Break Free

Tonight

"Charlie..." Nick had been sitting next to her for a long time.

She hadn't even broken down yet and he didn't even know what he was supposed to be doing. Hold her? Talk to her? Give her space? Call Maya and admit defeat?

"I... Uh..." Nick mentally punched himself. Do something, idiot.

"Do you want to go to sleep?" He scratched the back on his head.

Charlie shook her head.

"Do you want to talk?" He wanted her to talk. He missed her voice.

Charlie shook her head again.

"Okay." Nick looked her for a long time. "I know you want to be tough, but it's okay to not be okay right now."

She didn't say anything, but she did flinch when his phone started ringing.

He unlocked her door and answered the call in the hallway.

"How is she?" It was Abby.

"Fine. No thanks to you." Nick grumbled.

"Nick. I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Abby sighed. She felt horrible. She'd been at the police station all day answering questions and putting her boyfriend in jail. Well, ex-boyfriend.

"Really? Nothing rings a bell? He never talked about her or made strange comments?" Nick started pacing. How could she have let this happen.

"No. There weren't any flashing warning signs saying 'hey I'm a crazy man who wants to hurt your friend,' okay?" Abby was in the kitchen while Sarah and Maya sat at the counter listening in.

"Probably because you were always too busy sucking faces with him." Nick clenched his empty fist.

"Excuse me? Maybe if you hadn't been so enchanted by Charlie and taken notice of your surroundings, you could've done something. After all, you are a guy." Abby thought about hanging up to show her anger but she couldn't do that just yet.

"Enchanted?" At this point, Nick was talking so loudly that Charlie could hear from inside the room.

"Oh come on. You're in love with her and you always have been. That's why you paid no attention to anyone else and why you've taken her away." Abby wasn't sure where she was going with this, but she felt angry.

"I'm not in love with her! Have fun with your psychopath boyfriend." Nick was about to hang up but his finger hovered over the end call button when he heard Abby shout.

"What?" He mumbled into the phone.

"Can I talk to her?" Abby asked quietly.

"No." Nick thought about hanging up again. If Charlie wouldn't talk to him, she definitely wasn't going to talk to Abby.

"Then tell her the police want her side of the story. Tomorrow." Abby hung up without saying another word.

Nick stood frozen in the hallway. He had almost forgotten this wasn't entirely over for Charlie.

Once he had gathered up enough courage, he went back inside the room to check on Charlie.

She had changed into her pajamas and was laying on her bed above the covers.

"Here." Nick smiled and pulled on the corner of the covers so that Charlie would be warm.

She crawled over and slipped into the sheets and laid her head on the soft pillow.

"Goodnight." He brushed her hair away from her face and leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.

As he turned to leave, Charlie held onto his hand. He stopped and slowly turned back around.

Although she was still silent, her eyes weren't glazed over and looking off into space. They were staring right at him begging not to be left alone.

Nick was glad that she was finally allowing him to do what he wanted. He quickly turned the lights off in the bedroom and let the moonlight from outside shine in from the window. He kept his sweat pants and his t-shirt on as he crawled into bed besides Charlie.

After a few moments, Charlie turned over and cuddled into Nick's chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. He felt like he was doing something for her and that made him feel a little better about the whole situation.

He thought she was going to cry, but she didn't. She was asleep within a few minutes and her even breathing calmed Nick's anger he'd been holding onto since Maya had called him and told him what had happened.

He closed his eyes and placed his chin on top of Charlie's head. He wanted one night of sleep before things would get worse tomorrow.