Only You Sweetheart

Charlotte woke with a start, her body had shifted during the night and her legs throbbed violently, she muffled out a cry of pain with her hand. The painkillers had worn off and now the pain had struck back with a vengeance. Matt was asleep, breathing softly beside her, one of his hands rested on her stomach, she couldn’t see much it was too dark, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once things were clearer she noticed the cricket bat was on the desk near the bed, Charlotte shivered as she relived her painful encounter with the bat. She had touched a nerve with Matt the night before, his mother and poor upbringing was obviously the reason he had grown into a raving lunatic but to say to her that they had a lot in common was mildly insulting.

His mother was a class A bitch that was for sure, just like hers. Charlotte couldn’t help but understand why he had turned out so troubled; nobody had ever given him a chance. Charlotte snapped herself out of her thoughts, feeling sorry for him was not appropriate. Not for somebody who straight after speaking about their vindictive mother did something just as malicious, even if they didn’t believe it to be wrong at all. Charlotte tried not to reflect back on the events of last night, he repeatedly told her he loved her as he forced himself on her. Of course he didn’t believe in his own mind that he was forcing her but that’s because he’s a crazy man with serious emotional and mental problems.

……………… 1992 …………………

Mathew darted into the alley and waited for the three boys to run past. Jake Farley and his friends had been picking on Mathew for as long as he could remember, after all even at eight years old everyone at his school knew his mother visited their dads, uncles or brothers on a regular basis and not because she was a friendly neighbourly woman or maybe because she was too friendly. But aside from that he was an easy target, just that day he had been given the proud duty of carrying the classes large art project that they had spent the last week on to the school hall, Ms Fox had given him the job which made him blush because he had a secret crush on the blond woman. Except Jake had tripped him up and he came crashing to the floor at Ms Fox’s feet, embarrassing himself and ruining the class project. Everyone laughed at him until they realised the damage and now hardly any one spoke to him by the end of the day, Ms Fox snapped at him for being so clumsy in front of everyone making them snigger and Jake just stood smugly at his side.

Mathew darted out of the alley when he was sure they had gone and ran the rest of the way home, when he was about three minutes away from his house he realised the boys were chasing him, he managed to dive inside just before they reached him. As he walked to the kitchen he heard his mother giggling, he went and opened her bedroom door, she was sitting on the bed with a tall burly man, Mathew recognised his face but that wasn’t uncommon.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” she tuned to him and eyed him seriously
“Sorry” he lowered his face, there was no point telling her about what had happened, she wouldn’t care.
“Well what do you want?” She barked “Cant you see I’m busy?” the man pinched her leg playfully making her giggle bringing her attention away from her son
“Hey kid, what’s your name?” the man looked at the young boy amusingly
“Mathew”
“Well Mattie.”
“Mathew”
“Well … Mathew, why don’t I give you five bucks to get you out of me and you’re mothers hair?”
The man got up and pushed the boy to the front door
“No I can’t ….”
“Because the last thing I need is some brat getting in the way at playtime”
Mathew saw Jake and his friends hiding behind a bush in front of his house waiting for him, he felt the front door close behind him.

………………….. Present …………………….

Charlotte couldn’t sleep, it was impossible. She thought about Nina and Damon, the two most people in the world to her. Wondered what they were doing, whether they were sleeping, thinking about her, had any idea where she might be.
Who knows, the police could be right around the corner, almost by the house … or they could be on another case, having no idea where that Charlotte girl is. Matt’s eyes opened and stared at her for a few seconds, obviously also adjusting them to the dark.
“Can’t you sleep honey?”
“My legs hurt”
Matt ignored the guilt that built up inside of him, she had to learn. He sat up and pulled the sheets up over her legs, Charlotte couldn’t help but be thankful that at least he didn’t pull them the other way so that her naked body was on show. His hands ran softly over her legs, not hard enough to hurt them even more.
“I’ll go and get soothing lotion”
He pulled on some boxers. He came back in with a bowl with some liquid lotion in and a cloth and began to wipe it over her legs gently, bathing them in the lotion.
“This should make them feel better?”
Charlotte rested her head against the pillohe fhe flinched at certain points as she felt his hand run over her leg instead of the cloth, she also winced when her legs twinged with pain.
Charlotte woke this time with the light shining through the curtains and into the bedroom, she had obviously drifted off whilst Matt was bathing her legs. He had covered her back up with the sheet and he was lying on top of the bed over the sheets on his stomach, his head turned away from her. The pain had lessened slightly on her legs but there wasn’t a hope in hell of her getting up, she was stuck on the bed.

………………………..1994………………………….

“Who do you keep ringing?” Matt\'s mom snapped at him, watching her son pick up the phone for the fifth time within an hour, it was doing her head in. She already had a hang over as it was without her aggravating son repeatedly brush past her to get to the phone.
“Dad, I rang him yesterday but he wasn’t in”
His mom let out a laugh and stubbed out her cigarette “I don’t think he’ll be answering the phone anytime soon considering he doesn’t live there anymore”
Matt put down the phone and stared at his mom “What?”
“Are you deaf? Or just stupid, infact don’t answer that. Your fathers moved away with that scatty Rachael woman and her three even more infuriating kids, aw diddums did he not tell you?”
Matt felt the tears form in his eyes.
“Where did he move to?”
“He didn’t say, didn’t want me to know, he just told me to tell you … erm … fuck I cant even remember, something like it would be best if we all just started our lives again and then an apology or something. I told you didn’t I, he has a new family now why would he want his son from another marriage getting in the way”
Matt felt the tear roll down his cheeks.
“You’re lying, Dad wouldn’t do that to me”
“Oh here we go, my dads so perfect he wouldn’t do anything wrong. Well if he\'s so perfect why did he never take you to move in with him and get you out from under my feet all the time, and why in the last six months since he has known that fucking Rachael have you only seen him about three times? Go on then, tell me if you’re so clever”
Matt ran out of the room, crying his eyes out. He didn’t give up hope not for a long time but after months of not hearing from his dad he realised he wasn’t ever going to come back. Now when he went to school Jake and his classmates didn’t just bully him for his promiscuous mother but also because even his own father could bear to be around him.

…………………. Present ……………………

Matt scooped Charlotte up his arms, Charlotte begged him to put her down, he wasn’t listening he carried her into the bathroom and sat her in the bath. The hot water swirled around her body, she cried out in pain as it felt like it was scratching at her legs. The ‘M’ burned fiercely on her thigh.
“It’s alright babe, I’ve put ointment in the bath water, it’s supposed to take away the pain”
“For someone that was so intent on causing my legs as much damage as possible you are sure as hell doing a lot to heal them”
“I can stop at any time darling” Charlotte noted the vicious tone in his voice and looked away. He knelt by the side of the bath and dipped his hand in the water, swirling it around his fingers.
“Lie back and just relax”
Charlotte did as she was told; her fractured kneecap sent a shot of pain through her body as she moved making her breathe air in through her teeth.
“My legs really hurt, please couldn\'t you just take me to a doctor, I wouldn’t say anything I promise”
Matt was shaking his head before she had finished “No and let them take you away from me, I don’t think so”
“Please Matt, they would never need to know”
“I’m enough to make you feel better, I can look after you better then any doctor could.”
“But …”
“Enough!”
Charlotte closed her eyes as he barked out the ending to their disagreement, she felt his hands smoothly run over her body.

…………………………. 2001 ………………………..

Matt walked into the house with a can of beer in his hand, Rebecca James had personally invited him to her party, she’d been gagging for him ever since he fucked her last summer. That’s when he saw him, Jake Farley. He was standing in the kitchen looking like a knob talking to some girls, it had been four years since he had last saw him but Matt would recognise that gigantic head anywhere.
“Jake?”
Jake turned around and looked at Matt and had the usual smug face on
“Mattie? Wow how’s it going? Haven’t seen you in years, last I heard you’d been chucked out of school”
“And last I heard your girlfriend fucked some quarterback from County High”
Jakes face went red with anger and embarrassment.
“You’ve gone abit red Jake, maybe you should sit down”
“Your still a fucking loser I see”
“Perhaps, but a loser that could easily kick your ass” Matt’s tone was deadly, he didn’t give Jake time to answer, he belted the guy in the face breaking his nose and knocking him to the floor, he was on him in seconds repeatedly punching him in the head.
“I thought you were a bully? C’mon, you’re making it easy!” he screamed at him. Matt took note that nobody was pulling him off of him; maybe Jake wasn’t as popular as he had thought. It was only when Jakes head flopped to the side that he stopped, the last Matt heard of him was he had been in hospital for two and a half months with a broken arm and wrist and multiple head wounds meaning he had to repeast his year at highoolhool, good fucking job. The whole three months Matt spent in a young offenders home he never once regretted beating the crap out of the big head, in fact he looked back on it with fond memories.

………………….Present………………………….


Matt leant over and kissed her face, running his tongue over her ear. He had washed her hair and she was now lying back on the bed, he’d put some fresh clothes on her, a black vest and jeans but her feet were still bare. His hand was stroking her shoulder tenderly as he kissed her, taking in the scent of her skin from the bath. “This is nice” he smiled at her.
“What is?” Charlotte’s lip curled slightly at his comment
“This, just being here with you. Away from all those fuckers in New York that would try and separate us”
Charlotte turned her head to face him.
“Matt, could I please ring home. I wont tell them where I am, I just want to speak to my brother”
“You can speak to me”
“Its not the same”
“Why isn’t it the same?”
“Because I love my brother and I miss him”
“And me?”
“What about you?”
“Do you love me?”
It was an impossible question to answer; he knew she didn’t love him why was he asking. The answer would only lead to her being punished and he would know if she lied.
“You know the answer to that”
“What is it then?”
Charlotte didn\'t say anything, she knew he was staring at her, waiting for an answer.
Matt waited desperatley for her lips to move, wanted a miracle to happen so that her answer would be yes. But the longer he waited the more he knew he was being stupid.
\"Charlotte?\"
\"I don\'t love you\" she almost said it apologetically
\"You don\'t?\" Matt wasn\'t surprised, ofcourse he wasn\'t but god what he would of given for her to say she did love him, almost as much as he loved her.
“I don’t even like you. You have made my life a living hell, why would you even ask such a stupid question”
Why did she have to continue? She had already said enough.
“To see your response and I gotta say it wasn’t great! I think the answer to being able to ring home is obviously no”
Charlotte breathed out heavily, cursing herself. He wouldn’t of let me anyway.
“Now what are we gonna do about your hurtful comments?”
Charlotte watched as he looked at her angrily, she was already in too much pain. She couldn’t cope with anymore, except … something told her she might have to.