Next to Me

Chapter Sixteen: Moving Too Fast

Stepping into his home, Sergio couldn’t shake the bad feeling that seemed to consume him; he didn’t know what was wrong but he knew that it had something to do with his girlfriend.

“Charlotte I’m home,” the Sevillian called as he looked around the house, he furrowed his brow as he wondered where the blonde was; she should have been home hours ago and he knew she would have called him if she was going to stay out late.

Sergio sighed as he wandered towards his bedroom and wondered where Charlotte was, he was a little surprised that she hadn’t appeared when he had come home; the blonde always came to greet him now and it worried him that she hadn’t.

“Charlotte?” Sergio called again as he set down his bag on their bed before he groaned under his breath and headed back out of their room; he didn’t know what was going on but he didn’t like it especially after everything that had happened.

The Sevillian sighed as he found his girlfriend, he furrowed his brow as he looked at her; there was something wrong and he didn’t know what had happened.

“Nena what are you doing sat there?” Sergio asked as he stepped further into the spare room and headed towards her; the blonde didn’t even look at him as she continued to think about what Mirian had told her.

Charlotte couldn’t believe that she hadn’t known about any of this, she had been so sure about everything and now to learn that she was just some rebound; it hurt more than she could ever imagine.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Lara?” Charlotte asked making Sergio stop and look at her, he cursed his sister for bringing up his ex-fiancée; he had planned on telling his girlfriend at some point but honestly he had forgotten about what had happened a year ago, it wasn’t something that he wanted to think about.

***

Charlotte looked at her boyfriend as she waited to hear what he had to say, they had moved into the living room and she still refused to allow him to touch her; she was hurting and she couldn’t believe that he had been the one to hurt her.

“I never meant to hurt you Charlie… you mean so much to me,” Sergio said as he attempted to take her hand, she pulled back and glared at him; she didn’t want him to touch her, she knew that if he did then she would crumble and she needed to be strong right now.

The Sevillian blinked as he pulled back, he wished that there was some way to comfort her but she wouldn’t let him; he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and tried to think of a way to make things right.

“I feel like such an idiot,” Charlotte said shaking her head, she closed her eyes as she fought back tears and took a deep breath; she had really thought that for once she had found someone that had truly loved her even after a short time but now she could see that she was nothing more than a distraction.

“I really thought you love me… for once someone loved me for me,” Charlotte said as she laughed bitterly, Sergio stared at her as he shook his head; he couldn’t believe that she was doubting them like this, he knew that she was hurt but he had never meant to keep any of this from her in any way.

“I love you Charlotte… I would do anything for you and you were never second best to me,” Sergio said as he looked at her, he wished that there was some way to ease her mind; he wanted to make her feel better especially after everything that she had been through.

The blonde was silent as she thought about what had happened in her life, they had rushed into a relationship and she truly didn’t know him that well; she closed her eyes knowing that he wasn’t going to like what she wanted.

“I want to start my own life,” Charlotte said as she opened her blue eyes and looked at Sergio, she needed to stand on her own two feet after what had happened and she hoped that he would let her; she needed to do this for her.

“That’s fine amor… just tell me what you need,” Sergio said not really understanding what Charlotte wanted, she sighed and shook her head making him look at her confused; he didn’t understand what she wanted if he wasn’t allowed to help her.

The blonde at quietly for a moment as she thought of how she wanted to do this, she knew that for certain reasons that she could never return to Madrid but she needed to get away from Sergio for a while.

“I want you to let me go… I need to do this on my own and rebuild my life right now,” Charlotte said as she ignored the throb in her chest, she’d had a lot of time to think after Mirian had dropped her off at home and this was the only that she could think of working things out.

Sergio stared at his girlfriend as he realised what she wanted, there was no way that he was going to allow her to leave; he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

“Por favor… I need some time Sergio, I need to build my life again before I can do anything else,” Charlotte said as she looked down at her hands, she knew that he wasn’t going to allow her to go even if it was what she needed; she couldn’t stay with him anymore until she figured things out.

“Charlotte… if this has anything to do with Lara then stop, I never meant to keep it from you and I’ll do anything to make things right,” Sergio said as he took her hands, she looked at him knowing that she had to make him understand that it wasn’t just about that anymore.

Charlotte realised just how much she had come to rely on Sergio and she didn’t know anything about him, it scared her that she had fallen for him without truly knowing the man that he was.

“It’s not just that… por favor Sergio, I need to do this for me,” Charlotte pleaded with him, her blue eyes looking into his brown ones as she tried to sort through her thoughts; all of this had happened so fast that she hadn’t really thought of what would happen if she were to lose Sergio.

The Sevillian stared at her as his heart started to break, he could see that she was hurt and confused but he wasn’t sure if he would ever get her back if he let her go; he feared that this could tear them apart.

“I can’t lose you Charlotte,” Sergio said as he swallowed the lump in his throat, he closed his eyes as he tried to keep calm before the blonde squeezed his hand; she moved closer to him as she wondered what was going to happen if he allowed her to leave.

“You won’t lose me… I just need to do this, I need space,” Charlotte said as she allowed Sergio to pull her into his arms, she no longer felt angry; she just felt tired and she knew that this needed to be done before she made any decisions on her future.

Sergio held her close for a moment then he sighed as he thought about what she wanted; he knew that she was right and he wasn’t going to push her into doing something that she didn’t want her to do.

“What do you need me to do?” Sergio asked as he pulled back from Charlotte, he didn’t want her hating him and he was sure that things would work out in the end; the Sevillian trailed his fingers through her hair as he thought about how close things got between them.

"Sergio…” Charlotte said as she realised that he was going to allow her to leave, she hugged him knowing that she was going to have to take things slow from now on; she needed to figure out what to do next.