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♯ ❝ CHAR, SWEETHEART. ❞
CHAPTER FIVE ✧･ﾟ: * 🌪️🌀
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        THIS HAD EVERYONE INSTANTLY STANDING UP IN A PANIC, TRYING TO FLEE THE AREA BEFORE THE TORNADO GO THEM, which did create a massive crowd that sent people falling to the ground. Luckily for her though, Charlie had Tyler to guard her, and felt his presence behind her as they walked fast also.

"Keep moving, Charlie. Come on, keep movin'." He had a warm hand pressed onto her lower back to guide her, and would push anyone out of her way that got in their path. It was chaos, but he be damned if he let anything happen to the girl.

Her stomach sunk even more in fear when she got a glimpse of the size of the storm, and how close it was to the town they were in. If the two didn't find somewhere safe soon, they would be goners like the rest of the people. She wanted to help the animals escape also, but prayed they would get away in time.

They made it outside of the arena, and now was running through the many market stores in the same area. Charlie helped up a woman from the ground who went tumbling in front of them, before her hand was grabbed by Tyler, "Come on!"

"Alright, watch out, watch out--" He was leading the girl through the parking area now, where people were getting in cars and driving like luntics, as his hand was holding hers in a tight grip refusing to let go.

The two ran out onto the road now, Charlie almost getting hit by a vehicle who wasn't watching where they were going, and it had Tyler pushing his free hand out to stop them, "Whoa, stop!" He exclaimed to the one on the right first, then pulled her along and did the same to the right, before they were safely across the road.

When they came up to the hotel front door, their hands on each other only dropped then, and Charlie noticed a child and a mother getting into a car, "Hey! Get inside!" She shouted out to them, waving her hand around to grab their attention, and felt Tyler's hand grazing her lower back once more standing behind her, "Follow us!"

    The pair instantly ran on over to the childhood best friends, making Tyler push open the door leading to the lobby and they all piled inside, while the storm got more chaotic outside. A male was at the front desk complaining about something, while his girlfriend was leaning against the wall unbothered, all unaware of what was happening outside.

    Charlie pushed that person aside, so she could slip up in front and ignored the male's protest, "Do you have a storm shelter?" She asked frantically, gaining a 'no' back that had her freaking out even more, "Is there anything you have back office that will protect us? 'Cause we kinda need it, man!"

"Maybe like a basement." Tyler added onto the girl's words to the worker, giving the other male who was complaining a warning look to not say anything to Charlie, "We need to get these people underground right now."

"Okay, there's no tornado." The girlfriend of the complainer now spoke up bored, using a piece of paper to fan herself as the childhood best friends gave her an incredulously stare, "Nine times out of ten, it's a false alarm." Yet, she was very wrong, as the storm was currently destroying everything in it's path outside.

The power now shut off all of a sudden, which had Charlie's nerves spiking up more and wanting to get these people, Tyler and herself out of harms way, "We got to find a shelter, fast." She turns around, running to the back office ignoring the worker who said not to, and sprang open the back door.

She was instantly met with the harsh winds from the storm, making her yelp a bit trying to squint to see through her hair. She scanned the area the best she could quickly, trying her best to remain calm even though she was far from it.

Her ears pick up the sound of metal banging against something, and her eyes land on the empty pool, where she knew would be the best place for them. And it was the only option they had right now, as she couldn't see anywhere else for them to bunker in.

"Everyone, come with me right now!" She called to the group once she ran back into the room, making eye contact with Tyler as she nodded at him and he begin to push them towards her, yelling for them to move.

She grabbed onto the little girl's shaking hand, leading her and her mother outside into the harsh environment, the others all slowly following after Tyler got them run. The wind was getting worse the more they ran, but she continued to lead the group strong, and made sure he was following behind also.

No one realised two of the group members had ran off to get into their car, thinking that would be safer when it was the most dangerous place to be. When they arrived at the pool's entrance, she let the girl's hand go to push open the small gate, "Alright, go, go, go!" She ordered moving her free hand to motion inside, and they all ran inside but the worker and her.

Their attention was on the massive tornado directly on them, seeing how it was now sucking up the building they once were all inside. Charlie snapped out of her scared trance, and pushed the worker inside, just as she ran towards where the ladder was beside Tyler.

The mother and little girl were safely down inside the empty pool first, and Charlie was making sure they didn't fall off the ladder, until she heard the sound of a car turning on and driving. Her stomach dropped seeing the two people missing, and now inside the car trying to drive away, "NO! NO! Stop--"

Her yells of warning were unheard over the howling wind, as she felt Tyler's warm hands grasping her sides now so she didn't run forward. A muffled cry escaped her when the car was sucked up into the vortex, and felt herself getting tugged away from the scene by Tyler, "NO! No--"

"We got to go! We got to go!" He exclaimed at her over the wind, pushing the girl towards the ladder next, and held onto her arms to steady her as she climbed down shakily step by step, "Go! Be careful!"

She jumped down the rest of the way, and landed in the empty pool with a grunt no longer feeling his touch on her wet skin, "Okay, okay. Hold on!" She grabbed to mother and little girl, leading them to the pipes near the end of the pool, "You gotta stay low! Cover her eyes. Make sure to hold on tight!"

Once they were secure and squatted down holding onto the pipes, she turned back in search for the male, "Tyler! TY--" She exclaimed over the wind, just seeing him jumping down into the pool, and she grasped onto his elbows to stable him.

Their attention is drawn away from each other as the worker drops into the pool, and a piece of debri almost falls on top of him, but ended up blocking his way around to them. This caused the duo to stumble back a bit, and duck to the floor for cover, Tyler more out in front compared to Charlie.

Tyler began to move towards the worker now trapped, which automatically had Charlie following behind him, both staying low to the pool floor, "No, Charlie! Stay with them!" He exclaimed strictly over the wind, seeing how she was frantically shaking her head protesting, "Baby, please! Stay there where it's safe!"

She looked in horror through her messy bangs at his figure, bottom lip quivering badly as she was getting flashes of her old best friends deaths, and the same events that happened to her all those years ago. She stayed put like he asked her to, shaking fingers gripping onto one of the wet pipes as she watched Tyler like a hawk.

The manage was crying out for help as Tyler got onto his stomach and crawled towards him, trying to stay low, "Alright, stay down! Just grab my hand. Come on." He coaxed the male hiding behind the hotel sign, and grabbed onto his hand, "I got you. I got you."

    Tyler began to carefully pull the manager along with him on the floor, but didn't hear Tyler yelling at him for stay low, and the latter lifted his head too high. The wind picked him up a bit now, and he was dragged back to the other end of the pool, scared noises leaving him, "Help me!"

"Hang on!" Tyler tried to crawl his way back towards the manager, but it was too late as the the draft got underneath him, and pulled him right up into the swirling, mean looking vortex, that now was right over the top of the small group.

Charlie cried out when the truck that was parked in the lot came flying out of the tornado, and headed straight for Tyler, who only just managed to duck in time to avoid getting crushed. Her heart was beating heavily in her ears, tears already falling free from her eyes as she couldn't lose him too, couldn't let past mistakes happen all over again.

"TYLER!" She shouted reaching out her hand for his, as she watched him trying to crawl back towards them on his stomach. She knew she couldn't move from her spot holding onto the pipe, but she outstretched her hand more, and felt her fingertips brush up against his.

And because of that, she was instantly reminded of Addy desperately trying to reach out for her hand, before she was ripped away by the storm to be never seen again. She couldn't let that happen again, wouldn't let it.

But the flashes of that painful memory soon disappeared as she got a proper grip on Tyler's hand, and began to pull him towards her the best she could, hand having a death grip on his.

She wouldn't let him go for anything, not even when the truck was starting to tip over, and if anything her hold on his hand got tighter, still trying to pull his body groaning. Her terrified gaze did focus on the truck, which was now about to fall on him and she cried out his name once more, "TYLER--!"

Just before the truck could completely crush him, she yelled out as she tugged him forcefully towards her, saving him before he could get hurt. The truck was tipped over, stopped by the top of the pool above them, and was also blocking some of the debris from hitting the four of them.

Charlie fell straight into the pipes, her hands holding onto them like her life depended on it which it did. She felt Tyler's chest slam into her back next also, one of his arms finding her waist, holding onto her for dear life as her grip on the pipes tightens.

One hand holding onto her and the other onto the pipe right above her head, Tyler grounds himself on the floor, trying not to move as he blocked her from the strong winds. She was too scare to move, wanting to reach down and take his hand, but instead felt him pull her closer to his chest, her back pressing into it.

She could feel his heart pounding, like her own, against her back, as they both heave for air. Her eyes were screwed shut, trying to breathe in his scent, feeling the way his arm were around her. Thinking about anything but the giant tornado above their heads, as once more she was remained of the day she lost her best friends.

What made it even worse was how she heard the mother comforting her daughter, "I've got you! I've got you--" Those were the same words said, before Jeb was taking away by the storm trying to protect her and Kate.

Charlie felt like she couldn't breathe. Her eyes were still scrunched shut tight, trying not to focus on the loud noises around them and on the feeling of Tyler's figure behind her. Well, she wasn't sure if he was there anymore, and it was just her brain tricking her when in reality she lost him to the storm like she did with her best friends.

All she could hear was her rapid heart beat in her ears, and the voices of her best friends whispering in her ears. More tears fall down her cheeks at this, wishing she just stayed inside her hotel room to eat pizza and not come out to watch the rodeo. But then again, if she didn't, she wouldn't of sparked her once bond with Tyler again.

But then everything came to a sudden stop. No more noise, no more winds, and no more rain splashing down on them. It all dropped in speed, and eventually faded away into what it was before. Calm and peaceful, but everything was anything but those.

She was too afraid to open her eyes to face what had happened, to scared to face the reality if she did lose Tyler to the storm like she lost all her other best friends. However, when she felt his hand squeezing at her side, and felt his wet lips brush against her temple, she knew he had survived.

Her brown eyes peeled open slowly, chest heaving up and down as she tried to catch her breath, "Ty--" Her voice cracked badly, turning around actually see his figure leaning over her, drenched in the rain and also breathing heavily.

The girl didn't waste a second more, as she leapt up from her feeble position, and threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a strong embrace. Something the both of them have been waiting to do since they saw each other again, and he couldn't believe it took almost dying for it to happen.

Her figure trembles against his wet, but warm one, her face dugged into the croak of his neck, as her hands fisted his flannel behind his back. She knelt in between his opened thighs, and let more tears fall from her eyes wetting his skin even more, "I-I thought I'd," She hiccuped through cries, being muffled by his skin, "I thought I lost you--"

"It's alright, we're okay darlin'." His voice was a quivering whisper against her temple, nuzzling his nose into her wet hair that he's gently brushing back, and his lips against her scalp leaving tiny kisses she can barely make out, "I'm here, I'm here."

He briefly pulls back to gaze at the trembling girl in his hold, seeing how terrified she still was even after the storm was over. He had this wild look in his eyes, concern, fear, and love all moulded into one, as his other hand comes up to brush some hair from her face making her lean into the touch.

"Is it over?" They heard the mother asked the pair now shakily, causing them to slowly break apart, but Tyler kept her hand tightly in his as the four of them stood up, the male helping Charlie watching her legs wobble still a bit.

Charlie blinked back the tears and water on her lashes, her being the first one to start walking around the truck that saved their life's, her hand pulling along Tyler closely. And it now gave them a view of how badly the town was destroyed. The arena, and motel completely gone, and she couldn't even imagine the amount of people and animals that perished in the storm's chaos.

"Yeah," She opened her mouth to speak softly, looking over her shoulder at the mother and daughter, a weak but reassuring smile over her face, "it's over now. We're safe." She added feeling Tyler squeeze her hand strongly.

     The childhood best friends then proceeded to help out the younger girl, and mother out from the destroyed empty pool, using the ladder that managed to stay in tact to climb up on. The mother thanked them both rapidly, while holding her daughter close, and Charlie just smiled weakly in response watching them walk towards the incoming ambulance.

      She heard car alarms wail in the distance, followed by horns honking also knowing more ambulance were on there way, with the police and firefighters following behind. Her figure was shaking still from how drenced she was, and from what she experienced. She was really thankful they managed to survive that tornado.

      A helicopter was up in the skies now using the headlights to scan over the chaos, trying to locate any survivors or any one trapped under all the rubble and derbi. Even as that happened, Charlie knew not many people were alive as the storm was ferocious and came out of nowhere.

     "Char, sweetheart," Tyler's accented voice called out to her over the edge of the pool, knelt down to hold out hand for her to take, as he climbed the ladder first, his clothes and hair still dripping wet, "C'mon, let's get you outta there."

     She swallowed hard at the nickname he called her, shaky legs moving towards the ladder, being careful of the derbi on the ground, and began to climb the steps one foot after the other. Her hair stuck to her cheeks and face, wet from the rain and she felt uncomfortable in her clothes from how they were sticking to her skin also.

      Her hand reached forward to clasp his tightly, making his hand curl around hers with a strong grip, and he gently heaved her up the rest of the way. She stumbled when she touched the solid ground, and pressed her palms fat onto his chest, feeling his muscles tensing and untensing beneath her, something that made her cheeks flush red.

     "Charlie, are you alright?" His now soft question reached her ears, her stomach leaping even more as he gently placed two fingers under her chin, and tilted it up towards him, green eyes meeting wide doe ones, "Let me look atcha properly. You hurt anywhere?"

     She squeezed her eyes shut briefly feeling his eyes room over her face, and figure, as his other hand was holding onto her waist comfortingly, "N-no, I'm fine Ty--" She managed to squeak out, gaze flying back open to gaze up at him through wet lashes, "A bit shaken up, but m'fine. Are you though? You're the one who nearly--"

      His face softened hearing the crack in her voice, his thumb rubbing over some dried blood on her forehead, "You ain't gotta worry 'bout me, I'm more concerned with you." He told her gently in that smooth drawl of his, hand dropping to join his other holding her waist, "I would have glady done it all over again, if it meant protecting you Bear."

     She gazed up into his loving eyes staring down at her shocked for a few seconds, before her face scrunched up and tears began to line her eyesight. She sniffled wrapping her arms tightly around his middle back, and nuzzled her face into his chest, giving him another embrace she knew was needed between them.

     Tyler didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her also, his going around her shoulders and waist, as he rested his nose against her hair, breathing in her familiar scent of flowers that she seemed to always smell like regardless of not being near any. His lips brush up along her ear lobe, and it made her eyes squeeze shut, knees almost buckling from feeling the warmth she's missed so much.

     The two were so caught up in the embrace, that either of them heard the incoming vehicles of Tyler's crew, and Charlie's, all of them pulling up at the same time where they saw the storm had hit. And Charlie only pulled away from the hug once she heard their familiar voices, but didn't move from Tyler's side since he had an arm around her waist protectively.

     Lily and Ben had joined the childhood best friends, them now talking with each other as the others in Tyler's group were out helping those in need, prior to checking in if the were alright. It warmed Charlie's heart when Boone span her around in a hug when he came over, and found it more amusing when Tyler rolled his eyes at the sight.

     "CHARLIE!" Two familiar voices shouted next from the distance, the said girl spinning around to spot Kate running full speed towards her, followed by Javi hot on her tail who parked the StormPAR truck on the road, "Char!"

     She felt Tyler's arm get tighter spotting Javi coming towards her also, and how she turned around to see him glaring at the male, his jaw tight. Charlie just gave a soft squeeze to Tyler's arm, making him look down at her, expression instantly softening from what it was before.

     "It's fine, calm down." She reassured the tense male, slipping out of his hold despite Tyler wanting to reach back out and grab her again, "I'll see you later, alright?" She added softly, giving one last squeeze to his hand and look over his handsome face, before turning around.

     His green eyes stayed on her figure as she walked away from him, right until his gaze shifted into a harder, more tenser one once he landed on Javi's figure. It was like a hawk watching over it's prey, and that prey being Javi, as he was the one dragging Tyler's girl into his mess of a job, something that made the ex bull-riders blood boil.

     By the time she was closer to her sister, Charlie was already sobbing softly, and fell into Kate's arms as soon as they met in the middle. Both girls held onto each other tightly, trembling together as they cry, Kate thankful that nothing bad happen to her twin when she wasn't with her to protect her.

    Kate was running her fingers through Charlie's messy locks, lips pressing many kisses onto her temple as the younger one tucked her face into the eldest neck, gripping onto her sister for dear life, as they rocked from side to side a little, "Oh, Bear--"

     "Thank god you're okay," Kate cried out once they pulled away, tears wetting both their cheeks as her hands cup Charlie's cheeks softly, "I'm never letting you go anywhere without me again, you hear me, Charlie?" She added on more seriously, causing the latter to giggle through her tears.

     Javi was next to embrace the shaken up girl, her body relaxing more into his hug that he pulled her into, her cheek resting against his shoulder, as his arms squeezed her softly. He also pulled back from the hug soon after, but kept his hands on her shoulders, dark eyes scanning over her for any harm.

     "When we saw the size of it on the radar," He stuttered out gripping onto her shoulders more, his heart beat not slowing down even if he did found out that Charlie was safe, eyes frantically looking over her shorter self, "and... and where it was headed, all I could think was--"

    "Hey, I'm alright. I'm alright, I promise." She was quick to exclaim over his words, looking between him and her sister with a gentle smile that didn't reach her eyes like normal, "I'm still in one piece, and I'm fine, just shaking up a bit though."

     She squeezed his hands on her shoulders comforting next, and she removed them after a few seconds, before she felt eyes borrow into the back of her head. She turned her head sideways, spotting how Tyler was watching her from his spot where she left him with Lily and Ben.

     Kate noticed the change of emotion on her sisters face looking at Tyler now, and smiled to herself knowingly, really happy for her twin. But, she wasn't the only one who noticed and Javi didn't have the same reaction as Kate, instead he was feeling a sense of protectiveness wash over him.

     "You've been with Owens the whole time?" He asked the younger girl between them, his eyes landing on Tyler who matched the scowl on his face, before Javi glanced back at Charlie, raising an eyebrow skeptically, "Out of everyone, I least expected you to be with him, Char."

      She fiddled with her necklace around her neck confused, the cool metal brining her a sense of comfort since she didn't have her camera with her, "He's my childhood best friend, Javi." She pointed out defensively, not understanding as she tilted her head to the side, "He protected me from the storm, so if anything I'm grateful that I was with him."

      Javi just made a face at her that she found more amusing then anything, which made Kate smack his arm for him to stop that expression. Before the conversation could move forward, they were soon joined by Scott, "Javi. Apparently, this, uh, place was family-owned. So, I'm gonna start working up some numbers. Riggs is gonna want those first thing."

      The sister shared a matching look with one another hearing that information, as Javi nodded his head at Scott, "Okay, man. I'll catch up with you guys." He informed the male, who acknowledged his words and walked off towards the debri, beginning to collect the data.

     Kate huffed unimpressed by what just happened, her figure moving up closer to press her side against Charlie's, who looked just as anxious, "Javi, what is riggs getting out of all your data collection?"

"What's.... what's that matter?" He now asked them both nervously, which Charlie instantly picked up on by how he was shuffling in his spot, something she always did when she was under pressure or, nervous, which he was knowing where this was going.

     "Is profiting off of people's tragedy part of your business plan?" Kate's voice got lower with each word, showing how upset she was as she had done some research like her sister did about StormPAR, and figured out what Charlie found, "Why are you doing this?"

     Javi paused for a few seconds, eyes flickering between both girls before they landed on Kate, "Wait, hold on." He began getting defensive, his brows furrowing together, "Riggs is offering these people a way to move on with their lives."

     "He's swooping in and taking advantage of people who have just lost everything, Javi." Charlie now spoke up in a quiet tone, a heavy frown on her face staring up at Javi through her lashes sadly, "I know you think you have an idea what that's like, but none of us really do expect the people involved."

      His head snapped to the girl, expression becoming sharp which was something he never looked at her with, "I don't know what that's like, Charlie?" His voice now changed into a sneering one, getting close to her face, "How about losing three of my best friends while your sister was trying to land a big, fat grant for your science project? And how you are supposed to be such an expert on storms, but when we needed it the most you couldn't do it right! Your head was up in the clouds, as per usual and in result, we lost our three best friends."

     In an instant he regretted it, heart clenching in guilt seeing the hurt flash across the girls faces, but it was Charlie's teary eyes and how she flinched back that did it, "Bear, Kate, I didn't--" He tried to talk, but Kate was already grabbing her sisters shoulders to guide her away from Javi.

      Charlie was gently pushed to walk forward more towards Javi's truck by Kate, her shoulders already trembling as she gripped onto her necklace, not daring to look back at anyone. But she did somehow make eye contact with Tyler's wide eyes across the yard, her vision getting blurry more when she did so and walked away faster.

     "Look, I can take you blaming me for what happened," Kate started in a thick, tight voice to Javi, angry tears in her eyes also looking back at the guilty male watching Charlie run towards his truck, "but don't you dare blame my sister. She already does that enough to herself, you don't need to add onto it Javi."

     She gave Javi one last glare of betrayal before storming off, and ended up where Charlie was already sitting on the passenger seat of the car. Kate opened the door up, slamming it shut once she got inside as Javi ran after them yelling their names. The girl began to reverse the car and drive away all while Tyler was watching them leave.

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 4874
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :

yuhh one of my fav chaps ive written so far for this fic cause of the scenes between char and ty omfg i love them so SO much i cannot 🥹

sorry for the lack of updates also guys ive been busy with my study and creating other fics in my drafts but here's the long awaited chapter <33