His heart had been as light as his steps. It was as if his whole body had been pumped full with air and his shoes barely held him to the ground. Charlie wasn't the first girl he had gone after but he was sure that she was going to be the last. There was no comparison between her and the others. Not in his own feelings towards her and not in her looks. She wasn't just pretty. The girl was pretty awesome. And he had her.
How in the world had he managed that?
"Wheels aren't squa- oh, I got it." Royce chuckled as he tightened his fingers around her's. No, he didn't need to hold her hand any tighter and really, he had to be careful that he didn't hurt her by holding too hard but it was involuntary reaction. He wanted Charlie to know how much he ... shit, how much he just really, really liked her. There was, of course, the possibility that he had more deeper feelings for the human but any deeper and he knew he would have to pull back. What he had with Charlie were like tree blossoms. So light and lovely but a harsh change in wind could send them away.
God, he had been hanging around girls too much. He was starting to sound like one.
Royce quickly moved his thoughts to the subject of bribery. Specifically, what Charlie could bribe him with (as if he needed any extra incentive) to have him come over. He licked his lips at the reminder of her cooking. "My mom did say once that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach." It had only been once. His mom hadn't been much of a cook. It hadn't been a skill of her's. The thought of his mother even in the kitchen was almost impossible. Thinking of his mother brought on guilt but Royce selfishly pushed it to the side.
They got back to the apartments, their hands still together, and Royce noticed a few people hanging around outside. It was a nice enough day, not great but decent. He made a note of the couple on the first floor on the corner and the others leaning on the second-floor railing. One guy was enjoying a smoke while his girlfriend was giving him the evil eye. It reminded Royce of his own girlfriend and the fact that she had been speaking and, once again, he hadn't been listening.
"My shirt?" He had to look down to the current subject of their conversation. And yeah, there was that mess of hamburger grease. Still smelly and still gross. "Right. I'm not all that hungry actually." A lie. Yeah. But he was constantly coming over for food. Charlie should have called him out on that weeks ago. Through her own kindness, she hadn't. He didn't want to take advantage of her. Unfortunately, without any real amount of money, it was hard to do anything otherwise.
Royce seriously doubted showing up on her doorstep with a couple of game hens would be a good idea.
Once they got to Charlie's apartment and went inside, Royce went ahead and dropped the bag of burgers on the counter in the kitchen. Then, he pulled off his shirt and balled it up as he looked around for a place to put it. He looked back to her, his shirt awkwardly bunched in his hands. "You sure it's okay to wash my shirt with your stuff? You're not going to turn it pink and orange, are you? I made that mistake with Rosemary once."