Original Love

Charlie's POV:

"C'mon Noah, time for bed!"

The little boy whined as he looked up from the movie he was watching with a pout. "Aw five more minutes!?"

"Thats what you said ten minutes ago. No, you need to go to bed now." Charlie replied as she walked into the room and shut off the tv with the remote.

The little boy pouted more but listened as he stood from where he had been sitting on the floor and grabbed his favorite stuffed bear. It was the one that she had bought him for his baby shower when his mom had still been pregnant with him. When Jer had first introduced Sarah to their family, Charlie and her became really close. Sarah really wasn't close to her family and basically adopted Charlie as her little sister from day one. Her death hit her hard, almost as hard as Jer took it. And when she had realized that Sarah had packed the bear she had given Noah in his hospital bag for when he came home, she lost it all over again. And somehow Noah had fallen in love with that bear. Every time she saw it now, Charlie couldn't help but smile as she remembered Sarah's excited gasp the first time she had ever saw the once fuzzy bear. She knew that Sarah would love the fact that her son had also fallen in love with the bear and took it literally everywhere he went.

Noah gave a big yawn and Charlie smiled to herself as she picked him up and carried him down the hall to his room across from hers. Even if it wad technically the guest room, ever since the first time Jer had left and the countless other times she had babysat for him, it always looked like a kids room. There were cartoon print matching sheet and comforter set and a kids lamp next to the bed with a huge trunk of toys at the end of the double bed. She had normal sheets for when other people stayed over but never really took the toys or books out of the room, not really caring what the people who stayed their thought. Her nephew was one of the most important people in her life and she always made sure his room was ready for him whenever he came over.

Flicking on the light expertly with a limp four hear old in her arms, she pulled the blankets down to the end of the bed and gently lay him down on the mattress. After he was settled in bed, he reached for the book they had been reading together before bedtime for the last few nights. Charlie took the old worn copy of the classic tale of Peter Pan and opened it gently to where they had left off. The book had been her and Jer's favorite as kids and she still had a minor obsession with it even though she was almost 24. And she was glad to be able to pass along her favorite book to her nephew who was now almost asleep only two pages into the current chapter she had been reading. Once she knew that he was asleep, she set the book down and flicked off the lamp before leaning down and pressing a light kiss to his forehead. She listened to the quiet breaths in the otherwise quiet room for a few moments before she carefully got up and walked out of the room and into her own.

Checking the time, she found that she only had about five more minutes until what she had been waiting for all day. She rushed into her room and closed the door before heading to her en suite bathroom and checking her appearance in the mirror. Frowning at her reflection, she grabbed the nearest tube of makeup and started to apply it onto her face so that she actually looked somewhat normal for her date. But there was only so much she could do for her unruly hair and her tired looking appearance. So after a few minutes finally gave up with the little makeup she was already wearing and pulled her hair back into a bun. She was wearing an oversized shirt and a pair of shorts and didn't want it to look like she was trying to hard so stopped over thinking everything and just left it at what she had already done.

As she was leaving her bathroom and making her way back into her room, her computer made noise from where it sat open on her unmade bed. She tried to contain the squeal that threatened to escape as she rushed to the bed and flopped down in front of it and saw the screen displaying the incoming Skype call and the option to either accept or decline it. Clicking on accept as quickly as possible, she felt the first actual smile of the day appear as she saw the screen change and the all too familiar face appear on it.

"Perfect timing babe, I just put Noah down for bed!"

Alex smiled also, "well you know me, Mr. Perfect."

"Don't let that go to your head mister!" Charlie warned with a teasing smile making Alex laugh.

"I'll try not to," he promised. "So how are you!? I miss you a lot!"

"I miss you too babe, and I'm ok. Just working and taking care of Noah, the usual. What about you? You seem very excited for it being almost ten o'clock over there."

Alex just shrugged, "just excited for tour and getting to see you again."

"Right you're leaving in about two weeks right?"

"Yeah just about, but I'd love to see you again before I leave, and not just when we're in Wisconsin for tour. Maybe you could fly out?"

She bit her lips and she contemplated it. She would love to just pack a bag and fly out to Baltimore to see his hometown and where they grew up, but she had Noah to consider. That would be a lot to handle if he came with her and she was more or less thinking about taking the trip alone, as selfish as that sounded. But she really missed Alex and wanted some actual alone time with him because as it was she hardly ever saw him. It was mostly Skyping and talking on the phone to keep in touch and she was beginning to wonder how Rian and his girlfriend managed for three years like that. It was stressful to say the least but she loved Alex and wasn't going to give him up without a fight. If in someway their relationship took a turn for the worse, she'd make damn sure she would do anything in her power to make it last. She loved that boy too much to give up without a fight.

Charlie looked to the camera again when she realized she had looked away and gave a small smile. "Maybe, I'll have to figure out a few things over here first and then I'll let you know. Ok!?"

"Of course babe," Alex replied. "Have you heard anything from Jer?"

She frowned slightly at that and knew that Alex instantly knew the answer. "No, it's been over a month and we should have at least got a letter by now."

"Charlie I'm sure everything is fine, maybe the letter just got lost or something."

"Its never taken him this long to contact us. I know its hard sometimes to be around Noah because he's still hurting about Sarah but he loves his son. I know he does, theres at least two letters that come every month. And now there's nothing. What if something happened? They should have contacted me by now if something did."

"I'm sure everything is fine babe, I'm sure there will be a letter from him any day now explaining what happened and that he's safe and sound. Don't worry so much, its not good for you."

She sniffed and wiped a stray tear from her eye. It had been over five months that he had been gone now she had faithfully got a letter every two or so weeks. But for five weeks in a row, nothing. She never told Noah what was going since how do you tell a four year old that his daddy hasn't contacted them for so long. Every time he asks Charlie just tells him that daddy loves him and that he'll be home soon. Sure it might not be the best way to handle things but that was the only thing Charlie could think of to say when he asks. It was getting harder to keep the truth and whenever she looked into the innocent eyes she wanted to burst into tears and hug him close. She really had only ever been this scared one other time in her life and never wanted to feel that way again. But it looked like that wasn't an option right now.

"I'm sorry baby, I wish I was there! It makes me miss you even more that I can't simply lean over and pull you into a hug!"

"I miss you too, thank you for before. I don't mean to spend this whole time whining and crying, I just-"

"Hey, its ok. Thats what I'm here for ok? Any time you need to call me to cry I'll always be here for you. I love you!"

She smiled at hearing those three little words, still trying to get used to hearing them even though it had been two weeks since they had first said them. The was a slight pause and she was about to say them back in return when the screen crackled and then went dark. She frowned at the now blank screen and tried to press a few buttons to get it back or see what happened, but nothing would work. The little red button showed saying that the call disconnected and she sighed at the screen and tried to call Alex again, but didn't get a reply. She tried once more with the same result and just decided to give up. She had no clue what happened but as she shut off her computer and got up to put it on her desk she suddenly became aware of how tired she was.

Climbing into bed, she snuggled into the covers wishing that Alex was there with her instead of Bear. But she knew that he needed to be in Baltimore to grt ready for the next tour, it just sucked sometimes that they didn't live closer to each other so they weren't in this predicament. Though nothing could really be done. Alex needed to stay in Baltimore with the band and she couldn't just up and move. She had Noah to take care of now and her life was in Milwaukee. Her job, her brother, her friends, everything. She grew up there and didn't know if she could really give it up all that easily like she thought she could.

Just as her eyes were slipping closed and sleep was starting to overcome her, her stupid phone buzzed on the nightstand waking her. Groaning, she reached out and grabbed it blinking against the harsh light shining in her eyes as she tried to see what the hell it was.

From: Alex
Sorry babe, that was my fault. There's a storm here and it took out my power. I love you and call me if you need me. I'm sure everything with Jer will be fine. I promise. Just relax and get some sleep. I love you.

That simple text was enough to bring a smile to her face and wash away most of her fears for the moment. She didn't bother replying knowing Alex would understand and put her phone back on the table before closing her eye again, finding sleep come easier than it had for the last few nights before. She knew she had Alex by her side through thick and thin and that in itself had her falling asleep with a small smile on her face.