Heart to Hart - a Chenry Fanfic

1.4

Charlotte

She hadn't eaten so much ice cream in her entire life. It felt good to soothe the emotions she had been overwhelmed with just a short while before, and now, all she wanted was to be home.

As she grabbed her jacket, the elevator opened, revealing Rachael. Her cheeks were red with wind, and her coat had little specks of leaves all over it.

"Where have you been?" She asked, walking over to pick the leaves off of her friend.

"In the park actually" Rachael answered.

Charlotte's face must have shown the confusion she felt, because Rachael answered her unasked question.

"Henry was in the park"

"He was?" Charlotte asked, "doing what? It's cold out."

"I know it is, believe me. I found him just sitting under a tree. I had no idea how long he was there before I found him."

Charlotte felt sad for Henry, that he had felt so upset before that he ran out of the man cave, and to the comfort of a fall night in the park. Not exactly ideal.

"Did he say anything?" She asked, sitting back down on the couch. She wanted to leave, but she wanted to hear about Henry more.

"He did actually" Rachael said, sitting next to her. "His heart is pretty messed up right now."

Charlotte looked at her hands. She wished he would tell her those things, and not someone he had just met.

"He doesn't know what to do, he feels insanely alone right now."

Her worst fear; Henry had found something that bothered him more than she could help. He was distancing himself from her, and that hurt.

"But he's not alone" Charlotte whispered, "He has me. He's always had me."

"Maybe it will be worth while to remind him of that" Rachael said, "Remind him that no matter what, he will always have you."

Charlotte nodded her head. She didn't think she would ever need to remind her best friend that she would always be in his corner. Wasn't that just one of the pros of having a best friend? Never being alone.

Suddenly an old memory popped into her head, one from when she and Henry had been kids. She smiled with it.

"What?" Rachael asked her.

"I was just remembering the first time I met Henry." She answered. "He was such a geek. Back then I was the one saving his life."

When they had met, in the fourth grade, Henry was smaller than she was. He was frail and weak, more focused on his friendship with Jasper than he was on what other kids thought of him. One day in the park, a few kids from their class had walked up to Henry and Jasper, and began picking on them. Charlotte, who was also there, watched the whole thing. She knew that bullying wasn't okay, and it made her sad that the two kids were being picked on. So she decided to stand up for them. Shockingly, the bullies backed down.

'Woah, you're pretty tough' one of the two kids had said to her, the one with the curly hair.

'Yea, those guys were so scared they just ran away' said the other. 'You should hang out with us.'

'Well it looks like you two are going to need someone to protect you' she had said, jokingly of course. 'I'm in'

And just like that their friendship had begun. They had been together for over ten years, inseparable. Somehow over those ten years, Henry had grown up, and he had become the protector. Charlotte didn't much mind, she liked that he was watching out for her.

"Sounds like you two have been through a lot" Rachael said after she had finished telling her story. Charlotte nodded at her.

"We've been through everything together. I can't even remember a time in my life that Henry wasn't a part of."

He was her everything.

"I'm kind of surprised you guys haven't tried dating yet." Rachael said, out of the blue. It took Charlotte by surprise.

"What do you mean?" She asked, blood running to her cheeks. She hoped it wasn't noticeable.

"It's just you two are so close already, there had to have been a time where you thought maybe you could have been something, more, right?"

"I mean, I would be lying if I said I never thought about it" she said, "I just knew we would never have a chance to find out."

"What do you mean?" Rachael asked. Charlotte sighed.

"Henry is my best friend, yes. But he and I, we were made to just be friends. And besides, I know the kind of girl he is into, and believe me, that doesn't include me."

Charlotte saw Rachael's confusion, so she elaborated.

"Tall, dark hair, beautiful. Not me."

"Charlotte, you may not be tall, but you are so incredibly beautiful. I hope you know that." Rachael told her.

"Not for Henry" Charlotte said, standing up and walking away from Rachael.

"I've never thought of myself as beautiful. Ever. And I'm definitely not pretty enough for Henry. He deserves so much more than me."

Suddenly Charlotte's head hurt. She felt so overwhelmed. She just wanted to go home.

"So no, even though I did once have feelings for Henry, and I thought there might be a chance we could actually work something out, I know there is no way that could ever happen. There's no way Henry could love someone like me."

And then she left.