Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far - here's Chapter 11. Hope you enjoy. ~LJ~

"Hello," Ricky said after picking up the phone. He felt like it had done nothing but ring for the past few days as Rayanne kept him up to date on everything that was going on at home.

"Hi, it's me."

"Angela, hi. Urm… how are you?"

"Oh, you know, kind of terrible actually," Angela replied. "So, have you spoken to Rayanne recently?"

"Yeah, she called me a few times," Ricky said, letting her know that he knew exactly what was gong on in Pittsburgh. "I didn't know about Sharon and Jordan until Rayanne told me."

"I know." In reality, she hadn't been one hundred percent sure. Her biggest fear was that they had all been in on the secret and that she had been the only one who didn't know, that she had been an innocent twit. It was a relief that she had not been the only one they lied to.

"Well, from what Rayanne told me, which was everything, Sharon's really upset about the whole thing."

"Sharon's upset! What about me, Ricky? I mean, even if it was possible for me to forget that she slept with Jordan Catalano, the fact that she had his child and then lied about it is just completely undefendable. It's all I can think about Ricky. I'm, like, being consumed by it. I could kill them! I'm serious! All three of them…with my bare hands."

"I know but you can't hide from them forever."

"I'm not hiding." Angela lied

"Really? Then why haven't you been taking their calls? Rayanne even went to your office to see you yesterday only to have someone tell her you were ill."

Angel, said nothing. She merely signed into the phone.

"I know, well, I mean I can imagine how you feel, but you see, I can also see it from Sharon's side and Rayanne's side, and from my own side. Not that I have a side." Ricky knew that Angela was suffering and that she had reason to but he was enough removed from the whole situation to be able to take in the bigger picture.

"I'm just so mad at her. Both of them. I mean, if Rayanne can help keep something like this from me then I don't think she was ever really sorry for betraying me herself or that she was ever really my friend. I mean, in my humble opinion."

"Of course Rayanne was your friend. She still is but she's Sharon's friend too." Ricky reasoned. "I haven't spoken to Sharon but it's like Rayanne thought she was doing the right thing. Like she was protecting Sharon, or something."

"Protecting her?"

"Yeah. I think that Rayanne could remember how long it took for you to forgive her after her and Jordan…"He trailed off for a moment, realising that reminding Angela of their friend's past indiscretion would hardly help his argument. "Anyway, my point is she knew what it felt like to not be friends with you and how lonely she had been. She knew that Sharon was scared and that she would need you. So, in some screwed up way, she thought she was doing the right thing by helping Sharon."

"What about Sharon? Did she think she was doing the right thing when she jumped into bed with Jordan?"

"I don't know why Sharon did what she did." Ricky admitted. He had never been as close to Sharon as he had to Rayanne and Angela. "but from what Rayanne said, it wasn't planned or anything. I mean, she didn't intend to hurt you like that."

"Yeah, well she did." Angela said, fighting to remain composed. "God, I must be so stupid. Why didn't I ever see it? I mean, Edward was here last night after school and it was like I was seeing him for the first time. I mean, he looks like Jordan and all I wanted to do was tell him to leave but I couldn't because he's just a kid and none of it is his fault. I mean, I've known him so long he's practically family."

"Oh, Angela…" All Ricky wanted to do was fly home and pull her into a hug but he could only hope that the tone of his voice would be enough to convey his sympathy.

"You know who I feel most sorry for?"

"Who?"
"Damon. He's just so confused about what's happening and I just don't seem to be able to talk to him about it."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just never told him about me and Jordan and.."

"You didn't tell him?" Ricky interrupted, "Like ever?"

"No," Angela admitted. "I loved Jordan Catalano so much and talked about him so much it was like he lived inside me, like he had possession of my soul or something. Even after he left, it took me so long to put everything behind me that I promised myself that I would never think or talk about him ever again just so I could feel completely free. So whenever Damon asked about past boyfriends, I just didn't tell him. It felt like, if I did tell him about Jordan Catalano, then it would be a permanent shadow, or something, on our relationship."

"I never realised. I mean, you always said that Damon was perfect because you got sex and conversation all in the same person. I thought you talked about everything."

"We do but just not about this. I mean, I've always been able to talk to him about anything else but when it comes to this it's like I'm incapable of doing anything but shutting him out. He knows there is something seriously wrong and I know that the way I'm behaving is hurting him and that's the last thing I want to do."

"You should speak to him. You should speak to all of them."

"I can't. It's too soon, too raw."

"What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know. Try to find something to distract me from having to keep thinking about it until I am, like, capable of having a rational thought about the whole thing." Angela knew she was taking the cowards way out but she just didn't see an alternative that she would be able to cope with. There was so much more she could say to make Ricky understand her need to keep it at a distance but letting him know that she still held feelings for Jordan Catalano, that she had almost kissed him, however fleeting that attraction had been, was another conversation she just wasn't ready to face. "Look, can you just tell Rayanne not to call for a while. Sharon too. I just need some time, you know?"

"Ok, I'll pass the message on, "Ricky agreed reluctantly. He didn't think it really a solution but he couldn't make her face them if she didn't want to. "Anyway, I've got to go or I'll be late for work. I'll speak to you soon.

"Ok. Bye, Ricky."

When Shane had given Sharon the ultimatum to tell Jordan about Edward, he had thought it was the right thing to do. Now, however, he realised that he had made a mistake by not giving her a time limit or asking her to let him know once she had spoken to Jordan. Since Sunday he had just been waiting, not knowing what was happening or whether she had taken any action. When he did try to phone her, she refused to speak to him at all and, so far, he had been avoiding Jordan because he didn't want to tell him before she did. However, he couldn't wait any longer. He simply had to know whether Jordan knew the truth. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to bring up the subject but he had to at least try. Deciding there was no time like the present, he drove to the Jordan's store as soon as he finished work.

"Just sort it out, Jordan!" a pretty, smartly dressed, petite African-American woman shouted as she pushed past Shane on her way out of Back Alley Music. Whatever Jordan said in response was mumbled under his breath but he was looking far from happy as he stood behind the counter.

"Do I know her? She looks kind of familiar." Shane asked as he watched the woman leave, grateful that there didn't seem to be any customers hanging around.

"Yeah, that's Abyssinia. She was in school with us."

"So are you and her…?"

"Nah, man. Get your mind out of the gutter." Jordan said with a small smile. "She's my accountant. Think she's single though. You want her number?"

"Sure, why not?" Shane replied as he took the offered business card, figuring that the chances of Sharon agreeing to go out with him again were slim to none. "She sounded kind of pissed off for an accountant."

"Yeah, well she doesn't like my filing system." Jordan gestured to the two cardboard boxes on the counter which contained all of his business invoices and receipts. "It's not like I lost anything. I mean, it's all in there."

"Yeah, just not in any order known to man," Shane said as he looked through the first couple of layers of paperwork in the box closest to him. "You need a hand sorting it out?"

"It's ok. I'm going to, like, get it started now seeing as business is pretty slow today. Should be able to finish it tonight."

"Ok but the offer's there, man." Shane had a feeling it would take Jordan a lot longer than one night to reorganise his system but he'd known Jordan long enough to know when not to push.

"So, I take it the hot date you had on the weekend didn't go so well." Jordan said, reminding Shane of why he was there. "I mean, if you're going to ask Abyssinia out too?"

"Started off well but then kind of went down hill." Shane admitted. "Did I, urm.. Did I tell you who I was going out with on Saturday?"

"No, you just said you were taking some chick out and that's why you wouldn't be at Lets Bolt for open mike. Why?"

So far, nothing Jordan had done or said indicated that he knew about Edward. However, Shane knew that that didn't necessarily mean he was still in the dark. Jordan had always been the kind of person who, if asked a direct question, would tell you the truth but he wasn't exactly known for being chatty and he had always kept a lot of things to himself. That was especially true of anything he was having problems dealing with. However, if he didn't know, Shane didn't want to be the one to tell him. He still thought that it should come from Sharon. The only solution he could think of was to say her name and see what reaction he got. "It was Sharon. Sharon Cherski."

"Oh," Jordan said

Seeing as he didn't continue, Shane had no choice but to try again. "Yeah, we were at that restaurant. You know, the one you dropped those kids off at."

"Oh," Jordan repeated. He hadn't realised that Shane had been there but at the time the only person he had really been looking at was Angela. Shane looked at his friend, frustrated at Jordan's response and his blank expression. For a moment he didn't think that Jordan was going to say anything else but slowly he began to speak. "About Sharon.. see I kind of found out something. You know that one of those kids is hers, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well…I found out that her kid…Edward…he's, like, mine."

Both men gave a sigh of relief. Jordan had not confided in anyone and keeping the knowledge to himself while he tried to figure out what to do had been driving him insane. It felt good to actually say it aloud. Shane was grateful that Jordan already knew. He hadn't been looking forward to confronting Sharon and pressuring her to come clean again.

"So, you and Sharon, huh? I wouldn't have asked her out if I knew I was stepping on anyone's toes."

"No, it's not like that. I mean, it was just this one time thing. We never had any real interest in each other before but it just sort of happened and now everything's all messed up."

"What happened?"

"I blew it, man. Sharon hates me and Edward probably hates me too." Jordan leaned against the counter looking morose. "Angela Chase definitely hates me."

"What's it got to do with Angela?" Shane asked, receiving a pointed look in answer. "Well, I know you two have a past and everything but that was like high school, man. Also, she's Angela Bradley now so I think she's moved on. You should too."

"I know. I mean, I have but its like we've got unfinished business, or whatever. She came to see me on Sunday."

"She did?"

"Yeah."

"So? I mean did you and her, you know?"

"No. Nothing happened." Jordan replied. It was true, even if it wasn't the whole truth. Just because nothing had happened in actuality, didn't mean they hadn't both wanted something to happen in their hearts. When they had been talking he had come to the realisation that she would still sleep with him and part of him would have done anything, he wanted her so much. But how could he explain that to Shane when he was having such a difficult time rationalising it himself? It wasn't as if he had spent the past two decades pining away for her. Why did she still have this hold over him even through they hadn't been in contact with each other for so long? Not that they would come into contact again. He couldn't imagine her ever wanted to be in the same room as him again, let alone the same bed. "Nothing's going to happen. Edward turned up at my place while she was still there so she, like, knows. Then Sharon came over and we, kind of yelled at each other and that's pretty much it."

"So, what now?

"I don't know. I mean, Edward left his phone number but I haven't called him yet."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It's, like, hard to know what to say to him." Jordan admitted.

Shane didn't really know what advice to offer. He had never been in a similar situation and he would be the first to concede that he was no agony aunt. All he could think of was to suggest they find some common ground. "Well, he plays guitar, right? Just talk to him about music and stuff"

Jordan nodded, thinking back to the conversations he had already had with Edward. When he had given the kids a ride, he and Edward had talked the whole way about different bands and when Edward had been in his apartment waiting for Sharon to arrive, their conversation about guitars almost made him forgot the gravity of the situation.

"Just call him. The longer you leave it the harder it'll be." Shane proposed. "And don't let the whole Angela thing get in the way. I mean, it's like two completely separate things"

"Yeah, I will call him, like, tonight."

"Great," Shane said with a smile, feeling like he had done his good deed for the day. "Anyway, I've got to split. I was supposed to be at Tino's, like half an hour ago."

"Ok, Later, dude." Jordan was grateful for Shane's suggestion but he was still uncertain about how to go about it. It wasn't as if he could dial the number and just start talking about guitars or something. There would have to be an opening line, something to get the conversation started, and that was what he was having trouble with. It was ironic really. He had made countless phone calls in the past where he didn't really know what he was going to say before he actually spoke. The difference was that in the past it had always been some girl that he had been calling. Now that it was his son, it seemed harder somehow. Jordan pulled one of the boxes of jumbled invoices closer to him and started going through them, thinking that by the time he had put it in some sort of recognisable order he would be able to come up with something to say to Edward.

Hours later, Jordan had made less progress than he had hoped. He had only managed to sort through half of one box and he still didn't feel ready to pick up the phone. The more he thought about what to say to Edward and the more he tried to make some sort of plan, the less certain he was that Shane's idea had been a good one after all. What if he called Edward and he didn't want to talk to him? What if Edward had decided that he was better off not getting to know him? Self doubt took over and he just couldn't bring himself to reach for the phone.

"Hi" Rebecca said as she stopped by Amy's locker. Over the past 3 days it had become the meeting place for their small group by unconscious but unanimous decision.

"Hi," Amy replied. "Mike and Edward are coming over to mine to hang out for a bit. You coming too?"

"Sure. Hey, did you see that?"

"See what?" Amy asked as she closed her locker and turned around. All she saw was a quickly emptying corridor as the other students headed home. As far as she could tell there was nothing even remotely interesting happening.

"That look that Stacey Hargrove just gave us. Like we've done something to offend her or something. I mean, she was giving us proper evils."

"Oh, well yeah. I mean, we've both been getting some funny looks the past few days."

"We have?"

"Yeah" Amy explained. "Its like we agreed to have a certain personality or something. For no reason. Just to make it easier for everyone and now that we're not behaving like they think we should they're, like, all put out, or something."

"You put, like, actual thought into this?" Rebecca asked but just received a shrug in response. "Kind of makes sense I guess, though why anyone would care that we've started hanging out together is beyond me. You know what Natasha Vinovich said to me today?"

"Isn't she that cheerleader with the really small nose stud?"

"Yeah, but that's besides the point. She came up to me in the 3rd floor toilets and accused me of forgetting who my real friends are just because I've not been sitting with the rest of the cheerleaders for lunch this week. Apparently, you're going to do to me what you did to Marcy Barsh."

"What did I do to Marcy Barsh? I don't even, like, know her!" Amy protested. "Natasha Vinovich is such a bitch. Make that jealous bitch. I never thought I would actually say this but you are such an improvement."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, her and Edward used to, like, um.." Amy trailed off as she took in the look of surprise on Rebecca's face. "You must have known about that, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally." Rebecca said, vainly trying to cover up her shock at the information. "I guess I must have just forgotten about Natasha Vinovich, or something"

"So, I take it you and Edward haven't ummed yet." Amy said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"That is completely none of your business." Rebecca replied caught off guard by the question. "Why? Have you and Mike…ummed?"

"That is completely none of your business," Amy repeated, imitating the Rebecca and causing the other girl to smile. "Seriously, I have no idea what is happening with me an Mike at the moment."

"Oh, please! Has he or has he not driven you to school and home again every day this week? I've seen you guys making out in his car before home room."

"So? We might make out in his car but when are alone we barely talk. I mean, it kind of makes anything you do say seem kind of meaningful, even though it really isn't, but it kind of leaves you wondering where you stand. I mean is it kissing for kissing's sake or is it leading somewhere. Well, I know where he wants it to lead but I'm so not having sex in his car. Especially when I don't even know if we're like a boyfriend/girlfriend thing or just a thing thing. Not that I, like, expect him to parade me up and down the corridors holding hands or anything."

"What's wrong with kissing for kissing's sake?" Rebecca asked with a dreamy look on her face. "But, I'm with you on the whole where they want it to lead it issue. I mean, making out in the boiler room is one thing but if Edward thinks we're doing it in there he'd better think again. And what's wrong with the occasional hand holding parade? I think it's nice."

"What's nice?" Mike asked as he and Edward finally arrived and caught the tail end of her sentence.

"Nothing," Amy replied. She was sure that Mike wouldn't get the whole hand holding thing. It just didn't seem like a very Mike sort of thing to do. However, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of jealousy as she watched Rebecca and Edward walk towards the exit in front of her, hands already entwined while Mike's hands remained in his pockets

By the time they reached the Bradley household, any dampening of Amy spirits was well and truly forgotten thanks to a bout of Wayne's World style head banging to an old Queen track on the journey. The teenagers practically burst though the door, a riot of noise and energy, shattering the peaceful and quiet atmosphere of the house. Amy and Edward were aware that their mothers were still not speaking but they had been determined not to let it effect their own friendship. However, it was clear that Edward didn't feel as comfortable in the house as he had once done. Amy also knew her mother well enough to know that there was some underlying tension even though she tried to hide it so the less they actually came face to face the better.

"Why don't you guy's go up? I'll go grab some drinks." Amy said. The other teens hardly paused before heading upstairs to her bedroom while Amy headed into the kitchen.

"Hi. How was school?" Angela asked, barely looking up from the leaflets she was reading at the breakfast bar.

"Oh, you know, school. What you looking at?"

"Night courses. I'm thinking of maybe doing one."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Just for something to, like, do." Angela replied. "Why are you standing with the fridge door open?"

"I'm looking for drinks."

"They're at the back somewhere. Was that Mike and Jordan I heard stomping upstairs?" Angela asked distractedly, still paying more attention to the course information than her daughter

"Don't you mean Mike and Edward?"

"Why? What did I say?" Angela asked in a confused voice, oblivious to the mistake she had made.

"Never mind. Yeah, they're here. Rebecca too." Amy didn't see the point in repeating her mother's words. It had been made clear over the past few days that Angela didn't want to discuss the situation in anyway, no matter how evident it was that she was quietly obsessing over it. Pulling four cans of coke out of the fridge, Amy left the room wondering how it was possible that the only people who seemed willing to actually talk about what was happening were the teenagers while all of the adults had some how completely lost the ability to communicate with each other.

When she entered her room, Edward and Rebecca were both sitting on her bed, comfortably leaning against each other while Mike sat in the chair by her desk, searching her CD collection for a suitable album to play. The topic of conversation was predictably the same person her mother was pretending not to think about downstairs.

"I can't believe he hasn't called you yet." Rebecca said. The more she got to know Edward and the more she saw how much rejection he felt, the less she thought of Jordan Catalano.

"He's probably got other stuff on his mind."

"Don't make excuses for him, Eddie," Amy jumped in as she passed out the drinks. When she reached Mike, he pulled her down onto the chair where she settled comfortable in his lap, trying not to think about how frustrating his mixed signals could be. "How come you get to be the one sitting around, analysing him in microscopic detail while he gets to be the one with other things on his mind?"

"She kind of has a point," Rebecca said. "But how do we know he has got other stuff on his mind? I mean, you're sitting here waiting for him to contact you but for all we know he could be waiting for you to contact him again."

"You think?"

"Maybe. I mean, the only reason he even knows you exist is pure coincidence. If he didn't offer to give us a lift back from Lets Bolt and your mum wasn't on a date with that Shane guy, then neither of you would have found out about each other. He's probably still in shock or something."

"You know what we need?" Amy asked, "Another coincidental meeting where you just both happen to be in the same place at the same time again."

"What do you mean?" Edward could see that she was trying to form some kind of plan to help him move forward and stop obsessing but he had no idea what. It wasn't as if you could force a coincidence.

"Well, if you call him and ask him to meet you somewhere he might feel pressured or something. Like he's got obligations or something. But if he goes somewhere and you just happen to be there too, then it would feel kind of natural in a sort of whatever happens, happens kind of a way." She explained.

"That would be a great plan if it weren't for the small question of how do we get Jordan Catalano to go the place that Edward just happens to be?" Rebecca pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. Maybe that plan needs a bit of a rework," Amy frowned. "I didn't say it was a fully formed plan."

"No, it's a good plan. You just need to think about it the other way round," Mike said. The other three looked at him in confusion. "I mean, Edward will just have to go to where ever Catalano happens to be."

"But how do I find out where he's going to be?" Edward asked.

"You know that place called Vertigo? Jordan Catalano's going to be there." Mike explained. "I mean, not right now but tomorrow night. Shane was over at Tino's last night and I overheard them taking about Catalano and they said he's got a gig there."

"Isn't that a coffee house downtown? I thought it closed down." Rebecca asked.

"It reopened as a bar a few week ago. They've just started doing live music and we need to go there anyway to see if they'll let us play sometime. What do you say, Edward?"

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, what if he know we planned it?"

"How would he know? It's perfect because we can all go and as far as he'll know we're just there to listen to the music. Complete coincidence."

"What about your mum's school night rule, Amy?" Edward still wasn't convinced that the plan would work but he had the feeling that if he did go he would need his friends with him or he would lose his nerve.

"She can say that she's working on something for school with me and that we have to do it at the restaurant," Rebecca replied, offering Amy the perfect excuse. "My parents will be working so they won't even realise we've gone out."

It was clear to Edward they all thought the plan would be foolproof . Edward wasn't quite so sure but it was the only plan they had managed to come up with in the last few days and he had to do something to break the stalemate before he went insane. The thought that they had any kind of plan seemed to take the weight of his shoulders, and even though he wasn't convinced that it would work, it did make him feel better. "Ok. Lets do it," he agreed and for the first time all week a genuinely happy smile spread across his face.

Damon walked languidly to his car. For the most part he enjoyed his job but, like the majority people, he also normally looked forward to the end of the working day. However, over the past few days he had found himself lingering at work, completing tasks that he would normally have left for the next morning. The rush to get home and spend time with his family was slowly being eroded by the growing tension that was developing between him and Angela. It felt like they were drifting apart and the longer he let her continue her silence over whatever she and Sharon had fallen out about, the wider the space between then grew.

Over the past three days, the most he had been able to learn was that the mysterious Jordan Catalano was someone from Angela's past and that he had also been revealed as Edward's real father. The scant information he agained had to be practically forced from Angela. It only served to make him more frustrated by the lack of detail while Angela became more withdrawn. While he couldn't deny that the revelation of Edward's paternity was a surprise, he had no way to appreciate why Angela would not speak to her best friends because of it. It was as if she had been acting on auto pilot, just going through the motions while she kept everything bottled up inside and for the first time in their marriage, he had no idea how to get her to open up. For the first time, he felt like he was loosing her to something he didn't comprehend and he didn't know where to turn to find the solution.

Damon climbed into his car and pulled out of the parking bay only to stop again a few yards later. Leaving the engine running, he got out again and pulled the flyer out of his windscreen wipers. He didn't know what was more annoying. The fact that people had started to put flyers on his car window every single Wednesday or the fact that he never noticed them until after he had started to drive. Normally, he would have screwed the thing up and tossed it into the nearest bin but this week something caught his eye.

The flyer itself was cheaply produced on thin paper with ink that would run in the rain but he recognised the name of the trendy bar that it was advertising. It was only a few blocks away from his office and until a few weeks ago it had been his favourite coffee shop when he felt the need to get out of the air conditioned atmosphere he worked in. Now, Vertigo was being advertised as a bar and club. Under the main logo, black ink proclaimed it as the hottest venue for local live music on a Thursday night. Below that there was a list of four acts already confirmed to be playing this week. Second from the top, the name Jordan Catalano jumped out at him and for a few seconds all he could do was stand and stare. He wasn't sure how long he stood next to his car while the engine purred quietly but the only thing that roused him was the sound of a car horn being pounded. Realising that he was blocking the way out, Damon jumped back in his car. He quickly folded the flyer and put it inside his inside suit pocket before putting the car in gear and driving home.

Thanks for reading ~LJ~