Chapter 10: Hung Over

Let 'em fall baby fall
Just like the rain washes it all
If the tears will help you to heal
All that is real
All that is wrong
Let 'em fall baby fall
-"Fall Baby Fall" Ryan Cabrera

The bright light coming in through the frosted bathroom window awoke Charlie the next morning. She tried to put her hand over her sensitive eyes, but there was something blocking it. Several moments passed before she got her bearings and realized that she was on the bathroom floor, her body propped up against something soft and warm; correction, someone. Charlie could feel her head rise and fall with every breath the person beneath her took and immediately sat up to see who it was. She instantly regretted it, feeling her head being to spin from her monstrous hangover. The feeling became too great and she fell against the toilet seat, vomiting whatever was left in her stomach.

Van awoke to the sounds of water being splashed somewhere near him and soon realized that Charlie was awake, throwing up again. He sat up, his back feeling stiff from having lain against the tub for so long, but he popped his vertebra into place and moved to hold back Charlie's hair as she continued to vomit. How she was still blowing chunks boggled his mind. What had she eaten the day before to make her this sick? Van didn't care; he just wanted to help her right now, and make her feel better if he could.

After a couple of dry heaves, Charlie was done. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked up to see Van sitting behind her, his hand on her back gently rubbing it. He reached up, taking a cup from the sink and giving it to her. In his other hand were a couple of pills. "Oh, no! I'm not taking anything you give me!" Charlie protested. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? I thought I made it pretty clear last night that I was angry at you."

"First off, this is just aspirin that Stella left for you. And second, you certainly didn't seem pissed last night when you tried to make a pass at me," Van shot back as he thrust the pills at her.

Charlie's mouth hung open when she realized how completely trashed she had gotten that night. Her face turned several shades of red before she grabbed the pills out of his hand and washed them down with the room temperature water. There was never a time when she'd felt so ashamed and embarrassed after a night of drinking. Her head turned as she felt a tear drop from her eye and slide down her cheek until it reached her chin. She was angry at herself for what she'd done, and even angrier at him for making her do it. After all, it was Van's fault for pissing her off in the first place. He just had to sign that damn contract with Sterling, didn't he?

"Charlie, look at me," he pleaded, reaching over and taking her chin in his hands. She shoved him back and started to try and stand up, but fell back, her body still unable to support her weight.

"Go away!" Charlie yelled, her face still turned away from him, but he could clearly hear that she was on the verge of crying again. Van tried to grab a hold of her arm, and again she pushed him away. "I said, go away!"

"I'm not leaving," he sternly replied, sitting up against the door and waiting for her to look at him. "We're gonna sit here until you explain why you're so pissed about me signing that contract with your stepfather and why the hell you didn't tell me Hunter Sterling was your stepfather in the first place. Instead you gave me some cryptic bullshit that signing with him was like signing with the Devil. What's up with that?"

Charlie went mute. She knew this game all too well. She used to play it with her mother when they got mad at each other. Charlie could sit there for hours refusing to speak until her father ordered her to apologize for whatever had transpired. But this time, her father wasn't around, and she could remain mute for however long she wanted because no one was going to force her to apologize. She had no reason to. Besides, she had her reasons for not telling him that Hunter Sterling was her father, good reasons.

"I never realized a grown woman could be such a child," Van retorted as he rested his head against the door. He was going to use every tactic he could to get her to talk to him, even if it seemed cruel and unconventional. "At least I'm being the bigger person and sitting here, still talking to you, even though you seem to hate me for reasons I can't comprehend. If anything, I should be mad at you for not telling me that Hunter Sterling was your stepfather. But I'm not, because I understand what it means to tell people like me that your stepfather owns one of the biggest record companies in LA. You're probably afraid that I'd just be using you. Well, let me tell you right now, even if I had known that Hunter Sterling was your stepfather, I wouldn't have cared! It was his rep that came up to me the other night at the bar asking for a meeting. I came up to you because I could see that you were really connecting with my music, and I was hoping I could get a little input from one of my first fans. I didn't know you'd turn into a whiney little brat! What's your problem, Charlie? Do you think I signed that contract just to piss you off? Because if that's what you believe, then let me be the first to tell you you're dead wrong. I did take your advice and shopped around to see if I could get a better offer, but I couldn't. Your stepfather was giving me the best deal out there. How could I turn it down? It's been my dream to sign a big recording contract with a top label like his. I would have liked it to be Capital or Sony or BMI, but they weren't willing to spend more than a couple hundred thousand dollars on a nobody like me. But your step-dad, he's willing to spend millions to make me famous. Now tell me, is that an offer you'd want to refuse?" He paused for a moment, glancing over at Charlie to see if she was going to speak. Her posture told him that she was getting angrier the more he spoke. Her back was rigid and her knuckles were turning white from grasping the toilet seat so hard. He just needed to find the perfect last words to set her off. "Alright, you don't have to say anything. If you wanna continue being a drunken bitch, that's fine with me. I'll just sit here and wait, and maybe tell you how wonderful your stepfather is for giving me that incredible deal."

Finally, Charlie just snapped, "I'm not a bratty, childish bitch!" She turned her head, her blazing hazel eyes boring holes into him as she spoke, "You're right about one thing, and that's my reasons for not telling you Hunter Sterling was my stepfather. But do you really wanna know why I'm so angry with you? It's because I know Hunter Sterling better than you ever will, and I know that he's going to destroy your life like he's destroyed mine!"

"Why are you making this about you?" Van yelled back.

"Because I don't wanna see anymore people get hurt because of him!" she shouted. "Why do you think I'm such an alcoholic? Do you think it's because I find it fun to drink and get completely annihilated and make a total ass out of myself in front of people?" Charlie asked, feeling her emotions finally bubbling up as tears threatened to spill from her eyes again. "It's because every time I think about all the unspeakable things that man has done to me and my family, I want to kill myself. I think that if I drink enough I'll somehow forget everything, but I can't. It just gets worse and worse. I can't handle it anymore." Finally, the emotional dam burst and she started to cry again. She wrapped her arms around her knees and curled up into a little ball at the corner of the bathroom beside the toilet. With her eyes staring directly at the floor near her feet, she feebly added, "I'm afraid for you, Van. If he ever did anything to you, I don't think I could forgive myself."

"I'm… touched," Van said, pushing himself off the door and cautiously scooting as close to her as she'd permit. Although they'd only known each other for less than a couple of days, he could see that Charlie was already finding something about him to latch on to. What, he couldn't figure out yet, but he didn't care so long as she started to trust him. Hesitantly, he reached over and brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face as more tears streamed down her pale cheeks. Charlie looked up sharply, his touch startling her, but soon relaxed when she realized he wasn't going to do anything to her.

"Please stop crying," Van whispered, his fingers falling against her skin to wipe away the hot tears that continued to drip from her eyes. As they stared at each other, Charlie felt as if she had finally found someone who would stick by her side through thick and thin. When he smiled, it warmed her heart. The feeling washed over her body, relaxing her muscles and allowing her to finally break out of the funk she'd been experiencing. "There's that beautiful smile that I like so much," he pointed out as the corners of her lips turned upward.

Charlie experienced another first that morning. "I'm sorry, Van," she whispered her apology. She'd never willingly apologized to anyone in her entire life, let alone felt the need to. He was changing her somehow, and she liked it.

"Come here," Van said, opening his arms for an inviting hug. Charlie threw herself against him, holding on tight as she closed her eyes and took in every little detail her mind could remember about this moment; the way his arms felt around her body, the he held her so close without hurting her, the way he pressed his face against her neck so that his goatee tickled her pulse point. His lips brushed ever so softly against her skin for a feather light kiss that sent a shiver down Charlie's spine. She sighed contently, her arms hugging him a little tighter, not wanting to let go just yet.

When they finally pulled apart, Charlie sat back against the wall, rubbing her eyes. That emotional rollercoaster had drained the last of her energy, and now all she wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the day. "What time is it?" she asked.

Van looked down at his watch and replied, "Almost seven." Charlie groaned her discontent with the time and rubbed her eyes again as a yawn escaped her lips. He stood up and extended his hand towards her. She took it, allowing him to pull her up off the bathroom floor.

"I've gotta be at work in four hours," Charlie whined as they made their way into Evie's bedroom and towards her bed.

"Screw work," Van said with a playful smile.

"I can't do that!" she protested. "My boss would kill me! I've already pulled this stunt too many times, she said. She also said if I did it again without a valid reason, she'd fire me. That's the last thing I need."

"You know how many times Billie has said that to me? And you know how many times I've still managed to keep by job? More than you can count," Van told her. "Go sleep. If you really are afraid of losing your job, I'll wake you up in three and a half hours."

Charlie pulled the covers off the bed and laid down on the right side. Almost immediately after her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light. Van sat down beside her for a moment and watched her sleep. She seemed so peaceful now that her mind was at ease. The night before, it felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over her head as he watched her doze in the bathroom. But now her body had relaxed, a calm having settled over her like a cleansing rain washing away the hurt and the pain. Van pulled the covers up to her shoulders and lay down beside her, hoping to get in a little rest before Billie decided it was time to yell at him again for being late to work. He set his phone to go off at 10:30 and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed then snuggled up next to Charlie, falling asleep almost instantly not realized just how tired he was as well.

Something was beeping just a few feet away, waking Charlie from a dreamless sleep. She tried to throw her arm out and stop it, but it was blocked by something, err, someone. Van was at her side again, asleep like he had been before in the bathroom. The beeping coming from the nightstand beside him didn't seem to faze him at all, but it was bugging the hell out of Charlie. She nudged Van in the ribs, only to have him swat her away. "Wake up, Donovan," she tried using his full name.

"Five more minutes, Mom," he mumbled.

"I'm not your mother," Charlie sternly replied as she pushed his arms away from her and reached over to grab his beeping cell phone. Flipping it open, she stopped the annoying sound by pressing the end button then threw it back on the nightstand.

Van had opened one tired grey green eye and gazed at Charlie through the cobwebs. She ran her fingers through his hair, ruffling it as she smiled. "Wake up, sleepy head," she urged, resting her back against the headboard.

"No," Van mumbled, wrapping an arm around her legs and placing his head in her lap as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. It felt like a deep tissue massage, but better.

Charlie smiled and chuckled, bending down and placing a soft kiss on top of his head. She wanted to return the affection he was giving her because in all her life, the only affection she'd ever been shown was from her father. Feeling it again was so strange and foreign, but it felt better than anything else in the world, and she hoped to God it would never end.

Softly humming to herself, Charlie became lost in her thoughts, not realizing that she had started to sing the tune that was running through her mind. "It isn't your sweet conversation / That brings this sensation / Oh no, its just the nearness of you / When you're in my arms / And I feel you so close to me / All my wildest dreams came true / I need no soft lights to enchant me / If you'll only grant me / The right / To hold you ever so tight / And to feel in the night / The nearness of you."

Her voice carried into Van's ears like a soft lullaby. He looked up at her to make sure it was actually her voice he was hearing and not someone's radio being turned out somewhere else in the condo. Surely enough, Charlie was singing, and unbelievably well as a matter of fact. Another piece of her grand puzzle was falling into place. When the song ended, he sat up and asked, "You sing?"

Charlie looked at him as if he'd just grown another head until she realized she had let her song escape her lips. Her face turned a light shade of red as she tried to turn her head to the side. She hadn't meant for it to slip out like it had, but when she got lost in her thoughts, it always seemed to. This was the first time it had happened with someone being present. She clamped her hand over her mouth and immediately got out of bed. "Shit, I'm going to be late for work," Charlie muttered, rushing out of the room and fleeing from any type of embarrassment she might have just experienced. "Stella!" she yelled once in the living room.

"God, Charlie, go back to sleep," Stella mumbled from the couch, throwing her arm over her eyes.

"Its 10:45 on a Monday morning," Charlie answered, looking for her purse and shoes, which she found in the closet where Leo had stashed them during the party. "You've got class in two hours, and I've got work in fifteen minutes."

"Ah, fuck," Stella replied as she sat up and rubbed her eyes open. "Well, at least I'm not dragging you out of bed today. You feel any better?"

"Yeah, tons," her sister sarcastically retorted, taking a seat on the floor beside the door to put her sneakers on.

Stella stretched before making her way towards Charlie. In a low voice, she asked, "How are things with…"

"Van? Fine," Charlie quickly finished for her as she slipped on her other sneaker and stood up to open the door.

"You two aren't mad at each other anymore?" Stella continued her interrogation as she put on her shoes.

"No," came Charlie's short answer. She had one foot out of the door and was getting ready to make a run for the car when she heard her name being called. "Crap!" Charlie muttered, knowing who it was that wanted to talk to her.

"Charlie, wait," Van was yelling as he ran into the living room, nearly colliding with Stella as she stood up to grab her purse and keys from the closet beside the door. They missed each other by a few inches, both stepping back in the nick of time. "Whoa, Stella, sorry about that!" he apologized, giving her a million dollar smile that she only rolled her eyes at.

"Kill me, why don't cha? Gosh!" Stella tried to do her best Napoleon Dynamite impression with her own grin, stepping out of the door and leaving the two of them to talk out whatever problem they'd run into that morning.

"I'm running late for work," Charlie said as she tried to skirt around talking to Van, but he grabbed her wrist before she stuck her foot out the door again.

"Just tell Stella to speed," he suggested, feeling how tense and rigid she had just become. She was uncomfortable again, and he didn't know why this time. "What's wrong, Charlie? I thought we were past all the drama."

She looked away, stammering, "It's just… It's that… Nobody… I don't like singing in front of people. I get… embarrassed."

"I have seriously got to find a way to break you out of your shell," Van said as he grabbed her other hand to hold onto it. "You've got such a pretty voice. If anything, you should be the one with the record deal, not me."

Charlie's face turned pink again and Van laughed. "You're so modest," she replied, looking up at him once more. Even though she was blushing, there was a smile present on her face.

"I'm telling you the truth. It's your choice whether you believe me or not."

"Okay, I believe you," Charlie finally gave in. "Now will you please let go so I can get to work on time? I'm already running late and Stella is probably getting pissed that I'm not downstairs yet."

"You're full of excuses, aren't you?" Van teased. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers before letting go and saying, "Go on, before you get in trouble. I'll call you tonight."

'Alright," she said over her shoulder as she stepped out of the door and started to run towards Stella's Navigator, which was sitting on the curb waiting for her. "Bye!" Charlie turned back to yell, her smile shining like the morning sun.

"Bye!" Van waved her off as he watched her go. He checked to make sure he had his own keys, cell phone, and wallet before heading out to his car, which he parked down the block. Billie was probably seething by now that he still hadn't shown up to work yet while Deaq was snickering with delight, waiting for all the juicy details like a little school girl. Van nearly laughed at the image the through conjured up. He hopped into the Mustang and roared off towards the Candy Store thinking, 'Hello firing squad.'