Summer Entanglement (bxb)

Chapter 4

The entire time at breakfast, Jace's face would turn crimson whenever we made eye contact. 

"Okay, why are you being so blushy when you look at Tanner?" Charlie asked with a hint of jealousy in his words. Jace looked wide eyed at Charlie.

"Uhh..uhm..." he stuttered out.

"Tanner walked in on us having s*x" Dakota said nonchalantly. Matt started laughing.

"Oh, I've done that before. Except it was just Damon and Jace. Damon was railing him by holding him up while he hung his arms around his bunk's railing" Matt explained while Jace looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. 

"Good times" Damon smirked causing some giggles from our group. 

Jace cleared his throat "Anyway, What are the plans today?" he asked to change topics.

"I was thinking of going to the zoo first, then visiting the Willis tower, maybe going swimming at the beach and then hit a night club?" Sebastian replied.

"Oooh can we go to the Shameless houses?" Dakota asked.

"Oh yeah! That'd be cool to get photos in front of them!" Charlie excitedly said. Shameless was one of his favorite shows. I don't care for it as much as he does but I watch it whenever he has it on. 

"We could do that, tomorrow we are going to the Art Institute and explore the city before we leave the day after" Sebastian told us. 

"Sounds like a good plan" I nodded my head and everyone else agreed. We finished up and headed back to the rooms to get ready for the day. 

We took a bus to the Zoo and it took about an hour and a half to actually get there. 

At first we stayed together in a big group but Jace wanted to go feed the penguins so him, Dakota, Sebastian and Damon left to go figure out how he could do that. Matt and Ryder went off toward the area with the red pandas, leaving Charlie and I to walk around the zoo ourselves. We walked by the Africa animal habitats before we found our way on to a walking trail around Swan lake. I kept glancing at Charlie as we walked. He was looking around, taking in our surroundings. I couldn't help but smile to myself thinking about how beautiful he is. Or should I say handsome? It's all the same to me, he is just the perfect specimen. 

I so badly wanted to hold his hand in mine. 

"You're staring" he muttered as he came to a stop and sat on a bench. I sat next to him while the occasional people walked by. 

"Sorry" 

"I don't mind" he shrugged "Maybe it'll help you come to terms that you want me" I glared at him. 

"I do want you" 

"But you're too chicken" he said and I stayed quiet.

 "Is that what this really is about?" he questioned.

"Sort of" I scrunched my face while cupping the back of my neck. "The other things still apply though, just not as prominent" I mumbled.

"I don't want to pressure you..."Charlie quietly said.

"It kinda feels like you are" I admitted and he frowned.

"I'm sorry...Just you're single now and I want you and you want me. It just...I don't know why we couldn't try" he reasoned.

"There's a whole bunch of what if's Char" I told him while meeting his baby blue eyes "What if one of us or both of us regret it...what if one of us meets someone else...what if you actually want to get married one day...what if we wanted kids" I rambled off.

"I know I want to be with you" he stated firmly "I know I wanted to get married but you are who I want to spend the rest of my life with, romantically speaking, and for kids...I'm sure we could figure out something" he continued and I sighed. 

"You mean the whole world to me. f**k you mean the whole universe to me, Char" I told him and took his hand after looking around to make sure no one was around. He gripped my hand, both of us brushing our thumbs across each other's skin.

"I love you too" he smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back in return. When I was about to kiss him, a lady with a bunch of children following her started to walk by. I stood up and pulled him up with me before releasing his hand and continuing our walk. 

We made our way over to the fountain that the zoo had and we seen Matt and Ryder standing against the railing, facing each other. We couldn't hear what they were saying but once we got a little closer, Matt leaned toward Ryder. Charlie and I stopped walking to keep from interrupting, however, Ryder brought his hand up and put a finger on Matt's lips.

"As much as I want you to, Matthew" he said softly "I am not one to encourage cheating, mon chéri" Matt blushed profusely stepping away and then his eyes darted over, noticing us.

"Oof" Charlie whispered quietly. I hummed in agreement. 

"Oh, hey Charlie and Tanner" he walked over to us and I could see the hurt in his eyes. Ryder stayed leaning against the railing, looking at Matt's back with a saddened expression. He did the right thing though. 

"Hey, have you seen Jace and them yet?" I asked.

"No, not yet. We could swing by the penguin exhibit to see if they are still there" Matt offered and we nodded before we followed him in the direction of the penguins. 

Scoping out the area, we did not find them at the penguins. 

"I'll call them" Ryder piped up while grabbing out his phone. Matt walked to the glass and watched the small creatures waddling around, swimming and some just standing on the fake rocks. 

"You okay?" I asked quietly as I came up next to him. 

"Mhmm" he replied. I got the jist he really didn't want to talk about it.

"If you need to talk, Charlie and I are available" I offered to him "I know you'll probably talk to Jace but just know we are open ears too" 

"Thanks"  he quietly said with a small nod. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlie's P.O.V

I watched as Tanner tried talking to Matt while I was standing by Ryder, on the phone with one of the boys.

"Alright, we will meet you there" Ryder ended the call and then turned to me. 

"They said they are going to the dolphin show, so we will meet them there" he said and I nodded.

"Hey Tan, Matt. We are going to the dolphins, let's go" I called to them and we all started the walk to the dolphins. 

The dolphin show was fun to watch, we got splashed a few times from some of the tricks and then the trainer purposely having the dolphins make waves to splash the audience. After the show we left the zoo and took the bus back into the city to visit the Willis tower. We visited the skydeck on the 103rd floor of the Willis tower. It had observation boxes that were 4.3 feet extended out. Jace is afraid of heights so he was turning pale just looking at the landscape out the window. 

"You'll be fine" Damon soothed. 

"You guys go first" Jace ushered us toward the box. It was pretty wicked and not for the faint of hearts. Tanner started to jump up and down and I socked him in the gut.

"Ow" he laughed 

"Don't do that"

"it won't break" he teased.

"I don't care" I muttered. I took out my phone and took pictures to send to Lydia. "Oh, Lydia wants to know if Trey has talked about her" I looked at Tanner, doing the same thing.

"Jeez those two" he chuckled "Yeah, he actually wants to ask her out" he replied.

"Really?" I asked excitedly "Good, then she will finally stop whining about being old fashioned and waiting for the man to ask" I laughed. 

"Yeah, when we get back from our trip he wanted to take a trip up to Duluth and ask her at Gooseberry falls" he said and I smiled. 

"Awww that'd be cute as hell" I told them.

"Alright, we should probably let the others on" Tanner said and ushered me out, Dakota and Sebastian walked in next while Damon was still trying to coax Jace to just get it over with. Matt and Ryder were on their phones. They haven't spoke since the incident and it was earning curious looks from Jace. 

"Damon why don't you go with Ryder" I said and they both looked at me curiously but did it nonetheless.

"What was that about?" Jace asked me.

"Later" I said while Matt came to stand by Jace. 

"Want to go to Michael Jordan's steakhouse for dinner?" Matt asked the group earning a few nods.

"Sounds like a plan" Damon replied. Now we just had to wait for Matt and Jace to walk out on the ledge. Hesitantly, Jace walked slowly to it and once he was in it, Sebastian started to take pictures. 

"Smile" Sebastian said and Jace gave a sort of grimace making us chuckle. Matt was taking pictures on his phone until he froze and his phone dropped to the ground. 

"Matt?" Jace looked at him in question. Matt just stared out the window while Jace bent down quickly, picking up his phone and looking at the screen.

"What?!" he exclaimed with his eyes wide. By now the rest of us were a mix of worried and curious of what the hell was going on. Jace grabbed Matt's arm and pulled him out of the observation box. 

"Can one of you explain what just happened?" Dakota asked with an eyebrow raised. Jace looked at Matt, who looked deep in thought. 

"Uhhh.. not for me to say" Jace muttered. 

"Oooooookay, well let's go to the beach?" Dakota answered unsure. We boarded the elevator, a sort of awkward silence overtook the small cabin. 

"I'm going to be a dad" Matt blurted out. 

"Whoa" I said

"Are you sure it's yours?" Tanner asked and I socked him in the gut again

"What the f**k Tanner" I hissed at him.

"What? I was just asking a genuine question" he shrugged. 

"I apologize for my brother's insensitive questions" 

"It's fine...Yeah, she isn't that kind of person" Matt replied. 

"So she's keeping the baby?" Sebastian asked putting a comforting hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Yeah, she seemed pretty excited. I should probably call her" 

"Are you happy about it?" Dakota asked

"I...I don't know" Matt replied "I still have school starting in the fall" he added worriedly.

"Where is she going to school?" I asked and he replied that she would be going to a college near their hometown. "Well, you need to talk to her about the importance of school because you're going to need to support that baby whether you stay with your girlfriend or not" I told him.

"I know, it's just..wow" he said running his fingers through his hair. 

"Just think that once the baby is born, you could visit on the weekends and school breaks, of course that's another thing to discuss with Amber" Jace tried comforting him. The elevator dinged and we all stepped out and made our way out to the sidewalk to catch the bus to grab our swim suits to go to the beach. Matt walked away while he called Amber when we waited for the bus.

"Okay, what is going on between you two?" Jace asked Ryder, who hasn't talked this whole time. He sighed.

"He..." he started "We had a moment" Ryder said.

"And?" Jace asked with his eyebrows raised.

"He tried to kiss me but I rejected him because I didn't want him cheating on his girlfriend" he admitted. 

"Oh" Jace said and groaned "Well I mean, I understand why you did it but at the same time...what the hell man, that must've took a lot courage for him to even initiate that" he stressed.

"I know, believe me, I know" he sighed "But now especially, I'm glad to have not let him do it" Ryder nodded toward Matt on the phone. "He has bigger things to worry about" 

"I feel like I'm in a tv drama" I said out of the blue earning laughs from everyone.

"Right!" Tanner agreed.

"Y'all are an awesome bunch and entertaining in the most kind way" I chuckled. the bus pulled up and Matt got off the phone and we all boarded, heading to the hotel.

"Do you want to switch bed partners?" I whispered to Matt. He looked at me with a small smile.

"No, but thank you for asking Charlie" 

We arrived at the hotel and went to our rooms, changing into our swim trunks. We were about to leave the room when Tanner spoke up.

"You guys can go ahead, let them know we will be out in a minute" he told Ryder and Matt. They nodded and left the room to the adjoining room. I looked at him curiously before he came over to me and cupped my cheeks.

"I've been wanting to do this since our walk at the zoo" he softly said, eyes flicking down to my lips and my heart started to beat faster. He pulled me to him and our lips met in a soft kiss. An explosion of feelings ran through my body as I wrapped my arms around him, savoring the beautiful feeling of our lips together. This is the moment I was waiting for, for what seems like forever. 

He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, his eyes looking into mine.

"I love you Charlie" he whispered.

"I love you too" I replied with a grin. His thumb brushed against my cheek.

"I'm new to this-"

"Don't worry" I cut him off "I'll help and teach you" I told him before connecting our lips again. Our lips moved in a synchronized dance. 

"I don't mean to interrupt this lovely moment between you two, but we should probably get going" Jace's small voice came from the joining doorway. We pulled apart to see him giving us a wide smile. I gave a smile in return before squeezing Tanner's hand, following Jace through that door and out their room door. I reluctantly released Tanner's hand as we walked to the bus stop to go to the beach. 

We spent a couple of hours at the beach, rough housing in the water, throwing the football and also sitting out and soaking up the sun. I'm still envious that the four can be more open about their relationship in public, but I'm just ecstatic that Tanner finally made a move to further our relationship. 

We ate dinner at the steakhouse Dakota suggested and it was pretty good. We talked about the plans tomorrow and where we were off to after this city which will be a stop in Pigeon forge Tennessee to visit the Titanic museum. Sebastian is a big fan of the Titanic. Then after that we will stay in Gatlinburg where there's a skylift, tree walk and luxurious cabins to stay at.

Matt also brought up what Amber and him talked about. I guess he mentioned what I had said about school and Amber agreed him staying in school is important and that he would just have to visit during the weekends and breaks like Jace had said. He looked a little more at ease after talking with her, which is good for him. I just hope him and Ryder can talk out their situation since Jace had said that they have built quite the friendship since they met. I empathize with Ryder, for loving someone who is just out of reach. Granted, that's not technically the case for me anymore.

Currently, we are leaving the hotel to go to the club that Sebastian said he wanted to check out. It's called La Cueva. We entered and there was dancing and some doing karaoke.

"You boys got here just in time for the drag show featuring tonight!" the peppy bartender stated as we sat down before asking what we were drinking. Sebastian and Damon were obviously the only ones to get something alcoholic but the atmosphere was nice. We all ended up dancing together and even sang some karaoke songs.

 Whenever I would sing, Tanner would look at me with so much adoration. He always tells me how much he loves my singing. I feel so much pride whenever he compliments my singing and I try to sing whenever I'm around him because I love the way he looks at me. 

The drag show started and we all sat and watched them show off their beautiful dresses. This is a first for me, I have never been to a gay club before tonight. Lydia always encouraged me to go to downtown Minneapolis to go to some there but I always chickened out for some reason. 

To end the night, we took the bus back to the navy pier and took another stroll like the night before. The moon was shining in the sky and it was just a beautiful night. The four walked ahead of Tanner and I, and Matt and Ryder were finally talking while walking behind us. I could only catch bits and pieces of their conversation because I wasn't but was trying to eavesdrop. I know, shame on me.

Anyway, Matt apologized for trying to kiss him but Ryder wouldn't have it. He told Matt that under different circumstances that he would've accepted it and desperately wanted it but he explained that he knows how it feels to be cheated on and that he wouldn't wish that on anyone, even if it was just a kiss. Then some other whispers happened between them that I couldn't hear. I glanced back and seen them hug and it made me smile. 

Today was filled with so much drama, happiness and love. Yup, definitely a tv drama. I thought to myself with a chuckle.

"What?" Tanner questioned

"Just thinking of everything that happened today" I said while walking closer to him for our shoulders to brush. 

"A lot for sure" he chuckled, brushing our hands together making me beam. 

We finished our walk by getting to our rooms and bidding goodnights before one by one showering and settling into our beds.

"Goodnight Tan" I whispered. I felt him shuffle closer and wrap an arm over my waist.

"Goodnight Char" he whispered back, kissing my shoulder. 

I fell asleep with a smile on my face.