A Mialotte Story: Good in a crisis

Heart to heart

TW: SA

Carly spent the next half hour opening up to Char about her assault. She doesn't know what came over her, but she was thorough with her delivery. Perhaps it was adrenaline, as she pieced it together out loud for the first time. Despite it being hard to hear, Charlotte didn't mind that Carly was being so open. She knew it was helping the teen to make more sense of the events from that night.

It had been almost 6 weeks since Carly initially mentioned the assault to Char and, it had not come up once in conversation again since then. Charlotte respected Carly's boundaries, as did Mia. And up until tonight after being transparent with Charlotte, Carly had never once been able to say the words out loud. The words that indicated that a victim was ready to start their healing journey. The words of acceptance. The words, "I was raped."

After a big heart to heart, Carly and Charlotte felt their feels and cried their tears and, fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms on the sofa. They lay there peacefully recouping for, what must've been, a couple of hours. Charlotte was startled awake by the sound of her phone ringing from the kitchen, she must've left it there earlier after her call with Mia. Before answering the call, she glanced at the time after not checking it all evening. 10:15pm...oops!

"Char, why on earth haven't you called? I've been worried sick!" Mia blurted out in concern.
"Mia, I am so sorry! I fell asleep with Carly on the sofa, she was pretty exhausted after today."
"No, Sweetheart, I'm sorry. You don't ever have to explain yourself to me. I know you and Carly needed space to talk and, I guess I just felt a bit uneasy when I realised how late it was and I still hadn't from you, that's all." Mia realised that she came off rather possessive and was now waffling apologetically to her sweetheart. She would never want Char to think that she didn't trust her, when really, Mia trusted Charlotte with the most delicate artefact of all. Her heart.
"Baby, it's okay! I know how anxious you get. I happen to think it's sweet that you care so much" Charlotte teased the second half of her sentence with a mischievous grin, trying to lighten the mood. She knew that Amelia Roberts would never associate herself with the word 'sweet.' At least, not in that context!

Charlotte went on to explain to Mia about how Carly's panic attack was triggered by an unpleasant interaction with a flirty dad. "HE DID WHAT?" Charlotte smirked to herself in amusement, realising how her and Mia were so in sync and always on the same page even from different continents. Mia was oddly quiet after her initial reaction, Charlotte could almost hear the cogs turning through the phone. Charlotte continued, voicing how Carly had made the connection to her assault and had opened up like a book. She didn't relay those details to Mia because it wasn't her place, but Mia could sense from Char's tone how big of an achievement this was for Carly.

Charlotte head back into the living room checking on Carly. She needed to think about getting her home soon as her mum was probably worried, but Char hesitated slightly before waking her up. She couldn't seem to shake the uneasy feeling that was creeping in, following her conversation with Mia. Why was Mia so withdrawn? After all that Char had told her, she had expected the outrage to continue or for it to maybe turn into concern. But Charlotte didn't know what to think of the silence that fell.

"Thanks for listening to me, Char. I actually feel a lot better" Carly said as Char dropped her off at home.
"I'll always listen to you, Carly. I'm just glad that you're feeling better! You know, that took a lot of bravery to admit what you did tonight" Charlotte assured. Carly threw her arms around Char in contentment. She was so grateful for Charlotte being so patient with her over the last 6 weeks, and made a note to buy her some flowers and chocolate as a thank you. For the first time in months, Carly got a full night's sleep that night.

The next morning, Charlotte was woken up by the sound of someone struggling at the front door. She was a light sleeper, particularly since her ex husband had moved out and she was home alone often. She creeped towards the stairs with caution, having 999 ready to dial on her phone. What she saw in front of her as she turned the corner stopped her in her tracks and, she now stood at the top of the staircase with a horrified expression.