The Entanglement [Charlie Barber]

Chapter 24: A New Life

A/N: I dunno 'bout you but I can't stop thinking about Charlie getting into the bathtub with us. ;)

Anyway, moving on...

Now that we've hit the peak of the story, let's find out what happened to Y/N during the month she went missing to try to understand why she ended up where she is. Some of her decisions were rash and thoughtless, we already know that, because she was so angry. People do dumb shit when they are heartbroken, and Y/N is learning how to deal with it since the love she feels for Charlie is much more intense than what she's experienced before.

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[The morning after the breakup...]

You laid motionless on the floor, wrapped up in your comforter staring at the empty space under your bed. Your eyes were dry now, as they had been for the last few hours and aching from having cried most of the night. You rolled to your back, overhearing the beginnings of morning commuters outside, car horns, and people walking by chattering on their cell phones.

Your head was pounding. Your heart was crushed.

You checked the time. 6:30 AM

It was far too early for you but sleeping wasn't going to happen so you lifted yourself up to a seated position, feeling almost hungover from emotions. You had never cried so hard in your life. There was one time when your grandpa passed away, with whom you were very close with and you remember crying in your bedroom after your mother told you. You were thirteen and it was the first loss you'd ever felt.

This felt the same. But somehow heavier. As if a piece of you had died.

You found the strength to peel yourself off the floor and stretch your sore muscles. You started the shower as a comfort measure to bring you out of your gloom but instead, you had another breakdown before you could even rinse the shampoo from your hair. You blamed the lavender-scented suds that were reminiscent of the shampoo he bought for you that one time.

Once out of the shower and dried off, you made some coffee. Pouring yourself a cup, you walked over to sit in the chair by the window as you normally do, gazing out while savoring the hot cup of caffeine to wake your body up. But instead, you remembered this was where you were sitting last night when he broke up with you. All of a sudden the chair felt like it was made of nails. You got up and stood in the middle of the room, coffee in hand, glancing around your tiny studio.

There was nowhere to sit and nowhere to sleep without thinking of him. Your home had been contaminated with memories. It began to anger you how you couldn't find comfort or refuge, even in your own apartment. You recalled how he still had a key, and remembering that he took it without your consent. Your outrage expanded. A mental list of the things Charlie did or said came to mind, as you recounted all the times acted like a controlling asshole.

You couldn't understand why he didn't want to even attempt to have a relationship with you. One that felt real and wasn't all about his dominance and ownership over you. What was so great about this BDSM life that made him so attached to it?

You got dressed and made your way down to the local cafe on the corner, finding a table in the back to hide your post-breakup, puffy eyes away as you picked pieces of a muffin apart to eat.

You were reminded of the time he baked those blueberry muffins for you.

For crying out loud, can you do anything without thinking of him??

Pulling out your phone, you sent a text to Jeffrey, asking if he was free to meet up with you. You figured he'd be asleep since it was still fairly early but surprisingly, he answered back quickly and agreed.