#baronyofthesilverwolf

"why does he do that I wonder. Does't he remember how horrible your dad was to your mom?"

Chuck shrugs a bit. "He wasn't always like that. Only sometimes. Sometimes he was fine, you know? It's... it's just weird, now. Things are going to be different, and it's... weird." He repeats, a bit lamely.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm not as sympathetic to him as I should be, or you. I .. I see it as a good thing. My dad hunted my mom down annd killed her so... for me, this is like makinng sure that kind of thing doesn't happen"

She opens her coke

"I...." He looks stunned. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." He is definitely taken aback. "But my dad wouldn't.... he never..." He looks a bit pale. "...it never starts out that bad, I guess."

"It never does, annd .. you know, my situationn is NOT your situation... but if you wonder why I'm butting in, well, it's not just because you're the best boyfriend a girl could have"

NOW he blushes a bit. "You're definitely the best girlfriend I've had. I mean, not that I've had a lot, but you're - you're GWEN." He says, as though this explains it.

She almost glows at that

"Thanks. I.. sometimes don't feel very feminine but you make me feel... well, adored"

"You don't have to be 'feminine', if by that you mean wearing dresses or high heels or makeup. I like that you're tall enough to look at straight on, and I like that you say what you mean and don't hide it behind giggles or pretending to be shy. And you don't need makeup to look pretty. Without a ton of cakey powder and eyelash goop, I can really see you better."

"Plus, mascara would run in your eyes when you sweat under the lacross helmets, and you'd miss all your shots." Reasonable.

"I totally would" She snerks then cougghs "And yeah, I don't really giggle well. "A look at him "Well, thank you. I put Denny, he's a therapist, I put his number in my contact list but ..try to show your mom that later when Bret's not about to nix it. How IS your mom doing?"

He smiles at that, cracking a coke for himself too. "I was worried at first. She cried some after the police left. And dad keeps trying to call, but he just has the land line number. You know, she didn't even have a cell phone? I never thought about it before." Chuck seems embarrassed. "Like, it was just normal, but now I see how weird that is, like he didn't want her to have her own life. She... I think mom is happier now. She smiles more that she did., and I caught her singing in the garden the other day." He rolls his eyes a bit.

"Awww that's wonderful" A smile "the singing. I'm glad she seems happier. And I hope Denny is the right guy to help. They've got discounts or something for folks under court orders." And she catches herself "And I am.. fixatinggwhen I should be ... talking wih you not at you. I'm sorry. How are YOU doing? "

He pulls out a chair at the kitchen table so they can sit. "Pretty good. I was hoping to see you over break actually. I guess I could have called, but... I dunno, I thought maybe you'd be busy, or something. Studying for when school starts back up... or working at that dog ranch you live on." A bit of a grin there, teasing.

She sits and blushes "yeah, I'm a bit of a workaholic with the dogs, it's true, but you know you can always text me, right? Worse I can do is be away while I'm cleaning a stable or something" A tilt of he head "Maybe I could make it up to you. take you out to a movie?"

He perks up. "There is something I've been wanting to see. Wait - what did you want to see?"

"Well, I'd love to see the Green Knight ...but I'm open to others?"

He laughs. "I was worried you might want to see that Quiet Place movie. I don't really like horror. But Green Knight looks really cool."

"Well, the Green Knight might have some scary stuff too." then a mix of shy and sly "But, don't worry, I'll protect you"

He laughs. "I think I can handle scary, I just don't want an entire movie that is trying to make me jump. Not my idea of fun, right? But if it gets too creepy, I'll just have to rely on you to tell me when it's safe to watch." Grinning.

She laughs merrily and openly "Deal."

"Did you want to stay for dinner? It's just spaghetti with meat sauce, but mom makes a pretty darn good meat sauce."

"Sure, let me text home and let them know "

"You got it. I'll let mom know. If she can figure out how to answer on her new phone." Both teens sending texts.

TXT: I'm gettinn dinner at Chuck's. Don't worry

A response comes back from whoever apparently has her mitts on the phone. DIBS ON UR DINNER. MARIGOLD GOT ME MAKING BISKITS.

She figures it's Briar

txt: Jus save me some dessert, geez.

txt: ENJOY UR GROUND CHUCK. GET IT? 🥩
Definitely Briar.

TXT: Boo hiss. .. have fun

And she puts it away

Chuck grins up at her. "Mom says 'of course' you're welcome to dinner. Hey, want to make garlic bread? We have some in the freezer."

The bread may be frozen, and they don't have fresh pasta made from scratch, but Chuck is right - even if it's not Marigold's haute cuisine, Mrs. Chesterton DOES make a darn good meat sauce.

(scene!)