A/N: I'll put links up in my profile to polyvore for the outfits in these next few chapters.

'Bonding Days' with Maya and the boys of Connect 3 turned out to be two of the greatest days I had ever experienced. After hanging out at the ice rink until closing on Monday night, we all headed back to Maya's house; the same house Jason, Nate and Shane grew up in. The place was huge, with seven bedrooms, a game/entertainment room that took up most of the second floor and a guest house out by the pool in the backyard.

"This place is gorgeous," I told Maya as she gave me a quick tour. "It's the biggest house I've ever been in."

"I know," she said. "It was great when everyone was living here, but now it's practically empty. When the boys aren't on tour they're staying at their house is LA, with just Mom and me here it gets lonely sometimes. She even thought about selling it once, but she couldn't bear to part with it. We all grew up here, our memories are centered around this place."

After the tour of the house, everybody changed into the pajamas they brought from the bus and loaded up onto the couches in front of the big screen in the entertainment room on the second floor. We picked through our haul of snacks and turned on a movie and that is where we stayed until the next afternoon. We watched movie after movie and played board games and just hung out, like five regular kids just spending time together.

"You learn to cherish moments like this when you live the kind of lifestyle we do," Shane said to me as Maya and Jason set up one of the games we were getting ready to play. Nate was around the corner in the mini kitchen making popcorn. "Even when you're with each other as much as we are during tour, we're either working or sleeping."

"Yeah," I said. "I learned that living in the system meant you couldn't take any moments for granted with the people you cared about. It didn't matter how much you wanted someone to stay, they could be gone in the blink of an eye, off to a new home somewhere across the state."

"That's terrible," Shane said quietly. "I want you to know, Charlie, we aren't going anywhere."

"Thank you," I told him sincerely. I gave him a tight hug and had to close my eyes to ward off the tears.

"You're stuck with us, kid." He laughed loudly as he released me from our embrace.

"Kid? I'm only a year younger than you!" I stated.

"You're seventeen until the end of April, I'm nineteen. You're two years younger than me for another whole month."

"You're not going to let me live that one down are you?" I asked him.

"Nope," he said with a smile. "But just think about it, in a month you will be a year older than Nate, so it's not that bad."

"Well you just think about this," I said, poking his chest. "I may be two years younger than you in a month, but you will always be two years younger than Jason."

He just laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "I'm so glad you're stuck with us, Chuck. You have a way of making life pretty interesting."

"I could say the same about you," I said with my arm around his back. "I think we could get into some trouble, you and I."

"I think you just may be right about that."

I was shaken awake from my spot on one of the squishy couches at around noon. After promising a very awake Aiden that I would get up and go swimming with him I looked around the room. The rest of the group was passed out various places all around me. Shane and Maya were snuggled together closely on an air mattress on the floor near my couch, Nate was stretched out in the recliner across the room and Jason wrapped up in a quilt on the couch perpendicular to mine.

I stood up and quietly folded the blanket I had used and laid it underneath my pillow before walking to the bathroom. I found the duffel bag I had gotten my pjs out of. After locating the swimsuit Maya had talked me into buying at PacSun I quickly changed. I had to search for a minute before finding where the towels were but got to them eventually. Grabbing a big fluffy beach towel, I wrapped it around myself and headed downstairs.

Aiden was already outside sitting by the pool with his feet dangling in the water. I silently put my towel down and snuck up behind him. Just as I reached where he was sitting I took a long stride and jumped over his head and cannon balled into the crystal blue water. His initial shock lasted about a second and he was in right after me. We killed the time playing games and having hand stand contest. I learned that I could hold my breath under water for just about a minute, while Aiden could hold his for a minute and a half.

After a few hours we decided to dry off and get some lunch. We made it inside to find almost everyone else was up and about, mostly hustling around the kitchen. Maya and Shane were dancing in front of the stove to a pop tune floating through the room from an iPod dock near the refrigerator. From the smell of it, they were frying bacon. I could hear the adults talking animatedly from somewhere nearby and Jason stood at the opposite counter from Shane and Maya slicing a tomato. He looked up when he heard me and Aiden come in and waved at us.

"Have a nice swim?" he asked.

"It was awesome!" Aiden told him excitedly. "Charlie can do better handstands than me, but I can hold my breath longer than her. She has an awesome cannonball, too."

"Well," Jason laughed. "Sounds like you two have had a pretty exciting day so far."

"Yep," I said. "And we're starving, so what are we making?"

"BLTs!" Maya and Shane shouted at the same time. I looked around the rest of the kitchen and noticed Nate was no where to be found.

"Where's Nate?" I asked.

"Still asleep," Jason told me. A look of concern flashed across his features. "Actually, he should probably get up. Would you mind taking some food up to him for me?"

"Sure, no problem," I told him. He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bowl of already cut fruit and a bottle of apple juice. I took them from him and headed upstairs. I stopped at the half kitchen before making my way to Nate. I found my duffel bag by the bathroom and grabbed some sweats and a tank from it to put over my swimsuit. I put my bag away and started back on my original mission.

I found Nate in the same place I had last seen him before heading downstairs this morning. He was stretche out across the extended recliner, one leg dangling over the arm and his curly hair a mess. I had to laugh at how adorable this made him look. Mentally I noted that he must be a pretty heavy sleeper to still be unconcious after Shane had been in the room, even if it were only for a moment.

I gently nudged his shoulder the the hand that held the apple juice but he didn't stir. I shook a little harder, this time getting a grunt as a reaction. I smiled and pressed the cold bottle in my hand to the exposed skin of his neck. His whole body jerked and he almost fell from the recliner, causing me to burst out laughing.

My laughing ceased however when I noticed the glare Nate sent my way. I quickly thrust the fruit bowl in front of me and handed it to him.

"Jason sent me to wake you," I said sheepishly. He looked a tad bit guilty as he took a bite out of a piece of cantaloupe.

"Thanks," he said. He rubbed his eyes and continued to eat. Rather than stand around and watched, I made use of the moment to straighten up the room. By the time I was finished so was Nate. He stood up from the chair and stretched his arms above his head.

"I'm sorry for being so rude," he told me as I folded the last comforter. He grabbed the other end and helped. "I usually set my phone alarm to wake me up pretty early. I'm surprised I forgot last night."

"Well, being in my presence does seem to have that affect on people," I joked.

"You'd be surprised at how truthful that statement is, Charlie," he said. I blushed.

"So why do you get up so early?" I asked, quickly changing topics. "You don't exactly seem to be a morning person."

"Again," he said. "Sorry about that."

"Really, Nate, stop saying sorry. I've already forgotten about it."

He just smiled and took the now folded covers from me and placed them on the couch.

"I am a much more pleasant person to be with when I get up earlier. The longer I sleep, the lower my blood sugar gets."

I gave him a confused look and he smiled. "I have type 1 diabetes."

A/N: This update comes to you in honor of NaNoWriMo. And because I have finally found a way to write without using Word or Notepad. :)