Chapter Text
Her fingers scrunched around the wild curls in her palm as she washed out the deep conditioner she let sit over night. Her faced scrunched up in embarrassment as she thought back to earlier that week when she told Henry about her dream.
~~
“See everything’s fine , and we’re not kissing”, Henry said with a smirk. His eyes looking at her with kindness now that she was no longer in the lions den.
“Why does that bother me?”, She thought before she laughed and the zoo security Fran came running over yelling something about her dream coming true .
~~
Charlotte’s head shook as she was brought out of her trance remembering to hurry up with her shower because of the storm on its way to Swellview. She still had a few assignments left and getting back from the Mancave so late didn’t allow her much time to work on all of her personal chores, like taking care of herself.
“I hope there’s not a power outage this time“ , she mumbled to herself.
As the warm water engulfed her in a hug from behind she breathed in the strong aroma of her eucalyptus body wash mixing in with the tea tree oil hair products that slowly washed down the drain as she smiled to herself mentally thanking Jasper for his “self care era” birthday present from a few weeks ago.
Stepping out from the bathroom, dressed in one of Henry’s black hoodies and grey pj shorts ,Charlotte, walked to her window to pull it tightly shut as she watched the dark clouds begin to form in the sky. She put her hair up in a pineapple and just as she was about to curl up in her swinging chair with a math book , Henry appeared banging on her window right as a big crack of thunder shook with a loud BOOOM!
“ Ahhh Henry?! ”, she yelled while falling to the ground.
“ Charlotte, this is no time to lay on the ground, let me in before the storm starts!!” Came Henry’s loud voice with an eye roll as she scrambled to her feet.
Pushing the window open with an attitude Henry slightly wobbled on the tree branch and she had to grab his arm to keep him from falling. “What are you trying to do kill me?”, Henry asked while sliding into her room.
“Totally, it’s not like it’s 11pm on a Friday and I wasn’t expecting you or anything!” Her eyes never left his back as she watched him go sit on her big fluffy bed and kick off his shoes, seemingly unfazed by her tempered rant.
“Henry what are you even doing here?”
“Hmmm?”
“What are you even doing here?”
“Oh.”
He felt his face grow hot at the true reason he was there and couldn’t find the words to tell Charlotte that he actually had a similar dream and that Jasper convinced him to go talk to Charlotte because he couldn’t have both his best friends dreaming about kissing him. What the hell that meant, Henry wasn’t sure, all he knew was that it was enough for him to be laid on Charlottes bed watching her brown eyes try to read him before he could find an excuse.
His eyes looked over her cute petite frame as she stood in front of him wearing his old Swellview High sweatshirt that stopped fitting him after freshman year and he pushed down the warmth he felt in his stomach seeing her in his clothes while he breathed out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding.
“Are you just not going to tell me?”, came Charlotte’s voice as she turned around to close and lock her window as the wind started to pick up -meaning the storm would be here any minute now.
He swallowed and forced a laugh out, “ heh it’s actually kind of a funny story”, he started playing with the drawstring on his sweatpants and felt the bed dip beside him when Charlotte’s smooth legs came in to view.
“You see… ikindasortamaybealsohadadreamaboutkissingyoutoo”.
He felt the look on her face before he saw it. He slowly lifted his head to see her eyes squinted at him with a frowned mouth as she was trying to break down what he said.
“What the hell are you trying to say Hen?”, she put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him with such concern it made him feel stupid for overthinking this. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and it was hard enough wanting to talk to his best friend about a dream he had about his best friend! She’s the only person he trusts with stuff like this and the only person smart enough to understand how he feels.
“I had a dream about you too.”
Suddenly Charlotte’s room seemed like a sauna and neither teen knew what to say next. The silence grew louder as Henry watched Charlotte digest his words and Charlotte watched Henry stare back at her while she analyzed his face. The silence started to grow awkward and Henry’s mind started to race as he started to hear his heartbeat in his ears. He ran a hand through his hair and couldn’t help but notice Charlotte’s eyebrows twitch as she watched his hand. “Has he always been in such good shape?”, Charlotte thought to herself. Henry was only wearing a form fitting white tee, and grey sweatpants that perfectly showed off his new Kid Danger physique. Specifically she noticed how the veins in his arms and hands flexed as he bent his elbow. Nothing at all like the lanky awkward 12 year old boy she so fondly remembered him as.
“When-“
“You-“
“Sorry-“
“Sorry-“
Both teens looked at each other before busting into a mini fit of laughter. They may do a lot of things like fight crime, not laugh at Ray’s jokes, or prank Jasper but the one thing they could never do is be awkward. It just wasn’t their thing. Charlotte opened her mouth to speak but Henry cut her off before she could ask what he meant.
“I had a dream that you kissed me and I don’t know why but it scared me”.
Charlotte’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as she remembered the other day when Henry acted similarly to her when he backed out the Mancave almost saying what she did verbatim as he went into the elevator.
“But I don’t understand….if you didn’t act weird with me about my dream then why does your dream bother you?”, she tried to understand.
“Char do you think I’d be here if I knew that? It’s one thing if somebody else had the dream but what are the odds that we both are dreaming about kissing each other?”
He threw his arms up as he got up from the bed and started pacing. “Henry it’s not that big of a deal. We’re 18 and 19, hormones happen and it’s completely normal-“, Charlotte started as she stood up to stop Henry’s pacing.
“You made me realize how stupid I was being because we’ve been best friends forever. And us kissing really isn’t that big of a deal.”, she said so matter-of-factly.
He stopped pacing and stood in front of her small 5’3 frame. She looked so cute looking up at him with her eyebrows furrowed like that. She seemed so sure of herself and that’s what scared him; because he wasn’t sure about anything at all. “Charlotte would you have reacted the same way if you dreamt about Jasper?”, Henry asked expectedly. Her face grew a new expression as her eyes darted across the room unable to hold eye contact with Henry anymore.
And suddenly there they were, drifting into the such dangerous territory they both fought long and hard to ignore for years.
“Wha-what do you even mean? Ahem.. I mean Jasper’s… Jasper. I don’t know many people who’d kiss a Jasper. He has such weird hobbies, is always getting me roped into something and don’t even get me started on what he did when he tried to fit into my Task Bunny shorts.. he-” She started rambling and this peaked Henry’s interest because she only did that when she had something to hide.
Checkmate.
Wanting to challenge this Henry took a step closer to Charlotte and watched her demeanor change as her eyes were forced to look at him.
The rain came down hard and a spark of lighting reflected in the room causing Charlotte to jump.
“Char you didn’t answer my question. Would you have reacted differently if your dream was with Jasper?”
She couldn’t exactly deny the truth to his question. She knew for a fact if her dream was about Jasper she wouldn’t have even thought twice about it, so why did it matter so much if it was Henry? Sure he’s grown to be super attractive and he had a cool personality and knew all the ways to make her laugh and cry -But that’s just who Hen was. He was her best friend . He’d been through so many different girlfriends and she knew that. So why would it matter if they kissed, why did that thought kind of excite her in a way that made her have to clench her legs closed and remember how to breathe again?
Growing uncomfortable with the focus on her, Charlotte took a step forward and stood chest to chest with Henry. “Wait a minute, don’t spin this on me! You’re the one who came to MY house about YOUR feelings!”, she shot back. Henry’s breath was fresh against her face as he rolled his eyes. Internally he couldn’t remember the last time he had been this close to Charlotte other than the damn dream that got them here in the first place. Her warm brown skin looked so smooth and she had that glint in her eye when she was being challenged and wouldn’t go down without a fight.
That’s his Charlotte alright.
“Oh don’t give me that bullshit, when you know I have a point! What that point is… I-I-don’t know but I do know you’re just trying to hide something!”.
Their voices grew louder and they were going back and forth when suddenly the power went out and they were standing in the otherwise completely dark room. The only source of light coming from Charlotte’s battery packed string lights, curtained behind her bed. The rain came down even harder with the wind blowing aggressively against the window. Thunder and lightning occurring periodically. It was only a few moments before there were several knocks on Charlotte’s bedroom door.
Giving Henry an exaggerated eyeroll, Charlotte walked over to the door and opened it to see her mom standing in her robe with a headlight, reading an architectures daily magazine.
“Hey baby girl, I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay. I know how you are during storms, do you want me to call Henry or Jasper over ?”, came Charlotte’s mom’s warm voice.
“Yeah mom I’m okay, and Henry’s already here”, She opened the door wider and Henry came over into view.
“Hey Mrs. Page, sorry to be here so late”, Henry said lamely.
She waved her hand dismissively, ”Nonsense Henry, and I told you to call me Cynthia. Did you eat anything before coming? I know your people aren’t too fond of a home cooked meal.” She had her hands on her hip with the same knowing expression he got all the time from Charlotte.
“I actually had takeout before I came over”, Henry explained with a polite genuine smile.
There was something about Charlotte’s family that felt so warm and so different from his own. Aside from Piper asking for the occasional $20, he didn’t really feel like anyone from his house noticed him which made it that much easier to be a superhero’s sidekick at odd hours of the day all the time.
“Well all right you two, let me know if you need Earl to bring up a bucket for any leaks, there’s extra blankets in the laundry room okay? And remember I’m too young to be a grandma!”
The two nodded in sync, Charlotte with an embarrassed expression and Henry with an amused one as he caught the wink Cynthia threw at him. They said their good nights to Charlotte’s mom as she walked back down the hallway to her study.
As soon as the door shut Charlotte groaned and slid down it putting her face in her hands.
Henry smirked and hoisted her over his shoulder laughing. “Haha we’re 18 and 19 remember, hormones happen and it’s completely normal”, mocked Henry in a shitty Charlotte impression.
“Shut up Hen.”, came Charlotte’s muffled voice as she tried to hide herself in Henry’s shirt feeling the dread of embarrassment eat at her mind. It was hard enough to convince her mom that Henry was just a friend, now this whole kissing dream fiasco worked her very last piece of sanity and she’s spiraling with only the thought of one specific Hart in mind.
.
.
.
.
Slowly the original tension left the atmosphere as they hopped back into what was an otherwise normal routine of setting up pillows and blankets on Charlottes bed with her laptop to watch the predownloaded movies she had already saved. This time of year it was quite common in Swellview for storms to hit, and ever since she could remember anytime there was a bad storm, Henry or Jasper would be there to get through the night with her.
As the last fight scene in Battle Galactic 3 played on the laptop Henry couldn’t focus. With Charlotte laid on her stomach in front of him and these new “hormones” circulating his every thought it was almost impossible to not let his eyes rake over her every curve. Charlotte had blossomed into a beautiful young woman and any guy would be stupid not to admit that. She may still be thin and petite but her body had curves and the small of his hoodie had ridden up allowing the two little divots or dimples in the small of her back to be on full display. Seemingly the perfect size of both of his thumbs. The groan left his throat before his brain could register what happened and he watched as Charlottes head whipped around in confusion.
“You okay Hen?”, asked her soft voice clearly focused on the movie.
Clearing his throat and complaining about water was the only excuse he could muster, but it was enough for her to turn back around. While Henry thought he was in the clear, his sound didn’t go unnoticed by Charlotte. Much to her dismay the sound from Henry was being played over and over again in her head with the image of the kiss they shared in her dream. She could feel the warmth in her stomach and mentally screamed for feeling so out of touch with herself.
Shaking her head and focusing on the movie the last scene played with the main character bleeding out and his love interest making out obnoxiously covered in the blood of the evil galaxies leader? She honestly wasn’t sure but she couldn’t shake the thought of what it would actually be like to kiss Henry.
Henry rested his head against Charlotte’s head board and looked at the way the tree branches blew around outside of her window. Taking a quick glance at the time on his phone he saw it read 12:45am. “What else do you have saved on your laptop?”
Charlotte didn’t budge as she was too lost in thought. “Did you hear me Char?” Still nothing. Henry put his hand on the back of her thigh and gave light squeeze, “Charlotte?”. Her head turned following her body as she sat up to face him sitting alongside his spread out legs on her knees.
“Let’s just do it.”
What she was talking about Henry had no clue.
“Do what Char?”
She seemingly grumbled with herself before she scooted herself closer looking Henry straight in the eye.
“Let’s just kiss and get it over with.”
Henry felt his heart jump because that was the last thing he expected out her mouth. His mind told him that now was his chance to get whatever this newfound lust was out of his system so things could go back to normal and they could just be best friends.
“Come here then”, the gruff in his voice made Charlotte feel hot.
“I hope I don’t regret this”, she thought to herself as she crawled over to Henry as she rested by his thighs.
His big warm hands came to wrap around her waist and he slipped one under her hoodie and pulled her closer until they were breathing heavily against each other. His hands felt like lava on her skin and she wanted to do nothing more than melt into him. Before she could react Henry grabbed her jaw and pushed theirs mouths together with such dominance Charlotte let out a moan the moment their lips touched. That was all the fuel Henry needed before he brought her fully onto his lap so she was straddling him. Her lips were so full and soft like velvet. She tasted of mint and now Henry thinks he’ll never view mint the same. The kiss was full of heat and ignored desire. Charlotte’s hands lost themselves in Henry’s hair as she let herself go while Henry rubbed her back underneath the hoodie.
His hands danced over the lace of her burgundy bralette and he involuntarily let out another groan making Charlotte buck her hips in her bodies natural response. She felt his wet tongue on her lip and slowly opened her mouth to allow him entrance to explore new territory. Their tongues met in a beautiful swirl of curiosity as the dance of the French paraded between their mouths. Henry pulled away first feeling his sweatpants grow tight underneath Charlotte’s thin grey sleep shorts. Their chests fell and rose as the oxygen returned.
She peered at him from underneath her lashes watching his eyes open with his mouth slightly agape. Both stared at the other breathing deeply as the reality of the situation started to settle in, and as much as Charlotte’s conscience was screaming at her to stop her body wanted to keep going. Maintaining eye contact, Charlotte slowly rocked herself against Henry and fell in love with the way he looked at her. His eyes undoubtedly full of the same uncertainty as hers but both teens were so far gone that nothing but this moment mattered anymore.
Henry felt the moisture of Charlotte more and more with every rock she gave him. He pressed his lips to her jaw and slowly left kisses down into the crook of her neck. His hands rubbing random shapes along her body as he felt his boner get worse. “We’re playing a dangerous game Hen.”, Charlotte’s voice came out in breathy little pants. “I don’t know if we can call this a game Char.”
He rolled his hips to meet hers and watched in awe as the curls bounced and framed her face as she muffled a moan on his lips. She couldn’t help but think it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. She and Henry often caught themselves staring at the other and if they didn’t Ray or Swoz would make some comment about when they’d make it official or some shit like that. The storm outside began to mellow out as Charlotte leaned in to meet Henry’s lips again.
Charlotte wrapped her arms around Henry’s neck and let their lips dance together. She felt his hands slowly lift up the hoodie and shimmied her arms out to make it easier. “You’re so fucking beautiful Charlotte”, Henry breathed. His hands nearly ripped his t-shirt off trying to make contact with Charlotte’s lips again. They were full on making out, hands exploring bodies as they both grew more and more impatient with the layers of clothes stopping them from settling the fires growing in their souls. When Charlotte’s hands began to pull at his waistband, Henry gently halted her wrist.
“Charlotte are you sure you wanna do this?”
“…”
“….”
“It feels right, and I don’t want to stop.”, her response matched the voice in his head and Henry couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. All he could focus on was the brown beauty who sat on him staring back with intention. She was being completely honest with him and that made his heart flutter.