Grateful | Fragile Hearts

chapter 35

Charlotte

We exited the elevators, where I was greeted with the all the guys. "CHARLOTTE" Luca screamed as he ran towards me and gathered me in a hug.

Tears filled my eyes as the hug squeezed my ribs. Fuck.

He pulled back and concern immediately filled his face. "Wow, Char, are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked me as he searched my face for any indication.

I brushed it off and smiled quickly. "I'm okay, my allergies are acting up." I laughed out, hoping he bought my lie.

He didn't seem phased, but nonetheless went with it. "Ask your dad for some Allegra. That shit is magic" he winked out at me.

"Will do" I smiled

I went to my room and ended up taking a long shower. As I got out, I looked at myself in the mirror for a long time. My entire torso was covered in various shades of purple and blue. My ribs were most definietly broken and my stomach was bruised. My back was also covered in various bruises too from where he kicked me.

I threw on another sweater and sweatpants with some fuzzy socks, and made my way downstairs to see the guys sitting around the table, laughing.

Uncle Alex had cooked dinner and set it on the table. I sat down between Uncle Grey and my dad as he scooped some onto my plate.

I could barely eat. Every bite I took made my stomach ache.

Suddenly, I noticed Uncle Grey looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. He leaned in closer to me and spoke in a calm voice.

"Char, are you okay?" he asked me in a concerned voice.

I nodded. "Yeah I'm just feeling a little crampy" I replied to him as I held my stomach and ribs with one hand. He nodded, but I could tell he didn't buy it.

Dinner continued to go by and all of the guys continued to laugh and joke with each other. Grey however, continued to stay extremely quiet.

Grey

After dinner, Charlotte made her way upstairs to bed. Something was wrong. I knew it.

After dinner, we all cleaned up and Ronan and I sat at the counter, a glass of whiskey in front of us both.

"What's up, Grey?"

"Something seem off to you about Charlotte?" I asked as I looked to him.

He slammed his hand on the counter. "I knew it I fucking knew I wasn't crazy" he yelled out as he looked away.

He turned back to me and began to speak.

"When I picked her up today, she seemed awfully quiet and she barely made eye contact with me. I figured she was just tired or stressed, but something in me told me that she wasn't herself." He breathed out.

"I wanna ask her" he said as he tried to get up and made his was upstairs.

I grabbed his arm and shook my head. "No, you have to trust her. She'll come to you when she's ready." I told him.

"We can't hover over her, or she'll feel claustrophobic." I reasoned with him.

"You're right." He said as he sat back on the stool and downed the rest of the alcohol.

"I need to know she's okay"