In Between Two Hearts - CL and AL

The Bathroom Incident

Charles POV

Elise and I like to go running together. Obviously, she has to keep up with me which can get difficult. She's honestly a good runner. The rain is making everything so much fun. Thank god she didn't bring up the moment we had at the beach. I don't know what is up with me lately. I blame Alexandra for being gone too long. Not having my woman by my side makes me act weird. Another part of me thinks it's something else. However, it's so deep down that I don't even want to think about it. I don't want to waste energy thinking about something that probably isn't true. You guessed it, it's me liking Elise. But again, it's my overthinking. I have lived with Elise since childhood, why would I like her like that now? I don't and will keep convincing myself that this is just some stupid game my mind is playing with me.

"Hey! You just splashed me!" Elise exclaims.

There are puddles everywhere and we keep splashing each other when stepping on them.

"That's my revenge," I state while recalling when she did it to me 2 minutes ago.

She pushes me to the side as a way to respond. I start laughing.

We reach 5 km soon after. She's still holding on so I guess we're gonna keep going.

"Are you tired?" I ask her.

"Tired of you maybe." she jokes.

What is she, nine?

She proceeds, "No I'm feeling good. No need to stop anytime soon."

I can see that she is hesitating on whether to say something or not. She goes ahead with it anyway.

"What do you think was up with Arthur today?" Elise asks.

"You know what I think it is?" I look at her and my face says it all.

"It's not that Charles!" she tries to convince me.

"Yes, it is! Elise he's in love with you."

"You don't know anything."

Deep down, I think she knows. She will never admit it though.

"Do you see what everyone sees?" Elise asks.

"What do you mean?" I say with a confused expression.

"You know, that Arthur and I are soulmates. My dad, your mom and all my surroundings say we're meant for each other. I've never thought much of it but recently, I've been giving it more thought. Do they see something I'm not? Something I'm too dumb to realize? You're the only person that's never said anything about this. What's your take?"

I didn't want her to ask this. I knew it was coming but I hoped she wouldn't ask. Both of them would make sense. It's like the movie type of love. But life isn't a movie. Life is life and I don't see the two of them together. Correction: I don't want them to be together. It would ruin everything. The friendship they built, my relationship with her, everything. I don't want that.

"No. I don't see it. I mean, don't you think that if something was there, you guys would have tried it?" I answer.

"What if we just both wanted to prioritize our friendship and ignore our feelings?" she suggests.

We arrive back at my house at this moment and decide to keep talking before heading inside.

"Do you? Do you have feelings for my brother?" I ask.

I regret asking this question. I don't want to know.

"I don't know. What if I do and I don't know it? What if I'm just too blind to see what everyone sees?"

Her answer reassures me.

"Don't think about it too much. If you're not sure, then you don't have feelings. If you felt anything romantic towards him, you would know. So don't worry about it."

I don't exactly believe what I just said. This exact scenario has happened to me. My ex-girlfriend, Charlotte Siné, was my friend before becoming my girlfriend. I always thought of her as a friend until one day, she was drunk and kissed me. I was taken aback at first but then something in me changed. I started liking her. That's when we started dating. So technically, what I said isn't true but it isn't false either.

Elise POV

A few minutes pass and we enter the house. Charles is probably right. I don't have feelings for my best friend. That's a very unlikely phenomenon that only really happens in the movies. I grab an apple as a post-workout snack and eat it quickly before heading to Arthur's room to take a shower. I take off my sweaty clothes and bring a towel with me. I open the bathroom door and find Arthur already there shaving his face.

Shit! Why did I not put the towel around my body in case he was there? I am naked and Arthur clearly just saw my whole body. I quickly take my towel and wrap it around myself. Arthur starts laughing.

"Geez you're getting pretty comfortable." He giggles.

"Stop. Don't laugh it was a mistake. I didn't know you were there."

"Yes you did Elise, don't lie. You wanted me to see your body." He adds.

"Ew! Shut up!" I give him a friendly push.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He tells me.

He looks a little sad. Something must've happened while I was gone. A fight with Pascale? With his girlfriend? Or is he just plain sad today?

"Hey, what's up with that gloomy ass face?" I question.

"Um. Well. Nothing."

"Okay. Then can you leave the bathroom so I don't have to stand here with my towel?"

"Yes. Yes. Here." He exits the bathroom.

I proceed to do what I had to do. My everything shower takes about 15 minutes.

I get out and find Arthur chilling on the bed scrolling on his phone. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Come here." Arthur signals for me to join him.

I jump onto his bed and we sit there in silence for a couple minutes. Arthur ends up breaking the silence.

"How was your run?" he asks me looking very interested in my response.

"It was the best run ever," I announce.

"Really?"

"No. It was a run. Nothing amazing about it."

"Ok."

He seems dry. What's up with him?

"Arthur, are you sad about something?" I ask.

"Yeah." he takes a long pause and before I can say anything, he continues. "I don't want to talk about it okay?"

Is it so bad that he can't talk about it with me? His best friend? I immediately embrace him to at least give him some comfort. Arthur hugs me back without hesitation. His head is resting just above my breasts and I can feel his hot breath on my skin. We stay in this position for a minute or so and he pulls back.

"We can't do this anymore," Arthur concludes with no additional context.

"Do what? Hug?" I ask Arthur.

He processes what I just said for quite a while. It's like he doesn't know what to say.

"Yeah. Don't hug me anymore okay?" He stands up and walks towards the door.

"Arthur. What the hell is wrong with you? Tell me." I raise my tone and stand up as well.

"I don't get how clueless you are. Everyone knows but you. It's so easy to figure out." His back is turned towards me so I can't see his facial expressions.

"I hate how you're not telling me! Stop making me feel dumb and spit it out!"

"I can't Elise." He turns back to face me.

He moves closer to me and holds both my arms. Our eyes interlock and my heart starts beating faster.

"Sleep with me." He says looking dead serious.