The Worst One Yet

"Schwoz, what are you not telling me?"

Schwoz gulped audibly and looked at Henry anxiously.

"Charlotte, can you go check if there are any customers up in the store?" he said.

"What? No, I'm not leaving Henry." She turned to Henry with a worried expression on her face. "Baby, what is going on?"

Henry caught on to what Schwoz was trying to do. "Char, can you go up to the store, please? Baby, please trust me on this one."

Charlotte reluctantly nodded and left. Henry turned back towards Schwoz with a demanding look.

"Well?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"The love muffin, it only works on people who are already in love," Schwoz quickly blurted.

There was absolute silence. Not even Ray, who had violently flinched at the words "love muffin," was able to say anything. Henry opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish gasping for air, but was unable to gather words to form an actual sentence.

Jasper saw his friend struggling and spoke up instead. "So you're saying Charlotte was in love with someone?"

Schwoz nodded.

"And that someone is...Henry?" Jasper questioned, his voice cracking on Henry's name out of disbelief.

Schwoz stayed silent and frozen, but that was a clear enough answer for everyone.

Henry finally spoke up. "I don't understand." He opened his mouth like he was going to say more, but ended up closing it and looking at Schwoz for answers.

"The muffin only amplifies love, Henry. Charlotte was already in love with you before she ate the muffin."

A thousand butterflies flew into Henry's stomach and he could feel his entire body erupt in a fountain of joy. Charlotte loved him? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh. My. God. The love of his life loved him back.

Henry stumbled back and reached blindly for the couch before falling into it. He saw Jasper and Ray staring at him, concerned, but his brain was too preoccupied to care.

"Can I talk now?" Ray said, sounding quite annoyed.

"What?" Jasper snapped.

"What is this love muffin business?"

20 minutes later…

It was absolute chaos. If Henry's whole life hadn't been a mess already, he would have been shocked at the situation.

Ray had lost it about 5 minutes, though it felt like an hour ago. He now had the tranquilizer gun and was pointing it threateningly at Schwoz. There were now holes in the couch, which was also smoking. Jasper's hair was burnt at the edges and it was also bright red. He was stumbling on the stairs trying to extinguish the fire on his right pant leg.

And Henry. Henry was in the same position he had been 20 minutes ago: frozen and in shock.

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, the elevator door opened and two figures fell out. Everyone stopped fighting to look at them.

There was a great deal of grunting and wrestling happening in the elevator, but no one was able to see who was in it yet. Finally, someone stood up and brushed dirt off their jeans. It was Charlotte. And behind her…

"PIPER?"

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry this chapter is shorter than usual. I wanted to introduce some new conflict (hehe, Piper) to the story and needed some kind of transition chapter. You guys have probably heard this a million times already, but make sure to come back every Wednesday 3 PM PT for new chapters. As always, thanks for reading, and make sure to leave feedback if you have any! I'll be back with more soon! :) You guys are the best!

Cheers,

goodgirlgonebad21