Hey guys! Sorry I had to write that other piece, but I really needed it out of my head. Sorry it delayed this story a bit. I have a test in each subject this week, so wish me luck! At least I shouldn't have much homework!

Alan hugged his son tightly to him. Charlie was crying, begging him to not tell Don. Alan hadn't realized his son was trying that hard to keep his big brother from finding out. He was thankful that he had chosen not to tell Don, too. Charlie probably would have been mad at him if he had.

"Sh, sh. It's okay. You're okay now. I'm here." Alan squeezed his son tighter.

Charlie grabbed fistfuls of the front of his father's shirt and squeezed tightly. "Don't tell Don!" he begged loudly.

"Sh, sh. I won't. I won't." Alan fought to reassure him.

Why did he have to know? Charlie didn't want it this way! What if Alan told Don? What would he do? He felt himself begin to panic and tried to push it away, but the thoughts kept rolling in his head until he breathed irregularly. He fought to get enough air.

Alan heard his son begin to wheeze and gasp for each breath. Standing, he pulled his son along with him. Charlie gripped his shirt tighter and tighter, beginning to pull at it as he fought for each breath. Alan slowly made it to the kitchen and he got into one of the lower cabinets and pulled out a paper bag. He gave it to his son and Charlie crumpled it in his fist a moment before breathing into it. Alan sat Charlie down on one of the kitchen chairs and he took another.

Charlie continued to look at Alan with panicked eyes. Alan fought to reassure his son that he wouldn't tell Don as Charlie's breathing slowly worked back to normal.

"Are you going to tell Don?" Charlie asked with a high-pitched voice. It was hard to hear since he was speaking into the bag.

"No, I won't. I promise. Just calm down."

Charlie closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. After a while, he took the bag away and took a deep breath.

"Are you all right?" Alan asked.

He nodded, shaking slightly with fear.

"It's okay now, kiddo." Alan reached out and hugged his son again. Charlie sank into his father's arm, thankful for some support.

"How did you know?" he whispered against his father's shirt.

"I didn't know, I just suspected. When you didn't notice I was in the living room with you for so long, I figured I was right. Why didn't you tell me? It's obvious you didn't want to tell Don, but you could have told me."

Charlie sniffled, fighting away tears. "I didn't want to worry you. You worry enough as is."

"But you've been all alone! Does anyone else know?"

"Besides Dr. Smith?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Oh, Charlie." Alan held on tighter. "To think you've been going through this alone. How long have you known?"

"Since two appointments ago."

"Charlie!"

"Well, I knew before then, but it wasn't finalized until two appointments ago. I haven't been able to see out of that eye since the accident." Charlie hated calling it an accident, since it was intentional. But he didn't like calling it "when I got hit with a baseball bat" either.

"You've done pretty well."

"Thanks. I've been trying really hard to hide it."

"And you've done a good job of it. Much longer and I would have just dismissed it, thinking I'm just a crazy old man."

"You're half right."

"Watch your mouth!" Alan swatted Charlie's back and laughed. He pushed his son out of his arms and studied his face. He lightly brushed Charlie's left eye with his thumb and sighed.

"My poor little boy," he said in sadness.

"I'm okay, Dad." His voice full of misery said otherwise, though.

"Now, why can't you tell Don?"

Charlie's face held panic again. "You're not going to tell him are you?"

Alan sighed. "No, as I said before, I won't."

"He... he takes so much on himself as it is. I can't... I can't let him blame himself for this, too. He already can't forgive himself for letting me get hurt in the first place. If he knew I'm blind in one eye because of it, it'll kill him. I don't want that to happen. He shouldn't blame himself. It wasn't his fault."

Alan smiled at his son, proud of him. When he just sat there and grinned at Charlie, Charlie grew suspicious.

"What?" he asked, wondering what his father was thinking.

"Nothing. I'm just proud that your mother and I raised two sons who are so thoughtful of each other. You two worry about each other so much. I'm proud that you want to take care of each other so much."

Charlie put a hand over his mouth and yawned.

"You need to get some sleep," Alan stated.

"Yeah."

"Come on." Alan pulled Charlie to his feet and walked his son up to his bed.

Charlie stretched out on his bed and yawned again.

"Sleep well. I'm going to go call Donnie." Alan started walking toward the door.

"Wait!" Charlie screamed, panicking.

"What? What?" Alan got scared.

"Don't!" Charlie grabbed onto Alan's hand and pulled him over. Alan sat on the bed and looked into his son's frightened eyes.

"What is it?"

"Don't tell him!"

"I wasn't going to, Charlie. It's okay."

"Don't tell him. Please!"

"I won't." Alan looked worriedly at his son, wondering what had him so upset over this.

"Don't tell Don."

"I won't."

Alan reached out and brushed his hand soothingly across Charlie's face. Charlie closed his eyes and leaned into his father's hand.

"Don't tell him."

"No."

"Don't tell him."

"I won't."

"Don't... don't tell him. Don't tell Don."

Slowly Charlie drifted off to sleep, mumbling for his father not to tell Don.

Alan wasn't worried that Charlie's eye sight would affect him, but keeping it from Don would.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don was surprised to get a call from his father during the day. He hoped nothing was wrong.

"Hey, Dad," he answered.

"Donnie! I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering how you were feeling."

"I'm doing okay, Dad. Everything all right there?"

"Well... sort of."

Don felt some alarm. "What do you mean 'sort of?'"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Charlie's just been having a rough day. He's asleep now, so it's all right. Are you coming for supper tonight?"

"What happened? Why is Charlie having a bad day?" Don needed answers!

"I don't know. It's just been hard on him. He just wore himself out, trying to do so much. Now, are you coming tonight?"

"Sure, I'll be there."

"Good. Why don't you bring Megan, David, and Colby? Megan was worrying about Charlie and she never did get to see him."

Don smiled. "I'll see if they can make it."

"Good, the more the merrier! I'll see you around, say, seven o'clock?"

"Sounds great."

"All right. I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye, Dad."

Don stood and went to Megan's desk. She was hunched over a bunch of papers when he walked up and leaned on her desk.

"What?" Megan looked up, questioning the smile on his face.

"Dad just called. He wants to know if you want to come to dinner tonight."

"Ooh, I finally get to see Charlie, huh?"

"Something like that."

"Okay. Is Larry coming?"

Don grinned, knowing he could take that question and run with it. "Why do you ask?"

Megan blushed slightly, a rare sight for her. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Why don't you call and see if he wants to come? Ask if Amita will, too."

"Okay."

"Dad says around seven."

"I'll be there."

"Good."

Don walked around Megan's desk and went to the area where David and Colby worked. Their desks were facing each other's so that was as far as Don had to go.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Don. What's up?" David asked as he leaned back in his chair and turned to Don.

"Dad has invited a bunch of people to dinner tonight, and that includes you two. Interested?"

Colby grinned. "I haven't had a good meal in a long time. That sounds good to me."

"Sure, I'll come," David also agreed.

"Good. Be there by seven."

"We will. Thanks, Don."

Don smiled as he went back to his office to work on the paperwork. He had barely gotten through one file when Megan came in.

"Larry and Amita are both coming."

"You happy about that?" Don asked, meaning the full smile on Megan's face.

"Maybe. You'd better call your dad and tell him to expect two more guests."

"Good idea."

Megan smiled before walking away.

Don called his father with the news and was pleased to hear that his father was happy with the additional guests.

He hurried through his paper work so he could get there a little earlier. He stopped at his apartment and got a change of clothes. When he got to Charlie's house, he changed first.

"Hey Dad! Need any help?" Don asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"No, no. I'm fine. Why don't you go check on your brother? He's been sleeping so much I haven't gotten to tell him."

"Dad!"

"What?"

"They're going to be here in like thirty minutes."

"So?"

"So, he may need time to get ready!"

Alan stopped. "Oh. I never thought of that. He just seemed to need the rest so much, I thought nothing of it."

Don chuckled. "Apparently. I'll go get him up."

"Okay."

Don took the stairs slowly, trying not to bother his aching ribs. Charlie was still asleep when Don entered his room. Don could see his little brother was still bothered by something and he wondered what.

"Buddy? Buddy, wake up." Don said as he shook Charlie's shoulder.

Charlie shot up in bed, surprising Don.

"Hey, whoa, whoa. Take it easy." Don held his hands up in surrender.

Charlie blinked a few times and then focused on his brother.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he rubbed a hand over his left eye.

"It's almost six thirty. I came for dinner. I figured you'd like to know that we have five guests also joining us."

"Five? Who the hell did you two invite?" Charlie jumped out of bed and headed for his dresser.

Don laughed at him. "Megan, David, Colby, Amita, and Larry."

"Damn it," Charlie cursed as he fought to pull out one of his dresser drawers.

"Here. Let me help you." Don moved over and pulled the dresser open. Charlie took out a clean dress shirt and went to the bathroom, closing the door without another word to his brother.

Charlie had rushed into the bathroom, not just to hurry to get ready, but to escape his brother. He had been surprised by his brother's appearance and wasn't prepared yet to deal with him. He wasn't ready. He needed time to prepare. Before he fell asleep, he'd been worried about Don finding out and immediately after, Don was there. That wasn't enough time.

Don shook his head. That had been interesting. He went back downstairs and waited for the guests to arrive. Charlie got downstairs five minutes before seven and thankfully no one had arrived yet. Don was surprised to see his brother's hair was even dry.

Megan and Larry were the first ones to arrive. Megan looked nice in a pale blue v-neck shirt and a black skirt. Don always thought it was funny to see her dressed up since she's usually dressed plainly for her FBI work.

"Charlie!" Megan exclaimed when she saw Charlie standing by the foot of the steps. Charlie smiled as she came over and gave him a hug.

"How are you doing? It's been so long, I was starting to think Don really had been lying to me."

Charlie chuckled. "I'm good."

"Good!"

Larry came over and shook Charlie's hand. The two exchanged a brief conversation.

"Where's Alan?" Megan asked Don.

"Working his ass off in the kitchen."

Megan laughed. "I'll go see if he needs help."

Megan went into the kitchen and found Alan carving a pork roast. He looked up when she walked in.

"Hi Alan," she said as she came up to him. The two hugged and Megan placed a kiss on Alan's cheek.

"Well, you look stunning."

"Thank you. Do you need any help?"

"No, I just finished up." A look passed his face and Megan looked at him in concern.

"Alan? Is everything okay?"

Alan looked around and took her by the elbow, leading her to the far end of the kitchen.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course. What's going on?"

"Charlie... Charlie's been having a rough time lately."

"Well, that's understandable, isn't it?"

"Well, it's not just that. He... he's blind in his left eye."

Megan gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. "What?"

"Yes. Apparently the injury caused him to lose sight in that eye."

"Oh my goodness. Does... does Don know?"

"No, and that's why it has to be a secret. Charlie's been worrying himself to death that Don will find out and beat himself up over it."

"Those two. They worry as much as mother hens." She shook her head.

"I know. Do you think... could you talk to him some time?"

"Of course, Alan."

"Thank you."

Don walked in and saw the two in the corner. He raised a brow in question. "Did I miss something?"

Alan smiled, hiding the worry that had been on his face seconds before. "Nothing. Is everybody here?"

"Yeah, that's why I came to get you."

"Okay. We'll be there. Have everyone sit down."

Megan smiled at Alan and gave his arm a squeeze before leaving the kitchen.

Though it was a pleasant evening, Megan had trouble keeping her mind off Charlie's blind eye. Studying him closely, she could see small things that he did that showed it. Of course, you had to know to look for it for you to be able to see it. She was determined to talk to Charlie soon and hoped she would be helpful.

Charlie did enjoy the night with his friends. He was a little scared, though, being with all those people. He prayed no one noticed.

And he feared that by the way Megan was looking at him, she already knew.

Would she tell Don?

Well, that didn't take too much longer. It's a little shorter than usual, I think, but not too bad. I hope to be able to update again by Wednesday or Thursday. See you then!

Title of last chapter come from "Now Comes The Night" by Rob Thomas and this one comes from the song "I'm Still Here" by the Goo Goo Dolls.