𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭, ᵐᵃᵗᵗʰᵉᵒ ʳⁱᵈᵈˡᵉ

part 21

charlotte woke up in the same squeaky bed she'd slept in for 10 years. it was a big bed, a good bed, but she missed her bed at Riddle manor, and even more than that, she missed the person who slept in it with her. she woke up at dawn, which was unusual. mattheo usually let her sleep in later, making her breakfast and planning their day while she slept. she longed for a walk through the gardens, and visit to the horses, anything. she didn't know what went wrong, why he didn't just come home, come back to her like he was meant to, but she wished he did. she didn't think she asked too much of him, all he had to do was stay.

she ate a lonely breakfast, unlike the ones she had at Riddle Manor. she had buttered toast and a glass of orange juice, a normal breakfast, one she would've been sharing with mattheo just a week ago. she missed her time with him, her days at the manor, feeding the horses, laying by the pool, wandering the gardens and woods. it was rare, like a fairytale, like something special that was only hers to have, and she remembered it so vividly that it pained her that she couldn't go back and live in that moment until her youth chipped away and death came to take her. she bit her toast sharply, chasing all the thoughts from her head. she wished she could erase her time at the manor, so it wouldn't hurt so bad that she wasn't there anymore, but she remembered it too well. she remember it all too well.

she layed in bed all day like a sick child, and remus let her. she was thankful for the fact that he understood that she needed to be left alone. it was 12, when he knocked on her door. she was wearing the dark blue sweatshirt she had taken from mattheo and gray boxers.
"yeah?" she called from under her blankets.
"you have a visitor!" remus called sounding very amused.
"if it's pansy send her up!" charlotte called back and practically fainted in relief when her door creaked open.
"pansy you will not believe-" she started before she was cut off.
"sorry to disappoint, but i'm not pansy," mattheo sat at the edge of her bed, smiling at her warmly. charlotte couldn't even begin to imagine why or how he got into her house. and frankly, she didn't want to.
"what are you doing here?" she asked quietly, looking him up and down. he wore shorts, and his knees were dark purple and yellow. his face had what looked like a deep cut slashed across his nose and cheek, and charlotte just wanted to know what happened. she wanted to know why he didn't come back, why he didn't just talk to her.

"i'm sorry," he said, looking down at his hands, which were folded neatly in his lap. "i should've wrote you."
"yeah," she scoffed, "you should've."
"i wasn't blowing you off, though, i swear," he rushed to say, "i had a reason." he added gesturing to his grotesque cut. even with it, he still looked handsome, maybe even more so, and the thought made charlotte equally happy and angry.

"well," she said calmly, "what happened then?"
he grimaced before looking down in what seemed like shame and saying, "alcohol poisoning."
oh. that made sense. you can't write when you're physically ill, and you can't apparate either.

she felt her demeanor soften, "what happened to your face, and your knees?"
"i fell, down theo's hill." mattheo answered with a wry laugh.
"mattheo," charlotte said exasperatedly, "theo's "hill" is the swiss alps. you're telling me you fell down the swiss fucking alps?"
"yes ma'am," he said with a large grin, like it was something to be proud of.

"oh god," she said coyly, moving to sit next to him, shoulder to shoulder. she felt warmer as soon as he was near her. he was like a gold rush. he had grown up rich and beautiful, and he'd stayed that way. he was irresistible, and she was certain she had never felt love as pure as the love he gave her, and she doubted she ever would.

"come back with me," he said, in a tone she could only describe as pleading, "everyone misses you, i miss you." he added quietly.
"i don't know if i can," she said sadly, "my uncle remus-"
mattheo cut her off, "i already talked to him."
"okay then, yeah, i'll come back with you." she replied.
a huge smile overtook his face, and charlotte was certain it had to hurt his cut, but it didn't look like he minded one bit. he reached out and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles softly. in a split second, they apparated out of Wales and into the familiar drawing room of Riddle Manor. it was a great comfort to her, all of it. Esmeralda cooking in the kitchen, the smell of freshly washed linen and oranges.

mattheo smiled at her, and that was the greatest comfort of all. she went back to her room, and changed out of her pajamas into a plain pink sundress, quickly braiding her hair after. mattheo met her in the hallway, like he always did, and it was like she never even left. she grasped his outstretched hand and followed him out to the garden, where they were having lunch, once again. mattheo watched her fondly as she ate, smiling at her comments and laughing at her jokes. charlotte loved how he understood her. she didn't know how she could have ever hated him, when he was so perfect and kind and lovely, but if she could go back, she wouldn't change a thing.

"charlotte," he said softly, enticing her to look up towards him, "i have a question, okay love?"
she blushed slightly at the nickname and nodded, "alright."
"how would you like to go on a trip?" he asked, looking at her carefully like he was trying to gauge her reaction.
she felt herself light up at the suggestion. since she was young, charlotte had always loved to travel.
"i would love to," she said excitedly, smiling at mattheo.

"we could visit my france property," he suggested later as they walked through the gardens, arm in arm. the suggestion made charlotte so unbelievably happy and made them seem so unbelievably real that she turned and kissed him, hard on the mouth. he smiled under her lips and kissed her back, before pulling away and saying, "well, i guess that settles it," he laughed, "we'll go to france."