P&P

Chapter Twenty-Four

I arrived at the place Darcy suggested, which was a rustic looking café, lit up by Christmas lights. All the waiters wore top hats and black vests, and they seemed to glide as they carried trays of food around the room. The place seemed like a few steps down from where Darcy would usually eat, - or where I imagined him to eat, anyway. There were vintage photographs hung above every booth, and the tables had tea light centerpieces in glass jars with shiny rocks. It looked exactly like my kind of restaurant.

"Lizzie! Over here!" I heard from my right, and was surprised to see Charlie alone at a booth. I made my way to him, side-stepping a guy in suspenders and a girl in a floral dress and a beret. I envied her, though I never could pull off any kind of hat.

"Hey Charlie." I said when I reached the table, feeling a bit awkward. I sat down across from him, and he smiled his usual smile. "How have you been?"

"I've been good." Charlie said. "LA has been great. You know, there's a reason people can't stop singing about this city." He laughed uneasily, sensing the inevitable topic.

"So, um," I started, "About that. What was the rush behind that whole move about?" I asked him, wanting to get his side of the story. It was only fair, after all. All I wanted was to know what was going on in Charlie's head when Darcy and Caroline told him about their reservations regarding Jane. "I mean, you didn't tell any one of us that you were going."

"Yeah..." Charlie agreed, trailing off. "That was wrong of me, wasn't it?"

"You have to ask?"

"No. I know it was a dick move." He sighed. At least it seemed Charlie was still a good guy, owning up to what he did. Maybe it'd be easier to get answers from him after all. "One thing I don't like about me is that in conflict, instead of sorting things out I run away. It's easier in the moment, but in the long-run... not so much."

"I know you didn't think Jane's feelings for you were real." I told him, and his eyes widened. "Darcy told me he and Caroline interfered. They told you that she didn't seem as interested as you did, and you believed them."

"Wow." Charlie said, taking this in.

"They didn't do it to hurt you," I added quickly. "I think that they genuinely thought-"

"Yeah, I get what you're saying." Charlie said. "So I guess you're asking me why I let them intervene without talking to Jane about it."

"Exactly."

"You know, falling for someone isn't as easy and uncomplicated as it should be." He started. "I'm always afraid of getting hurt. I've been hurt before. It's not easy. And the harder you fall for someone, it's that much more painful when you finally hit the ground. I always forget to protect myself in those situations. That's where Darcy and Caroline come in."

"You know that you have to learn to protect yourself at some point. They're not you. They don't see what you see, feel what you feel. Ultimately it's up to you to decide what's right from wrong."

"I know that. Deep down, I do. But like I said," He looked up at me. "It's easier to run away from your problems."

"But not in the long-run."

Our conversation was cut short when Darcy and his sister finally arrived, and Charlie and I exchanged a look as they slid into the booth we were in.

"Sorry we're late." Darcy said as he took his seat next to me. "Georgiana couldn't decide what to wear." He gave her a pointed look, to which she rolled her eyes.