Season 16. Age 14.
a diagnosis.

TW: none.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

time jump | year three
Amelia awakes to the sound of her phone
receiving a text message from link. as she reads the message, a knock sounds briefly on her bedroom door. "thought the baby might be hungry." charlie enters with a plate of food, "even if you aren't." she sets the tray down on amelia's nightstand. "you sure i can't send a doctor to check on you, like an ob or something?"

"no," amelia shakes her head, "thank you though."

charlotte takes a seat on the bed. "amelia."

"charlie." amelia sighs. "pretty recently you were going through something, and you hid in the loft. and you rejected food, and company. and we wanted to bury you in love all day everyday, but you locked the door and we grudgingly respected your desire for privacy."

"and then you sent meredith over to get me committed to psych." charlotte remarks blandly. she takes one look at amelia, sighing. "fine, eat the toast and i'll spare you the comfort." the teen hands the plate of food to amelia, who takes a rather reluctant bite.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte bursts back into amelia's bedroom, this time bearing two mugs: one containing coffee, the other hot chocolate. "hi again!"

"charlie, why aren't you at school?" the surgeon questions suspiciously.

"sick." charlotte shrugs, dramatically fake coughing with an obvious smirk.

"mhm." amelia is unconvinced. "i thought we had a deal."

"yeah..." charlotte sets the two mugs down on a nearby dresser. "i'm backing out of our deal."

the teen sits on the edge of amelia's bed and begins untying her shoe laces. "see, i wanted the space because i grew up alone and i'm used to solving my problems by myself." she rises from the bed and retrieves the two mugs, "but you, you grew up in a wolf pack, and wolves only retreat from the pack when they are going off alone to die. so, yeah. i'm backing out of our deal." not waiting for a response, charlotte climbs into the covers beside amelia, handing the older woman the cup of coffee. "the only way i've ever seen you get yourself out of a really deep spiral is to spiral out loud until you land on something that is healthier than whatever is happening inside your head."

"for someone who grew up alone, you are an excellent little sister." amelia compliments tearily.

of course charlotte thought of the older doctors she had grown up around for the past three years as family, but she had never heard any of them refer to her as their family out loud. disguising her own teary eyes, charlotte takes a sip of her hot chocolate. "you guys have a lot of problems—i've had plenty of practice."

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Amelia sits on her bed beside charlie, talking about her baby. "so, he's healthy. that feels like a miracle. and he's already the size of a cabbage, which means that i am further along than i thought, so, the baby might be owen's, not links."

charlotte sits upright. "might be or is?"

"might be. i don't know," amelia admits. "there wasn't a ton of time between the break up and the hook up. link and i are really good together. like, almost painfully good. you know, it felt like that thing that we both earned in this life. it was accidental and it was perfect, and now it's not."

"because he wants to know the baby's biology?"

"because he's not sure he wants to be with me if the baby isn't his." amelia brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. "and that makes me not so sure that i wanna be with him if the baby is his."

charlotte sets her hot chocolate mug down on the bedside table. "you and owen have a complicated relationship." she reaches for amelia's hand.

amelia laughs. "yeah, um. that's what he said. but i want him to love me enough that that doesn't matter." she turns to look at the young teenager, "i love you more than my biological sisters. biology doesn't matter; love matters."

"i mean if i were link, i would be terrified. i would be terrified that the baby is owen's." charlotte offers, "and that if it is, that connection might reignite whatever still exists between you and owen. if i were link, i would want to know too. and it wouldn't have anything to do with how much i love you."

amelia looks up tearfully, "okay but can you stop pretending that you're link? can you pretend that you're me for a minute?"

"okay, okay," charlotte nods. "okay, if i'm you...i imagine that the hormones coursing through my body would be overwhelming. they might overwhelm rationality, and i just might wanna be held, and, um, loved no matter what. and reassured that i'm not gonna be alone." amelia breaks into tears and charlotte pulls the older woman into her, "i got you, i got you. you're not gonna be alone."

amelia sniffles, "charlie?"

"yeah?"

"are you sure you're not a fifty year old woman trapped inside a fourteen year olds body?"

charlotte snorts. "there's the amelia i know."

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte opens the front door of the sisters home to reveal an anxious looking link.

"hey." the surgeon greets. "is amelia here?"

"no, sorry." charlotte lies swiftly.

"well have you heard from her at all?" he asks the teen. "i'm really worried."

"yeah, i've heard from her." charlotte admits, "she's okay, link."

"she's okay, she just doesn't wanna talk to me. she doesn't wanna tell me what the tests said." link shrugs in frustration.

"she doesn't know what they are, she hasn't picked up the results yet." charlotte begins to defend just as amelia pads down the stairs.

"and i'm not going to."

charlotte awkwardly turns to link, "yeah, i lied. sorry. she's here."

link and amelia both step forward to meet each other halfway. "i'm growing a whole human in my body," the surgeon points to her stomach, "and i want to raise him with someone who's gonna love him, and me, no matter what a blood test says, and it turns out that's my sisters." amelia reaches for charlotte. "and i'm gonna be pushier next time you're sad because you grew up alone but you are not alone anymore. you're everything i never knew i needed." she begins to walk away when link calls out.

"amelia."

the neurosurgeon pauses, turning around. "go home, link. we're over."

once his now ex-situationship is out of earshot, a shocked link turns to charlotte. the teen looks rather uncomfortable. "i really think it's mostly just the hormones."

"does she plan on telling owen that the baby might be his?"

charlotte shrugs, leaning against the entryways doorway. "i dunno, link. i'm fourteen. i don't even know how babies are made in the first place."

"right." link awkwardly clears his throat, "okay then." he sees himself out. as soon as the door shuts behind the surgeon, charlotte begins laughing so hard she needs to brace herself against the wall.

amelia pokes her head out from the kitchen. "do you seriously not know—"

"of course i do. i grew up on the streets. i've known since i was, like, seven. just knew that would get rid of him." charlotte straightens back up and heads toward the kitchen, "do you have ice cream?"