Chapter 4: The Rodriguez Family

After two hours of intense work – well, mostly from Andrea's part – they decided to call it a day. Rodrick began to gather all his stuff hurriedly; he was running late for band practice.

"So, tomorrow at your place?" asked Andrea leaning against the door's frame.

Rodrick stopped and stared at her. "Uh, what happened to 'same time, same place'?"

"I never said that," she shrugged.

"Well, whoever did was really on to something, don't you think?" he smirked as he walked up to her.

"Maybe it worked for him but it's not really going to work for me," she answered a tad annoyed, crossing her arms.

Rodrick took a step closer, his body now towering over hers. Andrea had never felt short before; she was pretty content with her five-foot-four stature, but beneath Rodrick's six-foot-two frame she felt very small. "That's too bad," he said in a low voice.

"Why can't we meet at your house?" she continued calmly, completely hiding the fact that Rodrick did in fact intimidate her a bit.

"Why can't we meet here?" he quickly retorted, staring into her eyes. He raised an eyebrow, further pressing for Andrea's answer.

Andrea looked away. "Just because."

Rodrick chuckled a bit, recognizing her words as his own from earlier that day. "Listen, my house is not an option," he started.

"Fine, then we'll meet at the library," she answered curtly and jolted out of the room. Rodrick stayed behind, a little shocked by her brash reaction, and just watched her walk away. The fuck?

"Don't you have to get going?" Andrea called to him from the foyer.

Shit! I'm late! He recovered and rapidly made his way down the hall to the house's entrance. She had already unlocked the door and was holding it wide open; Rodrick got the message: she wanted him out.

"So, see you tomorrow?" he asked doubtfully as he walked out to the porch.

"Yes. At the library," she answered, still not looking at him.

"Um, ok then," he replied awkwardly. "Later," he waved and with that he turned around and speeded to his beat-up van.

Andrea watched him drive off then closed the door. She let out a heavy sigh and made her way to the kitchen.

"Hey dad," she said as she took a seat on the kitchen counter.

"Oh, hi," answered Mr. Rodriguez as he removed the nearly-burnt lasagna from the oven. It was quite interesting seeing him maneuver his way around the kitchen; he had really gotten better since he first started cooking.

"Mm, smells delish," complimented Andrea after taking a whiff of her dad's signature dish. A huge smile spread across his dark face, and Andrea couldn't help but smile, too. She knew her dad really put a lot of effort into his cooking and, even though they were just average meals, she always made sure to make him feel like he did a superb job.

"You're just in time," said her dad. "Help me set the table, will you?" he continued steering around the medium-sized kitchen, grabbing different condiments and sprinkling them over his culinary creations.

Andrea grabbed two sets of silverware and two plates and set them on the small table. Then she poured two glasses of sparkling water and set them next to each plate, respectively. Her father brought the lasagna to the table, along with some cooked vegetables, and set his chair directly across from where Andrea was sitting. They both mumbled a quick prayer and began eating.

Dinner was usually quiet; sometimes Andrea's dad would ask her about school, sometimes she'd ask him about work. But the conversations usually didn't evolve too much. They sometimes shared a few jokes to lighten the mood but the silence was usually louder. Yet, in all honesty, the quiet didn't bother either of them; they were comfortable just in each other's presence. Words, as they had learned, can be superfluous, sometimes even hollow.

After they finished, Andrea cleared the table and started to wash the dishes. "Tomorrow's Tuesday," stated her dad as he handed her a couple of knives she had missed while cleaning up.

"I know," she answered nonchalantly, still focused on scrapping the cheese off her plate.

"She'd really like to see you this time, darling," continued Mr. Rodriguez.

"That's too bad, really," Andrea replied undisturbed.

He stared at his daughter with hopelessness; she was so stubborn, but he couldn't blame her for not wanting to see her. Every week they had this same conversation; every week, same outcome.

"Honey," began Mr. Rodriguez in another futile attempt to change his offspring's mind, "you'll have to face her sometime."

Andrea dropped the plate she was rinsing and turned to face her dad. She stared at him with narrowed eyes, aversion apparent in her facial expression. "Says who?" she questioned with an outraged tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Andrea, she's your mother," continued her dad as calmly as he could.

"I'm not related to that woman," she replied icily.

He sighed heavily and ran his hands over his face to regain composure. "Corazón, we don't want to go to court again," he said softly.

Andrea let her arms fall to her sides and stared at her parent. This obviously wasn't easy for him either; in fact, this was probably harder on him than on her. She bent down so she was at eye-level with him and looked into his tired and sad eyes. Without words he pleaded her to make this work; he begged her not to complicate things even further; he implored her to stick to the deal. "Fine," she whispered and kissed her father on the cheek.

He gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

"But it'll only be for a few minutes!" she quickly added.

"Sure, whatever you say!" her father laughed half-heartedly. Andrea smiled at him and went back to the sink to continue her nightly duty.

"Goodnight, darling," he said as he left the kitchen for his home office.

"'Night!" she called back at him as she watched the light of his work space turn on. That man never takes a break…

- Next Day -

HONK! HONK!

Rodrick's van startled everyone within a 20-feet radar. Andrea quickly climbed in, ignoring the rude stares of those unlucky enough to have been standing right next to the dirty vehicle when it honked.

"Took you long enough!" complained Rodrick as he drove off. "I've been waiting for like ten minutes. Next time, you're walking."

"Ugh, whatever!" replied Andrea, rolling her eyes at him. "Can you please just get me to my house in one piece, thank you very much?"

Rodrick stared at her quizzically. "I thought we were going to the library today."

"We are," answered Andrea staring out the passenger window, "this is just a small detour."

"Whatever," Rodrick replied turning to Maple Street. He decided that Andrea was PMS-ing and that it was best to just go along with what she asked. Pft, stupid girl hormones.

As they drove up to her house, Rodrick noticed a black BMW parked on the driveway. "Whoa, nice!" he said excitedly. "Where have you been hiding that killer set of wheels?"

Andrea rolled her eyes at him, again. He's such a guy. "It's not mine," she said as she got out of the van.

"Then what's it doing here?" he asked confused.

"About to leave," she replied briefly and closed the door. Rodrick watched as she made her way to the front door of her house. He began to realize that something was off.

She knocked on the door and immediately a tall, slim woman in business attire opened it. Andrea shoved pass her and the woman swiftly closed the door again.

What the hell? Ok, that was weird…

Hey, sorry this chapter is a little shorter and that it lacks some Rodrick/Andrea fluff. I wanted to explore her character a bit. I really do have some cool stuff planned for this story; it has nice conflicts and plot twists hehe And I promise that next chapter will be longer and have more pairing cuteness.

Thanks for the reviews, btw! They really do help keep me motivated! :)

PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks lovelies :)