Disclaimer: This is a complete work of fiction. There's no resemblance to actual persons, places and / or events. If so, it is utterly not intended. I do not claim to own _ or anything to do with it at all. Character exposure in this story is completely non-profit and just for fun. I own nothing but my own plot-bunnies. Thank you.
Summary: After returning home to Stevens Point, Wisconsin and the whole 'FroYo YOLO' music incident - Liv has been offered a real recording contract and a chance to fulfill her musical career as one could only dream, but what's holding her back? What could possibly make Liv Rooney so indecisive?
Warning(s): Coarse language and mild violence
Genre(s): Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Family
Pairing(s): Maddie x Diggie, none other announced yet
Rating: T, for now. May increase.
Author's Note: Hi everyone! Now, before you begin smacking your foreheads off the wall - hear me out, xD This is yet another new story from me, however I just have to say that since I saw a few episodes of this show shortly after New Years, I just fell in love with it! It's a very good series. This is my official debut in this fandom, so hello! I'm CreativeWritingSoul and here I present to you, my newest story. I do hope anyone who reads it, enjoys! Thanks for stopping by and giving me a chance. It's always appreciated! :)
'It's been a good day, it's time to go cray-cray. My friends all know the right a-words to say. Our phone's are blowin' up, texting nom-nom alert. And we're rolling up the frozen yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yogurt'
"Ugh! Make it stop, make it stop!" Liv shouted dramatically at that gosh-awful song that she'd recorded. Of course her vocals were spot on and vibrant as always, but the song itself was super annoying - she was even the first to admit it herself.
Joey was wiggling around the living room to the 'Froyo YOLO' song, the video still playing on television. 'Why won't it go away?!' She heaved a sigh, it'd been months since she ditched that manager - whatever she claimed to be - it didn't matter anymore, but the song still haunted her.
She didn't mind how people would bounce around and dance to it, it was real catchy.
"No offense, but if I hear that one more time. . ." Maddie came down the stairs in a tank top, blue pajama bottoms with a trademark '5' on the upper thigh, socks and her hair was sitting atop her head, the messiest bun Liv swore she'd ever seen.
"My goodness," she put a hand over her heart. "don't frighten me like that, Maddie!"
Maddie blinked a couple times as she grabbed her glasses from the top of her head, sliding them up her nose. She gave a sleepy smirk, "Sorry."
Even Joey had a brow raised as he watched Maddie saunter over to the kitchen, in search of something edible most likely. "SO... guess what?!" Liv bounced over to the kitchen in her bright red heels, she wore black tights and a red sweater dress with white polka-dots.
Maddie grabbed what she thought was a bowl from the cupboard, it took her a few moments to realize that it was a saucer and not a bowl for cereal. Giving a shrug of her shoulders, she turned around to open the fridge, grasping the milk. Getting ready to pour it into the saucer.
"Uh oh!" Liv grabbed the bowl out of the cupboard and set it down on the said saucer just in time. Stepping back, she smirked at her half-asleep twin. "Would you like any cereal to go with your bowl of milk?"
Maddie put the milk back in the refrigerator and nodded, grasping up at the generic box of breakfast cereal. "Sure."
Pete soon entered the kitchen along with his lovely wife Karen. "Good morning daughters," he saluted one of his sons. "and son!"
Karen raised an eyebrow, but then remembered that Parker had stayed over at a friend's house last night. "Good morning all," she greeted as well. She took a glance at Maddie's few flakes of cereal and half a bowl of milk. "anyone home this morning Maddie?" She gave a quick laugh and poured more cereal.
"Thanks mom," She gave a sleepy smile, rubbing her eyes under her glasses she began to dig into her breakfast. It might not have been 'the' trademark breakfast of champions, but it was breakfast enough for this champ.
"Now that pretty much everyone is here," Liv clapped her hands excitedly. "I received a call in the evening last night. From my previous manager," everyone groaned. "Not the Froyo one, the other one - y'know from when I did my 'Sing It Loud' show?"
Joey buttered his piece of toast, Maddie shoved in another spoonful of cereal and Karen was pouring herself a cup of morning coffee, adding one singular spoon of sugar and some Irish Cream flavoring.
Pete on the other hand just enjoyed a regular tasting, plain cup of black coffee with three spoonfuls of sugar. Then it dawned on them, Liv was too excited to even sing the title of her show as she always usually did - this news must be huge.
"Annd?" Joey chimed in, now eating the piece of toast he had in his hand.
"Well, they saw my last little 'internet' concert deal where I was gonna do the Froyo song when Maddie totally saved my butt and I sang 'Count Me In'?" They smiled grandly at the fond memory, she sang very well but no one could've been more proud than Maddie. Liv had realized what she'd done wrong and was going to give up singing the song she read from her journal - she understood. "And I've been offered a real deal recording contract!" She waved her hands in the air all excitedly.
"That's wonderful honey!" Karen congratulated her, hugging her daughter. "Before you give a yes or no answer, there's plenty of things you must think about first."
Liv blinked momentarily but stood back from the hug, "Like what?"
"Well, first of all your father and I would like to meet up with this previous manager - we've had so many offers with you, it's hard to keep track of who they were! Plus you don't think I'm gonna let one of my babies go with just anyone do you?" Karen gave Liv's shoulder a pat. "You can't just go jumping into and out of contracts Olivia this is serious. I've read horror stories about-"
"Stop reading those and you'll be fine!" Liv mused with a grin that normally got her out of trouble, but her mother wasn't going for it this time.
"Liv, let me finish. I've heard massive stories about young girls signing up to modeling agencies and the like, earning legitimate money - only for their so-called managers to be scamming and stealing from them and they're left with nothing."
Pete gave his head a nod as he started up the frying pan to get some eggs going on this lazy Sunday morning. "Yeah sweetheart, your mother's right. There's a buddy of mine who's a lawyer and he's heard of some real doozies, cases just like those and some of those people are still trying to dig themselves out of debt and just trying to get by, forget having their name in lights like they wanted."
Liv thought about it, "But you really don't remember this manager?"
Karen shook her head, "No dear, I don't. I'm pretty sure I can speak for your father when I say, I doubt he does either."
"Okay, not a problem. Just a minor setback, I'll have him meet up with you guys and we'll go from there." Liv gave a nod and began to hurry off.
"Liv, no breakfast honey?"
She shook her head, "I had something earlier!" as she continued her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Her fingers flew across the screen of her latest phone, sending a text to her previous manager - letting him know he had to meet up with her parents, just for clarification. This shouldn't take too long, she was sure of it.
Now, it was just the waiting game.
Hey, meet me on 32nd Street, right by the street light first. Then we'll talk. - Rodney
It was about 9:35pm, Liv was getting ready to put her facial mask on when her phone vibrated. It was finally her old manager getting back to her after she'd been waiting all day. "About time!" She whispered aloud, looking over to her twin's empty bed - she heard the sounds of a couple basketballs being tossed around outside. Peeking out the window, she noticed her sister and father were busying themselves.
Her mother was crocheting in the spare room, as she liked to spend her evenings. Parker wasn't home and Joey was most likely playing video games or doing whatever nerdy guys often did. She'd only be quick, she didn't even have to warn them.
She was still donned in the same outfit from earlier, she just needed a light jacket to keep warm enough. It wasn't too chilly during this fall weather, but the nights could get cold on the drop of a dime. She left the bedroom, headed down the stairs - careful not to disturb anyone and she grabbed her stylish red coat before leaving with her purse in tow. Walking down the stone path - she proceeded down their neighborhood sidewalks.
The streets were damp and lonely during this time of evening, or so it seemed. Liv held her purse close and walked quickly. She mastered walking in heels by the time she was 12 years of age, this was nothing.
A rustling in the bushes made her stop in her tracks, seeing a squirrel come running out and across her path, she paused to take in a breath - exhaling sharply. Where did this manager want to meet again?
She re-checked her phone, "32nd Street." Liv repeated, putting her phone back into her purse, zipping it up - she turned right, carrying on her way.
A few moments later, walking rapidly she was halted suddenly by colliding into another person. "Oh! I'm sorry."
"Liv, Liv Rooney right?" They asked her.
"O-oh yeah, that's me." She smiled radiantly, even though she felt a little unnerved by this person. A male, she could tell after getting a better look in the dim street lights. "And you are?"
"Dave, I'm uh - covering for Rodney while he's on his vacation. Glad to meet you, what did you want to discuss with him?" He asked her, as she pulled out her shimmery purse. He eyed it the entire time.
"Oh, well my parents were unsure of me signing the contract he had for me so they wanted to meet up with him. To discuss if it's real all tha- HEY!" Without any warning at all, he took her shiny purse from her. Her phone hitting the cement sidewalk and its screen shattering. "Gimme that back you, jerk!" She reached for her purse back but it was held out of her reach.
"You want this back? Well you'll just have to work for it, won't you?" She stomped on his foot and grabbed her purse back - until she felt her arm being grabbed. He had such a tight grip. "You have exactly what I need."
"I don't know what you're talking about - let go of me! Right now!" She tried to shake him off but to no avail, he shoved her down. This wasn't like any movie role she'd ever done or auditioned for, it wasn't acting this time. This was really happening.
She kicked out her heel and caught him in the leg, "You little bitch." He cussed at her, he forced her to stay down with his own weight. "You're not going anywhere 'til I'm finished with you. Got that?"
"Not a chance!" She screamed when she felt her lower region exposed to the cold ground, pebbles piercing her back, Liv was frightened to say the very least. Lifting her legs up, she kneed him in his most sensitive area. Having caught him off guard, she reached for the nearby stop sign to grab hold of, but she was drug right back across the pavement where she was first thrown down.
He covered her mouth and peered down into her widened green eyes, "Stay still, keep your mouth closed and this won't take long. Cooperate or else, hear me? You wanna be famous right? This'll get you there, and anywhere you wanna be little girl."
Liv bit down hard on his hand, he pulled it away - now much more angered and inconvenienced than he was before. Lifting up her head, he slammed it down.
"You don't know when to quit do you?"
Amongst a now-pounding head, she felt sudden blows to her ribcage, her chest and a final, excruciating hit to her exposed nether region. No matter where she tried to shield, it didn't evade anything. It kept coming until she felt no more. The only thing she heard were running footsteps.
It hurt. Everything. Her entire body was paining. She shimmied a little, grabbing onto that familiar stop sign base, pulling herself over - she took a moment to sit up against it. She needed a breather. A moment to just breathe and. . . her body shook and her eyes stung, inevitable mascara tears were falling down - gently staining her cheeks.
She'd give anything to be back at home with her sister, her brothers and her parents. She never should've left the house alone, what was she thinking? It struck her, the realization that she needed to get home as soon as possible before anyone knew she was missing.
Liv looked around carefully, her phone wasn't anywhere in sight and her purse contents were dumped completely, her wallet was still there. . . she crawled over slowly and grasped it. All her identification was there, but her bank cards, any money she had - it was all gone. Her life savings were in her bank account from L.A., from doing odd exposure stuff here and there. She couldn't get Maddie the new tablet she wanted now, or Joey the latest video game he wanted or to fix the family car completely, she couldn't do any of that now. She had nothing, she was so incredibly sore and bruises already started to form - Liv never felt so violated.
She shakily stood, taking off her damaged heels and she pulled up her tights slowly - pain all over haunted her every move.
Stumbling over to her strewn belongings, she put what she could find back into her purse along with her shoes. She couldn't find her cellular phone at all, it concerned her although it didn't stay in her mind long. The mere attempt to dust herself off hurt too.
She started back down the street, or was it up? Oh no, where was she again? "32nd, street?" She asked the silence of the night, she just started walking. She'd find home soon right?
"Liv?"
She looked around with a high volume of panic beginning to take over, there's no way this could be happening again - could it? "Don't hurt me!" She blurted out, grasping for a nearby tree as a somewhat shield.
"Liv, it's me. . . it's Diggie." It was nighttime, so he didn't expect her to recognize him right away and if it wasn't for her voice, he might not have recognized her. "A-are you okay?"
"Diggie?" She asked softly, turning to face him. He was nice, Diggie was nice.
"Yeah it's me, careful." She went to step towards him, but stumbled into his arms. "What happened?"
"I don't, really know exactly." She told him softly, she still sounded scared.
He gave his head a shake, "Let's get you home. It's not too far, just down a couple blocks." He accepted her purse, a little on the heavy side - but he didn't complain. "You can lean on me the whole way, it's okay." He encouraged to, she looked completely worn out. Distraught. This wasn't the organized sometimes-diva he knew of, this was different. This was scary.
"I didn't mean to go out late," she started, trembling with all the events that just happened in less than an hour.
"Shh, it's gonna be okay Liv. We'll get you home." He told her gently, trying not to walk too fast, but enough so they could get there the same night.
The walk home wasn't that painful with Diggie next to her, she might not have gotten home if it weren't for him. She pulled out her house key from her purse, that he still held. She unlocked the door, nearly falling in when she opened it. "Careful, careful." He softly reminded Liv, although she didn't seem to be acknowledging much - she did give a nod here and there.
"T-thank you, thank y-you Diggie." She stammered, at least her surroundings were familiar again. She never missed the living room so much, or the front door, or the stairs. She was home, it never felt better.
"We'll get you upstairs before I call it a night, huh?" He made sure to have grabbed her purse, whichever made it as if they hadn't been down here at all as he stood behind Liv, taking one stair up at a time. He couldn't pin down what exactly happened, but he knew it wasn't good at all.
"Phew, made it." She said breathlessly, even though she'd only hit the top landing of the stairs. Before she could fall, Diggie was right behind her to catch her just in case she did. Liv turned to him, "You're a very sturdy wall." She joked lightly, still shaken up.
"I try," he smiled softly, he went to open the bedroom door when Liv stopped him.
"No, no. Maddie's sleeping, she has a big game tomorrow. . . she's been practicing all weekend." Liv had no choice but to cling on to Diggie for dear life, it was either him or the floor - and she wanted to make the least noise possible.
"Okay Liv, whatever you want." He soon opened the door, and had to keep her from doing a face-plant at the same time. It was multitasking at its best. His biggest concern was only that of how to exit the home without no one noticing him. He'd focus on that later, he was a bit too busy for the moment.
Unbeknownst to the two struggling to find the guest room, Maddie was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.
"Shhh, guest room. Guest room. . . sorry." She'd said.
"It's okay, I got you." He replied.
Maddie raised an eyebrow and pulled the bathroom door open barely a crack, to see her sister and Diggie heading for the guest bedroom - what looked to be very suggestive. With her leaning up against him and all, barely being able to reach for the door knob. "What. . . no." she whispered softly, this wasn't right. There's no way this was right, Liv knew she was very good friends with Diggie. She knew, actually - that they were official. What was her own twin sister doing with him?
This was outrageous. Simply horrific.
Liv wouldn't do that to her, nevermind Diggie right now. . . but her own sister? "No Maddie," she said, looking in the mirror. "you're not gonna get mad. . . no, you're gonna get to the bottom of this. Keep it cool, I'll get all the details soon." She bit down on her lip worriedly, but soon marched out of the bathroom and didn't see a thing. It was like no one was even there. "Weird. . ." she went back into her bedroom, looked over at Liv's perfectly made bed and turned her back to it. Folding her arms over her chest, she plopped down on her own. "Why Liv, why?" She asked no one, as she fought an internal battle with herself, before losing to the tears that slipped out. She'd never felt so confused until tonight.
(¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.- ~ Liv&Maddie ~ -.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯)
