My Broken Luna (REWRITTEN VERSION)

3. I Don't Want You To Hate Me

3. I Don't Want You To Hate Me: Xander's Pov

*9692 words

Question of the Chapter: what do you think of Charlotte and Xander's relationship right now?

(three days later)

"Do you need any help?" Charlotte asks, drawing my attention away from the computer screen. We've been in the home-office for the past two hours and I'm realizing that she may be getting bored. Although, I'm certain she won't admit it.

"This stack of papers," I grab the pile of issues I haven't gotten around to yet. "It would be great if you could sort them by category. Financial concerns, rank and position requests, stuff like that."

I watch as she takes the papers out of my hands and takes a seat on the floor a couple feet away from my desk, seeming more than happy to be assigned a task. "You can stay here and do that on the desk, sweetheart." I tell her, trying to get her to understand that she doesn't have to sit on the floor. "Or you can sit on the couch if you need more space than the desk."

However, all I get is a shake of the head. She's already in work-mode.

These past couple days have consisted of Brody and I trying to get her to become comfortable with us and open up. We still haven't been able to gather any information about her whereabouts these past years, but we believe we'll get the answers we want once she's more willing to communicate with us. Whenever I ask her questions, I try to make sure they're open-ended and don't always allow her to shrug in response. Speaking with Brody over the phone has also improved her communication skills. Without the ability to shrug or shake her head to give an answer, she has no other choice than to be verbal with her responses.

Just yesterday, she managed to walk without the help of her crutches. She's healing fairly quicker than everyone thought, but we fear this improvement will hit a plateau due to her lack of appetite. Charlotte becomes full very quickly whenever we sit down for meals, but she never resists when I tell her it's time to eat. While I'm doing pack-work or we're just lounging around watching tv, I'll make sure she has a snack. And although she hasn't ever finished a snack, she still manages to eat a little bit.

One way I've been getting her to eat more is by introducing new foods every other meal. Ever since trying gummy bears and pancakes for the first time, I realized she's curious to try new foods. It's just difficult figuring out what she doesn't like because she won't speak up when she dislikes something. However, the one thing she's constantly showed a strong liking towards is orange juice. So from this point forward, we will always have orange juice in the fridge.

I check up on Charlotte every fifteen minutes or so for the next hour we're in the office. The entire time, she doesn't utter a word. "Thank you." I briefly skim through her separated files before placing them back on my desk. "Are you feeling well enough for a walk?"

She nods and allows me to help her up off the floor, following me out the office when I take her hand. I learned that if I don't specifically tell her to go with me somewhere, she'll just stay exactly where I left her. So now whenever I'm in shower or doing something on my own, I'll FaceTime Brody so the two of them can talk.

"I figured you would want some fresh air after being stuck inside the house these past few days." I say as we leave through the front door. I make sure to keep my pace slow as to not overwork Charlotte. I always try to carry her, but she's always constantly telling me that she's fine to do things on her own. Of course I want her to be able to do things independently, but the shaking and trembling she constantly experiences doesn't make me any confident in her physical strength.