Burn // Charlie Weasley

12. Proceed With Caution

hi my loves (: i missed all of you, thank you for letting me take the time off that i needed! That being said, I suggest you go back and read the last few chapters so your memory is refreshed bc even I had to reread everything again to catch myself up. 

I love you so much, I can't thank you all enough for being so kind and supportive this whole time

-em

As the night went on, Gabi noticed Charlie become more at ease. It might have helped that he never seemed to have an empty hand. Whenever Gabi looked over, he was always gripping onto the stem of a wine glass.

Gabi didn't have an issue with him drinking. Charlie was an adult, he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but think that it wouldn't hurt him to slow down a bit. There was a drastic change in character since they had arrived and if she had noticed it, other people must have too.

As she tried to give her attention to the women she was having a conversation with, her gaze kept traveling to the other side of the table where Charlie stood with Liam Tremblay. She had no idea what they were talking about, but every few seconds Charlie's laughter would be loud enough to turn heads and even if he wasn't self conscious about it, Gabi was.

She excused herself and walked over to his side, placing her hand on his back to get his attention. Gabi smiled at Liam and came up with a quick reason as to why she had to talk to Charlie.

"I'll go grab another drink then," Liam nodded and then pointed at her empty hand. She was probably the only one here who had stuck to water all night. "Can I get you something?"

"I'm okay, thank you," she said and waited until he was out of earshot to turn to Charlie, hastily taking the wine from him. "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

Charlie snorted, "I can assure you I'm not drunk, but thank you for being so concerned."

"I'm not concerned," she retorted. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"That's the same thing," he said, reaching for his drink again, plucking it from her fingers. "It's sweet, Gabriela, but I'm fine. Thank you."

He only took one more sip before meeting her stare again, which was a cross between disappointed and irritated. It was also enough to convince him to put the glass of wine down on the closest table.

She didn't say anything, but an invisible weight was lifted off her shoulders and Charlie saw the way she instantly relaxed as soon as he was empty handed. He studied her for a second, studied the way she positioned herself between him and the table to make it harder for him to reach for the drink again. He noticed the way she pursed her lips and held her breath, like she was fighting the urge to say thank you.

"You used to drink," he said, quietly, but not quiet enough that the band didn't drown out his voice.

"Excuse me?" A faint laugh escaped her lips.

"You used to drink," he repeated, sounding more confident the second time around. Gabi wished he had just ended there, but of course it was Charlie and he didn't. "But now you don't, and not because you're on a weird health kick, something happened, didn't it? Something happened to someone you once cared about-" he paused and tilted his head, as if that helped get a better idea of her past. "-or still care about, I'm not sure. You're hard to read."

She could have denied everything he was saying. It was all just assumptions spilling out of his mouth. But Gabi knew that even if she did deny it, Charlie wouldn't believe her. Any thought he had, he had latched onto it.