Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Revenge
Chapter 11: Part Of The Secret
One more confession, discretion's not what I need to sell,
I never needed a reason for keeping secrets from myself
And now that's just how I tell I'm wide awake
I'll wreck this if I have to tell me what good would
You get separated, somebody's gone,
And I don't know how this is wrong,
I'm so frustrated, falling behind
Group: Marianas Trench
Charlotte POV
As I walk towards the kitchen for breakfast, I pass Daniel's room and see him sitting on his bed, looking absolutely miserable with a bottle of scotch already opened on his nightstand. I consider wishing him good morning but I know Daniel wouldn't want me to see him like this. He's always been a good big brother to me and was always there to help. But when he needs help, he won't let me in, just pretends everything's all right when I know it's not. I'm older now and despite his attempts to hide his feelings I know something's wrong. He's no longer happy anymore and he looks worn out. He might even have a drinking problem; it's all he seems to do when I'm not around. He hides the empty bottles, tries masking his breath with listerine and locks himself in his room with a poor excuse when he's too drunk to try act sober for me but I still know he's drinking. One time I found his bill and the amount of money he spent on alcohol truly worried me. I want to do something but I don't know what, I've considered telling Emily but I've noticed over the last couple weeks her and Daniel have been different. They've been tense and cold around each other even getting into a couple arguments. I don't know what happened but I'm positive they'll pull through I just don't want to strain their relationship any further especially before their wedding.
While I'm eating my scones I see Daniel walk into the kitchen and pour himself a mug of coffee.
"Morning Char….. um after you get ready I have to talk to you… it's important" he says nervously.
Judging from his voice it sounds like bad news and I feel my stomach tighten. I wonder what the news is about; Daniels drinking problem, my filthy parents or myself.
"Let's just talk now, it's best to get it over and done with" I say bravely.
He sighs deeply as he sits down opposite me and sadly says, "It's about Emily"
"Oh my god, is she alright" I say panicky praying she didn't get injured or hurt somehow.
"She's fine" he says
Thank goodness I think before it dawns on me that the only other reason he'd sound so sad about Emily is if they had broken up.
His voice confirms my reasoning as he says "It's just…. just that Emily and I have called off the wedding"
That can't be right, they're supposed to be in love, I don't understand. "So you and Emily are postponing the wedding for now" I ask though deep down I think I already know the answer.
"No Charlotte, Emily Thorne and I broke up" he says avoiding my gaze.
I feel a lump form in my throat and I truly feel like crying both from the shock and sadness. It may seem silly to cry for the failure of someone else's relationship but I always thought Daniel and Emily would be together forever. I know no love is perfect but theirs seemed perfect to me and it was my hope that I would have a love like that eventually.
"Why" I ask my voice small
I see his eyes flicker everywhere but my face as he mumbles "Oh you know stuff happens and everything's not always what it seems, and it was just time to call it quits".
I look at him, scowling, what kind of bullshit response is that. He was obviously hiding something from me.
"Did you cheat on Emily?" I say angrily
He looks at me both surprised and hurt as he reply's "I would never do that to her"
"Did she cheat on you?" I persist
"No, she wouldn't…." he shakes his head and looks up at me and says "Charlotte, why the hell are you asking these questions. Do you really think so little of us?"
What right does Daniel have to be offended when he's lying to me I scowl, at him as I angrily shout "Your lying to me, you adored and Emily adored you. Do you really expect me to believe that bullshit excuse you gave me for breaking up?"
My voice gets slightly quieter and softer as I say "You're obviously hiding the truth and I deserve to know, you guys were happy as a couple and I was happy beside you. For once just tell me the truth, I'm not a baby anymore, Daniel" I say pleading
Daniel looks taken aback from my outburst but it seems to have worked because then he quietly says his voice sad and full of emotions "You're right, I'm sorry. The truth is I found out something big about Emily that I don't think I can get over, the lies were too much and she really hurt me. But then I messed up too; I did something terrible, unforgiving to her. Now our relationship is one big confusing mess and it doesn't matter what I feel, it can't be fixed."
"Oh" I say quietly trying to process the information, after a moment I say "Maybe you just need a bit of time apart, surely you don't have to rush the break up?"
He produces an odd laugh then tiredly says "Since, we're all about truths, I'll let you on, on a little secret. Emily and I actually broke up about a month again"
I can tell I looked shocked I might have even gasped a little. That just can't be right, I remember them happy and laughing and kissing. I don't understand, I open my mouth about to speak when I hear him continue.
"I'm sorry we lied to you. Emily and I both just want you to be happy. We know you've been through a lot with mum and dad and then your breakup with Declan and just when you were starting to revert back to your normal happy self we didn't want to burst your bubble and sadden you with our breakup. Plus we wanted you to get off on a good start for your second semester in school. So we pretended to be together, the last couple of weeks acting more distant, so it would be less of a huge shock"
"The shocks the same" I say sadly. I probably should be mad at them for lying to me for a whole month but I guess I'm still too disappointed about the breakup to care.
I stand up and give Daniel a tight hug, my voice a little wobbly I say "I'm so sorry Daniel, I know how much you loved her and it must be really hard for you, just please even though I'm younger don't forget you can lean on me. I'll always be there for you, we're family after all."
I see a small smile form on his lip and he says " Thank you Char, your hugs always make me feel better"
"I'll be up in my room if you need me" I say as he lets me go
"Actually… um, You should see Emily, I'm sure your hugs will make her feel better too"
"You don't mind?" I ask surprised
"You guys are like sisters, it would be unfair to expect you to avoid her for me" he says gently.
Emily POV
"I am so sorry Emily" I hear a kind voice say as she envelops me in a tight comforting hug. Her presence and warmth cheering me up. I smile and calmly say "Charlotte, it's so nice to see you" as she pulls away.
She frowns "Emily, you don't have to do that?" she says sadly
"What" I say truly confused
"You don't have to pretend like your fine like nothing happened, when you're hurting inside. Daniel told me everything this morning. About your break up and about you guys faking your relationship for a month to benefit me."
"Oh, I'm sorry I never wanted you anywhere near this and I know how excited you were for the wedding" I say truthfully
"It doesn't matter about me, look I know how it feels to have a broken heart and I'm here for you, you shouldn't have to go though it alone." She says sincerely.
I feel her brown eyes full of concern staring at me and I know what she wants. Some heartfelt discussion from me about Daniel or at least something to show that normal process of heartbreak. But I can't talk about Daniel, I've tried so hard to close my feelings and emotions for him and I'm not letting them out.
"Charlotte, don't worry about me, I'm fine"
"Stop lying" she shouts startling me, her voice calming down as she continues "You just broke up with the man you loved. I saw it in your eyes when you looked at him and heard it in your voice when you spoke. I saw the happiness and love you felt on your face and in your composure every day. And he loved you just as much too, Daniel adored you, I had never seen my brother so happy until he was by your side. So just please don't tell me your fine, when that's all been ripped away. For once, truly open up to me, I might not be able to help but trust that I'll still be there for you"
Damn it, she was getting me emotional, I could feel the lump in my throat start to form. Scrambling for the right words to say I try a bit of honesty.
"Charlotte, in times of sadness I'm used to being on my own, I know your there for me and I thank you for that but I'm fine…enough. Anyway by now I'm all out of tears."
She gives me another hug then quietly says "He still loves you. You know, he was the one who actually told me to come see you, he told me to give you a big hug to help you feel better. He cares about you Emily."
"Charlotte" I say sadly "There is a big difference between caring and loving and even if he did still love me, I wouldn't go back to him it would just be foolish after all our love is already tainted."
"Emily what happened? I don't understand how you guys can go from happiness to sadness as quick as you two did. When Daniel told me about the breakup he said he did something unforgiveable to you. He also said something about a huge secret he found out about you and that he couldn't get over your lies. What was it he found out about you? I know I'm prying but if it's such a huge thing don't I deserve to know. I won't judge, I promise."
I look at her, brown eyes pleading with me to let her in but I just don't know so I close my eyes and shut out her persistent voice which is still rambling on about Daniel and the secret to give myself some time to think. She does deserve to know after all she is my sister. Plus she's right in the middle of this and always has been. She's both my sister by blood, my enemy's daughter by blood and my lover's sister by blood. When we had first found out Nolan had mentioned that I should tell Charlotte the truth but I was in the middle of my Revenge then and I couldn't jeopardize my plans.
It's finished now though and the secrets already out you should tell her, that's what Daniel had told me a couple weeks back. I didn't answer him though, my answer would have just made me seem weak, because the truth was I was scared to tell Charlotte. Scared I'd lose her like I had lost Daniel. But thinking about it, now was really my last chance to tell her. If I didn't have the courage to tell her now, when she was specifically asking when would I ever be able to tell? Waiting would only make the truth that much harder for Charlotte and she was my sister she had some of the same blood flowing through her veins as me. Did I really want to spend the rest of my life holding back such an important truth from the only true family I had left?
I hope you liked that chapter, please COMMENT/REVIEW =D
Here's the song link. Thesongs actually called Masterpiece Theatre 3 btw. (watch?v=tJh2OFxEcUM)
And I promise they'll be a Demily moment coming up soon
