Charlie woke up feeling on top of the world as she rolled over to look at the gorgeous man lying in bed beside her. She usually would never go home with someone that she had just met, but there was something about him that she hadn't been able to resist. Maybe it was those damn dimples, she wasn't sure, but she was still on an exhilarated high from the night before as she got up out of his bed. She pulled his shirt on over her head as she decided to make them some breakfast.
Sure, she knew that it was a little ridiculous of her to be so convinced that this was something real—after all, people took home one night stands all the time, even if she had never let herself be one—but she was certain that this was different and she was optimistic that he thought so just as much as she did. Either way, she was thrilled to see how things would turn out once he woke up.
She wasn't the most experienced of cooks, but she figured that she could probably manage to successfully make something at least half-edible without burning the whole place to the ground, just as long as she stuck to something simple. There was already a spring in her step, so when she spotted a radio, she quickly flipped it on and began to dance as she cooked.
She was dancing back over to the fridge when she suddenly knocked into someone, whose entry she had not heard enter over the music.
Miles had to do a double-take before he realized that Bass's latest scantily-clad bedmate, who was surprisingly perky for someone who had spent the night with Bass, was in fact his niece.
"What are you doing here?" He questioned gruffly as she stared up at him in confusion.
"What are you doing here?" She countered.
Miles let out a sigh, then walked past her through the room without bothering to answer. The only words that escaped his lips before he disappeared from her sight were, "Smells like you're burning that."
On his way into his best friend's room, Miles shoved the door open even further, sending it slamming against the wall. Just in case that wasn't enough to wake the other man up, he flicked the lights on for added effect.
Bass did not seem overly impressed with the abrupt awakening as he began to sit up and rubbed tiredly at one of his eyes.
"There's a girl dancing in your kitchen," Miles told him without wasting any more time.
Bass must have been too tired to detect the hostility in the other man's tone, since he indifferently responded, "Oh, she's still here?"
"She's my niece." Miles growled out. That seemed to catch the other man's attention, judging by the way that his brow furrowed. "Bass, what the hell are you doing using my niece as one of your sick one night stands? Charlie is not one night stand material."
Dammit. Sure, the girl had been fine to spend the night with, but Bass wasn't so sure he could put up with her overly peppy attitude long-term. He'd only known her for a little over twelve hours and she had already started grating on his nerves a little the night before, but if he admitted that to Miles he'd be a dead man and he was sure that admitting she was just a gullible one night stand would yield the same result.
He wanted to save his own skin, so instead he decided that he'd just put up with her for a week or two and then claim that things just weren't working out. Hell, she might even be sick of him by then and be happy to get rid of him herself. And after that he wouldn't have to ever see again. Problem solved. Skin saved.
"She's not a one night stand," he insisted as he got up from the bed and Miles continued to glare over at him, despite his blatant nudity.
"Really?" Miles challenged. "And why should I believe that?"
"Look, she's different," Bass lied as he pulled on a pair of boxers. "Come on, is she anything like my normal type?"
Personally, Bass thought that she fell right into the category of young, naive, gullible beyond belief, and with a body that made it worth being the terrible person using them. Miles was her uncle though and Bass was certain that those uncle goggles obscuring his vision would come in handy to have Miles be blind to that detail.
"She's definitely more than a few steps above your usual company," Miles responded, falling right into his friend's trap. "So you'd better not just be using her unless you want me to rip your spine out through your throat and then shove it up your ass."
"I'm not," Bass insisted as he raised his hands in a sign of innocence. "...Do you smell something burning?"
"Charlie's trying to make breakfast," Miles responded in an unenthusiastic tone.
Great. He was stuck with this girl until he could safely dump her without being tortured to death and he wouldn't even be able to cheat on her because Miles would be bound to find out. It was just his luck that she wouldn't at least know how to cook.
He walked out into the kitchen to try to assess the damage and he could feel his friend's eyes on the back of his head as Miles followed him into the kitchen.
Bass discovered all at once where his shirt had disappeared to as he found it on the girl whose lips pulled up into a beaming grin the instant that she had spotted him. Everything about her looked giddy as she remained oblivious to the tension in the room and told him, "Good morning."
Shit, she was even peppier now than she had been the night before and his kitchen was a huge mess. He wasn't sure he could do this. But Miles' eyes were on him so he plastered on a fake smile of his own and looked her over to remind himself of just what had gotten him into this mess in the first place before he walked over and planted a kiss on her lips. At least those still tasted as good as he had remembered from the night before.
Bass warily glanced over at her attempt at breakfast. Some of it looked like it could be eaten, but none of it looked like it should be.
She followed his gaze and a frown formed on her lips when she noticed that he was not overly impressed.
"You don't have to eat it," she told him.
He turned his attention back towards her and pressed his lips to the girl's temple for effect, then wrapped his arms around her waist as he ever so sweetly suggested, "How about I take you out for a nice breakfast instead?"
Her smile was back in full effect at that as she told him, "I'd like that."
There. That ought to get Miles off of his back for a while.
Bass wasn't exactly thrilled when she reached across the table to grab his hand. He wanted to jerk it away from her grasp, but a happy Charlie meant that he got to remain in one piece and that was his top priority at the moment.
"So how do you know my uncle?" She questioned.
That was a little complicated. Still, it wasn't like lying to her would do him any good. She was bound to find out from Miles either way and there was no way that hiding that information would make her any less likely to be able to find him in the future.
"He's my best friend. Has been since we were little kids," he responded.
"So then how come I've never met you before?" Charlie asked him.
"I lived in Philly for a long time. I just moved back to Chicago a few months ago," he told her with a dismissive shrug.
"Philadelphia? What's it like there?" She questioned excitedly. "I've always wanted to travel, but I've never really been anywhere. What's the most interesting thing that I could see if I went on a trip there?"
"Depends on what kind of things you want to see," he told her. "But something tells me you're the type to put all your trust in a tour guide."
"What's wrong with tour guides?" Charlie asked in a tone that was a little too offended for someone who hadn't even been anywhere. Apparently someone had been dreaming up trips featuring plenty of tour guides.
"Nothing. If you're fine with having everything staged and having all of your time scheduled for you," Bass responded.
"Fine. Then what would you do if you were going somewhere you've never been before?" She challenged.
"Whatever I wanted," he responded with a small smirk. She didn't seem satisfied with that though, so he added, "I don't know. Find some good bars. See if anything interesting ever happened there, but I'd never go on a guided tour with some schmuck that's just glossing over everything and rushing people along while they wonder how many hours are left in their shift."
"Hmm, well maybe we can go on a trip together some day," she suggested with a sheepish smile.
He wanted to tell her not to push her luck, but he held back. "Maybe."
He knew that sleeping with her again was not the greatest of ideas, especially right away. It would only get her even more attached. Still, when she showed up at his place to surprise him a couple of nights later, he couldn't quite convince himself to resist. She was gorgeous, there was no question about that, and by the time that she was kissing him and he felt her perky tits against his chest he knew that he was already in too deep to try to talk her down. Besides, he was just giving her what she wanted, right?
Charlie rolled over in bed to look over at him with a satisfied smile on her lips. She knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep yet, so instead she settled on studying every inch of his perfection that she could get her eyes on.
"What?" He asked sleepily as he rolled his head over to look at her.
"Nothing," she responded. "I just really like you. I'm not used to going all in like this right away with anyone and I'm glad that I haven't managed to scare you off yet."
She waited for him to say something in return, but instead he just shifted to get more comfortable before murmuring, "I'm really tired, Charlie... You wore me out, okay?"
"Okay," she told him, unable to help herself from being a little disappointed.
Bass felt her shift beside him and when he was convinced that she must have decided to try to go to sleep herself, he let his eyes flicker open and stared over at her. He wasn't used to being so close to the aftermath of his one night stands and he really was starting to feel a little guilty. He was even starting to believe that maybe Miles had been right that she wasn't like most of his one night stands.
She really did seem like a sweet enough girl and he was sure that she would be perfect for someone else. He wasn't looking for anything serious though and even if he was, he wouldn't be looking for someone so giddy and excited about everything. Still, that confession of hers had hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn't fully understand why she seemed to find him so great, but it was starting to become more of a problem than he had anticipated. Suddenly, getting hurt by Miles wasn't his only concern, even if it was still at the forefront of his mind.
He watched her for a few moments longer before he murmured, "Good night, Charlotte."
She smiled a little, despite the fact that her eyes were closed and she couldn't tell that he was looking at her as she told him, "Good night."
"Why don't you bring Charlie with you?" Miles questioned into the phone.
Bass knew that there was no good way to get out of it, so he just answered, "Good idea. I'll see if she's busy tonight or not."
She was already there when he arrived, sitting next to Nora on the couch and laughing at whatever the other woman had just said.
"She seems to really like you," Nora commented as soon as she got a moment alone with him.
"I know," Bass admitted, not sounding nearly as thrilled with the idea.
"It's cute," Nora remarked. "She seems happy with you. Don't screw that up and hurt her, okay?"
Bass attempted to swallow the lump of clay that seemed to have formed in his throat as he nodded his head and focused back over to where Charlie was grinning and arguing over something with her uncle, if only so that he wouldn't have to meet the other woman's gaze.
"It's not my fault you're an old man," Charlie taunted with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Right because your boyfriend is so much younger, huh?" Miles accused.
"Yeah, but have you seen him with his shirt off?" Charlie threw back at him.
"Unfortunately," Miles admitted.
"You realize that you're not exactly in a position to judge us for the age gap, right?" She questioned.
"His son is older than you," her uncle countered.
Charlie's head whipped around to focus on the boyfriend in question as she asked, "You have a son?"
"Connor," Bass responded with a nod of his head. "He doesn't live near here though."
"What's he like?" Charlie asked curiously.
"Basically anything female and fully developed," Bass informed her in an amused tone.
"Do you think I'd like him?" She questioned.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I bet he'd like you."
It became increasingly clear that Miles was more than a little skeptical of whether Bass was lying to him or not, considering his random visits suddenly increasing in number beyond belief and the amount that Charlie told Bass about how her uncle had been asking about him. It was ironic really, considering he actually was beginning to grow fond of her. Maybe he still wasn't sure what would come of it, but he no longer found himself feeling bothered by her presence. She was decent company once you got past the initial shock of her personality and he was discovering more and more that she had acquired her uncle's snark.
Besides, the sex was amazing and he didn't even have to worry about spending his night trying to find someone he could convince to come home with him. It was starting to make him wonder why he had been so adamantly against committed relationships or even seeing the same girl twice.
Charlie let herself into Bass's apartment with her brand new key and was just about to set the box of stuff that she was carrying down when she heard angry voices coming from the next room and hesitated.
"You're letting her move in, Bass?" Miles asked incredulously. "When exactly do you think that your little game will have gone too far?"
"Alright, you want to know the truth?" Bass asked in a tone of sheer exasperation. "Fine. When I met her I thought she was kind of annoying, but she had a good body, so whatever. And you're right, the only reason I even gave her a second thought in the morning was because you showed up and were about to kill me for screwing your niece. But she grew on me, okay? And now I really do like her and I do want her to live here. It's not a game anymore, Miles."
All the excitement drained from Charlie like she had been hung upside down and bled of it as an overwhelming rage took over her. She didn't bother announcing that she had overheard them, but she figured that the sound of the door slamming shut behind her would probably be a pretty good hint.
"Charlie? What are you doing with that box?" Rachel questioned. She had thought that her daughter was excited about moving out, which left her confused as her daughter carried a box back into the house.
"I'm not moving in with Bass anymore," her daughter responded bluntly as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. "And I don't want to talk about it."
Rachel frowned as she watched her daughter drop the box to the floor with a heavy thunk before moving to wipe at the tears forming in her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. She wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but she hated seeing her daughter in pain, so she moved to pull her in for a hug.
When Charlie saw who was on the other side of the door she had to fight the urge to slam it shut in his face.
"Can I come in for a minute?" Bass asked. He shot her his best puppy dog eyes as if she was really gullible enough to fall for that after everything that she had found out.
"I don't know. You should probably leave before I start annoying you," she shot back. "Unless it's already too late."
She at least got a small sense of satisfaction out of how irritated that made him look.
"Come on, Charlie," he murmured. "We need to at least talk about this."
"What is there to talk about?" She countered. "I used to really like you, but now you're kind of annoying. And I guess I must not be as shallow as you because your body isn't enough to keep me around."
"Fine. You're mad. I get it," Bass told her. "Maybe things started off not so great, but I don't see why that should change anything."
"Because you thought I was just some idiot that you could use. I was stupid enough to think that things did start off great and you were just sitting there internally laughing at me," she argued. "But, sorry, I guess I'm not quite as gullible as you first thought because this isn't something that you can talk your way out of."
Nora let out a sigh as she warned, "If I do this for you, then you have to name your first-born after me. Boy or girl."
"You do remember that I already have a kid that doesn't live here, don't you?" Bass questioned. "And unless he's made some drastic life-choices since I last saw him, he isn't named Nora."
"Well then you might want to keep him away from me next time he visits."
"Why?" Bass asked. "Do you really think that you're going to successfully talk my adult son into legally changing his name to match yours?"
"I might if my shirt was off when I suggested it to him," she responded with a shrug.
"I'm sure Miles would be real impressed with that," he countered.
"I bet he would be on board with it if I asked him," she pointed out. "Do you really think he wouldn't find it hilarious for your kid to rename himself after me? Especially after what you did to his niece?"
Bass had been expecting Nora to be having Charlie over when he got there, but he hadn't expecting to walk in to find her whole family there. That was going to complicate things and make for an even more awkward dinner.
As Nora headed back into the kitchen to check on the food, Bass took the opportunity to follow her and get a word in alone.
"Why did you invite her entire family?" He questioned. "How the hell am I supposed to get a chance to talk to her alone when Rachel and Miles look like they're trying to decide which one of them gets to be the one to murder me first?"
"That's your problem," Nora retorted. "I said I'd invite you both over. I didn't say that I'd trap her on some double date she doesn't want to be on."
"Whose side are you on here?" Bass growled out.
"I'm not on a side," she insisted. "I told you not to hurt her, remember? If you're going to get back together with her, then you're going to have to be around her family sooner or later. Besides, they're Miles' family too. You can't just avoid them forever. I'm on the side where I want you to both be happy and you already screwed that up once, so now you're going to have to prove that you're not just going to run off at the first sign of something difficult."
Bass didn't get the chance to respond before his friend stormed into the room and hissed out, "What the hell is he doing here?"
"He wants Charlie back," Nora informed him.
"I don't give a crap," Miles retorted. "She doesn't want him back. And for good reason."
"Hey, I really care about her," Bass defended himself.
"Yeah, maybe now you do," his friend countered. "But good luck convincing her of that."
Charlie might have believed that Bass showing up to the family dinner over at Miles and Nora's place was just because he and Miles were friends if it weren't for the way that her uncle had instantly glared at the man before looking over at his girlfriend expectantly.
Bass disappeared into the kitchen almost immediately and Rachel turned her attention to Miles as she insisted, "Please tell me you didn't really invite him."
"I didn't," Miles responded. "I don't know what Nora's doing though."
With that he turned into the kitchen to go investigate what exactly was going on and Charlie felt three sets of eyes turn to focus on her as her family tried to check how she was reacting to all of this.
Great. Were they planning on staring at her like that all night? She'd rather face an awkward conversation with Bass than have them keep gawking at her like they were convinced she was made of glass.
"Am I interrupting something?" Charlie questioned as she walked into the tension filled kitchen.
"Just Bass leaving," Miles responded.
Bass shot his friend a glare. "I'm not leaving. Nora invited me. I'm staying."
Miles looked about ready to gear up for another argument, but Charlie stepped between the pair before he could start one.
"Can I talk to you outside?" She asked, purposely keeping her back to her uncle so that she wouldn't have to watch his reaction. That didn't stop her from seeing the rest of her family's questioning looks as she walked out with Bass though.
"Look, I get it," she told him once they were safely outside. "You're Miles' best friend. Odds are I'm not going to be able to avoid you forever, so we may as well try to get along."
"I don't want to just get along," he pointed out. "I'm not here watching your whole family glare at me just because I'm interested in being friends, Charlie."
"Yeah, well things aren't always what you hoped for," Charlie countered. "I guess we're even now."
"I'm sorry, okay?" He asked her. "Is that what you want to hear?"
She shook her head in disbelief. "Don't you get it? It's not about just telling me what you think I want to hear."
"You're not used to going all in right away?" He questioned. "I'm not used to going all in at all, but that's what I am. I love you and, for once, I didn't want to scare you off."
It was already hard enough trying not to listen to him before he had told her that he loved her and, now that he had, her resolve was beginning to crack. She wasn't going to let him see that though as she countered, "Do you use that line to try to get into every girl's pants? Or am I just special?"
"It's not a line," he told her. "Just give me one more chance. Let me take you on a date. We can do whatever you want to."
She considered for a moment before a devious smirk formed on her lips. "Anything I want?"
He nodded his head.
"I want to go on one of those cheesy guided tours of Chicago," she responded.
A guided tour was bad enough. A guided tour of the city they lived in was even worse. Still, he gritted his teeth into a smile and told her, "Sounds perfect."
"And you can't complain the whole time, no matter how much they push people along and gloss over everything," she added. She seemed to be getting a cruel satisfaction out of this that only made Bass want her even more.
"Deal." He agreed.
"Can I bring Danny with us?"
"You want to bring your brother with us on our date?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"He's never been anywhere either," she pointed out with a small shrug.
She shot him an innocent smile and he couldn't believe that he was actually agreeing to this as he told her, "Fine, bring him along."
She paused a moment longer, then told him. "Alright. You're on probation. Now, let's go see if you can survive a dinner with my family to even make it to our date."
No one seemed overly happy when Charlie brought Bass back inside with her, with the one exception of Nora, who decided to run a little interference as she insisted, "Anyone who starts fighting before dinner is eaten is getting thrown out, whether they live here or not." She shot Miles a warning look before looking back over at the others. "And if you keep letting it get cold, I'm still making you eat it."
"Don't worry, I'm starving," Bass told her.
"You're only sucking up because you know that I'm the only one in the room that isn't pissed that you're here," Nora countered. "I still like it though so, by all means, keep going."
"The food looks great," he added as he walked over and sat down at the table.
Everyone seemed surprised when Charlie voluntarily sat down next to him.
"You should be careful, Miles," Nora teased. "If he keeps this up, I might let him take your place."
"Personally, I think you look a lot better than the food does," Miles responded.
Nora wasn't certain that it was entirely a compliment, but she was willing to take it as she responded, "I guess I'll keep you then. Now sit down and eat."
As everyone settled down at the table, Charlie turned her attention over to her brother as she asked, "Hey, Danny, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Why?" Danny asked a little hesitantly.
"Do you want to go on a tour with me?" Charlie asked as her cruel smirk came back.
"Why are you going on a tour?" Her brother asked a little skeptically.
"To torture Bass. It'll be fun, I promise."
"Come on, he's barely even explaining," Bass complained as he turned his gaze away from their so-called tour guide.
"Shhh, I'm learning," Charlie insisted with a smug grin.
"I think you're enjoying this a little too much," he pointed out.
Danny smirked as he turned to look over at him and held back a laugh as he complained, "Quiet. I'm trying to hear the guide."
Charlie didn't bother responding to either of them as she grabbed Bass by the hand and tugged him forwards. "Come on, we wouldn't want to linger too long and hold up the tour."
Bass let out a groan, but followed her anyways. "Fine, but one of these days I'm giving you a real tour."
A/N: Please read and review! :)