"Are the rumors true? Are you really going to collab with Mr. Beast?"

"I saw you with a girl at the mall, are you two dating?"

"What are your plans for your next subscriber milestone?"

"Are you going to any conventions this year?"

The questions just kept coming and coming and they did not stop. Charmy thought very hard on how to get away from the small mob of fans that surrounded him. It wasn't nearly as bad as the time he took Cream to the mall, not by a long shot, but it was far from ideal. Suddenly, it hit him. He raised his hand over his eyes, as if to block out the sun, and yelled, "Yo, Sonic, is that you? Fancy seeing you here!" He waved in the general direction of where he was looking. Almost immediately, the people circling turned their attention away.

"Sonic? THE Sonic?!"

"Where? Where?!"

"I gotta know if he's dating that one girl! You know, the hammer chick!"

"I can't believe he's back in Green Hill!"

By the time the crowd realized that the famous Blue Blur was no where in sight, Charmy was long gone. The bee ran as fast as he could, clutching a bag of groceries close to his chest. With some distance between him and the crowd, he put on his goggles and leaped into the air. His little wings fluttered rapidly as he took flight. Once he was far enough above the ground that he wouldn't have to worry about someone trying to drag him down, he let out a sigh of relief. "Those two have gotta stop sending me out of the house to run errands," he said to himself. "My face is too recognizable these days."

The sun shone down on him as he flew back to his office home on the outskirts of Green Hill. His mind wandered to his girlfriend. In two days, she'd be talking to her ex for the first time in five years. At her request, he wasn't coming with. "This is something I need to do by myself," she had told him. He supported her decision, of course, but that didn't make him worry for her any less. Shaking his head, the bee did his best to think about something else.

Charmy glanced down in the bag of groceries. Some cans of soup and beans, some packs of ramen, and small block of cheese sat inside. It was all they could afford this month, and in spite of that he was sure he'd be yelled at. "This is what happens when you waste all our dough on that stupid internet thing," Vector would say. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated it made him. When was the last time that crocodile had been even remotely supportive of his internet career? Never. Not until he brought in mega star who could make them money.

"No, make him money," he thought, correcting himself. "He's never supported my channel or anything. And if I call him out on that, I'll just get that stupid sob story about how he took me in and raised me. What a joke."

The bee let out a frustrated groan. Vector was like a father to him, but in his eyes, he wasn't a good one. He was easily agitated, always grumpy, and didn't even try to understand the internet. Him, Vector and Espio were all like a family. A big, dysfunctional family that always managed to find themselves broke one way or another. For once, he wished he had a normal life. A normal family. A father figure in his life that actually respected him.

Charmy was so lost in thoughts he neglected to see the car parked outside the agency. He opened the door, only to be met with a sight he was not expecting. There stood none other than Jimmy, with Vector on his knees, almost groveling at his feet. "How could I ever repay you?!" the Crocodile yelled, tears of joy streaming down his face.

"It's the least I could do!" Jimmy said with a grin. "If you had told me sooner, I would've tried to help you out in some way."

"I get the feeling I just missed something important," Charmy said as he walked through the front door.

Vector's head shot in the bee's direction. "Charmy!" The crocodile pointed at Jimmy. "He just stocked our fridge! I haven't seen it so full in years! The man's a Saint, I tell ya! A SAINT!"

Jimmy scratched the back off his head, clearly embarrassed and a little uncomfortable. "I wouldn't go that far…" the cat mumbled.

Charmy's jaw dropped. He was completely unsure of what to say. The bee looked around, expecting to see some cameramen he hadn't noticed earlier. "O-oh…" he said, caught off guard. "That's really nice of you, Jim. You didn't have to do that for us."

"Well he did!" Vector yelled as he stood up. "Now we don't gotta worry about food for a while! This guy's the best thing to ever happen to us!" The large crocodile lifted the blue cat off the ground in a big hug, catching him completely off guard.

"I-I appreciate the sentiment," Jimmy stammered, a little crushed by Vector's iron grip hug, "b-but really, I'm just helping out some folks in need. Nothing major…"

Charmy glanced at his bag of food he had bought for them, then looked back up and gave a half-hearted smile. "Thanks for the help Jimmy, I appreciate it. Was that the only reason you came over, or…"

Jimmy's eyes widened with realization. "Oh, that's right!" the feline yelled. He squeezed his way out of Vector's grip and, after taking a moment to catch his breath, walked over to Charmy. "I wanted to let you know we should be all set to film next week. I've been working overtime to get this production started as soon as possible! I don't know how many days we'll be filming, so you might wanna clear your schedule a bit."

Charmy blinked. "Days? Don't these kinds of videos last only one day?"

"Well, normally yes, but not this one! I'm putting your guys' strength to the test as well as your detective skills! This is gonna be my biggest video to date. Bigger than even the Squid Game video!"

"Oh… well in that case, I'll have to let Cream know I'll be a little busy next week, but other than that I should be alright."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "Cream?"

"Did I not tell you? I started dating her recently."

Jimmy's eyes widened a little with surprise. "I had no idea! Congratulations!"

Charmy scratched the back of his head. "Thanks. We've only just started dating, but man, I'm in love. I'd do anything for her."

"Anything?" Jimmy put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment. "So, if some villain kidnapped her, I take it you'd go above and beyond to help her?"

A serious expression crossed Charmy's face. "Oh, absolutely. Do you even need to ask? I'd pummel any greaseball or Eggman-wannabe that dares so much as lay a finger on her. That's a promise."

Jimmy smiled. "That's what I like to hear! What a lucky girl she is." The feline pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Oh shoot, I gotta get going! I've gotta be on a podcast in an hour."

"Oh, alright then," Charmy muttered, a little off guard by the feline's sudden shift in the conversation. "See you next week."

"We'll see you later, kind sir!" Vector yelled from across the room.

Jimmy smiled. "See you two later! Give my regards to Espio whenever you see him."

"I'm right here," a voice at the desk in the room said. The three turned, only to see it was none other than the chameleon himself, looking up from some paperwork he was filing. "I've literally been here the whole time."

Jimmy burst out in laughter. "Oh Espio, up to your Ninja tricks I'm guessing?"

Espio gave the feline a funny look. "No, I've just been sitting here…"

"Haha, right, sneaking in the shadows."

"No. Just sitting at my desk. Right here. The whole day."

"Oh…"

A silence hung in the air.

"Ok, well, bye!" the feline said as he rushed out the door and headed straight to his car. Espio shook his head and went to back to filing his paper work. Vector took a seat on the couch and looked at over at the bee standing by the door. "What's that?" the crocodile asked, pointing at the bag in the bee's hand.

"Groceries," Charmy said simply.

"Groceries? What groceries?"

"You know, the ones you told me to get. The ones I got while being hounded by my fans asking me a million questions. The ones you don't need because a walking success story filled our fridge. Those groceries."

Vector put his hand on his chin. "Ohhhh, those groceries. Well had I known Jim was gonna bring us all that food, I wouldn't have sent you o-"

Vector was cut off by the bag Charm was holding being thrown towards him and slamming into his chest. Cans of soup and beans and packs of ramen spilled out of the bag and onto the couch. "The hell is your problem?!" the croc growled.

"My problem?" Charmy repeated, agitation in his voice. "My problem? You wanna know my problem? My problem is you, you dumb, oversized lizard. Why can't you do anything yourself for once? Why are you always making me do your errands when you know people recognize me out on the streets these days? How come every time I come back here, regardless of what I did that day, I'm always met with you barking at me about something?!"

There was a tense silence in the air before Vector spoke up, clearly angry. "Listen here, you ungrateful little brat-"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child! I'm an adult!"

"You are barely an adult!"

"And yet, somehow, in some way, I'm more of an adult than you've ever been!"

"Now you listen here kid-"

"STOP CALLING ME A KID!" Charmy screamed. Vector was completely caught off-guard and Espio looked up from his work again, equally as surprised. The bee wasn't done, however. He looked Vector dead in the eyes. "Quit acting like I'm some ungrateful child of yours. I'm a grown man, and you-" he pointed directly at Vector, "-you are not my father." The words stabbed into Vector like an ice pick to the back of the head. "I don't know who is, but he sure ain't you."

The shock Vector had felt had now been replaced with anger. He jumped out of his seat and stared down the bee. "Now you listen here!" he yelled, pointing at Charmy. "I don't know what's gotten into you all of a sudden, and I don't care! If it hadn't been for me, you'd be-"

"You'd be alone and have no family, blah, blah, blah, I've heard it all before. You really like telling that story, don't you? You know, sometimes I think you only keep me around so you can feel like you've done one good thing in your life. Everything else is just a money making scheme for you, including the 'business decision' to kick Mighty off the team. But me? Oh, that was out of the 'kindness of your own heart,' right? God, you're pathetic."

Vector shook his fists in anger. "I don't have to stand around here and listen to an ungrateful insect make assumptions about me!"

"Both of you," Espio chimed in cautiously, "calm down. You're not thinking straight, either of you."

"Oh I'm thinking perfectly clearly," Charmy growled. "I might be thinking clearly for the first time in my whole life."

"Oh yeah?" Vector challenged.

"Calm. Down. Now," Espio emphasized.

"I am calm," the bee said with a smirk. "And you know what? I'm done."

The crocodile blinked. "Done?"

"Yeah, that's right," Charmy replied with a nod. "I'm done. I'm gonna go pack up a small bag and leave. We'll do Jimmy's stupid video, then I'll move out entirely. I'm done living under the same roof as you, Vector."

A chill ran down Espio's spine. The two had fought before, but not once had it gotten this bad. "Charmy," he said calmly, "think about what you're saying here. You're angry. You're not thinking straight. Please, calm down."

Before the bee could respond, Vector snapped. "Fine then!" he roared. "Get out, I don't want you here, you ungrateful little prick! We won't have to pay so much for the internet if you're gone!"

"VECTOR!" Espio snapped.

"Ha! It's always about the internet, isn't it?!" Charmy said with a laugh. "You've never once supported me in my internet career! Never once! Not until I brought a mega star you've never heard of right to our door!"

"Get your stuff and get out of my Agency!" the crocodile growled.

"With pleasure!"

Charmy went into his room, and a short while later marched out with a bag slung over his shoulder. "Good riddance!" he yelled as slammed the front door behind him. With him gone, the crocodile and chameleon took a moment to process everything that had just happened. Vector sunk into the couch, a bitter look on his face. Espio got out of his chair and walked over to the couch to face him.

"What the hell was that?!" the Chameleon yelled, dumbfounded. "What the hell did you just do?!"

"Oh, shut up," Vector grumbled.

"What?! He just left! He's not coming back, not after all that!"

"I know."

"Do you care at all?"

"Of course I do! I just…" the crocodile sighed. "Leave me alone. Go on, get out of my face. Let me think about this."

"We are well past thinking, Vector. This is serious. We need to talk about thi-"

"Will you just shut up and leave me alone?!" the croc snapped.

Espio gave Vector an ice cold stare. It was only then that the old crocodile truly realized the gravity of the situation. That stare only meant one thing to him- oncoming pain. The chameleon closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "H-hey," Vector muttered nervously, "I'm sorry, Espio. Y-you're right, we should ta-" His attempts at weaseling his way out of the situation were fruitless, as before he knew it, the Chameleon had given him a swift, hard kick to the groin.

The scream of pain that erupted from the crocodile's large mouth could be heard from well beyond outside the Chaotix Detective Agency's building.

Of course, the second he left, it had started raining. "My day is just getting better and better," Charmy thought sarcastically. He shook himself off the best he could on the patio of the Rabbit residence. Having not packed an umbrella, he was completely soaked. After hesitating for a moment, he knocked on the front door. A few moments later, Vanilla opened the door. Upon seeing the soaking wet bee, she gasped in surprise.

"Charmy?" she asked with concern. "What are you doing out there? Come in, you'll catch a cold!"

"Thanks, Miss Rabbit," Charmy replied solemnly.

After drying himself off, he sat down on the couch wrapped up in a blanket. Vanilla brought him a warm cup of tea, to which he thanked her. She sat in an arm chair by the couch. "Did you come all the way here in the rain just to see Cream?" Vanilla asked him. "I'm sure she'd appreciate that… but she's at work right now."

"No, I know that. I uh…" Charmy grabbed the back of his head, avoiding her gaze. "Umm… this is really embarrassing, but is it ok if I stay here for a few days? I can't go back to the agency right now."

Vanilla's face grew to one of concern. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

Charmy clenched his fist as he thought about what had just happened not that long ago. "I foolishly mistook that oversized loudmouth for a person and lived at his stupid agency my whole life."

The old rabbit's face turned from concern to a frown. "I'm guessing you and Vector got into a nasty fight?"

"Yeah… I don't wanna talk about it, sorry. If I can't stay for a few days, then just for tonight? I can go to a hotel or something tomorrow."

Vanilla let out a sigh. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what's going on, but I can tell you're not going to tell me right now. Of course you can stay Charmy."

Charmy smiled. "Thanks Miss Rabbit. I'm sorry for just showing up all of a sudden like this. Promise me you won't tell Vector where I am?"

A serious look crossed the mother's face. "As long as you promise to sleep on the couch. Not in my daughter's room."

"Wasn't planning on it," the bee said with a nervous gulp.

"I always knew you were a good boy," the woman said rather cheerfully, patting his shoulder a bit. "I'll go get you some more blankets and pillows for tonight."

Charmy watched her get up and walk down the hall before letting out a sigh and staring at the floor. "There's no coming back from this, is there?" he thought. "I wonder if Mighty felt this way… who am I kidding, this is completely different." As Vanilla walked back towards the room with some folded up blankets and pillows, she stopped at the edge of the hall. The sight of the depressed bee made her down herself. She shook her head and walked over to the couch.

Charmy was caught off guard by the stack of blankets and pillows being set down next to him. He looked up to see Vanilla giving him a tender, motherly smile. "Why don't you help me cook dinner," she suggested. "Cream should be here by the time we're done."

The bee smiled softly. "Alright," he said. "Sounds good to me."

Author's Note: A bit of a heavy one for you guys, I decided that the Chaotix needed a bit more going on in this story. The next chapter is going to be one entirely focused on Tails and Amy again since I love writing them together so much. Remember to read and review, and I hope you all enjoy the story so far.