How's it going Edgelings?

OVER 1,000 READS!!!! *Insert ecstatic screeching*

New chapter! Yippeeeeeeeeee!!!!

I had so much fun writing this! I'm falling in love with the dynamics and potential of this AU, so be expecting more of it!

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The sun was setting, painting the sky in warm shades of orange and pink, though it was hard to see through the thick forest canopy. Light spilled from the windows of the little three bedroom log cabin nestled in the woods, and much commotion could be heard inside. Airy and Bryce had just finished unloading the minivan, and everyone had come in.

"There's BUNK BEDS!!!" Taylor squealed in excitement as she ran out of one of the bedrooms, Amelia hot on her tail. "Can I have the top bunk? Please! Please! Please!" she begged, rushing up and hugging Airy's legs.

Airy chuckled and smiled down at her. "Sure sweetie... Charlotte? You don't mind... sharing a room with them... do you?"

"Not at all." Charlotte grinned, playing peek-a-boo with Charlie in the small living room floor. "There's two bunk beds in each room?"

"That's what the description said." Airy confirmed.

"So you checked that, but it was too much to check and see if they had WiFi?" Liam grumbled sourly and he grudgingly helped drag the suitcases into the correct rooms.

Airy tousled his handle playfully as he walked past, "I think... you'll survive..."

Liam glared at him, "Why do you do this?"

"I thought... it would be fun..."

"Well I hope you're having fun Dad!" Liam huffed as he stomped off towards the bedroom hall, Amelia's suitcase in tow.

Airy raised an eyebrow and bit back a smirk as he watched Liam storm off.

"He'll get over it." Charlotte reassured him, and he nodded.

"Bryce?" Airy called down the short hall leading to the three bedrooms.

"What do you want?" The grumpy teen asked, sticking his head out of the door of the bedroom he and Liam would share.

"Could you please set up Charlie's pack-n-play in the third bedroom?" Airy asked, ignoring Bryce's demeanor.

"Yeah..." Bryce nodded, heading over to the stack of luggage by the front door to retrieve said pack-n-play.

"Where are you gonna sleep?" Charlotte questioned.

"Couch." Airy answered, pointing to the brown sofa behind her.

"Couldn't you just sleep on the bunk in the room with Charlie?"

"I'd be afraid... I'd wake him up..." Airy explained. "I'm... going to go grab some firewood from the stack outside... to light the fireplace..." he informed her as he headed towards the backdoor leading out of the kitchen.

"Mhm..." Charlotte hummed in comprehension.

The autumn air outside the cabin was chill and crisp, refreshing compared to the strong cedar smell coming from inside the small cabin. Airy took a deep breath as he stepped out onto the back porch, walking down the creaky wooden stairs towards the logs stacked up against the side of the cabin. Airy picked four off the top, grunting as he hauled them back up the stairs and into the cabin.

He walked around the kitchen island and past the sofa in the living room, his vision mostly obscured by the large stack of wood he was carrying, but he had a general idea where he was heading.

Suddenly, his toe caught on the edge of an uneven floorboard, and he tripped forward with a gasp, dropping one of the logs with a crash...

He heard a childish gurgling beneath him.

Terror overwhelmed him.

Airy threw aside the rest of the stack, and it banged loudly on the wood floor. Airy eyes darted to the floor in a wild panic. The log he dropped laid on the floor mere inches from where Charlie was walking.

Airy gasped in relief. He knelt down and scooped up the wobbling baby, panickedly checking for injury. He once again sighed in relief when he saw Charlie was unharmed.

"My gosh that scared me..." Airy mumbled to himself, fearful tears pooling in his eyes as he hugged his precious child tight, thanking all things above that the log hadn't crushed him. Where was Charlotte?

Just as he thought that, Charlotte came out from around the corner, smiling and said, "The girls and I would like to get up early and go fishing by the lake if that's... fine with you..." she slowed down when she saw Airy kneeling on the floor, holding onto Charlie for dear life.

"Charlotte... please don't leave Charlie... by himself... I almost dropped... a log... on him..." Airy panted, shaking from the aftermath of the scare.

"Oh gosh... I'm sorry..." Charlotte apologized breathlessly, appalled that she had been so careless.

"It's fine... He's fine..." Airy assured her, taking a deep breath to calm his pounding heart. He shakily stood up and handed Charlie over to Charlotte, who held him more tightly than usual. He turned and picked up the fallen logs, tossing them into the stone fireplace. He pulled out a lighter and the fire flared to life, blackening the surface of the wood.

Liam trudged into the living room to retrieve the last of the luggage, and Charlotte turned to address him, "Do you want to come fishing with us in the morning? As long as dad's fine with that..."

"Uhhh..." Liam hummed uncertainly as he knelt down to pick up his own suitcase from in front of the door.

"I think that... would be a good idea..." Airy nodded encouragingly.

"Fine, are we going before Charlie wakes up?" Liam asked.

"Yep, fish are more active in the early mornings and late evenings." Charlotte explained, Charlie yawning in her arms.

"So... dad's not coming?" Liam raised a brow.

"I'll... join you guys... after Charlie gets up..." Airy confirmed, walking towards the kitchen to fix Charlie's bottle.

"Pack-n-play's done," Bryce announced as he stepped out of the hall.

"You want to come with us?" Charlotte asked him as Airy took Charlie from her arms.

"Where?" Bryce questioned.

"The lake. We're going fishing in the morning." Charlotte explained.

"Uh yeah, no, that's a hard pass..." Bryce grumbled in disgust.

"Oh come on. First you're scared of the ocean, now you're scared of lakes too?" Charlotte taunted.

"Shut up, Moldy." Bryce sneered, eyes narrowed.

Charlotte's look of amusement morphed into a look of fury in an instant, and she took a threatening step towards her brother, "OH SO WE'RE GOING THERE ARE WE?!?!"

"Kids... please..." Airy sighed, gently rocking Charlie in his arms, bottle in hand. The tension between the two broke as they turned their attention to their dad.

"Excuse me..." Liam mumbled as he walked between the two, down the hall towards his and Bryce's bedroom, excusing himself from the family drama.

"Charlotte, will you help... get the girls ready for bed?... I'm going to lay Charlie down..." Airy said, following Liam down the hall, heading towards the bedroom at the end.

"Sure..." Charlotte said, looking away from Bryce as she walked behind Airy.

"I'm going to bed." Bryce announced to the now empty living room, following Liam into their shared bedroom.

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The half moon hung high in the sky, and the lights in the cabin were off, all except for a dull orange light flickering in the living room from the dying embers of the fireplace. Airy laid on the couch sleeping, his glass head propped up by a pillow, Charlie's monitor screen set on the end table beside the couch.

Light footsteps could be heard coming from the bedroom hall, and Airy groggily sat up, awakened by the small pattering. The silhouette of a teal candle stood illuminated by the orange embers of the warm hearth.

Amelia nervously shifted her weight, tears in her eyes, as she stood uncertainty by the couch. Airy sat up and gently smiled, and whispered to her in the darkness, "What's... the matter... Amy?"

Amelia sighed in relief, glad she wouldn't have to wake him up, "I... I can't sleep..." she explained, sniffling and wiping tears from her eyes.

"Come here... sweetie..." Airy sat up and opened his arms to her. She all but ran into them, and Airy lifted her up and set her beside him on the couch. "Talk to me..."

"Th-There's... strange noises outside... a-and... the bedroom... looks different in the dark... a-and... my bed feels wr-wrong... a-and... I feel bad... because I didn't w-want to... w-wake anyone up..." Amelia stuttered guiltily, looking down at her feet as she swayed them over the edge of the couch cushion, cuddling close to the tall bronze lantern beside her.

"Don't feel bad... about that... you can always come to me..." Airy assured her, rubbing her back, "Take deep breaths..."

Amelia breathed deeply, gradually calming down as she leaned on Airy. "I'm too old... for this..." she mumbled shamefully, "All my friends... go on trips... for weeks..."

"You are perfect... just the way you are, Amy..." Airy reassured her, feeling his heart swell. "Now... how can I help you?" Airy asked quietly.

Amelia stayed quiet for a moment, scared to ask, but eventually looked up at him nervously, "Dad? Can I sleep... in here? With you? Charlotte's just not... the same..."

Airy eyes softened as he gazed down at his daughter. "Of course..." He slid off of the couch and patted the pillow he had been using, "Lay down..."

Amelia scooted up and laid her head on the pillow, smiling softly as she felt Airy tuck a blanket over her. "Thanks dad," she murmured contently as she yawned, her exhausted eyes fluttering shut.

Airy smiled as he made a place for himself on the rug in front of the couch, grabbing an extra pillow from the nearby armchair. He slowly lowered himself down onto the floor and cautiously laid his glass head on the pillow. At least Taylor seemed fine this time...

Finally, the whole family was asleep.

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The sun had barely broken the horizon, painting the early morning sky in vibrant red. Airy awoke to the faint rustling of footsteps and murmuring of voices as his children attempted to be quiet as they got ready to go out. He sat up, stretching his arms over his head, prepared to get up and help them.

"Great job guys, we woke dad up," Charlotte whispered harshly as she swung the fishing poles over her shoulder.

"Sorry," Taylor tried to whisper, but her whisper was more of a shout. Amelia was helping her tie her sparkly yellow neck ribbon. Liam had on a baseball cap and Charlotte wore a dark green fisher's hat.

"It's alright..." Airy yawned, pushing himself to his feet.

"No dad, I've got this. Go back to sleep." Charlotte demanded, pointing to the couch, where Amelia had slept the whole night. "Liam, carry the tackle box."

"Alright..." Airy chuckled, laying back down on the couch, watching as the group slipped out the front door, heading down the trail to the lake.

Airy laid there for nearly thirty minutes, staring out the window, watching the various birds flutter through the treetops, unable to go back to sleep. Perhaps now would be a good time to try to talk to Bryce...

Airy stood back up and unplugged the monitor screen, carrying it with him as he headed towards Bryce's room. He lightly tapped on the door.

He heard a muffled gasp from inside, followed by an intense coughing spell. Banging and clattering ensued before finally a low voice called out, "Come in."

Airy raised his eyebrows suspiciously as he quietly turned the doorknob and entered the bedroom. Bryce was laying down on the bottom bunk on the right side of the room, eyeing Airy through a half-lidded gaze.

"Good morning... Bryce," Airy greeted him, scanning the room for the source of the banging he had heard.

"What do you want?" Bryce grumbled in his typical gravelly morning voice.

Airy sighed, figuring he might as well get to the point, "What was that noise?"

"I hit my head." Bryce explained, pointing to the wood edge of the top bunk above him.

Airy nodded, but his brows suddenly furrowed, "What's that smell?"

"I dunno," Bryce answered in a disinterested tone.

Suddenly, a metal water slowly rolled out from under Bryce's bed, following the slope of the uneven floorboards. Airy and Bryce stared at it silently, then their eyes met. Both instantly reached for it, but Airy managed to grab it first pulling it away from Bryce's desperately outstretched hand.

"****!" Bryce swore as he overbalanced and toppled out of his bunk with a clatter.

"What... did you just say?" Airy asked, taken aback, clutching the mysterious water bottle.

Bryce glared at him, "I swore. Why does it matter?"

"It matters... to me..." Airy said with narrowed eyes, and began to unscrew the cap.

Bryce lunged for it, and Airy quickly stepped out of the way, and Bryce once again fell on his face. Airy pulled off the cap and stared at the contents inside, overwhelmed by the strength of the smell.

"What... is this?" Airy questioned in disbelief and disgust.

Bryce stood up, brushing himself off. Great. Now dad knew... "Beer." Bryce spat furiously.

Airy gazed at Bryce with a mixture of guilt and disappointment. How long has... this... been going on? How long has he been unintentionally letting his son get into this stuff? "Where... did... you get it?"

"A friend. Now give it back." Bryce demanded, stepping towards him.

Airy stood his ground, "So this... was your 'weekend plans'?"

"Yeah? And what's it matter to you?! Now give it back!" Bryce growled.

"...no..." Airy stated plainly, smoothing his feature to hide his emotion. "...And it matters to me... because you're my son... it's not healthy... and it's illegal..."

"So what?! All my friends drink! Besides! It's not like I was going to get drunk or anything! I just need something to make the headache go away!" Bryce began to yell, his hands curling into fists.

"...Headache?... So... you're dependent on this stuff? Is that why you've been acting strange?" Suddenly all the pieces were clicking into place in Airy's mind.

"Just shut the **** up and give it to me!" Bryce yelled in a rage, his fists shaking as he took another step forward.

Airy wasn't backing down, he stared at Bryce with a calm, level gaze. "I said no... I'm not giving this back to you."

And that's when Bryce snapped. He lunged forward, grabbing at the bottle, but Airy jerked it out of his reach and used a steady hand to push Bryce back. Bryce lost his balance and fell backwards onto his bottom with a grunt.

With a cold, hardened look of determination on his face, Airy spun around and walked out of the bedroom and straight into the bathroom across the hall. Without a second's hesitation, he tipped the metal water bottle over and dumped it's contents down the drain. After the last drop spilled into the sink, he turned on the tap and rinsed out the bottle for good measure.

Airy frowned as he eyed movement on Charlie's monitor screen. He was definitely waking up, no doubt due to all the comotion.

Airy was deeply conflicted. He knew Bryce was up to... something... but he never expected this. He wasn't mad at Bryce, but he was mad at himself for not figuring this out sooner. Now Bryce was already deep into it, and it was Airy's fault. He had failed. And he didn't know how to fix it.

But he wasn't just going to keep ignoring it.

Airy slowly walked back across the hall, carrying the monitor with him, figuring he had a few minutes before Charlie was fully awake.

Back in the bedroom, Bryce was still sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the bunk bed, glaring at the floor in a mixture of defeat and fury.

"Here... is your water bottle..." Airy offered genuinely as he held out the empty container.

The soda bottle didn't look up. Instead he simply reached up and knocked it out of Airy's hands. It fell to the floor with a clang.

Airy sighed, and sat himself down on the floor directly across from Bryce. He didn't know how to start... but an idea suddenly came to mind. Maybe... if Airy relieved his weakness to Bryce, then Bryce would be more comfortable talking about his own weakness... It was worth a shot.

Airy took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for this. Here we go...

"Bryce..." Airy began.

"I don't want to talk." Bryce interrupted coldly.

"... you don't have to... but I'm going to talk to you..." Airy started again, "You know... what my job was... before I adopted you kids... right?"

Bryce didn't respond. Expected.

Airy marched on nonetheless, "You know I was a trucker... but... what you don't know is... there was more to it than that. When I first got my license, and was still deciding which companies I was going to apply to... a "friend" of mine from highschool, got me in contact with some people... and they offered me a job that earned a lot more money, than most truckers made... but of course... there was a catch..."

Bryce looked up at him, suddenly very interested. Was this going where it sounded like it was going?

"I accepted...The job was... to bring a truck load of "freight" from Atlanta to New York every week or so... but the reason the job paid so well was because... the "freight" was of the... illegal variety..." Airy winced, already regretting bringing up his past.

Bryce's jaw almost dropped. No. Actual. Way.

Airy met Bryce's gaze with a shameful look of guilt, "Yes Bryce... I was a drug smuggler... and I'm not the slightest bit proud of it..."

Bryce just stared at Airy as if he had grown another head.

"I did it for about... two years... never got into any of it myself, I'm too paranoid for that... but I did take some for myself and sell it on the side... anyways... the operation got busted by the New York cops... thankfully I wasn't hauling that week... so they never connected any of it to me... so I sold the truck, left town, and managed to get out with a clean record..." Airy sighed, "...And that was when I realized... that... sure... I had money... but my life had... no real meaning or purpose to it... so I decided... I was going to fix that... I took some classes and got a job as a software coder, earning a decent, legal salary... and decided I wanted to get into fostering... Now... here I am... sixteen years later..."

Bryce furrowed his brow, trying to process this huge chunk of his dad's life he had previously known nothing about.

"The reason... I'm telling you all this," Airy continued, "Is to tell you that I'm not perfect... I'm far, far from it... I've done many things in the past... that I'm not proud of... and I want you to know... I don't expect you to be perfect... I know that you're going to fail sometimes... just like all the rest of us... but I want you to know... You can always come to me with your failures... There is no secret so dark that I can't handle it... There's nothing that will change the way I love you... Just come to me, don't hide... I want nothing more than to help you... so you don't make the same mistakes I did..."

"It's not like I'm on drugs..." Bryce weakly protested, clearly shaken.

"I know... but if it's serious enough that you have to sneak it in your suitcase for a two-day trip... then it's serious enough for me to be very concerned..." Airy explained, scooting up beside Bryce and laying a hand on his shoulder.

Bryce's expression hardened, and he turned away, shaking Airy's hand off, "It's only five months till I'm eighteen... then you don't have to worry about it anymore." He mumbled.

"That's not..." Airy began before he was interrupted by a static scream on the monitor.

"DAAAAAAAAADAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Charlie yelled, announcing the fact that he was now very awake.

Airy sighed, standing up and shaking off the dust from the floor, he reached a hand down to help Bryce up, but Bryce only sneered and turned away.

"We can... talk more later..." Airy stated sadly as he headed out of the bedroom, leaving Bryce to sulk on the floor.

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Meanwhile outside...

"Come on! Come on!" Taylor goaded the others excitedly, running ahead of them, "Ooo!!! I think I see the water!"

"Finally..." Liam huffed, shifting the tackle box into his other hand

"Oh come on, we've only been walking for like, ten minutes," Charlotte rolled her eyes, playfully ruffling Liam's handle.

"My GOSH everyone needs to stop DOING THAT!" Liam complained, grabbing his handle and stepping away from Charlotte, who chuckled. "I'm not a little kid!"

"Aw, but you'll always be my baby bro," Charlotte smirked.

Liam glared at her, "No that's Charlie."

Charlotte shrugged, "Eh, not much difference."

"Wh- Hey!" Liam exclaimed indignantly after he picked up on her meaning.

"You're right. That's insulting to Charlie." Charlotte chuckled.

Amelia quietly walked up from the trail behind them and gently tugged on Charlotte's wrist. "Is the lake deep?" she asked in her sweet, quiet voice.

"Oh um, not until you get like, really far out there. All around the edge should be super shallow." Charlotte answered nonchalantly.

"Oh good... can I go swimming?" Amelia questioned hopefully.

"Well... yeah, but we'll have to split up. Can't fish and swim at the same spot." Charlotte turned back to Liam, who was still glaring at her sourly, "You want to stay with Amelia while I take Taylor?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to get in." Liam agreed, smiling at Amelia.

"Pfft, you afraid of getting wet? Don't tell me Bryce has rubbed off on you." Charlotte teased.

Liam rolled his eyes, "I just don't want to. It's cold."

Charlotte opened her mouth to counter, but suddenly an idea dawned on her, "Alright then..." She said with a mischievous grin.

"Whaaaaaaat is that look for?" Liam asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Charlotte shrugged. "We're here."

The trees around them thinned out as they followed the trail to the sandy lake shore. Taylor was already there, attempting to make a sandcastle, but it kept falling apart because of all the sticks and pebbles mixed in with the sand.

Charlotte eyed the clear water, judging its depth and determining if this was a good place. She smiled and nodded, turning back to Amelia, who kept glancing up with her patiently waiting for her verdict. Liam walked over to the edge of the water, and stared down at the bottom.

"It looks about knee deep, it should be FINE!!!!!" Liam yelped as he was roughly shoved in the back, losing his balance and falling face-first into the water. For a second he panicked, thrashing and kicking, before remembering that it was shallow.

He pushed himself to his feet and spun around, "SCREW YOU CHARLOTTE!!!" he shouted, dripping wet, gasping for breath and spitting sand out of his mouth.

"PFFF HA HA!" Charlotte bent over in a fit of laughter, "Your face!!!"

Amelia ran forward and splashed into the water, grabbing onto Liam's back strap and pulling him further into the water. "Come on!" She squealed eagerly.

Liam collected himself, wading through the cool lake water alongside her. He turned around one last time and narrowed his eyes, "I swear I'll get you for this."

"Alright, you do that." Charlotte chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes where she had been laughing so hard. "We're heading to the other side of the lake."

Taylor had given up on the sandcastle, and was giggling at her older siblings' antics. The little pink magazine sighed sadly as she watched Amelia and Liam get into a splashing fight.

Charlotte's eyes softened when she saw Taylor's expression, "Don't worry about it, Tay-tay. I can't swim either. Come on, let's go catch some fish." Charlotte adjusted the fishing poles on her shoulder, setting the two she had brought for Liam and Amelia down by the head of the trail.

"Yeah!" Taylor exclaimed, bright and excited once again, "The biggest fish in the lake!"

Charlotte grinned, "Definitely." She grabbed the tackle box that Liam had set down in her free hand.

"I'll help you carry that!" Taylor exclaimed, wrapping her small hand around the tackle box handle alongside Charlotte's.

"Thanks, you're strong." Charlotte praised, gazing tenderly at her little sister as they walked together down the lake shore, leaving the other two laughing in the water. Liam was enjoying playing in the lake, despite his previous distaste, and Amelia was loving his company.

All in all, everyone was enjoying themselves on the first morning of the trip.

Mostly everyone...

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Wow, I have so many ideas for this AU! I think I might continue it even after I finish writing about the trip! Y'know, write a little about their daily lives and friendships and school and Airy's job and all. I also have plans to add more of the characters in the next chapter!!! (Hint: Oscar will be one of them ;)

Next chapter will probably be an idea that got recommended to me by Av2838! What if... Airy adopted Charlie instead of eliminating him from the competition? Thank you so much for the inspiration! You guys can feel free to comment your ideas, and I might write about them depending on where my inspiration is at the time!

OLS (Pt.5) is coming out soon too! And I'm also definitely doing a continuation of the "...Liam brought Airy back." AU as well!!

Thank you guys for over 1,000 reads!! Your support means so much to me!

Edgy out!