Associate
Title: "Associate"
Author: prettysirenx/PrettySiren, etc
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Genre: romance, fluff, angst, one-shot
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I don't own Revolution. If I did, there would be more inky, star-strewn skies
Warnings: None.
Author's Note: Unbeta'd. This is for the NBC_Revolution comm's 100 Prompts prompt table; the prompt is "associate".
Charlie spun around in the white dress she borrowed from a girl in the rebel camp. It was homemade of the lightest, finest linen. She looked like a princess in the mirror, at least to her. She wondered if he would think so.
Miles stalked up behind her and looked at her through the mirror, much like he'd done at Drexel's. Seeing her dolled up was a new concept still, she supposed. But she knew he could not disapprove tonight.
"You look nice, Charlie."
She smiled. "Thanks."
"Let me rephrase that: you look beautiful, Charlie."
"Isn't that the same thing?" she asked slowly, turning to look him in the eye.
"No, it isn't." He didn't look happy.
"I don't understand," she said.
"Damn it, Charlie! I don't want you associating with that rebel boy."
She was taken aback by this new bark. "What are you talking about? It's just a date."
"It's never ‘just a date’," he said quickly. He gestured to her helplessly. "He's gonna take one look at you, and he's gonna fall in love. And that's gonna be that."
"Miles," she was uncomfortable. “We’re just going to hang out...we’re not going to, um, associate with each other, if that’s what you’re thinking.&rdquo
She looked at him expectantly, longing to see the look in his eyes that let her know everything was okay. But it wasn’t there. He’d wiped himself clean of emotion.
“You know what? Forget it. Have fun on your date.” He walked away.
Charlie cried in spite of herself and called after him angrily. “I wasn’t going to fucking ‘associate’ with him!”
She could never understand why he got so pissy; maybe she never would. She flung herself on the bed and sobbed. All of this tension lately-she didn’t understand it. Things were easier when it was the four of them. Miles was always irrational in her mind, but never like this.
And that’s what she told Nora, who heard all the shouting and came rushing in. She held Charlie as she cried.
Nora thought about it for a moment, rubbing her back soothingly. She thought about the best way to put it, when there wasn’t really one. Finally, she came to a conclusion and pulled Charlie away by the shoulders to look her in the eye.
“You can’t think of any reasons why Miles gets so insane when guys pay attention to you?”
Charlie looked at her seriously for a moment; puddles of tears crowded her blue eyes as she mulled over Nora’s words in her head. And then she laughed. She laughed so hard; she laughed at how stupid she was, how stupid he was-how stupid everything was.
Still laughing, she asked, “Will you tell my date I’m not gonna make it?”
Nora shrugged her shoulders with a hint of a smile and an arched brow. “I already did.”
Charlie beamed and ran out of the room, her boots clomping on the wooden floor and out onto the wraparound porch as she searched for Miles in whatever place of solitude he must be. She found him leaning on the railing, looking out at the fireflies as they danced in the inky, star-strewn sky.
“Why don’t you just say what you mean?” she asked him honestly.
He turned to look at her, but he didn’t respond. He was unsure. She plowed on.
“You say ‘associate’ when you mean ‘fuck’, and you say that he will fall in love with me, when...” she trailed off. It wasn’t coming out the way she wanted. She was impulsive, and it was time to use that to her advantage. She ran to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him furiously. It wasn’t but a second until he kissed back.
“I’m not good with words,” he said quietly.
They were nose-to-nose; Charlie’s feet weren’t even touching the ground.
“But you’re good with me,” she smiled. He smiled too