“Do you understand me?”
“Tomorrow we’ll talk about this, but for tonight, don’t expect me home. Don’t expect anything from me after how you’ve treated me tonight.”
“Charlotte…” I hear his voice soften, “… I need you to come home.”
“Lex, please just go. I’ll be home in a few hours. Sleep this off, and we’ll talk about it then,” Charlie responds, defeated.
The sound of the door slamming shut echoes down the hallway. Charlie walks into the kitchen, taking a seat beside me. She doesn’t make a sandwich, instead lazily grabs a slice of bread and shoves it in her mouth whole. I pour her some juice, and she drinks it in one gulp. Just like me, she looks wrecked.
We finish and turn off the lights, heading upstairs. Climbing into my bed, it brings back memories of our childhood and the countless sleepovers we had. It’s as if she can read my mind, and she brings up the old days.
“I remember sleeping over at your house when we were like eight, and we had just watched Nightmare on Elm Street. Lex tried to spook us by wearing his Freddy Krueger mask.”
I laugh in response. “I think I shit my pants, God honest truth.”
“Gross, and I thought you had just farted in fear of your life.”
We both fall into a fit of laughter, bodies shaking as we try to compose ourselves.
“Sometimes, I’ll have these weird flashbacks and be like, wow, I had a crush on Lex way before we actually hooked up. I remember how every time I came over, your mom would make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sneak in extra jelly. One day she wasn’t there so I tried to make it myself. I must have been like ten or so. I wasn’t getting it quite right.” She laughs to herself then continues, “Alex, not Lex, walks in and catches me doing it. He is rambling on about his peanut butter and that nobody touches it, so to annoy him, I dunked my finger in his peanut butter.”
“Oh God, what did he do to you?”
“He said to me, “bet I can gross you out more,” then grabbed my hand and sucked the finger that had peanut butter all over it.”
“How did I not know this?”
“Because I was so grossed-out and embarrassed. Remember, it was the day I left your house crying.”
“Oh!” My memory is coming back. “That was the day Lex said you had mono and not to bring it up because you had shit your pants in the kitchen.”
“Are you serious? What an asshole!”
“You married him,” I remind her.
“Yeah, he’s my asshole.”
Shaking my head in disgust, I turn to look over at the clock. It’s just after two. If tonight didn’t play out like it did, I’d have been in Julian’s bed making sweet love until I couldn’t walk, just like he promised.
“Adriana, give Lex time, okay? It’s no secret how much he despises Julian given the past. I hope that eventually, he’ll come around but just don’t expect miracles overnight.”
“I know, but now it’s out in the open. Julian and I can just be a normal couple, no more hiding.”
“And what does Andy think about him?”
“Andy loves him. I mean, Julian is great with Andy.”
“That’s what I was worried about,” she confesses.
“Isn’t that a good thing, though?”
Charlie exhales loudly. “I know he is your brother, and you know him well, but Adriana, he loves Andy like his own. I may not be the only issue here, but the fact that another man walks into your life and Andy falls in love with him.”
“I never really worried about that,” I admit.
“Tonight, he was an ass, but maybe, and only a suggestion, both of you should stay away from each other. Just think about Andy.”
She has a valid point. Now that Julian and I are out in the open, I want to devote as much time as I can to him. Avoiding Lex won’t be a problem, just seeing his face sent me into a fit of rage after his outburst.