Reckless

Running Away

"Hi, it's been a while." Henry nervously stuffed his hands into his pockets as he looked at her. God, she looked incredible. He wondered if he looked okay compared to her. He suddenly felt less than with his scruffy beard and barely combed hair. He tried to remember if he sprayed some cologne on himself or whether he even put on deodorant. Did he look okay? Damn, he only just saw her again and he was already eager to impress her and display a good image of himself. It took him a few moments to realize she hadn't said anything and just stared at him, her mouth slightly agape as two girls next to her eyed him as well. He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat.

"Char?"

"Nope." Was all she said as she turned on her heels and beelined straight for the door. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she breathed heavily, her heart pounding against her chest and in her ears loud enough to drown out all other sounds. She barely even felt the cold air hit her as she rushed outside into the November night. She began her trek down the driveway, not thinking clearly other than the need to get away from Henry and hide under her covers at home. As she made her way down the sidewalk, she could finally hear Tati and Jasmine calling her name, but even worse, she could also hear Henry calling her.

"Charlotte, where the fuck are you going?!" Tatiana called out as she rushed after her friend.

"Home!" Charlotte answered.

"You live across town, you can't walk home!" Jasmine yelled as she tried to keep up with her quick pace.

"I haven't had my morning run in a few days, I could use the exercise!" she countered as she walked briskly. Henry took advantage of his long limbs and ran after her, easily passing the other girls and running up behind Charlotte.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sending chills through her body (or maybe it was because she was outside at night without a jacket). Either way, she folded her arms and hugged herself as she walked faster. She refused to answer him as she kept her eyes ahead as she headed steadfast towards the intersection. Henry rolled his eyes when he was met with silence but continued to follow the stubborn woman. "Char, you can't walk home! What about your friends? At least let them take you home."

"They wanted to go to the party so I'm going to let them enjoy themselves," she answered tersely. Even if her words were cold, Henry was still happy to hear her voice again after so long. He shrugged his jacket off of his shoulders and held it out to her as he followed.

"At least take my jacket."

"No."

"Charlotte, it's fucking freezing out here."

"I'm fine." Henry scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. One thing about her hadn't changed and it was how damn stubborn she was. She kept her eyes ahead as she walked quickly. She didn't care what anyone said, she was going to go home and scream into her pillow and mentally hex her friends. She knew this would happen, she knew he'd be there, and she knew she wasn't ready for this. It pissed her off so much how everyone else insisted that they knew better than she did. Jasper, Tati, Jasmine, her mother - none of them listened to her and just told her to move on. It was just like working with Ray, no one ever listened to her even though she was always right. She stepped off the curb and onto the street blindly, too focused on her buzzing thoughts and hurt feelings to pay attention. She was quickly brought back to where she was when she heard a loud car horn and she turned her head to see nothing but a set of bright lights blaring and speeding towards her.

"Charlotte!" Henry quickly grabbed her arms and yanked her back onto the sidewalk, holding her body against his own as the car sped past them with the driver holding out his middle finger. Charlotte breathed heavily as the adrenaline rushed through her, her body trembling as she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She moved to raise her hands to her face but was stopped by Henry's hold on her and she suddenly became very aware of his presence. His strong hold, his hard chest against her back, the woody scent of his cologne - everything about him invaded most of her senses and she could feel herself melting into his embrace before she remembered who he was and what their history was. She snatched her arms out of his grip and stepped away from him, hearing him scoff.