Travis half expected Charlie not to show after the way he'd looked at him and then just walked off at the end of lunch break, but just after seven there was a tentative knock on the door, barely loud enough to be heard over the stereo.

When Travis opened the door, Charlie was wearing pyjama pants and his fingers were tangling in the strings on his hoodie as Artemis rubbed against his leg. It took all of Travis' willpower to step aside and let him inside instead of finding out if Charlie felt as cuddly as he looked.

"Things okay?" Travis asked when Charlie stopped just inside the door and focussed the entirety of his attention on twisting his hoodie strings together.

Charlie nodded his head without looking up, but he didn't move.

"You want to sit down?"

Charlie nodded again, and finally he walked over and sat down on the sofa. Travis considered sitting down next to Charlie, but decided that a spot on the other end was probably safer.

Once they were both seated, Travis was stuck. He just didn't know what to do with someone like Charlie. There were plenty of things he would have liked to do, sure, but most of them were out of the question. He would have been happy to just do whatever Charlie wanted, but Charlie was still intensely focussed on his hoodie strings.

"So, uh... tell me about you," Travis said after a full minute of awkward silence.

The small crease that formed in Charlie's brow as he continued swinging the strings was the only indication he'd heard Travis, until after much too long a stretch he finally said, "I don't know."

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

Finally, Charlie glanced up, though only for a second. "No, I just... I don't know. It's a hard question."

"What kinds of things do you like doing?"

"Listening to music. Reading." Charlie shrugged. When he swung one of his hoodie strings around in a circle, Artemis, who had jumped up onto the back of the sofa, batted at it with her paw. The smallest of smiles curved Charlie's lips as he lifted the string to wiggle it in front of her.

"You like any TV shows? Movies?" Travis prompted.

Charlie twisted around to face Artemis as he played with her. "My dad didn't have a TV. Or a computer."

"That must have sucked," Travis said carefully.

Charlie shrugged again.

Travis resisted the urge to ask once more if Charlie wanted to be left alone. He'd already said he didn’t and chosen to come over tonight, but everything he did seemed to signal his complete disinterest in interacting with Travis.

"You want ice cream?" Travis tried.

That got Charlie's attention. "What kind?"

"Chocolate."

Charlie nodded. Travis was off the sofa and halfway to the kitchen by the time Charlie said, "Please."

Travis grinned and shook his head. "I think I have some M&M's in the cupboard." When Charlie was silent, Travis glanced over his shoulder at him. "You want M&M's on yours?"

"Yes, please."

Travis scooped two bowls of ice cream and sprinkled M&M's on top of them, then returned to the living room to find Artemis curled on her side on the back of the sofa and Charlie with his eyes shut and the top of his head pressed against her furry chest. For a moment Travis just stood there, a bowl of ice cream in each hand, and watched as Charlie rocked his head back and forth against Artemis while she purred enthusiastically into his hair. Charlie seemed to always look out of place, like he didn't quite belong in the world and was constantly aware of it, but just then, snuggled up with Artemis on Travis' sofa, he looked like he'd found one tiny place where he fit.

A spoon clinked against the side of one of the bowls as Travis shifted, Charlie raised his head, and the moment was broken.

"Thank you," Charlie said as he took the bowl Travis offered him.

By the time Travis sat back down in his spot, Charlie was carefully scooping the M&M's out one by one and eating them.

"Did you not want the M&M's and the ice cream in together?" Travis asked as he watched Charlie carefully excavate an M&M.

Charlie's eyes flicked up to meet Travis', and then he abandoned his task and scooped a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth as he drew one of his knees up against his chest.

It was subtle, the difference in the way Charlie held himself and the slight tightening of his expression. If Travis hadn't been watching him so carefully he might have missed it, might not have realised he'd said anything wrong.

"I didn't mean—" Travis sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. "You can eat it however you like, okay?"

Charlie scooped an M&M out and crunched it between his teeth. "My grandma doesn't like me messing with my food."

"I'm not your grandma."

"No, you're... different. From everyone."

"You're a bit different yourself."

Charlie lifted his other knee up to join his first one and perched the bowl of ice cream on top of them. "Yeah, but the ways you're different are actually good."

"You think the ways you're different are bad?"

Charlie shrugged.

"Well, I mean, you're pretty obviously unhappy, so I guess that's not good, but I'm not sure how much of that's actually you and how much is just your circumstances. I like you just fine how you are."

Charlie squirmed his feet together. He wasn't wearing shoes. "Yeah, but you don't have to live with me. I'm too difficult about everything and people get angry."

Travis sighed and stared down at his melting ice cream as he poked it around with his spoon. He hated that Charlie had to put up with so much shit, and he doubly hated that Charlie seemed to blame himself for it all.

"You can come here whenever you like, okay?" he told Charlie. "Even if it's like, two in the morning on a school night, I don't care. If you need somewhere to go, my door’s always open."

Charlie turned to look at the front door. "It's shut now."

"You know what I mean."

Charlie's lips twisted together as he continued staring at the front door. "Yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Charlie."

Travis had no idea what to actually do with Charlie's company after they'd finished their ice cream, but it didn't end up being a problem. As soon as Charlie had set his bowl aside he rearranged the cushions on the sofa and curled up on his side, shifting around for several minutes until he finally got comfortable and let out a long sigh. Travis thought he might have been planning on staying there for the night, but he woke when Travis started getting ready for bed a couple of hours later and said a sleepy goodnight before leaving.

Charlie's presence had been quiet and unobtrusive, but the flat felt too empty with him gone. He wished so hard his heart ached that Charlie was still here and they were about to head off to bed together. He didn’t even have anything sexual in mind, but he still felt guilty for the thought. Travis locked the door and went to bed, Artemis his only company.

♪

Charlie hadn't had maths with Travis the next day and he’d hidden in the quiet of the library at lunch, but he showed up at Travis' door with an armful of school books just after dinner. 

He didn't say anything as he moved past Travis into the flat and sat down on the sofa. Dinner had ended with Charlie refusing to eat no matter how frustrated his grandma had become with him, and he was hungry and tired. Perhaps his bedroom, free from all people, would have been a safer choice, but there was something about Travis’ flat that settled his nerves and made him feel a little less on edge. Something about Travis himself, maybe.

"Everything okay?" Travis asked as he claimed the other end of the sofa.

Charlie made a quiet grunting sound and fidgeted his body. Not really.

Travis eyed the books settled across Charlie's lap. "You going to study?"

Charlie nodded and ran his fingers along the spine of one of the books. That was the plan, though underfed and overstimulated he wasn't sure how much luck he'd have.

"Okay, well, I was just going to make dinner. Have you eaten?"

Charlie made another sound and rocked his head from side to side. He'd forced a few mouthfuls of potato salad down, but he wasn't sure that really counted.

"I was going to make scrambled egg on toast if you want some. Or I could make something else if you don’t want that. Not that I have much in the house right now or know how to make many things, but you know. I can try. If you want.”

Charlie looked up at him. "Just egg?"

Travis shrugged. "Egg, butter, salt."

Charlie let out a sigh of relief. Normal food. "Yes, please."

It felt weird having Travis do everything for him while he did nothing, so he followed Travis into the kitchen and, while Travis cracked eggs, Charlie filled the kitchen sink with warm water.

"What are you doing?" Travis asked.

"Dishes," Charlie explained as he carefully scrubbed at a spoon.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. It's fine."

"This was my job, when I lived with my dad." Charlie set the spoon on the drying rack and fished a fork out from under the water. "I'm good at washing dishes. Meticulous. My grandparents have a dishwasher."

"You want to, huh?"

"Everyone has to do their part. I don't like gardening."

"I don't like doing dishes, but I don't mind cooking. If this is how you want to do things, it works for me."

Charlie worked in silence, cleaning each dish and piece of cutlery with care. Travis hummed a tune to himself that Charlie didn't recognise as he whisked melted butter and eggs together with a fork. Just being around him relaxed Charlie.

"Eggs up," Travis said a couple of minutes later.

"I'm not done," Charlie protested. He still had two bowls and a handful of cutlery to go.

Travis nudged Charlie’s shoulder with a plate of eggs on toast. "Just leave it."

Charlie made a face down at the dishwater. He was almost done. At his grandparents house, this would be the moment when his grandma pushed him and his frustration boiled over. He was already too close to losing his ability to cope.

"Or you can finish first?" Travis said when Charlie just stayed where he was, standing by the sink, neither continuing his work nor making any move to claim his share of the food.

Charlie immediately got back to washing the dishes, and a couple of minutes later he was done. Travis had waited in the kitchen while Charlie finished up and that had made Charlie feel a bit self conscious, but Travis hadn't shown any signs of impatience. He handed Charlie a plate and they headed back into the living room.

Charlie picked at his eggs just as he picked at everything that wasn't of a uniform texture, but they were good. They just tasted like eggs, no surprises. If his grandma had made them she probably would have added a half dozen extra ingredients and then insisted they were just eggs.

When they were done eating Charlie took both his own plate and Travis' to the kitchen and washed them before returning to the living room and sorting through the stack of textbooks he'd brought with him. His mind felt much clearer now that he had a full belly and he thought he might actually be able to absorb something.