Henry and Charlotte strolled out of class together, talking and laughing as if nothing ever happened. But they each knew what the were doing, just not what the other was doing. Here, an explanation:

In the moments of Charlotte's confrontation and her caring words, Henry could not bear himself to force her out of his life, realizing he'd not only be hurting himself, but her as well. So when he had convinced her to trust him, he believed he was off the hook. She'd stop questioning him about work, quit worrying about his sleeping habits, and they'd be able to move on with their relationship (it's getting there) without any trouble with Ray. How could she find out his secret if she trusted that he had none? The blond believed there was no serious harm being done.

He'll just ignore the guilt growing in the back of his mind from lying to her for now.

"Hey, Jasper," Henry said as the two approached Jasper's locker. Jasper looked at the two with narrowed eyes.

"Hi." He shut his locker a little harder than necessary. Henry and Charlotte looked at each other with looks of confusion.

"Everything okay, Jasp?" Charlotte asked her best friend.

"Peachy," he responded dryly. "I gotta get to class." He turned away from them and started down the hall.

"Wait!" Charlotte called after him. "Henry, I'll text you later, okay?" She smiled up at him as he nodded, then ran after Jasper.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was still set on her plan of helping Henry without his permission. She figured he was in a tough spot at work, involving some level of blackmail. Of course he wouldn't take her help. The consequence must be severe. Whatever the situation was, she was going to get him out of it.

With a little bit of curly-haired help.

"Jasper!" she called again, finally reaching his arm. "I need to talk to you."

"I can't, I have this big physics test-"

"Right now."

She tugged his arm with all the strength she could muster while he tried to keep his ground, eventually dragging him into the nearby janitor's closet. She let him through the door first, then shut the door behind them.

"Are you crazy?" Jasper yelled.

"Yes," she answered simply. "I need to talk to you."

"You said that already," he replied in a tone of annoyance.

"Okay, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I think Henry's being blackmailed at work," she began. Jasper raised his eyebrows.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I really think that-"

"I mean you seriously brought me in here to talk about Henry?" He wore a look of disbelief.

"I'm just worried about him, Jasp," she responded. "And I know something's not right here. He's not just working for the money."

"And what do I care about this?" Jasper crossed his arms in front of his chest. Charlotte punched his arm.

"He's our friend," she said matter-of-factly. "We should help him."

"No, you're his friend," he replied in the same tone. "I'm just a victim by association."

"Will you please just help me?" Charlotte pleaded. "I have a plan, but I'll need your help." Jasper shook his head.

"No way," he answered. "Not gonna happen."

"Why not?"

"I'm busy." She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, as if she didn't believe him.

"I am!" he repeated defensively. "If you must know, I've had robotics everyday for the past two weeks and I've been really stressed because our competition is coming up, plus I've been struggling with physics lately so my mom got me a tutor and I've been meeting with him every other day after school. Maybe you would know that if you weren't so far up Henry's ass lately." Jasper let out a deep breath following his rant, then crossed his arms firmly in front of his chest. Charlotte's lips parted in surprise at her best friend's words, immediately being hit with guilt and a little hurt at the harshness of his tone. When she didn't say anything, Jasper turned towards the door to leave, placing a hand on the knob until he felt her small fingers wrap around his other hand, holding him in his tracks.

"Jasper," she started. "I'm so sorry for neglecting you recently. You know how much I care about you." He looked to the floor without reply. Charlotte sighed.

"You should've told me what was going on. I could've helped you study or something." Jasper knitted his eyebrows after her statement, removing his hand from her grip and turning to look at her.

"How could I've?" he challenged. "You haven't exactly been available lately. You're always either doing homework, or working, or with Henry." He spoke his name bitterly, then sighed. "And once again, I'm the forgotten one."

"Jasper, you know it's not like that," Charlotte responded, her voice sincere.

"I think it's exactly like that," he muttered, looking down at the floor again. Now Charlotte crossed her arms.

"Seriously, Jasper. You? Our friendship? They mean way more to me than all of those things, even combined," she spoke confidently. Jasper raised his gaze to meet her eyes.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Even more than Henry?"

"Way more than Henry. Come on, Jasp. You're my best friend." Jasper felt his heart rate quicken at her words. He searched her eyes for a sign of something, anything, more.

"Will you forgive me?" she asked with a small smile. The curly-haired blond hesitated, as if pondering for a moment, then sighed. He couldn't find it in his heart to not forgive her.

"Fine," he dragged out, a smile finally working its way onto his face. Charlotte, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear, happy to have had a heart-to-heart with her best friend after so long. She leaned forward and swung her arms around his neck in an embrace, almost causing Jasper to lose his balance before he brought his strong arms around her waist and steadied themselves.

"Thank you, Jasp," she whispered. He smiled wholeheartedly, turning his face down towards her neck to hide the blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"I still need your help." She spoke quickly, wincing at her own words knowing the reaction she was going to get. Any other feelings he had the moment before disappeared as Jasper rolled his eyes before detangling himself from his best friend.

"I told you I can't, Charlotte," he responded.

"Please, Jasper, I promise it won't take long. Just give me one day after school." Jasper sighed placing his hands behind his head in a stressful manner.

"I'll explain my idea then and we'll do it right after. All you have to do is show up."

"Do what, exactly?" he inquired. Charlotte brushed his question away with her hand.

"I'll explain before we do it. Just give me one afternoon- tomorrow. And I'll make it up to you."

"Heard that before," he muttered under his breath.

"I promise," she repeated firmly. "I wouldn't be asking you this unless I really needed your help. I need you, Jasp." Her voice was sincere, her eyes wide with plead.

"I don't know," he began. "I really can't be missing robotics."

"Please," she dragged. Charlotte folded her hands above her chin while bouncing on her toes, anticipating an answer of agreement. A few moments, Jasper sighed.

"I guess I can skip robotics for one day." Charlotte grinned widely at his words.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she exclaimed quickly, moving to hug him again.

"But you seriously owe me," he said as he wrapped an arm around her. "Fro-yo isn't gonna cut it this time." Charlotte laughed as the tone of the late bell rang through the school.

"Great," he spoke as they let go and opened the door to leave the janitor's closet. He rushed down the hall, opposite the direction Charlotte was going. "I'm late for my test, thanks to you!"

"I'll make it up to you!" she called back as she scurried along her way.

"Heard that before!"

"I promise!"

Jasper reached the door to his physics class when he stopped to take a breath. A close-mouthed grin spread across his face before he stepped in.

It could've been the many tutoring sessions he's had so far that allowed him to ace his test. But Jasper chose to believe that it was his encounter with his best friend that inspired him instead.

It was Charlotte, after all.

"So? What do you think?"

In the Man Cave, Schwoz stood in front of Henry and Ray, who sat on the couch inspecting the objects in the scientist's hands.

"Awesome!" Henry exclaimed when he saw the leather jacket, standing up to take it in his hands.

"That is for Ray," Schwoz said matter-of-factly. "This-" the scientist handed him a pair of wide-framed glasses, a button-down lobster-printed shirt, and a pair of cargo shorts "-is for you." Henry frowned.

"Ha!" Ray laughed, standing up to take his leather jacket and sunglasses. "You look like a dork."

"Why do I have to be disguised as a dork?" Henry asked defensively.

"Because you are supposed to be different from who you really are," Schwoz explained. "Plus it will make you seem younger than Ray so you can pretend to be his son." Henry and Ray looked at each other with weird looks.

"He's supposed to be my dad?"

"I'm supposed to be his father?" The two spoke simultaneously.

"We don't even look genetically similar," Henry pointed.

"There's no way I could be his dad!" Ray exclaimed. "Or any kid's dad! Look at me! I'm too young!"

"Well-" Henry interjected.

"Shut it, kid."

Henry rolled his eyes. "And how is a leather jacket and shades different from Ray's style now?"

"I am not finished yet with Ray's disguise," Schwoz finally answered. "I was planning on adding a facial disguise, since Ray has been in the spotlight for such a long time."

Ray held up a hand. "Alright, Schwoz, I don't know what your problem is but you clearly think I'm an old hag that-"

"Oh, be quiet," Schwoz spoke. "You have more of a chance at being recognized. I am just trying to ensure that does not happen." Henry turned to Ray.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you, dad," he joked, snickering as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Ray immediately pushed his hand away.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Schwoz said excitedly. He ran to grab something from behind the monitors and came back with two small buttons.

"What are these?" Ray asked, taking the button in his fingers.

"You are to put them over your chest under your clothes," Schwoz instructed. "When you press them, your voice should change." Ray placed his button under his shirt and pressed it, then spoke a simple "hello". His voice sounded as deep as Morgan Freeman's, with a bit of a southern accent.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" he exclaimed. He went on exploring his new voice with different words and sounds.

"I wanna try!" Henry said, taking the other button from Schwoz and placing it over his chest.

"Heyo," Henry spoke to test out his voice button. His eyes widened as he heard it raise in at least two octaves from his normal voice, similar to his prepubescent days. Ray started to laugh.

"You sound like a little kid!" Ray exclaimed. Henry rolled his eyes.

"Haha, very funny," he retaliated, immediately regretting it as his new voice sounded and set Ray off into another burst of laughter.

"You are supposed to sound young," Schwoz said. "Your backstory when you arrive to the weapons shop is that you have just turned thirteen years old and your father wants to teach you about hunting."

"That guy isn't gonna believe I have a thirteen year old son," Ray mumbled.

"Yes he will," Schwoz said. "You'll just need to wait and see the facial disguise. It should be ready by tomorrow afternoon so you can visit the weapons shop tomorrow night."

"Good," Ray responded. "It's been long enough. We need to catch these robbers before they hit again."

Henry gulped nervously, removing the voice button from underneath his shirt. He hadn't told Ray that he was still talking to Charlotte.

And he was going to keep it that way.

"Henry," Ray called suddenly, startling the blond.

"Yeah?"

"You told that Charlotte girl you can't be friends with her anymore, right?" his boss asked. Henry scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Uh yeah, yep, I did," he stuttered. Why he suddenly became nervous while lying to his boss was confusing to him. He had lied to him before, sure, but perhaps never for anything so meaningful to him as this.

Ray raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Really? What'd you say?"

"Uh," Henry dragged, looking down at his shoes as he rocked over his heels. "I was just super straightforward. Went up to her after class when she tried to talk to me, told her I couldn't be friends anymore." The blond shrugged, trying his best at nonchalance.

"And what'd she say?" Ray inquired.

Henry paused to think of an excuse. "I don't know," he finally said. "I tried to rip it off like a bandaid, and didn't really wanna hear her reaction so I bolted."

"You ran away from her?"

"Yup."

"And she didn't try to run after you?"

"Nope."

"So you didn't see her again."

"Nope."

"Wow," Ray said. "Sounds like she wasn't that into you anyway." He chuckled as Henry pressed his lips together before placing a hand on Henry's shoulder.

"You okay?" Ray asked his sidekick sincerely.

"Yeah," Henry breathed. "I'm okay."

"I told you," he spoke. "There's plenty of other girls who'd kill to be with you." Ray smiled as Henry nodded, his lips pressed together. He squeezed his shoulder before walking back towards his room.

"It was best for her anyway," Ray added. "Wouldn't want her tangling with danger by being associated with Kid Danger." Ray winked.

Henry pondered his boss' last words after he left, his eyebrows knitted together and fingertips pressed to his temples as he paced the Man Cave. Ray was right. It was the safest option to cut ties with her. Henry sighed, running both hands through his blond locks and tugging at the ends in distress.

But if he were to always comply with Ray's instructions, he'd never get to keep ties with anyone not affiliated with Captain Man and Kid Danger. He'd never get to make real friends, have real experiences.

He had convinced himself earlier that he would keep her safe, and that she couldn't find out his secret unless she tried. And she trusted him. Henry nodded to himself, stopping his paces in reassurance. He could keep his job and his friends. It'll be a lot, but he had to try.

"Yeah," he spoke softly to himself. "I got this."

"What was that?" Ray called to him from his room.

"Uh, nothing!" Henry called back. "I just got this, uh, fly. I caught it." What? he mouthed to himself.

"Gross! Put that thing outside," Ray ordered. Henry sighed.

"Got it."

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! I'm still getting back into the swing of things, forgive me. But hey! I'm on spring break and hopefully I'll have another chapter up by the end of the week! Stay tuned! ;)

So what'd you think? Leave any thoughts in a review! I love hearing from you. :)

Also I know Jasper wears his hair straighter now (can they stop growing up it's making me emotional), but I miss his curly hair so his hair is staying curly in the story. xD

On another note, anyone see the KCA's? Jace won again! I feel like a proud mom. xD

I hope you're all having a wonderful day and hope you see this story through! I appreciate all the feedback and support especially since I'm not very active, you seriously have no idea how much you motivate me. I promise I will finish this story and I'm not gonna half-ass it in anyway. Thank you for reading! Keep an eye out for an update very soon! :) 3