CHOOSE ME!

Part 14

Alex's pov
It was the morning, to be honest I didn't want to get out of bed because that meant I would have to be face to face with Charlie. But the smell of eggs filled the apartment and my stomach rumbled loudly, I rolled my eyes and grabbed the letter from the hospital and walked nervously into the kitchen. Charlie was stood there serving up scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, he always seemed to cook shirtless. I coughed a little awkwardly as I sat at the table, he turned around quickly his large smile disappeared as he saw my puffy red eyes. He looked at me sadly and an awkward silence began, we ate the food it was delicious but I couldn't say anything, I was scared that if I opened my mouth I would just end up crying again.

His eyes made their way down to the envelope I was holding tightly, "what's that?" he asked staring at me. My eyes went wide and watery, I swallowed hard and passed it over to him my were shaking uncontrollably. He took the paper gently out of my hand, a large smile appeared on his face as he read it, "when did this happen?" he asked enthusiastically. I didn't know how to react to him so I stayed silent for a little while, he noticed I had tensed up and just shuffled to the kitchen to clean up the dishes. I took a deep breathe and went towards him, "I was wondering if you could be a witness for me, you know cause you were there when he beat me up and it would be easier to prosecute him if I had one," I said quickly. His face dropped and the plates in his hands crashed in the sink, he hung his head sadly and his hair bounced in his eyes, "I can't I'm sorry, my girlfriend will kill me," he said finally looking at me.

I stood there with tears steaming down my face defencelessly, I wanted him to be there, I needed him to be there when I took my dad to court. I couldn't move, I just imagined him hugging me and telling me everything was alright but he didn't move either. "What do you want me to do?" he asked sadly, my eyes left the floor and all I could say was, "you should've chosen me," his eyes also started to fill up now, "I did what I thought was right," he said softly, gripping into the counter for support. I shook my head and scoffed at him, I felt my face getting warm with anger, "CHOOSE ME! THAT'S ALL YOU HAD TO DO OR ARE YOU EMBARRASSED OF ME NOW!" I screamed at him, tears crawling down my face uncontrollably, "IF I CHOSE YOU MY FRIENDS WILL HATE ME! THEY WOULD NEVER TALK TO ME AGAIN!" he shouted back. I knew this was the truth, but I couldn't bare to argue with him anymore. I walked out of the flat and went to the library, it was the only place I felt safe, I've always gone there, ever since I was a little boy and wanted to escape my dad.

It was about a half an hours drive to get to the library, but it was the only one I wanted to go to. I drove with my favourite music on, a sing came on that reminded me of Charlie, I sung along to the words sadly as I wiped the tears in my eyes away so I could see where I was going. I finally reached the library, it was an old building made out of large pale bricks, the second I opened the door the smell of old leather and fresh pages filled my nose. I took a deep breath and walked in, I sat at my usual spot and did some research on what to do in court. I couldn't believe my dad was finally gluing to prison, there was too much evidence against him to be innocent, right? All I wanted was for Charlie to be here and embrace me in his warm hug as I wore his hoodie. I still had his hoodie but never did anything with it, I felt ashamed just wearing it in private.

I read and read about what I should be doing when in a court room and I thought I was pretty up to date with it all. I actually felt kind of excited to go now, it was a big moment for me, maybe I will finally feel safe after all. I got back in the car happily and drive back home, the music was so loud I'm surprised it didn't deafen me. I smiled as I walked in the apartment thinking about the looks in my dad's face when he gets arrested after all these years. But it dropped the second I walked in and was met face to face with a puffy red eyed Charlie, his face was red and his eyes were bloodshot. I wanted to run up to him and make everything better for him but I couldn't. He wiped his nose and stood up immediately after seeing me, we both just stood looking at eachother we were waiting for someone to talk but neither of us did. I walked past him with my head down trying to avoid the temptation of hugging and kissing him all over his face until he felt better, but as I walked speedily to my room his large hand gripped my arm which made me turn around to look at him once more.

I couldn't bare to look him in the eyes so I kept my gaze staring at the floor but his fingers gently lifted my chin up to make me look at him. He towered over me the closer he got, it was like he grew, I waited for him to say something but he only opened his mouth then closed it again so I forced his hand off my wrist and slowly walked to my room. My aching body landed on the bed, my head resting on my arm as I looked blankly at the white ceiling of my bedroom, I fantasised about what would have happened if Charlie had chosen me.