Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 37 (Monday's Catfight)

Monday evening, it was just another typical day at the martial arts class, or at least that's what Charlotte would have liked. Apparently, Jo only let everyone off on the twenty-second and twenty-fifth of December, the twenty-fourth falling on Sunday. Then the twenty-ninth of December and first of January. Charlotte had missed several days of martial arts, with permission granted of course, but it was still quite a lot. When she arrived, Jo was already smirking at her, a sign that she had something planned. Was it enough she hoped Jo wasn't going to teach a new form?

Behind her, as usual, was Brittany. She was still pissed at Brittany, who as of this day, was still the most elusive girl on the face of the planet. Not only was she elusive, she was insanely vague whenever she talked. "Miss Duncan, how was your Christmas vacation?" Her eyes shot to Jo and her eyebrow rose. "I'm asking you first because you were gone the longest. A lot of people had some time off, so I'm getting around to everyone, not singling anyone out here." That was a surprise, and a pleasant one at that.

"It was fun, we went caroling, then checked out some ice slopes. I could go on and on, but I'd rather not. It was the first Christmas I had with extended family, and I think it was the best." She didn't want to bore anyone with the details, as exciting as it was for her. The presents around the tree were numerous, but paled in comparison to the memories created. "Aunt Diane makes the best hot chocolate!" Of course, Aunt Diane did most of the cooking, with some help from PJ, but Diane's cooking was quite literally the best food that Charlotte had eaten in a long time. Everything was home cooked, no secret about that.

"I'm glad to hear you had a good Christmas." She nodded and listened as the instructor went around the room. It seemed everyone had fun over the holidays and great times with family, which was the most important thing. She was even happy to hear Brittany talk about her family. It was good that Brittany had fun with her family and whatnot, very good indeed. Now she could die with the memory of her family, because Charlotte still wanted to turn her into a human pretzel! "Well, I know I tasked all of you to studying your forms over the holidays, so those of you who were out for a few weeks, I want you to show me what you have so far."

After a while, everyone had done their formations, some had practiced while others slacked off. Charlotte had practiced her own form a few times, not enough to perfect it, but just enough to earn some praise from the instructor. Towards the end, it was time to start sparring, and Charlotte had in mind exactly who she wanted.

She reached over and tapped Brittany on the shoulder. Once the girl turned to her, she grinned and waved. "Hi Brittany, I'm going to be sparring with you." Brittany raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I have no desire to let you turn that down, so we're sparring. I'm still miffed over you trying to mess up my relationship with Mason, and I'm going to put you in your place…"

"Yeah, we're not supposed to seriously injure anyone." She didn't care to injure her, she wasn't going to do anything bad. She just wanted to slap her around. She narrowed her eyes as Brittany continued to stare her down.

"If I was going to seriously injure you, I would have done it already…" Hell, even since she'd been back in school, Brittany had been making her regular appearances whenever she was around Mason. For this girl to say she didn't care that she'd broken up with Mason, then to practically stalk them, it seemed counterproductive. "I'm just saying, how many times do I have to tell you to leave us alone? I feel like I have to smack some sense into you one way or another." Brittany rolled her eyes and lowered her arms.

"Look, do whatever. I have my reasons…"

"None of which you ever bother to explain. All you've ever done is compete, compete, compete…and the more you try to compete for Mason, the worse you look."

"This isn't about competing. Even my Mom told me that." Now there was a shock, because certainly that woman couldn't possibly let competitiveness down. "I am more shallow than I am competitive, and I'm actually willing to admit that. Does competitiveness have anything to do with me caring whether or not you date Mason? No, in fact, I could care less about competing over him. If you want him, it's your loss, not mine." Charlotte raised an eyebrow as Brittany moved into the usual fighting stance. She did the same and lifted her hands up. "The more emotionally attached you become to someone, the more it hurts when you lose them, right?"

"Oh? And what makes you think I'm going to lose Mason? Are you plotting something else?" Brittany rolled her eyes and performed a frontal kick, which Charlotte deflected with her left arm. She countered the kick by swinging her right arm towards Brittany. The girl deflected the knifehand strike with her left forearm.

"So like you to think I'm plotting anything. Just because I've always tried to be better than you at everything, like this…cause…" She flipped her hair and smirked, only further angering Charlotte. "You know I am better. It doesn't mean I'm always trying to plot something terrible and god-awful against you." Brittany spun, lifting her leg up into the air, then swung it down. Charlotte quickly threw her hands up, grabbing the leg. "You're still open."

"Wha-" She pulled her leg back and lifted her left leg while putting her right leg down, Charlotte spotted the move a second too late and was swiftly kicked in the side. She staggered sideways and groaned. She needed to counter, fast, but Brittany was already charging her. Thinking fast, she lifted her leg and kicked out to the side, striking Brittany in the chest. The girl stumbled backwards and shook her head, jarred by the strike. While she was shaking off the hit, Charlotte kicked out her heels, then leapt upon her, straddling her waist. "Who's open now?"

"I know you're not about to turn this into a catfight, Charlie Duncan."

"It's Charlotte, Brittany. No one calls me-"

"Oh who really cares!" She froze and met Brittany's annoyed glare. In an instant, she found herself colliding with the ground and trading places with the girl she'd just had pinned. "Somewhere down the line, we used to be friends. Maybe it was years ago, I don't know, but for some screwed up reason, I really don't want to see you get hurt. Okay? That's it. Nothing more, nothing less." She raised an eyebrow and extended her arms on the ground, deciding not to try and push Brittany off, but to let her talk.

"Then what is your problem, Brittany? Why do you not like Mason? Dee and Regina have nothing against him, and they're my best friends." A best friend's judgment usually was the best judgment you could have, although an enemy also knew their enemies better than a best friend would. Maybe Brittany saw something she didn't. Mason, at least, wasn't the type to cheat. She didn't think that was the case.

"I never said I didn't like him, he's a good guy, I just didn't want to be the 'bitch' that tells you this…though he probably won't tell you himself. What more, you probably won't even believe me!"

"Well it is Mason you're talking about, and I've learned to take everything you say with a grain of salt." Brittany smirked and hopped off.

"Smart girl." She extended her hand and helped Charlotte to her feet. "As for Mason, there's a reason he and I aren't dating anymore. He's a great guy, and if you want to date him, go for it, but know that you're eventually going to lose him…"

"Now when you say that-"

"I'm not planning anything." There was an irritated and bitter tone in Brittany's throat, one that told Charlotte to quit accusing her of things. It was likely she needed to have an open mind, but it was hard for her to have one when it came to Brittany. "He broke up with me, first of all, but only because I couldn't handle the news at the time." She rolled her eyes as the girl started brushing off her uniform.

Why the hell was she so vague? She folded her arms and narrowed her glare onto her. "Just get on with it, Britt…" What would she say? What news had Mason been giving out that she couldn't possibly handle? What? Was he a believer in polygamy? Was he Amish? She chuckled the thought and shook her head as the girl glared her direction.

"He's a ticking time bomb, Charlotte. He has a brain aneurysm, it runs in his family…It's the real reason his mother died, her father had an aneurysm and died young, so did her father's Dad. There was speculation that her mother's grandfather also had an aneurysm. When Mason told me, he said he didn't want to tell anyone because he didn't want to worry anyone, but the doctors said he wouldn't make it to twenty years of age…I freaked out, got scared, he took it to heart, then dumped me. Okay? That's it. If and when that aneurysm up there bursts, the closer you are, the more devastated you'll be…and you've already lost your entire family, so…"

Charlotte stared at her, her mouth open as that of a fish's mouth. Her entire world had just collapsed and her heart was beginning to crack. No, she wouldn't believe this. Brittany was lying, she was always lying! Anything to get under her skin, right? If it were true, she could understand why Mason wouldn't bring it up, and she could understand why Emmett was so difficult and hard pressed about their dating. Brittany had just said it, the closer she was to Mason, the harder it would be.

"B-Brittany, even if that were true, you don't have any right to bring it up or keep me from being with him." Brittany lowered her arms and frowned at her. "You were right to think I wouldn't believe you, I don't. He plays football, Brittany. How could he play football with an aneurysm!"

"It's probably dormant right now, I don't know, but it's in the brain, not the heart. I imagine he'd have to take a bad hit to the head for it to burst…have you ever notices that he has to sit out for a portion of his games? He's not always in. Not like Kevin, or the other players. Having an aneurysm doesn't automatically mean you can't enjoy sports, it just means you have to be a little careful. You don't have to believe me, just think about it…"

"Yeah, right. This match is over…just leave us alone Brittany. All right? Leave us alone." Bad news was one thing she didn't need, but bad news coming from someone who was usually a chronic liar was even worse. No way in hell could she believe Mason might have an aneurysm. Even if that were true, she wouldn't stop dating him for it. It would hurt, knowing he could go at any time, and at least she'd be prepared for it, but Brittany couldn't possibly expect her to believe something like that. It was absurd!

They moved to their positions as Jo called the class to the final minutes. Charlotte felt like she'd just wasted a good amount of time with Brittany, she wanted to make up for it. Perhaps she would the next day by asking Sierra to spar with her. Even though that usually ended badly for her, she still enjoyed it.

Whoa, big news. A new side of Brittany too. Well guys, your thoughts on all of this?