Pathetically, Charlee felt a glimmer of hope that maybe, at the very least, this part was explainable. She turned to Hector, her chest now heaving. She was so worked up.
“I can explain it,” Hector said, the remorse still so heavy in his eyes that it scared her. “I can’t take back what happened in high school with Walter, but I swear to you I tried to make up for it. I nearly sacrificed the best thing that’s ever happened to me just so I could make up for it. And that’s you, Charlee.”
Charlee turned to Walter, wondering why he hadn’t told her this, but he looked just as lost as she felt.
“Have a seat please and I’ll explain,” Hector said then turned to Walter. “You too. I have something I need to come clean to you about also.”
Confused, Charlee and Walter exchanged glances then took a seat on Walter’s bed. Suddenly, Hector seemed nervous, and that made her nervous again. Did she even want to hear this?
To her surprised, he addressed Walter first. “Walter, I think I’ve been in love with Charlee since the night of the speed tournament. I tried to fight it. I really did.” Charlee, whose weak heart was already swelling, stared at him, trying not to give in so easily. He turned back to her now. “I felt so guilty about the shit my friends had done to Walter in high school I just couldn’t justify going after the girl he was so infatuated with.”
“Dude,” Walter said, squirming in his seat.
“It’s okay, man.” Hector assured him. “She already knows, but only because I had to tell her.” Feeling the need to, Charlee smiled at Walter, and he glanced away quickly, obviously embarrassed. “Anyway,” Hector continued, his attention back on Charlee now. “That’s why the texts between Drew and me started. Your friend really does have a sixth sense. She was right about me, and she was also right about Danny.”
The smile completely vanished as Charlee stared at him, confused now. “She came to 5th Street the day after the keg party.” He smiled a little crooked. “She called me an ass**le. She said she knew I had feelings for you but was under the impression that I just didn’t want to commit to one girl.” Now he turned to Walter and explained the whole Operation-get-Nat-and-Walt-together scheme.
“You and Drew planned that?” Charlee asked, surprised it never occurred to her that her scheming friend had had a hand in that.
“Yeah,” Hector winced. “But that’s a good thing, right, Walt? Things turned out beautifully.”
Walter smiled, nodding, so Hector turned back to Charlee and explained the texts. “She was offering to text me a list of your favorite things, but it didn’t feel right to continue being sneaky when I didn’t have to anymore. But there was never anything inappropriate about our texts. I can show you them, and you could read them all from the very first to the very last.”
Relief sunk in, and she could already tell her heart would be willing to overlook his past mistakes about not standing up for Walter. Walter seemed to be okay with it, and Hector did make a great effort to make it up to him and do right by Walter by staying away from Charlee for so long. She could certainly attest to that. He did try to keep things between them from happening for too long. Sadly, it didn’t change the fact that Drew had still betrayed her in such a horrific way.
“Are we good?” Hector asked, looking very worried still. “I think I covered it all, but tell me if you need anything else clarified.”
She stood up now, anxious to hug him and so incredibly happy that at least he hadn’t betrayed her. Immediately his arms were around her, and even though they’d just spend the entire weekend together, it felt as if she hadn’t been in his arms in so long. He kissed her softly, and after the kisses they’d shared all weekend, she got the distinct feeling he was holding back, but she didn’t blame him. They were standing in Walter’s room, and he was sitting there watching them.
“But now I have a question for you,” he said as he pulled away. The worried expression was back. “Did you go see Danny when we were in Maryland?”
“No.” She shook her head immediately but braced herself to tell him the truth. “That letter I said was from Gwen,” she paused, waiting for him to nod. “That was from him. Gwen ran into him last week, and she mentioned I’d be in town and was hoping to get together with me. So the night before, he brought it to her and asked her to give it to me. She brought it to our lunch, and the only reason I didn’t tell you it was from him was because, at the time, I wasn’t planning on even reading it, so I didn’t think it mattered.”
Charlee paused once again because the emotion of knowing what Drew had done overwhelmed her again. Before she could continue, he pulled her to him again and kissed her head. “I know that had to be a blow, babe.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t even believe it at first. I thought for sure Danny was lying, and then she admitted it.” Charlee glanced away, wiping the away the tears that had once again begun.
“Charlee, please don’t be mad at me, okay?”
Not liking the sound of that, her brows furrowed, and she stared at him. “What?”
“Drew is outside.” She pulled away from him. “Listen to me, baby,” he said, reaching for her and holding her to him. “She explained it to me, and trust me, I felt ready to spit when she first told me about what she’d done too. But after hearing her explain why, I think, maybe, you’ll understand.”