Steve still couldn’t believe the house was there. He had been thinking about having a house where he could live with all his friends for a while, especially since Robin showed up. They all spent so much time together it just made sense. He was a little bummed about Violet not living with them, but he understood she wanted to stay with Clarice and the others. They were her family here, just like Charlie and Robin were his.
He flopped onto his ridiculously big bed and put some music on his phone as he grabbed an old comic book.
Steve’s door was standing open a few inches and Charlie could hear music coming from inside the bedroom but he still stopped outside and knocked. He’d spent too much time living with other guys in rehab to chance walking into a room unannounced.
Steve looked over his comic book when he heard the knock on his door. “Yeah, come in,” he said to whoever was on the other side.
“Alright?” Charlie said, pushing the door open so he could lean against the frame. He glanced around the room and raised his eyebrows in approval. “You did alright for yourself.”
“Hey, man,” he greeted, placing the comic book on his nightstand and sitting up on the bed. “I know, right? I have a pretty good imagination,” he smiled. The house was just like had pictured in his head, only way better. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Charlie replied with a shake of his head as he walked into the room, finding a chair to sink into. “We’ve just been exploring.” He and Rey had been having fun looking around the enormous house (and getting distracted by each other often along the way).
“I think I’ve found a room I wanna claim,” he added. There was a slight hesitation in his voice and he licked his lips before rephrasing. “That we would like to claim…”
“Cool,” Steve said with a nod. There was a lot to explore. The house was even bigger than it had been in his head. Lots of extra rooms they could use for movie nights, game rooms... The possibilities were endless.
He raised an eyebrow at the word ‘we’. “You mean we as in you and Rey?”
“Yeah,” Charlie replied a little apprehensively. “That would be cool, right? If Rey moved in too?”
“Of course,” Steve said with a smile. “There's plenty of room for all of us.” Steve knew Rey meant a lot for Charlie, and if he wanted her to stay with them, he was totally cool with it. “It’s cool she wants to stay with you.”
A smile rose to Charlie’s face to mirror the one on Steve’s. He had been a little worried that Steve would feel weird about Rey moving in, especially since he knew his friend had asked Violet if she wanted to and hadn’t got the response he had been hoping for. That had to have been tough. The last thing Charlie wanted was for Steve to feel like he was being strong-armed into welcoming in roommates he hadn’t expected so his easy acceptance came as a relief.
“Yeah,” Charlie replied with a soft, embarrassed laugh, lifting a hand to mess up his hair. “I guess she hasn’t had enough of me yet.”
“Dude... You really like her, don’t you?” Steve asked, genuinely happy for his best friend. He could see how Rey was good for Charlie.
Charlie could feel his cheeks growing hot and he looked down at his legs to hide the grin that spread across his face as he mumbled inaudibly that, yes, he did. Rey was incredible and it never stopped surprising him that someone like her had fallen for a fuck up like him. He wasn’t sure he’d ever stop waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to realise that she could do better, but he wasn’t going to let that be an excuse not to seize every day with her as it came.
“She’s pretty much the best thing that’s ever happened to me so…”
Steve grinned seeing Charlie’s reaction to his question. Oh yes, his friend was super in love with Rey. “I’m really happy for you. Seriously,” he said. “So, you guys gonna share a room?”
Charlie lifted his head and nodded in response, once again feeling that shy knot in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t had the chance to speak much to Steve while all the fighting had been going on, even though they'd kept tabs on how each other was doing, so he knew his friend wouldn’t necessarily be aware of how his relationship with Rey had moved on since his birthday in August.
“There’s a king bedroom at the other end of the hallway with his and hers everything so we figured it made sense to take that one.”
Steve nodded. “Go ahead and take it, then,” he smiled. “Wait... does that mean you two have... you know?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Charlie rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair, lifting his arms and crossing them over his face. It didn’t quite hide the grin that had crept back into place on his lips, though.
“Dude! You’ve totally done it,” he exclaimed. “You better not give me all that ‘kiss but not tell’ crap, okay?”
Charlie lowered his arms but kept his eyes on the ceiling for a moment before sitting up to address Steve’s question.
“Stop,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not saying anything.”
Steve laughed. “What kind of friendship do we have if you don’t tell me shit like that!” He said with a laugh. He was really enjoying teasing him.
“The healthy kind with boundaries,” Charlie replied pointedly.
The truth was, he didn’t mind talking to Steve about this kind of stuff but it was still all so new between Rey and him that it still felt kind of… delicate. He didn’t want to risk damaging it with a careless comment.
“Bullshit. We don’t have any boundaries,” Steve said, rolling his eyes.
Charlie snorted.
“Well we should. I’m instigating them right now: I’m not giving you any details about my sex life and I sure as hell don’t want any about yours, okay?”
“Yet,” Steve pointed out. “And it’s not like I have much of a sex life right now anyways,” he said with a shrug.
Charlie’s eyebrows rose a little. Despite having just said he didn’t want details, he found himself burning to know more.
“What, are you and Vi not…?”
Steve shook his head. “Nope,” he sighed. “But it’s fine. We’re just not in that point of our relationship yet.” He tried to explain. It was weird for Steve to not be in that point, he had to be honest, but he didn’t want to pressure Violet. If she wasn’t ready, he’d wait.
Charlie wasn’t sure whether Steve was telling him it was fine or trying to tell himself. Charlie knew what that felt like, the waiting. It was hard - no pun intended - dating someone you found all kinds of sexy without putting accidental pressure on them. Before he and Rey had slept together, he used to find himself apologising for the stupidest things, like accidentally glancing at her ass or brushing her boob as he reached for his phone. And then there had been that one time when he’d actually left the room in the middle of watching a movie, claiming he had cramp in his foot, rather than admit to her that the way she’d been stroking his leg had given him a hardon.
Still, Charlie’s life was just one long exercise in self-restraint these days so it hadn’t been too difficult for him to add one more thing to the long list of things he needed to abstain from. That didn’t mean he wasn’t glad now that the waiting was over, however. He was. He really was.
“I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that it’ll be worth the wait,” Charlie teased, pushing back in the chair so that it balanced on its back two legs.
“Yeah, I know,” he sighed, leaning back and flopping back onto the bed. He wasn’t used to waiting. Well, he kind of was. After Nancy, he hadn’t been with anyone else. It made him wonder if he had lost his touch, his awesomeness with women. Scoops Ahoy had definitely not helped with his flirting... But then Violet came. And he saw he'd still got it. So maybe it really was worth the wait.
“I’m meeting her later today. For dinner.”
“Cool,” Charlie replied, trying to sound upbeat to counteract Steve’s sigh. “How’s she feeling now?”
Steve looked up and sat up again. “She’s better, but she gets tired easily with the broken leg and all. Has to be annoying,” he said. “Probably gonna just order something and stay in her new place.” Steve was trying to be a good boyfriend and help her in any way he could. “I wish she hadn’t been hurt at all in battle.” He knew it could’ve been a lot worse, but still, it wasn’t fun seeing the people he cared about getting hurt.
Charlie nodded; he understood. He’d hated seeing Rey get hurt too, especially because he’d felt so powerless to help.
“Hey, why don’t you invite her to come over here for dinner tomorrow night, once we’re all moved in and settled and everything?” Charlie suggested. “We could try to cook something for, like, a group dinner or something. Me, you, Rey, Violet, Robin and Chloe?”
Steve nodded. “Do you actually know how to cook?” he asked with a raised brown. He had told Robin he knew how to make grilled cheese, so cooking couldn’t be that difficult. But he had a feeling whatever they tried to cook would end up in a fire.
“Not exactly… but that’s what Google is for, right?” Charlie said with a shrug, pushing himself up from the chair. “Besides, one of us is gonna have to figure it out or we’re all gonna either starve or get really fat on pizza.”
“True. I can’t have this temple of a Greek God getting fat.” What would Violet think? What would all the ladies in Atlantis think? Just because he was taken it didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy the view.
Charlie wrinkled his nose in an amused frown.
“I’m pretty sure that’s, like, two sayings mixed together. If you were a temple of a Greek God, you’d have columns and shit.” He started heading for the door. “Either your body is a temple or you have the body of a Greek God. But I guess it doesn’t matter ‘cause neither is true in your case.” Charlie batted Steve a cheeky smile.
Steve grabbed a pillow and threw it at Charlie. “Asshole.”
Charlie laughed and ducked out of the door just in time to avoid the pillow, which hit the wall directly behind where he’d been standing.
“Tell Violet I said ‘Hi’,” he called in a singsong voice, as he made his way off down the corridor. He wanted to find Rey again and let her know the good news.