A few months earlier
Dani ran.
That was what she did when she needed to control things, she ran. Well normally if she wanted to be in control she would go to a bar get drunk and pick up some strange man, but she didn't think that many good looking men would be at bars after earthquakes. So she ran. She ran from Tidwell after kissing him, she ran to her car. Once she had gotten home, Dani started running. She didn't know where she was going, she just ran.
Mile after mile, hour after hour, her body seemed to take her to a familiar place, her mind recognized certain places, but it couldn't figure out where her body was going. She still couldn't figure out where she was headed as her body took her up a long winding driveway, up to a big house with big doors where she knocked. It wasn't until she collapsed from exhaustion into Charlie's arms that she realized where she was.
Where she had run to.
Charlie hadn't expected Dani to be at the door.
It had been hard for Charlie to get home that night. With his car shot to pieces, Ted not answering his phone, and the fact that all public transportation was out of service, it had nearly been impossible to get home that night. He had finally gotten a lift home from Tina (or Gina he never could tell them apart). She hadn't stayed when they had found out about Ted, correction when they had found Ted, asleep, drunk, hurt, with a sleeping Olivia in his arms. Charlie was pretty sure it was the blood that had scared Gina (Tina?) away.
A knock sounded on his door only an hour later. He opened it to reveal Jennifer, and Rachel. Jen had come to drop Rachel off, and to say goodbye to Charlie. Jen's husband had taken a job in Connecticut, and the whole family was leaving at the end of the week. Jen had gotten close to Charlie as she told him this, and as she said goodbye she leaned in as though to kiss him. She didn't though, she turned and left leaving Charlie at the door. Charlie started to clean the house, doing anything to remain zen, to keep his mind off of the emotions running around his head. When he heard a knock on the door an hour later he opened it, expecting it to be Jen.
And that's why he had never expected Dani to fall into his arms.
Please review and tell me what you thought!! Just for the record this is an Alternate Universe Fic so yes I know Jennifer is still on the show - unfortunately.
