Foster parents were supposed to be there for you when your biological parents couldn't, but that was not the case with Charlie. She counted down the days until her 18th birthday when she could escape those that hurt her the most. However, life becam...
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Charlie looked around and was in a room that seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place what it was or where she was at. She was lying on a bed that wasn't the one she had fallen asleep on and everything was... dark. She pushed herself onto her elbows, about to get up when a shadow figure lorded over her. She was pinned and couldn't move as the shadow had grabbed hold of her wrists. She tried to wiggle free, but the figure was bigger and stronger. She gasped in fear, and as the air entered her lungs, she could smell the familiar scent of stale cigarettes and cheap cologne. She knew this figure... somehow.
The panic started rising as she opened her mouth to scream but no sound passed her lips. She tried to move again, but her body refused. Her heart raced and she felt like she couldn't breathe as she closed her eyes, trying to shut out whatever was happening.
Charlie opened her eyes, gasping for breath as she sat up, back in her familiar room. She heard someone stir beside her and looked over to find Ryder still sound asleep. Bringing her knees to her chest, she took a couple deep breathes to try to calm her racing heart.
It was just a dream, she told herself over and over again. Her mind wandered to the guy she met a couple days ago, Jungkook. She grit her teeth and she thought about how she let him go, frustrated at herself for being so stupid... but she couldn't deny the impact the interaction had, his words still echoing in her head.
Even though she couldn't remember much about him, Jungkook felt familiar, and she could tell just by looking into his eyes that he was being honest with her that night. She couldn't make sense of the situation and wondered why she felt such a strong pull towards him. Why did she have this urge to want to tell him about her dream, her nightmare? Why did she want to feel his warm embrace when she didn't even know him?
"Charlie?" a tired voice called her name, causing her to turn around as she saw Ryder pushing himself up to a sitting position before reaching out to her.
"Why are you up?"
She wanted to tell him, but for some reason it didn't feel right. The two of them were close physically, but not emotionally in any way. She tried to recall how they first met and how they went from colleagues to... this, but her memory was still hazy and a lot of things from her past were unclear. It felt like she was trying to complete a 1000 piece puzzle with only a small fraction of the pieces in her possession.
"Just couldn't sleep," she lied as she gave him a half-hearted smile. Ryder moved towards her and started to lightly kiss her bare shoulder before trailing his lips up her neck.
"Need some help getting back to sleep?" he teased as a hand snaked around her waist, bringing her closer to him.
Charlie never really felt anything too intense when Ryder kissed her, but he always knew what he was doing. The warmth of his lips did relax her a little as she leaned back into his touch, trying once again to remember how they had gotten here.
