Apologies for the crazy long time between updates (I always mean to update sooner than I actually do…) Thanks again for the reviews and comments; it makes me happy to know that people are actually reading this, since it is basically my excuse to play with non-canon couples…

Disclaimer: Charlie Bone, all characters, places and related terms belong to Jenny Nimmo

Chapter 4

In Which Dorcas Brings a Peace Offering, Fidelio Makes some Visits, The Master Plan is Explained, Charlie is a bit of a Stalker, Lysander isn't an Idiot, and There is Dancing

-x-

"So, have you called her yet?" Tancred asked through a mouthful of eggs. Gabriel choked on his coffee while Charlie tried to hide his smile. It had barely been eight hours since his something (encounter, adventure, date…he wasn't sure quite what to call it) with Dorcas, and Charlie and Tancred had already descended on his apartment with the excuse that they wanted breakfast and had both mysteriously run out of eggs. Gabriel had returned that evening in a practically giddy state of mind. He'd never been on a date with a girl that had ended with her actually kissing him (in fact, he usually ended either saying something idiotic, or worse, passing out after accidentally touching their clothing). However, Tancred's comment was enough to instil a bit of doubt.

"I'm an idiot," he moaned. "I didn't even get her number!"

"Well then what happened if you didn't get her number?" Tancred asked.

"I told you, she laughed at me, then she kissed me and ran off," Gabriel said, feeling utterly miserable. "I am clearly a failure with all womankind."

"Eh," Tancred said, shovelling the last bits of eggs into his mouth, "You couldn't be more of a failure than Charlie here. You should've seen him with Naren last night. Boy was a complete disaster."

Charlie shot Tancred a glare. "In case you'd forgotten, Naren has a boyfriend," he said pointedly. "Besides, we're fine."

"Oh please. You ran like a scared rabbit whenever she got near and left as soon as you could," Tancred said. Charlie looked as though he was about to reply, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Gabriel said, standing up and mentally calculating if he had enough eggs for both Billy and Lysander. However, upon opening the door, he was confronted not by his friends but by Dorcas Loom, who was leaning casually against his doorframe and holding a small wire cage.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. Gabriel didn't say anything. Her smile faltered a little and she held up the cage. "I bought a gerbil this morning."

"What?" he said blinking a little.

"Yeah," Dorcas continued. "I was thinking about your poem last night and then this morning I was walking by Pete's Discount Pets and I saw this little guy, so I went in and bought him. I bought a book about gerbils too! Did you know the gerbil originated in Mongolia?"

"Umm," Gabriel said. His original (although hastily decided) plan had been to act cool and aloof, but really, the girl had shown up at his door with a gerbil. What was a guy supposed to do?

"Look," Dorcas said when he didn't say anything else, "I'm sorry I ran off like that last night. I guess I kind of freaked out. Actually, that's not really a new thing for me. The freaking part, I mean. I don't really do long term…anything. But then you had to go and be really nice, and I kept thinking about you and then there was this gerbil…," she trailed off, looking up at him with hopeful eyes, and Gabriel had the utterly novel sensation that she truly wanted him to make her feel better. He reached out, gently took the cage and said, "Did you name it yet?"

"The gerbil? I've been calling him Chester…out of respect, you know," Dorcas said, smiling a little.

"Well, Chester should really be with some friends. Gerbils are very social creatures and they don't like living alone," Gabriel said. Feeling a little bolder he added, "Maybe he can stay here for awhile and we can take a walk in the park."

Dorcas's smile became a full-fledged grin. "I think Chester and I would both enjoy that very much."

-x-

Fidelio wandered into Phoenix Records looking for some new music for his violin. He'd stopped at a local coffee shop that morning and the guy behind the counter had recommended the store, saying the employee knew almost every artist and was sure to find him some great new music. He browsed quietly for a few minutes, surprised by the variety, before heading up to the counter.

The man working was around his own age, with dark red hair. He was reading Eric Clapton's autobiography, but looked up curiously as Fidelio approached.

"Excuse me-," Fidelio started,

"Fidelio Gunn?" the man interrupted in a somewhat incredulous voice. Fidelio stopped dead. It wasn't often he was recognized, but being back in the city meant he had to always be on his guard. Glancing back at the man, he suddenly noticed a familiar pair of amber eyes, and his nervousness abruptly disappeared. "Asa Pike? You work here?"

"Yeah," Asa said, "Been here a few months. Pay isn't that great, but it's much better than working in a cubicle." Fidelio laughed, although he honestly couldn't imagine Asa working in a cubicle. "So," Asa continued, "What are you doing here?"

Fidelio looked up at the older boy, and for the first time, was struck with the urge to confide in him, an emotion he'd never felt around Asa Pike before. Last time he'd seen him, Asa had been Manfred's minion, and Fidelio wasn't sure how much had changed since he'd left, so he settled for a shrug. "I'm working for Olivia Vertigo's theatre company, directing the orchestra."

Asa frowned a little. "Liv hasn't said anything to anyone," he said, almost to himself. "When did she hire you?" he asked.

"Last night," Fidelio said, suddenly aware that Asa was better friends with Olivia than he'd previously assumed.

"Okay," Asa said suddenly coming out from behind the counter. Fidelio was surprised that the older boy was a bit taller and more muscular than he'd been at school. "Does Lysander know about this?"

"No one really knows I'm here except Olivia…and you," Fidelio said quickly, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. It's…just really important that people don't know I'm here."

He didn't know if it was the obvious desperation in his voice, or if he just looked pathetic, but Asa stepped back and smiled. The smile changed his entire face; softening the angles and making him look suddenly not threatening at all. "Your secret's safe with me. Actually, if you're looking for some decent imports, we don't really have the good stuff here."

"Good stuff?" Fidelio blinked.

"Music," Asa clarified. "I have a couple CDs at my apartment, if you want to swing by and pick them up tomorrow morning. I'll be at work, but my roommate'll let you in."

"Your roommate?" Fidelio asked, wondering when, exactly, Asa had become an okay guy and hoping he didn't live with Manfred.

"Yeah, Emma Tolly," Asa said, and Fidelio blinked again at the small smile on Asa's face when he mentioned his roommate. Asa and Emma? Guess some things have changed since I left, he thought.

"Sure, I'd like to take a look at them," Fidelio heard himself say out loud, and wrote down the directions Asa gave him. He figured Asa didn't really know why he was in town anyway, and Emma wouldn't say anything. Besides, the guy seemed to have decent taste in music.

-x-

Billy strolled through the park, wondering why he'd never really come here before. Of course, he'd had to slather on sunscreen and buy a ridiculously huge pair of aviator sunglasses to protect himself, but on the whole, the park was nice. At least it was nice until he was yanked unceremoniously behind the decorative hedges.

"Remind me again why we're doing this," he said, adjusting his position next to Charlie behind the bushes.

"Because," Charlie said peering through the hedge, "Gabriel obviously can't figure out his own love life, and clearly needs my help here."

Billy squinted. "He seems alright to me." Gabriel and Dorcas were buying ice-cream from one of the vendors and Billy winced as Gabriel dropped his ice-cream on Dorcas's shoes. "Well, maybe a little clumsy," he amended, "But at least he's endearing."

"He's clearly careening toward disaster," Charlie said matter-of-factly.

"Charlie, as your friend, I think I should tell you when you're crossing the line," Billy said patiently. "You ever thought of going on a date yourself instead of following Gabriel on his?"

Charlie turned away, focusing back on Gabriel and Dorcas. "Believe me, a date is the last thing I need right now."

"Oh yeah, I heard there was something with you and Naren at Pub Night," Billy said.

"There was nothing with me and Naren!" Charlie nearly shouted. "Why do people keep saying that? Nothing happened!"

"Calm down," Billy said, "Gabriel might hear you!"

"Besides, it isn't like she even wants me anyway," Charlie said, slumping down behind the bushes. Billy sighed, peeking up over the bushes. Just then, he caught sight of a familiar dark-haired girl by the ice-cream truck.

"Get up," he said, standing up and adjusting his sunglasses.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"You're moping. Moping calls for…umm…ice-cream," Billy said, eyeing Idith Branko and hoping to catch her before she headed back to the greenhouse. He really did love the park.

-x-

Naren stared dismally at her calendar, wondering how, exactly, she was going to break the news to Ben about her art show. Ben had been planning a weekend getaway for the two of them (there was a dog show he really wanted to see and was planning to show one of the puppies), and he'd been planning for weeks and had already arranged reservations. Naren wasn't quite sure how to tell him that her gallery opening had been moved up to that same weekend. She and Ben were already on thin ice because of Pub Night.

Naren honestly couldn't remember coming that close to having a fight in public before. She and Ben had made up in the car on the way home, but it still felt like an uneasy truce, especially since she still wasn't sure exactly what had happened (or what hadn't happened) between her and Charlie in the hallway that night. She knew the exact sequence of events wasn't hard to define; it was the emotions that were complicated.

She'd been walking down the hallway to use her phone (she hated talking on the phone in public), and had seen Charlie coming out of the men's room. For some reason, the minute she saw him, she'd forgotten all about the phone call. Instead, she told Charlie about her gallery opening, and about her new shadow box ideas. He'd been completely excited, like she knew he would be (like the way her boyfriend should have been), and it had been at that moment that everything had shifted.

He'd leaned in to give her a congratulatory kiss on the cheek, but she'd thought he was going for a hug, and somehow they ended face-to-face with her arms around him and one of his hands resting lightly on her cheek. They should have moved, Naren knew that, but neither of them did. Instead, Charlie leaned in a little, and Naren clearly remembered thinking, He's going to kiss me. Charlie Bone is going to kiss me in the hallway of the pub.

The funny thing was, even though she had a boyfriend (so it was clearly wrong) Naren couldn't remember ever wanting a kiss from someone so badly in her life. In fact, she was leaning in as well, and she wasn't sure what would have happened if Lysander hadn't walked down the hall. As it was, he had come down the hall, and she and Charlie had sprung apart as though electrocuted. Normally, Charlie would have said something to make the situation better, or she would have laughed the situation off, but neither of them said anything.

Instead, they'd both hurried back to the table, avoiding the other's gaze and being careful not to touch. When they'd sat down, their flushed faces spurred a comment from Tancred, and instead of laughing, Charlie had stood up and left the pub altogether. Ben had asked Naren if anything had happened in the hallway, a quizzical frown on his normally cheerful face. She'd told him nothing had (which was mostly true), but he hadn't believed her, and they'd nearly had a shouting match in the pub about trust issues and supporting each other.

Even after they'd patched things up, Naren caught Ben looking at her with that same frown he'd worn in the pub, as though she was a stranger. He'd been so hopeful about this trip, like it would make everything better. Secretly, Naren had hoped it would make everything better too, but now it just seemed as though it was making things worse. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone to break the news to her boyfriend.

-x-

"So," Zelda said, "I hope you still don't think I'm going to let myself be used as bait, especially since I am supposed to be on my lunch break right now." She leaned back on the couch and eyed Manfred and Joshua disapprovingly while sipping her coffee. Joshua wondered, as he always did, why she'd bothered showing up at all, since she'd barely listened to Phase One of the plan before stalking out of the pub the night before. She'd also informed them they were both crazy and should be hospitalized.

"Please Zel!" Manfred wheedled, "I'll buy you coffee for a month."

Zelda paused, and then pursed her lips, obviously considering the proposal. Finally, she shrugged. "What do I have to do again?"

Manfred pulled out the chart, waving it in her face. "Just distract Torsson from the challenge. We bet him that he can't go two weeks without a fling. The idea is to lull him into a false sense of security, and then you pounce and Torsson is buying us drinks!" Privately, Joshua thought Manfred looked a little more deranged than normal, but he didn't say anything out loud, afraid of Manfred's reaction to the slight on his sanity.

Instead he said, "What am I supposed to do?"

Manfred shrugged. "Zelda needs someone to practice on, right?" Joshua snuck a fearful glance at Zelda and wondered if there was a contagious disease with suddenly occurring symptoms he could fake. She scared him.

-x-

Emma was a little put out when she heard the knocking at an obscenely early hour on her day off. Nevertheless, she shuffled out of bed, threw on a sweater and jeans and stumbled to the door where she saw a slightly familiar man holding a battered violin case.

"Emma?" he said hesitantly, "Asa said I could come by and pick up some violin imports?" She stared at him blankly when suddenly, the pieces clicked.

"Fidelio!" she exclaimed. He smiled at her and she wondered how she hadn't recognized him at first. "Come in!" she said, motioning him inside the apartment. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond to Fidelio's sudden appearance at the apartment, but she figured if Asa had sent him, it was probably all right.

"Thanks Emma," Fidelio said, examining his childhood friend as he followed her into the apartment. Emma had always been rather waifish, but watching her hunt for CDs, it occurred to Fidelio that she looked especially fragile.

"So…Asa Pike," he said, when she handed him the CDs and he was just standing awkwardly in her apartment with too many years of silence between them, "I have to say, I'm surprised you two ended up together." He glanced again around the apartment, where Emma's Renoir prints were hung next to Asa's classic rock band posters and the bookshelves were crammed with his biographies on musicians and her collection of classic novels.

Emma smiled, shrugging. "I guess life's just unpredictable like that sometimes. Tea?" When he nodded, she disappeared into the tiny kitchen and returned a few minutes later with two mugs. She gestured toward the table and he sat, gratefully accepting the hot tea. Emma sat down across from him, taking a sip from her own mug.

"It's really good to see you, you know," she offered, after a minute of silence. "We all wondered what happened to you after graduation. No one's heard from you in forever."

"What about you?" Fidelio said, anxious to direct attention away from himself and what he'd been doing after graduation. "When I left you were dating Tancred Torsson, and I come back and you're living with Asa!" He'd meant the comment as a joke, but he wasn't expecting Emma's face to close off and her gaze to drop suddenly.

"Emma, I'm sorry," Fidelio said quickly, realizing his mistake, and setting his mug down on the table. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's alright, everyone knows anyway," she said with a trace of bitterness.

"So…What happened to you two?" Fidelio asked carefully, hoping he wasn't prying into her private business, but unable to resist asking. "When I left, everyone thought that you were in love and going to get married right out of school."

"So did I," Emma shrugged. "Then he told me that he wanted to try something else, see new things, that he wanted to find out if there was more to life than what he'd lived. So he left, went to business school and never looked back."

"That's rough," Fidelio said, "What'd you do? Afterwards, I mean. Did you ever ask him why, or if you did something wrong?"

Emma shook her head. "I was pretty upset for awhile. I waited at home, and when he didn't come back, I moved to the city with Olivia, got a job and an apartment, and I've been here ever since. I always figured he'd come back. That we were meant to be, and he'd realize it eventually. He just hasn't yet."

"So you just waited?" Fidelio asked.

"Yeah," Emma said, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Until Asa."

"What do you mean, until Asa?" Emma asked, tilting her head and fixing him with a stare.

"Well, I just…" Fidelio felt suddenly uncomfortable, "You two are living together. I mean, the way he talks about you… I just assumed…"

"Well, there is no me and Asa," Emma said briskly, picking up the mugs and taking them to the sink (inwardly wondering why her previous statement caused her insides to twist), "We're just roommates."

-x-

Lysander Sage was not an idiot.

He'd known the minute Olivia had shown up at his apartment with her homemade apple cinnamon scones that something was wrong (it was the apple…any other fruit would have meant she was fine). She was currently buzzing around the apartment talking so much he could hardly get a word in edgewise.

Normally her chatter didn't bother him, but this chatter was nervous, affected, and screamed that clearly, something was bothering her. He thoughtfully picked up a scone.

"So, whenever you want to tell me what's wrong, I'm ready to listen," he said, taking a bite.

Olivia's eyes widened and she straightened an invisible wrinkle in her skirt. "Why would you think something's wrong?" he voice rose slightly on the end of the last word and she turned quickly to rummage through her purse.

"I'm not saying anything's wrong," Lysander said calmly, "I'm just saying, if something was wrong, hypothetically, you could tell me."

Olivia sniffed and then sank onto the couch next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Okay, hypothetically, what would you do if you were really confused about something, but you weren't sure why, and-," she broke off and then added, "It's probably nothing, it's stupid."

Lysander chuckled at the typical Olivia logic. "Listen Liv, I obviously don't know the whole situation here, but I do know you, and I know you'll make the right decision in the end, even if it's difficult."

"Easy for you to say," she grumbled, but she laughed a little as she said it. Lysander just leaned his head against hers, smiling when he felt her relax against him. Sometimes he wasn't sure why he and Olivia had ended up together in the first place, but he couldn't imagine living without her.

-x-

After work that evening, Asa came home to the soft sounds of music spilling from the apartment. Setting his keys carefully on the counter, he went into the living room where Emma was standing in the half-light of the lamp, staring out the window at the city below. Swaying slightly to the music, she was obviously unaware of his presence. For a minute, Asa didn't move, simply watching the way the lamplight played off her hair. She sensed his presence and turned, smiling a sad, half-smile.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Fidelio stopped by earlier to pick up some music, and I started listening to some of it, and…it's just…this song…it's…stupid really. Tancred and I…we used to dance to this song, and he'd always step on my toes, but it just reminds me…," she trailed off, looking back out the window.

"Not stupid," he said, scooting closer and wondering if, just this once, he could push the carefully constructed walls of their platonic relationship. Most of the time, Emma was so completely closed off from any relationships, it was as if she lived in a glass box. After Tancred, she'd sort of shut down, creating an emotional barrier between herself and the rest of the world. She never dated, never went out, and rarely confided in anyone. It was if, after Tancred, she'd somehow forgotten how to love anyone else.

Tonight though, Asa sensed something was different, and that something made him reach his hand out toward her. "Here," he said, "Dance with me."

For a minute, he thought she'd say no, but then she moved toward him hesitantly, sliding her hand into his and shifting closer until they were just barely touching. He moved in too, wrapping his arms around her and beginning to sway a little to the music. She followed along with him, moving her arms to wrap around his neck, and he wasn't aware of anything except the way the wistful look slowly melted from her eyes. As the song died away they slowed and it seemed as though the world slowed too, and they were left staring at each other.

Asa finally broke the silence, saying, "Well, at least I didn't step on your toes." Emma started to smile, but suddenly seemed to realize where she was. An unidentifiable expression flitted across her face before she pulled back out of his arms.

"I have to go, I have work in the morning, and a lot of things to do, thanks though, for the dance," she said, looking strangely lost, her eyes huge and shadowed.

"Emma…don't...," his voice was pleading, but the walls were already back up, and she was backing away, disappearing through her door, and Asa was left alone in the room, wondering if Emma Tolly would ever let him in her glass box.

-x-

And so the plot unfurls…Will Emma ever move on? Will Olivia tell Lysander about Fidelio? Will Naren ever be happy? Will Manfred's insane plan actually work? Will Chester the Gerbil make some friends? Answers to these and other burning questions coming soon!

Reviews, as always, are love!