Chapter 7 - You and Me

Deanna walked up the short flight of stairs to Charlie's grandmother's front door, holding hands with him.

- So this is where you grew up? - Deanna looked at every detail. Anything that could tell a story about Charlie, she would like to know.

- In part, yes. My mother left us here when we were older. Charlie entered the room and Deanna followed him. They sat on the old sofa, hugging each other.

- And do you remember? She asked, resting her chin on his chest, looking at him.

- Sure. It still causes me problems today - Charlie smiled, stroking Deanna's hair.

- What kind of problems? - She was more curious than usual.

- Problems with my sister sometimes, angry ... - Her look seemed distant now - In a way, I always took out on her the anger I felt towards her father, I didn't get along with him, I felt rejected by my Mom, it's very complicated - He leaned his head back against the sofa - When you're a certain age and your mother doesn't want to raise you anymore, it's hard to forget.

Deanna hugged Charlie tight.

- A lot is hard to forget, Charlie - She was looking him in the eyes - Some things we will need to go through again and again until we are resilient. I'll tell you something - She looked at the ceiling - Two years ago, I got pregnant by my fiance. And we both wanted the baby so much, we had always planned. I was so used to seeing pregnant women at the hospital that I imagined myself. In the week of Christmas, I went to do the ultrasound. My ex-boyfriend, poor thing, was late, he was desperate to see the baby. But I looked at the monitor and saw that something was wrong. I've never been so scared in my life - Deanna's eyes were filled with tears - And when the doctor turned worried, I already knew. He arrived at that moment, euphoric. When I looked at him I started to cry and the face he made I never forget. It was a broken heart - She looked away, crying - It didn't hurt physically, as shown in the movies - She pursed her lips - But it's a worse pain, it hurts in her chest - Charlie then hugged her - That was Christmas week. And I needed to stay in the maternity ward - She wiped her tears, a heart-wrenching sadness passed over her face - Because that's where the women who do the procedure to remove the embryo go. And every minute inside, I remembered that I didn't have my baby with me, that I would never know if it would look like me or him. How can you not know someone's face and miss it so much? And every time I looked at a baby, I was devastated. - She looked at him sadly - I felt angry. Angry Charlie. So angry that I ended up destroying what Nick and I had. So I became a very sad person. I sought help, went to therapy, apologized, went on with life, I thought that living one day at a time would be better. And it was. A tattooed, handsome boy crashed his car and luckily I'm a nurse - He wiped the tears from her face with his eyes inside hers - Charlie, the anger at things that happen to us, is so dangerous. It hurts innocents. It hurts who sometimes just wants to help, but we don't let it because sometimes we blame something that happened to us, just like I did with Nick -

Charlie was teary-eyed after hearing her story.

- I'm sorry you went through this, Dee.

- I also feel that you passed what happened with your family.

- Do you still think about having a baby? He asked, stroking her face.

- No - She smiled sadly - I wanted that baby, he won't come back. Just as you cannot go back in time and be left here. Each time we look at a child with the mother, we will feel sadness. Me for not having my baby, you for not being with your mother. But it's alright. The feelings come back to haunt us, but we decide if they will stay. I pushed a person away for letting them stay between us. Life goes by too fast Charlie - She snuggled into his chest, Charlie put his arm over her, and they fell asleep on Grandma Hawkins' couch.

Julie turned the key and opened the door when she saw Charlie sitting on the sofa, hugging a girl. They turned around, noticing her presence. It was night and the smell was pizza.

"Hey Julie, there's pizza for you," he said. Come here, I want you to meet someone.

Julie went over to them, circling the couch. Charlie and Deanna got up. She held out her hand to Julie who smiled and greeted her.

- Deanna, this is Julie, my little sister - He said lovingly, leaving Julie surprised and happy.

Julie, this is Deanna, my girlfriend - Charlie said that and Deanna turned around in surprise and laughing. Julie looked surprised. Does Charlie say he has a girlfriend?

- Hey, I haven't asked you yet! - Deanna protested.

- It took Dee. I spoke before!

Julie looked at them and was happy.

- Did you see that I cut his hair, Deanna? - Julie asked and Charlie looked at her immediately - But he was scared to death!

- Did you tell him that his tattoo is kind of ... disappearing? - Deanna winked at Julie, who understood the joke right away.

- Wow, I forgot! - Julie looked at Deanna with wide eyes while Charlie, suspicious, touched his throat, checking the mirror.

- Nothing is erasing here! - He turned to them, who were laughing knowingly - Ah, now I'm going to be brooding! But it is even clearer - He looked closely in the mirror, while Deanna and Julie laughed at him.