Alive (Sequel to Breathing)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Charlie's pov

"Come on baby we have to go. Grab your brown shoes"

"Mommy, when can we go home?" He handed me the shoes and I started to put them on and tie them.

"You don't like staying with gramma and grandpa?" I brushed his hair back and he shook it back down into his face.

"I just want to see daddy"

It had been three days since I had seen or spoken to Harry. He hadn't called once and I had only grown more upset that he hadn't at least called to check on Aidan.

"I'll call him after we get home tonight okay? I need to get you to Aunt Lo's house though"

He grabbed his buzz doll and hoped off the chair not saying anything else. This was the part I feared. No matter what happens between Harry and I, Aidan would deal with the consequences.

The drive to Lo and Niall's place was much quicker from my parents. It was also quiet since Aidan didn't do more than nod or mumble a response when I tried to talk to him. We made our way up the stairs and knocked. Niall opened the door a second later.

"Hey Char" I gave him a small smile to be polite. I wasn't sure where our friendship stood after over hearing that he knew about Harry's affair. "Buzz! Are you excited to spend the day with aunt Lo and me?"

He leaned against me and continued staring at the floor.

"Don't call me buzz" he mumbled.

"What you're always Buzz when you come over" Niall pretended to be hurt.

"Only my daddy can call me buzz"

"Go inside sweetie and mommy will come say bye in a few minutes"

He hesitated before finally stepping into the apartment.

"He's really upset about all of this"

"It just started this morning. I know he misses Harry so I'm going to call him today. Can you give Lo a heads up that he's moody?"

"I will. Have you talked to him at all?"

"No, I haven't. He hasn't tried to call either"

"He's not doing good, Charlie"

"What do you mean?" I was prepared to appear un phased by any news about Harry. The fact that Niall said he wasn't doing good had me more than a little worried.

"I promised Lo I wouldn't tell you because she thinks he needs to deal with it on his own. However I feel terrible about not being honest with you when I found out about him and Payton. Harry was arrested a few days ago and Payton is pressing charges"

"Against Harry?" My heart was racing. What had he done? This was going to be my fault. I left him and now he's done something to Payton out of anger.

"Well it's a bit twisted. She's saying that he's the one who beat her up."

"What? That wasn't Harry though. It was me"

"Well we know that, but he doesn't and neither do the police. That's not the worst of it though"

"What could be worse?" I looked at him confused.

"She's saying that he forced himself on her"

I froze feeling the blood drain from my face.

"Excuse me?"

"She told Ed and the police that Harry attacked her"

"That's a lie! I saw them, she was more than willing" I cringed at the thought. "I need to go to the police station and tell them what happened"