ROYALTY ⇢ TOM HOLLAND (HIATUS)

FIFTEEN ⇢ HOME

24 hours

NOBODY had heard from or spoken to Carlson Evans in over twenty four hours. The initial shock had worn off and Chris sent his mother back to her hotel in anger. He then proceeded to punch through his living room wall, his knuckles bleeding harshly.

It took awhile for everyone to calm him down, and no one even bothered to speak to Tom, who had been sitting his in his chair for an hour, his knuckles stark white as he clenched his fists.

The others could only stay in a state of shock, confused as to how someone as kind and loveable as Carlson could face something like that, how anyone could face something that terrible.

She knew they were probably worried sick about her, but she didn't know what to say. How could she come back from that? She'd been hiding it since she was thirteen years old, and she knew Mr. Thompson was still teaching.

In a way, she was ashamed of herself. What if he had done the same thing to other students that he had done to her? What if because she didn't tell someone else, other children were suffering silently because of her.

She sat on the hotel bed in shame, and finally decided it was time she called her brother. "Carlson, where the hell are you? Are you okay? Tell me where you are so I can come get you?" His breaths were quick and erratic.

"No," she sobbed, "No, I'm not okay." Chris felt his already broken heart sink at the realization she probably thought about what happened to her everyday in complete silence, pretending to be perfectly fine. "C'mon Carl, tell me where you are so I can come get you, please? I can bring Tom with me," He said gently.

"No, don't. Don't bring Tom. I'm at the Hampton Inn." Chris breathed a sigh of relief and nodded although she couldn't see him. "I'll be there soon. I love you, you know that right?" He asked as he stood. "I know. I love you too." The line went dead.

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Chris had said nothing the whole car ride, scared he would say the wrong thing and hurt her, or cause her to run away again. Carlson knew he was doing his best to make her comfortable, and she smiled. As terrible as it was, she knew she had begun to be okay when she turned seventeen, and she didn't need to be treated like glass.

"You can talk to me Chris, it's okay. I'm gonna be okay." A silent tear fell down her brother's cheek as they stopped at a red light. "Why wouldn't you tell me?" He choked. Carlson began to cry too, noticing how angry he was at himself. "Because I was scared you wouldn't believe me. It was nothing about you, it was just that if my own mother wouldn't believe me, then who would, you know?" She replied.

Chris nodded silently in understanding. "I was worried sick about you. Please don't do something like that ever again. Please."

She nodded and took his hand in her own. "I won't Chris. I promise, I'm so sorry." "Is that bastard still a teacher?" He asked bitterly. Carlson bit down on her cheek, "Yeah, he is." "He won't be for much longer," Chris growled. "Chris, I don't have any evidence," She replied.

"There has to be something. We're going to find something and make sure he can never ever do this to someone else again. The man deserves to rot in hell," He said, dead set on going to court. "Yeah. Yeah, he does," She murmured.

"Tom hasn't left the living room couch since yesterday night. He's worried sick about you," Chris sighed, and she nodded. "I'll talk to him. I just don't know what to say," She answered. "Tell him what you want to say. You don't have to hide anything anymore, you know that don't you? You will never have to hide from us again."

She bit her lip with a silent nod and waited to get to the house. As soon as they stepped through the threshold of the living room, Tom's bloodshot eyes went wide and he stood from his spot on the couch. "Good God I was so worried," He breathed, but stayed in place as he was afraid to scare her. Carlson sighed and wrapped her arms around him, relishing in the warmth and the fact that he just felt like home.

"I'm not gonna break, Tom, please don't let this change us," She whispered. "But it has changed us. I've realized just how strong you really are," Tom squeezed her tightly as the tension in her shoulders slowly left and she relaxed against his frame. Chris smiled and silently left.

"We're gonna get that man put away, you hear me? He'll never hurt you or anyone else again. I'm serious," Tom rubbed her back as she breathed him in. "I know." She allowed her heavy eyelids to close.

Tom noticed the sudden exhaustian and sat down on the couch, placing her head in his lap as she began to fall asleep. "You're gonna be fine, Carlson. We're all here with you, and you're gonna be fine," he began playing with her hair which caused her to relax further and manage a mere nod in response.

Chris stepped back through the doorway and noticed his sister had fallen asleep finally, and sighed as he sat in the chair across from Tom and Carlson. "I don't understand how someone so kind could be forced to deal with someone so.. so revolting," Tom sighed as she slept.

Chris shook his head, "I wish I had been there. I should've been there," He said. "This isn't your fault. No one saw this coming. He was supposed to be someone who helped children. He took away her childhood, he did nothing to help her, and as terrible as it is no one but him could have prevented his."

"I know. Thank you for being here, Tom. This would be different if you weren't," He replied, giving his unspoken approval. Tom smiled, "I just want her to be happy." "She is when she's with you, and that's all I want. I want her to be with someone that makes her happy," Chris said.

"I hope I can be that person." "You are."

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if anyone has had to go through something like this and believes i'm handling this wrong please let me know, my intention is never to offend or trigger anyone with my story.