"Wow! You look pretty," Lux said when Cate emerged from the bathroom.

Cate was wearing a black halter dress and black stilettos. She had heavier make-up than usual on. "Thanks." Cate smiled, fumbling with her earrings.

"I second that," Ryan chimed in. He jumped up from the couch and helped Cate with her leather jacket. He placed his hand on lower back and guided her gently toward the door.

"You guys are so perfect together," Lux said, watching them. "Is it hard to pretend you're not dating on the show?"

"You have no idea," Ryan replied, laughing.

Cate cast a glance backward over her shoulder. "We're going to Drink a Date. We won't be back until late. There's leftover pizza in the fridge. Call my cell if you need anything."

Lux waved her off. "I'll be fine. Have fun!"

No sooner had the door slammed behind them than Cate reappeared. "Lux!"

"What?" Lux asked innocently.

"Lock the door behind me," Cate said.

"OK, OK. You know, I have been left home alone before, Cate. I'm fourteen, not four." Lux smirked.

Cate rolled her eyes. "And don't answer the door."

"Yeah, yeah," Lux mumbled.

Ryan laughed when Cate finally got in the car. "Did you remember to leave her the number for 9-1-1?"

Cate punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You're just as bad as Lux."

Lux grabbed the phone and called Bug. "She's gone."

"See you soon," Bug replied.

He'd been complaining that he never got to see her anymore now that she was at a different school and living so far away. Every time Lux mentioned hanging out with him, Cate made an excuse.

This was the first time Cate was leaving Lux alone, and Lux's first opportunity in over a week to see Bug. She smiled.

Lux remembered how beautiful Cate looked to go out with Ryan. She wandered into the bathroom and rummaged through the drawers. She put a dab of Cate's perfume on her wrists. She was contemplating experimenting with Cate's make-up when she heard the doorbell.

"Hey." Lux grinned when she opened the door.

"Hey yourself." Bug smiled, pulling her in for a kiss.

"I missed you," Lux said when they broke apart. She grabbed his hand and led him over to the couch.

"I see you're not sleeping on the couch anymore," Bug noted.

Lux's eyes lit up. "No, Cate fixed up the attic for me. Want to see?"

Without waiting for an answer, Lux hurried over to the stairs, excited to show off her new room. Bug laughed and followed her.

"Nice," Bug observed, looking around Lux's room before settling on her bed. He patted the spot next to him and Lux joined him. They started making out.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked when he found Cate hiding in the hallway by the restrooms. They were hosting Drink a Date in a local bar. Or at least they were supposed to be, but Cate kept disappearing.

"Calling Lux. She's not picking up." Cate frowned.

"You are such a mom," Ryan teased. "She's fine, Cate. She probably fell asleep."

"You think?" Cate didn't look convinced.

Ryan nodded, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"You know, I'm going to call Baze and see if he can go check on her," Cate said.

Baze rang the doorbell. When there was no answer, he banged on the door. "Lux? Lux!"

No answer.

He dialed Cate. "Yeah, I'm here and Lux isn't answering. Maybe she went out."

"She's fourteen! Where would she go? Clubbing?" Cate said sarcastically.

"Last time I checked, she prefers barhopping," Baze shot back.

"I'm glad you think this is a big joke," Cate said, exasperated.

"At least I don't take everything too seriously," Baze retorted. "She's probably asleep."

"That's what Ryan said," Cate murmured thoughtfully.

"Smart guy, Ryan. Can I go home now?" Baze asked.

"No! There's a spare key under the flower pot," Cate said.

Baze lifted the flower pot up and grabbed the key. "Got it."

Baze let himself in and looked around awkwardly. No sign of Lux in the living room. He went to the kitchen and helped himself to a slice of pizza. He paused awkwardly at the foot of the attic stairs before heading up.

"What the hell?" Baze said when he walked in on Lux and Bug.

Lux looked up, horrified. "Don't you knock?"

"Oh, God," Baze said, shielding his eyes when he saw that Lux wasn't wearing a shirt.

Lux noticed his gaze and reddened. "Get out!" She yelled as she grabbed her shirt, fumbling with the buttons.

"Me? No way. I'm not going anywhere. Bug's the one that needs to get out before I make him get out," Baze said threateningly.

"Baze!" Lux cried out angrily.

Baze's phone started ringing and he reached into his pocket. "Oh, great. It's Cate. What am I supposed to tell her?"

"What? Don't tell her anything!" Lux replied, racing over.

Baze hesitated.

"Please!" Lux begged.

"Hi Cate," Baze said into the receiver.

Lux looked up at him pleadingly.

"Is Lux there?" Cate asked.

"Yeah, she's here," Baze replied.

"Well, is she OK? Why didn't she answer when I called?" Cate demanded.

"I don't know." He turned to Lux. "Why didn't you answer the phone when Cate called?" He raised his eyebrows. "Other than that your mouth was otherwise occupied."

"I couldn't hear it in the attic," Lux said defensively.

"She couldn't hear it in the attic," Baze said to Cate.

Cate breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Bye," Baze said, hanging up and glaring at Lux.

"Thank you!" Lux threw her arms around Baze's neck, hugging him gratefully. "You're the coolest dad ever."

Baze stepped back. "I'm not that cool," he said meaningfully. "I have to tell Cate. Just not over the phone."

Lux's face fell. "Baze, Cate's not exactly Bug's biggest fan."

"Neither am I," Baze replied, shooting Bug a dirty look.

"You don't even know him," Lux protested.

"I know that I just walked in on him taking advantage of my kid. That's all I need to know," Baze said.

"There was no taking advantage," Bug said angrily.

"He's my boyfriend," Lux reminded Baze, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah, well aren't boyfriends supposed to be scared of their girlfriend's dads?" Baze retorted.

Lux rolled her eyes.

"It's been fun," Bug said sarcastically, moving toward the attic stairs.

Baze did his best to look intimidating as Bug stepped past him. Bug took off in a hurry.

"What are you even doing here?" Lux asked, following Baze down to the living room.

"Cate asked me to stop by and check on you, and it's a good thing I did," Baze said reproachfully.

"What, she doesn't trust me enough to leave me alone?" Lux complained.

"Looks like she has a good reason not to," Baze said.

"Baze, please don't tell Cate," Lux tried again. "I'll do whatever you want. I'll even let you win at air hockey."

Baze buried his face in his hands, not sure what to do.

"Don't tell me what?" Cate asked. She'd come in through the back door just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation.

Baze looked at Lux helplessly. "That Lux was upstairs with Bug when I got here."

Lux glared at Baze.

"Upstairs? In the attic?" Cate asked.

Lux nodded sheepishly.

"What was Bug doing here? Why were you in the attic?" Cate demanded.

"We were just hanging out," Lux replied quickly, hoping Baze wouldn't say anything else.

"Just hanging out?" Cate said skeptically. She looked at Baze. "Is that true?"

"Uh, only if you change hanging to making," Baze said slowly.

Cate narrowed her eyes at Lux.

"Thanks a lot," Lux said sarcastically to Baze as she pushed past him, heading for the attic.

Baze and Cate followed at her heels.

Lux spun around to face them, glaring at Baze. "You can't just barge in whenever you want."

Baze winced. "If you keep your clothes on from now on, I won't walk in on anything."

Lux blushed bright red.

"Wait a minute, if she keeps her clothes on?" Cate repeated, clearly horrified. "Were her clothes off?"

"They were in various stages of undress," Baze replied.

"How undressed?" Cate demanded, hands on her hips.

"Everything, uh, down South was covered," Baze said awkwardly, looking at the ground.

"You are such a hypocrite!" Lux shouted at Baze. "You got Cate pregnant when you were sixteen and you weren't even together! Bug's sixteen and he's my boyfriend and we were just making out!"

"I don't want you to make the same mistake," Baze mumbled.

"Mistake?" Lux cried out. She ran downstairs, locking herself in the bathroom.

"That was a poor choice of words," Baze admitted, as he and Cate followed. He knocked on the bathroom door. "Lux?"

"Go away!" Lux yelled.

"Lux, I'm sorry! I didn't mean that the way it sounded," Baze tried again.

"Oh, really? How did you mean it?" Lux demanded.

Baze looked at Cate uncertainly, at a loss for words.

"Maybe you should just go," Cate said quietly.

"No," Baze said defiantly.

"Just give her a chance to cool down," Cate insisted.

"Maybe you're right," Baze admitted, heading for the door.

"Lux?" Cate said gently. "Baze is gone."

Lux opened the door and Cate saw that her eyes were red and swollen from crying.

Cate's heart sank. She reached for Lux. "You know how guys are. They say stupid things. What Baze said was stupid, but he didn't mean it."

Lux sniffled.

Cate pulled back and looked at Lux. "You are not a mistake."

"Maybe you don't think so," Lux said uncertainly, "but Baze does."

"That's not true. Baze doesn't have to be in your life. No one's forcing him to hang out with you. He's doing it because he wants to," Cate replied comfortingly.

Lux smiled, wiping tears from her eyes. She made a move toward the door, intending to go upstairs, but Cate blocked the doorway.

"You know I don't want you hanging out with Bug when I'm not around," Cate said, giving Lux a hard look.

"When you are around you always make up excuses for why we can't hang out," Lux said pointedly.

"That doesn't make it OK for you to sneak around," Cate replied sternly.

"I wouldn't have to sneak around if you'd stop treating me like a little kid," Lux retorted. "I'm fourteen, Cate! I have a boyfriend."

Cate stopped herself from pointing out that Lux was in fact a kid, knowing that wouldn't go over well.

"I have an idea. Why doesn't Bug come over for dinner sometime this week? I'll cook," Cate offered instead.

Lux raised her eyebrows. "Are you trying to poison him?"

Cate laughed. "Or we can order in."

"Yeah," Lux agreed, smiling.