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♯ ❝ IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT. ❞
CHAPTER SEVEN ✧･ﾟ: * 🌪️🌀
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"ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION TORNADO OUTBREAK CONTINUES ACROSS OKLAHOMA." THE REPORTER'S VOICE ON THE TV ECHOES THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM, THE SCREEN SHOWING PICTURES OF WHERE THE CELLS WERE FORMING. Charlie walks into that same room, her having gotten away from the dinner as she didn't want to be around them anymore, and feels her stomach churn hearing what was being said.

She placed her empty plate into the sink once she was finished, and swallowed the piece of meat in her mouth as she walked back away from the kitchen. Her boots gently thump against wooden floor as she did so.

"The state will continue to see more devastating effects--" Still hearing the news, she grabbed the remote off the dining table, and pressed the button to switch channels. However, it was the same on all the other channels talking about the upcoming storms and it made her switch it all off together.

A small huff escaped her, and frowned at the black screen of the TV, her stomach still in knots from before. Hearing the news reports about the storms wasn't helping either, so that's why she turned it off to not be reminded of what she could be doing to help prevent them.

"I invited Tyler to stay the night in the guest room." Kathy's voice called from walking into the kitchen, causing Charlie to snap her head back and saw her mother sending her a playful grin, "I don't think lover boy wanted to leave you so soon, Charlie bear."

Her cheeks erupted in a scarlet tint, and frantically shakes her head nervously, "Mom, why in the world would you do that." She whined out through a sigh, "I'm sure he's a big boy and doesn't wanna hang around me all the time."

"Oh, no he does want to be around you." Kathy corrected her youngest daughter, placing some dishes away which makes a clinging sound, and turned around to face Charlie walking towards the kitchen, "Even Kate see's it. We even got a photo to prove that."

Charlie raised her brows confused at the last bit, and crossed her arms over her chest, "What are you talking about?" She questioned completely lost, only getting a knowing smile back from her mother, "Don't give me that look. What do you mean--?"

"Enough chit chat with me." The older woman interrupted her daughter, using her hands to push Charlie towards the front door and ignored her rapid protests, "He's in the shed, go talk with him. Don't come back till you have."

"Wait, Mama--" The door was shut in Charlie's face making her go pale, and groan annoyed. She ran a palm down her face cursing her mother out, as she glanced towards the barn that was lit up inside with lamps.

She knew what her mother was doing, she knew it was because Charlie refused to be with Tyler alone due to her feelings and past. That's why Kathy pushed her out of the house and demanded her to go talk with him, which she was both scared and happy to do at the same time.

Because if anything or anyone could make Charlie Carter weak to her knees, it was Tyler Owens. And she was very sure he knew that from the moment they made eye contact again after so many long, painful years.

The brown eyed girl wrapped the flannel around her shoulders more, a slight chill in the air as she trailed over to the shed. The moon was bright up in the sky, something she always enjoyed watching late at night, which was now but she obviously couldn't do that yet.

With a heavy exhale, and a strong head nod to herself, she gently touched the doors to slide them open. Her figure appeared next once the door was pushed sideways, grabbing Tyler's attention who looked up at her from the table he was leant on.

"You thought you could disrupt a tornado." His amused comment made her stomach drop, realising what exactly he had found while being inside the barn, "Who woulda thought my lil ol' Charlie was so smart like that."

She tried to ignore the butterflies she felt, and instead panicked knowing he was reading her sisters private stuff from before the accident, "Hey! Don't look at that--" She exclaimed quickly walking up to him, and tried to snatch the notebook.

"Oh, you're the OG Wrangler." He continued his nagging with a smirk, and dodged her hands trying to grab the notebook in his grasp, "'Using superabsorbent polymers to reduce moisture in the updraft, trying to collapse it like a house of cards.'" He read off the notes, ignoring her protests.

"Tyler, please give that back--" She tried once more, eyed wide and frantic, as her hand reached out to grab the pad from him. She knew how important those notes were to Kate and their group, prior to what happened, and she herself didn't want to start on how wrong it went either.

He just gently nudged her grabby hands away by grasping her left one, him now holding her trembling hand in his warm grasp between them, "I mean, you'd have to--" He stepped away from her, still flickering through the pages curious, "drop a silo of it in the funnel for any real effect."

"Well, yeah, that's why we were trying to use different reagents to enhance it." She found herself answering him, voice a bit shaky now as she had a feeling her emotions were about to explode, "It's a dumb idea that needs to be scrapped. Give it back Tyler."

"Yeah, some of your reactants are off." He agreed warily through a head nod, green eyes flickering to her stressed form still trying to grab the pad, and he just walked around reading some more notes inside, "A few of these solubility rules skew--"

An annoyed sigh left Charlie's mouth pretty loudly, as she turned around to run her fingers through her hair anxiously which gained his attention, "What? You really think I'm an idiot, don't you?" He asked a bit offended, a dry smirk covering his mouth.

Her eyes widened hearing that, and shakes her head rapidly while stuttering over her words, "N-no! No, I really don't think you're an--" She tried to tell him, fiddling with the necklace around her neck, but Tyler was talking over her again.

"Hey, modeling's got so much better." He states impressed glancing down at the latest drawing of it, and her face paled knowing he was talking about her one, "I can upload this to my laptop, link up with a supercomputer. I'm telling you, we can get a new model running, Char."

He was too busy ranting over how giddy he felt about her design, that he didn't hear her telling him to stop and saying that it wasn't needed, while he just continued talking, "It's a great idea. How did you not tell me about this before? I know we haven't seen each other for years, but--"

"Because I messed up Tyler!" Her yelling voice finally reached his ears, her chest heaving up and down as she breathed heavily, "I messed up big time. In the filed, in the moment, when it mattered, I got it wrong."

His figure paused in front of her, his face dropping hearing how shaky her voice was as she talked and saw how her hands were trembling holding the necklace around her neck. This is what he wanted, for her to tell him what ruined her love for storms, but this wasn't the way he wanted it to happen.

"I'm supposed to be this genius storm chaser, but in reality I'm not. I knew something was up that day, but I decided not to listen to my hunch and got all my friends killed." She cried out, tears burning her vision as she blinks them back and motioned to that notepad in his hands, "I pushed it too far and for what? Some childish dream I had that I could make a difference?"

A small sob got caught in her throat, herself trying to supress all the emotions she's been bottling up, "When my friends needed my skills the most, I failed them." She whispered in a voice crack, a few tears rolling down her tan cheeks now, "I even got my sisters boyfriend killed. They were going to get married, Ty, and I ruined that for them. I got my friends killed. N-now I have to live with that forever."

Tyler remained quiet for a few seconds just staring at her crying figure sadly, before he took a few steps forward to end up in front of her, "Why didn't you tell me, Char?" His own voice came out raspy, like he was trying not to cry seeing her in that state, "I could of been there for you, could of helped you when you needed me. I would of been there."

"I did try to contact you many times." She admitted softly, a few sniffles leaving her as she felt more tears roll down her cheeks, looking anywhere but his eyes, "When I did, I chickened out and decided it would be best to leave you alone. I didn't want to burden you with my problems."

He frowned at her response, wanting to reach up to wipe her tears away but forced himself to hold the notepad instead, "That's bullshit and you know that." He retorted strongly, fingers gently grazing hers that hanged on her respected side, "You could never be a burden to me, sweetheart. Never, and I mean that."

She just sniffled some more glancing away from him, and used her forearm to wipe under her nose, "M'sorry things ended so badly between us. I wish I tried harder." She whispered weakly, blurry eyes staring at his boots just grazing hers on the ground, "All I seemed to do is mess things up."

Tyler couldn't resit anymore as hearing her blame herself was his breaking point. His hand reached up to gently brush his fingertips along her cheek, and wiped away her tears softly making her gasp, now staring up at him with wide, confused eyes.

"Don't do that to yourself, darlin'." He exhaled hoarsely through a tight throat, his fingers running down her cheek to cup her face next, glossy green eyes staring into her matching doe ones, "I'm just as much to blame, I could of done a lot more to fix us also. Don't blame yourself for the accident either, your friends nor Kate would want that. It wasn't your fault, Charlie."

She broke at those words.

The weight of the tragic accident that had shattered her world all those years ago crushed her chest, making it hard to breathe. She tried to suppress the sobs, but they broke free, ragged and uncontrollable. Her friends—gone in an instant—and the memories haunted her like an open wound.

Tyler stood before her, his face etched with concern, his heart breaking as he watched her crumble. Without waiting for her to respond, he placed the notepad down, and he gently pulled her into his embrace, his strong arms encircling her trembling figure.

The moment his warmth enveloped her, Charlie collapsed into him, her body melting against his as fresh sobs wracked her. Her hands found the fabric of his shirt near his neck, clutching it as if it were her lifeline. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, her tears soaking his skin, but he didn't flinch—he only held her tighter.

The scent of his cologne, familiar and comforting, washed over her senses, momentarily distracting her from the ache in her chest. It had always been one of her favorite smells, a subtle mix of musk and pine, grounding her in the moment. She felt his arms tighten around her, as if he could shield her from the pain if he just held her close enough.

Tyler's breath was warm against her temple, his nose nuzzling into her hair as he whispered soothing words between soft kisses along her forehead, "You're okay," He murmured, his voice a gentle hum against her skin, "I'm here, sweetheart. It's okay."

One of his hands found the back of her head, his fingers weaving through her hair, holding her tenderly as though she might shatter. The other stayed firm around her waist, pulling her even closer, eliminating the space between them as if he could absorb her pain into himself. His lips brushed her temple again, soft and comforting, as his whispers continued to flow like a balm over her raw emotions.

"I miss them so much," She sobbed softly into his neck, voice being muffled by his warm skin as she was now realising all the bottle up emotions she was afraid of letting out, "I know Kate and Javi are in pain because of me, and it's all my fault-- If I just said something sooner--"

His warm lips pressed firmly onto her forehead, making her words get strangled up in her throat, "Stop doing that to yourself, Bear." He whispered against her skin, nose now resting on her forehead as his eyes were focused on the picture placed on the table of Charlie, Kate and their old friend group which were all wearing wide smiles.

"Kate's your sister, she doesn't blame you. If anything they both love you ten times more now." He added on softly running his fingers through her hair, accent becoming thicker which was soothing for her ears, "And by the looks of it, your friends loved you very much too. They wouldn't want you sitting here and blaming yourself."

Charlie took a peak out from Tyler's neck, and landed on the same picture he was staring at, which caused a wobbly smile to break out across her mouth. She saw how happy they were all together in that photo, as she was in the middle of them all and the groups arms were thrown around her figure for a group picture just prior to the tragic accident.

"You know, uh, EF1 or EF5 tornado rating," At Tyler's accented drawl speaking again removed the smile across her face, as they both slowly pulled back from the embrace, and he plucked up the notepad motioning to it, "It's not based on the size or wind speed. The power was ascribe to it, it's based on damage. Now, it's only after the face we can really define it. What it destroys, what it takes from us."

Charlie's arms slipped from his ones still holding her against him, and she wrapped hers around herself to shrink into herself a bit, not having the energy to keep talking about storms. She did felt a less of an burden on her shoulders after the cry and hug with Tyler, but her stomach still couldn't help but churn in fear.

"I am sorry for what happened." His voice dropped into a softer one once more, a slight rasp to it that had her insides flipping, tears coming to a stop. He sighed heavily, a frown creasing his brows, "But how much more are you gonna let this thing take from you?"

Her eyes went back and forth between his soft ones he was staring down at her with, before landing on the ground with a shaky exhale sniffling, "I... I think it's best you get some sleep now, Ty." She spoke weakly, tucking her locks behind her ear, "Don't want to miss any storms tomorrow, right?"

His face dropped a bit realising she was still hesitant even after their talk, but understood perfectly well enough. His frown increases, as he licked his bottom lip and cleared his throat softly, "Yeah, alright." He murmured handing her the notepad, their fingers grazing each others, and gave her a tight lipped smile.

She watched the male she loved walk away from her with a heavy heart, fingers gripping the notepad tightly as his footsteps got further and further away until he was out of the shed.

Once Tyler was officially gone from her view, Charlie slipped down onto the chair under the desk and sat on it with a sharp exhale through her nose. She placed the notepad on the desk, as a few more tears fall from her eyes, and down her cheeks.

The tears hit the paper under her elbows making it damp a bit, and she placed her hand onto her face, crying into that softly, as her shoulders tremble a bit. She brushed away the rest of the tears along her lashes, and exhaled heavily once more to recollect herself.

Her brown eyes catch the polaroid photo clipped onto the basket, which was sat on the table in the middle. Her fingers reach forward to gently unclip it, and picked the small photo up in her fingers, gazing down at it softly with sad smile.

Inside the photo was all her friends, herself and Kate once more, all smiling widely and a birthday crown on Charlie's head. She remembers that day like it was yesterday, the surprise birthday party her sister and friends planned for her, when she told them they didn't need to, but did so anyway. Her heart had never been so full in that moment thanks to them.

Her thumb runs over the words written on the bottom of it, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE BEAR' and felt a chuckling sob break free from her mouth. She knew she needed to move forward from what happened, knew she needed to save more people's life's for her friends one that she couldn't. She had to do it for them, for Kate and Javi. And most importantly for Tyler.

Charlie placed the polaroid back down on the desk, and curled her fingers under the notepad next, lifting that up to gaze at her old writing with Kate's. She read through the pages with an aching heart, looking over all the old notes and ideas she had with the group all those years ago.

She couldn't let history repeat itself. And with that she knew what she had to do.

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THUNDER RUMBLED IN THE FIERCE LOOKING CLOUDS IN THE ONCE BLUE SKIES, ANOTHER DAY ROLLED BACK LIKE IT WAS NOTHING THAT BROUGHT A STORM THIS TIME. The front door to the Carter's house was pushed open, and out came Tyler Owen's dressed in new clothes, carrying his bag and placing his Cowboy hat right on his messy blonde locks.

It was pouring rain outside also when he trailed down the steps of the front porch, the male not bothered as he walks straight into the pouring rain and now was getting wet. His white shirt clinged to his chest, and his hat was protecting his face from getting drenched.

Tyler wanted to wait some more for Charlie, he would wait forever for her if that's how long it took, but he felt like he overstayed his time at her house. So now he was walking back to his truck, soaking wet from the rain above fallen from the skies.

His figure came to a slower stop right where he knew where her room was, and looked up to try and see her beautiful face before he left, but only saw her curtain closed. He ignored the ache in his chest, and continued to walk to his red truck.

The rain seemed to get a bit more heavier, but it wasn't to the point where it was worry worthy. Tyler unlocked his truck, pulling open the door gently and chucked his bag inside the back seat, before her also hoped inside where it was warmer and dry.

Dropplets fell from his Stetson that hit his jean covered thighs, as he rested his arm on the steering wheel and glanced towards her room once more with a longing stare, wishing he could just bring his girl back from the shell she was stuck in.

However, what happened next wasn't what he expected at all. But also wasn't complaining one bit.

A sudden knock at his window caused his head to turn, and through the drenched glass he would make out the figure of Charlie standing outside. His eyes widened realising it was her, and quickly pressed the button on the side of his truck to make the window go down.

She was wet from head to toe from the rain, her hair sticking to her newly clothes and cheeks as she stared at him hopefully, fingers fiddling with her necklace around her neck, "You said you could get a new model running?"

His lips slowly formed into a charming smirk, the sides of his eyes crinkling as he looked at her in amazement, "Yes, ma'am." Was his only response in that deep drawl of his, making her eyes light up and smile brightly with a head nod.

Suddenly, Charlie reached forward, and before he could react, her fingers playfully plucked the Stetson from his head, "Hey!" He protested, his voice raised in mock outrage, but there was a smile tugging at his lips as his hand instinctively shot up to stop her. But it was too late.

Charlie slipped the hat onto her own head, the brim casting a shadow over her rain-soaked face as she grinned at him mischievously. It was a perfect fit.

There was no way that she was from Oklahoma and didn't know the rule about wearing someone's cowboy hat. He knew it too well, which is why his cheeks burned and shifted in his seat uncomfortable. Wear the hat, ride the cowboy.

Tyler's breath hitched as he stared at her, completely captivated by how effortlessly she wore it, like she was meant to. He didn't have time to protest any further, didn't have time to think about the rules further of what happens when someone wears the hat.

Because in the next instant, Charlie was spinning away from the truck, her arms outstretched, laughing without a care in the world as she twirled in the rain. The Stetson tilted slightly on her head, her hair flying wild and free, the rain soaking her completely.

But none of it seemed to matter to her. She danced, her movements light and carefree, spinning in circles, the sound of her laughter mixing with the steady drumming of rain against the pavement.

Tyler couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. It was like he was transported to another time—a flash of memory from when they were younger, when they didn't know about heartbreak or loss.

He saw her as she was back then: the same laugh, the same sparkle in her eyes, dancing in the middle of her room, her hair flying everywhere just like it was now. And he saw a younger version of himself too, sitting there in a trance, watching her like she was the only thing in the world worth looking at.

Now, years later, Tyler's grown-up self was stuck in the same trance, his heart swelling with so much love he thought it might burst. Charlie twirled again, completely oblivious to the way he was looking at her, her laughter echoing through the storm. Her soaked figure, her wild hair, his Stetson sitting proudly on her head—it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

His heart had never felt so full, so alive with love for someone else in his entire life. He couldn't take his eyes off her. There she was, his beautiful girl, dancing in the rain, completely unaware of the way she was making his heart race.

And in that moment, watching her laugh and spin under the weight of the storm, Tyler knew he would never love anyone the way he loved Charlie. Not ever.

After that little event that Charlie had to force Tyler to stop watching, the two childhood best friends were back inside the shed, the girl no longer wearing his hat once she saw how flustered he was, and were both watching the laptop Tyler had set it up.

She was a little bit surprised at how much better it was compared to StormPAR, and wondered how much money Tyler was actually making doing his Youtube job. It seemed to her that it was a good job, in all things considered and would rather do that then work for someone else.

Charlie had told Kate about what was happening, and she was straight away on board as she guessed her sister would. Kate was currently cleaning up inside the house, and getting things ready for them to leave again with Tyler.

"So this is an EF1, perfect conditions." He was telling the girl standing beside him, both at the desk looking at Tyler's screen as he typed on the keyboard, "Run your experiment, see if it works."

When he stepped back to let her in, she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, and looked down at the notepad next to the laptop, "Uh, alright, 1,500 kilos of polymer absorbing 300 time it's weight." She spoke as she typed on the keyboard.

"So, it's, uh, 450,000 kilos," He added onto her words, his figured turned so his chest was pressing into her side and shoulder, as he typed into the laptop also, "of precipitation loaded into out water-filled polymer to load the updraft. Let's see how the model responds."

A steady beeping came from the laptop now, as the simulation began to work and showed the new status it was collecting from the model they typed in. The vortex was spinning upwards like normal, and the polymer seemed to be responded well.

"Buoyancy of the rising air is reducing." Charlie noted in amazement watching the model, and felt a grin form across her mouth feeling like this one was going to work after years of getting it wrong, "Temp is doing down also."

Tyler nodded his head in agreement, his arm brushing hers which was covered by a brown jacket that he threw on before going inside the shed, "It's reducing, slowing the updraft. Charlie, in theory, this should've worked." He stated with a voice full of awe, green eyes finding her brown ones.

She glanced up at him through her messy bangs, and pursed her lips, "In theory." She remained him, shoulders slumping a bit as she sighs softly, "But it wasn't an EF1 that day. I mean... I should have realised that, we never had a chance against it."

His eyes scanned over her face for a few seconds, before his hand reached out to gently tuck a few lose locks of her hair behind her ear, "You want one?" He asked lowly, making her stomach flip as she looked back up at him, their faces a few inches apart.

She didn't miss the way his gaze flickered to her lips, nose and then eyes, which didn't help the butterflies she felt. All she did was grinned toothly up at him, and pressed her palm flat on his chest, "Hell yeah, cowboy."

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 4577
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :

short chapter so sorry but the fun bits happen next chapter and i wanted to leave it till then so i don't have a limit on how much i writeee 😜 very excited for the upcoming chapters, cause char and ty's relationship has improved a lot which means kiss scene soon (not yet though whoops)