Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“There, that should be the last of it!” Charlie says, placing the final box into the trailer. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and admired his handiwork, having moved all of his belongings and boxes of books into the tiny space before him. Reality seemed to hit right then, that he was really about to start what he had hoped to be the fresh start he had been looking for.

“Are you sure this is really what you want?” replied his older sister, Tori. She clutched her glass of lemonade, condensation dripping along the glass in the unseasonably warm weather. “You know you could stay here as long as you’d like.”

“I know, Tori,” said Charlie. “I know it’s a bit of a risk, but after the last few months, I really feel the need to get out of this town, if only for a little while. And, with any luck, this can allow me the flexibility to keep writing while still making just enough to live. Plus, I won’t be totally alone, Isaac lives down in Bookstonbury.”

It had indeed been a few hard months for Charlie Spring. Last year, he had discovered that his partner, Ben Hope, had been cheating on him for nearly the entirety of their relationship. While even just ending the relationship was incredibly difficult, he had never lived with a partner before and quickly discovered how emotionally and physically difficult it was to pick up the pieces of his life and start over. The break-up had been relatively clean, all things considered; but the days of packing up his belongings in their shared flat left him exhausted and with tear stains on his boxes.

He had only meant to live with Tori until he could get back on his feet, a few weeks at most, but it seemed like the universe was conspiring against him. For starters, he quickly realized how expensive a flat in London would be living on his own. Charlie wasn’t adverse to living with a roommate, but it was hard to find someone whom he felt like he could trust and cohabitate with. Charlie was an out and proud gay man, but that didn’t mean that every person he encountered would be queer friendly. That, coupled with his eating issues, made it hard to feel like he could be safe in a home with a stranger.

His mother, Jane, had offered him to move back into his childhood bedroom free of charge, but being in his thirties he felt that could never really be an option, not to mention the fact he knew living with his mother would only result in a ticking time bomb for them both. He knew that Jane always did her best, but she still made pointed comments to Charlie that would grate his skin. Charlie has been in therapy long enough to know that Jane still has some unresolved trauma to contend with, but that didn’t mean he should compromise his own if he could avoid it.

Weeks grew into months, and though Tori never shared that she was struggling with Charlie’s extended stay, his guilt would only grow each day that he was becoming a burden on his sister. As his search for housing loomed on, he was growing more and more discouraged that he would ever be able to rebuild any kind of life for himself. To make matters worse, his hours were cut at the publishing house and it became increasingly difficult to make ends meet, even after obtaining a second job at a café as a barista.

As it was, it turned out that his good friend from secondary had just moved to quite the lovely seaside town, Bookstonbury. Charlie had been idly scrolling through his phone for better paying jobs and places to live when he got the call from Isaac. Isaac wasn’t known amongst his friends as a big talker, but he talked Charlie’s ear off for almost two hours about how much he loved his new home, seemingly growing more excited and talking faster with each passing moment.

“You would just love it here, Charlie,” Isaac drawled into the phone. “The town is a nice size, small enough you can see familiar faces throughout the week, but large enough that not everyone has to know your business. Well, everyone except for Aunt Tilde, of course.”

“Tilde does love to stay on top of everyone’s business,” Charlie mused. He had heard many tales over the years about Isaac’s aunt. Though she was very kind, she did seem to love to know every detail about every person. Charlie had met her a few times throughout the years, and she seemed to know almost every detail about his life before he got the chance to tell her himself.

“Seriously though, Charlie, I really think you would love it here. So much so, in fact, that I’ve been thinking…what if you came out here?”

“Out to Bookstonbury? Isaac, I can barely afford my life here, I’m not sure I could even afford the move there. Not to mention, I would need to find a job and a flatmate and I don’t think I would have better luck in a smaller town than I would here in the city.”

“That’s just it, Charlie: I have a solution to both of those concerns for you. Now that it’s been a few months, Aunt Tilde is officially retiring. I’ve learned everything necessary to run the shop, and Aunt Tilde is taking the time to travel now that she has the time and the means. She’s going to be moving out of the space above the shop in about a month, which means that I’ll have a spare bedroom here. Plus, I have an idea for how to expand the bookshop a bit that I think you would be great at.”

Charlie gripped the phone in his hand, his pulse quickening from excitement. Being in a new city sounded a bit terrifying, but knowing that he would have one of his best friends there instantly brought him some relief. Maybe this was just what he needed to really start that new phase of life he was yearning for.

“Alright, let’s hear it, then,” said Charlie.

“Well, like I said: Bookstonbury is a smaller town but because of the Uni here, and the fact that it can be quite the tourist hub, I think we can make enough profit that we can expand the shop but I don’t necessarily want to open up a second location in town. What I think would actually be better is if we could have a mobile set up and choose various parts of town each day to set up shop. I would take care of everything at the main shop, along with all of the overhead, while you drove around day-to-day and sold books outside of a trailer.” Isaac paused just enough to let Charlie process the information.

“I don’t know…do you really think this could make enough money? Don’t most people want to just read on their Kindles these days?” Charlie began biting his nails as he always did when he was a bit nervous.

“You’d be surprised, Charlie – this town is really tight-knit and we all want to see each other thrive. Not to mention, most of the uni students still need hard-copies of novels for their classes. Oh, and I haven’t told you the best part!” Isaac exclaimed.

“And what’s that?” Charlie laughed, feeling a giddy feeling bubbling up in his chest. Was he really considering this option now?

“Well, you wouldn’t need to pay rent, for one, that’s all been covered thanks to Aunt Tilde’s impeccable bargaining skills. She pays an astronomically low rate that’s been locked in since the nineties,” Isaac explained. “We meet that minimum incredibly quickly each month. And, I want to give you tons of flexibility here with this: I want you to be able to spend time writing again, or maybe practice drumming with one of the local bands here, even meet someone to help you wash Ben from your brain.”

“Oh, big queer scene out in Bookstonbury?” Charlie mused. He could practically hear Isaac’s eyes roll in response to that quip.

“Charlie, I may be a bit of a homebody, but I do try to get to know my clientele. And yes, there happens to be a great queer community here. It may not be as big as London’s but there are quite a few of us here. As a matter of fact, I think you’d rather enjoy our Pride festivities out here.”

And that completely sealed the deal for Charlie. After leaving Ben, he didn’t have a ton of belongings to his name, but enough to fit into the boot of his car as well as the trailer he would take with him to Bookstonbury. Though he felt nervous butterflies as he packed up his life, he began feeling a peace in his heart he had not felt even since before breaking up with Ben. He finally felt pure excitement for the next phase of his life.

“Well, you know you can always come back here,” Tori said, bringing Charlie back to the present. “You’re never a burden on me or Michael, I hope you know that.”

“I know, Tori. Really, thank you for everything you both have done for me these last few months. I don’t know where I’d be without you.” Charlie reached out to his sister to give her a hug that he had hoped could convey everything he couldn’t put into words. Tori was never one for a lot of physical contact, but she entered his arms effortlessly to reciprocate his appreciation.

“I still want to key that knob’s car, you know” she muffled into his shoulder. “Just say the word, I can easily sneak by his office and leave a mark. Or cut his breaks, whichever works.”

“Tori!” Charlie and Tori’s partner, Michael, laughed. Michael had just finished attaching the trailer to the car and checking that everything was good to go one last time.

“Please let us know when you get there, Charlie. We can’t wait to hear all about how the new shop goes!” said Michael, beaming at Charlie and radiating excitement for him. “Once you’ve settled, we would love to come and visit you!”

Charlie went in for an appreciative hug to Michael. “Thank you, I’d love to see you,” he said earnestly. “And really, thank you again for everything these last few months.”

“If you thank us again, I’m going to whack you,” replied Tori, rolling her eyes but with the hint of a smirk on her face.

“Fair enough. Well, best be off then, I suppose.” Charlie gathered his rucksack, the last bit left outside left to bring into the car, and waved his goodbyes to Tori and Michael as he settled into the car. With a deep breath, he turned the ignition and prepared to see just what Bookstonbury could possibly have in store for him.

Chapter Text

“Ah, fuck!” Charlie yelled, slamming his hands against the steering wheel before pulling to the side of the road. So far, the start to his new, better life wasn’t going as well as he hoped.

He knew his car was a bit on the older side, but he certainly didn’t expect the air con to go out within the first thirty minutes of his two-hour drive. Naturally, today was a balmy twenty-six degrees out, which made the drive much more uncomfortable, although still bearable. Then there was a closure on the road that added an hour to Charlie’s journey, which normally would be irritating enough on its own but became more so coupled with the heat. The detour caused him to go down a road a bit more rural and less maintained than he had initially anticipated, and despite his caution he heard a pop and felt the trailer begin to fishtail.

Charlie took a few deep breaths, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. A popped tire isn’t ideal, but I can handle it, he thought to himself. Though he had learned how to change a tire years ago, he had never had to do it in practice. It surely couldn’t be that difficult, could it?

He popped the boot open and moved around his luggage, scrambling to find the jack and four-way lug wrench so he could lift the car to properly change the tire. Unfortunately, he realized that it wasn’t the car itself with the blown tire, but rather, the trailer.

“Ok,” he said to himself out loud. “Still not a huge problem, it’s just a bit of a heavier tire, but there’s still a spare. I can do this.”

Charlie opened the door to his trailer and let out a deflated sigh. He wasn’t very far in his journey at all, and he had already forgotten how much stuff he had here, blocking the spare tire in the back. Not just his clothes and personal belongings, but there was also the towering bookshelf and boxes full of books to contend with. Charlie had scoured social media for folks looking to get rid of used books leading up to the move, believing having a decent selection before arriving to Bookstonbury to be beneficial.

“‘Start a mobile bookshop!’ they said! ‘It will be just what you need to restart your life!’ they said!” he grumbled as he began moving boxes out onto the road, cursing himself for not thinking of putting the tire closer to the trailer door just in case this happened. Eyes stinging from the sweat dripping down his curls, he managed to move five boxes out onto the open road in a decent time. With any luck, he could be back on the road in a quarter of an hour.

As it turned out, Charlie didn’t have as much luck as he hoped, as getting the trailer lifted on the jack proved to be precarious and difficult. Charlie had gotten on his belly to snake under the trailer and place the jack under the axel, which took more trial and error than he would care to admit. The crankshaft of the jack was difficult to use, getting only quarter turns in at a time before the bar had hit the ground and causing Charlie to scrape his knuckles repeatedly. After a minor scare with the jack slipping from the axel, Charlie seemed to manage to get finally the trailer just a few inches off the ground.

“Ok,” Charlie shakily exhaled. “Hardest part over. Just need to get the bloody tire actually changed.” He grabbed the four-way lug wrench to prepare to remove the nuts off the hubcap, took a deep breath, and began to turn the wrench counter clockwise to loosen the nuts.

Except, it didn’t move.

Charlie mustered all his strength, but he just couldn’t move the nut a single millimeter.

No matter, he thought to himself, I’ll just start on a different one and move on. He moved to another lug nut, but that one refused to budge as well. He went around the entire hubcap, multiple times, and absolutely none of them had any interest in being removed from the tire.

“Fuck!” he yelled in frustration. He was sweaty, hot, and dirty, tears threatening to prickle his eyes out of feeling completely overwhelmed. Moments like this had a habit of quickly spiraling his thoughts, fueling negative self-talk and the looming feeling that he was in every way inadequate and like a failure. If he couldn’t even change a bloody tire, how was he supposed to expand his best friend’s business the literally required the use of a trailer that needed both of it’s wheels to perform? If he couldn’t restart his life as planned, how was he ever really going to be able to move on from his past and be successful and find love and grow a family and –

Ok, he was getting way ahead of himself now, absolutely none of that had anything to do with changing a tire on a trailer. He took a few calming breaths to bring down his heart rate and focus on the task at hand, putting his hands in a prayer position and resting his forehead on his fingers.

Just as he was getting his heart rate under control, a car began appearing in the distance. He began moving everything he could further from the side of the road to get further out of the way as it passed, when the car began to slow and veer to the side of the road just past Charlie’s vehicle. Charlie couldn’t tell if he was thankful at the idea of a stranger coming to help him, or a bit embarrassed that he was clearly in such a state that he radiated that he required help from miles away.

Just as Charlie was putting on his bravest face to interact with who he assumed was a bro ready to show off, the car door slammed and out stepped the absolute fittest man Charlie had ever seen in his life: auburn hair that he knew would be so soft to run his fingers through, broad shoulders, and a smile that seemed so genuinely kind Charlie felt his knees go weak.

Thankful. Charlie was definitely thankful for this man in front of him.

“Hi,” said the stranger brightly.

“Hi,” Charlie replied, a bit breathless.

“Got a bit of car trouble?” the man asked, glancing around the chaotic scene before him. He spied the blown tire and the spare and asked, “Do you need help changing this?”

“Oh my god, yes please. I’ve been having so much trouble getting the lug nuts off the tire and I’ve made absolutely no progress aside from getting the trailer lifted.”

The man smiled, and Charlie saw how his eyes seemed to crinkle just a bit. They were a beautiful shade of brown and looked just positively warm and inviting. And were those freckles he spied across his nose? He was a goner for whoever this man in front of him was.

“I’d be so grateful if you helped,” Charlie continued. “I know how to change a tire, but it appears I’m a bit small and weak to physically do it”

“Nah, these can get really stuck and give anyone grief,” the man replied as he knelt and grabbed the wrench.

“So you’re saying I am small and weak?” Charlie quipped. The man turned to him, somehow simultaneously having his face turn as pale as a ghost and beet red at the same time.

“No, no! Oh god no, that’s not what I –” he stammered out. Charlie giggled as the man in front of him stumbled over his words.

“Sorry, sorry – I was just fucking with you a bit. I really appreciate you helping with this, and you definitely seem to be more physically capable than I am.” Charlie smiled and held his hands up in the air in mock surrender.

The man rubbed the back of his neck in response and let out a sharp breath with a smile. He turned to look back at Charlie, smiling and looking at him up and down before heading back to the task at hand.

“Good,” he replied, biting his bottom lip. “I’d hate to have such a handsome man hate me when I’m trying to help.” In what appeared to be an easy, swift motion for him, he began turning the wrench on the nuts, loosening them up quickly and began to get the tire off the trailer.

It took a few moments for Charlie’s brain to come back online after watching such an effortless display of strength and registering that this kind, fit-as-fuck man just called him handsome, even while he was covered in dirt, sweat and grime. He realized while he zoned out a bit that the tire was almost done with being replaced. He shook his head a bit as if to restart his thought process, looking at the ground with a shy smile on his face.

“Don’t think I could ever actually be upset when someone with such strong arms came to save the day,” Charlie replied, giving his best coquettish smile. He was never going to see this guy again, what was the harm in flirting with him?

“Happy to help,” the man replied as he finished placing the spare tire on the trailer. As he did so, he glanced around at all the boxes that were outside of the trailer, labeled “Drama”, “Crime”, “Classics”, “Travel”, and “Fantasy”. “I take it you’re a big reader?” he asked Charlie.

“I am, actually; but these are books I’m planning on selling. My best friend owns a bookshop in a nearby town and I’m moving there to be part of the business. He’ll be manning the physical shop while I take the trailer around the town as a mobile part of the business.”

“That’s so cool!” replied the man with such genuine enthusiasm Charlie’s heart skipped a beat. It was so easy to feign interest in strangers, but this man seemed to be so excited to hear Charlie’s life plans in a way his own mother couldn’t produce when he told her. “Where will you be settling your shop?”

“Bookstonbury – have you heard of it? It’s a smaller town up the coast,” Charlie said, unable to keep the smile off his face. This man’s excitement was contagious.

“I have, actually. I happen to own a bakery in town.” The man, finished with replacing the tire, stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans and extended a hand out to introduce himself. “Nice to officially meet you, I’m Nick.”

“I’m Charlie,” he replied, reaching out to meet Nick’s hand giving it a firm shake. He swore he could feel a small jolt of electricity when their hands touched. “It’s nice to meet you, too. And really, thank you so much again for helping me with the tire. I was close to giving up and abandoning this all and walking back to London before you showed up.”

“Well,” Nick replied, his voice low and warm. “I’m really glad I could help prevent that.” Charlie couldn’t control the giggle that came out of him hearing that. What was this man doing to him?

“Can I help put the boxes back in the trailer?” Nick asked. Charlie nodded vigorously as he began to pick up the boxes himself.

“Please, I promise that will be the last thing I need help with. Thank you so much. Really.” Nick picked up a box with ease and began placing it inside the trailer. He must be strong from moving giant sacks of flour around that bakery, thought Charlie. I bet he could he could easily throw me over his shoulder and –

“You know,” Nick said, interrupting Charlie’s progressively unsavory thoughts. “It’s – er – not great to be traveling too far on a spare tire. I think you should make it to Bookstonbury just fine, but you should probably get it replaced soon. One of my best mates, Darcy, owns a mechanic shop and they both patch tires and sell new ones. I could give you their number, if you’d like?”

“Oh my god, that would be fantastic!” Charlie bounced on the balls of his feet hearing the news. “My air-con went out on the drive, I would love for them to take a look at that too, especially if you trust them not to swindle me.”

“Nah, Darcy is the best. They’ll take care of you, I promise.” Nick smiled.

I hope you’ll take care of me, too, thought Charlie as Nick returned to his car to grab a pen and paper. Nick quickly wrote the number down and returned to Charlie with the mechanic’s number in hand. As Nick handed the paper to Charlie, he couldn’t help but notice that Nick wrote two phone numbers down.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Nick said softly, “but I put my number down there as well. I’d love to show you around town and get you something from the bakery, if you’d like.” Nick’s face turned the prettiest shade of light pink as he looked at Charlie.

“That would be great, Nick. Thank you.” Nick’s face seemed to light up in response. Charlie and Nick looked at each other, both seeming unwilling to pop the little bubble they just created.

“Wonderful. It’s a date!” Nick called out as he started walking backwards towards his car, maintaining eye contact until the last possible moment. “Looking forward to hearing from you, Charlie!”

Charlie smiled and clutched the paper to his chest. Perhaps getting that flat tire was a stroke of luck, after all.

Chapter Text

The sun had just begun to set as Charlie arrive in Bookstonbury. He had to admit, with the sky a beautiful mix of shades of pink and orange and the water in the bay glittering, it was nothing short of picturesque. As his car crested the hill leading into town, he could see that there was so much more to the township than he had originally anticipated: a lovely pier and beach, a lighthouse, castle ruins overlooking the sea, and a spacious park were only some of the sights that had immediately caught his eye. He drove on, a wide grin appearing across his face and a fizzy feeling in his stomach of both anxiety and excitement began to bubble in his stomach.

After another twenty minutes or so, Charlie arrived at his destination, the center of town where Isaac’s brick-and-mortar bookshop was. After parking the trailer, Charlie got out of the car to stretch a bit and take in his surroundings. The street was just absolutely adorable, with cobblestone footpaths, a multitude of plants and colorful flowers, and even a fountain in the center of the main square. It was virtually impossible to not feel immediately at peace.

Just behind him, he heard the jingle of a bell and the creak of a door open, and saw Isaac bounding towards him.

“Charlie! I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Isaac squealed while embracing Charlie. “It’s so good to see you. The drive was alright, yeah?”

“Yeah, minus a few bumps in the row, figuratively and literally,” Charlie responded. “I had the air con blow and had to replace a tire, but other than that, all good!”

“Oh no,” Isaac sighed, “that’s such shit.” Isaac stepped back and took a look at Charlie, only just realizing that he was a bit dirty and sweaty. “Let’s get you inside. You can have something to eat and wash up, we'll work out a plan for the car over some lasagna.”

“You’re a lifesaver. Thank you, Isaac.” Charlie followed Isaac inside, and was immediately enamored with the bookshop inside. Beyond the multiple shelves of books, there were also various knickknacks to give life to the old store: fairy lights strung the ceiling, an old printing press laid in the corner, and various paintings of what appeared to be different parts of Bookstonbury. It smelled faintly of old books mixed with pine, and he immediately felt cozy and a sense of belonging, like he arrived home.

“The flat’s just up these stairs behind this door,” Isaac explained as he unlocked the door. “I haven’t felt the need to keep the door locked during the slower season, but when the cruise ship ports we get an influx of people. I just went to the Mega Marche in town to have your copy made.” Isaac paused, looked at Charlie, and said completely seriously, “Do not ever tell Aunt Tilde I went even to the key kiosk in Mega Marche. She hates that place more than anything. Remind me to tell you what she did to the Mega Marche Mascot when we’re eating.”

“Where is your Aunt Tilde even traveling to?” Charlie asked as they reached the top of the stairs and into the flat.

“Oh, all over, but right now she’s staying at a lovely bed and breakfast on a lavender farm. The pictures she showed me were just stunning. Go on and sit, I’ll dish you up some lasagna and bring over a bottle of wine.”

Charlie sat at the kitchen table and looked around the flat. It was a nice, cozy flat that was big enough to comfortably house the two men but didn’t feel overly spacious. The lights were a bit dim, causing a warm glow throughout the kitchen and dining area. Large windows in the living room overlooked the town square. Even from where he was sitting, he could easily make out a flower shop, a chemist, and what looked like a café with a bakery attached.

Wait, Charlie thought to himself, could that be that bakery that Nick said he owned?

“Isaac?” Charlie tentatively asked. “Do you know the other shop owners in town?”

Isaac returned to the table with two plates of lasagna and a bottle of wine and laid them at the table. “Yeah, mostly. Some I know better than others, but most of us know each other fairly well. Small businesses in a small town, and all that. We all try to help each other out when we can.”

Charlie felt heat burning up his cheeks as he continued. “Do you happen to know the man who runs the bakery? I think his name is Nick?”

“Oh, yeah, Nick Nelson. He’s a nice guy – wait, how do you know Nick Nelson? You quite literally just arrived in town!”

Over the course of a few glasses of wine a piece, Charlie regaled the story of how he happened to meet Nick. Isaac sat, enraptured at the chance encounter and giggling at Nick coming in like a knight in shining armor to save the day.

“Shut it, I’m not some damsel in distress!” Charlie laughed. “Ok, I was in a little distress, and he was supremely nice and helped me get here as quickly as I did. I definitely owe him for that. Oh, that reminds me: he gave me the number of a mechanic in town? I have the paper he gave me somewhere – ”

“Oh, Darcy!” Isaac excitedly exclaimed. “They’re wonderful, they’re actually married to the lovely woman who co-owns the flower shop across the way, Tara. She owns it with her sister, Anne.” Charlie must have had a look of utter confusion on his face, because Isaac quickly followed up with, “Don’t worry – you’ll get to know everyone important in town soon enough. Try not to stress too much over that right now. We’ve got to get back to Nick.” Isaac had a sly grin on his face as he looked at Charlie.

Charlie rolled his eyes. “Isaac, he was lovely and helped me out, but I’m not trying to get ahead of myself here. I would love to have a partner eventually but that’s not why I moved out to Bookstonbury.”

“But you said he gave you his number! I want to believe in romance!” Isaac pouted. Charlie giggled at the earnest excitement his best friend had for this chance encounter

“Settling down first, then romance. To me, he’s quite literally a stranger, I don’t know anything about him. Not to mention, I only flirted with him because I thought I would never see him again, only to learn he works down the road?! I don’t want to get ahead of myself over a fantasy romance, or overwhelmed by initiating too much change at once. You know that will do me in.”

Isaac was still smiling, but there was a bit of sadness in his eyes as he looked at Charlie. While Charlie was doing much better now, the last few months had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. He had spent so much time with Ben living in a perpetual state of walking on eggshells, a constant state of unease that both men knew that it was going to take a bit of time for Charlie to feel completely settled and safe again. Moving to a whole new town and starting a new job were huge changes, even if they were positive ones.

“Of course, Charlie. I won’t push you further. But I do know Nick is a really great guy, and I think he would absolutely treat you the way you deserved to be treated.” Charlie looked down at his plate, he could feel his cheeks burning as Isaac spoke softly to him. He really was interested in getting to know him, but having finally arrived at Bookstonbury, some of the nerves he felt earlier were starting to get the better of him.

“Now,” Isaac continued clearing his throat, “the car trouble is a bit of a setback, but the timing is somewhat perfect. We’ll ring Darcy up in the morning and ask about coming round with the car; I keep the shop closed on Mondays, anyway, and was planning to take you around town have you see what I think are some of the better sites to take the trailer to set up shop for the day. We can also meet up with some of the other shop owners in town, including Nick – I’m just saying!” Isaac held up his hands in mock defeat as Charlie scoffed.

“Right,” Charlie replied, starting to stand up and clear his dishes. “That all sounds good, Isaac. Let me help clear this all for you since you made dinner. Which, thank you again.”

“Come off it, I can do this. You had quite the drive, and you can still use a shower – no offense.” Charlie groaned, even though he knew his friend was right. Isaac walked over towards the front door, grabbing a small set of keys attached to a keychain with a few colorful leaves dangling from it. “Here are your keys to the shop and to the flat. Do you need any help grabbing your personal items from the car?”

“Nah, I’m just going to grab the necessities and head on back up here to shower and go to bed. Thanks again, Isaac.”

“Of course,” Isaac said, giving Charlie one final hug. “Get what you need and get some rest, you’ll need it for tomorrow. I believe Darcy’s opens at 8:00 so we can call them first thing and figure out the rest. The bathroom is down the hall on the left, and your bedroom is to the right just across from it.”

Charlie headed downstairs to grab his things, peering across the town square to look at the café and bakery. It was hard to tell for sure, but he thought he could read the sign from where he stood: Crust the Process. Charlie rolled his eyes lovingly at the pun. “What a dork,” he muttered to himself as he pulled his luggage from the boot.

He locked the car and the main door to the shop and headed upstairs into his new bedroom. The walls were blank, but the bed had been freshly made with towels and flannels folded neatly on top, with a note that said Welcome Home from Isaac. Charlie smiled at the hospitality from his dear friend.

After showering and getting ready for bed, Charlie laid down and shut his eyes. He was prepared for his brain to start swirling with anxious thoughts, expecting a bit of a spiral for all that could possibly go wrong with this big new step he had begun to take. What he found, however, was his mind was quiet enough to let him fall asleep quickly, a sense of security washing over him like a blanket as he drifted off.