old soul | matthew gray gubler

15. to establish ties

On February 14th, Charlotte woke up to her alarm, alone again. She huffed and shut it off, sitting up in bed and rubbing at her eyes. She dragged herself to the shower, not wanting to workout today. No, today, she would be taking herself and CeCe out, considering all of her other friends were with their significant others.

She would make a nice breakfast, go to the store to buy CeCe's Valentine's Day gifts. They would watch Rom-Coms after pretending to be a couple in order to get discounts are different restaurants.

Charlotte had spoken to Matthew multiple times on the phone- 10, to be exact- and countless others on text messaging- which he was getting better at. But, he hadn't said anything else about the Valentine's Day hints she had been throwing his way. Afraid he was avoiding the topic, Charlotte simply acted as if it never happened.

When she got out of the shower, Charlotte got dressed in a black t-shirt, which she knotted at the hem of her leggings, and a red flannel. She sat on the couch, slipping on her sneakers. As she stood up, she heard knocking from the front door.

Charlotte quickly made her way to the front of the house. She lifted onto her tippy toes to peek through the peephole. She was hit with déjà vu as she saw that broad, tall man standing on the other side of the door.

Only, this time, his arms were full. Charlotte opened the door with a bear red face. She was breathless, though she was just standing there.

"Matthew!" He looked at her overtop a giant stuffed narwhal. He gave her the cheesiest grin before making his way inside.

Charlotte followed him into the living room. "Hello, hello, hello."

He set everything down on her coffee table. Matthew planted his hands on his hips with a sigh.

"Matthew, what the hell," Charlotte giggled as she circled the pile of things.

"Oh! Sit, sit," he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her into the couch.

Charlotte looked up at him, beaming ear to ear. "What's going on?"

"First things first," Matthew held up a thin, black stick.

She squinted, trying to see what it was. "Is that-?"

Matthew shushed her, moving the stick around oddly. He made sound effects and suddenly brandished a bouquet of fake flowers from the end of his wand. He kneeled down in front of her and held them out.

Charlotte laughed at the magic trick, reaching for the flowers. "Thank you." She looked back up at him.

Matthew's eyes flicked back in his head, tips of his fingers tapping together. "You're so beautiful that I forgot my pickup line."

"Oh, my God. This is everything," she sat up and twisted the flowers in her hands.

"Oh!" Matthew clapped his hands together, "Oh, okay, so: Valentine's Day without you is like a broken pencil; Pointless."

Charlotte's knees bounced in excitement. "Yes, oh, my goodness."

Matthew laughed at her kiddish stature and finished with, "Charlie, will you be my valentine?"