Being Alive [Charlie Barber]

Chapter 19 : Lullaby

You muttered the room number quietly to yourself, glancing down at your phone to confirm you were looking for the right one as you passed each hotel room door.

It was eerily quiet in the hallway. The setting didn't match the way you were feeling inside. You were so excited to be alone with Charlie that you felt like you should be walking down the hallway to the sounds of people cheering or some other sort of excitement. Not the sound of the air conditioning running even though it was chilly outside, the carpeted noise of your feet down the hall.

When you finally got to the right door, you knocked cautiously.

Charlie opened the door instantly after looking through the peephole and confirming that it was you. Right when the door was open enough, he grabbed your arm gently and pulled you inside, locking the door behind you. He took the bag off of your shoulder and carefully set it on the ground.

"Hi! This hotel is so nice! I was-" Your words were cut off by Charlie pulling you in against his chest and pressing your face there, making it impossible to speak without being completely silenced.

You huffed against the material of his shirt, attempting to pull away just enough to finish your sentence, but then you felt the way that he was wrapping his strong arms around you and pulling you in tighter and you suddenly understood the action.

Charlie buried his nose against your hair, inhaling deeply. "I'm so glad you're here, sweetheart. I'm so fucking glad to see you." He muttered, hands rubbing at your back soothingly as if he were to relax you that it would calm him down as well.

You couldn't respond coherently because of the way he was squeezing you, but you held him tighter as a way of doing so. He was always the one taking care of you and even now when you could tell that he needed comfort, he was attempting to get it by being sweet to you.

You allowed him to hold you for a few moments, his heart thumping against your ear. "What happened?" You asked to the best of your ability.

"Hm?" Charlie asked, not able to understand you because of how your mouth was moving against the fabric of his shirt.

You moved away just slightly, looking up at him. You gave him a sheepish smile, eyebrows knitted together. "What happened tonight? Why are you here?"

He frowned at that. He put a hand on your cheek and ran his thumb over your skin there. "Not now, honey. I don't want to talk about it. I just want to enjoy this time with you." Charlie said, trying his best not to think about the argument he and Nicole had.

"But..." You sigh, practically pouting up at him. You didn't think it was a fun topic either, but you didn't want to be left in the dark. "How can I help you if I don't know what's going on?"

Charlie felt like his heart could explode at the fact that you were worried about taking care of him. He spent so much time trying to fix everything around him that it was almost shocking how long it had been since he felt like he could rely on someone else to heal him. He was so thankful to have you.

"You're already helping me, but, sweetheart, you just got here." He told you with a tender look in his eyes. "Give me a minute, okay?" Charlie murmured, softly smiled.

He bent down and wrapped his arms underneath you, picking you up by holding your thighs and making sure you wrapped your legs around his waist.

You let out a surprised giggle, your arms around his neck and holding some of your weight by pressing against him. Your face nuzzled against his neck, inhaling the very faint scent of cologne and the more apparent scent of cigarette smoke on his skin.