nice," Charlie said.
"Yeah, it's easy for people around here to find theirs strangely enough," Nick said.
"Everyone except us," Katy put her hand on her forehead dramatically.
"Really?" Charlie said. "That's good. Maybe I can find mine someday."
Nick and Katy both looked at each other with amused expressions. He had a feeling this conversation was going to go down a weird path.
"You know," Nick said. "It seems to me like you already have found yours," he leaned into the bed. "But, that's just my opinion."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know Max is absolutely obsessed with you, right?" Nick flashed a smile. "There's not a single minute that I saw him look in any other direction but yours yesterday."
"He was just helping me make pies," Charlie blew it off. He didn't exactly want to show how that made him feel. It would be nice to talk to someone about it, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to or not.
"Ah, yes," Nick turned to Katy and smirked, "Because everyone stares at you while trying to help you make pies."
"It definitely wouldn't be at the apples he was trying to peel," Katy giggled. They seemed to be enjoying this more than Charlie thought.
"I felt bad," Charlie told them. "He was so quick to quit peeling them just because I could peel them faster."
"Pfft, he was never good at kitchen work," Nick chuckled. "He always got put on cleaning duty because it would take him ages just to figure out how to do one thing with the stove. He would get so many cuts and burns."
"Those stoves are pretty intricate," he said. They were different than the one's that Ryan had taught him to use. But, when you cleaned them as much as Charlie did, you got a good idea as to what the controls were. He could understand why they would be difficult to understand. Industrial ovens have much more dials and buttons.
"He just moved too fast," Nick shrugged. "Are you actually going to eat, Apple?"
"Oh, yeah!" Charlie smiled. "Sorry, I got caught up in the conversation."
"Well, we got plenty of time to hang out, if you want us to stay for a bit," Nick said. "I promise we won't bug you too much about Max if you don't want us to."
"It's fine," Charlie laughed. "I like having someone to talk to. It makes time fly faster. But are you sure you don't have to get back to work?"
"We're just on the morning shift," Katy explained. She was still eating her food too. It seemed that Nick was the only one who scarfed his food down. "We could always eat lunch with you every day, if Max would let us."
"I don't think he should find a problem with it," he said. "Him and Dr. Button are always saying that I need to eat with someone anyway, and I don't mind the company."
"You have a lot to learn, Apple," Nick said.
"Well, I do love learning," he popped one of the vegetables in his mouth.
"What do you want to know?" Katy looked like a school girl leaning over the lunch table to share some crazy secret they heard. "We'll tell you anything."
"Whether you want to believe it or not is up to you," Nick winked at him.
"I don't know," he looked away from the two friends. "I don't really want to pry."
"Oh, you're going to learn about it eventually," Katy coaxed. "Besides, we'd never tell you something that would hurt Max's feelings if you knew. He probably wants you to know everything about him anyway. I'm sure he wants to know everything about you too, but that's another story for another time."
"Jeez!" Nick cut her off. "You talk way too much when your excited! Give the man some time to actually ask questions!"
"I don't know," Charlie told them. He really did want to know more about Max, but he didn't want to have to talk about himself. At least, not right now. "Maybe it'd be best not to."
"Look," Nick told him. "You can ask anything you want about Max, or just this place in general. We'll answer it. And we won't ask you questions about yourself."
"Well," he pretended to think for a little bit. Him saying that did lift a weight off his shoulders a bit. "There was one thing I was wondering."
"What?" they both asked at the same time. Now that Charlie thought about it, these two seemed more like siblings rather than a couple. For some reason, they made him feel like he could say anything to them. They were really easy to talk to. Even when they were acting like this.
"What were you saying about when Max was in school?" he looked to Nick. "About his sophomore year?"
"Oh, that?" Nick looked at Katy with a playful gleam in his eyes. "I knew you'd be curious about that."
"Ugh!" Katy groaned. "I remember her. She was so rude to everyone. I couldn't believe that Max liked her so much."
"Max had one girlfriend his whole life," Nick started. "It was in high school. At first, he really seemed to like her. He spent like a whole month bringing her flowers and walking her to her classes. It was adorable. Then, I don't really know what happened, but it turned sour and Max got really distant with her. That was also when her true colors came out and she got really controlling. I remember when she thought he was cheating on her with Katy. That was a big mess."
"After only a month?" was that how Max was going to treat this? Was Charlie just something to keep him entertained until he got bored of him?
He shouldn't have even thought that they were going to become anything. He didn't want any relationship anyway. This house seemed to have an effect on him. He was starting to think too romantically about everything. He needed to snap out of it.
"Mine."
Was it bad that Charlie had wished to be his? But he'd want to be his for a long time, not just a month.
The way that Max had said that didn't make it seem like they were going to just last a month.
"It was just a high school relationship," Katy said. She brushed her hair away from her face. It had gotten a bit crazy with all the dramatic movements she had made. "You know how quick those usually are."
"Yeah," He said. "They don't really last that long."
"He hasn't dated anyone since then," Nick continued. "The only person that he's ever shown interest in, besides her, is you Charlie."
"Me?" he couldn't really hide the shock in his voice. He had thought that Max was showing some interest in him, especially with some of the things he had said to him. But to have someone else say it; to hear that someone else noticed it too, had a different effect on him.
"Yeah!" Katy chimed in. "Only he's way more interested in you than he ever was of that girl. I don't think I saw his eyes off you the whole time you two were in the kitchen together."
"I don't know," he probably looked so bashful. He really didn't know what to say to that. All he knew was that it felt good to hear her say that. "I've never really dated anyone. I wouldn't even know where to start, if we did start to date."
Both of them froze. They were almost like twins with their mouths open in shock.
"Wait," Nick put his plate down and put his hands across each other in a 'T' shape. "Time out. You never dated?"
"I never really focused on it," Charlie shook his head. "I've always been super busy with school and work. So, I never really dated anyone."
"Did you ever kiss anyone?" Katy giggled a bit when she asked. The more he talked to them, the more these two acted like they were still in school. It was charming that they could keep their youth like that. Even if it was to Charlie's dismay.
"Katy, we aren't asking him questions," Nick told her. "Remember?"
"But you asked him a question!"
"I was only trying to clarify what he said!"
"It's okay," Charlie laughed at them. He really did enjoy their company. They weren't as intense as Max, and they weren't as quiet as Dr. Button. It was nice to get a little bit of change around here. "I've kissed before."
"Did you and Max kiss?" Katy asked.
Charlie didn't really give her an answer. He just turned his head away to hide the heat that had rose to his face. Truth be told, Max was the only one that he had kissed. He was his first kiss. The thought of that made his heart beat a little faster than normal.
"Aww!" Katy squealed. "You guys are so cute together! I love it!"
"Who's cute together?" they all turned to see Max walk in. He looked frustrated and annoyed. "What are you two doing in here?"
"Nothing," she told him. "Nick and I just thought we could have our lunch with Charlie since you and the doctor were busy today."
"You aren't supposed to be working him up," Max looked at Charlie with worried eyes. He was always worried about him. "That's why there wasn't supposed to be that many people who could come in here."
"They haven't been working me up," he said. "We've just been having a fun conversation."
Those purple eyes locked into his. They looked so protective of him. It was nothing that Charlie had ever seen in just one gaze. He gave him a small smile to try and tell him that everything was okay.
"It's probably best we head out, Apple," Nick stretched in his chair. "I'm sure Aldi will want me to do a thousand different errands for him today."
"Here," Katy took the plate that was in front of him. "I'll take this to the kitchen for you," then she leaned down and whispered, "We'll see about coming around tomorrow for lunch too."
Charlie couldn't help but laugh a little at the look on Max's face when she said that. It was surprising that Max even heard it. He gave her a look that seemed like he was warning her with his eyes. They lightened up when he heard Charlie laugh, though. That, alone, made him realize just how much he missed him.
"We'll make sure to visit as often as we can," Nick promised. "Talk to you later, Apple."
"It was nice talking with you guys," he smiled at them.
Before they walked out, he saw Nick whisper something to Max by the door to the room. Max looked a little confused afterwards, but quickly brushed it off and said his goodbyes to them. When they walked out, he immediately went to Charlie's bed and hugged him. There was a huge sigh that escaped him. Charlie could feel the man's broad shoulders relaxing as he wrapped his arms around his neck.
"The meeting was that bad, huh?"
"You have no idea," Max's voice was muffled by Charlie's shoulder that he had buried himself into. It was surprising that the hug didn't seem to hurt him at all. With all these bruises, Charlie was always prepared to have some kind of pain. But Max's touch always seemed to make him feel better. He wanted those arms to be wrapped around him forever.
Max broke the hug, much to his dismay, and sat on one of the chairs by the bed.
"They really weren't bothering you at all?"
"No," he shook his head. "We were just having fun talking about a bunch of random things."
"You aren't lying, are you?" he looked at him suspiciously.
"No," Charlie smiled at him. "It helped pass time when you were gone."
"I'm surprised you ate that much," he said. "Usually you don't eat that much for lunch at all."
"You really do keep note of that," Charlie laughed. "I guess I did. Maybe it means my stomach is getting bigger or something."
"You always eat so little when you're alone," he said. "That's one major thing that I noticed."
"Huh," he didn't think about it like that. "I guess I'm just so used to talking to people when I'm eating that it makes it difficult to eat when I'm alone."
"Charlie," Max grabbed his hand. "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but what is the real reason you don't eat when you're alone?"
He was quiet for a little bit. His thoughts wanted to go down the same path that they were about to before Katy and Nick came in. But they stopped when he felt Max's thumb rubbing against his palm. For some reason, it calmed him down and brought him back to the room he was in.
"I just start thinking too much," he answered. "And the thoughts are sometimes...upsetting. I can't really eat that well when I'm upset." It felt strange admitting to anyone something like that. It didn't feel right to him. Because he knew it would upset Max hearing him say that. And he never wanted to upset anyone.
"Yeah," Max said. "I can understand that. That happens to me sometimes too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It gets boring eating alone," he smiled at him. "Especially when you're just laying around."
"Does this mean I might be able to work in the kitchen some more?" Charlie asked.
"Maybe," Max leaned against the back of his chair. "I'll have to talk to Aldi first."
"I always liked working in kitchens. I don't know why."
"Did Nick ever tell you that him and I destroyed the pantry when we were teenagers?"
"He said you guys ate quite a lot."
They talked like that for the rest of the day, telling stories of fun memories. The red-head had looked so tense when he first walked in. Charlie was glad to see him calm down a bit just by talking to him. He loved hearing all of Max's stories. They reminded him of a big happy family.
Maybe, just maybe, he'd get one of his own one day.