Wish You Were Here

Who: Charlotte and Ransom
Where: Phoneland
When: Late night

Ransom wanted to wait up till he knew that Charlotte had gotten home, but ended up failing miserably. With the kids running around, worrying about ghosts outside and having their closets checked, unable to sleep and having to be told bed time stories, Ransom had crashed as soon as he'd hit the bed. His phone was in his hand, though, still waiting while he slept. He just wanted to make sure Charlotte got home safe.

Charlotte waited until after she heard her mom go to bed to call Ransom - which ended up being around 4 AM. She felt uneasy and anxious about calling him at such a time, but... well, he had told her to. And if it were the other way around, she'd be upset if he didn't call her. So, wincing slightly, she grabbed her phone and dialed his number.

The ringing woke him immediately, even if he couldn't remember who might be calling. He answered as his little brother whined at him from the other bed, but Ransom ignored him, pulling the covers over his head as he answered. "Charlie?" he said sleepily, seeing her name on the caller ID. "Are you okay?" Why was she calling again? He knew this. He knew he knew this.

Charlotte smiled softly as she stared down at the floor. He sounded cute in his half-asleepness. "Hi," she said lightly, trying to be quiet herself. "I'm fine. I'm home. Everything's fine. Why don't you go back to sleep now?"

That's right, she'd left town to find her dad. Her dad who was dead. That was a big enough thing that he could remember it, even half asleep. It just took a little work. "It's okay," he said, smiling to himself. "I like hearing your voice. Did you... find anything?"

That made her feel good, and she hated to admit it, but she needed it right now. "I like hearing yours, too." she said. "You sound cute like this." she offered. That was a better, easier thing to talk about, amazingly enough. She paused a bit at the question, biting her lip thoughtfully. "No." she finally said. "He's not there. I don't think he's a... I think he passed on, or whatever it is we're supposed to do."

"Wish I could come curl up with you," he said softly, realizing that wasn't an option. But wouldn't it be nice? Then he could kiss her when she said he sounded cute. "I think that's a good thing," Ransom said thoughtfully. "I mean, if he didn't... it would have been nice for you to see him maybe, but... I don't think the ones that stay are happy." How could they be? Just the term 'unfinished business' didn't make him thing it was a good thing to be a ghost.

"Me too," she admitted to the first part, even though she vaguely recognized that she probably shouldn't. It just sounded perfect. She nodded slightly as he went on, even if he couldn't see it. "I know it's for the best." she said. "I wouldn't want him to be stuck in-between like that. I just... had to look."

He liked that, that she would want to be there with him, even if he couldn't have it. It wasn't something he needed to let him mind wander on right now, but it was still good to hear. "I understand," he said softly. "If it was me, I'd probably do the same." He was quiet for a moment then, trying to remember if he should already know the answer to a question, and even if he didn't if it was okay to ask it. "How did he die?" he finally asked. "If you don't mind talking about it, I mean. I-I don't wanna upset you."

"It's okay," Charlotte said, bringing her legs up on her bed and lying down. "I'm kind of emotionally spent right now. It's been a long day." she admitted. "He was shot and killed in the line of duty when I was five. They talk about ghosts being people with unfinished business, so..." Yeah. That was pretty unfinished.

"I'm sorry," he said. Now he wished he was there to hug her, but saying so over the phone wasn't quite the same. "I don't know a lot about ghosts, why some spirits stay and why some move on." If they were going to be hanging out all over the world, though, he might start to read up on them. "How'd your mom take it?"

"It's okay." Charlotte said. "I did a lot of reading before I went. Lot of violent deaths are ghosts too. He had a lot of things on the check list, I guess you'd say." She paused to think about how to answer that, though certainly not because she didn't remember. She remembered things from that time pretty clearly. "Not well." she decided on. "They were high school sweethearts... she really loved him. I think she tried to hide a lot of her grief for my sake."

That would be so hard, Ransom thought. His parents had also been high school sweethearts and he couldn't imagine one surviving without the other. Charlotte's mother seemed so kind and sweet that he hated to imagine her grieving in such a way. "Do you remember him?" Ransom asked. It was hard to remember back that far, and not just because he had issues remembering things. His memories as a five year old were blurry at best, though some stuck out like brilliantly colored pictures.

Charlotte smiled faintly again as she stared up at the ceiling in the dark. She hadn't bothered turning any lights on. "Yeah," she answered, still able to remember certain things very clearly. A lot had faded, but he was still there. "He was great. At everything. With everyone. He was a really caring person."

"You miss him," Ransom said, just an obvious observation on his part. He could hear the smile in her voice, speaking of memories she cherished. "Even if he's not a ghost, my mom says our ancestors watch over us. I bet you make him smile." He was pretty sure that any parent would be proud of Charlotte. He couldn't see any reason not to be.

What he said hit Charlotte with a physical pain, she wanted that to be true so badly it ached. Just hearing it made her eyes well up with tears, which she'd told herself she was done with back in the car. She'd had one good freak out, and that was it. "Thank you." she finally said, and she meant it.

He could hear the slight change in her voice and it made him worry. "I didn't mean to upset you," Ransom said, biting his lip. He couldn't think of anything worse than making Charlotte cry. She'd said 'thank you', though, which left him confused on how to handle the situation. Girls were so complicated sometimes, even more so when they weren't right there before him.

"You didn't." she promised, wiping her eyes with her hand. She was just a bit of an emotional mess. She couldn't really say that without worrying him more, though. "Have you ever lost anyone?" she asked, moving the subject off of her. "How are you dealing with everything?"

"Just my grandparents," Ransom said, though he wasn't sure that felt the same. "My mom's parents are still alive, but my dad's passed away a few years ago." They'd been close, but they were older and... werewolves didn't live to be as old as humans. It was a sad fact and one he didn't like to think about. "With other things, I... I'm trying not to think a lot about it," he said, then realized that she might not know exactly what he was referring to. "About what happened on the full moon."

Charlotte didn't have to ask what he was talking about, she was pretty sure she knew. "You did what you had to do, Ransom." she said, quietly. "And if you hadn't, something worse would have happened." She paused, and turned on her side as she cradled the phone to her ear. "Are you worried you'll see them again?"

He'd told himself that over and over. Flight wasn't an option. Drea had already tried running. Instinct had told him to protect himself and those close to him and that's what he had done. That didn't make it any easier to accept that there was a human inside the monster, a human mind that he'd killed. "I dunno. If I did, I don't know that I'd recognize 'em. It was dark and..." And he hadn't wanted to see. He hadn't wanted the human face ingrained in his memory. "I just wish there'd been another way," he said softly. "I wanna make sure nothing like that ever happens again."

Now Charlotte really wished they were together, because then even if she had no idea how to make him feel better, she could at least be there. "You're doing what you can to help out." she said. "You did what you had to to save you and your friends. Same as I did with Kavin." she reminded him softly.

That was true. He was doing what he could. He'd help her make sure that Gabe didn't get hurt, just like he'd check in with Cassandra and make sure she was doing okay. He'd keep watch for any other cursed werewolves that might have survived, and if he found them, then he'd figure out what he could do. "Thanks," he said, smiing a little. "I'm... really glad I have you."

Charlotte closed her eyes as that sent a warm rush through her system. At least he couldn't hear what that did to her over the phone. ...Could he? Huh. "Me too," she said, voice still soft. A good chunk of the reason she'd driven back at all rather than crashed in the car for a while had been influenced by wanting to get back for Ransom, though she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Thank you for having me call. I needed to hear your voice."

Hearing that made him all warm and fuzzy, sure he was wearing that goofy smile that Jessalyn sometimes pointed out when he thought of Charlotte. He didn't care. "You can always call me," he said. "Anytime. I'm glad you got home safe." Pulling the covers tighter around him, he imagined her in bed, just as he was. That led to wondering what Charlotte wore to bed and... now he needed to stop. "Will you be at school tomorrow?" he asked.

That was an excellent question. "Probably." she realized, now that she thought about it for the first time. It had ranked pretty low on her priorities up until now. "I may doze off in class, but I'll be there." And she'd be walking, since her mom took away her car. "You're still going, right?"

"Yeah, got not good reason out of it," he said with a little laugh. "At least it's Friday. Maybe we can sneak away during lunch. Or... do you have plans tomorrow night?" He was feeling a bit more awake now, enough to realize that he wanted some time alone with her if he could get it. As much as he'd enjoyed the Halloween party, it hadn't left them a ton of time to just be together.

"Of course not." Charlotte answered, smiling faintly again. "I'm never-" Blink. "Oh. I might be grounded. I'm not really clear on that part yet. I'll have to ask my mom after she's slept, and she's a bit less inclined to try and turn me into stone." She was new at this 'being in trouble' thing.

"Ohh... yeah, hm," Ransom said, biting his lip. He wasn't quite willing to let Charlotte's mother lock her away for the weekend, grounded or not. "Maybe I can just 'drop by' after school," he suggested. "My mom's got tons of pumpkin preserves. Maybe your mom would like a jar. Or would at least let me use it to pay the toll. We don't have to go out."

Charlotte chuckled softly, still trying to be as quiet as possible. "Okay. I'll let you know at school whether or not I can go out. Either way... we'll do something." she confirmed. She wanted to be with him either way, especially after the twenty-four hours she'd just had.

"Okay," he smiled, glad to hear her laugh. Maybe she could fall asleep with happy thoughts now. "I'll see you tomorrow then... Goodnight, Charlotte," Ransom said, almost wishing he could say more, but not knowing what it was he wanted to say. Goodnight just didn't seem like enough.

Charlotte was hit by the very strange desire to not hang up the phone, and to make some excuse to keep him talking to her, before she quickly mentally screamed at herself and made it known that she was not allowed to be clingy. "Night, Ransom." she returned, still not quite wanting to hang up. But she forced herself, and stared at her phone for a long while after. School couldn't really come fast enough now.