A/N: Here it is! This chapter mainly focuses on Charlie but the next few chapters will explain what's going on with the rest of the Ducks. I don't really like this chapter and might re-write it later but enjoy anyways!


"I still can't believe this is happening," Connie said to Guy as they walked into the church, hand in hand.

"I know," Guy sighed, looking straight up ahead. "Charlie looks horrible…"

"Guy!" Connie shouted, hitting his chest.

"What? It's true…" He shrugged.

Connie sadly looked over to Charlie and saw how sad he looked without Linda. She looked at Guy and they walked over to Charlie, who was sitting at the front of the church with Anna and his mother. "Hi, Charlie," Connie said quietly as she sat down next to him.

"Hey guys," He said. "Thanks for coming."

Connie smiled sweetly. "Of course, Linda was our friend too." She told him and he nodded. "I wish there was something I could do or say to fix this, Charlie…" She trailed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly.

He nodded and without a word, he stood up and walked out of the church.

Connie looked down at the floor and Guy wrapped his arms around her. "He'll be back," He whispered and she nodded as the two took their seats.


"Adam!" Anna said as soon as she had spotted him walking into the church. "You came," She said, with a smile.

Adam nodded. "Charlie's my best friend, I need to be there for him," He said, pushing past her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and quickly caught up to him. "Adam," She said again. He turned to face her. "These last few days have been… really hard, okay?" She told him. "And I needed you, and I still need you," She continued. "So please, don't ignore me." She said, grabbing his hand and he looked at her, wondering if he should give in. "This, what happened, shows that we could lose each other at any moment and I don't know what my life would be like without you." She confessed.

He looked at her and sighed, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her softly. Once he pulled away, she looked into his eyes, so hopeful, but he shook his head. "We're not getting back together," He told her, and she nodded. "But I'm here for you whenever you need me."

She nodded, smiling as he wrapped an arm around her waist, and they took their seats.


Charlie sat at the steps outside of the church, watching as numerous people entered it to attend Linda's funeral. Even Rick's stupid friends had shown up. Charlie could not believe it, so many of these people had never even spoken to Linda. He sighed when he saw his stepfather walking towards him.

Scott walked over to Charlie. He sat down next to him and put an arm on his back. "How you holdin' up, buddy?" He asked.

Charlie wriggled free out of Scott's grasp and grimaced. "I'm fine," He said. "I want to be alone, so would you please leave?"

Scott sighed. "You can't hate me forever, Charlie," He told him. "I'm going to be around for a long time."

Charlie shook his head and laughed. "I can do whatever the hell I want, especially today."

Scott nodded and sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry…" He trailed. "We'll talk about it another day."

"Yeah, whatever," Charlie said as Scott stood up and walked away.


Livvie stood nervously outside of the church as she waited for Dean. He had told her about fifteen minutes ago to meet him outside but he was nowhere in sight. She sighed, giving up, and decided she would go find Connie inside the church.

She started walking but froze when she saw Dean and Julie kissing. She sighed loudly and shook her head, deciding she was just going to go home.

She picked up her cell phone out of her purse and dialed her mother's number.

"Hi, mom… Where are you? Okay, can you come pick me up? I do not want to be here anymore. Hurry, please! Okay, bye." She hung up and roughly five minutes later, her mother showed up.

She climbed into the car and waited for her mother to go, but it seemed her mother was in a trance. "Mom… what are you looking at?"

"Is that Scott Warren?" Vanessa asked, keeping her eyes on the familiar figure standing just a couple yards away from her.

Livvie peered through the window and finally saw what her mother was looking at. "Um, I don't know his name, but he is Anna Warren's dad, so… I guess he is."

"Oh," Vanessa said, not looking away from him.

"You're really starting to creep me out," Livvie informed her mother. "Do you know him?" She asked.

Vanessa nodded. "We dated in high school…" She trailed, and then snapped out of her trance, looking at her daughter. "Never mind, it's not important," She said. "Ready to go?"

Livvie nodded. "Yup, let's get out of here." She said, watching Julie and Dean.


Julie felt Dean pull away from what she thought was the best kiss ever and frowned.

"You uh… shouldn't have done that, Julie," He told her, wiping his lips with his hand.

"What? Why not?"

Dean shook his head. "Your push and pull game is driving me nuts and I just can't handle it anymore!" He told her and sighed at the disappointment on her face. "Anyway, today's not the day you should go around kissing people, Julie," He said. "Today we have to be there for Charlie…" He trailed, walking past her to go into the church.

She sighed loudly and ran her fingers through her hair, following him into the church.


The ceremony had finally ended and Connie walked over to Charlie.

"Hey, Charlie," She said, immediately grabbing onto his hand. "How are you feeling?" She asked, walking him outside.

He looked around at the groups of people exiting the church, their eyes full of tears. He shook his head and sighed. "Like shit." He told her.

She smiled. "That's okay… me too." She confessed. "Even though I didn't really know Linda, I'm going to miss her." She told him, as the two sat down on the steps.

Charlie nodded. "I just don't get why all these people, who didn't even know Linda, are making such a big deal that she's dead." He said.

Connie looked down at the floor and rubbed Charlie's back. "Their just trying to support you and be there for you, Charlie,"

"Rick and his friends trying to support me? I bet that bastard showed up just to piss me off," Charlie said, angrily. "You know she was pregnant?" Connie's eyes widened. "Yeah, with Rick's baby."

"Oh, Charlie!" She said, hugging him. "I'm so sorry… That must be hard for you."

"It was," He said, nodding. "But I didn't care, I wanted to be there for her and the baby," He said. "Rick didn't want anything to do with it, of course, but I could have been that baby's father instead… You know?"

Connie nodded. "That's because you're a good person, Charlie," She told him. "And because you loved Linda."

"She didn't love me back…"

Connie shook her head. "Of course she did!"

"Well, she had a funny way of showing it." Charlie said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Charlie-"

Charlie shook his head. "Whatever," He said, shaking his head and standing up. "I'm gonna go, see you later." He said, walking away.


I was going to include more but I think I'll just save it for the next chapter which will pick up one week after the funeral.