Changed Since Texas / Post Malone

4.1

Charlie's POV

"Charlie honey, it's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay" I heard my Mom say to me as she gently ran her hand over my long locks, her voice reaching my ears at a muffled tone at best as my sobs were drowning out everything else. I turned my head to look at her, my vision extremely blurred with thick tears covering my irises as I shook my head at her.

"How? How is everything going to be fucking okay? He fucking hates me and it is all my fault" I sobbed out in a language that was slightly foreign, making it even hard for me to understand what language I was speaking.

"Charlie honey, remember I told you that he was going to be like this? It's just a shock honey. Let him take the time to think it through" Jodie tried to say in a soothing tone, her hand running up and down my back. I took in several shaky breaths at her words before lifting my head up and running the back of my hand under my nose to capture the running fluid like a toddler who was crying to hard because they couldn't get their favorite candy.

"That's it, he loves me. I know he loves me. I have to go stop him" I said, pushing myself out of my Mom and Jodie's grasp as I raced towards the front door, quickly pulling it open as I saw Austin pulling out of the driveway and heading down the road towards his hotel. I called his name loudly as I started running down the driveway after the black Mercedes, Rich following closely behind as I felt his arms wrap around my waist before I made it to the end of the driveway.

"Charlie sweetheart, let him go for now. He needs this" I heard him say into my ear as I started struggling against him, beating my small fists at his arms as I tried to get away from him, not even caring if I was causing a scene in their neighborhood.

"No please. I have to stop him, you don't understand" I sobbed, feeling my fight starting to dissipate as I realized I wasn't going to be able to pull away from him. "He loves me, he told me that no matter what he wasn't going to leave me. He loves me" I sobbed, turning into a rag doll in his arms as I slumped down into the grass, pulling my knees into my chest as I started to sob again.

I heard the sound of several pairs of feet making their way down the driveway towards me, but paid no mind to who they belonged to. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen. We were supposed to have an amazing night together. We were supposed to be enjoying each others company and catch up on the parts of each other's life that we missed. Maybe--well no not maybe, more like definitely--get lost in between the sheets with our emotions as we expressed just how much we loved and missed each other after all of these years.

Then tomorrow, that was when this was supposed to happen. I had higher hopes that after the night we should've spent together tonight, he would be more in love and more committed to the idea of us being together that when he found out he would be mad, but he wouldn't have acted like he did in front of his son and his parents. My mind immediately started racing as I thought about the person who started all of this, Casey.

She knew how much I was dreading telling Austin about his son for this exact reason, she knew what the plan was. Yet, I couldn't help but think that she was the one that told him to come here. I started seeing red as I felt my face flush and my blood start to burn as it coursed through the highway of my veins, my head popping up as I looked at the Rich, Jodie and my Mom standing in front of me.

"Where are the keys to the car?" I said, pushing myself up off of the ground quickly as I started to walk towards the house.

"Woah, you are not driving Charlie" I heard my Mom say as she grabbed on to my wrist to stop me from going any further to the house. I turned around to look at her, my eyes cold and piercing as they looked straight into hers.