Too Good to Be True

When Charlie said that the cookies were the only sweet thing he was going to get, Matt just smirked. He was sure she knew just as well as he did that if wanted her later, it would end up happening. By this point, Charlie was smart enough not to challenge him when it came to sex or anything, really. When Charlie pointed out the sugar, he grabbed the container, measuring out the right amount of sugar into a measuring bowl. "If that's what you want," Matt said. Going to the freezer, he grabbed the package of chocolate chips.

Once he had his cookie dough made up, Matt turned the oven on to preheat before he walked over to Charlie, wrapping his arms around her waist. Reaching into her mixing bowl, he dipped his finger into the cookie dough and stuck it in his mouth. "Man, I love snickerdoodles," he said. "These cookies were a good idea. I'm glad I thought of this," he added, a teasing smirk appearing on his face.

(you know I just realized, why tf are they making cookies from scratch? )

{eeeh, it's romantic? }

Charlie leaned back against Matt's chest as she finished adding the spices to her cookie dough. Just as soon as she had finished it seemed, Matt was reaching into the bowl to scoop some of the dough into his finger. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him, swatting at his hand the moment that it reappeared. She twisted around to glare at Matt, shaking her head. "That's one less cookie for you now..." she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sorry but that's your loss," Charlie teased as she started to place her rolled cookie dough onto the baking tray, aligning them perfectly so that she would only had the one batch that she had to make. Just means I get an extra chocolate chip cookie, doesn't it?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced in Matt's direction.

"What do you mean that's one less cookie for me now?" Matt asked, putting a playful pout on his face. "That's not fair." Still pouting at Charlie, he moved over to put his cookie dough on the baking tray. His didn't look nearly as nice as Charlie's, but they would still be edible and that was all that mattered. When the oven was finished pre-heating, Matt put both trays into the oven, grabbing Charlie's little egg timer and setting it for fifteen minutes.

"Oh and by the way, you don't get an extra cookie," Matt told Charlie. He smirked, lifting her onto the counter and moving between her legs. "Unless you give me a kiss." He leaned in to kiss Charlie, making sure to be more tender than forceful. His libido might be outrageous most of the time, but he still enjoyed being affectionate with Charlie. And he knew she enjoyed it, too. And the more he made things seem like they were before she found out about his work, the easier it would be to trick her into thinking he was done.

"I do, too!" Charlie declared with a huff, crossing her arms as Matt lifted her onto the counter. "You ate enough dough to count as a cookie so that just means one less for you..." she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders as if it was the easiest concept ever. Still, when Matt kissed her, Charlie melted into the kiss. It was the tender moments like this that had made her fall for him in the first place. She ran her fingers through Matt's hair, giggling as she pulled away from him. Charlie pressed her forehead against his, letting out a content sigh.

"I love you," Charlie whispered, tilting her head enough so that she could kiss the tip of Matt's nose. "Even when you eat the cookie dough and still think you get an extra cookie," Charlie teased as she leaned back to look him in the eyes. "Which means you should make it up to me, don't you think? By giving me an extra cookie!"

Matt smiled as Charlie pulled away from their kiss, making a face when she kissed his nose. "I love you, too," he said. "Even when you think you get an extra cookie. I think we can share, don't you?" He glanced over at the timer on the stove, seeing that they had nearly six minutes before the cookies were finished baking. "In the meantime, we've got a few minutes to kill, so what do you say we act like teenagers and make out in the kitchen?"

Matt wiggled his eyebrows at Charlie before he leaned in to kiss her again. She honestly should be used to this from him by now. There wasn't really a better way to kill six minutes than an innocent make-out session. When the timer finally went off, Matt was genuinely a little disappointed, although it was probably a good thing. "Alright, go on and get your extra cookie, little girl," Matt teased, moving away so Charlie could get down from the counter.

Charlie couldn't help but giggle, shaking her head at the way Matt put his suggestion. Her lips quirked upward in a smirk as she looked over at him, watching as he approached her. "Hm... I dunno about that..." she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders as she set her hands on Matt's shoulders. She leaned into the kiss, relaxing into his touch.

Groaning as the timer went off, Charlie didn't bother to try and hide her pout as Matt moved away from her. While her libido was nothing compared to Matt's, even before she found out about his line of work, she still enjoyed little moments of attention from him without it going to the end. She smirked as she pushed herself off of the counter, moving over to pull out the cookies from the oven. As was traditional with every cookie, Charlie poured them each a small glass of milk. She grinned as she plucked a still warm cookie off of the tray to dunk into the milk before she took a bite.

By the third dunk of the cookie, Charlie hadn't noticed just how soggy it had started to grow and a bit of it fell off into the milk. She looked up with a whine, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Matt. "Your cookies are falling apart!" She accused, jabbing a finger in his direction.

Matt stood by as Charlie poured them each a glass of milk, grabbing a warm cookie from the tray. He only dunked the cookie into the milk twice before he practically stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. "You act like that's my fault!" Matt shouted, grinning at Charlie's playful accusation. "I made the cookies exactly how I was supposed to. It's not my fault you don't know how to dunk a cookie into a glass of milk." He stuck his tongue out at her before grabbing another cookie. Once again, he dunked it twice into his glass before stuffing it into his mouth. "Fhtee?" he said through a mouthful of cookie.

Once they'd both had their fill of the cookies, Matt finished off what was left of his milk and set about putting the cookies into a storage container. If they just left them out, they'd get stale and those just weren't any good. "Alright, unless you've got a better idea, I say we just watch TV or something?" Matt suggested. "I think that one show you like comes on tonight, doesn't it? Whatever you want, it doesn't matter. But I'm going to go upstairs and change first, I'm tired of these jeans."

Charlie's face scrunched up as she watched Matt all but shove two cookies into his mouth, groaning when he spoke around the mouthful. She shook her head, holding up her hand to shield her eyes from the sight. "That is so disgusting," she grumbled, shaking her head as she reached for a snickerdoodle this time around. Charlie nibbled on the cookie as Matt cleaned up, all too happily following him into the living room to settle down and watch a movie.

She couldn't explain why she was tired, she just was and the promise of getting to just relax was wonderful. Charlie cuddled into Matt's side, a small smile on her face as she wrapped her arm lazily around his torso. "Put on whatever. I'll probably just end up falling asleep," she said around a yawn, reaching up to rub at her eyes.

Matt made quick work of changing his clothes, for once eager to just settle down and relax with Charlie. Plopping down onto the couch, he tossed his arm over her shoulders, pulling her close as she leaned against him. "Alright, then I guess I'll just put on that movie you hate," he teased, reaching for the remote. "The one that gives you nightmares." But he wouldn't really do that, mostly because he was sure Charlie would give him hell about it for days if he did. Instead he chose Gran Torino, one of his favorite Clint Eastwood movies.

By the time the movie had ended, Matt could tell that Charlie was asleep and honestly, he was a little tired himself. Turning off the television, he set the remote on the coffee table before getting to his feet, carefully lifting Charlie into his arms. He carried her upstairs to the bedroom, setting her down on the bed before he headed into the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.

{ skipping! also, we totally keep forgetting about their puppy, oops }

Charlie had spent the last half hour bent over the toilet, emptying the contents of her stomach into the bowl. She was experiencing morning sickness and she knew damn well that was what it was - mostly because of the pregnancy test staring at her from the bathroom counter. Matt was out doing, well, she didn't know but she had her suspicions. Things had changed between them but she was still suspicious, things still didn't quite add up the way that they were supposed to. And now, Charlie found that she was pregnant and she couldn't run from that idea. She couldn't ignore the fact that she was pregnant, Charlie wasn't the sort of person that could stomach the idea of getting an abortion. It just wasn't for her.

Feeling like she had no other choice, Charlie packed a small bag and grabbed her keys, Amore eager to hop into the front seat. She was happy for the company up to Big Bear, the possibility of one of Matt's enemies following her not even crossing her mind. She was innocent, wasn't she? What would they want with her?

Charlie was exhausted by the time she drove up to the cabin in Big Bear. She let Amore run around the front yard long enough to go to the bathroom and get out some of the pent up energy from the long car ride. Sighing as she sank down onto the bed, Charlie sighed as she began to run her hand through Amore's fur. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep but she couldn't; her mind was racing with too many possibilities. She was pregnant and nothing would happen to the little one this time, what would it be like, to finally be a mother? Would Matt be able to handle being a father, and the nagging that their child would ultimately do? She hoped so but she wasn't so sure.

[oh fuck, yeah we did ]

Matt knew he should probably feel at least a little guilty that he was continuing to go behind Charlie's back with his work, but he didn't. This was the only life he'd ever known and it made him feel powerful, knowing he was the one who got to decide whether these men lived or died. Most of the time it was the latter, but Matt would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the killing. "Hurry up and dig the fucking hole, would you?" Matt hissed, seeing that Zacky, Jimmy, and Johnny had made little progress with the grave. Brian stood guard nearby, keeping an eye out should anyone happen to stumble upon them, although Matt doubted that would happen.

Matt had been doing this long enough to know that the grave needed to be deep, at least six feet like a more traditional grave. Otherwise, they ran the risk of having the body dug up by a wild animal and that was the last thing Matt needed. Once the hole was sufficiently deep, he and Zacky heaved the body inside and they all quickly covered it with dirt, pressing the dirt down and covering it with a blanket of leaves to help hide it a bit better. "Alright, let's get the fuck out of here," Matt said, waving the guys towards the SUV.

He was eager to get home and check on Charlie. She'd been acting a little peculiar lately and Matt was hopeful that she might be pregnant. Carrying his child would be the ultimate tie to him, even more so than marriage. A marriage could be ended, but a child was forever. And even if Charlie and Matt weren't together, he knew the baby would look like him, even just a little, and so Charlie would think of him every time she looked at their child whether she liked it or not. When he got home, the first thing he noticed was that it was quiet. There were no sounds from Charlie or Amore. Thinking they might be upstairs sleeping, Matt headed upstairs, stopping when he noticed the bathroom door ajar. Peeking inside, he saw something sitting on the counter, a smile blossoming on his face when he realized what it was.

It was a pregnancy test. And a positive one at that.

At some point in the middle of the night, Charlie had fallen asleep with Amore curled up behind her legs. It was a restless sleep where she tossed back and forth, her dreams plagued with endless possibilities of how this was all going to end up. Would Matt lash out when he found out that she was pregnant again? Would it come out that Matt was still working and she'd be upset about it, thus leading Matt off the deep end?

Jolting awake at the sound of breaking glass, Charlie shot up in bed as Amore jumped to her feet. The dog started pacing back and forth on the bed before jumping down and repeating the process in front of the bed. Her brows pulled together as she straightened, reaching to turn on the lamp that sat on the nightstand. She hadn't told Matt she was here but... knowing all that he was capable of, Charlie assumed that it was him. In her still half asleep mind, it made sense. She hadn't even thought about the fact that Matt had a key to the cabin.

"Matt?" Charlie called, pushing the covers away from her legs. She moved to stand, freezing when she heard an unfamiliar voice answer her. Amore started to growl as the door opened and Charlie swore her heart stopped because everything dropped into place in that moment. Whoever was on the other side of the door was out for Matt's head and they were going to try to get to him, through her. Charlie backed up against the wall, reaching for the first thing she could think of - the lamp. She ripped the cord out of the wall, not thinking twice about it.

Thomas grinned as he appeared in the doorway, chuckling at the sight he was met with. Charlie didn't exactly cut an intimidating figure and even Amore didn't. "Ple-" Charlie started to try and plead her case, only to scream as Thomas rushed at her.

---

Charlie groaned as she started to come to, freezing in her movements when the memories came rushing back to her. Her eyes flew open and she was met with the sight of Thomas grinning from ear to ear. "Hey there, sleeping beauty. I think your fiancee probably wants to hear from you..." He trailed off, holding his phone out to her with an expectant look.

"Tell him Thomas wants to meet up with him. Say anything else and you might not be quite as pretty as you are now next time you see him," Thomas said, tsking as he reached out to brush the hair out of Charlie's face. She jerked away from him, sneering as she kicked out in his direction. Her ankles and wrists were tied so she did no real damage but her anger and frustration were both clear.

Thomas produced a knife when Charlie seemed to disregard him, spinning it in his fingers. "Press the call button, Charlie," his voice had taken on a hard edge.

Charlie raised the phone to her ear slowly, unable to stop her hands from shaking. Did Matt even know she had been in Big Bear? Was Amore okay? And it wasn't like she could tell Matt where she was. Even without Thomas' threat hanging over her head, she had no clue where she was and she wasn't so sure Matt would be able to find her. Tears welled in her eyes as she listened to the ring, her breathe hitching when Matt finally answered.

"Matt," she breathed his name, biting back a whimper. Charlie opened her mouth to answer his flurry of questions, only to freeze when Thomas tapped the tip of the knife against her thigh. "I, uh-" Charlie paused long enough to clear her throat. "Thomas wants to meet up with you," she hesitated when Thomas started to speak to her. "Says by yourself. That if you try to pull something... " the threat was left open ended but it was enough for her stomach to churn.

{holy shit, I am sorry }

Seeing that little plus sign on the pregnancy test made Matt happier than he thought it would. Of course, he was happy because being pregnant meant that Charlie would be forever tied to him, but most of his happiness came from the realization that he was actually going to be a father. Before Charlie found about his work and everything went to shit, Matt had wanted to start a family with her. Leaving the pregnancy test on the bathroom counter, Matt went on to the bedroom, eagerly pushing the door open. "Charlie, I--" he started, stopping short when he realized the bedroom was empty. And not only was it empty, but it looked like Charlie had been going through the dresser and the closet. Had she left? Why would she leave? Was she afraid to tell him she was pregnant?

After giving a little thought as to where Charlie might have gone, Matt was left with only one real possibility. There was no way she would go to her parents; they would ask questions. And the only other place she could've gone was their cabin in Big Bear. Matt took only enough time to change clothes before he left the house again, pulling out his phone to call Charlie as he pulled out of the driveway. He wasn't surprised that she didn't answer, but he left her a voicemail. "Charlie? I know where you are. Why didn't you just tell me you were pregnant? You know I wouldn't have been mad, I wanted this. We've been purposefully trying to get pregnant for months. Anyway, I'm coming up to Big Bear so we can talk. I'll see you in a few hours. I love you."

Tossing his phone into the passenger seat, Matt turned his attention to the road. He was nearly halfway there when his phone rang again and he blindly reached around into the passenger seat to find it. He barely glanced at the screen long enough to see that it was an unknown number calling him before he answered. "Hello?" he asked. "Who is this?" Since the call came from an unknown number, he was surprised to hear Charlie's voice saying his name on the other end of the line. "Charlie? Baby, why are you calling from an unknown number? And why did you leave without at least leaving me a note?"

Something was wrong, something had to be wrong. His suspicions were confirmed when Charlie spoke again. Thomas had her? He knew Thomas harbored an intense hatred for Matt, as did many other people, but most of them were smart enough to stay away from Charlie. "Give the phone to him," Matt said. "Charlie, give him the fucking phone!" He waited until he was sure she had given Thomas the phone before he spoke again. "Listen, you fucking bastard, and you listen good. If you lay a fucking finger on her, I'll gut you like an animal do you understand me? Don't you touch her!" Instead of a response, Matt was met with the unmistakable sound of the call behind disconnected. He slammed his phone into the passenger seat. "Dammit!"

[you're okay ]

Charlie felt a shudder run down her spine at the tone Matt used. She had thought she saw him angry before when they had dealt with Lundy or when she had very nearly betrayed him but the pure rage that seeped from his words was enough to scare even her. His anger wasn't directed at her, or so she hoped. Handing off the phone to Thomas, Charlie pulled her knees up. In the back of her mind, Charlie was relieved she wasn't too far along in her pregnancy. At least Thomas didn't know and he couldn't use that against either her or Matt. Her bottom lip began to wobble but she managed to keep herself together, flinching as Thomas hung up the phone.

"Matt didn't seem to want to meet up with me, sweetheart. Guess that I'll just have to send him something to... prompt him," Thomas said, humming as he looked up to her with a sadistic little grin on his features. Charlie's blood ran cold as she tried to back away from Thomas. He laughed, reaching forward to drag her back toward him by her ankle. "Ah, ah, not so fast! We haven't even got started, darling," he teased, brushing his knuckles almost lovingly down her cheek. Thomas pulled back, punching her without warning. Hitting her twice more, Thomas seemed satisfied with his efforts when Charlie's nose began to bleed. Her upper lip was busted and she was evidently crying at this point - her face already swelling and red.

Thomas took a picture with his phone, sending it to Matt with only the location of where he wanted to meet up with it being tomorrow evening. He thought it was appropriate to leave Matt hanging for nearly a day, wanting to assert the fact that he was in control of the situation.

Matt was angrier than he could ever remember being, but he was also more worried than he ever had been. Normally, it was only money that stood to be lost, maybe a bit of his ego. But this time, the lives of Charlie and their unborn child hung in the balance. And Matt would show no mercy when he finally caught up to Thomas, even if he really hadn't laid a single finger on Charlie. Just the fact that he'd Eben taken her was enough for Matt to want to see the life slowly drain from Thomas' eyes. The other man would pay dearly, even if Matt had to tear him limb from limb with his bare hands.

Matt made it to the cabin in Big Bear in record time and he could immediately tell that something was wrong. There were fairly freshly tire tracks in the driveway, although they were quickly being covered by the snow that fell from the sky. He window next to the door was broken, glass littering the porch, and the front door was shoved wide open. The outside of the cabin showed obvious signs of an intruder but oddly enough, there was little to no signs of a struggle inside. Only a lamp that had been ripped from the wall, likely used as a weapon by Charlie when she realized Thomas' presence in the cabin. As Matt stood looking around the bedroom, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Before he even pulled it out to look at it, he knew it was from Thomas.

The sight that greeted Matt when he opened the text message had Matt's blood boiling. He barely read the location where Thomas said he wanted to meet up before he shoved his phone back into his coat pocket, storming out of the cabin. If that fucker thought he was waiting until tomorrow evening to meet up, he was sadly mistaken. He didn't want to leave Charlie with that bastard for another minute and risk having Thomas hurt her or their baby any further. When I see you, I swear to God I'm going to slit your throat from ear to ear. Matt angrily mashed out the message to Thomas, pressing send as he peeled out of the driveway of the cabin.

{had a fucking post typed up, no clue where it went }

Charlie sat as rigid as a board on the couch that Thomas had thrown her on. He was passed out in the chair that was beside her. She knew that she should try to run but the thought of Thomas waking up and putting a bullet in her back just like he had promised kept her cemented in place. Charlie wanted nothing more than for Matt to burst into the room and protect her from Thomas but she was sure Matt had no clue where they were. It seemed, at least to her, that Thomas had covered his tracks well. She wouldn't be seeing Matt until Thomas wanted her to. Her stomach churned at the idea and she let a lone tear fell as she ran a hand over her stomach. She just wanted their little one to be safe. She knew that Matt would come through but she hoped nothing went wrong in the middle.

Shifting around so that she could rest against the arm of the couch, Charlie tried to fight against the fatigue that was settling in. Her adrenaline only went so far and it was beginning to wear off, as much as she wanted to remain awake and alert, it was a losing battle. Charlie let out a quiet groan as she settled against the back of the couch, her eyes fluttering shut as sleep overtook her.

It only felt like a few moments that Charlie had been asleep before she was awoken by the same sound that had woken her back at the cabin. Charlie's breathe caught in the back of her throat as Thomas jumped up, reaching over to drag Charlie up by her hair. "You're coming with me," he hissed, turning to drag her toward the stairs of the house. He pressed the gun to her temple, ordering her to be quiet as they crept up the stairs. His grip tightened on her as they entered the bedroom. Thomas wasn't stupid, he knew that it was Matt who had just entered the cabin and he was going to use whatever advantage he could.

Matt knew exactly where Thomas was keeping Charlie, even before he saw the address, really. It was a good two-hour drive even from their cabin in Big Bear and Matt could only hope Thomas wouldn't hurt Charlie anymore in the time it took for him to get there. Matt tried not to make it too obvious when he finally arrived. Part of him suspected that Thomas knew all along that he would show up early, but part of him hoped the other man would be stupid enough not to expect him until tomorrow evening. He broke the window next to the door, reaching inside to unlock the door. Stepping into the house, he pulled his pistol from the waistband of his pants, clicking off the safety. If he had the element of surprise on his side, he wanted to be able to pull the trigger as soon as he saw Thomas and if he didn't, he needed to be ready to fire to protect himself and Charlie.

Looking around, Matt knew that Thomas had Charlie here. It looked like they'd been down here in the living room until very recently, with Thomas likely spooked by Matt's arrival. This meant that Thomas knew he was here and Matt no longer had the element of surprise, but then again, neither did Thomas. Matt's only disadvantage was that he didn't know the layout of this cabin, so Thomas had numerous hiding spots. Deciding his best bet was to head upstairs, Matt did just that. His steps were slow and deliberate, his finger hovering over the trigger as he crept down the upstairs hallway. He wanted to call out to Charlie, but he knew doing so would give away himself away and he would rather not take a bullet unless absolutely necessary since doing so would inhibit his ability to protect Charlie and their baby.

Charlie whimpered as Thomas wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing the gun into her temple. She winced as he dug it further against her skull, praying that however this went down, that she would be okay in the end. She knew Matt would do whatever he could to keep her safe but she didn't know if that was enough, especially considering Thomas appeared to be the one in control at the moment. "Make a fuckin' sound and I'll blow your brains all over the wall," Thomas growled in her ear making her go silent almost instantly. She sniffled, closing her eyes as she gripped Thomas' arm. She had no way of knowing that Thomas was bluffing, he wouldn't kill the only thing that was keeping him safe from Matt's wrath at this point.

Thomas growled as Matt shoved the bedroom door open, his gaze hardening as he tightened his grip further on Charlie. "You take one more step, Sanders, and I'll paint my fuckin' bedroom with her brains," he spat. Charlie looked up to Matt, a mixture of fear and anger evident on her features. She wanted to kill Thomas her damn self.

"Ever-" Charlie started to tell Matt that everything was okay because she wanted to let him know that everything was okay. That their baby was okay and that ultimately, Charlie was okay. She had a few bumps and bruises but what was that considering what the situation could be? Thomas hissed, cocking the gun. The unmistakable noise was enough to cause panic to well in Charlie's chest. She swallowed, closing her eyes. SHe didn't want to see what was about to happen because she was sure that it wasn't going to be pretty.

Matt might not have found out which room Thomas was hiding Charlie in if he hadn't heard the other man speaking. It was quiet, so quiet he almost didn't hear it, but it was unmistakable in the silent cabin. He slowly advanced towards the closed door, turning the doorknob and forcing open the door in one swift motion. The sight of Thomas pressing a gun to Charlie's temple sent Matt's blood boiling more than it already was, but the other man's threat halted him in his tracks. He had no way of knowing if Thomas would actually kill Charlie, but if he did and it was because of something Matt had done, he would never forgive himself.

"Let her go, Thomas," Matt growled. He tightened his grip on his pistol. "This fight is between you and me, leave her out of it. Because I promise you, if you hurt her again, I swear to God I'll make your life hell. I will kill everyone you love and I'll make you watch while I do it. And then I'll make you beg for your own worthless life before I put a bullet between your eyes." Matt knew that for most people, that would be an extreme overreaction, but for him, it was par for the course for his work. When people wronged him, he wanted to make them pay. And threatening someone he loved brought out that urge at a visceral level.

Matt tensed when Thomas cocked his gun, but he was ready when the weapon was fired and so the bullet only grazed his arm as he stepped out of the way. Matt cursed at the sudden pain, but it wasn't enough to stop him. He lunged at Thomas, knocking the other man to the floor. Charlie tumbled with them, but as long as she no longer had a gun pressed to her temple, Matt knew she was safe. He wrestled with Thomas, trying to get the gun away from him, when suddenly it fired. He felt the pain when the bullet pierced his abdomen, but until he looked down and saw the blood blossoming out across his shirt, he wasn't aware that he'd been hit. Finally, Matt managed to wrestle Thomas' pistol away from him, shoving it in Charlie's direction before he collapsed to the floor. "Shoot him, Charlie," Matt urged her, pressing his hand to his stomach.

Charlie reopened her eyes, her eyes finding Matt's in a moment. She was trained on him, trying to figure out what Matt was about to do so she could anticipate what was coming. She knew Matt well enough to know that he wasn't going to sit and just listen to whatever Thomas ordered him to do. Matt was far too thick headed and that was part of the reason she loved him to begin with. Swallowing the nerves, Charlie stiffened as Matt rushed forward. She yelped as they hit the ground, rolling out of the way faster than she thought she'd be able to.

Shoving to her feet, Charlie watched Matt and Thomas fight. Her eyes widened as the gun fired, dread filling her as Matt grunted. That was all that she needed to know that he had been hit and she was no match for Thomas if Matt went down. Not even having to think about it as Matt shoved the gun in her direction, Charlie dove down to grab the gun. She was far more calm than she had been the last time that she had held a gun. It was a night and day difference because here, it was either going to be Matt or Thomas and she would be damned if it was Matt who didn't make it out of this house alive.

She took a deep breathe as she raised the gun, pointing toward Thomas. Charlie didn't wait to think about it, pulling the trigger. She didn't stop there though, she pulled it a second and a third time before she dropped the gun by her side. Thomas had been hit in the shoulder and twice in the torso. Charlie rushed toward Matt, ripping her shirt off of her body. She still wore a bra so she didn't care one way or another about being shirtless when they would eventually arrive at the hospital. Pressing her shirt into Matt's stomach, Charlie started to shake as her nerves began to take over. "Can you walk? If I help you?" Charlie asked, willing herself to focus the way Matt needed her to.