Should've slept alone (Damon Albarn)

Chapter One

Charlotte involuntarily sighed, her arms wrapping around the small boy in front of her as she pulled him closer to her chest, determined to try and share as much of her body heat as she could.

Freddie, or Red as his mother liked to call him, was still sound asleep but that didn't stop Charlotte from worrying. Could he feel the cold the same way that she could? Were his three jumpers doing as lousy a job at keeping the warmth in as hers were? She placed a kiss onto his thick blonde hair, gentle enough so that she didn't wake him, the last thing she needed was for him to awake and realise just how cold it had become.

Sleep didn't come as easy as she would've liked, it never did, there was always too much plaguing her mind. But it didn't matter, all of the nasty things were forgotten as soon as she opened her eyes to see Fred's crystal blue ones staring up at her.

"Mama!" He exclaimed excitedly, his mouth growing into a grin as he clapped his hands out of happiness.

"Good morning darling" She responded softly, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug before placing a kiss on his forehead.

"We go park?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. She laughed softly, a hand reaching up to run through his hair and then drop down to stroke his cheek.

"A little bit later, Mama needs to do her cleaning today" She reminded him, he nodded his head as he listened to what his mother had to say.

"And then park?" He questioned, his eyebrows raised innocently. Charlotte laughed again, a loving smile growing on her face.

"And then we go to the park" She agreed, much to Red's excitement.

Charlotte made her son a bowl of cereal, before sipping on a mug of coffee as she watched him eat. There wasn't enough food for her to have any breakfast, but she didn't mind, the coffee filled her up.

She watched as he carefully tried to spoon the cereal into his mouth, his concentrated face making him look the spitting image of his father, even more so than usual. Charlotte's stomach started to twist at the thought of Red's father, it was nothing more than a one night stand and she was a naive nineteen year old willing to give him what he wanted. If only he knew what he'd given her.

She had never tried to contact him, she didn't really see the point, she was almost certain that she wouldn't be the first one to make this claim. Instead, the blur posters hanging around the flat served as the closest to a family picture Charlotte could provide Freddie. Especially after everyone in Charlotte's life cut ties when she ended up nineteen and pregnant with a strangers baby.

She still remembers her parents bitter laughs as she told them who the father was, they didn't believe her, nobody ever did. But she didn't care, he was the only man she'd ever slept with.

After sharing a shower and quickly throwing on as many layers as they could, it wasn't long before they were bracing the cold as they walked to the offices Charlotte cleaned twice a week. She earned £3 an hour, which was more than minimum wage, but it still only got her £15 a week. Nowhere near enough to pay her rent, let alone feed herself and her son. She hated how little she worked, but this was the only place that allowed her to bring Freddie with her, so she had to grin and bear it as she didn't earn enough to send him to nursery, nor did she have anyone willing to help with childcare.

Freddie was, as always, an angel. He stayed on the seat Charlotte had put him on and didn't complain or moan once. Instead, his blue eyes followed his mum around the room, watching as she cleaned every area of the room. He was only eighteen months old, but he already knew that the better behaved he was here, the longer he'd be able to stay in the park for.

After accepting her wages for the week, and feeling relieved to see her boss has slipped a £5 tip in there, Charlotte wrapped Freddie up in his hat, scarf and gloves before exiting the building and making their way to the park.

Much to Fred's delight, the park was empty, they were the only people crazy enough to brave the weather. Charlotte didn't mind the cold, going to the park kept Fred happy and it didn't cost anything. Which was a win-win situation in her eyes.

"Excuse me!" Charlotte's grip on her son's hand immediately tightened as she heard a man call after them. She didn't dare look behind her to see who it was, instead she picked up their pace slightly. Hoping to deter the stranger.

Instead, he started to run gently, determined to catch up with them. Charlotte could hear his footsteps getting closer and knew that she wouldn't be able to avoid the man. She turned around to see who was following them and couldn't help the gasp which fell out of her lips as her eyes took in who it was.

He seemed grateful that they'd stopped, crouching down so that he was level with Freddie before carefully placing his navy bobble hat back onto his head.

"You dropped your hat mate" He told him softly, Charlotte could only utter a thank you as she watched Fred's face light up in realisation of who was standing in front of him.

"Dada?"

A/N

So here we have yet another new story!! I'm writing in third person for the first time, so any feedback on the story is always welcome. Sorry this is so short, not all chapters will be this short, I promise.

I hope you enjoy!!