epilogue
•
IT'S been three days since the day the article came out, and charlotte still hasn't responded to her parents texts or calls from that day. but in return, they haven't further reached out at all, leaving her days full of impatient pacing and constantly refreshing her parents social medias.
matthew rolled his eyes when he saw charlotte bump square into the bed with her eyes glued to her phone, "charlie," he yanked her down to sit next to him.
"what," charlotte muttered in annoyance, swinging her legs over top of matthews and scrolling down the twitter thread she was reading under her new hashtag.
matthew sighed, knowing that if he tells her to put her phone away one more time she'd probably chuck it at his head, "nothing. so how'd the dinner go?"
that got charlotte to finally look away from her phone, "it was fine... katie saw me having a panic attack."
matthew burst into laughter and covered his face with his hand as charlotte threw a pillow at him.
"it's not funny!"
"well other than that, how'd they like you?"
"well they were really rough at first but i think katie's actually starting to like me? henry is cool though, jj just kept roasting my parents, and her younger brother, august, wasn't even there so."
"they didn't say or do anything out of line?"
charlotte shrugged, "all i really gathered was that my parents are way worse. not just to me but to gracie too. but i don't know, they haven't spoken out about the article publicly yet."
"hey don't worry, with the way they're like the number one most hated people online right now i bet they're gonna switch their behaviour as soon as possible," matthew replied. "and then you and the wife will live happily ever after," he smirked.
charlotte playfully rolled her eyes, "we better. anyways, who's all coming over tonight?"
matthew grabbed his phone off his nightstand, "the usual, and i invited liv over."
charlotte grinned at how matthew now uses her nickname.
"what?"
"nothing, nothing," charlotte hummed. "just y'know, if you want all of us to leave at a specific time so you can have some along time with livvy we will gladly—"
matthew shoved her legs off of him, "what are you even talking about," he scoffed. "y'know me and her are just friends."
"yeah well friends who can't keep their eyes off each other—"
"shut up and go text gracie or something, see if she wants to come over too." matthew brushed off the olivia topic and stood up, "i'm gonna go shower real quick."
"aww, getting ready for mrs rodrig—"
"jump off a cliff!" he sang aloud as he exited the room.
charlotte laughed and pulled her phone back out.
_
gracie🩷🎀
4:05pm
gracie🫵
what times ur album
photoshoot done?
charlotte 🫵
i finished up an
hour ago, at home now
bout to nap with ween
HELLO? CUTIES
why does he look so sassy
marcus has rubbed
off on him
anyways, come
to matthews later tonight?
sure, my place after?
duh
he invited olivia too😌
read, 4:06pm
-
charlotte waited a minute for the text bubbles to appear, and once they did, they stayed for a couple seconds before disappearing and leaving her on read. she furrowed her eyebrows and waited, staring at the screen, only for two minutes to pass by with no response. she was fully expecting gracie to excitedly reply because it's literally info about olivia and matthew. she couldn't think of an reason she wouldn't be replying.
she chewed her lip in confusion and placed her phone down, throwing herself back into matthew's pillows. she glanced to the dark coloured wall that had a neat arrangement of polaroids taped to it, from moments from charlotte's fifteenth birthday to the nights at the lake house. gracie was now also a member of the wall, most prominently captured in a photo standing up with charlotte clung to her, legs wrapped around her waist and kissing her forehead while marcus was downing a can in the background with caleb, both pointing at the lense. even though most of the pictures were of drunk and silly little moments, one stood out of olivia sitting elegantly in a chair, looking away from the camera and smiling; she probably didn't even notice he took the picture.
charlotte grinned and made a mental note to point it out to gracie when she gets here as a way to get the response she was waiting on. she reached over to the bedside mini fridge, the same one she gifted matthew for his birthday last year, and rummaged around for a pop when she felt her phone vibrate from her jean pocket. she cracked open her can of coke and pulled her phone out, but in shock, instantly flinched and spilt some of the drink down her shirt.
"fuck!" she shrieked before looking back down at her dads contact lighting up her phone. she wiped her shirt and was about to click answer when she hesitated.
she stared at the screen with no emotion. to be honest, she has zero idea how this call will go. she clicked answer before the final ring.
"hi, dad."
she heard him sigh, "hi charlotte. what're you doing?"
"i'm at matthew's hanging out. why?" she asked with hope, eager to hear him speak on the article at last.
"i need to talk to you about— about that stupid fucking article that came out yesterday."
"oh that?"
"you've been ignoring my texts."
"i didn't notice," she carelessly said, growing annoyed with impatience.
"you need to make a statement clearing all that up. now."
"what? why would i do that, it's all true. y'know, that would be lying and you always told me growing up that lying is a terrible thing to do," she replied.
"cut the attitude charlotte, i don't got time for that."
"don't got time for me anymore you mean?" she let it slip before she could prevent herself or even acknowledge what she was saying.
there was a moment of silence from the both of them after that. but what charlotte gathered, was that meant she was right. she choked on the breath she didn't know she was holding, letting out a wince that her dad heard.
"y'know what? that article did make me notice something. and i should apologize for it."
charlotte's face lit up. she could practically taste the victory she was about to receive, could see the excitement of gracie's face when she gets to tell her that her parents are accepting of them now. she could see herself getting a hug from her dad, something she hasn't had in months, running into his arms and him rocking her side to side like how he always would, embracing her tightly. finally, she would get to return to having a stable mind and fucking family. finally she would get to stop feeling her lungs stop working when looking at her parents and stop ignoring her desperate need for their love. she won't have to see them as the devil over her shoulder that ruins everything she does anymore.
"what's that, dad?" she asked like a child, just like how when she was younger and would curiously ask him the same thing when she'd see him working on a project.
"that i raised you wrong, and i'm sorry. clearly i fucked something up along the lines if you can't get shit through your mind, even with that article out. whoever made it clearly wants you to change, i mean look at your actions have done to your family. and the worst part is is you don't even care to fix any of it."
she froze up, hand shaking as it cradled the phone to her head, letting every word ring into her ear, "w-what?" her mind twisted in confusion, it felt like it might explode at any second.
"i said—"
"no—no i heard you i—" she began to wildly look around, as if there would be something floating in the air that would make what he said make sense. "you're fucking wrong!"
"huh?"
"you're wrong, that article wasn't meant to change me, it was to change you— you were supposed to change, you were!" she shouted with no rage, but despair. "you were supposed to see that you treat me like shit and that you're wrong! everyone else sees it and everyone fucking loves me and gracie now, a-and they're saying you're fucked in the head not me! not me!"
"yes, i've seen all of that online, but charlotte, honey, even if all the things i've said to you seems 'cruel' i was doing it out of love to try and make you the most perfect person you can be. you're mother and i already have plans to make a statement addressing it all but you need to as well, you're the one who made us look like shitty parents, you need to apologize for tearing apart your family don't you think? not only will it make you're mother and i look better but—"
"no, dad, can't you fucking see you're the problem! no one cares anymore about me and gracie 'betraying our families' because they know you're the ones hurting us, not the other way around! can't you see that?! why can't you just be like everyone else and see that!"
she didn't even notice matthew emerge from his bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist and staring in horror as he grasped onto what was going on.
"that's all just the media being softies, me and you're mother are gonna make a statement saying we were wrong and apologize for our behaviour, and that we support our daughter anyways. and after you make a post saying how much we support you—"
"but you need to change for me too! not just for the public! that was the whole point of the article, to get you to love me again, dad! i need you to love me again," she said that last sentence as quiet as she could, holding back sob in her chest.
"what do you mean that was the whole point of the article? wait, did you fucking give all this information to the headline?!" he shouted from his chest.
it was so loud matthew could hear it. he nearly dropped his towel before crouching down to charlotte beside the bed and shaking his head with his eyebrows furrowed.
"no, i didn't," charlotte muttered. "but y'know it did do some good because it showed me that the only people who are actually immature and cruel are you and mom. why you can't just grow up and realize that you're the problem! y'know i met gracie's parents yesterday and they treat me better than you, katie actually consoled me after i had a f-fucking panic attack instead of being the one to cause it like you!"
"you met her parents?" mr. parker asked in a lower tone
"yeah, i did. and they're not homophobic either, maybe you should take notes," she sniffled.
"jesus christ, charlotte we're not homophobic—"
"except for when it comes to me, right?"
mr. parker didn't say anything, knowing she was right.
"y'know what, call me when you become more like jj and katie. i can't believe you ever made me grow up thinking they were the worse family, so yeah, i guess you did fuck up raising me."
and with that, charlotte hung up. she finally met matthews eyes, only now noticing he was in the room which caused her to flinch backwards in shock as she regained her breath.
matthew climbed onto the other side of the bed, sitting right next to her and pulling her into his arms, "charlotte," he softly said.
"it didn't work, it didn't work," she rambled in agony into his bare chest.
"hey, you made a lot of good points in that call, we just gotta give them more time—"
charlotte cut him off with a cry, shedding multiple tears onto him as she shook her head, "they're my parents, they're supposed to be— they're supposed to support me!"
"i know, i know," matthew cooed, watching her fist twist aggressively into the mattress. "look, we'll just wait for their statement to come out and go from there. maybe call you're mom—"
"my mom just does whatever he says," she choked. suddenly, she moved off of matthew and sat up straight. she had this petrified manic look in her eyes he had never seen before, "what if they never talk to me again?"
matthew remained silent, rubbing the back of his neck trying to think of what to say. they both stayed quiet for a whole two minutes; charlotte just stared in terror into the bedsheets trying to make sense of it all as matthew felt his heart break into pieces for her.
charlotte then slowly got off the bed and wrapped her arms around herself, "where's your lighter?"
"you wanna smoke now?"
"matt if don't i might actually have a breakdown."
_
JOHNATHAN AND LEIGHTON PARKER ON THEIR RESPONSE TO PARENTING BACKLASH
TMZ.MAGAZINE.COM
"THIS has been a tough situation for all of us to deal with but especially for me and my wife. we put our children first before everything else, and we will always do our best to protect them, no matter what. when our daughter was receiving massive amounts of hate for dating gracie abrams, we deciding it would be best to get them to split apart, only wanting to keep her safe—even though she did something my wife and i would never expect.
when charlotte wouldn't listen, we only got more and more worried, which is what caused me to 'act out.' however, with the love she is now getting from her incredible fans, our family's drama has come to an end and we are very proud of all she's dealt with. that recorded argument, where i did try to hit her and yelled at her and her girlfriend, was a moment i wish i could erase from time. but i know that will never happen, and apologize for acting so wrong. however, my daughter has since forgiven me and we are still the strongest father-daughter duo out there (laughter).
i hope the abrams family accepts and loves their daughter as much as we do our own, and despite our issues with each other, i know we both wish the best for our daughters and their world stopping talents, relationship, and happiness."
- JOHNATHAN PARKER
"that's such bullshit!" charlotte shouted, flailing her hands around as her joint dropped ash. "yeah, people will believe it but like what the fuck does that even mean for us?"
sadie took the joint out of her fingers to take a hit, "the audacity they have to attach an image of you three hugging, isn't that pic from a year ago?"
"yup," charlotte nodded.
"maybe i can call dad and talk sense into him," taking the phone out of caleb's hands to look at the post again.
"like you haven't already tried that," charlotte mumbled, getting jude to give her a tight lipped smile since she was correct.
"hey where's your girlfriend parker," marcus asked. "it's almost 8:00."
"she should be almost here," charlotte shrugged, then looking over to olivia who was sprawled face down on the floor because she 'liked how the greg tile flooring felt.' "olivia has gracie talked to you today?" she asked.
"no, why?" olivia replied.
"nothing," charlotte brushed it off.
just then, the doorbell rang. charlotte was at the door in one second flat, swinging it open so fast she almost forgot to step back from the door slamming her face. gracie opened her mouth to greet her but was instead met with charlotte springing into her arms.
"okay, you're in a good mood?" gracie chuckled.
"actually i'm pissed and just needed a hug," charlotte said into the crook of gracie's neck. she pulled away and nodded inside.
"why, what happened?" gracie asked in concern, hurrying out of her coat and following after charlotte.
"our parents posted a statement today for the article," jude said, handing gracie caleb's phone.
after reading it gracie wore a look of utter disgust, "well that's bullshit."
"exactly what i said!" charlotte said, flopping her raised arms to her sides.
"have you talked to them, do they y'know, support us now?" she quietly asked, sinking into the couch and ignoring olivia who has been staring at her since she walked through the door.
charlotte shook her head and hung it to stare at the floor, "no. they want me to post a similar thing and... no they haven't even have a second thought at changing. apparently we're still the problem."
gracie pulled her down next to her, letting her rest her head on her shoulder while staring blankly at the wall.
"has your dad been tested for sociopathy?" olivia blurted out.
"olivia!" matthew scolded.
"what! he clearly seems like one, don't shoot the messenger or whatever," she mumbled. she then tapped gracie's knee, "charlotte said the dinner with yours went well though."
gracie recoiled at her touch and finally looked to her with fearful eyes, "i— um yeah," she cleared her throat. "they like her."
"that's a win at least," caleb shrugged. "but i guess the best and only shot you guys got left for charlotte's is to just wait for as long as it takes for them to turn around."
"i can't wait anymore, i'm so sick of waiting," charlotte loudly said, raising her head up, her leg beginning to rapidly bounce.
"well caleb's right, it's all we got," jude replied.
"y'know what's with the effort anyways? i mean, why not just live happily and ignore them," marcus said.
"because they're my fucking parents and i obviously want them to still be my parents marcus, fuck," charlotte snapped at him. "...sorry," she said sincerely.
olivia lurched up and hurried into the kitchen, only to return a second later with a bottle of wine. she popped it open and went to grab glasses.
"hey that's my most exspensive bottle!" matthew argued.
"desperate times call for desperate measures."
matthew rolled his eyes, "anyways, so i'm gonna guess you're not gonna make a statement?"
"fuck no, not until they respect me," charlotte scoffed as olivia handed her a glass. she poured her share and took a long hefty drink.
gracie's eyes were glued to charlotte the whole time, thinking deeply.
_
liked by alixearle, maitreyiramakrishan and others
charlotteparker me and my fav ppl!
view all 78,929 comments
lilyrosedepp i'm surprised ur letting jude hug u
charlotteparker honestly me too, dawg smells like battery acid
judeparker do a backflip off a cliff, both of u
userrrr1 is olivia high in that pic...?
oliviarodrigo stop putting false accusations on me, i would never mess with drugs who do u think i am? disgusting.
userr101 why does it look like gracie's boutta bite ur arm in the last one
charlotteparker she did.
gracieabrams can't a girl have hobbies :(
marcusbell i can name two ppl who currently AREN'T ur fav ppl
charlotteparker hope they see this and notice that
user133 wait r they talking abt charlottes parents?
user__ i think so omg she hasn't even said anything abt the article
user22 i thought they're all good now tho?
calebmclaughlin 8th pic got us both swinging n kickin our feet
charlotteparker amen
user00 OMG WHAT????? CALEB AND SADIE????
user55 OMG NO WAY NO WAY R THEY TOGETHER?
gracie had been avoiding olivia all night. even when the olivia was singing and begged her to help out by playing piano, something she always does with her, she said no and simply tore away. but what was even worse, was that gracie wasn't talking to charlotte as much as usual tonight either. even after two glasses of wine, she would only respond or say something when charlotte would talk first.
the actress had her head rested in gracie's lap, and usually the singers hand would be running through her hair and scratching her scalp soothingly, but not this time.
charlotte turned her head away from the main conversation everyone was having and angled it up towards gracie, "what's up, you seem off today?" she softly said.
gracie looked away, "it's nothing."
charlotte glanced to olivia and then back to gracie, "is... is something up with you and liv?" she hesitantly asked.
gracie's eyes went wide for a second before she concealed it with causality, "no."
"you've barely talked to her or me all night," she said.
gracie gulped down on the air in her throat, "uh, i'm just kinda tired from the photoshoot today. it's nothing baby, don't worry," she leaned down to press a long and gentle kiss to charlottes temple.
charlotte melted into it, her eyes fluttering shut as the lips remained there. of all the people by her side today who love her, she will always feel gracie's the most.
she buried her head into gracie's waist, wrapping her arms around it and curling her legs to get closer, taking in even the smallest of things for peace and comfort.
"how about 'sweet', then you'll have sour and sweet," caleb offered.
"nah, it'll be way to underwhelming since everyone thinks that's what it'll be," olivia sighed.
"how about 'grown,' cause like isn't the whole album about the process of your maturity?" jude said.
"meh," olivia shrugged.
"what about 'guts?'" matthew said while staring at the soccer ball he was tossing up and down.
olivia looked to him for a moment, something curious and strange in her eyes. she then looked to gracie, "gracie, what do you think of 'guts?'"
gracie didn't look up, keeping her eyes on charlotte, "uh yeah sure."
olivia's wondering look famished, now replaced with near devastation. she then huffed and stood up, walking straight up to charlotte and gracie and yanking charlotte off of gracie and to her feet.
"what the fuck—"
"i need to talk to you," olivia announced, dragging charlotte away with her up to matthew's room. she slammed the door and herself back into it, "did i do something?"
"i'm assuming you mean to gracie," charlotte said, getting olivia to nod. "i don't know, i asked her but she said she's just tired but... i don't believe her really, she hasn't been talking much to me either."
"she won't even look at me, i'm like super freaked out," olivia whisper-shouted. "can you try to get her to talk?"
charlotte nodded, "i will, definitely on our drive home."
olivia let out a thankful breath, "thank you, i mean if anyone can get her to talk it's you. me on a good day maybe, but clearly not today," she groaned.
charlotte squeezed olivia's shoulder, "i'll figure it out, i promise."
olivia nodded and gave her a quick smile before pulling the door open and exiting. when they returned to the living room, everyone was staring wondering what that was all about, except for gracie who was focused on the window instead.
"what, we're you telling her about your stupid alien-justin bieber theories agin," matthew chuckled.
"he's literally from another galaxy sent to earth as a social experiment, don't fight me on this — and no i was telling charlotte that that fucking elvis poster creeps me the fuck out," olivia said, pointing to the framed elvis poster on the wall.
"what's so scary about elvis?"
"where do i start."
charlotte crawled back into her spot in gracie's arms, resting her head against her chest. charlotte noticed how gracie was holding her breath, her chest barely moved and was all tensed up, causing charlotte to flush in worry.
_
gracie wasn't singing along to the music playing in charlotte's car, another large sign that something was clearly wrong. the song was literally willow by taylor swift and she wasn't singing. she perked her head up when she heard that familiar sound of fingers tapping, looking to charlotte to see her fingertips anxiously drumming against the wheel.
"you alright?" she asked.
"yeah, i'm okay," charlotte reassuringly nodded. "hey um, now that we're out of matthew's do you wanna talk about something?"
"bout what?"
"i mean, i know you're not tired, it's 1am and usually you'd be asleep since my passenger seat is as comfy as you say," charlotte nervously laughed. "so what's going on, i know something up."
gracie cleared her throat, "uh," she shook her head and sucked her lips in before puffing them back out and squirming in her seat, something charlotte noticed she does when she's uncomfortable.
instinctively, charlotte reached her hand over to fold into gracie's, squeezing it tight.
"i know i was being kinda rude to olivia today but i just— i just can't look at her knowing that she knows," gracie admitted.
charlotte felt her heart rip in two, knowing now exactly what she meant and hating that she didn't pick up on it earlier.
"i know she wants to help and i shouldn't be scared but i hate that she knows how weak i am," gracie said.
charlotte almost slammed on the breaks, "who said you were weak?"
"i am charlotte, y'know it's been getting worse and it's like, like i already want to crawl out of skin most of the time already and now that she knows i feel like it's all she'll see, and i don't want that," gracie was nearly close to tears, already getting worked up and having trouble getting her words out with yelling.
charlotte slowly pulled off to the side of the road and parked her car, unbuckling her seat belt to fully turn and face gracie and give her the most attention to make sure her girlfriend fully understands whatever she says next.
"you guys are best friends, she cares so so much but she's been with you for years now that i know she sees you for more than that. way more," charlotte said. "and she knows you'll only want to talk about it with her when you're ready, and when that happens i promise you all she'll see is you for who you are and how strong you are."
gracie blinked to prevent tears from forming.
"you are so strong, love," charlotte whispered, inching closer across the centre console. she choked gracie's struggling face into her hand, her warm palms feeling like a soft blanket to her cold skin. "you don't have to runaway anymore, especially from the people who love you no matter what."
gracie bit her lip and let out a breaking noise, trying her best not to cry, but how could she not? she let tears roll down her cheeks into charlottes fingers.
"remember what i told you? you don't have to fight all your battles alone," charlotte re-stated.
gracie nodded, crying into charlottes touch until the warmth soothed her. she pulled away, leaning her back against the car door and bring her legs up to her chest, "i know i wasn't talking much to you either but it wasn't because of that."
charlotte curiously tilted her head.
"i'm scared about what's going to happen if you're parents never turn around. and i know you are too, but char i can tell what they say to you is really getting to you, even if you try to brush it off it— i'm getting really worried about you," gracie said, concern all over her face as she brushed away her tears.
"you don't have to be worried about that," charlotte said, shaking her head. "it is a lot but i know they'll come around. they have to," she said mostly to reassure herself.
"char—"
"trust me, it's all going to be okay, i'm fine," charlotte said delicately with a warm smile. she leaned over and kissed gracie's forehead, "everything's going to be okay."
gracie watched her pull away and start the car back up, but she didn't move her eyes from charlotte. she took a minute, lost in thought, but only responded when charlotte looked back at her.
"okay."
_
soph!
this chapter was disgustingly rushed but THATS A WRAPPPPPPP
THANK U GUYS SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY AND LOVING IT, I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE SEQUELS FIRST CHAPTER
i literally would not have carried on this story without all of you i'm serious like 💕💕💕💕
even tho i kinda don't fw this chapter, i already know the first chapter for the sequel is gonna be INSANE, so be warned ig
I LOVE U MWAH
SEQUAL COMING SOON!