legacy [james conrad] 2

Chapter 12

Charlotte takes in a deep breath, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning her back against the cool wall, her eyes closing as a gust of wind swishes though her hair.

James is besides her, looking at the gigantic train across the street from them, blocking out the yelling of the soldiers.

In a few minutes, they would be boarding that train in front of him and going off to face a monster like no other, none of them knowing what would happen.

"I was assaulted, you know" Charlotte suddenly begins, looking at the ground in defeat.

She didn't know why she was telling him this. For some odd reason, she felt the need to tell him about it, to let it off her chest.

"Assaulted?" James questions, looking from the train to Charlotte, his eyebrows bunched together.

Worryness floods through his system, and he stands off the wall, his body turning to face her.

"What?" He whispers to himself, looking at her.

Charlotte nods, looking around at the bright blue sky, trying to wipe the images off her face.

"It was behind one of those pubs in Scotland. There was this man, and he... he ambushed me in a dark alley with his friends, and then he beat me up, and eventually stopped and left me there to die." She trails off, looking at the ground.

"And I mean, I let him do that, because I had no one. My mom had just died, and you were gone, and I was all alone" She whispers, turning to look at James.

For the first time in two years, all the feelings, all the hurting, all the sleepless nights came flooding back. And this time, she couldn't control it.

James sighs, his fists clenching.

He couldn't believe it.

Shaking his head, he turns his back on her, suddenly angry.

Then he turns around to face her, looking at her in the eye.

"What did they do to you?" He questions, his eyes filled with concern.

Charlotte shrugs, looking at the ground.

"Cracked ribs, contusion to the head, sprained wrist, bruised neck, arms and chest, I don't know what else. The list was infinite" she says, finally looking up at him.

James lets out a savage curse, turning around and running and hand through his face, letting out a breath before turning harshly back to her.

"Did they- did they..." he stumbles for the right words, rage filling up on him.

Charlotte cocks her head to the side in confusion, not getting where James is going for a second, before she finally does.

Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head.

"No! God no! I don't know what would have happened if they did" she tells him, trailing off.

James nods, running a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up at odd angles. After a moment of silence he turns around to look back at Charlotte.

"I don't get it. You're not alone, Charlotte. Can't you see? You have me, and I don't know, your brother, and you have- and you have... you have me" His tone softens as he points to himself.

"You weren't there, and I didn't know where you went. I didn't know if you had moved on, I was alone, I didn't have a reason to keep on going" She tells him, her voice full of emotion.

James sighs, shaking his head before walking to her.

"You're never alone. You get me? You're not alone" He tells her softly, looking at her in the eye.

Charlotte nods quietly, looking up at him without uttering a word.

As they stare into their eyes, everything seems to fade away. There are no soldiers, no monsters.

It's just James and Charlotte.

And then james finds himself doing something out of pure impulse.

he kisses her.

At first Charlotte tenses up at the sudden movement, but soon, she finds herself relaxing against his lips, leaning into him as she wraps her arms around his neck.

After a few seconds she pulls back, her eyes opening as she stares at him.

"Why... why did you do that?" She finally whispers.

"I don't know" James declares, breathing heavily as he watches her.

The truth is, he did know. He loved her, and he had had every intention of doing that.

But she couldn't know that yet. He feared she would run, and they would be apart once again.

Besides them, someone clears their throats.

"Are you done yet or do I need to wait a couple of minutes 'till you're done?" Ford questions, looking at the both of them.

Charlotte snaps herself away from James, wiping her lips off with the back of her hand before facing Ford.

"yeah. We're. Um - we're good. Lets go"

She says, grabbing her duffle bag from the floor and walking forward, across the street and into the train.

She pulls herself into the train staircase, hauling herself over the railing and then shaking hands with some soldiers.

Then she briefly look at James. They hold eye contact for a moment, before she continues to speak to the soldiers in front of her.

"You good, man?" Ford questions to James, looking at him intently.

James nods, still staring at Charlotte.

"yeah, I'm good" then he looks down, grabbing his bag from the floor.

"Lets go"

+++

I am so sorry this chapter is so sappy and fluffy, I just I kinda wanted them to move on with their love story, and them finding out that they have a soft spot for each-other!

Anyways, next chapter should be up in a couple of days