closed to eli

[thefirething]

Who: Charlie and Eli
What: Neil decided to dad at Charlie, Charlie panicked and has been avoiding Neil since.
Where: A park somewhere in Attleton.
When: After Charlie's shift at work so...early afternoon 8/31
Warnings: Charlie's in a bad mood, expect swearing.

Charlie felt terrible, deep down and all throughout, for how she'd handle Neil's concern. And she knew that's what it was; concern for her. But she really couldn't help how she reacted until she'd cussed him out and told him he wasn't her dad. Well, almost. She stopped herself before that word slipped out because that's when a thing or two hit her at once. First; it was a conversation her dad should be having, but that wasn't Neil. Second; it served as a reminder that Andy McGee was very, very gone and had been for a while. And Third? Neil had quickly become the closest thing she had to a dad in such a short amount of time that it terrified her. For his sake and hers. It made him a target, never mind the fact that no one from The Shop was there.

So she'd gone into hiding, after a fashion. She'd moved out of her Commonspace room to somewhere else, and didn't tell Neil. She went to her job as she should, worked hard, and left. But instead of returning to her new residence, she wandered Attleton for a bit. Nothing too exciting. She felt like running away, but there was no where to run to. So it was just a lot of aimless meandering. A stop at a store here to pick up some food for her new place, another stop there to food for now, a third stop to buy a new journal and pen, and a final stop to pick up a blanket to throw on the ground at the park, just to give herself somewhere to sit quietly and write.

About her day. About Neil and what happened, and each thing she wrote started with the words 'dear dad,' because that's who she wrote to.

Eventually, with letters finished, she stretches out on the blanket under a tree, looking skyward and watching clouds roll by, listening to the sounds around her. It's the sounds of footsteps nearby that has her sitting up and looking around some, finally managing a tired looking smile at Eli.

"You look familiar." Yes, she is in fact trying to act like everything is fine, that she's just a normal teenage girl out enjoying the sun, shoes kicked off and sitting next to the black and red and blue blanket she was flopped on.

Comments

[readsinbytes]

Eli's been out jogging, put his body through its paces because he enjoys it, not because someone's telling him to stay fit. He's never needed anyone's encouragement for that, and things are interesting and so far safe here. So why not have a jog or a hike--especially if he's going to be doing modelling.

That's such a weird thought, he can't help wondering what Gran and Mom would make of it. Kelsey'd be kicking trash cans that they want him and not her, he figures, and he's smiling thinking of his little sis even though he's missing her something fierce. It's not new. He hasn't seen her in what, three years?

A vaguely familiar voice calls him out of his thoughts--just in time, too, or he might've tripped over her, the blonde girl from Cake Town. He grins and drops to jog in place. "You do, too, Charlie," because he's not even going to pretend he doesn't remember.

[thefirething]

Charlies first thought? God, he's pretty. And then her second thought was very quickly concern for his safety should Neil figure out she even had that thought. The thought of Neil brings a brief moment of looking stressed, but she pushes that aside. She's talking with someone new, someone she kinda enjoys talking to.

Sitting up and resting her arms on her knees, she shoots Eli an apologetic look.

"I'm not interrupting your run by saying hi, am I?"

[readsinbytes]

Eli runs a hand backward through his hair to shake loose the sweat and then the right away again to smooth it out, while he's wishing he was better at talking to girls. Because what comes out of his mouth is so not going to be smooth, he knows it already.

"Well, yeah. But it's worth it."

He shakes his head at himself and gives her an apologetic smile. It's not his fault he gets dumb when pretty girls look like they could use a friend.

[thefirething]

The amount of time Charlie has spent with people who want to spend time with her for no horrific reason is still very, very low. So much so, in fact, that when Eli says his jog is worth the interruption, she looks briefly...confused...by the comment. Unsure. She doesn't know what to make of that but rather than let herself dwell on it, she tries a small smile.

Honestly, she's still bothered by what happened with Neil, so her emotions are more subdued than usual.

"Cool...uh..." Give her like...a second or two. "You seem to be settling in okay."

[readsinbytes]

Okay. She's awkward, too. That's cool. Not that he's always 'Awkwardtown population: me' or anything, but he doesn't know the rules of this place yet. It makes it hard to be smooth when he's not sure where to put his feet.

Now that his heart rate is slowing down, he can put his feet, and legs, in the grass and have a seat. He does that, still smiling at her. "It's not that different from home most of the time. And things like running, you can do them anywhere. So it helps, you know? Doing stuff that's familiar."

He pointed his foot at her, touched her shoe with his. "Are you doing okay?"

[thefirething]

"I'm...not sure." She wanted to lie and tell him she was fine and all, try to have some kind of normal afternoon or whatever, but she couldn't. She didn't even know why she couldn't, but there it was. There he was; one of the few people she knew that she just couldn't be dishonest to. He didn't deserve it. It was as simple as that.

"There's this person I met. Guy named Neil," she says, pushing her hair out of her face before continuing on. "About 20 years older than me. He arrived a little bit after I did and we met when some asshole was trying to steal my backpack. It was an interesting day. He's kinda been looking out for me since, but then we had this argument about some guy I spoke to for like...two seconds. I got mad because it was a conversation my dad should have been having with me, and my dad has been gone for about six years."

She really hopes Eli can understand her problem.

[readsinbytes]

Eli did what he did best, listened and watched, reading the broad gestures, like her pushing at her hair, and the smaller ones, like the way she was trying not to look at him too hard. She'd meet his gaze, so it didn't read like shy or nervous, but more like she wanted something and didn't know how to ask for it.

He gave her an encouraging smile and nod about halfway through, the point at which he decided that this Neil wasn't a creeper he needed to expose on the network. And waited for her to get to the end of it.

When she did, he knew he wouldn't be able to fix it, but he got it anyway. "You miss your dad. That's normal. And I mean, it's nothing I've experienced, but I think anyone trying to step into that place would be uncomfortable. Especially if you like them. Because maybe it feels a little like betraying your dad. Or maybe like you've been doing okay without him, and you're not sure you want someone taking his place."

[thefirething]

Admittedly, there was something about Eli's encouraging smile that made Charlie feel somewhat better. Like he was telling her it was okay to be bothered and upset by Neil's behavior, even if it was still a reaction she'd thought really ridiculous. She nods slightly at what he says, briefly making a small not so much face at the idea that she was doing okay without Andy McGee when she never once thought she was. But like most of her facial expressions that come when she fails at keeping some emotions back, it's brief. She doesn't want to let Eli in on the fact that life had been rough and terrible since Andy died.


"Something along those lines, yeah. He was all I had after my mom died in a home invasion, so..." Yep. Going with home invasion, so not technically a lie. "And then when he died, it was just me so it's very...weird having someone step into his roll when I don't think he's been gone too long."

[readsinbytes]

"Oh wow." Eli sat forward, his gaze locking on Charlie. It wasn't pity in his eyes, for sure, but... "Wow, that sucks about your parents. I'm really sorry."

Whatever he'd been through with his parents over the dyslexia and the gangs and everything, at least they'd been there. They'd always been there. He couldn't imagine how much worse it would've been if he'd lost one of them, or god forbid Gran.

"But yeah, no wonder it feels weird. He's stepping on your memories, and that's... most of what you have left. Maybe you can tell him that? Because it sounds like he's a decent guy who just doesn't get that not having your dad doesn't mean you're ready for another one."

[thefirething]

God bless good listeners. And God bless the rare person who could read Charlie's emotions better than she could. She got so used to stuffing them down and walking away from the situation that having someone point out to her what she's thinking about and how she's reacting before she can figure out what's gong on really helps her greatly.

This is points in his favor, that's for certain. So as she listens, she smiles softly at him, looking less alarmed at her situation and more on the path to being at ease with it.

"It kinda does, yeah. And like...I get it, he doesn't know that he's been doing it...but it's still so unsettling that I really have a hard time not getting angry about it." Which, with the face she makes, she realizes might just be stupid and ridiculous of her.

[readsinbytes]

"Hey, no, don't." That face she's making. It's like she's blaming herself for this and it's not her fault.

It's not really this Neil guy's fault either, but it's definitely not hers and she's a kid and he's an adult. Gran's always saying it's their job to know better. And if he wants to be her Dad then he definitely needs to figure it out.

"I'd be pissed too. Good intentions and all that. But even more, if I didn't ask, I don't care how much I like you, back the hell off, you know?"

[thefirething]

Charlie brings her knees up and wraps her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees and watching Eli very carefully. What he said was accurate. It was every concern she'd had, every thought she'd had in regards to Neil trying to be a father-figure. She didn't want another one. She didn't ask for another one. He was putting his foot where Charlie currently didn't think it belonged.

Not to mention, it was too close and too soon. So she's quiet as she listens to Eli, idly toying with the end of her ponytail as she thought of everything they'd spoken about.

"Thank you. For letting me talk. I appreciate it."

[readsinbytes]

"Sure," Eli answers, even if he's not sure he really did much. He plopped down in the grass and let a pretty girl tell him about a problem she was having. Doesn't seem like the sort of thing he should be getting thanked for, but what does he know about normal people?

"Newbies have to stick together, right?" Lame, but it's what he's got. And he kinda doesn't want to stop talking to her. She's the only person besides Derek that he's met who doesn't seem straight out of fiction, even if he and Derek basically could be.