Burning Heart // CL16

Eighty Four

"Lol, look at Kiraz's post," I show Charles as I lean over the table of the cafe we're having lunch at to break in the attempts at trying to shop for him. So far, we've had no luck and we're both extremely tired from trying and so we finally gave up, stopping at a cafe near the shopping area to take a break.

Happy Birthday(s) to the world's best parents. Lace, you know I love you so much. You're so strong, smart and beautiful I think you might be God's biggest accomplishment.
Charles - you exist! Good job!

Charles laughs at the caption as his thumb swipes through the photo dump of us and Ruby, a couple of each of us individually as well as a photo from last night of Charles taking my shoes off while I'm lying flat on the sofa. I smile at the new photo, the only one I've never seen before as I comment a love heart underneath it and lean away once more, waiting for Charles to finish his coffee before we continue to try and shop.

That's when I see his post. The sneaky bitch. The realisation causes me to fall down in my seat at being the subject of not just one but two instagram posts today, making me nervous. The dimples on Charles's face as he feigns innocence while looking at me serves as an indication that he is in fact aware of what I'm looking at. "Charles..."

"What? It's not a big deal..." he mutters, breaking eye contact as he refocuses on the sandwich in front of him while I look back at my phone.

Words can't describe you. Hope you have a perfect day angel.

It's simple and it means the world to me. The photos were largely ones of me and Ruby but there were a few other photos with the two of us that made me smile. I see the pinned comments are from Kiraz and Carlos, the warning bells in my head telling me to not go into the comments but I give in quickly.

Username: Someone please tell me they are together because I can't breathe if it's true. They are so hot
Username: Cute ❤️
Username: This man is so whipped! She doesn't even have insta now!
Username: Hottest family on the planet
Username: She trapped him good 💀

My eyes get very caught on the last comment, my heart sinking slightly because despite the many other alright comments, this one that was slightly negative was caught in my head. Plus it has about a hundred replies and over six hundred likes... whatever. I bite on my lip as I like the post and comment 'back at you' to Charles before switching my phone off and sighing.

"Wh- no... what's wrong?" Charles says, immediately in tune with the change in my mood and I just slip my phone back into my bag, trying to brush it off before remembering that he was going to be stubborn.

"It's stupid," I mutter as I take a sip of his coffee, relieved that Ruby was fast asleep in her stroller next to the table.

"Probably, it's you," Charles jokes and I chuckle and I just shake my head at him as his words do stop the tears forming in my eyes as I laugh.

"I just... comments... saying I trapped you which I know is stupid but it's not wrong," I mutter as I meet his eyes, watching his expression immediately soften as he places his hand on top of mine.

"Ah fuck... why would you look at the comments?" He asks and I just shrug, aware that it was a stupid decision. "I mean, if you're not going to use Instagram like a normal person, the least you can do is not look at the comments," he mutters as he pulls me closer to him, pressing a kiss to my temple. "You have not trapped me, I promise... you've enchanted me, you've bewitched me, you've amazed me, you've got my twisted around your finger but you have not trapped me. I'm exactly where I want to be," he mutters against my head and I feel the tears welling up in my eyes at his kind words and gesture as I wrap my arms around his waist also. It wasn't a particularly 'platonic' moment but the cafe was quiet and we were trying to be incognito with our sunglasses as we had lunch, just trying to enjoy each others company as we relaxed so hopefully there would be no further fallout from it. Even if it did come out... I didn't think it would really change anything.