ALEC’S P.O.V.
“Alec, I’m pregnant.” Were the words that greeted me when I went into the dining room to see Charlotte, who got released from the hospital last week, my mom, dad, and Amy all sitting at the table. Mom looked nervous, Dad looked very deep in thought, Amy was practically bouncing in her seat, and Charlotte just looked down right uncomfortable.
“W-Wait, what? You’re pregnant?! Since when? What? How?” I was firing questions until soon, I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth as I stood, shell shocked in the doorway. Blushingly, she turned to my Dad before turning back to me.
“Well, Alec, your father and I decided we wanted another child, and yesterday, we found out that I was finally pregnant.” My mom smiled, and I could see tears glistening in her eyes as she looked adoringly at Dad, them holding hands across the table.
“Wow.” I breathed, finally taking my seat beside Charlotte, who was nervously chewing her bottom lip. “Is it a boy or a girl?” I asked, which for some reason, sent everybody into fits of laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I queried with narrowed eyes, impatiently waiting for them to shut up so they could answer my question. “I don’t see why you guys are laughing.” I pouted, and Charlotte ‘aww’ed, kissing my cheek as she patted my other one.
“Baby, I just got pregnant.” My mom explained. “We won’t know the sex until a few more weeks.”
“Oh.” I said, feeling incredibly dumb. Still trying to process what the hell was going on was a burden, and plus, I just woke up, so I was 10 times as slow. “Wait, so you’re pregnant. As in me having another sibling?”
“Yes, Alec.” My mom chuckled, wiping a few tears or two. “You’re going to have another sibling.” Exhaling harshly, I leant back in my chair, my appetite gone. I mean, sure, I was ecstatic about having another sibling running around, but this was still foreign to me. Sometimes, I wasn’t even used to Amy, and she was about to be damn near grown soon.
“Wow.” I breathed, looking up at the ceiling as I exhaled once more. “Um, do you mind excusing me?” I queried, peeking at my parents to see my mom nervously waiting for my approval and my Dad focusing on his potatoes.
“Huh? Oh, uh, um, yeah, sure, okay.” My mom said, nodding slowly as her eyes traveled down to her cold tea. “Just be safe, alright?” Standing up without another word, I turned and headed for the front door, hearing Charlotte cautiously following me.
“Um, Alec, are you okay?” Charlotte slowly asked, jogging slightly to catch up with me as I headed for my car. Without a word, I unlocked the car, climbing into the driver’s side and waiting for Charlotte to climb in the passenger side before I was off to the only place that I could actually think at. When I turned down the familiar road, Charlotte finally spoke up instead of nervously fiddling with her seatbelt. I could tell Charlotte was a lot more nervous around me, whether it was because we were now going out, or because she just recently got out of the hospital, and I didn’t like it. I wanted her to be the normal Charlotte that I fell in love with, not that I loved her any less though.
“Why are we going to the park?” She spoke up, turning to me as I stopped at a stop sign. I could see her eyebrows adorably raised and her lips puckered, making me want nothing more but to pull over and kiss her right now.
“I just need time to think, and the park is the perfect place to do just that.” I explained, turning my signal light on before looking both ways, and then, when it was safe, I turned left.
“Oh.” She muttered, dropping her gaze to her lap. We were silent the rest of the way to the park, and then when we pulled up to the park, we got out and settled down under our tree that always seemed to be available, thankfully. As she laid her head on my chest, I couldn’t help but run my hand through her hair, a thing that I loved to do just as I knew she secretly loved me doing.
“Are you angry?” She finally asked, and I sighed, resting my head on the tree, staring at the sky.
“No.” I finally answered after minutes of thinking. “I’m not angry, just…Surprised, you know?”
“Well I’m the only child, so no, I don’t know, but I do understand…If that makes sense.” She breathed, and I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.
“I am excited to have another sister or having a brother, but it’s just…It caught me by surprise.” I explained, and she just nodded along. It was nice to have someone to talk to, and occasionally kiss whenever you wanted to. After Charlotte was discharged from the hospital, my parents and I knew that Charlotte would be better off staying at my house instead of going back to live with John; she was happy staying in Amy’s room, and Amy didn’t mind one bit. She had always wanted a sister.
“Alec, I have to tell you something.” Charlotte muttered nervously, sitting up to sit beside me. Maybe this was why she was acting nervous today.
“Anything, love.” I nodded encouragingly, anxious to know what would make her so nervous. She chewed her lip, avoiding my gaze, making me furrow my eyebrows, now nervous. Was she breaking up with me? I thought in horror, and soon, my heart was thudding in my chest.
“I…I, uh, I got accepted into Duke.” She finally blurted, and I blinked. So many emotions flooded me that I could only detect a few: Relief when I saw she wasn’t breaking up with me was the main emotion, but the other ones were also pretty strong. Anxious, disappointed, proud, happy, and sad, all at the same time.
“W-What?” I said dumbly, not understanding. “As in Duke University? In North Carolina?” I said, and she nodded, now looking at me. It was her dream college, she made that obvious before we even started dating. I knew that she wanted to go there, of course she would’ve gotten accepted, she was mad smart.
“Yeah.” She said with a huge grin, and soon, she was clapping her hands in excitement. “Can you believe it, Alec?! I got accepted! They want me!” I knew this was a very important moment for Charlotte knowing that she’s been obsessing over this college for longer than I could remember, and she was terrified of rejection of any type, but selfishly, I just couldn’t find the will to be as ecstatic as her.
“Wow, Charlotte.” I breathed, still blinking as an effort to wrap my mind around this. “T-That’s great.” I forced. Detecting my mood, she stopped clapping, her smile dropping and her eyebrows furrowing.
“What’s wrong? Y-You don’t want me to go to Duke?” She questioned, and I could tell it would break her heart if I told her that she and I would practically be across the world if she went there.
“No, no, that’s not it.” I lied, sighing. “I’m j-just shocked, that’s all.” I said, forcing a smile before wrapping my arms around her in a hug that she gladly returned.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” She exhaled after minutes of us being wrapped up in each other, her back to my chest.
“Don’t get me wrong, Charlotte, I’m so proud of you, I just knew you would get in, but I-“
“What college are you going to?” She asked, cutting me off.
“Well I haven’t gotten accepted yet, but I’ve always wanted to go to University of Los Angeles.” I admitted, and I heard her deeply exhale, knowing the difference of those colleges.
“36 hours away.” She stated, and I nodded. “Alec, I’m sure we can make something work-“
“Oh yeah, yeah, you’re right, we will.” I nodded, trying to swallow past the lump in my throat. I knew we were just trying to comfort each other, because in reality, long distance relationships sucked, and we both knew that.
“We should celebrate.” I suggested, and she instantly started shaking her head.
“Oh no, no celebration, this is enough.” She assured, and I couldn’t help but frown, already planning a party and a celebratory dinner in my head.
“A-A-Are you sure? We could go out to eat..?”
“I’m positive, love.” She promised, placing a loving kiss on my lips before turning back around.
“I am proud of you, Charlie.” I said sincerely, looking down at her angelic face.
“I know.” She smiled. “I’m sorry that we’re going to different colleges, if I would’ve known, I would’ve-“
“No, no, no, who am I to stop you from doing what you want to do? Never detour away from your dreams just because of someone.”
“Even if they’re the love of my life?” She whispered so low that I could barely hear her, but when I did, my heart stopped and my eyes widened. She was ignoring my gaze, but I could tell she was beyond nervous by how fast her heart was beating. I was shell shocked for a minute or two; One, because I was surprised she felt the same as me so soon, and two, because she said it so bluntly, a rare thing for Charlotte. Finally, I realized she was still waiting for an answer, and I blinked, bringing myself back to reality.
“Even if they’re the love of your life.” I confirmed with a kiss on her forehead. I knew I didn’t have to tell her how I felt right then because it was already obvious, and plus, the moment was already perfect as it was.830Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGesDfNENpg
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I could tell Charlotte was nervous, no matter how hard she tried to hide it as a way to show her bravado. The way she was walking made it seem as if we were on our way to a slaughterhouse, and she was trying to prolong the inevitable. We were currently on our way to John’s house, (I was glad I no longer had to say Charlotte’s house), to retrieve most of Charlotte’s clothing, since Charlotte was too humble to borrow Amy’s clothing any longer, even though Amy insisted over and over again.
“Charlotte, are you sure? Amy’s more than happy to let you borrow some of her clot-“
“I’m positive, Alec.” She assured, stopping on the stairway up to her apartment to turn to me, shooting me a reassuring glance. “I already feel like a charity case, practically moving into my boyfriend’s house-“
“Don’t, someone would be insane to let you go back to your house after what happened, don’t be crazy.” I sighed, placing my hand on the small of her back. “But if you’re sure, we’ll go, but I’m not leaving you alone in there; I’ll be right there with you, I don’t feel okay with just leaving you in there.”
“Alright, fine by me.” She stated, before continuing to walk up the dingy stairs. I had an unsettling feeling in my gut about this, but who was I to say no to her? When Charlotte set her mind to something, she did it. Finally, and way to soon in my opinion, we were standing in front of the familiar door, and Charlotte was slowly unlocking the door with shaky fingers, letting me know that she was beyond nervous, while I was just strictly furious. I didn’t exactly know how I was going to react after seeing John, knowing that he wasn’t there to protect Charlotte the night Brandon returned, and he didn’t even send anybody out to find Charlotte when she went missing.
Finally, after about 5 minutes of her accidently dropping her keys because she was shaking too much, I gently took the keys from her grasp, shooting her a reassuring smile before shoving the key that I watched repeatedly touch the lock but never make it, in the hole, before forcefully twisting it.
As I shoved the door open, the first scent that hit me was alcohol and dirty cigarettes. Silently gagging, I grabbed Charlotte’s wrist, protectively holding her behind me as I stepped foot into what I assumed was the living room. Trash was everywhere, clothes were strung this way and that, and glass that I could only think was from Brandon’s break in, littered the floor along with crumbs. It was silent, save for the crappy TV in the front of the living room, sitting idly on a broken crate, a football game blasting from the busted speakers. Since the TV was on, rather loudly I should say, I could only assume that John was unfortunately here, somewhere.
“Okay, just hurry up and grab some-“
“Who’s there?!” A familiar voice shouted from the back, making me clench my fists, my anger instantly coming back at the sound of his voice. Charlotte clutched onto my forearm, either from fear or to contain me, as John erupted from the kitchen with a green beer bottle shaking in his left hand.
“What the hell are you doing her-Charlotte?!” He snapped, dropping his bottle on the counter before stepping up to us, and I clenched my jaw, gently but firmly shaking her off, and she seemed to get what I wanted, because she cautiously took a step or two back.
“We’re here to get some clothes, we don’t want any trouble.” I stated angrily, staring at the man in front of me, in disgust, absolutely loathing him.
“What, you think you can just take her and whisk her away into the sunset?!” He chortled, clutching his beer gut as he let out a deep chuckle. “Hate to break it to you kid, but she’s not going anywhere.”
“Yeah? And what makes you think that?” I demanded, taking a step closer to him so that he knew that I wasn’t scared of a scum like him.
“Because I’m her guardian; I get money because of her, so therefore, she’s not leaving! Now butt out and go home.”
“Well I would love to see what the police would think of her ‘guardian’ putting his hands on her; shall we go to the police right now and sort this out? Because where we’re going, she’ll actually be safe. Charlotte, go get your clothes, babe.”
“What the hell?! No, Charlotte stay there or I swear, you’ll regret it.” John snapped lowly. “She’s not going anywhere with you, and that’s final. Now go home, or I’ll make you.” He yelled, shoving me hard, nearly making me lose my footing. Without a second thought, I shot forward, sending my fist flying into his right jaw before grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, now sending two more punches to that same jaw.
“You fucker, how dare you think that I’m just going to go back home without her?! She’s better off away from you, you asshole!” I shouted, my face red with anger as I sent one more punch his way before harshly releasing him. With a deep chuckle, he slowly wiped blood from his lip before sending death my way.
“How dare you come into my house and assault me? I oughta’ call the cops on you, boy.” He said oddly calmly, and if it wasn’t the glint in his eyes, I would’ve thought he was completely calm. Before I could even react, or dodge I should say, I was being harshly pushed into the glass coffee table, and it was so unexpected, I couldn’t catch myself.
“Now I’m going to tell you one more time, boy.” He spat, grabbing the collar of my shirt and bringing my face so close to his, I could smell the alcohol on his tongue. “Go.Home.Now.”
“Fuck you.” I snarled before spitting on his face, and while he was stunned, cocked my head back, and sent it flying into his face in a perfect head-butt. Once he released me, I turned to see if Charlotte was behind me, but she wasn’t, letting me know that she was getting her clothes.
“Are you ready, Charlotte?” I called, not exactly wanting to go in her room in fear of invading her privacy.
“Yeah, here I come.” She replied, and seconds later, she came from down the hall with a suitcase in hand, her cheeks flushed. She followed my gaze down to John, and she sharply inhaled before side-stepping around him, and then following me out the door.
“Do you have everything?” I asked, and I could tell she was shocked at how calm I was considering she just saw her foster Dad laid out on the floor, clutching a bloody nose.
“Uh, yeah…” She muttered. “Do I even want to know what happened?”
“Probably not.” I nodded, and with that, we headed out.830Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEC8z2qOXyb
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Not really sure how I feel about this chapter, I didn’t really like the ending, but it is what it is…Hope you guys liked it more than me though! J
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