always been you - charlie weasley

five - back to the burrow

Natalia never confirmed whether she and Baron were back together or not. Charlie just assumed when he saw the ring. She looked down at the glistening rock on her finger and yanked it off, and chucked it into the distance before chasing after the red-haired boy.

"What's with the sudden attitude, Weasley?" She shouted when she entered his tent.

"What are you—"

"Why are you being so mean?" She cut him off. She walked up to him and slightly shoved him. "I've tried my hardest to be nothing but nice to you, despite how rude you've been to me from the moment I got here, and you continue to treat me as though you resent me." She took a breath while locking her narrowed eyes on the freckle-faced boy. "I thought we were making progress. That we were becoming friends again.

"Ha," Charlie scoffed. "Look at you," he shook his head. "You walk in here all high and mighty, pretending as though nothing happened. Do you not understand how hard this is for me? To see you here, in my space? I came here to get away from you, Talia. But it seems that no matter what happens or where I go, you somehow manage to follow me." Natalia knew in her heart that, that wasn't true. The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary is the one place Charlie had dreamed of working at since he was a boy. He was the reason she applied as well.

"I didn't ask to come here, Charlie!" She shouted. "It was a job, and I took it!"

"Why!" He shouted back. "Why couldn't you have just said no and gone back to living off of your mother's money, or your precious Baron you love so damn much?" He scoffed rolling his eyes and looking away.

"Baron and I never got back together, Charlie." She admitted. Charlie turned back around to face the brunette. "You assumed, and I didn't didn't correct you."

"Why?"

"I thought it'd be easier on you. I figured if you thought that, you wouldn't try to make a move on me and end up getting hurt when I rejected you. I still care about you, Charlie. I—I'm—"

"Oh how considerate of you, Natalia." He clapped his hands. "Looking out for poor Charlie Weasleys feelings just like when we were younger." He scoffed. "I can take a hint, Talia. I know when I'm wanted and when I'm not. I also know you, and that you've been fighting the urge to make a move on me."

"I—" Natalia blushed at his accusation as he wasn't entirely wrong. Though, this only made her feel that it was a one-way street, and he desperately was hoping that she wouldn't. Maybe he's given me the wrong impression. She thought to herself.

"The only thing that's changed about you is your age. You're still treating me as if I were the class charity case." Natalia raised her eyebrow and watched as Charlie walked across the tent and grabbed a brand new pair of gloves off of the table and tossed them to her. "Do you think I can't afford my things now?"

"Charlie—"

"I'm almost twenty-two years old, and have a very successful job, or had you not noticed? I'm very capable of buying myself a pair of gloves."

"Will you let me speak now?"

"What!"

"I bought those for you as a thank-you gift for not leaving me stranded in the woods that day. You could have easily abandoned me and let me find my way back, which I would have eventually, but you didn't. You brought me along, and introduced me to some creatures that I've never seen before in their natural habitat."