Lies that Destroy

Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 14 (Angels to Light the Dark)

"Teddy!" Teddy glanced up upon hearing Gabe's voice, immediately she was filled with joy amid the sorrow. He was standing beside Denise and before his real parents. She moved from the bench as he rushed up to her and hugged her. "I was worried about you. Is everything okay?" She frowned and shook her head. Spencer had left, after she told him everything, he still left to 'think' about what was going on. Ivy was still talking to the officer, and Mr. Dooley had just come in and walked into the questioning booth where Ivy was.

"No Gabe, everything's not all right. Ivy's parents were murdered…" His jaw dropped. Teddy wasn't thrilled about having blurted it out, but he needed to know. "I think Bob and Amy are still on the run, and PJ's gone to New York. Spencer said he wants me to go, but I can't…not now…I have too much on my plate. I have to be here for Ivy, she needs me right now." Gabe looked over to Denise, who was shaking her head. He took a deep breath and stepped back.

"Maybe, but PJ needs you too, and you're going to need him. There's no other way." She knew this, but she was too scared to leave Colorado. Everything she ever had was here. Everything she knew and loved, here. "Anyway, we're here to give our statements and stuff to the police, so…after that, we're going to be taking a vacation. Deputy Dooley says it's best for us in the long run." She brushed her hair back and swallowed a sob. It was fully clear what he meant by his words, this was goodbye. Today may be the last time she knew him as his little brother. "If you want to hang out some…we can…"

"It might be best, Gabe, that we didn't…" Her heart broke when she watched his expression sink down. She didn't want to say goodbye, she didn't want to lose him, but at the same time, she didn't know if it was a good idea to hold onto those memories. "I'm sorry, I know…I know there's still that connection, but…" Truthfully she was terrified of not being able to let go. She was terrified to death that if she spent any amount of time with him, she'd never want to leave him behind. Not that she wanted to do that in the first place. "I don't know what's going on in my mind right now, Gabe. I'm just…petrified…" Alone and separated from the one thing that meant anything to her, how was she to carry on? She missed her brother, PJ.

In New York, PJ stepped out of the airport with nothing in hand but the clothes on his back and his wallet in his pocket. Everything he needed at the house would be sent to him by the police, or at least, sent to Skyler's residence. He had plenty of time to cool down and to think things over. With no idea what was going on in Colorado, he could only hope Teddy would find a way to contact him and come to New York.

He smiled as Skyler ran up to him, calling his name. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. She looked exhausted, her cheeks had small red stains on them, and her eyes had bags beneath them. "PJ, we've been up all this time…" In truth he had been planning this for a couple days, but only because he'd been suspecting his parents of trickery. It was only until he met the two people at the mall that he'd really opened his eyes to it and let himself see everything for what it was worth, confirming his and Gabe's suspicions. "Mom and Dad are waiting in the car with Uncle Douglas and Aunt Janice."

"Okay." Janice was her father, Derek's older sister. She was married to Douglas, who was the one taking him in as an apprentice. "So Douglas's foreman, approved the apprenticeship?" Skyler nodded and hummed to herself.

"Although the man did say he would have to meet all apprentices when they started the job. He wants to be sure they're cut out for it, so be prepared for some kind of boot camp type thing…" He chuckled nervously and felt a pit in his stomach, he wasn't too certain he wanted to deal with that stress. However, he was more than ready. Right now, he had a firm belief that working would be a good way to get away from the drama of Bob and Amy's lies. "It's so good to see you and know you're okay." She tenderly pecked his lips and pulled back in a sigh. "God I was so worried."

"You were that worried?" Then again, she was on ground and he was in air for a while. If anything had happened, she might stand more of a chance of knowing about it than he would. He pulled away from her and put his arm to her waist. As they began walking, she put her head to his shoulder, a comforting gesture. "I guess I didn't realize…you were watching the news. Were they talking about Bob and Amy?" Would it become a high enough profile case that the national news would want to dig into it? It did involve three children that were likely listed under amber alert, it likely involved a murder, if he judged the blood stained clothes that he saw Bob with before, and it involved fugitives on the run.

"Yes, it's been all over the news. We've been driven up the wall with concern! PJ, they killed someone, two parents…their daughter just claimed the bodies…"

"Did the news say anything about who it was?" He really hoped it wasn't anyone they knew, but with Emmett's concern fresh in his mind, he had a deep void that was filling inside of him. Skyler slowly nodded, evidently she'd already cried out all the tears she could.

"Mr. and Mrs. Wentz, Ivy's parents." Even though he suspected as much, her words still drove the spike deeper into his heart. Now he really wished he could have found Teddy. He didn't know why, but he had more concern for her than he did for Gabe. He did contribute it to perhaps being Gabe was with his real family, he could be happy. "Has Teddy contacted you yet? What's her situation like?"

"I don't know…I haven't heard from her, or Spencer." Skyler breathed out and lifted her head towards the sky.

"Spencer's a flake, but I hope he sticks around for Teddy, for her sake." He'd better, because if he didn't, then he was in for a surprise. PJ wasn't willing to let his sister be hurt anymore, he still felt that need and desire to protect his baby sister, to keep her safe. "I don't think he'd be able to handle a long distance relationship if Teddy moves up here, you have to be able to be loyal and trustworthy. My dad says, once a cheater, always a cheater. Those who cheat are fickle at heart and will eventually screw up again and again."

"That sounds fairly narrow of a view."

"Yeah, I guess people can change if they want to, but the want to change has to be there. If it's not, then there won't be a change."

"Well I would never cheat on you, Skyler." She smiled and squeezed her arms around his arm. He kissed the top of her head and smiled as her radiance filled him with joy. In all of this drama, she was just the angel he needed to see. "I love you, Skyler. I'm glad you're here right now."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. You need me, so I'm here to stay."

"Good." He also hoped for Gabe's sake, Jo would be that angel for him. Even though Gabe found his family, he would still need her. Having someone who loves you was the best support someone could ask for during tragedy.

Gabe was tackled by Jo as he walked outside of the police station, she had a bright and cheery expression on her face. It was possible from her smiles that she was just trying to ease the pain that he was dealing with, and it was working, because she made him smile as well. "So what's the plan on the family vacation?"

"I'm not sure yet. Dad called everyone in the family with a few suggestions. I guess eveybody's going to take a vote." The choices were the Caribbean, Italy, or a cross-country road trip with the entire family. So far, people were liking the cross country trip. However, Florida and Miami was coming up as a strong suit. "So…" He put his arm around Jo's shoulder and walked with her, his family came out behind him. "Where were you at?"

"Dad had to catch up with mom, and then we got stuck in traffic." He winced. She put her hand onto his loosely hung hand over her left shoulder. "I'm glad we made it here in time, though. Did you talk to Teddy?" His heart sank and he slowly nodded his head. He couldn't believe Teddy didn't want to do anything, but he understood she was dealing with all her fears. "She's pretty upset, huh?"

"Very. Spencer's not even there, I guess the fear of everything was too much for him to process." Although to his defense, Spencer was only just now hearing about everything. Skyler and Jo had known about it for some time. "He is just now hearing about all this, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised."

Jo scoffed and folded her arms over. Her frown lines started to show and she quickly shook her head. "It shouldn't matter, if a tragedy occurred and the love of your life needed you, you would be there whether you heard about it just then or already knew about it."

"True, I'd be there for you if you needed me." He felt good to see her smile, and when her lips turned up for him, it was like the entire world had just begun to sing. Jo reached over her chest and put her hand on his, leaning back and kissing his jaw.

"I'm here for you, no matter what. Dad even said he'd let me go on the family trip with you guys if your parents let me." He grinned and looked over his shoulder at his family, who were chuckling amongst themselves.

"Well it's a thought," Michael responded. Gabe was impressed with how his dad was changing, becoming softer and more father-like. At least, Denise said he wasn't as hard of a man as usual today, so it was a good sign. Maybe the joy of having his kid back was taking away some of that hardness, but what father, or mother, wouldn't go from hard to soft in an instant at having their child back? "We'll talk it over and let you know, still not sure what we're going to do. Someone actually suggested a cruise that sounds pretty good."

Gabe's heart began to swell with pride as they stopped by the family car. "Well wherever it is, I'm sure it's going to be great." As long as it was somewhere Bob and Amy couldn't show up, he'd be fine. After all, those two were literally his worst nightmare now. "I can't wait to meet everybody."

"They can't wait to meet you either."

"You know, since it was for the best…I never thought I'd say this, but…" He looked to his mother while Jo put her head to his shoulder. "I'm glad Amy's love for attention came through during that commercial. If not, that Danny guy would never have switched her out." Fear of attention to criminal activity should never be mixed with love of attention. In an ironic twist of fate, it was that love of attention that caused people to grow suspicious and focus on the bad side of Amy Duncan.

"Well now, she's got attention." Michael was a bit gruff, but at the same time, he swatted at the subject like a fly.

"I agree, it was for the best," Denise chimed. She turned to her mother and grinned. "I'm glad I convinced mom to take me to the amusement park." This was amusing, as he had to convince Bob and Amy to take him there in the first place.

He glanced up to see Emmett's car speeding into the parking lot. Emmett rushed out and spotted Gabe, then spoke in a rapid voice. "Gabe, where's Ivy? I have to be here for her, I just heard the news! I can't believe I couldn't get ahold of her, is she okay?"

"She'll be all right. She's inside with Teddy right now…"

"Thanks." He watched as Emmett broke off towards the station. "I'm coming Ivy!" His gaze turned to Jo, who was over with Denise now, chatting about random things. She looked over at him and grinned. Her smile turned his lips up into a smile, his heart jumped for joy. And how great it was! He had this angel by his side to bring a little extra light into his suddenly dark world. It would light up again, with the light his family was bringing into his life, she added just the extra light he needed to survive. To be happy. He could truly take it one step at a time now.

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