this one is just gonna be like a charlie/ciara chapter since i need more interactions with those two to actually get this thing started. im sorry if its a bit out of character for charlie or don. this is also supposed to be a half fun chapter, so it does not follow the story at all and, well, it's basically a beach episode but for movie nights
!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!
''and done!'' ciara smiles, placing the final thing down on her table. the last week she had been placing all of her pictures, paintings, and other small decor around her house, and now tonight charlie, terry, and don were coming over to hang out for a bit.
glancing up at the clock, ciara decided that it was a good enough time to start cooking dinner for herself. she only made something small, knowing that the boys were more than likely going to bring stuff over to make some kind of obscure food for the group when they all met.
after an hour and a half, the door bell rung. looking out the window, she sees don's car in her driveway. smiling, she quickly ran to the door, opened it, and let everyone walk inside. ''oh, wow, ciara, the house is beautiful.'' terry smiled, her first time being in the house. ''thank you! i was spending all day putting out, like, the decorations and stuff.'' ciara smiled at the lady.
sitting down, she realized don had a shopping bag in one hand. ''what's, uh, what's in the bag, don?'' she asked suspiciously. don looked down at the bag, back to her, and over at charlie. ''i brought stuff for tonight. food stuff.'' ciara laughed. ''why am i not surprised?'' terry looked over at ciara. ''this isn't an unusual thing. after our first date, we went back to don's for a bit to just hang out, and he brings out this big tray of, what was it? nachos? with just, absolutely anything he had in the kitchen thrown on top of them.'' terry laughed, thinking back to the memory.
''oh! i didn't know you two were--'' ''we aren't. we broke up, i don't even know how long ago anymore.'' don cut her off. ''oh.'' the house fell into a slightly awkward silence before charlie cleared his throat. ''i brought uh, i have these, for you? i don't know, dad told me it'd be the respectful thing to do, housewarming thing, uh..''
charlie cautiously pulls a small bouquet of flowers out from one of the bags that he was carrying, walking over and passing them to ciara. the girl hesitated for a second before reaching her hand out to take them. ''charlie, thank you! you didn't have to get anything..!'' she smiled warmly. ''well, you know, just- just a housewarming present type of thing, i-i don't know.'' charlie rubbed his forehead, his face flushed a light pink.
after putting the flowers into water, she quickly returned to the main room where everyone was. ''this isn't really a party, uh.. does anyone else know anyone we could invite?'' ciara asked the 3 of them. ''sinclair?'' don spoke up first. her eyes widened, nodding. ''i don't know why i didn't think to invite him in the first place!''
''i can call larry, if that'd be okay?'' charlie offered. she quickly nodded to him, too.
~~~~~''''''~~~~~~~~~''''''~~~~~
after david and larry had arrived, everyone sat down in groups. don was with terry, david and larry were sat together, and ciara and charlie were. right now, they were all debating over what movie to watch.
''listen! i still think that barbie's princess and the pauper is a good choice!'' ciara argued. ''no!'' all the men shouted back at her. ''you know what i think? you're all scared you'll like it.'' she taunted, a glint of challenge in her eyes. don sighed, staring to his left where the girl sat on the back of an armchair. ''you know what, let's make it a bet. if, at any time, you see me enjoying this movie? 20 bucks.'' don said, putting his hand out to shake.
''and if you don't enjoy the movie, i'll give you 30.'' she pushed, knowing that she could win this. ''deal.''
~~''~~''~~
''charlie, scoot over a little bit,'' ciara requested. ''i wanna get down on the actual chair thing.'' charlie moved over as far as he could, and, miraculously, ciara was able to fit herself between charlie and the arm of the chair they were on. ''are you liking the movie, charlie.'' she whispered. ''i mean, it isn't exactly the type of movie i usually would watch. it has a lot of different variables in why it could be good or bad but--''
''shh!! this part is good,'' sinclair interrupted. ''david, you've- watched this movie before?'' ciara questioned. ''uh, only with my niece when, when my sister gets me to babysit..'' he laughed nervously. ''uh-huhhhh..''
about halfway through the movie, ciara started to feel her eyes droop. she kept snapping herself awake every 15 or 20 seconds. after maybe a minute of this, charlie whispered to her, ''you know it's okay if you fall asleep, right? no one is going to be angry with it. you can kick us out now if you want to.'' he reasoned. she simply shook her head, mouthing; 'i'll be fine' and turning her head back to the screen.
ciara knew why she couldn't go to bed. she had to know if don enjoyed the movie at the end, and she needed to watch his expressions for that. if she went to bed, he would be able to lie and say either he did or didn't.
30 minutes after she told charlie she was fine, the young man felt a weight onto his shoulder. surprised, he quickly looked over, realizing that ciara had fallen asleep. he softly laughed, positioning himself so that he could lay the girl more comfortably, knowing that neck pains when you wake up are not a fun experience.
don had noticed charlie moving around so much, causing him to look over, curious as to what his little brother was doing. after charlie finally pushed his left shoulder back into the chair, getting himself comfortable, don noticed ciara's head resting against his chest, and charlie's arm wrapped around her back. he stared off at the two, smilingly to himself.
~~~'''~~~'''~~~
''ciara, wake up, the movie is over.'' charlie gently shook the sleeping girl, trying not to startle her too much. ''huh?'' she quickly opened her eyes, blinking rapidly and trying to get her surroundings in view. she leaned up straight, stretching out her legs, since they were curled underneath her. charlie gently tapped her shoulder. ''look at don,'' he grinned slightly.
''YOU'RE CRYING. DON, YOU ARE CRYING.'' she shouted, suddenly awake. ''why did the movie have to end with the song, that was so uncalled for!'' he choked out. she laughed, although, she did agree with him. ''also, uh, charlie, i'm sorry for falling asleep on you.'' she said, slightly embarrassed.
''oh, no, don't worry! the pressure of your body was actually kind of nice, like everything was being squeezed out and i just had no worries.'' charlie explained to her. ''you're very warm,'' ciara nodded, ''it's nice.'' she smiled.
''oh, yeah, don't worry, ciara. charlie did not seem to care at all. the man re-positioned himself like four times, anytime you moved, just to make sure you seemed comfortable.'' don teased his brother. charlie looked down, his face flushed slightly. ciara smiled, rubbing her eyes, still tired.
''well, i was comfortable, so, uh, thank you.'' she looked at charlie, slightly smiling. he nodded. the two stared at each other, smiling, for a second, longer than they should have, which caught don's attention. ''terry, can i talk to you for a second?'' don requested. terry nodded, hopping up out of her seat.
the two went outside to talk, and ciara turned to david. ''what was that about?'' david looks up at ciara, where he was sat on the floor. ''i'm not too sure.. also, your floor is very comfortable to sit on, i am in love.''
don and terry, however, were outside, talking up a storm. they, mainly don, had seen how charlie and ciara had interacted tonight, and wanted to set up a plan to get them together. wingman them, if you will. ''i mean, come on, you seen how they were looking at each other tonight! and plus, since they started working together, charlie seems, at least a tiny bit less stressed. and this is the happiest i've seen him be since mom passed. i think it'd be really good for them..''
~~''~~'~~
''how ya' doin', david. we don't really get to talk much besides for work purposes. how's life?'' ciara asked, breaking the awkward silence that had covered the two of them. larry had taken charlie off to go figure something out, so it was just sinclair and ciara left in the room.
''oh, well, my sister linda came and visited me recently, brought her husband along though. she can do better than him, i don't know why she stays there.'' david grumbled out the last part. ''but i mean, all in all, it's pretty normal. how about you?'' she asked, resting his face on his hand.
''joined the fbi force here in cali, three months later i'm almost the same rank as don, and now i finally have my apartment set up, so things are going pretty well, yeah.'' larry and charlie had entered the room without ciara even noticing. ''what about a boyfriend, where;s he to?'' larry questioned like a grandmother would at a family gathering.
''oh, i don't have a boyfriend, my last boyfriend broke up with me the second he found out that i was going to move to california. but i mean, he wasn't overly great anyway, so it doesn't really bother me.'' she said, looking between the three men. ''surprised you haven't found anyone yet, i mean, you're a sweet girl, caring, kind, you're pretty, what isn't there to like?'' terry asked the second she walked into the room.
''terry, i don't really think i'm that, like, appealing to people. most people feel threatened around town police, let alone state fbi.'' ciara explained. ''yeah, but i mean, you still have all your qualities! just because you're fbi, doesn't take away from the fact you're amazing.'' terry reasoned. ciara smiled. ''thanks, terry.''
don walked into the room, asking what everyone was talking about. ''ciara's dating life.'' sinclair answered shortly. ''oh?'' don asked, suddenly interested. ''i was just saying how, like, i don't-- i'm not seeing anyone, and--''
''and i was saying how i was shocked she didn't have anybody, like, lined up at her door trying to date her! i mean, she's a great person, she's funny, talented, she's pretty-- isn't she pretty, charlie?!'' terry asked, looking at don and nodding slightly.
''what? oh! i- yeah, she is. really pretty.'' charlie admitted quietly. don smirked slightly. ciara blushed, looking down, slightly embarrassed of all the attention and compliments she was getting in this moment. david picked up on her behavior, and quickly changed the topic back to what else they were going to do now that the movie was over.
''we can go full high school party mode and play some stupid games.'' terry suggested. ''y'all can do what you like, i'm going to bed.'' ciara said, glancing at the clock. ''it is getting slightly late, so unless you're a fan of driving at night, if you want to get home, i'd recommend going soon.''
~~'~~'~~
waking up the next morning, ciara walked downstairs. rounding the corner, she walked past the main room and into the kitchen. she quickly backtracked, though. she quietly groaned at the sight of both don and charlie, passed out asleep on her floor and couch.
she walked back into the kitchen, this time, however, she noticed a small piece of paper on the table.
'' i do apologize that we're probably still here
when you wake up, don told me that you wouldn't
mind if we stayed here for the night, since we live
almost a half hour drive away and the weather was
picking up. if we are gone, though, thank you for
having us all over last night, it was really nice getting
to connect with co workers and friends outside of a
working environment. - charlie. ''
''of course charlie would be the one to leave that type of note. they could have just mentioned that when i went to bed last night.'' ciara laughed quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose.
thinking back to last night, she thought of all of her friends, how they all finally got together outside of a working environment, and, she had to agree with charlie, it was really nice. she remembered falling asleep on the chair, and what don told her when she woke up. it was really sweet, she thought, the fact that charlie would put himself through so much trouble of moving around in a small chair just so she could be comfortable.
thinking of that, though, caused her stomach to get a bit queasy, but not in a bad way. she also thought of how don and terry went outside to converse about something. it wasn't a good thing whenever conversations had to be removed from the whole group. not in ciara's experience.
what could they have been talking about?