hey all. this chapter is…well, you'll see. read and review, please!

disclaimer: The Ducks belong to Disney. Fred and Cecilia belong to Cimmy. Lex, Jeff, Matt, Anna, Chris, Sammie, and Anthony belong to NYgoldfish54.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 26: The Morning After
By NYgoldfish54

Lex's POV

When I wake up and look at the nightstand to my left, it's not there. Instead I have to look over to a huge mound of covers to see it on the right-hand side of the bed. 9:30 AM. Jeez, kinda early...and my head kinda hurts. I think I'm having a hangover. Maybe I'd better go splash some water on my face and take some Tylenol. I have some in my handbag.

I take the medicine and head toward the bathroom door...or where the bathroom door should be. I just walked straight into the wall. What the hell's going on? I glance around. The door's where I'm standing, except directly across from me. I would have bet money it was on this side. I've been here two weeks. The door's always been here. Weird. It must be my hangover.

When I get to the bathroom I open a bottle of water the hotel provides and swallow my painkillers. I sit down on the floor and close my eyes.

I can't help but think about what Fred told me last night. I felt so sorry for him. Nobody's ever told him that they love him? That's fucking horrible. I swear to God, if I knew his dad, I'd kick his ass. I don't care how rich and powerful his father is, you can't do that to your kid. Your kid deserves better than that. Yeah, Fred's a little slow. I always had to explain everything in science to him four times before he understood. But he's not a failure. He's a good hockey player, a good friend, a loving boyfriend, and a good guy with a good heart. He's not a failure. I know he's not.

About 10 minutes later the Tylenol starts to kick in and I decide to brush my teeth. I probably have horrible breath. I go to pick up my toothbrush, and I find that it's not there. There's not even enough toothbrushes for Anna, Sammie, and me. There are only two toothbrushes.

I take a closer look around and realize that nothing in the bathroom is mine or Anna's or Sammie's. I think I've made an important discovery: I'm not in my own room. I wonder whose room I'm in.

There's a carrying case on the floor, but when I bend from my knees to check the name on the inside, I'm stopped by a pain in my knee. Ouch, damn knee. I banged it hard when I walked into the wall. Maybe I have a lump? I bend

from the waist to check my knee and I'm suddenly away that the clothing I'd figured were pajamas weren't pajamas at all.

I'm wearing a sports bra that I'd warn after I changed out of my concert clothes. Ok, that's alright. The boxers that I have on that I've never seen before? Uh...not ok.

Dammit, what happened last night?

Let's see, I put Cecilia into her room, then I was talking to Fred, then I was talking with Charlie, and then I was dancing with Charlie. Next Fred and Matt came down and announced they were giving each other another chance. Then I was dancing with Fred. Then...oh jeez. What happened next?

Oh no. Oh no. I slept with Fred.

A feeling that feels a lot like panic begins to rise out of my stomach and through my body. Fred's gonna kill me...no...Cecilia's gonna kill me! My friends will kill me! Not if I kill me first! No wait, I don't want to die. Maybe there's a window I can escape out of? Before I realize what I'm doing, my eyes are searching for a window.

"Wait, wait, stop!" screams the rational part of my brain. "Think, O'Leary, you idiot, think!"

Ok, then, what happened after dancing with Fred? Hmm, I remember dancing more. But who was I with? Jeff, I think. I slept with Jeff? No, I wouldn't do that, drunk or sober. Hmm...there was more dancing, more drinking...there was kissing! Who was kissing me?

"Who'd want to, at that point?" the evil part of my brain says.

"Oh shutup," I say to it mentally.

Then the evil part speaks again. "Come on Lex, you know who thinks you're pretty, you know who just fought with Cecilia over."

"Shut up you dumbass brain! Did I hit you too hard when I walked to the wall before?" I murmur to myself. "Oh no," I continue, "Now I'm talking to myself and I'm going mad..."

I didn't sleep with Fred, I tell myself. I wouldn't! I couldn't have! Oh please, don't let me have slept with Fred... 

"Hey, O'Leary, idiot!" the rational voice is screaming again. "If you want to find out who you've slept with, why don't you see who's under the bed covers?"

I actually laugh out loud for a second. That's a pretty good idea.

I leave the bathroom and limp slightly over to the bed, and look down at the heap over covers, which twenty minutes ago, I thought were just covers.

"Please, please, please don't be Fred," I pray to the covers.

"Hey, if it is Fred, you can blame the alcohol," say the rational and evil parts of my brain together.

I pull the covers off gently off, so I don't wake up whoever it is. I heave a huge sigh of relief. He's on his stomach, and I can't see his face, but I know it's not Fred. The hair is too light to be Fred's.

It's not Fred! I'm safe from Cecilia's wrath! Woohoo! Then I remember I'm looking down at someone I may or may not have lost my virginity to. Oops, got a little sidetracked there.

His hair is brown, but I can't see his face. Hmm... his hair is brown. That excludes Banks and Anthony. They're both blond. It excludes Luis and Kenny, whose hair is too dark to be this person's. It can't be Russ, cause the skin isn't black. It can't be Fulton, as his hair is too dark...oh wait! Fulton and Portman are gay, so they're out. It's not Jeff, Matt, or Chris because I just know it's not. That leaves Guy, Dwayne, Averman, or Goldberg.

It's not Goldberg; Goldberg is bigger and darker. Not curly enough to be Averman. Which means it's either Dwayne or Guy.

For the love of Connie, I hope it's Dwayne. Not that I'm thrilled about possibly losing my virginity to Dwayne Robertson, but it's better than losing it to someone else's boyfriend in Guy.

"No it's not," says the evil part of my brain. Oh! I wish that evil voice would shut up!

I wait another two minutes before I decide I can't take this suspense. I poke the boy to see if he'll roll over. No response, so I poke him again.

"Alright, alright, Banksie, I'm up, quit poking me," a voice grumbles as the boy turns over and opens his eyes.

"Lex?" Charlie looks up at me in confusion.

"Charlie?" I say back to him, equally lost. Charlie? I must have left him out of my process of elimination pool by accident.

"Why are you here? Is something wrong? Where's Banksie? Why are you wearing a bra and boxers? Wait, why are you wearing my boxers?" he looks at me, then under the covers, then back at me. A look of understanding horror spreads across his face.

He opens his mouth, but I cut him off. "The circumstances say yes, but other than that, there's no actual proof," I say.

He glances around. "Uh, yeah there is," he says, pulling a used condom out of the garbage, and showing it to me.

My legs suddenly feel amazingly similar to jello. I slump down on to the bed and start crying. I don't really know why I'm crying. I think I'm just mad at myself for being an idiot.

Charlie climbs out from under the covers and pulls me close to him, letting me sob on his bare shoulder.

"Shh, Lex, don't cry, I'm sorry," he soothes.

Suddenly the memories of last night come flooding back. I was dancing with Charlie, then drinking with Charlie, and kissing Charlie. Charlie led me up to his room, kissing me still. I remember him pulling off my shirt, unbuckling his belt buckle, and so on...

I remember it hurting slightly, but I also remember Charlie. I remember wanting and needing him, liking his lips on mine, liking him being so close to me. I remember it feeling good. So good.

And suddenly, I stop crying, and look up at Charlie, who's babbling in an effort to get me to stop crying. "I'll come with you for all the tests, I'll hold your hand- oh, you've stopped crying," he smiles. "Good," he kisses my forehead.

But he's brought up something else that I haven't even thought about yet. I'm gonna have to have all those tests done now. I must have looked panicked, because he starts kissing me again. He moves down my neck and toward my shoulder, and I put light pressure on his head with my hands, urging him to continue. But he stops.

"Wait," he mumbles, coming up to look me in the eye. "Are you sure you want do this? You were crying just a second ago."

Am I sure? I don't know if I am, but I answered yes anyway, and pulled off his boxers as he pulled another condom from his wallet, which was in his pants pocket. His pants, I notice only just now, are slung over the headboard.

The rational and evil parts of my brain are hollering again.

"Lex O'Leary! You idiot! You're not sure if you want this!" the rational voice is yelling.

"You can't even claim being drunk!" bellows the evil voice.

Suddenly, both voices stop abruptly. Funny, I couldn't get them to shut up before, when they were taunting me about Fred. Why do they stop now, probably when I need them most?

I don't think they've stopped, actually. I think my body is just crying out for Charlie too loudly for me to hear my brain.

Even though I don't hear my brain now, it made two very good points when I could hear it.

1. Lex O'Leary, you're an idiot.
2. This time you can't even blame it on the alcohol.

***

Charlie's POV

When I wake up, I see Lex, fully clothed and showered, sitting on Adam's unslept-in bed. She's reading a book that looks like it's called The Art of Rock and Roll. I stare at her for a few minutes, thinking about what we did a few hours ago.

Lex was my first time. Linda and I talked about a few times, but I was losing interest in her, and it just never happened. Lex is beautiful...at least to me. Banksie and Jeff told me about her interest in me, and she's been my focus ever since on this trip. I can't believe I missed out all freshman year.

The sex itself? I only vaguely remember the first time, as I was completely smashed the first time. I was so drunk I'm lucky I remembered to use a condom.

The second time I thought I would die of nerves. I was so afraid I'd hurt Lex that I'd almost asked her if I was hurting her. She's only about 5'5 or so. She's small. Cecilia is tiny, and Lex isn't all that much bigger. Just out of the "tiny" category and into the "small" category. It felt good, though. Better than anything.

Lex looks up and sees I'm awake. "Good afternoon, sleepyhead," she says, putting down her book and joining me on my bed again.

"Afternoon?" I ask.

"Yes. It's 1:15, look," she points at the clock. Sure enough, it reads 1:15.

"How long have you been awake?" I ask her.

"About an hour and a half."

"We have to make an appearance downstairs, or we'll be found out," I say, sitting up and remembering there are 20 other people here that are going to wonder where we are.

"I've been down there already. We're not the only ones who got drunk and ended up in the wrong rooms. Except, everyone else just slept..." she pauses for a second, then continues, "But nobody is doing much now except sleeping off their hangovers. Connie and Guy are hanging by the pool and Fulton and Portman are shooting pool, but other than that, everyone is still sleeping." She's now tracing my face with her fingertips.

"Well, then they won't mind if we do this, will they?" I say and pull her head down close so her lips meet mine. I begin to kiss her neck, because I like the way she involuntarily shudders when I kiss where her neck meets her shoulders.

"No, Charlie, don't," she says, pulling away from me.

"What?" I ask her.

"Because for someone who's never done this, twice is a lot. I'm kind of sore, all over," she says quietly.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask her, now slightly alarmed. Dammit.

"No, Charlie, you were great...it felt great...it's just...I dunno. I don't feel like I can handle so much, so fast. I'm really sorry," she adds sadly. "I probably shouldn't have done it the second time. I'm a bit of an idiot. I'm not sure how I feel about you."

Um...is this not the same girl who allowed me to make love to her a few hours ago? Without the influence of alcohol? I must be looking at her funny, because she speaks again.

"Don't look at me like that, Charlie, please," she begs.

"If you're not sure how you feel about me, why'd you let me sleep with you?" I ask, irritated now.

"We were wasted," she replies.

"No, Lex, the second time."

"I don't know...I just...wanted you so badly, Charlie. I really did. I still do. I'm just not sure if it's because I really want you or because I'm upset about Fred," she sighs.

"Maybe you'd better go until you figure it out, then," I snap. "I'm really not interested in being somebody's back up fuck buddy."

Lex's temper usually flares when people get impatient with her. Not this time, though. Her eyes just fill with tears as she looks at me, and then she turns to go. Oh no, I didn't want her to cry. I want her to stay, and I want her to leave at the same time, but I don't want her to cry.

"Wait, Lex, please," I say, and at the door she turns to face me. I pull my boxers on and stand up. "Come back, Lex, I didn't mean that," I hold my arms out for her to grab onto.

She walks back to me and I wrap my arms around her waist. She's still crying, my chest wet with her tears. "I'm sorry, Lex, don't cry, I'm sorry," I sooth. I mean it. I don't want her to cry. I don't want her to regret this morning. I don't want her to regret me.

"I'm sorry, Charlie, I'm sorry," she sobs. "I don't want Fred, I want you."

"Shhh, I know, I know, don't cry, Lex, please don't cry," I say, holding her close.

When she finally does stop crying, she looks up at me with big, shiny brown eyes and she smiles.

"That's more like it," I say. She buries her head in my chest again and begins to kiss me. I sink down onto Banksie's still made bed, so I'm easier for her to reach. She kisses my neck and face and finally stops on my lips. My turn now. I kiss the corner of her mouth and move back down toward her neck and shoulders.

"No," she murmurs into my hair, "Charlie, we can't do this again, not now. Later, I promise, later."

"Alright," I mumble into her shoulder. "Later."

She runs her hands through my hair, then lifts my head from her shoulder and looks into my eyes.

"I do want you Charlie. More than anything. Now you go take a shower, and I'm gonna go get the others out of bed. Then maybe you and I can go grab something to eat."

"Alright," I agree.

She kisses me one more time, then gets up and bounces out the door, singing as she goes. It's a song in which Matt sang lead at the show last night. A song by Meatloaf. A song I rather liked, actually.

"you took the words right out of my mouth
it must have been while you were kissing me
you took the words right out of my mouth
and I swear it's true, I was just about to say 'I love you'"

I smile after her, and hum the melody as I climb into the shower. I'm in such a good mood that I don't even care how if my mother finds out about this, she'll kill me.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

borrowed lyrics in this chapter:
'You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth'-Meat Loaf

by the way, "The Art of Rock and Roll" is not a real book. At least, not as far as I know. I made it up. But if it is, by any weird chance, a real book, then I give credit to the author.