Play It Again, Charlie (55 page)

He hated being like this the way he hated hospitals. He could still feel the sick worry in his stomach, the residual panic from staring at the empty doorway. He could work harder, though, fight the bad mood and the pain and smile if he had to. At least Will hadn't left yet.

“There isn't much to talk about.” He had to speak up to be heard over the rushing water. His back muscles were locked tight, but Will wanted him to talk and he didn't want Will to go. “About myself.”

“Oh really?” Will's tone was suspiciously mild, not that Charlie was in any condition to question it, or to be ready for Will's next questions. “How long were you in the hospital? Who took care of you, your sisters? Do you have, like, a screw or pins in there? Did you have to learn to walk again?”

“Will.” Charlie stopped him, partly so Will could inhale. Then he jerked his eyes away from Will and stared at the water level as it rose. The big scar was distorted, but visible. “I was in the hospital on and off.” He rolled his shoulders. His skin was stinging. “I had emergency surgery, then a few others.” At Will's look of alarm, he rushed on. “It's not as bad as it sounds.”

He raised his head. “Hospitals want you to recover at home now. I was lucky enough to have my family around to look after me.” Lucky, right. “The surgeries were just a matter of getting the bone to knit back together.” And when it hadn't completely... . “I have screws, yes.” He rubbed at the scar, then met Will's stare. “My therapist assures me that some of the pain is in my mind.”

“Physical therapist?” Will asked. “Or
therapist
therapist?”

“No.” Charlie swallowed but kept his face smooth. “Both. But I was ordered into therapy.”

“They'd have to order you, wouldn't they?” Will snorted and then moved to turn off the water. The silence wasn't as tense as it should have been, but Charlie was studying Will anyway as Will sat back upright. “Since you are obviously like this with everyone, I'm trying very hard not to be mad at you, by the way.” Will crossed his arms, then uncrossed them. “You aren't relaxing.”

“I mean,” Will went on before Charlie could so much as open his mouth, “you just brushed off
multiple surgeries
. You ask anybody else about their past and they're only too happy to talk for hours. Well, too bad for you, because I have you where I want you.” Charlie flinched when Will's voice shifted to what could only be described as stage villain, then he flinched again when Will walked his fingers over his shoulder.

“Someone's a tense honey bear,” Will observed smoothly. For all his nerves, he was clearly making an effort to stay where he was. “Why don't you take the other pills? Are you scared of getting addicted?”

“No.” Charlie didn't comment on the
honey bear
, but he was getting edgy again. He needed to know what Will was thinking with all of this. He wasn't asking for Will to take care of him. “I don't like how they make me feel. Are you really curious about this?” Of course he was, Will was curious about everything, but it was too late to take it back.

Will looked startled when Charlie met his stare, then hurt, though his pout could have been for dramatic effect.

“It's not that interesting,” Charlie insisted softly. Will snorted again. He seemed about to say something, then shook his head.

“Did you want one of those pills now? Something stronger?”

“
Will
,” Charlie warned him, and he got splashed for his trouble. Water trickled down his cheeks, but he only continued to stare. Will had better not have anything he shouldn't have up in that apartment.

“Seriously,” Will went on, touching Charlie's shoulder again and frowning. “Do you? I can bring you your pills. And I might make some coffee. I am going to need it today.” He rubbed at his neck. “Guess I slept funny too and I have places to be.”

“You really can't stay today?” Charlie hated how needy he sounded, though Will brightened. He smiled, and it was almost worth the agony.

“I have an hour or two and then I have to go. But I can come back around lunchtime.” Will poked Charlie's nose, then wiped away the water on his face.

“You don't have to,” Charlie added quickly. He'd been pathetic enough already this morning. “If you're busy I don't want to trouble you.”

“Hmm.” Will waved one hand. “There's a lot in that sentence, Charlie. Like, a
lot
.” Will's gaze flicked over Charlie's face, and Charlie had to fight to stay impassive. He wasn't sure it worked, because Will made a small noise and flapped his hand again. “But I'm tired and you're in pain. So how about I just say that I'll be stopping by after noon and you had better be rested up.” Will leaned in for a suggestive whisper. “Because you owe me. In case you've forgotten.”

Charlie stared at Will's hand disappearing under the water, then brought his eyes back up to Will's face.

“Thinking about your hip right now?” Will's fingers skimmed over the scar tissue, then down over his thigh. Charlie slowly shook his head. When he finally leaned back, felt the hot walls of the bathtub press into his muscles, Will flashed him a smug grin. For a long moment there was a brighter pain, and then it all slid away, melted, as Charlie's body relaxed. He realized he was panting, and then Will's hand brushed his dick.

“So why not take your pills and relax so that later you can do me right?” Suggestive was too mild a term to describe Will's tone now. He wet his lips and breathed in when Charlie's eyes went to his mouth.

“I haven't eaten, and they upset my stomach.” Charlie exhaled softly as Will's thumb glanced over the head of his cock. Then Will pushed out a breath as full of quiet longing as Charlie's had been and went back to trailing circles around the scar with just his fingertips. Charlie blinked and tried to focus. Will hardly seemed to notice, though he pulled his hand from the water.

“Really?” Will bit his lip. “I wish I could make you something. Maybe bread— toast? I can make that. Or, you know, if that's a problem, I think there's a tea. My sister gets the flu like every year and she swears by this
tea
.”

“Tea?” Please not ginger tea. Ann had tried to get him to drink that and it was terrible. Will stood up and pulled out his phone with a gesture for Charlie to hush when he tried to say that. “I don't like tea, Will.”

“Crap. The little battery is flashing. Can I use yours, just for a second?” Will grabbed it from the sink and dialed as he put his phone back in his pocket. “Don't act like you're too busy getting ready for work and pick up, Boo. I have a question.” Will waited, and Charlie realized he was getting his sister's voice mail but was waiting for her to answer anyway. “Call me back, beesh. She's probably screening the unknown number,” Will explained as he ended the call and came back over.

He stared at the phone, which did not ring with her return call, then sighed.

“It's fine. I can make breakfast and coffee if you just wait,” Charlie tried, and Will turned that frustration on him with a sigh that shouldn't have been possible it was so big.

“I can survive on toast, Charlie, you don't need to panic.” Charlie thought about pointing out that Will was the one raising his voice and gesturing wildly, but didn't get a chance. Will studied him. “I am going to make coffee. Then toast. And you are going to sit there until you're pruney, okay? I know I don't have to,” he added preemptively only to abruptly go quiet. “I just... want to. Now, stay.”

Will stared him down for a long moment, apparently fine with confusing Charlie even more by giving him orders, then bent down to drop his phone onto the small rug and pick up the mess of clothes on the floor. Or maybe he was embarrassed underneath his attitude, at what Charlie didn't know.

“I'll, um... .” Will didn't look up as he put the clothes with the rest of Charlie's laundry pile, then ducked out of the room. “Be right back!”

He wasn't out of the room a minute when the phone rang.

“Will.” Charlie peered over the edge of the tub. The apartment wasn't that big, but if Will had heard him, he didn't answer. “Will!” He tried again, not liking the waver in his voice at getting no answer, then he swore and leaned over to grab the phone. Thankfully the water was doing its job.

He didn't know the number, but he could guess who it was. He hesitated another moment, but then put it to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Hello.” The woman had a light voice, just as smooth as Will's. Her tone was urgent. “'Where's my wandering parakeet'? Where's Will? He called me from this phone.”

“His phone died.” Charlie cut her off as nicely as he could since he didn't want her to worry. “He's in my kitchen. I think.” His explanation didn't actually explain much, and he knew it. He paused, and they had an awkward moment while he wondered if Will was really in his kitchen and she probably wondered who she was talking to. “You must be his sister.”

“I must be.” If Will had grown up on old movies, she must have too. Her words were clear and polished in a way Charlie didn't hear much unless Will was quoting something. “And you are?”

“I'm Charlie.” He stared at the doorway. Please let Will be out there. “I'm... .” Whatever he was, or had been, was all up in the air now. The terms he did know, “spankdaddy,” or even just “daddy,” seemed inappropriate at the very least. He made a face and gestured at nothing. He wasn't about to scare Will with anything like “boyfriend.” “I'm a friend of Will's.”

“Will has a lot of friends,” his sister remarked without surprise, but then she paused. “Your name is Charlie,” she repeated, “and Will is in your kitchen.”

“I think he's trying to make toast.” He sounded like an idiot. “I can get him— ”

“Toast? That's practically cooking.” For the first time, there was a faint trace of humor in her voice. Charlie straightened and frowned down at the water right as Will walked back in.

“Who are you talking to, oh— ” Will froze halfway through the quiet question when Charlie's discomfort gave him his answer. “Is that my Boo?” he demanded, whispering for half a second before hurrying over to take the phone. A smile lit his face the moment he heard her voice.

“What, bitch?” he began, then shot Charlie a thoughtful look. He plopped back down on the edge of the tub and met Charlie's gaze. “Uh-huh. I can so make toast.” He rolled his eyes at whatever she was saying, then stopped abruptly and dropped his attention to the floor. Charlie reached out, but when Will looked back up at him he was smiling again.

“No, I need the name of that tea you drink when you're trying not to throw up, that herbal thing. Oh.” Will's eyes went wide. “
That
sort of herbal, well... that won't do. He, uh, doesn't like tea.

“He? That was Charlie.” The room wasn't steamy anymore, but Charlie could see pink spreading across Will's cheeks, and Will took Charlie's hand and put it down to his knee. “Charlie,” Will said again, firmer this time. He stopped. “Maybe I do, so what?”

He was so defensive Charlie opened his hand. Will glanced down at it, then at him, before letting out a long, long breath.

“A friend, huh?” He made a stern face at Charlie, then smiled again. “Did he mention he was naked when he said that?” Will teased, pouting when Charlie frowned at him. His sister's voice rose. “Well, it's a good thing he didn't. You'd like him and I am not sharing. This is all mine.”

“Will!” Charlie would have pulled his hand away, but Will was laughing softly.

“He's blushing, you should see it.” But his tone changed when his sister said something. Will wrinkled his nose, then made a show of looking the other way. “Yeah, I meant that,” he mumbled. “I have so... . Okay, no. Yes, it's... I think it is. I'd like to.” Will's fingers tightened around Charlie's hand before Will looked at him again. He swallowed and lowered his voice. “Yes.

“Anyway,” Will chirped, bright again, and Charlie blinked. Will shook his head, “I have to go.” He scowled at the phone. “Make toast, yes. Oh, shut up. Love you too,” he snapped and warmly expressed his affection in the same breath and then ended the call.

He turned a much too innocent expression on Charlie. Charlie's heart thumped against his ribs, but he wasn't going to pry.

“Sisters,” Charlie offered instead, and Will's mouth quirked.

“Sisters,” he agreed. “Anyway, she said some tea I'll never remember.” Charlie halfheartedly contemplated calling him on the lie, but Will probably already knew that Charlie was onto him. He gave Charlie a mischievous grin. “But you really should try it sometime.”

“
Will
.”

“I know, I don't know what I'm talking about and you don't
want
to talk about it, but— ”

“I didn't say that,” Charlie interrupted, and Will gave him a knowing look. Charlie scowled back at him for a few seconds as he reconsidered his words. “I don't want to bother you.”

Will angled his head to the side and wet his bottom lip before speaking.

“I'm not bothered, Charlie,” he said seriously, then he shrugged. “It's what people do, right?” He waved the hand holding the phone between them, indicating... something. Charlie blinked, but having said that, Will moved to put down the phone and scoot closer. “I mean, isn't it?”

“People?” The awareness that Will had honestly meant the question made Charlie hesitate. The images, the memories, that said otherwise flashed through him regardless. He tried to think of other things, then he looked at Will's hands. He wasn't quite sure what Will was asking, but, “Yes. Some people,” seemed like a safe answer.

Will nodded earnestly at that. “So, coffee's started, though not the toast yet. Sam has been fed. I'm not sure, but I think he purred me.”

“He does that.” Charlie coughed and kept his voice light. “He
is
a cat.”

“I know, but I think he might like me... or the food.” Will dashed his own hopes. Charlie kind of thought it was the food too but shook his head.

“He just keeps his distance.” He thought about mentioning that he'd seen Sam curled up at Will's feet while Will was sleeping, but Will didn't give him a chance.

“Hmm.” Will bit his lip. “I don't believe you, but aren't you sweet?” He twisted to poke Charlie in the nose again. His other hand was still pressed over Charlie's on his knee. “And that's why you're all mine.”