Protocol - Part. I
Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x fem!reader; JaTP cast together; mentions of Owen Joyner x fem!reader
Summary: based on the song Protocol by The Vamps; or in which Charlie tries to deal with the aftermath of his fall-out with Y/n.
Words: 6,5K with the lyrics.
Warnings: pure angst, couple swear words maybe, mention of alcohol
Author’s note: I will began this author’s note with an apology to all who will read this. I’m sorry, for what I’m about to put you through. It’s a lot of angst. And when I say a lot, it’s the whole thing, so you’re warned. The idea came up to me when I innocently looked up the lyrics to Protocol by The Vamps, and well, this happened. It will be a three-parts imagine, all based on songs. I cried while writing this, and at the same time I was listening to the song; really not a good combination. In this part, and the following two, everyone has been aged a year (since it takes place in 2021). So basically, Y/N and Charlie are 23, Jeremy is 24, Owen and Savannah are 21, Madison is 17, Jadah is 16, Sasha is 18 and Tori is 20. Also, special thanks to my best friend @issaxcharlie for being my emotional support as I wrote, even if we were both a mess. I do hope you will enjoy this imagine, as much as I enjoyed writing it. (And I wanted you to know that I did not forget about the requests, I’m just having a hard time writing them. Bear with me)
Side notes: The lyrics to the song are in 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒔; flashbacks are in italics, and what is between “quotes” in bold and italics are text messages.
Part Two -- Part Three
𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏’ 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏’
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕
Charlie knew the moment she had slipped through his fingers. He had recently been too busy with work, being away in Vancouver to film the new Julie and the Phantoms season. He did not call her every night like he promised he would before leaving her alone in their shared apartment in Los Angeles. That’s when she began slipping through his fingers, and that was almost three months ago. She grew distant when he managed to squeeze in a call or two in his busy schedule, and she always dismissed his words of apology and the empty promises he made over the phone. Charlie knew his promises were empty, but he hoped she would at least believe them; believe his empty words. He knew he had lost when she did not bother to tell him about her day in college, like she would usually have done any other day. Their relationship was falling apart, and he believed himself to be the one to blame.
Charlie also remembered the day Y/n said she was leaving. He had managed to take a few days off from filming, flying back to Los Angeles in a hurry, excited to surprise her. Their fifth-year anniversary was coming up. But he hadn’t expected to be met with the entrance filled with brown boxes, all of them differently labelled, but always with her name on it.
His brows were knitted together in confusion, creasing a frown on his forehead and his nose scrunching up lightly, whilst his hazel green eyes landed on her lanky figure waltzing out of the kitchen with yet another brown box in her arms. The smile on his face fell completely, his gaze softening when she carefully placed the box at her feet.
The lines under her e/c eyes told him she had a rough day, the tiredness visible all over her features. Her h/c was tied in a high ponytail, a grey cardigan thrown over her shoulders and on top of a plain white shirt she had tucked into her black sweatpants. She was bare feet, as usual, but he knew the energy had worn-out of her body, the exhaustion she endured emanating from her.
“H-hey,” he whispered, taking a step ahead only to have her take a step back. “What are all those boxes for baby? What’s going on?”
He was clearly lost; he thought everything was fine between the two of them, she had seemed happy over the phone when he called her the previous night, to let her know he had more free time to call her every day. Charlie never thought she had been planning to leave.
“I’m moving back to my parents’.” She spoke slowly, her voice cold and empty from any emotions. “I can’t do this anymore Char.”
“W-what?” He asked, slightly stunned. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”
Y/n sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand as she ran the other through her ponytail, a low frustrated sigh stumbling upon her lips. She could feel the tears prickling her eyes, and she had to throw her head back to prevent them from rolling down her cheeks. She knew if she cried now, she would give into his warm embrace and back out from her plan. But she couldn’t do it anymore, not when she was suffocating.
For the past year, since the release of the first season of Julie and the Phantoms, Y/n had been the one to put all her efforts into the relationship. Where Charlie neglected her, she always made sure he had everything he needed because she loved him. She just couldn’t do it anymore, tired of always be the back picture of his life now.
“That’s the problem Charles,” she ended up saying, her eyes meeting his for the first time. “You never understand.”
“What do you mean baby?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m leaving. I’m going back to New Brunswick; my dad’s picking me up tomorrow.”
“But I thought… I thought we were fine.”
“We were… for a while. But I just can’t anymore. You’ve been neglecting me Charlie; for a whole year! I thought… I thought we could work this out, but I’m suffocating. I just… I can’t anymore…”
“I-I-I… I can try to fix this!” He exclaimed; the worry evident in his voice. “I’m sorry, please… let me fix this. I promise to do better. I-I-I… I love you Y/n!”
𝑵𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔
𝑺𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓
There was no room for forgiveness, as much as Charlie tried. Y/n was stubborn; he should know after been her best friend since they were seven and dating her since they were eighteen. Guilt slowly sunk down on him the next morning as he woke up in an empty bed. The left side of the mattress was cold, but the sweet scent of her vanilla shampoo still resided on the pillowcase she used to sleep on until last night, when she slept into the spare room of their apartment.
He heard the doorbell ring, pulling him out of the bed and he slipped on an old black sweater, making his way to the entrance hall, and he saw her standing in the doorway, hoisting brown boxes into her father’s arms who stood on the other side. He ran a hand through his sloppy brown hair, eyes fluttering shut for a short second, before he made her way towards her and helped her with the boxes that waited to be loaded into the trunk of her father’s car down in the parking lot. Y/n glanced at his figure, a grateful thin-lipped smile etching on her lips as they both headed for the elevator with the last of her boxes.
Charlie did not dare to cross the eyes of Mr. Y/L/N, knowing he was the reason behind Y/n’s broken heart. He did, however, see from the corner of his eyes the man load the remaining boxes and frames into the backseat of his car before Mr. Y/L/N took his seat behind the wheel and waited for his daughter.
Y/n stood in front of him, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her sweatpants. Her hair was tied in a make-shift bun on top of her head, the lines under her eyes a dead giveaway of the short night she had. But her lips still curved into a soft smile when she looked up to him.
“I’m sorry Y/n,” whispered Charlie, his voice wavering as he tried to hold back his tears. “Please… let me fix this, whatever this is… I-I-I… I love you…”
“I know.” Her voice didn’t waver despite the tears on her cheeks. “But this…” She waved a hand between the two of them. “Whatever we had… It has been broken for too long Charlie… Maybe it can be fixed, maybe it can’t.”
“I can try!” His voice cracked, not caring about the tears coming through. “Please baby, please. Let me try…”
“I can’t Charlie; not yet. If this… if whatever there was between us was meant to be, we’ll found our way back to each other one day. I just… I need time for myself, time to heal. And you bubs, you need time to sort yourself; understand what it is that you really want. I will always love you Charlie. Always.”
Y/n’s voice wavered for the first time since last night. One last time, she looked into his puffy red eyes; the hazel green colour of his irises glistening with the tears welling up in his orbs to follow the path of those already rolling down his cheeks.
She pressed the palm of her hands on each of his dampened cheeks, rubbing her thumbs over his reddened cheekbones to wipe away the tears; her touch soft against his skin, like it had always been. A small broken smile crept upon her lips for a second time, her e/c irises scanned his features silently, their heavy breath and the birds chirping being the only sound around them.
Charlie knew it would be the last time he’d be this close to her; he had messed up. But despite what he thought and the guilt he felt, he took it upon himself to enjoy this last shared intimate moment with her; the girl he had been in love with since he was eighteen.
His hands moved of their own accord, settling onto her hips, and he pulled her closer; their chest pressed against one another. His lips, chapped and dry, ghosted over hers, his eyelids dropping over his orbs in case she’d pull back and walk away from him. But she was the one to bring his face closer, closing in on the few inches separating them as she crashed her lips against his own; her own damp cheeks sticking to his.
Their lips moulded together, like every other time they shared a kiss, but both knew this one held a different meaning. He swiped his tongue against her lips, and she granted him access one last time, their tongue fighting each other for some kind of control over the other, as if their life depended on it.
Y/n let him be in control, tears slowly falling down her cheeks like candlewax, and only pulled away when she needed air. She licked her lips, the feeling of his own lips lingering on hers, and she glanced one last time at him, caressing the side of his face. She allowed her hand to run through his hair, twirling a strand around her fingers before she let her hand fall back to her side.
A trembling exhale stumbled upon Charlie’s lips as he watched her turn her back towards him, opening the passenger’s door of her father’s car and getting inside the vehicle.
He could see the suitcases, the brown boxes, the frames and the pictures which held so many of their shared memories, on the back seat of the car as Mr. Y/L/N drove away from the underground parking of what used to be their apartment building.
Charlie knew this wasn’t the end; that is was a ‘see you soon’ rather than a ‘goodbye’. But, as her father drove away, he knew he had lost her.
𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕
Charlie knew he fucked up. And he had no idea how to tell his parents he had lost his best friend, his girlfriend, in one day. They had loved her from the start, she was basically a part of the Gillespie family. His sister and his brothers, even his parents, always teased them about a potential wedding during family dinners. And for a moment, he truly believed he would end up marrying her. She was perfect, even with her flaws, and any man would be lucky to have her by their side.
Charlie had been one of those men; he had never meant to neglect her, and he sure as hell did not think she felt like she was suffocating in this relationship. Landing a role on the new Netflix series Julie and The Phantoms almost two years ago had been the opportunity of a lifetime, and Y/n had been nothing but supporting, encouraging him even more when he got the role.
When they filmed the first season, she had spent days on set just to see him in action, growing close to the cast in the process. Especially Jeremy and Owen, who quickly became her best friends. She considered Jadah and Madison like her little sisters, and Charlie was over the moon when he realized she got along just fine with his castmates.
Even when they were quarantined together because of the pandemic, they still kept in touch with the rest of the cast, bounding even more. They went to Hawaii together, and everyone thought Charlie and Y/n would end up getting married, just like the Gillespie family did.
Charlie never thought they would end up there, parting ways. Of course he was aware she wouldn’t be as present on the set of the second season of Julie and The Phantoms because she was busy writing her thesis for her college master degree.
But suddenly, he regretted having declined her offer to come to Vancouver when she had a whole two weeks of free time. He remembered telling her she shouldn’t come and that she should focus on her thesis; he knew how important it was to her. Now that he had lost her, he wished more than ever to have agreed to her offer. And that was two months ago.
From that day onward, Y/n declined each of his calls until he eventually stopped calling, but she never bothered to call him back, and Charlie never understood why. He had dropped it, probably too busy with her thesis to pick up the phone like he believed she was when in fact, she began planning on leaving; take time for herself.
Everyone on set noticed the change in Charlie, but no one said anything. Not even Jeremy nor Owen knew exactly what happened two months ago, though they were Y/n’s closest friends, and they worried about Charlie.
𝑨𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔
𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆
The day she left; Charlie stayed up all night. He laid on his bed, the bed they used to share together, in a starfish position with his puffy eyes focused on the ceiling above. His cheeks were red, his orbs sunken into their sockets and his lips dry. He barely ate and did not even bother to pick up the phone when Owen called.
All he could think about were the midnight talks him and Y/n used to have before falling asleep in each other’s arms; her voice echoing in the back of his mind.
“Where do you think we’ll be? In ten years?”
Her voice was soft as she spoke, her fingers drawing circles on his exposed torso, while her head rested on his chest. He was running a hand through her hair, his fingers gently grazing at her scalp, his eyes half-closed as he looked down at her. He pressed his lips to the crown of her head, humming softly as he thought of an answer. He didn’t have to, already knowing where he saw himself in ten years, but he didn’t want her to know he had been thinking about it for a long time now. He gathered his thoughts together, finally deciding on an answer.
“Well…” he trailed, his hand moving from her hair to draw circles with his slender finger on the exposed skin of her shoulder. “I see us, together. You have a silver ring with a small diamond on your ring finger, and you’re standing in the kitchen of our newly-bought house, trying to cook some pastas. I see you looking over the French windows in the living-room, smiling up to me as our four-year-old son comes running into my legs. Your face is lit up by a bright smile, and you have a hand on your round stomach.”
Y/n smiled softly at the thought, stopping her movements as she shifted around, pressing her palms against his pectoral muscles and resting her chin over the back of her hands, and she looked at Charlie through her lashes.
He smiled sheepishly, his hands moving to her back, his fingers softly brushing her naked skin along her spine.
“How long have you thought about it?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Can’t I just imagine a future with you by my side?” He answered back instead, lifting his head up to capture her lips in a quick kiss.
Y/n giggled, the sound vibrating from her chest to his, and she pressed her lips against his in a firmer kiss; lips moulding together like they always did.
Charlie chocked back on a sob as he reminisced the memories. The future he had imagined for them now only a creation of his mind; no more kisses nor good mornings and good nights, and he was the only one to blame.
He shifted around on his mattress, the bedsheets wrinkled under his weight, and he looked at the closed bedside drawer, visible under the moonlight passing through his window.
Swallowing the lump in his throat and with a trembling hand, Charlie took the handle inside his palm, pulling the drawer open. Everything was left untouched; she hadn’t gone through it; she knew to respect his privacy like he knew to respect hers. But for once he wished she had gotten a little bit curious, when he spotted the little black velvety box in the corner of the drawer, left untouched.
He took the small box between his fingers, opening the lid slowly to reveal a simple yet beautiful silver ring with small-encrusted diamonds, a slightly bigger one in the middle. He would have proposed in two days, on their fifth-year anniversary. He had planned it all in his head, but because he had selfishly put himself first, all his plans went to waste. All gone, and it’s what he deserved.
𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏
𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒐𝒍
𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒏’ 𝒂, 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒏’ 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕
When Charlie flew back to Vancouver the next week to film the rest of the Julie and The Phantoms season two, he knew his friends would notice. Hell, Jeremy and Owen were probably already aware of what had happened between him and Y/n a week earlier, because he knew her, and he knew she would have at least called one of them.
When Charlie walked on set that day, he wasn’t sure he would be able to go through all the scenes he had to film; on in particular. He was to film a scene with Madison, where they characters Luke and Julie fought together about a new character in the series, Carmen, and whose goal was to bring the Phantoms back to the Hollywood Ghost Club, under Caleb Covington’s orders. Where Julie believed Carmen was a nice girl, Luke believed she was just as bad as Caleb, if not more. Charlie wasn’t sure he would be able to handle a fight scene, after his fight with Y/n.
Madison was the first to notice Charlie’s reluctance when he walked on set with his hands in his pockets and his head hanging low. Her brows knitted together in concern, and she glanced over her shoulder to lock eyes with Jeremy, who stood by Kenny behind one of the cameras.
When Jeremy noticed the worried expression on Madison’s face, he raised a brow, waiting for her to elaborate on her confusion. And when she nodded towards their castmate, his face instantly fell into once of concern. He vaguely knew what had happened between his friend and Y/n, from the things Owen had told him a couple days ago, but he had never imagined it to be this bad from the way Charlie looked.
His fellow castmate was slouched on the black-leathered couch in the made-up studio, his head thrown back against the back rest and his eyes tightly shut, his hands turned into fists on his lap.
Jeremy watched as Madison took careful steps towards Charlie, taking a seat beside him on the couch and putting her hands over his to get his attention. Once in a while, he glanced around in hopes of spotting Owen on set, before realizing the blond actor had no scenes to shoot that day.
When Charlie lifted his head up at Madison’s touch, the girl finally noticed the redness in his usually bright green eyes, and the tear streaks staining his cheeks, his desperate orbs pleading for any signs of comfort.
She instantly pulled him into her arms, his own finding their way around her back, and he tightly held onto her, breaking down. He buried his head in her neck, tears escaping his eyes as sobs racked through his already shaking body, and Madison tried her best to comfort him, running her hands up and down his back.
“Is everything okay Charlie?” Madison asked once he calmed down and pulled away from her, wiping the tears on his cheeks.
Charlie shook his head negatively, his bottom lip quivering as Y/n crossed his mind, and he swallowed the lump in his throat to prevent more tears from rolling down his face. He would need another trip to the make-up artist trailer, that’s for sure.
“Did something happen with Y/n?” Madison quizzed, not knowing what had happen between the couple.
It was an innocent question, but enough for Charlie to break down again, ragged breaths leaving his mouth as his chest heaved up and down rapidly.
Madison’s eyes widened; something definitely did happen to Y/n, but she had no idea what and it worried her.
“What’s wrong Charlie?” She asked, holding his hands in hers to try and calm him down. “Is Y/n alright?”
For the second time since he walked on set that day, he lifted his head to look at Madison. He took his lower lip between his teeth, thoughts racking at the back of his mind. He had no idea how to answer; he was at loss for words. It’s been a whole two weeks since she left, and he had no idea how she was doing, if she were as miserable as he was, or if she was doing just fine. He wouldn’t blame her if it were the latter, but he knew her too well to know she wouldn’t just leave five years of relationship behind like it was nothing. After all, they were best friends first, before everything happened.
He didn’t know how to answer Madison, nor any of his friends when they asked him the following days how Y/n was doing, because he himself didn’t know. He had broken his own heart at the same time he had broken hers, and he had no clue how to mend them. He wanted to; he just didn’t know the protocol for fixing a broken heart.
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕
It took a month after the break-up for the rumours to start. Y/n had become quite famous within the Julie and The Phantoms fandom by being Charlie’s girlfriend, and the fans were quick on picking up the clues. They noticed the lack of photos from Charlie’s Instagram account with his girlfriend, or how his apartment seemed emptier during the couple of lives he managed to do when the release date for the second season of the show was announced, even if there were a few scenes left to shoot.
They noticed the way he looked during interviews for his other projects he had filmed beside JaTP whenever Y/n was mentioned, because neither of them had officialised their break-up.
Most of all, they noticed the pictures Y/n posted on her profile. She was located in New Brunswick, hanging around with the friends she had left behind when she and Charlie moved in together in Los Angeles. She never lost contact with them, and Y/n enjoyed spending her time with them again.
It’s when those pictures came out that the rumours started. Everyone now knew Charlie and Y/n weren’t together anymore, an no one knew the real reason for their fall-out. The fans thought Y/n had cheated on Charlie, picturing her as the bad girl and always mentioning Charlie under her posts, telling him she’d been the bad girl all along.
Even his friends and castmates, except Owen, began to believe the rumours, and Charlie didn’t have the strength to tell them they were wrong. However, he couldn’t deny it hurt him, to see so much hate under Y/n’s pictures that she had to disable her comments and turn her account private. He hated it when someone would comment on something she did, but he never said anything in return.
“I know I never said it before,” said Sasha once, “but I always thought Y/n was a bit too much. And I know you were crazy about her Charlie, don’t get me wrong. She just appeared to me as the bad type of girls; that she was nothing but bad news.”
Charlie hadn’t said anything to defend Y/n, ignoring the pleading look Owen was giving him. The blond had spent his last month trying to convince the Canadian actor to tell the truth to the rest of the cast, but Charlie always dismissed him. He knew he had fucked up, and though he missed Y/n to the point he barely even slept, he had no one to blame but himself. Yet, whenever one of her pictures showed up on his Instagram feed, he couldn’t help the soft smile tugging on his lips when he saw her bright smile on the picture she posted; how she would scrunch up her nose as her smile etched to her ears. It was a smile he loved to see on her; it suited her well. He was happy, even though he was hurting inside.
𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆
𝑻𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆
𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒏𝒐
When Julie and The Phantoms season two was done and wrapped up, the cast wanted to celebrate the moment. Of course, Charlie was reluctant, like he had been the past month whenever they were going out, but this time he was pulled by Owen and had no choice but to comply. When the night sky fell upon the city of Vancouver, a few members of the cast went into the nearest bar from where they had filmed the Netflix series, to celebrate the end of filming. The little group was composed of Madison, Jadah, Savannah, Tori, Sacha, Jeremy, Owen and, despite his multiple refusals, Charlie. And, even if only four of them were of legal age to drink alcohol, all eight of them (seven more likely) managed to enjoy their celebratory night.
That same night, Owen turned into Cupid-mode, trying to hook up Charlie with a random girl to make him forget about Y/n. That’s how he ended up in the middle of the dance floor with a blonde young woman at his arm. The alcohol from his two glasses of whiskey and Coke began to work their way through his system as he danced with the girl, side-glancing towards his friends who were cheering him on.
But Charlie couldn’t get Y/n out of his mind, even as he danced with pretty girls and shared a drink with them when they walked over to the bar. He couldn’t even take Y/n out of his mind when that beautiful red-haired woman kissed him and he kissed back, both of them intoxicated by the alcohol they had consumed.
Y/n was all he could think about, even after their night out and he was back in his own bed at the place him and Owen rented, and nothing could change that. No one ever came close to Y/n, even when Jeremy and Madison set him up on blind dates the following two weeks. Y/n was his person, and he had lost her.
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 ’𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 (𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕)
Charlie knew Y/n hadn’t told her parents what had happened, even if her father was the one to pick her up from the apartment they shared. If he knew Y/n, he was sure she had lied to her father about her motives for wanting to go back to New Brunswick.
When Mrs. Y/L/N called him on a fine autumn evening, a month and a half after his fall-out with Y/n, he didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth either. If he did, Charlie knew the woman would tell her husband, and that was just one more broken heart.
The only words he mustered up were that things weren’t how they used to be between him and Y/n, and he could clearly remember the conversation that followed.
“I don’t understand Charlie,” Mrs. Y/L/N sighed over the phone and Charlie was sure she was pinching the bridge of her nose. “What happened to you proposing to my daughter? I remember you nervously asking my husband for her hand. What happened to that?”
Charlie had contemplated on the right answer, but truth was, he had no idea on how to. He had let out a low sigh, sitting himself up on his bed, moving his cell phone onto his other ear.
“I know,” he finally answered, defeated. “I thought proposing to her would make things better, but the truth is, Y/M/N, our relationship had been falling apart for a while now. I don’t think proposing would have made things better.”
He had blatantly lied to her that evening, but in that moment he could only think about Y/n and how she would have hated him even more if he had told her mother the truth.
𝑨 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚𝒔
𝑶𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕
After the phone call, Charlie laid back down in his starfish-like position, eyes on the ceiling as tears escaped the corner of his eyes.
The world seemed to burn around him as he thought of all the adventures and journeys they shared together, first as best friends and then, as lovers. It sent his heart plummeting to the pit of his stomach, making him sick to the core and rendering him breathless as he cried himself to sleep like he had been since the break-up. Sure, it’s only been one month and a half, and you cannot just throw five years of relationship away like that, but every night he wished she was here next to him, running her hand through his hair as they fell asleep.
When he woke up the next day, he hadn’t expected the text displayed on his lockscreen. She had texted him, for the first time in six weeks.
“I’ve heard you finished filming the second season of JaTP, congrats! :)
I’m sure it’s going to be amazing; you guys always work hard to make it perfect. I can’t wait to see it.”
That’s all the text said, and it brought a smile to Charlie’s face. Despite their fall-out, she was still supportive of him, and maybe; just maybe, their story wasn’t over. After all, six weeks ago, she did tell him they would eventually find their way back to each other if their story was meant to be.
But, as much as he wanted to answer, he couldn’t find the courage to do so. He didn’t want to bring back any unwanted memories to her, and instead of answering, he pressed his thumb against the blue bubble of her text, clicking on the grey thumb up above it.
In less than two weeks, Charlie would realize it had been a terrible idea, and his beliefs of a future with her as his best friend, the same as when they were seven, burst into flames and fell apart.
𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆
𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆
Every night during those six weeks, Charlie would try to call her answerphone, dialling the number of the vintage phone that sat on her bedside table in her bedroom upstairs, in her parents’ suburban house.
And every time he called, he hoped she wouldn’t answer; it was easier to speak with her answering machine.
Charlie waited four rings before he was redirected to her voice mailbox, and he let out a sigh of relief when he heard the beeping sound, allowing him to leave a message.
“Hey, it’s me again.” He said softly. “It’s been six weeks since we parted ways and I just wanted to apologize again for not answering your text three days ago. I wasn’t sure you would want an answer from me. Owen told me you’re doing fine most of the time, but I’m convinced he doesn’t tell me everything. From what I know, I can tell you guys got closer. I’m not mad, I know he’s your friend as much as he is mine and I would hate it if you stopped talking to them because of me. They all love you. I still do.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I know you must be annoyed by now, because of all the voicemails I’m leaving. And I’m sorry. I hope you’re doing alright tonight; I know I hurt you that day. And I hope that one day, you can find in you the strength to forgive me, because I miss my best friend. I love you Y/n; take care of yourself. Say hi to your parents for me. Bye.”
And just like that, the line went dead, signalling him he had almost been cut off in his voice message.
Charlie had no clue if Y/n would ever listen to her voicemail, but he kept on leaving them every other two days. It made him feel better.
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑
𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 ’𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒇
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅
𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕
But there was a night where Charlie had it bad. It was two weeks after Y/n had sent him that text and he hadn’t answered properly. The whole day his mentions kept blowing up, but Charlie thought nothing of it, trying to get his mind off of Y/n and the best way to do so was to not look at his social media.
When the sky turned dark over Los Angeles that night, Charlie settled in the crème-coloured sofa in the living-room. The TV was on, playing some random episode of Friends in the background as he decided to sort out his mentions.
Charlie never expected to see the pictures taken by nosey paparazzies. Y/n was in the centre, her h/c hair cascading over her shoulders as her head was thrown back. The sun from that day was reflecting in the round sunglasses she wore; it matched the black leather jacket she had put over a plain white shirt. Her face sported a bright smile, one that carved dimples in her cheeks, and she had a hand over her stomach while the other held a tall cup from Starbucks and her phone.
For a second, his lips went upward into a smile, and he scrolled down to have a look at the other pictures. His stomach twisted into knots and his heart plummeted to the ground as he scrolled down. Y/n wasn’t alone; she was in Owen’s company.
Charlie’s brows turned into a frown, his nose scrunching up and the combination of the two creasing wrinkles on his forehead, whilst his grip tightened around his phone. He wasn’t mad or angry, but Owen was one of his best friends and he would have liked to know the blond had planned to fly over to Canada to see Y/n.
When he opened his Instagram account after, he was once again bombarded with mentions from his fans under the same pictures. On top of that, he had watched both Owen’s and Y/n’s Instagram stories, and the acid-like substance from the pit of his stomach came back up his throat. He couldn’t be angry; he hadn’t seen the smile on Y/n for long. He knew it was genuine, one he hadn’t had the chance to see in over a year, even when they were still together.
And everything, everything that went wrong between the two of them until the inevitable fall-out of their relationship rushed back to his mind like a train wreck. He remembered the nights before he left for Vancouver where he could hear her soft sniffles when she believed him to be asleep. He remembered the lack of touch from her as he left to catch his plane, but he had blamed it on the stress she was under. He had blamed everything on the stress she was under due to her thesis. Charlie never once thought it was because of him.
He didn’t notice the tears streaming down his cheeks until he heard himself sniffle, and he threw his phone into the empty armchair opposite to the sofa he sat on, before he walked over the kitchen cabinet and grabbed the first bottle of alcohol he could find through his blurred vision. So much for finding their way back to each other when Y/n was away having fun with one of his best friends. He wasn’t mad; he couldn’t be angry at either of them. They were as much friends as he was with Owen, but in those pictures they seemed to be so much more. Charlie truly believed he had lost the only woman he has ever loved in all his life.
He grabbed the first empty glass he found on the kitchen counter and poured himself half a glass of whiskey, drowning the whole thing in one gulp before making himself another one.
He wanted to numb the pain in his chest; forget about the new feeling that crept under his skin. Charlie was jealous of his friend, and the only way he found to drown the feeling was alcohol. Reckless? Yes, he knew as much. He could have screamed, call both Y/n and Owen when the thought crossed his mind; he could’ve called them names, but he never wanted to risk losing their friendship and decided against it.
He once again manoeuvred his way to the crème-coloured sofa, the bottle of whiskey in one hand and his empty glass in the other. But the drink didn’t help suppress the jealousy. It didn’t help him forget about everything that had happened the past eight weeks, nor the pain residing in his chest since the breakup. Charlie knew drowning the bottle of whiskey would only result in a massive headache in the morning.
He laid down on the couch, the back of his head against the armrest while he threw his legs over the backrest, and he closed his eyes shut. A heavy breath left his lips as he tried to gather his thoughts.
Regret filled him; the pictures of Y/n and Owen together stuck to his retinas whilst her smile haunted him. He didn’t know if it were the alcohol in his system or something else, but the voices in his mind; the ones of his friends and of Y/n, they kept shouting and screaming at him. He could see himself in the corner of a room, his knees pulled up to his chest as his friends towered over him, snarky grins on their face, and Y/n stood in the middle with her arms crossed over her chest. She had the same tender look, but the frown that creased her forehead showed a different aspect of her, one he had only seen once, and that was when they broke it off.
Charlie tried to muster up the words he wanted to say to her, cowering when the voices became louder in his mind and the tears silently rolled down his cheeks.
That night, he fell asleep on the couch fighting the wars inside his head. He had fucked up, and there’s was no way for him to fix what had been broken long before the fall.
༄
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