We Don't Belong

I walk towards the store, tears running down my face. Great. How am I on a get home ?? My dad won't be home till at least midnight and he said that event was really important cause he might be getting a promotion. Like nothing is open.. It's literally 2 in the morning.

I guess I'll start walking. I put my backpack on and put my purse inside my suitcase after pulling out my phone and headphones.

I put on my music and of course a song by Andy comes on.. The Morticians Daughter....

A baby boy you've held so tightly,
This pain it visits almost nightly
Missing hotel beds, I feel your touch.
I will await dear, a patience of eternity, my crush.
A universe so still.
No rust.
No dust will ever grow on this frame,
One million years, and I will say your name.
I love you more than I can ever scream.

This was Andy and I's song. Fuck. This makes me start crying even harder. I put it on repeat starting to walk downtown.

After an hour or so of walking I was exhausted and it was even later. It was getting pretty cold out and I had nowhere to go.

I give up walking and sit down on a bench. I set my stuff down next to me and pull my knees up to my chest. I shiver a little bit as the wind starts blowing and clouds start forming.
Great. It's gonna rain. Could it get any worse? I'm already losing everyone I love.. I bury my face in my hands crying harder. Feeling hopeless.

It starts pouring down rain and the wind picks up even more.

I can't help but remember how much Aaron and I loved each other.. But he loved the old me.
And if he can't accept the new me then he obviously doesn't love me that much.
Finally in my mind something clicks. Charlotte, you don't deserve to be treated like that. You could so much better than that asshole.

I look up to see a guy that's a little taller than me walking down the street. He has longish brown hair that covers one of his eyes and hangs in his face.

I can't help but notice his bright blue eyes.. Just like Andy's.

I look up at him as he gets closer, not being able to look away. He smiles when he notices me looking and comes over to me.

"Why is such a pretty girl like you sitting here all alone crying?"

"Umm it's kinda a long story.."

"Well how about we can talk about it over coffee? Come on. You look cold and you're soaking wet. Let me at least buy you coffee."

"You don't have to do that.. I'm just some random girl. "

"Yeah you are a random girl, but you don't deserve to sit here alone and upset."

I think for a second and then say," okay I guess coffee wouldn't hurt. I'm Charlotte by the way."

" That's a really pretty name. But it's not as pretty as you."

I smile a little at his attempt to flirt.

"I'm Braden Barrie. It's really nice to meet you but I think it would be nicer inside a warm Starbucks," he says grabbing my hand.

I wipe the tears from my face and grab my bags.

" Your name sounds really familiar. Don't you like sing or something??"

He smiles," yes. I sing and play guitar and write my own songs. My stage name is SayWeCanFly."

"Oh my gosh!! My friend Maxy played some of your songs for me!! You're so good!"

"Well thank you," he says as we walk," I usually just post videos on YouTube. And I'm working on an album right now. It will probably come out in April. "

"That's amazing. I'll definitely buy it. All of your songs are so beautiful and inspiring. They have helped me through a lot lately."

" I'm glad to hear that Charlotte. Just know I'll always be here for you."

After a few minutes of just getting to know each other we get to Starbucks.

We are the only people in here besides the cashier. We set my stuff down next to two comfy chairs and go to order.

We both order our coffee. He insists on paying and doesn't take no for an answer. We get our drinks and sit down across from each other. I take a sip and sigh.

" So anyways, what's getting you down Charlotte?"

"Well I just moved back here from Cincinnati. I was living there with my mom and brother because my parents got divorced. I made a bunch of friends that were definitely different than me. Their names were Maxy, Brett Von Dehl, and Andy Biersack. Then I kinda changed into what they were."

"Oh god. I've met Andy before a year or so ago. But anyways what did you use to be like? I mean honestly you're really hot like this."

I blush," I used to be really really preppy and all I listened to was Taylor Swift. But I decided to change and be my own person. My mom hated it and hated my friends.. Well boyfriend.. Andy and I ended up dating. We kinda just hit it off as soon as we met. Everything was fine and honestly I loved it. I had finally gotten to a place where I had friends that truly accepted me. "

"Yeah I totally know how you feel. I've definitely had some issues finding people that I can trust."

"I know.. It was so nice. Like all of my friends here probably talked bad about me behind my back. And they would never talk to me now. We used to make fun of people that dressed like this and called them " emo" and "goth" and shit. But now that I look back.. I guess I'm one of them. Honestly I like myself this way a lot better."

He nods and says," It's okay. I've dealt with that crap all of my life. After a while you kinda just get over it. But I guess you're on the other side of things now. But I like it too. It's great to be different and your own person."

" I'm so glad you understand," I say pausing as I take a sip of coffee," everything was amazing. Then we went to an escape the fate concert.." My smile fades.

"Wait what happened at the concert?? Tell me he didn't leave you all alone..."

"Yeah.. He did. To mosh. And then his phone started going off and I looked at it and found a bunch of texts from some girl named Juliet.. He came back from moshing and then I threw his phone at him and ran away," I say starting to get choked up again.

Braden reaches across the table and grabs my hand, placing a kiss on it. I smile a little bit and squeeze it.

" I'm sorry.."

"No Charlotte it's okay don't worry. Just take your time."

I nod and take a deep breath," I left the venue and then we had a huge fight. He told me that this 'Juliet' girl was his "ex" and he was done with her. But then she called him and said she was pregnant..." I say breaking down again, starting to shake.

Braden gets up and pulls me into a hug whispering," everything is gonna be okay.. You don't deserve a jerk like him.."

He holds me in his arms shushing me.

"And then I came back and got with my boyfriend I left here.. He found out about Andy and yelled at me and we got in a huge fight. He started acting like he owned me but he didn't. He hit me really hard. I made him pull over into a parking lot and I hit him more than once and broke up with him.. And now I'm here," I say crying even harder.

He whispers," sweetie don't get upset about those stupid guys. Guys are complete jerks. I don't know why anyone would treat you like that. come on why don't we go back to my apartment and we can have a movie night and forget about all of this."

"That would be good... My dad won't be home for a while and I was supposed to stay at my boy-- ex boyfriends house.. "

"You can stay with me. I promise I'm not some creepy dude. My apartment is just a couple blocks away. "

He lets go after giving me one more tight squeeze.

He starts cracking jokes as we walk in the pouring down rain. After a while we reach his apartment and go inside.

Notes