The Real Reason

[Scion]

Ohhh, love. I get SO into this story, almost like I forget about everything and I'm just THERE with them. Glad Charlie got lotsa huggies.

[Ciuty80]

this is fantastic i love peter for being so wonderful to charlie

..and i love charlie for his cold sorry ´bout that

anyway please more

[obsessed]

aw!! These two are just too real - I love it.

[Butch]

WOW..what an update. I too, felt like I was RIGHT THERE in the moment with them. Wonderful.

[Quite Contrary]

Aaaaaghhhh you can't stop there!!! Oh my freaking gosh, your writing just pulls me in completely. Charlie is just so....sad I love him! I wanted to punch Peter at the beginning, even though he loves Charlie. This is such an amazing story and your characters are so real and...guh. I don't have words for all the things I want to say about your wonderful story. I CAN'T WAIT to read more!

[VividBubbles!]

Really? A cliffie? You jerk! UGH! Now I have to wait! And I don't have alot of patience. Anyway, great chapter and I hope Charlie gets better soon! Update soon!

BYE!

P.S. To Scion: Update Puppy Love already! Jeez! I've waited like 4 hours already! Again, I have absoulutely NO patience!

BYE! Again.

[Coffee Chicken Barista]

Oh God! Don't stop there!!!!!!!!!! Please update again soon! I love these boys so much!

[RSB]

A/N: Sorry for the cliffie guys but now it's all going to go down in this last installment. I had originally thought about splitting it in two but decided it worked better all mushed together so here it is. Thank you so much for all the kind replies along the way, including replies from people whose writing I have always admired on the forum! You all rock!!! :

The Real Reason

Part 3b

Last time on "The Real Reason": Peter chuckled and tried to savor what was potentially the last moment of camaraderie between him and Charlie, if his worst fears were to come true. God he hoped they didn’t. Then he lifted his eyes to Charlie’s and spoke.

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“I do want you to come to my games. I want you to come to all of them and I want to go home with you when they’re over, not Cooper or Josh or any of those guys. Because…Charlie we’ve been friends for ten years now. I know that the past few years we’ve been—I’ve been distant b-but it’s not your f-f-fault.” Peter began, cursing silently when he started to stutter. He forced himself to look into Charlie’s eyes and was glad he did—they were soft and warm and encouraging as ever, even when they were edged with confusion and maybe anticipation?

“T-the p-problem was t-that…W-well. I needed space and t-that’s why I j-j-joined the team.” Here Peter gulped, familiar guilt flooding through him. “I k-know this m-made you l-lonely and that the g-g-guys on the team were m-mean to you sometimes and for that I’m so sorry.”

“The thing i-is though…I c-couldn’t spend as much t-time with you b-because I couldn’t c-c-control my…feelings and I d-didn’t want to t-t-take advantage. Of you.” Peter paused and bit his lip. His heart was thudding painfully in his chest and when he moved his tongue to try and speak his next words, his mouth seemed to become paralyzed. He let out a quiet sound of frustration.

Then soft and warm finger tips placed themselves gently on his lips.

“It’s okay. Just take a binute. Snf!” Charlie assured him quietly. Peter closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath across Charlie’s fingers, which were still blanketing his lips comfortingly. Charlie coughed wetly but then gave a small smile and let his fingers fall to warmly cup Peter’s jaw for a moment—his thumb briefly and ever so slightly caressing Peter’s cheek before he withdrew his hand to his lap.

Transfixed and dazed by the gesture Peter was able to speak his next words completely without stutter.

“Charlie I love you.”

Immediately after uttering the words he clamped his eyes shut and waited for the axe to fall. Strangely, all that fell was a momentary silence before Charlie spoke up sounding confused as ever.

“I love you too Peter.” He said sounding hesitant and almost probing. “But why…why does that make you want to avoid me?”

Peter grimly opened his eyes. He hadn’t anticipated that Charlie would mistake his meaning. It wasn’t very often that boys made such declarations to each other after all. He’d thought it would be pretty clear.

“Not like…Not like a brother. More like…well…” He trailed off, unable to say anymore and turned to stare at the bit of wall behind Charlie’s head. There was another silence.

“Oh…oh!” Charlie murmured and there was a quiet giggle. Peter turned to stare at the other boy who was veritably beaming at him.

“You—you don’t mind?” he croaked and Charlie shook his head at once still smiling so widely Peter thought his face would crack in two.

“Do I mind? God Peter I’ve only been waiting, and waiting!” Charlie began before erupting into giggles. “Oh but this is so—so—wonderful!”

“Wonderful?” Peter echoed blankly.

Charlie continued to beam at him, looking almost manically happy.

“I never expected that today of all days! A-hhh-and—itsch! snf! Snf!..I was expecting the worst! After all this tibe…Maybe I just wasn’t d-hiih-hitchchh! Scuse be. Umb, doig id proberly. Snf!” Charlie said introspectively, rubbing a bit at his drippy nose.

“Doing what properly?” Peter questioned, exasperated now, and despite himself, a bit amused by Charlie’s suddenly effervescent mood.

“Flirting with you!” Charlie cried happily. Then his eyes dropped bashfully. “I’d have thought it was obvious.”

“You mean—you—you—I? What?” Peter floundered helplessly. “Why—why were you flirting with me?”

“Oh Peter…I love you!” Charlie murmured fiercely. He gripped Peter’s hand, suddenly looking serious and intent.

“I’ve known since the day we met that I loved you. And I knew that you loved me—probably before you even knew it. When you started to pull away from me I figured you w-hhh-were con-confused—ITTSCHH! Ishhh!” Charlie sneezed down at his chest and palmed his nose irritably before continuing.

“Or maybe nervous. I tried to show you it was okay and that I loved you too but you didn’t seem to ged id. Abbarently I’b a lousy flirt. Ha! I eved read those stupid Seventeed bagazine tips. But still, dothing. Snf! I’d albost losd hobe. Snf! Snf!Especially when it seemed like you were going to say you didn’t eved want be at your gabes.”

“I wasn’t going to say that at all Charlie!” Peter cried hurriedly and Charlie smiled at him gently and gave his hand a warm squeeze.

“I know that now. But you’ve been acting even more erratically than usual. I thought maybe you’d just decided couldn’t handle the idea of being with adother guy. But you’ve…hod on…heh…heehh—hegtshhchh! Etscch!...Sorry, you’ve been so sweet these past few days as well. Snf! I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. But now this. Oh Peter I’m so happy!” he said breathlessly and pulled Peter into his arms.

Peter hung on desperately, trying to come to terms with everything Charlie had said. “You should have said something. I’ve been so lost.”

Charlie stroked his back and Peter wanted to try cry it felt so right.

“I know and I wanted more than anything to make you feel better but I couldn’t force it. You thought you liked girls after-all. I mean you almost asked Emma Goldstein out.” Charlie said and snorted into Peter’s hair.

“Emma? I wasn’t going to ask—wait…Charlie did you—did you call her a slut at her pool party?” Peter asked suspiciously. He pulled back a bit to look Charlie in the eye. The other boy looked a bit bashful and Peter’s eyes widened in shock.

“Seriously?”

“Well, I didn’t call her a slut but…I may have had a few words with her.”

“Such as?” Peter asked archly and Charlie blushed adorably.

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Charlie felt horrible. The chlorine from the pool was driving his sinuses wild and he was sneezing what felt like every 30 seconds, his nose was running like he had a head cold, and he was starting to get a headache (though that could’ve been the music—Charlie wasn’t sure). Worst of all Peter was ignoring him. Charlie was pretty sure the other boy had only invited him to go to this party out of guilt but he’d wanted to show Peter that he’d made the right decision, that Charlie could be fun and fit in with his friends. Instead he was hunched over in a lawn chair by himself, with a tissue pressed to his no-doubt cherry red and dripping nose, looking disgusting and alone.

Charlie blew his nose desolately and looked through itchy-pink eyes for Peter. There was really no point in him staying here like this. And he didn’t want to embarrass Peter, looking as he did. He saw his friend by the pool looking handsome and confident as he chatted with that girl he was telling himself he liked—Emma. Charlie’s eyes watered a bit from frustration and allergies and he muffled another itchy sneeze into his soaked tissue before heading over to his friend.

He put the hand not grasping his sopping tissue on the small of Peter’s back and his friend turned to look at him, his face immediately colored with concern.

“Charlie what’s wrong? You look awful!” Peter said quietly and concernedly. Charlie blushed and gave his nose a quick swipe before pulling the tissue away.

“I’b really sorry the chlorinde’s botherig by dose. I’b goig to head hobe bud you sday ogay? Isshoo! Hitschh!...hetgtschh!” The tissues were quickly pulled back to his nose as he felt moisture drip onto his upper lip. God he must be making a spectacle of himself and in front of all of Peter’s friends too, he thought guiltily. Peter didn’t seem to notice though and pulled Charlie into a quick hug.

“Bless you, bless you, bless you. Listen are you sure? I can ditch, seriously. Are you even going to be okay getting home like this?” he asked in a low voice. Charlie put on a brave smile and nodded.

“I’ll be fide. Itschh! Seriously. I jusd deed to ged away frob the chlorine. Tscch! I’ll see you toborrow. Alride?” Charlie squeezed Peter’s shoulder affectionately and headed toward to gate leading out of the pool area. Just as he was leaving he felt a hand viciously pull at his elbow, dislodging his tissue from his nose to his embarrassment. He turned around to see Emma glaring at him.

“You need to back off faggot. Peter likes me and he doesn’t need you to confuse him.” She whispered harshly. Charlie stared at her in shock and sniffled wetly before answering her sudden accusation.

“Umb…I thig id’s for Peder to decide who he ligs.” He said firmly.

“Well it’s not natural for him to like someone like you so back the fuck off and we won’t have any problems.” She growled and poked Charlie hard in the chest. He coughed a little in response and raised his eyebrows.

“Ride. I’b goig to go dow.” He said and turned around again. As he walked away he heard her say in a loud voice, “Slut.”

Charlie paused, gave a great sniffle to clear his congestion and without turning around said, “I would take a look at that two sizes too small bikini you’re wearing before making such accusations. Otherwise do ode could ever take you seriously.”

Then he walked off feeling rather proud of himself.

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“In retrospect it wasn’t the most mature response.” Charlie said sheepishly but Peter shook his head fiercely.

“She deserved it. God Charlie that’s awful. I shouldn’t have let you go home alone. You looked terrible. I felt bad for the rest of the party and ended up leaving not long after.” Peter admitted. Charlie’s face fell and Peter gave him a snuggling hug.

"What is it? What did I say?" he asked hurriedly.

“I don’t want to limit you like that Peter.” Charlie whispered despondently but Peter shook his head.

“The party wasn’t even fun without you.” He said and could feel Charlie’s lips curve into a reluctant smile against his neck.

“You’re sweet.” He said and pressed a soft kiss to Peter’s neck making him shiver. Peter pulled back so that their eyes met and his lips ached with want. He started to lean forward, eyes drinking in the graceful planes of Charlie’s face, the sweet softness in the curve of his lips, the adorable dusting of freckles across his pink nose, the long lashes lining his eyes, eyes that said home, and love, and forever.

“No…” Charlie breathed and wrenched himself away. “We—we can’t.”

“What?” Peter cried incredulously. Charlie snuffled and gave him an apologetic look.

“I’m sick. And contagious.” He said unhappily. Peter rolled his eyes.

“Charlie. Have I ever caught one of your colds? No. Because your immune system catches the sort of sad little viruses that most people can beat off without batting an eyelash.”

“B-but…tscch! Isshh! Snf! I bean listen to me! If you do catch this I’ll feel horrible. Ad besides…I can’t look particularly attractive like this.” Charlie murmured looking bashful and guilty.

Peter cupped Charlie’s jaw with a gentle hand and forced him to look him in the eyes.

“Charlie I love you. And if I can only kiss you when you’re healthy I’ll hardly ever be able to do it. And it’s something I’ve wanted to do for four freaking years now. I don’t care that you have a cold. All that means is that you need more kisses to make you feel better.” He said grinning charmingly.

Charlie seemed to soften a bit at his words and leaned forward despite himself, even as he continued to sniffle. He hooked his arms around Peter’s neck and Peter moved his arms around Charlie’s waist and they contemplated each other for a moment.

“Are you sure?” Charlie whispered finally, eyes wide and hopeful. Peter smiled widely as their noses bumped they were so close.

“Positive.” And Peter closed the minute gap between them and kissed Charlie for all he was worth and it was wonderful.

Fin

A/N: Again thank you so much guys for all the nice things you've said! I hope to write another slashy-fic soon!

[Galaxy]

*Stares blankly for a loooong time*

That...was the most MARVELOUS ending. I don't think there could have been a better one! Hooray for Peter and his feelings! And Charlie, he's such a sweetheart, concerned about getting him sick. And Emma! I hate that ho! I know she's fictional, but still. I wanna beat her up!

Just, everything was so....gwaaaa, I'm melting here. That was perfect. I loved it SO much. Really, I'm still gathering my thought about it...I'm sad that it's over, of course---INSANELY sad---but at least it went out fantastically.

You are an amazing writer, and I REALLY hope you post more stuff up here.

Once again, fabulous job!

[Scion]

I LOVE this! Ugh, I'm so bad at writing creative comments. Anything I say will pale in comparison to what the lovely Awesome Galaxy has already said hehe. So, yeah, what she said! And yes, I LOVE (have I used that word already, hmm?) your writing! And your characters are awesome and layered. Good stuff. I'd love be thrilled to see more from you in the future.

[Coffee Chicken Barista]

SO CUTE!!!! I hope you write another story soon! This was so sweet. I love these boys. More soon please!

[obsessed]

ahhhh this was just lovely. <3

I HAPPY BECAUSE THEY ARE HAPPY.

[VividBubbles!]

OH! You finished! YAY! I got to read the ending! It was great by the way. You should write another story where Peter catches a really, really bad cold but aviods Charlie and doesn't tell him because if it's really bad for him it will be horrible for Charlie but in the end Charlie won't catch it. Pretty please? Now that I think about it I really want my idea as the sequel to this story so PLEASE! Write back soon!

BYE!

[BlueGirl]

So, I've finally joined the forum, and I had to comment on this! I think this story is just so adorable! I can't put it in better words than everyone who has already commented, so, yeah! What they said :-) also, can I second Bubbles! Idea for a sequel. Don't feel pressured or anything, I just thought it was a great idea

[pinknose]

Effing AMAZING!!! speed-read the whole thing in like the past fifteen minutes cuz this is just too cute! gahhhh!!! :3

[sneasons greetings]

I think I just melted into a puddle and died..

So, so freaking adorable.

Let me just.. pick myself back up.. in a minute..

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Ooh, hadn't seen this before. Really a very nice story. Thank you lots for sharing. Charlie is incredibly cute.