"Charlie," I look up from the rose under my nose and stood up straighter, raising a hand to wave at Frazier. "I didn't expect you to be here."
I smiled softly and walked forward, him following slowly behind me with his arms crossed behind his back.
"It's a beautiful day." I replied.
He looked up and gave me a confused look. "Are we living in different days?" As if on cue, the first droplets of rain fell. "Come inside I'll make you a coffee."
"Rain makes days better," I replied. My foot was absoloutely aching. I had probably sprained it, so my walk was purposely slow.
He sighed but didnt argue, following me slowly.
The day was grey. The sun was hidden and the rose garden was peckered with water droplets gliding down each one.
He didnt speak for a while and neither did I.
The rain fell harder around us as we made it to the clearing where it was just tall grass. I didnt hesitate to step inside, my bare feet stinging with fallen thorns.
He must have noticed. "Why are you not wearing shoes, Charlie?" He asked quietly, knowing the answer.
"I didnt have time to grab them," I replied. He didnt ask anything else.
I was wearing an old yellow sundress which fell to my calves. It was cold, so I had goosebumps on my exposed arms but I didnt care. I was content.
My hair fell over my face, wet, and my skin was flushed, dirty.
Before I could argue or process, Frazier's hand tightened around my wrist and he pulled me back into him, so I fell to his chest.
Breath racing, i looked up into his silver eyes. He was looking at me already, concern lacing his expression. He tightened his hands on my waist and I gasped slightly, colour rising to my cheeks.
"Just say the word, mi amor," he said gruffly. "I'll take you far away."
I looked down at my hands, placed on his chest. "Just hold me, Frazier," I replied in a whisper that I wasnt even sure he heard. "That's all I need from you."
And he did. He bent slightly to hook his hands behind my thighs and then pulled me up, so I was clinging onto him like a baby.
I was higher than him, so while one hand was on his chest, the other was cupping his neck slightly, my nails grazing the bottom of his hair.
We stayed like that for a while under the pouring rain, until his hair fell over his forehead and mine dangled down my back. Until I couldnt wipe the droplets of water from his face anymore.
He rocked slightly and not once did we break eye contact. Eventually, I laced my hands behind his head and leaned down ever so slightly to place my lips gently to his cheek.
And that truly was all I needed to take all the pain away.
● ● ●
I stepped through the foyer back at the house and Frazier helped me gently climb the stairs. Truthfully, I was feeling buckets better, my bruises almost fully heeled pain wise- though they were still yellow and blue and gross.
Frazier however acted as if I had broken every bone in my body 3 times over.
He took me straight to his room and helped me into bed. I quickly latched my hands around his jacket when he attempted to step back and he sighed and took a seat on the bed with me.
"Are you sleepy?" He asked, stroking my hair gently. I shook my head. "Hungry?"
This time, I nodded. He stood up and told me to wait a while till he made something to eat.
I did, staring ahead at nothing, lost in my own thoughts and contemplating how to tell Frazier that I needed to be back at work by tomorrow and that I needed to call Dan and tell him about our plan with Xander.
When he came back he had a cabbage soup with him. He placed it on the bedside and helped me take some medicine prescribed by Dawson, before he sat back and watched to make sure I finished every last drop of soup.
"I need to go out again today, Charlie," he said, sighing. I didnt react, didnt show the way my heart sunk. "My parents have been on my back about visiting and my sisters finally back in Verona. I need to go make sure shes okay."
I tilted my head. Sister? I realised that while Frazier knew everything about mine, I knew next to nothing about his family.
"When do you need to go?" I asked.
He looked at the watch around his wrist. "In about an hour or so."
I nodded then pursed my lips but I kept silent.
"What?" He asked, leaning his forearms against his legs. "Just ask, Charlie."
"Your family," I said softly. "You've never told me about them."
He sighed and hummed slightly. "Well theres not much to tell," he said. "My mum and dad are alive and well. Mum owns a bakery and Dad... well he's still leading the Mafia at the moment but less and less. My sister- Laylah- shes the youngest. She's 11 but she has the brain of a 45 year old woman. Then theres Rose. Shes 18. Prime of her life. Shes currently the opening act for my uncle Jamie. Singer."
I listened intently, nodding here and there to let him know I was listening. "We dont all live together any more. Mum and Dad spend some weeks here in Verona and then other weeks they go to Venice or Rome or America or London. Depends on who they're visiting. Rose is always travelling the world. She dropped out of school and though mum and dad both restrained against it, shes never been one to listen. And Laylah stays with Mum and Dad when they're in Verona. When they're not she either goes with them or she stays with our godfather- Jay."
I smiled gently at the way his eyes lit up. I wondered if they were like that when he spoke about me.
"They sound amazing." He chuckled slightly.
"Mum and Dad set the highest bar for love. They really set and example as to what a relationship would be." He looked at me and my breath hitched slightly. "They taught me to never give up when you're sure it's love."
I looked away, taken aback by the emotion in his eyes, afraid that mine matched them.
"Do... do they know about me?"
"Of course they know about you, Charlie." He said, chuckling slightly as if it were the most ridiculous question I could have asked. "You're already part of the family for them."
I smiled gently again.
"How's Asher, by the way?" He asked, referring to my dad.
I shrugged. "Same old, same old." I replied. "Job over family, family over himself."
He nodded slowly. "I should probably call him, huh?"
"Dont you dare," I said quickly. "I'll call him myself... eventually."
He stood then and straightened, telling me to get some rest and that Dean was outside if I needed anything.
I nodded and he placed a lingering kiss to my forehead. And then he left.
I stood almost straight after he had gone, and went to the attached bathroom, showering with Frazier's shampoo and body wash.
Then, exiting, I pulled open the door to his closet and walked inside.
Frazier Bennett was rich. He didnt have one rack with all his clothes on it. No. He had a whole room.
Walking inside, I ran a hand along all the suits hung up. They were all, unsurprisingly, designer, kept in perfect condition and replace every so often.
I made it to the end wall, where he had all his rare casual clothes. I picked up a large zip hoodie of his and changed into it. I tried on his sweatpants, but no matter how tight I did the string, they still fell down. I decided my hoodie was long enough- which it was considering it reached my mid-thigh.
I left and brushed my hair slowly, putting on some socks, and then made my way out.
I was startled by Dean, standing straight against the wall beside the door.
"Jesus," I gasped, hand flying to my chest in surprise. He didnt even look at me, just straightened further. "Dean, do you stand like that all day?" I asked in shock.
He nodded once and that was all. I pursed my lips, my eyes trailing over the large, deep scar embedded across his eye. I flinched when thinking about how much it must have hurt.
When he met my eye for a fragment of a second, confusion laced in them, I quickly looked away and cleared my throat.
I went downstairs, knowing he was following me, to the kitchen.
There I opened the door to the fridge and scratched my head slightly.
I pushed it closed slightly and looked at Dean. "You don't happen to know how to cook, do you?"
● ● ●
I stood uselessly across the counter, hands leaning against it, watching as Dean cooked with army-like skill.
Currently, he was chopping the spring onion for a vegetarian stir fry. Truthfully, it smelt amazing in the kitchen.
"How long have you known Frazier?" I asked conversationally.
Like anything else I asked him, it was a question left unanswered. I'd grown accustomed to it, and didnt mind... anymore.
I flinched and stood slightly when he cut his finger. He didnt so much as react, just silently cleaned the blood with a tissue, before he wrapped it up with another tissue and silently continued.
I stood and went around the counter, taking the knife from him. When he restrained slightly, I yanked his hand forward, back to me. For the first time, his eyes showed emotion. He looked slightly scared.
I gently led him to the cupboard where the first aid kit was and took it out. I opened it and cleaned his wound, flinching slightly and blowing on it. I could feel his eyes on my face, wide, but I didnt look up at him.
"I have bigger scars than this," he said after a while, as I wrapped the gauze around his finger, his voice low and quiet. "This is nothing."
"Its not nothing," I replied, finishing off and then finally meeting his eyes. "Bigger scars dont invalidate the smaller ones."
He gulped and took his hand from my hold. I went back to my seat while he carried on cutting.
I wasnt sure if I'd imagine it, but I could have sworn that, with his hand between mine, there had been some pinkness on his cheeks.
I shook my head. What a ridiculous thought.