I went back home praying that my mom wouldn't ground me. I hopelessly needed to see Nick these days and I needed him to be there. I managed to quietly go up to my room but as soon as I closed the door behind me, I could hear my mom shouting from downstairs. I quickly put on a hat to try to hide the bruise on my face.
- Charlie! Where have you been? I have been so worried about you all day. And where the hell did you sleep? You better give me a good explanation or else you're grounded for the rest of the year!
C - Mom, I'm fine. I was at Nick's house, you know that guy from form. I was just really not feeling good yesterday and he took me to his place and I accidentally fell asleep, I'm so sorry.
My eyes were watering and I could see her fear in her face.
- Fine. But next time you do that, you will be grounded Charlie, understood?
C - Yes mom, sorry.
Thank god she didn't notice the bruise and thank god she was understanding this time. My parents have no clue of what's going on with Ben right now and they just can't know. They would just be so disappointed in me for staying with someone as horrible as him. And the last thing I need right now is to be away from Nick because he's the one that makes me feel the most safe, safer than how I've felt with friends that I've known for years. Now that he knew everything, it was way easier to be myself around him. For some reason, he became my rock.
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*Nick's POV*
As soon as Charlie left, chills flooded my entire body. I was crying, sobbing my eyes out. I couldn't believe someone as kind and gentle and caring as Charlie could go through all of this alone. I felt bad for not being there for him before, even if I knew that it wasn't entirely my fault. The guilt was driving me crazy and I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that if I would've reacted the first time I saw it happen, it could've made things so much better. Charlie got hit again and that was my fault. He literally fainted and that was my fault. His mental health must've been even worse after that and it was my fault. I should've talked to Charlie earlier. I should've stopped Ben earlier. Everything was my fault.
I couldn't catch my breath. I was breathing so heavily and I started shaking. My head was spinning so I sat down on the floor. It took me an hour to get my thoughts back in place.
2 days later...
"Charlie? Where are you? I've been looking for you around the whole school. Please come find me, I'm in the library. I really need you, I don't know what's happening."
I sent the message to Charlie and dropped my phone to the ground. Everything around me was blurred and I couldn't breathe.
