#and id been thinking abt charlie's shizophrenia recently and how it affects him and i just wanted to explore that from another perspective?

[purposefully-lost]

❦ - … My muse’s child for Charlie - @sugacraving

I know this was probably meant to be with Alice but I don’t know how to write children in the slightest and ALSO I've been wanting to write something pertaining to Charie' schizophrenia SO,, here's some Georgia and Charlie bonding

She hadn't really been sleeping, scrolling mindlessly through her phone while quiet music played in her ears, but the sound startled her nonetheless. The opening of a door elsewhere in the house was barely noted, but what followed- a bang as something heavy hit the floor, a quiet swear- made her jump. Quickly pulling her earbuds from her ears, Georgia slipped from her bed and made her way to the bedroom door, flicking the light on only so it'd bleed into the hallway when she peered out. She paused when what she found was Charlie pulling himself up from the floor. He flinched when the light fell on him and looked up, expression softening as their eyes met. "Oh. Sh- uh, I- I didn't wake you, did I?"

She shook her head. "I.. wasn't asleep. You might've woken the rest of the house, though." She said softly, before pausing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just- uh. I-" He flinched again, this time from nothing she could see. Georgia frowned as she watched him take a breath and straighten himself. "I tripped."

"Oh," she replied. "Okay."

He nodded, hovering where he was for a long moment. Georgia glanced down to check the time on her phone. 5:25. He'd be getting up for work in another hour, typically. She looked up again to see him taking a few steps back to peek into his and Vee's bedroom, his shoulders almost seeming to relax at whatever sight he found inside. It didn't surprise her- in her experience, the both of them could sleep through a doomsday if they wanted to. If Vee had even noted the noise, she'd be shocked. She watched as Charlie returned his gaze to her, then looked away again. A creeping suspicion rose in her mind that made her suddenly nervous to be standing with him, a few hours shy of when either of them should be awake. "You should, uh- you can head back to bed," he finally continued, voice soft. "I'm alright."

"Like I said, I wasn't sleeping anyway. ...Charlie?"

"Hm?"

"You, um.. are you.. drinking?"

The expression on his face made her regret asking. They'd told her once before that he used to have a problem; she'd seen Vee mark a date on the calendar in the kitchen and had asked about it. Another milestone in Charlie's sobriety, he'd said, before Charlie himself had started to explain it to her. As if she didn't know about the existence of drinking- but she'd appreciated it all the same. It was hard to reconcile the things he'd said with the man who was saying them, but right now... She squeezed at the phone in her hands just to have something to hold onto. This was weird. He was acting weird. Even as she waited for an answer, he seemed to wince away from something again, just for a second, before he met her gaze.

"I.. no. I'm not- I'm still.. good. Fuck," he said softly. She watched him close his eyes, steel himself. Then he offered her a small, tired smile. "I'm sorry, Peach. I didn't, uh.. I didn't mean to scare you. ..I- I figure I should be tellin' you to get your ass in bed and get some sleep, but, uh.." He watched her, his smile relaxing when she returned it. "What d'you say we make breakfast?"

-----

If there was one thing her new-ish parents had a knack for, it was breakfast. She was finding that most Saturdays, even when Charlie or Vee or both had somewhere to be, they made time for it. And if she wasn't up and at the table by the time it was all done, someone would gently shake her awake and ask if she wanted them to bring her a plate. Sometimes being woken up was annoying, but.. she had to admit, she'd be more annoyed if they didn't, so she never complained. It was always some mix of the classic breakfast foods unless someone wanted to try something new- and usually, it was good, even if they only made it once. It was what made Saturdays always feel so nice.

She was laying the last of the pancakes onto a plate- Charlie had just earlier shown her how to make them, and she was proud of how they looked- when he leaned against the kitchen counter and suddenly spoke a little more gently than he had the entire morning. "So, uh.. about earlier, when I fell."

She paused to look up at him. She'd almost forgotten entirely about the fall. After they'd come in here, it'd started to seem like that was all it had been- a trip. She frowned. "..Yeah?"

"It, uh.." Charlie took in a breath, then offered a smile, small and gentle, when she set down her pan and faced him. "I'm- I'm sorry to keep droppin' things like this- like, uh, like my drinking- on you, Peach. I just.. I don't want you to feel like you're in the dark, yeah? This ain't- I wasn't drinkin', though. This is different."

"Okay?"

"D'you.. know what, uh, schizophrenia, is?"

"Um." Schizophrenia? She'd heard the word before, sure, but.. her frown deepened. "Isn't that, like.. the.. crazy-killer-thing?" She paused. "I mean I- I know it probably isn't that.. bad, in real life, but.."

His lips twitched, his smile turning a little sad. She fell quiet, then continued. "Why?"

"It's, uh.. listen, that's what I thought of, too, when someone first said I had it." He met her gaze again. "But it's, uh- it ain't like that. It.. can be pretty damn scary, but it ain't what they show in movies."

"Oh," she said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Georgia. You didn't have another.. reference, for it." Charlie scratched at the side of his face. "It's, uh.. you can ask any question you like about it, I guess. I just- um, earlier, somethin' woke me up. I.. it sounded like someone was.. bangin' on the walls, on- on the doors. It- it's like that, sometimes, for me. But- Vee and I- we've been workin' on it. We've got.. a system. I just- I don't wanna scare you."

She was still a little scared. And she didn't think it was of him, but.. of what she didn't get. The thing itself. Schizophrenia. "So you.. hear things?"

"Sometimes."

"Is that it?"

Charlie paused, considerate. "Not.. by a long shot. But that's- it's what you're gonna see me dealin' with the most often, I think. But- like I said, it.. me n' Vee, we're workin' on it. I don't want you to be concerned about it."

Georgia frowned. She could trust that, she thought. Charlie was.. kind. And so was Vee, and more importantly.. Kyrie had trusted them. If Georgia didn't think she had known them long enough to tell, Kyrie had. And she could always ask her the next time she visited with Vee..

Her gaze fell to the breakfast they had waiting on them before she looked back to Charlie. Beyond all that, too, she liked it here. She liked Charlie and Vee and the way they spoke to each other- always kind, even when they were teasing. She liked playing the piano in the living room and letting Charlie teach her new songs, she liked the blankets Vee knitted and the way he spun stories for Matty. She nodded slowly. "Um, okay."

Charlie studied her. "D'you.. have any questions? I- I'm happy to answer. Vee would be, too."

"I..." She trailed off, then hummed. "I don't think so. Not right now."

"Okay," he answered. "And, uh.. are you okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled, finally, earning a smile in return. She didn't think Charlie realized it when he smiled half the time. Vee had said as much to her one day and she'd found herself noticing it since. "I'm okay."

"Well, good." Charlie stood and looked over the dishes they'd laid out on the counter. "What d'you say we go wake the others?"

"Sounds good to me." She crossed her arms, relaxing. "And, um.. Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"...Um, thanks, I think?"

He smiled again. "No problem, kid."

@mxdnight-thinking