𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 . . . 𝘈𝘴𝘴-𝘒𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨
❝ I thought we were friends. ❞

  "HEY, CHARLS, WHAT are you doing tonight?"

  Charlie grimaced as Liam quickly approached her in the halls, in the absence of Jess she felt just a bit more vulnerable. 

  "Uh, you know," Charlie waved, continuing her walk to the main doors of Stars Hollow High, "Working, maybe. . ."

  "Wanna hang out?"

  "Oh, uh—"

  "Hey," Liam furrowed his brows, gently grabbing Charlie's bicep to pull her to a stop. His expression only intensified once watching her eyes avoid his own, "Charls, avoidance isn't the answer— come on, I want us to be good."

  "We're great."

  "I thought we were done with lying, Charls."

  "Look, Lee," The girl sighed heavily, "I've had a crush on you my whole life. You rejected me, then you slept with our mutual best friend. It hurt. Like, a lot. Both of you guys hurt me. And, I know you apologized and things have been patched up, but it's hard to just totally get past that in a couple of days— not to mention it feels like I'm losing Em totally—"

  "Then let's go talk to her."

  "You can't force people to be okay," Charlie let out a laugh of disbelief, "We can't just force people to be friends or to forgive and forget. I'm sure she's hurt, too. Things are just weird, but it takes time for all of us to get over that."

  "So you just want to stop spending time with me?" He asked, attempting to bury his hurt like it was an object concealed beneath his letterman jacket, "You just want to let Em go?"

  "Lee—"

  "Jesus Christ, Charls, why can't you just see how much I care about you?"

  Charlie's eyes blew wide for a moment.

  "I don't want to hurt you, that's the last thing I ever want to do," Liam continued, "I like you, too, okay, I've liked you since you stole flowers for me on Valentine's day in fourth grade, but I know I'm not what you need and if we were ever a 'we' I'd break your heart."

  "So break my heart!" Charlie let out before she could think. "Just be with me, Lee, you don't go into a relationship thinking about how it'll end— you make no sense! You say you like me— so much— but you sleep with Emma? And then you're worried about breaking my heart like you haven't already hurt me? We all need time, but if you want to be with me, tell me so I know what the hell is going on!"

  "Charlie. . ."

  Liam couldn't say no to her, not when she was looking at him with all the hope across the world captured in her opal eyes. And, luckily, he didn't have to, because shouting flooded into the high-school as kids rushed outside towards it.

  Charlie and Liam were no different, the boy not wanting to meet his feelings, and Charlie not ready for a second rejection.

  Now, neither knew what they'd be walking into, but the last thing Charlie assumed to be met with was Jess Mariano in the middle of a fight.

  Dean ran from his place in the circle that formed around Jess and a random student to force himself in between fight, pulling Jess from the scuffle only to have to push him away from himself to avoid getting punched.

  "Jess, knock it off man. What the hell is your problem? You saw it was me, Jess! Why'd you keep punching?"

  Charlie left Liam's side to find herself closer to Jess, not yet inserting herself entirely.

  "I had momentum," Jess shrugged.

  "Well, I was trying to help you."

  "I don't need your help but," Jess patted the boy's arm roughly, "Thanks for offering."

  Charlie scoffed, walked up, and glared at Jess lightly, "Come on."

  "Why?" Jess questioned coldly, something Charlie wasn't used to. She hated the fact students were watching, that Liam was watching, which only fueled her urge to drag Jess by his hair to talk to him in private.

  "Jess, come on," She whispered sternly.

  "You're not my girlfriend, you're not my friend, so stop acting like it." 

  Charlie ignored the small pang she physically felt in her heart, moving in front of Jess as Liam approached them.

  "Stop it," She mumbled out, "We're leaving."

  "I already said—"

  "You don't get a say right now, Mariano." Jess recoiled at the fire in her eyes as she whirled on him, "Don't you all have anything better to do?" Her voice bellowed across the snowy landscape, sending the people back into motion.

  "Charls!"

  "I'll see you in a little," Charlie accidentally focused her anger on Liam, though the boy was familiar with this so he just stepped out of her way as she (with Jess in tow) forged a path through the snow.

  "Charlie—"

  "Come on," Charlie grumbled, her footsteps earning earthquakes as she hurried up the steps of Luke's diner. 

  Luke looked to the teens in confusion, they seemed to have swapped personalities. Charlie had a glare fixed onto her face while Jess was attempting to hide a pure expression of fear.

  They arrived at the bathroom upstairs, where Charlie pointed for Jess to sit on the counter. She silently cleaned his face, admittedly using a bit more pressure than needed.

  "Ow!" Jess pulled his face away, "What's your problem?"

  "What's my problem?" Charlie snapped, throwing the bloody wipe into the trash. "Oh I don't know, maybe you getting in a fight and then yelling at me in front of the entire school, or maybe it was the fact that the only person I thought I could count on— I can't!"

  "Look, I don't know what you thought was going to happen—"

  "I thought we were friends," Charlie cut him off, not caring about the moment of regret flashing across his face, she flew down the stairs and didn't even glance at Luke as she left the diner.

  Because, although she'd never say it out loud, Charlie Gilmore had thought for a brief moment that perhaps she was finally good enough to be someone's first choice. That someone would see her and everyone else, but continue to chose her day after day. She thought that someone was Jess Mariano.

  Charlie let her mind wander while she worked on homework or songs ever since Luke had planted the seed in her mind, the idea of Jess caring about her in a way different than she had experienced was something she liked. Charlie figured she cared about him in that way. The kind that was more than just friends, but less than love, it was something.

  Even though her mind had always been flooded with thoughts and feelings for Liam— he'd already done the worst, hadn't he? Why did she still pry at the idea of him, when he'd already slept with Emma? If he did decide to be with her, would she want that? Wouldn't it make her just like them— who'd hurt her so badly? 

  Regardless of how the swirling feelings of Liam became so tangled in the web of her brain, Charlie knew Jess could've been her something, she was sure of it, but as the Gilmore quickly walked home, refusing to cry she wasn't sure he was anything anymore.

  "Hey, Charls," Liam called, quickly matching her pace. "Charlie?"

  "I'm such an idiot," She laughed, "God, I'm such an idiot."

  "No, you aren't."

  "Yes, I am," Charlie's shield of anger cracked just slightly. "I thought you could like me, I thought we could be in a relationship— and then Jess came along and started making me happier, joking with me, spending time with me— and, I don't know, maybe I don't like him in a romantic way, but I really, really cared about him— that I'm one-hundred percent sure of, and he just— I mean he could not care less about me, Lee."

  Liam bit the inside of his cheek. She was so kind— how could someone who smoked behind the local grocery store and broke into a bookstore be the most selfless person in all of Connecticut? She gave and gave and gave and no one ever gave back.

  Not even he did.

  "Let's talk when you're a little better," He said quietly, smiling weakly, "You can come over whenever you want, or we can talk tomorrow, okay?"

  Charlie nodded.

  "Okay," Liam whispered, nearly holding himself back but with a push of courage the boy pressed a kiss to her forehead, "See you later, Charls."

  Charlie didn't stop for anyone else her whole walk home.

  "Hey! Charlie, you— " Lorelai quickly cut herself off seeing the girl not even slow down, her oldest daughter (by mere minutes) was already behind the wooden door of her bedroom. The woman looked to Rory, who seemed just as confused as she, before walking to the door. "Charlie?"

  "I don't wanna talk about it," Charlie's voice was nearly a whisper, "I'll be out in a minute."

  Lorelai frowned, but an idea formed and the woman scurried away, leaving Charlie to curl up into a question mark on her bed.

  It was almost an hour later when the door swung open, the handle clinking as it hit the wooden floor, nearly making the teen fall off her bed. Luke Danes stood in the doorway with a proud smile, a screwdriver in his hand. He tucked it away in his toolbox before grabbing the bag of takeout and entering the room.

  "That was rude," Charlie mumbled, sinking back down below her covers, "You should always knock."

  "I'll remember that next time," Luke responded, sitting on the ground beside her bed, "Brought you some food."

  Charlie's head popped out, her hair clinging to her face but her eyes were wide with curiosity, "What is it?"

  "Cheeseburger, fries, cherry cola." Luke smiled as Charlie sat up fully, accepting the food and patting the bed for him to sit with her. After a series of colorful comments, Luke finally made his own divot in her mattress, watching the girl inhale the food.

  "Did my mom call you?" Luke nodded. "And you just came running," Charlie teased lightheartedly.

  "Because you locked yourself in your room and wouldn't talk to anyone." The girl frowned, turning to her fries. "I'm not the best person for a 16-year-old girl to talk to, but I can listen."

  Charlie stayed silent, suddenly more interested in the lettuce on her burger than the man sitting in front of her, "I'm swearing off teenagers."

  "What?"

  "No friends, no boyfriends," Charlie listed off, "I'm just gonna get through high school and then leave."

  "Okay, slow down," Luke waved his hands, "I support no boyfriends— is this about Emma and that other kid?"

  "Liam," Charlie sighed, picking at her covers lightly, "Em's not talking to me anymore, and Liam is trying all of a sudden, and I just— I thought I meant a lot more to someone than I do. Which sucks, I guess."

  Luke sat for a moment, before his face turned into anger, "Was it Jess?" Charlie averted her gaze. "I'm gonna kill him."

  "Luke— Luke, no don't do that." Charlie latched onto his arm as he made his way to the front door, neither paying mind to the other Gilmores who were very obviously eavesdropping, "Luke, cut it out!"

  "Cut it out?" Luke questioned loudly, "He hurt you—"

  "No, he didn't do anything," Charlie denied sadly, making the man falter. "This was all my fault, I got angry and snapped at him."

  "You snapped at him?" Luke questioned skeptically, "Pea. . ."

  "Luke, just," She sighed, frustrated with herself, "Drop it okay? Look at me, I'm fine and not locked in my room anymore."

  "Fine. . ." Luke grumbled, crossing his arms. "Are you sure I can't—"

  "I'm not giving you my blessing to kick his ass!"

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
Luke and Charlie's friendship
might very well be my FAVORITE
thing to write oops