Chapter Two

It had been a few days and that "last time" of rest and relaxation had turned into "one more" and "I'll join you guys tomorrow, promise!" and more excuses to get him out of fighting crime. Somehow, it all worked, including tonight, allowing Henry to slump lazily on the couch and struggle to keep his eyes open as he watched a late night movie. It was 2:48am and he was hoping that the movie was a nudie flick since it was so nicely titled 'Women Do it Wetter!', but to his surprise, it was actually about some female deep-sea divers. He yawned and grabbed his remote, turning off the tv and standing up with a big stretch and groan. He was about to head to bed when he heard a knock at the door.

"Who the hell could that be at this time?" he mumbled to himself as he walked to the door then paused when he remembered just where he was. Someone knocking on your door after midnight in Dystopia always meant trouble and that was the last thing Henry was looking for. He cleared his throat and stood up straight with his chest puffed out before he spoke loudly.

"Who's there?!" he asked, trying his hardest to sound tough and intimidating. There was a short silence before he finally got an answer.

"Charlotte..." she said quietly, prompting Henry to sigh a little and go over to the door. He unlocked the numerous locks on the door, prepared for a lecture as he opened the door. What he saw instead, was his best friend standing there with her braids down from their usual neat bun, a big swollen eye, a cut on her cheek, and a busted lip. His heart stopped for a brief second before he grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her inside.

"What the hell happened?!" he asked, concerned and almost terrified to see her in such a state.

"A gang called The Dirty Dozen happened," she sighed as he pulled her over to the couch and pushed her to sit down, "They were breaking into a store when Jasper and I went to fight them, except Jasper didn't eat enough of his sleeping gum and woke up mid-fight and got his ass kicked. And while I was distracted by him, their leader Lux got a few good hits to my face and we had to run away like some fucking cowards..."

Henry felt his blood run cold as he listened to her. This was his fault, his cowardice got her and Jasper hurt. He fucked up and now his friends, and really the citizens of Dystopia were paying for it. Just looking at Charlotte, the tough little short stack who could handle anything, looking so worn out and beat up broke his heart. He wanted to say something but his mouth was suddenly dry like the Sahara, so he went to the kitchenette instead and opened up the freezer. All he had was some old Nacho Ball stuffed in there and some empty ice trays. He grabbed the huge frozen nacho ball and wrapped it in a napkin before returning to the beaten-up woman and sitting next to her, pressing the frozen ball against her eye.

"This is my fault..." he finally managed to say.

"No it isn't, and why does this smell like Nacho Ball?"

"Because it's the Nacho Ball Ray gave me but now completely frozen..." He laughed when she made a sound of disgust but he made sure to keep it pressed to her eye, "But, it is my fault. I've been punking out on missions and hiding out here. If I was with you, that punk wouldn't have even thought about laying a hand on you." Charlotte looked at him briefly before scoffing and moving away from him, holding the frozen ball of grease and cholesterol against her eye herself.

"Well, you weren't there." It was a simple and factual statement, but it stung Henry so badly. She was right, he wasn't there, and now she was hurt.

"I'm sorry..." he all but whispered, causing her to sigh.

"Don't-"

"No, really, I'm sorry-"

"Henry," Charlotte warned sternly, effectively shutting him up. He sighed and turned away from her, leaning back against the couch and running his hand over his short hair. He felt awful and he knew it would take a while for her to forgive him. Well, her and Jasper, but for some reason, he was incredibly concerned about how she felt about him. It took him a second to realize that a small sniffling sound was coming from her. He looked at her and was almost stunned to see her crying quietly. He barely ever saw her cry and the few times he did, it was for something really serious. Was she that badly hurt?

"Char..." he said softly as he turned towards her again, resting his hand on her knee only for her to lean into him completely and lay her head against his chest.

"Oh, Henry!" she cried out, sobbing at this point, "I wanna be pissed at you so badly but, fuck! I'm tired too! I'm so tired, Henry, this place is so hard to live in and I can't blame you for getting this place and hiding out. It's so hard and scary out there and I'm so tired but I don't have anywhere to hide..." It felt so good to get everything off of her chest, even though she felt so pathetic saying all this. She thought that her cyborg abilities could make her tougher but people in this city were way stronger than the ones back home.

"You do have somewhere to hide, Char..." Henry said softly as he rubbed her arm. She looked up at him curiously and his brown eyes met hers, "This place is big enough for both of us. I mean...it's only a one bedroom but that's no problem, you can come here whenever you need an escape. I promise." She stared at him for a moment before sitting up straight and wiping away her tears.

"That's a kind offer, Hen, but I can't. I can't just leave Jasper alone in that place-"

"Jasp will be fine," the blond insisted, taking his friend's hand, "I can extend the offer to him too but right now, my main concern is you. Everyone needs a break, even you, Char. Come on, at least spend tonight here."

It was such a good sounding offer. Their base and apartment were right in the heart of Dystopia, so much crime was happening there that as soon as they were done fighting one bad guy, another five were committing their own crimes. They truly never got a moment of peace or rest, which is why she was so understanding of Henry's need to get away. She wanted to get away too, but that wouldn't be fair to Jasper. They were supposed to be a team and she was committed to being a team. So, despite her desire to take him up on the offer, the stubborn woman shook her head and stood up from the couch.

"Sorry, Hen, I can't. Thanks for listening to me and for the frozen Nacho Ball, but I should get home."

"Nope," he said simply as he stood up.

"Excuse me?"

"Nope!" he answered and swooped his arm behind her knees and the other behind her back, sweeping her off of her feet like she weighed nothing at all. Truthfully, she didn't. She was a lightweight short stack whom Henry could easily manhandle. He ignored her protests and little kicking feet as he carried her to the bathroom.

"You're gonna wash up, wear one of my shirts, and sleep here. I'll text Jasper that you're spending the night here and tell him he can do the same whenever he wants to," the blond instructed matter of factly before placing her down on the cold tile floor. He quickly grabbed the doorknob and closed the door before she could escape, holding it closed firmly.

"Oh, so Jasper gets a choice?!" Charlotte shouted from the other side of the door as she tried her hardest to open it.

"Yeah! Because he didn't come to me all beaten up and crying!"

"I'm gonna kick this door down!"

"Do it and you pay for the damages and my security deposit!" And like that, the banging on the door and rattling of the doorknob stopped. Henry smirked to himself, knowing Charlotte was probably standing there huffing and puffing but not wanting to cause any damage to the apartment. Sometimes, it was so easy to get her under control.

"I'll go get a shirt for you to wear," he said with a light tone as he stepped away from the door.

"I hate you."

"Not true!" he happily retorted with a small laugh when he heard the shower turn on. He grabbed his Pear phone and quickly texted Jasper that Char was staying with him and that he was also free to crash whenever he needed to as well. He meant it, although he really hoped that he wouldn't accept the offer so it could be something for only him and Charlotte. He didn't have anything against Jasper, he was his best friend after all, but he and Charlotte were just...closer. So close that, for some reason, he took some time picking out a shirt for her to wear. She was just going to sleep in it but he wanted to pick something that looked good on her. He chose an olive green button-down, it was a color that would look amazing against her skin tone.

"Why am I even thinking about that?" he wondered to himself, shaking his head and taking the shirt out to the bathroom. He hung it on the doorknob for her before going back to his bedroom and grabbed a blanket for him to sleep on the couch. As he left his room again, he saw the bathroom door slowly open a peak, giving him a devious idea. He grabbed the shirt before she could find it and held it out.

"Here's the shirt," he mused, watching as her hand tried to grab it. He slowly pulled it away from her and watched as she slowly stretched to reach it until her arm was completely out and she couldn't reach it anymore.

"Give me the fucking shirt!" she snapped, causing him to laugh and hand it to her. He chuckled when she slammed the door shut, mumbling something akin to 'blond dickhead'. The blond shook his head and went over to the couch, placing one of the cushions against the armrest and plopping down onto it, slipping off his slippers and turning sideways to lift his feet onto the couch. He laid the blanket over himself and looked up when he heard the door open, watching as Charlotte very begrudgingly left the bathroom dressed in only his shirt, her own clothes in her arms.

It was much too big for her, evident in the way the collar slipped off of her shoulder and the bottom of the shirt stopped at her mid-thigh. Her braids were still down but more neatly so, with two near the front tied behind her to keep the other braids at bay. Droplets of water were still visible on bits of her skin, including one that rolled down the front of her neck and dipped into her collarbone, then ever so slowly rolled down her chest and disappeared behind the collar. Henry hated that because he wanted to follow the droplet and see where else it would go on her body.

"Henry?" she called out with a soft nudge of his head, yanking him out of his thoughts. That was weird...why was he thinking about her like that?

"Hmm?" he looked into her brown eyes. Her eyes were so pretty.

"I said goodnight..." she said with furrowed eyebrows, confused by his behavior. He quickly put on a big grin and nodded, laying back against his pillowed armrest.

"Night, Char!" He watched as she went into his bedroom and closed the door behind her, allowing him to let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. What the fuck was going on with his brain at that moment? It was weird, he never ever thought about Charlotte that way. He shook his head and sighed, letting his eyes fall shut. Clearly, he was just tired and needed to get some rest.