Why Me?

7. One long night

After a few hours, everyone slowly filtered out. Not long after, the girls both said goodnight to each other before walking upstairs and into their separate rooms. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Charlotte to settle into a deep sleep, her being exhausted from not sleeping the night before and then moving out today. Although Reece, Marjorie, and Autumn were really helpful throughout the day, it was still physically and mentally draining for Charlotte.

As the night went on, Amelia finally drifted off to sleep. After a couple of hours, Mia heard a faint sound of movement coming from the room next door, She listened quietly. "GET OF ME! Stop.... no, please.... owww!" Charlotte screamed while thrashing around in the bed, sweat dripping from her forehead. Mia jumped out of bed and raced to Charlottes' room. Pushing open the door. She quickly knelt on the floor next to Charlottes bed, holding onto one of her hands.

"Charlotte, Char, hey, it's only me, Charlotte. Can you hear my voice? It's me, Mia," she spoke calmly before slowly moving closer, gently shaking her shoulders. "Char, it's only me," Mia whispered calmly. Charlotte sat up bolt upright, trying to catch her breath. "Okay, sweetheart, it was just a bad dream. It's just us here. You are safe." Mia hushed as Charlotte sobbed.

"Listen, I'm going to move and sit with you and hug you sweetheart," Mia whispered before moving slowly to sit on the bed next to Charlotte, carefully wrapping her arms around Charlottes shaking body.

"M-mia, i can feel his hands on me," she sobbed into Mias shoulder. "How about you go and have a shower and get nice and clean then come and sit on my bed for a bit." She whispered as Charlotte sobbed. "Come here, sweetheart," Mia whispered as she carefully lifted Charlotte onto her lap. "Try and listen to my heartbeat, okay." she whispered while rubbing Charlottes back slowly and gently rocking her. Mia had experience with this since she would look after autumn when she had nightmares.

It didn't take long for Charlottes sobs to subside. "Let's get you in the shower, sweetheart, and i will sit outside the door." Mia whispered, Charlotte nodded slowly as Mia stood them both up, Charlotte clutching onto Mia tightly. "Come on, it's okay. I will keep you safe." she hushed as they made it to the bathroom. Mia turned on the shower before placing a towel on the side. "I will find you some pjs and be just outside the door." She whispered as Charlotte nodded slowly. "Take as long as you need." With that, Mia walked out the room and went off to find one of her hoodies and a pair of Charlotte shorts, leaving her in the shower.

"Mia! MIA! COME HERE, PLEASE! MIA!" Charlotte screamed from the bathroom. "Okay, okay, I'm coming," Mia hushed as she walked into the bathroom. "I can't get clean." she sobbed while sitting under the water scrubbing her skin till it was bright red. "Okay, sweet, it's okay. Do you want me to wash your hair for you?" Mia asked softly, Charlotte nodded slowly. Mia took her time to wash Charlottes hair, humming softly as she did. "Okay, it's all done. How about you get dried off and changed, and i will wait out here." Mia offered, but Charlotte shook her head quickly, looking down at the floor. "Help." she mumbled sadly, Mia turned off the water and held up Charlottes towel, wrapping it around her body. "You are safe, and it's all going to be okay." she hushed, pulling Charlotte into a hug.

"If you want to sit at my dressing table, i can dry your hair with my hair dryer." Charlotte nodded slightly. Mia gently led Charlotte over to her seat. "Baby girl if you want me to stop at any point tap the side two times you dont have to say anything" Mia whispered before turning on the dryer and starting to do her hair, Mia was careful not to pull any tangles or over stimulate Charlotte to much. She watched her facial expressions closely through the mirror. After a couple of minutes, Mia turned the hair dryer off and put Charlottes hair into a loose plait. "Let's get you dressed and into bed. You can sleep with me if you want or you can sleep in the spare room." Charlotte just nodded before taking the clothes from Mia. "It's okay, you can say what you are thinking. Im not going to raise my voice or hurt you." she reassured her, Charlotte looked up at Mia nervously before looking away again. She took herself to the bathroom and got changed.

By the time Charlotte came back, Mia had climbed back into bed. "M-mia can i stay with you" Charlotte asked her voice barely above a whisper, if the room wasnt silent, Mia wouldn't have heard her "Come and get in sweetheart" she whispered, pulling back the duvet for her to get in. Charlotte got in, staying on the edge. Wrapping her arms around herself tightly. "Would you like a cuddle?" Mia asked as she watched her closely. "I-I'm okay. I can h-hug my myself. It's n-normally how i s-sleep, " Charlotte stuttered. "Come here, and I will hug you tonight." Mia whispered calmly. She shuffled closer to her and placed her head into mias chest. Mia wrapped her arms around Charlotte gently, rubbing her back slowly. "I promise to protect you and never let anyone hurt you again, shhh. You get some rest."

Just as Charlotte began to settle Mias phone rang next to her, Charlotte jumped before tightening her grip around Mias torso. She rolled over and looked at her phone. "Shh, it's just Reecey ringing me." she whispered before answering the phone. "This better be good. You scared Char for this!" Mia snapped down the phone while rubbing Charlottes back. "Marjorie told me to ring you and warn you about Charlottes sleeping," he told her down the phone. "Tell Marjorie that's she's to late for a warning, she is fine now but today was a massive trigger and we had to have a shower to get clean so tell Marjorie that if she wants to give warnings she needs to do it earlier" Mia told her sternly. "C-can i speak to m-marj?" Charlotte muttered to Mia. "Reece put Marjorie on the phone, Char wants to speak to her," She told him. Passing the phone to Charlotte.

"No, I'm fine now. Mia looked after me, and she's now hugging me. I needed to be clean, but i couldn't, so she washed my hair and dried it for me." she explained to Marjorie. "Okay my love, i will let you get some sleep, see how you are feeling tomorrow and maybe me and Reece could pop over to see you for a bit and yes i will be nice to Mia before you ask." Marjorie joked. They both said their goodbyes before hanging up.

"Mia, i feel sick, but tired, but scared, but cold, but hot, but awake." Charlotte rambled with panic in her voice. "Right sweetheart, you can get some sleep, and I will hold you till you wake up so you are safe. You can take the hoodie off, and i will find you a t-shirt so you aren't so hot, and if you think you might be sick, then we can sit in the bathroom." Mia whispered calmly. Charlotte nodded. She slipped out of bed and walked to her wardrobe, pulling out a t-shirt and throwing it to Charlotte, which landed in front of her. "Help me, please." she mumbled, making Mia smile, she done her best to keep her eyes off of Charlottes body as she helped change her top before getting back into bed.

Charlotte snuggled against Mias chest. She wrapped her arms around her, gently rubbing Charlottes back, humming softly. She watched as Charlottes eyes started fluttering closed.

After a couple of hours, Mias eyes started to get heavy. Her breathing got slowly as she settled to sleep, her arms still wrapped around Charlotte. Just as Mia settled, Charlotte started to stir. "shhh, it's okay." Mia hushed while half asleep, not really wanting to wake up again. Her grip on Mia tightened, and tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto her chest. "Hey baby, you okay?" Mia asked quietly as she reluctantly opened her eyes. Charlotte nodded slowly while hiding her head in Mias chest. "Oi missy, my eyes are up here, not in my boobs." she joked, trying to make light of the situation, but Charlotte sighed and kept still. "Sorry sweetheart, I miss that cheeky grin of yours that i have seen you make at Marjorie multiple times when you have been winding her up." she whispered.

Charlotte looked up at her slightly before quickly looking away again. "Char talk to me. What's going on in that pretty little head." Charlotte shook her head slowly. "Why are you all of a sudden so nice. You are so mean to Auts, Marj, and Reece earlier, yet you have done nothing but look after me and fail to flirt with me." Charlotte grinned ever so slightly. "Firstly, I'm not flirting with you, and if i was, you would certainly know about it. Come on, i had Reece wrapped around my little finger for 20 years, and I'm a lesbian. Look, with me, Reece and Auts, we grew up together, so there is always a little bit of tension there between us all, but being mean is just our love language. Well, as for Marjorie, i just dont overly like her, but she saved you, and that's all that matters, " she explained softly.