Remember This✔

Chapter Eighteen

Charlie awakens sometime in the late afternoon with a horrific headache. For a moment he is dazed and isn't sure why his arm feels tight and restrained. He feels the sling and then he remembers. He takes a couple of pills with a sip of water before he leaves the bed. He walks over to his phone that he left on charge and he reluctantly turns it on. He uses the bathroom, brushes his teeth and starts to get ready, difficulty, as his phone vibrates nonstop behind him. He ignores the messages—mostly from his mother—and tries to put on his shirt using only one hand.

Once the shirt is on he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He stares at the sling on his shoulder and it's a physical reminder of everything that happened last night. It's a reminder of Molly's pain. He stares at the scratches and cuts on his hands, also another reminder. She's everywhere. She's on his skin. He needs to get her out of his mind but he doesn't know how. He sits at the end of his bed for a long time just thinking about last night, about everything he wants to forget.

"Charlie!" his mother's voice squeals from downstairs. "Aubrey's here!"

He must have drifted so far that he didn't hear the doorbell. He hears his mother tell her to go upstairs and Charlie can't even bring himself to move. He rubs his head and his eyes as Aubrey walks into his bedroom.

"It stinks in here," she mutters. "Have you only just woken up?"

"Yeah," Charlie says.

"Jesus, what happened to your arm?" She walks around to get a better view and Charlie covers his arm and turns away from her.

"Nothing. I just had an accident."

"After you left my place?"

He nods. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you've been ignoring my calls and texts all day." She walks over to his phone and picks it up. "You haven't even clicked on them."

"My battery died; it's only just charged. I don't really feel like talking right now, can we talk tomorrow?"

"No," she laughs, dropping the phone back on Charlie's desk. "We are going to talk now, Charlie because if we don't then there won't be a tomorrow for us."

"I thought that's what you wanted."

"It isn't," she says. "Look, we fight okay? It's what we do. We fight and we make up. I'm sorry if I upset you last night, you just caught me off guard when you turned up. Why don't we go out tonight instead? My friend's having a party and it's not too far away."

"I thought you were working tonight?" he questions.

"No, I've got this weekend off. I think this party will be good for us."

"I'm not really in the party mood," Charlie says quietly. "But you go, have fun."

"I'm trying here," she says angrily. "I don't get what your problem is. We don't have to go to the party, you can come around my place and we'll just watch a film or something. I don't care. I just want to spend time with you."

He laughs unexpectedly. "I haven't heard you say that in a while."

"Because I mean it." She narrows her eyes and walks towards him. She separates his legs with her knees and slides astride his waist. He wants to push her away, but he can't find the energy. "Spend time with me tonight. Please. I'll go easy on you."

She runs a finger down his sling and he finally looks at her. "Okay," he says.

Her face lights up with joy. "We can get a take out and lounge on the couch. . . or maybe the bed." She leans down to kiss him and Charlie sighs against her lips. He kisses her back, barely, but she can tell something's wrong. "Sorry, are you in pain?"