CHAPTER THIRTEEN!
( VULNERABILITY. )

   YOU DECIDED TO stop at the dock that hung over the river. You just prayed that none of Welton's employees were looking out their windows this late at night. You let yourself cry, taking comfort in the fact that nobody was around to see except the moon. You laid down on your back and stared at the dark sky. After a few moments, your peaceful solitude was broken by the sound of quick footsteps. You turned your head to see Violet's concerned face. You breathed a sigh of relief. You didn't want it to be Charlie, but at the same time, you wished it were him. You wished that he would've at least tried to show you he cared. Did he care? Was this all just a fun little joke to him?

"Hey," Violet said softly. She sat down on the dock beside you and dangled her feet over the edge.

"Hi."

"He wanted to come, but I didn't let him," she explained. "I just thought maybe you'd want to talk to someone else right now, but if you want to talk to him I'll go get him."

"No. I don't want to, at least not now," you sighed. She sat in silence with you for a while before wrapping her arm around you and resting your head on her shoulder.

"I don't think he meant for it to go this way, I think he just didn't think things through. You were right when you said he was a flirt, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. What he did was just idiotic and I think if he knew how it would make you feel, he would've never even said hi to those two fools," she comforted. "Y'know, I'm not a violent person, but if you wanted me to punch him in the face I would gladly do so," she added. You chuckled dryly.

"I think I'd rather do it myself."

"At least let me watch," she smiled. Violet gently removed her arm from your shoulders and subtly turned your head to look behind you. "I think the culprit is behind that tree," she whispered, pointing to a large oak that stood beside the dock. You caught a glimpse of Charlie's brown hair glinting off the moonlight.

"If he wants to apologize he's gonna have come to me himself, I'm not gonna chase after him," you stated. "In fact, I'm going to bed."

"Just wait, I'm coming too," she said, standing up. You smiled at her and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you, I need a friend like you," you smiled. Unwillingly, you let another tear fall from your eye.

"God, I gotta pull myself together," you muttered, wiping it away.

"Hey, it's okay to cry," Violet said gently. You looked up at her and shrugged.

"Not over boys, and not this much," you said.

"You can cry over boys, you can cry over the stars, you can cry over books and over little animals you see on the street. I do it all the time. In my opinion, vulnerability is strength, not weakness. If you have the strength to show that you're human and emotional, you aren't weak. It's a common misconception really," she said earnestly.

You furrowed your brow, that was something you hadn't been told directly before. Sure, you'd read the beautiful plays of Shakespeare and novels of the Brönte's where emotions were portrayed as beautiful and worth showing. You'd heard Keating passionately talk about the power of emotion. Keating was the one who inspired you to show how you felt in the first place. Before him you had been quite knowledgable when it came to poetry and literature, but only after you'd met him did you start to actually let yourself feel the words on the page. When you started to show your emotion, the person you chose to show it to was Charlie, and now you were getting hurt because of it. You told him how you felt and then he did this. Your father had never told you he loved you, never even told you that he liked you. Any time you cried out loud he would tell you to stop, he would tell you that it was bad for the family's image. Tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence were the words that dictated your life ever since you were born.

You pulled Violet into a tight hug before heading towards Welton.

Just before your reached the doors Charlie appeared at your side. He held your shoulder back and forced you to look at him.

"Can I please talk to you?" he pleaded. You looked to Violet who nodded slightly, then back to Charlie.

"Alright, fine, but if you start bullshitting me again, I'm out. And when I say I'm out I mean we're done," you stated. Charlie nodded and gently pulled you towards one of Welton's ancient wooden benches. Violet slipped away to go to bed while the two of you sat on the cool bench. An old lamp post flickered above you, omitting warm, dim light over the campus pathway.

"Y/N you have to know I never meant to make you upset. I just- it was stupid, I know that and I really never meant to hurt anyone, I never meant to hurt you," he said as a few tears fell from his warm brown eyes.

"Well you did, Charlie. Why should I be with you if you're gonna be running around with girls all the time? I can't do that to myself. Y'know, when I first started talking to you I thought you were such a douche, flirting with girls left and right and living without a care because your father already paid for the rest of your life through a trust fund. Then I got to know you and I thought I was all wrong about you. I thought that I'd misjudged you completely and you were actually a sweet guy. Now I'm not so sure," you snapped. Charlie stared at you for a moment, more tears streaming down his face. You wanted to just pull him in and hug him but you knew you couldn't.

"Please, just let me show you that you were wrong about me. I was an idiot, I see that now. I never wanted any of this, I just want you," he said, wiping his eyes. Seeing Charlie in tears started up your waterworks again.

"Okay," you whispered through tears.

"What?"

"Okay. I just have this problem where I can't open up to people because I'm terrified of getting hurt and looking weak. I finally started to trust you, and that scared me," you muttered.

"I'm sorry," he said again, pulling you into his chest. "Let me give you a reason to trust me again."

"Okay, Charlie."

You wrapped your arms around his torso and rested your head on his warm shoulder while he held your waist, his tears dampening your coat.

"By the way, Charlie, if you were gonna bring girls you should've at least brought some with brains," you laughed into his shoulder.

"Yeah, they were pretty dim. I've already got one with brains though, not only brains but beauty too. Can you believe that? She's the whole package," he smiled.

"Okay, tone down the charm, I'm still mad at you."

You let yourself relax into his hold, enjoying the quiet sounds of Charlie's breathing and the softness of his jacket against your cheek. You sat there holding each-other until the rest of the boys passed you.

"Oh, thank god. I thought Charlie was a goner," Neil breathed.

"Good impulse control, Y/N. If it were me Charlie would be in the grave by now," Meeks laughed, ruffling Charlie's hair.

"You guys really aren't helping," Charlie said, a little annoyed.

"Better to be teased than dead, tough guy," you smirked, standing up and holding out your hand for him to grab.

Charlie smiled and held onto your hand, allowing you to lead him back inside the school.

"I forgive you, by the way," you said, pecking him lightly "but I'm still upset."

"I'm sorry, Y/N, really."

"I know," you smiled. He gave you a tight hug before you parted ways.

❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

That was a bit of a rollercoaster ngl. Thanks for sticking through with me guys. I wanted to add some more Violet moments because sometimes boys just suck and you need a good friend (btw pm me to be friends, I like meeting people). I kinda started shipping the reader with Violet for a min there but I swear this is still a Charlie x reader. Idk if Charlie was forgiven too quickly but personally, I wouldn't be able to stay mad at him.

- s.