Chapter Eleven

The sound of birds chirping and a loud car horn pulled Charlotte out of her deep sleep, a soft yawn leaving her before her hand blindly searched for the familiar figure from last night. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she felt the bedsheets instead and she finally opened her eyes a little. The sun shined into the room from the window, shining directly against the empty spot next to her. She rubbed her tired eyes and propped herself up onto her elbow, looking around in slight confusion. Was last night just a dream? A really good dream? She could feel the soft sheets on her bare skin and she could feel her curls tickling her skin, so either she was way too drunk last night to put on a bonnet - she extremely doubted that - or, she had sex so good that she passed out right after. That was much more likely, but she wondered where her lover had gone.

"Oh, shoot," he said softly as he spotted her. She looked towards the door and smiled softly when she saw Henry enter the room, only wearing a pair of joggers that hung low on his hips and holding a tray of food in his hands. So, last night really did happen. He walked over to the bed and placed the tray down on the nightstand before climbing onto the bed and leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. She reached up to cup his face, caressing his cheek gently just to make sure he was really real and this was really happening.

"I was hoping to wake you up myself when I brought you breakfast," he mumbled against her lips. She smiled at that and laid back against the pillow to look up at him.

"You made me breakfast?"

"I tried to make those cinnamon buns you like," he told her, "They're more like cinnamon discs now but the flavor is kinda there!" They shared a laugh before they fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's presence. He pressed his forehead against hers and looked deep into her brown eyes. She used to hate it when he did that and stared deep into her soul, seeing parts of her that she never wanted anyone to see. Vulnerability wasn't something she ever enjoyed, but she could probably get used to it when it came to Henry.

"So, last night..." he started, his eyes a little insecure as he swallowed a lump in his throat, "was...was that okay?" Charlotte laughed softly and pulled him in to kiss him once more.

"It was amazing, Henry. Incredible," she confirmed and he gave her his signature wide dimpled smile. She brushed a hand over his hair as he pressed soft kisses to her collarbone, soft content sighs leaving her.

"Good," he spoke against her skin before looking at her again, "Because I meant it when I said I loved you last night. I'm really in love with you, Char." Her chest felt heavy and she could feel a lump traveling up into her throat as she listened to him. She could cry from his words alone, it was all just so overwhelming. It was a good type of overwhelming. Charlotte had never been loved like this by anyone, and for her to feel this kind of love from her own best friend just made it even better. She could barely form the words to say in response, so she kissed him, using that to convey all the feelings that her words just couldn't express. Henry knew her so well, he could easily make out all that he wanted to say with the way she kissed him so passionately and held onto him so tightly. He was so happy that she felt the same way. Soon enough, the breakfast and failed cinnamon bun were long forgotten as the two got completely lost in each other.

***

Charlotte stood at the counter of the cafe she worked in, wiping down the counter and glancing up at the clock. One more minute and she could go on her break and call Henry. She had some news she really wanted to tell him and Jasper, and while Jasper was going to meet her there, she knew Henry would be busy with work. He had gotten a job teaching fighting techniques to kids and teenagers at a gym, putting all his hero skills to work. The bounties that they got the few times they fought crime were big, but they still needed some income to fill in the gaps when they weren't fighting, and for the big change that was about to happen in her life.

"Finally," she muttered when she saw the time. She turned and took off her apron, tossing it aside and grabbing her phone as she announced she was going on break. She looked to the door when she heard the little bell ring, smiling when she saw Jasper enter and gasping when Henry followed him.

"Hey!" she called out excitedly as she quickly walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he leaned down to hug her tightly. They squeezed each other slightly before pulling back to share a kiss, Jasper letting out an exaggerated gagging sound.

"Cut it out! People are eating here," the raspberry blond grumbled. The couple separated with a chuckle and Charlotte looked up at her boyfriend.

"What are you doing here?"

"Jasp said you had some news for us and I wanted to hear it in person, so I asked my boss if I could take my break earlier. Plus, I missed you," he said with a small pout. She cooed and pecked his lips softly, stroking the back of his neck.

"Aw, I missed you too, Hen," she told him as she nuzzled their noses together.

"You two live together," Jasper deadpanned, "I didn't see you guys for an entire week because you were holed up in your apartment banging on every surface. You text each other all day, what time do you have to miss each other?!" The two of them looked at him, Charlotte a little concerned for him, and Henry just annoyed.

"You're so bitter," the tall blond told him, earning a smack to his chest from his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'm fucking bitter," the other confirmed as he went to an available table and plopped down in a chair, "Char, what's your news?" She smiled and took her boyfriend's hand, pulling him over to the table. He sat down in the chair next to Jasper and she sat in his lap.

"Okay, so you guys know how I took a gap year from Stanford then deferred again so we could stay here longer?" she asked, smiling when they nodded, "Well, I did some applying to some schools here in Dystopia and I was able to basically switch my enrollment to a great school nearby! I'll be starting in just a few months!"

"Whoa!"

"Holy shit, babe, that's awesome!" Henry exclaimed and kissed her happily.

"I'm so excited to finally be starting school. It's not Stanford, but schools here in Dystopia are still highly accredited and having a degree from them is still a big deal. The school is just 15 minutes from the apartment so I can drive there easily. It's all perfect." She practically beamed with excitement and Henry loved to see it. He knew she always wanted to go to college and get a good degree and have a good career, and now she was finally doing it. He couldn't have been happier for her.

"I have some news for you guys too!" Jasper said with an excited grin.

"Please tell me you finally got a girlfriend so you can stop moping over us dating," Henry said, remembering how many times Jasper has texted them to hang out and whined over them spending so much time together since they started dating. Charlotte kept saying they hadn't been the best of friends towards Jasper lately but they were in their honeymoon phase! Henry just wanted his world to be all Charlotte 24/7.

"No," he sighed, "my girlfriend quest has died. So, I decided to get back into bucket collecting!"

"Oh God," Charlotte sighed and Henry rolled his eyes.

"No, no, listen! There's a cool website called IAmABucketeer dot dys and you can meet other bucket enjoyers in the area! I met this really cool guy named Cas1407 and we're gonna meet here!" he said excitedly to his unimpressed friends.

"And why is this news?" the blond asked.

"Because I will finally have another friend and not have to deal with you horny fucks all the time." Henry laughed at that while Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"And how will you know who Cas1407 is?" she asked curiously.

"I told him I'd have on a brown bandana and a brown plastic bucket," he answered as he held up a bucket. Henry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, wondering where the hell he got that from, "And he'll be wearing a blue hat and holding a blue bucket."

"Uh, like them?" she asked as she gestured towards the door. Jasper and Henry looked over and both of their jaws dropped. At the door stood a statuesque Dystopian girl with long jet black hair and a blue hat on her head. She held a blue bucket in her hand and curiously looked around the café before smiling when she spotted Jasper. She walked over to the table and smiled warmly.

"Um, hi! Are you...JaspHeartsBuckets67?" she asked. The boys simply stared with their mouths open and she quickly began to feel self-conscious, looking between them nervously. She wore a low-cut tank top and skinny jeans and she began to wonder if there was something wrong with her outfit or how she looked. Charlotte rolled her eyes and kicked Jasper's shin underneath the table, quickly snapping him out of his daze.

"Oh! Um, yeah!" he said as he stood up quickly, "Sorry, I just thought you were a guy...your username had Cas in it and your profile said you were male." She laughed softly and nodded.

"Yeah, Cas is short for Cassandra, my name! And I have it set to male because guys can be weird towards female bucketeers."

"Okay, come on," Henry finally spoke, "is this a joke? I mean, why does someone who looks like you care about such a stupid hobby?"

"Henry," Charlotte warned, giving him the look.

"Well, I love how versatile they are! They can hold anything!" she explained and Jasper gasped.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, "Liquid, solid, water, rocks-"

"Candy, slime, little snails!" she continued.

"And they're totally functional! You can use them for handy work!"

"You can even sit on them!" Cassandra exclaimed happily.

"Am I in the twilight zone? Did I just fucking die?"

Henry questioned both the situation and his sanity. Charlotte chuckled and stood up, taking her boyfriend's hand and pulling him up as well. She glanced at the time and saw that she had three more minutes left on her break. She tugged the tall blond along as he stared at Jasper and Cassandra rambling on about buckets. The shorter woman pulled him outside and nudged him to get his attention.

"I guess Jasp got himself a girl after all!" she laughed. Henry nodded dumbfounded before looking down at his girlfriend and smiling. She was so beautiful, he was so happy that he could finally call her his girlfriend.

"I love you," he told her and kissed her lips softly, his arms finding their way around her waist again.

"I love you too, Henry," she said with a happy sigh. He grinned and tightened his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning around quickly, her squeal and excited laughter making his heart swell.

Before he was with Charlotte, the city felt like a miserable crime dump. He hated it there and he longed for home more than anything. But now, he couldn't help but see the beauty of the city. The birds' songs were beautiful, the nightscape was mesmerizing, the food was delicious. He loved the bumpy roads, he loved the new experiences, he loved the shitty little apartment that was now a home for both of them, he loved the people, he absolutely loved Charlotte. Dystopia wasn't that bad at all, it was incredible - because she stayed with him.

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A/N: So, that's the end! I want to give a big heartfelt thank you to everyone who read this story. Whether you were a silent reader, someone who left comments, or someone who voted and followed the story, I appreciate every single one of you. As I mentioned before, I haven't written in a long time so I was nervous about posting this, especially because the fandom isn't what it once was so I also feared that no one would read it. The story struggled to gain views on here, and I can understand why as this ship isn't popular anymore, but I'm still happy about how much it achieved. I can confidently say this isn't going to be the last you all see of me. I'm currently working on three new chenry stories, one of which is a sequel to this! I do plan on posting the sequel here, but I'm unsure about the others since there doesn't seem to be as much of an audience here, especially compared to ff and ao3. I'll think it over. All that being said, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed it!