The Angel Within

Chapter 24: In Time

COVER ON THE SIDE BY WOLF_CHICK

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Recap:

"I'm falling apart, Trent," I whispered, tears cascading down my flushed cheeks. "The one person that told me to never give up was Scarlett, she stuck through it all with me. I lost her, she's gone, and it feels like what was left me had gone with her."

Initially, he had said nothing and I was mortified because even when words hurt, silence seemed to grab the lives right out of us. But I memorized the way he had interweaved his fingers along with mine. He cupped my cheek with the bowl of his calloused hand and looked directly at me.

The blue flecks in his eyes were glazed but gleaming with warmth. He caressed my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb and pulled me close, so that my forehead was pressed against his, the tips of our noses touching. And when he spoke, his voice was barely audible.

"Don't give up now, Charlie," he said, allowing our worlds to enclose us in this tight bubble of bliss. "Not when you've already gotten so far."

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, I went on my last vacation just recently. And it thoroughly angers me that I can't update regularly (as I'd like to) for you all. Sometimes, I think about deleting this, just because I hate putting you all through the wait for updates. This story has been up since March/February 2013, for God's sake. But I know I can't do that, I owe it to you guys. I owe it to myself. I will finish this, I will.

Also, fair warning, this chapter focuses solely on Trent and Charlie hehehe. Enjoy!

x unedited

Chapter 24: In Time

Charlotte's POV

Dusk was descending upon us rapidly. The sun had just began to turn over, seeking for shelter beyond the clouds. Its heat and light escapes with it but I still feel warm all over when Trent reaches to grasp my hand.

"It's getting late," he observed, tracing circles across the length of my palm. His action leaves a trail of tingles and I bite back a smile. He was a hurricane and I was a house. He passed over me, wreaking havoc upon my thoughts. "We should probably start heading back to the pack."

I nodded and slowly rose to my feet to swipe off any dirt that had clung to me. My reaction seems harmless but his words had set my mind ablaze.

The trust I had with my pack had leached after my departure - being replaced with a foreign repulsion. Whatever my pack had thought of me before, it was currently tossed into the pile of lies that had ever tainted our world. And it seemed like I was nothing but a face of a stranger to my loved ones now.

"They don't have faith in me anymore, do they?" I inquired, my tone laced with an unrecognizable vulnerability. I hear him stiffen, my words taking an obvious toll over him. If he planned on veiling the truth, it was of no use now. For it was uncovered, lying before us in a brightness we could not ignore.

"What do you mean?" He asked, but I knew he understood what I was implying.

"The pack. They feel like they can't trust me after finding out what I am," I clarified. As the statement rolled off my lips, it scorched the tip of my tongue, causing me to wince. Blood was roaring in my ears, preparing itself for the undeniable answer. And it took every ounce in my body to will myself to listen.