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♯ ❝ HANG ON THERE, COWGIRL. ❞
CHAPTER TWO ✧･ﾟ: * 🌪️🌀
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  CHARLIE KNEW THAT ONE DAY SHE WOULD SEE HIM AGAIN, THAT MAYBE BY CHANCE THEY WOULD MEET UNDER THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES, SHE JUST DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE storm chasing, the very thing she tried to forget and put to bed for many years now. But, it looks like she was back into action that moment Javi came to see her, and she was faced with someone important from her past.

      Javi looked over to his partner Scott, who was staring at the sisters behind him strangely, and he decided to take the data tablet from him, "Let me see this. Alright, Char." He spoke now turning to her, as she perked up behind Kate, "Which storm should we chase? I think you should pick the first one."

      Charlie shuffled in her spot, glancing at her sister nervously seeing the encouraging expression on her face, "A-ah, alright--" She squeaked taking the tablet from his hands, her camera now wrapping around her shoulders, and gripped the device in her fingers tightly.

     "There's a nice-looking cell over to the east." Scott speaks up his input at her lost look on the tablet, placing his sunglasses away in his pants, and pointed to the direction he said on the screen, all while raising his brows up at the quiet girl.

      Kate gave the male a warning look hearing the comment to her sister, and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to seem intimidating to get Scott to back off. It did somewhat work when Scott pursed his lips, and stayed quiet behind Javi, who's eyes didn't leave Charlie's figure.

      A few locks of her blonde highlights were blowing gently in the wind, as she bit her bottom lip staring down at the screen with the weather and without realising it was now walking off away from the group, heading somewhere she could think and work her magic. She didn't even hear the comment made from Scott, too busy focused on finding the feeling she lost.

     Her head to lift up when she heard many other pairs of footsteps following her, and grimaced at bit at the group following her, "Uh, it's been a while." She states fiddling with the tablet, eyes finding Javis' and Kate's ones, "I might need a minute to figure this out, please."

      Kate instantly nudged Javis' side with her elbow, to which the male understand also straight away, "Don't worry, Charlie. You got this, that's why you are here." He reassured through a soft smirk, before turning back to his crew that he knew were making her stressed, "Alright, guys, let's go. Everybody get their last bathroom break in."

       Scott added on a few comments also as the group listened, and went to walk off towards the little diner that was inside the fuel station, while he, Javi, and Kate waited outside near the vehicles, all watching Charlie also walk off towards where the grass was away from everyone. They weren't the only ones to realise that though.

     Over near the other side of the parking lot, Tyler Owens was signing a few T-shirts for the fans that came up to him, "Alright, see you out there." His words were formal, like he would usually tell the supporters, and had his normal charming grin when he addressed them.

      His lifted his gaze away from the crazy group around him, his sunglass covered eyes finding the figure of Charlie wondering off near the fields, and felt his own heart leap a bit, but masked it without another too of a wide smirk. One that sent the fans yelling around him, but he paid no mind to that, and headed over to where the girl was.

      She exhaled heavily through her nose, having trouble getting rid of her nerves as she couldn't remember the last time she was involved in a chase, "Come on, Charlie. You got this." She mumbled to herself, coming to a stop just before the edge of the road leading off into two directions.

      Her brown eyes gazed over the environment around her, seeing how the dark clouds were already forming off in the distance, and how the wind was picking up by the minute. She tapped her fingers along the tablets side, and inhaled deeply to calm herself down once more.

     "What is she doing?" Scott questioned Javi confused as to why the girl was standing around like an idiot, and pacing back and forth around in the same spot. He was with his partner in the job, and Kate near the vehicles, all watching Charlie work.

     Kate had a small smirl covering her mouth, and shared a sly look with Javi, who shrugged his shoulders, a wide grin appearing as he glanced to the judgemental Scott, "She's doing her thing, man. Just watch and see, she's got this."

      Back over with Charlie, she placed the tablet under her armpit to bend down to puck up a dandelion from the grass, as well as some dirt in between her fingers. Once she had those, she stood up to her full height, and let both of them go to see which way the wind picked them up the most compared to the cloud movement.

     She watched the white little pealds fly off into the wind west, and how the dirt was instantly sucked away by the force behind it. Her brows furrowed seeing that happen, and pulled out the tablet from under her arm, holding it back in between her hands tightly.

    "You know, I used to do that, too. But, I'm sure you'd know that."

      Her breath hitched hearing the new, but familiar voice. She didn't bother to turn around yet, but her stomach dropped. There he was, stepping up to stand beside her, his boots hitting the ground with a confidence that immediately made her heart race. It had been years, but there was no mistaking him.

    Tyler Owens.

      He was older now, much older, and the boyish charm she remembered was replaced by a rugged handsomeness that took her breath away. His blonde hair, once a tousled mess, was now neatly trimmed under the stetson, and his green eyes—those same eyes that used to sparkle with mischief—were sharper, more intense. He looked different, more serious, more weathered by life, but she knew it was him.

       But something else lingered beneath the surface, something that made her chest tighten. He was different now, not the sweet boy she used to run around with in the fields, not the kid who used to share secrets with her under the stars. There was a hardness in his expression, a distance that wasn't there before. It was as if the storms they both loved had weathered him in ways she couldn't quite grasp, or maybe it was because of her. She couldn't tell.

      And she knew she was right when she took a peek at him from the corner of her eyes, and saw how his sunglasses were off to reveal his handsome features, now completely changed. It's not like she didn't expect that though, people do grow and surely he has, he had grown up too perfectly.

    "Long time no see, Charlie." His tone was a bit bitter, and it made her face scrunch up hearing it, as he faced the front with a charming smile regardless, "So, where are you comin' in from? I mean, since I don't know where you've been all this time."

     She pursed her lips trying to keep her emotions in check, and leant her weight on her left foot staring ahead also, "New York." She muttered now feeling his intense gaze on the side of her head, and she internally screamed.

     "Hm, well, your new place is a long way from home, cowgirl." He turned to her fully when he spoke, an amused smirk being worn as his eyes shamelessly gazed over his grown up childhood best friends figure, "So, you like working for StormPAR?"

     Charlie only then decided to take a brave move, and turned her head to meet his eyes, her stomach instantly flipping once she met his green ones, "What's that supposed to mean?" She barely got her question out, years of suppressed emotions and memories all flooding back the more she looked into his eyes.

      Tyler raised his eyebrows up also confused, but mostly surprised, opening his mouth to say something but was cut off from another voice talking over him, "Tyler! Do we know which storm we're going after yet?" A male with glasses came running up to them, and carried a camera just like she did around his neck.

     The said male hummed in acknowledgment, and turned his strong gaze back down to Charlie, hat covering his forehead as he tilted his head, "Well, why don't we ask, Charlie?" He promoted in a bit of a snarky tone, another bitter grin appearing over him, "From what I can remember, she knows a lot about them. She's just not good at communicating her knowledge about storms though."

     Yeah I deserved that.... she thought to herself sighing at Tyler's obvious jab, meeting his hardened gaze briefly before turning to the other male with a kind smile, "Ah, yeah, hey. I'm Charlie. Nice to meet you." She greeted him, ignoring Tyler completely now and lifted up her hand.

    "And I'm Ben." The glasses male told her smiling also, and lifted his hand up to grasp hers in a gentle handshake, "I'm a reporter, doing a piece on American storm chasing." He added once their hold dropped, and motioned to Tyler who had a tight lipped smile, "Tyler's letting me ride along."

    "Yeah, Ben just had to promise to write," The old bullrider patted Ben's chest in a friendly way, that smile breaking out into a toothy one instead now, "nothing but good stuff about me." He remained a bit, which made Ben chuckle amused holding his camera.

     Charlie had to stifle her snicker with a cough, which brought their attention back on her, and she nodded her head politely at the two, "Good luck with that then." She says quickly, not daring to glance back at Tyler as she tried to walk away, but of course someone stopped her.

     "Hang on there, cowgirl." His drawl of those words made her stomach fill with butterflies once more, and she paused mid step to glance over her shoulder at Tyler who smirked daringly, "You didn't say which way we were going yet."

     She rolled her eyes a bit annoyed, and lifted her hand up to signal for him to continue, which he did gladly, "Now, from what I gather, west, we double our chances." He pointed to the direction he said, and did the same with the next, "East, well, it's high risk, high reward."

     "Well, go for the reward." Her voice came out sarcastic now, as she decided to play his little game he was doing, and a smug smirk appeared over her mouth next, braids flicking over her shoulders when she moved them, "You don't want Ben to think you're boring, right?"

     Tyler scoffed under his breath, and bit down on his bottom lip, before he grinned arrogantly, "Now, boring is not usually a problem for me, Charlie." He stated in a deeper drawl, green eyes burning the girl in her spot in front, "You of all people should know that."

     Each time he said her full name instead of her nickname, that he specifically made for her was like a pinch to the heart, but she masked that emotion with a confident one, "Right. The two cells to the west are fighting over the same inflow. They'll choke each other out." She began to explain, making slow steps up to Tyler that had his adam apples moving as he gulped.

     "This one to the east has the sky all to herself." She lifted her finger up to point behind Tyler, as it just grazed against the flannel he was wearing, "Moisture, wind shear, instability. All the things you need to give Ben a good show." She finished giving him a tight smile, as he looked down at her with a charming smirk, one that she knew was fake in that moment.

     Her brown eyes flickered between his green ones, trying to read what emotion he was showing, but found nothing like she expected. And because of that, she clenched her fingers around the tablet, and span around on her heels to begin walking off away from him.

     "City girl knows her stuff, Ben." Tyler now spoke in a bit of a snobbish way, another jab at her that she knew it was one, but she continued walking until he repeated what he said even louder expecting a response, "I said, city girl knows her stuff, Ben."

      Charlie span around in her spot quickly, a scowl across her face that was aimed at her once childhood best friend, "Thanks for the compliment, Owens." She bitterly said back, head tilted to the side smugly, "Maybe if I work real hard, I could be a Tornado Wrangler, too. Just maybe though."

     He watched the girl now walking away from him with a dopey grin, one that showed his perfect teeth, the male being in a bit of a trance after the interaction with her, while Ben looked confused between the two, wondering what was happening.

     Tyler also knew that his Charlie was still there, even if he hasn't seen her for many years, she was still there. Proved his point when he saw the camera he gave her still around her neck, close to where her heart was. He just had to get her back, and coax her out to him.

      The girl cursed herself as she stomped her way back to the others, a groan leaving her at their first interaction for years. That wasn't how it was supposed to go, but if it was going to act like an idiot to her, then she would do it right back, ten times worse. She did deserve it though, afterall she ruined something good between them.

     "We want the cells to the west." Was Charlie's only words the moment she arrived back beside Kate, and Javi, as she handed the male the tablet who took it with a wide smile knowing she was back into her old self a bit.

    "Uh, the one to the east has much better numbers." Scott intervened from the side confused, lifting his finger up to point to where he was talking about, which caused both sisters to turn their matching gazes to him, and Javi snickered at Scott's paling face.

     Charlie squeezed her sisters arm feeling her concerned gaze, and moved forward to stand in front of Scott, shaking her head rapidly, "No, but you are right. The conditions don't feel right however." She corrected fiddling with her camera, "Cap is too strong. It'll never break, trust me."

     "You heard her. Let's move." Javi slapped the tablet into Scott's chest to stop him from arguing anymore, giving him a look that made him nod his head tightly, "Alright, let's move, fellas." He calls out to the group, just as they started to head over towards the vehicles.

     Kate's eyes stared at her sister worriedly when they got into the car, noticing her fidgeting and now her knee was bouncing a lot. She knew it had something to do with seeing Tyler again, and the fear of being in a chase once more, "It's okay, Bear." She reassured softly, placing her hand down on Charlie's knee to stop it from moving, "Don't stress so much. We've got this."

      It did work when her knee slowed down the movements, and Charlie sent her sister a small smile to show her gratitude, before facing the front of the car where Javi sat in the driver seats. She tried not to freak out once more, when they passed Tyler's figure where she left him and Ben, but focused on the road ahead.

     "I thought she told us east." Ben said a bit confused to the male, who was watching the car drive away with the woman whom still held his heart and soul, as he was the only one whom understood what exactly happened, "She's going the wrong way?"

     Tyler pulled his sunglasses off his collar to slip them over his eyes, and an excited grin broke out across his mouth, "Nope." Was all he said licking his bottom lip chuckling, before quickly running off back to where his crew was to follow alongside Charlie's group.

     All the StormPAR group were in vehicles driving fast along the road, as Javi and the sisters were in front of them all leading them along. This gave Javi a chance to talk with Charlie, who was busy snapping shot outside with her camera through the window, "What did the tornado cowboy have to say? I assume that's the one you know?"

     She jumped a bit in her seat at the sudden question, hands fumbling with the camera she almost dropped, and laughed nervously, "Oh, you know, exactly what you'd expect--" She trailed off, ignoring the knowing gaze from Kate sat beside her, and saw the now forming storm in the grey sky, "Oh, look! Updraft is cycling."

     Kate nodded in agreement, turning her deadpanning expression away from Charlie, and looked down at the laptop in her lap, "Okay, let's take a right up here." She told Javi, using her finger to point at the next turning section that cut off from the main road, and Javi listened making the other vehicles follow close behind.

      Lighting would sometimes flash in the grey skies, the clouds looking more fierce the more they drove down the road, and it instantly made Charlie's mind drift back to the accident. She tried to shake those horrid thoughts away, and distracted herself with the view outside, how the wind turbine closest to them was rattling, and close to breaking off from the wind.

      "It's forming just like you called it, Bear." Javi stated smiling proud of his best friend, giving her a quick glance that she sent him a grin back, and he pressed down on the ear piece around his ear, "Scarecrow, Tin Man, get into position. Wizard, stick with me." He ordered his team, and they listened like usual, them now splitting into two groups.

      Charlie continued to gaze outside with an anxious expression, her eyes moving back and forth from the part of the sky to the other, "So, what's the plan?" She asked Javi trying to take her mind off of her fears, and saw more lighting struck in the sky, which immiulated the dark clouds.

      "So, we want a 3D scan of the entire area around the vortex, which means we're gonna," He started to explain to both sisters, who looked at him as he talked and drove them along the dusty road to their location, "surround it with three radars, each one pointed at the tornado. All the data that they send will be received by Wizard. We just gotta complete the triangle."

      There was a hologram on the screen where the radio station was, it showing what Javi was talking about, and it made the girls nod their heads in understanding. While Kate and Javi talked a bit more about the plan, Charlie blocked them out to squint her eyes looking through the windshield, to spot the tornado now making land fall on the grass field where they were going to pass.

     Her shoulders squared up now becoming a bit more serious, as she placed her camera around her neck with the straps, and held onto her seat when Javi started to drive faster. However, something, or rather someone, was pulling out in front of their truck, and onto the road quite dangerously.

      Kate's arms had wrapped around Charlie's back to keep her secure from the bump, as their truck swerves out of control, and Javi struggles to control it with the wheel. Her brown eyes managed to spot a familiar red truck, and felt her blood boil realising who created the unnecessary bump in the road.

     "That stupid idiot--" Her exclaimed curses were cut off with her yelping, as the truck was now driving along the grass field very messily, and she gripped onto her sister's figure for dear life, wishing the ride was over already.

       "It's like the wild, wild West out here!" Javi also commented in a loud voice, driving over another small hill in the grass with a grunt making the sisters exclaim alerted. He managed to pull back onto the road once more, but almost took out his own team inside the larger van, and now tailgated Tyler's truck in front of them.

       Charlie slowly sat back up from being inside Kate's embrace, giving her sister a quick once over to check if she was alright, before turning her attention to the red vehicle. Her eyes narrowed on it, watching the truck dangerously once more swerve off the road and into the field they were ran off into by him.

      Her throat felt more tighter the more Tyler's truck got closer to the tornado, and tried to reassure herself that he knew what he was doing... even if he acted so recklessly about it. She ran a hand down her face stressed, and looked at the laptop where the tornado's path was, "Javi, we need to take a right-- Actually, there."

      She pointed her finger over Kate's head to the sharp turn up ahead in the road, and Javi listened now moving the wheel to turn into that direction, the vehicle driving along the road. As they did so, the trio saw the bunch of people parked and watching Tyler's reckless skills on the field, which didn't help her anxiety either almost watching his truck get sliced up by the falling wind turbine.

     "That's the Tyler Owens effect." Javi scoffed out to the girls, beeping his horn at the crowd cheering for the male driving like an idiot in the field, "Wizard, hang back. Get those hard drive fired up." He ordered through his ear piece, and heard Wizard's acknowledgement, as his vehicle came to a slower stop then their one.

      Charlie heard a beeping sound coming from the laptop in her sisters lap, and shared a wide eyed expression with her, "The path is shifting." Kate spluttered out to Javi, motiong to another turn they had to take in the road, "Okay, there's a right coming up."

      The road already had try marks on it which signaled another vehicle drove along it already, and Char felt her stomach twist seeing how close they were getting to the storm up ahead. She gripped her camera in between her hands, that being her comfort zone through things that made her anxiety rise.

      "Where, Charlie?" Javi asked a bit loudly over the heavy rain pouring onto the vehicle, his dark eyes flickering briefly to the quiet girl before back on the slippery and bumpy road, "We got to be within 300 meters for the radar to work." He added, hearing his other team members saying they were all in position over the ear piece.

      This made him pull out two pair of glasses from the side of the car, and handed them to the sisters quickly, "Okay, take these." He said just as the two grabbed them, and Charlie remained quiet trying to scan the area the best she could through the heavy rain, "Come on, Char, Kate, talk to me. We getting close?"

       Charlie swallowed the lump in her throat, slipping on the glasses as she nodded her head rapidly, "Y-yeah, just up there in the clearing." She tells him in a shaky tone, pointing at the clear patch on the road in between the field and dirt.

      Javi pulls to a sudden stop at that information, and span the car around to pull in backwards on the clearing. Now she pushed open the door straight away, and hopped down from the truck to enter the harsh weather outside, as Kate followed after her with Javi on the other side.

       While those two went towards the back of the tunk where the device was, Charlie's wide eyes behind the glasses slowly walked up to where the tornado was a bit in front of them in the field. Her heart was beating fast, lose locks of hair blowing around her as a few stuck to her wet cheeks from the rain.

      She felt like she was in a trance, frozen in her spot staring up at the storm in both fright and amazement. She missed the feeling of standing in a storm, feeling the rain running down her skin in patterns and the gentle crease of the wind. But at the same time, she felt like she was meeting death itself, and she was terrified.

       Her hands were trembling against the strong grip she had on the camera, wanting to try and take a photo but she was unable to move from her spot. She heard the wind howling in her ears, and her own yell when she just barely managed to dodge a lone piece of derbi flying through the air.

      "CHARLIE! Come on--" Someone was shouting at her from behind, and felt a hand grasp onto her wrist roughly to tug her away from the danger. Her widen eyes found Kate's matching ones, the one who grabbed her and was running towards the truck, her wrist still being gripped tightly.

       Kate quickly pulled the door open with her free hand, and gently pushed her twin inside the seat, before getting in herself to close to door shut behind her. Javi hoped into the driver seat's again wondering what Kate had planned, and he pressed on the gas to drive off a few meters away from the spot they were in.

     "What is it? What do you see?!" Javi frantically asked the girl driving the car, trying to keep a steady control on the wheel as he pressed on the ear piece once more to talk to the others in the team, "Hang on, guys. We're gonna find a closer spot."

      Charlie remained quiet gripping onto the seatbelt that wasn't around them, and looked to her sister with wide eyes, who was breathing just as heavy as her. Kate then reached out across her to hit the side of Javis' arm, "Stop here! Stop--"

       Javi of course listened knowing they knew best, and came to a harsh stop in the ditch on the side of the road, not knowing what Kate exactly just did. While he was getting out of the truck, he soon realised where they were from the tornado, "We're too far!" He yelled annoyed, clenching his jaw to calm himself down and slammed the trunk back up roughly.

      Charlie winced hearing him outside the truck, feeling guilty that she didn't say anything or try to stop Kate, but she knew her sister was just as scared as she was. Her eyebrows raised a bit however when she heard another truck pulling up, and a small groan left her seeing it was none another then Tyler with his partner and Ben.

      She heard him taunting Javi which seemed was usual for him to do, and felt her heart leap a bit when Tyler's gaze found hers through the window, it getting worse when he tipped his head up to her, a smug, but charming smirk over his face, "Hey, Charlie."

      The girl groaned sinking into her seat to hide away from his view, and heard his chuckles fade as he drove off towards where the storm was. Kate sent the male a glare before he did so, and kept a protective arm around her sister's figure, silently offering support.

      "'Hey, Charlie' He says." She mimicked him in a funny voice making Kate snicker amused, the brunette's head popping back up once the male was gone, and pushed open the door to jump down from the truck. She took off her glasses from her head, and comes up to stand beside Javi with her sister, watching nervously where Tyler was driving off to.

      Her jaw dropped in complete shock when the red truck drove straight into the tornado, eyes once more wider then usual as she never thought Tyler would be that reckless. But then again, she hasn't seen him for so, so long, and time does change people, which it has in this case for him.

     "That damn idiot, I swear--" She muttered to herself concerned, just as fireworks were exploding inside the funnel of the tornado and how it made it light up in different colours, "He's insane. No way those are fireworks!" She exclaimed over the loud noise, and gripped onto Kate's forearm.

      "He is insane." Javi agreed with an annoyed sigh, a frown over his brows as he turned around to walk back to the truck silently, and it made the sisters share a look with one another, before following behind him hearing Tyler and his group cheering after they left the storm.

       Charlie slipped into the car seat last, and closed the door behind her as she got comfortable beside Kate. At the sound of wheels scrapping up along the ground, she turned her head sideways to be met with Tyler's truck once more, and met his amused gaze through the window like last time.

       Before she could say anything, Tyler leaned his forearm against the wheel, lifted his free hand, index finger pointed upward, and began swirling it in the air in a playful movement. The gesture was both familiar and new—a callback to their shared love of storms, but with a twist that hinted at the man he had become.

      Charlie sat there flabbergasted, her mind racing to catch up with the sudden flood of emotions. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She was caught somewhere between amusement and shock, her heart pounding in her chest.

     Tyler chuckled, clearly satisfied with her reaction. He gave her a quick, mischievous wink before revving his engine and driving off, the dust kicking up in his wake.

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 5162
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :

oml sorry for the long chapter guys i know not many ppl are reading this but still i get carried away when i write for fics i really love and especially since im in love with glenn and tyler too sooo LMAOAO not a great combination for someone like me who likes to write so much 😔