A Second Chance [COMPLETED]

Chapter 29 - "So, where do we go from here?"

Lennon let out a sigh of relief as she dropped her bags on the floor of her apartment. Her phone rang and she answered it as she kicked her door shut.

"Hey!" she said.

"Hi Darling, how are you?" Charlotte asked.

"Good. I just got home."

"How did everything go?"

Lennon flopped onto couch, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Better then I thought it would."

"And? Are you going to explain anymore?"

"Kade's family is so nice and welcoming. They didn't make it awkward at all."

"But?"

"I don't know. It's weird. I'm not really dating Kade. It seems pointless making connections I know will end soon. As I was meeting everyone, a part of me couldn't help but think what they would think of me when it's all over."

Lennon absentmindedly played with the pillow on her couch.

"It's not pointless and they won't think poorly of you," Charlotte insisted.

"How can you say that? In their eyes I will have broken up with their son."

"But Len you are forgetting one key fact."

"What's that?"

"It's you."

Lennon smiled. Charlotte's never-failing faith in Lennon made it impossible for her to imagine anyone thinking differently.

"I didn't have to be there to know that meeting Kade's family went smoothly because you are gracious and kind," Charlotte said. "You always make an effort to make people comfortable and connect. It's no wonder Kade's family loved you. They would be lucky for him to date someone half as nice as you. When this whole thing is done they will probably be bummed he lost you but I know it won't change the way they feel about you."

"You know you're a little bit biased," Lennon said.

"Just because you're like a daughter to me doesn't mean I'm not right," Charlotte said.

"I miss you," Lennon said.

"We miss you too. So come see us. What are you plans for Christmas?"

"Kade and I will be at my dad's," Lennon said disappointedly. "Then we go to New York. Hey Farewell is performing for New Years Eve."

"Any chance you could fit in a small stop to Asheville? Even if its just a layover?" Charlotte asked.

Lennon stopped playing with the pillow. She hadn't seen Charlotte for almost five months. She knew it wouldn't feel like Christmas without seeing her.

"Possibly," she said.

She tried to work out the schedule in her head and see if she could make it happen. Then a realization hit her and the idea deflated.

"I'm not sure," Lennon said. "Jordan probably won't like it if Kade and I split up halfway through the trip. You know the press reads into everything we do."

"Bring Kade along," Charlotte suggested.

Lennon laughed.

"I'm serious," Charlotte said.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Darling, he is part of your life, even if he isn't really your boyfriend. We want to meet him."

"But he isn't really," Lennon argued. "I mean, in six months it will all be over and he'll be gone."

"But for right now he is a part of your life. It feels strange not knowing the person you spend all your time with."