Mesmerized

Height

There's something that Henry finds totally adorable about Charlotte's short stature.

Not something, but a multitude of things.

He likes watching her when she's trying to reach for things that are up on a higher shelve. Likes hearing the little huffs of frustration every time her fingers only manage to graze whatever she's trying to get to, even if she's already standing on the tip of her toes. He likes it when her expression twists from annoyance, to determination. Or how she shoots him or Jasper an annoyed look when either of them casually saunters over and casually asks her if she needs any help (The question: "You alright there, Char?", is a surefire way of getting a glare from her during those moments). Or her minuscule pout when they're easily able to reach whatever it is that she couldn't reach.

She's probably mentally cursing at them because they get even taller each year, while her own growth seems to be minimal at best.

It's so cute.

But what he loves the most about Charlotte being shorter than him, is the fact that he can stand behind her and rest his head on top of hers.

Which is something that he tends to do a lot.

Sometimes, it's simply to annoy her. Oftentimes it's because...well, he likes it. Plain and simple.

It becomes their thing.

Or his thing.

The thing he does when he walks into the Man Cave and finds her sitting at her station.

The thing he does when they're standing in the middle of the room and she's debriefing or updating them.

It basically becomes second nature to him.

And that's the problem: It's second nature.

So he doesn't consciously think about it.

Which is why it's not odd that it brings him (and Charlotte) into another embarrassing situation.

It's during a usual day at school.

They've just finished in Miss Shapen's class, and while Charlotte and Jasper could leave, Henry had to stay behind because Miss Shapen had to ask him for another weird favor (babysit her cats).

When he's finally able to weasel himself out of it (he had to promise to actually babysit the cats, that is), he quickly walks towards the lockers and tries to find his two best-friends so they can walk to the cafeteria together.

He finds Jasper first, loudly arguing with Sydney and Oliver about some new skinny jeans.

He decides to avoid that.

Because the last time that he got in-between one of their arguments, he got hit with an avocado in...a very sensitive area.

So he scans around for his other best-friend.

He finds Charlotte by her locker, talking to some of the other people from LIMP. By now, he knows all of them by name, so he walks over to the group, smiling as Kris, Thomas, T.J. and Maria shoot him a smile and a wave before turning back to whatever they're discussing.

Charlotte's back is towards him and-

He-

He just doesn't think.

He walks up behind her, looking at the top of her head, snakes both arms around her waist and pulls her back flush against him, tucking her underneath his chin.

And then, with a small, satisfied smile, he props his head above hers, taking a moment to relish in the feeling of her being so close to him.

And then he looks up.