AN: Chapter ten! I feel like this is a milestone, haha. I also have more than 1000 hits! Thanks, you guys. Hope you remember to review so I know whether you lot are enjoying this!

To 8JbFbAbM9, thanks for the review! Even though Adam has no idea what's going on, we do! Right now, both boys aren't aware they might actually like each other more than friends. I think Adam more 'wary' of Julie than Linda right now because Charlie is spending as much time with Linda as he is with his (nonexistent) dog: absolutely none. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Center Of Attention
10. see you in my nightmares

A pair of strong arms encircled Charlie's waist, fingers sliding under the shirt he wore, palm splayed over his bare stomach. They tightened their grip on him and, softly, pressed their lips against the back of his neck. Charlie frowned as he realized he'd gone to bed alone. He sleepily tried to shift away before the voice murmured, "Go back to sleep, Conway."

Larson.

Charlie screamed and tried to roll out of the bed.

He landed on the floor.

And then he woke up.

Guy stared at him, sleepily. "Did you just scream Larson and fall on the floor?"

"Uh," Charlie scratched the back of his head, hoping Guy would think he was having a dream. "No?"

Guy shot him another look, murmured something about having a nutcase for a roommate and then rolled onto his other side, wanting to catch up on his sleep.

Charlie quickly scrambled off of the floor, checking his bed for any other bodies quickly before he cautiously got back into bed.

Sleep did not come quickly.

"..and then he screamed 'Larson' and fell onto the floor!" Guy told the story at breakfast the next day. At once, the entire table burst into peals of laughter. Connie was near tears as she tried to imagine the scene, while Julie had hidden her face behind her palms in an attempt to hide her amusement. Charlie glared at her either way.

"What was Larson doing to you, Conway?" Portman snorted, openly laughing at his friend.

"It wasn't funny!" Charlie exclaimed, burying his head into his arms.

"What wasn't funny?" came Adam's voice, and Charlie felt him take a seat next to him. He immediately groaned, not wanting another repeat of the story.

"Charlie's erotic dream about Larson," Goldberg piped up. He smiled a 'you're welcome' when Charlie raised his head to scowl at him.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," came another voice, and Charlie saw Larson take a seat next to Adam, much to his horror. Larson looked pissed off, though not with Conway. He kept shooting disgruntled looks towards the Hawks table. Charlie wondered what that was all about, until Guy began to retell the entire story again, and then he just wondered whether smashing his head against the table would be able to knock him out. Eventually, he decided against it. Feeling Adam's shoulders shake, he narrowed his eyes and looked closely at his friend, noticing Adam was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Shut up, Banks," Charlie elbowed him into the side, "I heard Julie kicked your ass."

At once, the entire table turned towards Adam, who looked like a deer in headlights. "No, she didn't," Adam tried to explain, and Julie leaned forward, wanting to hear what he had to say on the matter herself. Banks shot a glare towards Charlie, who smiled back smugly. At least the attention wasn't on him anymore.

Charlie rested his head into his arms again as he tuned out on the chatter, looking around the cafeteria. Because of his dream—or rather, nightmare—he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Though this wasn't the only thing on his mind. His mother had called him the evening before and had asked, timidly, whether it was possible for his father to attend his game on Monday, the game today. He'd wanted to tell her no with all his heart, but then thought back to what Julie had told him and what he'd told Adam: he needed to see his father, sometime. So he'd told her yes. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was also—

Charlie caught sight of his girlfriend a few tables away, sitting with some of her friends. Linda, sweet Linda, who'd asked him to attend dinner with her parents after his game. Though he'd told her yes, after he'd given permission to Casey to tell his father he could come to his game, Charlie knew he had to cancel. There was a big possibility 'daddy-dearest' wanted to talk to him afterwards, and even though he would have rather gone to dinner with Linda, he knew this was something he had to do.

When he'd told Linda he wouldn't be able to make it, she'd regarded him with her mouth set into a thin line, telling him she wasn't pleased. When she'd asked why, he hadn't been able to answer her. Linda had walked away, clearly angry with him.

He still didn't know why he hadn't been able to tell her about his father. Even Larson knew.

And now, he felt guilty.

"You okay?"

Charlie turned his head to the side and caught Adam's gaze, which was filled with concern. He grinned, "Yeah. Don't worry so much. You'll get wrinkles."

As Adam rolled his eyes, another voice intruded. "Charlie, Banks, come on, dudes." Portman called out, and Charlie looked up to see the rest of his team was already on their way to class. Adam rose from his seat and began to head towards them.

"Great, class." Charlie managed to drag himself away from the table, walking after Adam as slowly as he could.

"Come on, Charlie." Adam turned to encourage his friend to quicken up the pace, smirking. "If you ask nicely, I'll let you sit next to Larson."

Life is hell, Charlie decided.

A piece of paper hit him in the head, causing Charlie to wake up from his nap. "Wha'?" he murmured, before he realized he was in class. He quickly sat up straight as the teacher droned on, and then glanced back to the paper on his desk. He unfolded it and stared at the writing on it. You are hereby cordiallyinvited, it said, to attend the wedding between Charlie Conway and Billy Larson.

Charlie stared at the two kissing stick figures on the bottom. A few seats further, Russ gave him the thumbs up. Charlie drew a line across his throat and mouthed, 'You're dead.' Next to him, Fulton coughed loudly in an attempt not to laugh. As soon as the bell rung, Charlie shot out of his seat and lunged at Russ, who barely escaped and began to run.

"You better run!" Charlie hollered, chasing after him.

"What's up with them?" Julie asked, amused. In response, Fulton handed her the note. The rest of the Ducks read it over her shoulder and then simultaneously fell into a fit of laughter.

"He never even gave me a ring," someone commented, and they looked to the side to see Larson, who'd read the note too. Again, the group chuckled.

"Will you come to our game, Billy?" Connie suddenly asked, to which the Hawk smiled, a bit surprised, "Sure." Connie beamed at him. She took his arm and made him walk her to her next class; despite the fact Larson didn't share it with her.

Guy looked less than happy with the arrangement, but kept his mouth shut as he trailed after the pair. Adam glanced at Julie, who raised her shoulders in a shrug.

They found Charlie in the hallway a few minutes later, holding Russ in a headlock. Dwayne managed to get Charlie off of Russ, "C'mon, y'all. Save it for the game!"

"Yeah, Charlie," Russ wheezed out, trying to catch his breath and laughing at the same time. "If we win, Larson might give you a victory kiss." He started making kissing noises.

At once, Charlie tore himself out of Dwayne's arms and went after Russ again.

"Those boys," Julie sighed.

"Charlie's going to kill him, isn't he?" Kenny asked. To this, Fulton nodded solemnly.

The Ducks all exchanged looks. Then, they all began to run after their Captain and the boy with the knuckle puck.

"Line change!" Orion shouted, looking at the score board. 8 to 1, they were playing well. The Indians looked as though they just wanted to get it over and done with, while the Ducks were still going strong. Orion was proud of his team.

Charlie beamed at his coach as he sat down on the bench, taking his water bottle as he scanned the crowds. Linda wasn't there, he noticed dully. His mother was, and though she looked ecstatic her son was winning, he could clearly see she was tense. All because of the man next to her. His father.

As much as Charlie wanted to hate him, the look on his father's face when he'd made a goal had been the main reason he'd been playing so well. He felt oddly happy every time his father jumped up from his seat and cheered him on. So he wanted to make his father proud of him, big deal. Banksie always played harder when Phillip was there, too. Just because Charlie was doing the same thing didn't mean he liked him.

"Yeah, go, Cake-eater!" A familiar voice shouted, and Charlie smiled as he saw Jesse Hall raise a fist in the air as he sprang from his seat when Adam scored the ninth goal. It was the first game Jesse had attended after he'd quit hockey. Charlie was glad to see him, whether he was on the field or not. Larson, who'd taken a seat next to him, was staring at the match intensely. Even though he'd 'changed', or so Adam said, Charlie couldn't help but be suspicious. He better not be spying for the Hawks, he thought. Whether he and Larson had called a truce during Connie's birthday didn't matter. The guy was still a Hawk.

"Change it up!" Orion yelled, and Charlie patted his best friend on the back in congratulations as Adam dropped into a seat next to him. Adam grinned back at him before he concentrated on the match. Charlie glanced at his mother once more, smiling as he caught her gaze, before he turned back to the game.

The Bash Brothers were on a roll, slamming into everyone in order to gain the puck. Once they had it, Portman skated towards the goal. At the last moment, he passed back towards Fulton, who took aim and slapped the puck with his stick. It soared through the air and then hit the net.

As the team cheered, Charlie knocked his shoulder into Adam, who laughed back at him. They both knew it was over: they'd won their first game, despite the fact they still have five minutes of play time.

"You going to talk to your dad?" Adam asked, even though his eyes were on the ice.

"Yeah, I guess." Charlie stared at his hockey stick. His stomach felt as though it was in knots.

"Nice save, Cat-lady!" Goldberg, who was near Charlie, shouted. Charlie looked up to see the puck falling from Julie's glove. Guy took the puck and began skating towards the other side.

"It'll be fine." Banks assured, just as the buzzer rang. Charlie looked up at the score board to see the score: 11-1. Guy had probably scored when Charlie had looked away.

"I hope so," Charlie replied, before they skated onto the ice to congratulate their team. He engulfed Connie in a hug and twirled with her on the ice, before releasing her. She skated right into Guy's arms, who caught her before she could fall down. Charlie grinned as the two stared at each other, before Connie threw her arms around Guy in a celebration hug.

"Charlie, your mom's waiting for you," Julie told him as he reached her. He groaned into her shoulder pad as she laughed, pushing him towards where his mother and father stood. Time to face the music, Charlie.

"You were amazing!" Casey congratulated her son as she wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks, mom." He smiled as he returned the embrace, pulling back to look into her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Casey's smile faltered as she stepped back, and Charlie came face to face with the man he hadn't seen since he was a child. "Charlie," his mother began, "This is George, your father."

"Hello, Charlie," George smiled pleasantly, offering his son a hand. Charlie stared at it for a while before he took it, shaking his hand. "Hello, George," Charlie replied coolly as he put an emphasis on the name. The only person he'd ever consider calling 'dad' was Bombay, who'd been his father figure since he'd been ten.

George continued to smile as he regarded him. "You've grown," he said, and Charlie fought the urge to roll his eyes. Yeah, that's what kids do, he thought. "You played really well. Your triple deke is amazing." At this, Charlie looked surprised he knew what a triple deke was. George looked a little embarrassed, "Your mother gave me a few tapes to watch."

"Oh," Charlie didn't know what to say.

"Would you…" George started, looking hopeful, "Would you like to take a walk with me? We can talk."

Charlie looked back towards his mother, who smiled, looking tired and worn, as she nodded. "Yeah, okay," Charlie agreed as he regarded George, who looked relieved, "Let me just hit the showers. I'll meet you in front of the school."

As he told them bye, Charlie skated back towards the locker rooms.

He arrived at the locker room to see everyone had gone already. Once he stood in front of his locker, he noticed a note attached to it. It was a large heart, drawn with what he guessed to be Connie's lipstick. Underneath it was a flock of birds in a flying v. Charlie shook his head, amused, yet grateful. He made a mental note to buy Connie a new lipstick before he began to remove his pads, heading into the showers.

Whatever happened, he'd always have his Ducks.