Should've slept alone (Damon Albarn)

Chapter Two

Damon laughed at the young boys words, looking up who he presumed was his mother, though she looked more like his sister, for some form of clarification.

"Sorry" Charlotte stuttered out, though in reality she was far from it "He's going through a bit of a phase at the moment"

She had decided that now was most definitely not the time to tell him that the young boy had gotten it right and that he was actually looking at his son. In fact, she felt a bit lost for words, she didn't actually know what to say to him.

"S'alright" He responded, a smile still growing on his face as he watched the little boy study him "He's a cute kid"

Charlotte had to swallow the bubble of laughter rising up at the irony of his comment, if only he knew why Freddie was such a cute kid. Before she had a chance to respond, Fred had taken ahold of Damon's hand and was now pulling on it.

"Dada come park?" He questioned, though she knew it was more of a demand. Damon looked up at her with a hint of worry laced in his eyes, he was obviously unsure on how to behave with the boy.

"No Freddie, he can't come to the park with us" She told him softly, knowing how unhappy he would be with her words "Say thank you to the nice man for catching your hat"

"No Mama" He shouted, his bottom lip wobbling as tears started to flow down his cheeks.

Charlotte reached down and pick the young boy up placing him on her hip before smiling apologetically at Damon.

"Sorry, he doesn't like being told no" She laughed forcefully "Thank you for grabbing the hat, I really appreciate it"

She flashed him a grin before turning around and continuing the walk to the park, softly comforting the whimpering boy she was carrying.

Damon was following behind them before he could even comprehend what he was doing. Something about the little boy crying made him feel uneasy, he needed to try and resolve his tears.

"I don't mind coming to the park" He told them quietly once he had caught up with them, Charlotte's face cracked into a sympathetic smile.

"It's fine, he'll be fine" She told him, looking at Freddie and then back to Damon "you don't have to do that"

Damon nodded his head, sensing that he shouldn't push it any further, but still, the boys sniffles as he rested his head in the crook of his mother's neck hurt his heart.

He fished around in his pocket before pulling out a crumpled note and handing it to Freddie with a smile.

"Here, but yourself some sweets" He told him with a grin, before turning a, slightly concerned, look to Charlotte "Is he old enough for sweets?"

"You really don't have to do that, he'll be fine" Charlotte tried to reassure Damon, who had looked worried ever since Freddie started to cry.

Freddie, who wasn't used to seeing money, wasn't particularly comforted by the five pound note. Instead, it just made him more upset that his father was there but not coming with him. Charlotte took the note from his grip before offering it back to Damon with an outstretched hand.

"Here, he'll honestly be fine" She tried to give the money back to him, but he just shook his head, gesturing to her to keep hold of it.

"Keep it, I insist" He told her, she nodded her head appreciatively before thanking him.

She picked up Freddie's hand, waving it at Damon, who was rather amused by the gesture, before they continued on their walk to the park.

Despite his earlier excitement, Freddie was no longer interested in playing in the park. Instead, he pined after the man who had since disappeared. Now he'd seen his father in real life, his mother was no longer good enough for him.

"Come on then Red, shall we go home?" She questioned, he looked up at her and nodded his head in agreement. His widened blue eyes made Charlotte realise just how sad her son was.

It wasn't long before they were entering the building they lived in, she knew her landlord, Bill, would be waiting for her, especially as she'd managed to leave without him catching her this morning. She picked Freddie up, placing him on her hip before entering the building.

"I bet you'd thought you'd missed me today" He laughed bitterly, sending shivers down Charlotte's spine.

"If only I was that lucky" She mumbled, reaching into her pocket to pull out some of the money.

"Well seeing your pretty face has certainly made my day" His voice made her stomach tighten, as she instinctively held Freddie closer to her.

"It's a shame I can't say the same about you" She mumbled again before passing him fifteen pounds "Here, it's all I've got"

He snatched the money from her, folding up the three notes as they made their way past him and up to their flat. Charlotte was grateful for the extra ten pounds she had accumulated today, it meant Bill could think he had been given all of her wages.

Despite it only being four o'clock, Charlotte put some pasta on the hob for their dinner, her stomach had finally decided that the coffee she'd had for breakfast wasn't enough.

"Dada's music?" Freddie asked as he sat down on the battered chair in the corner of the room.  Charlotte smiled sympathetically at her son, leaving the pan on the hob as she walked over to him.

"Not tonight darling" She told him, running her hand through his hair before placing a kiss on top of his head "We'll listen to some tomorrow"

What Freddie didn't know was that Charlotte had sold their old CD player when things had gotten really tight a few weeks ago. She hoped more than anything that he'd forget about it by the morning.

It didn't take long for the pasta to cook and after adding a little bit of butter and cheese, so that they weren't eating completely plain pasta, Freddie and his Mum sat down to eat their dinner.

The conversation didn't flow as easily between them as she would've liked, she knew the last thing she needed to talk about was Damon and yet, he was the only thing on her mind. Instead they talked about how they would go to the park again tomorrow and go to the supermarket as the cupboards were looking more bare than usual.

After dinner, Charlotte quickly cleaned up the mess she'd made whilst Freddie played quietly with an old toy car. A door had fallen off of it, but that didn't bother him, he still giggled to himself as he drove it around the floor.

After she'd given him a quick bath, Charlotte wrapped him up in an extra jumper before tucking him up in bed. She read him Were Going On A Bear Hunt, it was one of the only books he had, but Freddie still reacted to the book as if it was the first time he was hearing it.

Once he'd settled down, she placed a kiss on top of his head before entering the bathroom again. She quickly submerged herself in the leftover water from Freddie's earlier bath, it was nowhere near warm enough for her, but she couldn't justify the cost of running another bath.

After drying herself off and layering up again, Charlotte joined Freddie in bed, her arms naturally wrapping round him as she laid down. Sleep didn't come as easy for her as she would've liked, it never really did, but as she started to drift off her mind was filled with thoughts of Damon and what a strange coincidence it was that they'd bumped into him.