CHAPTER 2: Truce

Meanwhile…

"Who's baby are you?" George was staring at his newborn son. Little Robert's hands, hair and face looked completely foreign to him. He walked into the room and saw Anne rearranging her pillows so she could lie down comfortably. "Hey, Anne. Have you seen Robert?"

Anne sat up quickly. "What? Where is he? Where did he go? Did someone take him?" She started hyperventilating.

"That's not it. He's right here!" George held up the sleeping baby.

Now Anne looked irritated. "Well, thank you very much for giving me the scare of my life!" She huffed and glanced over at George. "What do you mean, 'Have I seen Robert'? Of course I've seen him! I just gave birth to him, didn't I?"

"Duh! But look! He doesn't look like me at all! Amy and Ashley both resemble me in some way, but why doesn't Robert?" George narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Are you sure he's mine, Anne?"

"Yes he is, George," Anne said tiredly. "David's family hired a private company to conduct a DNA test while I was still pregnant."

"Isn't that dangerous? What if he's retarded because of what they've done to him?" George turned red with anger.

"Seriously, George. We live in the 21st century. There are safe ways to check the parentage of an infant while he or she is still in the womb." Anne rolled her eyes. "And besides, everyone knows that girls usually take after their fathers, while boys take after their mothers. Robert looks like me."

George peered carefully into Robert's tiny face. "I guess you're right. What a relief!" George grinned. "Those are your giant ears on the side of his cute little face!"

"Excuse me?" Anne lifted an eyebrow.

"Err… Nothing!" He quickly walked out of the room, whistling to himself.

At the same time…

Ricky was driving Adrian home. He figured that since he was in the area, he'd drop by for a few minutes to see John. Adrian remained silent in the passenger's seat, except for the occasion sniffle here and there.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ricky glanced over.

"No, Ricky! I'm not okay!" Adrian shouted. "I just had to recall the most painful heartache I've ever felt in my entire life in front of my boyfriend and some guy that I don't even know!"

"I told you this would happen," he replied while shaking his head. "It's okay, you know. The past is the past. It's you and me now, isn't it?" He turned to smile at Adrian only to discover that she was now scowling at him. "What?"

"Easy for you to say! What the hell have you ever gone through that was as horrible as what I've gone through?" Adrian stopped herself and tried to apologize. "Oh my god, Ricky. I'm so—"

Ricky pulled over on the side of the road. "Have you lost your fucking mind, Adrian?" he asked in a deadly quiet voice. "Did you seriously just ask me that question?"

"N-n-n…" Adrian stammered looking away.

"Have you forgotten that my own father molested me repeatedly throughout my childhood? So the guy you loved had to move away because he had cancer," Ricky snorted. "Seems to me that you're doing just fine, aren't you? You have everything you've ever wanted. You have your nice, shiny convertible that your mommy bought you. You have enough money saved up to go to whatever college you want. Your parents are back together and they just bought a place. But not just any place! They bought the house right next door to Amy's because that's what you wanted." Ricky ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "You wanted me to go to therapy with you, and you got your way. I understand now why you are the way you are." Ricky leaned forward and said dangerously, "But if you think that I'm going to be just another one of your pathetic little puppets like your mommy and daddy think again, Adrian. You can only play the my-first-love-moved-away-because-he-had-cancer card with me a handful of times before the shit gets old. I get that you have trust issues, but I refuse to be your outlet. If you think you really need help, deal with your own bullshit before demanding a commitment from me." Ricky leaned back into his seat and started driving again.

When he got to Adrian's driveway, Adrian got out of the car and slammed the door without a backwards glance. Whatever, he thought to himself. He parked his car in Amy's driveway and went into the Juergens' house.

He walked straight upstairs to John's nursery and found John asleep in his crib, and Amy sitting in a chair smiling to herself.

"Well, seems like you're in a good mood," he smirked.

Amy jumped. "Ricky!" she said in a hushed voice. "You scared me!"

"Obviously." He grinned. "How long has he been asleep."

"For a while now. It's so great how he can finally get through the night without waking up, isn't it?" She got up and stood next to Ricky, staring at John's sleeping face. She looked up at Ricky and frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

"What, is there something on my face?" Ricky quirked his eyebrow.

"No, but your hair looks like how it usually does if you've had a frustrating day at work with Ben. Like you stuck your finger into a socket."

Ricky walked over to a mirror and laughed. "You're right."

Amy tapped his shoulder and motioned for him to follow her downstairs. "It's okay. I have the baby monitor on." Ricky shrugged and followed her. When they got to the living room Amy sat down on the couch and asked, "So… Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"Before I do…" Ricky got up and shut all the curtains and blinds closed. He looked at Amy's surprised face and said, "I don't want Adrian spying. She's getting on my nerves."

Amy nodded. "So you're frustrated with Adrian?"

"Yeah."

"What happened? I thought everything was going well?"

"She made me go to therapy with her," Ricky said in a monotone voice.

"Oh…" Amy nodded, not quite understanding.

"All I want is someone to have sex with, and I told her that."

Amy rolled her eyes. "And then…?"

"And then she told me that she doesn't want to have sex with me unless I'm committed to her a hundred percent."

"Uh huh…"

"And the only way for me to prove that I want to be committed to her, since my word is apparently crap, is to see a therapist and talk about our problems. She chose my therapist, Lauren's dad, because he's the best there is."

Amy looked surprised. "I see why you're upset with her."

"Yeah."

"So how was the therapy session?"

"It was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever had to sit through." Ricky leaned back and looked at the ceiling, exasperated. "First, she was going on and on about how much she loves sex and how sex with me and her is so amazing. And then when she mentions that she'd like me to stick around after sex… Like, spend the night? So when Dr. Fields asks her why she wants me to stick around, she says, 'I don't know,' which leads to the discussion about the first time she's ever had sex."

Amy was interested now. She leaned forward. "Go on."

Ricky looked at her and smirked. "I'm so glad you're getting a kick out of this."

"Yeah, yeah… Go on!"

"Well, the first guy she's ever slept with was some guy who lived in her building. They grew up together and they were best friends who were in love. But then he had to move away to somewhere far because he had cancer and she never really got over that." Ricky sighed.

"Ah. So basically, all of Adrian's insecurities are being dumped on you."

It was Ricky's turn to be surprised. "How did you know that?"

"I've just had an epiphany, that's all!" Amy grinned.

"About…?" Ricky leaned forward. This time, he was interested.

"About my life in general." Amy giggled. "That's why I broke up with Ben about an hour ago."

"You're joking!"

"Nope!" Amy clasped her hands together and her grin widened. "I just realized that Ben and I want different things. He's not the person who understands me the most anymore. In fact, he's the complete opposite. I don't know how I've gone so long without realizing how much of a brat he is!" Amy's grin faded a little. "I wasted a lot of time, trying to hold together something that wasn't even worth it." Then she frowned. "He probably cheated on me while he was in Italy. When I called him, some girl answered his phone in Italian. I'm assuming that's what happened there, but I don't care anymore."

"Wow."

"I know, right? I'm amazing." Amy smiled again. "Hey, I liked having this heart-to-heart with you. We should do this more often."

"Yeah," Ricky tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It's probably better that we get along. John's at the age where he's very aware of his surroundings. And it's not healthy for his development if his parents are always at each other's throats."

"And besides…" Amy looked down and coughed. "Nevermind."

"What? Finish your sentence."

"Um… I guess we're probably the ones who understand each other the most." Amy looked uncomfortable and blushed. "I mean, now. At this point in our lives. Because we have John and our priority is him."

Ricky smiled. "Yeah." He stuck his right hand out. "Truce?"

Amy looked up and grinned as well. "Truce!"

A/N: A huuuuuuuge thank you to everyone who reviewed my story! I had to watch and re-watch the season finale so many times to get some of the details worked out. I really hope there's some Ricky/Amy action in the upcoming season... XD That scene where Ricky's stroking Amy's hair out of her face got my hopes up! I'm gonna work that into one of the later chapters.

Questions? Complaints? Concerns? Let me know! 3