"They're um, they're," Corbyn stuttered, his shaky hand putting his phone in his pocket, "they're on their way over. Gabbie's coming too and she's uh, bringing Lav." He paced around the kitchen nervously. "Hey Char why don't you go put on some shoes so you and Lavvy can play outside when she gets here?" you said, trying to keep her distracted. She ran up the stairs to her room and you made your way over to Corbyn. You reached for his hand but he pulled away, continuing to pace. He was starting to panic and it was obvious. His face was flushed and his breaths were shallow, mumbling incoherently to himself over and over. "Corbyn, look at me." you said gently. He stopped pacing but leaned against the fridge, slumping down until he was sitting on the floor. You kneeled in front of him, your own heart pounding in your chest. "Y/N I—I can't. She's gonna take her from me, I can't," he choked out, "I can't breathe." His hand was clutching his chest and he screwed his eyes shut tight. You shushed him, taking his face in your hands and stroking his cheeks with the pads of your thumbs. "It's okay, baby. It's okay, just breathe. You need to take deep breaths and try to calm yourself down. Focus on me, okay?" you coaxed, inhaling and exhaling deeply until he started to do it too. He swallowed harshly, his throat dry and scratchy. He coughed a few times and kept his eyes shut but still listened to you. His breathing started to slow and his body relaxed a bit more but he was still tense. Just as Charlie came down the stairs, the boys and Gabbie all walked in the front door.

"Auntie Gabbie!" Charlie exclaimed and ran over to hug her, not even noticing her father on the floor as she zoomed past. Corbyn didn't budge, his grip on your wrists strong. You looked over your shoulder and looked to Gabbie, trying to hint to her to take Charlie outside. "Okay ladies let's go play outside for a bit! C'mon Charlie you can show Lav some of your toys." she said, nodding to you and taking the girls into the yard. As soon as you heard the patio door shut you turned back to Corbyn who seemed to be calming down. "The boys are here, can you stand up?" you asked quietly and he nodded, taking both of your hands in his and standing up with you. He let out a deep breath and sat on one of the kitchen island chairs. You stood behind him, hands rubbing his shoulders as he slid the paper towards Daniel. The four boys crowded around him, reading the paper over his shoulder and looking at the two of you. "It's a legal document from the state of California. I didn't think she'd actually ever do something like this." Corbyn said. "We called Jon and told him what you told us, but he's probably gonna call you and ask. There's no way we can leave tonight." Jonah said and the boys agreed. Corbyn was biting at his nails, shaking his head. "What the hell am I supposed to do? Can we even reschedule shows on this short notice?" he frantically said and everyone looked around, unsure of what to say. You kissed the side of his head, trying to keep him grounded and prevent him from freaking out again. As if on cue, Corbyn's phone rang. . He picked up and put him on speaker. "Hey man." Corbyn croaked and you felt his shoulders tense up. "Hey Corbyn, is everyone there?" "Yeah, we're all here. You're on speaker." "Perfect," Jon said, "here's what we could come up with. We're going to reschedule the first four shows so that gives you about a week and a half to try and work something out. Obviously we didn't want to have to do this but everyone's tickets and Limelight passes will be moved to the rescheduled shows." The boys all stayed silent, torn between feeling relieved and stressed. "When will the shows be?" Zach asked and Jon cleared his throat. "That's the thing, they'd have to be within the time that you guys are supposed to be on that three week break. The rescheduled shows would cut that break into more like a week. It's the best we could do to avoid having to cancel the shows altogether." Corbyn hid his face in his hands, struggling to process everything. Finally, Daniel spoke up for all of them. "That works, none of us want to cancel the shows either. We'll get all of this sorted out but Corbyn's family has to come first. Thank you so much, man." Everyone thanked Jon and tried to reassure Corbyn that it was all going to be okay. Once the phone call ended, Corbyn lifted his head and you could hear the strain in his voice as he spoke, "I'm so sorry guys. I can't believe this is happening right now." Jonah put his hand on Corbyn's shoulder, "Don't apologize bro, this is your daughter. This is more important than the tour right now." Everyone agreed and Corbyn thanked them the best he could, but they all knew they should probably let him be for the night. "We'll stop by tomorrow, call us if you need anything." Jack said as he hugged you goodbye. You squeezed him a little tighter, trying to hold yourself together. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hours had gone by since the boys left and Corbyn had been either on the phone or sending emails the entire time. He was trying to set up a meeting with his lawyer, Renee's lawyer and Renee. He sat in the dining room until it was dark outside, refusing to go to sleep until he had some sort of a plan in place. The boys came up with an adequate and empathetic announcement for the fans and when they put it out, Corbyn turned his notifications off completely. He was so overwhelmed and it was breaking your heart. While he sat downstairs, papers sprawled out across the table, you sat upstairs in his bedroom with Charlie. You'd been laying around with her all day and now you were detangling her wet hair after her shower. She sat on your lap, letting you gently comb through the knots. "Mommy, are we still going with Daddy?" she asked you, her eyes glued to the TV screen on the wall. You sighed, a sad smile on your face even though she couldn't see it. "I hope so, honey. Some things had to get rearranged and now we might be leaving later than we thought." you tried to explain. "Oh, okay. Is Daddy okay?" "Daddy's gonna be fine, he's just been really busy today. He'll come and say goodnight before he goes to bed though." Her questions ceased and you finished brushing her hair, tickling her sides to make her laugh. "Ready for bed?" Charlie nodded and you followed her to her room, tucking her in under the covers and kissing her forehead. "I love you, sweet girl. I'll see you in the morning." you whispered, tapping her nose lightly. "I love you too, Daddy's coming in to say 'night, right?" she asked and you smiled at her. "Yes, he will." You got up and turned off the light, shutting her door quietly before heading downstairs.

You saw Corbyn sitting in the same place he was hours ago, papers stacked up in piles and a piece of paper with different phone numbers scrawled on it. You sat down next to him and looked around at the documents, rubbing his forearm softly. "How's it going?" you asked. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms, the bags under his eyes a light purple and his hair looked like it'd been pulled in different directions. "Fine, I guess. I got a lawyer and tomorrow morning he's going to call and set up this meeting. It's basically like a preliminary meeting to talk about why this is happening and what our options are. He specifically told me that until this is settled, I can't take Charlie out of the state, let alone to Europe with me." he explained and you nodded, signaling that you were listening. "I don't want to go until I know that she can't swoop in while I'm gone and take her." he said, his voice cracking a bit. You moved closer to him, wrapping your arms around his bicep and leaning your head on his shoulder. "She isn't gonna take her. I won't let her, I don't care if I break the law. She isn't taking your baby." "Our baby." he corrected, leaving a slight kiss on your temple. "You need to sleep." you said and he hummed. "C'mon, come to bed. She's probably going to stay up until you go in and say goodnight to her." Corbyn chuckled a bit, knowing that you were right. Charlie refused to go to bed if Corbyn didn't say goodnight to her whether it was in person or over the phone. He clicked off the lights in the dining room and followed you upstairs. He slipped in through Charlie's door and there she was, fighting sleep just to wait for him. "Sleepy, sweetheart?" he smiled, sitting down on her bed. "Mhm." she mumbled, Corbyn stroking her hair. He leaned forward and kissed her head, letting his lips linger there for a moment. "I love you so, so much Charlotte. Sweet dreams." he whispered. He stayed frozen in his place until he heard her faint whisper, "I love you, Daddy." Corbyn watched her eyes flutter close and he bit his lip, trying to keep tears from spilling out of his eyes. "Everything is gonna be just fine, baby. I promise." he whispered again, barely audible and more to himself than her.