Charles stared as she slumped to the ground. His brain told him to leave though his heart willed him to stay and every part of his core was tearing itself apart. Every fibre in his body was being pulled in opposite directions and nothing would stop the whirlwind in his mind. It was destructive and dangerous. It was beyond understanding - beyond recognition - it was something he had not yet experienced and the one common thought he shared between the conflict he was feeling was that the bottle of rum on the table looked particularly appealing right now.

But he couldn't.
He wouldn't.
He needed to figure out what he was doing and through everything, one memory flooded his mind for a brief moment.

I shan’t be happy until I’m content you have calmed yourself down.

Then Charles saw her truly; the tears streaming down her face, the hopeless expression lost in her own sea of emotion and it pierced his soul like a knife through his heart. He couldn't leave. He couldn't stay. There was nothing he could do.

So he stood there for a minute watching her in silence just as she watched him. And maybe that was all that was needed.

Moving toward her, Charles knelt down to where she was sat and tried to smile though he couldn't muster one.

"I..." two more words wanted to leave his lips though he wouldn't allow them, "I can't stand seeing you like this. Seeing us like this."

Sitting in front of her, Charles moved his hands to wrap around her as he pulled her into a hug; his legs crossed, her head against his shoulder.

He was at a loss and it pained him more than imagination could conjure.

---