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Charlotte felt really warm.
Like, warmer than she should be if only laying beneath covers.
Don’t get her wrong; it felt good. It was blissfully comfortable and she burrowed further in the warmth before silently asking questions.
Like, why did it feel like there were arms wrapped around her from behind? Or, why did the scent of pine and mint fill her nostrils as she took breaths in her sleep-addled mind.
No, she didn’t ask questions. Instead, she turned in the aforementioned arms that enveloped her and snuggled into her pillow.
…Her surprisingly hard pillow which happened to be the source of her warm and cozy sleep. The pillow felt a lot like…someone’s chest? But, no, that couldn’t be right.
Charlotte blearily opened her eyes to glance at her warm, hard pillow and was face to face with white flesh. Her eyes slowly travelled upwards until she laid eyes on his face.
His hair was disheveled and his face was relaxed. She saw his chest rise and fall as the steady breathing indicated his sleeping form. Turned out her warm, hard pillow was none other than Henry.
She smiled lazily as she looked at him with hooded eyes. He had a crinkle in his brow, but other than that he looked very peaceful when he slept. Handsome, too, but that was something she’d keep to herself. She didn’t remember how they’d ended up falling asleep together. Must’ve been the best nap ever to make her this unaware at the moment.
Ready to start the day, Charlotte gently sat up. She stretched her arms above her head, letting out a little whimper as she felt her body loosen up. Then, she froze. She thought she felt the sheet that covered her rub against her skin. Her bare skin. As in no clothes.
Which would be insane because she quite literally in bed with her best friend. She couldn’t be naked in bed with her best friend. Charlotte was pretty sure that’s not how this whole friendship thing worked. She also wasn’t really the kind of person who slept naked on the regular.
Charlotte lifted the cover slowly and hesitantly glanced underneath. She was indeed naked. In quick horrified moment, she placed the cover tightly against her body. Her eyes looked back down at Henry, flitting between his face and his bare chest. Finally the events from last night came barreling back into her mind.
"Oh my—Henry!" Charlotte yelped.
Henry's eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up in his bed, hand rubbing his forehead.
"What? I'm up. I'm up," he says, disoriented.
Charlotte did not think her outburst through. She immediately rolled out of bed and onto the floor. Her naked form shot up and she met the stare of a confused gazing Henry. She felt eyes roam over her body and blushed at the look in his eyes. She could tell from the V shape descending towards the bottom of his torso that he was also without clothes. There he sat perfectly bare before her save for the blanket covering his legs.
Her eyes started searching the room for anything to cover herself. She found an old t-shirt that was tossed on the floor from the night before and threw it on. It was three sizes too big and stopped just a few inches above her knee.
She turns around to see Henry sitting on the edge of his bed looking away diligently and quietly playing with his fingers. He took the liberty of throwing on a pair of boxer briefs and a rundown wife beater in her frenzy. When he realized she was done he began to take in the sight of her. Now that she thought about it, the shirt she was wearing was really short and hung off her left shoulder. Her hair was in a quick up-do with beautiful brown curls sticking out haphazardly. She probably looked like a mess right now.
"So," he started, "you, um…you sleep okay?" Charlotte watched him grimace at his own dumb attempt to ease some of the tension.
She gave him a look that said "really?" but he just shrugged helplessly, which she guessed she couldn’t really blame him for. They...you know. And they're best friends. What else was there to say without making everything much more awkward?
But instead of telling him that, Charlotte proceeded to freak out.
"Are you kidding me?" she shrieked, "'You sleep okay?' That's all you can come up with?" Her arms began to flail as she gave him a crazy look.
"What do you want me to say, Char?" he asked while softly rubbing his face.
"I don't know!" she screamed.
She paused and stared at him for a few seconds. She didn't even know what she was feeling. Or, how she should be reacting. What are the post-having-sex-with-your-best-friend rules and guidelines?
After a moment she shut her eyes and sighed, "I...I don't know."
She then walked over and sat next to him.
They were quiet for what seemed like forever, both not wanting to speak on what had happened between them.
"We had...sex." Charlotte stated.
A brief silence and Henry responds, "Yeah."
"I had sex with my best friend."
"Yup."
"You're my best friend,'' she continued, as if trying to breakdown and comprehend the situation in her head, "and I slept with you."
"Seems about right," Henry replied, looking everywhere except in Charlotte's direction.
"What does this mean?" she questioned, mainly to herself but looking at him.
"...I have no idea." he chuckled, bringing Charlotte to laugh with him. A moment passed and Henry then looked at Charlotte with a seriousness she's only seen a couple of times. "It doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to."
"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked, her heart beating out of her chest.
"I mean that," Henry took a deep breath. "I…I don’t want this to just be a one time thing.”
Charlotte looked at him with disbelief, trying to make sure she was fully understanding his words.
”But I understand that what I want may not necessarily be what you want and I’m totally fine with that. I mean, I could live with that. It’s not like I’d ever force you to do something you don’t want to do. Not that I could ever force you to do anything,” He winced as if he said something bad. “Not that I’m trying to force you to do something—“
“Henry. Slow down,” Charlotte raised a hand, stopping his ramble.
She took in his words. Was he…did he want to…
“Charlotte,” he drew her attention once more. “I've had feelings for you since we were fourteen years old.”
Charlotte sucked in a breath. He continued.
“You are the smartest person I know. You’re funny, sassy, and beautiful.” He looked away from her, avoiding meeting her eyes, the tips of his ears turning red. “We’re best friends. I get that. But I…I’m so in love with you, Charlotte."
Charlotte's eyes searched Henry's face. His head hung down and a light blush covered his cheeks. He seemed to have found the hem of his shirt very interesting.
She placed a shaky hand on the side of his face, making him look up at her and come closer. She spoke in a soft voice barely above a whisper, "You think I'm beautiful?"
His eyes met hers and they sparkled with something she’d seen for four years, but could never put a name to it. They were sincere and vulnerable, shining with every amount of that twinkle she saw whenever he looked at her.
They leaned into each other simultaneously. Softly, their lips met in a familiar dance. They both smiled into the kiss. Henry then placed a hand on Charlotte's cheek bringing her closer, his other hand at the dip in her waist. He swept his tongue along Charlotte's lower lip earning a gasp from her and giving him the chance to enter his tongue into her mouth, exploring every nook and cranny.
Charlotte moaned into his mouth, pushing forward against him and moving her tongue to meet with his as the muscles battled for dominance. Henry groaned when Charlotte bit down on his bottom lip and swiftly pulled her onto his lap, leaving almost no space between them.
Charlotte's fingers travelled up Henry's chest, feeling his chiseled frame through the fabric. Over his superhero years, he’s gained quite the figure. His arms were strong with defined muscles and his chest was riddled scars that danced over his abs.
Charlotte then placed her hands on his broad shoulders, pulling his body almost impossibly closer to her. Her hands continued their journey upwards and landed in his blonde locks. She massaged his scalp and tugged lightly on the nape of his hair inducing a small moan to escape from the boy beneath her.
Henry's hands moved underneath the shirt Charlotte threw on. He began to rub up and down the length of her back and causing her to sigh into the kiss and ground her hips against his, eliciting a loud moan from both of them. Desperately, Charlotte rolled her hips into his, searching for the same friction.
Charlotte’s lungs started to burn as the kiss seemed to go on for hours and hours. The two then broke apart for some much needed oxygen. Henry rested his forehead against hers, his chest rising and falling quickly like hers. Once their breaths regulated, Henry asked the question they were both thinking.
"So, now what does this mean?" He spoke as a giddy smile graced his flushed face.
"I think this means we're going to have Jasper, Ray, and Schwozz on our backs for weeks,” she snorted and Henry smiled giddily back at her.
Charlotte tightened the grip she still had on his hair, causing his eyes to widen and a little groan to escape from his mouth.
"I think we could talk about that later, though. Right?" She batted her eyelashes, feigning innocence as she rolled her hips against his again.
Before she knew it, Charlotte was on her back beneath Henry. She didn’t have time to comprehend what had just happened.
“I like the way you think,” he whispered against her lips as a smile graced his.
He kissed her passionately and discarded the shirt she wore, repeating their actions from last night but this time fully content with what happens after.