Who: Gavin and Charlie When: Sunday, July 8th, Afternoon Where: Home Status: Complete
While it was a pretty lovely day in Point Pleasant, things still felt a little out of sorts for Charlie. They attended mass at the new church and while she found it nice enough, she still kind of missed the older building, with all of its history. She was still grateful for it, mostly for Gavin’s sake, because she knew he missed that Sunday routine and he was somewhat more religious than she was. After they left, Gavin had seemed preoccupied, but she didn’t push him to talk about it. Charlie simply assumed unloading his worries and “sins” to the new priest had drained him a bit, and things would get back to normal soon enough.
But she still felt that distraction when he left in the early afternoon to run some errands and Charlie decided to distract herself by cleaning up the house a bit and getting some things ready for dinner. It was a warm, breezy day so she figured they could grill out again and enjoy it. Weather in Point Pleasant could be unpredictable so she liked taking advantage of the nice days while she could.
Once she ran out of things to do, Charlie sat out back reading a book while the dogs ran around the yard. There was nobody home and while she absolutely loved having Gavin’s kids - and occasionally Elodie - living with her, she also enjoyed the occasional peace and quiet. Hopefully Gavin would be home soon to enjoy it with her.
Gavin had had the weirdest day. Not the weirdest day ever, but the weirdest day in a while. At least the kind of weird that wasn't all around badness. He'd driven Kat home after spending a few hours out at the O'Reilly homestead. The ritual had gone well, or so they said. It was easy to believe Shayna Mae when her weird concoctions had actually done something for his pain. It wasn't all the way gone, but it had faded considerably and he felt weirdly light as he moved around. Like a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
After parking his truck, he tossed his cigarette and stubbed it out with his boot before heading inside the house. Jasper's car wasn't there and Amelia's skates weren't in the entryway so it was safe to assume only Charlie was home and that made his decision to tell her what had been going on easier to make. He'd leaned toward keeping it all a secret, but had come to the conclusion that if the magic didn't work and he ended up dead in his bed, Charlie needed to be forewarned.
She was easy to find. No dogs running up to him as soon as he entered the house meant they were outside but their leashes were all hanging up so they had to be in the yard. He didn't need to be a detective to suss all that out but he was still pleased when he found he was right. He joined Charlie after grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge, sitting down next to her and offering her one. "Any idea how long we're alone for?" he asked and it was such a serene scene, one of those little moments in life that made it feel worth living.
Charlie had heard when Gavin's truck pulled up so she knew he was home and would find her in no time. As soon as he appeared at the back door, she set her book down and took the offered beer with a smile. "No idea," she said, glancing over to see Baxter trying to gnaw on Rude without much success. "It's been me pretty much all day so I'm assuming Jasper and Amelia have found something far more interesting to do than hang out at home. Sipping the beer, she studied Gavin, noting that he still looked tired, but there was some more color in his face. "Did you get everything done that you needed to?"
Gavin nodded and it was so tempting again to not tell her, to just let her enjoy herself without reminding her of all the horrors around her. He got a delay on the bad news at least when Max came running over to greet him, excitedly licking at his hand before wiggling his way back to the other dogs for more play. "You look beautiful," Gavin said as he looked at Charlie again. She was always beautiful but he liked reminding her of it. "Did you have a good day?" he asked, biding his time a little but he knew that if he didn't talk to her now, he'd never tell her about what had really happened.
Charlie was used to Gavin complimenting her, but she always loved hearing it. "It was nice," she told him after sipping her beer again. "Cleaned up a bit, got some groceries... I was going to go shopping to find something for Mila but I may put that off for a few more days. What about you?" She set her book down so she could focus on Gavin. "Did you get all of your errands done?" Charlie had no idea what he had gone out to do, but she rarely demanded to know what he was doing or where he was going every single second of the day.
There was some unspoken understanding between them where neither of them really worried about what the other was doing. It was hard enough worrying about something happening to the people he loved without feeling dumb and suspicious too but Gavin didn't believe for a second Charlie would cheat on him and he was pretty sure she felt the same way. That didn't mean he couldn't do other shit to hurt her though and he worried this was one of those things. Not the action itself, but the secrecy. "I was getting some stuff fixed," he said and idly picked at the label on his bottle of beer. "I wasn't honest with you because I wanted to protect you, but you need to know what's going on."
She figured by getting some stuff fixed he meant his truck or some things at the bar. So Charlie was mildly surprised when he admitted to not being honest with her. Almost immediately her heart began to pound, some lingering anxiety from her doomed marriage blooming in her chest. She knew Gavin wouldn't be unfaithful to her, but she knew secrets generally came with bad news, especially in Point Pleasant. Looking at him, Charlie tried to keep her expression calm. "Okay," she began slowly, "so what's going on?"
"Kat and I... We both got hurt in our dreams," Gavin started. "I didn't fall on the stairs, I... I got the crap beat out of me in a dream and woke up with broken ribs. Remember this winter when I got arrested? It's... him. That clown in the hat." He could have trailed off there but he didn't want to leave Charlie thinking he was still in danger - even if he still might be. "We saw a witch today. Powerful witch. She put some kinda... protective spell on us. I should've told you sooner, but you know..." The idea of her waking up in the middle of the night with his body all mangled next to her crept into his mind again and he winced. "I hate telling you this dark shit, you know that."
Despite how little was said, it was still a lot to take in. So much of it sounded like nonsense, but Charlie knew that in Point Pleasant even the most fantastical stories could be true. And Gavin had been hurt... so had Kat. Charlie had noticed that at Gavin's birthday party. All of this was happening and he had kept her in the dark about it. Was it wrong of her to be hurt by that? Was she making this terrible situation about her if she was? Charlie licked her lips and looked out into the yard, focusing on the dogs playing for a few moments as she gathered her thoughts. "Protective spell," she said finally, once she had cleared her throat. "What does that mean?"
"It means he can't come into our dreams again. I don't... I don't really know what it all means." He said the latter in a somewhat defeated tone, huffing softly. All of this was so beyond him, he was a simple man who just wanted to run his bar and love his woman. But no, everything was cursed around him and it kept rubbing off on him. Or maybe it was the other way around and if he ever tried to leave Point Pleasant, he'd just spread this supernatural cancer to whatever new place he moved to. "Have you ever met a witch? Seen what they do?"
Charlie shook her head. She had heard the rumors about the witches in town though. Point Pleasant was known for its history, though most people outside of the town believed it to be on par with Salem. Maybe she hadn’t seen what witches could do, but she was sure she knew some, if those rumors were true. It was a relief to hear that the dark man who had hurt Gavin couldn’t get to him through his dreams anymore, and she was thankful for that. But it stung that he had been going through all of it without her knowledge. He had kept it from her and that made her feel slightly stupid. Maybe Charlie wasn’t a witch, and maybe she would have been useless, but she would have tried to help. “Do you feel safer?” she asked, glancing at Gavin. “Do you trust that whatever she did is really going to protect you?”
Gavin hummed to the affirmative and it honestly surprised him a little that he believed it, but he knew what he'd felt when the magic rushed through him and maybe it had been some kind of mind-fuckery and maybe he was an idiot for believing but he needed it. "Never knew... She's Max O'Reilly's little sister, that whole family is..." He wiggled his hand a little and took another sip of his beer. Charlie was obviously not happy with all of this but why would she be? It was a horrible thing and he didn't pick up on the hurt that came with it. "We just gotta hope it keeps him away. She seemed pretty damn sure."
"Good. That's good." Gavin would be protected. By a witch. Because some kind of otherworldly man had invaded his dreams like Freddie Krueger and then broke his ribs. Kat had been hurt too. Did the others know what had happened? Was Charlie the only one kept in the dark? Was she being ridiculous that it upset her? Would Gavin be annoyed with her if she was? They rarely fought, after all and she didn't want him to be upset with her for being upset. Now she was being wishy washy and Charlie sighed before bringing the beer up to her lips to take a sip. Finally she looked at him again, lowering the bottle to her leg. "You should have told me," she said quietly. "And it hurts that you didn't, Gavin. This isn't something you should be protecting me from."
He should be used to Charlie's style of communication by now, he really should, but it still surprised him when she was openly vulnerable without attacking him. Being direct wasn't something he wasn't used to, it was just usually far more violent. He frowned as he considered her words, nodding slowly. "I didn't wanna hurt you," he muttered after perhaps a moment too long. "I never want to hurt you, maybe that's my problem." If he could keep all the darkness away from her, he'd do it no matter what the cost, but that wasn't fair towards her and he knew it. "I should have told you," he agreed at last and he didn't know how he could put into words how he really felt about all of it, why he didn't want to talk about it with her, why he wanted this part of his life to be untouched by all the bullshit that tainted everything else around him.
She knew he didn't want to hurt her and she never wanted to hurt him either. But this was life and they were human, so hurt was inevitable. Charlie was thankful that he didn't get defensive about it because she hadn't wanted this to escalate into an argument. "I think I know you well enough to know that if something like this was happening to me, you would want to know. It goes both ways, okay? Please don't shut me out when things get bad. I can't just exist in only one part of your life. Not when you exist in every part of mine." Charlie paused and released a slow breath. "Just... please don't hide things from me."
They'd had a similar conversation before, probably more than one by now, and Gavin knew she would never understand how it was different. He wanted to protect her but he didn't want her to feel like she had to protect him or worry about him. She could never be a burden, but he could be and would be if he didn't watch his step. "I'm telling you now," he said as he fished his cigarette out of his pocket and offered her one. "Better late than never, right?" She might not agree and he knew that already, giving her a small, apologetic smile. "I'll report to you from now on, first of all."
She waved off the cigarette and took another small sip of her beer instead. If she could explain how important trust was to her, especially after what Drew did to her, she would. But Charlie wasn't sure she could get the words out without becoming upset, so she let them die on her tongue. Being open and vulnerable with someone else could only do so much. He had said he would tell her things from now on, and she loved him, so she would believe him. What else could she do? Clearing her throat, Charlie managed a small smile. "So what was it like? Hanging out with a witch for a while? What did it feel like?"
Gavin's initial reply was a pain groan and a shake of his head and he didn't elaborate until he had lit his cigarette and taken a deep drag. "I don't like all that hocus pocus," he muttered. "She was itty bitty but she was... fucking powerful." He waved his hand and focused on the dogs for a moment as he tried to shake that feeling that came with remembering the intense emotions he'd felt out at the O'Reilly house. "I could feel it like a physical thing. It moved through me and... my ribs don't hurt no more. Not as much." He still didn't know if that salve Shayna Mae had given him would do anything for him and maybe he was scared to try. No more secrets though, so he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over to Charlie. "Told me to use this on my arm," he said as if he was just talking about a bandaid for a minor scratch and not a magical salve for his messed up arm. "What do you make of it?"
Charlie was grateful that someone could help Gavin. She was generally helpless when it came to anything out of the ordinary and honestly, if he had come to her about this problem when it happened, she probably would have approached a witch herself. Charlie's gaze dropped to the jar in his hand and she raised a brow before taking it from him. There was no label or anything to indicate what was inside. Charlie unscrewed the top and took a quick sniff. It wasn't terrible, but it was definitely potent. She replaced the top and offered it back to Gavin. "I think if she was able to place some kind of subconscious protections in your mind, and cure your ribs, then I think it's safe to try it and see if it works. You've been living with that pain for so long... imagine waking up without it."
Gavin hadn't opened the jar yet and he half expected a cartoonish cloud to puff out of there to indicate power. That or some horribly foul smell that he'd have to live with if he wanted to use it. Neither of those came true and he unscrewed the top again to sniff it himself. "I don't know what it's supposed to do, really," he said quietly because his injuries weren't exactly the healing kind. But this wasn't a normal remedy, magic was a whole other beast that he probably should steer clear of but kept running into head first. "At least it doesn't smell too bad, right? You think you can still sleep next to me if I put this on at night?"
Charlie raised a brow, a small smile playing at her lips. "You got some salve from a witch but you don't know what it's supposed to do... logically I would say be wary of it, but my gut tells me it's probably going to help you and you should at least give it a try. And yes, I don't think it'll be a problem to sleep next to you with that stuff on your shoulder. As long as you're comfortable with it. If it starts to stink, I'll just kick you to the couch and let Rude sleep in the bed with me instead." She was teasing, of course, but it felt better to make jokes than to let any hurt feelings linger. "The important thing is that you and Kat will be safe, so let's make sure that works first."
Gavin tittered self consciously and shook his head. He knew what the damn thing was probably supposed to do but he just wasn't how or how much. He sometimes used some numbing creams on his arm and he supposed it was something similar, just magical. Shayna Mae hadn't exactly been specific but he found himself trusting her. She was at least more trustworthy so far than Reagan Kelly but to Gavin that wasn't exactly a high bar to clear. "I'll cuddle with the dogs then," he sighed in feigned sadness. "They aren't as picky about stink as you are." Charlie was definitely nicer to cuddle with though and it didn't seem like this ointment smelled bad so that wasn't a risk. Unless it was some magic thing that got smellier as soon as it hit the skin but he could only hope that wasn't the case. "It'll be like the old days, except you get my dog and I get yours."
Despite everything, Charlie laughed, reaching up to brush some of her hair behind her ear. "Well, in that case I get Rude and Max. Baxter is the only one who will really fit on the couch with you anyway." She knew he knew she was only teasing. Charlie didn't care what that stuff smelled like. If it helped ease Gavin's pain, she would gladly smell it all night long. Besides, she had gotten used to sleeping beside Gavin every night. It would feel weird to make him sleep elsewhere. "Are you ready for Aaron's bachelor party?" It felt like the right time to change the subject to something lighter. Charlie didn't want to dwell on witches and secrets anymore.
It kind of went without saying that Max would go wherever Rude went so Gavin couldn't even joke about her driving a hard bargain. It was nice to hear her laugh though, especially after she'd been hurt about him keeping secrets. "Ready as I'll ever be," he said with a mostly feigned sigh, but the truth was he wasn't too excited about the whole thing. He'd put his everything into it and make sure Aaron had a blast - as well as some mandatory awkward and scary moments - but it really wasn't his idea of fun. It also wasn't something he wanted to talk to Charlie about, she could probably guess some of the things they'd get up to and hopefully she knew him better than to think he'd be getting grabby at some strippers. "Are you ready for Mila's bachelorette party?" he asked instead, turning it around on her. That one was probably going to be a little tamer with Mila's condition and he really didn't want to know if there was going to be a stripper involved or not.
Charlie knew what men usually did at bachelor parties, but she wasn't bothered by it. One, she trusted him, and two, Gavin didn't exactly come across as the handsy type, especially with women he didn't know. He may not be sober at the end of the night but Charlie was pretty sure he wouldn't end up with some stripper's body makeup all over him. "I didn't have to put it all together, so I'm more than ready," she said with a small grin. "It's definitely going to be a low key event though. I know Mila can't drink so I'll probably hold off too, just so she doesn't end up being the designated driver at her own bachelorette party. We'll be in Portland that weekend. I assume you and Jasper will be all right on your own?"
Gavin shook his head, giving her a bemused smile as he half hummed, half growled a negative answer. "You know I'm lost without you," he told her and hell, he wasn't even lying. They'd survive, but both Charlie and Amelia were going away and the house was going to feel lonely. He shifted closer to her and leaned in to kiss her. "I'm a lil worried you'll go to the city of opportunities and find someone better than me," he murmured lightly. It wouldn't be hard, he was sure, even Point Pleasant had men better suited for her than he was, but for some bizarre reason she was set on him and he needed to stop fucking it up by keeping things from her. "But I think you'll have your hands full with the other girls if you're staying sober."
"I can handle drink women," Charlie said before pressing another kiss to his mouth. "Even at our craziest, I think we'll still be relatively tame compared to what you lot will get up to." Gavin, she wasn't worried about. But she was sure Aaron, Caden and whomever else was invited would be drinking. A lot. Charlie still tried to quell her mild apprehension behind a smile and a bit of teasing. "I just want you to be careful. I've heard stories about the Lucas boys and their liquor. Don't end up in jail." Gavin drank, but she had never seen him stupid drunk before and she knew he would probably end up being the responsible adult, keeping his brothers in check.
"I'll make sure to keep everyone safe," Gavin assured her in good humor and as for the ladies, he wasn't very worried about them getting into trouble, he just didn't love the idea of them all far away where he couldn't do anything to help if something did come up. Not that he'd be in any shape to do much over the weekend, he wasn't going to be sober at a bachelor party, that was for damn sure. "What did you think of the new priest?" he asked, because he hadn't actually run it by Charlie to get the house blessed and Gavin was still getting used to needing to run things like that by a partner. It was probably a small miracle that he'd thought of it at all.
Charlie took a moment to think about the new priest. She went to church because it was important to Gavin, and her mother, but more often than not she found her mind wandering during the sermons. But her mother had raved about Father Osborne after the service, so Charlie was wary of saying anything negative. Not that she really had anything negative to say. The man was handsome and spoke with confidence. "I liked him," she said after a moment. "I got the feeling that he knows Point Pleasant in the way we do. So he already has that going for him. Did you like him?"
Gavin hummed the affirmative and nodded. "He does and he offered to bless this house." He was telling her a fact but there was a question there as well. They all knew Point Pleasant and the things that lurked out there, as far as Gavin was concerned there was no such thing as too much protection. Sure, some measures were probably ridiculous and he'd draw the line at some hippie chick running around the house with burning grass of some sort, but witches and priests? Maybe they didn't mix well, but he doubted the two would interact in ways that created toxins.
Charlie didn't think a blessing would do much to fight off the evil in this town but again, she knew faith was important to Gavin, and if having the house blessed by a priest would ease his mind, she would let it happen. "Okay," she said after a moment. "Whatever you think will help, then we'll do it. Every little bit helps, I think. Do... I mean, is there a difference between a blessing from a priest and a witch? Do witches do that sort of thing?" Maybe Gavin had reached his limit of dealing with witches, but it seemed like if he was protected from being attacked in his dreams then that was real results, something she hadn't seen from a church, or God, in a long time.
"I honestly don't know," Gavin replied and he still didn't know if all the things Shayna Mae had done would actually work. He needed to believe they would and he had felt the power coming from her, but he was a strange mix of a religious man and a skeptic, he knew there were plenty of things he didn't understand; lying and tricking were some people's bread and butter. "What the witch did is supposed to keep me safe," he said. "I'd like everyone in this house to be safe. We have to have shelter, one that we can trust." Maybe Shayna Mae could bless a house, but he hadn't felt right asking. What she'd done that day had seemed to take a lot out of her and he still didn't know what she was charging for it.
"I trust you," Charlie said after another small sip of beer. "Whatever you think will help." She never felt unsafe in her home, but if Gavin had been attacked in his own dreams, that likely didn't mean a thing. She knew very well how evil Point Pleasant could be. She just tried so hard not let it completely ruin her life. More than anything, she wanted Gavin to be comfortable. He worried so much that she knew it had to be exhausting for him. If blessing the house eased his concerns some, then she would be happy to do it. It still startled her some that he had gone to see a witch. Charlie had already forgiven him for hiding things from her, but a tiny, insecure part wondered if there was anything else she didn't know. That was a dangerous path to go down though, so she pushed it aside and looked over at Gavin, a small smile playing at her lips. "I had heard stories about the O'Reilly's," she said with a lilt of teasing in her voice. "Do they really live in a little wooden cabin with animal carcasses hanging all over the place?"
"Is that what you've heard?" Gavin chuckled. "Nah, their house is big, never seen any animal carcasses around there - or any animals at all, for that matter. It was weird to be back there, hasn't really changed at all." He hummed, unsure how to explain that the O'Reilly house was fucking weird but in no real discernable way. The vibe, the make of the house for the location - the location - it was all off somehow and he'd never known what to make of it. "I picked Caden up there a couple of times way back when, I'm pretty sure it looks exactly the same."
She had the vague memory of Caden and Max O'Reilly being friends, but it was still strange to think of Gavin going out into those woods to pick up his brother. The O'Reilly family had a certain reputation in town, but then again, so did the Lucas's. "No animal carcasses," she said with a dramatic sigh. "It's like everything I was told when I was younger was a lie. Like, the O'Reilly's house is partially made of bones from the dead and the Lucas men are so good looking because their great-grandmother married an incubus. That's not true, right?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she brought her beer back up to her lips.
Gavin tittered and shook his head, more out of embarrassment than anything else. "What do you think?" he then murmured and cocked a brow at her. "You think I have some incubus blood in me?" The answer to that was a definite no. He'd likely be far more flirty if he did, but he never had been. Aaron was really the only one of them who had any slutty tendencies too, and even he seemed firmly settled down with one woman now. Still, it was funny and something he was pretty sure she'd made up on the spot and so he was happy to play along. To be fair he'd managed to land himself a woman who was so far out of his league it was laughable so maybe there was some truth to it and he did have some bewitching qualities.
It was definitely something she had made up to tease him about, though it wouldn't have surprised her if it had been a real rumor about his family. They all were ridiculously good looking, though for her, there was so much more to Gavin than how attractive she found him. Charlie knew she had seen something in him when they were teenagers, and that something was still there today. "No, no demon blood to be found in your body," she assured him. Baxter came bounding up the deck stairs and plopped down at her feet, so Charlie reached down to give him a scratch behind his ears. Then she looked over at Gavin again. "Everything is going to be okay, isn't it?" He probably didn't know the answer to that, but everything she already knew about Point Pleasant, on top of what Gavin had come home and told her, put a small, uncomfortable feeling in her gut. Gavin spent so much time worrying about everyone else, and she worried about him.
"You know, I think it is," Gavin said with a faint smile. He wasn't about to tell her no, even if he didn't know what the future held for them. It was easier to believe they could be when he was sitting out here with her. The weather was nice, she was beautiful and the dogs all looked content. It really did seem like things were normal. He didn't know how long that would last but for the time being he still had the placebo effect of the power he'd felt earlier and he wanted to believe they'd be just fine. "I'm gonna call the others, let'em know there might be a solution, see what O'Reilly says about helping some more people. You need anything from inside?"
She hoped he meant it, though given how well Charlie thought she knew Gavin, it wouldn't have surprised her if he was just trying to ease her mind. Either way, he did look less stressed and she was sincerely hoping whatever Shayna Mae had done would work. Lord knew Gavin's family could use a break. She shook her head when he asked if she needed anything, lifting her beer slightly. "I'm good here. I'll probably sit out here and enjoy the weather for a bit longer. I'll come in soon and get dinner going."
"If you're not in by the time I'm done, I'm bringing out another beer," Gavin told her as he got up, then leaned down to kiss her, taking the moment to run his fingers over her soft hair. "Nobody cares if dinner's late." That was the benefit of both the kids being fully grown, they could and would take care of themselves. The annoying part of it was that they didn't always let them know when they did so Gavin rarely knew what they were up to. Today he really didn't care, he just wanted to relax with Charlie and live in the hope that all this magic stuff was doing its job.