CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Oh, oh, oh

Beauty in the mirror, you see what I see

I can see all that you want from me

I hear something strong and it sounds like my name

But if I answer, are you talking to me?

You say the sun's brighter- The moonlight's behind ya

The world's a playground- Pick a ride and you'll see

Sometimes you go up and- Sometimes you go down and

Sometimes you must fly- So that you can be free"

As she finished the last refrain she looked up and saw Charlie smiling in at her from the recording booth. Wrapping up the chorus she signaled to the studio engineer to cut and set her headphones aside just as Charlie walked around and stuck his head in the door.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," he apologized unnecessarily. "But you sounded great in here you know."

"I know," Kaydee quipped back, a smile playing on her lips as she leaned back against her stool, looking coyly at her boyfriend. He looked better than he had in days; still tired and a little ragged, but no longer as on edge and shaken up as he had once been. "We were just re-recording some background vocals for the overlay. I was going to wrap soon anyways." Charlie nodded his head in acceptance at the news, looking down at his scuffed combat boots as he picked a hole in the carpet with his toe. "Charlie? What is it?"

When Charlie looked back up at her he had a tentative smile slowly creeping across his face, as if he were nervous about it being there. But he looked happy. "I met him. Like, for real this time. I found out where he went to school and brought copies of the birth certificates. He was kinda shocked at first but then he got over it pretty quick and then we just sort of talked and hung out for a while and he is actually pretty cool. We both have the same taste in music, and we both love to play, he's not so good at piano but he doesn't really practice on it that much plus he plays way more instruments than me. He can do keyboard, and drums, and bass, and guitar, and even harmonica! But he can't do uke, so I've at least got him there. Oh! And I'm older by the way, did I tell you that? It's only like thirty five minutes, but still, that's gotta count for something. Oh! And Zander made us pull this massive prank on his friends, we did the whole 'identity swap' thing where we wear each others clothes and pretend to be each other and they totally couldn't tell us apart at all!"

Uh-oh, Kaydee thought quietly, knowing well enough to keep her thoughts to herself on this matter. Charlie wasn't much of a prankster, but from the sounds of things he had become completely enthralled with his new found brother and would likely go along with whatever Zander wanted to do if only so that the other boy would keep liking him. If Zander got Charlie into any trouble, well, she would just have to have a few words with him before that had a chance to happen.

"He is so cool, and we got to play together for a while and everything and he wants me to come hang out with him and his friends this afternoon and I was hoping you could come with me?" Charlie was panting slightly, both from excitement and from the fact that it seemed as if he hadn't taken a breath during his entire speech. Kaydee nodded at the somewhat desperately hopeful look that Charlie was giving her right now and watched as a wide grin spread across his face at her acceptance. "Great! Oh, you're going to love him Kaydee! He is super cool and a really great guy and we love all the same music-"

"Whoah! Slow down there Charlie, are you sure this is such a good idea?" Kaydee asked cautiously. Charlie's smile evaporated as he looked at her carefully.

"What do you mean?"

Kaydee took a deep breath. She knew she had to be careful with how she said this, but it needed to be said. He was still new at this and she knew that he would always find a way to look for the good in people, she really didn't want to see him get taken advantage of. "I'm glad you are having fun and I know you think that Zander is a really great guy and all, but you did just meet him. Have you talked to him about, you know, meeting your dad?"

"Uh, yeah," Charlie admitted reluctantly, not looking directly at Kaydee as he kicked absently at the floor again. "He wanted me to go talk to him today but, I kind of asked him if we could just sort of, keep this between us for now."

"Oh Charlie."

"It's not a big deal or anything," he protested quickly, not able to bear having Kaydee disappointed in him. "Zander agreed and all. He said it was cool. We'll just take it slow. You know, get to know each other first before we drag anyone else into it."

"You know that you are going to have to talk to him eventually," Kaydee prodded him gently. "Even if you want nothing to do with him, he is still very much a part of Zanders life. You will have to face him eventually."

"I know," Charlie admitted reluctantly. "I just want to wait for everything with Arthur to have a chance to settle down a little bit before I start diving into another parental conflict."

Kaydee smiled softly at him. She was only just starting to understand the conflicting emotions that Charlie harbored for his biological father, only confused further by the man's conspicuous