Would you stay awake for me? Who: Charlie and Xander What: Being adorable When: 10.10.11 - Monday Afternoon Where: WWHS, Xander's car, Charlie's house Warnings: None really, save for cuteness
Xander was still feeling like ass, worse than the previous day if he was being honest, but thankfully he hadn't had to deal with going to practice. He'd asked Phoebe if she could write him a note, explaning his situation, and was thankful when she agreed and offered him more help. The note, however, was all he felt he needed at the moment, so he'd thanked her graciously and been given the next two weeks off of practice due to 'medical issues' that he hadn't had to explain further than that. He was glad that no one really asked a lot of questions because if he had to tell one more person he was a junkie, he was going to explode.
So instead of practicing with the track team, he plopped himself down on the bleachers and tugged his jacket tighter around himself. If he could practice, he was going to watch Charlie do her thing. Which was sort of hot, he had to admit. Who didn't like watching their girl be all strenuous and work out? He knew he quite approved of it. He spent the whole practice curled up in one corner of the bleachers and almost fell asleep at least twice, perhaps to escape the pain in his head and in his stomach. He managed to stay awake, however, and practice ended.
Collecting his bag, he made his way down the bleachers and towards Charlie as she was coming off of the field. "Nice practice, Char," he murmured, smiling tiredly at her. "You trying to carry the whole team?"
Charlie would admit to herself she had played easily twice as hard knowing Xander was watching her practice. It got to the point her coach faced her off against the rest of the team and Charlie still managed to score goals against the other girls. When practice finished, she got a few winks as she trotted over to Xander. Ignoring the gaggling group of females, she leaned up on her tip toes and gave Xander a little kiss. "Thank you. And I'm not trying." she said with a little smirk.
He didn't look well. She knew he wasn't going to die or anything, but seeing him sick as he was hurt her in a way she couldn't even fully understand. "You wanna go? I can shower and change at home." She wanted to get him in bed and not for the reasons most teenage girls wanted their boyfriends in bed.
"Sounds good to me," he said. Her father had been nice enough to let him stay until he was feeling better which surprised the hell out of the boy if he was being completely honest. He'd never had someone take that much of an interest in him, especially an adult. it was strange, but it was nice too. So the previous evening, he'd gone out with Charlie to get his clothes and the other things he'd needed to get through a short stay with the Richards'. "Wanna grab some food on the way back?" he asked. "Or make something when we get to your place?"
"Whatever you want to do." she said, slipping her arm around his waist and smiling up at him. "I can make you something at home." she said, trying to hide how concerned she was. Really she wanted to get him home, put him in be and feed him soup. Chloe had always been the mothering one between the two of them, but it was as if she had found her inner caretaker and wanted nothing more than to take care of Xander.
"Home sounds good," he admitted, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in against him. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he smiled a little. "I'm okay," he promised her. "How about soup and grilled cheese?" he murmured. "I don't know about you, but I make a pretty mean grilled cheese." Lightening up the mood would make the both of them feel better, he was sure.
"That sounds absolutely perfect." she said and kissed his cheek before untangling herself from him. "I'm all gross and sweaty." she said. "You don't wanna be loving up on me until I shower." Charlie picked up her bag, hefting it onto her shoulder before starting to head to his car. "You want me to drive?" she asked, knowing he was having trouble with dizzying headaches.
He arched a brow at her. "You don't have your license yet," he pointed out, even if he did know that she was more than capable of driving. "I'll be alright," he promised her as he shifted his bag on his shoulder as they walked to his car. "The headaches aren't so bad now. Or at least they're lightening up which is nice." He'd be glad when they disappeared entirely. "The cravings aren't getting any better, but I'm doing better knowing I can't bring them into your house," he pointed out. "Your dad would kill me so that's a nice deterring factor."
"Dad lets me drive sometime." she said but conceded anyway and hopped into the passenger seat once they got to his car. Charlie loved his car. She also loved his big back seat which she planned on using with him someday. "If there's anything you need me to do to help you, just name it." she said fervently.
"You've been doing nothing but helping me since the day I met you," he told her honestly as he tossed his bag into the back seat and tucked the key into the ignition. "I don't know what it is about you, Char, but you managed to turn my world upside down instantly. So thank you," he murmured, leaning over enough that he could steal a kiss from the girl. "I mean it."
Charlie smiled widely at him. "I didn't think turning someone's world upside down was a good thing, but I'll take what compliments I can get." she said with a giggle. She reached over, taking his hand in hers and lacing their fingers as he started the car. "You....make me really happy Xander and I want to help you in every way I can."
"It is," he told her. "Especially when my world was pretty crappy," he explained. Once the pulled out of the parking lot, he was glad she didn't live all that far from the school. "I'm glad I make you happy," he said. And he was. It was nice to feel like he was doing something decent for once in his life, even if he felt like Charlie could do better than him. "I want to eat," he admitted. "Which is nice to say since I haven't wanted to for the whole weekend," he smiled. "Then sleep. Sleep would be nice. Gonna curl up with me?" he asked her, smiling a little. "I wanna get some of that radiating heat."
She leaned over to snuggled against him as he drove. "Then we will eat and sleep because that sounds like the perfect afternoon to me." she said. Charlie wished she could sleep the whole night with him, but she was careful not to push her luck with her dad. As it was, she snuck down constantly at night to check on him, make sure he was still breathing. It might of been creepy of her to watch him sleep, but Charlie would watch all night to make sure he was ok. "Feel a little warmer now?"
Oh yeah, that was nice. Xander let out a content little sigh and nodded, slipping his arm around her. "Mhm," he murmured. "Much. You're like a portable space heater," he teased. "Or a heated blanket. Guess I lucked out falling for a were," he murmured. It certainly didn't hurt and it'd be nice to have her warmth in the winter for sure.
A happy shiver went through her when he said he had fallen for her. Of all the things he said, that was the part that stuck out to her. Charlie nuzzled him, letting out a happy little sigh as she kissed his neck. "I'll always keep you warm." she promised him.
"Good," he commented. "I'm kind of cold natured to begin with so I can use all the warmth I can get." He took after his mother in that respect, never having a whole lot of insulation to keep himself warm. Which made her heat all the more appreciated. It didn't take long to get to Charlie's house and he was thankful for that small favor as he parked his car along the street and, grabbed his bag. "Got any homework?" he asked her offhandedly.
"Nothing I'm worried about." she said with a shrug. Academics had never been Charlie's strong suit. Since being diagnosed with dyslexia she hated it even more. She tried so hard to get good grades and while she always managed Cs and Bs, she always felt it wasn't good enough and lately that feeling along with how much more difficult her classes were was making her even more disheartened and slacking. She got out her keys and let them in. No one else was home yet, so they had the house to themselves, which was kind of nice. "I'm gonna take a quick shower, ok?" she asked as she dumped her bag in the foyer.
He wanted to appreciate the thought of her naked and wet in the shower, and he did, but it wasn't exactly like he could do anything about it. Damn being sick and trying to be a gentleman and you know, being in her dad's house too. "Yeah, sure," he told her. "I can get the food going and after we eat, if you want we can look at your homework," he suggested. Keeping her from doing something she had to do wasn't part of the plan, even for Xander who'd never really done spectacular in school.
She groaned a bit about the homework part as she had some reading to do for english and it always took her forever to read the chapter then answer the questions. "If I have to." she said with a sigh. She had no idea how she was going to get through all of high school. Charlie left Xander to cook as she headed upstairs and showered. She closed her eyes as she washed her hair, thinking about what it would be like to have Xander in the shower with her, his hands washing her hair, running over her body. It wasn't the first time she had had such a fantasy and her hand was inclined to do what it usually did when she thought about such things, which made her moan.
Xander spent the time that she was in the shower cooking a couple of grilled cheeses apiece for them and some vegetable soup. It smelled awesome and he was more than ready to eat as much as he could while he actually had the craving for it. It'd be nice to keep something down and he hoped that this would be something he could. By the time she finished with her shower, he'd gotten their meals into bowls and onto plates and they were sitting on the table. He'd collected a couple of glasses and he turned at the sound of her entering the room. "Hey you," he commented. "Feel better?"
Her short shower was a little longer than she planned and Charlie had rushed to dress, throwing on some sweats and a tank top, her wet hair in a loose braid down her back. The smell of food was inviting and she came down the stairs with a smile. His question made her blush as of course he had no idea what she had been doing upstairs for the last twenty minutes. "Um, yea. Nice and clean." she said, though she felt dirty in a different way. "This looks great." she said, changing the subject from her shower to his meal.
Xander just figured she was a girl, regardless of how tomboyish she was, and that girls took long showers. "What do you want to drink?" he asked her as he sat the glasses on the countertop and looked at her expectantly.
Charlie leaned against the kitchen counter, trying not to look guilty. "Milk, please." she said, chewing on one of her nails. "Can I help with anything?" She certainly wasn't used to being served and she didn't want him to overwork himself.
Xander made them both a glass of milk and sat them down on the table with their food. "Nah, babe," he promised, leaning in to kiss her temple before guiding her towards the table. "You don't have to fuss over me so much," he murmured, leaning again, this time to catch her lips in a soft kiss before he settled down at his seat. "But thanks for being concerned. Come on, eat up."
Having him kiss her so soon after her little extended shower made her heart race and her face flush. "You're welcome....and thank you for making dinner." she said, smiling somewhat shyly as she began to eat. It was good and she all but inhaled her meal. She couldn't help it. After practice she was always ravenous. In under five minutes she was finished and sipping her milk. "That was really good."
He still was having a hard time getting used to a girl that could eat faster and more than him. He was barely through one sandwich and part of his soup when she'd finished her whole meal. It made him chuckle a little. "Good," he said to her. "I'm glad. At least I'm not completely awful in the kitchen. I learned all the easy stuff when I first had to be on my own," he explained. Anything in the microwave was down pat by that time.
Charlie smiled at him, content to watch him eat. "I'm learning here and there." she said. She had labored hard on the soup she had made for him on Saturday and she was more eager to pay attention in the kitchen now that she had Xander. It seemed finally having a boyfriend was remind Charlie she was indeed a girl.
He grinned at her and took another bite of his sandwich, eyes wandering over the girl. "So what is your homework anyway?" he asked her. "I doubt the schoolwork is much different from what I had when I was in your grade," he said. "So I can help you and stuff. I mean if you want me to." He didn't want her to think he was forcing her to do something she didn't want to do, but he wanted to at least offer her the help.
"I have to read a chapter of The Lord of the Flies and answer questions." she said and sounded like it was the most awful thing in the world. She had gotten her math done in study hall and her science wasn't due till Friday, but she had been avoiding her English homework as she always did. "English is my least favorite class."
Xander smiled at her. "I read that," he said, finishing off his sandwich and his soup and getting up from the table to rinse the dishes and tuck them into the dishwasher. "It's not so bad really. Why don't you like English?" he asked. He couldn't help but be a little curious about why each class was her favorite or least favorite.
Charlie got up to help him, trying to think of how to answer his question. She decided, as always with him, on the truth. "I was diagnosed with Dyslexia at the beginning of the year." she mumbled, sounding a bit miserable. "I've never done good with English or History or basically anything that's a lot of reading."
Well, that explained a lot of things. "Well, doesn't mean you can't do it," he told her, nudging her gently with his elbow. "I'll help you," he promised. "Maybe you can read to me," he suggested. "A friend of mine in middle school had dyslexia and reading out loud helped him." It couldn't hurt to try, surely.
She looked up at him, tilting her head a bit. "I thought I was supposed to be taking care of you." she said before giving him a smile. "I guess I can...I just don't want to bore you." she said as she closed the dishwasher once they were done. "Come on then." Charlie grabbed her homework and went into the living room, hopping onto the pull out bed that served as Xander's bed for now. "Least we can be comfortable."
He smiled at the girl and followed her through to the living room, taking off his shoes and sock and settling on the pull out sofa beside her. "I think that we can take care of each other," he told her with a little smile. "And then I feel less like I'm taking advantage of you sticking around here an eating all your food and what not," he said, which was true. He did feel sort of like a mooch, the lease he could do was help her read a chapter in a damn book.
"I like the idea of taking care of each other." she said, giving him a little kiss when he settled beside her. "But you're not taking advantage. Honestly, with Daddy dealing with these supernatural hate crimes I think he feels better knowing there's a man in the house while he's at work." she said as she opened her book, trying not to scowl too much at it. "Why couldn't I go to one of those school where the athletes don't actually have to do work?"
Xander slipped his arm around her shoulder and smiled a little. "Because you're smart enough to do the work," he said with a bit of a one armed shrug of his shoulders. "Go on, read to me. Take your time and don't think about it so hard. Doesn't matter if it takes five minutes or five hours, I'm gonna enjoy hearing the sound of your voice, okay?" he murmured, pressing his lips to her temple with a tiny smile. "You got this, Charlie."
Charlie smiled as snuggled against him. It did give her confidence, having him help her. "Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before...before him small children squatted in the grass." she began, speaking a bit slowly as she concentrated on the words before her. There was something sweet and intimate about being curled up together, Charlie reading to Xander. She liked the feeling, smiling as she read.
Xander smiled a little because even if she was reading slowly, she was getting the words correct. They didn't sound out of place or jumbled and he thought even that was likely progress for the girl. Leaning back a little against the pillows on the fold away bed, he drew her with him and closed his eyes as he listened to the story.
Charlie was more than happy to lay with him as she read. She could tell how tired he was and hoped maybe her reading would soothe him to sleep. She could always do the questions later anyway.
Her reading did help soothe him and by the time she was halfway through the chapter, he was asleep, arm still curled around her body. He hadn't been getting much sleep lately, but Charlie certainly made the sleep he did get possible. Her warm body didn't hurt either.
When he fell asleep, Charlie set her book to the side with a soft smile. When he slept, he looked so innocent. She shifted a bit, snuggling into his hold as she nuzzled him, inhaling his scent. He was getting better. She could smell it in him, certain parts of his scent which was the drugs fading. It made her feel better, knowing soon she would smell him as only him.