Charlie's POV
I walked quickly down the street towards Allen's house, a plethora of emotions mixing dangerously inside my body. Who the hell did he fucking think he was to think he could make me forget everything that happened the last month and a half by having roses and a card waiting for me at his parents house? And what the hell did he tell Jodie? I had thought she certainly knew the situation between the two of us, but clearly I was wrong. The hopeful look in her eyes when she handed me the card proved that.
I felt horrible for being rude to her, she didn't deserve that. She was no more than an innocent piece in Austin and I's unwinnable chess game and was only acting the way her step-son had explained the situation to her. I pulled out my phone to text her and apologize but figured I would do it later, if I ever made it home.
I walked faster as thoughts of Austin came streaming back into my head. I was so confused with everything I wasn't sure how I should be feeling right now. Part of me wanted to get on the phone and tell him that I forgive him for everything, that I love him and that I want to be with him. But the other half wanted me to fuck him over so bad so that he knew what it felt like to be hurt, but then again he didn't love me like I loved him so that wasn't going to do much of anything.
Several minutes later I reached Allen's house and knocked on the door to the basement. I quickly pulled my hair out of its ponytail and tousled it with my fingers and rearranged my clothes quickly before he opened the door.
"Well hello beautiful, aren't you a sight for sore eyes" he said with a wickedly gorgeous smile. Shit he got more good looking as the years passed.
"Hey handsome, how are you?" I asked wasting no time wrapping my arms around him in a huge hug.
"I've been good, just patiently waiting for you to get here. How was the flight?" he asked as I walked through the door and fell into the very worn and used couch.
"Long, but good. Do you have anything to drink around here?" I asked him with a laugh.
"Sure babe, what would you like?" he asked opening the fridge to reveal a healthy mix of all different kinds of beers.
"I guess a Bud Light" I said rolling my eyes.
"Austin's trained you well huh" he laughed grabbing the frosted blue can and tossing it to me gently.
"Woah woah woah, I'm here to forget that name baby, not remember it" I said cracking the top and taking a long sip, the coldness biting the back of my throat as the crisp liquid flowed down easily.
He came walking over towards me, sinking down into the couch next to me pulling my legs over his, his eyes connecting with mine.
"Can I ask?" he said in more of a statement then a question.
"I knew you were going to so go ahead" I said rolling my eyes.
"What did he do to you that was so bad that you want me to fuck the shit out of you so you forget?" he asked me raising his eyebrows.
"I mean if your not for it I can go to Mitch or Jason. I'm sure they would be willing" I said shrugging my shoulders.
I could tell my new attitude had really threw him for a loop. The old me was never a slut and would never just voluntarily offer herself to any man. But Austin really fucked with me and at this point I didn't matter anymore. I had nothing else to live for.
"Hey, I never said that did I? I simply asked a question" he said, not letting my I'm too cool for you attitude intimidate him.
"He fucked with me Allen terribly. I waited for him for three years, three fucking years. He did nothing but build up hope that we would be together and break it all down only to build it back up again. It was like it was a sick fucking game for him. He had this girl that he met in Texas and he instantly fell in love with her. Do you know he never told me that he loved me? I had to have said it half a dozen times before I left Texas and not once did he say it to me. But he meets some Texas promoter and falls instantly in love. Bullshit." I said feeling a lump raise in my throat.
"He isn't a very outspoken guy Charlie, you know that. He probably didn't know how to tell you" Allen said, his hand rubbing slowly up and down my tanned leg.
"Please Allen. We've known each other our whole lives. It's not like he doesn't know how to talk to me. Anyway, he chose to be with this girl her name is Ashlen. and things changed between us. Then finally one day he called me and spilled his heart to me and told me that he wanted to be with me and how he misses me and knows he made a mistake by being with Ash and he was going to take a few days to think about things and he promised me that he would tell me either way what decision he made" I said taking another long sip of my beer.
"And I'm guessing it was her?" he said his eyes connecting sadly with mine.
"Yup and the worst part about all of this, he never fucking told me. I walked around for months thinking that Austin and I were finally going to have our happy ending, thinking that we were finally going to be together like we should have been all these years. But no, I had to find out through a fucking Live late night show that he was with her" I said shaking my head as I quickly chugged down the rest of my beer.
"I'm sorry Charlie. I thought for sure he would have realized that he made a mistake and he would stop being an asshole and be with the person he knows he needs to be with" he said giving me a reassuring look.
"And do you want to know what makes this even more fucked up" I laughed.
"What's that?" he asked tilting his head, suddenly looking very much like Austin.
"We have a kid Allen" I said looking at him.
"Wait you what?" he asked shaking his head with a laugh.
"Yup. Austin Oliver Roman. He is the cutest little thing too" I said.
"Fuck Char does he know?" Allen asked as I got up off of his lap to go grab another beer from the fridge.
"Nope" I said popping the p in the word.
"Charlie you have to tell him" he said to me. Hearing the words leaving his lips made my body boil over in anger. I slowly stood up, beer grasped tightly in my right hand as I tried with all my might to contain the rage that was coursing through my body.
"I'm sick of people fucking telling me what I have to do Allen. If I tell him that we have a kid together he will be with me because it is the right thing to do, not because he wants to be with me. I don't want to force him to have to spend the rest of his life with me just because we have a kid. Doesn't anyone fucking get it. I want him to be with me because he wants to be with me. Because he loves me" I said feeling the tears pour out of my eyes.
"Charlie, I'm sorry. Come here" he said holding out his arms.
I quickly went over and sat in his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck as I let myself cry out all of the emotions that had built up over the course of a few hours of being in Texas. I relaxed into his touch as he rubbed my back, letting me release all of my emotions in this moment without judgement.
"Charlie" he said after a few moments.
"Yeah?" I asked not lifting my head as I wiped at my eyes and nose with the back of my hand.
"Charlie you don't want to do what you came here to do, I know you don't. You are just looking for a way to get him out of your head, and I can tell you that having sex with me isn't it."
"Then what is Allen? I have to forget him, I have to find a way to move on with my life without him. He's had me in a mental version of a prison for years. True I wasn't being held against my will, I waited for him because I promised him that I would, but I can't be holding myself hostage for a man who is never going to want to be with me" I said, more tears falling out of my eyes.
"Charlie, I think you have him all wrong. I think Austin is so confused right now. He's trying to adapt to fame that came to him almost over night and he just doesn't know what he wants. I know that he loves you" he said to me, still rubbing my back slowly.
"How? How do you know he loves me? How does everyone know this besides me?" I said helplessly.
"Because whenever he talks about you or asks about you his whole voice changes Charlie. Take it from a guy, we don't do that unless we are talking about someone we truly love" Allen said with a small laugh.
"Then why hasn't he told me? Why?" I said getting up and looking at him, feeling the anger boil up in my body again.
"He may not have come out and said those words exactly to you Charlie, but he tells you in so many other ways, hes just too much of a pussy to actually say it" Allen said.
His words hit me like a ton of bricks as my mind immediately raced back to the night he talked to me after his concert with Justin. Everything he told me that night was Austin's strange way of telling me that he loves me, I was just to stubborn to see it. I wanted to hear those three words thinking that that was the only way someone could tell you that they loved you, but he did it in his own quirky unique Austin way and I was too fucking blind to see it.
I instantly felt a surge of regret rush through my body thinking of how he sent the roses to Rich and Jodie's and sent the card that I was too stubborn to open and read. Austin did love me, maybe I was being too hard on him and expecting him to show his love the way that I showed mine. I chose three words and he chose many. I can't believe it took me so long to realize it.
"I have to go Allen" I said quickly, rushing over to him and wrapping my arms around him.
"So is the offer off the table?" he asked playfully.
"Hey, your the one that removed it not me" I winked at him as I hurriedly left his house and quickly headed towards Jodie and Rich's.
I quickly walked into the driveway my heart beating quickly in my chest as I walked up to the oak door decorated with a Fourth of July wreath and turned the handle, surprisingly it was left open. Taking note that there was no one in the house I quickly ran up the staircase taking them two at a time and ran straight towards Austin's bedroom. I pushed open the heavy white door and immediately saw the card laying on top of my suitcase. I sat down and quickly opened it with a trembling hand, reading what he wrote:
Years can go by, but
I will never forget the first time
You held me in your arms
or the first time that we kissed
In that moment
And every second since then
You have been the reason I breathe
The reason I live
The reason I exist
You are my love
And the true source to all my happiness.
I love you Charlotte, please find it in your heart to forgive me.
Love you always,
Austin
I felt tears slide down my cheeks and over my plump lips as they fell heavily, leaving wet stains on the thick card stock.
I love you Charlotte
I kept rereading those words as if I thought I had made a mistake in seeing them written there. Austin did love me, he wanted to be with me. Everyone was right after all. I quickly got up and walked over towards the vase of roses, inhaling their intoxicating scent with a smile on my face, those four words replaying over and over in my head. I quickly pulled out my cell and sent him a message.
Charlie
Happy Birthday Aus! I hope the saying still holds that its better late then never. Enjoy your 21st while it lasts, I am so over that stage 🙄🤪Listen, I wanted to apologize for everything Austin. I was an idiot for what I said to you when I found out you were with Ash, I was just so hurt Austin. But I know that we are meant to be together. Thank you so much for the roses baby they are beautiful and I got your note. I love you too Austin I always have and I always will. I've waited so long for you to say those words to me longer than I ever thought I would have to. But I was so stupid, you have always showed me how much you loved me I just thought hearing those words was the only way to express love. But you, you have done it so many times through your own words Austin and I was too blind to see it. I love you Austin, and I'd be more than happy to pick up where we left off in Texas if you still want me. Happy birthday rockstar. I love you baby.
I hit the send button, a huge smile taking over my face as I set my phone down and headed for a shower, anticipating his text in return.
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Austin's POV- before charlie's text
"You ready Post? Your first night out without the girl leeching on you" First laughed as I climbed into the back of the Escalade they picked me up in.
"Listen guys, I'm just out to have a good time tonight. No hooking up none of that shit" I said thinking of Charlie and not wanting to fuck everything up that I was trying to fix. I seemed to have a habit of doing that and it was something I was trying to prove to myself that I could break.
"Yeah yeah Post we got you" Dre said from the front as we headed towards the strip club.
I pulled out my phone looking down at it hopelessly again to see if anyone sent me a text about Charlie. Jodie had said that she got there, but I didn't hear anything about her reaction to the flowers or the card. Maybe she just hadn't gotten to the room yet.
I sat back in the seat and sent out a text to Casey. I know that she said Charlie wasn't going over to her house tonight, that her and Mark were going out for a nice dinner or something like that, but maybe she knew where she was.
Stoney🚬
hey Case, any idea where Charlie is? No one has said anything about her since she has been there
I hit the send button knowing that I wouldn't get a response anytime soon, but I was okay with that. I put my head against the headrest getting lost in my thoughts for the rest of the ride to the club, when Dre finally pulled me back to reality.
"Listen Post, I ain't going into the club with you if you are off daydreaming about Ash man. Get her out of your head and think of all the beautiful women that are waiting for you in there" Dre said with a smile.
"Sorry bro, I'm back" I said, hoping my words were faked enough to sound sincere.
We climbed out of the car and headed to the VIP section of the club that First had no doubt reserved for us. He was a regular here, so I'm sure he pulled a few strings. There were already several dancers waiting for us to arrive, and a cocktail waitress setting out drinks for us.
"Post happy fucking birthday man! I have several of my favorite dancers just for your entertainment tonight" he said standing behind me with his hands on both of my shoulders.
I couldn't lie, they were beautiful, but as soon as that thought entered my mind Charlie's faced popped into my head. I didn't want to be here, I was only here because I had thought this is where I needed to be to celebrate my birthday. We could've went to any fucking bar in LA and I would've been happy. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and was relieved when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
Casey
hey Austin. Uhm last I checked she was over Allen's. I'm sorry Aus
I felt myself starting to shake at what she had just told me. How could she do this to me? I left Ash because I knew that I wanted to be with her. Sure I knew that we got into a fight and we haven't been talking much lately, but I thought the flowers and the card and me finally telling her that I loved her would be enough to crack her tough exterior and get us back to where we needed to be. Fuck that, if she couldn't find a place in her heart to forgive me then I didn't need her or anyone for that matter. I hit Allen's name in my phone and quickly sent him a text.
Austin
hey fucker, have fun fucking Charlie. So much for bros before hoes huh.
I quickly hit the send button and put my phone back in my pocket as I headed back over to the table grabbing some shots and downing three of them one after the other.
"Where's the birthday boy?" I heard a sexy voice say as my head whipped around to see a petite but voluptuous brunette walking my way in nothing but a g-string and silver heels.
She grabbed my hand and walked me over to a chair in the center of the floor of our VIP section and sat me down as she straddled my lap and started shaking her ass in my face. I bit my lip as I felt a semi starting to form in my pants, quickly getting turned on by the beautiful girl in front of me.
Forget about Charlie for tonight. If she really wanted you she wouldn't be going to your best friend to fuck him.
She turned herself around as she wrapped her arms around my neck, her hips grinding into me slowly as she pressed my face between her breasts.
"You can touch these girls Posty, we paid them extra" I heard First yelling to me.
"Go ahead baby, I don't bite" she whispered into my ear as she lightly nipped at my lobe.
I let out a low moan as I put my hands on her hips, pushing her harder down into my lap as a small smile formed on her lips.
"Birthday boy likes that huh baby" she smirked.
I bit my lip as she leaned herself back, the rest of the guys in the group showering us with ones, my hands roaming over her body before grabbing a handful of her soft full breasts before she made her way back up to me.
"You want a private session baby?" she asked me, her hips not stopping.
"That depends, how much do I have to pay for you to take care of this for me?" I said pressing my hips up between her legs.
"I'll do it for free baby" she said as she locked her lips with mine, my dick becoming like a rock at her words as she slowly pulled away from me, grabbing my hands in hers as she pulled me off the chair and walked me back towards the VIP rooms, Charlie the furthest thought in my mind.