Boundless

The next morning Charlotte sat in her car, her knuckles white from gripping the wheel, as her eyes stared over the dashboard of her car angrily watching the man who stood on the school grounds. He staggered, visibly drunk, to the doors and banged on them with the palms of his hands before sliding down and sitting onto the ground. Blindly she searched the inside of her purse, her hand gripping onto her cell phone. She quickly dialed Kelly's number.

The consistent rings wore her nerves raw. "C'mon Kelly," she whispered harshly.

Finally, his sleepy voice filled her ear. "Good morning, sweetheart."

No smile crossed her face, instead she felt her frown deepen. "Kelly, he's here."

"Who's where?" He was instantly more alert. She heard the blankets on his bed rustle as he sat up. "Charlotte, answer me."

"Arden's uncle. He's at the school," she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "D'you think he's waiting on me?"

He cursed lowly. "Don't get out of your car, hear me? Wait until I get there."

Charlotte nodded although he couldn't see her. "Yeah," she agreed.

"Promise me, Charlie." Kelly's voice was a lower pitch than usual.

Charlotte bit her lower lip and sighed. "I'll try."

"I'll be right there," he promised. "Bye."

"Bye."

She turned the phone off and threw it into the passenger seat. Quickly, she scanned the area for the offending man, feeling her stomach turning onto itself. She craned her neck as far as she could, her bottom raising off the seat below her as she grumbled lightly to herself.

"Where'd you go, you bastard."

An obnoxious pounding on her window brought her to her senses and she snapped her neck to the left. Outside the all-too-thin pane of glass stood Richard Jones in all his glory, his eyes wildly searching the inside of her car. She pressed the lock button on her door, effectively shutting him out.

Richard pulled on the outside handle of the door. "Let me in, princess."

"Get away from me," Charlotte grit through her teeth. "I'm calling the police if you aren't out of here in five seconds."

"Go 'head, I'll be in jail in due time, girl." He still attempted to enter the car, his hand pulling so hard on the handle it shook the car. "C'mon Miss Morgan," he imitated a child.

"Go to hell," she seethed.

The man backed away slightly and unbuttoned the shirt he had on. Charlotte watched as he wrapped it around his hand, a large smile on his face the entire time. He thundered his fist several times against the window until it finally gave away, shattering into her face and lap. He grabbed her by her hair and began pulling her toward him.

"Where's your big mouth now?" He questioned, his mouth moving against her ear.

She screamed and thrashed desperately in hopes of loosening his grip to no avail. His open palm smashed against her cheek, sending her head flying back into the headrest of the seat. She cried out and dug her fingernails into his wrist, his blood coating her fingers as she tore into the flesh of his arm.

A cold stream of blood washed over her forehead and into her eyes from a cut due to the shards of glass, temporarily blinding her. She felt the release of pressure against her head and opened her eyes to find Kelly beating the man senseless in the middle of the school parking lot. She quickly unbuckled herself and stumbled out of her car, pulling on the arm he wasn't using, begging him to stop. Teachers and staff were gathered around the scene, a bloodied young teacher crumpled onto the ground as a firefighter beat the daylights out of a drunk who abused his girl.

"Kelly, please! They'll charge you with battery if you don't stop!" She tugged and tugged until finally she fell against the pavement in tears. Her small body shook with sobs as the adrenaline wore off and she began to fell the extent of her injuries. Kelly turned to her, his eyes wide, and gathered her into his arms carefully.

"Shh, it's okay baby." He soothed her as he examined the damage. "C'mon, I've gotta take you to the hospital."

She let him lift her from the ground and lead her to his car, her jacket pressed against the large incision on her forehead. He opened the door for her and let her sit down before he closed it slowly and walked to the driver's side.

After Charlotte and Kelly came out of the emergency room, twelve stitches between the two of them, they sat on the sofa in his apartment. Charlotte's left eye was bruised and her lip busted from his hand, and seven stitches in her temple from the glass. Kelly had five in his knuckles.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte's voice was small. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Kelly. I swear it."

He scoffed and shook his head, almost unable to look at her. "You're not to blame for any of this, Charlie. Do you understand me? That damn psycho doesn't need to be walking the streets. I'll personally see to it he gets maximum sentence for what he done."

"He does this to Arden on a nightly basis," Charlotte said pitifully, her eyes filled with tears. "That poor, poor child."

Kelly took her hand in his significantly larger one. "I love you, Charlotte. I never thought I'd feel about someone the way I do about you, but I do. This has been the happiest month of my life and I owe every moment of it to you." He raised the back of her hand to his lips, planting a tender kiss on it. He pulled her closer to his side, his hand gingerly running through her hair.

"Oh Kelly," Charlotte whispered. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I love you too."