~~~
The night passed quietly, and when Fay woke to find no recollection of her night filling her mind, it was actually a bit of a let-down considering her ‘victory’ of the night prior. She slid out of bed without much thought of anything. The days were ticking down now. To have a dreamless night was unusual at this point. She wasn’t quite sure if she missed the nightmares or if it was a blessing. It was the only image she had left of them at this point, really. It was different to think about whether it was a good thing or bad.
Once she was dressed in a sheer black top with a neon pink floral print underneath, a dark pair of shorts and sneakers, she stepped downstairs. A layer of foundation evened the tone of her skin, which had been typically battered during the midst of adolescence. It was a pain, but had calmed significantly at this point.
She paused when the smell of cooking food hit her. Breads and breakfast meats; her mouth immediately began to water in an automatic reflex. “Charlie?” She called, peering around into the kitchen, where her blonde friend looked at her, smiling wide.
“Good morning, Beautiful! I made breakfast!”
“Don’t you have to work?”
“It’s Saturday, Silly! Now go sit so I can bring you French toast, bacon, sausage and eggs.”
Fay blinked, staring at Charlotte for a moment, eyes watering slightly before she walked over and embraced the girl tightly. “I love you so much, Char,” she told her, meaning every word of it. She wasn’t afraid to say it. She didn’t reserve the ‘L’ word for a significant other. It was meant for anyone she was close enough to to consider family.
Charlie smiled, squeezing Fay back, spatula still in her hand. “I love you, too, Fay. Now go sit before I burn your food.”
Fay laughed softly, wiping her eyes as she pulled away. Charlie smiled at her. She could be such a mother sometimes. It didn’t surprise Fay at all, but she still appreciated it, every second that was given to her. “You are . . . the best friend . . . Anyone could ever ask for.”
“Oh, shush, I know it!” Fay smiled sadly. Charlie was fierce, passionate. She rarely ever experienced anything in moderation. Thinking about it, it made sense why they got along so well. After the cross country season had ended, at their award ceremony, Fay’s coach had described her as ‘fiery’, mentioning the time she’d cried after taking much too long by her standards during a race. It had been a vicious terrain, hills steep enough that they’d be used for great sledding in winter.
It had also been a bad few days, and the race had set her off, but she supposed that she felt things a bit to the extreme. She bit her lip, remembering when she’d nearly gotten killed by a train just the night before last. If it hadn’t been for Optimus, she would’ve been a fleshy pancake welded to the metal train.
Fay obliged her friend, sitting at the table that sat at the far end of the kitchen, out of the way of the counters and appliances. “So what’s the occasion?” Fay asked, the smell of the food tantalizingly sweet and savory.
Charlie shrugged, a grin blatantly plastered on her face. “How about the part where I’m off work and you’re going through a bunch, including disappearing and then being chased by some creepy, probably foreign technology as well as some wonky police officer? You’re going through a lot, Fay, and if you need me, then I’m here. That’s like, Best Friend 101.”
Fay laughed gently, feeling incredibly grateful that Charlie was in her life all of a sudden. More so than usual. “You’re the best person I know. Period. You would kill for me, that’s something I definitely don’t doubt.”
“Who says I haven’t already?” Charlie asked with a wink, piling food onto a plate, some still cooking. She placed it in front of Fay, smiling like a madman. “Three pieces of French toast, five pieces of bacon, four sausage links, and like, two and a half eggs or something, I don’t know, Girl, they’re scrambled!”
Fay’s laugh grew a little brighter and Charlie turned back to the food on the stovetop with a smile. “I don’t know if I can eat all this, Charlie,” she warned, cautiously picking up a fork. Charlie had set the table, apparently well before she’d woken up.
“Oh, you’re gonna eat it all, Missy! I will make you sit there until you do!”
“What if I can’t before the double date?”
“Then we’ll all play strip poker while you eat!”
Fay snickered, taking a few bites. Charlie could always make her smile. Her mother was excellent for comforting, but Charlie was irreplaceable when it came to a good laugh. She just knew what to say to make Fay laugh when she wanted nothing to do with anything bright or cheery.
Charlie looked over as she took more food from pans and smiled. “Good girl,” she said matter-of-factly, like it was very much expected of Fay to obey her. Fay put a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh as she chewed. This just made the blonde smile more.
“Shut up,” Fay warned, trying to keep her mouth covered and consume the vast amount of food she’d been given.
“I didn’t say anything,” Charlie replied in an easy tone.
These moments. The vast amount of trust between them. That was why Charlie knew everything about Fay. Why Fay knew everything about Charlie. From little quirks like how Charlie refused to eat any cake she hadn’t made herself since she started baking, to the big stuff like the day Fay’s world had shattered.
With a sigh, Fay contemplated if Optimus was worth the same level of trust. Would he have saved her life, or spent two hours in a marsh looking for an old pin if he wasn’t? Those were things Charlie would do, not some random guy. Maybe he was okay.
Maybe he could know.
~~~
“Charlie . . . ?” Fay asked gently as they sat on the couch, eyes glued to the television set, her feet resting in Charlie’s lap.
“Yes, Fay?” Charlie asked with a light tone, head supported by where her hand met her cheek, elbow on the armrest of the brown leather.
“Do you think Optimus is a good guy?”
She shrugged, not bothered in the least by the question. “He’s okay. Pretty good on the attractiveness scale, obviously.” Fay rolled her eyes at Charlie’s continued insistence on that bit. “Otherwise . . . I don’t think he’s going to do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose. If that was his plan, I probably would’ve scared him off by now. You have no idea how much I screamed at him the night you went missing. I thought you’d run off because he stood you up . . .”
She turned her head to her friend, frowning at the recollection of that night. “Why DID you run off, Fay? Was it another flashback?”
Fay shook her head slowly, not looking at Charlie. “It was . . . Weird, Charlie. I just need to relax and not think about it. It was a bad night and it hasn’t bothered me since.”
“And now both your hands are bandaged up. From punching that creepy thingamajig yesterday and . . . ?”
Fay sighed, keeping her attention on the screen, not wanting to look at Charlie. If she did, she might confess, and then both of them would be confused to no end.
But she wouldn’t be judged. She would still be accepted. Charlie wouldn’t let anything change between them just because of some large amount of crazy. They’d been friends for how long and Charlie had accepted all of her, her past, her dreams and thoughts. Not once had Charlie told her she was freak.
Fay glanced at Charlie, her friend’s pleading green eyes. Charlie was so concerned about Fay, and Fay let herself give in. She confessed. Charlie watched as she did, absorbing what she said, with the intent to understand instead of to respond. When she stopped, taking a deep breath, she looked at Charlie, waiting.
Charlie quickly embraced Fay, holding her tight. “It’ll be okay, Fay . . . We’ll figure this out . . . I promise . . .”
“Don’t tell Lucas . . . He’s a good guy, but not yet . . .”
Charlie nodded gently. “What about Optimus? Is he going to know?”
“Why would he?”
“I think you can trust him, Fay . . . I really do . . .”
Fay looked to Charlie, looking for any signs of deceit, even though she knew she wouldn’t find any. She wanted to know if there were any hints of joking written in Charlie’s face, really. None. Fay nodded slightly before turning her attention away from Charlie again.
Charlie would never lie about such a delicate matter.
~~~
Fay got up, going to the door when a second set of knocks came. Lucas had arrived not five minutes ago, and now sat with Charlie on the couch, the pair nuzzling into each other lovingly. They’d been together for almost three years now.
“Good afternoon, Filly,” Optimus told her with the slightest of smiles.
“Whatever, weirdo. Charlie’s choosing where we go and what we do, and what we bet on as well as the consequences,” Fay informed him, rolling her eyes when he raised a brow. “Don’t even. She’ll be fair. For the most part. We’re not going skydiving or anything.”
“Of course not!” Charlie called. “That would be freaky. Though we may have to go to an amusement park one of these days.”
“Charlie, the closest one is an hour away,” Fay argued, turning her attention to the back of the living room. Charlie shrugged.
“So what? We can take a road trip, isn’t that right, Luke?”
The blonde farm boy chuckled, shrugging. “Of course, Char, why not?”
“See? What about you, Optimus?” Charlie turned her attention to where he stood in the doorway. Optimus gave a small shrug as well, not too particular.
“It doesn’t sound bad,” he told her, not all that particular about potential venues in the future.
“Then it’s settled!” Charlie exclaimed. “We’re going to Mt. Olympus!” She grinned, looking at Fay expectantly, who laughed.
“Today?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at her oldest friend.
“Yes, today! I get to choose, don’t I?” She asked, crossing her arms. Fay smiled, loving Charlie’s persistence. While she wouldn’t admit it, Mt. Olympus sounded amazing.
“All right, Charlie . . . We’ll go,” Fay relented, and Charlie sprung off the couch, pulling her shoes on quickly.
“Whose vehicle?” She asked quickly, glancing at Optimus. They could take Lucas’s truck, but it only had a front seat, and could fit at most three people. So it was down to the large semi truck and Charlie’s Jeep.
“I’d be most comfortable taking my truck,” Optimus told her slowly. He didn’t want to leave his true form behind, and it’d be easier to keep them safe if it was the primary mode of transportation instead of a tagalong. “There’s seating in back, but only two doors,” he informed them. Charlie shrugged, Lucas walking up to her, arm sliding around her waist.
“Well let’s go!” She exclaimed, smiling. Fay looked at her and grinned, shaking her head just slightly in amusement. The group filed outside, Fay closing and locking the door to the duplex behind them. Charlie and Lucas were quick to get in the back seat, straightening Fay’s seat once they were in. Fay clambered in, buckling into her seat, Lucas and Charlie already having fastened theirs.
Optimus got in, securing his own, and looked at Fay, her seat belt firm against her chest and waist. He raised a brow, and when she looked at him, she just crossed her arms. “What? You never seen a seat belt before? Weirdo.” She huffed, turning away from him. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he started the massive vehicle, pulling away from the curb and down the street. In the back of Fay's mind, the small blue butterfly flicked it's wings, having remained dormant for years. She sighed as she envisioned the change.