[didn’t proof read loves]
“What? What’re you doing?” Henry asked confused. He was looking down at his friend who was standing inches away from her death in the lions den. His hand was still extended out to her and she stared at it with an expression on her face that he couldn’t quite read.
“Um...” she turned around to face the lion and backed up against the wall of the den with her arms spread out against it. “this is just like my dream” she said nervously.
“What dream?” Henry said.
“I don’t wanna tell you!” she yelled back up to him. Henry threw his head back in frustration as Officer Fran came to see what all of the yelling was about.
“Woah, woah, woah! You can’t be in there unless you’re a lion which you are not!” she exclaimed as she ran over to where Kid Danger was standing.
“Yeah, yeah. Come on, Charlotte climb up that wall and I’ll pull you out” Henry said.
“No!” she said stubbornly.
“Uh, because you just got back from the bathroom and you usually don’t wash your hands afterwards!” Henry’s face started to heat up.
“Gross! Is that true?” Fran asked. Henry just chuckled nervously in response. “It’s true! You would’ve said no by now” Fran said disgusted.
“Look! We can talk about my bathroom hygiene after I save this person that I do not know” Henry said.
“I strongly suggest you take Kid Danger’s dirty hand. That lion is very hungry I haven’t fed him in weeks” said Fran.
“What?!” “Are you kidding me” Henry and Charlotte said simultaneously.
“I’ve been busy! I just got back from a bridal shower in Florida, wooo!” Fran said getting side-tracked. The lion growled at Charlotte, making tiny advances towards her and this was enough to make her turn around and start climbing the wall again.
“Come on! Charlotte let me pull you outta there” Henry said getting nervous. Charlotte hesitated for a moment looking back and forth between the lion and henry.
“Miss security guard lady?” Charlotte lamely asked. Henry banged his hand against the wall of the den and pressed his lips together to stop him from lashing out at her.
“Name’s Fran. I’m single. Tell your boss” she finished turning to look at Kid Danger. Henry just pressed his lips together even harder.
“Okay, Fran. Can you please save me?!”
“Sorry, I hurt my shoulder real bad down in Florida. You ever wrestle a dolphin? Don’t try they do not fight fair”. Charlotte was about to give in before remembering she had one last option.
“Uh, Captain Man? Can you come save me?!” she yelled to Ray who was on the other side of the den.
“I am elbows deep in this tiger birth right now!” he yelled back to her.
“Hey, all the bridesmaids got matching tattoos in Florida, you wanna see mine?” Fran asked Kid Danger.
“Obviously” Henry replied. Fran turned around to lift up her shirt. “Not right now”. She tucked her shirt back into her pants.
“Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Why you climbing up that wooden log thingy?” he asked Charlotte, who was now crawling on top of the wooden pole in the middle of their side of the den.
“You know lions are expert climbers right?” Fran said.
“Yeah. They can also smell fear so...try to hide your fear” she said momentarily interrupted by the lion growling. Charlotte yelped as the lion jumped up against the pole.
“You’re doing a bad job!” Fran yelled at Charlotte who was trembling in fear.
“Okay,” Henry said pushing Fran out of the way. “Charlotte just grab my hand” he said not even caring that he said her name in front of Fran. He just wanted her out of there as soon as possible and she was being less than cooperative. Charlotte reached out to grab his hand and then suddenly smacked it away.
“What’re you doing?!” Henry cried.
“I don’t want you to save me!” Charlotte said.
“Because I...I don’t want you to kiss me!” Charlotte said. Henry’s mouth open a little, stunned at what just came out of his best friends mouth. His face started to heat up as he looked back and forth between Charlotte and Fran.
“Why would I kiss you?” he asked softly.
“Yeah, why?” Fran asked, interested in the drama that was unfolding.
“Can you give us a minute?” Charlotte sighed as she shrugged her shoulders down in frustration.
“Ugh. Right when it was getting good. Guess I’ll go ‘patrol the zoo’ ” Fran said before walking off in the direction of the stairs.
“Why would I kiss you?” Henry confusedly asked Charlotte after Fran was out of sight.
“Cause you almost did in my dream. Remember when I fell asleep in the ManCave the other day?” she asked.
“I had a dream and it was just like this, except after you pulled me up at the end and saved me we.....you know...”
“Well, we were about to, yeah”
“Okay well that was just a dream, Charlotte. Alright? But right now, you’re about to get eaten by a real life, fear smelling lion” Henry said. He wanted to talk more about this but her safety was more important.
“A hungry one” Fran said popping out of her hiding spot where she was eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Shut up!” “Go away, Fran” the two teens said.
“Sorry” she quickly apologized before re-concealing herself.
“Can we please have this conversation after I save you from the- hey, look over there it’s a dang lion” Henry pleaded. She looked at him skeptically but finally came to her senses enough to realize she wouldn’t rather die than having to kiss Henry. She wasn’t going to to take any chances though.
“Promise you won’t try to kiss me?” she asked not entirely letting up yet.
“Yes, I promise. Look, I’ll look away” Henry said. He reached out his hand one more time and looked in the other direction. Charlotte’s hand finally latched on to his and she couldn’t deny the sudden spark that she felt course through her veins at the contact of his warm palms. The lion roared and pounced up against the pole and scared Charlotte so badly that she found herself jumping off from the top of it. Henry whipped his head around at the sound of the roar to see Charlotte jumping off. He made sure to tighten the grip he already had on her right arm and wrapped his left arm underneath her shoulder and around her back, later doing the same thing on the right. Charlotte’s arms wrapped tightly around his neck as Henry started to lift her up. Once her legs were finally over the stone lined edge of the wall he set her down with an unintentional ‘thud’. His arms ended up around her waist once she was firmly on the ground and hers were still around his neck. There wasn’t much space between them considering how they managed to get to this position in the first place. Charlotte made eye contact with him and his eyes were already fixated on hers. They looked at each other for a few moments before Henry engulfed her in a hug, his arms tightening around her small waist. She tightened hers around his neck and they stayed like that for around ten seconds or so.
“Thank you for saving me” charlotte mumbled.
“You’re welcome. Can you please not be so stubborn with me next time?” Henry lightly chuckled, pulling back a little so he can see her face.
“I can’t make any promises” she laughed back, smiling at him. Both of their smiles softened as they locked eyes with each other again.
“See, you’re fine. And we’re definitely not kissing” Henry said trying to reassure her. Charlotte just stared at him with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes slowly drifted down to his lips and noticed that they were slightly parted. She brought her eyes back to his and got this tingly feeling in her stomach. She didn’t know what came over her in that moment but she wasn’t thinking too much about it at the time.
Charlotte pulled Henry’s head down to her so she could reach and kissed him. She felt Henry pulling her even closer to him than she already was as he kissed her back. She doesn’t know why wanted to avoid this so badly, because this felt good. It all ended too quickly though when the sound sound of Fran’s voice came booming into the area, causing them to jump apart.
“Okay! Let’s get to the-” Fran stood there in shock as she saw Kid Danger’s face turn completely red and Charlotte’s eyes practically popping out of their sockets.
“Woah” Fran said looking at the two flustered teens. “I thought you didn’t want him to kiss you?”. Charlotte and Henry instantly started spewing out completely different excuses, which really just sounded like a bunch of gibberish.
“Uh...thank you for saving me Kid Danger” Charlotte said uncomfortably, almost as if she was acting. Which she kind of was.
“You’re welcome citizen that I do not know” Henry said even more awkwardly. Charlotte went in for a handshake and Henry went in for a fist bump. They both awkwardly stared at each other before switching their hand positions, still doing the exact opposite of each other. They eventually settled on a quick high five and Charlotte quickly scurried away, climbing up the steps and leaving the zoo.
“So...you and, uh, lion girl huh?” Fran said nudging Henry in his side with her elbow. Henry just gave her a blank stare and walked away from her.
Charlotte slowly walked towards Henry and kicked his golf putt to the side. He looked at her in a trance like state and felt his heart rate quicken as she got closer and closer to him.
“What’s happening?” he asked, both intrigued and confused at the same time. But mainly intrigued.
“Quiet, Henry. I’m working on something” Charlotte said grabbing him by the shoulders and bringing her lips to meet his.
“Lips!” Henry suddenly shouted, waking up from his spot at the control panel in the ManCave.
“What?!” Charlotte asked from behind him. Henry shrieked at the sound of her voice and turned around to see her inquisitive eyes meet his. It had been almost a day since...the lion incident and he hadn’t spoken to her since. He stood up quickly and tried to walk over the elevator without saying anything else.
“Did you just say lips?” Charlotte asked curiously and walking towards him. Henry could already tell that she knew what just happened, but he wasn’t ready to admit that yet.
“What? No. I don’t even know what that word means” he responded.
“Uh, there’s a phone on your face” Charlotte weakly said, pointing at it.
“Oh. Yeah, that’s because I was uh...expecting a call. So, I put it there. On my face”. Charlotte stared at him with this look of realization on her face and Henry knew he had to get out of there as soon as possible. The room was starting to heat up and he couldn’t handle it for much longer. He rapidly pressed the elevator and impatiently waited for it to open.
“Where is this elevator!” he tried to joke. Charlotte just furrowed her eyebrows and Henry looked down at the ground until the sound of the elevator opening prompted him to awkwardly point at it and step inside. Once the doors shut behind him he let out a loud sigh and pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead. A moment or two had passed, and he didn’t know what came over him either but he found himself opening the elevator doors again and stepping into the ManCave.
“Char?” he said kind of quietly. Charlotte turned around from where she was standing not too far from where he had left her to look at him.
Henry took a deep breath and walked over to her in short yet long strides. He placed his hands around his waste upon reaching her and kissed her lightly. It turns out that Henry really liked kissing Charlotte. She apparently did as well because she wasted no time in reciprocating his actions and wrapping her arms around his neck. A few seconds passed before they separated and neither one of them could hide the smiles that found their way onto their faces.
“Wanna go to Nacho Ball tonight?” Henry asked quietly.
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