FORGIVE BUT WON'T FORGET

CHARLES POV

I had to take Crimson to the supermarket and to be honest it was no coincidence that I happened to heading in the same direction, I actually had no where to be at that moment.

The drive there was pretty silent, I would try to start up a conversation but she would end it as quick as swallowing a bitter medication.

"Did you remember to take your customer card?" I had to ask since she had no purse or signs of cards with her, "yeah I did" once again she just had to kill the conversation I was hoping would grow.

I know she was mad at me and I promised to give her space but I just couldn't handle the silent treatment she had been giving me all week.

"So how is school going?" before I left she was still in highschool living on a 'low key format' as she loves to call it, "oh so now you care? i'm so excited to start updating you" she replied with a painful sarcastic smile that made her cheeks rise hard with pressure.

"Crim can we please stop this now, i'm sorry and I missed you", "Then why did you leave? do you even know how hard it was for me, you have got no idea so don't tell me to stop!" by the time she was done talking we had uninvited eyes staring at us from all corners of the supermarket and her face was almost as red as her hair.

I pulled her in and embraced her tight, this time around she didn't try to drift away.

"Crimson I know I hurt but I swear I didn't mean to and I can't imagine how hard it was for you but please forgive me this once, trust me It will never happen again".

After we finished shopping I took her to the ice cream shop she always loved going when she was little, I remember how we had to threaten her with a painful dentist session to stop her from visiting the shop everyday.

" so why did you leave? please just tell me the truth" I though we were over with the conversation but I guess she just kept mute until she received her scooped cream of different flavours all combined in a terrifying way.

"To be honest I just didn't want to hurt you and your dad, if I had stayed then your lives would have been in danger".

That was the truth, the business I was handling then was one decorated with blood and a lot of deaths were required to bring it to a closure, "what do you mean by that?" I knew she wouldn't just leave it at that, "Crim please that is all I can say for now, trust me I had no choice".

CRIMSON POV

The drive back home was still silent but not as silent as before because my stomach kept rumbling probably because I skipped breakfast or because I consumed way too much ice cream.

"So...... have you forgiven me" Charles asked finally breaking the awkward silence, "I have forgiven you, after all you are my brother and I can't stay mad for too long but I wont forget; not until you give me a clear explanation on everything".

I had to forgive since he appeared to be so sincere but I could not get past those words he said 'to be honest I just didn't want to hurt you and your dad, if I had stayed your lives would have been in danger' what could that possibly mean, what sort of danger was he desperately trying to shield us from that he had to leave the way he did".

We were back home and I kept thinking of everything, I remember the day Charles left like it was just yesterday.

It was around mid December, we were all lost in the holiday spirit but woke up one cold morning and found out Charles was gone.

My dad of course filled a missing person report while I cried then called his few friends who also knew nothing about his whereabouts, dad did most of the searching while I did all of the sobbing.

The police finally filled a missing person report after the waiting hour but closed the case after a month because according to their investigation; Charles left voluntarily and he had every right to have done so since he was already above eighteen in fact he was twenty already and as free as a bird.

Thinking of it now, We should have suspected something was wrong before he disappeared.

I mean months before he left he kept receiving calls in private and became more reserved, I would ask but he would always say that it was work calls from the business which he had taken full control over just at the age of eighteen.

"Crimson, Crim!! are you there?" the loud bangs on my door snapped me out of my thoughts, "yes come in".

Charles stepped in with an ash joggers and black singlet that exposed his intimidating muscles, "You didn't have to hit the door so hard" we just resolved our issues this morning but it feels like we've resolved it years ago, I guess that is just how family bonds are.

"well I would not have hit it so hard if you had heard when I called your name from the hallway or when your dad called your phone which is sitting right beside you, and oh when I also knocked gently for about two minutes".

I guess I had been too lost in my thoughts that I blocked out every other thing. "i'm sorry", "its fine, let's have dinner in my room like old days", "okay, I will join you soon".

We used to skip eating dinner at the dinning table a lot and then crash in the room after sneaking in snacks to replace the healthy meals, I missed those days and i was happy Charles remembered everything.

We finished eating and started talking about random stuffs until well Charles started trying to catch up with the part of my life he had missed out on.

"So do you like studying tourism, are you coping well" he had this glint of worry in his eyes that made me feel like he already knew my f**ked up school life but was just asking to cover up the fact that he knew.

"How did you know I was studying tourism?" I tried to crook my eyebrows up in a cool way but I failed yet again.

"Well lets just say I have my ways of finding out things, so are you happy in school?", "hmmmm school is fine, I mean i'm one of the top students, I have a good friend Brenna and its just pretty normal and quiet to my liking".

It was actually the truth, I loved my peaceful school life. "So any boy yet or are we doing Brenna now" he had that hot and annoying grin on his face.

"gosh! no no no. where did you even get that from,I don't have a boyfriend yet and as much as I support all sexualities, i'm not gay okay... Brenna is my best friend okay".

"okay it was just a joke why are you getting so red. Wait are you blushing" he asked chuckling. Obviously I was blushing, relationship was not really a conversation topic I fancied especially since I had never been in one before.

Time went by and we kept discussing like two archaeologists catching up after a long adventure, except that Charles said little to nothing about his life during the five years. We talked till I fell asleep right there in his room and it felt like good old days.