a phoenix in the fire » fillie

chapter 14 ↝ moving too quickly

LET ME. LET ME LOVE YOU, GIVE YOU THE LOVE YOU NEVER GOT, GIVE YOU THE WORLD YOU NEVER SAW, GIVE YOU THE HAPPINESS AND SECURITY AND PEACE OF A LIFE YOU DESERVE TO KNOW.

"I know this is abrupt since we've only gone out for what, less than a year?"

"Charlie, it's only been two weeks," Natalia giggled lightly. "And five dates, to be specific."

"Well, I already know that you're the one I love."

"Love?" Natalia asked. They were walking in a park, coffees in one hand and the other holding the other's hand tightly.

"Love."

"That's a big step."

"I know it is which is why I want to take it with you."

"Me too," she replied decisively.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just maybe want to start talking about the future and see if we have the same ideas."

"I agree," Charlie answered and sat her down on a bench. Natalia flushed red. "Still flustered when I do that?"

"Yes because it's not every day I get to be around someone I love."

"Throwing that 'love' word around," Charlie laughed.

"No marriage," Natalia abruptly said. "I'm- I don't want to get married."

"Can I ask why?"

"I- I'm afraid of it, I guess. I don't want to be tied down. I love the idea of being in love, but I think marriage ruins it."

"I can't speak for that," Charlie sighed. "My parents loved each other."

"Mine don't. They- it was a messed up marriage. It ended with a messy divorce in high school."

"I'm sorry, Natty," Charlie whispered.

"It's the past, and I just don't want to have people around us go through that. I don't want to like hurt people, I guess."

"Do you believe we're in love?"

"I don't know what love is. How was I supposed to know what it was when my parents never had it?"

"Maybe that's what marriage should be for you. Maybe marriage is how you can learn to love and how to share that love," Charlie smiled.

"That's a pretty way of putting it. And another thing besides marriage— kids," Natalia said.

"Kids..."

"Do you not like them?"

"I do, I just don't know if I'm necessarily ready for that."

"I want kids," Natalia sighed. "They're just scary."

"I don't know either, Natty. Before I forget to ask, will you be my date to my cousin's wedding?"

"Of course, yes," Natalia smiled.

"It's in a month, which is more than enough time to decide what we're going to do."

"I know that you're someone I'm willing to share my future with. You're someone I want to love and cherish for the rest of my life, and I know this is sudden. I know this is a whirlwind romance, one we should probably think about long and hard before we continue, but if you're the one, if you're really the person I'm fated to love, then it will all make sense. It will all fall into place, which is a risk I'm willing to take," Natalia carefully said. She clutched her coffee tighter and looked into Charlie's eyes. He smiled back at her comfortingly and leaned forward, lightly placing his lips onto hers. She tasted like the white chocolate latte she enjoyed so much. Hastily setting her coffee down, Natalia wrapped her fingers onto his shirt, crumpling the cotton material.

"No one I'd rather spend it with," Charlie breathlessly answered and leaned his forehead against hers.

—

David Harbour sat at his desk, rubbing his forehead. Millie was presumed dead, but he knew the truth.

Millie was still alive, and she was frolicking in some field somewhere. He didn't know how he knew, but he had this inkling that she wasn't dead. Millie was an angel almost. Perfect girls didn't have perfectly wrapped up stories, especially when said girl was only 15.

She didn't deserve to be happy. Millie Bobby Brown was rude and undeserving of such a peaceful end. Millie was alive, and David would prove it. They'd place her in an asylum and call it done, wiping their hands off on their immaculate name-brand clothing, never realising the girl they had locked up was guilty of a far heinous thing.

Murder.

He opened the case file for her disappearance, reading through it. Sighing, David harshly closed it and strode out of his office.

"Do we still think she died naturally?" Officer Callahan asked. He, along with Officer Powell, were the other two police members assigned to David's task-force.

"I'm going to pick up the autopsy, and we'll see from there." David got into his car and drove about a mile to the morgue. He entered the building briskly, pausing only to flash his badge to the secretary. He entered the morgue itself, watching as the doctor pulled back the sheet from the body.

"We have reason to believe this body may not belong to Millie Brown," the doctor started to say and handed David the autopsy report. "There was dirt found under her fingernails, so we presume the COD was suffocation in a large box, in which the victim was buried alive."

"But this body may not be Brown's?"

"We have evidence that agrees with it. Though a small amount, it's enough to be significantly worrying."

"What evidence?" David asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The body we have here is an approximately sixteen to eighteen year-old girl."

"That would make sense since Millie was only 15 when she disappeared."

"It's the fact that this body is closer to being eighteen than sixteen. Either way, the rest of the report is summarised in the packet."

"Thank you," he replied, watching as the doctor left the room. The door swished shut softly.

David walked closer to her body and examined her face. He saw a semblance to Millie. If he was far away and squinted to see this girl, he would think it was Millie. Up close was a different story. It only confirmed his deep-rooted fear. Millie was still alive, and she wasn't going away anytime soon.

—

He entered the attendance hall, smiling at the guidance counselor, Ms. Winona Ryder. That was Millie's adoptive mother. He was dressed in a collared shirt and tan khakis. He looked immaculate, groomed to perfection.

"I'm a new student," he said, raising his head up to meet the eyes of the counselor. Her eyes were tired and empty. How could someone still be working at a place in which they were reminded of their child everyday?

"Name?" Ms. Ryder asked, typing onto her computer.

"Romeo Beckham."