For the Last Ship Standing comp where I had to write my chosen pairing (Charlie/Draco) with at least three of the following prompts: action – a character must hug someone/something, emotion – crushed, quote – "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans", song – "Cha-Ching" by Imagine Dragon, word – sociopath, and dialogue – "Stop it, please."

It's inspired by a line in the song: "Are they telling me it's gonna be okay?"

For OTP boot camp: helpless (implied)

For Rish on my quest to sway her to this pairing!

Word count: 840

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Draco is standing in the kitchen, watching as Charlie makes a pot of coffee. Charlie has work in an hour, and Draco should be in London, making the preparations for Saturday. But work doesn't really matter to Charlie right now; Draco does.

"Are you going to tell me why you came back early?" Charlie asks. He passes a cup of coffee to his boyfriend, knowing that the blond craves coffee after long distance Apparations. Draco takes the cup in his hands, but makes no attempt to drink it.

"I just needed to get away," Draco replies softly. And just a few years before, Draco wouldn't have admitted this to anyone because that would be admitting weakness, which he just doesn't do. "All that house reminds me of is her."

Charlie nods his understanding. "It gets overwhelming," he says. His eyes flicker up and down Draco, taking in the fact that he still hasn't drank his coffee, and that he's not meeting Charlie's eyes. He's never seen his dragon so hurt before. "But it does get easier. It will be okay."

Draco glances up briefly. His eyes meet Charlie's, and all Charlie can see is grief and guilt. "I should've been there."

Immediately, Charlie shakes his head. "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself because it wasn't your fault," he whispers fiercely. "It wasn't your fault," he repeats when Draco looks away, looks like he's about to shut himself away from the world.

"She told me to stay out of London for the time being," Draco whispers. "She told me she was fine. And I believed her. I wasn't there for when she needed me. How isn't that my fault?" he questions, his tone low and hard.

Charlie changes tactics. "Blaming yourself isn't going to bring her back, Dray. It isn't going to make this better." There's a tone to his voice that makes Draco believe he's talking from experience.

"You're talking about Fred," Draco says in a questioning way. He sees a flicker of hurt cross Charlie's face at the mention of his brother's name, and Draco knows he's right. "You still blame yourself for his death." It's not a question; it's a statement.

There's a long pause before Charlie speaks again. "What's really bothering you?" he asks, completely ignoring Draco's last statement; that's a discussion for a different time. That is just Draco trying to skirt around the matter at hand, like he always does when he doesn't like it, and Charlie knows this.

Draco raises his eyebrow at Charlie. And Charlie just smiles at him. "You would've stayed, regardless of whether or not the house reminded you of your mum, because that's how you were raised. So there must be something else that's bothering you, something else that made you leave."

"Apparently, Potter heard about my mother's death. He offered to let my father come to the funeral under full Auror protection," Draco says.

"And you're not sure what you want to do," Charlie whispers as realization dawns on him. The relationship between Draco and his father is strained at best, especially since Draco's sixth year.

Draco sighs. "He hates me."

And for once, Charlie has no argument. He can't refute Draco's statement because he's heard the stories; he knows how much Lucius hates his son for failing them, failing the family. And as much as he hates defending a sociopath like Lucius, Charlie says, "But your mother loved him."

Draco just shakes his head ever so slightly. "I don't see why. He didn't really care about her at all."

At this, Charlie can't help but laugh. "You, of all people, should know that you don't choose who you fall in love with. Their marriage was arranged, and she didn't have to fall in love with him, but she did. Are you really going to deny her love for him because of your own issues with your father?"

"No," Draco answers. "But you're going to be there."

Charlie raises his eyebrows. "I can handle myself, Dray," he says. "Besides, you're forgetting that I don't care what your father thinks of us. I don't care if he hates us because that won't stop me from loving you. And what is he really going to do anyways? Disown you for being with me? He's in Azkaban."

Draco nods, but Charlie has a feeling Draco doesn't believe him. Charlie wraps his arms around Draco's waist, pulling the young man against himself. He presses a kiss against the blond's temple. "Your mother would want your father there, and we both know it. Don't deny her that just because I'm going to be there."

Sighing, Draco looks up at Charlie, searching for something in his eyes. He must find it because he whispers, "You're right."

Giving him a cheeky grin, Charlie says, "I'm always right."

Draco rolls his eyes before letting Charlie kiss away his worries. Tomorrow, he'll return to London to take Potter up on his offer. Tomorrow, he'll finish planning his mother's funeral. But for now, he's taking all the comfort Charlie has to offer.

A/n – so many thanks to Paula for beta-ing this for me. She's a rockstar, really.