This story is offically a year old! YAY! ::does happy dance and throws a party:: WHOO-HOO!

Okay, to be perfectly honest, I had so much more planned for this...but I dunno if I should keep going. I mean, it could easily hit 70 even if I shave off several ideas. I don't want this to drag to the point people are bored with it. It's already over 60 chapters long, and I'm THINKING about MAYBE a sequel...and a prequel. If I DID write them, they wouldn't be NEAR as long as this. It's just a thought. A maybe.

And I'd just like to dedicate this to Allie. We're here for you, honey, and I know what you're going through. You get your own dedication, and I hope you like it. I don't know if it's a great chapter, but I feel you deserve a special shoutout/dedication. Love ya lots.

Okay, one more note. Someone will show up this chapter who has NOTHING to do with the plot, so don't worry. She's just there for about five seconds. I promise nothing more will come of it. Just thought I'd make that clear ahead of time.

Strangerdanger- I'm glad you like it. Poor Bombay really does get the short end of the stick.

Katie- Umm...heh. That's a good question. But they weren't good, I assure you! Lol...I'm not exactly knowledgeable in the drug department. Lol...I hope you like the chapter.

Sarah- No prob. I'm glad you liked it, and Julie will be back soon. Worry not.

Rach- Charlie isn't seeing things the way everyone else does becuase we all see it from the outside. He's still mad and angry and has issues that he refuses to let be fixed. Lol. That's why he's being so mean. Poor Gordon just didn't get lucky this time. Lol. I'm glad you liked the chapter.

Ice Cube- I'm glad to hear from you! You reviewed Sophie's stuff before she disappeared...I wish she'd come back. ::pouts:: Anyway. As for switching POV, I'm sorry about that. I was using characters that ff.net no longer supports, so they didn't show up. I didn't realize it, but now I'm using different ones that do. Thanks, though. I'm sorry for the inconvinience.

MDSWitter26- Yeah...Charlie has a tendency to make bad decisions...lol...land himself in a pile of quicksand. But the Ducks come back this chapter, so don't worry.

Banksiesbabe99- Lol...I would have never imagined that you didn't like this Charlie. Lol...Just a tad slow on the uptake, but we still love you. If it's any solace at all, he'll be back eventually. Heh. Sorry for the long wait; I was in Mexico on a church mission trip for a week.

Brnnttebabe12- Lol...breathe! It's going to be okay. Heh...I'll update the others soon. I've just been busy busy. Thanks for the review.

Preciousbabyblue- Lol...as do we all.

HockeyLuvva- Hee hee. The pony's doing good. Heh...yeah, I think Charlie will be very happy when this ends. Heh. Ooh...::kneels:: OH! YAY! ::giddy smile:: I got dubbed and now I have a neverending chocolate supply! Squee!

Nebula- I'm so proud of you! Lol...Heh...I don't know. I guess it's just an obsession of mine. A slight fascination. Lol...thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

French Chipmunk- Lol...I hate to ruin it, but yes, it will be a happy ending.

Adriana- Oh no, oh no. There will be NO slash, I assure you. I was afraid someone would think that...lol. But no, there will be absolutely no slash in any way, shape, or form. I don't like slash. Heh...wow...I made you un- hate Julie? How cool is that!

Natalie- I'm glad to hear from you! It's good to know that you like it. ::giddy smile:: I assure you that MAKING Charlie suffer is hard to do...lol...I'm glad you're liking it, and things will get better for him. Worry not.

HockeyLuvva- I'm glad you liked!

DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Heh. I don't think he'd like that very much. Indeed summer is here...Now if only I didn't have to read three books (that I haven't started yet) before school starts and have to write a report on one of them...garrr...Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I hope you like the chapter!

Disclaimer- ...Quack.

-Chapter 63-

Gordon paced nervously outside Charlie's door. The teen hadn't come out of his room for twenty-four hours and worry was mounting.

He shook the handle and banged on the door, still getting the same response.

No response.

Searching for the key, he discovered it was gone again. Charlie must have taken it again.

"CHARLIE!" he yelled, a tone of desperation in his voice.

He wasn't sure what to do. What could he do? He no longer had a key...

Letting out a sigh, he walked downstairs. A cardboard box was sitting on the kitchen table. It had come in the day before, but he hadn't looked at it much. It was only work stuff.

Groaning in frustration, he walked back upstairs and into the bathroom. He opened the drawer and began rummaging through, looking for the pocketknife stashed there so he would open the box and get it over with.

He was surprised to find it missing. He could have sworn he had left it in the sink drawer when they moved in. Where could it have gone?

"Great." He rubbed his temples. "Just great. Now the pocketknife is missing, I can't open the box, and Charlie won't open his door. Could it POSSIBLY get any worse?"

Walking back to Charlie's room in defeat, he raised his voice again. "Charlie, if you don't open this door right now, I'll have to call someone to pick the lock! You have to come out eventually!"

There was still no sign of a reply.

Gordon let out a sigh and grabbed the phone, calling someone to pick the lock for him.

The man arrived and set to work. As Gordon waited, he began pacing back and forth, wondering why Charlie still refused to open the door. Was he really that angry?

A click sounded, and the man kneeling on the ground stepped back to allow Gordon a path to the door.

Gordon Bombay twisted the handle and pushed, the door swinging open.

"Char-"

He froze when he found the room empty.

Gordon's gaze whipped around to every corner, only discovering no sign of Charlie.

He was gone.

Bombay stepped further into the room, still looking around frantically. "He's gone!"

"Gone?" the other man asked Gordon.

But Gordon hadn't been listening for a reply. He then noticed things like open drawers and still-folded clothes littering the carpeted floor. The backpack was missing, too.

Gordon felt a wave of panic wash over him as he realized what was happening...Charlie was gone. Really gone.

He turned and ran out of the room and down the stairs. He wasn't sure exactly what to do. Did he call the police? Wait for Charlie to come back?

Settling for calling the police, he handed the locksmith some money and waited for a response from the other end of the phone.

Soon enough, the police had shown up and began looking around.

"Sir," a police officer said to Gordon after looking around and talking with the others. "Do you know where he might have gone?"

Gordon shook his head 'no.'

The officer nodded and walked back into Charlie's room. There wasn't a whole lot they could do other than look for him.

A few Ducks stood to the side; they had shown up when Gordon called. The small group included Julie, Fulton, Connie, and Guy. It was nearly ten o'clock, so most couldn't come.

Julie was chewing on her lip when the front door opened.

Everyone's head snapped to attention, turning to the door in hopes that Charlie had come home.

"Hey guys," Adam Banks said, walking in. "Sorry I'm late."

They nodded, and the blonde boy made his way over. "Any news?"

Fulton shook his head. "No. There isn't much we can do but keep a look out for him."

Adam sighed and held up a shoe. "I found this in the front yard."

Bombay furrowed his eyebrows and took the black shoe. "In the yard?"

"Yeah...it was just sitting a foot or so from the bushes," Adam said with a shrug.

Bombay observed the shoe. "Yeah, this is Charlie's. Why he would leave his shoe is beyond me, though."

Julie bit her lip gently. "Well, considering you were at his door the whole time, and he mysteriously disappeared, I would assume he crawled out the window. It might have fallen off or something," she said, earning a nod from everyone.

"What happened anyway?" Guy asked, shoving his hands into his jean pockets.

"A really, really bad argument..." Gordon said, trailing off. "I really need to talk to him about it, but he's gone."

They nodded, seeing the pain behind the statement and choosing not to push it.

"I'm sure he'll be back....Where's he gonna go?" Connie said, trying to comfort their former coach. "I'm sure it'll be okay."

Bombay nodded and let out a sigh. "I hope so."

"Me too..." Julie said, also sighing. They hadn't yet talked anything over, and it was still all up in the air. She was worried sick.

The officers came back downstairs and shook hands with Gordon. "We'll be on the lookout."

Gordon nodded and sighed as they left.

He hoped they found Charlie soon. They really needed to talk.

= = =

Charlie was jolted awake by the clanging sound of metal hitting the ground.

"What the..." he mumbled, opening his eyes to see a girl frowning at a pot on the floor.

She turned to Charlie. "Oh, hey. I didn't know anyone was in here. Have you seen Shane?"

Charlie blinked at her and stretched. "He went...somewhere. Breakfast, I think."

"Ah...so they left you here?" she asked, walking over and sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Something like that. I prefer sleep over breakfast. Who are you?" he asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Cool your jets; I come in peace. I'm an old friend of Shane's. Who are you?" she said with raised eyebrows.

"I'm a new friend of Shane's. What are you doing here?" he asked with slight distrust.

"I came to visit Shane and pick something up. What are YOU doing here?" she asked.

"I live here. And I was actually trying to sleep when you woke me up," Charlie snapped.

She let out a light laugh, unnerving Charlie even more. "Sorry about that. You sure are grumpy." She moved a black curl behind her ear.

"Hey, I didn't ASK you to wake me up," he said, grabbing his backpack.

"Wow, whoever coined the phrase 'woke up on the wrong side of the bed' sure knew what they were talking about."

Charlie glared at her. "Well, Shane isn't here, so you can go away now."

"You are just a mean little dude, aren't you?" she asked with a grin. "Where's the love?"

"I think I left it in dreamland."

"Wouldn't surprise me..." she said, plopping her feet on the cushion of the couch as she sat perched on the arm.

Charlie continued watching her skeptically and sighed.

"You sure are Mr. Antisocial, aren't you?" she asked with amusement.

He glared at her before shrugging. "What can I say? You woke me up."

"Yeah right, you were probably already awake. I think you're just grumpy so you're taking it out on a complete stranger. Not very nice," she said, propping her elbows on her knees.

He looked at her silently for a moment. "Go away."

"Can't. I have to wait for Shane anyway, so you might as well get used to me."

Charlie rolled his eyes and glared. "Well, if you're going to stay, the least you could do is stop wasting precious oxygen and be quiet."

She shrugged and gave him a crooked grin, sliding next to him. "You're really fun to aggravate."

"What did I JUST say about speaking?" he asked icily.

"You want to know what? You are in serious need of and attitude adjustment," the girl said, picking the black nail polish off of her fingernails. "It's good to CHILL OUT occasionally. All that anger takes its toll."

"And YOU have room to speak," he snapped, glancing at the dark, gothic style outfit and extreme makeup. "You look like something out of a horror movie."

She raised a pierced, light brown eyebrow. "That wasn't very nice. If I wasn't intrigued and amused by your cheeky 'go-away-I'm-an-angry-teenager- feeling-angsty' routine, I'd have to smack you for that."

They sat in silence for a few moments.

Charlie blinked at her, his gaze caught on her nose ring. "What do you do when you get a runny nose?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Huh?" she asked with confusion.

"Your nose ring. What happens when you get a runny nose?" he asked curiously, the mood shifting completely.

She laughed lightly and shook her head. "Wow, schizo much?"

He glared at her again.

"I'm just kidding. Chill. Why do you ask?"

Charlie shrugged. "Just wondering...I would think it would be difficult and be nasty to have a runny nose with a nose ring. Could just be my ignorance, though. Not like I would know."

"Don't stress your brain," she said before their attention was drawn to the door as it creaked open.

"Hey! I see you woke up from the dead," Shane said to Charlie. He then spotted the girl sitting on the couch beside Charlie. "Morgan?"

"Hey Shane. Thought I'd drop by. I definitely got more than I bargained for; the kid's a firecracker," she said with a smirk, earning a frown from the boy next to her.

"I see you got the distinct pleasure of meeting Charlie. It seems you're still in one piece, so it couldn't have gone TOO bad." Shane grinned.

"Ha ha. You're a funny guy, Shane," Charlie quipped, folding his arms across his chest.

"I know," Shane said with a cocky smirk.

Charlie rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch. He wondered how much longer it would last.

= = =

A few days passed, and Shane's shadow still wouldn't leave. She was beginning to grate on Charlie's nerves, but he kept it to himself. It seemed she was a good friend of Shane's, and Charlie did his best to put up with her.

It was JUST so HARD...

He found himself growing slightly more comfortable around everybody. Sure, half of them made him want to crawl into a hole and die to save them the trouble, but that's beside the point.

Without meaning to, he found himself wondering about the Ducks...Julie...Bombay. All that free time gave him way too much leeway for thinking.

A very dangerous thing.

His glance shifted around the room and he let out a long sigh.

"You okay?" Shane asked offhandedly.

"Yeah..." Charlie replied in a distant tone. "Just thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself," one guy said, bursting into laughter as if it were the funniest thing to ever be said. Charlie figured the guy had had one too many of SOMETHING.

Shane whacked the guy nonchalantly before returning to whatever it was that he had been doing.

Charlie sighed again and fell back on the couch, staring at the rotting ceiling...He was almost looking through it.

There wasn't much else he could do.