Mateless and Luna Bound (Self Published)

Chapter 19: A Walk in the Woods

Authors Note: Hello! This is when some things really start heating up. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the votes and comments for this cute story.

-Saturn

As much as Charlie seemed to calm him down that day, things started to change a little, after Max had that meeting. He looked happy and tense at the same time. Every time he would talk to him, he seemed to calm down, so Charlie tried to keep up a good conversation. Max still had a lot of responsibilities, so he couldn't stay with him all the time. Instead of sitting in bed, waiting for him to come back, he convinced Dr. Button to let him help in the kitchen more.

Whether it was the kitchen duties that needed to get done, or beds that needed to get made, he was always quick to help out. The staff seemed to love him for it. He was also getting quite a few interesting looks from the other people in the house, but he bowed his head a little bit out of respect. It was the best thing to do when his hands were full. Katy and Nick always managed to find him for lunch. That was really how they got him to eat. They were fun to talk to, no matter how many times he had heard the same story they wanted to tell. Their theatrical reactions to each other were hilarious. They were great at bringing people together too. Pretty soon, Charlie had gotten a whole group of people sitting with him to eat at lunch. Max was going to yell at them for it, but Charlie begged him to let them continue to come. What they talked about didn't bother him. It was mainly all work issues and gossip.

It was amazing how easily people relaxed after talking for a bit. Even Max, who seemed like he was never a talkative person. As soon as Charlie found something that he liked talking about, he was laughing and enthusiastically explaining. It was amazing to see his face light up when he talked about something he was really passionate about. It made whatever the subject was ten times more fascinating to learn about too.

That's what the next couple of days were like. More people started to visit him in his room, too. Leah and Sam liked to come a lot. They loved talking about their kids and all the couple's stories they could think of. It was nice to see a couple so in love, even with raising kids. Then there was the group of people that always came with him to sit and enjoy lunch. But, other than Max, Ed was the one who came the most. When everyone else was busy, Ed was always there to talk some ears off.

"So," Charlie gave him a playful smile. "You're a house husband?"

"The closest thing to it," Ed laughed. They had some fun times before Dr. Button would come in and say that he needed to let Charlie get some sleep. He never thought he was tired until the doctor would say it. Then the sleepiness would hit him and he would be yawning. He didn't know why he always felt like he needed to take that nap in the evening, but the doctor said that it was to help him heal faster.

Even with the nap time, it was nice that they were finally letting him do more things. He could work longer in the kitchen, or help one of the janitors out with the cleaning. Being able to talk more definitely helped too. Charlie loved that he could talk with so many people. When Max wasn't doing one of his responsibilities, he would be right next to him with everything Charlie did. The second that someone started asking questions about him, Max was quick to shut the conversation down and get him away from them.

He felt bad about that. He knew why Max did it, and he was happy that he wanted to keep him from getting another anxiety attack. But that didn't mean that Charlie didn't want to talk about himself, at least, when it came to letting someone get to know him a little.

He just, didn't want to talk about that part.

Max had been getting more tense around him after a while. He already missed the calm way they talked to each other, or the comforting silence that they had just a few days ago.