Beauty and the Geek Ch. 15

"Charlie, I need to ask you something."

"Okay." Charlie said around a mouthful of cheesy potatoes

"Before we got together, how long did you have a crush on me?"

Charlie hadn't expected the question and squinted at Miley.

Miley looked right back, waiting for him to answer.

"Miley, everyone in high school had a crush on you. You were the most popular..."

"That's not what I mean." Miley interrupted. "All the boys in high school just wanted to get in my pants. I want to know when you started to really like me."

Charlie lifted a shrugging shoulder, obviously a little embarrassed.

"How long?" Miley pressed. "Come on Charlie, I want to know. We went to the same schools from sixth grade on, so when did you start to crush on me?

"Sixth grade." Charlie answered honestly

Miley let out a quick, stunned breath. Grandma Ellen had been right. "Charlie, we were eleven years old!"

"So?" Charlie wasn't sure where this was coming from, or where it was going.

"So you're telling me you've liked me for the better part of the last decade?" Miley asked, incredulous.

"I guess so?" Charlie replied.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I don't know." Charlie had temporarily forgotten about his lunch. "I guess I was pretty well-established as a nerd by the sixth grade, and you were the most beautiful girl at school. You were always the most beautiful girl at school. There was no way you would have gone out with me; you wouldn't have given me the time of day."

Miley wiped a tear from her eye, a little embarrassed that she was starting to cry. "Charlie... oh my god, I'm so sorry. Was I that much of a bitch back then?"

"I don't know, it's not like I knew you that well. We never talked." Charlie reached aside and laid a palm at Miley's back, "What's wrong, why are you upset?"

"I'm not; it's just so... so..." Miley slid over and pressed a sudden kiss to Charlie's lips, nibbling his lower lip between hers and giving it a little tug.

"What was that for?" Charlie asked, not that he minded.

"It's just so romantic." Miley wiped her cheek.

"It is?"

Miley nodded at him. "All that time you had a crush on me, and I just ignored you. But you waited for me."

"I'm not sure I was waiting, I hardly ever believed we'd actually end up together." Charlie smiled and rubbed Miley's back, "But either way, you were worth the wait."

"I love you." Miley sniffled. "And I love that you brought me here today, your grandma is so nice."

Charlie lifted a finger to wipe a tear off Miley's cheek. "I think she likes you, though she told me you need to fatten up before you have any children."

Miley breathed out a laugh and wiped her nose with a napkin. "Oh my god, that's so funny. This is really great. My family never does stuff like this, they're scattered all over."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"Charlie..." Miley gushed. "I can't believe you. You won our bet and could make me do anything you wanted. I thought you were going to make me do kinky stuff all day, and then you bring me here and totally surprise me. You are the most amazing, sweetest guy. I'm so lucky to have you."

Charlie grinned and kissed Miley's forehead. "We can still do kinky stuff tonight, right?"

Miley laughed, "Of course, silly. You're going to stay at my place tonight, right?"

Charlie nodded, then dug into his pocket where he found his cell phone buzzing. "Hang on, it's Brian... hey man, what's up?"

Miley leaned happily against Charlie's side and started to pick at her lunch.

"What?" Charlie asked suddenly into his phone. "Seriously?"

Miley glanced up to Charlie with concern, worried that something was wrong.

"Yeah, okay." Charlie nodded. "No, we're at a family reunion, but we can come over right after."

"What's wrong?" Miley asked as Charlie hung up his phone. "Is it Stacy?"

"Brian just got a letter from a major comic book publisher." Charlie stated, sounding as though he were in shock. "They liked 'Captain Darkness', and they want to meet with us."

"Oh my god!" Miley squealed, throwing her arms around Charlie's neck. "That's so awesome!"

=====

"How come I've never heard of Pow! Comics?" Miley asked from Brian's bed, sitting on its edge with her legs crossed as she looked over the submissions letter. She and Charlie had rushed to Brian's house as soon as the family reunion started dying down.

"They're the company that publishes 'Bicep Man'." Charlie replied.

Miley's face twisted, having never heard of Bicep Man. "Who?"

"You've never heard of Bicep Man?" Brian looked to Miley with disbelief.

"My heroes are Gucci and Ralph Lauren." Miley stated flatly.

Brian advised, "You should check out Bicep Man, it's a great book filled with really funny dry humor. In issue #4 he bench-presses a mountain; it's cool."

Miley rolled her eyes, handing the letter to aside to Charlie where he sat next to her in Brian's cluttered bedroom.

"Dude, their office is in Miami." Brian informed Charlie. "We can set up a meeting and drive down there; it only takes about seven and a half hours."

"We could make a weekend out of it." Charlie suggested.

Miley lit up. "I want to go! Miami Beach is smoking this time of year."

"We're not going on a vacation, Miley." Brian admonished. "This is business. We have to be ready to meet this submissions editor guy with a proposal... what's his name?"

Charlie glanced down at the letter in his hand. "Sam." he answered.

"Right, Sam." Brian nodded. "We've got to be ready to amaze this guy with concept art, and storyboard ideas."

Miley offered "I can help with that. I'm really good at proposals."

Brian squinted at Miley, "Since when?"

Miley frowned at Brian. "Honey, look at these stems." She pointed a finger at her tanned legs, crossed beneath the short skirt of her sundress.

Both Brain and Charlie looked.

"Pretend you're this Sam guy." Miley instructed. "You look at three proposals a week. Tell me, what is going to make a better impression, two more comic geeks in their Batman tee-shirts? Or a young brunette with hot legs?"

Charlie lifted an eyebrow, seeing the wisdom in Miley's argument. He looked to Brian, "My girl's got a point."

Miley smiled at Charlie.

"But you don't know anything about our comic!" Brian complained.

"It's just a proposal, Brian." Miley argued. "I'll look pretty, show them some artwork, and hit the major points. You guys will be there to answer the fine details."

Brian considered. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Miley clapped her hands lightly and beamed with excitement, "We're going to Miami!"

(edited by manda126)