That's what sister's are for
Who: Charlie and Chloe Where: Lion’s Den What: Sisterly advice When: Tuesday afternoon Warnings: Charlie behaving like an actual teenage girl for a change?
Charlie had dumped her bag in her room as soon as she’d gotten home from school, heading down to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. Xander was in the shower, and she was hoping she could catch her sister alone for long enough to talk to her. While they still had their spats, their relationship had settled a lot since they’d moved out to the suburbs. It was nice, not being at each other’s throats all the time. Fixing a pile of PB&J sandwiches and a couple of glasses of milk, she put them on a tray and headed towards Chloe’s room, kicking the door gently. “Chloe, it’s me. Can I come in?”
Chloe had just finished folding up her laundry and was putting it away when Charlie knocked. Pulling the door open, she arched a brow at her sister. "Yeah, sure. What's up?" she questioned. While they'd not been at each other's throats, far too busy with their boyfriends to really pay much attention to one another, they also hadn't been bestest buddies either. Looking at Charlie she could already tell something was on her sister's mind. Once Charlie was inside her room, she closed the door behind her sister and tucked her laundry basket into her closet. "Everything okay?"
Charlie set the tray down on Chloe’s bed, picking at the edge of a sandwich crust. “Hunh? Yeah, um, fine.” She sighed, teeth sinking into her lower lip, biting back a smile. “So I might have told Xander I loved him,” she murmured, staring intently at the tray, rather than at her sister’s face. She wanted to tell someone, wanted someone to squeal excitedly at. She was a tomboy at heart, but even she behaved like a girl sometimes. And flailing over her boyfriend? Yeah, that was one of those things.
She couldn't help but just stare at her sister for a moment. She was surprised to hear Charlie saying those words out loud, let alone having said them to Xander. She hadn't even said them to Mateo yet, too afraid that he'd freak out since it was so early into their relationship, no matter how much she was wanting to just blurt them out every single time she saw him. Picking her jaw up off the floor, she shook her head. "Whoa, really? Wow. I..., Charlie, that's awesome," she said, not wanting to discourage her sister from saying the words or freak her out in any way. "What did he say?" she questioned. "Do I have to punch him because I will."
Charlie looked at her sister, almost visibly going ‘yay!’ and squeeing. “No,” she said, giggling. You totally don’t have to punch him. He said he loves me too.” She bit her lip again, grinning widely at Chloe. She was still on cloud nine, still a little disbelieving that it had actually happened. “We were talking on Sunday night, after we got home from the comic book store, and I was saying how,” she took a breath, twisting a strand of hair nervously around her finger. “How he was a part of the pride, even if we split up.” Which really didn’t bear thinking about, but it was true. “And he was so sweet, Chloe. Ugh.” She was beaming, her face practically cracking in two with the smile. “I don’t even think he can be real, sometimes. No one should be that cute.” Not that she was really complaining - Xander could keep on being as cute as he wanted to be, just as long as Charlie got to see it.
Chloe couldn't help but grin at her sister. She was obviously about to float away she was so high off of love for Xander. It was really pretty damned adorable. Shifting a little, she pulled Charlie into a hug, giving her a good squeeze and petting her hair. "I'm so happy for you," she smiled. "And you're right, he's a part of the pride now, for better or worse. He'll get used to it eventually. Pretty soon he'll be walking around here like he owns the place," she assured her sister.
Charlie giggled again. And yeah, hated herself just a little bit for it, because oh god, she was behaving like a stupid teenage girl, like the ones she’d always made fun of, swore she’d never be. But she couldn’t complain, not when she was so happy. She hugged her sister tightly, practically squirming with happiness. “He’s so perfect,” she said, sighing. “He’s sweet, and hot,” she blushed a little. “And Gracie loves him, and he’s fine with the whole pride thing, mostly...” She flopped back on the bed, sighing. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m waiting for it to all go wrong?” She looked at her sister. “I mean, he could date anyone. Anyone. I’m just waiting for him to decide that y’know, the stupid flatchested tomboy isn’t enough any more.”
She didn't like the last words that slipped out of her sister's mouth, but those could be addressed momentarily. "If he says he loves you, then I don't see where the problem is," Chloe told her, looking at her sister as she sprawled out on the bed. "Yeah, he probably could date anyone, but he's dating you. He's living with you. And he's a hermit so he pretty much only goes to work and school so you know he's not messing around on you," she pointed out, hoping to quell her sister's fears. "And you're not flatchested. You have boobs."
Charlie leant up on her elbows, arching an eyebrow. “There’s twelve year olds with bigger tits than me,” she pointed out. “It’s fine,” she shrugged, “it doesn’t bother me most of the time. Just...y’know. Sometimes it does.” Like when she was in the girl’s bathroom at Homecoming, and had overheard a couple of senior skanks talking about Xander. And how hot he looked. And how much better he could do than the flat-chested little kid he’d come with. She’d been a little quiet the rest of the night, faking enthusiasm whenever Xander spoke to her. She sighed. “I’m just being stupid. I just...I don’t know how to be a good girlfriend.” She rolled onto her side, grabbing a sandwich and looking at her sister. “But you do. You’re all....” she gestured vaguely at Chloe. “Cute underwear and freckles and girlyness.” Normally that wasn’t her thing at all. She was starting to wonder if she should take an interest in her appearance, though.
"Your boobs are still growing anyways," she pointed out. "Just because you're not happy with them doesn't mean you won't ever be. Besides, there are little tricks to make them look bigger if that's what you want. Push-up bras and padded bras help a lot. But honestly boys don't really give a damn as long as you've got a vagina and you do, so no big deal." Not that she thought Xander needed to be anywhere near her sister's vagina right now, but still. Boys were fairly simple creatures. "Make out with him, tell him he's hot and make sure he's got food to eat and usually they're pretty happy. I mean he seems happy to me. You must be doing something right," she shrugged.
As for her sister's words about her freckles and girlyness, Chloe shrugged and grabbed a bit of sandwich for herself. "We're just different, you and me," she told her sister. "Xander asked you out while you were being yourself," she reminded her. "I mean I'm not saying that you shouldn't by cute underwear or whatever, but if he doesn't like you for you, then he's a dick and not worth your time and I'll have to fillet him and serve him to Daddy for dinner."
Charlie squirmed just a little. She really didn’t want to think about Xander and her vagina in the same sentence. Because yeah, she so wasn’t ready for that. She swallowed the bite of sandwich, wishing she hadn’t been so much of a pig. She had to reach into her mouth, scraping peanut butter off the roof of her mouth before she could speak. “I know,” she murmured. “I guess you’re right.” She shrugged. “I just wanna look good for him. I haven’t ever cared about that before.” Xander was the first guy she’d ever been interested in as more than an opponent on the field.
Chloe smiled at her sister, reaching over to tuck a bit of her hair behind her ear. "Charlie, you always look good," she told her. "You're beautiful, you've got to know that. And you're pretty without even having to do anything to make it so, it just is. I'm jealous of your face more often than not because I have to spend hours getting ready just to look decent and you can wake up already looking perfect." She had never admitted that she was jealous of Charlie before, but she was. She had been for ages whether it was Charlie's adorableness or the fact that she was so close to their dad and obviously his favorite, at least in Chloe's mind. "If you want, we could go shopping sometime and buy you something cute and girly if that's what you want, but I think Xander likes you just the way you are."
Charlie blushed, wrinkling her nose up, disbelieving look on her face. “You’re kidding, right? Most of the guys in my year want to jump your bones.” And Charlie really wished she didn’t know that. She hadn’t been able to avoid all the lewd comments she’d overheard while Chloe was at cheerleading practice. “You’re all perfect, and feminine, and,” her lower lip trembled just a little. “You’re like the spitting image of Mom. Gracie, too.” She always felt like the odd one out, next to her sisters. “All tall and skinny and...well, that.” She waved a hand vaguely at Chloe again.
"No, I'm not kidding," Chloe told her sister honestly. "I have way too many freckles and I'm taller than like every guy in my grade, even some of the teachers. I have all these awkward long limbs... even Mateo is shorter than me," she sighed, pushing a hand through her hair. "My hair never does what I want it to, I have this weird pudginess around my stomach that looks awful," she muttered, shaking her head. That was the reason she liked one piece bikinis better than two piece ones to cover up little imperfections. "I'm not perfect," she assured her sister.
“I bet Mateo doesn’t care that he’s shorter than you,” Charlie points out. “It just means he’s closer to your boobs.” Because yeah, guys thought like that. And Mateo wasn’t an asshole, but he was a teenage boy nonetheless. “And c’mon, you’re not pudgy.” Charlie shook her head. She genuinely didn’t understand what Chloe had to complain about - Charlie would kill to look like her sister. She drew her legs up to her body, resting her chin on her knees as she wrapped her arms around her shins. “I like your hair. It always looks great. Mine just...hangs.” Mostly because she never did anything with it, just let it dry and tied it back.
"I guess everyone is their own worst critic," she shrugged. She couldn't explain why she thought all of these bad things about herself, about the way that she looked. She just did. "It's just a thing," she told her sister. "But either way, Xander likes you and Mateo likes me. I don't think that either one of us has anything to worry about and if we do, well I've got your back and you've got mine. That's what sister's are for."
Charlie smiled, grabbing another sandwich, breaking it in half and handing part of it to Chloe. “Yeah. Sisters, and Daddy.” Because woe betide the boys if they ever made Chloe or Charlie cry - Jason wasn’t exactly known for his even temper. “But um, the shopping thing? That would be good.” She tilted her head a little. “I don’t really have clothes that aren’t just comfortable and sporty.” She spent so much time in trackpants or jeans, it’d be nice to have more ‘cute’ clothes. Especially if she wanted to keep Xander interested.
"Yeah, I'd feel bad for Xander if he ever hurt you," she smiled. "And he's totally afraid of Daddy anyways so I doubt he'll ever be that stupid. If you guys break up, it's because you don't want to be with him, not the other way around." She hoped that would make her sister feel better. "But yeah, you've got nothing to worry about. He's in love with you. He said so himself, right?” Which was still pretty adorable. "We'll go shopping and find you something cute and surprise the hell out of Xander," she assured her sister. "And you're welcome to anything of mine that you want. I have tons of clothes and I can alter them to fit."
It made her feel a little better, and she couldn’t deny that it made her all giggly and gleeful just thinking about the fact that Xander had said ‘I love you’. And Chloe actually allowing Charlie access to her precious clothes collection? Charlie gaped just a little at that. “Really?” Not that she’d ever wanted to, in the past, but there had been death threats made whenever Charlie had even looked at Chloe’s wardrobe. That was how bad their relationship had been. It probably wasn’t a great idea to mention that, though. “Thanks,” she said instead, beaming. Now she just had to come up with a date idea that would be enough reason for her to dress up...
"Yeah, really," Chloe told her. A lot had changed since the days of being at each other's throats. She loved her sister and just wanted her happy. She realized she'd been just as much to blame for the rift between them and she wanted to patch it up as best she could. "We'll go through everything in my closet and see what I've got that you'd like," she grinned. "We can make a day of it. I don't want you to lose your style, Charlie, but I bet you can branch out and make a style all your own. Besides, it'll give me reason to bring out my sewing machine and get some practice in."
“I’d like that,” Charlie said, smiling. It was just another piece of the bridge the two of them were trying to build, trying to fix the holes in their family. It felt weird, still, to be nice to her sister. But it was how it should be. “Are you working this weekend?” If their dad was busy with work, he wouldn’t be taking the girls to the gym, which meant that they’d have Saturday to themselves.
Chloe shook her head. "No," she said. "I try not to pick up weekend shifts if I can help it. Three days a week is hard enough to work with my schedule. I feel like I'm always doing something. Running around like a madwoman." Her life was busy to say the least. School, work, cheering, games and family. Let alone Mateo time which was becoming increasingly more important to her. "We could do it this weekend if you want. Maybe make a date out of it or something. Invite the boys over for a fashion show of sorts?" she grinned. "I mean like I'm not going to want to show off my handiwork."
Grinning, Charlie arched an eyebrow at her. “You really think the boys wanna sit around for a fashion show?” She pointed out. The double date thing was a good idea, though - pizza and movies for them, and Justice and Gracie for that matter. She felt kind of sorry for Chloe - Jason had Justice around all the time now, even if he wasn’t here...and she had Xander to cuddle whenever she wanted. Chloe didn’t get the same with Mateo, he had to go home before curfew.
"When the girls in it are their girlfriends and they're wearing sexy outfits? Yeah," she teased. "But either way we should double date sometime. When Mateo doesn't have to work. It'd be fun. Especially since the boys are friends and all," Chloe told her sister. "Besides, Charlie, I want us to get past the way we used to treat each other. We're better than that, right? Things are different now. I want them to be different."
Nodding, Charlie smiled a little. “Yeah, they are,” she murmured. “Things are better. We’re a family again.” And she’d missed being part of one, being a unit like they used to be. She just wished it had happened sooner. “When does Mateo finish work on the weekends?” She asked, “we could go together, catch a movie or get ice-cream or something.” Not the most exciting of dates, but their ages kind of limited what they could do.
"I can ask," she told her sister. "That sounds like fun though. I'll talk to Mateo and see what he wants to do. You find out when Xander's got work and we'll schedule accordingly." She was already in love with this idea. Now if the boys could get on board to, they'd be set.