"Alright baby, have fun at Nana's. I'll see you in a few days." Corbyn said, kissing Charlie's forehead. "Bye Daddy!" she chirped, taking his mom's hand and walking out the door. Corbyn shut the door and let out a deep exhale. After Renee's surprising, and unpleasant, visit the other night, Corbyn asked his mom if she could take Charlie for a few days. He needed some time to himself to collect his thoughts and he knew he could do that best knowing Charlie was somewhere safe and unknown to Renee. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and took it out to answer it. "Yo!" he said. "Hey bro, are you still coming over?" Jack said from the other end of the line. "Yeah, my mom just picked Char up. I'll be over in 10." "Cool, see you soon." he said and ended the call. Corbyn asked Jack if he could come over and get his opinion on the situation with Charlie. He'd been a single parent for five years and he was good at it, but obviously kids grow up. They ask questions, they start to get curious about more than shapes and colors as they get older. Corbyn knew that soon enough his daughter would be asking about her mom and who she was, and he needed to get someone else's perspective. He trusted all of his bandmates and always went to them for advice but in this case he knew Jack would be best. Jack's also a father, and Lavender was about 3 years older than Charlie so Jack knew a bit more than he did.

"Thanks for letting me come over, J." Corbyn said, settling in on Jack's couch. "Anytime. Redbull?" Jack said from the fridge and Corbyn clapped his hands, gesturing for Jack to toss him the can. "Uncle Corbyn!" Lavender exclaimed, running down the hall and jumping onto Corbyn's lap. "Oh! There she is! How's my favorite Avery?" he said, ruffling her hair. She giggled and swatted his hand away, "Good!" Jack came around the corner and sat down on the chair across from the couch. "Okay Lavvy you can hangout with Uncle Corbyn later, we have grown up stuff to talk about. Go play in your room, okay?" he said and Lavender pouted a little bit because she loved Corbyn, but skipped right back to her bedroom. "So, how are things at home after she-who-shall-not-be-named showed up the other night?" Jack asked and Corbyn groaned, running his hands over his face. "Honestly, I'm just so scared. I'm scared of her growing up. When she was a baby I wasn't as afraid of being a single parent, but now that she's becoming her own person I'm nervous all the time." he explained. "Nervous about what?" Jack asked. "Nervous about me being her only role model. I'm still young and I'm still making mistakes and I don't want that to be the only thing she sees. I'm grateful to have people in my life that help out with Charlie but at the end of the day, I'm her dad. I'm her only parent, her only constant, and that's horrifying. God, I don't even know what I'm going to say when the day finally comes." he breathed. "You mean the day she asks about her mom." Jack reiterated and Corbyn nodded. Jack set his drink down and sat up. "Have you talked to Y/N about it?" he asked and Corbyn shook his head, "She's the only motherly figure who's around all the time but she's not her baby. She's got her own life and I can't force her to be my kid's mother. Y/N is nothing but supportive and I am so in love with her but I can never tell her, for Charlie's sake. I just don't know how to tell her that her actual mother is a piece of shit." he dryly chuckled and Jack cracked a smile. "Listen man, you're doing a great job. Charlie is a great kid. She's well behaved, she's hilarious and she's smart. Even if Renee hadn't left you guys, she'd still be making mistakes too. The most important thing about being a role model for your kids is to make sure they learn from your mistakes. No one is perfect, Corb. Despite all of your mistakes and bad days, you're that little girl's whole world and she's gonna love you forever. It's all gonna be okay." Jack reassured him and he nodded slowly, taking in Jack's advice. "As for Y/N, I think you guys should have a conversation about it. You might not be the only person that Charlie comes to with questions, and it's probably best if you guys are on the same page." Corbyn bit his thumb, just the idea of talking to you about your role in Charlie's life made him anxious. "Thank you, Jack. I appreciate it." he said and Jack nodded with a slight smile. "Anytime."

On his drive home, Corbyn rehearsed in his head what he was going to say to you. He'd been in love with you for years, and you seemed to be oblivious to it. He knew Jack was probably right and he should talk to you, but the more he imagined the worst possibilities, the more he talked himself out of it. When he got home he decided that maybe you guys could just hang out, Charlie wasn't even home—you didn't have to have that conversation right now. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a deep breath, dialing your number.

"Hi Corb."

"Hey, can you come over?"

"Yeah, of course. Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine!"
he said, a little more nervously that he intended to. "Charlie's with my mom so the house feels a little empty."

You chuckled and it made him feel better. "I gotcha. I'll be over soon. Movie night?"

"You read my mind." Corbyn smiled and hung up, patiently waiting for you to get there.

He set up the living room like it usually was when you guys had movie nights. In highschool you'd have weekly movie nights at your parents' house. The two of you piled up blankets and gathered tons of snacks, a selection of movies queued up. You'd end up falling asleep and Corbyn would always, without fail, carry you up to your room before he slipped out around 1am and drove himself home. It changed from weekly to monthly when the band first started out, and then they became a rarity once Charlie was born. It was a simple night in, nothing fancy, but it was a special little tradition for you and your best friend. You pulled into Corbyn's driveway in comfortable clothes with a grocery bag of snacks. You walked into the house and just like it used to be, there was blankets and pillows spread throughout the couches and the menu screen was up for the first movie. You smiled to yourself, reminiscing on old times. The only thing missing was Corbyn. "Hello?" you sang, setting the snacks down and plopping onto the couch. Corbyn came jogging down the stairs in his pajamas, smiling at you. "Hi," he said, "I'm glad we're doing this. It's been a while since we've had a movie night." He sat next to you and kissed your cheek, reaching onto the table to grab a bag of candy. "I know. I love Charlie more than anything, but I miss having time alone with my favorite guy." you said, stealing a Sour Patch Kid from him. You words made his heart flutter, but all he did in response was stick his tongue out at you and playfully tighten his grip on the candy. You cuddled up to Corbyn's side under the blankets as you watched movie after movie, going through multiple bags of candy and chips and shushing each other throughout them. In the back of Corbyn's mind, he kept thinking about whether or not he should bring up what Jack said but he was too scared. You had a perfect night, just the two of you, for the first time in a long time. He didn't want to chance it by talking about something that could change that. Instead, he pulled you closer, leaning his head on top of yours. "You know I love you, right?" he mumbled and you hummed, "Yes, and I love you too." Corbyn was thankful that you were paying attention to the movie, not seeing his cheeks turn pink. After about three movies, you dozed off and ended up falling asleep on Corbyn's shoulder. Once he noticed, he chuckled to himself and got up as slowly as he could trying not to wake you. He turned off the TV and scooped you up with the blanket, his hands hooked under your knees and supporting your back. He carried you up the stairs and laid you on the bed, making sure the blanket was covering you enough to keep you warm. Corbyn went ahead and got himself ready for bed and slipped under the covers next to you, falling asleep with ease knowing you'd be there when he woke up. Maybe things hadn't changed as much as he thought they had.