"What just happened?" Claire asked as the once loud, puttering car suddenly went quiet.

"I dunno... It just died." Charlie gaped.

"Well, can't you check it? Or... pop the hood or something?" Claire asked. She looked around, but saw next to nothing. The last building they had passed had been a bar a few miles back.

"Sure, sure," Charlie said with uncertainty. He got out of the car and opened up the hood. He stood, staring uncertainly at the various parts that sat in the car. He didn't know what they were or what they did. He was hoping the problem would be something easy to spot; something easy to fix. He was no car expert. Nowhere close. He closed the car up, giving Claire an apologetic glance. She sighed and stepped out of the car. He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking sheepish.

"I dunno what's wrong with the car." he told her as she walked around to stand beside him.

"Shocker." Claire said, looking down the road. "Can't you call someone?"

"I don't have my phone. It's in my car." Charlie explained.

"That's terrific. Mine is in April's bag. At the beach." Claire gritted her teeth in frustration.

"You wanna walk?"

"We don't have any other choice, do we?"

"Oh, right."

They walked down the road quietly at a slow, steady pace. Charlie walked a foot away from Claire, afraid that if he was too close to her, she'd bite his head off. Claire was really too frustrated to notice Charlie's distance. She couldn't belive she had actually started to fall for... She stopped mid-thought. She glanced up at the darkened sky. The sun had set. It was nearly ten o'clock at night. She could see the bar up ahead. Charlie and she walked up to the bar and enetered hastily. Charlie walked up to the phone, but found a sign over it reading 'Out of Order.' He sighed and sat at the bar. Claire tried the telephone despite the sign, but found it was, indeed, broken.

"Can I have a beer?" Charlie addressed the bartender.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked.

"Well, we're here. We might as well drink. You should consider a drink, too. You could use one." Charlie stated, taking the beer from the bartender.

"Fine," Claire growled, sitting beside Charlie.

"And besides," Charlie added, "there's no one here who recognizes me. So, we could have a pretty good time."

Claire watches Charlie bring the beer bottle to his lips and take a long drink. She calls out her drink to the bartender. Charlie lifts his bottle to her in a sort of toast before taking another drink of his beer. Claire got her glass of alcohol and drank it quietly. She and Charlie exchanged sideways glances, listening to the stereo play old Elvis songs and hits made by artists neither of them knew. Twenty minutes later, they were slamming down empty shot glasses. Claire was feeling much more at ease with their situation and she was actually not being completely hostile with Charlie. Charlie decided he liked Claire a lot. He liked her smile and her laugh and her face and her personality. He emptied another shot glass of its contents before the radio station began playing the familiar tune of Kiss's song "Rock and Roll All Night." Charlie and Claire looked at each other both saying in unison, "I love this song!"

"You wanna dance?" Charlie asked, rising from his barstool after downing his beer and another shot glass.

Claire laughed and stood, following him out onto the dance floor. Charlie and Claire got used to one another's dancing styles and after getting in sync, they were really moving. Charlie belted out the lyrics, hitting high falsetto notes that made Claire laughed as she harmonized with the bassist. She threw her arms in the air, moving her hips to the beat. Charlie threw back his head, letting out a "whoo" enthusiastically. Claire and Charlie were gaining the attentions of the few people in the bar. The crowd turned to watch the two sing and dance. Charlie grabbed hold of Claire's waist and lifted her in the air before swinging her in an old dance move that sent Claire reeling. She landed on her feet and continued dancing, not missing a beat. Charlie's feet moved quickly and lightly on the floor as he swiftly did the Charleston. Once Charlie grew weary of dancing alone, he and Claire ended the dance together. The small crowd of the bar clapped as their dance ended along with the song.

Charlie's chest rose and fell heavily. Claire looked into his eyes and she tip-toed to kiss him as he reached behind her head and pulled her mouth to his. The radio hummed a softer melody as the two kissed passionately on the dance floor. Claire felt her heartbeat flutter restlessly like the wings of a hummingbird inside her chest. She raked her fingers through Charlie's blonde locks and she felt him pull her closer until their bodies collided. She wondered why she was letting him kiss her like this when they barely knew each other. She wondered why she didn't really care that she barely knew him. Claire sighed into Charlie, feeling safe around him. The two parted, hearts beating in rhythm. Charlie stared deep into Claire's eyes and she looked away.

"Uhm, we should probably find a ride back to LA." she muttered, blushing.

"We should..." Charlie breathed suggesting that they should do the exact opposite.

Claire took a step back and she stated, "Let's see if we can walk back to the main road."

"Okay... WHy don't you want to ask one of these fellas?" he asked. Then, he looked at the room of people, muttering, "I see your point."

They walked down the road, giggling about their performance at the bar. Charlie sang the Kiss song's chorus again and Claire smiled, listening to the sound of his voice. "I'm sorry about kissing you like that." Claire muttered, all joking aside.

Charlie looked at her, frown on his face. "Yeah. Me too." he said, but he didn't sound like he meant it.

Claire nodded. "What did you mean earlier?" she finally asked.

"What?" he asked, looking from his shoes to her.

"When you said that this was the most fun you've had in a long time." Claire reminded him.

"Oh, uhm," Charlie droned, running his hand through his messy hair. "I really don't have much fun. Lately, Liam's really been hard on me about the band..." Charlie answered evasively.

"How?"

Charlie shook his head, but remained silent.

"I don't want to seem rude."

"No, no, it's just... Liam, he's just really wanting us to get popular." he faltered.

Claire was silent this time.

Charlie continued, "He says I'm not important to the band. Just because I don't do drugs or whatever. He says nobody cares about me, he says they really only care about the lead singer."

Claire frowned. "That's... That's not true." she consoled him. Although, she had noticed April really only gushed over Liam... not so much over Charlie, although she did like him, too.

Charlie shrugged. "I mean, I know it is. Liam's the main guy in the band. He's more popular, funnier, better looking than me." Charlie murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked.

"No, no one could be funnier than you." Claire smiled, elbowing him playfully. "And I think you're pretty good-looking." she added, blushing.

"What?" he asked, smiling lightly.

"You heard me." Claire giggled.

"Well, I think you are pretty good-looking, too." Charlie replied with a blush of his own.

Claire smiled at him. "You know, I think I got you all wrong." she admitted.

"Really?" Charlie teased.

"Yeah, you're pretty down-to-earth. And you don't have that cockiness most famous people have."

"Thanks, I try not to get a big head. Even though I am a major rock star." Charlie sarcastically responded.

Claire heard the bitter tinge to his words and frowned. "You are a pretty amazing guy, though." she told him, stopping and touching his arm lightly.

"Thanks," he uttered.

And Claire could tell he didn't believe a word she'd just said.