"Yeah, it was pretty good," he replied tightly, shuffling in place. He stopped a few paces from her, standing rigidly. It wasn't that he didn't want to be near her, far from it, but that he still didn't know how to tread in this unfamiliar territory.

"My parents sent me some new clothes and stuff, and Andy -- he's my super awesome cousin -- got me the new action figure I've been wanting for a while." The words tumbled out of his mouth in the same quick way they always did, but Charlie seemed to trip and stumble over them a little bit this time. It seemed so dumb to talk about getting presents after reading that letter. There were more important things in the world to worry about and those things were it.

"Did... Did you really have fun?"