𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, charlie conway

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 | the lie of a dream

"Alright Chris, what time do you want her back by?"
Chris snaps to attention, glancing at the clock — it said 6:00. "How about 8:00? Birthday girl shouldn't stay up too late, and we all know how hyped she gets on sugar."
"Sounds good to me. Get a jacket, it's a little breezy." Charlie turns his attention to Crystal, knowing she'll freeze if there was a mere gust of air in the dress she was wearing.
"I don't need one, I'm alright." She insists.
"...Are you just saying that because you want mine?"
"Maybe." She giggles. Charlie just rolls his eyes a little, quickly surrendering his jacket and setting it over her shoulders.

Once they reached the car, Charlie finally felt like he could look at her without being judged. Crystal was always beautiful, but today that appeared to be exceedingly true. It wasn't just the dress, or her slightly bambi-esque walk since she was adjusting to the heels, she just radiated something she didn't always — confidence. That was what made her more beautiful than ever.

"You are just breathtaking, Crystal." Charlie takes a moment to look at her before driving, reaching out to hold her hand.
"Oh this dress? It's Carrie's from Kmart!"
Oh Crystal, he thinks as they laugh, only you could bring a guy to his knees in a Kmart dress.

As Carrie had explained, Charlie had been planning this for weeks, closer to a month. He didn't know what to do with her for a special day like this, so that was most of the battle. That, and his gift for her, but that was going to come later. For now, he was taking them to a diner, albeit not Mickey's because he didn't want to be supervised by his mother, but another he was familiar with — The Band Box. He knew better than to try to take Crystal somewhere nicer, as she still ate like a picky child. He preferred her taste though, he didn't need anything fancier than that.

They got a booth, perfect for the two of them because the place was small. As they came in, he made sure to ask the waitress discreetly for a kids menu. He played it off like it was because the waitress saw they were kids as to not embarrass Crystal, and she was none the wiser. They soon had their orders in and were left to their own devices.

"Did you have a nice day?"
"Yeah. But I was mostly waiting for this." She explains. "My mom was overly emotional because I'm growing up, which meant she wasn't up to much. But I got to open all my presents!"
"What did you get?"
"My mom got me two new pairs of jeans, and she put Alf patches on one of them. She said I had a pair that was getting beat... I don't know why I'd have pants with Alf on them if I'm a big girl."
"Because you love Alf! It's okay to like what you like. And it is a great show, so..."
"You're right. You have very good opinions!"
The two laugh before Crystal continues, eyes sparkling.

"Carrie got me a new Trapper Keeper for my Atlantis research, and Chris got me tapes of Storm Front by Billy Joel and John Mellencamp's Scarecrow album. They always know just what I like."
"They do, those are great gifts for you — I'm glad you at least liked those. I have a gift for you too, I left it in the car."
"Really? You didn't have to! You're already taking me to dinner!"
"No, I did. You deserve it."
"Aww, thank you so much."

Seeing her so happy even before he gave her the gift was all he needed to feel like he did a good job. Perching her head on her hands, Crystal smiles gleefully as she looks at Charlie, wanting to familiarize herself with him as much as she could. To her, he was just so perfect, but she knew boys didn't like to hear that how girls did, so she kept the comment to herself.

"What do you like to do for fun, Charlie?" She's swinging her feet like a little kid by then.
"Well, you know I play hockey. Otherwise I kinda just hang around with you, or I play board games with my mom."
"You are just too cute. Too sweet, too."
"Oh stop..."
"I dunno what I ever did to deserve a guy like you."
"You didn't have to do anything to deserve me. I just kept following you until you gave in." He chuckles. "And now I have you, no more chasing."
"You are so sweet!"
"You keep calling me 'cute' and 'sweet,' why not 'handsome' or 'dashing?'" He teases.
"Well, I thought everybody else already told you those things. I guess not...."
As she speaks, Crystal slowly drags the toe of her heel up against Charlie's ankle to the end of his pant leg. It wasn't something she had a reason for doing, she just did it. But Charlie knew it was her way of affirming that she thought he was every overly masculine thing he wanted to hear.