Season 13. Age 11.
i know the end.

TW: slight mentions of past abuse.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte is on her way to meet up with jo after using the restroom when she overhears a couple of interns gossiping. at first the teen is not very interested, but quickly changes her mind after hearing one of the interns bring up dr. karev. charlotte freezes, pressing herself up against the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"i heard that dr. karev and dr. wilson haven't been speaking." one intern spoke.

"i hear he's been staying with dr. grey." a second voice gossips. "think he's having an affair?"

"haven't you heard?" added a third. "it's because karev went batshit and beat deluca half to death. how do you two not know this already?"

charlottes eyes went wide in disbelief. she thought she had finally escaped all of the violence that formed her past when alex karev had found her on that park bench. of course she was terrified and hesitant to trust the doctor at first, but he had quickly proved himself trustworthy and safe. charlotte couldn't believe she had been so wrong about the man; usually, her safety-radar could detect these sorts of situations from miles away after the amount of practice it's had throughout the past few years.

this news was especially shocking considering the fact that everyone she had met at the hospital so far had constantly assured charlotte that she could trust alex. and trust she did; he had been the first man she had ever trusted to such an extent.

now, however, charlotte wasn't quite sure what to believe.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte follows jo out of the hospital later that day, tugging open the door to the passenger seat of the doctors car when jo calls over, "hold on a second, charlie."

charlotte pauses, watching with confusion as the doctor removes a piece of paper from her purse, unfolding it to reveal the word "homecoming?" written across its front in black sharpie. jo takes a deep breath as she notices alex exit the building; she holds the paper out to the side, letting the peds doctor read it.

"what the hell is that?" alex asks, pausing at the front of the parking lot row.

"it's my hoco-pro." jo explains.

"oh, you asking me to the dance?" alex slowly approaches the woman, prompting charlotte to immediately yank open the car door and throw herself inside the backseats, shutting the door tightly behind her.

jo smiles, laughing awkwardly. "no, i'm asking you to come back home." there's a slight pause before alex advances, leaning in to kiss his fiancée.

charlotte almost throws up, and not because of the kiss. she hops back out of the car. "hey, uh, is it okay if i go over to meredith's? she's been wanting me to meet zola."

jo pulls away. "oh, yeah, of course. we can drop you off on the way."

"oh, that's okay." charlotte begins to retreat away from the car, "i think she's just about to leave anyways, i'll just ride with her. thanks anyways." the teen all but runs back into the hospital, finding meredith talking to richard in the lobby. "hey, uh, meredith?" charlotte gets the doctors attention.

"oh hey charlie, what's up? everything okay?" it had barely been a week since her arrival, so this kind of forwardness was extremely out of character for charlotte. she tended to go wherever pointed and nod at every question asked.

"yeah, uh, i was just wondering if i could stay over tonight? i know it's pretty last minute, and im sorry, but you've been wanting me to meet zola and alex is moving back in with jo so, you know..." charlotte wiggled her eyebrows dramatically, adding emphasis. "homecoming."

meredith laughs lightly. "of course, anytime. you let jo know, right?" charlotte nods. satisfied, meredith waves goodbye at richard, calling out, "have a goodnight," before leading the teen out of the hospital.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlie dedicates the entirety of the following week towards avoiding alex. instead of her usual spot on the couch in his and jo's loft, she had been residing at meredith's house. at the hospital, if the elevator doors opened and alex was inside, she took the stairs. if she spotted him while heading down a hallway, she went the other way; she'd even become distant with jo, knowing the latter would ask questions and repeat everything the girl said straight back to her fiancée.

charlotte knew she couldn't keep this up forever, but for now it was working just fine. she had even already confirmed with meredith that it was alright if she extended her stay, citing she was just having too much fun with the kids and that their spare bed was much more comfortable than the karev's living room chair. (this part wasn't a lie.)

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte felt as though she might burst at any given moment. this new knowledge had been weighing her down like cement ever since she had overheard the interns conversation. not knowing what to do with herself, charlotte soon found herself spinning aimlessly in a desk chair beside ben warren as he fills out post op paperwork.

"hey, why are you avoiding karev? wilson said you spent the other night at greys but haven't been back since, and they haven't been able to reach you." warren inquires.

"what are you talking about?" charlotte plays dumb. "i haven't—"

ben cuts her off. "and don't say you aren't avoiding him because karev saw you totally ditch the elevator yesterday when you saw he was on it. and you've been ditching them at lunch, too."

"that doesn't mean anything. i didn't take the elevator because i remembered i forgot something in the attendings lounge, and i've been making my rounds at lunch. i'm quite popular around here, warren."

"you've been sleeping on their couch for weeks and nearly freaking out every time they're in surgeries and can't be with you, and now suddenly you've moved out and aren't even speaking to 'em?" ben scoffs. "yeah, not buying it."

charlotte sighs, spinning a final lap around in her chair to face the doctor. "look. i've been around lots of really bad guys before. violent guys, guys who have hurt me physically and...other ways. they just kinda tend to go where i go."

unaware of the child's past with violent men, warren reassures, "none of that had anything to do with you, charlie, and karev is nothing like that."

charlotte picks up a paper clip from the desk and begins unwinding it. "i didn't either, but then i heard what he did to deluca. i've escaped it in the past, but im not gonna let that happen to me again. not if i have a chance to get away from it before it even starts." she glances up. "you know, you're lowkey a girls girl, warren. good talk." charlotte pats the doctor on the knee before leaving the room.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Ben finds karev in the O.R gallery. "i'm a girls girl."

alex snorts, "you're a what?"

"charlie's been talking to me today, confiding in me. i know women tend to keep each others secrets no matter how much unnecessary drama that may cause but, i can't. so, i'm just gonna tell you...she's afraid of you."

"what?"

"she found out about what you did to deluca. she thinks you could hurt her. not emotionally. she's afraid you'd hurt her like you hurt deluca."

"delu—how did she find out about deluca?"

"didn't say. but i really think you should talk to her. it doesn't sound good." alex doesn't respond; instead leaving the gallery silently and quickly.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Alex finally finds charlotte sitting alone on greys porch swing. when she notices him approaching, she quickly gets up and scrambles towards the front door. he interrupts, "charlie, wait. just give me five minutes. i'll stay all the way over here."

charlotte peers through the window behind the porch swing and looks into the living room. all three of the sisters are inside, including all of meredith's kids. they would see if anything happened to her. with a deep breath, charlotte quietly and slowly sits back down.

alex takes three small steps forward, just close enough where they could have a conversation without him needing to speak too loudly. noticing this, charlotte scoots over to the far side of the swing. "charlie, listen. i swear to you i could never hurt hurt you. i do wrong and stupid things, but id never hurt you. that night, with deluca, i thought he was hurting jo. she was drunk so he brought her home, he was helping her into bed and she accidentally pulled him down on top of her. it was a horrible misunderstanding, but i was only trying to protect jo, and i would do the same for you."

charlotte watched alex intently as he spoke, analyzing him in an attempt to figure out if he's telling the truth or not. she thinks about jo, and how she stayed with him and continues to trust him regardless, knowing that she had suffered at the hands of abusive men as well. charlotte trusted jo with her life, and if she was still able to trust alex, then charlotte guessed that perhaps she could too. she believed that he had only been trying to protect his girlfriend; that sounded more like the doctor than if he were to just beat somebody senseless completely unprovoked. in a small voice, she asks him to confirm. "you promise?"

alex smiles softly. "i promise."

now normally charlotte would never trust or forgive someone so easily. but, in just the past few weeks, she had grown fond of the man who found her on that park bench. she missed him. and, of course, she especially missed jo. while charlotte still had her occasional doubts about the peds doctor, she had never doubted jo. so, if it meant being able to move back in with her, charlotte could try her best to trust alex; well, at least enough to be able to sleep in his chair. slowly, the young girl got up from the porch swing and walked toward alex. unsure what her intentions were and figuring charlotte was just going to head back inside, he stood back and let her make all the moves. however, he's pleasantly surprised when the timid girl throws her arms around him, hugging him tight.

alex reciprocates the embrace, wrapping his arms around the small girl and resting his chin atop her head. charlotte flinches slightly at the sudden extra contact, but reminds herself that it was just alex, who had never hurt her. yes, he may have hurt deluca, but only so he could protect jo. charlotte had never had someone go to such extreme lengths to protect her. in fact, she couldn't even remember the last time she had been protected. (well, before jo and alex had found her on that bench.)