Ginny is returning to Paradise for the first time in ten years and what she finds is that ten years is a long time. She is forced to face people that she's missed and people that she definitely hasn't.

Very much a Ginny-centric story, all of the relationships are fairly background. Relationships mentioned: Melanie/Dez, Sasha/ Roman, Boo/Carl.

Rated K+. Chapter titles are songs I listened to while writing the chapters.

Hard Time

Ginny arrived at the engagement party with mascara not only intact, but freshly applied and fierce. She'd driven Sasha and Roman down with her; neither had asked her if something was wrong so Ginny figured she had kept her episode fairly under wraps. She had talked with Melanie, Boo, Michelle, Matisse – an art teacher? – and Bash, and even Madame Fanny. No one said a word.

It was not until she was sitting in one of the booths, taking a moment to enjoy the culinary expertise of Bettina Jordan that someone said a single thing. And it was Charlie. Because Ginny was just not allowed to win.

"So what's wrong?" Charlie had slid into the booth opposite her, taking up the whole bench and leaning against the wall. He wasn't even facing her.

"Excuse me?" Ginny paused in the devouring of what she was certain was the best chocolate cake she had ever tasted to look at Charlie. He looked slightly less exhausted than he'd been earlier and even managed to change out of the sweats. Although the jeans and flannel shirt over a graphic tee managed to make him look even more like a high schooler than he had in high school.

Charlie glanced at her, smirking, "Something is bothering you. Something big. I can tell." Ginny raised an eyebrow, witty comeback at the ready, but Charlie headed her off at the pass. "You've made it a point to be talking with someone, anyone, the entire night. Rapidly. You fixed the silverware at the buffet table. You've been picking at your nails, slapping your hand, picking, slapping, picking, slapping.

Until finally you grabbed a piece a cake to come over here. But before eating said cake – which is probably the most delicious thing in the world – you dug a nail file out of your purse to aggressively shape all of your nails to the same length.

Now, I may be a trauma surgeon, but I did do a psych rotation or two during my residency. Those are all signs of anxiety – minor manifestations. But still."

"Fine," Ginny threw back her shoulders, staring him down. Charlie didn't flinch. She took a breath, held it for seven, let it out for eight, "I ran into my dad earlier. Met my younger sister."

"And?" Charlie prodded, his body twisting to face her now. He slung an arm over the top of the booth, the other onto the ledge above the table on the wall. He was the picture of casual. Ginny really wanted to smack him. Hard.

Ginny took a bite of the cake instead. Aggressively chewing as she glared at Charlie. He smirked at her.

"You do realize I operate on car accident victims and shot-up gangbangers on an almost hourly basis most of the time. You are like the least scary thing I've seen all week, not including my sister."

Ginny almost choked on her cake, "I don't think telling Melanie that would be a good idea." Did you not remember Hulk Melanie?

Charlie shrugged, "She's aware of her lack of ferocity. A teddy bear is scarier than her." He leaned his head back into corner of the booth. Ginny wondered if he would actually fall asleep like that. She'd heard doctors could fall asleep anywhere.

"Is it easier?" Ginny asked him, her voice quieter and slower than it had been all night. Charlie picked his head back up and stared at her, eyebrow raised. "Coming up her every few weeks. Do you feel more connected?"

There was a second, half-a-heart-beat, that Charlie just stared at her. Almost sad. Ginny would have been angry, she hated pity, but she was fairly certain he was pitying himself. Finally, he spoke, face a mask of casual disinterest, "Yeah, probably."

Ginny nodded, looked back down at her half-finished cake. Charlie wasn't wrong, it was probably the most delicious thing in the world. But it was sitting like a brick in her stomach. She glanced out to look at the rest of the engagement party.

Carl and Boo were dancing in the middle of the floor, holding each other close and smiling at one another as if they were the key to happiness itself. Roman was laughing with his old high school friends in a booth near the door. One of them had apparently become a contractor and was telling an animated story about Dez that had the larger man blushing. Melanie and Michelle were sharing conspiratory grins as Madame Fanny and Sasha argued playfully.

"I don't really have anything to compare it to," she looked back at Charlie to see him watching everyone the same way she was, "I haven't really had time to make friends outside the hospital. Melanie and Dez are like my life-line to a world outside of medicine." They shared a look.

"I feel like I'm completely out of the loop," Ginny admitted, "I kept in touch with Sasha and Boo, but even with them…" Ginny stopped, slapped her hand away when she noticed herself picking at a nail, "When I'm talking to them it feels like nothing's changed, but when I stop and look around I realize everything has. I'm the odd one out. Still awkward and unsure about everything."

"Bull," Charlie told her, scrunching up his face, "You're totally different." Ginny had thought the same thing yesterday, but today? She sure felt like the same girl she'd been ten years ago. "You had two ways of talking to me back then – not at all or stuttering like a school girl. Now we're having an actual conversation. With depth and everything."

Ginny laughed, smiling at him, "Thanks." Charlie grinned back, his eyes trailing back to watch his best friend and his sister trading looks across the room. "I'm surprised. You actually made me feel better."

"Fixing people, sort of my thing," Charlie quipped, rolling his eyes at the weird faces his sister had started making, "There are some problems just too far gone to fix, of course."

"I don't know," Ginny pursed her lips as she watched Dez cross the room to take Melanie on the dance floor, "That doesn't really look like a problem to me."

Charlie gave her a pointed look before whispering, "You didn't just find out that your relaxing hideaway is going to be infested with an infant in eight months." Ginny gaped at him, her mouth hanging open.

"Are you serious?!" Ginny whispered, lunging across the table, "Melanie's pregnant." Charlie cringed, but nodded, "Who else knows?"

"Just me," Charlie sighed, grabbing Ginny's hand to pull her with him as he ducked into a side-room off the banquet hall. Ginny was practically vibrating with excitement, "You can't tell anyone." She pressed her hands to her mouth to contain a squeal. Charlie rolled his eyes again, "You're worse than Mel."

Ginny shoved his shoulder, "Why can't anyone know?" She paused, looked back at the door they'd just come through, "Is this because of the wedding?"

"Mel said something about not wanting to crash Boo's celebration, plus, most doctors say not to go public till after the first trimester." Charlie gave a small shrug with his explanation, which Ginny was beginning to think was his answer to everything, "Though I'm fairly positive most of Paradise already suspects. I know because Mel had me read her lab results to double-check the senile quack that is Paradise's only doctor."

"That's why Sasha's been teasing Melanie so much!" Ginny snapped her fingers as she replayed some of the conversations from the last two days. Boo and Sasha had even traded looks when Melanie asked for whatever the night before.

Charlie sighed, "Just promise not to say anything." He led her back into the banquet hall area when she nodded, "Melanie may by a teddy bear, but Dez can be plenty ferocious when he wants to be."

Ginny nodded again and made a crossing motion over her heart. When they sat back down at their booth Ginny caught Charlie smiling, open and happy. She looked to see what caught his eye and watched Dez pull Melanie onto the dance floor.

"Melanie's not the only teddy bear in the family I guess." Ginny said it under her breath so Charlie couldn't hear. The day was turning out pretty good all things considered.

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