REAL LIFE

Conrad was already gone when Charlie woke up the next morning. Charlie didn't take it as a total loss since he was only sleeping there because he was too tired to make his bed because it was nearing one in the morning.
Slowly, Charlie pulled back the sheets and swung his legs out from under them and padded his way out of Conrad's room to make his way down the stairs to head to the kitchen. Reflexively, he went to the coffe pot before he remembered that there was absolutely nothing in the house.

     "Didn't think you'd be awake," Conrad spoke, quickly muting the mic on his phone as he was startled a little when he registered Charlie's presence.

     "When the sun's up, I'm up," Charlie settled on the stool that was closest to Conrad, nodding his head in the direction of Conrad's phone, "is it the finance guys you're talking to?"

     Conrad nodded, unmuting his phone mic and continuing his conversation, Charlie listening intently. From the looks of it, it seemed like there wasn't going to be any way Conrad could access his trust fund without having his dad to sign off on it first, and Conrad wanted to do it with as little of his dad's help as he could muster. When he hung up, Charlie noticed a mildly haunted look in his eyes, as if his worst nightmares were coming true. And they were. Right before his very weary eyes.

     "I take it that that was a bust?" Charlie asked. Conrad let out a frustrated sigh and let his phone flop onto the counter in disappointment. Timidly, Charlie laid a hand on Conrad's forearm, his thumb rubbing back and forth in a soothing manner. Conrad groaned, resting his head against the kitchen island as he sat down in a spare stool, thumping his forehead rhythmically. "I'll take that as a yes."

     With that, Jeremiah and Belly came down from their rooms at the sight and knew better than to ask so they kept quiet and debated who was going to drive down to the local bakery for breakfast.

     "Come on," Charlie swiveled out of his stool, getting up, "we're gonna go get breakfast. I can't have you making important financial choices on an empty stomach."

     "Okay, but you're driving," Conrad grumbled, "lemme go grab my keys."

      The two of them got into Conrad's Volvo, Charlie in the driver's seat as promised and Conrad in the passenger. The trip for the most part was quiet, the windows rolled down to let the wind roll through as they rode along, signs whirring past. Charlie's right hand rested on the gear shift as he drove with his left, his sunglasses perched on his almost-perfect nose. Conrad didn't know what came over him, but he couldn't help but to look. From Charlie's overall calm presence to the relaxed grip on the steering wheel. He just looked so at home, sitting in Conrad's car, or anywhere on the beach house property. He was home. Like a safe place, or a lighthouse of some sort.

     Conrad's brain then came to a screeching halt at that and he unfortunately became hyperaware of every thought that crossed his mind soon after that. Sure, of course, Charlie was his best friend. There was no questioning that. They've been through so much together and even more so over the course of these last few months. He was the first person Conrad would turn to about anything, so it made some sense that Conrad felt this way about him. But the two of them never really disclosed anything about liking anyone of the same sex because the conversation never came up or it never turned into that sort of topic. And Conrad wasn't really sure if he liked boys in the first place.

     As far as he knew, there was a difference between liking boys and liking boys like Charlie.

Like everything else that happened this morning, breakfast was quiet. Everyone ate in complete silence, either pondering about their next move to save the house or just having nothing to say at all because they were also just as exhausted. It all just felt so wrong, sitting in a house that used to be a home and that had been gutted of everything good to leave only the skeleton, a ghost of what used to be. It was all so haunting, really. And Conrad really thought the funeral and the wake were going to be the gut punch of it all.

Now, Conrad, Charlie, Jeremiah, and Belly were all gathered around in the dining room, letting the phone ring in some sort of deafening manner until Conrad and Jeremiah's dad Adam finally picked up. Thankfully, Conrad cut the shit and the niceties and went straight in for the kill, asking about what he and Jeremiah could do to help save Susannah's house. He offered up using his trust fund if their dad would be able to give him access to it, but their father was quick to shut the idea down.

"Guys," Adam started, "I've had my lawyers look into every possible loophole, but the house is legally Julia's. My hands are tied. And believe it or not, I'm just as upset about losing the house as you are."

"That's such bullshit," Conrad bit, "that's such bullshit. You never cared about this house, Dad, 'cause you never cared about Mom."

Adam sighed, going silent for a moment. "You know that's not true. Julia's gonna go through with the open house, make sure she gets everything she needs because this is the end of the conversation."

"Conrad was right, talking to you is pointless." Jeremiah hung up after that, and the heaviest silence known to man fell over the four of them. But it wasn't silent for too long when the front door opened, revealing Belly's friend Taylor and Belly's brother Steven as they walked into the foyer, carrying a box of muffins. They came in excited but were soon silenced by the same quiet when they took in the disparaging looks on all of their faces.

"Oh, shit," Steven mumbled, "we should've told them we were coming."

Conrad shook his head. "It's not that. It's—"

"They're selling the house," Jeremiah cut him off, quick to rip the band-aid and let it fall, the wound that never got the chance to close, still bleeding.

"Oh, Cinderbelly, c'mere." Taylor pulled Belly into a tight hug, shock and disbelief coloring her features. It was going to be a hell of a ride from here on out.

Once everyone got settled for the night, it was only right for them to at least have a movie night as one of their final hurrahs. Charlie was already sprawled across the loveseat while Belly and Steven bickered over Belly's spot on the couch. With a literal nudge from Taylor, Steven conceded.

"So," Conrad spoke up, clasping his hands together, "have we decided on a movie?"

Belly lifted the DVD she had, smiling wistfully. "I was thinking It Happened One Night." With a unanimous variety of oohs and aahs, Conrad popped the DVD into the player before going over to the loveseat and knocking Charlie's shins out of the way and plopping into his seat. Just to be a little shit, Conrad goofily rested his socked feet in Charlie's lap, smiling at the fake grimace that was etched in his face at the sight. But before he could move, Charlie already had a grip on one of his ankles, keeping them both in place as he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the bony part. The lateral malleolus, Conrad learned from one of his Anatomy classes.

Charlie's index finger then slid over his instep (that was the top part of your foot), stopping just short of his toes as he took his other hand and arched Conrad's foot in a way that made Conrad want to yank his foot back from the touch, but he couldn't or else he'd disrupt everyone from watching the movie. Charlie then let go only to move on and do the same thing to the other one, glee lighting him up when he heard Conrad take in another sharp, silent breath. Something about the manuever made Conrad's stomach drop, striking the same way it did when he and Charlie were in the car this morning, side by side like second nature. Charlie cared about him, and in a different way than the others did if Conrad was okay with letting himself be blind for a night.   

     Conrad's phone lit up, catching his attention for a brief moment only for him to then sit up stock-straight at what he was reading. Charlie let him and watched him go as he clearly needed to come up for air. Charlie looked over at Steven, who also saw Conrad leave, and Steven got up to go check on him. Charlie would've been okay with going but it seemed like he would've only added to the stress at that moment. So he sat there, waiting for Conrad to come back.

AUTHOR'S NOTE  ╱ 052924

can't say i'm on a roll with these updates but i can say that this pair is particularly easy to write so i will take that as a win !

i hope you enjoyed the chapter, thoughts and feelings are always allowed and appreciated

thank you for reading <33