☁️Little Charlie☁️

CH 45 // Camping

Looking back up at him, was a big frog. A big smile spread across Charlie's face.
"Oh, we'll hello there" He spoke softly. He threw the covers off of him and stepped onto the floor. The frog started to hop away, so he caught him with two hands. It had been a long time since he had caught one of these. But he still remembered to keep a hold on their legs.

"Alex!" Charlie whispered looking over to Alex's bed.
Wait, where was Alex?
The bed was empty. Maybe the bathroom? But the bathroom was atleast a minute and a half walk on a dirt road and Alex's one pair of shoes were sitting by the door.

Charlie immidiatly thought the worst. He had to tell Mia. Frog still in his hands, He slipped his sandles on and stepped outside.
Just then he saw Alex, standing right there, just leaning up against the wall of their cabin. He let out a sigh of releif.

"Oh thank god, I thought maybe someone kidnapped you or something" He chuckled nervously. Alex looked over but didn't reply. Was he still upset? Over what? Charlie tried thinking of what else to say, then remembered what he was holding. "Look who came to visit" He said holding up the slime ball.

"Woah" Alex spoke. He cracked a smile. "He's huge!" Charlie let out a laugh out of peer joy that Alex was smiling. He walked over to him and let Alex take a closer look. "Hey big guy" He whispered. He looked back up at Charlie. "He's super cute. Wanna give him a kiss?"
Charlie grinned and leaned in. He placed his lips on Alex's. They both held the kiss until the frog croaked a few seconds after, causing Charlie to jump. Alex let out a giggled. "I meant the frog silly".

"Well, you said 'he's cute' so I assumed you meant yourself" Charlie replied with a smirk.

"Absolutly not" Alex said shaking his head.

"Uh, yeah huh. You're a cutie pie" Charlie argued.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Ya-huh"

The frog let out another croak. "See?" Alex said pointing to the frog. "He agrees. You're the cute one here". He booped Charlie on the nose.

"Um excuse me mister" Charlie said, "but I don't think you speak frog. He obviously said that you're a cutie pie".

"Actually, I think he said it's time for him to go home. Wanna go take him back to the pond?"

"Okay" Charlie said. He didn't want to say goodbye to his new friend, but he knew he would dry out soon if they didn't. Alex took out his phone and used the flashlight to light their path back to the frog pond sitting a few feet away. Charlie crouched down and released his friend and waved as he swam away. "Bye bye froggy". Alex chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. Charlie stood back up and held onto Alex's hand as they headed back.

"What were you doing outside?" Charlie asked as they walked.

"Couldn't sleep" Alex replied.

"Why not?"

"Eh, it was too warm"

Charlie looked over at him with a raised eye-brow. "You know it would help if you took your hoodie off".

Alex went quiet.
Charlie stopped in his tracks. "Okay" He sighed, "What is going on?"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked. Though he seemed to know what exactly what he meant.

"You've been acting off all day and you got upset when Mia asked you to take your hoodie off" Charlie said. He started to get a bit upset himself. It felt silly to, but he couldn't help but suspect something was up.

"What's the big deal? I just like keeping it on okay?" Alex replied. His voice getting a little louder.

"See? Now you're getting defensive. Tell me what's wrong". Alex pulled his hand away from Charlie and started walking away. "Alex!" Charlie called after him. But he didn't reply. He didn't even look back.

Trying to hold back his tears, Charlie quickly followed him until they were inside.

"What is going on?" Charlie said rather shakily. He closed the door behind him.

"Nothing" Alex said sitting on his bed. He took his wet socks off and tossed them into the nearst corner. He layed down and burried himself under the blankets. "Can we just go to bed now?" His voice was muffled.

"Not- Charlie's breath hitched. "Until you tell me what's wrong".

Alex took the covers off him. He looked at Charlie and saw a tear stream down his cheeck. His heart broke at the sight.
Dammit. This was his fault. With a heavy sigh, he sat up. "Don't cry love". He opened his arms. "Come here".

Charlie walked over to him and crawled into bed. They held eachother for what may have been 20 minutes.
Alex was about to fall asleep when Charlie whispered something.
"Alex?"

"Hm?" He replied.

It took a few moments for Charlie to continue. "Um...did...did you..."

He didn't have to finish his sentence. Alex knew where this was going. His heart sank. He knew he'd have to explain himself eventually. He just hoped it wouldn't have come so soon.

He opened his eyes. Charlie's were still closed. "Last month" He whispered. He bit his lip, trying not to break.

Charlie burried his face in Alex's chest. He wrapped his arms around the boy and hugged him tight. So tight it was as if he was trying to take all the broken pieces of Alex and put them back together.
He broke down into sobs. He wanted to stay strong for the blonde, but he coudln't help it. He had failed him. How could he have not known? How could he have not noticed just how much Alex was hurting?

Hearing Charlie cry caused Alex to break down himself. He hugged back, allowing tears to fall onto his pillow.
"I'm sorry" He whispered. "I'm so sorry Charlie..."
"Why?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know...I just-" he sniffled, "spiral out of control. I get stuck in a really dark place and I just can't think straight" He hugged Charlie tighter. "I never ment to hurt you Charlie...I don't know whats wrong with me".

Charlie wiped his tears away. "Alex...from now on I want you to tell me when you're feeling down okay?"

Alex gave him a small nod. "Okay...I promise..."

*****

A/N: hiah!🌈Another sad chapter I know. But this goes out to anyone who has ever relapsed. It's not easy trying to stop sometimes. But no matter what, you have to ke.ep trying. Don't think of it as a failure. You are so very strong🌸 Never stop giving up💕