Forever and A Day: a Those Who Wait story

by Haley Cass

  It was intimidating, sort of, because – she’d known it, peripherally.

  She’d always known Charlotte’s ambition but she’d experienced it as

  something generally secondhand to herself.

  But it wasn’t secondhand anymore.

  Charlotte’s smirk turned into a sly grin as she hung up the phone and the sight of it nearly knocked her breath out of her lungs. That victorious, proud look that slid over her face was – she loved it.

  Sutton knew the moment Charlotte saw her and a flash of confusion crossed her features. She tilted her head, a small confused smile tugging at her lips as she gestured for Sutton to come in.

  She smiled back, a determined smile as her hands clenched tightly in her pockets for a moment before she took a deep breath. She entered the office, holding Charlotte’s gaze.

  “I’m strong." The words were out before she even thought about what she was going to say. But all she heard in her mind was what Elizabeth had said in her office.

  Charlotte looked the most taken aback Sutton had ever seen. “I know you are?”

  Which made Sutton want to roll her eyes at herself but she shook her head, her hair swinging over her shoulders as she pushed on. “I know it’s not . . . I’m not the same as you are – perfect,” she added on. “But I am here for you, as a partner. And I know our relationship has been somewhat atypical but I’m back here now and you’re here, and we’re together.”

  Charlotte regarded her for a long moment, a furrow between her eyebrows as she slowly tilted her head. “I take it this has something to do about this morning’s gossip.”

  “Um. I was a little overwhelmed this morning." She hedged, admitting the somewhat truth.

  Charlotte nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath. “I know it must have been a shock to see all that.” A small frown pulled at her mouth and there was that slight look of uncertainty on her face, one that still threw Sutton a bit.

  She’d seen it more in the last months than she had before Charlotte had come out. She’d seen it in times where Charlotte felt like she didn’t know how to be a girlfriend, even though Sutton knew that was utterly ridiculous because she was the best girlfriend she could ever imagine.

  “I want to be with you. And I can try to keep the media from you as much as I can,” Charlotte spoke softly, regretfully. “But I'm afraid that this is only going to get more intense as the years go on.”

  Charlotte’s eyes widened, as if she hadn’t realized what she’d just said.

  Sutton’s stomach bottomed out only to fill with warmth, this mixture of love and affection as Charlotte cleared her throat. “Of course, I know this is still relatively new and years to come is a bit off to have to worry about

  –”

  The upset that had propelled her to this point was completely gone, fading into the feeling in her chest that Charlotte so easily gave her. The tension she’d been carrying around since even before going to Elizabeth’s office drained from her shoulders.

  A smile spread over her face, unstoppable, as she took a step farther into the office. “I know I sounded - " She broke off, biting her lip sheepishly, “A bit insane a moment ago. But I wanted to make the point that you don’t need to keep me from anything.” She came to a stop at the edge of Charlotte’s desk, pulling her hands from her pockets and fiddling lightly with the ends of her sleeves. “I’m . . . I was uncomfortable this morning,”

  she admitted. “Because I never really thought about it. But it’s a part of being with you and I want that.”

  No matter what, she was sure of that.

  She ran her eyes slowly over Charlotte, taking note of how her hair curled so naturally over her shoulder. Thinking about how she’d watched Charlotte quickly and efficiently yet perfectly style it this morning while she’d stood in her bathroom off of her bedroom, as Sutton had finished getting dressed.

  It was so easy between them now and she couldn’t deny that she reveled in it. In these simple domestic things that just happened so easily between them.

  She brought her gaze back up to Charlotte’s. “I want you for years to come.”

  A slow smile slid over Charlotte’s face as she let out a low breath,

  “Well. Now that that’s out of the way . . .” She reached out, tucking her fingertip into the waistband of Sutton’s pants to tug her closer.

  Her blood rushed a little warmer and she moved forward, close enough to feel her body warmth only inches from her own. Even as Charlotte wore her slight heels, Sutton was still just a bit taller, and she leaned down enough to brush her mouth over Charlotte’s. She luxuriated for a few moments in the softness of her lips on her own.

  It was light and brief, just enough to feel her, before they pulled back.

  Only inches away, her hand resting on the curve of Charlotte’s hip as she whispered, “Hi.”

  She could feel Charlotte’s slow grin without opening her eyes.

  “Hi back, darling.” Charlotte leaned up, brushing her lips softly against the side of Sutton’s in the way that she had that was so close to being just a kiss on the cheek but wasn’t. She didn’t bother to hide the way it made her happily sigh, even as Charlotte pulled back.

  “Want to join me for lunch before you go?” Charlotte asked, even though she was already pulling out the desk chair and gesturing for Sutton to sit in it.

  She took the seat offered even as she said, “Well, I don’t have anything to eat, but I’m happy to sit with you.”

  Charlotte gave her a dry look as she teased, “It just so happens that my girlfriend packed me a “lunch” that seems to hold enough food for the next three days, so I think we’re okay on that front.”

  Sutton sniffed and tilted her head up. “Perhaps your girlfriend thinks you spend long hours at work and that you shouldn’t forget to eat.”

  Brown eyes rolled at her, even as Charlotte couldn’t contain that soft half-smile that Sutton knew was for her and her alone. She leaned against the desk in front of Sutton. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

  “No, I suppose you can’t.” She reached out to interlock their fingers, just feeling their connection for a few seconds.

  Elizabeth Thompson may have somewhat insulted her, but she supposed she did have a point. By being with Charlotte, Sutton had agreed to being in the public eye. And if there was a choice between having her life continue to be her own private life or having a life where she had to not be with Charlotte, there was no contest about what she would choose.

  ***

  eliza harlow @elizathesapphic GOOD MORNING TWITTER

  LESBIANS

  @thecharlottethompson

  showed

  up

  to

  prof

  @suttonspencer1’s lit class to stare at her lovingly for aN HOUR

  11:43AM 02 OCT 22 2k Retweets 9k Likes

  eliza harlow @elizathesapphic replying to @elizathesapphic

  “wanted to see you in action” officially eavesdropped CALL 911 IM

  DYING 11:45AM 02 OCT 22

  eliza harlow @elizathesapphic replying to @elizathesapphic “see you at home darling” H OME THEY FUCKING LIVE TOGEHTER.

  WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN, SAPPHICS? 11:46AM 02 OCT 23

  taylor~BLM~ @spencesonRISE replying to @elizathesapphic who cares when it happened! We love to see it!!! 11:47AM 02 OCT 22

  Kenzie @misskenzington replying to @elizathesapphic How tf long are we waiting before they take over the world?! 11:47AM 02 OCT 22

  Part 3

  Charlotte, overall, enjoyed spending the holidays with the Spencer family.

  There were some negatives: the weather, for one. Despite having been with Sutton for over three years now and spending each of those holiday seasons with the Spencers – if she was counting their unofficial beginning as the start of their relationship, which they did – Charlotte was used to spending the holidays in the south.

  But she remedied that by spending the majority of her time indoors and finding it a perfect e
xcuse to curl up close to Sutton whenever possible.

  Including slipping her hands under her girlfriend’s sweater when they were cold, as well as falling impossibly more for Sutton when she shivered and would laughingly protest, but would always stand still to be Charlotte’s personal heater.

  This being her third Christmas spent with the Spencer family, she knew what to expect and she genuinely liked it.

  She liked them, individually, as people. She enjoyed seeing them interact as a family, and she loved seeing the bright, happy way Sutton smiled with them. At home, she’d seen and heard Sutton call and video chat with all of her family members more times than she could count, but it was different in person.

  And she found being welcomed into their traditions was far smoother and more natural than she’d expected it would be.

  The first year they’d been together, when Sutton had been somewhat shy as she asked Charlotte – all rambling – if she would want to join her in Boston for the holidays, Charlotte had almost said no; she’d only been stopped because she already knew how disappointed Sutton would have been, and subsequently would have tried to hide.

  But the fact of the matter was that, even at that point, after having been with Sutton for almost a year and having known her for longer than that, the idea of staying with her family was honestly nerve-wracking. But if she wanted to be with Sutton, the family aspect came with that.

  And she’d been pleasantly surprised. It hadn’t been uncomfortable, not really, not as she made easy conversation with Oliver, given their similar

  professions, and Alex, given how she’d gotten to know her back home in the months prior.

  She enjoyed decorating the tree with them, while the Spencer siblings argued and laughed and told loud stories about one another. She enjoyed their family viewing of classic movies on Christmas Eve. She enjoyed their tradition of Christmas morning cinnamon buns before opening gifts.

  It wasn’t as though she hadn’t enjoyed the holiday growing up. But her own family had never been the same as Sutton’s was.

  William had been years older than both she and Caleb, and their parents had always been busy, as had her grandmother. Holidays growing up hadn’t been about quality time, which had been just fine for her at the time. She hadn’t really known how much fun quality time like this could have been, until now.

  She liked all of these things far, far more than she’d ever thought she would. And she was more comfortable partaking in them than she could have possibly imagined by now.

  This year, she’d been looking forward to being here even more than she had in previous years. Because she’d taken a flight in from D.C., where she’d been at a conference for the last two weeks. The conference had been challenging and productive, but extremely busy and had given her some new prospects to think over. But as much as she hated to admit it, a few days of relaxing here would do her well.

  It just wasn’t as easy for her to sleep at night at conferences without Sutton there. Especially not now, after Sutton had moved in with her last year. Now that she was so used to having her in bed every night, sleeping alone felt almost unnatural.

  But she couldn’t let herself revel in that – the fact that after almost three weeks of craving her girlfriend, she got to have her tonight – not even as she was standing in Sutton’s old bedroom.

  “Where is it,” she murmured under her breath, letting out a frustrated sigh, her hands flexing on her hips as she surveyed the bed. She’d taken everything out of her suitcases.

  They were laying empty on the floor next to her, and everything that could have possibly been inside of them in any pocket was emptied and organized in front of her, but there was something missing.

  A very specific gift.

  Most of the holiday gifts to the Spencer family were from both herself and Sutton. Of course, Sutton was the driving force behind the ideas, but Charlotte added her own add-ons or accents last year, too, because – well, the Spencer’s were now not only just her-girlfriends-family, but were people she had gotten to know herself and cared about.

  But she knew that Sutton had packed and brought most of their joint gifts for her family when she’d arrived a week ago.

  The only gifts she’d intended to pack herself were the ones she’d bought for Sutton… and the one she’d gotten for Katherine.

  She knew, of course, that Sutton had gotten her mother a gift. One that she would love, because Sutton always found gifts for everyone that they loved, let alone the fact that Kate and Charlotte had one specific thing in common, and it was an adoration in almost anything Sutton did.

  But her gift for Katherine had to be different. She couldn’t simply give the joint gift with Sutton, like they did for everyone else.

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes, quickly tying her hair up to keep it from irritatingly falling into her eyes, as she bent down to rifle through everything yet again.

  “There’s no way I could have forgotten it,” she muttered, before she tilted her head.

  Could she have forgotten it? It was so incredibly unlike her, but she had been somewhat in a rush to pack, and had to pack for both her business trip and then her holiday trip. All the while, Sutton had been doing some sort of advanced power yoga on the other side of their bedroom, and she’d been… easily distracted.

  “There’s no way you could have forgotten what?” Sutton’s voice came from behind her, moments before her arms wrapped around Charlotte’s waist, as she placed her chin on Charlotte’s shoulder to look at all of the items spread out before them. “You unpacked quickly. I was only downstairs helping with dinner for a few minutes!”

  It gave her just a momentary relaxation, melting back into Sutton and breathing her in, loving the feeling of Sutton’s body pressed against her back, and the effortless way she supported her. God, but she always missed her so incredibly much during trips to the capital.

  She only allowed herself another deep breath there, though, before she sighed, and her eyebrows furrowed as she surveyed everything in front of her again. “The gift I got your mother,” she answered.

  Her hands came to cover Sutton’s, stroking her fingertips over her knuckles, before she huffed out a breath in agitation. “But it’s not here,” her mounting exasperation was back, as she gestured to everything she’d unpacked, “How am I supposed to win over your mother like this? I spent months tracking that first edition poetry book down and it’s not here!”

  There was a choked laugh in her ear. “Win over my mother?”

  She groaned, softly, the irritation with herself for most certainly not having the gift packed welling up inside. “Yes, because she doesn’t like me,” she stated, matter-of-factly.

  Sutton’s mother was the only other downside of holidays with the Spencer’s. Objectively, she was lovely. Watching her with Sutton actually warmed Charlotte inside in such an odd way. She was a smart woman, a talented woman, and Charlotte respected her. But it was Katherine with her polite and just-warm-enough-to-not-be-cold smiles directed right toward her that was the worst part of the holiday.

  It wasn’t as though she seemed to hate her, Charlotte knew that… but she also knew that she was granted graciousness because of her relationship with Sutton. She’d managed to win over, in some way, every other member of the Spencer family – even Jack!

  Jack Spencer, who notoriously disliked most other politicians, was on a friendly weekly email basis with her! She regularly texted with Oliver and even Alex, and had been in some group chats with the other Spencer siblings. And yet, it was Katherine who was the hold out, after three years.

  A disbelieving scoff left Sutton’s mouth, big blue eyes staring down at her in surprise as Sutton adjusted enough to the side so she could remain standing behind Charlotte but still be able to look her in the eye. “She does not dislike you!”

  Charlotte let out a deep breath, turning enough to arch her eyebrow at Sutton. Just giving her the look, because there was no way to deny it.

  Not when their interactio
ns were always the same as they’d been a couple of hours earlier.

  Sutton had picked her up from the airport, brought her back to the Spencer home. And when they’d walked into the house through the kitchen, Katherine had looked up with a bright, sincere smile to her daughter. And then when her gaze had shifted to Charlotte, the spark dimmed notably. The corners of her mouth notched downward, chilling her smile just a bit. She’d tilted her head, the sheer warmth of her tone when she’d greeted Sutton

  replaced with what Charlotte could only describe as an impersonally genial tone, “Charlotte, I’m glad you made it in time for the holidays. It’s nice to see you.”

  And it never seemed to matter what she did or said. She’d imported Katherine’s favorite kind of wine from Europe for a birthday gift. When Katherine had complimented her on the finely knit scarf she’d purchased from a designer in Italy that she’d worn on her first Christmas, she’d then contacted the designer and had another made, and sent it to Katherine.

  She’d had a delicate custom-made blown glass family tree of the Spencer family that she knew Katherine loved, as it was displayed over the mantle in the den, last Christmas, but still.

  Polite warmth.

  Her mouth just in a line as she lifted her eyebrow at Sutton, daring her to disagree again. She knew her girlfriend wouldn’t, just by the way she felt her shuffle behind her for a moment, even before her eyes dropped to look at the ground and she bit her lip.

  “She doesn’t dis like you…” Sutton hedged, her cheeks flushing, “She just – doesn’t know you all that well.” Charlotte didn’t point out that Katherine never seemed all too interested in spending more time with her.

  “Besides,” Sutton spoke softly, her voice a bit more playful but still honest,

  “It isn’t as though your grandmother likes me, either, and I see her all of the time.”

  Which was – well, only sort of true, and honeyed brown eyes narrowed. “It’s different.”

  Sutton’s mouth fell open in offense, as she flexed her hands on Charlotte’s hips. “It is not!”