Spending the day with Princess had been great, amazing even, but it didn't stop Eddie from feeling guilty. He'd called home as soon as Princess fell asleep, going out onto the walkway to talk with Chris. "How is she?"

"Eddie, she's fine. Relax, okay?"

"No trouble?"

"No trouble at all. She dropped right off after I read to her a little. She complained I didn't get the voices right, but she's sleeping now. Asked me to send you all her love."

Eddie's heart ached, and he almost got back on his bike to go home. "Tell Charlie I love her too."

"Oh god, are you crying?" Chris laughed. "You're such a sap! Seriously, hang up the phone and get laid already. We will see in the morning. Goodbye." And with that, she hung up.

Eddie returned to the room, Princess' soft snores making the place feel cozier than it should have been.

He had spent a lot of nights there, hiding from the world and trying to write. It had been his safe haven back in the day. Now, it was just a place full of old memories, some bad, some good. He had written a good few hits coming down from benders. Hearing the songs now made his stomach turn.

Still, he wasn't that person anymore, and this was a good memory. Eddie sat down beside Princess, reaching out to brush his hair back gently. Princess didn't stir, apparently exhausted after their afternoon together. Eddie couldn't help smiling when he thought about it. Until he realized Princess had instantly collapsed on the bed without even removing his shoes, let alone the vibrator.

"Hey, Princess?" He asked softly, giving his shoulder a shake, but got no response.

Up to him then. Eddie sighed, hoping Princess would wake up when he rolled him over but no luck. Still dead to the world. A heavy sleeper, then. He wouldn't have been much help when Charlie was a baby and probably would have slept through the cries. Eddie snorted at the random thought.

Carefully, he eased the vibrator out, keeping an eye on Princess' face, but he only twitched once, brows furrowing. Eddie kissed his forehead when he was done, smoothing the frown away, and helped him onto his back again.

Eddie washed up in the small bathroom, leaving his rings on the side to dry. By the time he sat on the bed and started undressing, he was yawning. Princess was like a heater, so it didn't take long for him to fall asleep, comforted by the presence of another person for the first time in years.

So it was with a heavy heart he dropped Princess off in the morning, kissing him one last time before leaving. He glanced in the mirror to see Princess walking away, still wearing his jacket, which was odd compared to the pink leggings, but somehow, it worked. Or maybe it was just Princess.

The ache in his heart lessened when he got home, and Charlie abandoned her breakfast to run into his arms. "Daddy!"

"Oh, hey, kiddo." He fell over with the force of her hug, wincing as his butt hit the floor but kept a tight hold around Charlie. "Slept well?"

"Uh-huh. Auntie Chris can't read properly, though. She gave Frodo a high voice."

"Oh, that won't do!" Eddie answered in his Frodo voice, making her giggle. "Come on. You've got an omelet to finish."

Charlie only let him go once he dropped her back in her seat and immediately returned to attacking breakfast, smearing half of it on her face. Eddie just sighed, rolling his eyes at Chris, who laughed. "She's just like you, an absolute mess."

"Rude." He stole one of her eggs, swallowing before she could object. "Thank you."

"Go shower, you cretin."

Eddie winked at Charlie before doing as he was told and cleaned himself up. By the time he rejoined them, breakfast had been cleaned away. Which meant he had ample time to get Charlie ready for their new favorite activity, baking. He blamed Mr Steve for this.

Before she started school, Charlie liked to play animals and rockstar. Now all she wanted to do was learn to bake as good as Mr Steve. They had been working on their own secret recipe for him, which wasn't in his recipe book, hoping to surprise him. Today was their third attempt at making edible apple and rhubarb pie. The first one had been too sour, and the second, they had burned. So, the third try's the charm.

Chris kissed Charlie goodbye, squeezing Eddie's shoulder as she said, "Gotta run. Going out with Robin, but we'll be back to taste test later. She'll let you know if it's Steve worthy."

"We'll be ready, won't we, babygirl?"

"Yep. This will be the best pie Mr Steve ever tasted! So good he'll cry!"

"Let's not go that far," Eddie laughed. "Have fun, Chris."

"Bye."

Eddie jumped when a bunch of flour hit him in the face. He glared at Charlie as she squealed in delight and quickly evened the score. "Terror. Now, where are the apples?"

"By the sink." Charlie giggled, hitting him with another handful of flour once his back was turned. When he glared at her, she shrugged innocently. "Oops."

"You're cleaning that up."

Eddie cleaned most of it since Charlie couldn't reach the countertops. She got to sit and watch cartoons, which made the job ten times longer since Eddie kept stopping to watch. Until Charlie turned to look at him and said, "Daddy, you're supposed to be cleaning."

"Put something boring on then."

"The news?"

"Yeah, that'd work." He laughed when she scrunched up her nose and turned back to the cartoons. "Okay, but don't blame me when I pass out and you have to take over."

"Auntie Chris will be back soon. She can take over."

"Auntie Chris has been cleaning up my messes for far too long. I can do this one." Eddie turned his back on the TV to finish the table.

The smell of baking pie soon overwhelmed the apartment, and Eddie heard Charlie's stomach rumble pointedly. But it wasn't ready yet, so he made her a sandwich instead.

"Mr Steve gave us homework," she told him thickly through a bite.

"Uh-huh, and what's that?"

"Spelling. I've got a sheet."

"Better get to work then, babygirl. We don't want to upset Mr Steve."

"After this episode?"

"Okay." Once it was finished, he raised his eyebrows expectantly, and Charlie ran off to find it. Eddie sat up and turned off the tv. When Charlie returned with the sheet, he looked down at the pictures and half-formed words underneath. Most were three, maybe four, letters long. "You got this?"

"Yes." Charlie sat down on the floor next to him, tongue poking out in concentration as she focused. Eddie said nothing, just watched her slowly work, and was pleased when she got them all right. Mr Steve was good. "All done!"

"I think that earns you a piece of pie."

"Yay, pie!"

The front door opened as he handed her a plate with a generous helping, and they both looked around to see it was Chris and Robin. "Something smells good." Chris came over to investigate, ruffling Charlie's hair as she looked at the plate. "Mmm, yummy. Can we have some?"

Eddie got out two more plates. Steve would have to make do with just a slice if it passed Robin's test. When he handed her a plate, he frowned, trying to figure out what about her was different.

She noticed after a moment and frowned back. "What?"

"I don't know. Something's different."

"Let me know if you figure it out." She took the plate with a wink, joining Chris on the couch.

Charlie quickly wriggled between them, looking pleased about the arrangement, which left Eddie to take the floor. He kept a close eye on Robin, who was more interested in talking to Chris than eating. Then he realized what was different. Robin was wearing a blue sweater almost identical to Princess' the night they had eaten at Enzo's.

He choked on his pie at the realization, causing everyone to stop and look at him. He waved a hand and said in a raspy voice, "I'm fine."

"Doesn't sound fine," Robin smirked, finally taking a bite. Eddie watched with satisfaction when her eyes widened, and she quickly scooped another forkful into her mouth. "Oh my god, this is amazing."

"Steve worthy amazing?"

"Oh, he is gonna lose his mind! You have to give me the recipe."

Eddie found the page on his phone and sent her the link. "There you go."

"There's no way you followed some basic ass recipe off the internet."

"You said a naughty word!" Charlie poked a sticky finger in Robin's cheek. "Put a quarter in the swear jar."

"What?"

"We have a swear jar. So cough up, Buckley." Eddie went to find it, jingling the loose change merrily as he set the jar before Robin.

"This is ridiculous."

"That's the rules," Charlie told her happily, and Robin dug in her pocket for some loose change. She dropped a quarter in the jar with a sigh. "Happy?"

"Thank you for funding our trip to Wisconsin."

"Why Wisconsin?"

"Charlie saw an advert for Lake Geneva. She's been begging to go ever since. The way things are, we can go next spring. Right, babygirl?"

"Uh-huh. I wanna go to the zoo and pet the llamas!"

"They'll spit in your face," Chris warned her.

"I'm pretty sure that's alpacas." Robin dropped another quarter in the jar with a shrug. "Consider that my investment."

"Both spit, but we'll take our chances." Eddie returned the jar to the kitchen as Charlie made an eww sound, causing Chris and Robin to laugh.

By the time he returned, his slice of pie had been taken. An innocent Charlie sat with two plates instead of one. He poked her stomach, causing her to giggle. "Stop it!"

"I think I feel my pie in there."

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"…maybe."

"Chris, do you smell that?"

"I do." She grabbed Charlie suddenly, tickling her sides. "Someone's pants are burning!"

"No, no, stop!" Charlie shrieked with laughter, squirming between Chris and Robin so much that Eddie had to step back to avoid getting kicked in the face. "I ate the pie!"

"A liar and a thief," Robin sighed, snatching up the plate to finish Eddie's slice. She raised her eyebrows at him when she caught his eye and asked thickly, "What?"

"Animals, the lot of you." Eddie shook his head in mock disappointment, scooping Charlie up and away from Chris' attack. "Come on, babygirl, you can wash up."

Robin stayed for dinner, helping Eddie clean up afterward. She had removed the sweater, and he picked it up once they were finished, running the soft fabric through his fingers. It felt the exact same, too, and he almost smelled it, but Robin's voice halted him even as he lifted it. "Uh, Eddie?"

He jumped, looking at her guiltily. "Yeah?"

"You like cashmere or something?"

"Not really. Just looks familiar." He held out the sweater for Robin to take back.

"It's Steve's. We share clothes sometimes."

Eddie dropped the sweater like it had burned him. Robin gave him a funny look as she bent down to pick it up. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Just a sweater. And your floors are clean, so no harm done." She patted his shoulder on her way out. "Steve doesn't have to know how disrespectful you are to his things."

"That's not fair."

"I'm sure that pie will make up for it!"

Eddie quickly wrapped up a slice before he could forget. Still, it seemed incomplete, so he grabbed a piece of paper to leave a note.

'Thank you for turning Charlie into a master chef. We'll need more recipes soon.

If she asks, the pie was amazing.

You should-'

Eddie hesitated, pen hovering above the paper. He'd been about to propose Steve visit his shop sometime so they could finally meet, but that had to be crossing some boundary. Instead, he chose a safer option, even if it was just as true.

'-write a cookbook. I'll be your first customer.

Hope to make it to the next parent's evening,

Eddie

P.S. Is the sweater thing only to charm kids? I think it works on adults too.'

Again he hesitated and then scribbled a kiss next to his name, folding the paper decisively. Sliding it under the plate, Eddie took them to Robin so she wouldn't forget. Just in time, too, because she was saying goodbye in the doorway.

Eddie handed her the note and pie. "For Steve."

She eyed the note with a knowing smile that had him fighting not to blush. "I'll make sure he gets these."

"Thanks." Eddie quickly sat down before he could embarrass himself further as Chris kissed Robin goodbye.

"Text me when you get home?"

His heart froze, panic setting in. He hadn't texted Princess. Scrambling from the couch, he ignored the strange looks he received from the girls as he hurried to find his phone. Shutting the bedroom door behind him, he called Princess. The call went to voicemail, and cursing, he tried again.

"You got home then?"

His heart both rose and fell at the sound of Princess' cool voice. "I'm sorry. I just… forgot. I know, really shitty excuse. Kinda hoping you'll forgive me for being an ass?"

Princess sniffed and took a long time to answer. So long, Eddie started to panic again. Just when it became unbearable, he replied, "Let me choose where we go next, and we'll call it even. And I want one more question."

"Yeah?"

"Are you married?"

"No." Eddie didn't mean to sound amused and quickly amended. "Sorry, not a funny question. Caught me off guard, is all. But no, definitely not married. I have a shit memory, and I got distracted. That's all, I promise."

"Okay." Princess sighed, voice softening. "I'm glad you got home. Eventually."

"I'm so-"

"Don't apologize."

Eddie's mouth shut with an audible click, but it was worth it to get a chuckle out of Princess.

"You can make it up to me by letting me choose our next date. Wear something nice. I'm paying, okay?"

"You don't have to-"

"It's my turn. You've paid for everything so far. Let me?"

How could Eddie say no? "Okay."

"Was that all?"

Yes, but he didn't want to say goodbye, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Can you make pie?"

"Pie?"

"Yeah, like, apple pie? Your strudels were amazing, so I'm wondering what else you can make."

"I can. Do you want me to make you one?"

"No! Let me. Consider it an apology. Sorry, not supposed to apologize. Either way, I'll make you one."

"Okay," Princess laughed, back to being sweet, and Eddie relaxed. "But it better be good."

"I'll try my best."

After a pause, Princess asked softly, "So I'll see you in two weeks?"

"Not a day later. And I'll dress up, scouts honor."

"Were you a scout?"

"Nope, but the statement stands." He smiled when he got another laugh. "I should go. But I'll text you soon, okay?"

"Sure. Night, Kas. And thanks for calling."

"Night, Princess." Eddie hung up and took a moment to compose himself before rejoining the girls.

Chris was waiting for him, still by the front door, and she asked with a knowing smile, "Everything alright?"

"Yep. Forgot I had a phone call to make." Eddie fell onto the couch beside Charlie, pulling her into his side with a sigh. She happily snuggled in with a yawn, eyes glued to the TV. "All sorted now. Is Robin gone?"

"Yeah, just after you ran off like there was a fire."Chris joined them, curling into Eddie's other side.

"Goodbye, Robin," he said, waving at the closed door, smiling when Charlie laughed. "How are things with her?"

"Good. Real good if I'm honest." Chris smiled softly, with such a fragile look in her eyes.

Love was terrifying.

And the thing was, Eddie could feel himself falling, too. The problem was, he didn't know who for.