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There was a dull throb in his head as he stared out the window, watching the streets of NYC go by. He initially thought it was because he was listening to Max go on and on about his own family. But he knew that wasn't true. Hell, any other day and he'd be the one asking Max how the family was doing and listening intently to the stories. But today wasn't just any other day. Today was the day Charlie Carrington, youngest of the Carrington siblings, would meet his entire family for the first time. The first time the entire Carrington family had been in one place. As far as Charlie could remember anyway. Sure, he had met some of them already but some of his older siblings had already left home before Charlie had even been born. The most contact he had with some of them was when they sent him an occasional birthday message on social media. Charlie was apprehensive to say the least. What if they didn't like him? What if this trip drove the siblings that he did know further away? These were worst case scenarios but Charlie couldn't stop them running through his head.

In an attempt to distract himself, he turned his attention to [url=http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Christian-Monzon-e1333148593733.jpg]Max[/url]. The man in the front seat of the town car driving through the city was one of many staff hired by the Carrington family. He had been assigned as Charlie's driver after the youngest Carrington had failed his drivers test twice. Charlie always maintained that wasn't his fault. He knew how to drive a car but other people kept getting in his way. When another driver would pull out in front of him too quickly or drive too slowly in front of him, Charlie was often unsure of how to react. He was actually quite a good driver but other drivers always messed up his thinking. He realized that was a rather apt analogy for his dealings with other people in general. He didn't mind having Max drive him around though. Max was a nice guy who had always been very accommodating of Charlie's...eccentricities.

The only thing that bothered Charlie slightly about Max was the sneaking suspicion he had that his parents had secretly hired him to act not only as a driver but as a bodyguard too. As Charlie stared at the back of Max's bald head, he remembered the time, shortly after meeting Max, when Charlie had sneaked out to go drinking with some friends. Of course there wasn't a whole lot of sneaking involved. His parents were no where to be found at the time and Charlie was sure they were on the other side of the country but it made him feel better thinking of it as sneaking out rather than just walking out the front door. Anyway, Charlie had made it past the bouncers thanks to a fake I.D of his own making that claimed he was a medical student at Mount Sinai. Unfortunately he had gotten a little too drunk that night and made a comment to some guys girlfriend. He had meant it as a purely factual statement. She was very attractive and Charlie was merely pointing this out. Unfortunately this gentleman and his friends, also in drunken states, didn't see it that way and dragged Charlie and his friends outside to teach him not to “hit on my girl” or whatever. Charlie was expecting to get an ass whooping but before he even knew what was going on, Max was on the scene. He leveled the drunk and his two buddies by himself. Charlie and his friends were lost for words but were quickly bundled into the back of a car by Max and driven home. Charlie was grateful to Max for saving him that night but Max simply told him not to bring it up and to be more careful next time. Curious about his driver from that point on, Charlie did a little online digging and found that not only was Max born in Israel, he was also well versed in Krav Maga. Charlie wasn't able to find any real proof but he had a suspicion that Max had at one point been a member of the Israel Defense Forces. He knew better than to ask, however, as Max clearly didn't want to talk about his past. While Charlie was grateful that Max was looking our for him, he slightly resented the idea that his parents thought he needed a bodyguard in the first place. How much trouble did they think he got up to when they weren't around? Did they think he was such a wimp that he couldn't look after himself? He probably couldn't but that wasn't the point. He wasn't even entirely sure what the point was but he knew there was one.

“I'm telling you, I think she's a genius. You'd like her.” said Max as Charlie realized he hadn't been listening to a single word his driver had said. He had lost himself in his own thoughts. But then again he had distracted himself from the stress of the family vacation for a moment.
“Uh huh.” Charlie offered by way of response.
Max sighed and mumbled “You haven't even been listening to me, have you?”
“Of course I have!” argued Charlie, pretending to be annoyed to cover the fact that Max was right. “You think your daughter's a genius.” It wasn't really that hard to figure out. His daughter was always Max's favorite subject to talk about.
“Mmmhmmm” replied Max, eying Charlie through the rear view mirror. “It'll be okay, kid.” he offered. Charlie saw his eyes turn from skeptical to sympathetic. He shifted uncomfortably in the back seat, trying not to look at Max. He wasn't comfortable with the fact that Max usually seemed to know exactly what he was thinking about.

[i]It'll be okay[/i] he reminded himself. He'd meet his family, go on vacation and have a great time. But before all that, he had to make one stop. He had to pick up the one person that would help him the most through the next few weeks. His best friend, Amelia. He had already invited her to come along on the family vacation and she had accepted. Charlie was glad. He didn't think he could face his entire family without a little emotional support from someone on the outside. His eyes drifted to the small collection of boxes sitting next to him in the car. He had already given Amelia her Christmas gift. [url=http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images/constellations-projector-640x533.jpg]A mini planetarium projector[/url] that displayed a light show of the known stars and planets across her bedroom walls and ceiling, but he had bought a couple of smaller, spur of the moment gifts for her too, including a bonsai tree, a zombie gnome and a box of Lego shaped candy. He had a habit of buying small gifts for his friends. Some thought it was weird and often suspected some kind of ulterior motive but Charlie just enjoyed doing it. Christmas gave him the perfect opportunity.

The car pulled up in front of Amelia's place and the engine shut off. Max got out and hurried around to open the door for Charlie but the door was already open by the time he got there and Charlie was shuffling out with his small bundle of gifts in his arms. Charlie smirked at Max as he stood. It was an unspoken game between the two of them to see if Max could get the door open before Charlie. Max took his duties as driver very seriously and always thought he should open the door for his passenger. Charlie, on the other hand, didn't think things like that were necessary. He was perfectly capable of opening a car door by himself. Max gave Charlie a halfhearted smile in response. With no hands free to close the door behind him however, Charlie let Max do that for him. He walked from the car towards Amelia's door, stopping when he slipped slightly on a patch of ice. He heard Max snicker slightly as he stood by the car and turned his head to look at him. Max covered his smile with a cough and a closed hand to his mouth as he looked away. Charlie half smiled at him before carrying on to the door where he shifted the boxes he carried in his arms so he could ring the bell. As he stood and waited for Amelia to answer, he looked down at himself. He was more dressed up than usual, wearing a black pea coat over a sweater of the same color. Of course he still wore his usual high top converse shoes but only now realized that he was wearing [url=http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images/light-up-shoes2.jpg]the ones with light up soles[/url] and had forgotten to turn them off. He had no free hands to turn them off so he raised an eyebrow in thought as he wondered if Amelia would think it was weird. He looked over his shoulder at Max who clearly knew what he was thinking but only lifted his arms in a shrug. Well that wasn't helpful.

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Amelia had been feeling nervous; she could feel the palm of her hands sweating. Charlie had invited her for a family holiday with the Carrington's...whilst she was more than happy to go and support him. She was also freaking out internally...she had only known his sister Olivia, As she had an internship at Vogue. It was all thanks for Charlie and his good word; as he knew how much she liked fashion. It was her dream, joy and hobby. But not really knowing much about his family...his parents in particular-besides what she heard and seen on the news. She just felt nervous...for him, as well as for herself. His parents seemed rather intimidating in the news...in person...it'd be much worse. Right?

Charlie had been her friend for years and Amelia knew that he was probably nervous himself. She tried to make a mental note, to keep calm for his sake. It was the least she could do. But the sudden thought of him asking her to the this trip dawned on her...did he mean to take her as more than a friend? The thought made her blush, as she had been sporting a secret crush on Charlie for a while now. Of course...Amelia had kept it to herself...not knowing if Charlie viewed her more than a friend or not. She didn't want to ruin what friend-ship they had. As he meant a lot to her. Despite his strange...awkward ways, she loved him for who he was. He was sweet...shy, smart. Bit too silent at times, but at least he listened. Closing her bag up...Amelia was packed for the entire holiday...including her Christmas Gifts for Charlie. She had gotten him a few comics, the new Avengers film and a poster to go with it.

Hearing the door; she called out softly. "I'm coming!" 

With her bag in her hands, the small blonde rushed downstairs in excitement to see her friend. Her blonde hair in curls, falling around the curves of her face in perfection. Wearing a dress, with tights, high heel boots and a winter coat on top. Amelia wrapped a scarf around her neck. With her bag in her hand, she opened the door to see Charlie waiting for her holding boxes. She smiled softly. "Do you need any help with that?" she asked and she noticed some strange lighting coming from his shoes. She tilted her head slightly, in curiosity as it took her a while to figure out it was one of his special lace up's that lit up. "Forgot to turn them off?" she asked, nodding down to his shoes with a smile.

Charlie smiled at Amelia for a long and awkward few seconds as he tried to think of something witty to say to explain his shoes. In his head, he pictured the cadences of some smart and funny explanation but the words just weren't there. His eyes slowly drifted from her to the door beside her but snapped back as he said simply "Nope."

Nailed it.

He practically shoved his gifts towards her and said "These are for you." As she took them from him, he continued with a shrug "Just some stuff I thought you'd like." His lips then tightened together as he wondered for a moment if she actually would like this stuff or if it was just things he liked. He then realized he was being awkward again and forced a smile. "You don't have to open them now...if you don't want to."

"So...you always walk around with lit up shoes?" Amelia asked...with a teasing tone. But she smiled at him, not meaning anything harsh by that comment. Just being playful.

Amelia smiled and looked a little surprised as he shoved the boxes into her hands. "You shouldn't have...I mean...you didn't have to." she said holding the boxes. She had already received a gift, which she was sure took a lot of time and effort to find. Plus the money. But she blushed as she saw his look, seeing his forced smile. She returned a soft smile. "Umm...thanks. I'll have a look in the car." she muttered softly. She held the boxes in her hand and she smiled at him gently. "Could you give me a hand...please?" she asked, nodding over to her bag.

Charlie rolled his eyes as Amelia poked fun at him. It wasn't the first time and he knew it wouldn't be the last. If it were anyone else he may have reacted differently but he knew Amelia was just playing around. When she took the gifts from him, he bent low to switch off his geek shoes. All at once, he looked much less strange and when he returned to his full height he gave Amelia a much more genuine smile.

"Certainly m'lady" he said when asked to help with Amelia's bag. He stepped inside to grab it and was quickly out again. He turned back to Amelia and offered her his arm as he said "Be careful. It's icy here...Someone might slip." He heard Max cough to once again cover a laugh as he started towards them, no doubt to take Amelia's bag from Charlie.

One of the great things about being close; was that they could tease each other and only mean it in a fun...friendly way. Amelia returned the soft and genuine smile, once he straightened up again. As he took her bag-she giggled and blushed as he called her m'lady. "Why thank you, Mr Charlie." she offered a soft sweet smile. Playfully bumping her hip with his.

Linking her arm with his carefully, still holding the boxes she carefully followed him after she closed the door to her house. As he warned her about the icy patch, she heard Max cough. Amelia rose a slight eyebrow at the driver...it seemed like he found something amusing. She didn't think, the driver was coming to greet her, but rather take her bags.

Charlie handed Amelia's bags to Max who quickly turned around and headed to the already popped trunk where he placed them with care. Charlie took his time leading Amelia towards the car. Mostly to avoid slipping again, he was not wearing the most practical of shoes after all, but also to give Max a chance to get back around and open the car door for them. He had already annoyed Max once today with the door thing. No need to do it again. Max gave Charlie a narrow eyed smile as two teenagers got into the back of the car and closed the door behind them.

Inside the car, Charlie shifted in his seat and fidgetted with his jacket. It was new and this was the first time he had worn it. He wanted to look good when he met his family but felt weird. He normally dressed in much more casual gear. Only when he stopped fidgeting and looked at Amelia did he realize how uncomfortable she looked too. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her.

Amelia muttered a soft thank you, as Max took her bags. With Charlie's help...she got into the bag of the car, setting the boxes down on her lap. But she was strangely silent-not taking notice of the driver's looks. Staring at the patterns of the back of the seat...she bit her lower lip. Thinking about the trip and how everything would turn out. She felt the palms of her hands beginning sweat, as she thought about facing his parents...face to face. The two intimidating and cold figures they seemed to be...even in the papers. 

The thoughts making her head spin a little-looking bit pale and freaked out. "Huh...what?" Charlie's words snapped her out of her freak-out. Looking over at him, unsure of what he had asked her.

Charlie tilted his head slightly at Amelia as Max started to drive off, heading now towards the airport. Amelia seemed to be in a world of her own for a moment. Which was odd because that was normally Charlie's thing. Drifting off into his own thoughts. He knew the look all too well. He thought about repeating his question but he knew Amelia well enough to know what she was thinking right now. So instead he put a hand gently atop hers and said "Relax. This is supposed to be a vacation. You don't need to be nervous about meeting my family. It's going to be me they're judging. Not you."

He flashed Amelia his best smile to reassure her that everything was okay but at the same time realized that he probably had less to be worried about than most of his siblings. He had been living with his parents...sort of...so meeting them at the airport wasn't really a big deal. Some of his other family, like Mari and Tatiana, he already knew well so he didn't have to be nervous around them. It was really only some of the older siblings he was nervous to meet. That realization made him relax slightly. But not entirely.

Feeling his comforting hand on her's; Amelia managed a soft smile towards Charlie. Squeezing his hand softly in return, she took a deep breath. "I am not so sure about that....they might judge me as well..." she muttered, more to herself than to Charlie. But she knew he heard her nonetheless. It was true...nothing was stopping anyone from judging her...especially his parents. And that's what worried her. But the thought of it being a Vacation made her lean back against her seat, trying to relax. 'Maybe it won't be so bad....just relax Lia. Charlie's there with you...it'll be fine, if you two stick together'. a voice rung inside of her head.

Glancing over at him softly, she returned the soft smile. "Thanks...you're always a good friend. I guess, I am just a little anxious about meeting everyone at once." she admitted-of course she knew Olivia having been working for her at Vogue, but the others; not really. She had only heard so much from Charlie, or seen Marisol in magazines. Amelia seemed to follow her modeling career, like a few fans. Liking her style in clothes. Taking a few deep breaths, Amelia tried to calm down and relax, trying to think of the vacation; the places they would see and not the stress of meeting everyone for this family gathering. 

After a few moments, Amelia decided to open the boxes. Taking a look inside to see what Charlie had brought her.

Charlie didn't want to admit it to Amelia but she was probably right. His parents probably would judge her a little. But they judged everyone. It was what they did. It was their thing. A thing Charlie never really understood. The hierarchy of wealth confused him. Why did having more money than someone else entitle you to judge others like they were somehow less than you?

He remembered the way his parents would occasionally treat some of their staff. They were usually good enough to people that showed them respect but there was always that air of superiority. He remembered the way family friends would look down on those less privileged than them. He had grown up around this kind of attitude but the older he got, the more it annoyed him. Charlie had always been friendly with the various staff hired by the Carringtons as he had spent more time with them than even his own parents. It annoyed him when people looked down on them for their station and the idea of anyone judging Amelia just made him angry.

He tensed slightly at the thought but reminded himself that they had no reason to judge her. She was great.

When Amelia picked up one of her gifts and began to unwrap it, Charlie smiled slightly. The gifts were only small things but he hoped she liked them anyway. The pink leafed bonsai tree was pretty. He knew she liked pretty things. The zombie gnome was supposed to represent their combined eccentric interests. And the lego candy was just fun and quirky.

Amelia flashed Charlie a soft, gentle smile as she unwrapped the first box. Popping the box open; Amelia took out the pink bonsai tree, smiling as she saw it light up. "Aww, that's so pretty." she smiled. Amelia being the girly-girl she was; liked pretty much anything that was pretty, pink and sparkly. The little tree was cute, and she knew just where she would put it. She had a perfect place for it, in her secret space in her bedroom. But that would have to wait, until the vacation was over.

Looking through the two boxes, Amelia giggled and smiled when she saw the Zombie Gnome. It was an interesting combination, but it seemed to fit her and Charlie's interests perfectly-they were both different, unique but best friends. And this was the perfect symbol of their friendship and their interests. Upon seeing the quirky Candy, she smiled as she felt her stomach rumble slightly."Oohh yummy..want a piece?" she asked, offering Charlie one with a smile.

She reached over, squeezing his hand as a thank-you with a bright beaming smile. "Thanks, these are great. I love them." Amelia really did. Even though they were unusual, that's what she liked. Even though Amelia was not a fan of Zombies, it was the symbol being the hybrid gnome and the sentiment that meant a lot. Every gift meant something to her.

Happily plucking the piece of candy from Amelia's fingers, Charlie beamed. He was glad she liked even these small gifts. He wondered then if his parents had liked theirs as much. His gift to his father had been a model train that he had built himself. He was very proud of that one. A lot of blood, sweat and tears had gone into that gift. Literally. Some of the inner workings still had his blood on them

His mother's gift had been hand crafted too and would probably at some point have someone else's blood on it. He had built her a palm sized miniature crossbow. Even Charlie wasn't entirely clear on the sentiment behind this gift. Maybe he thought she could use it to kill someone who annoyed her. It seemed like the kind of thing she would do. He just hoped it wasn't him.

As he sat there, thinking about his parents gifts, he stared at the odd little block of candy in his hand. He hadn't really thought about it until now but biting into what looked like a Lego block seemed counter intuitive. A part of his brain yelled at stop while another told him it was fine. He eventually plopped the whole thing in his mouth, hoping that he didn't shatter a tooth.

The rest of the car ride seemed to pass pretty quickly as Charlie and Amelia distracted one another by discussing their gifts. Charlie loved his comics. He was a sucker for that kind of stuff and as such was easy to please. They discussed the mini planetarium projector Charlie had bought Amelia and he promised to tell her the names of all the stars when they got home. They also discussed the latest episode of their favorite tv show, which prompted Charlie to go off on a ramble about the characters. Before they knew it, the car had stopped and Max was opening the door for them. Max had won this round.

The pair were quickly whisked through security, bypassing many of the standard security protocols that normal people would have to pass through. Charlie felt slightly uncomfortable with this. What if he had been carrying a bomb? He wasn't but they didn't know that. When they emerged from the other side of the building, they were both surprised to find Max standing beside what looked to be the very same car they had arrived in. Charlie suspected that the whole process of passing through security had been more to satisfy him than anything else. They were quickly bundled into the back and driven across the tarmac to the Carrington's private air palace jet. This time, Charlie deliberately waited for Max to open the door. He knew his parents were standing there watching and he didn't want to give them any reason to think Max wasn't doing his job properly. When the door opened, Charlie stepped outside and before even looking at the group of family standing near the jet, offered his hand to Amelia to help her out. Only when they were both out and Max had retrieved their bags from the trunk did he turn to look at his family. Great. No sign of any of the siblings he actually knew yet. He wished Mari or even Liv were here right now. It would make this so much easier.

Hand in hand with Amelia, squeezing her hand perhaps a little too tightly, he walked from the car towards the group standing nearby. "Mother, father...Assorted others." he offered by way of greeting, not really sure how to address anyone without sounding strange.