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A creak on the landing has me bolting for the front door. I grab my keys from the side table as I race past and run for the car. Once inside, I lock the doors, trying to calm my breathing. It’s probably nothing. I’m just being silly. But I should get it checked out, right?
Just then my phone rings and I scream before dropping it in fright. I grab it back up off the floor and hit answer when I see Ace’s name on the caller ID.
“What’s wrong?” he immediately asks. I don’t ask him how he knows, I just blurt out what happened. “Stay away. Drive. I’ll fix.”
I do as he says, throwing the car into gear and tearing out of there. I don’t know what Ace is going to do, but I follow his instructions without question. For about an hour I drive blindly around Edinburgh, then decide it’s stupid. I may as well head to Cordelia’s ready to get Phoenix in the morning. I can pull over and nap in the car if I need to.
Charlotte’s Diary
Present Day
Fuck! I can’t believe they all just showed up on my doorstep. It was like something out of a nightmare, or a fairytale or something. I’m so fucked. The urge to run was so overwhelming it crippled me into complete inaction. Though, really, where would I have even gone? Shit! I’m so lucky that Phoenix wasn’t in the house and that I’d had a tidy up. These guys cannot find out about her under any circumstances. Don’t even get me started on how they haven’t changed; it was like being stuck in a time warp, the feelings I thought I’d buried long ago came rushing back, hitting me with the force of a truck. It’s not fair that after all this time they still looked so good. No, better. And that they could collectively in still fear and thrill me at the same time. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I have too many secrets, too much guilt, too much atoning for my sins to do, to start falling for any of them again. Besides, it’s just not done like that in the real world. I want to see more of them though. I’d love to have them in my life...but not at the expense of revealing Phoenix. Never. The cost is too high. It’s a price I’m not willing to pay. If I could run, I wouldn’t hesitate. Always have a back up plan to your back up plan! Lizzie’s words ring in my ears. But it’s hard to have back up plans when you’re barely managing to put food on the table.
