Archive of Our Own

On what would’ve been a peaceful weekend, Charlie threw the door open to find Louis and Lisa on her doorstep, afternoon light faintly streaming in as snow fell lightly outside. 

Louis waved, clutching a bag in his other hand, while Lisa flashed a smile, a thin layer of snow coating their shoulders. 

Charlie sighed, then moved aside to let them pass. “Come in.” 

The two stepped into the entryway, Lisa pulling a suitcase behind her as Louis looked appraisingly about. 

“James is arriving later, by the way,” Louis said, as he and Lisa shook off the snow as Charlie closed the door behind them. “Very inconsiderate of him to have a family thing on our sleepover night. After all the trouble we went through to organize it in the first place.” 

He let out a long suffering sigh before cheerfully placing his coat on the rack. 

“Uh-huh,” Charlie said, unimpressed as he swept past her into the living room.

“It’s cool of your dad to let us stay over,” Lisa added as she shrugged off her jacket and placed it next to Louis’. She brought the suitcase with her as she followed him in. “Can I put our stuff here?”

“Yes, but you do know that you’re sleeping over, not moving in, right?” Charlie asked. 

“All of this is strictly necessary,” Louis said off-handedly, not bothering to hide his curiosity as he began to poke about the bookshelves and plants in the living room. 

Charlie moved Set ground rules for sleepover up on her to-do list before he started digging around too much and causing problems. It was one of the reasons she’d been hesitant to agree to a sleepover. Though she and Lucian had hidden anything incriminating away (and added stuff to throw Louis off track), she wasn’t sure if it could hold up to hours under his constant scrutiny and she wasn’t going to let him pry more than he already had.

“The suitcase was mostly Louis’ idea. We didn’t know what you already had, so,” Lisa shrugged, “we just brought a few things for the sleepover.”

“Where are all your embarrassing childhood photos?” Louis asked as he looked up from a book he was flipping through. 

Charlie ignored him, turning to Lisa, who was also curiously looking around, though at least she had the restraint to not poke around. 

“What things?” Charlie asked, eyeing the suitcase skeptically. Honestly, she should’ve known they’d go overboard. 

“Snacks, board games, magazines, snacks, movies, and other sleepover essentials,” Louis recited, slinking next to her, having finished his inspection of the living room, and handed her his bag. Charlie took it, surprised by its weight. “And more snacks, of course.”

“Where’s Lucian?” Lisa asked, settling primly onto the sofa. 

Charlie gestured behind them, as her brother bounded down the stairs. They turned. 

“Welcome,” Lucian said, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and greeted their guests with a bow. Then, whipping out a flashlight, and a blanket he was using as a cape, he cackled, “To Lucian’s SLEEPOVER! OF! HORROR!” 

“This’ll be fun,” Louis said with a grin.

A short while later, Charlie found herself in the kitchen, making dinner, as Lucian took charge in building a pillow fort in a corner of the living room, directing Louis and Lisa on where to place blankets and pillows to match the building plans (drawings) he’d spent the previous day and most of the morning making.

She would have had Louis and Lisa help with dinner, but she doubted that either had more cooking experience than James, and as it was, they seemed perfectly content to help Lucian instead. 

Charlie chuckled as she watched a blanket and several pillows fall and knock Louis down to the floor. 

“So what exactly is supposed to be horrifying about this sleepover?” Louis asked as he popped up from the floor. “Other than the pillows trying to murder me?” 

Lucian stood on the sofa, hands on his hips, drawings scattered across the coffee table. “That wouldn’t be happening if you followed my plans.” 

“Yeah, Louis,” Lisa added, from where she was balancing a stack of pillows atop some stools she’d stolen from the kitchen counter. The stack was almost taller than she was, and it teetered as she added more pillows. “You should be more like me. I’m actually good at this.” 

Of course, at that moment her tower of pillows collapsed on top of her, and Charlie snickered at the sight, Lisa shooting her a betrayed glare. Charlie just smirked and continued chopping vegetables. 

“To answer your question,” Lucian jumped down from the sofa, “the horror parts are scheduled for after we finish the fort.” 

“And what will they consist of?” Louis asked, standing and brushing off his pants. 

Lucian walked over to where Lisa was gathering the fallen pillows and started helping her stack them again. “Well, a classic staple of sleepovers is telling ghost stories. And there’s horror movies after those.” 

“Are you allowed to watch those?” Lisa asked, glancing between Charlie and Lucian. 

“Yes,” he said, turning back to Louis, who was looking down at him. Out of Lucian’s eyeline, Charlie shook her head “no” at Lisa. “If that doesn’t scare you, then there’s always truth or dare.” 

“Truth or dare can be horrifying,” Louis said thoughtfully, “being forced to choose between revealing your innermost secrets or being tested on the strength of your courage.” 

“Exactly,” Lucian said, with a grin that matched Louis’. 

“Then let’s get to the fun part,” Louis said.

Lisa, who had made her way to the kitchen, glanced at the two who were huddled and talking animatedly before turning to Charlie. “We’re definitely stopping them from playing truth or dare, right?”

Charlie paused, spoon in her hand, and met Lisa’s eyes. “Definitely. Unless you want Louis to know all of your secrets. That is, the ones he doesn’t know yet. ” 

Lisa shuddered at the thought, and Charlie went back to stirring the sauce. There was the sound of rapid footsteps and, wondering what mischief the other two had gotten up to while she looked away, Charlie turned. But Lisa was much closer than she’d thought, looking at the pot right over her shoulder, their faces inches away. They both flinched, moving away. 

“Oh—,” Lisa said, turning to the pot again, a slight blush in her face. “I was just looking at the pasta. It looks good. When do you think it’ll be ready?”

“It won’t take much longer,” Charlie answered. “Though, it’d probably be sooner if I had some help.” She shot a meaningful look at Lisa, who started twirling a strand of hair as she inched away from Charlie. 

“I’d better get back to playing—I mean, helping Lucian and Louis with the fort,” Lisa said, avoiding her eyes. “They’d be hopeless without me.” 

Lisa hurried towards the foot of the stairs where the boys were now balancing an armful of blankets and pillows, and a pile of stuffed animals in Lucian’s case. 

Charlie rolled her eyes, returning to her cooking as Lisa joined the two and the noisy construction of the fort resumed.

They finished the pillow fort shortly before dinner. It stood off to the side of the TV, a grand castle built from a multitude of pillows, blankets, chairs, and other structurally necessary items taken from around the house. It was slightly skewed to one side, with four vaguely tower–like stacks of pillows and a few stuffed animals standing guard at the entrance. A blue scarf circled the fort, and a crocodile plushie sat on the scarf. The moat, Lucian had declared proudly, as he added the finishing touches. 

Dinner had gone smoothly enough (or as smoothly as a dinner with both Lucian and Louis could go), and Charlie was washing the dishes in an attempt to escape whatever activity Lisa and Louis had planned. (They’d brought up having a karaoke contest during dinner—something which Charlie wanted to desperately prevent, having found out that Louis was somehow a worse singer than she was, courtesy of the small sample he’d given at dinner.) 

“Charlie,” Lisa called out from the living room, “Do you want to get your nails painted next? I did Louis’ and Lucian’s already.” 

Charlie scrubbed the dishes slowly. “Can’t. Too busy right now.” 

“It’ll be quick,” Lisa said, “I can do yours after Louis finishes mine.” 

Charlie turned. Lisa was sitting on the sofa, while Louis was bent over her nails, entirely focused on the task. Lucian was scribbling determinedly, crayons and paper strewn over the coffee table, next to a few bottles of nail polish. 

“Did you know,” Lisa continued, “Louis is surprisingly artistic?” 

“Surprisingly?” Louis looked up from painting Lisa’s nails. “I’ll have you know I’m an excellent artist.” 

“As if,” Lisa scoffed. “That drawing you did of me was terrible! Look, Charlie.” She snatched her hands from Louis’ and gestured Charlie over. 

Charlie set the last plate on the dish rack and went to the living room, looking over Lisa’s shoulder. 

“I want to see, too,” Lucian said, and Lisa moved over to let him sit beside her as she awkwardly balanced her phone in her hands, trying to avoid ruining her unfinished nails, the polish still wet. 

“Aha,” Lisa exclaimed, “Here it is.” 

In her messages was a photo of a rather unflattering doodle of Lisa. Charlie looked at Lisa, then at the picture, then Lisa again. She snickered. 

“Charlie! You’re supposed to be on my side.” Lisa turned to Lucian. “You’re on my side, right?”

Lucian looked intently at the picture, and looked up at Lisa. “I could draw you if you’d like.” 

“Aww,” Lisa cooed. “Would you? I’m sure you’d do a better job than he did.” 

She shot a glare at Louis, who ignored it entirely.

“Sure.” Lucian slid off the sofa. “I’ll do it right now. I’m a great artist.” 

He went back to his spot on the coffee table, producing a blank paper and grabbing a crayon. 

“Well,” Louis said, leaving to sit beside Lucian, and taking a sheet of paper and a few crayons away from him, ignoring the look Lucian gave him. “Now, I have to defend my honor and make another drawing.” 

“You can’t compete with a four year old,” Charlie said, taking Lucian’s vacated seat beside Lisa. 

“It’s because I’ll win,” Lucian said, choosing another crayon. 

“And what about my nails?” Lisa exclaimed. 

Louis sniffed haughtily as he drew. “You doubted my artistic ability.” 

“Louis,” Lisa whined. “You can’t leave me with only half of my nails painted.”

“Show Charlie my other drawings,” Louis said, not taking his eyes off his paper. “He’ll agree I’m an excellent artist.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “You mean show Charlie your really weird hobby of drawing literally everyone at school?” 

“Dare I ask why?” Charlie said as Lisa passed her phone to her, pointing at the shared image section.

“It’s not weird,” he said. “And it wasn’t purposeful. Class is just so boring that I started doodling until, eventually, I had a collection.”

“That one’s really good,” Lisa pointed out. Louis’ drawings ranged from unflattering caricatures to incredibly detailed and realistic depictions to simple doodles of Hillgate students, but the one that Lisa had stopped at was one of the more realistic ones. 

“Is that James?” Charlie asked. 

The sketch was of James, looking out a window. Half his profile was in the light, the rest hidden in shadow. Even to Charlie’s untrained eye, it was a good drawing, though she didn’t know whether it was James or Louis who had made it so. 

Louis left his portrait at the table, jostling Lisa to the side as he leaned over to peer at the sketch. 

“Yeah, we’re each other’s muses,” Louis said, “But it’s not my favorite drawing of him. This one,” he scrolled up on Lisa’s phone, “is my favorite.”

It was a simple comic of James falling into a fountain, a few birds flying as he flailed in the water. 

“I have an actual reference video to go with it, too,” Louis said, grinning. “It’s on my phone though.”

“I’m done!” Lucian announced, holding his drawing triumphantly in the air before shoving it in their direction. 

“Look at the composition, the style, the form,” Lucian said proudly. “Isn’t it simply amazing?” 

The drawing was of a castle drawn with shaky lines, squiggly gray figures looking up at a green dragon next to it. 

“I thought you were drawing me,” Lisa said, “I’m not even in the drawing at all!”

“Of course, you are,” Lucian replied. “That’s you.” He pointed to a small yellow dot in one of the castle windows. “You’re trapped in the castle, and here’s Charlie and I.” He pointed to the gray figures. 

“We’re the knights because we’re brave and heroic.” He looked up at Charlie, and she smiled at him. 

“And me?” Louis asked eagerly. “Am I the dragon?” 

“No,” Lucian said, staring at him solemnly. “Can’t you see? You’re obviously flying on the dragon.” 

He pointed to another dot inside the castle windows. “And here’s James. He’s not here yet but I drew him in the castle, too.”

“Did you make me a princess?” Lisa asked, hands clasped and eyes shining. “Because I’m so beautiful?” 

Privately, Charlie thought that Lucian had most likely drawn them in the castle because she and James were the most likely to be damsels in distress than heroes. 

Lucian stared at Lisa scrutinizingly for a second. “Sure, let’s go with that.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lisa asked as Lucian ignored her and tugged on Charlie’s hand. 

“Come on,” Lucian said, “a masterpiece like this deserves to be on the fridge.”

Charlie rose from her seat and followed, Lucian already in the kitchen. Behind her, she could hear Louis and Lisa talking. 

“So,” Louis said, “Do you admit that I’m an amazing artist?” 

“If it’ll get to you to finish my nails,” Lisa replied. 

Charlie reached Lucian waiting for her by the fridge, and pinned his drawing in place with magnets. She ruffled his hair before he raced off into the living room. 

“I’m going to make scary drawings now,” he said as he took his place at the table. “Ones befitting the theme of this sleepover.”

“Ok,” Charlie said, settling beside him and peacefully watching her brother draw as she ignored the bickering pair on the sofa.

Sometime after Lisa made them fill out magazine quizzes, (“I need to know which type of romcom heroine we each are. Yes, Charlie, even you—there’s always a nerd option in these.”) and Lucian went upstairs to fetch his camera, Charlie heard knocking at the door. 

“That must be James,” Louis said, sitting on the floor by the coffee table and filling out a book of crossword puzzles. Charlie put her own book down. 

“He’s here?” Lisa asked, looking up from the gossip magazine she had been reading out loud, to Louis’ amusement and Charlie’s annoyance. “I thought he’d get here much later. Didn’t he say it was a family dinner he absolutely couldn’t avoid?”

“If it were an actual family dinner, he probably wouldn’t have been able to come at all,” Louis said, eyes on his crossword. “It was just his brother, so James just had to show up before he could leave early, especially if he mentioned having plans after.”

“Huh,” Lisa commented, looking mildly interested at this new tidbit of information. 

There was another, more insistent knock. Charlie glanced at the two who were closer to the door. Louis continued his crossword, content to ignore James, and Lisa gave her a shrug before returning to her magazine. 

“I’ll go, then.” Charlie stood up from her armchair, leaving her book behind.

She opened the door, and found James waiting on the doorstep. The sky had long darkened into night, and snow continued to fall steadily. The cold air made her shiver in her sweatshirt and swept strands of James’ carefully coiffed hair into his dark blue eyes. He looked, like always, as though he had stepped out of a magazine cover. 

“Hi,” he said. His cheeks were reddened from the cold as he looked at her.

“Hi,” Charlie said, staring up at him. 

He stood there for a moment, looking at her, before she startled and moved aside to let him pass. 

“Am I too late for all the fun sleepover stuff?” James asked as he took off his coat and placed it on the coat rack. 

“Not really,” Charlie replied. “You haven’t missed much.”

They stepped into the warm glow of the living room. 

“James!” Louis sprung up, and slung an arm around his friend, pencil in one hand, and crossword in another. 

“What’s a five letter word for someone who’s obnoxious, inconsiderate, and always late?”

“I don’t know, Louis perhaps?” James responded, rolling his eyes and ducking out of the hug. 

“Wrong,” Louis replied, turning back to his crossword. “That’s the word for ‘amazingly talented and handsome guy’. ” 

Charlie headed to the kitchen to bring more snacks as James scanned the living room. “Is that a pillow fort? And where’s Lucian, by the way?” 

“Upstairs,” Charlie said, as she brought down some bowls from a cabinet. “He went to get his camera to take pictures of his first sleepover.”

James nodded, turning back to Louis who was leaning on his shoulder again, tapping his pencil against his crossword book.

“Wha—you guys painted your nails without me?” James said, seizing Louis’ hand, and inspecting his nails. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Louis smoothly pulled his hand out of James’. “That’s what you get for being late. But Charlie’s nails aren’t done either, so you two can do each other’s.” 

“I wanted to do Charlie’s nails,” Lisa said, opening up a bag with numerous, colorful nail polish bottles. “I’m thinking green.” She pulled out two dark green shades that looked exactly the same to Charlie. “To match your eyes.”

“Oh, no,” Charlie said, setting down the bowls of snacks on the coffee table and backing away. “You don’t have to—”

“Please?” Lisa asked, “It’ll look so pretty. And then we’ll all be matching.”

“We’re not exactly matching now, anyway,” Louis interrupted, but Lisa shushed him, looking hopefully at Charlie.

Charlie sighed. “Fine.” 

Lisa squealed, and began to pull other shades out, much to Charlie’s increasing alarm, and tugged Charlie’s arm until she sat down beside her. 

“What about me?” James said, looking over at Lisa and Charlie and the growing pile of nail polish bottles on the coffee table, snacks forgotten. Charlie’s hands had been confiscated by Lisa, and she kept holding up colors to her eyes. 

“What about you?” Louis blinked owlishly at him, settling on the floor, rather than the perfectly empty armchair beside him. 

“Well, who's going to do my nails?”

“Well, it’s not going to be Charlie,” Louis said, grinning up at him. “Much to your disappointment, I’m sure.” 

“It’s unfortunate. This color would look lovely on you,” Charlie deadpanned, nodding towards a hideous barf-like yellowish bottle of nail polish as James scowled at Louis.

Lisa tugged on Charlie’s hands. “Stay still!” 

Charlie rolled her eyes, but kept her hands as still as she could as Lisa did her nails. The color she’d chosen was a pretty blue, one that most definitely did not match Charlie’s eyes. 

“Why this color?” Charlie asked, as Lisa blew her blonde bangs out of her face as she hunched over Charlie’s nails. 

“Oh!” Lisa said, “It’s to make us match.” She gestured towards Louis who had sat James down across the room and seemed to be animatedly explaining something to him, though Charlie couldn’t quite hear what was being said. 

“It was one of the colors Lucian chose for his nails. Louis also has this color on a few of his fingers, and I have mine in this design—” she waved her hand in front of Charlie “—and now you can have it on all your nails. I figured you wouldn’t be as into complex designs like everyone else, so I’m only putting a few coats of the same color.” 

“Oh. Thanks,” Charlie said. She hadn’t expected Lisa to put so much thought into it. 

“It’s a shame though,” Lisa said. “Green would go great with your eyes.” 

“Hmm,” Charlie said noncommittally. She glanced at James whose scowl had melted off into a look of confusion instead as he listened to Louis, who had started stacking up bottles of nail polish in a pyramid. James gave her a small shrug when he spotted her looking. 

“Do you get them from your mum’s side?” Lisa asked casually, still focused on painting her nails. “Or is it your dad’s side?”

Charlie’s hands flinched slightly. Lisa looked up at her, brows furrowing in confusion. 

“Charlie’s mum had brown eyes,” Louis called out from across the room. “So it’s probably from his dad’s side.” 

Lisa turned to him, surprised. “You were listening? And how do you know that?”

She turned to Charlie. “How does he know that?” 

“I don’t know,” Charlie said, and added, without missing a beat, “It’s Louis.” 

Lisa went back to painting her nails, satisfied. But Charlie’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at Louis, who was back to chatting with James as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t a wild guess to make, seeing as she and Lucian didn’t look much alike and he'd already seen her mum in a photo. But she’d have to be even more careful around him. 

There was a loud thud on the stairs and they all turned to look as Lucian came down the last few steps in a flurry of excitement, clutching his camera. 

“James!” he exclaimed. “You’re finally here!” 

James smiled fondly at him. “A little later than I meant to arrive.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucian asked Charlie. Giving her no time to reply, Lucian turned back to James, grabbing his hand and yanking him towards the pillow fort, camera forgotten. “Now that you’re here, I simply must show you the pièce-de-résistance, the crowning jewel of the evening.”

James went willingly, as Lucian led him to the pillow fort they’d constructed, Louis shielding his growing nail polish pyramid as they walked past. 

“I built it,” Lucian said proudly, “and it looks just like my drawings.”

“I thought you said I didn’t miss anything fun,” James said, turning to look at Charlie. 

“Hey,” Lisa interrupted, looking away from Charlie’s nails which were only half done. “It was a group effort.” 

“What she said,” Louis said, stacking a final nail polish bottle on top. 

“Fine,” Lucian said, putting his hands on his hips. “We can share the credit. But I still came up with the idea! Now come look, James, look at this. Isn’t it cool?” 

Lucian tugged his hand, excitedly pointing out the scarf moat and his stuffed animals guarding the entrance and the towers built from stools and pillows. Charlie looked fondly at the two, James listening interestedly as Lucian talked. 

“James is good with kids,” Lisa said, a note of admiration in her tone as she looked at them as well. She caught Charlie’s eye and gave her a teasing smile. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Just finish my nails,” Charlie said, tearing her gaze away from James and Lucian. “It’s taking forever.” 

“You can’t rush art,” Lisa huffed, but went back to finishing her nails. 

“There is no way that you’re not cheating,” grumbled Lisa. 

“Jealous much?” Louis laid down another pair of cards on the table. 

“Louis isn’t cheating,” James said, hunched over his own cards. There was a faint look of despair on his face as he looked at his hand. “He’s just that lucky. It’s why I hate playing against him.” 

“Well, someone here is cheating,” Lisa said grumpily. “It’s impossible that one person can keep winning in all these games and that we’re playing against two of them.” 

“Three,” Lucian said from his place on Charlie’s lap as she put a couple of cards down. 

“You’re playing with Charlie so you just count as one,” Lisa replied, dismissively. She groaned as she picked up more cards from the deck. “This is so unfair.” 

“We can always play a different game after this,” Charlie said as James picked up a couple of cards for his turn. “To give you two a chance. If it’ll even help.” 

Charlie glanced at the scoreboard Louis had set up when he’d brought the games out from his suitcase. They had played a dozen games since then. She and Lucian were a point behind Louis, while James and Lisa sat at 3 and 1 points, respectively.

“Or we can up the stakes if you’re that bored,” Louis suggested mildly. Suspiciously. 

Charlie narrowed her eyes as he got rid of more cards in his hand. 

“How about a game of truth or dare to pass the time?” 

“I want to play truth or dare,” Lucian said excitedly, raising a hand to volunteer. Charlie should’ve expected that. Sighing inwardly, she played another card. 

Louis scanned the rest of the group. James had straightened, suddenly alert, and Lisa’s gaze had sharpened on Louis. Neither said a word as they stared warily at him. So much for stopping Louis, their natural curiosity winning out over caution. 

“If there are no objections,” Louis said, raising his voice over James’ and Lisa’s sudden, frantic protests, “then I’ll go first.” 

They quieted, James scowling as he did and Lisa grumpily placing a card on the table.

Lucian whispered to Charlie, “That means we’re winning right?” 

Charlie nodded absentmindedly, more focused on the mischievous gleam in Louis’ eyes as he looked around for his target. 

“So, James,” Louis said in a syrupy sweet voice, his first victim chosen, “truth or dare?” 

“Truth,” James said. “I’m never choosing dare with you again.” 

Not that Charlie was ever going to choose dare, but it was nice to get confirmation that “dare” was best avoided when playing with Louis. 

“Are you sure?” Louis said, eyes glued to James. James hesitated, before nodding as he added another card atop of Lisa’s. 

Louis gave a wide grin and asked, “Do you have a crush on anyone?” 

James went a bright red as everyone turned to him, Lisa in particular looking eagerly at him. Charlie wondered if this was due to Lisa generally being overly invested in people’s love lives, or due to her (current? past? Charlie had no idea) crush on James. 

“You have a crush on someone?” Lucian asked incredulously, wriggling to get a better look at him. Charlie looked at James, too, a prickle of curiosity as they all waited for his answer. 

“No!” James spluttered at last, head swiveling as he looked at them. “No, I don’t!” 

Despite his vehement denial, Lisa now looked delighted, a smile spreading across her face. Did she think it was her? Charlie had thought she was over him, but perhaps not. 

“Hmm,” Louis said, looking unconvinced. “Are you sure that’s true?”

“What kind of question is that?” James hissed at Louis, face still red. James met Charlie’s gaze for a second and quickly glanced away. 

“I don’t have a crush on anyone,” James stressed. It might’ve been more convincing if he’d been able to meet anyone’s eyes instead of staring at the cards in his hands. Charlie briefly pitied the poor person he had a crush on, though another part of her wondered who it could be. Was it Lisa, after all? 

“Fine,” Louis said airily. He put down a card, and looked around. “Who wants to go next?” 

“I do!” Lucian said as Charlie played a card. She was down to just two. 

“Go ahead,” Louis said. 

“Ok,” Lucian said, sizing everyone up. James smiled encouragingly at Lucian, the red in his face still fading from his earlier questioning as Lisa picked up another card. Lucian turned sharply back to Louis. “Louis, truth or dare?” 

“Dare,” Louis answered immediately. Of course, he’d pick dare. 

“Do a cartwheel.” 

Charlie groaned as Louis stood and rounded the table to where there was a thin path between the wall and the sofa in the living room. 

Lisa and James rose from their seats to get a clearer look as Lucian scrambled off her lap to watch. Charlie stayed in her chair, not wanting to watch the upcoming disaster. 

“Don’t—” there was a muffled crash as Louis cartwheeled into the pillow fort. “Crash.” 

“Ta-da,” Louis said, popping up seemingly uninjured from a pile of pillows and blankets.

“Are you okay?” Lisa asked as he stood, dusting himself off. 

“He’s fine,” James said as he went back to the table, uninterested now that it was over. 

“My pillow fort!” Lucian cried out, ignoring Louis’ correction of “Our pillow fort.”

“You’re cleaning that up,” Charlie told Louis as he made his way back to his seat. 

“Yes, yes,” Louis said, waving her off as he took a seat. “Who’s next?” 

Lucian grumpily climbed back onto her lap.

“I’ll go,” Lisa said as James picked up a few cards for his turn. 

She briefly looked at everyone, before turning to James, smirk on her face. “James, truth or dare?” 

“Why me again?” James asked. “Charlie hasn’t gone yet.” 

“Ooh,” Lisa said, turning to face Charlie who shot James a glare he ignored. “Great idea. Charlie, truth or dare?” 

“Truth,” she sighed, bracing herself for a ridiculous, possibly (probably) invasive question. 

“If you had a crush on someone,” Lisa’s eyes sparkling as she spoke, “who would it be?” 

“What?” Charlie said, caught off guard. 

“That’s not an answer,” Lisa said with a growing smile. “What’s your type? Someone handsome? Someone pretty? Do you like nerdy people or sporty people more? Maybe you’re into the artsy type?” 

Charlie let out a huff of indignation. Lucian yawned as he tried to look at her, flopping tiredly against her chest instead. Lisa and James’ gazes were fixed on her, and Louis grinned as picked up a card, obviously entertained like a cat watching a mouse. 

“I don’t have a type,” Charlie said through gritted teeth, playing another card. This was all James’ fault, she thought, as she shot him another glance. He made an expression she couldn’t place and looked away. Good, he should feel guilty for putting her on the spot. 

“We can’t move on until you answer,” Lisa reminded her, voice sickly sweet, as she picked up a card. 

Charlie stared flatly at her. Lisa’s smile did not falter, though her cheeks pinked a bit as the moment dragged on. 

“Ugh, fine,” Charlie spit out, giving up. “My type is someone who isn’t shallow, irresponsible, or annoying. Can we move on now?” 

Lisa nodded, shooting a sideways glance at James who busied himself with his cards. He was losing badly. 

“As entertaining as that was,” Louis said, “It’s my turn again. So, Lisa! Truth or dare?” 

“Shouldn’t James go next?” Lisa said, paling a bit. “He hasn’t gone.” 

Louis smiled, as he played a card. “Nope, it’s my turn again.” 

“I’m choosing truth, then,” Lisa said. 

“Boo, you’re no fun,” Louis said, before brightening. “So, tell us, what—”

“I win,” Charlie cut in as she played her last card. 

“We win,” Lucian chimed in as he hid another yawn, eyes fluttering shut.

Louis made a mark on the scoreboard. 

“Well,” he said, “To no one’s surprise, I’m still in the lead.” 

“It’s a tie, actually,” Lisa pointed out. 

“Come on, Luce,” Charlie said, scooping him in her arms. “Time to go to bed.”

“No,” Lucian whined sleepily, barely able to open his eyes. “I can’t… still need to…horror movies.” 

Charlie carried her brother up the stairs, hearing Lisa shush James and Louis as she left. Lucian’s mumbles trailed off into nothing, his head a warm weight against her shoulder. 

She put Lucian to bed, tucking him in. Luckily, he’d left his own blanket and pillow untouched when gathering building materials for the fort, though where he’d found so many in the first place was beyond her. Turning his nightlight on, Charlie glanced once more at him sleeping peacefully before closing the door. 

As she returned, she heard James, Louis, and Lisa squabbling noisily on the sofa, the games cleared off from the table. 

“Lucian just fell asleep,” she said, settling on an armchair close to the TV. “Are you trying to wake him up again?” 

They all looked briefly chastened before Lisa brightened and said, “You can be the tiebreaker!” 

“How many movies did you bring?” The coffee table before her was now host to a large pile of DVDs. At least they’d moved on from truth or dare. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Lisa brushed her off. “Anyway, you should choose. Some of us,” she looked pointedly at James and Louis, “can’t appreciate people with taste.”

“Lisa being one of them,” Louis replied. James snickered beside him as Lisa protested. “So, what do you think, Charlie?” 

On the table, Charlie could see piles of horror movies, cheesy rom-coms, animated movies, and action movies among other genres.

“Anything’s fine.” She shrugged. “Nothing too loud, though.” 

 “Anything?” Louis asked, eyes sparkling mischievously. Charlie reconsidered. 

“No book to movie adaptations,” Charlie said, grimacing

“Why not?” Lisa asked, “I’d have thought you’d love that sort of thing. I know I love it when the manga I read gets an anime adaptation. Seeing my favorite scenes play out on screen…” Lisa clasped her hands admiringly, “And the music! It adds so much more to the experience.” 

“Movie adaptations are rarely accurate,” Charlie said, frowning as she picked up a movie from the table. “Why watch something that misses the entire point of the book? Or that cuts out important scenes?”

“No wonder James got such low marks in English all the time,” Louis chuckled. “He’d always write his papers after watching the movie version of the book.” 

James pinked slightly. “Not always. And my papers were good. The professors just didn’t get what I was going for.” 

“Uh-huh,” Louis said with an eye roll. “That’s what you said about history and maths and every other class you took in high school. Too bad Charlie wasn’t in the same year as us or he could’ve helped you with English.”

“No such luck,” Lisa sighed, “I already asked him. He said no.” 

“I”m sharing my notes for maths with you already,” Charlie pointed out. “It wouldn’t be as hard if you just paid attention instead of reading manga all the time.” 

“Ok!” Louis interrupted loudly as he swept a few of the movies off into one pile. 

“These,” he said, pointing to the smaller pile, “are the movies we can choose from since all of you are unbearably picky.” 

“It’s called having standards,” Lisa said off-handedly, as she looked over the narrow selection of movies now on the table.

“Ooh,” she said, holding up a romance film with a cheesy title and an even cheesier cover. “I love this one.” 

“I don’t think Charlie does,” James told her, glancing amusedly at Charlie. Charlie tried to school her expression into something that didn’t express how she’d rather watch paint dry while listening to Louis sing than watch that movie. 

Judging by the annoyed huff Lisa let out as she placed the movie down, Charlie did not succeed. 

“Then what about this one?” The suggestion was innocuous, yet it made her breath catch for a moment. Louis held up a movie as he scanned the room. “It’s Jason Hides’ latest movie.” 

“I haven’t seen that one yet,” Lisa said, curiously. “I meant to watch it in theatres but something came up.” 

She looked at James and Charlie. “Should we watch that one?” 

“Sure,” James said with a shrug. “Otherwise, we’ll be here forever. Charlie?” 

They all turned to her, waiting. 

“Lucian and I were meant to watch it together,” Charlie said, steadily, meeting their gaze. “He’ll be upset if he finds out he missed it.” 

“He’s Lucian’s favorite actor, right?” Lisa said. “I remember he mentioned it before.” 

“Yeah,” she said, picking up another movie from the pile and feigning interest in the summary. 

“Can’t be helped then,” sighed Lisa as Louis added it to the pile of dismissed movies. 

Charlie looked up as he did and their eyes met. She looked away as casually as she could, heartbeat thudding in her chest. 

“Oh, this one was good,” James pointed out to Lisa. “Have you watched it before?”

She didn’t hear Lisa's long winded anecdote on why she hadn’t watched the movie, more focused on the curious glance Louis had given her as she’d answered, as if he’d noticed her slight hesitation. But he couldn’t have. There could be dozens of reasons behind her hesitation, and it was extremely unlikely that he’d land on the right one. Famed movie star Jason Hides being her father was an outlandish thought that no one, not even Louis, would entertain.

Her heart settled as calm slowly returned. It was all in her head, and this sleepover hadn’t been a giant mistake that threatened to undo all her secrets. Charlie had taken precautions and Louis couldn’t know.

Still, she felt uncomfortably aware of Louis’ silence as James began summarizing the movie for Lisa. Charlie focused on the stray strands of dark hair that fell over his excited eyes as he talked instead, ignoring the remnants of doubt and anxiety. 

Finally, Louis jumped in, “The sequel is awful. An utter disaster. We should watch it.” 

Charlie let out a relieved chuckle as James proceeded to argue with him over something that had happened the last time they’d watched movies together.

The pile of suitable movies diminished drastically after that, and at last, they landed on a comedy. Louis gleefully took it upon himself to put the movie on, fiddling with the DVD player. He shooed Charlie and James away to the kitchen to prepare snacks while Lisa announced her intent to supervise. Or in other words, annoy Louis rather than do anything useful. 

“Turn off the lights on your way back,” Louis called from the living room. 

James rolled his eyes as he leaned on the counter while Charlie moved past him to the cabinets

“We’re not going to watch more than two movies if that’s how long it takes to pick out one movie,” James said as she began to bring down more bowls. She’d thought that Louis had overestimated the amount of snacks they’d go through, but clearly he’d planned for everything. 

“Are you planning on helping?” Charlie said, setting the bowls on the counter, “Or are you here to 'supervise' like Lisa?” 

She turned and bumped directly into James. 

“Oh,” he said as she flinched away, “I just—here’s the snacks.”

He awkwardly handed her the bag of popcorn Louis had brought. 

“Thanks,” she said, their fingers brushing as she took it. 

“Hurry up, guys,” Lisa said, leaning over the sofa, “The movie’s starting.”  

“Here,” Charlie said, offering a bowl of popcorn for James to take. “If we want to watch more than two movies, we’d better hurry.” 

James woke up with a start. The living room was dark, save the flickering blue light from the TV screen and the faint light from street lamps streaming through gaps in the curtains. 

He took in his surroundings, the four of them sprawled around the room. Only Lisa seemed to have settled into a decent sleeping position. She was lying on the sofa, head resting on a throw pillow, and she’d somehow found a blanket—probably from the remains of Lucian’s fallen pillow fort. 

The rest of them hadn’t been as lucky. 

Louis was flat out on the floor, though how that had happened, James hadn’t the faintest idea. The last he remembered was Louis, Lisa, and him sharing the sofa, as the former two kept up a running commentary on the movies they were watching and the various actors they starred. Though perhaps the resulting popcorn fight they’d had whilst disagreeing on the last movie was the reason Louis had ended up on the floor. 

That, or it was some attempt at chivalry that he was unaware Louis was capable of. 

Charlie slept curled up in an armchair, head lolling to one side. 

And James, himself, leaning on the side of Charlie’s chair, sat on the floor. Yes, he remembered now. 

To avoid being in the line of attack, he’d sat himself beside Charlie, even if it meant giving up his seat on the sofa. No other reason, of course. 

No, the pleasant conversation they’d had as the other two were distracted had simply been a bonus, and not the hopeful reason James had sat beside Charlie in the first place. 

Even if, if, he had an ulterior motive, sitting on the floor was objectively the better option.

Charlie asked, dryly, when he’d moved, if James had done it with the purpose of using him as a shield, and James looked up at Charlie’s face, at his lips curving into a slight smirk, the amusement dancing in his green eyes, and—

He’d seen Louis giving him a knowing smile, from the corner of his eye, and James flushed, feeling as though he had been caught doing something wrong. Stupid truth or dare game.

“Yes, Summers,” James said quickly, with as much sarcasm as he could muster, as he turned to the movie. “That’s exactly why.” 

Charlie chuckled softly, and James kept his gaze firmly stuck to the TV, ignoring Louis’ gaze boring through the back of his head, and the warm feeling that spread through his chest at the sound of Charlie’s laugh. 

Other than the hard floor, sitting there had been nice, at least until Charlie had gotten fed up by being struck by wayward popcorn one too many times, and ordered them to clean up, if they hadn’t anything better to do than make a mess. 

They had, Lisa looking somewhat guilty, probably because she had been the one to throw the offending popcorn that had hit Charlie, and Louis looking far too smug for his own good, as they went off to find the broom closet. 

Charlie sighed, and leant back, the TV lighting the auburn hair that framed his face. 

Then, spotting James, he tilted his face down and asked, “What are the chances they know how to sweep?” 

“Oh, absolutely none,” James said, with a grin. Charlie groaned in response and looked over to the kitchen, where the pair were standing in a huddle, debating something in hushed voices. 

“I don’t think they’ve ever seen a broom before.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Charlie asked, throwing another worried glance at the kitchen. 

James laughed at Charlie’s expression. “Well, Lisa might not.” 

They did eventually figure it out (although Louis almost smacked James with the broom several times, to which James responded indignantly, and Charlie stepped in before it could escalate to another popcorn fight) and the four had settled into place once more and continued to watch the movie. 

Now James wearily searched for the remote. He found it under the coffee table, and turned off the TV, plunging the room into an eerie darkness. 

He made his way to the stairs as quietly and carefully as he could, hitting his leg on a side table on the way out of the living room and had to stifle a yelp. 

The house, which had been warm and cozy, seemed, in the dark silence, extremely creepy and cold. It was probably the unfamiliarity (and one of the horror movies they’d watched) that made it so, but it still gave James chills. So he hurried up the stairs, tripping up a step in the dark, which then made him think about how stupid it would be to fall down the stairs in Charlie’s house just because he was creeped out. He’d likely get told off for doing so, too, by Charlie, and laughed at by Louis. 

Maybe Lisa would be sympathetic. Then again, she’d probably be more mad at him for ruining the sleepover with his untimely and embarrassing fall. Shaking off his thoughts, he reached the second floor.

The second floor wasn’t as dark as the first floor, thankfully, as moonlight streamed through the patio door and he found the bathroom easily. 

Still the house was eerily silent, even as he exited the bathroom, and he nervously glanced around the hall. The shadows were darker near the stairs, and he could almost imagine them moving. 

Until a shadow did move, breaking away from the darkness and towards him. 

James shrieked, or tried to, seeing as Louis’ hand quickly snapped out to cover his mouth, muffling any noise. 

“Do you plan on waking up everyone?” Louis hissed, head swiveling to check for the noises of anyone stirring awake.

“Me?” James spluttered, pushing Louis’ hand away. “What are you doing up here?” 

Louis rolled his eyes. “The bathroom. Isn’t that why you’re here, too?”

“You didn’t have to sneak up on me for that.” 

His racing heart settling back to normal, James moved towards the stairs but was blocked by Louis. 

“What?” James whispered. A thought struck him. “Are you sure you’re not here to try and sneak into Charlie’s room for weird, investigative purposes?” 

Louis looked at him flatly. “No, but now I’m questioning why that’s the first thing you thought of.” 

James scowled, flushing a bit in embarrassment. He had a perfectly normal train of thought; it was only his attempt at deciphering Louis’ that had led him to that conclusion. Of course, he didn’t have any reason to want to see Charlie’s room; it wasn’t like he was a stalker (anymore). 

“I’m not the one being suspicious here.” 

“Uh-huh,” Louis said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Anyway, what’s so important that you’re cornering me in the middle of the night?” James asked.

“I was wondering if you’d noticed…” Louis trailed off, gazing down the hallway with the siblings’ rooms, face shifting into something thoughtful. 

“If I noticed what?” James prompted, annoyed. 

“Nothing,” Louis said, glancing back at him sharply. He lost the serious look on his face and plastered on an easy smile, patting James’ shoulder and pushing him in the direction of the stairs. James stumbled slightly at the sudden shove. “Just making sure you go back to sleep. Have sweet dreams, don’t be a creep.” 

Louis waved him off, as James grabbed the bannister, still looking at Louis. That was strange, even for him, and as James carefully made his way down the stairs, he could’ve sworn he’d heard Louis mumble something to himself. Well, Louis probably wasn’t going to go snooping in Charlie’s room now that James had seen him there. 

James entered the living room, and crossed over to the remains of the pillow fort as silently as he could. He grabbed a blanket for himself and a few pillows, hesitating for a second, before grabbing another blanket. 

A few minutes later, he heard Louis return downstairs, and pretended to be asleep. James didn’t need to see or hear Louis’ reaction. It was probably all in his head, anyway—the image of Louis’ teasing smile at the sight of him still settled on the floor and the sight of Charlie curled up in a chair beside him with a blanket he’d not had before.

For the second time that day, James woke up startled and confused. 

He had a better reason, though. 

Lucian was mid-air above him, caught in the middle by Charlie, and brandishing an open marker. 

“Aww,” Lucian said, turning towards Charlie. “I was going to draw on him.”

“What?!” James yelped, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, and stood up in a hurry. “You didn’t draw on me, did you?” 

He touched his face worriedly. 

From the kitchen, Louis peered at them, holding a mug. 

“Wait,” he said, “I was going to draw on James’ face before he woke up.”

“Too late,” Lucian said, sticking out his tongue at Louis from his place in Charlie’s arms. “I was here first.” 

“No one is drawing on my beautiful face,” James said, lowering his hands and feeling a little ignored despite being the subject of the conversation. 

“What did I say, Lucian?” Charlie asked, carrying him away. 

“No drawing on other people’s faces,” Lucian grumbled, crossing his arms. “But I don’t get it! Isn’t this—”, he waved his open marker around, nearly smacking Charlie in the face, “—a quintessential part of sleepovers?” 

Louis nodded in agreement. “He’s got a point.” 

“Plus it would be funny,” Lisa said, from her seat at the table, half-eaten breakfast on a plate. “Especially if it’s James.” 

James scowled at his supposed friends while Charlie deftly took Lucian’s marker from him and capped it. 

“Unfortunately,” Charlie said, placing Lucian on the ground, “I’m trying to set a good example. Which means no drawing on guests’ faces, no matter how funny it would be.” 

“Yeah,” James nodded, “Wait, did you say unfortunately?” 

Charlie only smirked at him, before waving a hand towards the counter. “Breakfast is over there. Eat up. Our duel’s at the park, as soon as everyone is ready to leave.”

“Duel?” James asked, taking a plate and sitting next to Lisa. 

“We’ve all signed up to have front row seats to Charlie’s victory,” Louis said, taking a sip from his mug. “You know, watching him totally destroy you in a snowball fight as an act of revenge.” 

“It’s what you deserve,” Lisa said airily, as she took a bite of her waffles. Louis glanced at her. 

“And after, we can all watch Charlie defeat Lisa, too,” he added. She choked slightly on her food, as he gave her a smug grin. 

Lucian popped up onto a chair. “I’d appreciate it if there was some urgency. If we get there too late, all the good snow will be used up! And some of us already overslept.” There was a pointed look at James. 

James paused mid-bite. “I didn’t oversleep by that much. It’s only…” He glanced at his watch, “…it doesn’t matter what the time is. There will still be plenty of good snow left.” 

Lucian humphed in response, casting one last doubtful glance at the breakfasting bunch, before sliding off his chair and turning to Charlie, who was fixing up the living room. 

“Come on, Charlie,” he said, tugging his older brother towards the stairs. “I’ve got to get ready. And we still have to get the materials for the snowman.”

Once everyone had finished breakfast and bundled up for the cold, they made their way to a park near Charlie’s house. 

A small hill overlooked most of the park and there was a smattering of trees and a playground off to one side. It was almost empty, only one or two groups apart from them a distance away.

James took in the peaceful sight of the freshly fallen snow glittering in winter light as it coated the tree branches and the ground. It would make for a good photo, he thought before he was hit by a snowball. 

James turned to look at Charlie grinning at him, another snowball in his hand, courtesy of Louis grinning mischievously at his side, a pile of snowballs already at his feet. James threw up his arms just in time to block another attack. 

“Wait—” he said, as the snow hit his coat sleeves. “Wait—we can’t start yet! I’m not ready. ” 

Charlie paused, eyes glittering with mischief. “Should we do this properly, then? Choose seconds, stand back to back, take several paces and then throw the snowballs? A proper duel?”

James looked over at his best friend, who was already halfway done building a snow fort. “Louis?”

Before Louis could answer, a snowball hit him. Then another. And another. 

“Hey!” James exclaimed, looking at his attackers, both short, blond, and giggling as they chased him. 

He grumbled as he ran away from a barrage of snowballs, ducking behind a tree. 

“Here,” Louis said as he yanked James into the snow fort he’d built. He handed him a few snowballs. “Show no mercy.” 

James gave a firm nod, and the two proceeded to attack. Their attacks were mainly centered on Lisa, the obvious target, but James was scanning the park for Charlie who seemed to have disappeared. 

It was clear, just a few moments later, where he’d gone, as James heard Charlie’s laugh, clear and carefree, as several snowballs hit them from behind, the fort half destroyed. 

Louis swore under his breath. “Ok, new plan: I go after Lisa, you go after Charlie, keep an eye out for the small one.”

James wouldn’t say that they won the ensuing battle—that was a bit of a stretch even for him, but he would say that none had fared worse than Lisa. Her allies had turned on her shortly after, Lucian cackling as he and Charlie took over Louis’ half destroyed fort, and her escape had been slowed by the numerous piles of snow Lucian had formed while none of them had been paying attention. Louis only took her side after the fifth time she tripped and fell into a pile of snow, and with a battle cry, the three of them proceeded to get only mildly destroyed by the Summers siblings. 

In the end, covered in varying degrees of snow, they reached a truce and proceeded to build a few snowmen, James lifting Lucian up to place a carrot nose and knit hat onto their finished creation. James did not question where Louis had pulled his snowman’s wardrobe and accessories from, too used to his best friend’s antics. 

They left the park in high spirits, sunlight peeking through cloudy skies. 

Louis and Lisa walked ahead, discussing something in hushed voices, arms linked. James watched as Louis gave a sudden, delighted laugh at something Lisa said, the latter looking quite pleased. 

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t noticed, (though truth be told, he wasn’t sure he wanted to get involved in whatever was going on between the two—they could be scary) but James had, as of late, had other subjects on his mind. 

Said other subjects were currently walking beside him. 

“Can we have hot chocolate when we get home?” Lucian asked, carefully stepping in the footprints that had been left behind by others in the snow. James smiled as Lucian hopped between a particular pair of footprints that were far apart. 

“Yes, but be careful with the ice,” Charlie said, taking hold of Lucian’s gloved hand and pulling him away from a patch of ice which James sidestepped. 

“You know, we should go ice-skating sometime before break ends,” James said, as they rounded a corner, Louis and Lisa still talking up ahead. 

“I’ve never gone ice-skating before,” Lucian said, pensively. After a moment of consideration, he turned to his brother. “Can we, Charlie?” 

Charlie looked between Lucian and James, hesitant. Snow still dusted his hair, James noted, a few strands falling in front of his green eyes. “I don’t know how to ice skate.” 

“I could teach you,” James said, distractedly, as he stared at Charlie. Hastily, he added, “Both of you.” 

Charlie stared at him for a moment, and James felt himself blush faintly under his gaze, before turning his eyes forward. “That’d be nice.” 

“So we’re going?” Lucian asked, looking eagerly between the two. Charlie nodded. “Yes!” 

“You’ve got to teach me all the cool tricks,” Lucian said, taking James’ hand as they walked. “Ok?” 

“Ok,” James said, smiling at him. “Although Louis is probably the better teacher for that.” 

Turning from his place up ahead, Louis said, “Glad you’re finally admitting I'm better!”

“How’d he even hear that?” Charlie wondered aloud as James shook his head. Lucian began swinging their arms as they walked.

“Hurry up, you guys,” Lisa said, as she stopped beside Louis at a corner and whirled around. “We can’t get hot chocolate if you guys keep being so slow.” 

“How’d she hear that?” James mumbled, ignoring Lisa’s narrowed glare as she faced Charlie.

“Losers aren’t getting any,” Charlie said, grinning at her as the three of them caught up, and James chuckled at Lisa’s fake affronted expression. 

“That’s just James and Lisa, then,” Louis added, sparking an argument over who exactly qualified as a loser in their snowball fight. 

Bickering, they walked back to the Summers’ home as it began to snow lightly once more.