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The camp up in Colter was cold and unforgiving compared to the almost desert like weather of Blackwater. The snow came up to your knees and froze you to your core whenever you went outside. You kept your long maroon colored coat on all the time, even when you slept. It was a rather expensive jacket as well, with fur lining the inside. Dutch had given it to you for your birthday. You mostly stayed in the cabin with Abigail and Mary-Beth, fixing the holes in the men’s clothing or doing the laundry.
You had been running with the gang for a good couple of years now, becoming an integral part of having the camp run smoothly. You tend to pick up the slack when the other girls don’t do all of their chores, or go hunting if Arthur or Charles aren’t around. You were a good enough shot to bring home a few turkeys and maybe a doe on a good day. Charles had taught you how to hunt while the gang was still down in Blackwater.
You could hear Charles playing his harmonica sometimes, along with Javier’s guitar and Pearson’s concertina. You loved to sit and listen to him play. He seemed so peaceful when he played, so concentrated with what he was playing. Other times, Charles will be singing along around the campfire if it was warmer that night. You enjoyed watching him sing, too. He didn’t do it often, but when he did, it was beautiful. His deep voice was easy to pick out from all the rest. It sounded smooth like honey; it could lull you to sleep from how comforting it sounded.
The both of you enjoyed spending time together, but he had such a busy schedule you never got time to hang out. After leaving Colter, Charles and Javier left to go find Sean, so you haven’t seen him in a good couple of weeks at most. You missed his gentle singing and the soft smiles he’d give you across camp. It made you blush more often than not, seeing him excited to see you. Charles is a man of little words, so when he actively seeks you out in his free time, it makes you feel special, in a way. Loved, wanted even. You knew that he and Arthur were close, so if he was gone for a long time sometimes you’d ask Arthur if he had heard anything from Charles. Most of the time he just replies with a “’fraid not. Sorry,” and continues with his chores.
The day Charles came back home was a normal one. You were over by the horses, helping Kieran feed and brush them. You looked up when horses could be heard riding into camp and relief washed over you when you saw it was Charles. A wide smile positioned itself on your face as you tapped Kieran’s shoulder to excitedly get his attention.
“Kieran! Kieran! Charles is finally home!” You point over to him and his horse, getting a soft smile from Charles. “I’ve missed him!”
Kieran chuckled softly, smiling at you when you turned back to look at him. “You sure are sweet on him, ain’t ‘cha? Just tell him already! It’s obvious the guy likes you too.” He shook his head when he saw you blush deep, shaking your head furiously. “C’mon, it’s pretty obvious. No one can be that close and not like each other. Y’all share everything!”
Your blush deepens, spreading to your ears and the base of your neck. “Nuh uh! I just missed him is all!” You rebut, crossing your arms over your chest.
“Oh yeah? So you won’t freak out if I tell ya’ he’s coming over here now?” Kieran said with a smirk, crossing his arms right back. You wanted to prove him wrong but failed. You fixed your hair and clothes before turning away slightly so it seemed like you hadn’t noticed him yet. You busy yourself by brushing Branwen’s mane, pretending to not notice Charles as he walked up to you.
Charles walked up behind you, tapping your shoulder gently. “Hey, sidekick. Miss me?” He asked softly, opening his arms for one of his famous warm bear hugs.
You turn around quickly, wrapping your arms around his waist tightly. “I missed you!! I’m so happy you came home safe! Blackwater is so dangerous right now! Tell me all about it!” Charles had his arms draped over your shoulders, keeping you close. He returned your hug with a tighter one, keeping you close to his broad chest. Branwen neighed happily at the sight of Charles, tail flicking with interest. He rubbed the top of Branwen’s head gently, earning a soft smile from Kieran.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you all about it. Say, if Kieran can spare ya’, would you get us some stew and meet me at my tent? We’ll eat lunch and I’ll tell ya’ all you want to know, sidekick,” Charles said sweetly, looking over at Kieran for approval to steal his stable buddy. Obviously, the stable boy said it was okay for you to go, waving you off to go get his food. Charles smiled at you again before walking off to his small tent, making you blush.
Eagerly, you ran over to the campfire with two bowls in hand, filling them both up to the brim. After you set them down in his tent, you ran back over with his favorite mug, brewing fresh coffee for him. You knew how much he liked it when you made him coffee, he says that no one else can make it just right. You fill the mug all the way up to the brim and walked it carefully back to where he was waiting for you.
Kieran watched you run over to Pearson’s cart, a stupid grin on his face. He shook his head fondly and went back to work. It was so obvious that the both of you were sweet on each other, y’all were just to oblivious to notice. It seemed to him like even the horses were in on the joke. Kieran could read you like an open book, even though he hasn’t known you for that long.
The afternoon sun slowly started to drift lower in the sky, casting a soft golden glow over the camp. As it got darker, the others slowly went to bed one after another, leaving you and Charles the only ones awake. A cold breeze flew through the air, making you shiver and scoot closer to him. He looked around for a moment for his jacket, pulling it over your shoulders and draping an arm on top of it. Empty bowls were pushed to the side with a mug in one of them, bordered by Swanson’s empty whiskey bottles. The sun had cone down completely now, washing the camp in a darkness, which was only interrupted by the lanterns placed around.
You had your head resting on the side of Charles’s chest, listening to his quiet voice tell you all about his time down by Blackwater and Sean’s rescue mission. Even his hushed speaking voice was soothing to you. You did your best, trying to stay awake to hear the entirety of the story, but you ended up falling asleep on him. He didn’t notice you had fallen asleep until he felt the slick slide of drool down his arm. He gently pulled you off of him and laid you down on his bedroll, tucking you in with the only blanket he had. Charles made sure you were as comfortable as possible before standing, cleaning up the mess they made during the night. After that was done, he walked back to you, sitting down next to you and kept watch for a while before he went to sleep too.
Night passed quickly snuggled up against Charles, he was like a mini furnace. He slept with his arms wrapped around your waist tightly, your face nestled in his chest. His chin rested on top of your head, basically protecting you from all angles. He made sure you slept on the side furthest away from Javier. It’s not like Charles doesn’t trust Javi, but he’s the only one allowed to see how you look while you sleep.
He woke a couple hours before you but didn’t move, not wanting to disturb you. Charles knows he’s sweet on you, but refuses to bring it up because he doesn’t want to possibly ruin the friendship he has with you, it’s to important to him. So until you confess to him or he grows balls and does it himself, he’s fine with it staying the way it is for now. He brought a hand up to your head, running a hand through your soft hair. His fingers got tangled in the knots scattered through it, so he gently started to brush it out with his hands. He understood the trouble of having hair long enough to tangle and how hard it is to take care of sometimes, especially in this line of work.
The feeling of the your hair being played with caused you to stir slightly, waking you up. You yawn and stretch, body shaking when you do. You open your eyes slightly, decide that it’s too goddamn early to wake up, and close them again. Charles chuckles softly as he watches you wake up. “C’mon, sidekick. Time to get up, rejoin the world. We got stuff to do,” He said softly, hand moving down to stroke your cheek sweetly. “C’moon, wakey wakey.” You groan stubbornly, shaking your head no. He cups your cheek in his hand, gently nudging you awake.
Eventually you agree, opening your eyes to look at him tiredly. “Charles… I’m still tired…” you yawn, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. You try and snuggle further into him, wiggling close but failing as Charles pushes you away and sits you up. “It’s too early!”
“It’s not that early, it’s almost noon.” Charles kept his hand on the side of your face since you both were sitting so close still. His thumb stroked over your cheekbone, slowing down when he felt you lean into it. “C’mon, sweetheart, lets get going…” He wanted to swoon when he looked at you, his heart pounding out of his chest. He was just so incredibly smitten with you, it’s unbelievable. You both were so close, all he had to do was lean in a bit closer to kiss you. Charles looked down at your lips then back up to you eyes, debating if it was worth the risk. He was going to go for it, but was cut off when you yawned again and stretched. The hand left your face slowly, returning to his lap. “There we go, awake and ready to start the day, sidekick?”
You nod slowly, still a bit tired. Your hands went up to your eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. A cold breeze brushed past you, making you shiver and scoot closer to the large man sitting in front of you. Looking around, you got up onto your knees and moved to sit on his lap, pressing your head against his broad chest. “You’re too warm, lets just stay here all day! I much rather cuddle you than do stupid chores.” You pulled his arm into your lap, hugging it close to your chest. “You’re much more fun than ol’ Grimshaw anyhow.” You look up at him with a cute smile on your face. Charles chuckles down at you softly, wiggling his hand around to mess with you a bit.
Charles thought for a moment before replying. “Hmm, now if you get dressed and do all your chores, I’ll play you something on my harmonica. I know how much you enjoy it.” He ran a hand through your hair, parting it gently. “Maybe if you do it quickly, I’ll sing you something too.”
A grin spread across your face, making you giddy a bit. “Really?! You’d sing for me?” You didn’t realize that he had noticed how much you enjoyed listening to it. It was obvious to the others how much you enjoyed listening to him. You found out that everyone knew from Kieran, surprisingly. That boy hears all of the camp gossip so he passes it along to you if it was interesting enough. You were so embarrassed when he told you, which made him laugh softly around the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “I’ve missed hearing ya’ play around camp when you were gone.”
“You missed hearing it?” He blushed but it was barely noticeable. “Just give me enough time to find it, that is. I seemed to have lost it somewhere in my bag.” Charles took his hand away from your grasp, slowly getting up after you had gotten off of his lap. “I really hope I didn’t loose it.” He looked around his shared tent, flipping open his satchel to rummage through it again. The satchels contents was poured on the ground into a little pile. Money clips and stolen jewelry were on the bottom with wrapped up leftover provisions on the top. Other miscellaneous stuff could be found in it, but they weren’t of much importance to you.
Standing up, you brushed yourself off and began to get dressed for the day, pulling on your most comfortable clothes. “Of course I missed hearing it! You play so amazingly! Probably as good as Javier.” You lean in closer, whispering to him sweetly, making the man blush again. “Probably even better, but that’s between us.” Pulling a colorful shawl around your shoulders, you help Charles pick up the contents of his bag and put it away. “I’m sure you’ll find it, you’re never one for losing stuff. I bet you just put it in one of your saddle bags instead of your satchel.”
Charles nodded solemnly, looking over at you with one of those small heart swelling smiles he loved to give you. He pulled you close for another hug, wrapping his arms around your shoulders. “If I can’t find it, I promise I’ll sing to you when I get a new one, okay?” You wrap your arms around his waist, hands barely able to touch each other. The side of your head rests against his chest, sinking into his embrace happily. His hand slowly made its way down to yours, locking your fingers together. “I’ll do something else though, but whatever it is it’ll be a surprise, sidekick.” You nod, sighing softly.
“Well, I should get to work if I want to get my surprise.” Charles nodded, squeezing your hand before you pulled away from the hug. You wave goodbye to him, smiling when you saw Kieran tending to his horses. “Mornin’, Kieran! I see Mr.Branwen is doing well today.” You dig out a sugarcube out of your pocket for him, giggling when he ate it out of your hand. Leaning down to whisper in the horses ear, your giggling turning into quiet laughter. “Don’t tell Kieran, it’s our little secret!”
Kieran set down the brush in his hand when he saw you walking over. “So, how’d your night with Charles go?” He asked with a smirk, crossing his arms across his chest and chuckling. “It was pretty quiet around here, I’m assuming y’all didn’t do nothing exciting.” That earned him a smack on the arm from you out of embarrassment, but it wasn’t hard enough to cause any damage. Branwen swished his tail in amusement, turning his head to search your pockets for any more snacks you may have brought for him. “Hey, I’m just sayin’! But I’m glad y’all had fun together. I like seeing ya’ happy,” he said, opening his arms shyly for a hug.
It was a tradition for both of you to hug in the morning. Neither of you remember how it started, but it seems like Kieran loves it as much as you do. You gave the horse a final pat on the head before walking around him to give him a hug. You know he doesn’t get enough love, so you’ll give him big tight hugs when you can, not including the daily ones. He wrapped his arms around your waist after your arms went up around his neck. You squeezed him tight before letting him go, smiling up at him. “And I like seeing you happy! Speaking of that, when are you gonna ask out Mary-Beth! I know y’all’re sweet on each other! She’ll write about you in her journal sometimes, she showed me one of ‘em.” He blushed deeply, sputtering in embarrassment. “It was super cute too! She thinks you’re adorable! Probably more than I do, which is a feat in of itself-”
Kieran cut you off, blubbering embarrassingly. “N-N-N-No she ain’t! S-She ain’t thinkin’ I’m c-c-cute…! T-That ain’t p-possible…” He covered his flushed face with dirty hands. “I-I’m the one that’s s-supossed to say that ‘bout the l-lady…”
You giggle, bouncing around excitedly. Mary-Beth could be seen just outside of her tent, holding her novel as she debated on starting chores or reading more. It looked like she had decided the ladder, sitting down on a chair near Tilly. “You’re so sweet I think I’m gonna die! Just go talk to her! That can’t be too hard! I’ll get started on chores so you can go be sweet on her some more! You need some lovin’ too!” You look up at him with a sweet smile before turning around to hoist a dirty saddle up onto your shoulder. “I know you can do it, cowboy!” You whisper yell encouragingly.
The man sighs, slouching over. “Okay, okay! I’ll go talk to her. But you ain’t allowed ta snoop!” Kieran hesitantly looked over at brown haired girl, visibly melting when he saw her. If his eyes could have hearts in them, they’d be there permanently by now. “Oh, how is it possible for a lady to be so pretty…?” He mumbled to himself quietly. He looked down and fixed his clothes, brushing off any dirt that may be on them. His hands were sweating bullets in his jacket pockets, clenching and unclenching nervously. He gathered up all the courage he could, psyched himself up and walked over to her shared tent, shyly asking to sit down next to her. “M-Miss? I just want-wanted to say you’re really pretty… I don’t mean’ta be to forward…” Kieran pulled his hands out of his overheating pockets, anxiously pressing them together as he waited for a reply.
Mary-Beth looked up from her novel, looking around before her eyes settled on him, a soft smile appearing on her face. She closed her book and set it to the side. “Hi, Kieran. That’s mighty sweet of ya’. What caused you to come over?”
He froze up a bit, ransacking his brain for a reply but the words didn’t want to form in his mouth. The moment a pretty girl he was sweet on possibly showed signs of affection back, it was over for the boy. “O-Oh, I, uh, I was around, and I saw how pretty you looked… so I came over and… told ya’…” That was the last thing he expected to say. He’s glad it was a good response, but oh good lord he just called her pretty! To her face! He’s having a crisis, a panic attack! His face turned a deep, vibrant shade of red, almost darker than Molly’s expensive lipstick.
When she saw how flustered the poor stableboy got, Mary-Beth giggled a bit, leaning to put a hand on his knee. “Calm down, Kieran! It’s alright, don’t freak out!” She said, giggling more when Kieran sputtered from the unexpected touch, his face seemingly glowing neon red at this point.
Now, you promised him that you wouldn’t snoop, but hearing Mary-Beth’s quiet chuckles and a giggle here and there made it so hard. But, you managed to control yourself, cleaning almost all of the saddles and dragging the oversized hay bales to the horse’s feeding areas. Their chatter faded into the distance as you worked around the camp, soon replacing it with fantasies of what Charles’s surprise for you was going to be. You almost hoped that it would be some sort of jewelry, or something fancy that he had picked up along his travels near Blackwater. You always had a thing for rings and bracelets, they always had something special about them that you couldn’t explain.
The late morning sun shifted into afternoon, along came with it free time now that you had finished all of your assigned chores for the day. After you had finished them, you looked around for Charles, but couldn’t find him, assuming that he was just running late with his hunting. You went back to look through his tent, still failing to find his harmonica. Since Charles was still out of camp, you needed someone else to give you a ride into town. Arthur is always available, so you go over to his tent and carefully woke him up, shaking his shoulder. “Hey, Arthur? Arthur wake up.” You backed away a bit, giving the man room to sit up.
He huffed, sitting up in his cot. “What’s so important that you had’ta wake me up for, huh?” He ran a hand through his bed head, messing up the side part he had going on. His hand rubbed over his face, trying to wake himself up more. “Okay, what is it?”
“Can you take me to Emerald Ranch please? I need to get something from the Fence there. There’s no one else around to take me!” You ask desperately, hands clasped together in a pleading motion. “Please please please!” You pull your shawl back up around your shoulders. “Charles lost his harmonica back in Blackwater, so I want to surprise him with a new one. Please take me, it’ll be quick!”
He sighed, mulling over his options. He stood up and walked past you, digging his signature worn hat out of the clothing trunk seated at the end of his bed. “Alrighty then, lets get going now if we want to make it back before supper. I don’t think Charles would like ma having ya’ out so late either.” He motioned for you to follow behind him, leading you to his black shire, Wilbur. Arthur laid a blanket down before turning around, placing his hands on your hips and lifting you up onto the back of his horse, sitting you sidesaddle. “Comfortable?”
You nod. “Thank you for setting a blanket down first. Very kind of you.” Your warms went around Arthur’s waist loosely, safely securing yourself behind him. “How long do you think it’ll take to get there? I’ve never been before. Is it nice there?”
The shire started a lazy trot that went into a slower canter once they got out of the camp’s boundaries. “Oh, shouldn’t take too long. Wilbur here is a strong one. He’ll get us there in no time. I’ve been there a few times, the place is weird. You got a shut in woman, an old bloodstained saloon, and the resta ‘em are a bunch of dumbassess. You could probably rob ‘em pretty easily, you’re just like Hosea in that respect.” The scenery changed from luscious and green with trees everywhere, to tan and beige with desert like bushes and cacti. “The Fence there is a creep Hosea and I met, when we stole that stagecoach. Looks like a pervert,” Arthur said with a chuckle, slowing Wilbur back down to a walk as he approached the ranch.
“A pervert you say? Well I’ll keep my guard up then.” You roll your eyes and give him a playful smirk.
Arthur led Wilbur up to a hitching post, tying him to it before helping you get off. “There you go. Now, go do your shopping and come back here when you’re done. I won’t go nowhere.” He looked down at his satchel, pulling out a cigarette and his journal. “And try not ta draw any attention to yourself.” He leaned on the wooden fencing next to his horse, beginning to sketch the landscape. Sliding down onto his butt, relaxing as he waited for you. “Other than that, have fun.”
You waved goodbye to him with a smile on your face as you walked away, only turning around after you saw him half wave back at you. You looked around for a moment, watching others walk by and the farm hands doing their chores. Looking to the left, you saw the little storefront you came here for and started your trek over there. People greeted you as you walked past them, some asking if you were new around here. It seemed like it was a nice little town on the surface, but you could hear couples arguing in the distance and a creepy vibe came off of the big house in the center of town. But you had things to do so you did your best to ignore them.
Shopping went by quickly. The Fence had a harmonica almost exactly like the old one Charles had. It was a deep syrupy brown mahogany wood base with gold plating around the edges. Except this time, you got his name engraved in the side of it. It was written in a fancy cursive font, making it feel expensive. The ‘C’ had a few curls in the top before it swooshed down into the rest of his name. Real gold was hard to come by nowadays, so it cost you almost all of the money you had saved up. You just hope that Charles likes it as much as you do. Since you spent basically all of your money on it, you didn’t know what you’d do if he rejected it. You bought a small leather pouch to put it in to keep it safe on the ride home. Fumbling for the opening, you set the instrument into its bag and set the bag in your pocket.
By the time you and Arthur returned to camp, the sun was sinking into the ground, casting a soft violet glow across the sky, making the stars glimmer brightly. Lanterns lit up Dutch’s tent from either side, the flaps drawn up high on either side. His gramophone was playing soft romantic songs in what it sounded like was Spanish. Everything is how you both had left it. Charles could be seen with a beer in his hand and laughing along to something John said. His hair was tied back in a sloppy man bun, obviously done without the help of a mirror. Strands of hair was falling out in the back, draping themselves around his shoulders. The glow from the fire radiated off of his dark skin, somehow making him look even more gorgeous than he already was.
Arthur helped you off of his horse and wished you good luck. He suck by Wilbur for a while, tending to him since Kieran didn’t get a chance to yet. You thank him before walking off to your tent tiredly. The moment you get to your cot you flop over onto your stomach, letting out a long drawn out groan. You get up after a while and change into your pajamas, too tired to go mingle with the guys right now. You make sure to place the leather pouch on your side table so it would be less likely to get broken. The chatter around the camp had gone down. The newfound peace and quiet made you drowsy, pulling you under the covers laid on top of your cot, snuggling into them. Sleep overcame you easily, whisking the rest of the night away.
Morning came and went without you. Luckily, Tilly had woken you up before Grimshaw had, for sure she would’ve yelled you awake instead of the sweet wake up call Tilly had given you. Busy with your chores all day, you almost had forgotten to sneak the harmonica into Charles’s bag. But, since Javier shares a tent with him; you asked him to plant it for you, which he agreed to happily.
The day seemed to drag on and on, it felt like every five minutes was an hour. You had already completed all of your chores, helped Kieran finish all of his, and the girls didn’t need any more help washing clothes so there was nothing for you to do. Even Pearson didn’t need anything. For once, Arthur brought back enough game for a good weeks worth of meals which means you couldn’t busy yourself with hunting either. Charles went out to Valentine with John to get more medical supplies and ammo. Since it’s John we’re talking about, you don’t know when he’ll be back. Hopefully he’s in one piece this time.
You’re just so excited for him to come home and ask you if you were the one that gave the harmonica to him. Deep down, you hope that when Charles finds out it was you he realizes how stupidly in love you are with him. You thought that you made it obvious given that even Kieran had picked up on it, but evidently Charles had a thicker skull than you thought. It was almost selfish, in a way. He’s your best friend, you do everything together and now you want him to agree to take it further than that. You want to tell him about your hidden feelings for you every time you see him, yet your nerves hold you back. You so desperately want to pull the man down by his collar and kiss him until you both run out of breath, until it feels like you’re the only ones left in the world. Hopefully seeing Charles with your present will give you the courage you needed to confess to him properly.
Laying out in the sun on the outskirts of camp with your arms raised above your head and stretched out behind you. Light scattered down on your face, warming your skin. The trees provided enough shade for you not to burn, keeping you comfortable underneath them. There wasn’t a breeze today, making it just warm enough to be comfortable without needing a heavy jacket. Birds could be heard singing their love songs to each other drowned out the sound of woodpeckers pecking away at trees. Bunnies hopped along, running off to wherever they needed to go.
You had been here for an hour or so, having closed your eyes about halfway through. Quiet footsteps came closer to where you were laying, but you ignored them in favor of continuing your relaxing. The crinkle of grass alerted you when someone sat down next to you, making your eyes open in curiosity. Sitting back up, you look over and a smile plastered itself on your face seeing that it was Charles. “Heya, Charles! How was your huntin’? Catch a lotta stuff for dinner? Pearson needs better stuff to cook with.”
“Hey there, sidekick. I caught a buck and a few turkey, Pearson requested them. What about you? You enjoying your free time?” You nod. “I found a nice surprise in my bag this morning. Would you maybe know what it’s about? I don’t remember buying myself a harmonica recently.” Charles asked with a smirk, holding the harmonica out in his hands for you to see. “It’s a beautiful piece of artwork, really. Only someone who really knows what I like would’ve been able to buy it for me.”
“I’ve just been relaxing in the shade here, trying to pass the time while I waited for you to come home,” You said, a grin forming on your face. “Nope! I know nothing ‘bout that!” You shake your head back and forth no. Your giddy smile gave it all away, not like it was hard to figure it out in the first place though. “Whoever got that for you must care about ya a lot, since I don’t think you told many people about loosing it.” Scooting closer to him, you lean on the side of his arm and look up at him. It’s glaringly obvious that you were the one who bought it for Charles, no one else could have found one with such a resemblance to his previous instrument. “Maybe Tilly got it for you. You know how she has an eye for things like that.”
He nodded, humming a reply. “Mmm, I see.” He set the instrument back into its pouch and set it on the ground, turning to sit directly in front of you. His hands found a place in your smaller ones, holding them between the two of you. “So, you sure you know nothing about this?” Charles asked again, an eyebrow raised this time.
“I’m sure!”
One of his hands moves up to your face, cupping the bottom of your jaw. The tips of his fingers brushed the side of your neck. He scooted closer, moving his legs so one is bent with the knee up and the other tucked underneath. Charles leaned in close, staring deep into your eyes. His intentions were obvious. You could see the hearts bouncing around in his dark brown eyes. He whispers, “I love you, too,” before closing his eyes and pressing his lips against yours in a gentle kiss. Both hands were resting just under your jawline, keeping you close. His thumbs were just in front of your ears, far back enough to still be able to stroke the tops of your cheekbones. He pulled you close to him by your head. A hand moved its way into your hair, holding the back of your skull, cradling your head.
Shock went through you for a split second before you started to kiss him back eagerly, hands coming up to his shirt. Your head tilted to the side, giving him more room to make out with you and as an excuse to press your cheek into Charles’s warm hand some more. Your draped your arms around his neck, hands tangling themselves in his long hair. You felt Charles’s hand that wasn’t in your hair move down to your waist, aware of it going all the way down your side. Your cheeks were a deep crimson, making your whole face appear flushed. Confessing to him went a lot easier than you had hoped, considering you didn’t have to do it.
A large ray of golden sunshine cast down on the both of you, making the experience feel even more magical than it already was. It passed through the leaves, making patterned shadows on the ground around the both of you. The woods reacted as if it were in a fairy tale book, flowers blooming and glitter shimmering off of everything. A butterfly landed on the top of your head, making you seem even more ethereal than you already are. The bird songs grew sweeter, pairs of birds started to line the branches of the trees. Doe’s and their fawns sat down a distance away from them, visible but far enough to be safe. A chocolate brown baby bunny hopped its way into your lap, snuggling into your stomach.
It felt like you both had been kissing forever, but in reality it probably had only been a minute at most. Charles’s thumb caressed your face soothingly. Both of his hands returned to their original place on your face, holding it gently. That one simple action almost showed how much he loved and cared for you, but it will always be more than he could ever express in actions or words. He gently started to pull away from you, noses brushing in passing. Charles didn’t move too far away, you were still able to feel his exhales against the bottom of your chin. He opened his eyes to look at you, searching to see that you enjoyed it as much as he had. “I hope that was okay, sidekick.” Charles mumbled softly, thumbs stroking over your cheekbones again. “…Your lips feel even better than I imagined they would…” He took your chin in between his thumb and forefinger, making you look him in the eye. “You’re so beautiful… I can’t believe I haven’t done that sooner… Please tell me you enjoyed that as much as I did.”
You snuggled close and kissed his cheek sweetly. “I’ve only been waiting for that for like, ever. I wanted the way I confessed to you to be a surprise, like an expensive gift or something. It seemed like it was good timing, .” You move your hand up to the one still stationed on your cheek, covering it with your own.
Charles held you close, a wide grin on his face. “So I’m not crazy for wanting to kiss you again? Or for wanting to take you out on a proper date? Take you out to dinner, or see a show together? Please let me kiss you again.” He leaned down and kissed you again softly after he saw you nod your consent. It was a shorter kiss than the first one you shared. It was sweet and simple, so Charles pulled away quicker this time. He moved his hands away from your face after that, deciding that holding your hands would be the better option.
“Y-You want to actually take me out on a date?” Your face was blood red with embarrassment, making you look small and cute. “You’re definitely not crazy, I really want to go out with you too.” Your hands were tiny compared to Charles’s hands. You could fit most of your hand in his palm, fingers not even passing up his second knuckles. He wrapped his fingers around the tops of your hands, warming them up. “I’ve liked you for a stupidly long time. I never thought you’d figure it out, though. Didn’t know you saw me in that way.” Looking up at him, you could see the udder adoration that was plastered all over Charles’s face.
Charles gently pulled away from his grasp on your hands, moving down to your waist and lifting you up to sit on his lap, which was much more comfortable by the way. He was a comfortable distance away from your face, a dumb, love struck smile on his lips. His thumbs rubbing soft circles just above where your hip dips would be. “How could I not see you like that? You’re sweet, and funny, kind, smart, beautiful. Everything I could ever want. You’re my best friend. Why wouldn’t I be sweet on you?” Charles brushed your hair out of your face, kissing your cheek.
You giggled softly, looking down at your lap then looked back up again when you were settled on his lap. “I really like that you’re sweet on me. It’s cute.” Your blush went down a bit, but your face was still glowing red. “Did you know that I was sweet on you before this? Kieran said that he could tell clear as day my feelings towards you.” You ask, leaning your head on his warm chest, listening to the steady thumping of his heartbeat. The rhythmic beating of his chest kept you grounded in reality. Feeling his chest go up and down with his breathing was very comforting for some reason, making you nuzzle in deeper.
“It may be obvious to Kieran, since he knows you so well. But to me it wasn’t obvious.” Charles looped his arms around you, resting his chin on top of your head. He kisses your hair gently. “But I’m glad that you’re sweet on me too.”