Emotional Connection

what if

It was late when Ashely knocked on Charlie's door, smiling at him when he opened it. "I'm sorry, I know it's late, but um... I just wanted to thank you."
He looked confused, so she elaborated. "I just got the present." She showed him the necklace.

Grinning, Charlie invited her in. "I wondered when you would. Anyway, how are you doing today?"

"Ok. Dad's out working again, this time on the other side of the sanctuary on rescue drills so I have a feeling he's gearing up to another mission if they let him."

He nodded.

"So you can't sleep?" She asked, and smiled softly as she shrugged.

"I was going to go check on the dragons. Not sure what's keeping me up this time."

Ashley nodded, "well, I know better than to keep you from your dragons." She smiled, but he frowned.

"Hey, you don't have to go." His eyes lit up, "why don't you come with me?"

Blinking, she tried to think, but ended up agreeing on autopilot anyway.

"Great! Um..." He paused to look at her, "you might need a coat." He shrugged, grabbing a hoodie from his room for her along with his own coat for himself. "You can wear this, it's fleece-lined so it should keep you warm."

Ashley looked at the hoodie, pulling it over her head, "I'm going to have more of your hoodies than you at this point, I've still got that other one from when I first stayed here."

He grinned, shrugging, "oh well. Come on."

She got up eagerly, keeping close to him so she didn't get lost down in the pits as he walked her around, introducing her to a lot of the dragons he worked with. "How many dragons do you have here?"

He paused to think for a second. "Um... a lot." He laughed, coming up blank. "Probably twenty or thirty-something, though I don't know the exact number; I don't work with all of them, just the ones I'm introducing you to."

"Still, you've introduced me to at least ten so far."

He grinned, noticing Ashley holding herself inwards, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie. He cast a heating spell on her, non-verbally obviously, and she blushed, turning away.

"You didn't need to do that, I was ok."

"You were cold. I'm not having you out here cold if I can help it." He smiled, walking her through the pits. "I'll show you to Norberta, our Norwegian Ridgeback. Hagrid gave her to us a few years ago, after he's hatched her in his fireplace, I'm hoping to get him over here at some point to see her again."

Ashley smiled, letting Charlie talk to her all about the species, listening to everything he had to say. She loved the way he looked when he spoke about something he was so passionate about, with fire in his eyes and soul, it warmed her from the inside out. She wondered if she was ever like that, though she doubted it. Ashley realised she'd been staring at him too long, looking away quickly, trying to focus on the dragon over her mind racing with thoughts of Charile, twisting the Caduceus necklace in her fingers.

"We should probably get back so you can get at least some sleep before you start your shift again." He bumped her shoulder with his arm, and she smiled up at him. "You can stay at mine again if you like. I know you hate sleeping in a house by yourself."

Ashley thanked him, staring down at her shoes as they walked back, up the ridge and to his house. She hoped Charlie would think her silence was her being tired, though why he would think it anything else, she didn't know. Certainly, he couldn't know what she was thinking about.

He looked a little concerned before opening his front door again. "You're really quiet. Are you ok? Was-"

She smiled lightly, "I'm great, Charlie, thank you for showing me the dragons. Really, it was amazing."

With a relieved look on his face, he opened the door and the two of them bid each other goodnight before shutting themselves away.

She laid on the bed that was more familiar than her own, staring at the ceiling still in Charlie's hoodie. She smiled, hugging it to her, breathing in the scent. It took her a moment to realise the gravity of the situation, to really understand what the hell was going on in her mind, and then another moment for her expression to change to one of dread. She couldn't do this, she couldn't just like Charlie, not when they were bound to be leaving in only a few months, so long as her dad was keeping to his schedule.

And yet, there she was in his hoodie, unable to stop thinking about the what-ifs.