"If I tell you this, you have to promise not to freak out, okay?"

Stephanie was on her break, sitting in a booth across from Gia in the back corner where Ted couldn't see her. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong. In fact, she was late for break because of a rush that came in shortly after lunch began. Rather, Ted had been in a foul mood lately, which normally wouldn't be different than any other time but this was worse. He kept snapping at everybody. She was certain that one day he was going to cause them all to work out and quit.

Gia had been sipping on a soda and now appeared interested. "What is it?"

She was struck with hesitancy, feeling the embarrassment come over her like a wave. She'd been keeping it to herself but was dying to tell someone. And that someone couldn't be her family. Not wanting for them to entertain any ridiculous ideas or make it out to be more than it was. "It's weird," she started off lamely.

"Steph, come on," Gia whined. "Just tell me."

"Alright, alright! I...I kinda had a dream about Charlie."

Gia's eyes widened, jaw dropping. The amusement was clear. She was on the verge of laughter. "Shut up ! What about?" Stephanie was covering her face, groaning, clamming up. Unfortunately, Gia refused to let that happen. "Oh, no you don't. Spill, Steph. You can't just say that and not give details!"

"Details about what?" Lacey was coming around, wiping down a nearby table.

"Steph had a dream about Charlie," Gia told her.

" Gia !" Stephanie yelped. She didn't want this aired out for anyone to hear.

Lacey wore an expression of utter delight. "You were dreaming about Mr. Dreamboat ? I knew it! I knew you had a thing for him!"

"I don't have a thing !" Stephanie denied.

"She has a thing," Gia said to Lacey, who nodded knowingly.

" Ugh . You guys are ridiculous," Stephanie huffed. "There is no thing."

"Is there's no thing than why did you dream about him?" Gia asked challengingly. She had this look in her eyes. A look that conveyed she had Stephanie exactly where she wanted her.

"I can't help what I dream about!" Exasperation was starting to set in. Why did they have to be so hard headed about this?

"But outside things can influence your dreams," Lacey said with a firm nod. "I remember hearing that before."

Gia agreed. "Right, so you were obviously thinking about Charlie-"

They weren't wrong. She had been. But she'd been replaying the conversation they'd had, the day he'd come to apologize to her. The day she'd suggested she could come to therapy with him.

"-and then your mind took it from there."

Flashes of the kiss they'd shared sprung up. It suddenly felt hot in there.

Lacey pulled up a chair, eager to hear more. "So what was the dream about?" Gia's interest was piqued. She too wanted to hear this.

"Yeah, what was it about?"

Stephanie laughed nervously. "It was nothing."

"That means it was definitely something," Gia told Lacey.

"Probably something good if she doesn't want us to know," Lacey giggled.

Gia smirked. "Was it good, Steph?"

She gave up. Sighing in defeat, she said with a noticeable wince, "I kissed Charlie."

Lacey squealed loudly. Some of the other customers glanced in their direction. "Oh my gosh ! Wait, in the dream? You kissed him in the dream?"

" Yes ," Stephanie whisper-yelled. Her face had gone pink. "The dream. I kissed him in the dream."

She looked over at Gia, who had been strangely quiet just now. "And you said it was nothing," Gia said smugly.

"It isn't ," she said, crossing her legs underneath the table. "It doesn't mean anything. It's not like I'm ever going to kiss him."

"We'll see about that," Gia said nonchalantly. "Never say never."

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

The conversation died down. Gia was back to sipping on her cola, soon needing a refill. Stephanie was quiet. The dream was still so vivid. She could practically feel his soft lips, could feel the tingles on her arms when he'd pulled her in close and the scent of his cologne overwhelming her-

She jolted out of her daydream when Lacey nudged her.

"Sorry, what?"

She blatantly ignored Gia's smirk.

"Did you hear about the strike?"

Lacey was whispering, peering over her shoulder every so often.

"There's a strike?" Stephanie was confused. "Where?"

"There will be," Lacey corrected. "Henrietta's putting it together. We won't work until the management changes."

"I haven't heard anything about," Stephanie realized she'd been so preoccupied with her life, with Charlie and her family, that she was out of the loop concerning work.

"We're keeping it on the down low," Lacey said. "You know, so Ted doesn't hear about it."

"Tell me again why he hasn't been fired?" Gia said.

"Because no one else will take the job." The position was opened to the public at one time, just before Jackie gave it to Ted. That was likely a formality thing. Just so she couldn't be accused of playing favorites. Much to their dismay, no one applied.

"I still wish you applied with me," Stephanie said to Gia.

"I would've quit a long time ago," she said matter-of-factly after a snort.

"Don't you mean fired?" Stephanie retorted good-naturedly. She would have done whatever she could to get under Ted's nerves.

"Potato potahto."

"So are you in?" Lacey asked.

"I don't know. I won't work, but I can't promise I'll be out there with a sign all day." She didn't think her dad would be okay with that.

"We're not making signs," Lacey said. "We're just going to sit and plainly state our demands."

"And you think that will work?"

"I hope so," Lacey said, flicking some hair behind her shoulder. "Ted's a tyrant."

"He's always been one," Stephanie said with a sigh.

"I should've quit," Lacey said, shaking her head. "I should've quit a long time ago but noooo . I stuck it out."

"Wear something comfortable tonight," Gia told Stephanie.

"Where are you guys going?" Lacey said conversationally.

Stephanie felt kind of bad talking about this since Lacey wasn't going. "I don't know. Wherever Gia picks. You can come if you want."

"Nah, I got a family thing tonight. Grandparents are stopping by for dinner. Thanks though," Lacey said with a smile.

"Where are we going?" Stephanie said to Gia, curiously.

"You'll see," Gia said with a mischievous grin.

"I don't like that look on your face."

"Wear comfortable shoes," Gia instructed.

Stephanie folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh, don't look at me like that."

"I will until you tell me where we're going," she retorted.

"Chill, Tanner. We're going dancing."

"...Dancing?" Stephanie wasn't expecting that answer.

"There's that new club that opened up on Sunset Boulevard. It's got this big floor for dancing and plays the hottest music."

"I heard about that place!" Lacey said enthusiastically. "It looks really cool!"

"And we won't be under the watchful eye of your uncle," Gia added.

"Why? What are you planning?" Stephanie said suspiciously.

"Would you chill? We're just going to dance, have some fun and grab some food after. No big deal."

It sounded like fun. She hadn't done any dancing for fun in a while now. Plus, it would be cool to have a place to go to besides the Smash Club.

Stephanie tapped her fingers on the table. "You really think you'll convince Charlie and Harry to go dancing?"

She ignored the way Lacey perked up at the mention of Charlie.

"As if they have a choice," Gia scoffed. "They're going."

"You know, this sounds an awful like a double date," Lacey remarked.

They both glared at her.

"First of all, no ," Gia said flatly. "I'm not dating Harry."

"Could be cute."

"No."

Lacey mouthed okay , waving a hand dismissively. "Well, if you need me, Steph, I better get back to work before Satan rears his ugly head."

"Okay," Stephanie said. "I'll be back on in ten minutes."

"Cool," Lacey was already up and putting the chair back at the other table where it belonged. "Catch you later, Gia."

"Bye."

Stephanie waited until Lacey went in to the kitchen. "What made you decide on dancing?"

Gia shrugged. "It's different."

"We could go rollerblading next time," Stephanie suggested.

"It's Harry's turn next time," Gia made a face. "He chooses the dumbest places."

"He chose rollerblading once," Stephanie reminded her. "And you complained even though you like rollerblading."

"I was messing with Harry," Gia said. "I wasn't about to make things easy for him."

/

"So how was work?" Charlie asked, sprawled out on her bed. "Still having problems with Ted?"

Stephanie scowled. Ted had berated her for returning from her break two minutes late when in actuality, she'd been early. He hadn't apologized either but told her to get to work. It put her in a bad mood for the rest of the afternoon.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"He's such a jerk!" She exclaimed and filled him in on what happened earlier. He frowned.

"Sounds like it. Does your dad know?"

"No and he can't know," she shuddered at the thought. "Or Uncle Jesse." The last thing she needed was for them to go down and confront Ted about his attitude. She could fight her own battles and didn't need her dad or her uncle to do it for her.

"Don't worry, babe, my lips are sealed."

"My hero."

"So what's Gia's idea, you know for tonight?" Charlie had brought a bouncy ball with him, throwing it up into the air, catching it and repeating that over and over.

"Well-" This was going to go over well.

He narrowed his eyes and stopped throwing the ball.

"There's this place that just opened up on Sunset Boulevard," she started, "and Gia thought it would be fun to go dancing."

As predicted, he did not share that thought.

"Forget it," it was his turn to scowl.

"It'll be fun," she said, trying to uplift the mood.

"It really won't."

"Have you ever been dancing?" She asked.

Based on his silence, she guessed not.

"I don't like dancing," he said stubbornly.

"Well, you don't have to dance," she said, coming up with a compromise. "You can watch."

"Because that sounds like fun," he said sarcastically.

Her smile faded. She didn't want to leave Charlie out of anything but at the same time, it wasn't fair to ask Gia to reconsider when it was her turn to choose. "I'll just tell Gia we can't come," she decided, grabbing her cell phone.

"But you want to go, don't you?" He said.

"Well yeah, but I can go some other time."

"No," he shook his head. "You should go if you want."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'll do something at home."

"I can't let you do that," she argued. "And anyway, it's fine. Gia won't mind."

She flipped her phone open. Charlie's hand reached out to stop her, touching the top of her hand without intending to. He'd barely touched her, yet the tingly sparks caused her to break out in goosebumps.

She had to remember to breathe.

What was that ? She thought to herself.

"I'll go," Charlie was still looking at her. Evidently, he didn't notice that she'd been in her own little world.

She immediately protested, in spite of asking the opposite of him not even a minute ago. She felt a bit guilty for trying to push him into something he very clearly didn't want to do. "No, no. I can't ask that of you. You don't want to go and I shouldn't try to make you."

"You're not making me...anymore," he said and sighed. "I don't want you to not go because of me."

"It's not a big deal. I can go some other time."

"Quit being so stubborn, Tanner," he groaned.

"Pot meet kettle."

"Shut up."

Stephanie said nothing at first. "If you really want to go-" And she doubted it, considering how he'd been protesting. "-fine. But just tell me when you want to leave, okay?"

"I'm not a kid," he was scowling again.

"I didn't mean it like that," she said calmly. "I only said it so you don't feel like you have to stay the whole time."

"I wouldn't."

"Okay."

He took her pillow, twisting to lay on his stomach, resting his chin on the pillow, facing her. "Nice of you to worry about me."

"I'm not worried."

"Uh huh," Charlie grinned

"You're messing up my bed."

"And you're trying to change the subject," he said.

"I'm not doing anything."

"Liar."

"You're the liar," she said.

"That was weak, Tanner."

Yeah. Yeah it was

"By the way," he said before she could say anything, "sorry about my parents last night."

She was a bit puzzled by his apology. Mr. and Mrs. Mark had been nothing but kind to her. "What do you mean?"

"You know... talking about themselves like that. They're weird sometimes."

"It wasn't weird," Stephanie shook her head. "It was really sweet. They're really lucky to have each other."

"I guess so."

"I want that someday," she said. "Someone to sweep me off my feet."

" Oh-kay , babe, save it for your sisters."

"Whatever."

"You think I like hearing this?"

"You can talk to me about girls," she told him.

"I told you I don't want one."

"Well, you don't have to want one to talk about them."

He didn't respond, but he did tug on her hair.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" she held her breath, waiting for what he had to say.

He let go of her hair.

"About what ?"

"About school," she said carefully. "I mean, you don't have to answer. I'm just wondering."

He stared at her, contemplating. "I guess."

"You're really okay with it?"

"Just ask before I change my mind."

"Are you scared?" She hesitated to ask. He tended to get defensive about that sort of thing. She didn't want to make him clam up. She'd been wondering about this for a while now. There would be no controlling the vicious rumors that would circulate, not to mention what the reaction would be from the kids that did remember him from grade school.

"I don't know," he was clearly conflicted on whether he wanted to share or not. "I don't really want to go. I wasn't exactly nice to everyone."

"No," she agreed. "But you can start over."

"I guess," he was doubtful.

"It's not like you'll be alone," she said with a nod. "You'll have me, Gia and Harry to back you up in case anyone gives you any crap. We're here for you, Charlie."

"Thanks, Steph," he managed to say, looking touched.

They smiled at one another.

It was Gia who broke the mood, entering with Harry following her. "Ready to go?"

The two of them broke eye contact, gathering themselves to their feet. Stephanie ran her fingers through her hair to get rid of any tangles. If she were being honest, she was somewhat disappointed for them coming so soon.

"Yeah," she said, glancing around for a hair tie to pull her hair back. She brightened up when Charlie handed her one, missing the pointed look Gia sent to Harry. "Let's go."

"Do we have to?" Charlie grumbled.

He was ignored.

"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked Harry with a concerned frown. "You look nervous."

"He's freaking out," Gia told her.

"I am not freaking out ," Harry interacted.

"Oh, please. You spent the whole way over here telling me how you don't know how to dance."

"And I don't," Harry stressed.

"You'll be fine," Stephanie smiled at him. "You don't have to know anything."

"I'll make fun of you regardless," Gia shrugged.

"I can always count on you to be consistent," he muttered.

"Exactly, see I'm good for something," Gia grinned.

Harry sighed.

"By the way, Steph," Gia said, "can I borrow your silver earrings?"

"Yeah, sure," Stephanie said.

"Tonight is my night," Gia announced, putting them on.

"Oh, no," Harry grimaced.

"Shut up," Gia inspected herself in the mirror. "I'm sure there's somebody single at that place. I should've worn my short skirt. That would've made an impression."

"Would've made one on me," Charlie said cheekily.

Gia smirked. "Careful or Tanner will get jealous."

Stephanie's cheeks felt warm. She glared at Gia.

"Tanner's always jealous," Charlie said smoothly. "Have you seen the way she looks when girls talk to me?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Is that so?" Gia's grin widened.

"Ignore him," Stephanie said. "He's being ridiculous."

"Or maybe you're in denial," Charlie shrugged.

"I can think of two people who are right now," Gia muttered. Stephanie heard that, shooting her another glare.

"Can we just go already?" Harry saved her by asking. "My parents want me back home before eleven."

"Your parents are lame," Gia said.

Harry wasn't even offended. He'd grown used to Gia's remarks. "They want me to be safe."

"You're almost eighteen," she pointed out. "They have to cut the umbilical cord sometime ."

They were walking out of the house, onto the sidewalk. Gia said it wasn't very far so they could walk there. She and Harry were in front of her and Charlie, bickering like always. Stephanie stayed behind with Charlie, not saying much but not feeling the need to.

"Do they always do that?" He asked.

"All the time," Stephanie said. "You'll get sick of it soon enough."

"No I won't," Charlie said with a smile. "If I can deal with you and not get sick of your face, I can deal with anybody."

"Have I ever told you how sweet you are?"

"No, but you should," he said. "I'm underappreciated enough as it is."

"How will you survive?"

"I don't know," he sighed dramatically.

She giggled. "You know, maybe you and Harry should try hanging out sometime."

He side-eyed her. " Why ?"

"You might have more in common than you think," she said. He was doubtful, she could tell.

"You're doing that thing again."

"What thing ?"

"That thing where you try to make everything all happy and bright with your annoying Tanner magic."

"Tanner magic?" she laughed.

"You and your family are weird," he shook his head. "A different kind of weird. You guys are like some strange sitcom family where life is all shiny and everything wraps up in thirty minutes or less."

Stephanie was amused. "If we were , I'd totally be a favorite. Someone has to notice the middle child."

This got a grin out of him. But then it turned more serious. "I mean it, though. There's just something about you, Steph."

She was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You know-" He was struggling to come up with words. "You're different. You bring out the best in people and you just see the good in everyone."

She didn't know what to say.

"I try," she lowered her head, smiling.

"You even see the good in me."

Stephanie made sure Harry and Gia weren't paying attention when she said, "Charlie, you deserve it. Don't think for one second that you don't."

He shrugged.

"You're a good person," she told him firmly. "What your dad did doesn't define you and neither does whatever he told you. You gotta believe in yourself. I know I do."

It was his turn to be speechless.

"Thank you," he said quietly.