Hidden Truths   

 by Skye

"You have no idea where we are, do you?" Charlene Thomkins asked her companion as she scanned the high canyon walls above them.

"No clue what so ever." Cavin Trent answered with a grin as he cast a glance back at the rest of their group. "Think they'll kill me?"

Charlene looked over her shoulder in time to see Trin and Gabe fight laughingly over a flat rock in the middle of the small stream. She chuckled, shaking her head slightly as she turned her grin on Cavin. "Somehow, I doubt they'll mind too much." she slipped her arms around his neck and smiled up into his eyes. "I know I don't."

Cavin smiled around her kiss and slipped his arms around her slim waist. A loud splash announced that one of their friends had lost the battle of the rock and they turned to see Gabe sitting in the shallow water.

Trinity Delgado, a tall, lithe olive skin beauty everyone agreed should be on a runway somewhere, stood defiant on the rock, hands on hips and she stuck her tongue out at her vanquished and somewhat soggy opponent. Gabriel Kliene was the exact opposite of his model-esque girl friend. Short, pudgy, extremely pale, freckles, glasses, with a mess of mousy brown curls, and yet every one who met the two knew they were perfect for each other.

Charlene and Cavin watched as Gabe struggled awkwardly to his feet and made a lunge at Trin, who laughingly dodged and hopped her way back to shore across a series of rocks. Cavin's hand tightened around her waist, and Charlene turned her attention back to him. With lean good looks, and blonde hair and baby blue eyes, Cavin was what one would consider typical jock... except that he wasn't a jock at all. He hated sports with a passion, devoting his extra curricular attention to the computer and film clubs, plus a generous helping of his time to a new club that had started up much to the teachers dismay about psycic awareness.

Charlene herself tended to avoid clubs when ever possible, but when the teachers at her school had pressed and she’d discsovered the mechanic’s club was already full, she had reluctantly joined the psycic awareness club, figuring it was school approved so she'd still get credit for participating, and it wouldn't put her on stage or give her a million pop quiz type tests...and it had given her two great new friends and a boyfriend.

Which had led to a summer camping trip which had deposited them here...at the bottom of this canyon.. somewhere.. All because Cavin had thought it would be awesome to HIKE down the trail... and explore... Charlene looked up at the sky high above them and sighed. What was it with guys and the need to explore... "You do realize, that it is a long ways back up out of here and the sky's already starting to darken.. there's no way we're going to get out of here before dark."

Cavin grimaced. "Yeah... guess following the basin wasn't such a good idea after all."

"Ya think?" Gabe asked sarcastically as he joined then, his sneakers making wet squelches with every step. "So Mr.'New Frontier' .. what now? Do we head back to the trail and start climbing, or keep going this way and hope we find another trail out..."

"Actually... I have no clue."Cavin said, a sheepish look on his face. "I don't think we should attempt to climb out in the dark regardless.. the trail got pretty narrow at points there coming down. I think we should find some place to spend the night... but we do have some walking time left, so do we head back and try to find the main trail... or do we press on and hope to find a second one..?"

Gabe grinned mischieviously. "Hell.. we know's what's behind us... I vote we push on and see what we find. Looks like we'll be spending the night anyhow.. worse case scenio, we find nothing and turn back in the morning."

"Oh.. campfire tales at the bottom of a canyon, surrounded by rock walls... Char's voice is going to echo so good when she tells more stories..." Trin said, her eyes sparkling.

Charlene sighed and whined mockingly. "Ah come on guys... why do I always have to. Some one else do the talking tonight. Trin, you went on the haunted house walk. you tell something."

The four of them didn't even bother to vote, they just all seemed to agree with Gabe and started walking deeper into the canyon. "Come on Char. You're the best, that's why. And all your stories are true, so it's even better! I mean.. Christ, your dad's a werewolf!! And all the club's 'sensitives' agree that you have a powerful sense about you, and Debbie says your aura is the strangest she's ever seen..."

Charlene waved a hand wearily, but she was smiling as she answered them. "Fine, alright. I give, again." she said thenb turned to Gabe. "And Debbie is full of shit. My 'aura' is just fine, there's nothing weird about it, and there's nothing weird about me. I'm not a werewolf, and I'm terrible at those ESP cards and stuff, so I don't know why you guys are so convinced otherwise."

The friends argued good naturedly the entire time they were walking, but they couldn't actually argue the fact the Charlene was right. She had the lowest test scores for ESP and all forms of psycic ability they'd ever been tested for out of the entire club. She'd shown no sensitivity to any form of paranormal activity what so ever.

The sunlight had faded significantly by the time they decided to stop and find a good place to camp. They crossed the stream to the far side where a scattering of trees on the cliff's edge above had left some usable firewood for them to gather. They found a place where the wall curved outward a bit and so aforded some protection in case it rained and quickly set about making it as camping friendly as possible. By the time they had the loose stones and shale scraped away and the fire started it was full dark and they ransacked Cavin's back pack for the remains of their lunch.

"Hey, Char.. tell us another story about your dad and his pack babysitting you.. " Trin said, leaning back against Gabe. Cavin was beside her with his arm around her waist and his fingers playing with the edge of her shorts. Cavin agreed, but Gabe snorted. "Trin baby, you just like those stories because the guys rarely bother to wear alot of clothes."

Charlene laughed along with Cavin, watching their friends erupt into a tickle fight. She gave Cavin a look and smacked his hand as his fingers started to tickle her sides. "Don't even think of it, or you can just shiver tonight." Even though it had been a hot and humid day, down here it was down right cold. The others had goose bumps all over them and huddled to the fire as close as they dared. Charlene didn't feel the chill as bad as her friends did and Cavin liked to comment she was like a furnace she was so hot to touch at times. Her dad said that all lycanthropes had a higher body temperature the normal humans and that if they were injured, their temp spiked even higher to promite the healing.. but since Charlene had not inherited lycanthropy, he had no clue why she was the way she was.

Cavin took the threat to heart and chose not to tickle her. Instead he cuddled in closer and nuzzled her neck.

She’d been thinking about what ‘ story’ to tell her friends when every hair on her body had suddenly stood on end, and Cavin suddenly leaned away from her. "Whoa.. what was that?"

Trin and Gabe looked at him across the fire. "What was what?"

Cavin reached a hand out to touch her then grinned and shook his head. "I don’t know. All of a sudden, Char got really REALLy tense andthere this like… tingle.. coming off her…"

Trin and Gabe’s faces both lit up and the scooted around the fire towards her. "Awesome." "Cool,, is she still doing it?"

"I’m not DOING anything!" Charlene said, but couldn’t explain the odd feeling that swept through her… nor that fact the Cavin had felt it at the same time she had. "I just felt weird for a second, that’s all. Probably someone walking over my grave or some nonsense like that…. Ow." She looked down at her stomach, feeling an intense pain shoot through her abdomen. Then it started to spread up through her chest and her hands and feet started to ache. Her face contorted as she clenched her stomach, doubling over as the pains intensified and the aches turned into throbbing pains. "Shit.. guys…something’s wrong.. it hurts.." She felt Cavin’s hands on her, then two more pairs as her friends crowded close trying to help…then a pain so intense it was blinding ripped through her from head to toe, and she could suddenly feel her body twisting, could hear her bones snapping..

She was aware of a fiece hunger and anger sweeping through her and then her vision shifted and suddenly everything was clearer some how.. different but clearer and she could smell everything. She could feel her body turning and moving, lashing out and was suddenly aware that she was merely watching herself, that she was no longer in control. She watched, screaming silently in horror as she watched her arms lift, seeing them muscled, hair covered, her hands seemingly huge, each finger tipped with razor sharp claws. She could feel her mouth longer, bigger, full of teeth far sharper then her own .. she smelled and tasted the blood as the werewolf that was her slaughtered her friends, ripping and tearing into their bodies…

Charl sat bolt upright, a scream frozen in her throat, a hand clamped over her mouth to keep the scream from erupting. Sweat soaked her body, making the tshirt cling to her uncomfortably, and the sheets beneath her feel damp and clammy. She hugged her knees and rocked, keeping one hand clamped over her mouth and the other wrapped around her knees as she waited for her heart to stop pounding. She started to shake uncontrolabley, and felt the tears begin to burn from her eyes and she garbbed a pillow from behind her, placed it on her knees and buried her face into it to muffle the huge gut wracking sobs that poured from her.

**

"Hi mom… Bull’s taking Sylvie over to the mall, can I go to?" Charli looked up from the engine to see her seven year old daughter leaning against the side of the jeep she was working on, a hopeful look on her face. For a moment she wanted to grab the girl and hold her tight, but instead she gave a smile, shaking her head no as she wiped her hands off on a rag. " No, honey. You have to go get packed. I phoned your grandparents and they can’t wait to see you. I’ll drive you out myself if Bull is too busy."

Sienna’s face lit up."Gramma and Grampa’s? Really? Awesome." She said and ran off across the floor. A moment later the elevator clanged and hummed to life. Charli looked down at the engine with a sigh, still ringing her hands in the greasy cloth as she tried to focus on her work. She tossed the cloth on the edge of the engine well and returned to tighten the last few connections she could reach from up here.

"Yo Charles!"

Charli gave a snort and shook her head, not looking up. "Eire, make yourself useful and turn her over for me, will you?"

She heard a soft snort and listened to the quiet footfalls as they approached, then felt the jeep dip as he sat down. She stood back slightly as the engine came to life and she listened intently for a moment before nodding and reaching for the hood. "That’s it, E.. shut her down." She said and slammed the hood, cloth and tools in hand as she turned back to her bench. The engine died, then the seat gave a soft squeak, and Charli heard that soft pad of steps that marked Eire’s approach. He leaned back against her work bench, a smirk on his face as he watched her wipe down her tools, putting them away. He leaned there with the quiet smirk in place as she moved about, putting things away and scrubbing her hands clean, before she finally turned with a sigh. "Did you just come to see how long you could stare at me before I decked you, or did you actually want something?" she asked with her own smirk as she crossed her arms and leaned against the hood of the jeep she’d just fixed.

His smirk grew, as he casually checked his watch. "Beat m’ record." He said then ducked laughing. "Kiddin’, geez Charles… calm it girl!" he laughed, scooping some loose nuts from a dish on her bench and began tossing them from hand to hand as he spoke, keeping his voice low in this room that always echoed and his Irish burr making things low in her tighten as it always did. Damned sexy accents always got her… that was how she’d wound up with Sienna… why on earth she’d wound up working in a building where she was surrounded by a multitude of young sexy accented men…

"So whadd’y ya think?"

Charli blinked and made her eyes focus back on Eire, realized he’d been talking to her and she’d heard nothing of what he’d said. Sexy accents did that to her every now and then… all she heard was the voice not the words… She gave an apologetic half smile ."Sorry, E.. my mind wandered about the time you started to speak… care to give that too me again.?"

Eire chuckled, tossing the nuts back in the dish and throwing up his hands in defeat as he pushed himself away from the bench and came over to the jeep. "That’s right painful, Charles. I bore ya that badly, do I?" he chuckled, bending over the jeeps hood to the side of her so he was facing her side on.

She was suddenly both thankful that he’d struck that pose while facing her and wishful the he’d been turned away. She swallowed the thought and leaned her head to the side with a bored expression on her face. "The point, E."

"I said the Explorer was runnin a bit ragged this mornin’. Nate was hoping’ t’ take it out tonight, and wanted to know if y’could take a look? He figured it was the carburator again."

Charli felt things tighten again as he said the word carburetor, the burr rolling the word in a way that made her smile. "Nate wouldn’t know a carburetor if it bit him on the ass. I’ll take a look." She said and pushed away from the jeep. "Take this one back and bring her around will you?"

Eire laughed softly. "Yes ma’am." He said and slipped back in the jeep.

**

She tossed the half finished gizmo back on the table and rubbed her face, blinking wearily up at the clock. Almost two am. She sighed and pushed back away from her desk and shut off the light, peeling off her clothes as she made her way to the bedroom. She grabbed a tshirt from her drawer and pulled it on, and ran one hand through her hair as she climbed into bed and flopped down on the pillow. "Please… no more.. let it be different this time.." she said softly.

She smelled and tasted the blood as the werewolf that was her, slaughtered her friends, ripping and tearing into their bodies…

This time the scream escaped, instinctively knowing that Sienna was safely away and wouldn’t hear her. Even so, she still buried her face into her pillow to sob the rest out. As she lay trembling , she glanced at the clock. Four thirty three. She gave a half sob half sigh and gave up, deciding on grabbing a shower and seeing if she couldn’t get any more work done.

**

"Charli?"

She looked up from her table with a startled look to see Nate and Eire standing there. "Sorry.. did you say something? I was caught up in…"

"Starin’ inta space." Eire finsihed with a smirk. "Y’ve been sittin’ there starin at tha’ contraption in y’hand for the last twenty minutes…"

Nate reached out and took it from her, setting it aside. "Are ye okay? Ye’ve been lookin’ a might ragged, since Sienna went t’ yer folks." He said.

Charli sucked in her breath. *good lord, I’m being tag-teamed… this is so not fair.. would it be so bad if they weren’t so damned good looking?* She forced a smile on her face. "I’m fine guys, really, just been working late on some projects, guess I haven’t been getting enough sleep. I’ll call it early tonight, alright?"

Nate grinned and rapped his knuckles on table, "Good, remember tha’ y said tha’.. We’ll be checkin’ an’ if we see yer light on, we’re comin in wit’ th’ whiskey and beer an’ putting y’ out th’ best way."

Eire chuckled. "Totally polluted."

Charli fought the blush that threatened to erupt. The totally polluted part sounded like a wonderful idea and one she was tempted to take them up on… if she thought for a minute she could be that drunk around the two of them .. alone… She forced herself to chuckle along with them and made shooing motions. "Don’t tempt me, I don’t need the hang over that would follow. Go tempt some other unsuspecting mortal over to the dark side."

Eire chuckled as Nate walked past him and out the door. He paused in the door way and looked back at her with a suddenly serious look on his face. "Curious how y’ seem t’ loose sleep over projects around th’ same time every year… bout th’ same time Sienna goes off t’ her grandparents…."

She felt her throat tighten with the sudden fear that everyone knew.. that they could hear her screams and sobs at night… but shook it off. This old building was solid and she knew that the walls weren’t that thin.. the screams, yeah.. they might have heard that if they were close enough to her place and awake at the time…

"Yer not as alone as y’ might think, Charles. Y’ feel like talkin’ or drinkin’, y’ know where to find us." He patted the doorframe with one hand as he slipped around the corner and she listened to his footfalls as he jogged after Nate.

"Shit." She said, running both hands back over her head and looking down at the jumble of wires, tools and circuits that was her ‘desk’ . ‘Electronics Hell’, one of them had called it once while attempting to find a particular component amoung the mess. "I’m more of a mess then my shop." She suddenly stood up and stretched, feeling bones pop and stiff muscles stretch. Three mostly sleepless night and no end in sight. She decided a good hard work out in the gym and about half a case of beer once she was alone should do the trick.

No.. she decided.. screw the beer… she was pretty sure she still had that bottle of scotch her dad had given her a couple years back. She hated scotch but what the hell.. she needed something stronger then beer.

**

She sat shivering in the aftermath of the dream, exhausted, wrung out, completely miserable. And sick. The scotch she had earlier was not sitting very well, and hadn’t helped anyhow. She felt marginally better once she’d thrown up and brushed her teeth, and decided she needed some air. She pulled a pair of shorts on along with her sneakers, forgoing bra and socks in her need to just get out and breath.

She leaned on the ledge of the roof and closed her eyes, breathing in the stink of the city and docks. It was still warm out and the breeze was enough to carry in the smell of the fish market but not enough to chill her. She shivered at the memory of the dream, the steep canyon walls echoing back the screams.. and gave a gasp, her eyes snapping open as she pulled free.

"Nate gave up on y’ but I’ve stil got tha’ whiskey and beer handy if y’ need it."

Charli jumped and spun to find Eire standing a few feet away, the moonlight making his hair seem even paler than it was. She slapped a hand to her chest. "Damn it E, put some bells on your shoes or something. You scared the crap out of me." She forced a chuckle then turned back to look out over the harbour. "Nah I’m fine.. had scotch earlier all it did was make me sick. I don’t hold much higher hopes for the whiskey and beer. I just needed some air then I’ll head back to bed." She struggled to keep her voice non-chalant, but felt the nightmare images and smells lurking just beneath the surface, stronger then normal. She flinched as she could suddenly feel the heat coming off him as he stepped up to lean on the ledge beside her, never hearing him move.

"Stop hidin’ it, Charles. Yer covered in sweat and reakin’ of fear. Have been fer days now. Same thing every year. We try t’ give ya room t’ deal with whatever’s hauntin’ you, but sometimes, y’ need an ear t’ listen t’ ye spill yer guts."

Charli squeezed her eyes shut and dug her fingers into her palms as the soft silky sound of his voice did it’s magic. Combined with the feel of him standing so close she was afraid to move. " I’m fine E, really," She said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Just have bad dreams every now and then. Everyone does."

She heard him sigh." Yeah.. we all do. An’ we all have our reasons fer ‘em. Nate know’s my reasons, an’ I know his. It helps a bit to share those reasons, sometimes. Yer not a rock, yer a person, an’ people need someone t’ lean on every now and then."

Charli swallowed and loosed her grip. A person, he’d said.. not a woman. A person. "Thanks E, but really.. I’m fine." She said and started to push away from the ledge, intending on going back inside, away from this sexy intense young man who made her feels things she really didn’t want to feel.At least that’s what she told herself.. she didn’t want to feel them…

Eire’s hand on her arm froze her in her tracks, and she snapped her eyes shut.

…She could feel her body turning and moving, lashing out and was suddenly aware that she was merely watching herself, that she was no longer in control…

she snapped her eyes open with a startled cry and yanked free, stumbling at the intrusion of the dream. Eire was suddenly grabbing her arms and spinning her around to face him, and she found two deep, intense blue eyes staring at her. "Charli! What it is? What’s wrong??"

She felt the sob bubbling up and suddenly focused on fighting it. She would NOT lose control. She would NOT…. lose …control… she sucked in a few deep breaths. "I told you E.. just bad dreams. They’re just particularly nasty this time around. I’ll be fine. I just need some sleep, that’s all." She focused on calming her breathing as they stood there, his hands still gripping her arms as if afraid she would hurl herself off the roof or something. "You gonna let me go, E?"

He seemed to relax suddenly, his body shifting posture, and although he kept his hold on her arms, his grip loosened in intensity. "No, I don’t think so. I think we’re going to get that booze and get polluted, then I’ll sit with ye while ye get some sleep.. sometimes, having someone there keeps ‘em away.."

Charli opened her mouth to protest, but Eire spun her around and gently pushed her toward the door. "Don’t bother arguin’. I won’t take no for an answer, and if y’try I’ll call Nate to come over too, then we’ll sit on ye an’ pout the liquor in ya and tie ye to the bed."

Charli almost choked on that image and wisely kept her mouth shut for the trek downstairs. Eire marched her past her door to his, shoving her. "We can either haul it back to yer place or drink it here… which do y’ prefer?"

Charli gave a defeated shrug and nudged a pile of clothing on the floor with her toe. "You’re a slob, E.. any one ever tell you that?"

He chuckled but brushed past her to the cupboard where he grabbed the whiskey. "Yes, as a matter of fact. And she tanned my hide repeatedly for the fact." He grinned as he snagged a couple six packs from the fridge and tossed one to her.

"Didn’t seem to do much good, did it?" she asked slipping her fingers between the cold cans, feeling beads of moisture already wetting her fingers.

Eire chuckled again, shaking his head as he returned and ushered her back out to the hall and down to her door. "Doesn’t appear so, no."

Once inside, Charlie flicked on a lamp, not wanting the brightness of the overhead right away. "Kitchen or couch?" She asked, wondering which would be better.

Eire smirked and asked a question in return. " Contest or casual?"

Charli chuckled and headed for the kitchen. "Contest… casual drinks takes to long to get polluted." She set the beer on the table and took down two small tumblers from the cupboard.

She heard Eire remove the beer from the plastic rings and pop two tabs open, then she turned and poured a generous helping of whiskey into each glass. "Of course," she said, " I hold no notion of even coming close to matching you let alone beating you. You have an unfair advantage after all… but that’s not the point of this anyhow." She said and sat down, passing a glass to Eire who took the chair next to her. "Bottoms up." She said and let the liquor burn its way down her throat, slamming the empty glass down on the table. "Should probably be using shot glasses for this, but screw it." She said through the sudden intake of breath, reaching for the beer to help quell the fire in her throat and belly.

Eire chuckled and finished his glass in a swallow to match her and poured another inch into each glass. Charli eyed the glass then grabbed the bottle from him, doubling the amount. "At that rate we’ll be here all night." She said, making him shake his head.

**

She was aware of Eire’s body pressed up against hers as he helped her to the bed where she dropped onto her ass suddenly enough that a gasp of surprise escaped and she giggled, slapping a hand over her mouth at the noise as it escaped, frowning. Eire chuckled and reached down to tug off her shoes, then lifted her legs and swung them onto the bed, before tugging the sheet up over her. "I’ll be right back." He said then vanished into the living room. A moment later he reappeared with the rocker recliner she’d bought when she first moved in, and set it in the corner across from the bed. "I’ll be right here if y’ need, me Charli. Remember tha’."

She lay there for a moment as he left the room, leaving the door open. She heard what she took to be the bathroom door closing and a short time later the sound of water running. She squirmed on the mattress for a moment trying to get comfortable, then realized she still had the shorts on and fumbled out of them, almost dumping herself on the floor in the process. She admitted, she did feel much better from the whiskey and beer then she had from the scotch.. then again, she’d had a hell of a lot more of it…

**

Charl sat bolt upright, a scream erupting before she could clamp her hand over her mouth. She jumped in shock as a sudden pressure on the mattress tilted her to the side and into a pair of strong arms that wrapped themselves around her. She struggled to get free but then suddenly just collapsed against him, no strength left to fight, and she felt herself start to shake with the great heaving sobs that always followed the dream.

He was leaning up against the headboard with her leaning against him, her head on his chest as he rubbed her back and shoulders, letting her talk. "It happened.. but it didn’t…" She said, her throat sore from the mixture of booze and crying. "We were in that canyon and they are all dead… but I didn’t do it. They were killed in a car accident the next afternoon after dropping me off at home. I can’t change. But in the dream I do and I kill them.. and I can feel it and see and smell..and taste.." She sobbed, gripping the thin material of his t-shirt tightly in a fist as she pressed her face against him, trying to block out the images. "It’s so REAL, Eire…"

"But it’s not, Charli. Maybe it’s just guilt over getting out o’ th’ car before the accident.. or maybe its yer fear of becoming a were wolf, like yer da,, or maybe there’s some sort of..’race memory’ type thing in yer head, that even though yer not a were yerself you’ve somehow tapped into.."

She sniffed and rubbed at her nose. "Or maybe yer just fucked in th’ head." He added and she burst out with a laugh.

She lay there for a little while longer, feeling the heat from his body radiating up through her, hearing the steady pounding of his heartbeat and the soft sound of his breathing as he kept rubbing her back. Suddenly she felt more at peace then she’d felt in a long time.

"Thank you Eire." She said quietly, not wanting to move and disturb the feeling, but feeling that drowsy edge that meant she’d be asleep soon enough and knowing there was no way in hell he was comfortable where he was with the hard wood of the headboard pressed against his shoulders and his neck at an odd angle. With a sigh she sat up, only then becoming aware of just how happy he’d been to hold her. She quickly looked away, looking up towards his face, but not being able to look him in the eyes right then.

She cleared her throat. "I guess I’ve kept you up long enough." She said shifting around so she was sitting facing the same way he was.. but then her gaze kept wanting to drift to the side to see if he was still ‘happy’…

"I don’ mind." Came the soft husky voice at her shoulder, and she felt goosebumps suddenly appear all over her skin as he stroked her hair back from her head, his fingers coming to rest on her neck.

"I… uh… guess I should get some sleep myself…"

"Would be a good idea.." he said and she felt a puff of hot air on her shoulder then felt the slight hot brush of his lips against her collar bone, making her arch her head back. She reached up and caressed the side of his face as he kissed her shoulder, the fingers of his other hand trailing lightly across her neck and down the other shoulder.

"Eire…" she said, taking two tries to get his name out.

His breath was hot in her ear. "Tell me to go and I will." She felt him shift slightly behind her, moving closer, but his hand never strayed from its path between her neck and shoulder, and his gentle teasing kisses never grew more bold. She could feel the tension in him and knew he was holding back with everything he had, not wanting to push her.

She swallowed and turned her face slightly towards him, her hand slipping over to his lap, making him gasp at the touch. "No.. stay.. please.." She wondered at her sudden boldness, wanting to chalk it up to too much alcohol, or maybe just loneliness. She suddenly didn’t care. If this turned into nothing, she’d still be happy with it while it lasted… she hoped he felt the same.

**

Charli groaned as she squeezed her eyes shut. The shade on her window was up and sunlight poured across the bed, blinding her and making the pounding in her head even more furious. She rolled over onto her stomach and pulled the pillow over her head, but the movement just sent her stomach lurching and she had to catch her breath to subdue the sudden intense desire to throw up...

God she felt like shit. What on earth did she drink that... oh. She peeked an eye out from beneath and pillow and peered around as much as she could without fully opening her eyes to the light or moving her head overly much. The bed was empty except for her and she couldn't hear anyone moving around... She sighed and covered her head the rest of the way. "Just a dream.. " she muttered between the pillows. "Got polluted with E and had a dream.. a really... good... dream..." she silently thanked who ever was watching that Sienna wasn't here to see her in such rough shape. "Need a job without so many sexy guys hanging around... or maybe i just need to stop hanging around them..."

She was finally forced out from beneath the pillows by the un-ignorable need to use the bath room. Her stomach and head both added their own complaints to her moving as she crawled across the bed to the other side and practically fell onto the floor. She sat on the floor beside the bed, her legs tangled in the sheets and debated on whether she should attempt to stand and walk to the bathroom.. or just crawl there... it wasn't that far... a bit of rug burn wouldn't make that big a difference the way she felt..

"A charmin' picture...if you didn't look so ill I'd be tempted to throw y' back in bed.."

Charli's head snapped up to see Eire standing in the door way and three things happened at once.

She suddenly realized that she was buck naked.. she always slept in a tshirt and panties at least.. and here she was on the floor naked with E standing a couple feet away.. Two, the smell of the coffee he held in his hands hit her and her stomach decided to stage an all out revolt, sending her lurching to her feet.. and three... as she regained her footing, her head choose that moment to implode, sending her crashing back down to the floor...

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind y' know..." A cool, damp cloth slid across her forehead and over her cheek, and she discovered she was back in bed, the sheet tucked around her. Eire was sitting on the bed beside her. "Ye got me feelin' a might guilty, Charli.. after all, I supplied the booze that made you so ill..." he dragged the cloth over the other cheek, then set it aside. "How do'ye feel? Y' scared the beejeezus out o' me when y' passed out there... don't worry, I got everything cleaned up.. y' might want to have the carpet cleaned though... did what i could, but..."

Charli groaned and dropped and arm over her eyes. Her head was still throbbing, but as long as she didn't move too much it wasn't as bad. And her stomach felt decidedly better now.... apparently at the expense of her carpet. And her dignity.. She noticed that he had pulled the shade down, making the room a nice comfortable half gloom. "I see you're not feeling any pain... damn rapid healing shit...."

He chuckled softly. "I felt it too.. just got through it faster..." He brushed some damp hair off her forehead, and she flinched slightly. He pulled his hand back, frowning. "Are y'alright? Did I hurt ya...?"

She sighed and dropped her arm to grip the sheet tighter to her and considered whether to sit up and talk to him about it or roll over and ask him to leave... rolling over was extremely tempting.. but the look on his face .. damn ..She sat up, careful to hold the sheet in place, keeping her eyes half closed, in a failed attempt at curbing the headache.. "No, Eire.. you didn't hurt me. Sorry.. I'm just .. not real comfortable right now.. you know... being naked and all..."

Eire gave a low chuckle that sent quivers running through her and she squeezed her eyes shut at the feeling. She forced herself not to move as his fingers brushed over her shoulders and he leaned closer. "Y’ were comfortable enough last night.." He purred and kissed her earlobe, making her give a squeak, and free one hand to place it on his chest and push him back a bit.

"Eire.. please..." Charli said as he kissed her neck. Her words made him pull back, half sitting half laying beside her.

"Damn.. Charli...I thought.. I mean.. I ne'er wouldve'... ah shite.."

She sighed reached out as he went to leave, catching the edge of his jeans. "Eire.. wait.. I don't mean.. I WANTED to.. I just ... ah damn..." She dropped her hand from his jeans and crossed her arms over her chest, hugging her shoulders. "I mean.. we've been friends for how long... four years? Up until now, I was just one of the guys.. someone to have a beer or ten with, talk cars, yada yada.. And that was great, I liked that... sometimes wished you guys weren't all so damned good lookng... or had those damned sexy accents... but I liked being one of the guys..."

She released one hand and waved between them at her sheet covered body and his shirtless one. "Kind hard to be one of the guys now.."

Eire stood looking down at her for a moment as she spoke, then crawled across the bed to collapse on his hip beside her, leaning on the head board with one arm. She tried not to look at him in that pose, but she could see the sexiest damned smirk on his face. "Charli…" he reached out and stroked her leg through the sheet. "Trust me... we ne'er saw ya as a 'guy'... we just got really good at pretendin'. Why do y' think I always call y' Charles ?" he chuckled, leaning over to kiss her neck again.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember what she wanted to say.. Eire's hand on his thigh and hot kisses on her neck were rather.. distracting.. despite the hangover.. "E... "

"Hmm?" he asked, moving his kisses up to her ear where he proceeded to nibble on her ear lobe.

She caught her breath and lost all sense of thought for a moment."Hmm.. I don’t think I’m up to this right now…."

Eire chuckled and gave her neck one last kiss before pulling back and looking at her, one hand stroking her face. "Alrigh’ then… why don’t y’ jump in the shower and I’ll whip y’ up something t’ eat. Something light and non greasy…" he said slipping across the bed. "there’s a glass of water an’ some aspirin beside ya." He added before slipping out of the room.

A shower sounded very good, and even the promise of food didn’t sound that bad.. but the aspirin, now THAT sounded like heaven. She grinned a weak thanks and reached for the water and pills before carefully sliding out of bed. When her legs didn’t dump her on her ass, she figured she’d make it and plodded to the door where she grabbed her beat up old robe. A quick rifling through the dresser produced a clean set of clothing that she carried into the bathroom with her.

Once in the shower, she didn’t want to leave. The water was cranked as hot as she could stand it and had actually managed to make her feel almost human again. When the water started to cool again and she discovered the knob refused to turn any farther she reluctantly shut it off and climbed out.

Fully dressed, hair still damp from the shower, Charli emerged from the bathroom to find Eire had set a place at the table for her. A cup of tea and a couple slices of toast. She smiled at him and slid into her chair. He’d set the jam and peanut butter out for her and she slathered on a thick layer of peanut butter, ignoring the jam. She actually felt hungry and with the first bite, could detect no sign of any returning nausea. "Thanks, E…" she said, swallowing amouthful of toast.

He smirked and raised his coffee mug in salute as he watched her, his chair tipped back on it’s legs. "Y’ look like y’ feel better."

She nodded her head as she tucked into the rest of the toast, talking between mouthfuls. "I DO feel better, amazing what a couple aspirin and a hot shower can do for you." She popped the last bite of toast into her mouth and after swallowing, added. "Not too mention a good friend to help take care of you."

Eire smiled and blushed slightly as he gave a non-chalant kind of shrug. "I don’t mind, Charli.. after all, it was my fault t’ begin with." He raised his mug and gave her another little salute as she picked up her own cup. "An’ I called down t’ Sylvie an’ told her y’ were feelin’ poorly an’ wouldn’t be workin’ today."

She gave a soft snort and smirked into her cup. "Never even dawned on me… thank you again. If you hadn’t thought of it, I would’ve had the whole lot of them banging on my door…"

Eire stood up and set his mug in the sink, then turned and took her cup from her and did the same. She raised an eyebrow at him as he turned back to face her. "And what if I wasn’t finished?"

He gave her that smug and sexy look he’d given her earlier in the bedroom and pulled her out of the chair, then slid his hands around her waist, pulling her close against him. "Y’re finished." He said huskily before he caught her mouth in a kiss that began gentle but quickly changed into a deep hungry kiss, that left her lips feeling almost bruised. "If y’re feelin’ up to it now.. I’ll be takin’ y’ back t’ bed now…"

Charli closed her eyes and tried to remember how to say the word no, as he slid his hands up under her shirt, his mouth on her throat again. When his hands found their way inside her bra at the same time as his mouth caught hers again, she caved in completely. When he let her breath again she found she couldn’t speak so she just slid her arms around his neck and nodded.

Eire chuckled softly and scooped her up into his arms and carried her back into the bedroom.