Emotional Connection

leaving

Leaving once was hard enough, leaving twice was torture.
But Ashley-Rae knew she couldn't stay. It hurt too much to be around Charlie still, though she was doing her best to get over him. Of course, he didn't know that, and she really did need to get back to work, she just hoped that it would be enough to distract her.

He still asked her to consider coming back to the sanctuary, and Ashley would never admit, but she was tempted. She promised to write at least once, bidding goodbye to everyone before walking away, apparating back to work.

Charlie sighed quietly, retiring to his room, grateful to take the weight off his leg. Ashley was right when she'd said he wouldn't be going anywhere for a few days. But that didn't mean he couldn't write to Pete.
He knew Pete was thinking of leaving and starting another sanctuary in South Africa, which meant they would need someone to take over the hospital. James had already declined, and the other Healer, Abigale, had only been there for a few months, so there was no way Pete would trust her with his hospital. Leaving Ashley in charge would probably be the best scenario, and maybe then she'd let Charlie talk to her about the complete mess he'd made of their friendship.

"Charlie?" Someone yelled from down the stairs over the ruckus that the twins were making.

He sent the letter on its way, taking some more of whatever potion Ash had given him, and appeared at the top of the stairs where Ginny was. "What's up?" He called down, and she just shrugged.

"Mum's asking for you."

Charlie refrained from rolling his eyes too much, walking down and leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen where Molly was busy cleaning the remains of lunch. "What's up, mum?" He asked, shaking his hair out of his face. He knew he should have tied it back but his hair ties had all disappeared again. He was starting to see why Ginny had always asked for more when she was younger, the things disappear after three seconds of being placed anywhere.

"You need a hair cut." She tutted, before looking up at him with a softer expression. "Don't you think you should talk to her?"

"Who? Ashley-Rae?" He frowned as she nodded. "No, not yet. Besides, I'm not sure she wants to talk to me about it."

"About what?"

Charlie smiled at the floor, "nice try, mum." He shook his head and disappeared back upstairs, ducking as something flew down from the twin's room at speed.

"Sorry, Charl!" One of them yelled as they hurtled down the stairs after it.

There was something about the chaos that made him feel at home, but more than ever he missed his dragons. He sat back on his bed, flicking through the pages of some book or other; he wasn't entirely sure which as he wasn't actually reading the words in front of his face.

"Charlie!" Bill burst into the room, Fleur in tow.

"Um, hello?" Charlie sat up, confused.

Fleur looked determined, a look that made Charlie afraid for what was going to happen next. "We aren't leaving this room until you tell us what happened."

He looked between the newly married couple.

"With Ashley." Bill crossed his arms, though Charlie was more afraid of his sister-in-law than his brother.

"Ummmmm..." he stalled.

Fleur raised an eyebrow, taking a seat at Charlie's desk. "Start talking."

Bill closed the door with a flick of his wand, leaning against the chest of drawers.

Resigning himself to defeat, Charlie reached over to his bag, opening the side pocket and pulling out the letter he'd memorised, and tossing it to Bill, who gave him a strange look before opening it.

Charlie laid back, not wanting to see their expressions as they read the letter. It was nerve-racking, and he wasn't sure how he was going to tell that what he'd done - or, more accurately, what he hadn't done.

"So... what's the issue? You don't feel the same so you stopped talking to her?" Fleur asked, visibly confused, re-folding the letter and handing it back to him.

Charlie shook his head.

"This doesn't make sense mate, what happened? This doesn't explain anything."

Sighing, he sat up, eyes trained on the floorboards. "The issue is that I feel exactly the same." He couldn't say the rest, though he could tell Bill had guessed. "You're really gonna make me say it?"

"Say what?" Fleur asked, leaning forward.

"I didn't respond." He shifted his gaze to her. "I didn't write back, or visit, I didn't tell her how I felt, and I'm like ninety-nine per cent sure she thinks I'm indifferent to her now. She doesn't want to talk about it. And trust me, I tried, last night. She didn't want to hear it."

Bill sighed, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling as Fleur put her head in her hands.

"Men- men are stupid." Fleur decided. "That was- Well why don't you write to her?" She suggested, but Charlie sighed.

"I don't know what to say. And I can't copy what she said to me, or she'll think I'm mocking her, which I don't want her to think."

Fleur sighed in frustration. "I see now why you refused to talk about it. You must feel heartbroken, she doesn't want to know you love her."

Charlie smiled briefly, trying to keep everything pushed down, trying to bottle everything up.

Bill didn't really know what to say, moving to the bed to comfort his younger brother. "I'm sure there will come a time when you can tell her."

Charlie nodded, but he wasn't so sure.