Leading Lady | Charlie Barber x Reader.

Shattered.

*TW - Physical abuse, mentions of weed. Please read with caution if you're in a fragile state of mind.*

The rest of the working week flew by, your rehearsals were going well and everything was coming together nicely. You and Charlie had still spent your lunch hours together but not inside his office, you didn't want to give Mary the slightest chance of catching you up to something. 

When Friday evening rolled around you were excited to see your friends again, Rose had made dinner reservations at a new steakhouse downtown. You asked Charlie if he wanted to come along but he was busy meeting some stage coordinators from Broadway. You couldn't believe how fast the opening night was approaching, the hard work you had been putting in would finally be shown to an enormous audience.
...
The food was incredible, almost as good as the wine that you sipped on happily whilst your friends asked you relentless questions about Charlie. You kept the details to yourself but explained that Mary was just a misunderstanding and everything was still okay.

"So...is he, big?" Armie said, leaning over to whisper in your ear, out of range from Finn.

You imitated Charlie's size with your fingers, Armies eyes almost falling out of his head.

"Dylan's been texting me none stop, I'm seeing him tonight. And he wants to take me for drinks on Saturday. You guys should all come!" Rose said, giggling as she checked her phone.

"Twit, twoo! That sounds like fun!" You grinned.

"If Charlie's coming then I'm there..." Armie said, making you laugh. "Oh come on, baby, you know I'm only joking." Finn rolled his eyes.

"Sounds good to me, just promise me you will behave." Finn snapped, pointing at Armie.

"I'll behave, I already have my dream man right here." He replied, grabbing Finn's hand and kissing it, making him smile.

You looked around at your friends and felt a huge sense of love. They were amazing, so supportive and so funny. You had your dream job, your closest friends were happy and healthy, and Charlie Barber...he was incredible in every sense of the word. Life couldn't get much better than this.
...
Once you got back to your messy apartment you slipped into some short, pink pyjamas. You laid in bed, scrolling through Charlies social media, drooling over pictures of him and smiling like a fool. You decided to call him, but it went straight to answer phone...He must be busy.

You started to drift off, the red wine from the resturant going straight to your head.
Suddenly there was a hard knock at the door made you jump.

"Hello?" You called out, hoping it was Charlie, coming to sweep you off your feet.

You opened the door slightly, and someone pushed there was inside making you stumble back and hit your coccyx on the hard wooden floor.

"Vic! What the fuck-how did you even find my apartment?!" You said, rubbing your lower back as you found your way back to your feet.

"I called the theatre, they me your address...I just want to talk." He said, his blue eyes looked glassy.

"Are you drunk?" You said, making a reach for your phone, Vic grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards him. You smelt the stale alcohol on his breath, your heart racing as he squeezed your fragile bones.

"Sit." He said, coldly, leading you to the couch. You didn't argue with him.
You took a seat, rubbing your wrist as he let you out of his grip. "I miss you, Kitten."
You grimaced at your old pet name.

"I'm not your kitten. And you didn't miss me much when you fucked our colleague." You spat.

"I only fucked her because you hadn't touched me in months. I was lonely, it was a stupid mistake." He said, slurring his words.

"I don't care, we are over Vic. You need to let me move on, let me be happy."

"It's him isn't it? That guy from the bar," He snapped, he was talking about Charlie.
"You're fucking him, aren't you? Answer me!" His voice booming pierced through you.

"It's none of your fucking business anymore Vic!" You wished Charlie was there to be your knight in shining armour again.

Vics face screwed up, anger pouring out of him. His fists clenched up, and he swung. The punch he landed on your eye socket left you breathless. You were frozen, you couldn't even scream, his eyes were wide with rage. And then your phone rang. He growled, stumbling as he walked over to your phone. He picked it up and threw it across your apartment violently. You desperately tried to catch your breath, wishing someone would hear the noise. Without thinking twice you leapt up from the couch and darted to the kitchen, grabbing a large knife and you held it up towards him, your breath heaving, hands trembling. He looked at you and smirked, tears rolling from your cheeks as you edged closer to him.

"Oh, little kitten." He mocked you, his smug grin making bile rise in your throat. "You aren't going to use that."

"Leave!" You screamed. "Get the fuck out now!" 

"Fine, I'm leaving." He sneered, walking out of your apartment.
"Best of luck with the play, I'll see you soon." His words made your skin crawl, but he left, slamming the door behind him.

You fell to your knees, dropping the knife with a clatter and sobbing desperately. Your face was throbbing. Your cries echoing through your apartment. You crawled over to your phone, the screen was badly smashed but you managed to redial Charlie.
...
Charlie turned up to your apartment the minute he heard your broken sobs through the phone. He found you on the ground, rocking back and forth with your arms wrapped around your knees.

"Hey, deep breaths." He said, holding you closely, your tears soaking his shirt. "Look at me, you're safe now." You looked up at him with big, red eyes, the purple bruise around your eye beginning to form.

"Vic, he, he was here, someone at the theatre gave him my address..." You sobbed. Charlie's blood ran cold, deep down in his gut he had a feeling who released that information. He would deal with Mary at a later date.

Charlie called the police and told them what happened. They said they would deal with Vic, it made you feel a little calmer but he the thought of him finding you again still terrified you. He was an abusive drunk, a cheat, a scumbag. You couldn't believe you had once loved such a monster. But it wasn't love, he just used you, manipulated you into thinking it was love.

Charlie decided it would be best if you stayed at his house for a while as you were too frightened to be alone. He helped you pack up some of your things, wrapped you up in his large sweater and took you back to his home. He ran you a bath, letting you relax in it. You were exhausted, after such a lovely evening with your best friends, to then being attacked by your vile ex boyfriend. You shivered at the thought of it. Your cracked phone screen and your bruised eye making you remember every moment of it.

Once you were cry, Charlie helped you into bed, making sure you fell asleep before letting himself drift off. It broke his heart to see you so broken, so fragile and scared. He wished he could take all of your pain away, as you clung to his chest in your sleep, he stroked your hair. At least you were safe now.
..."No. No."

"Vic, stop! Stop! Please!"

You woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. The nightmares felt too real. Charlie held you tightly as you steadied your breath. Trying to soothe you. You sat up, resting your head on Charlie's shoulder. You didn't want to go back to sleep. Charlie went down to his kitchen to make you a coffee, the warm beverage sending a big hug through you as you sipped it.

"How is your eye, angel?" He asked, glancing at the deep purple bruise.

"Sore. But I think I'll live." You sighed.

Charlie touched your eye socket, making sure it wasn't broken, it wasn't thankfully. Just very tender. Vic had hit you in the past, but you'd never seen him so angry, so full of rage. Your heart sank, if Charlie hadn't called, distracting Vic, then you might have suffered a lot worse than just a black eye.

After your coffee you got dressed, Charlie left you to it and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast for you. You were so grateful, he was taking such good care of you. Keeping you topped up on Tylenol and ice packs.

You managed to dial Rose on your smashed phone screen, explaining what had happened last night. She was seething, threatening to find Vic and break his nose clean off his face, it made you laugh but he wasn't worth it. He would face his consequences eventually.

After feeding you and keeping you smiling, Charlie dropped you off at Rose's apartment. He insisted that you take the day off to rest whilst he went back to the theatre to keep things on track. It hurt your heart to see him leave but you knew you were going to see him again soon.

Rose looked up at you when you arrived at her apartment and you saw her eyes flood with tears. "I shouldn't have stayed with you last night, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gone to Dylans-"

You cut her off mid sentence and hugged her tightly.

"Rose, don't blame yourself, how could you have known this would happen..." You said, she wiped her nose and sighed. "I'm fine. Did you have a nice time with Dylan?"

"It was actually great. He's weird, but he makes me laugh." You smiled at her, it was good to see her happy. "I'm just glad you're okay. If I ever see Vic again I will kill him with my bare hands."

"He isn't worth the effort it would take to kill him." You rolled your eyes. "I'm okay, Charlie has been taking amazing care of me."

"That's great, a big guy like him should be your bodyguard." You both laughed, she wasn't wrong.

"He really is my hero." You smiled.

"Come on, let's smoke and watch Star Wars!" She said, putting on your favourite movie and cuddling up to you, she handed you a joint and you felt all your worries melt away.

Once you were feeling happy and mellow, Armie stopped round with snacks and coffee. You were having such a good time with your friends, you almost forgot about what had happened to you the night before. Your heart sank thinking about it, everytime you checked your phone the memories came flooding back.

You knew the police would take care of Vic, that they would make sure he couldn't come anywhere near you again, but you still worried. Someone at the theatre had given him your private information, you had a feeling in the pit of your stomach it was Mary...maybe it was an attempt to get back at you for Charlie. Maybe they were working together to hurt you. It made your head spin thinking about it. But you knew you weren't alone, you had your friends and you had Charlie, all of them would look after you.

*AN - Sorry that was a bit of a heavy one, but we love a caring Charlie! The next chapter will be worth all the pain!*