Since all my other Ty/Deuce works have been one-shots so far, I thought it was time for a chapter fic. Yay! I hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shake It Up!

Deuce POV

"Whoo! It's finally SUMMER!" Cece squealed, bounding out the front door of the school building and over to Ty, Rocky, and me where we were comfortably sitting at a picnic table.

"Ready to go, girls?" Ty asked, standing and whipping his keys out of his pocket.

"Yeah, time to hit the mall!" Cece exclaimed.

"Or the library," Rocky suggested, following her brother around the corner.

I snickered into the smoothie my college man had brought me as Cece gaped at the girl and jumped into reasoning why that was a preposterous idea. I shared a look with Ty, his look of sheer amusement giving me reason to smile back. Even though things were going to change, I had to find some reason to be happy.

To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled Ty was going to college. I mean, I knew it had to happen eventually, but when I thought about him actually going it broke my heart. What if he didn't want anything to do with me once he saw all those college guys and went to their parties? It made me worry, but Rocky and Cece had assured me that Ty would never kick me aside like that.

"Anyways," Cece said with a roll of her eyes. "As I was saying, the mall."

Ty laughed. "At least I only have to drive you guys around until fall. Then I'm home free."

"Home free? You're going to the University of Chicago," Rocky said. "You're stuck with us forever."

Ty rolled his eyes. "Just get in the car."

Rocky and Cece launched themselves into the backseat, leaving me to take the front passenger seat. This only amused Ty as he got to touch my legs at every red light on the way to my house. Yes, luckily, I had gotten out of the mall today.

"Mom, I'm home," I called, closing the front door behind me.

Instead of my mom greeting me as usual, my dad turned around from his place at the stove and attempted a smile, but the truth showed through; he was depressed about something. I slowly set my backpack on the floor, confused and worried. Had something happened? Did he get fired?

"Dad…you're home early…" I stated dumbly.

"Yes and with bad news," he said.

My mom walked into the room, her hair pulled back in a bun. She was carrying a few empty cardboard boxes stacked up inside each other. In fact, our whole living room was covered in them.

I blinked. "Mom…" I said slowly. "What are those for? Why is Dad home early?"

"Honey," she began, taking my hand after setting down the boxes. "Your dad's brother died of a heart attack."

I swallowed. "He did?"

She nodded. "You remember he had no kids? Just that vineyard and some stables in California?"

"His wine business?" I asked as if this wasn't obvious. I was still in shock and stuck on possible conclusions to this.

"Yes. That's the one. He left everything he had to your father."

My stomach plummeted at her next words: "We're moving."

In mere seconds I was in the safe hold of my room with the door locked.

"Honey," my mom called through the door. "This will be good for you, for us."

"For us? How can you say something like that? You just want me to leave all my friends behind here?" I almost screamed. My voice threatened to break multiple times.

"You'll make new ones. This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us. You'll love the country. It's beautiful and peaceful. Your father will get to quit his job and continue the wine business and be his own boss. And we need the money, Deuce."

"So you want me to leave my boyfriend so we can have more money and keep a business running? We were doing fine. Hell, I'll get a job if that's what it takes!" I yelled. I collapsed beside my bed, hanging over it and clinging to the covers as I sobbed into the sheets. This couldn't be happening. They couldn't just ask me to move to the other end of the country for a job. I would do anything they asked but leave Ty.

My mom rattled the door handle. "Please, honey, let's talk about this."

"No! I'm not moving. I won't leave Ty. End of discussion."

I heard her sigh and walk away. I wasn't going to win this. If I still had a chance, my dad and mounds of boxes wouldn't be sitting in my living room right now. And here I had been worried about Ty going to college. Why was this happening? It was like Fate wanted to play a cruel joke or something. But it wasn't my dad's fault his brother had died; nor was it my mother's that Dad no doubt felt it was his job to keep the business running in memory of my uncle. But why couldn't they just leave me in Chicago until I graduated and could go to college and be free from this nightmare?

My mom returned sometime later, maybe hours later; I wasn't sure. "Will you come eat dinner?" she asked softly through the door.

I slowly dragged myself to my feet and unlocked the door. My eyes were red from crying and she instantly hugged me tightly, starting the apologies.

"When do we move?" I whispered, clinging to her like an infant.

"The end of the week," she answered, stroking my hair.

I took a shuddering breath and nodded, forcing back the raw feeling in my throat. I couldn't cry again. I had cried enough to last me a good ten years. "I'll…I'll have to tell Ty tomorrow," I murmured.

She nodded, releasing me and putting on a brave face. I could see the sorrow in her eyes; much like the regret and depression I had seen in my father's set when I had come home. They weren't doing this on purpose; they thought it was best.

But how can something that hurts so much be considered best?