Author's note: Hey. It's me, your friendly stranger on Wattpad. So...having a bad day? I thought so. I don't know if you like Charlie Bushnell or not but I personally love him and I just wrote this and thought, "Someone else might need this to comfort them after a bad day or something," so here you go, I hope you find some solace in it:

My head's too loud. I can't hear myself think over the cacophony of thoughts crowding my head and flooding my mind.

I try to keep it together, try to keep my composure, make sure the internal battle being fought inside of me doesn't show externally where I'm currently fighting to remain smiling.

I can't let this mask slip. I've spent too long perfecting it, polishing it, making sure no one can ever break through its defense.

My defense.

I try to make it look as realistic as possible. To make it appear exactly how I wish I really was.

But it's all a sham. A facade. A show. An act. A part I play to perfection. A part I've played to perfection.

It's so life-like, so real that no one suspects it to, in reality, be a practiced performance I use to conceal the pain hidden behind the mask I wear often.

So often that it's practically become melded to the fragile skin of my face.

Each practiced movement I make is delicately layered with enough realism to make it appear genuine to foreign eyes.

"Hey."

My thoughts snap into focus. My appearance shifts into place, arranges itself into the mold society and expectations has sculpted—more like trapped—me into.

"Charlie, hi," I greet as genuinely as I can manage at the moment, what with the torrent of thoughts attacking my weak and exhausted mind.

"You okay?" He asks, concern laced deep into his chocolate brown irises and furrowed brows.

For whatever infuriating reason, my lips won't follow my lead in turning upwards into a polite smile and, instead, remain a flat line.

One of the strings attached to the puppet I've become to the atmosphere around me has snapped, letting a part of me hang free of its own conviction, and allowing it to take its own course of action.

One I haven't practiced and, thus, have no control over.

"Y/n?" Charlie's voice borderlines deep worry, compared to his friendly concern only seconds ago. "Are you okay?"

I try to tug my lips up into a smile. But they won't listen. They've given up.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I reply in a calm manner. Although, without the smile to accompany it, it's significantly less convincing.

His frown deepens. "You sure?"

Again, I pull and tug at my lip muscles to move but, again, they don't listen.

And almost as if that small, simple failed attempt is the tip-off of a long line of tall-standing dominoes, it tilts off kilter and tips the next domino over, causing a cascade of toppling dominoes.

Suddenly, my mask starts to crumble. My act starts to slip. My performance begins to dim and blur into omission.

"I-I...I don't know..." I mumble, a frown making its way upon my face, my brows dipping low.

Slowly, my mask cracks and splinters to pieces, showering from my face and falling to the ground with a resounding shatter on the marble floor beneath me.

Deep and overwhelming emotions encompass my every thought, drowning every attempt to pick up the pieces—washing away the glue to repair the broken parts no longer capable of being fixed.

Tears border my line of vision, blurring everything I see into a smear of dull colors as my frown turns into a sad expression of anguish.

"Hey, hey," Charlie's voice softly utters, his wide palms engulfing my upper arms as he leans in to meet my downcast eyes. "What's the matter, Y/n?"

"It's..." I just barely murmur, "it's nothing..."

"No, it's not just nothing, Y/n," Charlie insists in a serious tone.

"I'm fine," I whisper, shrugging his hands off me, but immediately missing the warmth of his touch the second his hands drop back to his sides.

I ignore the odd feeling and turn away to disappear into the crowd. But my feet won't obey.

Instead, they stumble over to pillar a couple feet away, requiring me to reach out a hand to lean against the marble surface for support.

I can feel the emotions swelling inside my chest, building up into a hurricane, a storm waiting to be let loose, to cause chaos and destruction.

Whether to me or the people around me, I don't know.

"Y/n, wait!"

"Please, just leave me alone, I'm fine, I promise," I mumble, walking over into the shadows to leave the large room swimming with millions of judgmental sets of eyes surely hungry for any form of entertainment.

"Y/n, stop," Charlie calls, his sleek black shoes clicking against the fancy marble floor as he follows close behind me. "I'm serious."

"So am I," I reply, walking more steadily now, more purpose in my firm stride, my hands fisted against my sides to hide their continuous shaking from the anxiety coursing through my veins.

I almost run into a column when my eyesight blurs with tears.

Stopping at the column, I realize my mistake in stopping when I'm hit with the full force of my already delayed release of suppressed emotions.

I can't hold on much longer. I have to get out of here.

But I can't move.

I find the slightest comfort in the fact that I'm at least half-blanketed in the dark shadows.

Facing the column, I brace myself against it, leaning my weight on my palms splayed out against the cool surface as I lean my forehead against it.

And in the next few seconds, I let the first few tears slide down my face.

"Y/n," Charlie says from behind me, sounding almost annoyed at having required so much effort into catching up with me. "What is up with—"

He's cut off when a small, quiet sob escapes my lips.

Followed by another.

He keeps silent, slowly approaching me as I let the dam break loose and the tears begin trickling down my cheeks in thick hot rivulets that sprinkle onto the smooth tile floor.

Charlie reaches out and touches my shoulder, making me flinch and turn around. Once I look at him, once he fully takes in my appearance, his expression softens.

"Y/n—"

I don't let him finish, I surge into his arms, burying my face deep into his chest, letting loose the sobs of anguish originating from far within the depths of my aching soul.

Charlie doesn't say a word. He simply accepts me into his embrace, lacing his arms around me to gently hold me against his stable frame.

I tremble against him, a series of cries slipping past my lips.

He softly shushes me, holding me closer to him, making his presence, his support, known to me. Lets me know—without uttering any words—that he's here.

That he'll hold me. He'll be my pillar of support.

He sways us lightly back and forth, completely unbothered by the broken cries being ripped from my throat, that I let out against his chest as a continuous stream of tears leak from my eyes, leaving damp spots on the front of his suit.

He cradles the back of my head in the palm of his hand, gently holding it against his chest. His other arm he encircles around my waist, his hand splayed against my back while he rubs slow, soft circles along my back.

He doesn't dare say a word. Doesn't dare break the fragile silence that soon settles around us once my cries have simmered down and my lungs have tired out.

Silent tears still slip down my cheeks as Charlie peeks down at me once he's sure I'm comfortable with him doing so.

"What's troubling you, pretty girl?" He whispers, brushing a couple hairs away from my face with his fingers to wipe a tear from my cheek with the pad of his thumb.

I sniffle, nuzzling my head further against his chest to hide my face.

"That's okay," he murmurs, tucking my hair behind my ear to better see my face, before cradling the side of my jaw in his palm. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I'm here if you wanna talk, sweetheart."

I give the smallest of nods, tilting my head to look up into his gentle brown eyes that remind me of the deep color of rich, warm hot chocolate on a frigid, snowy day.

His lips curl into a soft, sweet smile as he gazes down at me, his touch igniting little sparks under my skin where the pad of his thumb strokes along the side of my cheek.

Such a simple, tender gesture that causes butterflies to erupt inside my belly and has my heart skipping along beneath my ribcage.

I get lost in the brown hues of his dark honey-splashed irises speckled with light tinsels of gold.

And soon, all thoughts involving distress of any kind have drifted out of my mind, replaced with the warmth of Charlie's gentle smile and soft, lingering touches, every intricate detail becoming engraved in the many thoughts swimming inside my brain.

A comfortable warmth settles inside my chest, filling the cold and hollow void I never thought anything could be capable of replacing.

Maybe this uphill battle I've been fighting inside of me won't be so difficult to conquer after all...

Author's note: Thanks so much to those who read this! It means a lot. I'm honestly very proud of this. I wrote this after I finished a Chemistry test and I just needed to get the stress off my shoulders. Anyway, I hope this brought a little comfort to those of you who might've needed it (like me haha). Lemme know if this is something anyone would like me to continue. Stay safe and have a great day/night!

Ps: If you haven't eaten or drunk anything lately, go drink some water or some other beverage and treat yourself to a snack or just something you like to eat. If you have homework you need to finish, take a break from Wattpad and get a little bit of homework done, even only getting a small portion done is better than nothing! <3333