Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)

"There is always some explaining to do," Charlie said, sighing.

"With Annabelle?" I said, shifting slightly underneath the blankets.

"With the police to."

I tensed at this. The first thing that popped into my head when he said that was Dave's committing of the attempted murder on Slash. I was praying to God that Charlie wasn't somehow involved in what Dave did because that was the last thing that I needed right now. I could be housing a criminal in the bed right next to me. That creeped me out a little bit, making me shiver underneath the warm blankets and sending goosebumps along my arms.

"What have you gotten yourself involved with, Charlie?" I asked him. "How did you even find out where I was."

"Will you let me go from the beginning?"

"Why not?" I replied, my mind reeling.

"When Annabelle got home after you disappeared to God knows where," Charlie began. "It was like going to the sixth circle of hell ten times over. It was awful."

"I'm so sorry...."

"You have your reasons and I can't condone you for that," Charlie said with a sigh. "But you're presence there wouldn't have made it any better, only worse so it was a good thing that you weren't there. Annabelle came home and when she found me on the couch smelling of alcohol, she started throwing things everywhere and went mental. By the time I had really woken up, she had my stuff packed and ready for me to leave. We argued for ages but by the end of it, I was ready to head out that door.

"When I left the apartment, she was begging me to practically come back, which was ridiculous. There was no way I would've gone back. I didn't even bother to take any of the stuff that she packed for me. I just took off without anything, not even my car or my mobile."

"That's why when I called you," I said, everything starting to fall into place. "She picked up the mobile."

Charlie looked to me in the darkness, saying, "You called?"

"I was worried about you, duh," I said, smiling at him. "I've just been so caught up with everything that I haven't really had any time to actually call you.

"That's why you were so excited when I appeared at the door?" Charlie said with a smile.

"Yeah, Annabelle said that she and her brother were looking for you all over town," I said. "Might be a good idea to call her at some point."

"Maybe," Charlie said, his eyes drifting back to the ceiling. "I might do that soon. I don't think it would be a good idea if I called her so soon after what happened between us."

"Fair call, fair call," I said. "But the million dollar question is how you found me."

And I wasn't really looking forward to the answer.

"After I had left I went in search of where you might have gone," Charlie said. "I knew you had stormed out on your dad but I thought there might have still been a chance that you returned home to deal with Dave. So I went to your place but before I went in, I saw Slash go in with his car before I did. Wanting to see what happened, I hid behind what I could while still seeing what was actually going on. I saw everything, Dave shoot Slash and all."

"You know why he did it?" I said, interested in what he had to say.

"I heard something about Slash being a cause for why you left home," Charlie said. "He was so angry at that point and I didn't even know how he got a gun!"

"This is America," I stated, sighing.

"I know that," Charlie said. " I have been living here my entire life."

"But that's besides the point."

"Right," Charlie continued. "Knowing that Slash had come to see you, thinking that you would've still been at home and to talk to you about that album you're making with him or something, Slash was on the ground before I knew it. Shot five times like that."

"Did Dave see you after that?"

"No," Charlie said, letting out a long breath. "Thank God. I was going to flee right after that because I was totally freaked out. Instead, after Dave had retreated back into the house, I thought of Slash. I called the police and brought them to the scene. They were there in an instant and before I knew it, they had pulled Dave from the house and put them into the back of their van.

"Once Dave had left the scene, I revealed myself to them. They questioned me for ages on what I saw. They took me to see Slash but I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. By that point, I had been up almost twenty-four hours, had no where to go and didn't have any money to buy anything to keep me going. That's when I saw you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile at me like I was his saviour. I didn't blame him. When I left home, looking for a place to go, was there for me and he was practically my saviour. Now the roles had practically reversed and I was the one looking after him, save for the fact that I didn't have a crazy, control freak of a partner. What I did have was a bisexual friend who took a particular liking towards me and a new close friend that batted for the other team. My life was becoming stranger by the minute.

"You were with Adam, now that I recognise him," Charlie said, breaking me from my thoughts. "You were going to see Slash and you didn't come out for a while. I was worried because I knew that the police would start questioning you. When you came from the building and kissed Adam, I..."

"Don't tell me you like me in that way," I said, overly annoyed. "Because that is the last thing that I need right now."

"No! Gross!" Charlie said instantly. "Why would I like my best friend like that?"

"I'm just trying to figure out what is going on in people's minds right now," I said. "That's all."

"Well you can count on the fact that I don't like you romantically at all."

"Thank God," I said, giving a huge sigh of relief. "And that's how you found me here, right?"

"Yeah, I followed you and Adam back here," Charlie said. "It was bloody well hard too. I had to practically sprint to keep up with you guys but I eventually found what level Adam lived in. After you guys left and came back the next day, I managed to sneak in under the gate and follow you guys up here."

"And that's how you got here," I finished for him.

"And that's how I got here," Charlie said with a sigh, his eyes closing with exhaustion. "I'm just glad I have you as a friend."

"Ditto," I said, the scenes from earlier between Camilla and Charlie flashing back into my mind. "I have one last question before you drift off into sleep."

"Make it quick," Charlie said drowsily.

"What was the stunt you pulled with Camilla earlier?"

Charlie began to laugh and said, "And that, Kassie, is a story for the morning. Now, leave me to go to sleep."