Charlotte's POV
Violet, Luke, and I have been sitting in my living room watching TV as the 'grown-ups' chat. My house was swarming with a clean up crew a while ago. We three haven't moved much, only to get something to eat or drink in the last few hours.
"Here." Greyson's calm voice invaded my ears. He set down some boxes of food before going to leave.
"Aren't you all going to eat?" He stopped at my question to look at me with a sigh.
"Not right now, you three need to eat something substantial." He nodded with gentle but absent eyes. He turned and left after I nodded a few times.
"What, are you dating now?" Luke joked as he looked over the food. He handed me a box.
"Shut up. He saved my life, so I do owe him that." He sighed and bit into a sandwich. I looked at what I got, it was my favorite calzone from the diner downtown. No one knows this, except maybe the garbage man. Shaking my head, I demolished the food.
I was in a much better mood after we all finished eating. Sighing, I stood up to go to the kitchen. When I entered, familiar men stood around talking quietly. All looked at me as I went to the pantry quietly. I'm hungry, okay?
"It's for my stomach, not me." I smiled at Matthew as I set Oreos and chips on the counter before going to the fridge. He snorted at me as I grabbed a few drinks from the fridge.
"Absolutely not." Greyson's voice interrupted me as I was pulling my drinks out. He stepped in my way so I couldn't leave. "Put them back." He gave me a look.
"I'm an alcoholic, I'll live with one beer." He gave me a look as I side stepped him, grabbed my food, then went to the living room door. "Plus you're not my boss, Princess." He scoffed as he shook his head.
Luke and Violet were arguing with each other when I walked in. They both stopped when they noticed me in the room with the drinks and food.
"What?" I asked as I handed them their drinks and cracked open the package of Oreos.
"Who's clothes are those?" Luke asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Greyson's I think, why?" Both looked at each other in shock. "Not what you think, a**holes. God I hate you both." I whined and sat back.
"I mean, one of us is already f***ing a Lockwood. What makes for two?" Luke snickered, making me whine while Violet laughed. Shaking my head, I stood up and tossed the package of food on the coffee table.
"I hate you both." I grumbled and went to the door. "I'll change so you can both keep it in your pants." I put my hands up before leaving the room. When I passed through the group of men again, I was stopped by Matthew.
"Where are you going?" Sighing I looked at him, then Greyson, then Matty again.
"I only wear your clothes for this exact reason." Crossing my arms I watched him.
"What?" Michael said in confusion.
"Luke and Violet think I'm f***ing Gimpy now." Greyson growled at me in irritation. "That's why I wear your clothes Matthew, no one can think that." He snorted as I turned around and went upstairs to Matthew's room. I changed then went back downstairs and shut both teens up as I sat down.
Greyson's POV
It's been a long morning of searching their property, house, and area surrounding it all. Luke and Violet came over so all of us were in one spot to talk this over. When we all had gone back into the spare room, she wasn't on the bed. Everyone started to freak out, but I knew she was in the closet sleeping. After setting a blanket on top of her shivering body, we all went downstairs to talk.
Hours and hours of talking gets old, so it was nice to see her punch Luke's second guard for being mean about her dead animals. The animals mean whoever is hunting her down, well they know her routine. It's escalating quickly and I don't like the idea of her alone and in harms way.
"Luke and Violet think I'm f***ing Gimpy now. That's why I wear your clothes Matthew, no one can think that." Her voice sent irritation through me. She keeps calling me that, as if she wants a rerun of what hap- oh. Also, I don't want her wearing anyone's clothes but mine. I watched as she returned in her brothers sweats, then disappear into the living room.
"Does she know?" My father asked calmly. Shaking my head I shifted slightly.
"Please don't." Matthew almost whined in defeat. So he knows too?! "You're not that discrete."
"She can't know, not yet anyway." They nodded at me. "She'll be mad and I don't want to listen to her yell at me for being 'a stupid prick for lying' or a 'selfish egg-head'. Too much is happening right now." They all chuckled at my air quotes around what she'd say.
"You also haven't made it up to her." Matthew clicked his tongue at me, earning a growl. "She has nightmares, man. She's terrified of being around anything sharp, metal, cold, or loud. She hates men, you're lucky she put on your clothes or hugged you."
"I know that, Matthew. You don't have to remind me." The thoughts were bitter as they ran through my mind. "Let's just solve this so I can actually sleep in peace tonight. She's annoying and needy." My father growled at me as we got to work on a plan. Before I knew it, the day was soon to be over. What did the teens do all day?
Charlotte's POV
Violet, Luke and I have managed to keep ourselves busy all day by seeing how far from the house we could manage to get before they noticed. Before now, we were all playing video games. At the moment, we're all sitting on the edge of a stream not too far from the house. I don't like being cooped up in one area for more than two hours at a time when it's a nice day outside.
"We're going to be so dead when we get back." Luke snorted as we started back down the small path to my back yard.
"If they've even realized we left. Besides, we buried innocent bodies so they can't yell at us for that." Violet sighed as we met my back yard. When I set the shovel on the porch, then entered the house- we were all met with angry men.
"We told you not to leave the house." Matthew growled at me panting. "We've been searching for you three for the past hour."
"How did you-" Luke said looking at me in shock. "There goes twenty."
"Same." Violet sighed and shook her head. "How are you that good?" She nudged me, making me chuckle.
"All three of you are dead." Kaine's voice was dark and angry. When we saw him, his eyes zeroed in on Luke. Violet and I moved from Luke and watched as Luke basically snapped under the intense gaze from Kaine.
"They made me." Violet and I growled at Luke.
"Liar!" Both of us snapped.
"You three could have seriously been hurt out there. Do you even understand what's going on?" He was chastising us.
"Shut up." I said in annoyance. "You're not my boss. It's my house, my land, my rules." He looked at me in disbelief.
"You put Lucas's life in danger to bury animals, Charlie. That's Greyson level stupid." My mouth dropped at his insult.
"You didn't just say that." Violet gasped, both Luke and Vi backed away from me. I could feel the heat in my face and neck. "Kaine, run."
"There you are." Michael's voice was a sigh. "What's going o-"
"Shut it!" Michael went from relieved to disbelief. When my gaze turned to Kaine, I almost lost it. He stared at me in awe. "Take it back."
"No." He shook his head at me as he crossed his arms.
"Okay, I'll just go get the three wolves that have followed us the entire time like they were suppose to." I shrugged and opened the back door. "Do you have some kind of call for them or maybe a treat to offer?" Michael's scoff made me look at him.
"They're already covering for you three." He shook his head. "Just, get in the house and behave. We all have to leave." He crossed his arms. Rolling my eyes, I shut the door and locked it.
"You and Greyson are stuck inside until tomorrow morning when I'm having someone come to make sure you both arrive safely to the compound." Matty said with his arms crossed. "Your room is now clean of any bacteria from those things, it's been cleaned of the shards, and repaired. You're safe to go in there now. The house has been secured better so you should be able to sleep through the night." As if.
Greyson appeared shortly after Matty made the announcement that they were all leaving soon. He was standing next to me as I leaned on the counter, listening to my brother speak about tomorrow. Most all of us teens were here to listen, Kaine's friend was missing is all. He'll be there though.
"You'll all arrive at nine and work through the weekend. Have a go-bag and extra clothes." Matthew said as he moved side to side. "You'll be picked up at eight-thirty to get set up. No one but the lot of you will be in the room throughout the process. You will all be highly secure and basically given the VIP treatment." He nodded with a gentle sigh.
"Get sleep tonight because you'll need it." Michael said with a soft chuckle.
"Yeah, that means no snoring." I said looking at Greyson. He looked at me with irritation before looking at his father. "Or moaning." I whispered to him as I passed him to hug my brother. I watched his mouth drop in absolute frustration, his body tensed, and his nose flared. Matthew sent me a look as the group of them left the house. After the last person left, Greyson closed and locked the door.
"Or moaning? I didn't moan last night." He said in irritation as I hunted through the fridge for something to eat. "Are you always hungry?" His words made me freeze, look at the time, then stand up while closing the fridge.
"I'm tired, goodnight." He sighed as I walked past him then met my room. Shaking my head, I entered and got through the thick of it. After showering, I dressed cautiously considering I don't have doors at the moment. Taking a breath, I peered out the window to see if the animals were going to cross again. Smiling, I ran down the stairs to the back doors.
"I thought you were tired?" Greyson's calm voice filtered in behind me. "They're back?" He seemed shocked. "Here." He was beside me now. When I turned to look at him, he had a bowl of food for me. "Take it." He acted like he would drop it, making me react and take it. He sat down on the floor and started to eat his food.
I hesitantly took a seat next to him and poked the food. Cheesy potatoes...
"I'm shocked they came back." He watched more closely for some reason.
"Thank you." He nodded as he ate. "Why?" He looked down before looking at me. "You always said I'd be better off dead, why save me." His eyes looked pained. "You've never been nice to me, Lockwood. Why are you now?" I watched as he pushed his food around.
"You wouldn't believe me." He smiled at me gently. "You'd hate me even more." He shook his head at himself. "Just eat and watch the animals, Charlotte." His voice was calm, content.
"Cheesy potatoes." He looked at me with a chuckle. "My favorite food that you use to pick on me for making at your house when Kaine and I were friends." He was looking at me rather than through me like all the other times. "The same food that my mom made us to let us know dad was coming home early. The same food that I couldn't ever get right, no matter how hard I tried to parallel her recipe." They're just cheese and potatoes? No. "What did I do to you all that makes me so hated?" He swallowed as he watched me carefully. Shaking my head I looked at the food and started to eat. We sat in silence for a while before I went up to Matty's room to sleep.
Hours ticked by and I was unable to sleep. When two in the morning rolled around, I made my way down to the kitchen. The cup of tea warmed me as I sat at the counter and thought. Shaking my head, I peered outside to see it down-pouring. Thunder made me jump, soon following was a flash of light. It soon became more frequent, making me head upstairs again. I gently pushed open Greyson's door to find him sitting on the floor, watching the rain. He peered over to me confused.
"Yeah." He nodded without me asking. My body jumped at another boom of thunder. Taking a breath I closed the door with a click before climbing into the bed and under the covers. Another boom of thunder made me hide under the covers. The covers were pulled off so I could see who it was, Greyson got in the bed.
Within a few minutes I had fallen asleep, maybe I can be safe for once?
Greyson's POV
My words had immediate impact on her. She stood up after closing the fridge and disappeared for hours. I eventually made my way to my designated room and sat by the balcony doors after showering. Rain started, then the thunder. Hours ticked by before there was a sound by my door. When I peered over, there stood the one person that could make an ice cold heart melt- Charlotte Gideon. Her small frame shook gently, something I hate to see.
"Yeah." She didn't have to speak for me to know what she wants to ask or know. It's what she's thinking that I have to ask about because she hides it so well. Shaking my head, I watched as she hid under the covers. My heart beat faster as I got closer to the bed, when I pulled the covers away- I wanted to smile. She's innocent, she's naive- kind.
When I laid down next to her, my body relaxed. She seemed to be mulling something over in her mind. She moved so her back was to me, shocking me entirely. My heart literally ached.
"Grey." Her voice was timid, her body flinched at another clap of thunder. My body moved mindlessly to hold her close to me. She shivered in my grasp, she's terrified of me...
"You're safe, Princess." She gripped my hand gently. "You're protected." Her heart started to calm down throughout the storm. She eventually fell asleep as I laid there thinking. Her body was so perfect that it kills me to know I damaged her. She's such an amazing person that it breaks me to know that I almost ruined her. If only, Charlotte. If only I could tell you everything. If only I could save you, even from me...