Trust Me (Phil Coulson Love Story)

Without A Word...

“Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil! Phil!” Charlotte squealed as she used her key to open the front door of her apartment. He had been gone for a month and had promised her that he would be back from where ever he had been and waiting for her when she got home. She had missed him terribly and had not been able to sleep very well without telling him how her day had gone. 
        She had been accepted at a local college and was going to study to be a nurse. She had known this for three weeks now and could hardly stand it that she had no one to share her excitement with. Phil was the only person she knew and he was her best friend. Granted, he was her only friend, but that didn’t matter to Charlotte in the least. 
        Her front door swung open and she was greeted by a dark silence that made her want to cry in frustration. He had promised he would be there and he had never broken a promise before, even when she was not too sure of what he was promising. Charlotte flicked the light on and went to her room, a quick peek in the kitchen and living room confirming what she thought. Phil was defiantly not here. Charlotte dropped her purse on her bed and stripped out of her clothes. Walking into her bathroom she turned the hot water on and stepped inside. Washing with her favorite watermelon scented shampoo, conditioner and body wash, Charlotte shaved her legs and scrubbed at her skin until it was so clean it was a little raw. 
        Getting out and drying off, she wrapped her hair in a towel and rubbed lotion into her freshly washed body. She pulled on a pair of grey sweat pants and rolled the waistline a couple times, and then she grabbed her favorite t-shirt, a blue shirt with the Captain America shield on it, and pulled it over her head. Drying her hair off with the towel a bit, Charlotte twisted it into a messy mass on top of her head and secured it with a grey scrunche. 
        She was upset at Phil not being there like she expected, but mabie she had herd him wrong. She opened her front door and stepped out to grab her mail from her postal slot. Chancing a look, Charlotte froze as she noticed the lights of Phil’s apartment shining under the door. She quickly dropped the mail on the small stand by the door and grabbed her key ring with the keys to both her and Phil’s apartment. She locked her apartment door and soon found herself in front of Phil’s door. 
        Opening the door, the first thing Charlotte saw was Phil’s travel bags on the floor in the hallway. The lights were on in the front hall, but the living room beyond that was dark. Another light from the bedroom drew Charlotte’s attention. She closed the door softly and padded her way towards the bedroom, her bare feet making no sound on the hardwood floor as she went. The silence was defining and threatened to crush her. The light, she noticed, was not that bright and realized it was coming from the bathroom. 
        As she peeked around the corner into the bedroom, a strong hand flew out and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her fully into the room. She let out with a small scream as she was tripped with the force of a sweeping leg. She winced as her back slammed against the hard floor, bit her lip enough to make it bleed as her head made a loud crack when it connected with the hard wood. Her vision blurred as she felt a heavy, hard body straddle her chest, trapping her arms to their sides. Her eyes widened in fear as her vision cleared and she saw Phil on top of her, every muscle in his body tensed and ready. 
        Ready for what? She had never actually seen this side of Phil. She had passed out before, when he had rescued her the time they first met. It scared her to death as she looked up into his emotionless eyes that seemed to stare straight through her. 
        “…Phil?” she whimpered a bit, tears quickly filling her eyes at the pain. Her body hurt from hitting the floor so hard, but that was nothing compared to the pain of his cold stare. Her voice must have jolted him out of it, because a confused look crossed his face for a second before he recognized her. 
        “Charlotte!” he gasped in horror at what he had just done. He quickly got off her and watched her for a reaction. He could see that he had scared her quite a bit and waited for her to react first. She tried to sit up, but her head protested and the room shifted in her sight. She felt a gentle hand on the back of her neck and she was slowly pulled up until she was sitting. She turned to look at him and his heart wrenched painfully as a tear escaped her eye. He couldn’t hold back any longer and placing his hand back behind her neck, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her up next to him on the floor, leaning against the foot board of his bed. He was relieved that she did not resist when he pulled her head to rest in the crook of his shoulder. He kept one arm wrapped around her waist and the other went around her shoulders as he held her close. 
        The silence was terrible and he was afraid to say something as he sat there feeling Charlotte’s silent, trembling body close to his. He took a chance and spoke, knowing she deserved an explanation about his actions. 
        “I’m so sorry Charlotte! I have been on edge for the last couple weeks and didn’t think when I heard the door. I just reacted.” He whispered in her ear softly and sincerely. “I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose. I love you.” 
        Charlotte hid her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his body, holding him tight. Phil winced as his cracked ribs protested to the pressure. Charlotte loosened her grip and pulled back to look at his face, a worried frown on her face. When she finally got her first good look at his face her eyes widened in shock. 
        His lower lip was split and his nose was all black and blue, a strip across the bridge telling her that it had been broken. His right eye was so swollen that he could just barely open it. From the way he tensed up when she hugged him, she would have wagered a guess that he had a couple ribs that were fractured at the least. She knew he wouldn’t want to talk about it. He never talked about his work and he never asked her about her past. They skirted around those topics. 
        Charlotte got to her feet and held out her hands to help him up. With some maneuvering, he was finally on his feet. She pulled him over to his bed and she helped him into bed. She silently padded into the bathroom and got a cup with some water, along with some ibuprofen and a cool, wet rag. Walking back into the bedroom, Charlotte watched as he downed the meds with the water. She set the cup on the night stand and sat on the bed next to him, dabbing the cool, wet rag all over his face. 
        The caring that she showed to him made his heart ache with love. He didn’t know how he lived before her, but he did know he didn’t deserve her. She was scared and shocked at his actions, but she had forgiven him and proceeded to take care of him, all without a word. 
        Phil reached up and took the rag from her; she had a bit of blood in the corner of her mouth. She must have bit her lip when she hit the floor. He stretched his arm up and dabbed the blood away from her face. Then he tossed the rag across the room and into the hamper. He scooted to the other side of the bed and pulled back the covers as she crawled in between them with him. He wrapped his arm around her as she settled her head on his shoulder and placed a hand on his chest, careful of his ribs. They lay there like that all night, sharing each other’s warmth and comfort with one another. Neither of them said a word to the other, because nothing needed to be said.