Queen Series: The Trip

Chapter 2: Leaving for Dubai

"One wakeup wrap and a vanilla chai."

Smiling up at her boyfriend, Charlie accepts the drink and dunkin' wrap.

"Thanks, babe. Where's Maddie?"

"She went to look around while I talked to you."

Charlie arches an eyebrow at him. "Talk to me about what?"

Lucas takes the seat beside her, shifting their luggage so he could wrap his arms around her shoulders. "Why have you been getting more subdued as we got closer to this trip?"

"Lucas, there's nothing wrong."

"You're lying. We don't lie to each other, Charlotte."

Charlie sighs. "I-I... I don't feel comfortable with Riley coming on this trip."

"I thought that's what was wrong."

"I don't like Riley, I don't. I don't want her on this trip. I feel bad for feeling this way because no Riley means no Maya, which means a depressed Maddie for the rest of the trip."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Lucas," Charlie chewed on the bottom of her lips.

"What's wrong now?"

"Do you... do you regret going out with me? I mean, our last year of high school would have been a lot smoother if we weren't dating."

Lucas smiles down at her, placing a kiss on his temple. "No, never."

Tilting her head up she accepts the kiss placed on her lips, thinking back to the first time she meets Lucas outside of Rose.

________________________________________________________________

It began last spring. Coming home from baseball practice, he was surprised to find Charlotte in his living room playing with his younger sister, Alice.

Lucas blinks profusely at the blonde. "Charlotte?? What are you doing here?"

Before she could answer a pretty strawberry blonde woman comes out from the kitchen, dressed in her scrubs.

"Oh, Lucas, your home."

Still confused, he smiles at his mom. "Yeah, practice ended early. What is Charlotte doing here?"

She looks between the two of them. "Remember, my schedule changed? I'm now on afternoon shifts. I told you; with you being busy with practice, I was going to get a babysitter for Alice. Charlotte is the babysitter. Do you two know each other?"

"Kind of," Charlotte answers for both of them. "We have a mutual friend."

"Who?"

"Rose," they both respond with a grin.

"Ahh. How is Rose? It's been a while..."

From there, it went. Most of the time, when he came over after practice, Charlotte could be found in his home playing with Alice. They spent so much time with each other, even outside of babysitting hours, that they didn't just share a mutual friend, they were friends. They became so close that one night Lucas felt comfortable enough to ask Charlotte for relationship advice.

Looks glances over at Charlie. "Can I ask you a question."

Charlie looks away from the tv, taking note of the pensive expression on Lucas' face. "It's about Riley, isn't it?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"You're asking me instead of Rose."