Sorry for the late update. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter- this chapter we see more Grey family dynamics and we see some thoughts from Christian on his daughter.

Enjoy

Charlotte breaks away from the bantering adults.

She took off upstairs to allow Christian, Ana, and Elliot to talk. The three adults had already pulled out a bottle of wine and Charlotte scattered upstairs, telling them that she's going to tend to some things.

Christian and Elliot were immediately skeptical of Charlotte's antics. Charlotte, instead of wanting to leave the three adults to themselves, wanted to talk to Thomas.

She hasn't spoken to him in two days. She owes him an explanation so he won't worry- even if she's going to have to lie about most of everything. She puts Thomas at risk if she tells him a word of what's happening.

Charlotte closes the door to her bedroom. She's confident that Christian and Elliot won't barge in on her- her father's much too taken with Ana and Elliot is hell-bent on making Christian look like an idiot.

She picks up her phone, turning it on. She hasn't used the device in almost two days and she has accumulated several messages.

Charlie? What's going on? ~ Victoria

I'll kick your ass if you don't answer me ~ Lillian

Charlotte, are you okay? ~ Thomas

It's been two days ~ Thomas

I'm getting really worried ~ Thomas

Send me something, Charlie ~ Thomas

Charlotte frowns at the messages. She clutches her phone tightly, tapping Thomas' messages first. She scrolls through them- there's probably thirty messages spanning the two days she's been cut off from the world.

She feels bad for having not spoke to him.

Charlotte searches her contacts, finding Thomas' number. She nervously clicks it, lifting the phone to her ear. The phone rings twice and she hears his worried voice over the speaker.

"Charlotte?" Thomas asks. He sounds relieved that she has called him.

"Hey, Tom," Charlotte says. She sits down at her desk, spinning around in the rolling hair at her desk. "How are you?"

Thomas releases a sigh. "Better now that I know you're not dead."

Charlotte chuckles. "I passed out and hit my head a little. No harm done."

"I thought that you cracked your skull wide open," Thomas says. "For two days I've worried whether or you were fine and what was wrong."

"Well, I'm okay, Tommy. I have a bit of a concussion," Charlotte replies, suddenly aware of the dull throb behind her eyes. "I'm fine, though."

"Is that it?" Thomas asks. "Just a concussion?"

"That's it," Charlotte says, looking from her floor length window to the streets below. Fear quells within her- that somewhere out there, Peter is there, ready to snatch her.

"Just...don't scare me like that again," Thomas stammers. "And what made you faint? Did you feel sick?"

Charlotte releases a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I just haven't been feeling well. It's okay."

"I just wanted to know," Thomas replies. "I hope you feel better. It's a little boring here at school without you."

"Why not terrorize Victoria and Lillian?" Charlotte asks, a smile reaching her lips.

"They're no fun. They just whine and won't argue back," Thomas says sourly.

Charlotte chuckles, pushing her hair back from her eyes. "Well, bother them anyway." Then, her eyes cut to the door at the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs. "Uh-oh."

"Is Christian coming to threaten me again?"

"Sounds like my uncle, too," Charlotte says. Her suspicions are confirmed when Elliot and Christian poke their heads through the door. Her father wears a threatening expression and Elliot sports a smile that more or less makes him look like a serial killer.

"Do I need to go?" Thomas asks.

"I was going to get off here anyways. I'll let you go," Charlotte says, staring the elder Greys down.

"Bye, Charlie," Thomas says. "Have fun with your deranged family members."

"Shut up, Tom. Bye."

Charlotte hangs up, placing her phone on the desk. She raises an eyebrow at the two brothers staring her down, crossing her arms. "Can I help you two?"

"You ditched us to talk to that spaz?" Elliot asks.

Charlotte glares. "You two have company downstairs."

Christian huffs, but he smiles maniacally. "I bet she was sexting."

"Christian!" Charlotte bellows. "You're a freaking sick-o!"

Elliot bursts out into laughter and Charlotte throws the closest thing she has at him- that thing being a water bottle that was on her desk. It hits him in the head and Charlotte smiles triumphantly when his face flushes red with anger.

"Well, come down stairs when you're finished up here. I'm ordering from the Italian restaurant you like," Christian says, stifling laughter at Elliot who is now stomping down the hallway.

Charlotte nods. "Okay. I'll be downstairs in a moment."

"Okay, Char," Christian says, closing the door with a smile.

Charlotte huffs, wandering from the desk chair to her bed, flopping down against the covers. She rubs her aching head, careful not to disturb the large bruise on her head.

She's emotionally exhausted and she definitely feels the physical exhaustion from the last couple of days. The adrenaline has faded and sleepiness takes its place.

Rolling to her side, Charlotte lays against the many pillows, getting comfortable. She decides that Christian can wake her up when dinner arrives, hoping to catch a few winks of sleep.

…

~Christian~

"Where's your monster?"

Christian looks to his older brother. Elliot has pouted the entire time since Charlotte launched her attack on him. Christian often encourages Charlotte to torment Elliot- not for any particular reason except he thinks it's funny.

Christian sits the bag of takeout on the counter. "She said she was coming downstairs." Christian realizes his daughter is a private girl. She has a particularly hard time around people, so he suspects she needed a break from Ana's presence. "I'll go up and check on her."

Elliot frowns. "She looked upset. Do you think that the boy she's talking to said something?"

"The kid's terrified of me, so I doubt he said anything because Charlotte tells me everything." Christian finishes pulling out the take-out boxes and leaves Elliot to find his meal. "I'll be back. You and Ana serve yourselves."

He walks into the living room. Ana sits quietly on the couch- she's been rather quiet since Charlotte wandered upstairs. Christian wonders if it's because she's around two men- he'd be scared if he was around Elliot, too- or if she's more comfortable with Charlotte's company.

"I'm going to check on Charlotte," Christian says. "You can go to the kitchen if you'd like. I'll be down in a minute."

Ana smiles. Her smile is soft- the most gorgeous smile he's ever seen. She's all around a beautiful woman, and he doesn't want to mess this up like he has so many things. Charlotte's words ring in his mind- that both of them deserve to be happy.

Christian deserves to love someone and Charlotte deserves someone constant in her life- someone that isn't a man and completely has their shit together.

Christian wanders upstairs, walking to Charlotte's room. He opens the door, half-expecting her to be talking on the phone or ready to hurl something at him. Instead, she's curled up on the bed. Her chest rises and falls softly with each breathe and she looks at peace. Her face isn't riddled with the pain of nightmares and flashbacks of her horrid past.

God, he wishes that he could take away every bad thing done to her. His childhood was paradise compared to what Charlotte had. Even now, she can't be a normal teenager. She's being hunted down by the man who neglected and abused her.

Christian can only watch and wait for him to show up. He'll find some way to throw Peter Sturges back in prison. He won't allow him to hurt his daughter again.

"Is she sleeping?" Christian whirls around to see Ana peering into the room at the youngest Grey.

Christian nods. "Yes. She has had a rough couple of days… She was bound to crash sometime."

"The day I interviewed you two...she ran when I asked about her life before you…"

"Her past is complicated. Horrific, actually," Christian says. "It isn't some we bring up. It's better to leave it behind."

There's an uncomfortable silence when Ana asks: "How did you know you wanted her?"

Christian smiles a little. He remembers the first time he saw Charlotte awake. She was beneath a mess of tubes and wires. The most pitiful little thing he had ever seen. "I'd brought her to the hospital. I was on a run and we crashed into one another. She fell down and got hurt in the process. I thought she was some little kid chasing after a toy, but she was dressed in next to nothing. She was bloody and bruised… She was so scared of me. She was unconscious for two days after that and I didn't leave the hospital for a moment. I snuck into the PICU where her room was and I sat there for a while the second day. She woke up late that evening and looked up at me. She smiled at me and stuck her tongue out- called me a jackass because I broke her wrist."

Ana chuckles lightly at his story. "So it was love at first sight?"

"Something like that," Christian says. He smiles and closes the door to Charlotte's room, careful not to disturb her. "We should go downstairs and eat. I'll leave Charlotte to sleep; she was overwhelmed today."

Ana frowns. "It wasn't because of me, was it?"

Christian shakes his head. "No. She's just going through a hard time. Charlotte is well adjusted to you." Then, he takes Ana's hand. "She likes you- a lot. She lights up when she's around you. Charlotte has had problems with women in the past; you must be special to her."

Ana shakes her head. "Stop, or you'll make me cry, Christian."

Christian grins, but he leads Ana downstairs. Under his breath, he mumbles, "What is it with you women and the waterworks?"

Ana coughs, narrowing her eyes. "I heard they, Mr. Grey."