It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 1. Chapter 1- The Idea

**Tuesday**

**4:45pm**

**Philadelphia, PA**

Dee placed her hand on the door handle of the bar and took a deep breath while mentally preparing herself for what she would find within. Every day it seemed like something highly disturbing and improbable happened concerning her friends and idiot brother and she always ended up involved.

Just as she was about to open the door, it flew open at hurricane like speed and hit her right in the face.

"Oh God damnit!" she exclaimed from the ground while clutching her nose in pain.

Mac and Dennis paid her no mind as they continued chattering away excitedly to each other about something.

Dee struggled to her feet and winced as she pulled her hand away to find blood. "You assholes! Look what you did this time!"

"What we did? If anything, it's your fault for getting in the way," her obnoxious brother said, sparing her a half amused, half disgusted glance.

"Yeah Dee it's not as if we exist to watch out for you. So start paying attention to your surroundings. I'm a master at that so I know what I'm talking about," Mac grinned to himself.

The two then continued walking away without waiting for Dee's response so she huffed angrily and stalked into the bar, grumbling to herself.

Charlie was leaning against the bar with a beer in one hand and a mop in the other. "Whoa what happened to your face?" he asked her.

"Mac and Dennis happened," she said as she sat down on a stool and grabbed a beer for herself. "Could you find me something to wipe this blood off with? Preferably something that is not crawling with disease."

"Well no promises on that last part but I'm sure I can dig something up," Charlie said while patting the pockets of his jacket. "Ah! Here you go," Charlie said as he handed over a rag that he had found.

Dee stared at him skeptically as she took the rag. "Don't worry Dee it's totally clean. Really. I just did my bi-monthly laundry run and that was included."

"Alright well thanks I guess," Dee said as she gently pressed it to her nose. "So what were Mac and Dennis so excited about anyway?"

"Well tonight is their movie night and they were running off to rent some movie to watch," Charlie said while cleaning the floor or, more than likely, just rubbing the existing dirt around. "They didn't ask good old Charlie to join them, oh no, they just ran right out without saying goodbye."

"They're dicks Charlie. What do you expect?" Dee said, her voice slightly muffled by the rag.

"I know that but sometimes it just gets to me you know? Like they're supposed to be my best friends and stuff," Charlie said dejectedly.

Dee found herself feeling a rare stab of pity for her scraggly friend. Mac and Dennis really did treat him horribly sometimes and she knew what that felt like first hand.

"Well Charlie how about you and I have our own movie night? Then we can rub in how much better our movie night is than theirs."

"Hmmm I guess that could be fun. Frank would probably be game too and I'm sure we could make some room for you on our couch," Charlie rubbed his chin as he thought about it.

"I will absolutely not sit in your filthy apartment with you and my ex-father. No, I was thinking that you and I could watch it at my place," Dee said, shuddering slightly as she thought about Charlie's offer.

"Really? But I thought you never wanted me to set foot in your apartment again after I may or may not have lit part of it on fire." Charlie said.

Dee sighed and rubbed her temples. Sometimes being Charlie's friend was hard work. "I did say that but that was a long time ago so I'm willing to give you a second chance. But you are definitely not allowed to bring a lighter. Or explosives. Or guns, rats, or anything else you would think are a good idea to bring."

"Well you're sort of taking all the fun out of the experience but fine," Charlie grumbled. "What movie should we get? _Predator?_"

"No because that's the movie Mac and Dennis always watch. What is wrong with you? We want to make this our own thing and therefore that means a different movie," Dee said slowly so that hopefully Charlie would understand.

"Alright well I guess we should go to the movie store then and see what they have!" Charlie exclaimed excitedly.

Dee and Charlie left the bar empty as usual and began walking since it was only two blocks away. As Charlie began talking animatedly about how he wanted a movie that somehow combined cats and superheroes, Dee checked her face in the small mirror that she had to make sure that the bleeding had fully stopped. Luckily it had but she could see bruises forming underneath her eyes. She was lucky those idiots hadn't broken her nose.

They arrived at the store and as they walked inside, Dee saw the idiots in question in all their glory. Dennis was holding a movie and had a confused expression on his face while Mac was explaining why they should get it, using karate moves for emphasis.

"Hey dick bags. Long time no see," Dee said.

"What the hell are you two doing here? Who's at the bar?" Mac asked.

"That's not important. Listen I want you two to apologize for what you did to my face," Dee said while pointing to the damage they had inflicted.

"Dee, your ugliness is hardly our fault," Dennis snorted while reading the back of the movie case.

"Arghhh you two are impossible. That's why Charlie and I are going to have our own movie night."

"Yeah okay whatever. You guys have fun with that," Dennis said, waving her off.

Dee looked back and forth between Mac and Dennis in exasperation who had turned their backs on her and had resumed their conversation.

She turned away angrily and stalked over to Charlie who was attempting to read the title of several movies. "Dee I don't think any of these movies are in English," he whispered frantically in to her ear and getting far too close for comfort.

She shoved him back harshly. "Charlie you idiot all of these movies are in English. You know what? Why don't we just watch one of my DVDs that I have in my apartment?"

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea. I mean how does this whole renting movies thing even work? It seems very complicated," Charlie said while scratching his head.

Dee simply rolled her eyes and grabbed Charlie by his jacket, effectively dragging him out of the store. She wondered how quickly she would regret this whole movie night idea.


	2. Chapter 2- First Movie Night

**Tuesday **

**8:05pm **

**Philadelphia, PA**

"Alright so my set of DVDs are over in that cupboard underneath the TV. Why don't you pick something?" Dee said as she flopped down onto her couch. She took two pain pills with several gulps of water. Her nose still felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer and her head was pounding from dealing with the amount of ridiculousness the day had thrown at her.

"Dee all of these movies seem very girly to me. We might have to go back to the video store or something," Charlie said as he sat on the floor. He had quickly made a mess of her neatly stacked movies and had them all scattered around him.

Dee rubbed her face and tried to hold in a groan of frustration. "We are not, under any circumstance, going back to that store tonight. I'm sure there's something in there that you'll like." She stood up slowly while gripping her head and sat down across from him.

"Oh hey! This one has Adam Sandler in it let's watch it," Charlie said as he pulled _50 First Dates_ from the pile.

"Ok," Dee said with relief. Hell, she would have been happy with anything at this point. "I will warn you that it is kind of girly though. But it's funny so I think you'll like it."

Charlie nodded and without further ado began opening up her fridge and all of her cupboards in her kitchen. "Hey do you have anything good to eat here? I'm starving."

Dee paused and realized that she didn't have all that much. She should have gone shopping today but had never gotten around to it. "Uh no. Not really. How about we order a pizza?" Dee began searching her counter and bulletin board for a menu. Once she found one she sat on her couch and beckoned Charlie over.

"Ok what kind do you want?"

"Anything really! I wouldn't even mind if cat food was the topping," Charlie said as he laid back on the couch.

Dee made a face of disgust and dialed the number. "Yes, hello I would like to order a medium pizza with pepperoni please."

"Dee wait! Tell them to put jelly beans on it too," Charlie said excitedly, practically yelling in her ear.

"What the hell are you talking about? Jelly beans are not an option for a pizza topping Charlie," Dee hissed as she covered the phone with her hand and shoved Charlie away from her for the second time that day.

"Alright, alright. Man, you never let me have any fun," Charlie said while crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

Dee sighed as she uncovered the receiver and told the restaurant her address. "Ok Charlie the pizza should be here in about fifteen minutes so I guess we can start the movie while we wait."

"Yeah! And we can start drinking too!" Charlie said as he pulled a large bottle of some bright orange liquid out of his jacket.

"Right…ok. Drinking I approve of but what the hell is that stuff? And where did you get it?" Dee asked, mildly confused as to where in Charlie's jacket the bottle had been hiding.

"Well remember after we left the video store and popped back into the bar to lock it up and everything? I found this bottle underneath the counter where Dennis hides all of his good stuff. Yeah, I once heard him and Mac talking about how great this drink was so I decided to take it," Charlie said, looking proud of himself.

"Hmmm alright well I guess trying it can't hurt," Dee said as she moved to put the DVD in.

Charlie collapsed next to her and unscrewed the cap of the bottle. "Whoa! This stuff tastes weird. Like a mixture of orange juice and antifreeze," he said after taking a sip.

"I'm disregarding that comment because I don't want to know how you know what antifreeze tastes like. Let me try some!" Dee said as she reached for the bottle.

"That is really weird. But I think I like it," Dee said as she smacked her lips together.

"Hey Dee you technically just kissed me. You drank from the bottle right after I did!" Charlie said, grinning like a crazy person.

"Jesus Christ Charlie what are you, five?" Dee said as she rolled her eyes. "Just watch the God damn movie."

They had only been watching it for about ten minutes before the pizza arrived. As she opened the door, the delivery man looked around her curiously to see Charlie guzzling the orange liquid from the bottle. "I'm sorry. I know how hard it can be to take care of those with special needs," the man whispered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dee responded.

"Well, I heard about the phone call you placed and how he was asking for jelly beans in the background. That's a tough life. My uncle's got dementia so I completely understand," he said while patting her comfortingly on the shoulder.

"Right," Dee said slowly before turning around. "Hey Charlie you think you could cough up five bucks?"

"Ah no can do Dee I'm absolutely broke. But I figured since I brought the alcohol we could call it even." Charlie grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders.

Dee turned away from the man at the door and walked away into her room to find the small amount of tip money she had stowed away there. When she walked back into the living room she found the delivery guy standing by the couch watching the movie.

"Man, I love this movie," he chuckled while still holding the pizza.

"Yeah, yeah it's great. Ok here's your money," she said as she took the pizza and began subtly trying to shove him out of her apartment.

"Hey! You didn't include a tip!" he said as he stumbled back into the hallway.

"Yeah, well, you really shouldn't have expected one," Dee said as she slammed the door in his face.

As she turned back around she found Charlie shoving an entire slice of pizza into his mouth while laughing which caused him to spray at least a quarter of it across her living room. Dee sighed; this was going to be a long night.

0.0.0

The movie was about two thirds over and Dee and Charlie were pressed shoulder to shoulder, the empty pizza box sitting discarded on the floor between them. They were passing the bottle of the unknown drink back and forth, it also being about two thirds empty.

"Man, I don't know what's in that stuff but whatever it is, it's working," Dee said, slightly slurring her words.

"Yeah this stuff is awesome! I'll have to ask Mac and Dennis about it someday," Charlie sighed after gulping down a large amount of the liquid.

"Speaking of Mac and Dennis, they really do treat you like shit Charlie. I don't know why you put up with it," Dee said as she turned a bit to face him.

Charlie shrugged and glanced at her. "It's not like they treat you that great either."

"You know what? You're right. Well screw them because we can have fun on our own without them!" Dee exclaimed, taking the bottle back from Charlie.

"Yeah this really is fun. I do like this movie. I think it's nice how much Adam Sandler's character cares for that girl," Charlie said while looking back at the film.

"You do? Well that's…. unexpected. Who would ever think that Charlie Kelly could appreciate romance," Dee said while looking at Charlie with surprise.

"Come on Dee that's not fair. I am a very complex soul," Charlie laughed as he looked back at her again.

It was then with stunning clarity that Dee realized how attractive Charlie looked when he smiled. She mentally shook herself. Charlie attractive? That must be the alcohol talking. She really shouldn't have mixed that with the pain pills. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 she thought as she took another gulp from the bottle.

"I think that we should make this a weekly thing. You know, you and me watching movies and stuff," Dee said.

"Really? That's awesome cause I was sort of thinking the same thing but didn't want to say it out loud cause I thought you would say no," Charlie said sheepishly.

Dee patted him gently on the shoulder. "No, I'm surprisingly enjoying myself a lot while spending time with you," she said while smiling at him.

Charlie smiled in return. "Me too."

And with that they finished off the bottle of alcohol as well as the movie, Dee crying like she did every time. Charlie patted her awkwardly on the back and she rested her head on his shoulder, too tired and drunk to care.

0.0.0

Dee woke to a brilliant light on her face and she groaned as she struggled to open her eyes. Why was she on her couch? She looked up to see Charlie passed out. She jumped to her feet as she realized that at some point they had both fallen asleep and that she had been lying in his lap.

She groggily pulled her cell phone toward her and saw that it was seven in the morning. "Charlie. Hey, Charlie wake up," she said as she poked him in the chest.

"Wha? What's happening?" Charlie flailed and hit her in her still sore nose.

Dee cried out and fell to the floor. "Oh shit Dee I'm sorry," Charlie said as he grabbed her hand and helped her to stand back up. "Are you okay?"

"Um. Yeah I think so. Thanks for asking?" Dee said, making it sound more like a question than a statement. She was not used to any of her so called friends caring about her well-being but it made her oddly happy to see that Charlie did, at least a little bit.

"No problem. Last night was fun huh? Well, I guess I'll see you in the bar later," Charlie said as he smiled at her one more time before walking out of her apartment.

Dee had no idea what was happening. First, she actually liked having Charlie as company. Second, she distinctly remembered thinking that he was attractive at some point during the night. Third, she was sober now and still enjoyed the way he smiled at her. She didn't know what this meant but she was sure that it could mean nothing good.

**A/N: Hey so is everyone enjoying this story so far? Feel free to leave a review to let me know how I'm doing or a suggestion or something. Next chapter will have more interaction between all of the characters including Frank so buckle up for that adventure. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3- Meeting Calvin

**Saturday **

**9:35 pm **

**Philadelphia, PA**

For once in a long time, Paddy's was busy. The entire gang was there and actually working for once. Dee had only had time to take two shots so far which was a far cry from the normal amount that she had on a nightly basis.

As she rounded the edge of the counter with a bunch of empty beer bottles in hand, she ran smack into Dennis and found herself on the ground for the second time that week.

"You really need to work on that whole 'not getting in the way' thing," Dennis said as he continued towards the center of the bar and to what looked like a young girl who was sitting alone at a table.

Dee groaned and thought about how bad her luck truly was. Her eyes still had slight bruises under them from when Dennis had hit her in the face on Tuesday. She was pondering the idea of trying to get herself into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the worst brother ever when Charlie's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Dee what are you doing on the floor? I mean, normally I would support it. It can be quite relaxing. I remember this one game of Nightcrawlers that Frank and I were playing - "

"Charlie," Dee began calmly. "Do you think that instead of standing there, talking about things that I would rather kill myself than listen to, you could help me up?" she ended in a shriek.

Charlie merely held up his hands in surrender before offering one to her and hauling her to her feet. "Thanks," she huffed, trying to wipe off the filth that had accumulated on her while simultaneously wincing at all of the sticky spots on her clothing and skin.

"No problem. After all, you are in my number one spot this week," Charlie said while winking conspiratorially at her.

"I'll probably regret asking this but…. What are you talking about?" Dee said while shutting her eyes and begging any God who was listening for patience.

"Well, every week I make a list of which one of you guys is my best friend. This changes drastically from week to week depending on who treats me the best and who I have the most fun with. Ever since Tuesday you've been in the number one spot!" Charlie said proudly.

"Oh. Well that's nice I guess. In a pathetic and creepy way of course," Dee said while narrowing her eyes at Charlie in confusion. He was truly very hard to figure out. Although what he was saying was kind of sweet and it did boost her abysmal self-esteem to know that she was someone's number one best friend. If only for a week.

"Like I said Dee, I'm a complex soul," Charlie said while letting out a slightly deranged laugh.

So Charlie wasn't drunk enough to forget exactly what he had said to her that night. Very interesting. What was even more interesting was that Dee could remember everything that had happened as well. She was just thinking about what this could mean when a loud shout rang out over the already loud cacophony of the bar.

She and Charlie whipped around to find Mac and Frank yelling loudly at each other over what appeared to be a young child.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Let the kid stay! What's the worst that could happen?" Frank said while waving his arms wildly for emphasis as he always did.

"The problem, Frank, is that this child can't be more than ten years old and he's in our bar!" Mac said, his voice getting louder with every word.

"I'm eleven!" the small boy piped up by Mac's shoulder.

He was ignored and the two men continued yelling at one another until Dee stepped in to intervene. "What are you two dicks yelling about now?"

"Oh, real nice Deandra. You're poisoning this little boy's mind with your cursing," Frank said while gesturing towards the child who smiled as though he was wholly unperturbed by the whole situation.

"Poisoning his mind? From what I've heard, you're the one who wants us to let him stay in here! In a bar!" Dee said, thanking her lucky stars that Frank wasn't actually her father.

"Yeah. And? As long as he doesn't drink I don't see a problem," Frank said.

"There are fights, drugs, and a whole other assortment of disturbing things that take place in this bar every night. A child should not be exposed to any of it. Besides, what if a cop walked in right now and saw this? We'd be screwed." She then glanced down at the child who looked so small and innocent that she felt a stab of pity for him and wondered what he was doing in here in the first place. "Hey what's your name kid?"

"Calvin," the boy said while staring up at her with wide eyes.

"Well Calvin, why are you in here? Did you get separated from your parents?"

"No, I just don't like listening to them fight so I walk out of my house sometimes to get away from it. Sometimes I end up in weird places like this," he said, not breaking eye contact with Dee the whole time.

"Oh," she stuttered, unsure of what to do. "Do you have any brothers or sisters? Or other family nearby that you could go to?"

"My uncle. But I don't think he likes me very much so I try not to bother him," the boy said, his soft brown eyes shifted from hers to Charlie who was staring quietly back at him.

Dee finally looked back up at Mac and Frank who looked just as shocked as she felt. "This isn't good," she said.

Apparently that was all it took to start them arguing again and Dee found herself sucked into it as well until suddenly a voice called out. "Guys! Stop. I'll take care of this."

Dee was shocked to see that Charlie was the one who had said it. In a sudden moment of maturity he placed his hand on the boys back and led him over to a quieter part of the bar so that he could talk to him alone. Dee smiled to herself as she watched Charlie speak to the boy who really wasn't that much smaller than he was. It was also obvious that Charlie was saying something smart for once because the boy hadn't run away yet.

"Well that was strange," Mac said, also watching Charlie. He simply shrugged and walked over to Dennis who appeared to still be trying to talk to that girl at her table. Dee rolled her eyes at Dennis' oblivious nature. Or perhaps, like so many other times, he just didn't care what was happening if it didn't concern him.

Frank also walked away after grumbling a few choice words about the younger generation being too uptight. Dee leaned against the wall and watched Charlie again. He seemed to sense her watching because he looked up and smiled at her before beckoning her over.

"Hey Calvin this is Dee. We're going to help you out, ok?" Charlie said while grinning widely.

"We are?" Dee whispered.

"Yes. Calvin here said he's had a rough time at home and in school so I told him that we'd help him out and maybe hang out with him every once in a while," Charlie said.

Dee sucked in her breath as a rush of emotions overtook her all at once. First, she felt utter revulsion at helping anyone, especially a little boy that she didn't even know and had so far done nothing but cause trouble. The second was a rush of warmth for Charlie because she had never seen him be so caring with anyone. Third, she really did feel bad for this little boy who didn't deserve the bad home life that he so obviously had.

It was these last two emotions that drove Dee's decision home and as she looked between the two people standing in front of her she knew what she had to do. "Ok," she sighed. "Ok, Calvin. Charlie and I will help you out."

**A/N: So what'd you guys think of this little edition to the plot? As you will see in later chapters, Calvin will draw Charlie and Dee together and help them open up to one another. Until next time! Maybe a review in the mean time? **


	4. Chapter 4- A Day in the Park

**Monday **

**7:45am **

**Philadelphia, PA **

Dee woke to a loud banging sound that seemed to be coming from somewhere that was very close to where she was sleeping. Figuring it was one of her neighbors doing God knows what, she pulled a pillow over her head and desperately tried to go back to sleep. However, the banging did not cease and now she heard various shouts accompanying it so she decided to see what was going on.

She got up out of bed and walked over to her door. One glance out of the peephole told her all that she needed to know. She ripped open her door so quickly that Charlie basically fell into her apartment, one fist still raised to pound on her door. He caught himself on her shoulders only to have her push him off of her roughly.

Before she could even ask him what he was doing, the gruff voice of an older woman met her ears. "Keep that tyrant quiet or I'm calling the police!" the woman yelled loudly from the door way diagonally across from Dee's.

"Nice to see you too Mrs. Brown," Dee said sarcastically while the old woman turned back into her apartment grumbling to herself.

Dee slammed her own door shut and rounded on Charlie who was eating what looked like handfuls of cereal out of his sweatshirt pocket. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked him.

"We're going to see Calvin. We talked about this like two days ago. Come on Dee get your head in the game," Charlie said as he flopped down onto her couch, spilling cereal everywhere.

"What the hell are you talking about? You never said when we were going to see him," Dee said exasperatedly.

"Oh. My bad. Well let's go!"Charlie said as he got up and moved towards her door again.

"Charlie in case you haven't noticed I'm still in my pajamas. I'm going to need a few minutes to get ready," Dee sighed, resigning herself to her fate and walking into her bedroom.

"Okay, okay calm down. I'll just relax here and eat my cereal," Charlie said as he promptly leapt onto her bed while continuing to shovel food into his face.

"Get off my bed!" Dee yelled while grabbing Charlie by his jacket and dragging him onto the floor. "Also, get out! I need to get changed in case you forgot and I am not doing that with you in here!"

"You're so uptight Dee. We're friends. That means that we should be comfortable seeing each other naked," Charlie said.

"That is absolutely not what that means. Do you, Mac, and Dennis just hang around naked together or something?"

"Of course not. All I'm saying is if a situation arises where one of us has to get naked, the others don't freak out and leave the room because of it," Charlie shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok well I, for one, do not feel comfortable with that. I do not want you to see me naked or vice versa. Now get out!" Dee said as she shoved him out of her room and slammed the door while wondering for the fiftieth time why she was willingly spending time with him.

About fifteen minutes later, Dee deemed herself good enough to be seen in public so she grabbed her own box of cereal and dragged Charlie out of her apartment.

"So where does this kid actually live?" Dee asked as she shoved a handful of the flakes into her mouth. She and Charlie had been passing the box back and forth after he ate all that was in his pocket.

"Just a little further around this corner. So I figured we could go there and just hang out with him for a bit. Maybe bring him to a park or to get some breakfast or something," Charlie said.

"Right. But I hope you're not thinking of bringing him to the Waitresses' coffee shop. That whole 'working with kids' thing hasn't really worked in the past," Dee said.

"Well maybe my plans would work better if you and everyone else weren't so against me being happy," Charlie said while kicking a rock with his shoe.

"Oh come on. If anything, you're preventing yourself from being happy. Listen, I know you love the Waitress and everything but maybe if you backed off and tried to focus on other girls and other aspects of your life you'd be happier," Dee said, wondering when exactly she decided to try to help Charlie.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I think us hanging out with Calvin will be fun! I didn't even think of the Waitress when I suggested helping him," Charlie said proudly. "Oh! This is the place."

As they stopped abruptly and looked up at the apartment building next to them, Dee realized that they had quickly found their way into a bad neighborhood. The building itself looked to be barely standing and she felt sorry for anyone that was forced to live there.

Charlie sauntered up the steps and rang apartment 2C's doorbell. "Who is it?" A child's voice called out.

"Hey Calvin? It's Charlie. Dee and I are here to see you," Charlie smiled encouragingly at Dee over his shoulder.

"Ok! I'll be right down," Calvin's voice came through the monitor again.

"Charlie I don't know about this," Dee said. She had never been that great with kids and she felt her gag reflex kicking in as nervousness overcame her.

"Dee calm down. We're just gonna hang out with this kid for a few hours. Don't worry about it," Charlie said as he laid a comfortingly hand on Dee's shoulder. And yes, it was actually _comforting. _Before Dee could think more about this new development, Calvin came bounding out the door.

"Hey Calvin! You ready to get wild and crazy?" Charlie asked while punching the air with his fists.

"Oh yeah!" the kid said excitedly. "What're we gonna do?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go to a park or something. Have you had anything to eat yet?" Charlie asked him.

"Nope!" Calvin said. "But I do have a ball and a yo-yo with me," he said while turning around to show them his backpack that looked to be older than he was.

"Someone came prepared!" Charlie said as he clapped the kid on the back. "Alright, let's get some food."

So with that the three unlikely companions made their way to a café (not the Waitress's much to Dee's surprise) and got some food.

"So I don't exactly have any, um, money with me," Calvin said while looking down at his worn and dirty sneakers.

Dee felt that unwanted feeling of sadness creep over her again and she saw the same emotion flit over Charlie's face before he put on a smile. "Don't even worry about it. Breakfast is on us today. Order whatever you want."

"Really? Whatever I want?" Calvin asked eagerly.

Charlie raised his eyebrows at Dee and motioned for her to say something. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever you want," Dee said, in shock over Charlie's hospitality.

Calvin jumped up and down in his chair excitedly as he perused the menu. "Can I get pancakes? Oh! With chocolate chips?"

Dee found herself laughing at the kid's excitement. "I don't see why not. Charlie?"

Charlie was smiling too as he answered. "It's not a proper breakfast if chocolate isn't involved, Calvin."

This was turning out to be alright so far, Dee thought to herself as she looked at her own menu. It was obvious that the kid needed someone to brighten up his day so why not them? Calvin was pleasant enough to be with and Dee was pleasantly surprised to find that she was actually enjoying herself.

0.0.0

An hour later found the three of them walking to the park that was about a fifteen minute journey. There was one closer by but Dee decided against it as soon as she counted three syringes in about as many minutes.

"So Calvin tell us about your family. What're they like?" Charlie asked.

Dee rolled her eyes at Charlie's lack of tact. They were supposed to be taking his mind off of how screwed up his life is, not bringing it up! But to Dee's surprise Calvin began talking at length about how his Mom basically stays shut up in her room all day with alcohol and what Dee gathered were prescription drugs. His Dad worked but was very uptight and always got into fights with his Mom. But the saddest part of all came when Charlie asked if he had any siblings.

"Well, I used to," Calvin said cryptically. "I had a baby sister when I was six but then she got really sick. That's when my Mom and Dad started fighting and Mom started staying in her room all the time."

Dee felt as if her heart was breaking over this poor boy. She had heard plenty of sob stories before and had never really bothered to care but this kid was something different. He was the picture of innocence even though he was surrounded by anything but and Dee felt an overwhelming need to protect him.

"Damn kid that's rough. I'll tell you though things are going to be get better. I grew up without any Dad at all and look at how I turned out!" Charlie said as he slung an arm around Calvin's shoulders.

Dee smiled sadly at Charlie's attempt to cheer the kid up. If anyone knew what having a hard life was like, it was Charlie.

"Really? Wow that must have been hard," Calvin said while looking up at Charlie with his round eyes.

"Yeah but I got by. And so will you," Charlie said.

Just then they arrived at the park and Calvin dumped the contents of his backpack on the ground excitedly. He picked up his mostly flat ball and tried to drop kick it. This resulted in the ball falling off of his foot and plopping onto the ground. Charlie then attempted to play with the yo-yo which ended abruptly when the string broke and the yo-yo plopped to the ground next to the ball.

"Uhh hey why don't we just play twenty questions or something instead," Dee suggested.

"What's that?" Calvin asked curiously.

"It's basically just a game you play when you want to get to know someone better. We can just ask each other whatever we want," Dee explained as she sat on the ground with her back against a tree.

"Great idea. Okay Dee there's always something I've wanted to ask you. How exactly do you feel about sewers? Like on a scale of one to ten," Charlie said enthusiastically as he sat down across from her.

"Charlie, I cannot even begin to imagine what my answer should be to a question like that. Calvin, do you want to ask us anything?" Dee said, rubbing her temple slightly at Charlie's utter stupidity.

"Sure," Calvin said as he sat down in between Charlie and Dee and completed their small circle on the grass. "How long have you guys been, like, together?"

"What, you mean how long have we known each other? Forever, it seems," Dee chuckled.

"Yeah we've known each other for like fifteen years. Pretty crazy isn't it?" Charlie asked Calvin.

"Wow that's older than me! But what I meant was, how long have you guys been dating?" Calvin extrapolated.

Dee spluttered incoherently as she took in the meaning of Calvin's question. She was sure if she hadn't already been sitting that she would have fallen down. What a ridiculous prospect. "Calvin we aren't dating," she said, trying to laugh it off. "We're just friends."

"Oh.," Calvin said looking confused. "But you guys seem to get along so well and everything."

"Yeah but that's cause we're friends. A boy and a girl can be nice to each other and like hanging out together and just be friends you know," Dee said as she tried to make this moment less awkward. It wasn't helping that Charlie was just staring back and forth between the two of them and refusing to participate in the conversation.

"Duh," Calvin said as he rolled his eyes. "Still though. You guys seem like you would work together."

Dee didn't know what to say to that and as she met Charlie's bemused expression, she could tell that he didn't either.

**A/N: Hey guys hope you enjoyed this chapter. So, any suggestions at all? I know where I want to go with the story but any sort of suggestions are welcome! Next chapter should be in the next couple of days I hope. Until then!**


	5. Chapter 5- The Beginning of the End

**Tuesday **

**8:25pm **

**Philadelphia, PA **

The comfort of one's own space far outweighed the benefits of being anywhere else. Dee had figured this out long ago and therefore spent most of her nights in her apartment for relaxation purposes. As usual, she was stretched out on her couch in her pajamas while eating popcorn and watching some stupid sitcom on TV. She had showered not long before and was enjoying the feeling of not having hair product in or make-up caked on. She would do this in public much more often if her supposed friends didn't make her feel so God damn self conscious all the time. She shook these thoughts from her head and sighed contentedly as she thought about how she could do whatever she wanted for several hours before having to fall asleep and consequently subject herself to the following day's events.

Her eyes were just drifting shut as a commercial came on when her door rattled in its hinges with the force of someone slamming their fist into it over and over again. _What the hell is it this time?_ Dee thought to herself as she languidly got off of her couch. For the second time in as many days, Dee opened her door to have Charlie stumble into her with his over exuberance.

"Charlie, what did I tell you about coming here uninvited?" Dee said angrily as she simultaneously pulled at her slightly damp hair self consciously.

"Well, considering tonight is movie night I would say that I didn't think I had to be explicitly invited," Charlie snorted as he shut Dee's door.

Dee groaned as she realized that it was indeed Tuesday. "I know I said that we could do movie nights every now and again but I didn't realize that it would be an every Tuesday kind of thing."

"Well I mean if you really want me to leave…" Charlie began, looking a little put out. "It's just, Mac and Dennis are too busy for me and Frank has some whore over at our place so-"

"No, no you can stay," Dee waved him off. She felt bad for Charlie; a strange habit she had picked up a week prior and couldn't seem to shake. Besides, she really didn't want to hear about Frank's sexual escapades any longer. "So what do you want to watch then?"

"Well I decided to bring a movie this time," Charlie said as a huge grin spread across his face. "I also managed to swipe more of that alcohol that Dennis keeps under the bar."

"Oh. Well no complaints here," Dee said as Charlie extracted both a movie and the bottle from the unknown hiding place inside his jacket. "So what's the movie?"

Charlie grinned at her again while he helped himself to her bowl of popcorn. "It's one of my favorites," he said as he handed Dee the movie case and sat back on her couch.

"_Home Alone_? I should have guessed," Dee laughed.

"Hey, that kid is a genius. I think he must be part alien or something. In fact, I believe that he is an alien and that it is the subplot of this whole movie," Charlie said while nodding to himself.

"Yeah, okay. I'm cool with this movie as long as you don't talk about aliens the whole time," Dee conceded.

"Whatever. Just pop it into your DVD thing and keep this popcorn coming," Charlie said as he practically inhaled what was left in the bowl.

Dee rolled her eyes and wondered to herself when exactly Charlie's antics had become laughable and endearing to her instead of obnoxious and disturbing.

They were watching the movie in companionable silence for some time before Dee decided so speak her thoughts out loud. "So Calvin's life seems pretty messed up." It turned out watching a comedy about a young boy only brought darker thoughts about Calvin's life to the fore front of her mind.

Charlie's laughter at the movie subsided and an uncharacteristic grim expression stole his features. "Yeah, I feel bad for him. He seems like such a great kid but he has so many strikes against him."

Dee pondered this for a moment. "Hey, it's like you said. You didn't have the best start in life either but you're doing alright now."

"Am I Dee? I mean, I share a bed with a man who may or may not be my father, I'm in love with a girl who I'm pretty sure wants me dead, and I always end up doing the jobs that no one else will do," Charlie laughed sarcastically. "Oh yeah, my every dream is really coming true."

"Oh Charlie don't be like that," Dee said, uncomfortable with how upset Charlie seemed to be. "You and Frank are pals and you've said yourself that you enjoy the sleeping arrangement. You've also said that you enjoy Charlie Work so I don't really know what you're saying there. As for the Waitress, her wanting you dead is a bit of an over exaggeration don't you think?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess my life isn't really so bad. At least I have you and the gang," Charlie said as he smiled to himself.

Dee turned so that she was facing Charlie and leaning back against the arm of the couch. "If you really look at it I guess we are pretty lucky. Sure, I'm bummed out that my acting career has yet to make it off the ground and, yeah, the way you guys always make fun of me gets old but I'm still pretty happy with the way things turned out."

"Well, to be fair, Mac and Dennis make fun of you more than I do," Charlie said as he turned to face her as well.

"That's true, you always were the nicest to me out of everyone," Dee said. She smiled as she realized this. No matter how strange or disgusting Charlie could be, he tended to be the most morally sound out of all of them. "Thank you for that, I guess."

"Don't mention it. Now that I think about it I think you've always been the nicest to me too," Charlie said as he smiled back.

As they smiled at each other they both found that their companionable silence began to change in to one that was fueled with a crackling tension. Neither person seemed willing, or capable, to be the first to look away from the other. Dee found herself realizing how nice Charlie's eyes really were while Charlie began thinking to himself that Dee looked prettier without all of the make-up that she usually wore.

Suddenly, Dee snapped herself out of it and could feel herself blushing. "So, uh, want some more popcorn?" she said a bit shakily.

"Yeah. That'd be cool I guess," Charlie said, looking slightly dazed.

As Dee pulled another bag of microwave popcorn out of the cabinet, she tried to fight the strange feelings that she was having. She could still feel the blush on her face from what was a very strange moment indeed. She had never felt anything like that towards Charlie before in her life and she really had no idea what to make of it.

Deciding to simply pretend like it never happened, she placed the popcorn in the microwave and continued thinking about the previous day spent with Calvin. After his seemingly endless questions about Charlie and Dee's relationship, they had continued questioning each other about their lives for an hour or two and then they had dropped Calvin back off at his house.

The poor kid was obviously screwed up. Dee knew that it would be easier and more convenient if she decided to never have anything to do with him again. But at the same time she felt kind of good about helping him. He seemed like he actually had a chance at life; a chance to get out of the situation he was in and make something for himself.

As she reached into the microwave for the popcorn, she looked over at Charlie and smiled to herself as she thought again of how thoughtful and mature he had been regarding Calvin's situation.

All of a sudden a hot, searing pain shot through her hand as she grabbed the bottom of the bag instead of the top. Damn Charlie to hell for distracting her. She cried out in pain and retracted her hand to see the entirety of her palm turning a bright red color.

As she cradled her hand, she became aware of Charlie's presence next to her and his voice in her ear but it sounded so far away. Her vision began going black and she felt herself sinking to the floor. The last thing she remembered was hands catching her around her waist before she hit the ground.

0.0.0

The first thing Dee became aware of was the sound of the TV and thought that she had, in actuality, fallen asleep on her couch and that Charlie had never come over after all. However, this all changed when she groggily opened her eyes and saw Charlie sitting on the opposite end of the couch with her legs on his lap and a horrible pain in her hand.

"What happened?" Dee asked as she looked at her newly, and poorly, bandaged hand. She thanked her lucky stars that she had consumed enough alcohol by that time to help dull the pain. Charlie, as if reading her mind, passed her the remainder of the bottle.

"You burned your hand really bad on the popcorn bag," Charlie said with an uncharacteristically concerned look on his face. "I heard you yelling so I ran over and then you sort of passed out I think. So I caught you and brought you over to the couch and then I saw how bad the burn was. So I searched through your bathroom and found some gauze and this cream stuff to bandage you with."

Dee felt her jaw drop open as Charlie was talking and only just managed to snap it shut again before speaking. "Wow. Well that was really, really nice of you. Thank you," Dee said in a strained voice. She almost felt like she might cry and she didn't know why. So instead of saying anything else she kneeled on the couch and threw her arms around Charlie's neck.

Charlie tensed for a second before relaxing and patting her gently on the back. "Don't worry about it Dee."

Managing to swallow back her tears of… Gratitude? Shock? Some sort of strange mixture? She pulled away in order to really look at Charlie. As she met his slightly confused and shocked expression, she realized that she had never actually studied his appearance before. Until now, Charlie was simply an annoyance. A constant in her life that was slightly less painful than all of the others. A personality of sorts that she acknowledged daily but had never tried to really _see_ until then.

She could honestly say that until tonight she had never even known what color Charlie's eyes were. _Come to think of it, I don't know what color Mac's eyes are either_, Dee thought to herself. _Or Dennis' for that matter. I should really start paying more attention._

All of Dee's musings were brought to an abrupt halt when Charlie's lips found their way to hers. Every other thought fled her mind besides how surprisingly good it felt and how close together they were and how she wanted to get even closer.

Clearly Charlie had the same idea because she felt his hands moving until one rested on her waist and the other on her cheek. Dee leaned into his touch until she was lying fully against him and tangled her hands in his hair.

Dee let a sigh escape her lips as the kiss began deepening before coming to her senses and leaping backwards so hard that she almost fell off of the couch.

When she regained her balance, she brought her hand to her lips in absolute horror and raised her wide eyes to Charlie who seemed to be in a similar state.

"Dee I…uhh… I think I'm just gonna go now." Charlie stuttered as he got up from the couch and slowly backed away from her as if she was a wild animal.

Dee wished that a lot of things happened in that moment when he was moving towards the door. She wished for the courage to tell him to come back and keep kissing her. She wished that she could bring herself to yell at him for kissing her in the first place. But the one thing she didn't wish for was the door slamming shut behind Charlie before she could say anything at all.

**A/N: So clearly "the next couple of days" actually translates to a week and a half. Who knew? Sorry about the wait but I hope you enjoyed this! I'm thinking of making the next chapter in Charlie's POV. Yay? Nay? Let me know! And thank you to my first reviewer VenaSera2637! You rock!**


	6. Chapter 6-The System has Failed

**A/N: Hey guys so this chapter will be in Charlie's POV. It was a bit harder to try to nail down Charlie's thoughts and internal voice but hopefully it's ok! Why don't you tell me in a review? ;) Enjoy! **

**Wednesday **

**9:27am **

**Philadelphia, PA **

"Just tell me what you've been up to!"

"No! I mean… I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Last Tuesday night you didn't come home at all and last night you came back late looking like you saw a ghost! Something is going on."

Charlie tried to respond to Frank's interrogation calmly but was getting more and more agitated as the conversation wore on. Ever since he had come home from Dee's last night, Frank had been questioning him non-stop about what he had been doing. Charlie barely knew the answer himself. How would he ever explain what happened to Frank?

"I was just watching the Waitress, you know. Staying outside her building to make sure no one tried to break in," Charlie improvised.

"I don't buy it. Why would you only do that on Tuesdays? Something stinks here and it isn't the sewer," Frank said, sending spit flying.

Thankfully, Charlie was saved from answering because at that moment they reached the bar and could hear the sound of laughter emanating from within.

"Dee you look absolutely horrendous today! More so than usual, even. Now that is an accomplishment," Dennis said from behind the bar.

"Screw off, Dennis," Dee mumbled from where she was resting her head on her crossed arms on the bar. "I didn't get much sleep."

"Not to mention how grotesque your hand looks," Mac added unhelpfully from a couple of barstools away from Dee.

"Deandra what on Earth did you do now?" Frank asked as he too heaved himself onto a barstool.

"If you were my father I might feel compelled to answer you. But you're not so I don't," Dee deadpanned as she raised her head from her arms to glare at Frank.

Charlie watched Dee as he stood behind the bar next to Dennis. She really did look horrible. Her face was more pale than usual and she had her hand encased in a large amount of gauze.

As he thought back to how badly Dee's hand was burned it was really no surprise. But seeing it bandaged like that made the whole night suddenly feel real. Thinking back to the events that had transpired after she burned herself made Charlie blush slightly.

"Hey man, you ok? You look kinda weird," Mac said as he looked at Charlie with a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah it's just hot in here," Charlie muttered. Having the attention of all of his friends on him including Dee was certainly not helping his situation.

"No it isn't. In fact it's freezing in here," Dennis complained. "Mac insists that the bar needs to be kept at an ungodly temperature for his muscles."

Everyone else in the room turned their attention, blissfully, to Mac and away from Charlie. "Well come on guys, think about it. Whenever you think of hanging meats what do you picture?"

"Food," Frank stated.

Mac sighed. "No. That's wrong. You think of them being inside a cooler right? To keep them nice and firm and succulent. I want, no, I need my muscles to be treated accordingly. They are gifts from the Almighty God and I will not have His kindness sacrificed to hot weather."

By the end of his statement, Mac was out of breath as he ran his hands through his hair aggressively. He also seemed to be looking at his muscles out of the corner of his eyes as if to make sure that they didn't fall off of his body or something. _Could that happen?_ Charlie wondered to himself. _That would be so cool! That should be a super power; being able to make other people's muscles fall off._

But then Dee was talking and Charlie's previous musings trailed off into silence. "Mac you're such an obnoxious dick bag."

"Yeah? Well you're a bird so I guess we're even," Mac grumbled to himself.

"You all are boring me. Why don't we talk about something more important? Like the fact that The D.E.N.N.I.S. system has failed me," Dennis said while hanging his head in shame.

An audible gasp rang out through the rest of the group except for Dee where a mumbled 'go figure' could be heard if anyone bothered to listen to her. Which they didn't.

"Yes my friends. This young woman who I have come to desire has not responded at all to my methods."

"Is that even possible?" Mac asked with disbelief.

"I didn't think so. But apparently this girl is a she-beast of some kind. Immune to seduction. But no matter. She WILL be mine even if I have to force her," Dennis said as the familiar manic glint appeared in his eyes.

"Have I ever told you how ashamed I am to have you as a brother?" Dee commented.

"I don't have time for your nonsensical bullshit Dee. Some of us have real problems," Dennis said as he fixed his glare on his sister.

Dee sighed and rested her chin on her non-bandaged hand. "Wow Dennis. When you say it like that it really makes sense. I almost forgot that you're the most important person in this room," she said, the sarcasm coming out of her mouth almost visible.

"In this room? More like in all of Philadelphia. But good Dee I'm glad you're coming around. So, what are we going to do in regards to my problem?" Dennis asked.

"How about leaving her alone?" Dee questioned.

"That is so ridiculous. That's probably the closest you've ever come to actually being funny," Mac chuckled. "But honestly we should all just follow her around and see why she is able to resist you."

"Yeah I know all about following people around," Charlie spoke up. "I've been a master at it for so long. The Waitress never even knows I'm there."

"Actually I would say you're painfully obvious about following her around. But nevertheless I do think you could be useful," Dennis said while rubbing his chin in thought.

"Well whatever you guys are planning, I want in," Frank said. "I've always wanted to be a stalker."

"Why on Earth have you always wanted that?" Dee asked.

"I dunno. I think it'd be fun," Frank shrugged.

"Good. So I guess we're all on board with this plan then?" Dennis asked while looking at everyone in turn.

Each person spoke up in agreement until Dee was the only one who hadn't said anything. She met Charlie's eyes across the bar and he tried to smile in encouragement. It might have not come out exactly the way he wanted because Dee looked slightly disturbed. Nevertheless, she sighed and looked back at Dennis. "Yeah whatever. It might be fun to see you fail."

0.0.0

Three hours later found the five of them crouched in an alleyway across from the girl's apartment building in the center of Philadelphia. It had taken them two hours to get there for various reasons including Dennis' car having a flat tire, a run-in with Rickety Cricket, and a feral dog chasing them for two blocks. Then they had sat there for another hour waiting for the girl to show up.

"This is so stupid! We don't know where she is or when she's coming back," Dee said angrily.

"Oh shit! There she is," Dennis proclaimed right on cue as he pointed to a girl with long dark hair walking along the sidewalk across the street from them who looked vaguely familiar to Charlie.

"She looks like she's sixteen years old Dennis," Frank said as everyone nodded in agreement. "You did make sure she was legal right?"

"Well no. Not technically. I was trying to grab her wallet so that I could check her ID but she kept resisting so I stopped considering we were in public. In private I would never have let her resistance stop me. But I mean she was in our bar so she has to be at least twenty-one right?" Dennis said.

Charlie then remembered why the girl looked familiar to him. He realized that it was the same one who Dennis had been so absorbed in the night that Calvin appeared in their bar. He seemed to recall the girl storming out of the bar a little while later as well as Dennis talking about it non-stop for the rest of the night

"Oh I don't know about that. I mean there was an eleven year old in our bar last week so clearly our head of security isn't doing his job properly," Dee said as she turned to stare accusingly at Mac.

"Dee, I swear to God if you say that again I will murder you right here in this alley!" Mac said as he moved to grab her arm.

"Alright guys calm down," Charlie said as he moved himself in front of Dee and pushed Mac back. "Dennis why don't you just go over there and talk to her?"

"Yeah, yeah you're right Charlie. I'm gonna do that right now," Dennis said as he patted his hair and straightened his shirt collar.

As they all watched Dennis make his way over to the girl, Charlie felt a touch on his arm and he turned to see Dee smiling nervously at him. "Thanks for that. You didn't have to you know."

"It was nothing," Charlie said smiling back. "Mac always gets too angry for his own good."

"Hey if you two are finished whispering over there you would notice that this whole thing is going completely to shit!" Frank laughed as he pointed to where Dennis and the girl where standing in front of her building.

As they watched, the girl could be heard yelling various phrases such as 'you're such a creep' and 'get away from my apartment before I call the police.' The best part though was when Dennis moved to lay a hand on her shoulder and she punched him square in the face. As he fell to the ground, the girl kicked him in the side and then ran up the set of steps to the building's front door.

There was no mistaking what she was saying this time as she yelled from inside the foyer. "If you ever come here again I will make sure you leave in a coffin!" With that she slammed the door and left Dennis curled on the ground.

Dee and Frank collapsed onto the ground laughing while Mac and Charlie ran over to where Dennis was still lying.

"Shit dude are you ok?" Charlie asked while snapping his fingers in front of Dennis' face.

"She seems to be playing hard to get," Dennis groaned as he probed the skin around his left eye which was rapidly turning purple.

"Yeah about that. You might want to back off because she might actually kill you. She clearly has some karate training. I recognized those moves straight away," Mac said as he and Charlie helped pull Dennis to his feet.

"God damn it. I can't believe my system has failed me! If I don't have my system I have nothing," Dennis said dejectedly. "My system makes up my entire existence! I don't know who I am anymore!

"Dude are you crying?" Mac asked as he peered at Dennis' face.

"Mac don't be crazy. My eye is simply causing me a bit of pain. Crying," Dennis snorted while wiping at his face hurriedly. "That is utterly ridiculous."

As they made their way back over to the alley they found Frank and Dee still laughing with tears of their own running down their faces.

"Shut the hell up guys!" Dennis exclaimed angrily. "As if you two could do any better."

"Dennis," Dee said as she shakily stood up and tried to hold in her laugher. "That was the best thing that I have ever seen. Doesn't feel so good to get a black eye now does it?"

Charlie's thoughts about how nice Dee looked when she was laughing were cut off by Dennis as he ignored Dee and spoke to the group at large. "Alright guys. What's our next plan of attack?"


	7. Chapter 7- Leather Pants and the Police

**A/N: Hey guys I hope you like this chapter. I decided to split it into two different POV's: Charlie's and Dee's. It's a bit of a filler chapter because there isn't any Dee/Charlie interaction…. Until the end :p But I think it helps shine a light into what the other characters are doing and thinking. Enjoy! **

**Friday **

**11:46am **

**Philadelphia, PA **

_Dee _

"Mac, I don't understand what we are trying to accomplish here," Dee stated as she wandered through a strange store that looked as though it contained equal parts army surplus and biker gang clothing.

"I told you. I noticed that my wardrobe was severely lacking in the badass department so, obviously, I had to rectify that situation immediately," Mac said as he held up a pair of leather pants. "Do you think I could pull these off?"

"If what you want to pull off is to look like a complete douche bag, then yes," Dee said as leaned tiredly against the clothing rack next to them. "Why did I even decide to come with you anyway?"

"Because," Mac began as he slung the pants over his arm, unperturbed by Dee's earlier comment. "You were all alone and pathetic as usual and you would rather come here with me than get involved with Dennis' scheme any further."

Dee shot him a glare but nodded in assent as she realized that what he said was true. Dennis, Charlie, and Frank were going to try to win over that same girl that beat up Dennis only two days previously. Mac and Dee had both wanted no part in it and Dee decided to accompany Mac to this godforsaken store instead of sulking alone in her apartment.

"I guess you're right but hurry it up in here. I feel like I am going to get stabbed at any minute," Dee said as she eyed a rather large and scary looking man walk through the door.

"Calm down Dee. I think you're forgetting that you're with Paddy's head of security," Mac stated as he threw her a smug grin and grabbed a denim jacket with metal studs on the shoulders.

0.0.0

_Charlie _

"I think that breaking into her apartment is totally a good idea, dude," Charlie said as Dennis looked at him apprehensively. "It'll show her that you really care about her and are invested. I break into the Waitresses' place all the time."

"Yeah, and she hates you. So, if anything, I should probably be doing the opposite of what you recommend," Dennis said.

"There is now way that my plan isn't working. I just have to make my break-ins even grander to show her that I mean business. Maybe like while she's sleeping or something. Or maybe I'll leave her a cat next time as a present. You think she likes cats?" Charlie went on excitedly.

"I could not give one shit," Dennis exclaimed. "You know what? Fine, I'll do it. I basically have nothing left to lose at this point anyway."

He, Dennis, and Frank were situated in the same alley that they had used two days ago to spy on the girl's apartment. They knew that she was at home and were trying to think of good ways to get her attention.

During this whole conversation Frank sat and watched his ex-son and possible son fire comments and ideas back and forth like a tennis match. He was eating a hoagie and seemed completely content with the world. "What if she calls the police?" he suddenly spoke up.

Dennis smirked at him over his shoulder. "When has that ever stopped us before?"

0.0.0

_Dee_

"Hey so you and Charlie have been spending a lot of time together, huh?" Mac yelled out to Dee through the curtain of the changing room.

Dee, previously slouched in her chair, sat bolt upright and felt her heartbeat pick up. "Um yeah, I mean, I guess so," Dee stumbled over her words a bit. She was surprised that Mac had even noticed honestly.

"Why?" Mac asked bluntly.

"Well," Dee began, not even sure that she knew the answer. "We're friends so why wouldn't we hang out?"

"Well I know that but the last few weeks you guys have been doing your own thing quite a bit. I was just wondering why all of a sudden you would be doing that," Mac continued.

"Oh. Well do you remember Calvin? That little boy that ended up in our bar?" When Dee heard his grunt of recognition she went on. "Charlie somehow convinced me that it'd be a good idea to spend some time with him so we've been hanging out with him every now and then. Like taking him to the park and stuff," Dee said, feeling confident that she was, at least in part, telling the truth. They had spent time with Calvin on Monday and again yesterday. She smiled to herself as she remembered how they went to the movies. Or at least, tried to. Charlie got them thrown out for screaming at the screen because he didn't understand what was going on.

"Sounds like a waste of time to me," Mac broke into her thoughts.

Dee breathed a sigh of relief that Mac didn't question their time together any further. "Hey, are you almost done in there?"

Instead of answering, Mac flung open the curtain and stepped out in the leather pants and denim jacket. "Well? How do I look?"

Dee was laughing so hard she fell out of her chair and on to the floor, all thoughts of Charlie leaving her mind for the time being.

0.0.0

_Charlie _

The three of them had decided that Dennis' best bet for getting into the girl's apartment was to sweet talk his way into the building and once that was done, pick the lock of her door. As they watched him press some random person's apartment button, Frank turned to Charlie.

"Alright so are you finally going to tell me what you've been up to?"

Charlie sighed. He had really hoped that Frank had forgotten about this or, at the very least, decided to give up on it. "Frank I already told you. There's really nothing going on."

"Charlie I'm your buddy aren't I? We're the gruesome twosome right?" Frank asked.

"Yes Frank, of course," Charlie nodded. He did feel bad for lying to him. But what else was he supposed to do? If he told Frank what happened between him and Dee it would ruin everything. Frank would surely tell Mac and Dennis and then they would just make fun of him and Dee both. Neither of them needed that. Suddenly, he decided that he could tell him part of the truth. "Ok the truth is…. I've been hanging out with that boy Calvin that showed up in our bar."

"Oh, right. Yeah, I remember him. Why are you wasting your time on him?" Frank asked, looking very confused as to why one human being would want to help another for purely selfless reasons.

"I don't know, man. He just kind of reminds me of me, you know? I feel bad for him," Charlie shrugged.

"Ok so why couldn't you just tell me that before?" Frank asked.

"I don't know, I guess I thought you'd make fun of me for it or something," Charlie improvised.

"Nah," Frank smiled. "If it makes you happy then I don't care Charlie."

Charlie smiled in return but his smile dropped shortly after. Would Frank still be saying that if he knew what else Charlie had been doing?

Thankfully, Charlie's rather sad thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched scream emitting from the apartment building that Dennis had went into not long ago.

0.0.0

_Dee_

"I can't believe you actually bought those pants," Dee chuckled to herself as she walked next to Mac on the sidewalk.

After almost forty minutes of being inside the shop, Mac had finally decided on only one item of clothing: those horrendous leather pants. Dee had even taken to finding clothes for him herself in order to try to get them out of there faster. But everything she had picked was apparently not good enough and he had simply ended up laughing at her 'pitiful attempts' as he so nicely put it.

"Dee, you simply don't understand how important my image is to me. I need to have constant vigilance in order to maintain this level of excellence," Mac said emphatically.

"Jesus Christ you sound more like Dennis every day," Dee said as she threw him a disturbed glance.

"Whatever. Hey do you want to swing by that girl's building? See if the guys got anywhere with their plan?" Mac asked.

Dee thought it over for a minute before shrugging her shoulders and agreeing. Disastrous consequences had surely already occurred and it might be fun to watch them struggle to pull everything together.

0.0.0

_Charlie _

"Go! Now!" Dennis yelled as he threw open the building's door and half tumbled down the steps before righting himself and making his way over to them while limping slightly.

He looked an absolute mess; his shirt was torn and the buttons were haphazardly done up. Charlie could already see a constellation of bruises forming on his arms and face. His hair looked as though he had been electrocuted and he was clearly beginning to panic as he reached them. "Did you both go deaf? I said run!" he screeched at them.

"Whoa calm down. What happened?" Charlie asked.

"Well I made it easily into the apartment. An old woman answered the door and I flirted with her of course," Dennis began to explain.

"Was she hot?" Frank asked gleefully.

Dennis spared him a fleeting glance before continuing. "So she let me in and all was going good right? I thought 'this will be easy. What was I so worried about?' So I get to her door and pick the lock."

"How'd you know how do that?" Charlie interrupted.

Dennis looked at him pityingly. "Come on now Charlie. You know how many girls' rooms I've broken into before. Anyway, I made it inside the apartment and I could hear her in the shower. So I decided to disrobe myself and lay on her bed in wait. I thought it would be sexy. You know, a nice surprise."

By this time, Dennis was out of breath as he continued to explain what was clearly an arduous adventure. "She walked out of her bathroom in just a towel. I was expecting an explosion of desire from her when she found me. But I was horribly mistaken. She began punching and kicking me and even called the police! All while keeping her towel in place, mind you. That was pretty impressive," Dennis was nodding his head in appreciation.

"That's some crazy shit Dennis," Frank laughed.

Just then, they heard a loud siren that sounded as if it were coming their way. "Shit! Run! Run as if your lives depended on it!" Dennis screamed.

0.0.0

_Dee_

"You idiot! The girl's building isn't that way," Dee said as Mac darted partway down one street only to come back looking disappointed.

"Damn it. I could've sworn that was the street," Mac pouted like a child.

"Alright well don't get your panties in a twist over it. Why don't we -" Dee was interrupted as three men hurtled out from two streets ahead of them and began sprinting in their direction.

"What the hell?" Mac asked.

Dee had to agree with his statement for once as she squinted her eyes and tried to see what was happening. As the three bodies grew closer and closer, there was no mistaking who they were.

"Run you idiots!" Dennis yelled, looking as though he had been attacked by some rabid animal.

Charlie was panting not far behind while Frank hobbled along a couple dozen feet behind them. "What're you guys -" Dee was again interrupted as the three guys reached her and Mac and sped right past them.

As he ran past, Charlie grabbed her hand and effectively dragged her along after them. "No time!" he panted. "Police coming!"

Dee immediately realized what must have happened and now understood why Dennis looked so much the worse for wear. As the five of them continued sprinting around the block, Dee had time to reflect on how nice Charlie's hand felt in hers and how neither of them seemed as though they would let go any time soon.


	8. Chapter 8- Emotions

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a little while since the last chapter. I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed and followed the story so far! You guys are awesome and you give me encouragement to keep going. I hope you like this update! **

**Tuesday **

**6:45pm **

**Philadelphia, PA **

"Here's your change, sir," Dee said as she dumped some coins into the man's hand. He was the only customer they had had so far that night and Dee was already imagining crawling into her warm and soft bed. She had been in a bad mood all day and she didn't feel like dealing with people. She was surprised that she hadn't screamed at that man to get out of her sight.

She sighed and dropped her head into her hands as she leaned her elbows on the bar. She thought back to what happened on Friday and was still amazed that Dennis hadn't been arrested. After sprinting for several minutes the five of them had decided to jump into a dumpster in order to escape detection. Frank and Charlie had seemed happy about this but the other three certainly were not. Dee least of all as Mac and Dennis kept trying to stand on her in order to avoid touching the dumpster's contents. Other than that incident, the past few days had been surprisingly quiet and today was no different. Dee actually found that she missed the chaos and confusion that her friends normally imposed upon her.

Just then she felt a hand momentarily rest on her shoulder blade and her feet actually left the ground as she jumped backwards in surprise. "Charlie! What the hell?"

Charlie was staring at her with the widest eyes she had ever seen. "God, sorry Dee. Why are you so jumpy?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just not feeling too great today, you know?" Dee asked as she calmed herself down and rubbed a hand tiredly over her face.

"No, I don't know. Because tonight's movie night! I feel like you forget this every week, Dee," Charlie said exasperatedly.

As memories from their previous night together ran through her head, Dee felt herself blushing slightly. Perhaps more movie nights weren't that great of an idea. Then again, she was enjoying herself with Charlie lately and she could use some cheering up. "Oh right I suppose that's true. Hey where is that alcohol that Dennis keeps back here anyway?" she asked.

"It's right here," Charlie said as he ducked down behind the bar and motioned for Dee to do the same.

"Ok so you see this jar of glue right here? It's nestled right behind that," Charlie said as he moved the can to the side to reveal the bottle hidden behind it.

"Gotcha. So why exactly is there a huge can of glue behind the bar?" Dee asked as she raised a questioning eyebrow at Charlie.

"Well obviously it's used for, you know, gluing stuff," Charlie said as his eyes darted everywhere except for Dee's face.

Dee simply snorted and stood back up from behind the bar and Charlie followed suit. "What the hell were you guys doing back there?" Mac's voice sounded as he walked towards them.

Charlie merely looked confused but Dee jumped yet again and felt the blush returning to her cheeks. She understood how it could have looked to someone else; seeing them coming up from behind the bar at the same time in such close proximity to one another. "Nothing. Not like it's any of your business anyway, asshole," Dee said as she laughed nervously.

Mac simply rolled his eyes but pointedly looked at Dee all the same as if to suggest that he would be interrogating her about it later. "Dennis is acting weird," he supplied.

"What do you mean weird?" Dee asked.

"He's in the bathroom right now talking to himself in the mirror and putting what looks like make-up on his face. It's getting kind of messed up."

All three of them exchanged a look and made an unspoken agreement to go and see what exactly Dennis was up to.

As they all made their way into the bathroom, they could clearly see Dennis leaning over the sink, his face as close to the mirror as he could get without actually touching it.

"Oh God damn it! That's my make-up Dennis," Dee exclaimed. "Where the hell did you get that?"

Dennis stopped applying eye shadow long enough to meet her eyes in the mirror briefly. "Charlie. Explain."

"Dennis has broken into many girls' apartments before and is very good at it," Charlie recited, as if from a script.

Dee looked between the two of them and wondered again why she chose to spend her life being around them all the time. She then decided to shake it off in favor of the anger that was building within her. "Give my stuff back to me right now!"

"But Dee I need it! I'm starting to think that the reason this girl won't succumb to my desires is because I have, in fact, peaked! Maybe my body isn't as delicious as it used to be!"

"Nah, I don't think that's the case Dennis. Trust me, I would have noticed if you had peaked," Mac said.

Charlie and Dee shot each other a confused look before Dee pressed on. "I honestly wouldn't care if you suddenly started looking like Frank. That's my make-up so give it back!"

"Fine, Dee. God, I thought for a minute you might actually provide something that is useful to me," Dennis said as he stepped away from the mirror so that Dee could collect her things.

"I am going to kill every single one of you if I'm here any longer," Dee said as she felt a headache begin to pound behind her eyes. "I'm going home."

She was about three steps away from the front door when Charlie ran out after her. "Hey Dee, you ok?" he asked.

"Fantastic," she muttered.

"Yeah… so um," Charlie began while looking uncomfortable and scratching the back of his head. "Do you still want me to come over tonight?"

Dee stared at him for a minute undecided. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I do."

0.0.0

"I don't know Charlie! You pick something."

Dee and Charlie were on the floor of Dee's apartment looking through her selection of movies once more. Charlie was arguing that since she had picked the first night, and he the second, that it was her turn again. But she really didn't feel like sifting through all of her movies in order to find a good one.

"Alright well let's just drink and maybe we'll be able to come up with a good movie idea in a little while," Charlie suggested. Shortly after Dee had agreed that he could come over that night, she left and he had stowed the alcohol in his coat before leaving about a half an hour later than herself in order to dash any suspicion that Mac or Dennis may have had about where he was going. After coming to the conclusion that neither of them wanted to be questioned more than they already had, they had opted to be more careful. He pulled out the bottle at that very moment and chugged some before wiping his mouth and handing the bottle to Dee.

"Yeah I guess that sounds good," Dee said as she too drank from the bottle and watched as Charlie flopped himself down on her couch and stretched himself across its entire length.

"Hey! Move your fat ass out of the way so that I can sit down," Dee said as she grabbed Charlie's calves and tried to swing them off of the couch and out of her way.

Charlie simply grinned and pulled himself up into a sitting position so that he was leaning against one arm of the couch. Dee sat down opposite him and drank some more from the bottle.

"What are you staring at?" Dee asked as she looked up to see Charlie still grinning at her.

"I don't know. I'm just excited is all," he shrugged.

"For what?" she asked, confused at Charlie's antics as usual.

"Being here! Movie night!" Charlie said as he threw his hands up in the air for emphasis.

Dee smiled to herself. It made her feel happy that someone was excited to hang out with her. Even if it was just Charlie. "I guess I'm kind of excited too," she replied.

As she realized this, she began taking larger gulps from the bottle. The past few weeks had been very strange indeed. She had been hanging out with Charlie a lot and had somehow not killed him or herself yet. That alone was enough to make Dee question her sanity.

"Quit hogging the bottle!" Charlie exclaimed as Dee kept drinking.

Dee glanced down and realized that she had single handedly drunk about a quarter of the bottle already. "Whoops," she said rather guiltily and raised her hands in a 'what're you gonna do' kind of way.

Charlie stared at her for a minute before bursting into laughter. Dee found herself joining along and soon enough the two of them were both collapsed against the couch, attempting to catch their breath.

As Dee wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, she looked up to see Charlie looking at her with a strange expression on his face. "I like it when you smile," he said. The instant the words left his mouth, his eyes widened until they were comically large and Dee could see a blush spreading steadily across his face.

Dee felt her mouth hanging open so she snapped it closed. Her mouth felt dry and she swallowed convulsively. "What did you say?"

"I…uh… I just remembered that I have a thing to do that's somewhere else. So I'm just gonna go and take care of that," Charlie stuttered as he leapt to his feet again and headed towards the door.

Dee jumped off the couch and ran after him. She had let him do this the last time he came over and she would not allow it again. "Charlie, wait," she said as she grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her.

Charlie looked like a cornered dog as his eyes darted about the room and his tense posture indicated that he would like nothing better than to flee.

"I like it when you smile too," she said quietly. She then felt her eyes widen just like Charlie's had moments before. She had not meant to say that. She didn't even really believe that. Did she?

"Really?" Charlie asked, his voice cracking slightly.

At his point they were so close that Dee could see all of the different flecks of color that made up Charlie's eyes. Last week she had noticed that they were blue but she could now see small flecks of grayish green as well as some brown.

Dee then realized that she had not answered Charlie's question and that he was staring back at her just as intensely as she was staring at him. That a lot of time had gone by and that she could feel that strange crackling tension in the air that she had experienced once before. She also realized that she had no idea what to say to him anyway so she did the only thing she could think to do to get her point across. She grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed her lips to his.

At first, Charlie tensed under her fingers and Dee felt sure that he would pull away. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he relaxed against her and wound his arms around her waist. Without her telling them to do so, her arms found their way around Charlie's neck and her fingers tangled in his hair. Relatively clean hair, Dee was surprised to find.

I rush of tingling warmth shot through Dee as her body pressed fully against Charlie's. She had some many emotions crammed inside her body at that moment that she didn't even know what to think. On one hand she felt intense pleasure from the things that Charlie's (shockingly adept) lips were doing to hers. She also felt guilt from kissing one of her friends and was confused as to why she didn't feel repulsed by him. Finally, she felt happy. Really and truly happy for the first time in…. well… Dee couldn't even remember when.

So as the two of them moved steadily across the room, Dee decided to not pay it any mind. When Charlie's legs hit the edge of the couch and she felt him falling backwards onto it, Dee told herself to just go with it. And when Dee fell forwards on top of him, she didn't even consider breaking the kiss.


	9. Chapter 9- There's No Going Back

**Tuesday **

**8:02pm **

**Philadelphia, PA **

Dee was slowly losing control over the situation. Not that she had that much control to begin with. As things progressed, any question of her coming to her senses and stopping had completely gone out the window as she kissed Charlie with a desperate sort of passion.

They were both stretched across the length of the couch, Charlie lying on his back with Dee pressed on top of him. As soon as they had fallen into that position it was as if the truth of what they were doing clicked into place and both began kissing one another with a strong desire thrumming between them.

Both of their bodies began reacting on their own, despite what each of them may have wanted. As the kiss deepened and Dee felt Charlie's tongue caress her own, a sigh escaped her lips and her hips pressed harder against his. This elicited a similar response from Charlie as he felt himself growing hard and he moved his hands under Dee's shirt, exploring the bare expanse of her back and sides.

A groan had just passed her lips when Charlie's phone began ringing in his pocket. The spell broken, Dee leapt off of Charlie as if she had been burned and quickly patted her hair and shirt back into place while making sure that she was standing at a reasonable distance away from him.

Charlie's heart was racing a mile a minute as he fished his phone out of his pocket and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked rather shakily, his voice a bit huskier than usual.

"Charlie? Are you sick? You sound strange," Dee could clearly hear Frank's voice coming through the speaker.

Charlie cleared his throat and ran a hand through his already tousled hair and down his flushed face before responding. "No I… uh… just went for a little jog is all so I'm out of breath. What's up?"

"Mac told me that you left the bar over an hour ago. You really expect me to believe that you went for 'a little jog' for that long? Without coming home first?"

"Yup," was all Charlie said in response.

There was a bit of a silence at the other end before Frank continued. "Where are you anyway?"

"I'm on my way back home right now Frank, ok? Quit harassing me," Charlie exclaimed. With that he snapped his phone closed and stood up, a heavy sigh breezing past his lips.

His eyes flickered to Dee's briefly before the blush returned to his cheeks and he looked away, deciding that picking invisible lint off of the couch would be a better use of his time.

"So that was Frank, huh?" Dee asked, attempting to fake normalcy even though her heart had refused to resume a normal pace and she had to clench her hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

"Yeah he keeps, like, bugging me about where I've been going and stuff," Charlie mumbled as he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I should head home."

"Right," Dee said, confused as to whether she should feel relieved or disappointed. Her eyes followed Charlie to the door where he finally met her stare with his own.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he said while still looking very embarrassed.

Dee was only able to nod in response before he had left her apartment once more. As soon as the door closed behind him, Dee covered her face with her hands and sat back down on the couch. _What on Earth have I done? _She thought to herself. She didn't have too long to contemplate what had transpired before her own phone rang.

"Yeah?" she answered, thoroughly irritated with people and their interruptions.

"It's Mac. I decided that I couldn't wait until tomorrow to demand – I mean – ask you what's going on between you and Charlie. First you two are sneaking around and just a little while ago Frank called me asking where Charlie was. I know you guys left around the same time. Anything you feel like sharing?"

Dee's only response was to growl and throw her phone to the other side of the couch. She could not believe the luck she was having today.

0.0.0

**Wednesday **

**10:20am **

**Philadelphia, PA **

That morning, it had been terribly difficult for Dee to drag herself out of bed. Although she had no intention of admitting it to herself or anyone else, she was afraid. Afraid of seeing Charlie after what had happened and afraid of the way she was beginning to feel about him. She really couldn't chalk up all of this to the mysterious alcohol anymore. Although it certainly had helped things along, she found herself being effected by Charlie while sober as well. Last night for instance. She had kept herself up half of the night trying to convince herself that it was all because she had chugged a considerable amount of the bottle in a short time. However, she hadn't really had that much when it came to how much she normally drank. And what about Charlie? He had barely had any at all.

Then there was the dream. When she had finally managed to fall asleep, she had envisioned her and Charlie taking things a lot further than they had. She had sat bolt upright in her bed, heart pounding from either lust or absolute repulsion. She liked to think that it was the latter but it remained yet another thing that she was trying to understand

As she made her way slowly to the bar, she tried to think of what to do. Pretend everything was normal? Take Charlie aside and tell him everything was a huge mistake and could never happen again? That second option made her chest tighten in a way she didn't understand. Great. Something else she would have to figure out. What was the count up to now? Five?

A screeching of tires made her look up suddenly. She leapt back up on to the sidewalk right as a pick-up truck came to a halt where she had been standing in the street.

"Hey lady, watch where you're going! You wanna get killed or something?" the large and surly looking man yelled from his open window.

Dee didn't even have the motivation to curse at him so she flipped him off half heartedly and continued on her way.

Her thoughts were still racing by the time she turned the last corner to get to the bar. Just then all of her thoughts came to a dead stop, as did she. Charlie was walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the block.

_Is this some sort of sick joke?_ Dee questioned while looking up at the sky pleadingly. _God, if you're up there, do you think you could cause a sinkhole to swallow me right now? Thanks._

They arrived at the door to the bar at the same exact time. Of course.

"Oh hey Dee," Charlie said as he shoved his hands in his pockets sheepishly.

"Hi Charlie," Dee bit out quickly as she practically lunged for the door handle. Unfortunately for her, Charlie reached out at the same time and their hands hit one another.

Dee jerked her hand away as a shadow of the spark she felt last night shot up her arm. "Sorry, sorry you go first," she said as she rubbed her hand absentmindedly.

"No, really. You go," Charlie said as he held the door open for her.

Dee sighed and wondered whether things could get any more awkward. Her question was about to be answered as she moved forward. The way that Charlie was holding the door open meant that Dee had to walk under his arm to go through. Or, rather, force her way under his arm.

"Goddamnit Charlie!" she growled as she shoved her way past him.

Still grumbling to herself, she stumbled into the bar to see Mac, Dennis, and Frank staring at her and Charlie with very confused expressions on their faces.

"What the hell are you two doing? Attempting to choreograph some sort of illiterate bird dance?" Dennis quipped.

Dee chuckled humorlessly. "Your brilliance astounds me, Dennis."

"Dee, could I see you in the back office? Now?" Mac said as he grabbed her arm and all but dragged her after him.

As the door to the office slammed behind them Mac let her go and crossed his arms, staring at her questioningly.

"What? What is so goddamn important?" Dee said as she rubbed her arm where Mac had grabbed her. It would probably bruise. _Maybe I could sue him for it. Yeah, yeah that's good_…

"What the hell are you smirking to yourself about?' Mac asked, breaking into her thoughts.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Dee said.

"Ok… So what was that all about?"

"What are you going on about now? I don't have time for this shit."

"Dee, first of all you have nothing but time so shut up. Second, I'm talking about the fact that you and Charlie 'just happen' to leave the bar last night at around the same time. Then you 'just happen' to show up at the bar at the same time this morning. Standing very close to one another I might add," Mac said as he raised his eyebrows at her and linked his arms behind his back.

"Who are you my mother? Anyway, yes, we 'just happened' to leave last night at the same time. We also 'just happened' to get here at the same time and Charlie was being his usual stupid self and got in my way." Dee said as she mimicked Mac's finger quotes when she said 'just happened'. "That's all, alright? Now leave me alone." With that, she spun on her heel and walked back out the door, slamming it behind her.

As she made her way back into the bar, she looked up and met Charlie's eyes where he was sitting next to Frank at the bar. "What were you doing in there with Mac?" he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"Oh my God! What is with everyone giving me the third degree lately? I almost miss when all of you just ignored me," Dee said exasperatedly.

"Don't worry Sis. I still try my hardest to forget that you exist," Dennis said from his position behind the bar.

"Well thank you. At least someone around here is acting normal," she said. Judging by how her morning was going, today was going to be a long day.

**A/N: Ok so this chapter is a bit shorter than usual but I couldn't find a better stopping point. Hope you enjoy! Leave a review? **


	10. Chapter 10- Proud

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites! It inspires me to keep writing. A special shout out to ColorM who has reviewed every chapter ****. Also, battleangel87 had a question about how much Mac seems to care about what Dee is up to with Charlie so I figured I'd address it here in case anyone else was wondering the same thing. I see Mac as a very insecure person who needs to know everything that everyone is up to at all times. So when two of his friends are sneaking around and not telling him what they're doing I figured he'd demand to know what's happening. So it's less that he actually cares about what Dee's doing, and more about him wanting to be included. Hope that clears it up! Also, this chapter will be in Charlie's POV and it will be much more serious than any other chapter to date. But it does end happily! Jesus this author's note is long. Ok, on to the update!**

**Friday **

**6:12am **

**Philadelphia, PA**

Charlie was awoken by a combination of three things: the early morning sun crashing through the window into his face, his cell phone ringing, and almost falling off of the bed because Frank was occupying most of it. Groaning, Charlie swung his feet off of the bed and sat up as he reached for his phone.

"Who is it?" he asked groggily.

He was met with a series of loud crashes which were then followed by snippets of equally loud yells.

"Hello?" Charlie tried again, sitting up straighter in alarm.

"Charlie, please come over here. I don't know what's happening but my parents are fighting and it's getting really bad," the small and scared voice of Calvin came over the receiver.

Charlie was instantly on his feet and was attempting to pull on clothes as fast as possible as a wave of fear came over him. "I'm coming Calvin. Hang in there ok? I'll be there soon."

He wasn't sure exactly what was going on at Calvin's but he could hazard a guess. His father had probably come home after a night of drinking and was doing who knew what to Calvin and his mother. Over the weeks that Charlie had gotten to know him, Calvin had continued to open up to Charlie up his home life situation and it had become clear to him that Calvin's dad was very unstable.

It was strange, but Charlie had never felt such a strong sense of fear for someone else before. He realized then just how much he really did care about Calvin as horrible scenes of what could be happening at the boy's house flashed through his mind

Pausing in his frantic attempt to get ready, he picked up his phone again. _Please, please answer_, Charlie silently begged as he bounced on the balls of his feet in his anticipation to get to Calvin.

"Charlie?" Dee's voice answered. "What the hell is wrong with you? You do know how to tell time right?"

"Listen Dee there's no time to explain but I'm running over to your place right now and then we're going to Calvin's, ok? Please just trust me. I'll explain when I get there." With that he slammed his phone shut and had just about finished getting ready when he turned back to Frank to see one of the older man's eyes open and staring at him. This startled him so much that Charlie took an automatic step backwards and tripped over a pile of who knew what which sent him tumbling to the floor of the apartment.

"Why didn't you ask me to come with you Charlie?" Frank asked as Charlie let out a stream of profanities and clambered to his feet once more.

"Oh come on, you don't give a shit about that kid," Charlie said as he wrung his hands impatiently.

"And you think that Dee does?" Frank asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion at Charlie.

"Yeah. I think so," Charlie said with a conviction that surprised even him. Without another thought or a glance back at Frank, he was out the door and sprinting as fast as he could to Dee's.

0.0.0

Charlie tumbled on to the floor of the apartment complex that Dee lived on and painfully dragged himself to his feet. He had never run that far or that fast in his life. Perhaps if he had actually gone for a jog the other day like he had told Frank, this would've been a bit easier.

Right as he was about to knock on her door, Dee opened it and worriedly took in his appearance and frantic attitude. "What's going on?"

Charlie took an uncomfortable breath and grabbed at a stitch in his side. "Calvin just called me. He sounded really scared and I could hear yelling and crashes in the background."

Dee understood immediately and simply nodded. "Let's go," she said as she slammed her door behind her and took off after Charlie.

0.0.0

They arrived at the door of Calvin's apartment building and Charlie pressed the button quickly. However, right as he was about to speak, Dee pulled him back. "No you idiot! What if his dad hears you and gets even angrier that someone else is here? Hopefully Calvin heard the buzzer and can sneak down here."

Charlie nodded quickly and contemplated just how lucky he was to have Dee there with him. A mere month ago he never would have believed that thought possible. But now, he suddenly realized, he wouldn't want to go through this situation with anyone but her. He then realized that Dee's hand was still on his shoulder and was gripping him quite tightly. _She's afraid_. Some part of Charlie's brain realized this and he draped his arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her. He could feel her relax slightly against him and he smiled. This reminded him vaguely of three nights before and a blush lit his cheeks. _Not the right time!_ He thought to himself angrily.

Dee suddenly spoke up next to him. "Calvin isn't answering," her voice sounded small and scared, much like Calvin's had when he had called Charlie.

Without a second thought, Charlie pulled out his phone and dialed 911. He wasn't sure if that was entirely necessary but it was better to be safe than sorry. He knew that if he didn't call and something happened to Calvin, he would never forgive himself.

After telling the kind woman on the other line all of the information including their location, he hung up and pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe this was happening. Why had he involved himself in this kid's life? _Because he needed you,_ that pesky voice in the back of his mind spoke up once more. _You knew that you could make a difference. A difference that no one made for you when you were young._

He sighed and hung his head, his hands shoved in his pockets. All of these feelings were so strange to him. Why couldn't he just go back to getting drunk with his friends in their bar and not caring about anyone else? Suddenly, Dee put an arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. She didn't even speak. She didn't have to. Similar to the effect that he had on her, he felt himself relaxing. He really couldn't deny it anymore. He cared for Dee.

Before he could think much more about that revelation, two police cars pulled up on the side of the curb and four officers got out. "Are you Charlie?" one of them, the most senior looking officer, asked.

Pulling himself together, Charlie held out his hand for the officer to shake. He sensed that this was what he was supposed to do and for once, he was right. "Yes officer that's me."

After running through a very abbreviated explanation of how he knew Calvin and what was going on, the police officer nodded and told them to walk down the block several hundred feet just in case anything happened. During that time, the other three officers had tried to garner a response from Calvin's apartment and when they received none, they quickly and systematically kicked the door to the apartment complex in and filed up the stairs, their hands on their holsters.

"Holy shit!" Dee squeaked from beside him, clinging to his arm tightly. "This is serious isn't it?"

"Yeah. I think it is," Charlie said. "Now Dee, stop squeezing my arm so hard. I think your nails are going to slice right through me," he added, attempting to lighten the mood.

She didn't even react to his voice. She simply stared straight ahead at the door hanging ajar on the building and gripped his arm even harder, if that was possible. Another new moment in Charlie's life: something so serious that even they couldn't joke about it.

After an agonizingly long time, the same officer came out of the building and walked over towards them. "I wanted to extend my gratitude on the behalf of the police department for calling us when you did. When we got into the apartment, the young boy – Calvin – was cowering behind the overturned dining room table. The father was beating his mother in the living room. We were able to apprehend the father who is currently very intoxicated. A clear threat to himself and others. I wanted to let you know that you quite possibly saved the lives of two people today," the officer finished while giving them both a strange look.

Slowly it dawned on Charlie that this look was one of pride. He wasn't sure if he had ever had someone look at him that way before. He stuttered over his words a bit before finally speaking. "Is Calvin okay?"

"Yes he's fine. A few cuts and bruises but nothing too bad. His mother wasn't so lucky. Upon first inspection it appears that she has a broken arm along with a nasty cut on her cheek. But they will both be okay thanks to you."

Charlie swallowed convulsively. Calvin was hurt. His own father had hurt him. But he was okay. He was okay. He repeated this over and over in his head like a mantra. "What is going to happen to Calvin now?"

The officer sighed. "His father is going to be arrested on multiple charges. Calvin and his mother will be taken to the hospital to analyze their conditions. After that, depending on how financially and emotionally independent the mother is, they will either stay at a shelter for a while, move in with other family, or they will be on their own. I'm also going to need you two to come down to the police station. We need statements from both of you on how you knew the boy as well as what lead us to being here today."

"Of course officer. Could I see Calvin before we go?" Charlie asked, his throat feeling oddly constricted.

"Of course, son," the officer said kindly. "He's being lead out of the house right now."

At that moment, Calvin looked over and saw Charlie and Dee standing there. Breaking free of the officer who had a protective hand on his back, he ran over and threw his arms around Charlie and buried his face into his chest. "Thank you," Calvin choked out as tears streamed down his face and soaked through Charlie's shirt.

"Don't mention it," Charlie murmured, feeling tears of his own slip out down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around Calvin's tiny frame.

0.0.0

**Friday **

**10:32 am **

**Philadelphia, PA **

Charlie and Dee sat quietly in a small café near the police station. After three grueling hours where they painstakingly described every important detail involving themselves and Calvin, they were allowed to go with a promise of any update on how Calvin was doing.

Both of them had not spoken a word in maybe ten minutes, each of them mulling over what had happened. Charlie gripped his cup of hot chocolate tightly and stared down into its contents while trying to come to terms with everything. He wasn't even sure if he'd ever see Calvin again as it had been mentioned that he and his mother might move to Ohio to stay with his Aunt once they were healed.

A warm hand encased his forearm and squeezed reassuringly. He looked up to see Dee's concerned eyes staring back at him. She looked just as tired and shook up as he felt. "Charlie I just wanted to say that what you did today… it was amazing," she said while giving him a small smile.

A warm feeling spread through Charlie as he realized that Dee was looking at him with the same expression that the officer had. He put one of his hands on top of hers. "Thank you for coming with me," he said.

"Are you kidding? The kid had grown on me since the day we first met him," Dee said jokingly as she took a sip of her coffee. "He's a little weird but overall a really good person who deserves a chance at life. Kind of reminds me of someone else I know."

"Yeah? Who's that?" Charlie asked.

Dee stared at him incredulously and for a second Charlie thought she was going to insult him which would be standard practice for them. But instead she just shook her head and laughed a bit. "You, Charlie."

Charlie smiled even wider and squeezed her hand with his own. "Thanks, Dee," he said.

**A/N: Ok so I know this chapter was pretty serious but I felt like it needed to be done. Calvin's life was clearly falling apart and it served as a further means to bring Charlie and Dee closer together. I also realize that both of them are rather OOC here but it is so hard to write these characters in serious scenes! Please let me know how I did and I hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Chapter 11- The Resolution

**Sunday **

**12:23pm **

**Philadelphia, PA **

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and everyone, save for Mac, was present in the otherwise empty bar. Since Friday, things had gone back to normal. After all of the chaos that had transpired Friday morning, the rest of the weekend had been rather boring in comparison. Charlie and Dee had gone their separate ways after eating in the café and hadn't spoken of Calvin since. It was simply too painful for the both of them. Predictably, no one else had even cared about what had happened and certainly didn't ask them about it. Therefore, both of them stayed quiet, exchanging shifty glances with one another as if to confirm that they were both still shaken up by the experience.

Dee was feeling more conflicted than she ever had in her life. She couldn't remember a time where she was questioning just about every move she made and that's exactly what she found herself doing as of late. Charlie had actually been _smart_ and _helpful _concerning the entire situation. Those were two words that Dee had never associated with him before and she didn't know what to make of it. She found herself wanting to hang out with Charlie more and more. She was actually enjoying herself in his company. It was the strangest thing she had ever experienced.

"I'm so bored," Charlie groaned as he slammed his forehead on top of the bar. Dee, sitting next to him, glanced over in alarm before rolling her eyes and setting her chin on her hand once more. There was the Charlie she knew and occasionally despised.

"I, too, am bored," Dennis announced, as if the same phrase coming out of his mouth was somehow different and more important than when Charlie said it.

"Well, aren't you two fascinating," Dee quipped sarcastically.

"As if your life is any more exciting," Dennis fired back.

Dee simply shrugged and continued staring at nothing. Her life, for once, had actually been fairly interesting the past few weeks. Not that Dennis needed to know that. Or would even care if he did know.

"You guys are not going to believe this! Oh man, you are not going to believe this," Mac yelled as he burst through the doorway and hurried over to them. "Ok, so you know that girl that Dennis has been stalking?"

"Stalking? That's a little harsh don't you think?" Dennis laughed lightly.

Everyone simply stared at him before Dee turned back to Mac. "Yeah. What about her?"

"She goes to the same church as me!" Mac smiled brightly.

"Oh shit! Mac, you can get closer to her for me. Yes, yes this is good. You can slowly smash her defenses to bits by telling her how great I am," Dennis said as he clapped Mac on the back. "Damn, this is the best news I've heard in a long time. I'm going to go get a coffee and, well, not come back to this piece of shit place." And with that Dennis was out the door before any of them could blink.

Dee looked at Mac to see him grinning rather evilly to himself. "What'd you do?" she asked him, knowing whatever it was could not be good.

"I banged that girl after church today," he said giddily.

"Holy shit! Dennis is gonna kill you," Charlie said, suddenly breaking out of his reverie to laugh at his friend's expense.

"I don't care. This is revenge. Remember a long time ago when that old guy died in here and Dennis stole that girl from me?"

"Oh yeah! You were so upset," Charlie said.

"Yeah, well now he's gonna be the one who's upset," Mac said, practically bouncing in his excitement. "I am going to crush all of his dreams slowly but surely. And it helps that that girl clearly prefers me already. I have a great plan that will hurt him the worst. We're going to need all day tomorrow to plan. Then on Tuesday, we strike."

Dee marveled for a second on how sadistic her friends were before shrugging and feeling herself get excited at the prospect of knocking Dennis off of his high horse. "Well, whatever you're planning, I want in," she said while Charlie nodded enthusiastically next to her.

0.0.0

**Tuesday **

**4:50pm **

**Philadelphia, PA**

"Alright so let's go over this plan one more time," Mac said as he attempted to pull his ridiculously tight leather pants even higher. "Dee. You and I are going to go and talk to the girl. Dennis will wait for our signal and then he'll come over from that creepy alley over there," he said as he pointed to their left.

They all raised their heads to see Dennis give them a thumbs up from the entrance to the alleyway. He was wearing a button up shirt with a suit jacket and appeared to be reflexively checking his reflection every few seconds.

"Once Dennis reaches us and begins talking to the girl we will signal Charlie. What're you gonna do then?" Mac asked as he pointed at Charlie.

"I'm going to dump trash over his head!" Charlie said excitedly.

"That's right. This will further his humiliation," Mac checked his phone. "Perfect. The girl just texted me. This is going to be so great! Let's go Dee."

Dee tugged self consciously on her extremely short skirt and attempted to pull her shirt a little higher. Mac had insisted on making her look as slutty as possible. He said that it would make Dennis even more uncomfortable and would make the girl want to have even less to do with him.

As she and Mac approached the door of the apartment building, the girl opened the door and stepped outside. She smiled slightly as she saw Mac but then her expression changed abruptly as she saw Dee standing next to him. "Hey Mac. Who's this?"

"Rebecca! Looking beautiful as always. This is Dennis' sister. You know, that creepy guy who keeps following you around."

The girl, Rebecca, looked even more put off as she crossed her arms and looked Dee up and down. "Oh. Well what is she doing here?"

"I'm standing right here you bitch! Don't pretend like I don't exist," Dee said. Who did this girl think she was to ignore her like that?

"Dee, remember what you're here for," Mac said through clenched teeth and a forced smile as the girl huffed and raised her eyebrows disdainfully at her.

He was right. Dee wanted Dennis humiliated as much as possible and for that to happen she had to let the little things go. "Well Rebecca, I just wanted to let you know that my brother is very much obsessed with you. He talks about you all the time and he watches this building all night. He also somehow got a piece of your hair and he carries it around with him in his wallet."

"What?" The girl said looking thoroughly disturbed. "That's it, I'm definitely calling the police."

"No, you don't have to do that," Mac said as he slid an arm around her. "You've got me here and I'll protect you."

"Oh no, there's my brother now! He must have followed us here!" Dee said, trying to act as surprised as possible as she pointed out Dennis.

This was Dennis' cue to walk over and he did, straightening his jacket and smoothing his hair as he came towards them. Rebecca looked absolutely terrified and clung onto Mac's arm tightly as he approached.

"Hello," Dennis said smoothly as he sidled up next to them. "Were you just talking about me?"

"You're such a creep! What are you even doing here? I thought I made it clear that you need to stay away from me," the girl said, her voice quivering slightly. Dee might have felt bad for her if she was so inclined. Luckily, she wasn't and she had to hold back a snicker as she watched Dennis' confident smile start to fade.

"Rebecca I don't mean you any harm! I just want to be able to pleasure you in ways that you can scarcely imagine. I'm trying to do you a favor. If anything, you should be groveling at my feet because of how grateful you are," Dennis said as he puffed out his chest in what Dee was sure he thought was an attractive stance.

The girl pulled herself up to her full height and stared Dennis straight in the eye. "Ok first of all, you aren't even that good looking so don't flatter yourself. Secondly, I. Don't. Want. To. Be. With. You. Do you get it now?" she said slowly and carefully.

Dee was rather impressed with how quickly Rebecca pulled herself together. She turned to look at Dennis who looked as though he was going to have a mental breakdown at any minute.

"But I don't understand. I want you. How could you not want me too?" he said, seemingly unable to grasp such a simple concept. Mac figured this was a good time to signal Charlie by tugging on his right ear.

With a loud scream, Charlie ran up behind them and Dee leapt out of the way as he overturned a trash can on top of Dennis' head. With that, Charlie took off down a nearby alley and left the four of them in his wake.

Dennis stood their comically, open mouthed, with an expression stuck between furious, confused, and upset. He had a banana peel stuck to his shoulder and other various pieces of trash clinging to the rest of his body. "My world has officially ended," he said in a high pitched voice that Dee had never heard him use before. "Why did Charlie do that? And Mac, I thought you were going to talk this girl into giving me a chance."

Rebecca, meanwhile, turned towards Mac and narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. "You know this piece of shit?" she accused while gesturing towards the mess that was Dennis. "You told him you would help him? So what, you sleeping with me was just a ploy the entire time?"

Dennis, if possible, looked even more flabbergasted. "You slept with her?" he shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you, man?"

Mac clicked his teeth together and shifted from foot to foot nervously as both Dennis and Rebecca stared at him angrily. "Well you see guys, this was all very complicated and - "

Before he could get another word out, Dennis leapt at him and tackled him to the ground while Rebecca all but ran back into her apartment building. "You all are freaks!" she screamed before slamming the door shut.

Dee began backing away as Mac and Dennis rolled around in garbage on the sidewalk yelling and hitting each other.

"Damn," said a voice behind her. "That took a dramatic turn."

She turned to see Charlie, watching as his two friends attacked each other in front of them. Suddenly, Dee burst into laughter. She couldn't contain herself any longer as she stood next to Charlie in her slutty outfit while she watched her brother and friend roll around like crazed animals on the ground. Charlie then started laughing with her and she had to grab on to his shoulder in order to prevent herself from falling over, she was laughing so hard.

"Charlie, do you want to go do something?" she asked him, feeling too happy for once to question her words.

Charlie's laughter died off into a sort of stunned silence. "Really? Like what?"

"I don't know. I was thinking we could go to dinner or something," Dee said.

Charlie's face split into a wide grin. "Yeah I would love to do that," he said.

Leaving Mac and Dennis behind, the two of them turned on their heels and began walking down the road. "Hey Dee, I have some good news," Charlie said.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Calvin called me earlier! He said that he and his Mom are going to be staying with family in New Jersey and he'll only be an hour or so away! That means there's hope that we'll be able to see him again," Charlie said excitedly.

"That's great, Charlie," Dee said. The crazy thing was, she really meant it. It seemed as though Calvin had really made her and Charlie into better people. They finally had someone outside of their insane group to care about. In fact, Calvin had made them care more about each other as well. He had really brought them closer together.

"Dee, you do remember what tonight is, don't you?" Charlie asked slyly.

She grinned to herself before answering. "Yes, believe it or not I finally remember that tonight's movie night."

"It's about damn time!" Charlie said as he threw his hands in the air in mock exasperation.

Dee started laughing again and began blushing as she thought about what could possibly happen this time. She felt a sort of nervous excitement bubble up inside her and this time, she didn't question it or try to repress it. She finally realized that if she and Charlie were going to continue down this weird road of theirs, it might not be so bad after all.

The End

**A/N: This is the end guys! At first I envisioned taking this story further but ultimately I found that I really like this end point. All of the loose strings are tied up concerning the story and you guys can all imagine your own ending for the future of Dee and Charlie's relationship. I really enjoyed writing this and I'm sure that I will continue writing when the passion strikes me. I am open to any requests for future stories! I'm not guaranteeing that I will write them but feel free to suggest some anyway. I would like to thank all of you for your continued support of this story! I love you all **** Finally, I would encourage all of you to write your own Always Sunny stories! There are far too few of them on here. Until next time!**


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It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Humor, Romance