Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it. I'm enjoying writing this story a lot! Plus I finished my finals today so I have a lot more writing time from now on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 5: Back in The Real World

Charlie woke up the next morning to Julie shaking him.

"Mm," he said. "Julie, come on."

"You have to get up!" She hissed. He rubbed his eyes.

"Why?" He said.

"Because Scooter will be here with Tyler any minute and he can't know you slept over," she said. "Come on! Up!" She said.

"Isn't Scooter married?" He asked and sat up.

"Yes," she said. "So?"

"So, why does it matter if he knows I slept over?" He asked. She looked at him.

"Not Scooter," she said, "Tyler."

"Oh right," he said. "Why did I sleep over?"

"Because your girlfriend kicked you out and you were wasted," she said. "Come on," she said.

"Maybe I just came over for breakfast?" He tried. She looked at him. "Julie, I've still got nowhere to go!"

"Fine," she sighed. "But you still need to get up." He laughed and stood up. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said, and there was a knock on the door. She sighed and opened it.

"Mommy!" Tyler said.

"Oh hey!!" She picked him up, "Oh I missed you buddy! Give me a kiss!" She said and kissed him. "Hi Scooter."

"Charlie's here!" Tyler said.

"Hey man," Charlie said and high fived him as Julie put him down. "Hi Scooter."

"Um, Scooter, you remember Charlie Conway, right?" Julie said.

"Uh, yeah," Scooter nodded. "Jules, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Julie nodded and they stepped out into the hall. She closed the door behind her. "What's up?"

"So, what's going on?" He said. "I had to wait until I was engaged for Tyler to meet Dawn, but strange men in your apartment is a regular thing?"

"OK, there's a really big difference," she said. "First of all, Charlie's not my boyfriend, he came over for breakfast. Also, he's not a stranger, he's known Tyler since he was a baby."

"Julie, you haven't talked to those people in years!" He said. She crossed her arms.

"If you paid attention to your son's life you would know that Charlie and I have been hanging out again for a while," she said. He sighed. "And even if I was dating him, you don't get to make those decisions, I do." He looked at her. "Are we done?"

"Yeah," he said. They walked back in. "Alright buddy, I have to go!"

"Bye Daddy!" Tyler ran over and hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you too," Scooter said. "Bye Julie." Julie nodded. "Good to see you Charlie."

"You too," Charlie nodded and Scooter left.

"Mommy, guess what?" Tyler said.

"What?" Julie said excitedly.

"Dawn's gonna have a baby, and I'm gonna be a big brother!" He said. "Isn't that cool?"

"That is very cool," Julie said. Charlie looked at her. "What did you and Daddy and Dawn do this weekend?"

"We went to the mall, and saw a movie, and went on the roller coaster," Tyler said. Julie nodded. "And then me and Daddy went skating and Dawn watched." He looked at Charlie. "Daddy's not as good at skating as you are Charlie."

"Damn straight," Charlie nodded. He looked at Julie, who looked at him sternly. "But that's because you know, when we played hockey your dad was a goalie, like your mom, and I played up, so I skated more." Julie nodded. He hadn't known that Scooter's wife was pregnant. That had to be hard on her.

"Tyler," Julie said. "Do you want French toast?"

"No," he shook his head. "Daddy and I got breakfast. I had a waffle with ice cream on it, and it was so good. Did you know you could do that?"

"Uh huh," Julie said.

"Can I have waffles with ice cream every day?" Tyler said.

"No," Julie shook her head. "Go get your stuff unpacked." She said he nodded and ran into the bedroom.

"He wasn't happy was he?" Charlie asked.

"No, he was not," she said. "I've got a tough 24 hours ahead of me."

"Why?" He said.

"Did you ever visit your father?" She asked.

"No," Charlie said. "My father was an abusive alcoholic. We didn't see him."

"Oh," Julie said. "Well, the next twenty four to fifty hours, all I'm going to hear about is how cool Daddy is, and how great Dawn is, and isn't it great that he's going to be a big brother."

"And this is bad?" He said.

"No," she sighed, "I'm glad that Tyler loves Scooter, I'm just whining." He kissed her softly. "Mm," she said and leaned her head against his chest. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll get a hotel room," he shrugged, "until a find a place. I'll be OK." She nodded. "What are we doing Julie?"

"Do we have to figure that out right now?" She said. "I like the way things are." He sighed. "But you don't."

"It's not that I don't," he said, "it's just what's wrong with just doing things the same as we have and slapping a label on it?"

"Because labels get messy," she said. "I haven't had a boyfriend in three years! The other night was the first time I'd had sex in two." He nodded. "You just got out of a serious relationship. My life does not work if I don't stick to the routine, Charlie. I can't take that kind of risk with you."

"Why not?" He said.

"Mommy," Tyler said walking out. "I cut my finger, can I have a band aid?"

"That's why not," she said softly. "Of course baby. How did you cut your finger?"

"Pocket knife," he said.

"What?" She looked at him.

"Daddy gave me a pocket knife," he said and took it out. "See?"

"Uh huh," Julie said and took it. "I'm going to keep this." She took it. Tyler frowned. "You'll get it back when you're old enough I promise." He crossed his arms and marched into the bedroom once Julie put the band aid on. "And now comes the pouting." She said. "You should probably go."

"OK," he nodded. "I'll call you."

"Sure," she nodded. "When you can," she shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Tell Tyler I said good bye." She nodded and he walked out.

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