a sky full of stars - louis partridge

we're going to paris

CHARLOTTE
MONDAY, DEC 10th 2020

Since Margaret passed away, it was finalised that Charlotte would be adopting River and Elliot.
With her recently turning 18, and having a steady life ahead of her in France, it was decided that the siblings would stay together.

"Look," River said, after a minute of silence, "I get that you're being all noble and strong, but you can talk to me about what's going on with you. Fi...finding Margaret, must've been tragic. I know I haven't really been around much to talk, with football and that." He finished chopping the carrots, and tipped them into the pan. "I mean, to be honest I find it easier to deal with things when I'm out of this damn house. Too many goddamn bad memories."  "Please don't feel guilty for going out. I've been encouraging you to all year. I'm happy that you're enjoying yourself," Charlotte said. "That's all I've ever wanted. You know how important you two are to me."  "I know, and you're important to me too," River said, "but I'm not a little kid like Eli. I'm almost fifteen. You don't have to protect me from everything all the time."  Charlotte poured the tomatoes into the pan and continued stirring. "I never intended to make you feel like you're younger than you are. I know how strong you are, Rivvy." She turned her head to look at him, grinning wickedly at the sight of his ferocious scowl. He hated that nickname. Margaret's friends used to call him by that name all the time when they came over.  "Shut up, Lottie" he goaded back, using the same tactic. It worked her eyes narrowed into an evil glare. God, she hated that nickname.  She lifted the wooden spoon out of the pan and flicked it in his direction, smattering his face with fine droplets of tomato sauce. His eyes widened in shock.  Charlotte smiled innocently. "Problem?" she asked.  "Not at all." Her brother was unable to prevent the spreading of his mischievous grin across his face as he reached behind him to the sink, full of hot, soapy dish water, and threw a handful at her. Water splashed in her hair and her eyes, and a mass of thick white foam from the dish detergent slid slowly down her cheek, tickling her skin.  "You're gonna regret that," she rallied, before lunging to the sink, grabbing her own handful of soap, and dumping it in his hair.  "Not the hair!" River shrieked. "You've got a whole week to fix it before all the french girls see it" she said laughing, he hit back with some of the tomato sauce from the pan, and she soaked his hair more water, and soon they were engaged in an all-out play fight, each of them trying to one-up the other. Within five minutes, Charlotte's own hair was soaked, and her nose, upper lip and chin were covered in bubbles. Her clothes, too, were wet, and stained with droplets of red sauce, chunks of tomato, and small pieces of carrot.  She stepped back, still laughing, her stomach growing sore from it. "Truce, truce," she cried out, holding her hands up in the universal sign of surrender. River cheered. Charlotte rolled her eyes at him and flicked him lightly on the back of the head.  "You're such an idiot" she said with good humour. "I demand a rematch. Later, not now," she laughed, when he held up the sauce spoon in a challenge.  "Fine, but if you want a rematch, you'll get one, and lose," he teased. "You'll never even see me coming." He lowered the wooden spoon back into the pan full of sauce, and then grabbed another pot out of a drawer and began to fill it with water. "I'll put the pasta on. The sauce is almost finished."  "Thank you," Charlotte said sincerely. It was good to not have to do all the cooking, for once. And mostly it was nice not worrying that Margaret wouldn't be coming home.

When Charlotte finally fell asleep, after hours of staring emptily through the darkness at the ceiling, she dreamt that she was in France, with her brothers. A new beginning. Although she only found herself missing one thing. It was him.

She was forever missing him.

Her momentary pause was enough, the memories caught up to her and crashed over her like a wave. She was left crushed underneath the pressure of it all, unable to see anything but blackness, nobody there to hear her screams. Charlotte jerked awake, sweating and gasping for breath, staring into the darkness. The empty silence in her room was startling, compared to the unbearable noise in her dream.  Eventually, she lay back down, eyes wide open, her heart slowing in her chest. Even as reality began to make more sense around her, the dream slowly fading, she still felt that unbearable pressure, as though she was being crushed to death.  It was impossible to sleep after that.

I'm so sorry, this has taken so long, I lost motivating for this awhile ago. I will finish it though, there's not many chapters left of A Sky Full Of Stars. I hope you all have enjoyed it so far!