Charlie Ch. 13-16

He moved to stand next to the door, listening to Charlie run the water in the sink.

"Hurry up, high maintenance. We gotta get moving." He busied himself with retracting the fishing line and attaching the hook to the spinner. He just really wanted to see her come out of the bathroom in her tank top and panties again. Today, it was a light blue tank top and a pair of white panties. Yum!

"I'm going! I'm going!" The door swung open. Her face was slightly pink from the brisk scrubbing it just received. Her eyes already bright and alive, wanting to greet the day. He didn't know how she could wake up so quickly and in such a good mood. He always woke up with his hair disheveled and grumpy. He couldn't even think about smiling until a pot of coffee was gone and finished.

Nathan watched her stretch to grab a pair of jeans from the top shelf of her closet. Oh god, there was that stretching again. She wiggled them across her legs and jumped into the air to help the rest the material make it past her hips. He turned his head to avoid seeing her innocent dressing. In his mind, there was nothing but danger in her hips moving like that. She stepped into the closet and kicked the door closed with her foot. He could only imagine the sight of her removing the tank top and restraining her breasts with a bra. It would create the cleavage he so desperately wanted to stroke and lick. When Charlie exited her closet, she had on a t-shirt that said "Paddle faster! I hear banjoes."

"What the hell is that?" Nathan pointed to the laughable words spread across her chest. Charlie smiled as she grabbed a pair of socks from her dresser.

"Only appropriate for our adventure in the woods." She sat on the edge of the bed and began pulling the socks onto her feet. She reached under the bed and yanked out a pair of sneakers. As she tied her laces, she said, "You got a purdy mouth!" She gazed up at Nathan and started laughing.

"Come on already!"

Upon entering the kitchen, Charlie noticed all of the gear they needed was already laid out on the table: tackle box, two thermos, her picnic basket, another fishing rod, and old hat. She knew the fishing hat came from Nathan's father. It had been passed down the family line for four generations. Fishing was one of his favorite hobbies, something that she complained about for years when he would drag her off to some remote hole in the earth. Yet, as time went by, she grew to love it just as much as Nathan did. She had even gone on some fishing trips with Nathan and his dad. During those times, she got to see some of his family's dynamics. Nathan and his dad shared the same laugh and smile. His dad was just the older version with streaks of gray in his hair. They spent hours fishing and hours talking by campfires. His dad would often argue politics and religion. Just like Nathan, he would make comments to see if he could get a rise out of her. Father and son would sit back and laugh as she sputtered comments and complaints, telling them to shut up or screw off when she was finally too irked to respond correctly.

Charlie turned back to her coat closet and reached in. Finding a sweat shirt, she yanked it off of the hanger and tugged it over her head. It was about three sizes too big, falling below her hips. The arms of it dangled past her hands. She simply pulled the cuffs up to where her fingertips could actually show. They collected all of the equipment and made their way out to the street where Nathan's jeep was parked.

Loading the equipment into the jeep, Charlie asked, "How is your dad doing?"

"He's good. He has been working on the new shed for the past two months. I told him I would help him finish it when you and I come home for Thanksgiving." They climbed into the jeep. Charlie got situated with her seat belt. She tugged the shoulder belt forward as a show to remind Nathan to strap in as well. He grumped under his breath and reached over his shoulder to grab the seatbelt while he started the jeep. It fired to life; after a few moments, its engine moved back to an idle.

"Tell him that I will help too."

Nathan looked at Charlie out of the corner of his eye. "Oh no you don't. Do I need to remind you about your tendency to cause destruction and havoc?"

Charlie's mouth dropped open. "Do not! I'm just accident prone." She turned in her seat, ready with the verbal defense regarding her lack of mechanical prowess.

"Last time, you tried to help with one of my dad's projects, my little brother ended up on the emergency room."

"That wasn't my fault. He should have moved his hand."

Nathan held back a laugh as he remembered the look on his brother's face when Charlie nailed his hand with a hammer. She actually hit Jared hard enough that a small geyser of blood spurted from his finger. Charlie stood there dancing and running in place as she apologized over and over again. That Thanksgiving eve, the family spent sitting in the waiting area of the emergency room at the local hospital. The whole family was laughing about the situation. Nathan's sister, Shelley, had even commented that she dreamt of whacking Jared for years, but didn't have the courage. The next day during the Thanksgiving gorge fest, Jared sat with his elbow on the table; his thumb wrapped with about fifty layers of gauze. Yes, that was a holiday to remember.

Charlie's new question pulled Nathan back into the present. "What does your mom want us to bring for Thanksgiving this year?" she asked as they pulled away from the curb.

"She has placed an order for your sausage-stuffed mushroom caps again." Nathan stopped at the intersection, looking left and right before he pushed the jeep to continue forward. "Actually, she said you weren't allowed in the house unless there was a plate of them in your hand when you arrive."

Charlie grinned. She had always gotten along with Nathan's mom. The first time she arrived with Nathan for Thanksgiving was during their sophomore year in college. Charlie was one of the students that never went home for the holidays. She normally sat in her dorm room with some kind of microwave dinner, watching re-runs of Moonlighting or L.A. Law. Everyone would say their goodbyes and disappeared for the holidays. Hugging all of their friends, she would say "have a wonderful time." The door of her room closed, marking the beginning of a long holiday season.

One night during a drunken conversation, Charlie and Nathan sat on her dorm bed and talked about family. She shared some scary shit about her childhood, and personally, Nathan couldn't blame her for shutting down when it came to family. After hearing those awful childhood stories, Nathan only felt more protective of her. Nathan told his own mom about Charlie and the stories. His mom, Amanda, put down her proverbal foot, telling her son to bring the girl home for food. From then on, there was always a standing invitation to head home with him for the holidays. Unofficially, Charlie had been adopted by the Devereaux family.

The first time Charlie came home with him, she looked like a deer in the headlights. She sat on a stool in a corner of the kitchen, watching as his family interacted with jokes, hugs, and help. He could tell how much she felt out of place by a pained look regularly show up on her face. Later, he found out that the look came from her lack of understanding about a normal family. Amanda, his mom, took care of that. Pretty soon, Charlie was in an apron chopping or stirring something. Amanda talk incessantly, so Charlie did not have to try and fill in any silences. She taught Charlie how to make banana bread and was constantly hugging the girl. Yes, the first Thanksgiving was awkward. The first Christmas was slightly better. Easter, Charlie began to interact a bit more easily with his family. The week she stayed with the family that summer was as natural as anything he had experienced. By the Thanksgiving of their junior year, it would have seem odd or strange for Charlie to not be there.

"Okay, mushrooms it is." Charlie settled back into her seat and watched the line of trees grow thicker and thicker. Being out of the city now and heading into the woods, she took a large breath of air. Nathan had heater cranked on high. The jeep's heat balanced the chill she felt on the wind. She felt him poke her arm. When she turned her head back, she saw that he was holding an Ipod.

"Find us something to listen to."

"Whatcha in the mood for?" Her fingers scrolled through the different playlists crammed into the small device. "Country, techno, metal?" She continued exploring. At one point, she came across a playlist called "Girl."

"What's 'Girl'?" she asked as she made the couple extra clicks to see what songs were on it. She looked over to Nathan's profile. Nothing was really registered on his face. He kept his eyes on the road. Every so often, he looked in the rear and side view mirrors.

"Just messing around one day." He offered no other explanation. He knew if he kept talking, he would end up telling Charlie that she was the "girl" he created the list about her. He hadn't expected her to ever see that list. It was just something that he created for himself, songs he knew that she liked and songs that reminded him of her. He listened to it when she wasn't around or when he rested alone on his bed at night, touching himself.

Charlie pressed play and set the Ipod back into its container. She settled back into the seat and continued watching the landscape fly by. Soon, "Desert Rose" by Sting came through the jeep's speakers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charlie smile and clap her hands. She began seat dancing and singing to the music. Nathan made a dog howling noise, and she smacked his arm. Yes, she had a terrible singing voice and couldn't carry a tune to save her life, but that never stopped her from going along with the music. That is exactly why he made it a point to put that song on the list.