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I'm frozen as I watch Charlie open his mouth, drawing the attention of the girl

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I'm frozen as I watch Charlie open his mouth, drawing the attention of the girl. Her eyes widen for a second, head tilting and gaze flicking over to me as she listens to the child in front of her, who is no doubt embarrassing the ever-living shit out of me.

I force myself to stand and walk over, my feet feeling like lead. Somehow, this is almost more intimidating than it was to leave the house. At least I had time to prepare for that.

Charlie's in the middle of his spiel when I get there. "He has to use the bathroom, but doesn't want to leave me alone--"

"I'm sorry," I interrupt, placing two firm hands on Charlie's shoulders and starting to steer him away. I'm hoping that through the harsh grip of my fingers, he gets the message that if I wasn't above beating up an eight year old, I would totally be kicking his ass in the middle of this pancake house. "Don't listen to him, he's senile."

I can barely bring myself to look at her, but when I do, she's smirking at my remark and shaking her head.

"I can watch him," she says, the words stopping me in my tracks as I put the pieces of the conversation together.

"Oh! Right, um... Charlie, you're sure you don't want to come with me?" I play along with his made-up scenario. I'd rather not leave him with a stranger, especially when I'm concerned he might start babbling about the way I was staring at her. Then again, I guess she already knows that.

Charlie looks up at me with purposefully wide eyes, as if I'm completely blowing it. "Yes."

"Uh, okay. Um, thank you..." I hesitate, waiting for her to fill in the blank.

"Kat."

"Kat," I repeat, liking the sharpness of the name as it comes from my mouth for the first time. "Thank you-- I'm Oliver, by the way."

She nods, eyes staying on me long enough to make my face flush. It's impossible to tell what she thinks of me, or if she thinks anything at all about me. I hope I'm as unreadable as she is, but sincerely doubt it.

"Anyway, uh, bathroom. I'll be right back." I turn on my heel, wondering all the way to the bathroom what the hell I'm doing.

I figure while I'm in there I may as well pee, so I hurry up and finish my business, mentally slapping myself for leaving Charlie with a stranger at three in the morning. I mean, what the hell was I thinking? He's a smart kid, sure, and the girl seems normal enough, but Jesus. If the two of us are going to make it through this trip alive, I'm going to have to be a little more responsible.

I barely run my hands under the water before heading straight out the door, hurrying back to the seating area. The single bite of pancakes that I had nearly comes back up when I see the empty booths at Kat's table-- thankfully, I look to where Charlie and I had been sitting and spot a blonde head of hair poking above the seat. Across from him is Kat, sitting beside my plate of pancakes with her own. My stomach settles, breathing returning to normal now that I know she hasn't kidnapped my little brother thanks to my own stupidity.

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