(This chapter will be shorter since it's Charlotte's pov)
CHARLOTTE
The night before with the others were quite exciting, I couldn't deny. We came back home on Sunday at midday. Casey and Kara immediately went to bed since they were really tired while most of the brothers were already out after their Sunday mass services.
I quickly informed Haaland that I would be stay the night at Claude's, before packing up some of my things and going with the driver whom drove me to his father's mansion.
All of the people I've met in Italy, we really loaded and rich. Living with La Masseria, even just as a host family attracted much attention from the press.
I really missed Claude. We hadn't spoken much since he started schooling at Allegro High school as he got overloaded with the school work he had missed over the time.
The driver sent me a last glance before driving away, back to the estate. I rang the door bell and waited for a few minutes before hearing a thuding footsteps towards the front door.
"Hey" I greeted as Claude opened the door with his golden smile.
"Charlotte" He said, hugging me tight and placing a kiss on my cheek before letting me in.
His house gave off the 'golden family' vibe. Everything was at it placed and I couldn't even find a grain of dust on any household equipment or painting. Considering how he was, it didn't surprise me much.
"I like your house. It reminds me very much of you" I commented, strutting up the stairs by his side.
"Thanks. I'm actually the one who decided of the decor" He replied.
"From a master chef to an interior designer. You won't keep surprising me, Claude Wolfgang" I stated, making him chuckle.
He unlocked the door to his room, letting me step inside first. His room was modern and the typical teenager cliche type with the posters and gaming equipment along with his ring light that he used for his comedy videos. It was big and spacious, a little smaller than Kara's with the huge tv about 80cm or more and the cuir sofas.
"Nice! I didn't take you much as a gaming person" I commented, seating down on his bed.
"I don't play that often. Just when I'm bored" he said "I'm gonna get changed" He added walking into his bathroom.
I decided to take a look around the room. Everything was as arranged as the main hall and living room, tidy and proper. I picked up one of the pictures on his night stand and saw it was that with him and his mother at the airport before she went to Japan.
The other was him as a cute little baby and then one with his father at a golf court and a family picture. He really loved his parents from the look of it. I opened one of his drawers and saw a picture hidden under a pile of well arranged note books.
The picture was taken a few years ago at a familiar park in Paris, France. He sat down on the grass, hugging a familiar girl close to his chest with his beaming smile while the girl seemed colder and quite smaller with her features. She gave the camera a smaller but genuine smile, her eyes shunning under the sharp sun rays of that day.
I removed my phone and took a snap shot of a picture, sending it to one of my contacts before keeping the phone. Claude walked out of the bathroom dressed in more casual clothes.
"What are you doing?" He asked calmly, running his hands through his disheveled short hair.
"Just wanted to look around and I fell on this" I said with a small smile, showing him the picture. I didn't want to sound like a psychopathic girlfriend who is jealous of the girl her boyfriend snapped a picture with years ago because I was not so I asked in a casual way.
"Ohh that.... It was 2 years ago, no need to worry about it" he said, walking up to me and taking the picture away, keeping it in a yellow covered notebook.
"Who is she? She seems nice" I asked.
"She's just.... some- A girl I met in France" he replied.
"You where together?"
"No- of course not. I don't even know where she is now. We were actually bestfriends but it all went crashing down when something happened and I had to move" he said in a hidden saddened tone.
"Ohh... I shouldn't have asked. Sorry" I said, hugging him and perking his lips.
"It's Okay..."
"Come on, tell me more about her" I said, dragging him to lay down next to me on the bed.
"Don't you find it strange talking about another girl while we are together?" he asked.
"Of course not. You two were just bestfriends" I said.
"Okay then..." he trailed off "She was actually the best. She had her own humuor though she didn't quite realise that she was so funny when she spoke. She was kind, nice and really sarcastic when she spoke. We met a fateful day when I went out to a grocery shop for an errand. She didn't look fine... I saw a small scar at the back of her neck and walked over to ask her but she cowered away in fear and ended up running away without even telling me her name.
It made me wonder if I had said something bad or maybe I had offended her in some way and I really wanted to apologize so I started going to the shop regurlary in hopes of seeing her but she just seemed to have vanished. 3 weeks later, I went to the park to watch the sun set and heard someone crying by the lake. I decided to go see who it was and then, I saw her crying her eyes out and wounds and bruises covering her arms, hand and so did she have a black eye.
I tried calming her down but she was really scared of me but I'd didn't want to leave her there alone so I sat next to her until she finally stop cried before asking what her name was. She obviously didn't reply being so stubborn and just changed the topic. I ended up telling her some stories, my name and random things about me before she said she had to go.
For the next week, we started meeting by the lake and discussing. I still didn't know her name and everyday, she came back with a new bruise that I will ask her about but she will just change a topic. One day, she just stopped coming. A day turned to weeks and soon, it was already a month that I hadn't seen her.
I really got worried and decided to go around the town to look for her. Before I could realise it, I was in the bad side of town and I was walking into some cheap liquor store where I saw her, completely battered and at her worst. I walked up to talk to her but then a man grapped me and before I could even understand what was happening, we were both running for our lives and found our selves at our spot"
"By the lake?" I asked, interested.
He nodded "She sat down, keeping the plastic bag filled with beer and cheap liquor down on the grass and started crying in agony and pain. I pulled her close and hugged her, trying to calm her down. She finally did and everything fell into silence for an hour or two until she broke the silence and told me her name along with her whole heartwrecking story about her horribly drug addict and alcoholic parents and how she was badly abused and raped.
It broke my heart to hear it actually and it broke it even more when she began with her self hating rant about how she was useless and not good enough. I promised to never let her go and that's when we began bonding together. I helped her clean up her wounds and managed to put a smile on her face when I saw her to remind her that she wasn't alone. That all miserably ended one fateful day"
"What happened?" I questioned, facing him.
"I don't want to talk about" he said, stretching out his arm "and I though you came to spend time with me, not talk about my past. Come let's cuddle and watch a movie"
The rest of the night was spent in a blur but I couldn't stop thinking about the girl and him.