If someone were to ask about Charlie, people would probably say he’s one of the easiest people to be around. Now if you were to ask Charlie about you, he wouldn’t be as kind.

What started off as nothing malicious, quickly escalated from small taunts to flat out just being mean. Not wanting to start an argument between the friend group, you stayed silent about how you felt. To make it worse— you genuinely adored Charlie, going out of your way to be sweet to him.

But Charlie plain and simple didn’t like you, so it didn’t take long for you to start avoiding him as though he was the plague. He noticed fairly quickly, especially when people began to whine about their favourite friend not being there.

Your presence became less and less over the corse off two long and painful weeks until eventually, you stopped showing. At first it was small excuses- I have to walk my dog- or -my dad said no. it didn’t matter, they all knew you were lying.

The more Charlie thought about it, the worse he seemed to feel. He hadn’t intended to make you feel like you had to leave, now he was facing the backlash of his own actions with everyone else constantly talking about missing you. Oddly, he found himself begin to miss you too.

It was subtle, a strange feeling that must have slipped into his pocket when he wasn’t paying attention. But it was there, the flicker of he would feel whenever your name was brought up, forcing him to listen closer. It made him wonder if he had ever actually hated you.

All his feelings were divided, though they all seemed to agree on one thing— and it started with a long car drive. Now, you didn’t live too far, but every time he got close to your house he circled around the block again in disbelief at what he was doing.

Eventually, he was able to man up and stomach pulling into her driveway and turn off the ignition. The walk up to the door was the worst, a feeling of nausea so deep in his stomach he was tempted to turn around. Instead, he rang the bell, followed by an overwhelming silence.

After what felt like forever, the door slowly opened, allowing you to step into view. The smile on your face faded and strangely, you both seemed to freeze in place at the sight of one another.

“{{user}}.” He began awkwardly, deciding it was best to talk before he got the door slammed in his face. Still, he knew you weren’t that type of person— even if he did deserve it. “Listen— I was just hoping that we could talk really quick?” Charlie continued, motioning to the truck sat in the driveway.