“Stella? Wake up, baby.”

I open my eyes and stretch my arm over my head, arching my back and yawning. Charlie chuckles quietly and kisses my forehead. I’m not fully awake yet, but I do smell food, and I’m so hungry.

“You missed class, it’s just past ten. I’m sorry, you didn’t really seem up for going anyway after…”

“Yeah it’s fine, I’m glad I got to sleep a while longer.” It has been quite the night – and quite the morning, too.

“Do you need to get ready for training? I don’t want to make you late,” I begin to sit up in bed and see that Charlie’s made a huge breakfast and brought it to me again.

“Mark isn’t feeling well today, so I’m on my own. I’ll just go for a run and train after I drop you off. No rush.”

“Okay,” I say, and I suddenly remember all of the drama with Charlie’s trainer. “Is Mark alright? By not feeling well do you mean…”

“No, he’s just sick. I don’t think anything too bad came of last night, luckily.” Charlie is sitting on the side of the bed, his feet on the floor. He hands me a plate and scoots back on the bed, closer to me, with his own.

“You don’t have to cook for me every morning, you know,” I say, taking the plate graciously, “Every night, yes, but not every morning.” I smile at him, he grins back and I start eating.

I think about how disgusting I probably look. It certainly didn’t take me long to allow Charlie to see me at my worst. Not only have I already bawled my eyes out in front of him, but I’m currently lying in his bed, stuffing my face, wearing only his shirt. Not to mention, half of my face is swollen and discolored, and what the other half lacks in bruising, I’m quite sure is made up for with tear-smudged mascara and eyeliner. I don’t even want to think about what my hair probably looks like…

“Who taught you to cook so well?” I attempt to distract my mental rant against my own state of appearance.

“My aunt and uncle, they are both very good cooks.”

“That’s what I thought. Do you by any chance know how to bake pies?”

“I do. I won a pie baking contest, with the help of my aunt, in fourth grade, actually.”

Charlie says it proudly. I bite my bottom lip to keep from giggling at how cute he sounds.

“Why do you ask?”

I have just taken a bite and I chew it wholly and swallow before responding, “My mother is determined to bake a good pie. I feel guilty for leaving my dad alone with the obligation of… enjoying her attempts. I would feel better if I brought you home sometime and you taught her to bake one.”

He smiles, and then it disappears, and then he tries to smile again. I swear I could hear him thinking:

She wants to take me home to meet her parents.

How ironic that they wouldn’t let me step foot in their house if they saw her face right now.

I promised though. I promised her that I wouldn’t say or think these things anymore, because we both want to be together, and that’s enough… for now.

We both eat very quickly and soon, I start to get up with my plate, gesturing to Charlie that I’ll take his as well. He instead takes my plate from me and gathers the glasses and tells me to stay.

“I should at least help you clean the kitchen,” I say in protest.

“I already cleaned up. I just need to put these in the dishwasher and I’ll be right back.”

He does too much for me. If I’m going to be staying at his house often, I need to be able to take care of things alongside him. I decide to make the bed. I hurry to straighten the sheets and the comforter, and by the time that Charlie returns, I am arranging the pillows – both practical and decorative – in their usual display.

“Stella, you didn’t have to do that.” Charlie says, referring to the nicely made bed. Wrapping his arms around my waist from behind me, he leans down to kiss my cheek.

I finish placing the last pillow and I turn in his arms to face him.

“Should I shower here?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

Charlie rubs his nose and lips along the un-bruised side of my face.

“I think I still have some making up to do for last night and this morning.”

Of course, I want to remind him that it’s not his fault again, but I can’t pass up his offer to make it up to me, not with him so close…

I feel goose bumps rise on my skin as he turns me around by my waist and we head back into the bathroom.

***

After having taken two showers with Charlie, I decide that I never want to shower alone again, for obvious reasons.

As I stand in front of the mirror with my towel wrapped around me, I decide to immediately apply my makeup. The whole bruise covers easily, and I feel like the slight swelling in my eye has already gone down. I’m extra relieved, because I was sure that my persistent crying would have caused puffiness in both of my eyes. I do all of my makeup at once and then I comb through my still damp hair and use my blow-dryer.

Charlie is ready long before I am, but he sits on the edge of the bathtub. He glances at his phone now and then, but mostly, he is watching me dry my hair.

As I finish with my blow dryer, I turn around to him.

“You don’t have to wait in here with me, you know. Not that I don’t appreciate the company, but feel no obligation if there is something more interesting that you’d like to be doing.”

He smirks at me and blinks slowly, “I’m actually enjoying myself fine from here. You look hot, fixing your hair in only a towel.”

I giggle, because Charlie calling me “hot” sounds so young and casual, and he is usually very careful with his word choice.

I leave my loose curls down and tie a scarf in my hair like a headband, knotting it on the top and tucking the loose ends around the rest of the scarf.

My scarf is a pale pink color with a subtle, darker pink and baby blue floral design. The weather is supposed to be chilly today – chilly for South Carolina, that is – so I’ve brought a flowy, long sleeved, heather grey shirt that hangs to the middle of my thighs to wear with black leggings and short boots.

After I’m dressed, I’m still not sure whether to pack up all of my things or not. Charlie said that I could leave them, but did he mean for last night only? I don’t know if I’ll be staying here again. Charlie is still sitting on the side of his bathtub, toying with his phone now that I am organizing my things to leave.

“Are we going to hang out again tonight, or should I take everything with me?” I decide to just ask honestly.

“I don’t know that I’ll be able to see you tonight. I promised Mason that I would help him out after his football practice and then I think…”

Charlie starts to trail off, but I relieve him.

“Okay, that’s alright,” I start to pack my things neatly into my bag. Charlie doesn’t owe me a full explanation on why he can’t be here with me. Besides, I can use the night to work on assignments that I have coming up, especially since I will be away this weekend.

“You can stay here tomorrow night though. And then of course, Friday and Saturday we’ll be in Charleston. As long as you still want to.”

“Of course I want to, that all sounds good.”

I’m finished packing my things and I lift my oversized bag, sliding it up my shoulder.

“Are you ready?” I raise my brows at Charlie.

He smiles in response and, upon getting up from the bathtub, takes the bag from me and motions for me to lead the way to the garage.

I say goodbye to Cooper on the way out. The feeling of nostalgia instantly sets in, before I’ve even left. I love this house. I love being here with Cooper and Charlie. Even though I’ve only spent the past two nights here, I know that I’ll miss it.

As Charlie parks in front of my dorm, he offers to carry my bag up to my room.

“Charlie, you don’t have to do that. It isn’t heavy at all and I’ve kept you for too long already.”

“You didn’t cause me to miss class, though,” He reminds me, raising his eyebrows in amusement, “I think I’m the one who’s kept you too long.”

I open the car door before he can insist on coming up, but I feel his hand on my arm and when I turn around, he kisses me. His lips move quickly at first, and then slow as his hand moves to my leg, playing with the hem of my long shirt.

I run my hands through his hair before breaking the kiss.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” I say, smiling at him.

“See you soon, Stella. You look lovely today, by the way.”

I thank him and climb out of the car. When I’m about to close the door, he stops me.

“Stella, wait. I just – I’m sorry… about anything that happened that might have bothered you. I know you told me not to worry so much, but I’m still sorry.”

“It’s okay Charlie,”

I don’t know what to say for reassurance, because we don’t yet say “I love you.” I have to think fast though, because I’m just standing on a curb, holding the car door open.

“I love the time that I get to spend with you, I’m never bothered.”

He grins, but I don’t give him time to reply. I just smile and close his car door before making my way up to my room.

I feel like I haven’t been in my room in forever, even though I was just here last evening.

I’d made plans to decorate the side of my room that belonged to my former roommate. I wanted to make it sort of a living room area by transforming the bed into a sofa, and the desk into an actual desk, since mine was primarily used as a vanity. Since I’ve been spending my time at Charlie’s, though, I don’t really see the need anymore.

My room is a little on the plain side, I didn’t want to do anything initially that would shock or displease my roommate. The walls are a simple white. I have a fluffy, white comforter on my bed, with white and lavender pillows. My curtains are white, too, – a lightweight fabric – and I have twinkle lights hanging from the curtain rod, which light up my window at night and look pretty through the curtains. Other than that, my room contains a little mix of things that I love: pictures of my family, friends, and favorite places from home; some of my favorite books; a few posters; art of a few of my favorite quotes; etcetera. I could certainly do better, but it is a simple, tranquil place to be, at least.

I have time before classes to work on homework, and I also e-mail my Philosophy teacher, since it is his class that I’ve missed twice this week. He responds quickly and reassures me that, as long as I’ve kept up with my readings and assignments, I will be fine.

I decide to leave early for my classes, so that I can grab a smoothie on the way. I glance in the mirror on my desk before gathering my things to leave. I am pleasantly surprised by how easily my bruise has been masked.

After both of my classes, I am back in my room studying. I finish everything that I’d planned to in about two hours, and I wonder what I’ll do with the rest of my night. For a moment, I wish that Charlie would’ve asked me to go with him tonight. I assume he’ll be helping Mason with football, and I’m curious to see them together. Charlie is so patient and gentle; I bet he’s amazing with kids.

My phone suddenly lights up with a text, and I hope that it’s Charlie. Instead, Allie is texting me, asking me to meet for dinner and to read over her paper on shame. I tell her that I’ll do it gladly, but that I may not be much help. She assures me that she just wants a few opinions, before she turns in her final version.

We decide to meet at a local sandwich place and, upon finalizing our plans, I am heading to my car.

During the short drive, I think of what else I might do tonight. I have to work at nine tomorrow, so I will take a shower tonight. I can watch some TV and play on my laptop. I’ll call my parents, of course, and play twenty questions with my mom about my day – and by twenty, I mean fifty; and by day, I mean Charlie.

Allie is sitting at a table outside when I park my car and approach the sandwich shop. I’m glad that she’s chosen to sit outside, because it’s such a nice day, and I love eating outside anyway.

She waves excitedly. “Hi, Stella! I love that shirt. I’ve already ordered, you’ll order inside. They’ll bring our food to us, though.”

“Okay,” I say, setting my bag in the chair across from Allie, pulling out only cash, “I’ll be right back then.”

I walk into the shop and as I approach the counter, a familiar face turns and beams at me.

“Hi, Stella! I didn’t see you in Philosophy today. Where were you?”

“Oh hi, Justin. I was at… my friend’s house and we slept late. I skipped on Monday, too.” I say, making a face at him to prove my guilt.

He laughs, “Yeah, I ditched Monday, too. Rough weekend.”

I just smile and nod.

“So, I don’t know if you have plans tonight, but there is a huge party going on at one of the bars in town. You only have to be eighteen to get in. There are tons of people going, some even coming in from out of town. As a matter of fact – “

He tries to say “as a matter of fact,” like he’s just remember something, but I can tell that he as an agenda.

“One of my buddies who’s a senior this year asked if I knew you. Well, I actually think I might have mentioned your name, because of Philosophy, and he remembered it.”

His cheeks turn a little pink when he tries to correct why his friend might have known me. I smile, letting out a tiny chuckle, to let him know that I don’t mind if and why he’s mentioned me.

“Anyways,” He continues, “He said that one of his good friends who’s coming in town knows you, and wants you there. I think his name was Jason, maybe?”

Oh no.

I feel my mouth drop open a little bit and I can think of no response. Luckily, Justin continues.

“If you have…other plans though, don’t worry about it.”

The way that he says “other plans” makes me think that he is keenly aware that when I’d said “friend’s” house, I meant the tall boy with tattoos that he’d heard call me baby in the café yesterday.

I am so thankful for Charlie in this moment, even though he’s not here and even though I won’t see him tonight. Maybe Justin will relay the message to stay away. Jason, no matter how much he’s grown, is no match for Charlie, I’m sure of it. Though I wouldn’t even consider getting Charlie involved with him, I know that Jason is a coward deep down. If he thinks that he may have to answer to a boxer, he will leave me alone. Right?

“I think I’ll have other plans… with my friend. I don’t want to bail on him, and he’s training later today, so he probably won’t be up for going out. Thank you for inviting me though.”

He just nods at me, looking slightly confused. I imagine that he wants to ask what I mean by “training,” but the person in line ahead of him has just finished their order, and he steps up to the register instead.

After he orders, he turns to me before heading to a table in the corner of the shop.

“It was great to see you again, Stella! Have fun tonight... with your friend. I’ll tell Jason that you say hi.”

I just raise my hand to him, waving slightly, and praying that he forgets.