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incorrectnessduskwood · 3 years

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I know I'm just posting incorrect quotes but I wrote this on Sunday after more than six months without writing anything and I liked it, so I thought someone out there may like it too. Enjoy! :D

Pairing: Jake x Charlie (my MC)

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: angst with a happy ending, spoilers for ep 8

Charlie walked up the steps slowly, her backpack weighing down her shoulders, the take-out bags of Chinese clenched tightly in her left hand. She checked her phone the hundredth time since leaving her house, making sure she had gotten the right address. The restaurant in front of the motel was a pretty compelling evidence that yes, she was in the right place, but she couldn’t help but wonder if she had gotten something wrong; if she did, this was going to be a tad awkward for whoever was on the other side of the door.

Reaching the number 543, Charlie finally put the phone in her pocket, letting out a shaky breath out through her mouth. Pushing her hair out of her face, she closed her eyes and counted to five.

You’re fine. You’re in the right place. He’ll be happy to see you, you know that. Pissed maybe, but certainly happy too. Just knock on the door and everything will be okay

Finally, she knocked twice on the door, quiet enough so others wouldn’t hear but loud enough for him to hear; she only hoped he wouldn’t think she was one of the people that were after him. Time seemed to pass slowly and Charlie started to get restless. She tapped her foot on the floor, her breathing getting shakier with each passing second that she didn’t hear anything on the other side of the door. The bags in her hand were hot enough to warm her hand and she changed them to the her right hand, rasing her left one to knock again when there was finally shuffling in the room. Quietly, she waited for something to happen: for him to ask who it was, for him to start packing all of his things in a rush or for the door to open, she wasn’t sure which one.

Not bearing the silence and the lack of reaction, she finally talked, “You know, it’s kind of rude to leave a friend waiting outside in this weather. Specially when she has brought food.”

That, at last, got a reaction from him. Charlie heard footsteps, a loud noise followed by a curse, and the sound of the lock of the door. It didn’t open but she knew it wouldn’t take long anymore. He may not have known what her voice sounded like but he would know what to ask of her to know he’s safe; and she knew exactly what to answer.

“It’s also rude to just stop by the door when we both know you want to ask something so I’ll prove who I am.” No answer. With a sigh, she continued, “What was the first thing I asked about you when we started talking?”

Silence followed by some shuffling. Then, “You asked what kind of hack programs I use and I listed four of them to you.” Charlie smiled. I knew it was him. “What did you tell was your imagination about meeting me?”

“I imagined you were wearing your black hoodie, like you probably are now. I imagined your eyes looked so familiar because you are so familiar to me already. I imagined you would hold me in your arms and tell me everything would be okay because we were together.”

It took five seconds for the lock to turn and the door to open. Charlie stared at him with a soft expression, looking for his eyes to see the familiarity she knew she would find and learning what he really looked like; Jake was tall—a lot more taller than her—his long hair was as black as a moonless sky, his eyes a clear grey, dark bags from sleepless nights under them, his skin thin and pale from being closed off for so long. He was indeed using a hoodie, but this one was a dark blue instead of black, a Metallica T-shirt badly hidden under it.

Charlie knew he was staring at her just intently, memorizing her face, and she let him. She watched his eyes wander through her face, the lines around them softening and making him look a lot younger than he actually was. Amazement was etched in his face, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and Charlie thought she had never seen someone as beautiful as Jake; she wasn’t sure if it was because she was finally seeing him in front of her, or if it was because of the way he was looking at her, or if it was just the fact that she was so goddam happy for having found him. Whatever it was, Charlie was certain Jake was the most amazing human being she had ever seen.

After a few minutes, Jake finally let out a shaky breath and tentatively raised his hand towards Charlie, hovering it over her left shoulder. She gave one tiny step towards him, placing her own hand on his shoulder and softly pulling him towards her; it was the action Jake needed to pull her hard to his chest and bury his face on her hair, his arms closing tightly around her shoulders. Charlie moved her free hand to Jake’s hair, threading her fingers through it, and pressed her ear against his chest, listening to his heart beat as fast as her own.

She lost count of how long they stood there but, eventually, her bag started to weigh a lot more than it already did and she gently pushed Jake back enough to look at his eyes. “This is all good and great but we should probably get inside. It’s freezing, my bag’s heavy and the food is just getting cold.”

Jake chuckled, his cheeks blushing as he scratched the back of his neck and gave a step back. “Of course, I’m sorry. I guess my surprise overpowered me. Come on in,” he waved his arm towards the room, waiting for Charlie to enter before closing the door and locking it once again.

Placing her bag on the floor, Charlie looked around the room; the curtains were drawn shut, the bed was a mess of pillows and blankets, there were two duffles by the foot of the bed and an array of laptops and wires on the table. Nothing unlike what she had expected from Jake. She turned to him with a smile and offered him the take-out bags. “It won’t be exactly like you wanted but we do get to eat Chinese food.”

“I think the least of our problems are not being at the restaurant.” Jake took the bags from Charlie before placing them on an empty space at the table. He kept his back to her, seeming to be clearing some more space on the table. Charlie frowned, watching as Jake avoided her eyes when he closed the laptops and put them together on the bed.

“Jake? Are you okay?”

Jake’s shoulders tensed before turning back to her, his eyes shielded by a strand of her. “What are you doing here, Charlie? How did you find me?”

Charlie sighed, raising a hand to her shoulder to press on a tense muscle. “It wasn’t easy, I’m gonna give you that. But I knew what to look for and how to do it.”

“How? I mean, I didn’t know you could hack someone if you wanted to.”

“Well,” Charlie smiled, walking to one of the chairs. “I do have a few aces up my sleeve too. And after everything that happened, Richy, Thomas and Jessy finding the kidnapper and being so close they could’ve gotten caught, that last call from the kidnapper, I just…” Charlie sighed, burying her head in her hands. “I just needed not to be alone. And seeming as I promised you I wouldn’t go to Duskwood, I’m here. I’m sorry.”

She heard the other chair scrape the floor before she felt Jake’s hands on hers. He held them on her knees, his eyes staring at her. There were a few streaks of blue in them. “You don’t have to be sorry. I—I know it’s hard to be alone, believe me. And you’ll always be welcome by my side but Charlie… You’re putting yourself in risk by coming here.”

Charlie laughed humourleslly, pulling her hands from Jake’s and standing up. “Putting myself at risk? More than I already am? Have you seen everything that has happened since I joined the group? Richy being marked and then stabbed, Jessy getting attacked, Phil going to prison. Even you, Jake! I mean, they only found you because you were helping me, otherwise, Lilly wouldn’t even know about you and you wouldn’t have been included in the video. Did you listen to that last call the kidnapper made to me? Did you hear him saying he’s going to kill all of them and then me? How much more at risk can I be in after that?”

Jake didn’t say anything but Charlie could feel his eyes on her as she started to pace around the room. She avoided looking at him, breathing deeply to keep her emotions in check; the last thing she needed was to break down now. They still had a lot of work to do and she hadn’t heard anything from the others for hours and it was all starting to get too much. What if Jessy and Thomas were caught in the end? Did the Man Without a Face know where they live? Would he go after them like he said he would? What if the only thing she would find out would be the police calling to tell her all of them were dead? What she would do them? It would all be her fault, she would have let them all get killed and—

“Hey! Charlie! Look at me.” Jake’s hands were on her face, forcing Charlie to look into his eyes. “Breathe with me, okay? Come on. I don’t want you to pass out.”

Charlie took a deep breath, following Jake’s movements, looking into his eyes and trying to count all the different colours in them.When she finally calmed down, Jake helped her sit back on the chair, squeezing her shoulder caringly. Charlie watched as he opened the take-out bags, getting a little of each container on a plate before placing it on her hands. He then did the same with another plate and sat in front of her again, their knees touching as he stared into her eyes.

“I always find it easy to do things if I’m not hungry or even if I’m eating just because. I know it can also help with anxiety if you’re the type of person that eats when anxious, which, and I’m making an educated guess here, you are.”

She chuckled softly, looking down at the plate. “You do know how to make educated guesses. I’m guessing you like to eat while you hack into things?”

Jake shrugged, taking a bite of his food before replying, “I do. Clears my head and makes me less anxious.” Charlie nodded, trying some of the fried rice while ignoring Jake’s gaze. “Charlie, you know you can trust me, right? I know I’ve some mistakes along the way but it was never my intention to put you or any of them in danger. Whatever it is you’re feeling, I want you to know I’m here for you. You can tell me anything.”

“I know, Jake.” Charlie gave him a small smile and shrugged. “It’s just… I have never felt so powerless before, you know? I’m not the kind of person that likes to be controlled, that’s why I know how to fight, why I try to learn a little of everything to have at least some kind of knowledge if I meet someone that wants to talk or do something I’m not familiar with. But now?” Sighing, she looked back down to her food, pushing it around with her fork. “When Jessy was attacked, I couldn’t do anything but watch. The same thing with all the threatening calls and the in-site search and then with Richy—” Charlie’s voice broke and she swallowed back a sob. She felt Jake put a hand on one of her knees, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I had to hear him struggle without being able to do anything. Then I had to watch him choke on his own blood as he tried to tell me something I have no idea what it is. After he dropped the phone, I stared at it for so long, just looking at the sky, waiting, wishing for him to take the phone back, to say it was a joke.” Charlie’s eyes filled with tears and she put the plate on the table. “God, I wish this was all just a bad joke. A really, really bad joke.”

Arms closed around her shoulders and Charlie buried her face on Jake’s stomach, finally feeling the dam break. Jake only rubbed at her back, not saying anything.

“How many of them am I going to have to watch get attacked, Jake? Or killed? Jessy and Thomas barely escaped without any scratches from that house. Dan almost got killed in that accident. Even Cleo’s mom was threatened because of me. How much guilt do you think I can still take it? How much suffering can I put people through because I’m the one who’s a threat to the kidnapper?”

Jake let out a heavy sigh, hugging her tighter before letting go and kneeling in front of her. He took her face in his hands and raised her head so he could look straight into her eyes. “Charlie, I can’t answer that. Not so long ago, you asked me if I thought we had gone too far and I answered how far was too far when it came to someone’s life. You told me it was as soon as someone else was in danger and I see now that you were right. I’ve been so preoccupied with Hannah because she’s my sister and she and Lilly are my only family that I didn’t stop to think that everyone in the group mean something to you; they’re your friends, too.” Charlie nodded, feeling Jake clean a tear form her cheek. “And I should’ve seen that. I know I’m not the best at… understanding other people but I should’ve realized that everything that has happened had to have taken a toll on you just as it did when I saw Hannah getting kidnapped. Even worse because you had to experience things no one ever should have. And I’m so sorry, Charlie, I truly am.”

Charlie smiled sadly, placing a hand on Jake’s cheek. “You remember when I said I thought your eyes would look familiar to me?” He nodded, his expression changing to confusion. “This is what I meant. Even with everything that has happened, I can see everything you’ve shown me through the texts in your eyes. I can see your empathy, I can see how much you care about Hannah and finding her, and I can see your guilt too. Because you also feel it, don’t you? You feel like it’s your fault Hannah was kidnapped; because you weren’t fast enough to call to her.”

“You know,” Jake smiled, turning his head so he could kiss her palm. “You never cease to amaze me. You sometimes understand stuff in a way I can only dream of. Sometimes you know things I’d rather not have anyone know to not let them get too close but I can’t hide anything from you.”

“Well, you actually can hide things from me, for a while. I’ll just end up finding out anyway.”

“That is true. Just like you found out where I was. I’m still amazed by it, to be honest.”

“Okay, it actually wasn’t that hard either.” Jake raised an eyebrow at her and Charlie laughed, gently pushing him away so she could stand up. “I shouldn’t explain just to leave you curious about it and see what it’s like when you keep things from me. But I’m not that mean.”

Jake smiled, following her towards the kitchen. “That you really aren’t. Sarcastic, yes. Stubborn? Don’t even need to answer that. But mean? No, not really. So, how did you do it?”

“Well,” Charlie toyed with the glass in her hands. “Nym-0s is already connected to my phone, that’s why he was able to warm me of the attacks, right?” Jake hummed. “Which means it’s easier for me to actually get into your phone. And considering you weren’t expecting me to hack it, it means there are fewer protections against me. I only needed your location, which is fast to find, and here I am.”

“Who would’ve thought? Tricked by my own program.”

Charlie chuckled, placing the glass back on the sink and stepping towards Jake. “I’m happy you did or I wouldn’t have found you. And I really needed to find you.”

Jake’s expression softened and he opened his arms. Charlie didn’t hesitate before stepping into his embrace. “I think I needed you to find me too. You have no idea how many times I thought about asking where you were or for you to come to me, just so we could meet. Going through all of this alone is incredibly hard.”

She scoffed, shaking her head against his chest. “You can say that again. It’s also, like… I could’ve gone to Duskwood. I know I promised you I wouldn’t, but you wouldn’t be very surprised if I did.” Jake chuckled and hummed. “But I don’t know… I know everyone there is suffering too and would help and comfort me as much as they could, but none of them are you.”

“I know how you feel. I could’ve gone too. I mean, my two half-sisters are there and Lilly is probably suffering a lot more than I am, but it wouldn’t be the same as if I was with you. I felt a lot better talking to you by text than I would’ve if I had gone there. But now that you’re here,” Jake raised her head and Charlie could feel the ghost of his lips on hers. “I feel like I can take on the whole world and win.”

“You do know I don’t make you invincible, right?”

“Certainly feels like it.”

Charlie chuckled, shaking her head. “I feel invincible by your side too. Anyone comes our way, I’ll kick their asses.”

“I know you will.”

They stared at each other, their lips so close it was unnerving, and Charlie wasn’t sure what to do; she wanted nothing more than to just close the damn distance already, but she wasn’t sure if she could. How would Jake react if she did? Did he want it as much as her or would he panic and run away? She sure wouldn’t be able to take it if he did.

In the end, she didn’t have to do anything: Jake bent down and pressed their lips together, so softly Charlie sighed and melted against him, putting one arm around his waist and the other in his hair. Jake’s arms sneaked around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, and Charlie was sure they’d soon become, though she would never complain.

When they let go of each other, Charlie stared up at him with a smile, giddiness bubbling in her chest. Jake mirrored her smile, which only made her heart beat faster. Things weren’t okay yet and they still had a lot to do, but, like she said, as long as they were together, they were invincible and they would find a way to fix everything.

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