GINGERSNAPS

90. Never Know

•••••

Charlie sat on the couch of the flat, the only light was the soft glow of the fireplace. He heard the footsteps coming up the stairs from the shop below, before he saw George come through the door.

"Charlie? Is that you?" His brother said in the darkest as he took off his tie. "Where have you been? Ollie has be sick with worry!"

"Where's Fred?" He said in a hoarse voice, that he hadn't used for the three days he stayed away. Three days that he drove himself to madness over what he discovered.

"Out with Ang, it's Tuesday. They always go out on tuesdays." George answered, as he came around the corner of the couch to look at Charlie. Before his brother on the coffee table was stacks and stacks of old photos.

Charlie nodded his head, looking at the photos. George stepped to look closer at what the photos was of. They were all photos of him, Fred, and Ollie. Or of just him and Ollie. He angled his head to look again. They all had at least him and Ollie in them or groups with them.

"Why do you have all these?" George asked, still looking at the images.

Charlie stared blankly at the burning fire. "How long?" He asked his brother.

George furrowed his brow. "How long what? Do you really not know that you've been gone for three days?" He said confused.

"How long. George, how long have you been in love with Olivia?" Charlie asked, his voice cracked as if he had been crying for days.

George stubbed back, dropping the photo he had picked up. "Charlie, You know I love Ollie, she's my best friend."

Charlie looked at his brother, he picked up an album off the table and flipped it open to a page. "The other day, at the Burrow when mum got out the trunk of all the photos Olivia sent her over the years, I started looking. Then I noticed a pattern. I thought at first it was just harmless." He threw down the album on the table in front of George. "But for some reason I got the gut feeling to keep looking. So I did."

"I'll ask one more time George, how long have you been in love with Olivia Evans?" Charlie said bitterly.

George looked down at what Charlie threw down, and swallowed.

"I kept hoping I was wrong, then I found this album from the Yule Ball. The one that you went with Olivia to. So tell me George how long." Charlie said again coldly.

George closed his eyes, and took a breath. "I've been in love with Olivia since the first day I met her on that platform."

Charlie's eyesight went black, and he felt the contact his fist made with George's cheek before he saw it.

•••••

George woke up on the rug of the living room in the Flat, Charlie paced near him. His jaw hurt and he knew that he deserved the pain.

"Nice right hook," he groaned sitting up. Charlie stood still, shaking his head. George got to his feet rubbing his jaw. "Thats going to be sore in the morning."

Charlie sat back down on the couch. "Tell me why. Why would you keep this from us?"

George leaned against the mantle of the fireplace. "I want to." He sighed. "For so long I wanted to tell her how I felt, but I was scared."