It was extremely dark when something woke you. You couldn't see anything but what was dimly illuminated by the light that was casted on the floor from the light in the hallway. You rubbed your eyes and squinted, looking besides you.

Thomas was laying with his back turned to you. His heavy breaths were calm. You turned your head back to the door. You could hear talking. You sat up and glanced back to Thomas, making sure he hadn't woken up. You bent over and grabbed your panties off the floor.

Standing up, you stumbled a bit. Your legs trying to buckle under you. You almost fell sliding them on but managed. You grabbed Thomas's shirt off the floor and put it on, buttoning it. You were slightly surprised to find the hem of it came down mid-thigh.

You gave another over the shoulder glance at him and crept to the door. Your legs felt wobbly and you held on to the wall. 'Damn, Tommy...'

You slowly popped open the door, light flooding in the small crack. You checked to make sure Thomas hadn't stirred before slipping out into the hallway, silently closing it behind you.

You blinked in the bright light. The yellow light flooded the whole hallway. You could hear the voices clearer.

"....I supposed to do..."

"No right....her...left..."

"....my fault..."

You crept down the hall, towards the staircase. The voices got louder until you could understand everything they were saying. It was Hoyt and Luda again. They sounded to be in the main dining room. You crept to the top, just around the corner and leaned again the wall. Luda sounded pissed. You could only assume Hoyt was back to his usual bullshit as usual.

"I say we just up and get rid of her."

"And I have told you time and time again. You leave her alone!"

"What's her use, huh?"

"You know why shes here." Hoyt scoffed. Couldn't he lay off you for 5 minutes?!

"Oh right. I forgot. Tommy's just gotta have his little fuck toy." You could sense Luda's moment of silence that he'd gone too far. You waited for her response. For her to defend you. To try to get him to come to sense. But after a couple of minutes, nothing came.

You suddenly heard a chair scrape the floor and the dining room door open. You could hear Hoyts footsteps as he walked out, into the main hall. You turned to head back to bed before you heard Ludas voice again.

"Charlie Hewitt, how dare you..." You turned back to the corner of the steps and looked down into the hallway where you could actually see them. Luda stared him down. She had a look of disbelief and anger. She also looked...sad?

"How can you say such things? Do you really believe he doesn't care for her? That she's really nothing to him? That boy has never cared about anything else so much in his entire life. You really think he would just keep her around for the sake of it? There has never been another living creature he has trusted like he does her. She is the best thing that ever happened to him. Whether you believe it or not, she cares for him. She treats him better than anyone else has and ever will. He needs her, Charlie. He needs her. If you don't like her, that's fine. But you have no right to ruin the one thing he loves." Charlie had remained silent.

"I know you obviously don't care but I want him to be happy. He's so young yet. He still so much time to do something with his life. She's giving him the chance no one else would." You could hear Luda's voice breaking slightly.

"She's his chance to be happy. And damnit if I'm gonna let you ruin it for him! He has more to his life than just work now." Hoyt looked to the ground now. Luda was finally getting to him.

"What happens to him when we're gone?" Luda looked like she was tearing up. "I just want someone to take care of him. Someone who actually loves and cares about him. That's her, Charlie. I just know it is. I believe in her. And may god mark me as a damned fool if I'm wrong."

With that Luda turned for the staircase. You backed away and snuck back into your own room before she got to the top of the stairs.

You shut the door behind you with a tired sigh. Thomas was still asleep and you watched him for a minute. He was now facing you and you silently walked to the bed, climbing back in.

You looked up at him for a moment before you laid your head against his chest and sighed, closing your eyes.

*

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I'm so sorry I just came back. I saw a couple of comments about continuing and I was in the mood to write. I've been gone because I've just had no motivation nor real path for chapters.

I'd like to thank you guys for voting/commenting and being patient with my dead ass. I'm going to try to come back and update more with maybe another chapter tomorrow.

But as always, I'll see ya in a bit. Bye guys ❤