Chapter 7

“You really don’t have to make breakfast, Charlie, you could’ve gone home” Pete said when he came down into the kitchen. I shook my head quickly. “Hey, it’s the least I can do after you let me sleep here last night.” “It was all Bronx.” I smiled and shrugged. “Oh, well. Do you want pancakes?” “I mean, now that you’ve made them” he grinned. “Oh, by the way” he said, pointing at my outfit. “If you don’t wanna wear your dress, I found a few clothes that you left here and they’re clean so I brought you some down” he said, handing me dark blue shorts and a white top covered in cherries, both items I recognized but hadn’t missed. “Oh, thanks, this is actually really getting uncomfortable” I said, gesturing towards the dress. “Well, you still look like you’re at home here” Pete said with a light smile and I took a deep breath, unsure of what to say.

I heard a key turn in the front door. “What did I bring last night’s chinese food for if it smells amazing in here?!” The door shut and Gabe appeared in the kitchen door frame. “There has to be a girl here, you can’t bring anybody home when Bronx is here, Pete … oh. Charlie, hey…” he said, clearly surprised to see me. “Hey” I said with a smile. Gabe put down the paper bag he had in his hand and took off his jacket, hanging it over the chair, avoiding my gaze. I smirked because it was making him nervous that he had no idea what was going on. “And where’s the little guy?” he asked and walked back into the hallway. “Oh, hey, champ, there you are!” he exclaimed and came back into the kitchen with Bronx on his arm.

“I’m gonna go change real quick” I said and hurried into the bathroom downstairs. “Oh, feel free to change here!” Gabe called after me. I quickly put on the top and shorts, then slipped into my boots that were standing by the door when I came back out. “I trade chinese food for a pancake” Gabe said when I returned to the kitchen, obviously trying to make things less awkward. I turned off the stove and put the eggs and pancakes on different plates, sitting down on a stool by the counter as well.

Pete poured everybody coffee and made Bronx some chocolate milk. “So, what’s Charlie doing here?” Gabe asked after a while of silent eating. Since Bronx was busy fighting with his pancake, I caught Gabe’s eyes and pointed at my stomach, then at Pete. His eyes almost popped out of his head and he choked on his coffee for a second. When he was done coughing it out, he stared at me. “Really?” he whispered. I nodded. “Really.” Pete was staring at his plate and Gabe shook his head in disbelief but he was also smiling. “Wow” he whispered and I rolled my eyes. “But, we’re not telling anybody, not yet” I added. “Tell who what?!” Bronx asked and his head snapped up by the mention of something that could be a secret. “That you’re awesome. It’s our secret.” He rolled his eyes. “Oh, please, everybody knows” he replied. Gabe held his hand out over the table and Bronx gave him a high five. “I taught him the sass” Gabe said, snapping his fingers in a Z-form. I laughed. I had missed them, all of them.

Once we were all done, I wanted to clean up but Pete sent me out of the kitchen. Before I could even try to leave, Gabe had already put his arm around my shoulder and lead me to the couch. “You haven’t grown.” “I think I’m not going to grow anymore either” I said and looked up at him, he was already a lot taller than Pete but he just towered over me like a giant. “So, when did you find out?” he asked, lowering his voice. “Yesterday. And I came down to tell Pete last night. Bronx wanted me to stay over when he saw me, that’s why I’m here” I explained. Gabe smiled and sighed deeply. “He misses you.” He made it sound like he meant Bronx but I knew he was talking about Pete. “I miss him too.”

Bronx came running out of the kitchen and snatched Gabe’s snapback, putting it on his own head which it was far too big for. “Hey, you got your own, little man” Gabe said and took it back, holding it so far up that Bronx couldn’t reach it so he dropped down on the couch and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Asshole” he said. “Woah! I didn’t teach you that word so you can say it to me!” Gabe hissed. Bronx stuck out his tongue at him. “Don’t you behave like that around your mother or she’s going to kill me and Pete.”

Speak of the devil, the doorbell rang and Pete came jogging out of the kitchen, obviously stressed, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s Ash” he said before opening the door and smiling at his ex-wife. She was wearing tight jeans and a red blouse, the same boots as me, how lovely, and a white coat. She took off her huge sunglasses. “Baby, where are you?” she asked and Bronx jumped off the couch, running towards her but not without Gabe’s snapback that he had grabbed when Gabe hadn’t been paying attention. “Hey, mum!” he said and she knelt down to kiss his cheek.

Ashlee stepped into the house and looked around until her eyes met mine. Gabe saluted her but she didn’t notice, she was staring at me. “Are you guys back together?” she asked and took her eyes off me finally but only to stare at Pete. He shook his head. “No, I…” I got up and Gabe understood the hint. “Bronx, come here real quick” he said and Bronx ran away from Ashlee but also from Gabe because of the snapback. Gabe started chasing him and I walked over to Pete and Ashlee. “Charlie’s pregnant” Pete explained, keeping his voice down. Ashlee’s eyes widenend. “What?!” I nodded as a confirmation. “I only found out about it yesterday so please, don’t tell anybody.” “No, of course not” she said quickly. “I just … I just think that you guys need to talk this through, have you only started talking to eachother again yesterday?” We both nodded. She rolled her eyes. “Talk it through before you tell my son. Bronx, come on! We’re leaving!” she said and Gabe came down with Bronx under one arm and his bag in the other. “Sort this out!” she hissed into our direction before she took the bag and Bronx’ hand after Gabe had let him down.

Bronx looked up at me. “Charlie, are you going to be here next weekend?” I shrugged. “I don’t know yet, sweetie but I’ll try, okay?” He smiled. “Okay.” Ashlee shot me and Pete both a meaningful glare, then closed the door behind herself and I could hear her heels clicking on the ground.

Gabe breathed out exaggeratingly loud. “Well, what now?!” he asked cheerfully. “I should go, I have work.” “What do you do now?” Gabe asked. “She wouldn’t tell me last night.” I rolled my eyes. “You wanna know? Fine. I work at a magazine that has a lot of talented writers but our editor has just decided that it will go downhill with all the other gossip magazines instead of doing something meaningful with it. And if I don’t write a piece about our relationship, she’s going to fire me.” Pete raised his eyebrows. “What?!” “She indirectly pretty much said I owe her since she hired me even though there’s that video of me and Benji going around online.” Pete gasped and his fists clenched. “She can’t do that.” “What a hoe” Gabe laughed.

Pete shook his head, then took a deep breath. “Charlie, you can move back in here and we can try to find you another job.” I pressed my lips together, trying to stay calm but I couldn’t. “Things aren’t the same anymore!” I shouted forcefully but ended up sounding like Barbie herself. Gabe and Pete both looked at me as if I was insane. I let down my shoulders. “Come on, guys. I need to do things on my own, I’m not Princess Peach that you can save from everything.” Gabe laughed at the reference but Pete’s face stayed serious. “I don’t think you can’t do it on your own, I just don’t want you fighting, I want to help you. You shouldn’t struggle, you should get everything you want.” “I don’t want things to always be easy for me just because I know you. I don’t need favors, Pete.” “So you’re going to write a piece about our relationship?” I sighed in desperation. “I don’t know.”

Gabe raised his hand like a school boy. “Are you taking suggestions for other options?” he asked and I smiled weakly, nodding at him. “Yes, Gabe.” He laughed. “Right, if you’re saying there are a lot of other talented writers, I bet they don’t want to write all that gossip bullshit either. Why don’t you ask around, find out if they’re also interested in doing something more meaningful? And if you find enough brave souls to build a team, you can try to start your own little project. Pete could publish it at Decaydance, right?” Pete nodded eagerly. “You could try that, you’d be doing it all on your own, you’d just get a little support from me. You used to say you wanna write properly again.” I sighed and I was actually liking the idea, really starting to like it when I realised that I had actually talked to some people about wanting to work somewhere else. The only question was if they had the guts to get started and then when it’d come down to it actually stand up to our boss and quit.

I smiled at Pete and Gabe. “Thanks, guys. I’ll think about it.” “It’s worth a try” Gabe shrugged and I nodded and got my tiptoes. hugging him tightly. Then I got my bag from the kitchen, put my dress in and slid into my jacket. I hugged Pete as well and he kissed my cheek. “Call me during the week, yeah?” I nodded and waved over my head before disappearing around the corner and down the street.

Even though I was wearing heels, I ended up walking all the way home but it was sunny and the weather always effected my mood. Things weren’t going so bad after all. Things might’ve seemed shitty but I knew that I could always count on Pete, even if I forgot that sometimes.