Epilogue

No one's POV

2 months later

Henry walked up to Charlotte's house with his left arm in a cast, the bullet only pierced his skin but it still hurt like a bitch. Both he and Charlotte were relieved when Jasper got 25 years to life, he won't be on parole until he is 42. Charlotte was present at his sentence when he got told his punishment there was no regret on his face, he looked at Charlotte and blew a kiss making her look away in shame. But she smiled in victory knowing that he couldn't hurt her or anybody anymore. Henry held the bouquet of roses in his broken arm as he used his other hand to knock on the door. A few seconds passed before Sarah opened the door, pulling him in a hug.

"Hey Henry, how are you?" She said brightly pulling away from Henry,

"I'm doing great Mrs. Brown. Is Charlotte awake?" Sarah guided him into the house, closing the door behind him.

"She is still asleep actually. She is supposed to be helping me cook the food but it's fine. How's your boss?" Sarah asked in a low tone, stuffing her hands in her jean pockets, Henry smirked knowingly she likes Ray.

"He's fine, yesterday he told me that he was coming to the party today." A sly look on his face as he walked upstairs slowly.

"Alright, thanks for letting me know. That's sweet you got roses for her, I know she'll love it. The guests are coming by 2:30 so come down soon, oh! And don't be doing other shit upstairs. If I hear you guys, I'm going to tell your parents." She said sternly, making Henry nodded his head quickly.

"Yes, ma'am I will not do anything inappropriate." He said before running up the stairs to her room, the house she lived in was bigger than his own. He walked to her room knowing exactly where it was from all the nights of sneaking in when Charlotte needed comfort. He knocked lightly on her door before opening it, she was still sound asleep. Henry placed the flowers on her dresser he then took off his shoes and jacket and slipped in the bed beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist making her the little spoon, burying his face in the crook of her neck smiling softly.

"Sweetie ...wake up." He said softly, planting kisses on her cheek. Charlotte hummed in response, turning over to face him, opening her eyes slowly, her face splitting into a smile.

"Good afternoon Char. Happy Birthday! Today you are 17, and I'm so glad you're here to celebrate!" He exclaimed quietly,

"Thank you, Henry." She said with a grin burying her face in his shoulder.

"What time is it?" she asked in a muffled voice, Henry glanced at his watch.

"It's 1:45 PM." He heard Charlotte gasp before she got up and out of bed. Henry looked at her confused.

"Shit. Mama's probably pissed at me. I told her yesterday that I was going to help her cook chicken today." She said taking off her big t-shirt and putting on a bra.

"Baby chill. Mama's not mad at you, plus she's worried about Ray. I know she likes him, it's hilarious." She stopped and looked at him wide-eyed.

"Are you serious? I knew it! You should hear how much she asks about him. It's so fucking funny." Charlotte said grabbing jeans from her closet, she turned around and noticed the roses on her dresser.

"Oh! Did you get these for me?" She asked looking at Henry, he nodded in response, loving how her face lit up in joy. Henry sat up in her bed with a smile on his face.

"Aww that's so sweet Henry, Thank you!" She exclaimed brightly, pulling him in a tight hug.

"No problem Charlotte." He kissed her cheek and then pulled her in a kiss. Their kiss was on the brink of a makeout session then someone knocked on her door very rudely.

"If I hear y'all fucking I'm going to throw up. C'mon stop making out and get your asses downstairs." Charlotte rolled her eyes and laughed, it was funny because they still haven't had sex and Bruce thinks they are.

"God shut the fuck up Bruce. Leave my door please." Charlotte groaned out annoyed, placing her forehead on his chest.

"Mmmhmm I'm leaving. Y'all got 5 minutes!" Bruce said before walking off. When the coast was clear Charlotte looked up at Henry and grinned, reaching to pull off his shirt, But he stopped her.

"Sweetie not right now. Your mama's home I don't think she would want a show." Charlotte reluctantly let go of his shirt and sighed,

"You're right, maybe after we could go somewhere and celebrate my 17th birthday." She suggested biting her lip with a grin.

"But that's what we're doing now," Henry said confusedly, Charlotte smacked his arm.

"You ass! That's not what I'm talking about." Henry laughed, pulling her on his lap with his good arm. Holding her bare torso.

"I know Char. Are you sure about this? Are you ready?" He asked pushing her bed hair out her face kissing her lips softly. She nodded,

"Yeah, I am. I think I can do it." She said with confidence, making him smile. He told her what he was going to do but not what was going to happen just to make sure she was fine with it.

"That's good to know." He muttered into her shoulder still holding her on his lap,

"You know I wish you didn't break your arm." She said looking at his cast,

"I know. Me too but it comes off in about 2 weeks so I'll be normal again."

"That's good." She said and they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Well, I got to get dressed, Hen," Charlotte said getting up and going to her closet. She put her jeans on and grabbed a pink shirt from her closet, Henry just looked at her in amazement. Charlotte looked over her shoulder,

"Get out of here thank you. A girl needs privacy." He got up off the bed and walked up to her kissing her on the cheek before leaving her room.

When he walked downstairs he met the stern gaze of Sarah, he put his hands up in defense.

"Mama I promise I didn't do anything." She hummed approvingly,

"Well, Bruce told me that y'all were doing things… I'm just kidding, but Bruce does have a big mouth." Henry's phone rang. He reached for his pocket and looked at his phone. Ray was here ready to celebrate Charlotte's birthday.

"Oh, Ray is here." He said with a smirk with a wink.

"Really?!" She whispered looking in the reflection of her phone checking her hair. Henry nodded.

"Yeah right outside that door go say hi!" Henry said, pointing at the door. Sarah took a deep breath.

"Alright! I will." Sarah said before walking through the front door closing it behind her. Henry and Bruce rushed to the window looking at the talking pair in amusement,

"Hehe, mama looks hella shy," Bruce commented, noticing the weird movements his mom was doing.

"Yeah, she does. So how does Charlotte like it here?" Henry questioned Bruce; he didn't want to ask Charlotte directly because of circumstances. Bruce looked at the window in thought.

"She likes it here, I know that. But she still wakes up on the floor some mornings. I asked her about it and she told me that sleeping on the floor made her sleep better for some reason. She's still getting used to you know… having a mother I know it's hard for her but I think she'll be fine within time and love." Bruce said glancing up towards her room Henry felt bad for Charlotte and what she had to go through but today Henry was going to make her feel 10 times better with the gift he was going to give her. Henry quickly turned his attention to the stairs when he saw his girlfriend coming down the steps, wearing the most beautiful outfit: ripped jeans with a cute galaxy shirt with hoop earrings and her pretty face to top it all off. Bruce smiled looking at his twin,

"Oh, sis you looking like a whole entree!" Bruce exclaimed, snapping his fingers in a Z motion making Charlotte smile brightly.

"You look, gorgeous baby," Henry said meeting her by the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank you, guys. I appreciate the compliments." She said with a grin. It fell when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket, she grabbed it and opened her phone looking at the email Jasper sent her trying to control her facial expressions. It read:

From: Dunlop, Jasper

Sent: November 14, 2018

To: Brown, Charlotte

Subject: Happy Birthday

Happy birthday, Baby. I miss you so much. Please respond to me.

Xo,

J

Charlotte deleted the email and put her phone back in her pocket shaking off the feeling of uneasiness. Henry looked at her slightly concerned glancing at her phone trying to read what changed Charlotte's mood.

"Who is it?" Henry asked in a low voice.

"No one is important." She replied with a grin she wasn't going to let him ruin her birthday like he did the last one. Henry nodded understandingly he didn't question he knew she would eventually tell him.

"Alright, char. So did your mom make the cupcakes?" Henry asked, walking with Charlotte to the large kitchen with Bruce trailing behind them.

"Yeah, she did last night. But they aren't iced yet, she wanted us to decorate them in the color we want. I mean she looks pretty busy lip-locking with Ray." Bruce said, glancing out the window.

"Wait WHAT?!" Henry and Charlotte exclaimed at the same time rushing to the nearest window,

"Are you serious?!" Charlotte asked, trying to find her mom and Ray outside.

"No, I'm just kidding," Bruce said with an annoying laugh making Charlotte and Henry rush over to smack him on the head. Bruce ran around aimlessly trying to get away from the couple's rage.

The birthday party went well, everyone was enjoying themselves but then they ran out of soda, Henry insisted on going to the store to get some more.

"Mama, can I go with him?" She asked with a convincing girl hoping that she would say yes.

"Yeah go on ahead. Don't be out there too long you two…" She said sternly looking at the grinning teenagers, they both nodded and left the kitchen leaving out through the front door.

"I can't believe we ran out of soda in like 2 hours," Henry said, shaking his head as he opened the passenger door for Charlotte.

"Thank you. I know if Bruce didn't invite 10 people we wouldn't have to go buy more drinks." She said putting on her seatbelt as he stared at the car pulling out of the driveway. She looked at his arm that was in a cast,

"I can't believe that you're driving, you have a broken arm silly." She glanced at his arm, covered with her drawings and other people's signatures.

"Too bad. I'm not letting you drive until you get your full license and a bullet can't kill me so I'm sure I can drive with one arm for another 2 weeks."

"I can drive, you know. I passed the permit like last week. I'm a pro at driving actually," Charlotte said trying not to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Mmm okay, whatever helps you sleep at night baby. We are going to Walmart because their drinks are cheaper."

"Yeah, they are. So does mom know that we are going somewhere after the party?" She wasn't sure if she should tell her mom where they were going.

"Yeah she does, I asked her last week." Charlotte nodded and wondered where they were going. He told her that she has to be blindfolded for a while, she was kinda nervous because he didn't inform her on exactly what she needed to be blindfolded.

"Oh okay."

Charlotte broke down when she saw enter the house,

"This is my sister Kelly Brown," Sarah said to Charlotte and everyone else in the room. Kelly went up to Charlotte and hugged her.

"Oh my god. Doctor, you were the one that believed me. Thank you so much." Charlotte said gratefully, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand,

"I'm sorry I shouldn't be crying on my birthday." She quickly apologized, fanning her face with her hand. Kelly placed a hand on Charlotte's shoulder.

"Charlotte it's fine you're not crying of sadness it's because of joy," Kelly said with a small smile, she was glad to have her niece home. Charlotte wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry for breaking up this reunion, Auntie. But the birthday girl and her man got to leave." Bruce said abruptly with a grin making charlotte blush,

"Yeah, I'm sorry Doctor. I and Henry do have to go somewhere," Charlotte said glaring at Bruce.

"Okay well, you guys have fun. We'll catch up when you get back alright?" Kelly said before walking towards the kitchen, Charlotte nodded and hit Bruce on the arm when he was within reach.

"You fucking idiot, you didn't have to announce it to everyone in the house." She hissed scolding Bruce, He rolled his eyes and handed her a plastic bag.

"Here are some condoms and other shit," Bruce said with a smile handing her the bag, Charlotte looked at him confused.

"Excuse me? Why did you get me this." Charlotte asked in a low tone looking in the vicinity around her making sure no one was looking. Bruce shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

"Because you and Henry might get down. And I don't want to be an uncle at 17, so take these and use them." Bruce said stuffing the bag in her purse, Charlotte just started laughing.

"Alright. Thanks for your support, Bruce. C'mon Charlotte we are on a timed schedule we have to be there by 8:00." Henry said, guiding Charlotte towards the front door, she nodded and walked to his car with a grin.

"Yo thanks for the protection I think I'm going to need," Henry said hugging him,

"Always looking out for my brother. Now y'all have fun, but not too much fun." Bruce said giving Henry a hard pat on the back and letting go, Henry winced forgetting how strong Bruce was.

"I won't. I Promise." He said before closing the door.

Henry got in his car and drove to their destination which was at a national park that was thousands of acres, there was a restaurant here that he knew Charlotte would like. It was an outdoor restaurant so it would hopefully create a good atmosphere although it was cold outside. The weather isn't too bad today. The sun was out and the air was warm so it would be beautiful. He stopped his car and held a black bandana.

"This is the time that you need to put this on okay? It's going to take a long walk, well not too long, but about 10 minutes. Luckily the snow isn't too high. Here I can tie it on for you." Henry explained.

"Alright, but why is the walk so far?" Charlotte asked looking out the window, the scene was beautiful, the leafless trees covered with a thick layer of snow. In the distance, you could see the hills covered in a layer of fresh snow.

"Because of things ...C'mon let's go after I tie this on so you can't see," Henry said with a bright smile, he was excited because this was going to be so cute to see her reaction to her birthday present. Charlotte turned around and he carefully tied the bandana around her eyes making sure she couldn't see anything.

"I'm going to get out of the car and help you out and we will be on our journey." She heard him say before getting out of the car, she sat in silence for a few seconds before the door opened with a whoosh of cold air. He grabbed her hand and led her out of his car, Charlotte carefully stepped out of the car and he shut the door.

"Okay now hold onto me and walk. I'll make sure you don't trip and fall on your face in the snow." Henry said laughing. He wrapped an arm around her waist guiding her through the snow, their feet crunching against the fresh snow.

"Thank you, Henry. I don't want to have a broken arm like you." She said giggling, rubbing his cast. Henry frowned and rolled his eyes,

"Shush Char. you're just mad because you don't have this beautiful cast on." She heard him say as they continued walking in the direction she didn't know. Charlotte nudged her hip against his making them both stumble,

"Oh shit my bad. Sorry Hen."

"It's fine. There's a step here,"

"Okay." She said nervously and picked up her foot and slowly stepped on the first step.

"Good. Now we have like 20 to go." Henry said with a smirk even though she can't see it.

"What?! Are you serious?"

"Yeah then after that. We are going to an elevator and you have to be quiet." Henry said as they walked up the stairs. She nodded.

"Okay."

Soon they were in a building, told by the sudden change in temperature.

"Well, it's super toasty in here right now," Charlotte commented and noticed the echo of her voice in the building.

"Alright, we're here." He stated.

"Okay, so can I take it off?"

"No, that's not what I meant. We are in the elevator, silly."

"Ohh okay. So how many floors are we going up?"

"Just 5. And then we'll be back outside."

"Oh shit. Okay then." Charlotte said with a smile, she wasn't sure if they were jumping off a building or something like that. She hated heights. Henry pressed the button to call the elevator, a slight ding rank in the air signaling the elevator shaft to meet the floor they were on. Soon the elevator doors open and Henry slowly guides her in the elevator. The door shuts and you press the number and they end up. Charlotte felt her stomach flutter as the elevator went up, the butterflies kicking around her belly a little bit. She felt a little unsettled especially being unable to see at the moment but she felt Henry put his hand on the small of her back but he didn't say anything. Then she heard a song begin to play, the tune sounded familiar. When the chorus played she knew what the song was in tears from their eyes, it was a song she listened to during her troubles with Jasper the song that helped her get through her troubles. 1-800-273-8255 by Logic. That song helped her because she knew that although it hurt now it would eventually get better and today she was here. She was so ready to take her life but she didn't. She suddenly felt a slightly cold breeze as the elevator doors opened.

"We are here. Take 10 steps and then turn around and take off your blindfold."

"Okay.." She said hesitantly as she slowly stepped 10 steps and turned around. She took off the blindfold but didn't open her eyes,

"You can open your eyes." She heard him not fart from her, She slowly opened her eyes and burst out laughing.

"Oh my god henry! What the hell?" She exclaimed with shock looking at the beautiful table set up just for the two of them.

"Do you like it?"

"Of course I do! I just didn't think you would do it!" She exclaimed with a bright smile.

"I said I would," Henry said taking the bandana and putting it in his pocket, Charlotte watched as he held a black box in his hand.

"Remember that time you told me in 8th grade that you wanted a necklace to match your ring?" Henry said with tears filling his eyes,

"Yeah, I do." She said nodding, the slight breeze making her eyes water. She wasn't crying. Well not yet. He handed her the box and she slowly opened it and gasped at the beautiful necklace,

"I first got this necklace for you as a gift, but then when I figured out my true feelings for you and the situation I realized you were in. This is not just a piece of jewelry, this is a symbol of my love and dedication to you. And I'm glad you are here with me, I don't know what I would do if you weren't here. I love you. From the bottom of my heart." Henry spilled his heart out, his tears slowly falling down his face, the cold weather not helping his flush puffy face. Charlotte let out a cheer of joy and tackled him in a tight hug,

"Henry I love you too. Thank you for the necklace." She muttered in a shaking voice, her tears falling on his jacket. She was so emotionally overwhelmed she was ready to cry tears of joy for hours but she wasn't going to spoil her birthday. She took a shuttered breath,

"So what do you have for us to eat?"

"You're favorite. I could get pizza because it would be nasty cold, so I got the next best thing. Subway sandwiches!" Henry said, guiding her to the table, pulling the chair back so she could sit in it. Charlotte laughed as she looked at the plate,

"Thank you, cheesy mother fucker." She said with the widest grin.

She was happy for the first time in a while, her prayers were finally answered and they were talking about the funny shit that happened over her 17 years. Charlotte knew the road wasn't going to be perfect, but she had people by her side who could help her through her tough times. Her insecurities and scars are still there but not as much, the trauma counselor helped a lot. Their future was bright so was she, that night Henry got to braid her hair with a broken arm. Haha! They lived as normal as they could be…

The End...