Not you again (Dante)

[Dante Russo]

Dante stopped short when Charlie blocked the door. He huffed loudly, frustrated, and chucked his apple at her. "What the hell!?" He shouted over her, and his mouth was open to shout something else, but then she said something that caught his attention:

"You're going it right friggin now!"

Dante glared daggers at Charlie. Everything she was saying was absolutely true, and it made him feel like shit. He was a terrible person, and an even worse friend. Jo Jo should just forget about him. He'd be better off. His life would be happier, anyway, without Dante always bitching him out and being as big a dick as he could possibly be. Hell, if they'd never met, Jo Jo wouldn't have gotten arrested that one time...

Jo Jo made Dante's life better in so many ways. There were so many things Jo Jo saved him from-- and what had Dante ever done for him? Well, aside from his math homework. Nothing! Fucking nothing! Dante was terrible for people. He fucked up everything he touched.

Charlie stepped away from the door, and Dante was about to walk out when she continued berating him. He turned to face her, and he just stood there and took it. Glaring. Having nothing to say. Preoccupied with his own feelings.

"Stop being a total dick and stop adding to the list of ways you are screwing up your life."

There was that flash of emotion again. Dante's eyes stung, and he blinked twice in rapid succession. His vision blurred, and he turned quickly, marching out of the cafeteria. He cursed under his breath, hastily raising a hand to wipe the tears from his face. If Charlie had any intention of catching him she'd have to be quick, because Dante wasn't stopping. Not now. Not after a fucking girl made him cry.

[Charlotte Greene]

Tick-tock, tick-tock... No tackled.... Well that was good? Upon reaching the area where she'd gotten her food from earlier, Charlie quickly replaced her apple, granola bars, and the apple Dante had tossed, then turned to find him stalking away... and it looked like he might be crying? "Oh dear.."

She threw her food into her bag, threw some money at the cashier, and bolted across the cafeteria after Dante. He had a head start, and for being shorter than her the kid was quick, even at just a fast walking pace. What was she going to say when she did catch up to him? Was he just going to run when he realized she was following? Was he too preoccupied to notice? Was that better or was it worse? Ugh, what would Uncle James do in this situation?

Yeah, Dante had deserved to get bitched at and thrown his admitted dickishness back in his face.. but clearly the kid had some issues and he hadn't even argued or .. said anything. He's just turned and ran. That wasn't the action of someone who wanted to fight, that was the action of someone who was hurt. Damaged. Someone that was blaming themselves for everything. One of those endless cycle things that wouldn't ever end until it was forgotten about, grown out of, or resulted in their death. Uncle James would not let that situation just walk away. --And Charlie did already have another apple for him. If he was going to be upset, Dante at least needed to eat, right? He was easily as skinny and Charlie was.. and Charlie was freakin thin.

So while still having no idea what to do or say when she caught up, Charlie would go at whatever speed she needed to in order to catch Dante.. Unless he'd broken into an all-out sprint. Dante was most likely faster than Charlie in a sprint. Even without her wings causing extra drag he could likely outrun her if he tried. But barring him really trying, Charlie would eventually catch up to Dante, and do the only thing she could think of that might at least make him stop for a second and consider hope rather than the crushing self-whatever that he was experiencing.

She would catch him and give one of his shoulders a firm tug back in her direction, hopefully spinning him around. At that point she would very quickly push the apple against his chest and give him a determined stare. "You threw the other apple at me, so I got you another. If you're gonna be upset and completely ignore what I said, you at least need to keep your strength up."

[Dante Russo]

He could hear her footsteps, but he didn't break into a sprint. He didn't want to appear that desperate to get away. He blinked rapidly as Charlie's footsteps got closer, trying fiercely to stop the tears before she caught up.

Then, suddenly, her hand was on his shoulder. Cold panic dropped hard in his stomach. His eyes widened, and he whipped around, teeth barred.

"Don't touch me!!!" Dante shouted, pulling away from her even as she shoved another apple toward him. He didn't take it. Either she would take it back, or Dante would let it fall to the floor.

He wanted so badly to keep the fear from his eyes, but he could feel it. It was stretching his eyes wide, and making him inch backwards even as he tried to lean forward in aggression. At least he'd made the tears stop, even if his face was still damp.

"Just piss off! You made your point! I'm the fucking Grinch! Don't try an' pull this charity bullshit now! What d'you have a messiah complex or something? Leave me alone!"

[Charlotte Greene]

This kid was beginning to seem like a very abused dog or something.. and it simultaneously made Charlie very angry and very sad.

"Okay, fine! You don't want me to touch you, I won't friggin touch you. My bad. But I'm only trying to give you what I gave you to begin with! Stop trying to scare me away by telling me how awful you are, clearly that isn't gonna work. How about you say thanks, I know I don't deserve it and give me the impression that you're the tiniest bit appreciative that somebody refuses to let you scare them away? Heck, for that matter, you seemed in a way better mood when you were arguing back. Now you just look like a kicked puppy. I can't just walk away from a kicked puppy without at least making sure I do my best to make sure it has food."

Charlie kept the apple outstretched. She wasn't dropping it, she also wasn't touching him. "This isn't charity. Charity is donating time or money to worthwhile causes. You have said more than once now that you aren't worthwhile, so what I'm doing is being nice to someone that doesn't want it, because even if they don't want it they probably need it. Why are you freaking out so bad? I'm trying to give you a freaking apple because obviously I hit a nerve and made you upset. If you're gonna be upset you might as well at least have some food for when you calm down. Stress wears you out and some nutrient-rich stuff will make you feel better after.. So you can get right back to your grinching as quick as possible."

Even the Grinch had a heart, though. Was Charlie trying to make Dante's grow four sizes or whatever from the movies? No. "You wanna know why I'm doing this? Because my uncle would do this. He would laugh off someone running into him, he would try to get them to smile, and if he made them upset he would try to make it up to them. He would do it because he's a good guy, and I'm doing it because I wanna be like him and honor his memory. Now take the damned apple. You know you'll be glad you have it later, and you can just lie to me and tell me you won't eat it or whatever."

Freakin kid was difficult! Kicked puppy for sure. They were the hardest ones to convince that you really only wanted to give them some food so they didn't starve. Even wild animals were more willing to take food than the domesticated ones that had been abused.

[Dante Russo]

Dante pressed his lips together. Stiffened his jaw. Tightened the corners of his eyes. Furrowed his brow.

Don't cry. Don't cry...

Her words blurred together. He was concentrating so hard on not breaking down. He really couldn't handle this. Why was she so damn persistent? Why was he so fucking terrified of her? No, wait, don't answer that question! Dante wasn't thinking about the reasons. He couldn't.

If he thought about it he'd be sick.

Charlie's tone was changing. It was less angry now. "You wanna know why I'm doing this? Because my uncle would do this..." Dante's expression softened. Barely. He blinked, feeling the emotion bubble forth the second he relaxed. Dante inhaled and closed his eyes, tightening it all back up again. Not quick enough though. A tear escaped the corner of his eye, and he blinked several times to keep others from following.

He was getting tired. Holding back took a lot of effort, and there was a lot to hold onto. "That's great," he said, his tone softer and shaky around the edges. He reached out with a trembling hand to take the apple from Charlie. "You have a role model." He stepped back and gave a weak attempt at that smart-ass smile of his. "You'll have to tell me what that's like sometime." He took another step back, clearly about to crack at any second. "Thanks." He raised the apple slightly and turned, hoping that this time she wouldn't follow.

[Charlotte Greene]

If Charlie hadn't already been fairly sure that Dante would despise her even more if she pitied him, she would have. Or at least would have shown it. But was it really pity? Maybe.. maybe not. Maybe it was something else. Despite his.. prickly exterior and tendencies, Dante was a cute kid.. and somewhere in the chest that he seemed intent on carving into a black hole there seemed to be a heart.

She wanted rather desperately to try to keep dialogue going.. to try to give him an out. To promise him that he could be mean and she wouldn't hold it against him.. She wanted to be able to say she understood... But none of those things were the right thing to do, and even the possible ones just didn't.. work. No.. Best sometimes to pick battles, avoid wars, and admit that even Uncle James could see the victory there was in just getting a scared, abused puppy to take a bit of food. So that's what Charlie would do.. and she wouldn't pursue as Dante turned and started off.

"I will, you know. I could tell you all about him sometime if you want. Run into me any time you feel like it, Dante.. I, uh.. I'm sure you'll see me around."

And with that, Charlie would take in, then slowly let out a deep breath, give herself a few moments to watch Dante walk away, and hope that somewhere Uncle James was at least a little proud.