One Way~ a Charlie Rowe fanfic

Chapter Six

CHARLIE'S POV:: Two girls across the café were attempting to flirt with me but they were nothing compared to Emma. I was worried about her. Emma wasn't coming in for her hot chocolate anymore and I hadn't heard from her since the movie. Maybe she was sick, thought the reasonable part of my mind. What if she hates you? thought the other half. After all, she did seem awkward after the movie and spending the night. I huffed. "I'm taking my break!" I called into the back and hopped over the counter. The hate side of my brain won. "Hello ladies, I'm Charlie."

"I'm Liz and that's Katy," the redhead, Liz, pointed to the blond on my left who flirtatiously waved at me.

"Nice to meet you girls. Breaks don't last forever so I should probably get going to my station," I got up but was pulled back down by the redhead.

"Sure they do!" She edged her way onto my lap.

"I'm sorry, Liz, but I have a-"

"You're really cute, d'you know that?" Liz began to play with my hair and tug on it gently.

Uh oh.

"Erm, kinda," I answered awkwardly. Katy nudged Liz who promptly stopped playing with my hair as soon as she looked behind me.

"What?" I turned around in my seat.

"So, how many girlfriends do you have?" Emma asked in a clipped tone. Double uh oh.

EMMA'S POV:: I couldn't believe my eyes. He was flirting with other girls after our so called date! I had had enough. Just one last snarky comment. I stood behind Charlie until the girl in his lap stopped playing with his hair. When Charlie turned around, his face was pure fear.

"So, how many girlfriends do you have?" Charlie was at a loss for words. It gutted me to do this to him but I had no choice. "Goodbye, Charlie Rowe." I walked out of the café and swore to never return there ever again, even if Charlie was fired.

"Emma!" Charlie was running after me, yelling my name continuously. I started to jog but with his long legs compared to my short ones, he caught up with me. He grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Let me go!" His grip grew firmer. I narrowed my eyes.

"Please, Emma, listen to me. It wasn't what it looked like, I swear!" I slapped him across the face and took off sprinting towards my house.

CHARLIE'S POV:: She slaps hard. With my stinging cheek, I ran after her and caught up with her in front of her house. "Emma, trust me! Please! They were flirting with me not the other way around!" She spun around and she looked beyond pissed.

"I don't want to be your doll among all your other girls. I want to be the one who has your heart for good not for a date and the few days after. I don't want to be used." Emma was starting to cry.

"You think I would use you? Emma, I would never want to hurt you let alone use you," I was cut off by the front door slamming. Emma and I watched as Emma's supposed father waddled out of the house in boxers, a stained old tank top and carrying a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I looked at Emma for an explanation but the look on her face told it all.

"Dad," she managed to croak before he started to yell at her.

"Don't you dad me. Don't you dare bring home a boy and not tell me. If he lays another foot onto my land, I'll shoot him, ya hear? Shoot him!" He was slurring some of his words and we both knew he was drunk.

"I'm sorry, sir. I just wanted to make sure Emma was safe. I'll be going now," I started to back away before he pointed a finger at me and I paused.

"What's your name?"

"Charlie, sir, Charlie Rowe."

"Well, Charlie Rowe, you stay the hell out of Emma's and my life and my property. Now get lost!" I started to run. I looked over my shoulder and saw Emma shoot me a pleading look before her father crushed his beer can and dragged her inside.

EMMA'S POV:: I stared at Charlie as he ran down the block. My dad tugged at arm and pulled me inside the house which smelled like cigarette smoke and vomit. "What're you trying to do? Make me forever alone?" The response to that was a whip with his belt. He pulled out his old handcuffs and pulled me to the bed. I started to tear up. He handcuffed me to the bed then left the keys on the dresser in plain sight. Tears began to flow down my cheeks. Here comes the mental abuse.

"I think you'll have a fine job at keeping yourself single. You're fat, lazy, arrogant, a pain in the ass, ugly as hell and you talk funny." After that, he left but not after he slapped me a few times. I could hear the fridge opening and closing then the car starting and driving away. Tears poured down my already wet cheeks as I tugged and yanked my wrist free from the cuff but it only drew blood. I sat crying as my blood began to pool around me and thought about what he had said. It was true. 'Ugly, fat' ran through my mind as I watched my reflection in the mirror on the dresser. The mirror showed an ugly story and I wished it would disappear but it only got worse. The next moments were blurred as I began to lose unconsciousness but all I could see was a brown haired boy unchain me and carry me away from the blood.

CHARLIE'S POV:: She was dripping in blood from both wrists when I reached her. The keys were sitting right on her dresser and I grabbed them and unlocked Emma. She laid limply in my arms as I carried her to the paramedics. They didn't let me ride in the back of the ambulance but my mum and I drove right behind them to the hospital. I sat outside of her room next to my mum. She rubbed my back to calm me down but it wasn't helping. The next few hours went by slowly. I switched positions numerous times, got up and paced then finally fell asleep by the vending machines with a Coke. I was sick with worry.

"Charlie, hun, she's awake," my mum was shaking me awake. My head banged against the side of the vending machine and I woke up. Emma was rubbing her eyes with the back of her left hand, which was pretty beat up.

"Emma," I whispered. She looked at me and I could tell she was starting to cry.

EMMA'S POV:: Tears were burning in my eyes as I looked at Charlie. He rushed over to me and hugged me close.

"Emma, Emma," he kept repeating my name softly.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" I asked. I had fleeting memories of what happened. Charlie sniffled.

"Y-y-you were chained-d-d to y-your b-bed w-w-with b-blood p-pooled-d around-d y-you. W-we called-d the paramedics-s and-d t-to the h-hospital. Y-you'v-ve lost-t a lot-t of b-blood. I-I thought-t..." his voice trailed off and he looked weak with sadness. He wiped a few tears off his face and looked me in the eye. "I thought I lost you."

Charlie sat at the end of my bed nearly everyday, reading me his scripts, singing me some songs and joking around with me until I was released a week later.