The Unicorn's Forest

She wasn't sure if she should try to act normal around her family when she went upstairs to let her aunt know that the message had been passed along or if she should try hiding out down here. Regardless of what she chose to do, she suspected that her aunt would know what she saw and be, if nothing else, unhappy about it.

Charlie was startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was surprised to see that Cherie was looking at her with a worried expression on her face. She wasn't even sure how long she'd been there.

"You saw them, didn't you?" Cherie whispered.

Charlie didn't have to even ask what her sister meant with the muffled sounds still being able to be heard from where they were, although if there wasn't quiet in the room, then you wouldn't hear the noises.

"Yeah," Charlie replied, not sure what else to say.

"Was it explicit or was there something blocking your view of what they were exactly doing?" Cherie asked, sitting next to Charlie, her hand still on Charlie's shoulder.

"They were under the covers," Charlie replied, not able to look at her sister.

Cherie sighed. "Not sure if that's a good thing or not," she said. "I mean, now you have your imagination filling in what you couldn't see. So, I can't say if that would be good or not."

"Thanks," Charlie whispered, starting to feel a little better.

"No problem," Cherie replied. "I was sent down to see what happened to you and to let you know Alex is here."

On hearing that news, Charlie suddenly felt her mind move past what she'd seen going on between Ruthie and Emily in Ruthie's bed.

"Sorry about that," Charlie said to her sister.

"Don't worry about it," Cherie said. "I had something similar happen to me when Amber's sister was with her boyfriend last spring."

Charlie wanted to know more about that, but at the same time, felt she already knew enough. Especially with what she saw in Ruthie's room flashing in her mind again.

"Well, if you let Aunt Rose know that Ruthie will be up in a minute," Charlie said, "I'll go meet Alex."

"I'll cover for you," Cherie said, her voice full of sympathy.

"Thanks," Charlie said as Cherie left the room.

As Charlie heard her sister start up the stairs, she took a deep breath and stood up. She wasn't sure why, but knowing Alex was there was able to clear her mind and not be so worked up about what she'd witnessed happening between Ruthie and Emily.

Then as Charlie reached the top of the stairs in the living room, she saw her aunt coming out from the kitchen. "What were those two doing down there?!" she roared.

Charlie took a deep breath before answering, not wanting to get her cousin and girlfriend in any hot water. "You'd have to ask them," she replied. "I didn't see anything inappropriate and I just got distracted by something that I thought of after I got Ruthie's response."

Charlie was sure most people would consider that lying despite her not saying anything that wasn't true, but she never understood what exactly lying by omission was about. After all, she never told her parents the fine details about her day when she told them some highlights of her day, so wouldn't that be a lie by omission? For one thing, there wasn't enough time in the day to cover everything that happens in her day, so she couldn't figure out what the issue some people had in lying through omission.

Although, while she suspected they were doing something that her aunt would deem 'inappropriate,' she didn't actually see what they were doing, which meant she could say that. Even though she was confident her aunt would freak out if she knew that they were both under the covers of Ruthie's bed with their clothing on the floor, including their underwear.

Aunt Rose looked levelly at Charlie before growling and returning to the kitchen to help with the final touches of the dinner. As her aunt left, she let out a quiet sigh of relief. Even if she wasn't covering for her cousin, she still didn't like being in the crosshairs of her aunt.

Charlie was so busy worrying about her aunt that she failed to see Alex walk over to her. The only warning she had that Alex was there was when she felt Alex put her hands on her cheeks as she leaned in for a kiss.

Charlie smiled at that, her mind again starting to work properly again. Briefly she wondered if she should have her head looked at to see if there was something wrong with it with how many times in the past few days it had stopped working.

"Where'd you go?" Alex asked as the kiss broke.

"I was sent downstairs to let my cousin know that dinner was almost ready," Charlie said, sliding her arms around Alex, holding her close.

"Would you be willing to intorduce me to her?" Alex asked. "I'd like to meet all the people in your life, important and other."

"'Other?'" Charlie asked, letting out a little giggle before she could stop herself.

"Yeah, 'other.' It's for those who are in your life but aren't important, like family you'd prefer not to deal with or aquaintances," Alex explained.

"I see," Charlie said, quietly, "Well, if you'd like, I can take you downstairs while we wait for them to finish."

"Ooooh, finish what?" Alex asked as she started to walk with Charlie down the stairs, wrapping her arm around Charlie.

"Um," Charlie said, feeling her face heating up again. "Well, my cousin was with her girlfriend…" Charlie couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, so she just trailed off.

"I think I have an idea of what they're doing," Alex remarked as they reached the bottom of the stairs and cries of pleasure could be heard coming form Ruthie's room. "By the way, how are you with doing gymnastics?"

Charlie had to take a moment before she could reply to that sudden question. "Why?" Charlie asked, not sure if she should say she really hadn't done any gymnastics. At least since PE in elementary school.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd be willing to do a handstand for me," Alex replied, pulling Charlie against her more tightly.

"Uh, you realize, I'm wearing a skirt, right?": Charlie asked dryly.

"Yeah, I know," Alex answered. "That's part of the reason I'd like to see you do one."

Charlie just shook her head. "Maybe later," was all she'd say.

Alex kissed Charlie's cheek. "If you do that I promise to be good during dinner," Alex softly cooed in Charlie's ear.

Knowing she was going to regret it, she gave in. "As long as you don't touch me while I'm doing it," Charlie said, moving away from Alex.

"I'll only touch your feet, okay?" Alex said.

"Fine, whatever," Charlie muttered, trying to ignore the increased cries of pleasure from Ruthie and Emily, as it was clear they were almost finished with what they were doing.

Then as she put her hands on the ground, she tried lifting her legs up, but couldn't get them very high. At least until Alex caught them and lifted them up until Charlie was holding herself up by her hands, although she felt her skirt slide down, giving Alex a clear view of her pastel colored pink and blue panties.

"So cute," Alex purred, moving Charlie's legs apart through moving her feet.

"Hey!" Charlie protested.

"Does your bra match your undies?" Alex asked.

"Why would that matter?" Charlie asked, already regretting giving in to Alex's request, kicking herself hard as well. Despite part of her liking what was happening.

"Just curious. Would you be willing to show me?" Alex asked.

"No, I'd rather not," Charlie replied, wondering if she should tell Alex to let her down now. Part of her said she should try to break out of Alex's grip while another part was imagining Alex doing more than looking at her underwear.

"What would it take for you to let me see you in just your underwear?" Alex asked, as she let one of Charlie's feet go and slid it down her leg and over her hip before Alex moved her hand down to fondle Charlie's breasts.

"Not sure," Charlie replied. "I'm not really comfortable with that either. But on a side note, you said you'd only touch my feet."

"Your girls were calling to me and you've already let me touch them as long as it's over your clothing. Anyway, would you let me see you in just your underwear if I got down to my underwear?" Alex asked, lifting her own skirt, giving Charlie a view of her black panties.

"Um," Charlie faltered, not sure how to respond, her mind suddenly going blank. Her resolve to maintain the boundaries she'd already established starting to crumble. Though, she didn't have time to say anything as her arms gave out a moment later and she fell down, pulling Alex with her, since Alex still had a firm hold on Charlie's foot and was clearly caught off guard.

When they landed, Charlie was a little disoriented. Though, it didn't take her long to realize that Alex's face was pressed against her in-between her legs, directly against her panties, and Charlie was in-between Alex's legs, though Alex's skirt was also between Charlie and Alex's panties.

"Get off of me, Alex," Charlie commanded, despite part of her wanting to remain like this for a little longer at least. Partly because she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't.

"You're no fun," Alex teased as she rolled to the side of Charlie, before standing up and helping Charlie stand up. Although, as she stood up, she noticed Alex pulling her shirt out a bit and so she could look down it.

Charlie playfully pushed Alex away. "I didn't say you could look, did I?" she asked.

"No, but I saw enough anyway," Alex replied, with a smirk. "Your bra doesn't match you panties. It has butterflies on it."

Charlie merely rolled her eyes, not that upset, but still annoyed at Alex's antics. "Will you at least behave for dinner?" Charlie asked, part of her hoping she'd say no, which annoyed her more.

"Of course," Alex replied as they started walking towards Ruthie's room again. "I'm not going to do anything overtly that you parents or aunt could see."

Charlie sighed. She figured that would be the best she'd be able to hope for. Especially with Alex being the way she knew she was.

The door to Ruthie's room opening startled Charlie out of that conversation as she then turned to introduce her girlfriend to Ruthie and Emily.

"Before you go up, I wanted you to meet Alex," Charlie said before Ruthie or Emily could say anything as they walked out of Ruthie's room, both of their clothing rumpled a little from being discarded on the floor during their… activities.

"Nice to meet you," Ruthie said, taking Alex's hand to shake it friendly.

"It's nice to meet you too," Alex replied, shaking Ruthie's hand.

"So, have you and Charlie done it yet?" Emily asked with a smirk.

Charlie felt her face heat up. "We haven't," she snapped, not sure why she felt like she needed to go with this line of dialogue.

"But it's not from a lack of trying on my part," Alex remarked, making Charlie feel even more uncomfortable.

How did the conversation start off like this? Charlie asked herself, not sure if she really wanted an answer.

"Well, keep at it," Ruthie replied. "Charlie can be stubborn, but she can be eventually worn down."

"Please stop talking like I'm not here," Charlie complained. "Besides, shouldn't we be getting to dinner about now? I'm sure Aunt Rose would like to see you save and undefiled before dinner."

Ruthie and Emily laughed. "Oh Charlie," Ruthie sighed. "I was defiled before I even arrived here."

Charlie felt a headache coming on and put her head in her hand. "You know what I mean," Charlie groaned.

"Charlie does have a point though," Alex chimed in. "Food definitely sounds good right now, and I'm sure both of you are hungry after your workout."

Alex, Ruthie, and Emily laughed, while Charlie lamented internally that she was stuck in this conversation at the moment. Why did the universe hate her so?

_

"That was better than I expected," Alex said as she was getting ready to leave.

"I'm glad you were able to make it," Charlie said, wrapping her arms around Alex.

"Also, I was wondering if you'd be interested in taking gymnastics classes with me," Alex said, pausing by the door. "I'm sure I can get my grandma to cover the expenses for both of us."

"Let me think about that okay? I'll have to work it into my schedule, and I'm pretty busy at the moment," Charlie replied.

"Thanks for having me," Alex said, as she opened the door. "And think about the gymnastics classes, okay? Even if we don't start until next year, it could be something we could do together that you might be comfortable doing with me."

"Have a safe trip home," Charlie said as Alex stepped out the door, trying not to think about the implications of Alex's statement.

"Oh, one more thing before I go," Alex said. Then leaning so her mouth was next to Charlie's ear, she whispered, "I wore a black bra with my panties in the event you might have liked to get in bed with me."

Charlie glared at Alex as she laughed, well aware of her face probably being bright red from the heat she could feel coming off of it.

Then closing the door, she sighed. While she didn't appreciate the comment, she couldn't say she was that surprised by it. Alex did have a way of doing that to her.

Closing the door behind her, she made her way up to her room. On the way, she stopped when Cherie softly called out to her. "Charlie!"

"Yeah?" Charlie replied just as softly, turning to Cherie as she poked her head out of her room.

"When you saw Ruthie and Emily doing it, who was the top?" Cherie asked, her eyes full of mischief.

"What do mean?" Charlie asked, a little confused, hoping that this wasn't going to be something that would pop up later.

Cherie sighed. "I mean, who was on top?"

Charlie shook her head, annoyed at the question, especially with how uncomfortable just remembering that made her. "Emily was. Why?" Charlie replied, while in her mind she couldn't help but wonder, what was the point of that question?

"No reason, just curious?" Cherie replied, smiling before pulling her head back into her room and closing the door.

Charlie sighed as she made her way to her room. Then, as she was closing the door to her room, she looked at her bed. While it did call to her and looked very comfortable at the moment, she felt she should do something else first: Take a shower. Not because of feeling dirty because of what she saw earlier, but just because the sensation of hot water running over her entire body sounded really relaxing and she really wanted to forget about the day.

Not just because of what she'd seen Emily and Ruthie doing in Ruthie's room, which she was pretty sure they were doing again if her Aunt was busy with something else, but also because of some of the interactions she'd had with Alex. Like the handstand.

She still didn't understand what that had been about, but had a feeling it was Alex trying to get as close to doing what Charlie had told her she wouldn't do without actually doing anything.

She probably would seriously consider either taking a picture of herself naked, even if she had to make Beth do it, if doing that wasn't illegal, since Charlie wasn't eighteen yet. At least that would give something to Alex and Charlie felt bad that she couldn't give in to what Alex wanted and needed.

Though, a fleeting thought occurred to her as she got ready for a shower of if Alex slept with Ruthie and Emily. Shuddering at the thought, she pushed that thought away. She had given Alex permission and no boundaries of who was off limits, and even told Alex she didn't want to know who she slept with, so she couldn't get upset if Alex chose someone like either of them, and Charlie also suspected that both of them would be willing to let Alex join both of them in doing it.

When Charlie finally got in front of the shower, she decided to run just pure cold water at first. She could tell that she wasn't doing herself any favors by dwelling on those topics. She just hoped that when she and her friends finally started their expedition that it wouldn't become even more complicated for her.