The Cupid Complex

31. Stranger Things

"We're going to get caught," said Ame with worry as she stood off to the side.

As normal, Freddi had gone overboard.

Freddi had stationed the three of them behind walls of crates so as not to be spotted by anyone that might happen to walk in. The man that claimed to be Charming was seated in a swivel chair that Freddi had found disused in the corner of the room due to it being partially broken. As it was, it currently looked like the man's rear end would slip off the chair and onto the floor at any second.

"Oh stop! You worry too much!" said Freddi as she finished tying Charming's hands behind his back with some thin rope she had found, standing up to look at him sitting there. "All we're missing is a light."

Ame rolled her eyes as she watched Freddi dig out her cell phone and turn the flashlight app on, shining it in the man's face.

"Now, do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Freddi, this isn't a court."

"Shhh! Let me slap him with the hard cheese!" said Freddi as she glared up at Ame before looking back at Charming, bringing the cell phone light closer to his face so that he was squinting.

Obviously Freddi had never watched any crime shows.

"Yes. I'll answer everything honestly," he said.

"Alright then. State your first name."

"Charming."

"Middle?"

"Kookie."

"Last?"

"Prince," he said as he kept his eyes squinted to protect them from the light.

'How does he know my bunny's full name?' Ame thought as she kept her arms crossed, watching the interrogation.

"And you claim you are Ame's pet bunny?"

"Yes. I know it's..."

"Shush! Unless I ask for more information, stay quiet or I'll pelt you with an orange."

Charming cast his gaze to the small pile of oranges by Freddi's side before nodding his head.

"What happened last night then? This time you can answer in detail."

"Ame took a sick day from work yesterday," he started. "She cuddled me on the couch while she tried to decide on a Netflix show. She ended up not deciding on one and fell asleep. A little while later Ruby came home and woke Ame up. I jumped down off Ame's lap and got out of the way. I overheard Ruby tell Ame that they were having the new neighbors over, so she had to get changed. Then when the door opened, I dashed out the door for some reason. I'm still not entirely sure why. Ame chased after me."

"Why didn't you stop then?" asked Ame suddenly, breaking into Freddi's interrogation.  "If you knew I was chasing you, why didn't you stop?"

"I...I don't know. I really don't. I don't know what came over me," answered Charming.

"What is the last thing you remember about last night?" asked Freddi.

"Being in the middle of the road. I saw Ame. She was trying to get to me, and then everything went white. I don't remember anything else until I woke up in the park today."

Freddi looked past Charming at Ame. It was hard for her to tell what Ame was thinking at the moment since Ame had moved to bend her head down, so Freddi decided to keep pressing Charming.

"What kind of things do you know about Ame?"

"Umm...well, she has a sister who is a year younger than her named Ruby. Oh! And Ame recently won tickets to go see BTS, and she was debating on what to wear. She decided on a red shirt that was in her closet..."

"You could have seen that from the videos of her on the internet."

"No, but I mean...she cut the sales tag off first before she wore it. That night had been the first time she wore that piece of clothing. Ruby wore something purple."

"Wait a second. I thought bunnies can't see colors," said Freddi.

"Well I...I don't know. I've always been able to. Must be what made me special."

"That and the fact that you can apparently become human," said Freddi as she crossed her arms.

"Ame," said Charming as he turned his head to look at where she stood, risking derailing Freddi's interrogation and getting pelted with oranges. "You always told me everything, and I always listened. I answered you with an ear twitch because as much as I wanted to speak to you, I never could. But now I can. I'm sorry I scared you last night, and I...I promise I'll never run from you again. Please forgive me. I will be tame like you wish people really were."

Ame lifted her head and looked over at Charming with tear-filled eyes. There were just so many things that he was saying that there was no way he would know otherwise. She tried to justify everything he was saying up until this point from being something he could have found out from someone along the way, but those words...and those eyes staring at her. They were familiar. They were Charming's. But how? Had she finally lost her mind? Is this what grief did to a person after a while? Made them go completely insane?

"Please don't cry," Charming said, looking like he was going to start crying himself. He then turned to look back at Freddi. "Please untie me so I can go to her."

Freddi looked at Ame who - in the midst of her crying - had moved to sit down on the cold cement floor. She was in tears by then, unable to hold them back anymore.

"Please..." said Charming with pleading eyes.

Freddi eventually relented as she moved to untie Charming's wrists. No sooner had the last knot come undone than Charming was hopping up from his seat and over to where Ame was sitting. He crouched down in front of her, wiping the tears from her eyes with his hands. This time Ame didn't fight his touch. She lifted her head to look at Charming; her gaze glassy.

"I'm here," said Charming softly.

"How can you be?..." She paused as she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. He really was real. She wasn't imagining him. None of this made any sense.

"I wish I knew," said Charming as he watched Ame; a tear or two trickling down his own cheeks.

"You're really him?"

"I am," he said. "I wouldn't ever hurt you, Ame. At least not again. I'm sorry I upset you and ran off, but I'm here now. I'm not going away again."

Ame knew that she was not in a good place right now. The fact that she found herself slowly believing him was alarming her, but what if this was a miracle? What if this really was Charming?

"Answer this for me then..." said Ame softly as she watched Charming settle himself down on the floor beside her. "If you're really Charming - my Charming - tell me what my favorite Netflix show and bias is."

Not even Ruby knew that. Charming was the only one she talked to about that sort of thing.

"Oh geez," he said with a small chuckle as he shifted to slip an arm about Ame to tug her against him. He could finally be the one providing her with comforting cuddles. "Let me think...the last show you watched was in secret. You didn't even tell Ruby about it. What was it called...oh! It was called Stranger Things, right? You had a bias for Steve even though you hated him with a burning passion in the first season. It was that season that made you give me a huge long lecture on how not to be a dirtbag. It was very fascinating."

Ame chuckled before the tears started again. She found herself cuddling into Charming's grasp as she buried her face in his neck. This was the second time she had allowed a man to comfort her while she cried in the last twenty-four hours. What had her life become?

"It's ok, Ame," said Charming softly as he held her close, letting her cry. "Everything will be okay now..."