The last few days had been difficult for Charlie. Seeing his father’s face unexpectedly plastered over the screen at Movie Night had shaken him. Until then, despite all the weird Atlantis shit that went on, he’d felt kind of secure there. The noise, which had been his constant enemy in his own world, had been manageable in Atlantis. The Arena had been a set back and he’d come close to cracking but, after meeting Rey, he’d found his way again.
In fact, Rey had been a bit of a godsend. Not only was she kind, caring and funny, not to mention gorgeous, she seemed to know instinctively what he needed to keep him holding on. Maybe it was the Force but Charlie suspected that to believe so wasn’t giving Rey enough credit for just being herself. If he’d had to wade his way alone through all the shit that seeing his dad again had brought up, he wasn’t sure he’d have made it, especially after learning that you could buy weed legally from stores in Atlantis. Rey had been there for him. Just her presence kept reminding him, at opportune moments, that he had the chance to be exactly who he wanted to be in Atlantis. That opportunity was too good to give up.
Leaving his group of friends to enjoy their margaritas, Charlie made his way across the room to the bar and ordered himself a Coke, perching on one of the bar stools to wait. A couple of months ago, he would have found it difficult to be out with a group of friends and resist drinking with them but he had to admit that it was getting easier and easier. Still, alcohol had never been his problem.
Hope had mostly been keeping to herself lately, she caught up with Tilly some, and her family, but she mostly focused on training and she really wasn’t exactly the best teenager in the sense of having fun. She almost kept wondering if everyone would forget about her like they probably had at home, she didn’t tell anyone about that though. Even Josie didn’t know. No one did. Her memories she kept to herself.
She decided to grab some tacos to take home when she caught sight of Charlie at the bar. She hadn’t seen him in a little while but she did know he was spending more time with Rey. Hope didn’t really know her, but if they were happy that was all that mattered.
“Hey,” she greeted as she paused looking at the open seat next to him. “Is this seat open?” She didn’t want to assume.
Charlie peered up, his face splitting into a smile as he saw who it was talking to him.
“Yeah,” he reassured her, reaching out to pull the bar stool out for her.
“I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you?”
Ever since the Arena, Charlie had felt an unspoken bond with Hope. She had witnessed him being blown up, after all, and once he was back, safe, in Atlantis, he’d religiously watched her on the stream until it had all been over. Seeing her surviving had been his crutch.
Taking a seat she smiled, it felt good to feel welcomed. She knew she had friends she just still had some strange feelings of people not really wanting her around as much.
“It has been a while,” she agreed. “I’ve been good, busy with training mostly.” She’d been on the June mission to rescue Nala and Simba so really hadn’t had that much downtime. “You look good,” she commented, well he could look like a mess and she’d think he looked good. Seeing him blow up was still stuck in her memory.
“How are you doing? How are things?”
Charlie lifted a hand to mess up his hair. He had never been particularly good at taking compliments. He usually made some kind of joke or sarcastic remark but, considering what she’d had to witness, somehow it didn’t feel like the right time just then. Instead, he just nodded his head and gave a self-conscious smile.
“Yeah, I’m not too bad,” he replied honestly. Despite the challenges of the last few days, he felt like there was hope for him, like he was going to get through it all to the other side. It was a good feeling to have. It wasn’t one he’d experienced too often.
The barman appeared beside them, placing Charlie’s Coke down on the bar. Charlie mumbled his thanks then quickly motioned for him to wait a moment.
“Do you want a drink or something?” he asked, turning back to Hope. He would have to go back to his friends at some point but the margaritas weren’t going to run out any time soon - they had time to talk.
“Good,” she smiled, she was glad that he was doing okay, she knew things in Atlantis could be a lot to handle, things could be, but something about this place seemed to take an extra level of it.
“Just water,” she smiled to the bartender and back to Charlie.
“So, what have you been up to?” She asked glancing back to the bartender. It didn’t take long for the water to be placed in front of her.
Charlie raised his eyebrows, thinking back over the last few weeks of his life. He’d been feeling more and more at home in Atlantis recently. He’d built a little group of friends around him, Steve Harrington not least among them, and he had grown familiar enough with his work at the record shop that he’d stopped worrying someone would fire him for incompetence.
“Work, mainly,” he replied honestly. “And friends,” he added, with a small smile.
He lifted his Coke and took a sip.
“Actually, I, er, started seeing someone too.” He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to tell Hope that or, more to the point, why he felt kind of awkward saying it. It certainly wasn’t any kind of reflection on Rey; she was wonderful and he was very quickly, very easily, developing some pretty deep feelings for her. He thought it was probably because Hope had been one of the first people in Atlantis that he’d felt any kind of connection to. Plus there was the fact that he’d gotten himself blown up whilst trying to impress her. That kind of thing stayed with you, he guessed.
“She’s called Rey. Do you know her?”
Hope smiled, it was good to hear that he was finding his footing. She sometimes wondered if she’d ever truly find her footing or if she’d always be a second away from no one remembering her. That was something she never told anyone about though.
“Yeah, I don’t really know her, but I’ve met her at one of the events,” she smiled. “She seems really nice.” Hope tended to stick to people from home or those who were from one of the many Star Trek worlds it seemed lately.
“So, you guys are serious?” She asked with a friendly smile, she really was happy for him. He deserved someone good.
Charlie lifted a hand to mess up his hair, sucking a breath in through his teeth. Were he and Rey serious? It felt pretty serious, even though they hadn’t taken their relationship anywhere physical yet. Did that matter? He realised, even as he was thinking it, that it didn’t. Not to him and, he was pretty sure, not to Rey either.
“I, er, yeah,” he said, a goofy smile spreading across his face. “I mean, I think so.”
He dropped his hand back down to his glass, beginning to turn it around and around on the bar.
“What about you?” he asked, deflecting the attention away from himself and retreating into his comfort zone. “Who have you been hanging out with?”
Smiling, she nodded, she could understand the unsure feeling, figuring out, she felt like that with Landon, and even thought of it, of him, felt like a totally different life time. Hope wondered for a moment how much he’d comment about how she changed.
“I’m really happy for you.” She meant it too.
Charlie smiled in thanks.
At his question thought she shrugged. “Tilly and Paul some, but I guess I’ve mostly just been busy with training and my family can be a little bit overwhelming, but I know it’s because they care.” She smiled, well, really she meant her father, Marcel and Uncle Kol. She didn’t really see much of Uncle Elijah. “So I guess working mostly,” she shrugged.
Charlie nodded. He’d watched Hope and Tilly’s friendship developing on screen while they’d been stuck in the Arena together and he was strangely glad to hear that it had carried on outside. He’d become incredibly invested in the other people that had been in the Arena with him, even though he hadn’t talked to many of them since.
He also knew what it felt like to be overwhelmed by family and the compulsion to get lost in… other things. At least, in her case, work wasn’t as destructive as his preferred methods.
“I’ve been hanging out with Steve Harrington and that group quite a lot,” Charlie told her, lifting his eyebrows and gesturing over his shoulder to the friends he’d left back at the table. “You should come out with us sometime. You know, as a break from work. I think they’d all really like you.” They had done things as a big group before, all the people in Atlantis that were around the same age, but that wasn’t the same as being welcomed into a specific group of friends. If rehab had taught Charlie anything, it was that finding acceptance could mean a lot.
“I know Rey would like you too,” he added, smiling.
Bellamy wasn’t the easiest team leader out there but Hope did like how serious he took things and she was lucky her other teammate Tracey was nice too. Hope smiled softly at the thought of doing something with a group of people, her first instinct was to say no but she knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.
“Yeah, that’d be great,” she said instead with a small almost nervous smile. She done some of the witches go to places together but she’d usually always ended up on her own at those things partly by choice and partly that was just how some of the parties in Atlantis tended to work out.
“Well, I hope I get to meet her soon,” Hope did actually mean that.
“Alright,” Charlie said with a smile, nodding. He knew that Hope wasn’t the most socially inclined person and he could really identify with that, so he appreciated her saying yes to his suggestion.
“Anyway, I should probably get back,” he said, moving his head to motion over his shoulder, “and let you get your food.” He stood up from the seat at the bar and grabbed his Coke.
“I’ll text you?”
Hope nodded, she figured she’d probably get her food to go, that seemed like a good option today, besides she had some tactical reading to do for training tomorrow anways.
“Yeah, that’d be great.” She smiled. “And have fun.” Hope turned towards the bar as he walked away.