sweet escape [c.l.]

chapter two

Before

"Well, all my dating history is online, so I think it is only fair I get to know a little bit about yours." Charles licked his ice cream ignoring Rory's shocked expression.

"What do you mean you should know mine?"

"Well," He licked a little bit of her ice cream that was starting to fall. "I want to know about the first people that got your eye."

"What if there was no one?" He looked sideways at her with a little smirk present on his lips. "Okay, there were two."

"How was the first one?" He sat on a bench and pulled her to sit next to him pulling her legs on top of his.

"His name was David," A little smile grew on her face, "we met when we were like 14 and we started dating a couple of weeks after that. You know when you are getting your very first taste of love and it's all fresh and wonderful?" Charles nodded putting his arm around her shoulders, "That's how it felt with David throughout the whole relationship. We were two kids that were experiencing love for the first time and we were loving it."

"How did it end?" She laid her head on his shoulder.

"We were finishing high school and had different ambitions for life, he wanted to travel the world and I wanted to go to college."

"Never thought of doing long distance?"

"We did at first, but then we realized that it wouldn't work for us. We spent almost our whole time together and going from that to only seeing each other in person a couple days at a time, it wasn't for us." Charles nodded when she looked at him, "We broke up the night of our senior prom, on the way we decided that it was it and the rest is history."

"Uhh, breaking up with a girl on the night of her senior prom? Never a good sign." She laughed and he pulled her to him and kissed her forehead, "And the second boyfriend? Was he as lovable as David?"

Rory sighed, diving deeper into Charles' chest. "No, my relationship with Alejandro wasn't anything like my relationship with David. Me and Alejandro met in college, he was two years ahead of me, so we didn't have any classes together. At the beginning it was all fun and sweet but as time progressed he started showing a more controlling and possessive nature. At first I let it slide as him caring about me but as time progressed I realized it wasn't that and that he was trying to make sure that he was the center of my life and that I had no one else, so I broke up with him. The main issue with the break up was that my parents, they loved him, said that he was perfect and that he and I would have beautiful babies and even after the break up they still haven't forgotten about him."

This time Charles didn't interrupt her and just let her ramble. When she was done he pulled her even more to him, putting a finger under her chin and turning her face to him.

"If it depends on me Rory, you will never suffer for love again."

Now

"What are you doing here?" Alejandro immediately hugged Aurora who just stood there without moving an inch, "I didn't think I would see you anytime soon, what a great surprise. I really missed you..." As Alejandro kept on hugging her and talking, Rory's eyes started to look around the room to see if she could spot Charles.

Charles, who was still looking at Rory and completely ignoring Carlos, the moment he saw the desperation in her eyes ran to her and pulled her out of the man's arms protectively wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Honey, who's this?" Charles looked between the two while Rory grabbed his hand that was around her waist.

"I'm Alejandro, I'm actually going to be working with Ferrari..."

After he said his name Charles heard nothing more that came out of his mouth and turned to Rory turning his back to Alejandro. "Are you okay?" Rory shaked her head. "Do you want to get out of here?" She nodded, still gripping his hand.

Charles gave her forehead a quick kiss not caring to who was watching and started directing them to a room in the back that he knew would be clear now. He ignored anyone that tried to talk to him, only paying attention to keeping Rory close to him and making their way away from Alejandro.

As they got into the room Charles quickly locked the door behind them while Rory sat on the couch quickly followed by Charles who put an arm around her.

"I don't know why seeing him affected me so much," Aurora ran her fingers through her hair.

"Maybe because you weren't expecting to see him?"

"Maybe," Rory leaned back, sitting on the couch shoulder to shoulder with Charles, "I think he said he wanted to talk to me."

"You think?"

"I kind of zoned out when he was talking."

"And do you want to talk to him?"

"I think so," she looked at Charles, "I'm going to have to work with him eventually so might as well talk with him now."

Charles nodded understandingly, though he couldn't help the pang of jealousy that tugged at his heartstrings. "Okay, I'll stay with you if you'll have me," he assured her, squeezing her hand gently.

Rory offered him a grateful smile, feeling comforted by his presence. "Thank you, Charles. I appreciate it."

Together, they sat in the quiet room, the air thick with unspoken tension. Rory's brain was a mess with all the emotions that were going through her. Alejandro's unexpected appearance had caught her off guard, bringing up memories that she thought were long gone.

Meanwhile, Charles struggled to contain his own feelings, torn between his desire to protect Rory and the decision they made in Andorra and the thin line between their friendship and his feelings for her.

After a moment of silence, Rory spoke up, her voice hesitant. "Do you think I should talk to him?"

"It's ultimately up to you, Rory," he replied gently. "If you feel ready to face him and clear the air, then I'll support you. But if you're not ready, that's okay too. Your well-being comes first."

Rory nodded, taking comfort in his words. "Thank you, Charles. I think I need some time to gather my thoughts before I decide."

"Take all the time you need," Charles reassured her, giving her hand another reassuring squeeze. "I'll be right here."