Fandom: "Caroline in the City"
Pairing: Del/Charlie
Rating: PG, I guess...it's my first fic, so I'm a little shy...
Disclaimer: All characters belong to some rich blokes at NBC...at least I think so, didn't put much effort into finding out.
Archive: At Slashcom if you think it's any good. Others please ask first.
Note: This is the first slash story that I've completed but don't let that scare you too much. Some spelling errors occur, but I'm Swedish so have mercy, OK? And I rarely agree with my computer on the grammar check but don't let that scare ya either!I probably made Del a lot nicer and sensitive then he really is but since it's my imagination I can do what I want! It's kinda long this fic, but I just couldn't stop writing! The title is from a song by The Smiths, and it probably explains more about how I felt while writing the ending, then the story itself. Feedback: Yes please! If it's nice that is, I'm my own worst critic anyway. Send it to
SlashCom archivist who will pass on the message.

I Started Something I Couldn't Finish

by Cecilia J

'Del. Del! Del! Listen to me!' Caroline shouted at her ex-fiancé and shook his shoulder.

'Huh?' he grunted disoriented and looked up. He was sitting in Caroline’s couch and had wandered off in his thoughts as she tried to decide what dress to wear for her date.

'Stop daydreaming and help me out! Should I go for the seductive look or the innocent one?' She held up two dresses and waved them in front of Del so he'd pay attention. He looked at them but couldn't stay concentrated.

'I don't know. Ask Annie, she should know how to dress to get laid.'

Caroline gave him an evil look and threw a pillow at him.

'Stop it Del! I need a man's opinion! You are a man aren't you?'

Del threw the pillow back at her to make her stop laughing.

'Just wear the black one,' he said with a sigh. Caroline looked at him concerned.

'Why are you in such a bad mood? Did your date cancel again?'

'No!'

'Then what is it?'

'Nothing OK! I gave you advice so would you please leave me alone?'

Del turned around and hid his face in a Women's magazine, but Caroline didn't give up that easy.

'If you wanted to be alone, why did you come here in the first place?'

Del didn't answer. Caroline rolled her eyes, walked over and snatched the magazine out of his hands.

'Hey, I was reading that!' he protested.

'Yeah right! Now could you tell me what's going on?'

'I don't know what you're talking about Caroline! Nothing's "going on", as you put it.'

Caroline sighed out of frustration and sat down next to him on the couch.

'Del, I know you. Whenever something's on your mind, you try to hide it. Now tell me!'

He looked uncertain for a while, but then finally gave in.

'OK, but this is really personal...so you can't tell anyone!'

Caroline nodded and smiled as friendly as possible.

'Of course I won’t tell!'

'Well...it's like this...' He took a deep breath, '...I think I'm sort of in love with Charlie...'

Caroline dropped her chin and stared at him.

'Wh...what?' she stammered.

'Oh don't make it any harder!' Del pleaded.

Caroline continued staring at him without saying a word, and Del got up to leave but she dragged him down.

'You're in love with Charlie?'

'That's what I said right!' He snapped. Caroline put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

'I'm sorry Del, you just shocked me, that's all'

'Hey that's nothing compared to how I reacted! I thought I was going crazy...'

'Oh Del, you're not crazy!' Caroline said comforting. 'You're just scared of your feelings'

Del nodded but didn't look any happier.

'Does he know?' Caroline asked carefully. Del gave her a terrified look.

'No, no! Of course not! I could never tell him that!' he exclaimed.

'So what, are you just gonna sit and long for him?'

Del suddenly got very uncomfortable with the whole situation and decided to leave again.

'Don't run away form this Del! You could at least talk to me!' Caroline quickly said as he got up. He turned to her as he was putting on his jacket with a stressed expression on his face.

'You don't understand Caroline. I don't want to feel this way! I want things to be like they used to be!'

'But you can't deny your feelings, it won't make it any better!'

'Oh yes it will! Just forget that we even had this conversation, please Caroline!'

Before she could say anything else, Del ran out the door and left Caroline alone, frustrated over the way things had turned out. As he got into the elevator, Del leaned his head against the wall. "Why did I even tell her!?" he thought. The rage against himself bubbled up inside and Del hit the elevator wall out of anger.

'Damn it!' he screamed, just as the door opened.

'Del?' a too familiar voice asked. Del slowly looked up to see Charlie looking at him concerned.

'Charlie...what are you doing here?' Del tired to sound as natural as possible.

'I was looking for you...why did you slam your fist like that?' he asked, sounding almost like a worried child. Del stepped out of the elevator and tired to avoid his friends gaze.

'Just had a bad day, that's all'

He walked pass Charlie and out through the entrance, but instantly heard Charlie coming after him on his rollerblades. He then suddenly appeared right beside him and hooked his arm around Del's.

'You wanna talk about it?'

Del quickly shook his head.

'No, forget about it'

'You sure?'

Del smiled a bit.

'Yeah, I'm sure'

'So you wanna go home and play videogames?' Charlie asked cheerfully.

The word "home" suddenly struck a cord with Del, that he was actually living with Charlie and had to control his feeling all the time. Once again he wandered of in his thoughts, while Charlie was still waiting for his answer.

'Hello!? Anybody home?' he asked and tugged his arm.

'Sorry...was just thinking'

'Yeah, you've been doing that a lot lately!' Charlie grinned.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Del asked nervously.

'Well, you've seemed a bit distracted, that's all'

'Just had a lot on my mind, don't worry about it'

'But you never tell me anything Del! I thought I was your best friend' Charlie said, sounding hurt. Del got shocked by what he'd said and stopped walking to look Charlie in the eyes.

'You are my best friend Charlie! But there are just some things that I'd rather keep to myself'

Charlie nodded, staring at the ground.

'Sure I can understand that...' He didn't sound very convincing. Del sighed, feeling powerless over the situation. He didn't dare to tell Charlie the truth, but he still didn't want to hurt him by lying.

'Still wanna play videogames?'he asked, hoping it would cheer him up. Charlie looked up at him and smiled again.

'Of course' he said, and with that, they continued their way home...

=======================================================

It had been almost two weeks since Del had revealed his feelings about Charlie to Caroline, and she still couldn't let it go. She had tried to talk to Del again but he had refused and was now avoiding her completely. Caroline was pacing back and fourth in her apartment, while Annie looked at her nervously.

'Would you stop walking like that and just tell me what's going on?!' she asked frustrated.

Caroline gave her a tortured look and shook her head.

'I can't...he'd kill me!'

'Who!?' Annie immediately asked, 'And don't tell me it's about Richard again!'

Caroline rolled her eyes.

'No, it's not him...' She hesitated for a moment, 'It's about Del'

Annie snorted at her and made a silly face.

'Del? Why are you wasting time thinking about him?!'

'He won't talk to me anymore, that's why!'

Annie shrugged her shoulders.

'So? I'd be glad to have that privilege. He doesn't have that much to say anyway Caroline!'

'I'm serious! He told me about a...problem, a couple of weeks ago but now he won't let me help him!'

'We've always known that Del had a problem!' Annie said and pointed at her head.

Caroline sighed and gave her a long look.

'What?!' she exclaimed, 'I'm only joking! Now tell me about Del’s little problem.'

'I can't...'

'Hey don't tease me Caroline! You made me curious and I'm not leaving until you tell me about it!'

'I just need your help to get him to talk to me again Annie.'

'Oh just bake him a cake and he'll come running. Or hire a stripper, that never fails!'

Caroline sat down by the drawing board and sighed deeply.

'Fine, forget it...' she mumbled.

Annie looked at her best friend and understood that this thing with Del really bothered her.

'What about your birthday party?' Annie suddenly suggested.

'What to you mean?'

'Well he can't stand you up on that right? And even if he tries, Charlie is just gonna drag him here anyway!' Annie said, feeling proud of herself for coming up with the solution, simple as is might be.

'Hey you're right! It's perfect! And with both Del and Charlie here, I might be able to help them both!'

'I thought Del was the one with the problem?' Annie asked confused.

Caroline froze and realized that she had already said to much, and stammered as she tried to come up with an excuse.

'Oh, well that's what I meant...so forget about it. And we only have three more days to plan the party so we better get going! she said, trying to sound relaxed and dragged Annie out of her comfortable position on the couch.

=======================================================

Del was sitting in front of the TV as Charlie came through the front door with a smile on his face.

'Hi Del!' he shouted as he rolled his way into the living room.

'Hi Charlie' he said, not sounding as enthusiastic like his friend did.

'What's up?'

Charlie practically jumped down next to Del and put an arm around his shoulders, which made Del catch his breath.

'Nothing' he mumbled and tried to avoid his gaze.

'Sounds boring' Charlie said with a grin.

Del looked at him and smiled a bit.

'Yeah I guess'

'But we're gonna make up for that tomorrow right?!'

Del gave him a confused expression.

'What do you mean? Did we have something planned?'

Charlie sighed dramatically and gently slapped him on the head.

'Duh! It's Caroline’s birthday! She's having a party like she always does!'

Del’s face went blank and he stared back at the TV.

'Oh, that...I don't think I can make it...'

'What? Why not?' Charlie asked.

'Well...to tell you the truth, me and Caroline haven't gotten along lately, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea'

Charlie didn't say anything. Del looked at him from the corner of his eye, and saw how disappointed he was.

'But you can still go without me Charlie...you always have fun at her parties,' he stammered.

Charlie shook his head,

'Not without you. She invited both of us, she wouldn't do that if she didn't want you there!'

'She only did it to be polite!' he argued, 'Just go without me, OK?'

Del started zapping the channels, hoping that Charlie would leave it at that. But he kept sitting next to him, with the arm still around his shoulders, driving him crazy. He tried to ignore him, but Charlie wouldn't stop staring at him with his puppy eyes. It didn't take long before Del had enough and he turned to look at him again.

'What is it Charlie?!'

'Oh you know very well what it is!'

Del sighed deeply. He knew that he was trapped.

'Does it really mean that much to you?'

Charlie nodded and smiled his innocent smile that Del couldn't resist.

He sighed once again; knowing that Caroline’s plan had worked, but that he at least would make Charlie happy by going to the party.

'Fine...I'll come with you' Del finally said and was embraced by Charlie in a hug.

'Great! I'll call her and tell her we're coming!' he said and got up and rolled away. Del remained on the couch, feeling almost numb. Caroline wouldn't leave him alone until he had talked to Charlie, and he had a feeling that she wanted him to do that as soon as possible... Del took of his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. He probably wouldn't get much sleep tonight either. If it wasn't nightmares about Caroline telling everyone about his "secret", it was thoughts about Charlie keeping him awake...and they weren't exactly innocent...

=======================================================

It was nine o'clock and the party had already started without Del and Charlie. Caroline was sitting nervously watching the door as the other guests enjoyed themselves, and Annie was trying to figure out why she was acting to strange.

'Why are you so worried about this anyway?' she asked and took a sip of her drink.

'I just want to help Del'

'Well maybe Del doesn't want your help, ever thought of that?'

Caroline went quite for a moment.

'You think so?' she then asked. Annie nodded back.

'Well maybe I am a bit too helpful...'

'You can say that again!' Annie blurted out and Caroline stared at her.

'Then why haven't you said anything before?! Maybe everybody thinks of me that way!'

'They do,' Annie said and took another sip from the drink. Caroline dropped her chin and took the glass from her.

'I think you've had to much to drink Annie, you're just saying things you don't mean!' Caroline said, trying to sound hurt but Annie only snorted at her and started to giggle. Caroline was then only a second from starting a catfight, but the sight of Del and Charlie stopped her. They were both dressed up, although Charlie still had his rollerblades on. Caroline smiled at Del and walked up to him.

'Hi Del,' she said softly and continued to smile. Del already looked uncomfortable and took Caroline to the side so that Charlie wouldn't her them.

'I know why you wanted me here Caroline, but you can forget it! I'm not telling him, not tonight!' he whispered. Caroline got a look of remorse on her face and nodded as she agreed.

'You're right Del. I shouldn't have butted in at all, I'm sorry. But we can still have fun right?'

Del smiled and nodded in return.

'Yeah...just don't nag me!'

'I won't, I promise!' she said and held up her hands in surrender. They turned around and got out of their little private zone to join the rest of the party. Charlie had already found the beer and was having a staring contest with Annie. Del smiled at him but decided to leave him alone. Even if things with Caroline were cleared up, he still had to deal with his feelings for Charlie. Feeling hopeless again, Del grabbed a couple of beers and sat down on the couch and started drinking his problems away...

=======================================================

The party had been going on for several hours but was still going strong. Del on the other hand, was still sitting on the couch, drunk and feeling blue. Charlie was probably just as drunk but in a good mood. He had tried to get Del up from the couch but with no such luck. The sight of Charlie laughing and talking to Caroline’s single friends made him even more depressed and he soon went up stairs to the bedroom to get some time alone, while Charlie partied. He stumbled a bit and sat down on the bed, before turning on the lamp on the night table. Del then buried his face in his hands and simply sat there, feeling alone and shattered. He was beginning to think that Caroline was right, that it he didn't tell Charlie he would only sit and long for him...and get even more depressed. But it had been so hard just admitting it to himself about his feelings. Del had always been seen as a ladies man, but now...that title was really being put to the test. It had been about a month ago that he had realized that it was more then friendship, form his side anyway. Charlie had been out on a date, which wasn't that unusual, but this time he had really enjoyed himself and Del had suddenly gotten jealous. And then the dreams started...he had never had sexual fantasies about men before but these dreams, they were intense. Some days Del hadn't been able to look Charlie in the eyes, after having the dreams about him. Del sighed, wondering if he would ever get over Charlie and move on...but that wasn't likely. He was still sitting alone in the room when he heard someone trying to getup the stairs...someone with rollerblades.

'Del, are you up there?' Charlie asked, halfway up the stairs.

'Yeah...' he answered with his tired voice. He looked up and saw the shadow of Charlie. A moment later he peered into the room, leaning against the doorway for support.

'Why are you up here? The party is downstairs!'

'I know, I'm just not in the mood'

'You mean you're too drunk!' Charlie said with a grin.

'What, like you're not?'

Charlie quickly rolled over the floor not to fall and sat down next to him.

'Good point,' he said and smiled. Del looked at him and felt the urge to reach out and touch him...but he didn't.

'Why are you looking at me like that Del?' he whispered.

'No reason...'

They both went quite and stared at each other for a moment. Del felt how his pulse increased and was almost afraid to look away, because it felt intimate.

'Did your fight with Caroline have anything to do with me?' Charlie suddenly asked which made Del’s heart skip a beat.

'Did she tell you that?'

'No...but Annie told me her theory,' Charlie mumbled.

Del shook his head and sighed, knowing that she had probably made up some stupid story.

'Oh God...what did she say?'

'That you were sick of me and wanted to get back with Caroline.'

Del stared at him in surprise.

'What?!'

‘It's not true is it?!' Charlie asked in despair.

Del started to laugh and Charlie looked at him confused.

'Don't be ridiculous Charlie! Of course it's not true! Annie just made that up to get you going!'

Charlie smiled and seemed to smile of relief.

'Oh good,' he said.

'Why did you even believe her Charlie?'

'Well...it just feels like you've been avoiding me lately, and when Annie said that, it just seemed to make sense...'

Del sighed and looked down.

'Is it because of me? Did I do anything wrong?' Charlie asked.

'No, it's me...it's my fault'

'What do you mean?'

Del hesitated. This could be the moment...but drunk or not, he was still scared.

'It's just that...my feelings for you...have changed' he whispered. Charlie immediately looked sad.

'So you are tired of me?'

Del looked up again quickly and shook his head.

'No! No! That's not what I mean!' he protested.

'Then what do you mean Del?!' Charlie asked frustrated, ' Something's been going on for weeks and I wanna know what it is!'

Del tried to gather his courage, looked Charlie in the eye, hesitated, looked away, took a deep breath, hesitated again but then finally just reached over and kissed him. To his surprise, Charlie didn't back away and the kiss deepened. Del dragged him closer and Charlie moaned into his mouth, which sent chills down Del’s spine. Soon, he flipped Charlie down on the bed and they continued kissing each other frantically. Del’s hands were wrapped around Charlie’s neck and Charlie had slipped his hands around Del’s sides and held him tight. Del tried impatiently to get him out of his shirt, but suddenly stopped when he realized what they were doing, and quickly untangled himself form Charlie. As the kiss broke, they were both panting hard. Del sat up and tried to calm down, while Charlie was still lying down, feeling rejected.

'Why did you stop?' Charlie asked between breaths, 'Isn't this what you wanted?'

Del nodded, still trying to catch his own breath.

'It is, just not like this. We're on Caroline’s bed for God's sake!'

'Oh, right...'

Del finally looked at him again and smiled.

'You kissed me back.'

'Yeah well...you weren't that bad,' Charlie grinned.

'Did you mean it?'

'Did you?'

'Hell yeah!' Del said without any hesitation at all this time. Charlie got an almost shy expression on his face.

'Me too,' he whispered.

Charlie sat up again and they kissed again, this time gently. The kiss only lasted for a short moment but was still satisfying for the moment.

'So now what?' Charlie asked.

Del shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

'I don't know. Wanna go home and play videogames?' he grinned.

Charlie gave him a light push to the side.

'Nah' he grinned back. ' I think I wanna play another game tonight...'

Del gave him a suggestive look and after one more kiss, they finally made their way home...

THE END

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