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IT HAS BEEN a few days since the night Charlie and I went out for a walk at 1 AM. Honestly, it went better than I expected because I thought we'd end up arguing like we often do. Truth be told I enjoyed playing with her in our old playground. Charlie, Harvey and I haven't been there in so long, so to be able to go there and act like we were children again felt so relaxing for some reason.

Today, Charlie and I were going to Winter Wonderland with Harvey, Dobby and the girls of V5. Since the girls and Harvey really enjoyed our visit there along with the other X Factor finalists, we quickly planned to go back and bring Charlie and Dobby along with us this time. Summer was supposed to tag along too but she was left to watch over her little sister and brother for the day.

Harvey and I picked up Charlie at a little past 1 PM. It was going to be a chilly day, so Harv and I got dressed in our hoodies and thick coats. When we got to Charlie's, Carol happily let us in and gave us a few biscuits to snack on before we left.

Charlie came down wearing her black jumper and denim jeans with her tan winter coat and brown Uggs. She had her hair properly curled and only a little makeup on. It was one of her good days when she wore less makeup than she usually did. But she was beautiful with or without makeup.

"Hey mum, have you seen my wallet? I mean it's got only flies in it but whatever." She said as she barged into the dining room.

She was once again oblivious of our presence. Carol handed her her wallet while smiling and motioning towards us. She turned around and stepped back in shock.

"Max! Harvey!" She gasped, shocked we were already there.

"Hellooo!" Harvey greeted.

"Hey Charlie." I smiled.

"Sorry I didn't see you guys." She chuckled. "Are Dobby and the girls meeting us at the station?"

"Yeah." Harvey answered. "Should we get going?"

Charlie and I agreed before we said goodbye to Carol who reminded us to be good kids and to be careful and to look out for each other. The cold air bit at us immediately after we stepped out of the door.

Our walk to the station was filled with Charlie asking us about the V5 girls and having to reassure her that they've been dying to meet her and that they'd love her.

When we got to the station, Dobby was already there with the V5 girls. Dobby approached us first followed by the girls.

"Dobby!" Charlie squealed as they collided in a hug.

"Hey Charles!" Dobby smiled as they let go. "Long time no see."

"I know!" She smiled. They saw each other two days ago. Charlie and Dobby were good friends which was why Charlie and I often fought over Dobby and made him pick a side between me or Charlie.

Harvey and I greeted Dobby then the girls came up to us. Charlie had already somehow hid behind my back and held onto my coat like a child. This girl's the CEO of the babie community, I tell you. I chuckled and stretched my arm backward to hold onto her waist.

"Hi guys!" Alondra greeted us as they all gave us small hugs.

"Oh my gosh! You must be Charlie!" Wendii beamed as she saw Charlie.

Charlie smiled and stepped forward. I laid my hand gently on her back and lightly pushed her forward to tell her to say hi to them. They all cheerfully surrounded her and I could see Charlie slowly getting comfortable with them. After they got to know each other and chat a little, we went to get our tickets with Charlie walking with her arms locked with Laura's and Sofia's.

"She was nervous for nothing." Harvey whispered to me.

"I know! She's an actual baby." I chuckled.

"You mean your baby?" He winked.

"Don't even go there." I said as I shoved him and he laughed.

We got our tickets and patiently waited for our train to arrive. The girls sat together and chatted on and on about whatever. I smiled at the sight of a happy Charlie.

Of course the V5 girls knew about me liking Charlie, so you can imagine how excited they were to meet her. They were happily chatting and it was nice seeing Charlie hanging out with new people. Especially since the girls were singing-sensation influencers from South America, Charlie was really excited to meet them too.

"And there he sat, smiling like a fool while looking at the love of his life." Dobby obnoxiously narrated, snapping me out of my thoughts. I laughed and slapped him hard on the arm causing him to flinch.

"Shut up, Dobby!" I laughed. "And it's not gonna be like that anymore. I gotta let her go."

"What kind of bullshit are you playing at this time, Max?" Harvey sighed.

"I'm not playing, Harv. I'm serious. This whole 'falling in love with Charlie' thing has to stop." I said.

"I'm sorry? Falling in love? You're using the word 'fall' as a progressive verb. You're already in love with her, Max. In fact, you've fallen so hard and so deep down at this point." He corrected.

"Glad to know you know your English, Harv." I chuckled, dodging his point.

"Max..." He warned.

"Look, Max, I don't know why you want to repress your feelings for Charlie and I don't have the slightest clue how you plan on doing that, but I do know that you love this girl too much to actually do what you just told us." Dobby said. I grunted in response because he had a point.

"I don't get it, Max. Why though?" Harvey asked.

I sighed, preparing myself to explain the thoughts that have been eating at me since the night of the party. Charlie was barely ten feet away so we had to speak in hushed tones. Thankfully, the girls were keeping Charlie preoccupied for her to even notice us right now.

"I just don't see the point in pursuing her when I know she doesn't want anything to happen between us. We all know about her irrational fear of December just because of what I did last year even though she never explicitly admitted it." I said. "Plus, I might just end up hurting her or forcing her to feel something she doesn't."

"You're an actual dumbass." Dobby said matter-if-factly.

"Thanks. That helped." I smiled sarcastically at him.

"So what? You're just gonna give up?" Harvey asked, obviously annoyed.

I looked at Charlie and sighed. If I said yes, I'd get slapped in the face. If I said no, I'd still get slapped in the face. But I had to stand by what I said the night I brought her home. She's my best friend before anything else.

"Well not really, no. Charlie's my best friend before anything else. I already broke our pact to not let anything get in between us and guess what? Now I've caused both of us to have an irrational fear of December and there's now this stupid imaginary wall that causes us to limit ourselves whenever we're together."

I gained two slaps on the cheek after that, as expected. I rubbed my cheek to stop the stinging pain. Harvey chuckled in disbelief while rolling his eyes.

"As if you two actually limit yourselves. You two cuddle, hug, and hold each others hands even more since last year happened." He said.

"No, we don't." I said. Bet.

"Liars go to hell, dumbass." He said while sticking his tongue at me. Sometimes I hated having a twin.

"You just said it yourself, dude. You two built that imaginary wall, that means you can break it down too. Plus, it's imaginary. It's not real." Dobby said. "And the only reason you fear December is because what happened between you guys last year left a new type of milestone in your friendship that neither of you expected to ever come along. It's a new feeling and experience that it overwhelmed you guys to the point it turned into a so-called fear."

"Look, Max, I know you wanna keep your friendship with Charlie safe and all but please, don't be stupid. I'm sure you've noticed the way Charlie's been acting since you two 'drew the line.' She's been wanting to cross it but she just doesn't know how." Harvey said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, utterly confused.

"I mean, Charlie obviously has feelings for you too and she's just too in-denial. Don't you notice how she freezes when you hold her, how she smiles when you're around, how she stares at you as if you're the only person in the room?" Harvey asked. "Have you really been paying any attention to her?"

"No... not really." I said after a minute of thinking about it. I guess I really was kinda dumb. Sometimes I forget that Charlie and Harvey were extremely close as well, so he probably knew stuff I didn't.

"Not really what?" Charlie asked, surprising us at her sudden arrival.

"Charlie!" We all yelped.

"What?!" She mimicked the way we had said her name. "The train's coming. Let's go."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the line. The train started coming in and slowing to a stop. Her hand was still locked on mine. I looked at our hands and I thought about what Harvey had said. Is it actually possible that Charlie likes me the same way I like her?

When the train came to a stop and the passengers stepped down. She pulled me in and we claimed our seats. The V5 girls sat across us while Dobby and Harvey sat to our left and right.

"How long is this gonna take again?" Charlie asked to no one in particular.

"About an hour and forty-five." Harvey answered.

"Great! Then wake me up when we get there." She said as she leaned her head on my shoulder and shut her eyes.

Harvey looked at me then eyed Charlie as if to emphasise his point earlier. I carefully looked at Charlie and it made me think again. But no. Despite what Harvey and Dobby said, Charlie is my best friend before anything else and it's time to stop feeling awkward about something that will never happen between us.

——

When we got to London, we had to walk a few blocks to get to Winter Wonderland. It was already around 3 PM when we got there so we had all the time to have fun and go around as much places as we could.

We started out easy and light by watching Paddington on Ice. Charlie insisted on this one since she loved Paddington when we were growing up. Before Bearcub came along she had a Paddington bear, so I guess that speaks volumes. We all enjoyed the show. It was enough time for us to catch our breath and settle down before using up all our energy for the whole night.

Charlie enjoyed the show the most. I looked at her from time-to-time and she had a huge smile on her face. Sometimes she'd whisper and give comments about the story or the production. Leave it to her to have a very strong appreciation for on-ice shows.

After, we went to the Bar Hutte Karaoke where we all burst out in song without any hesitations whatsoever. Charlie was amazed at how good the V5 girls were. They loved her so much that they had her sing along with them. Her voice fit in so perfectly with the girls'.

Dobby and Harvey burst out in raps and early 2000s R&B. It was a good laugh for everyone since they were singing terribly on purpose. Harvey and I sang our usual favourites until Charlie and the girls begged us to sing something out of our comfort zone, specifically Mamma Mia songs. It was once again another good laugh for everyone as the girls joined in.

It was all fun and games until everyone begged for me to sing a song for Charlie. Charlie being Charlie, she challenged me and dared me to sing a song that would make her swoon. The V5 girls were going out of their minds and couldn't contain their squeals and emotions.

I punched in the numbers for Little Things by One Direction and everyone cheered except for Charlie who was sitting with her arms crossed and a challenging smile spread across her face. Well this is going to require a lot of confidence and guts, huh?

"Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me." I sang the first verse while squeezing in between Charlie and Harvey, and carefully locking my hand with hers.

She rolled her eyes despite her smile while everyone was screaming. Renata, Alondra, Wendii and Dobby had their phones up and recording. As I sang, I only looked directly at Charlie who kept avoiding my eyes but would sometimes glance and then smile.

"You've never loved your stomach or your thighs. The dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine, but I'll love them endlessly." I sang with the flirtiest smile I could conjure up.

Charlie kept on laughing and shoving my face away but I just kept coming back to look at her. She squeezed my hand real tight and wrinkled her nose. She was swooning and she was failing at trying to make it look like she wasn't. Harvey was right. Charlie probably did have feelings for me somewhere in that beautiful heart of hers.

"You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you. And you'll never treat yourself right darlin', but I want you to."

Charlie looked at me when I sang that line. I meant it and she knew it. She just looked at me with a sad smile and at this point, I couldn't guess how she was feeling. But despite what Harvey said and what I was noticing, I realised I was probably just getting my hopes up too high.

"I'm in love with you. And all your little things." I sang genuinely, meaning every word.

Quickly after I sang the last word, I retracted my hand from hers and stood up as if nothing happened. Harvey, Dobby and the girls were going wild and were still recording while Charlie was still suppressing her emotions.

"Did that make you swoon or what?" Sofia screamed.

"Hmm..." Charlie hummed while looking at me.

My heart was beating fast. Was she going to say yes or no? If she says yes, then that would get my hopes higher than it already is. If she says no, I won't be surprised.

"A little more." Charlie said while squinting her eyes and holding up her fingers close to each other.

Everyone sighed and was disappointed by her answer. That wasn't a yes and it also wasn't a no, yet it was close to a no. But like I said, I'm not surprised. I smiled and slumped back down on the seat beside her as she laughed at everyone's reaction.

"Don't feel bad, Maxey. I appreciate the effort though." She smiled as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Nah, I'm fine. It's all good." I chuckled as our hands intertwined.

We stayed at the karaoke for a few more songs before we decided to give ourselves an adrenaline rush by riding all roller coasters we possibly could. We rode almost all roller coasters that night and the challenge was to not throw up at the end of the ride. The one who rides the most rides without throwing up gets his or her dinner paid by everyone, so basically it's kinda like a free ride for the night.

Sofia, Alondra and Natalie lost by the second roller coaster. Wendii and Laura lost at the third one. Dobby lost at the fourth one which left Harvey, Charlie and I to win the challenge. With us being left to compete for the free dinner, it got really competitive and we were all toughening up.

We lined up for the Wilde Maus XXL, the biggest and fastest one there was. While we were in line Charlie looked up at the ride with fear painted on her face and she looked like she was gonna be sick.

"Hey, you good? 'Cause you can like bail anytime." I said. She smiled and punched me on the arm.

"Nice try, Max, but I'm not giving up that free dinner so easily." She smiled.

"So! Are we ready to lose?" Harvey said as he got in between us and wrapped his arms over our shoulders.

"Oh you wish, Harv." Charlie smirked.

"Don't get your hopes up, because I'm gonna win this." I gloated as we were allowed to enter and take our seats.

But I spoke too soon. Right after the ride got to a stop, Charlie and I rushed out of the gate and to the first trash can we spotted. You can imagine how much projectile motion we let out after holding it in for all the rides we've gotten on.

Dobby and the girls rubbed our backs as we struggled to keep ourselves together and get rid of our headache. When Charlie and I started to feel better, the others offered us some water while Harvey was running around cheering for his victory. Of course he was happy he was getting his dinner for free.

We went to cool off at the skating rink next. It was what all of us looked forward to the most. When I got my skates on, I saw Charlie struggling to tie hers. I chuckled at the sight of her before going to help her.

"Need help there?" I asked as I towered above her.

"No... no, I'm fine." She said, obviously struggling.

"Right and I'm supposed to buy that." I chuckled and got down on one knee to tie her laces. "This should be tied on right or else you're gonna have a hard time skating."

"I don't even know how to skate." She chuckled. I looked up at her and smiled, my heart skipping a beat when I saw her looking right at me.

"I got you." I reassured her and helped her up.

Charlie held my hand tighter as we walked to the rink. She gently pushed me to go first and I willingly did. When I got my balance on ice, I turned to look at Charlie who was scared to step in.

"Come on, Charles. You'll be fine." I smiled at her.

"Wait, give me a moment to compose myself." She chuckled.

"Compose-" I chuckled, not understanding why she needed to compose herself. "Charlie, it's just an ice rink. It's not like a formal event or a concert."

"Hold me!" She whined as she reached out for me. I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I gave her my hands.

She held on to me so tightly as she carefully stepped onto the ice. She was a little flimsy at first but she caught her balance. We skated carefully to our friends and I was making sure not to let go of Charlie. What an actual child.

"Come on! Let's just keep skating! We didn't come here to stand around!" Harvey said as he skated up to us.

"Wait, gimme a moment." Charlie said firmly.

"Max is already holding you, Charlie. Come on!" Dobby said as he skated off with the girls.

I looked at her to convince her and she gave in and started to skate slowly. As we kept skating around the rink, Charlie started to get used to it.

"I'm going to let go now. Try to catch me." I said as I slowly let go of her hand.

"Max!" She screamed.

"Catch me, Charlie!" I called to her as I skated farther away.

She carefully but quickly skated towards me which I took as a signal to skate faster. She laughed and yelled at me for speeding up every time she came closer. But after minutes of her trying to chase me, I stopped skating and she came crashing into me. I spun her around and she tightened her grip on me. She was laughing and she was enjoying, and it made me really really happy.

"Tag! You're it!" Sofia said as she tapped me on the shoulder.

This caught Charlie and I by surprise. We looked around and saw our friends scattered all over the rink, waiting for someone to move. I looked at Charlie and she quickly skated off.

"C'mere, Charlie!" I called after her.

"No!" She yelled as she dodged the people ahead of her.

Knowing Charlie had just struggled to chase me moments before, I let her off the hook and chased after Dobby and my brother. After nearly hitting a few couples and some children, I tagged Harvey and he went off to tag whoever was nearby.

While I was trying to get as far away as possible from Harvey, I saw Charlie abruptly stop skating. She looked to be in utter shock as if she froze on the spot. Before I could get to her, I saw a tall boy approach her. I looked to see who it was, and it took me a while before I could make out the face of a player.

It was