"You can't start a fire in the backyard, Piper! This is the perfect recipe for a wildfire that'll go all the way to California," Jasper ranted. He poured water on the fire pit, extinguishing the flames and leaving a bundle of burnt fabric. The young blonde sat on the patio bench, leaning back against it and scrolling through TwitFlash casually. The picture of the clothing on fire and Piper smiling proudly with a can of gasoline in hand was a hit with her followers, causing her phone to alert her constantly about new likes and comments both on TwitFlash and EnvyGram. She snickered to herself and Jasper turned to look at her, letting out a frustrated sigh that caught her attention.

"What?"

"I just don't get what setting her clothes on fire was meant to do, you're gonna have to pay for this," he mumbled. She rolled her eyes and sat back as she crossed her legs.

"I don't care! It's payback for my friend Charlotte. Not like you care about her anyway," she retorted. He raised a curious eyebrow and set the empty pitcher down.

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you even said anything to Henry about any of this shit? What he's done to Charlotte, what he's doing with that slut, what he even said to her?!" she questioned as she set her phone down. He let out a heavy sigh and folded his arms.

"Everything happened so fast, Piper! It all went down last night, but I plan on talking to him later…maybe. I'm definitely going to see Charlotte and talk to her though," he said. Piper pursed her lips together in annoyance and looked away from him. She hated to admit that he was right in that everything seemed to happen so fast. One minute Henry and Charlotte are at some weird standstill and the next minute he's sleeping with her friend and degrading her. It all happened in a span of a few hours so there was really no time to lecture Henry, though she really wanted to. There was a lot she wanted to talk about but it felt like all of it was pushed aside to deal with Henry and Charlotte.

"At least you'll talk to her since you won't talk to me," she mumbled as she looked down at her nails. The raspberry blond sighed heavily and looked at her again.

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" he questioned. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair before standing up.

"It means…are we ever going to address the fact that we had sex?" she asked with a quiet voice. He let out a heavy breath and licked his lips nervously. Truthfully, he didn't want to talk about it ever. It was a huge mistake he made and he was still worried about what Henry would do if he ever found out.

"I just…I don't really have time to talk about that, okay? I have to go get ready and go see Charlotte," he said before quickly making his way back inside. Piper sighed as she watched him leave. It was hard for her to not jump to the worst possible scenario. She wondered if it was just a one time thing and he was just looking for sex, maybe he just used her and didn't know how to let her down easily. The thought of her first time being just a throwaway thing for him almost brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away and took in a few deep breaths before she slowly walked inside, hoping her thoughts weren't true.

Atop Mount Swellview, a couple of beeps sounded through the Man's Nest, alerting Ray and Schwoz's attention. They looked towards the tube to see Henry suddenly pop up, much to their delight. He had been there to visit them a couple of times since he got back to Swellview, but it was always so nice to see him, especially for Ray. As the blond left the tube, he exchanged pleasantries and hugs with both of his mentors before he curiously looked around the multicolored room.

"So, uh, where are the Dangers?" he asked as casually as he possibly could. Ray sat down on the curved couch and ate more of his chips before answering with his mouth still full.

"They're out on a mission. They had to break up some fight. I'm a goddamn superhero, I don't waste my abilities on street fights," he explained with a dismissive hand wave, bits of potato chips flying out of his mouth as he spoke. Henry resisted the urge to sigh as he rubbed his hands together, feeling rather anxious.

"So, they're not back yet?"

"No. Why? Do you know who was fighting?" Schwoz asked as he tinkered with some device.

"Yeah, actually, it was-"

"You would never believe who we had to break up!" Volt said excitedly. The adults turned towards the tube to see that the Danger Force kids — well, teenagers now, had arrived. As they walked down from the platform, they each popped their gumballs and chewed before blowing their bubbles, changing back into their everyday wear. While Ray wasn't interested in breaking up a street fight before, Henry's interest and Chapa's excitement had his interest completely piqued. He sat up straight and looked at the young heroes as they approached the couch.

"Who? Who was it? What happened?" he questioned excitedly.

"Oh, hey Henry! How's it going?" Mika greeted.

"Great!" Henry answered with a nervous grin. "Actually, I came by to see if-"

"Everyone shut up and tell me who was fighting!" Ray shouted, earning an eye roll from Mika and Henry. Miles settled down on the couch next to him and grabbed some of his chips.

"It was Charlotte! And let me tell you, girl's got some serious hands," he said with a shake of his head. The older man's mouth fell open in surprise at the news, while Schwoz looked at him as well. His little Charlotte? Fighting? Well, he could believe it because she fought him multiple times, but it was still so shocking to hear.

"Seriously?" the brunet questioned in surprise and Chapa nodded.

"Yeah! Dude, she was kicking ass! There was blood all over the sidewalk and none of it was Charlotte's. She even knocked out some of the other girl's teeth," he commented with a shake of his head. The man let out a loud boisterous laugh as he clapped his hands together.

"My girl's a scrapper! Nice!" he said proudly. As he asked the kids who the other girl was and for more details, Henry took Mika's arm and pulled her aside. He glanced around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping before leaning in to speak quietly.

"Hey, where's Charlotte? I thought you guys would bring her with you."

"Oh, we actually just told her to go inside and cool off," she explained with a shrug. He let out a frustrated breath and shook his head a little, annoyed that his plan - which he didn't fully think through - had fallen through. Noticing his apparent disappointment, she raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Why? Do you know something about the person she was fighting?" she asked a little louder than he liked. It, unfortunately, caught Ray's attention and he whipped around to look at them.

"What? Henry knows something?" he asked.

"Is that why you came here? Did you want us to maybe take care of the person she was fighting?" Schwoz asked with a devious smile spreading onto his face. The blond sighed heavily, scratching the back of his head. This was the one thing he really didn't want to do because it could easily dissolve into chaos.

"It's just…I…" he stammered a bit as he struggled to find the right words. He groaned in frustration once more before letting out a heavy breath. "Okay, the girl she was fighting is a friend of hers…or ex-friend, I guess."

"Why was she fighting her friend?" Chapa asked. The blond scrunched up his face a little and scratched the back of his neck. He definitely wasn't going to tell them about all of that. He suddenly became aware of how they were all staring at him and he became more anxious under their gaze. He knew if he told them then he'd be in for some judgmental stares and possible lectures from Mika. She was so familiar to Charlotte in many ways and that was definitely one of them. As he struggled to come up with a good enough lie, Mika eyed him curiously and slowly pieced things together.

"It has to do with you, doesn't it?" she inquired with a narrowing gaze. He gasped a little before chuckling nervously and stammering again as his brain scrambled for the words to say. Ray got up from the couch and approached him with an obnoxiously wide grin on his face.

"You have girls fighting over you? Noice, dude!" He raised his hand to high-five him but quickly put it down when he saw Mika's glare. Henry shook his head a little as he kept his attention on the short girl.

"Okay, I guess there's a love triangle situation going on. I was hoping that she was here so I could talk to her because we had a pretty bad fight last night," he admitted. Before she could respond, Bose spoke up.

"She lives down the street from you, doesn't she? Just go talk to her at her house," he offered.

"She won't want to," the blond responded, "so I figured maybe you guys brought her here and she was being held in the basement, so she'd have no choice but to talk to me." As he said it, he cringed a little. It was embarrassing that he thought that was his only option because he screwed up so badly.

"Well, here's my advice," Ray started.

"I didn't ask for your advice."

"Here it is anyRay," the brunet said quickly. "Go for the prettier girl. That always works. You know, maybe your personalities don't vibe perfectly or maybe she can't cook, but at the end of the Ray…she'll always be pretty and nice to look at. So, go for the prettiest one." He shrugged and threw his hands in the air before stepping back and giving him a prideful grin. Everyone stared at him silently for a few beats before Mika finally rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Henry.

"Anyway, my advice is that when you heard that there was a fight, what did you do? You came here looking for Charlotte, right?"

"Yeah," Henry replied with a nod. Miles walked over with his arms crossed.

"So, it sounds like you already picked Charlotte but you're scared to fully take that leap. Just go to her and set things straight."

"The thing is," the blond started with a sigh, "I sort of already kind of picked the other girl? And Char and I had a really bad fight about it which pretty much led to her fighting that girl today. I can't just go to her and act like everything's kosher. I picked Tati."

"Listen, I may not be the brightest goat in the sea," Bose began as he sauntered over to the group, "but I can see that you don't really like this Tati girl. I mean, come on, she and Charlotte get in a fight and instead of helping her, you came here to see Charlotte. You may not know it, but you unconsciously picked Char." Miles snapped his fingers and pointed at Henry as he nodded.

"Exactly! You came here for Char but you picked Tati? Make that make sense!"

"I know when my honeybee gets hurt during a fight, I'm a mess until I know she's okay," Bose said as he placed an arm around the short girl's shoulders. Mika beamed up at her boyfriend as he spoke, snaking her arms around his waist and resting her head against his shoulder. She found him so endearing whenever he had a tangible thought. Ray made a disgusted noise at the sight of the couple and shouted at them to stop, suddenly spritzing them with water from a water bottle to make them separate. Henry pondered over Bose's words as they settled into his head. He was right. When he saw Tati, he initially felt a little bad that she was so torn up, but he wasn't all that concerned. But if it was Charlotte who showed up looking like that, he would've burned down the entire town trying to avenge her. Hell, he literally robbed a bank to help get rid of her bully. Would he do that for Tati?

"Plus, she was willing to kick her friend's ass over you so clearly she has feelings for you too," Chapa added.

"Wait, you and Charlotte have feelings for each other or something? Gross," Ray mumbled before spritzing some water into his mouth. Henry ignored him as he processed everything the teenagers told him. They were all right. At the end of the day, he and Charlotte always found their way back to each other. Even if he was still upset with her and confused with where she stood with…that guy, he knew once he apologized things would be okay. He just needed to try.

"Thanks, guys," he said with a firm nod before heading to the tube. As he ascended the steps, he heard Ray call out.

"Just remember what I said! Pick the prettiest one!" He pointed at him before hollering in pain when Chapa zapped him. Henry simply shook his head with a soft chuckle.

His mind was a confusing mess as he drove back to her house. On one hand, his plan was to just apologize for what he said last night, wish her well and be on his way. She was engaged, committed to another man who clearly was as enamored with her as he was, so they were done and he was going to focus on Tati. A part of him even considered not going after all, because the two of them were probably going at it on the floor and laughing at him for being such an idiot. When he knocked on the door, it would probably be him who answered, and Henry would leave feeling small and humiliated again. And did he really want to deal with that?

But on the other hand, the option to just pull her into his arms and kiss her until she couldn't breathe anymore was incredibly viable. He could tell her how much he loved her and how he couldn't live without her, beg her to leave her fiancé and they'll run off into the sunset together and be happy together. That would be…amazingly ideal. But it wasn't realistic, he knew it wasn't. He hurt her worse than he should have, he did horrible things in the name of angst and revenge, he messed up. Forgiveness wouldn't come so easily. He sighed heavily as he pulled up to the familiar house. It was now or never. He climbed out of the car and made his way up the porch steps, fidgeting nervously before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. He swayed from side to side, switching the weight of his body from one leg to the other until the door finally opened. He hesitated for a second before looking up and forcing a tight smile onto his face at the sight of Miss Bolton.

"Miss Bolton," he breathed out and relaxed a little. "Hi…" The woman's face remained neutral as she looked at the young man at her doorstep. She glanced behind her before stepping outside and closing the door.

"Henry," she responded coldly. His smile faltered a little before he cleared his throat.

"Is Charlotte available? I was hoping to speak to her," he said as he unconsciously cracked his knuckles. Diana let out a soft sigh and folded her arms, giving him a stern gaze that sent chills down his spine. Suddenly, he felt like a little kid again that was about to get yelled at by his mom.

"You know, when Charlotte told me that you and she had a little…thing going in Dystopia, I was surprised at first but also a little happy. I always thought very highly of you and I always believed that you would be a good partner for her since you were always a good friend. So, I encouraged her to see you and Jasper when we found out you were back in town because it's the holiday season and, for all I knew, you were a decent young man. Now, imagine my surprise when I found out that you were the reason she avoided coming home for three years and you were the reason I came home to her sulking with a bottle of whiskey last night, and you said such horrible things to her that caused her to cry her eyes out all night. No mother wants to see their child like that, especially at the hand of someone that I trusted my child with." Henry swallowed thickly and felt himself shrinking smaller and smaller with every word.

"Ma'am, I understand, but-" He stopped when she held her hand up. He let out a quiet sigh and looked down at his shoes as she continued.

"I've waited so long for Char to come back home, and now she has but I'm going to tell her to go back to California because you and that…girl have made her so miserable here. I mean, you have her out in the street fighting like some kind of hoodlum! You've completely shattered my daughter, Henry. We can't even enjoy the holidays thanks to the two of you. So, no, you can't talk to her. I don't want you to come anywhere near her anymore. Just leave her alone and stop making her life hell. Please." With that, she turned and made her way back into the house, closing the door and leaving Henry alone on the porch with his mouth slightly agape. He closed his mouth and swallowed the lump in his throat as he blinked away some tears that tried to spill.

She was right. It hurt to hear but she was completely right. He didn't just mess up, he fucked up horribly and now he had to pay that price. He had maybe completely lost his chance to have Charlotte in his life again and he had himself to blame for that. And he hated himself for it. He pinched his nose as he sniffled and slowly turned away from the house, walking down the steps and returning to the BMW. He could only think about the events of everything that happened. What could he have done differently? Not calling her a whore was definitely a big one, and probably not sleeping with her friend. And maybe he could've let her explain her situation with her engagement, maybe he could've talked to her, maybe they could've come to some sort of mutual understanding. But now it was too late.

Inside, as Diana moped on the couch and prepared herself to send her daughter off despite how badly she wanted her to stay, upstairs, Charlotte and Jasper lay on her bed. She laid on her back with her head on her pillow as Jasper laid with his head by her feet, a position she only allowed if he put on a clean pair of sneakers so she wouldn't smell his awful feet. They both held a cup in their hand that was filled with a horrible concoction of some cheap wine, vodka, rum, and a small amount of juice that barely even counted. He came over to check on her and the two decided they both really needed a drink despite how early in the day it was. It was after five somewhere in the world.

"It's funny," he said as he stared at the ceiling, "Tati showed up at the house with blood all over her and her eye swelling shut so I imagined you would look just as fucked up. You look like you weren't even in a fight." He chuckled a little and she smiled as she kept her eyes on her ceiling as well.

"You've seen me in action, you know I can hold my own," she stated proudly. He laughed softly and nodded in agreement, remembering how she often scared him with how tough she was. She could easily hold her own and would often save him and Henry from sticky situations. At the thought of Henry, he sighed and nudged her a little.

"I'm sorry about Henry. He's an idiot and a dick. He's going to realize what a mistake he made and come crawling back to you." She sighed and took a sip of her drink.

"I don't know if I want him to. That bridge has been seriously burned and I don't know if it'll ever be repaired. He didn't listen to me, believed her over me, and called me a whore when he's sticking his dick in someone he barely even knows," she said with a scoff. "I deserve better. I deserve better than Henry and better than Eddy. I'm Charlotte fucking Page! How did I go from dating a Grammy award winning singer to an immature irresponsible temperamental prick and an abusive cheating dickhead who has a mirror headboard so he can watch himself as he's having sex?!" At that, Jasper burst out into loud laughter and sat up to look at her.

"Are you serious? A mirror headboard?!" She sat up as well and nodded.

"Yeah! I remember once we were fucking and he was looking up constantly and smirking. I look up and see he's smirking at himself in the mirror. I never dried up so fast in my life, we could've started a fire with the friction," she recounted. He laughed harder and shook his head. As she took a sip of her drink, he looked down briefly and chewed on the corner of his bottom lip.

"I had sex with Piper," he blurted out, causing her to choke on her wine and begin a coughing fit. He quickly patted her back to help her clear out her choking airways. Once she could finally breathe clearly and stopped coughing, she looked at him with wide eyes.

"You what?!" she exclaimed. "When?!"

"Friday night," he answered with a sigh and laid back down. "We smoked together in her room and talked and the next thing I knew she was kissing me. And one thing just led to another and…we fucked." He sighed and ran his hand over his face. He could feel Charlotte's stunned eyes on him and he didn't want to look at her just yet, it was all just too confusing and humiliating to admit to her.

"Holy shit," she breathed out. "You and Piper. From enemies to frenemies to lovers. It's like a cheesy teen drama." She laughed when he shot her an annoyed glare. The news was shocking to her but she still found some humor in it. She figured that Piper was probably super eager to tell her about it, especially since she already admitted to being attracted to Jasper. She wondered if he knew that she liked him and to what extent, but she decided not to push it at the moment. "Come on! What are you freaking out about? Was it bad?"

"No, but…" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "She's…Piper! She's my best friend's little sister! I always saw her as my own little sister who was super scary and wanted to kill me. Sure, I thought she was hot now but sleeping with her is such a big leap, you know? And she keeps trying to talk about it."

"Why don't you talk to her then?"

"What do I say?" he asked as he sat back up and met Charlotte's eyes. "'Oh hey, thanks for the sex but you're my friend's little sister and I don't see you like that so see ya sport'? I can't do that." She felt her heart break for Piper. She knew this was something she worried about especially with losing her virginity. She clearly wanted it to be special and this would devastate her. She bit down on her lip and tilted her head slightly.

"So, you don't feel that way about her at all? It was just…a hey we're high and in bed together kind of fuck?" she questioned. He looked at her for a moment and sighed.

"I think she's attractive, very attractive, and the sex was really good. But…I don't know if that's a line I'm ready to cross. I keep thinking about our ages, what Henry's gonna say, I know he's gonna kill me." She quickly waved her hand dismissively and shook her head.

"Fuck Henry, okay? Forget about him. And the age thing…you're only four years apart. But if you really don't think this is gonna lead anywhere, don't lead her along and have her dangling in the wind. Learn something from this clusterfuck of me and Henry. Communicate your feelings and let her know how you feel," she said as she took his hand in her own. He nodded, knowing she was right. He couldn't string Piper along. He had to nip this in the bud quickly.

"You're right. I have to just be honest with her," he relented. She offered him a gentle smile before sighing and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Life was so much easier when we were just fighting comical villains," she said, wistful for her teenage years where she didn't care much about dating and her biggest worry was Drex. Jasper rested his head atop hers as he nodded.

"Seriously."

After a few hours, Jasper and Charlotte made their way downstairs as he decided to leave. They shared a hug and spoke idly, Jasper sharing comforting words that helped quell Charlotte's anxieties. It was nice to know that he was on her side and she didn't have to worry about losing him. She already lost so many years of his friendship when she left Dystopia. As they reached the door, he pulled on his jacket and turned to look at her.

"Don't disappear on me again thanks to Henry, and try not to rip anyone's face off," he said with a chuckle. She laughed a little and shrugged her shoulders.

"I can promise that I won't disappear but I can't promise that I won't try to kill Tati again. Or Henry. They can both get it." He snickered and shook his head before giving her a final hug, exchanging goodbyes with Diana then leaving the house. Once he was gone, the older woman figured it was probably best to rip the bandaid off and talk to Charlotte now.

"Honey, I want to talk to you," Diana said. She moved over on the couch to make space for her daughter and looked up at her expectantly. Charlotte sighed softly and folded her arms as she slowly made her way over to the couch.

"Mom, I know, you're disappointed in me for fighting in the street. I'm sorry, she just pissed me off so-"

"That's not it," Diana interrupted. Charlotte looked at her curiously before sitting down next to her. "You've been through a lot these past few weeks and I could just imagine how hard it must be to be here. So…I think you should go back to California. Get away from this town and Henry." The young woman blinked in surprise before shaking her head. She couldn't believe her mother was saying this, especially because she was so eager for her to come home. Now she wanted to ship her off early?

"Mom, I'm not going until next year," she reminded her. Diana took her daughter's hands in her own and rubbed them gently.

"I know, baby, but Henry-"

"Forget about Henry!" she snapped. The older woman looked taken aback and Charlotte sighed softly. "I'm sorry. But…no. I already let Henry affect my life so much, because of him I didn't see you in person for years. I ran from my home, I ran from Dystopia, I ran from myself. I'm done running. It's hard to be around them but they're not going to run my life, especially with Christmas coming. Therefore, I'm staying until January. Okay?" The woman let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and nodded, blinking away some tears. She had prepared herself for the loss of her daughter before she wanted, so her answer was a huge relief. She pulled her in for a tight hug and breathed out a relieved chuckle.

"Okay, honey."

A/N: Thank you for reading and Merry Christmas!