AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying the new story. This new chapter is your proper introduction to Charlie Monk aka. Chunk, the super sweet boy next door who works in the greengrocer. I think this photo of Eoghan Quigg  is the definitely the image I have in mind for him! I hope you'll enjoy meeting him :)

Please leave a vote and comment if you like the chapter :D Big hugs to you all!

Becky xx

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Chapter 4

Cheered Up By Chunk

"Oh my goodness. Ohmygoodnessohmygoodness."

Chunk runs over to me in a fluster and hovers around my general vicinity before finally deciding to place a tentative hand on my shoulder. I'm sobbing my lungs out and I can tell he has no idea what to do. Boys never know what to do when girls cry.

"Whatever's wrong?" he asks, his warm voice filled with concern. He's so nice and it just makes me cry even harder.

"EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING'S WRONG!"

He pulls gently at my arm. "Come and sit down. Let me get you some water or something."

I find myself being steered toward the counter. There's a little footstool hidden behind it and Chunk gestures for me to sit down. It doesn't look particularly comfortable but I appreciate the thought anyway and slump onto it with full force.

"I'm so sorry," I exclaim, trying to take deep breaths. "I didn't mean to come in here like this." It's true, I didn't. I've known Chunk for years from around the village but I don't know him that well. Certainly not well enough to come into his store and start dumping all my personal problems onto him.

I mean, if my own friends and family don't want to know about them, I hardly expect the local greengrocer to be interested.

"Don't be silly," he replies kindly. "You're obviously really upset. What's happened?"

It's too late not to feel silly. I feel absolutely ridiculous. My sobs start slowing down and my cheeks begin to burn in their place.

"It's nothing really," I mumble in embarrassment. "I'm just being stupid."

"It doesn't look like nothing. Hang on darling." Chunk wanders out to the back room of the tiny store and comes back carrying a big glass of water. I take it from him thankfully and chug it down. The sensation of cool liquid hitting my lips feels calming, but it can't erase how mortified I am.

"Thanks, Chunk. I can't believe I'm acting like such a moron. I'm really sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for," he answers. "Don't worry about it whatsoever."

I find myself calming down more and more until most of my tears have completely evaporated. I think Chunk just seems to have this kind of effect on people. There's no way you can stay sad around him. He's a little bit like my brother Benji in that respect. They're both always smiling and everyone in the village loves them.

I finish the last drop of water and place the glass on the side of the counter. Chunk grins sweetly at me. "Looks like you needed that more than you realised."

I look down at my own lap, picking at a loose thread on the hem of my dress. I picked a plain black one to wear today since I'm in mourning. "Yeah, I guess I did."

There are a few tiny moments of silence before Chunk speaks again.

"So, do you want to tell me why you're so sad? It's really not like you to come in here without your pretty smile alongside you."

I give a little laugh. Chunk is always such a charmer to everyone. "Oh, I bet you say that to all the girls who come in here crying."

"I'm not going to lie," he says sincerely. "We don't get many. They usually just run out screaming whenever they catch a glimpse of me."

"Yeah right!" I laugh, louder this time. "I've seen loads of girls crowding around you in here, you've practically got your own Westerfield fan club."

"Ash, those girls are all about eight years old. Or eighty. I guess maybe I'm just a non-threatening sex symbol. Like a Jonas brother or something."

"Hey! I love the Jonas brothers!"

"Oh really? That's lucky for me then." Chunk pats his stomach. "Did you know I'm the lesser-known, overweight fourth brother? They hide me in the back of every show."

Now I can't stop giggling. For a brief moment, I've forgotten all about how miserable I am. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You would totally be centre stage with them."

"Playing a tambourine at the side perhaps. I think I could manage that just about." He pauses. "Oh wait, you need to be good at timing for that. Damn, my boyband days are over before they've even begun."

As I keep chuckling, Chunk's face breaks into a large beam. "There we go. There's the Ashleigh Apple smile I know and love. Now don't go losing it again."

I wipe the last damp remnants of my tears away with the back of my hand. I'm sure it's only temporary, but for the moment at least, my spirits feel kind of lifted. "Thanks for being so nice to me. You've really cheered me up."

"I'm glad I could help," Chunk smiles. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's up?"

I hesitate for a second, unsure of how much to disclose to him. I feel like I owe him some kind of explanation for my crazy behaviour but I don't want to repeat the entire story all over again. I don't have the strength for it.

"It's just silly boy drama," I reply with a wave of my hand. "I don't know why I'm getting so upset about it, to be honest."

That's a lie. I do know why I'm getting so upset about it. The whole thing is an utterly devastating situation that is KILLING me. Which is why I never wanted to come out of my room today in the first place. So much for Mum forcing me to go out before I was ready. I hope she feels really bad about this when she finds out.

Chunk is nodding his head in sudden understanding. "Ah. Boy drama. I should have realised as much."

I look toward the ground, too embarrassed to meet his eye. "Yeah... I guess it's obvious right?" Somehow a few more bubbles of honesty want to pop out of my mouth. "The guy I really liked met someone else. That's all there is to know really."

As soon as I tell the truth, I wish I could take it back. I sound so pathetic. No wonder everyone's been making fun of me and telling me to get a grip. I fully expect Chunk to react the same way, but instead, he touches my shoulder fondly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I can only imagine how much that must suck."

"Yeah, it does," I respond. He's being so supportive that I decide to explain a little more. "We weren't officially together or anything, but I thought we might have been. Actually, I was convinced we practically WERE together, but then I saw him with another girl. I guess I was just deluding myself."

Telling the story out loud makes me realise how stupid I'm being. I may have loved Kieran but I didn't really know him like I thought I did. Maybe he never saw me in the way I wanted him to. If he had then this would have never happened.

Chunk crouches down in front of where I'm seated so that we're eye level. "Ash, I'm going to be completely honest with you here."

He looks really serious and I already know what he's going to say. That I need to grow up, that it was just a crush and I'm too young and silly to really understand love. Blah blah blah. I brace myself for yet another lecture.

"If that guy couldn't see what was right in front of his nose, then he has to be a complete and utter IDIOT."

I blink in shock. "Huh?"

"Sorry, Ash," he continues sincerely. "I know you like him and everything, but the guy is quite obviously a fool. He has to be. What guy in his right mind would ever turn away your affections for anyone else? I think it sounds like you had a lucky escape. You can do so much better than a fool."

I can't tell if he's being serious or not. It's hard to tell with Chunk. He's always goofing around and I think he might be teasing me. I keep looking down, trying to hide my blush. "Don't talk rubbish!"

He stands back up and walks towards a stand of oranges. "Ashleigh Apple, I am a professional greengrocer. I would never ruin my reputation by talking rubbish." He picks up three of the oranges and starts to jiggle them around in his hands. "You are absolutely lovely and this boy must be incompetent not to realise it. That's just a fact."

"You're just saying that to cheer me up," I mumble. "But thank you." I look directly at him and tilt my head to one side in confusion. "Why exactly are you holding oranges?"

"Because I'm about to impress you with my amazing skills." He throws one into the air. Then another. Then another. And suddenly he is juggling all three of the oranges with ease.

I can't help but start giggling again. "Wow. I actually do feel quite impressed."

He grins triumphantly and nods his mousey-brown head towards an open crate of apples directly opposite me. "Chuck me an apple, Apple."

Still giggling, I scramble off my stool and scurry across the room to the crate. Then I pick through the big, red apples on display, secretly looking for the heaviest one I can find.

"Hey, we do actually have to sell this fruit you know. You'd better not be tasting them all over there."

"I'm not!" I cry. "I'm just trying to make this as difficult as possible for you." With that, I throw the most enormous apple of the batch straight at him. I was hoping it would make him drop all the oranges, but to my great surprise, he catches it effortlessly.

"Oh, cheers Ash," he chuckles sarcastically. "Are you trying to knock me out on purpose or something?"

"I can't believe you caught that," I squeal. "How are you so good at this?!"

"Ashleigh, I was a shy, chubby nerd growing up." He starts juggling even faster and higher. "I spent all my time indoors honing my circus skills. I thought it might make girls think I was cool."

I put a hand to my mouth, trying not to hide my amusement. "Oh my! Did it work?"

He wiggles his eyebrows. "I don't know. You tell me."

At that precise moment, the little bell on the front door of the shop gives out a tinkle and an elderly lady totters into the shop. She glares in furious horror at Chunk's manhandling of his own stock and he drops every single piece of fruit on the floor.

"Err, good morning Mrs. Whittard. Um, lovely weather out there isn't it?"

One of the oranges rolls right over to her feet. She glares even harder, then storms out of the shop with her nose in the air.

I exchange a guilty glance with Chunk. Then as the door slams shut, we both burst into hysterical laughter.

---

"Right, are you sure you can take all this?" Chunk hands me two jam-packed carrier bags of fruit and veg. "Because if they're too heavy I can add some of it onto your next delivery."

I give him a small smile as I take the bags. They're heavy, but I can handle them. After all, I'm used to carrying heavy things in the pub all the time.

"It's alright, we need most of this stuff before Tuesday. We seem to run out of things way more quickly these days. I guess we've got to get used to all the extra customers we've been getting lately. We might even be able to hire new staff at this rate."

"That's great to hear," Chunk beams. "Seems like you've really been turning the place around."

"It's all down to Benjamin and his boyfriend Taylor," I shrug coyly. "They're like a little powerhouse. Taylor's got the business side of things and Benji's super creative, so between them, it's like there's nothing they can't do. I'm kind of in awe of them."

I feel a little pang in my heart as I talk about my brother and his relationship. He and Taylor are completely perfect for each other and I'm so happy for both of them. But it makes me a little jealous too. Whenever I catch them being all soppy and romantic together, it just reminds me that I don't have someone of my own to care for me like that.

Maybe I'll never find that person.

Chunk is nodding away as I talk, taking everything in. "Your brother's quite the character isn't he? I'm so glad he's found someone. It sounds like Taylor really encourages him with his art and everything."

"Yeah, he does." I give a genuine smile. Some people in the village get a bit weird and awkward whenever I talk about Benji and Taylor so it's nice to be with someone who doesn't bat an eyelid when I mention them. Westerfield is so old-fashioned and having a gay couple here is apparently still totally shocking news. You'd think people would get over it by now. It's not like they don't love Benji, he's so popular with the locals, but I think a lot of them get embarrassed hearing about his love life.

I don't know why. It's nobody's business but his and Taylor's at the end of the day. And the rest of the family obviously since we like to know exactly what's going on at all times. (Apart from the private details of course, ew, we're not THAT close.)

"But don't sell yourself short," Chunk continues. "You've been working hard too, little missy. I know the hours you put into the pub, that place would be absolutely lost without you."

"I very much doubt that," I reply in a mumble. The way he's talking you would think I had some huge, vital role to play in my families business. I really don't. I just work there. "Anyway, I'd better be going. Thanks so much for everything Chunk."

He smiles warmly at me. "Anytime, Ashleigh Apple."

I pause, shifting from one foot to the other. I feel like I ought to say something about my earlier hysterics before I leave. I can't just pretend like it didn't happen.

"And I'm sorry again about..."

Chunk cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. "Don't worry about it. Seriously."

He flashes me another grin and I instantly feel so much better. He's such a lovely guy. Of all the people in Westerfield I could have broken down in front of today, I'm so glad it was him.

"I'll see you later Chunk," I say thankfully. Then I turn to leave the shop, carrier bags in tow. As I take a couple of steps forward, he calls out after me.

"Wait, Ash! Before you go, you don't fancy a night out tonight do you? Maybe take your mind off everything?"

It takes a while for his words to sink in since he says them so quickly. A night out? I spin around on the balls of my feet to face him and before I can open my mouth in response, he's carried on talking again.

"I'm going out with some of my mates in Northcastle, there's a music night on at The Fishtank. Why don't you come along? You could bring your friends, it might be a laugh."

I don't really know what to make of this invitation. I've never seen Chunk outside of this store or the pub. I didn't even realise he wanted to make friends with me.

"What's The Fishtank?" I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral and non-committal. There's no way I'm going out anywhere tonight so I don't want to get his hopes up.

"It's a club," he replies. "Kind of rocky. I'm meeting up with Jaxon and some of his mates." He sees my blank look and gives a little more detail. "Jaxon Stark? Maybe you remember him from school?"

Chunk was in the year above me when we were at school together and that was years ago now, so quite honestly I don't have a clue. "Um, the name rings a bell. I think."

"You'll probably remember him if you see him," Chunk explains. "He's a cool guy, you'll like him. His friends are nice guys too. You should definitely come out with us!"

I know what Chunk is trying to do here. He feels sorry for me after my totally pathetic display just now and he wants me to feel included in something. It's so sweet of him, it really is. But the last thing I want to do this evening is go on some big night out. Not when my broken heart has barely had any time to mend.

"I'll think about it," I lie, hedging him off. "It sounds like fun, but I'm just not sure if I'm in the mood for a night out."

"Aw come on," he pleads, leaning across the shop counter. "I reckon it's just what you need. Forget about that stupid idiot who's upset you and let your hair down. You deserve it."

Forget about Kieran? I'm not ready to do that. How can I just let him go like I never even loved him at all?

Suddenly, the shop feels tiny and suffocating. All the laughter and silliness of a few moments ago is evaporating into the ether. I just want to get out and be on my own again.

"I don't know," I mutter indistinctly. "Maybe." I grab hold of my supplies and start to dash out of the door. "I really better go Chunk, I'll catch you later."

I hear him shout out after me, his voice hoarse and concerned.

"Ash, hang on a second..."

But I don't answer him. I'm out of the door before he can try and get me to change my mind.