"SHE'S SPECIAL," Luke muttered, holding up the ring, "I want her to feel special."
Grizz smiled at the boy who seemed utterly in love with his girlfriend. Luke and Helena were one of the cutest couples to exist, said so by the cupids Kyla and Valerie themselves, and people wished that nothing will ever come between them.
"She sees in me who I can be, not just the dude I think I am." Luke looked up at Grizz. "When someone sees you like that, you want them looking at you forever."
Grizz glanced over at Clark who was staring at Luke with furrowed eyebrows. A lot seemed to be running through his mind as Clark's eyes seemed to become cloudy. When Clark caught Grizz's gaze, he simply cleared his throat and turned away to look at the other rings. Grizz waved him off and looked back at Luke, his words making Grizz think about something, or someone.
Clark stared down at the glass container of multiple rings with an occupied mind. After he heard Luke say that, a thought crossed his mind. Clark glanced back at the two boys who were too busy putting things away and he quickly grabbed a ring.
"You ready to go, Clark?" Luke asked, making Clark slightly jump. He turned around and nodded, "Yeah, course, let's go man."
➖
Charlotte took a bite into her sandwich, a satisfied sigh leaving her at the taste. It was a simple sandwich but she was starving since she didn't have breakfast. She was too busy helping Helena pick a wedding dress. In the end, after going—breaking in—to the dress store, Helena still went back to her mother's wedding dress.
Charlotte was thrilled to hear about Luke proposing to her cousin. Charlotte really liked Luke and how he treated Helena so she was glad that it was him that proposed to her.
Charlotte knew it was pretty early for them to get married but considering the place they were in and the change of life, Charlotte thought it was best that they did what they had to do.
"I'm done changing, Char!" Helena called from upstairs, making Charlotte grab her sandwich off the plate and run upstairs fast.
"Coming!"
Charlotte ran to the room where Helena was and her heart stopped. Her eyes softened at the sight of her cousin in the wedding dress. Charlotte let her hand drop to her side — still clutching the sandwich — and walked forward to Helena.
"You look exactly like your mom.." Charlotte muttered quietly, feeling her eyes get glossy.
Helena let out an uneasy smile, "Please don't cry or I'll start crying too.."
Charlotte laughed and wiped her eyes before tears could fall, "Sorry, it's just that, I'm so happy for you, Helena.. You deserve this so much."
Helena smiled and reached for Charlotte's free hand. She let Charlotte to the bed and the two sat down next to each other. She placed a hand over Charlotte's hand and looked straight at Charlotte.
"You deserve to be happy too, Char,"
Charlotte took a bite out of her sandwich, "But I am happy,"
Helena gave her a look, "No matter how hard you try to hide it, I know you. You laugh and you smile but I know you're not truly happy."
Charlotte shrugged, "Maybe I'm not happy, but it's hard to find happiness when I have a huge responsibility on my shoulders — like I have to take care of everyone in the town."
"That's what Allie is here for,"
Charlotte snorted and shook her head, "The girl can only handle so much, I mean, look at her, she gets teary-eyed all the time."
Helena chuckled and watched Charlotte eat her sandwich. "Y'know, I really thought you and Grizz would stay together for a long time.."
It's been two weeks since Charlotte and Grizz broke up. Though, the news spread like wildfire and everyone knew of the separation of the power couple in two days. Their split was the gossip of the week and they were constantly questioned — mostly Grizz — as to why they broke up.
Charlotte was annoyed at how everyone kept harassing Grizz for the answer and shut everyone up by answering that they drifted away. People suspected there was more to their breakup but Charlotte didn't say anything else except that they fell out of love but were still friends.
Charlotte didn't tell anyone about Grizz being homosexual since he didn't want anyone to know yet. Charlotte respected that and simply waited for him to tell people. Grizz was thankful to have Charlotte by his side since she was there to have his back at all costs.
Even though Charlotte knew Grizz liked Sam, she promised herself that she wouldn't help him. Miles also liked Sam and Charlotte didn't want to interfere with his attempt on getting with Sam, so she decided to remain neutral to which Grizz understood why.
Charlotte shrugged, "The future is unpredictable. No matter how hard you try to force it the way you want it to, fate always gets it their way."
Helena smiled, "I'm glad you guys are still friends though."
Charlotte nodded, "Me too—"
"—Hey babe,"
The door to the room suddenly opened, making the two girls snap their heads to the doorway. Luke appeared and Helena quickly stood up, "You can't be see me like this!"
Luke quickly covered his eyes and turned away, "No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't see anything—but I kind of did and you are the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen in my life,"
Charlotte scoffed and reached for a slipper on the ground. She picked it up and chucked it at Luke, making him yelp. "Did you forget basic manners? You have to knock before entering an occupied room bro, what if I was taking a shit?"
Luke uncovered his eyes and looked at Charlotte with a raised eyebrow, "In the middle of the room?"
Charlotte shrugged, "You never know," Charlotte then stood up, "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone while I go make myself another sandwich!"
She walked past Luke and patted his shoulder, "I told you this yesterday but if you do anything that will hurt Helena then I will end you."
Luke blinked and nodded, "Yes Boss."
Charlotte grinned and walked out, "Good."
Helena chuckled and shook her head, watching her cousin give her a quick wink before leaving the room fully.
Charlotte made her way downstairs to make herself another sandwich when her phone suddenly buzzed. She pulled out her phone and saw that Clark texted her.
clark
wanna go eat some donuts?
charlotte
don't u have a shift rn
clark
whatever we can sneak in like old times
charlotte
wdym old times, it was just u who did bad shit
clark
says the gang leader
charlotte
stfu
clark
jokes char but c'mon i'm really craving donuts
charlotte
uh they're prob old n dusty that we might die from expiration
clark
since when were u afraid of death
charlotte
ur right see u in five
Charlotte made her way to the donut shop that was in a quiet neighbourhood. She found Clark standing outside with a grin on his face.
"Thanks for joining me, Miss Mafia,"
Charlotte groaned, "I'm not even close to being a mafia you shithead."
Clark laughed and pushed on the door. It opened easily and Charlotte blinked. Clark grinned and held his arm out for her to enter, "I busted the door open already, I was simply waiting for you to enter first."
Charlotte snorted, "How nice of you." She walked in and inhaled deeply. She let out a sigh at the smell of the pastries. She didn't know how long the pastries have been out but they smelt nice.
"I'm craving a boston cream donut, y'know why?"
Charlotte peered over the glass where different donuts were displayed behind it. She was eyeing a powdered jelly filled donut.
"Why?" She asked, jumping over the counter to gain access to the donuts.
Clark squinted his eyes and pretended to look into the distance, "It all started in fourth grade," Charlotte closed her eyes and sighed, "This Chinese girl got mad at me and threw that boston cream in my hand at the wall.. I never got to even take a bite out of it!"
Charlotte scoffed and opened the glass casing to grab herself two donuts. One jelly donut and one cruller. She also grabbed Clark's donuts while he continued to rant.
"Oh please, none of that would've happened if you didn't fucking insult my shoes."
Clark handed her a tray so she could pile up the tray with donuts. He went to the kitchen to find drinks for them.
"Your shoes were fucking ugly, I regret nothing."
Charlotte scoffed, "You sure as hell must've regret something if you keep bringing that incident up."
Clark chuckled, reaching for a packet of hot chocolate powder and a packet of coffee. He boiled a kettle of water to make them drinks. He prepared the drinks, "Yeah, I regret not keeping in contact with you because if I did, we would have more memories with each other."
Charlotte suddenly stopped reaching for a donut and glanced back at the kitchen to see Clark's back.
She slightly furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean? We have lots of memories together. Like the time we fought side by side in the rain."
"Yeah but that was only recently. I wish we had more when we were younger.."
Charlotte closed the glass casing and set the tray of donuts on the counter. She grabbed the tray and headed to the kitchen, where nobody could see them. Who knew what people would say if they saw the two of them eating donuts instead of working. Charlotte knew nobody would do anything about it but she still didn't want anyone to see them; it would give them more ideas to rebel against Allie.
Charlotte set the tray on the counter in the kitchen and hopped onto the counter beside the tray. She grabbed a donut and took a large bite out of it, watching Clark make the drinks beside her.
"If anything, it was my fault since I moved in fifth grade."
Clark nodded and looked at her, "Yeah, you're right, it is your fault, mob boss."
Charlotte rolled her eyes and took another bite out of the donut, "Okay, thanks."
Clark chuckled and held out a mug to Charlotte, "Here, I made you hot chocolate for your donuts."
Charlotte grinned and grabbed the mug, "I'm glad you haven't forgotten that I don't like coffee,"
Clark snorted, "How could I not? You always rant to me about why you don't like coffee even though I've heard the rant multiple times. Plus, I remember when you slept over that one time and Grizz made you hot chocolate instead of coffee like the rest of us—" Clark stopped and cursed. "Shit, sorry Char,"
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "For what? For saying Grizz's name?"
Clark stayed quiet and scratched the back of his neck.
Charlotte shook her head, "I told you already, I'm over the breakup, we ended on good terms. We're still best friends."
Clark looked up at Charlotte, his eyebrow slightly raised. "Yeah but I'm still your number one best friend, right?"
Charlotte pretended to be in thought as she caressed her chin. "Hm, I'm not sure, I'm gonna have to get back to you with that one."
"C'mon Char," Clark groaned in exasperation.
Charlotte laughed and raised her hands up in defence, "What? You do know there's the Pentagon, right?"
Clark scoffed, shoving the boston cream into his mouth. "Yeah but they're your family, I'm talking about best friends here."
Charlotte snorted and rolled her eyes, "Yeah fine, you're my number one best friend then."
Clark grinned and pumped out a fist in victory, "I fucking knew it."
Charlotte chuckled and shook her head, "You're unbelievable."
Clark shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee, "Whatever, you love me,"
"Sure," Charlotte snickered before remembering something, "Did you know I have to sleep in the same room as the Pentagon now?"
Clark raised an eyebrow, "Haven't you always?"
Charlotte shook her head, "I got to have my own room when I was with Grizz, since y'know, couples get their own room, but now that we're not together, I have to sleep in the same room as Xavier and Valerie," Charlotte sighed disappointedly.
"What's wrong with that? I know you love them."
"They snore," Charlotte deadpanned, "Like it's not even funny, they snore so loud, I swear to god the house shakes."
"At least you get to be in a room with people you enjoy being around with," Clark mumbled but Charlotte caught that.
She raised an eyebrow, "You're still sharing a room with Gwen?"
Clark slowly nodded his head, making Charlotte scoff.
"Why? You guys broke up a long time ago, like what, during Dewey's punishment?" Clark nodded, "Clark, that was like six months ago!"
"Yeah but couples get their own room and Gwen.."
Charlotte snorted, "What? She threatened you?"
Clark shrugged, "Kind of, I guess."
Charlotte pinched the top bridge of her nose, "God Clark, since when do you let people stomp over you?"
"You stomp over me."
"No I don't, you just actually listen to me," Charlotte gave him a blank look. "Look, how haven't you guys not get caught yet?"
"She sleeps in the bed while I sleep on a smaller mattress on the ground. Whenever someone comes, we quickly get into the bed and act like we're a couple."
Charlotte couldn't help but laugh, "That's ridiculous," She thought about it, "Why don't you just move into the house we're in then? You can stay with the Pentagon."
Clark slowly nodded, "I suppose I could,"
Charlotte raised her hands up, "It's what you want though. I'm not forcing you. You could continue to stay with Gwen if that's what you want but you won't be happy."
Clark looked at Charlotte with a raised eyebrow, "Since when did 'happy' exist in this place?"
Charlotte shrugged, hoping off the counter, "It exists if you let it exist. Now let's go back before Allie notices our disappearance, I'd rather not have a double shift of watching over her. Her breakdowns give me headaches."
Clark let Charlotte's words replay in his head as he followed her out of the shop.