{Saturday 5 August}

~ Charlie's POV ~

"Are you sure about this Angel?" Ryder asks nervously.

"Yes, Ryder I'm sure. I'll be okay I promise. I mean I'll have you with me and it's not like they'll be able to see you so everything is going to be fine" I reply, smiling as I squeeze his hand reassuringly. 

He nods and kisses me gently. It's been about two weeks since Ryder got back and just like he said he would, Ryder has brought me to meet his family. 

Currently, we are sitting in his car, parked outside his house and he is freaking out. I called his house the other dad to ask if we could meet and they invited me to their house so here we are. 

We met Ryder's little sister Delphine this morning in a cute little coffee shop in the center of Calborough and she is honestly the sweetest thing ever. I can see why Ryder is still upset that he didn't save her. 

"Come on baby, it's now or never," I say encouraging. 

"I know," he says sighing before getting out of the car. I get out too and he walks over to join me. He kisses me gently and I smile. 

"It's going to be okay, I've done the research and I have my whole backstory planned out and everything," I say smiling. He nods and hugs me, kissing my head before turning invisible. 

"I'm right here with you Angel," Ryder says into my mind. I nod and take a deep breath before walking up to the front door and knocking. The door opens and standing there is Ryder's mother. 

"Hello, Mrs. Jacobs. I'm Charlie" I say smiling at her. 

"Oh, Charlie. It's so nice to meet you. Please, call me Juliette" she replies as she invites me into her house. I follow her into the lounge and she tells me to make myself comfortable and offers me a hot drink. 

I happily ask for a coffee and soon she comes back with two hot mugs of coffee. She sits down next to me and hands me my drink and smiles at me. 

"So you knew Ryder?" she asks before taking a sip of her drink. 

"Yes, I did. I met him about two years ago through school" I reply. 

"Oh, you go to his school? That's strange, he never mentioned you and I've never seen you around here before?". 

"No, I don't actually. You see, I'm from Linkenwater and I met him through an exchange program our schools had together. I was one of the students from my school that applied and it meant that a bunch of students of students from my school got to go to school here for a week and a bunch of students from the high school here went to my school for a week. It was basically like wife swap but with high school students". 

"Oh, how lovely," she says beaming. 

"Actually now that I think about it, Ryder did say something about the exchange program. I think that year might have been the last year they offered it". 

"It was, sadly but that's okay". 

"Anyway, so how did you two end up meeting?". 

"Well he was actually my buddy for the duration of the week so I essentially went to every class with him and we became really good friends. He was really funny and he had the sweetest heart, always talking about his family and all."

"After that week, we talked all the time and he became one of my closest friends. I didn't ever get to see him again as we were both so busy but we always kept in touch. It's a shame I didn't get to meet you guys sooner" I say with a sad smile. 

"Aww, how sweet. Wait, were you not at the funeral?" she asks confused. 

"No, I wasn't. I give my sincerest apologies. When I hear he had passed, I was devastated. I really wanted to come but I wasn't able to make it as my parents were out of town and they needed me to look after my little sister" I say with a sad smile. 

"It's fine love, I promise. So, what do your parents do for a living?" she asks politely. 

"They're lawyers. You may have heard of them? Mark and Carina Stone?". 

"Oh yes! I've heard of them. They're fantastic at their job" she replies happily. 

"They are and they are also part of the reason I'm here". 

"Oh?" she asks confused. 

"You see, about two months ago, my father passed away, and that brought new feelings as well as a lot of old feelings and one of those was not being able to grieve over Ryder's death."

"I guess I kinda repressed it over the past year and since my father's passing, I've actually begun to acknowledge it. So one of the things I wanted to do was to meet the family of one of my best friends" I say sadly. 

"Oh hun, I'm so sorry to hear that but I'm glad you're here" she says, setting her cup down and hugging me. 

"I think what you're son did was so brave and I know you must be very proud of him" I say quietly. She pulls away and nods, a tear rolling down her cheek. 

"Yes I am, we all are. We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. It's just a upsetting that he couldn't be here too. He just wanted to save his baby sister Delphine and in doing so, he lost his life" she replies with a sad smile. I nod and hug her. 

"I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come and see you" I say frowning. 

"It's okay dear. I'm just glad you came. So, would you like to meet the rest of the family?" she asks, cheering up. 

"Of course" I reply smiling. She nods and disappears to go get them. 

"Shit angel, you're good at this" Ryder says into my mind, making me smile. 

"Thank you" I whisper back quickly. I watch as Juliette walks back into the room accompanied by Ryder's dad, sister and brother. 

"Everyone, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is Jace, Ryder's dad, Arielle, Ryder's younger sister and Tobias, Ryder's younger brother" she says beaming. 

"Hi" I say nervously. 

"Charlie here was a good friend of Ryder's" Juliette continues. They all smile as they walk over and sit down.

For the next couple of hours, we sit talking about Ryder and his life and I fall more and more in love with him. They showed me his room and Delphine's room and it made my heart break a little seeing how they had remade them perfectly after the fire. 

They invite me to stay for dinner and I happily accept. Ryder tells me he's going to eat out of sight in the kitchen and I don't complain because man, can Jace cook. We all happily tuck into dinner while talking more about Ryder and Delphine and their family. 

Eventually, the night draws to a close and I look at the time on my phone and see that it's already 9:30 pm. Shit. 

"I've had a wonderful time with all of you but I should get going now," I say politely. Juliette nods and walks me to the door. 

"Please take care Charlie and please know you can come visit us whenever you like," she says smiling. I nod and hug her before saying goodbye and heading out to my car. I sigh as I climb into the passenger seat and Ryder reappears next to me. 

"Someone had fun," he says smiling. 

"Yeah, I did. I did tell you that everything would be okay" I reply smiling. He rolls his eyes and kisses me softly. 

"Let's go home," he says quietly, smiling softly. I nod and lean against the window, slowly drifting off to sleep as we start the drive home.

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Hey Guys,

So I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Only the epilogue to go now! The epilogue is basically going to be foreshadowing the first chapter of the next book as this book is part of a trilogy! So the second book in the trilogy is called 'My Angels Come From Hell' and essentially, the epilogue is going to be set at the time of the next book as will be foreshadowing the first chapter of the next book.

Anyways, I can't believe this book is almost over. Please vote and comment letting me know what you think and whether you are excited about the next book!

Thanks,

- Allamy xx