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[chrliedavis-blog]

Charlie rubbed her temples, frustrated and annoyed with the catalogue in front of her. Father’s Day was yesterday and Charlie had spent the whole day panicking over whether she should buy Leo a gift or not. Was it too soon? She’d only known him a couple of weeks, she’d spent less time than that with him as well because of her busy work schedule. “What the bloody hell do you even buy the Dad you’ve only just met?” She groaned, turning the page and scanning it with her eyes in her seat at the bar.

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dcrlinglittle:

“Well, the cast is finally off.” Michael announced to no one in particular, stretching out his left arm. It felt weird to have autonomy of it again after nearly two painstakingly long months.

“No more getting in cars with girls from Fast & Furious, okay?“ Charlie told him, inspecting his arm one last time. She had been at the same party Michael had been at the night he had been involved in his car accident, but hadn’t actually treated him or his injuries until earlier today when she had assisted his doctor in removing his cast.

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doctorsparks:

“Thank you, that’d be amazing.” Thea smiled toward the stranger, she always got a bittersweet feeling when entering hospitals. He eldest brother worked in one, allowing her access to things she couldn’t get online or through the shadier operations Derek tended to handle. And all she’d every dreamed about was working in one alongside him. She wouldn’t trade the clinic for the world but it was a little disheartening knowing their were some things they just couldn’t do for their people. 

“It’s my pleasure.“ Charlie assured her, wanting to help by any means necessary. The hospital had been quiet until Lewis and Lily had been rushed in, followed by a crowd of angry, panicked and frantic group of their friends. Lost Boys had been whispered amongst the other doctors and interns, peeking Charlie’s interest. She’d heard of them before, anybody who lived or worked near Neverland had. They were part of the reason her mother had lied to her about her father’s real identity for all these years. 

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daisy johnson outfit appreciation 4/? ↬ plaid for days

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blacksheepdavis:

The bar between them suddenly felt like a gaping chasm to him, the wooden structure usually served like a barrier between Leo and the rest of the world. He could still see what was going on, he could still add his two cents, but behind there he was just a little distanced from it and that made living a life in Neverland that much easier. 

Talking to her about this felt wrong a step away, causing him to leave the whiskey bottle resting on the surface near her glass as he walked around the bar and sat next to her, facing her on a stool to the left of her own. 

“It’s not a lie. I mean it.” The sad truth of the matter was Leo had always wanted more children, a daughter specifically had always been what he envisioned but a life half-led and twice wasted had made that dream an unobtainable option. It no longer weighed on him the way it once had, not now he had a family that he wouldn’t take for granted. Liam, Effie, Thea, Tay, Whiskey. Even his darkest days here were illuminated by their presence. 

When Leo looked at Charlie, he seen something different, something pure and untouched by Neverland but mixed with a sadness he knew all too well. He had felt that same anguish when he lost his father, right near where they stood. His mother hadn’t returned for long and that in itself was a gift to him. He never needed anyone around with one foot out the door, and he refused to be that person for her. For his daughter. 

“If you’ll let me, I’d like to be a part of your life.”

Charlie sighed with relief when he told her he meant it, for the first time since she had arrived in Neverland she felt a small, glimmer of hope in her chest that she might actually be able to salvage something of her lost relationship with her biological father. It wouldn’t take away the pain of losing her mother, nothing ever could. Charlie was sure she would carry that grief around with her for the rest of her life, but maybe having Leo in her life would ease some of the pain. 

It wouldn’t hurt to at least try, right? 

“That’s all I ever wanted.“ Charlie had never spoke about it with her mother growing up, always afraid that she would upset her and make her think that she wasn’t enough for Charlie. That was never the case. Her mother was a hero to her, an inspiration. She was the strongest person she knew, but sometimes —  just ever now and then — she had wished that she could have known her father so he could have kissed some of her scraped knees when she was a child, attended her nativity plays in primary school when she had always played Mary and slept in her bed with her when she was sick, holding a cold compress to her forehead to fight her fevers.

Charlie reached her hand across the bar; small, slender fingers tentatively reaching for his own. His fingers were long and felt rough against the smoothness of her own. She had no doubt it was a result of the years spent working behind a bar, carrying heavy crates and barrels of beer. “I always wondered what you’d look like, what you would sound like.. How embarrassing you’d be dropping me off at sleepovers. I had a hundred different versions of you in my head. I used to be afraid that if I ever met you then you wouldn’t be able to live up to the expectations I’d built up for you.” Charlie paused, lifting her brown eyes to meet his and smiling. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was where she got hers from now.

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lewisayer:

“That’s because before now no one actually knew my name. It was Leroy, Larry, Lawrence, Lance, etcetera.” It had amused him so he hadn’t bothered to try and correct Peter or Nibs, the habit trickling down through the ranks. It seemed everyone knew his name now. 

“You should have just asked for tall, dark and handsome, there was obviously no one else it could be.” He smiled, watching her leave. An actual medical professional in Neverland, he had thought the only ones of those were either in the clinic below the Sheep or high on dust at the Fairy. Interesting. 

He took the pills and water from her gratefully, popping two in his mouth and washing them back with the water. 

“So is this why I haven’t seen you around much since the party? Too busy saving lives.”

Charlie smirked, teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she bit back the chuckle that threatened her lips. “Those,” Charlie said carefully, afraid she might burst out laughing with every word, “Are really ugly names. I’m so sorry they did that to you.” Charlie exhaled a deep breath, her lip thinning into a straight line in attempt to compose herself. She shouldn’t be laughing at Lewis, not when he was a patience and supposed to be under her care. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be poking fun at you when you’re lying in a hospital bed.”

“I asked for tall, dark and handsome when I arrived but they said all those boys had been taken so instead they gave me you.“ Charlie teased, keeping her voice playful and light so that Lewis knew she was joking. He didn’t know her after all, she would hate for him to get the wrong end of the stick and think her voice held actual malice. “Besides, I went to that party hoping I’d find a Snow White not a Prince Charming.“

“I wouldn’t say I was saving lives. I’m still an intern, but I assist on the saving lives. Those stitches of yours? My handiwork. Some of my finest stitching if I’m being honest with you.“ Charlie found herself almost asking what he had been doing with himself since the party, but the sight of him covered in shallow cuts and deep lacerations stopped her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

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doctorsparks:

“So I sampled the cafe food, I’d say take a hard pass on that.” It was on the few true stereotypes in the world. She had been to at least ten hospitals in England and enough around Europe on vacations with her family that one thing remained the same throughout: hospital food really was as bland as the jokes made it out to be. “So I went and got enough takeaway to feed this small army. Who’s going to help me unload the car?” 

“They won’t budge for heaven or hell.“ Charlie said, appearing out of Lewis’s hospital room. No matter how annoying Lewis’s friends were becoming to the hospital staff, Charlie couldn’t fault them for their unwavering loyalty. Someone had been outside his room almost as soon as he was admitted. “Maybe I can help you with some of the bags.“

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lewisayer:

“I remember you.” Lewis nodded, Opal’s party still pretty fresh in his mind. It had been a good night, a far better one than this had turned out to be. He caught a glimpse of her name on her ID, jogging his memory that little bit that he needed to piece it all back together. 

“It took me ages to find you, unisex name.” He scratched the back of his ear, where bandage met skin, feeling a little anxious at seeing her there. It felt like this was the real world and Neverland was something else entirely, suddenly feeling more worried for his friends than he had been. 

“Some more painkillers would be good, I feel a little sick.”

Charlie smiled, fondly. A look of amusement flashing in her eyes as she thought back to the party and all the different boys she had tapped on the shoulder, asking if their name was Lewis and only receiving confused shakes of their heads in return. “You weren’t so easy to find yourself.” Apparently he was as new and mysterious to everybody in Neverland as she was. Figures that the only two people at the party who didn’t know anybody landed with each others name on their cards. Charlie had found it comforting. 

At least she hadn’t been the only lost puppy at the party.

“I’ll be right back.“ Charlie said before disappearing out of his room, returning only a few minutes later holding a plastic cup of water and a packet of pain killers he had asked for. “Take two every four hours.“

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lewisayer:

Sat up in his hospital bed, Lewis’ mind was clear for the first time since the explosion. Not as much morphine in his system as before, just him, the pain and his mind scrutinising over every last detail that had lead to a man’s death. He had known the risks of embroiling himself with Neverland, he had heard the ominous warnings and the whispers of dark things passed. 

He hadn’t expected to nearly die there, much less on an evening that had started out so joyously for him. 

“Oh.. Hey.” He greeted, uncharacteristically unenthusiastically when he realised he wasn’t alone in the room.

“I wasn’t being creepy and stalking you or anything,“ Charlie began, wondering if Lewis would even remember her from Opal’s party, “I work here. See?“ She pulled at her scrubs, a gentle smile crossing her features. “You might not remember me but I was the girl on your card from the party?“ The party was the last time she had seen him, but when she had walked past his room and spotted him lying in the bed she felt compelled to check in on him.

“A lot of people are worried about you.“ Charlie had seen them all in the waiting area, filling up the corridors and making it difficult for members of staff to pass through with beds for patients. One member of staff had asked them to clear some space, maybe even think about sending some people only. They’d only been met with sharp, daggering glares in return. “Do you need anything for your pain?”

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blacksheepdavis:

Both palms pressed on the cold bar top, the structure that had defined his whole life felt like the only thing keeping him upright as suspicious turned to confessions. When she said she was his daughter, no part of him questioned it. There was nothing for her to gain from a lie, all he had in the world was the pub they stood in and the people that filled it. 

He credited Neverland for all it had given him, but what it had taken from him was always looming over his happy demeanour, making his smile less bright. Had this place cost him the chance of knowing his child? He only needed her age and a good at her face to recall her mother, Veronica. A passing dalliance like most during his twenties, but she had made him laugh despite how hellbent he had been on destroying himself before morphing into his father.

Perhaps if he had been more like Jerry he might have been given the chance to know her. 

“I didn’t know about you. If I had..” Should have, would have, could have. Story of his life. “I’d have been there.”

Small, thin hands trembled nervously around the glass of whiskey he had poured for her. Charlie knew that this conversation could go one of two ways for her, and as always she was preparing herself for the worst. Her stomach lurched suddenly, that nauseating sick feeling returning to the pit of her stomach from earlier. What if Leo didn’t believe her, she had no evidence or proof that she was his legitimate daughter only the dying words of her mother to defend her case. What if Leo believed her but didn’t want to know her, she knew nothing about him or his life apart from the simple fact that he was the owner of The Black Sheep. What if there was no room in his life for Charlie, what if he had made a family of his own in the last twenty four years and there was no place for her in that family.

The glass was touching her lips before she knew it, nervously gulping the whiskey down the back of her throat. The seconds seemed to turn into years as she watched him process this new information on his face, though he gave no clear indication how he was feeling. Charlie wished she had inherited his apparent poker face, she always wore her heart on her sleeve and had trouble keeping her emotions hidden behind closed doors.

Blank eyes stared up at him for a moment, his words still registering with her brain. Her cheeks suddenly felt wet, and when Charlie touched at her cheeks she realised she was crying. She tugged at the sleeve of her top, pulling it over her hand and dabbing away the tears that trickled down her cheek while willing away her tears. She didn’t want to cry, she had already nearly been sick outside and she would hate to have Leo think she was unstable. “Do you mean that?” She hated to have to ask, but she needed to know. “Please don’t just say that because you think it’s what I want to hear.” It was. “I’d much rather have the harsh truth over a cruel lie.”

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blacksheepdavis:

“Oh, we got plenty. Got the big fuck off litre and a half bottles, crested ten old label, black barrel, the distiller’s safe..” Leo rambled as he held open the door to the Sheep for her. He always overcompensated when he felt uncomfortable, his unease stemming from the questions racing through his mind. Was she his? If so, why show up now? 

The Sheep always had an eerie feel to him in the morning, quieter than he ever knew it and no one to be found besides himself and now her. He preferred the hustle and bustle, the buzz of a busy night and having to hear other’s problems gave him a reprieve from having to think about his own. 

He reached to the top of the bar for the bottle of Black Barrel, his personal favourite to drink straight and if this conversation was heading down the road he was thinking it was that was the only way he would take it. 

“Are you okay now? Or do you need a minute?” He asked as he scooped some ice into two tumbler glasses and rested them on the bar, his eyes on her as he unscrewed the bottle’s black cap and poured them each a double. 

“I think I’m good.” Charlie said, unsure of who she was trying to convince more on the matter. Him or herself. “The whiskey will help.” She offered him a small smile, lifting the glass from the bar once he had finished pouring their drinks and sipped nervously from the glass. The familiar warm and woody taste of the whiskey reminded her of her mother, she had favoured the black barrel as well and was the one who had given Charlie her first sip of whiskey. Charlie had grimaced back then, her face twisting in disgust at the taste. 

“Sorry about my freak out back there.” She rested the glass back down on the counter, glancing around the empty bar with curious eyes. She tried to imagine herself growing up here, helping Leo wash glasses before opening, helping out behind the bar once she had turned eighteen and sneaking bottles and crates of beer out of the bar when her friends were throwing house parties. Charlie had never wished for anything more than what her mother had given her growing up, but she couldn’t fight away the pang of sadness and loss she felt in her chest when she thought about all the things she had missed out on with Leo.

“There’s no easy way for me to say this so I’m just going to come right out and say it. I’m your daughter. You had a thing with my mum nearly twenty five years ago and well that thing resulted in me. She didn’t tell me who you were until a few days before she passed away which was about three weeks ago and now here I am.”

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blacksheepdavis:

Leo grew increasingly concerned for the girl as a number of expressions crossed her face, she looked as conflicted as he felt. He stepped closer to her, voice soft as he tried to calm her down. 

“It’s okay, I get that reaction all the time when I introduce myself.” He attempted to joke to break how tense it all suddenly felt. 

“Do you want to come inside and talk? I feel like maybe this situation needs some whiskey.” He sure felt like he could use a stiff drink, maybe two if the pieces knitting themselves together in his mind were correct. 

Charlie laughed despite herself, she couldn’t find any humour in this entire situation and yet she still found herself laughing reluctantly at Leo’s attempt of a joke. If she had any doubt that this man was her father, it was just squashed at Leo’s awkward attempt of breaking the tension between them with a joke like Charlie had done with distant relatives at her mother’s funeral. Which only further fuelled the awkward tension surrounding all of them. 

At least Charlie knew where she got that from now.

Charlie nodded in response to his question. The world had stopped spinning, the buildings surrounding them no longer felt like they were bending and breaking their shapes to reach down and squash her under their weight. Her chest still felt tight, but his invitation for a drink inside of his bar seemed to be helping to quell the tightness around her chest. “Yeah,” She mumbled, shaken from the attack that had just seized her body. “You have a bottle of Jameson in there?” She asked, the words falling on shaky breaths. She was feeling the need for a stiff, hard glass of the familiar whiskey that always helped calm her nerves.

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blacksheepdavis:

Leo remained quiet as she spoke, unable to place who her mother could have been. Staying in a place like this for as long as he had left him with a list of dead friends and acquaintances the length of his arm. From the look of her, she was in her twenties. His own he could hazily recall, most nights spent either working or out fuelled by bitterness and vodka. 

“I’m sorry about your mum,” He said with sincerity, he knew what it was like to lose a parent. One had walked out on him, the other hand died at his feet in the building at his back. He hadn’t gotten over either. 

“I’m Leo. It’s my bar. Sorry, I should have just said that upfront.” Leo had an inkling of where he was worried this might be going though he didn’t dare air those assumptions aloud. 

“You’re..” Charlie swallowed, unable to get the word out of her mouth. She felt a lurch in her stomach, like when ever she would ride an elevator when she was younger with her mother and her stomach would drop as the elevator began its descent. Charlie still remembered how afraid she had been the first time she had ridden an elevator, she hated tight and enclosed spaces more than she hated students who wore headphones when you could still hear their music playing. Standing here now, in front of Leo, her father, she felt that same wave of fear cutting through her as she did in the elevator. The descent into the unknown only just beginning. 

What if he rejected the possibility that she could be his daughter? What if he had no interest in getting to know her? What if he had known about her all this time and she turned out to be a disappointment to him? Charlie felt her chest tighten. It was like a steel cage had wrapped its solid, cold frame around her chest and was growing tighter with each breath she took. Charlie was sure she was having a panic attack, she felt like the world was spinning around her and she couldn’t catch her breath. 

“I think I’m going to throw up.” Charlie bent over, breathing heavily; screwing her eyes shut, she smoothed her hands out, palm facing downwards across the denim of her jeans as she attempted to soothe herself. 

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reformedfairy:

“I mean…” Maggie scoffed as her confirmation, leaning towards neither a yes or no. Instead, she gestured around the insanity of the party. “You think some bloke would throw a party like this for a girl who likes the word no?”

“Some bloke threw this for her?” Charlie was somewhere between surprised and impressed, the most a guy had ever done for her was made her realise she really wasn’t that into men. “Remind me to ask her for some pointers. I’ve got some student debts I could do with clearing.” She joked with a smile, only meaning it a little bit. Medical school wasn’t cheap.

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lewisayer:

“You did,” Lewis confirmed, about to ask her if she was Charlie when she handed him a piece of paper with his name on it. Well, that solved that at least. 

“That was maybe the most stressful party game I’ve had to play, including spin the bottle.”

“I never thought I’d say this but I’ve never been happier to find a guy in my life.” She chuckled, relieved that when it hit another half hour mark she wouldn’t be forced to choose between a shot of something green and sparkly or a line of something she thought she heard somebody call dust earlier. What ever the hell that was. “It’s great to finally put a face to the piece of paper, Lewis.”

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reformedfairy:

“We used to work together.” Maggie confirmed with a nod, lips pursed in amusement as she thought of the pint-sized younger woman. “She’s…a bit over-friendly, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Yeah,” Charlie laughed, she was living proof of just how over-friendly Opal was. She felt a strange sense of gratitude towards the girl for inviting her to her party tonight, it saved Charlie from sitting alone in her hotel room thinking about her mother and Leo and gave her something else to focus on for the night. “She seems like a sweet girl, I get the feeling she doesn’t like the word no and I’m guessing she doesn’t here it that often.”

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