Yeah

"Yeah..."

Charlie smiles and scoots over on the couch, bringing herself much closer. "I see..." Her tone is husky and thick.

Swallowing hard, Ethan feels the walls of denial in his brain starting to fragment. Charlie is close enough to touch, close enough to-

"So," Charlie's voice is quiet, just above a whisper, only audible because she's so close. "What-" Charlie closes her eyes and groans. "Fuck."

For a second, Ethan totally misreads the moment, suddenly getting excited, only to be crushed when Charlie continues the thought.

"I should go. I work in the morning..."

"Ah..." with proper context Ethan feels himself deflate, pausing to consider how disappointed he actually is.

Charlie offers a small shrug, her expression doing a very bad job of hiding her own disappointment, which Ethan notices and gives him further pause. "Sorry."

She stands up, turning away from Ethan slightly.

A tiny part of Ethan senses opportunity.