Hoping the Best & Fearing the Worst Who: Ransom and Charlotte Where: Charlotte's house When: Afternoon
While he understood his family's reasoning for being clingy, Ransom could only take so much. They'd always felt close and now they felt suffocating, and after a morning of his mother whining about their safety, he "snuck out" to visit Charlotte. In this case, sneaking out meant that everyone in the house knew except his mother, who would be notified once he was a safe enough distance away. She didn't need to worry, but he needed to breathe.
Ringing the doorbell, Ransom shuffled nervously. Besides feeling like he'd failed as a protector, there was also the small concern that Charlotte's mother would know more than she needed to. It was the first time he'd have to face her after the conversation she'd had with Charlotte, and the condoms she'd given her, and he was worried the color of his face might give them away.
Luckily enough, Isadora was a sucker for tragedy. She hadn't questioned Charlotte about anything not relating to the attack and abduction, and when Isadora answered the door and saw Ransom, what he might have done with her teenage daughter was nowhere near the forefront of her mind. "Hi, Ransom," she said, opening the door for him and leaning against the wall. She didn't ask how he was, figuring he was about the same as all the teens were right now. "She's in her room."
"Thanks," Ransom said with a little smile before heading up to Charlotte's room. He knew he probably should be more conversational, but right now he couldn't muster the energy to put on that kind of show. He had the feeling Charlotte's mother might understand. Hurrying up the stairs, he knocked on Charlotte's door, saying her name softly before cracking it open.
Charlotte had felt all day like she needed to be doing something. And yet, at the same time, there was absolutely nothing she could do. She had struggled with it for some time, but it was the truth. With that grudgingly accepted - for now, anyway - she had spent a large portion of her day lying on her bed. She almost ignored the knock, until she heard Ransom's voice. She turned towards the door in a hurry and sat up, heart skipping almost painfully in relief.
"Hey," Ransom said, peeking in, then proceeding to come into the room before shutting the door behind him. He didn't care that it might bother her parents. His mind really wasn't in a place to take advantages of closed doors anyways. "I missed you," he said, wrapping his arms around her as he took a seat on her bed next to her. After having two nights with her, sleeping alone was far more difficult, especially after what they'd been through.
Facing him completely, Charlotte wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. "I missed you," she echoed. It was hard to be away from him now, painful really. Not to mention he and everyone else who had been there were the only people who she could possibly relate to right now. "How's your family?"
Closing his eyes, Ransom inhaled the scent of her hair, kissing the top of her head. While she should be perfectly safe in her own home, he wished he could stay there with her, just to be sure. They should have been safe before, with so many of them, traveling together. Nothing felt safe now. "They're okay," he said, loosening his hold slightly. "Clingy, but I don't blame them. How's yours?"
Charlotte wasn't really loosening her hold, though she probably should have. It wasn't like he'd be snatched away if she let him go. "Mom's pretty freaked out, but she's not weeping and hugging me anymore," she admitted. "All the animals are hovering around my door. Or below the window." Oh, and Valen. "Valen's in cop-mode."
Ransom didn't mind her holding on tight. It made him feel more welcome to do the same. "I think I lucked out on having a sibling to share that with," Ransom said with a little laugh. His mom would do all the dramatics on Jessalyn, then would switch over to him, then back again. At least it was split, cause it just made him feel bad. "What's cop-mod entail?"
"Lots of questions," Charlotte answered. And slight lectures and bad feelings and general all-around all-out weirdness. Oh, and the guilt. "I think he thinks someone on the trip knows something." And it's my fault.
Ransom frowned, trying to see things from that angle. Everyone on the trip had seemed nice, definitely not the sort to be involved with anything like the attack. "Why would he think that?" he asked, confused.
Charlotte knew that 'because he's a jerk' was not only not an appropriate response, but it was also an extremely childish one. So she shrugged slightly. "He's suspicious of everyone. And I admitted that I didn't really know everyone that was there, and... even if I had, I think he's just the sort of guy that doesn't believe you can never really know someone."
"I didn't know everyone, but... it just doesn't seem like the kinda thing any of those guys would do," Ransom said. He knew that wasn't a reasonable argument, but he was likely the opposite of Valen and had a bad habit of trusting just about anyone. It helped that he could see through their lies more often than not, but it didn't mean he was a perfect judge of character either.
"I don't believe it either. I don't want to, maybe, but... I don't think any of them could have faked the emotion at the hospital," Charlotte reasoned. "You or Jessalyn would have known." Though obviously not Gabe. Her heart hurt thinking about that again.
"We'd have sensed the lie," Ransom agreed. Something that big would have stood out to him. It wasn't a little white lie that could be easily ignored, that was for sure. "Have you talked to Gabe? Is he doing okay?" He doubted it, but he didn't want to ask it from the other direction. If Charlotte had been taken... No, that was too unpleasant to think about.
Charlotte shook her head miserably. "I haven't heard from him yet. I can't imagine he is, I just... don't know how to help." And there was the whole thing of feeling extremely guilty over it all that got in the way. "He and Claire mated. On the trip."
At that, Ransom held her tighter, just a reminder that she was there, that he hadn't lost her. "He'll find her," Ransom said softly. "He'll get her back. I don't know how, but... he has to." He couldn't see it going any other way. They'd find their friends. He just didn't know how.
Charlotte closed her eyes and turned her face in to his neck, not really saying anything for now. She tried to be optimistic, but she was the sort of person who always prepared for the worst. And she'd never seen this coming. How could she slip up like that?
"It'll be okay," he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. This was irrational optimism and they probably both knew it, but he had to hope for the best in this situation. He couldn't truthfully consider the worst. They were all just kids. What would anyone want with them?
Charlotte was great at considering the worst. If they were taken for blood, it was either draining, or slavery. If (when, she needed to think that way, when) they came back... what condition would they be in? She didn't want to dampen Ransom's optimism though, so she just nodded.
"All the packs in the area know," he said softly. "They're all looking and listening." His father had put out the word immediately, spurned into action by how close two of his own children had been to the attack. The fact that they'd been carrying tranquilizers had really set him off.
Charlotte nodded again. "That's good," she said, and meant it. She knew the police were doing everything they could, but if they were up against magic, she felt weres had the better advantage.
Ransom realized there wasn't anything he could do to make things better. He really wished there was, but he'd done all he knew to do. So for now he just laid back on her bed and held her, feeling almost guilty that he could do so when there were others out there missing.