I’m sry guys I had to… it was an opportunity to introduce my OCs in my series… but I guess I’m not technically breaking the rules bc my book is not a romance sooooo… enjoy.

“I broke my rules for you!” Lydia screamed as she pushed Charlie.

“I told myself I would never let anyone in. No one could see past me. No one has ever been able to. And then you come along and ruin everything!” She yelled.

“Wh-what?” Charlie asked, still reeling from the painful shove.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know idiot!” Lydia yelled again.

“I can’t believe I fell for it when you held my hand. When you held me. I thought it meant something,” Lydia said, suddenly choking on the tears she hadn’t cried in years.

“But I was wrong, and you-you abandoned me. You left me with my nightmares. You left me when I needed you most,” she sobbed.

“I didn’t…” Charlie trailed off. He’d never seen Lydia so emotional, so real. It was almost offsetting.

“You’re right, you didn’t. You never did. Gosh, you’re so oblivious!” Lydia yelled at him again. She attempted to push him, but he grabbed her hands before she could.

“I didn’t know Lydia. You’ve not always been… the best at showing emotion. And I know, you’ve been through a lot, too much for one person,” he paused to force her to look at him.

“But your past doesn’t define your future. You can’t let it. If you spend too much time dwelling on the past and using it as an excuse things will never change.”

Lydia paused.

Five whole minutes.

And then she dropped to the ground sobbing. Seven years of shoving away emotions engulfing her.

She’d been told it would come back to haunt her, but she was naive.

Charlie just watched as she fell apart.

He didn’t do anything.

Didn’t say anything.

Because he knew he would be there to put the pieces back together.