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Charlie sighed. He was too curious to go home. So, he walked to Lewis and Liv’s apartment and opened the door.
He expected laughter when he walked in. He expected Violet to be perfectly fine, either as shocked as he was or in on the joke.
What he didn’t expect was Liv to be at the door, her brown eyes wide and nervous. Charlie’s panic returned tenfold, and then he heard crying from the direction of the living room.
“The whole place," Violet’s voice said. He saw her sitting on the couch. She looked awful. Her dress was soaked, and her hair was covered with dust and grime. She looked like she had been in a war, nothing like the person he knew. “It fell in. Right where I was standing. If I hadn’t had moved, I would have died.”
“Jesus Christ," Lewis muttered from where he stood next to her. He looked like a mixture of far too many emotions. Angry. Scared. Worried.
Charlie hadn’t seen Lewis like this in a very long time.
“And I can’t even get a hotel because of some stupid hockey game," Violet said. “Everywhere is packed.”
Something terrible had happened to her. Something dangerous. His feelings for her didn’t matter. What once was annoyance turned into protectiveness. Who had done this – to Violet Moore no less?
Charlie could easily find them and make them regret it.
Liv cleared her throat, causing Violet and Lewis to look at them. Violet’s eyes found his instantly.
“What the hell?” Lewis asked.
“Oh my god," Violet added, hiding her face. Charlie knew he should look away but couldn’t.
“Who did this to you?” He asked lowly. Feelings he hadn’t had since middle school, since he stood up to Lewis’s bullies, were bubbling in his chest, making him ready to hunt down whoever had hurt her.
“What are you doing here?” Violet said instead of answering.
“I told him to come here," Liv told them.
“Why?” Lewis asked.
“Violet needs a place to stay.”
“Liv," Lewis said, his voice tight. “This is a bad idea.”
“It’s the only idea.”
“Hang on, what happened?” Charlie asked, his voice hard as he looked at Violet Moore in tears. “No one’s explained that to me yet.”
If he could think a little clearer, maybe he could have put the pieces together, but his mind was running too fast to even attempt to. His fists were clenched, and he was ready to fight.
Violet heaved a long sigh, but still answered. “My apartment collapsed.”
Charlie took a moment to process. Her apartment collapsed? Did that even happen these days?
“What the fuck?” Charlie said. “How does that even happen?”
“It was an old building,” Violet said, not looking him in the eye. “And besides, I’m not hurt or anything. At least as far as I can tell.”
“You didn’t go to the hospital?” Charlie asked.
“Do I look like I can afford a hospital bill?”
Charlie sighed angrily. She had him there. His eyes trailed her body, and he could only find a tiny bit of comfort that she wasn’t bleeding anywhere.
Lewis cleared his throat.
“Was anyone else hurt?”
