Henry Danger be sometimes throwing out these little one liners for lolz but, I think really hard about it at times, because there is some actually seriously toxic and abusive behaviors they've mentioned. So, as I'm known to do, I will be utilizing angst in this fic. This chapter features some.

Charlotte's House

Jasper and Charlotte walked to Charlotte's after they had been brainstorming with Ray and Henry about how to deal with Hally the Computer. Eventually, Charlotte pointed out how not only was this the responsibility of the heroes of Swellview and the "Man of the Cave," but that as long as Ray was swinging that sword around, she wouldn't be able to think clearly anyway.

Jasper once again reiterated, in case anyone had forgotten, "TERRIFIED!"

Henry complained, but stopped immediately when Ray nearly killed Jasper again and he had to pull him in the other direction with the sword.

Whenever Charlotte got home, she observed, "Well, my parents aren't here. So if Hally sends the Man drones, at least my family won't be killed."

Jasper gasped, "Do you think that she would do that?"

"She 600% suctioned me out of the tube. I'm not putting anything passed Old Girl."

"Well, you want me to stay until your parents get home, in case she does something like that?"

"How can you staying possibly help?"

"Well, I could distract the drones while you escape?" She made a face. What a crazy idea! He quickly added, "Or, for her advantage, she doesn't have to send any to my house, because she kills both of us here."

"Well, if I had thought this out, I'd have suggested we spend the night at your place."

"You would spend the night at my house?"

She thought about his insufferable mother and the fact that with his small checks, he sort of had to fend for himself, more often than not. His mom locked cabinets and the fridge at certain times, since he was 7, because he was "too fat," and just kept that horrible practice up to the point where he became a food stasher. She often forgot to buy stuff, like toilet paper, and there were no towels in there! Like… what did she want to do, bring back the Plague?

"You got me there. I hate everything about your house." She didn't add And your mom, because she knew that would have been rude. "Well, I kinda like the thought of having drone bait, but trust me, if she sends any, neither of us are making it out of here. Hopefully, it doesn't harm my face or hair. My parents want to do open casket, if anything should happen."

He was going to comment on the greatness of her face and hair, but was more distracted by, "Why do you know that?"

"We've got plans for every possible conceivable life event, including death. What, you think that my organizational skills, overanalyzing, and extensive preparation was self taught?" They went inside and she let him wash up in her parents' bathroom and borrow a robe of her dad's. She threw his clothes from the day into the wash and went into her bathroom to wash up, as well.

Whenever she came out Jasper was sitting on the spare bed in her dad's robe, waiting nervously. She thought she knew what this was about. He was worried about Henry. She was too, but she also didn't feel like fighting with Hally. After her Courtney Sham scare, she wasn't getting into any scuffles with unstable girlfriends of her friends… Even if she is a computer. She sat on the side of her bed, facing him in her pajamas with her head tied up for the night and nodded her head, "I get it. I'm not gonna sleep until I get the text that he's alright, too. Feel like doing the thing?"

Usually, whenever they were left behind during one of the Man Cave's dangerous missions, they came into the same room to give each other reminders of how great their friends are and that's why they'll come back fine. But, Jasper actually didn't want to do that. He wasn't in the mood. So, instead, he said, "I'm actually pretty tired, but feel kinda bad about wanting to sleep while they're trying to battle Hally. To be honest, Henry's probably more in danger with Ray wielding Justice than from the computer."

"Get your sleep, Jasper. I'll feel better knowing at least one of us has some peace." He nodded, but remained sitting for a moment. He looked like he had something to say. "What is it?" She asked.

Jasper wanted to tell her that he'd been thinking about her lately, that he'd been feeling things, and he wanted her to feel things too. But the chances of that, this soon were slim. He hadn't put in enough work yet. "Nothing. Goodnight, Charlotte." He laid down as she simply nodded her head. She was awake for a while longer, until she got the call from Henry.

She got up, so that she wouldn't wake Jasper and she stepped out. "Henry! Did you get things taken care of?"

"It's a good news, bad news scenario."

"Is Hally gone?"

"Yep."

"So, that's the good news. And the bad?"

"Ray crumbled the platinum Frittle."

"OH MAN!" She squealed. She heard Jasper groan in his sleep and she silently scolded herself for being loud, and peeked in. He was still asleep, but seemed like he was having a nightmare. In fact, he seemed extremely shaken up. "Ugh. I'm gonna go. I think Jasper's having a bad dream."

"Jasper's over? Cool. Should I come crash, too?"

"Do you need to?" She was about to go to bed, now that she knew he was safe, but she supposed she could leave the window open.

"Not really. Just starting to feel more and more left out with the two of you."

She laughed and said, "That's silly. You just have more responsibilities, so we end up together more. He's only here tonight because he didn't want me to be alone. But, I gotta check on him. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Click."

"Click."

Jasper was squirming and sweating, so Charlotte was unsure if she should touch him or anything. She adjusted the air, covered him up, set the diffuser and whenever she got near him, he jumped up and shouted. She shouted too and covered her chest. "Jasper, are you okay?" He nodded, but he was breathing hard. "Jasper?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Sometimes, I have nightmares. Never should have went to sleep without knowing if Henry was okay." That was partially true. He felt like the nightmare of Man drones flying in and murdering Charlotte in her sleep was punishment for going to sleep on her when Henry was out there risking his skin.

"Well, he is fine. They got rid of Hally." She was rubbing Jasper's face and didn't realize it until his eyes went towards her hands. She abruptly let go and wondered, "You wanna talk about it?"

He shook his head. "Sorry if I woke you up or anything."

"I was just about to go to sleep… You sure that you're okay?"

"I won't disturb you." He laid back down, feeling weak and embarrassed. Great going. Now, she was never gonna take him seriously…

Then, Charlotte surprised him. She grabbed some lavender oil and sat at the foot of the bed, "Do you mind if I touch you to try to help you sleep?"

"I don't mind at all," he said, looking down at her. She smiled gently and took one of his feet. "I'm ticklish!" He warned.

"Awwww," she cooed. "Well, I just want to try some reflexology massage to help with your stress. Something's bothering you to have such intense nightmares."

"It could have been worse. Sometimes, it's sleep paralysis." He felt relaxed already. "Whenever I was researching stuff on the WTF is Wrong with Me app…"

"You actually use that app?" She snickered when she asked it.

"I have to. Can't afford therapy and my mom honestly doesn't chat me up about my issues because she has a guilty conscious. It's not as easy being a weirdo as I make it seem."

"You do come across as extremely comfortable being offbeat."

"Never had much of a choice. It was either I love me for me or hate myself. Figured other people hated me enough, starting with my parents. You and Henry are the only people that I have." She bit her lip. "Sorry! That's a bit much. I should just shut up."

"No. You're relaxed and talking through whatever you have going on. Friends can do that."

"I first started looking into it… well… whenever I was…" he sighed and asked, "Remember whenever you said I was the Playground Pooper and I mentioned in passing my struggles with potty training?"

"I very vividly remember that, even though we glazed right over it." She had actually forgotten about it, but now that he mentioned it - of course she remembered that weird ass justification!

"Because who has accidents that late in life? I wanted to see. As far as I can tell - stress, neglect, and emotional abuse from my mom." Jasper gasped. He hadn't meant to say that. He was getting too relaxed, now. "I hate that I'm pouring out like this…" She couldn't think of anything to say, so he kept going, trying to somehow fix some of this. "Sometimes, people that you might think are just stupid are actually emotionally traumatized. Our brains develop differently whenever we grow up with stuff our minds can't handle. I read a bunch of articles about that."

"Jasper.. I had no idea it was that bad. I mean, your mom is a horror, for sure. And I have thought on numerous occasions that her ways weren't healthy. But I didn't know that you were nightmares and bedwetting stressed out because of her."

"I haven't wet the bed in years," he reminded her.

"Right. But… 4 years ago is less time than Henry has been doing his work!" She let go of his foot and said, "You seem embarrassed, but really, you should be proud. You went out to figure yourself out and helped yourself, without any support from her or me and Henry - because I know that if I didn't know, he probably didn't either.. Not everyone is so independent." She yawned. What a terrible time to do that, but God, she was exhausted.

"Hey.. thanks for letting me talk, but you should get some sleep. After that reflexology thing, I'm going back."

"Well, the lavender I used probably helped."

"You're the greatest, Charlotte. I swear. Good night."

She tried to fight the tingling she felt when he said that. "Good night to you." Weird. Tingles? I must really be tired.

.

Charlotte woke up the next day excited to find out if Jasper has slept well the second time around, but apparently, he had enough time to get dressed, fold her dad's robe and leave it on the spare bed, send her a thank you text, and bail before she got up. She sighed, unsure of what she was bothered by.

He'd let her know in the text that he has to get home because his mom was calling. He told her thank you for the space, the sleep, and the talk. He even made a rose out of characters. Why was she salty that she didn't get to actually check in with him this morning? She rolled her eyes at herself and got up to get ready for work. Since Hally wasn't there, she guessed it'd be business as usual. So, she wasn't going to treat Jasper any differently for his confessions last night. She would never bring it up again, unless he needed to. She did feel like there was some kind of shift in how she saw him though. Who'd have thought that her goofy, silly, but sweet friend was really a wounded, self-aware man of mystery? Wait, should I feel bad for sort of thinking that traumatized Jasper is kind of… attractive? "Yes! Yes, you should feel bad and you shall never mention this again or even think about it!"