Forest's Redemption

I could hear them yelling my name behind me. I could hear and see cars swooshing passed me and I could hear car horns beeping at me from all directions, but I couldn't stop my legs from running.

I'm being selfish. I'm breaking my promise to him. I'm breaking my vows, but I still couldn't stop running.

They'll all be safer the further away I get from them. I'm the one Brian ultimately wants to hurt. If I stay, he'll hurt them so he can get to me. The Mitchells tried killing Joshua, they tried killing my baby. And Forest and Jona almost died because of Brian.

I'm the common denominator in all these events. They're all linked to me. They're all happening because of me. If I remove myself from their lives, they'll all be safe.

That's the only way I can keep them safe.

I need to leave.

This is for the best.

I won't come back this time. I'll let him move on with his life and be happy and be with someone worthy of being with someone as kind, as loving, as patient and as giving as him. He deserves better and I've been too selfish to set him free so he can be with someone who's mere existence won't pose a threat to him and the people he cares about.

He'll hate me. He won't forgive me, but soon after he'll see that I did what was best for him.

"Come on." Christian suddenly scooped me up from out of nowhere and carried me away with no effort on his part.

There wasn't a car near me despite me being in the middle of the road. I hadn't noticed, but our cars had all blocked traffic from both directions on the busy street.

"You are Charlotte Greyson." He reprimanded me while carrying me back to our car. "I know you're scared and after everything that's happened, you probably don't know who you can and can't trust, but that doesn't mean you get to leave again, Charlie. It doesn't mean you get to hurt my brother again."

Someone opened the car door and he placed me inside.

"He can't live without you." He told me with tears in his eyes. "He tried. For five years, he tried to hide how much pain he was in because he wasn't with you, but we could all see past the fake laughs, smiles and jokes. He tried destroying himself all because you weren't there, Charlie. You can't leave. Ever."

I looked at him and made a calm smile appear on my face.

"I'm sorry." I kept my composure. "It's been a long day. I got overwhelmed."

His eyes were filled with genuine sympathy and fear.

I didn't like that at all.

His concern for me is throwing me off. He's become unpredictable and I don't like that one bit.

"What happened?" He directed his eyes at Nigel who came running towards the car. "Why would you run out in the middle of a busy street?"

"I said something I shouldn't have said." Nigel reached for my hand. "Something I had no business and no reason to mention. It's my fault. I'm sorry, Char."

"No." I shook my head. "I'm the one who should apologise to everyone. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Nigel. And Christian I'm sorry to you as well. I know you're dealing with a lot today. The last thing I should be doing is adding to your burdens. Please tell everyone I'm really sorry. That won't happen again. I promise."

I could see them both searching for the truth in my eyes, but they wouldn't find it.

I'll leave tonight.

I'll go to the free clinic, head back home and then leave a note for Forest and disappear from his life.

"You don't need to apologise for anything." Christian smiled. "I promise we'll keep you safe. All that's left is going to the clinic and then you can go home, rest and move on from this whole day."

"Thanks." I returned his smile with a smile of my own. "For everything, Christian. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He rubbed my hand before giving it back and closing the door.

Nigel put his arms around me again and this time I forced my body to feign relaxation in his arms. I'm not letting anyone worry about me again. They've all been through enough because of me. I'm not going to make this day any worse than it's already been for them.

"Mrs Greyson." Joshua suddenly opened the door. "Your husband would like to talk to you."

"I thought you said they wouldn't be able to talk for the next few hours?" I asked him as I reached for the phone.

"He'll always make an exception for you." He smiled and handed me the phone.

My hands were trembling.

I can hide from everyone else, but I can't hide from him. He's my best friend. There's not much I can hide from him.

"I'm fine, Forest." I spoke before he could say anything. "You and Jona deal with whatever you need to deal with. I'll be here, waiting for you guys. Okay?"

He remained quiet.

All I could hear was his breathing over the phone and it was making me feel so much worse about everything.

If I hadn't come back, none of this would have happened. I shouldn't have come back.

"I don't know what Joshua told you", I tried to laugh, "but I am perfectly fine. You know me. There's nothing I can't handle. I'm sorry if I made you worry. I'm okay. I promise."

I was about to hang up because I couldn't stand his silence anymore.

If he's back ... if he hurt Forest ... if he hurt Jona, then they're more than entitled to be angry with me and to not want anything to do with me; especially if he ... if he told Forest.

If he told my husband how gullible I was to believe that I deserved to be loved. If he told him how easy it was for him to walk right back into my life and get me alone. If he told Forest that I didn't even fight back because I couldn't bring myself to lay a hand on my own dad. If he told Forest everything he did to me that day, everything he did to me as a kid ...

Forest won't want me anymore.

He'll be like mom and dad. He'll realise I never deserved to be loved. He'll hate me as much as they do.

"You're not okay." His strong, calm voice echoed in my ear. "You are five months pregnant and for the past three days, you couldn't get a hold of me, Jona or Joshua. For months, everyone, including me, was telling you to get rid of our baby because it was too dangerous and you were the only one who refused to back down. You fought me, you fought Jona and Nigel, you fought every doctor who told you to get rid of our baby and today we found out all those doctors were lying to us."

"It's okay." I tried to stop him. "I'm safe now. That's all that matters."

I refuse to cry again today.

I'm Charlotte. I don't cry, but for the past few months that's all I've been doing.

I might as well be Lauren 2.0 at this rate.

"You're not okay, Charlie." His voice cracked with pain. "You passed out today after Angelique tried to kill you. Then you had to go and identify her disfigured corpse to confirm that she was indeed your attacker and now you're going to a free clinic because all the specialists we spent thousands of dollars and our valuable time on, we're all lying so they could kill you and our baby. You're not okay, Charlie." He repeated with more pain in his voice. "None of this is okay, so don't try to lie to me or yourself and say you're fine. You're not and that's normal because you've been through too much."

I'm okay. I wanted to say it again.

I really am okay.

I'll get over this because I'm strong and I know how to protect myself. I've let my pregnancy hormones control me and it made me emotional and careless, but this was my wake up call.

I'll reign myself in. I'll reign every single emotion in.

I'm okay. I'm Charlotte. It doesn't matter what happens to me. I'll always be okay.

"The Mitchells were getting help from Angelique Spencer's mother." He added when I didn't respond. "I've dealt with Lawrence and Liza, but Angelique's mother is already on the run. I'm trying to track her down. That's why I haven't been able to sit down and talk to you the way I want to, the way I need to."

"Are you okay? Is Jona okay?" I broke my silence.

"Yeah." He replied. "But we're not the ones you need to concern yourself with right now. I don't want you to think about the safety or wants or needs of anyone but yours and our baby's from now on. I want you to be selfish, Charlie. I want you to enjoy your pregnancy. I want you to complain and cry over the smallest and silliest things. I want you to stop holding back and lying to me and to yourself that you're okay when you're not. I want you to lean on me and leave everything to me. You are Charlotte Greyson. Charlotte Ericsson scared a lot of people, but I promise you, Charlotte Greyson will scare a whole lot more people because her husband will burn down the world to make her happy."

I tried to speak ... but all I did was cry.

I was crying for so many reasons and struggled to pick one thing to cry over.

I cried because I could still see Angelique trying to stab me with that needle every time I closed my eyes. I cried because I could vividly remember how my body gave out mid-fight and how certain I was in that moment that she was going to kill me and my baby.

I cried because I could still see her mangled corpse. I cried because that could've been me. I cried because no matter how much I disliked Angelique, she didn't deserve to die like that.

I cried because Lauren was right. Forest loves her and I know it's killing him that she's now his enemy because of me. I cried because the home he and I share will always be the home he meant to share with her.

And I cried because I knew while speaking to my husband that he doesn't know.

He just assured me that he doesn't know about Brian and that was the only good thing I was crying about.

"I love you." I heard him through my sobs. "I love you so much, Charlie and I'll never stop loving you."

"I love you too." I tried to stop with all my tears. "I need to see you, Forest. I need to be with you."

"I'll be with you in a couple of hours." He chuckled. "And once I'm with you, there's no parting ever again. I'm never letting you out of my sight, Charlie."

I chuckled right back. "I'm going to keep you to that. You won't be able to leave the room without me clinging to you."

"You and I won't be leaving the bedroom for at least a week once I see you." He replied much too seductively. "I'm going to do unspeakable things to you -"

"I'm right here!" I heard Jona in the background. "Please, don't! Whatever you were about to say, please don't say it."

We both laughed.

I felt better. So much better.

"I'll call you in a bit, okay?" He kept laughing. "Jona's face is turning green."

We laughed some more and then we finally said our goodbyes.

My entire body felt lighter and less burdened.

They're okay and he doesn't know.

Things aren't as bad as I thought.

I gave Nigel a genuine smile this time. "I'm okay." I said truthfully. "I really am."

"I can see that." He pulled me back in his embrace. "Leave it to Joshua to know what you need before the rest of us do." He laughed a bit and I laughed with him because he's right.

Joshua always knows what I need before I can figure it out myself. His ability to read people and anticipate their needs is way above my own abilities and I couldn't be more grateful for it because this man has built me bridges to my husband when I didn't have the words to tell Forest how I felt.

The first time he did something like this was the first time he drove me to my therapist's office.

Forest and I had only been back together for a month by then, so talking about my therapist with him was a taboo subject.

I left my therapist's office feeling angry and frustrated that day because she wanted to speak about things I don't ever need to discuss with anyone. I don't care how experienced anyone is, I won't wallow about my childhood or so-called abandonment issues. And I will most certainly never tell another soul about what Brian did to me.

I need to look to the future. I am strong enough to move forward and focus on more productive things. And that's what I decided to do that day as well.

I walked out of my therapist's office feeling heavier, angrier and more frustrated than I did when I walked in. But I knew I could work it all away.

I gave Joshua a bright smile when I returned to the car and even made a few jokes with him. Then I got inside, opened my laptop and started working.

I was shocked when the car stopped after a short while and Forest climbed inside, made me put away my work and put me in his lap.

I didn't utter a single word to protest. My body reacted instinctively and I found myself kissing his neck, finding my way to his mouth and letting him slide his tongue in my own mouth.

All my angst, all my anger, all my frustration washed away the moment he held me.

He had a meeting with the heads of the departments of Greyson Corporation that day. He was supposed to be right in the middle of that meeting and yet there he was in a car, kissing me, caressing me and holding me.

I knew I had to let him go so he could go work, but I wanted more. I needed more.

So I gave myself five more minutes before allowing myself to let him go.

"You need to go." I tried removing myself from out of his lap, but he kept me in place. "You're not supposed to be here." I tried to get him to leave again, but he refused.

"I'm right where I'm supposed to be." He put his mouth on mine again and my body melted in his arms yet again.

When our lips parted, he held my face, searched for something in my eyes and when he found that something, he tamed it as if he could tell I was too afraid to face those demons myself.

It would have taken me at least a few hours to work away what was eating at me, but he made it vanish within seconds.

We didn't utter another word after that.

I was engulfed in his arms, hidden in the nook of his neck and calmed by the steady beat of his heart. I was safe.

After that day, Forest suddenly never had anything scheduled for at least two hours after any appointment I had with my therapist. I'd find him waiting for me outside by the car after each session and soon, I found him waiting in the reception area because talking to him about my sessions no longer felt that taboo.

All we did was hold one another for an hour or two. It made every bad feeling I was running away from a little less scary. He makes everything a little less scary without trying.

Joshua did all that without me saying a word. I didn't have the words or courage to ask Forest for help, but Joshua knew how to get me in my husband's protective embrace.

He knew how to get me help.

"We're here." Nigel and I heard Christian's voice over the intercom. "Anne can't wait to meet you, Charlie."