A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Nathan had been having an internal debate during the entire drive to his parents' house. To start an argument or to not start an argument – that was the question. It's not like he wanted to fight with Lauren, but, then again, he really didn't want to go to this party either. So, he figured, what the hell – why not give it one last shot, one last Hail Mary. Just like he always told his teammates in school: no guts, no glory.

"Baby," he began, voice deceptively casual.

"Hmmm," his wife responded absently, from the passenger seat of their SUV where she was diligently reapplying her lipstick.

Taking his eyes off the road, Nate stole a look at her and almost sighed. God, but she was gorgeous. Dressed to kill in a red dress he almost hadn't let her leave the house in, her curls piled on top of her head in a style that managed to somehow look messy and neat at the same time, and because of what he was about to say he was probably only going to get to look and not touch all night. What. A. Waste.

"What, Nate?" Lauren inquired, when he never continued.

Nate actually did sigh then, and after giving one last farewell look to her cleavage he asked, "Why don't we blow this thing off? We can go to the casino instead," he suggested hopefully, "or even a club."

"Oh, honey," she replied, laughing lightly. "Don't joke; you're bad at it."

"I wasn't joking," he mumbled under his breath.

It was Lauren's turn to sigh. "I know."

"Baby," he said, but she held up a hand to cut him off.

"No. I don't want to hear it. Not again."

"I. Don't. Want. To. Go," he bit out.

"Okay," she shrugged, "doesn't change the fact that we're still going."

When Nathan responded with a noise that fell somewhere between a growl and a grunt, Lauren finally shifted in her seat and gave her husband h er full attention.

"Alright, baby," she said, and it was obvious to Nate that the word was being used as an insult rather than a term of endearment. "You want to do this again? Fine. I'm game."

His eyes were rolling, but he didn't even try to speak.

"My mother-in-law, your mother," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him, "is throwing a family party. AND since I'm the newest member of this family, a family I might add who have a very long and tempestuous relationship with my own family – who will also be there," she added with a shout, "nothing short of death would be able to keep us from this party."

Nate waved his hand dismissively. "Our families are totally cool now – friends even."

"That's right," she said, sarcastically. "Except, you know, those two guys you and I call 'dad' sometimes. And, really," she added, "it's not like my mother is besties with your father either. I mean, be for real, Nate – our mothers are friends, our brothers are friends, but my parents and your father… not so much."

"Okay, but –

"And," she kept going, "we're not even sure who else your mother invited to this thing. Casey is super friendly."

Almost too friendly, Lauren thought to herself. So, there was no telling just how many people from the respective Hatfield and McCoy camps the elder Mrs. Venturi had invited to this get together.

"It could be like our wedding receptions and come off without a hitch," she continued, "or it could be like my father and your mother's rehearsal dinner." Laughing humorlessly, she said, "You never know with our families. So, isn't it better if we're there to run interference?"

Lauren's question was clearly rhetorical, because she didn't even give Nate a chance to respond before she was talking again.

"And anyway, our families could get along like the Beatles did pre Yoko, and we would still be going because of your brother. You do remember him, right?"

"Yeah, Shawn, right?" he asked, sarcastically.

"He's your brother, Nate," she said, voice still heated but slightly less loud.

But it somehow managed to bother him more than the yelling had. "He's your brother, Nate," he mocked. "Yeah, I'm hip. In fact, if you recall," he went on sarcastically, "I was there the first fifty times you made this speech. 'Blah blah loyalty, blah blah family, blah blah respect, blah blah blah.'"

"Well," she snapped, eyes flashing. "If you heard me all those times, then why are you being such an Assy McAssy Pants about this? Was it really so awful of your brother to ask you to be there to have his back when he tells everyone about him and Mya?"

In a word: no. Nathan liked Mya and he loved his brother, it made zero difference to him if they dated each other, and Nathan had no problem offering the couple his support publically. And, that's why it was so hard for him to articulate to his wife just why exactly he didn't want to attend this party.

Nathan just couldn't shake this feeling he had that this wasn't going to be some simple family gathering, and Shawn wasn't going to just make some simple announcement. When his brother had called and practically begged him to come and support 'The Big Reveal' (as Shawn referred to it), the first anvil dropped for Nate. It was just weird. Shawn had been too nervous on the phone, too beggy. Why? It was their mother's party – why wouldn't Nate and Lauren be going? Why call to make sure they would be in attendance? And, all the nervousness was for what exactly? Sure, it might be a little awkward when their parents found out about Shawn and Mya, since Casey considered Mya to be more her friend than her children's, but Shawn's crush had always been so obvious and Mya wasn't really like his elder or anything, so how upset could Casey possibly be?

Nate didn't have anything concrete to go by, but it seemed to him that Shawn felt it was at least possible that Casey wouldn't be shipping Mawn – and that's why Nathan didn't want to go to this party. Cause if Mr. Happy Go Lucky himself was this nervous – this wound up – something else had to be going on… something that Nate wasn't itching to be a part of.

Hearing her husband sigh again, Lauren swallowed her own annoyance and decided to try another tactic.

"Remember when we set our fathers up at the diner?"

His nod was nearly imperceptible, but she saw it.

"Who was it that helped us?" She asked. "Who backed us up when we wanted to be together? When we," she paused, and grabbed his hand, "were scared that people wouldn't accept our relationship?"

"Your brother?" he joked half-heartedly, and his hand received a not-so-gentle squeeze for his efforts.

"Jeez, She Hulk," he complained, but returned the squeeze with a gentler one of his own. "Tony did help, but so did Shawn, and Mya, and a lot of people actually."

"And look how well that turned out," she responded, only to hear Nate laugh.

"Yeah, maybe our father will start slugging it out again tonight and bring everything full circle."

"Nathan," she said, giving him a look.

"Kidding."

Not kidding. So not kidding. In fact, dead freaking serious. Lauren could act like things were about to be all sunshine lollipops and rainbows everywhere if she wanted to, but they both knew that having their two families and friends all in one place together was like playing soccer in a minefield. Sure, the night might end without incident, but there was also a very real chance that something explosive could happen. And if Shawn's announcement was anything but the chillest of chill then it could definitely destroy whatever already shaky balance their family had.

"So…" Lauren said, after a moment of silence, and when Nathan looked at her he saw that she was doing her whole Anime eyes/pouty lip tremble thing.

"So, stop," he replied, having resigned himself to his fate. "Just stop. We're going to the party. We both know we're going to the part. You knew we were going to the party the minute you told me we were going to the party."

Annoyance laced his words, but the smirk on his face and his hand that had gone from holding her own to slowly making its way up her thigh told his true feelings.

"I had to give it one last try, but, really, when have I ever not given you exactly what you wanted?"

Her answer was immediate. "Never."

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"And there's nothing for me but, Mya," Shawn sang loudly, as he pulled onto the street of his childhood home. "Every sight that I see is Mya. Tonight, tonight, it all begins tonight!" He finished with a rising, if not entirely true to the actual tune, crescendo.

"Thank you, thank you," he said, sporting the type of grin even a gameshow host would've been ashamed to wear. "I'll be here all week, folks."

"You know," a long silent, and likely forgotten, Tony drawled from the passenger seat. "I've often been accused of having hothead tendencies," he paused, "people have said I leap—

'You mean your fists leap,' Shawn thought, but had the sense to keep quiet since he knew that he'd been working his friend's nerves all day.

"—before I look," Tony continued. "I don't know though, given the fact that I managed not to drop kick your ass out this car twenty minutes and five show tunes ago, I'd say I have an incredible amount of self-control.

Tony had on his broody/Angel/CW show face, and it might've intimidated someone else, but Shawn just chuckled.

"Okay, so I know I've been—

"An insufferable ass?" Tony supplied helpfully, not even a trace of sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well," Shawn laughed again, "I was gonna say I've been in rare form today."

"Rare form?" Tony practically sputtered. "The day you attempted to put on a one-man production of Everybody Has AIDS—

"Rent," Shawn corrected, trying and failing to smother his grin, but Tony soldiered on completely ignoring his friend.

"—while we were out with those twins. Those gymnast twins. Those very hot gymnast twins!"

"Alright, angry folks, take a breath before your head explodes."

Tony did, but just barely. "No, you were in rare form that day. Today you have been going for gold in the Annoying Olympics. I mean," Tony continued, sounding almost tired at this point, "you've been singing all damn day."

He sounded so depressed that Shawn gave up on holding anything again, and started laughing again.

"Not just your regular singing either," Tony said, clearly disgusted. After five years of friendship, he was well aware that Shawn found his constant moodiness downright hilarious, but that didn't make Shawn's laughter any less annoying. "But like a Mya tribute band. Every song, every single song, tailor made by you with new Mya-centric lyrics. You've been waxing lyrical, fawning all over some chick, just like you were some… some… chick!"

"Some chick," Shawn echoed, no longer sounding quite so amused. No, right then he sounded every inch the Venturi alpha male.

Shawn was too dramatic – his face far too expressive – to ever pull off that whole unreadable yet super intimidating face thing that his older brother and father were semi-famous for. But, still, the look he was wearing made it clear that under all the Broadway soundtracks and funny accents, Shawn wouldn't hesitate to defend and protect what was his.

"Mya's not some chick," he continued. "Mya's my girl – my woman, and in a few hours she'll more than likely be my fiancé. So, in the future, I'd appreciate it if you showed her at least the same type of respect that I've showed every single skank you paraded around our apartment these past two years!"

"Great. Wonderful even," Tony replied lazily, seemingly unfazed by the unsaid threat in Shawn's words.

And, really, he wasn't fazed. Why would he be? He and Shawn were buddies, roommates, "besties" even, to quote Lauren. They knew each other pretty well. So, Tony knew that Shawn knew he liked, and even more importantly, respected Mya. AND, he also knew that Shawn knew that he had heard his friend loud and clear – he wouldn't make the mistake of disrespecting Mya again, even as a joke.

"So, next time," Tony went on, "call Mya and sing to her for eight hours and leave me out of it."

"But why?" Shawn whined, twinkle back in his eye so fast you never would've known it left. "We're bosom buddies—

Tony damn near choked at that. "We're not bosom anything!"

"—amigos, super friends – if I can't sing to you, then who can I sing to?"

"Mya," Tony deadpanned.

Shawn waved his hand dismissively. "Pshaw."

The pshaw did it – Tony finally gave a genuine, if not entirely willing, grin.

"Mya has a lifetime of the Sweet Songs of Shawn to look forward to; my time with you is just a limited engagement," he said, giving a tiny bow.

"If she says yes," Tony couldn't stop himself from adding.

Shawn's eyes flashed – not with anger per se, but something more akin to fear… well, fear mingled with annoyance.

Deciding to play along, despite his better judgement, Shawn asked, "And why wouldn't she say yes?"

"Oh, I don't know," Tony began sarcastically, "maybe because Mya barely agreed to come tonight. Maybe because you had to freaking give her an ultimatum to get her to use this little family fun fest as your personal little 'coming out party,' he added, using air quotes.

"Yeah, but—

"So," Tony continued loudly, determined to try and get his point across one last time. The same point he had been trying his damnedest to drive home to his friend since Shawn had shown him the ring a month ago. "Maybe, just maybe, tonight isn't the best night to propose."

"But I want to," Shawn responded, lamely.

"I know," Tony replied, voice considerably gentler. "Look, man," he cleared his throat, "I just don't want you to get hurt," he finished on a mumble.

"I won't," Shawn said, voice ringing with determination. "She's gonna say yes!"

Tony didn't exactly snort, but it was close.

"How can you possibly know that?"

"How can you not?" Shawn countered. "I mean, look around you," he said, gesturing to his parents' house, "there's proof pudding practically coming in through the windows, man."

"Huh?"

"There's something with our families – our family; we're like magic or something when it comes to stuff like this," he responded. "Come on, Tony, just look at our parents – they went from like sworn enemies to friends who spend holidays together."

"Yeah," Tony said sarcastically, "and it only took a couple of decades for them to all be able to stand the sight of each other. That's magic all right."

"Okay, but what about our siblings? Shawn shot back. "Nate? Lauren? You do remember them, right? One minute they're all Romeo and Juliet/Tristan and Isolde, all star-crossed and moody and primetime soapy – like the only thing missing was a power ballad; the next minute they're all Ashford and Simpson, making their own sweet music together."

"First off, gross," Tony said, sending Shawn a pained look. "Secondly, who are Ashford and Simpson?"

"You know," his voice was cajoling, "Ashford and Simpson." Tony just stared at him blankly. "Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough," he started singing, but Tony cut him off.

"And he's singing again." Passing a cursory glance over his watch, he continued, "it only took all of five seconds."

"What can I say?" Shawn shrugged good naturedly. "I got the music in me."

"You don't have to tell me," Tony replied, sighing. "But –

"No, buts." It was Shawn's turn to interrupt. "Things are gonna work out for Mya and me, because people in our family always get their happy endings. So, No. More. Buts. And, no more warnings," he said, the words coming out brisk and forceful, though not exactly angry. "Look," he paused a second, then: "You're pretty much my closest friend. I mean, at this point, we're practically brothers, family and stuff," he added, sounding almost shy for once. "So, I don't need you of all people trying to warn me off," he explained. "I need you to give me pep talks and, well, have my back in there in case things go south. Which they won't," he hastened to add.

That was the thing though – Tony was trying to be a friend, a brother even – hence the warnings. But if Shawn wanted him to be ridiculous and unrealistic instead, then he supposed he could do that.

"Fine," he said flatly, giving a little shrug.

"Okay… good then… uh great." Shawn was slightly thrown off by Tony's easy agreement, but he sounded a little more like his usual self. "So, let's go knock back a couple before my beautiful bride to be shows up."

Grunting in response, Tony pulled a face, but opened his door without further comment.

"Don't look so worried for me," Shawn said, as he followed him out the car and up to the front door. "She's going to say yes," he went on, grin firmly back in place as he opened the door to his parents' home. "Everything is going to be fine."

'Famous last words,' Tony couldn't help but think as he trailed over the threshold after him.

TBC…