Chapter 12

Laurie's date was not going as well as she'd hoped. She knew Mitch was shy, after all it had taken him three weeks to just talk to her, but his shyness hadn't abated one bit since the start of their date. She had just about run out of topics of conversation when they got to the taco stand. No Muldoon's Point for her this evening. Mitch would have likely jumped right out of his skin if she'd suggested it.

She followed him to a vacant table and he excused himself to get their sodas. While Laurie watched her date walk away she couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that she'd have a few minutes to herself to come up with some more topics of conversation. Mitch's answers had been nods, blushes and one word answers for most subjects and Laurie was very frustrated not to mention slightly bored. Thankfully the movie had been good and she hadn't had to talk for the whole two hours. It was also the first movie she'd seen in quite a while where she didn't miss a single minute while her date tried to distract her. Mitch had stared at the screen the whole time and not once had he made a move towards her; much less tried to put his arm around her or kiss her. It was looking like Mitch was a 'one and done' dating option for her. 'Keep this up Laurie and you'll end up with a reputation like Keith's' Laurie said to herself.

Mitch was still waiting in line when April walked up to Laurie. "Hey Laurie, who's the date?"

Laurie followed April's nod towards Mitch and sighing, said, "His name is Mitch. He's new at school this year."

"He's kinda cute." April said and then just stood there kind of awkwardly.

"Yeah, he is." Laurie agreed but couldn't help but mentally note that cute wasn't everything. She noticed April's unease and asked, "Is there something special you wanted to say to me?"

"Well…." April shifted her weight back and forth between her feet obviously nervous about something. "It's really none of my business. I mean after I broke up with him and all."

"I assume we're talking about Keith." Laurie tried to help April along, but really had no idea what this could be about. She glanced around and noticed that most everyone at the taco stand was watching their conversation. There was definitely something going on.

"It is. It's just that, well, I'm sure he'd be really mad at me if he knew I was talking to you about this…." April continued to prevaricate.

"You may as well finish. I've noticed that people have been looking at me a little strangely ever since I got here. I assume that what you want to tell me is the reason." Laurie thought back to her and Mitch's arrival and realized that whispers and looks had been following her since the beginning. She hadn't consciously noticed at first because she'd been focused on Mitch, but now it was painfully obvious that she was the center of attention.

"Alright, but please don't tell Keith that I'm the one who told you. Alright?" April sat down next to Laurie but facing the opposite direction. She only continued after Laurie nodded her assent.

"Well, earlier tonight, some of the kids were ribbing Keith about the rumor that started going around school yesterday afternoon."

"What rumor would that be?" Laurie asked. It was true that eventually she would hear all of the rumors about her and Keith, but many times it took several days before her friends would let her in on the secret. They said it was to protect her because most of them weren't true.

"The one about Keith and the older woman." April bit her lip and continued. "I know that most of the rumors about you and Keith aren't true, so I just wrote this one off as Keith trying to make me jealous. But…."

"April, why would Keith try to make you jealous?" Laurie asked confused with April reasoning.

"Wishful thinking, I suppose." April admitted. "Anyway, I found out tonight that the rumor is not just a rumor. It's a fact."

"And….?" Laurie wasn't quite sure what to make of this just yet.

"Well, a couple of hours ago, Keith was here with Gordy. They weren't doing anything special and there were no girls in sight for either of them. I thought maybe Keith was stag for the night. You know, pining away for me. Boy was I wrong." April continued at Laurie's nod of encouragement. "Anyway, it looked like Keith and Gordy were going to leave when some of the kids stopped them to tease Keith about this supposed older woman. Keith hadn't even had time to answer any of the questions when this car pulls up and this really pretty girl, or should I say woman, gets out. She's wearing this really fantastic outfit that makes her look like a million bucks. She walks up to Keith, asks if he's ready to go back to her place and then plants this perfectly obscene kiss on him."

Laurie's eyebrows rose, but she didn't say anything. She knew her reaction would be fodder for the rumor mill so she wanted to process what she'd heard before blurting anything out.

"How did Keith respond?" Laurie finally asked.

"He just finished the kiss, grabbed her hand and got in the car with her." April relayed the end of the story.

"Well, thanks for letting me know, but I'm well aware of Keith's new girlfriend." Laurie hoped her nonchalant answer would stop the worst of the rumors. "Hey, Mitch." Laurie continued as Mitch finally returned with their sodas.

April exchanged a casual hello with Mitch and then just before walking away said, "Sorry for interrupting your date."

"No problem, April. See you around." Laurie kept it casual while all the time wondering what Keith was up to. If he was really spending time with an older woman at her apartment, there was no telling how much trouble he could get into. She'd have to think about her options. Should she tell Mom? Should she talk to Keith himself before doing anything else? Would Keith even talk to her if she brought it up? Laurie's mind was flying through the possible scenarios and she forgot all about coming up with additional topics to talk about with Mitch.

"Ummm…..Laurie, are you mad at me?" Mitch said after five minutes of silence.

"Hmmmm?" Laurie pulled her mind back to the present with difficulty.

"Well, you haven't said anything for the last five minutes. I thought maybe you were mad at me." Mitch offered.

"Not at all, but I am kind of tired. Would you mind if we just headed home? We've got another long day of practicing tomorrow and I could really use the sleep." Laurie didn't want to make Mitch feel bad, but with this added distraction she wasn't exactly going to be the best date anymore tonight.

"Sure, no problem." Mitch agreed and stood up waiting for Laurie to follow suit. Laurie noticed that he was too shy to even offer his hand to her in assistance.

xoxo

"You did not just call me a porn star, did you?" Lyla said as she smacked his right arm as hard as she could, tears springing to her eyes both from the hurt of his words and the sting in her hand.

"Look, I'm sorry. It didn't come out the way I meant it to." Keith apologized as he rubbed the red spot on his bicep.

"Well, just how did you mean it to come out?" Lyla was not mollified by the qualified apology.

"I meant to say that I have to be careful when I'm in public. I can't just kiss people in front of other people. My life is very complicated Lyla. I thought after everything that happened in Miami you'd understand that." Keith tried to explain while he headed in the direction of the apartment. He was afraid that the scene of such happiness last night was going to be the site of a major fight this evening.

"Oh, you can't kiss me, your girlfriend, your lover, in public, but you can let that blond bimbo drape herself all over you and do nothing about it." Lyla was trying to understand, but was having no success getting past the picture of that pretty blond girl plastered all over Keith when she'd driven up.

"Lyla, girls have a tendency to throw themselves at me quite often. It's one of the perks and one of the bad things about being….well, me. Remember how we met? I seem to recall you plastering yourself all over me too?" Keith tried to joke lamely.

"That was an accident and you know it." Lyla quickly reminded him. "And, besides that, you really enjoyed our little encounter if my memory serves. Are you saying that you were enjoying the bimbo?"

"No, that's not what I meant. In fact, I didn't even really realize that she was there. I was so engrossed in trying to figure out how to respond to the conversation that we were having that I wasn't even really aware of her." Keith admitted. If he had realized the effect of his honest comments, he wouldn't have said them.

"You have a very pretty girl offering herself to you and you don't even realize she's there? Now I suppose your going to tell me that you weren't really 'aware' of me last night when we were in bed together!" Tears were falling from Lyla's eyes as she said those last words.

"Lyla, please. Let's wait to continue this conversation at the apartment. Apparently I haven't been choosing my words very wisely." Keith pleaded. He was definitely going to have to pay much closer attention to the conversation and driving was a distraction he couldn't afford. The rest of the drive was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Lyla who was doing her best not to cry.

Keith was never so happy to see the parking lot of the apartment complex. He opened the door, got out and then waited a full minute before Lyla decided to join him. She ignored his hand and turning away, walked to the door. She was still too angry and hurt to touch him.

Keith followed wordlessly and set the car keys on the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living area.

"Alright, please explain yourself. With the right words this time." Lyla finished sarcastically.

"Lyla, I really thought that you'd be able to understand what life is like for me. Ever since the group became a success, I've had girls and women throwing themselves at me pretty much constantly. And, for the most part, I ignore them." Keith started.

"Oh really! Like you ignored me on the plane? That grin you gave me was definitely not 'ignoring me'!" Lyla pointed out.

"Ok, I don't ignore them all." Keith admitted. "But, when I'm with someone I am a one- woman man. Look, flirting is part of my job."

"Oh that's rich. How many of your previous girlfriends have fallen for that line of b.s. before?" Lyla looked at Keith with amazement.

"Oh for crying out loud! Lyla, what do you think sells our records? I'm not foolish enough to believe that our sound has the only thing to do with it. It helps that Mom is beautiful, Laurie is exceptionally pretty and I'm not the ugliest guy in the world." Keith said getting more exasperated by the minute. "Fans like our look as much as they like our music."

"Ok, I'll concede that your looks are probably the biggest reason for your family's popularity with the females. But does that mean you have to let them drape themselves all over you?" Lyla went back to her original protest.

"Lyla, like I tried to tell you before, I wasn't even really aware that she was there. I was concentrating on something completely different. That's how little it mattered to me." Keith pointed out. "Girls are always doing things to get my attention. Some are more subtle than others, but for the most part they all want the same thing from me. They want me to notice them."

"So you're telling me that you didn't even notice that girl." Lyla was starting to see Keith's reasoning though she still didn't like it.

"Not really. Sheila is harmless, for the most part." Keith smiled in memory.

"Sheila, huh? I thought you didn't even notice her?" Lyla was back to being angry.

Keith fought the urge to roll his eyes or scream his frustration to the heavens. They had come full circle again. "I don't know how else to explain it."

"Try." Lyla said.

This point/counter point debate went on for quite a while. Each time Keith thought he had found the right words to explain things to Lyla, he'd either say something dumb trying to lighten the mood or she would take what he said all wrong. Either way, she'd either end up screaming at him or she'd end up in tears. Keith had never been so frustrated in his life. He was running out of words to describe the reality of his life and was quickly running out of the desire to even try.

After another attack of tears from Lyla, Keith tried one last time. "Look Lyla, I care about you. That's the difference between you and Sheila. Sheila means nothing to me while you do. You mean a lot to me."

"Are you saying you love me?" Lyla looked at Keith hopefully.

As Keith stood their slightly stunned by Lyla's question, she continued quickly, "Because I love you. In fact, I've know since the first time we touched. I felt this amazing sense of warmth traveling straight to my heart and I just knew. It was the same for you wasn't it?"

Keith thought that warm feeling had more to do with sexual desire than love, but wasn't sure how to tell her that without setting her off again. So he tried something a little different. "Lyla, I've never been in love so I'm not sure I'd recognize the feeling, but we haven't known each other all that long. I always thought love was a feeling that grew with time."

"Really, Keith, haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?" Lyla was smiling dreamily as if she had forgotten all about their earlier argument. Keith was once again surprised by her change in demeanor. How could someone change from one emotion to another so quickly? It made his head spin.

"Oh, I've heard of it, but I'm not sure I believe it. I've always assumed that guys who throw the 'love' word around early in a relationship were just trying to get a girl to sleep with them." Keith realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth.

"So the fact that I didn't make you say the words before I slept with you makes me seem pretty easy, doesn't it? Just how many women have you slept with?" Lyla's look was once again angry. "Come to think of it, you seemed pretty experienced last night."

"A lot less than you are assuming at this point." Keith assured her. "I'm a fast learner."

"I'll just bet you are. Now that you brought it up, I really am curious as to how fast of a learner you really are." Lyla looked at him skeptically.

"Stop right there. I am NOT going to discuss my past relationships with you." Keith turned his back on her.

"So, you're saying that once we're married I'll still have to wonder how many other women might pop up and try coming between us." Lyla threw out a comment in her anger that she would normally have guarded with her very soul. Though she had been planning on 'happily ever after' since first meeting Keith she knew he wasn't ready to hear her master plan.

"Once we're what?" Keith's mouth dropped open in total shock as he spun back around to face her. They'd been on exactly six dates since they'd met less than a month ago.

"Married. Is that some kind of foreign concept to you?" Lyla sneered.

"No, it's not a foreign concept." Keith answered once he'd recovered enough to form words. "But seriously, Lyla, I'm seventeen. Marriage is not even on the radar screen yet."

"What if I'm pregnant?" Lyla said a little desperately. She realized her mistake as soon as she'd blurted the words. She'd planned on trapping him, just not yet.

"That's not possible." Keith said.

"Not possible? I beg to differ. What we did last night is the only way to conceive that I know of." Lyla snidely pointed out.

"We used protection. Plus you told me you were on the pill." Keith reminded her.

"Well I'm not." Lyla said triumphantly.

"You lied to me?" Keith turned away from her again as his anger began to build. Up to now he had been trying his best to patch things up. He was quickly realizing that this was a relationship that he was going to need to end quickly, not try to continue. Oh, how could he have been such a fool?

"You wanted it as much as I did." Lyla pointed out finally realizing that Keith was getting angry.

"You got me there." Keith admitted turning back around. "But it was pretty obvious that I had no intention of getting you pregnant. Not only did I ask you if you were on the pill, but I still used a condom."

Reuben had pulled Keith aside shortly after the first album came out and Reuben had had to run interference with some persistent young girls who had followed him home. He'd handed Keith a paper bag and said, 'just in case'. When Keith had looked inside the bag he'd found a box of condoms. Keith had been very surprised and Reuben had continued with 'you may not think you need them right now, but as you get more and more famous, there will be more and more girls. Eventually you're going to meet one who's, you know, willing. And, if I never give you another piece of advice as a friend and a manager, I'm telling you to use one of those Every…Single…Time'. Keith was never so happy for Reuben's advice. He'd been pretty embarrassed at the time, but now he was thanking his lucky stars that Reuben had foreseen the future.

"Yeah, well, condoms are notorious for not working. Just ask my best friend, Sue. She's only 20 and been married for two years. She and her husband used protection too." Lyla said a little smugly.

"It's a little early to be talking about this anyway. We only slept with each other last night. There's no way you can know if you're pregnant or not yet." Keith pointed out.

"True, but I just know I am." Lyla smiled secretively. "You'll see. And then you'll have to marry me."

"Lyla, I'm leaving right now." Keith said as he started walking toward the door.

"Oh no you don't. You are not walking out on me Keith Partridge. Get back here!" Lyla screamed.

"There is nothing left to talk about." Keith continued to the door.

"No, you can't leave me!" Lyla had changed tactics very quickly and was now pleading and crying. "Please don't leave me. We could be so happy together. Just you and me. We could lock ourselves away together and never get out of bed. Oh please, Keith, we're so good together."

Keith could see that she was not going to see reason. Not tonight, maybe never.

"Lyla, calm down. In two seconds I'm walking out this door. If you need to get in touch with me, call Reuben Kincaid. I will not be taking your calls anymore." Keith finally had his hand on the doorknob; freedom just on the other side of the door.

"You son of a bitch!" Lyla screamed her emotions going back to angry at his latest words. "Get out! I never want to see your face again."

"I'd say it's been nice to know you, but I haven't lied to you to this point so why start now." He knew that last comment would really make her mad so he made sure he was ready to close the door before he finished. He'd been right. Shortly after the door was closed, he heard glass breaking against it.

xoxo

Laurie's date ended earlier than normal, but not soon enough for her. She hadn't been having a very good time before the taco stand and had even been more distracted since her conversation with April. As Mitch walked her to the door, she noticed that the lights were still on. That meant Mom was still up and Laurie still hadn't decided if she wanted to talk to Keith before her Mom. She'd have to make that decision before she walked in the door.

Once on the doorstep, Laurie turned back around to Mitch. She had planned to say a quick 'goodnight', but was surprised by how close Mitch was. And, before she could get anything out, he was leaning in for a kiss. Laurie was pleasantly surprised by how nice a kiss it was. Who would have thought that a guy too shy to even hold her hand at any point during their date could kiss so well.

"Goodnight, Laurie. I'll give you a call." Mitch said as he walked away.

"Goodnight." Laurie murmured too softly for Mitch to hear and simply leaned against the door as she watched him get into his car and drive away. He had never looked at her again once he'd kissed her. What a strange night it had been.

After she could no longer see his taillights, she opened the door to find her Mom sitting on the couch reading a book. Everyone else was already in bed.

"Hi, how was your date?" Shirley asked as she saw the distracted look on her daughters face. "It's awfully early isn't it? I wasn't expecting you for another hour?" Shirley continued when her first question had not garnered an answer.

"Strange. Very strange." Laurie finally answered her mother's question.

"Strange! What do you mean by strange?" Shirley asked a little concerned. She'd never heard a date explained as 'strange'.

Laurie walked over and sat next to her Mother on the couch. They'd always been close and this was one date she wouldn't mind sharing ALL of the details on. She proceeded to explain Mitch's odd shy behavior all night and finished with the surprise kiss at the door.

"It's always the quiet ones. Isn't it?" Shirley answered with a smile.

"I guess so." Laurie laughed and hugged her mother. "I was so sure that I wasn't going to accept another date with him, but now I'm just not sure."

"Hmmm….I'm not so sure either. He may be one of those 'snake in the grass' kind of guys. Be very careful young lady." Shirley teased.

"I doubt it, but thanks for the advice anyway." This would have been a perfect opportunity to talk to her Mom about Keith's situation, but she had just decided to talk to Keith first. "Well, I guess I'll head up to bed."

"I'll head up with you. Your brother won't be home for another couple of hours if I guess right." Shirley said as she placed the bookmark in her book and got up to follow her daughter locking the door and turning off the lights as she went.

"Knowing Keith, you're right." Laurie and her Mom proceeded up the stairs arm in arm.

xoxo

Reuben jerked upright and pushed his night mask up onto his forehead as he finally registered that it was his phone that had woken him from a deep sleep. He reached over, turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the phone. "Danny, this better be a national crisis!" Reuben said angrily into the phone.

"Reuben, it's me Keith." Reuben was still not fully awake, but he could hear a tinge of nervousness in Keith's voice.

"Keith? What are you doing calling me at…." Reuben reached over and grabbed his alarm clock to look at the face more closely, "12:10 in the morning."

"I need a ride." Keith said plainly.

"What? Where are you?" Reuben's voice was rising.

"I'm in Ukiah at the all night café on Main Street." Keith answered.

"What in the world are you doing there?" Reuben asked.

"Can we just stop with the 20 questions until you pick me up? I'll tell you everything on the ride back." Keith assured him.

"Alright, give me half an hour. I've gotta put some clothes on and I'll be right there." Reuben didn't need to keep asking questions to know that whatever the story, it had to be good….or bad depending on your perspective. Keith had never called him before to be picked up in another town. In fact, if he was a betting man, and he was, he would have bet it was just Danny making up another crisis where none existed. Unfortunately for all of Keith's calmness on the other end of the line, Reuben was quite certain this situation had much more potential for problems than any time that Danny had called him.

Twenty-nine minutes after hanging up the phone, Reuben pulled into the almost empty parking lot of Mo's Café in Ukiah. He'd broken several speed limits, but hadn't wanted Keith stranded in the middle of the night for longer than necessary. He walked into the café to see a bored middle aged waitress reading a magazine sitting behind the counter. After nodding at her when she looked up, his gaze proceeded to sweep the room. In the far corner he finally spotted Keith sitting at the table with his head in his hands. A coffee cup sat in front of him and Keith was staring into it like he was expecting his future to be told in the ground left on the bottom.

"Hey, kid." Reuben said as he walked up and took a seat in the booth across from him.

"Thanks for coming Reuben. I didn't know who else to call. I was sitting here for a while before I realized what time it was and I didn't want to call Mom so late." Keith said tiredly.

"So, you want to tell me what's going on?" Reuben asked his faced wreathed in concern.

"Yeah, sure. But not here, ok? Can we go back to your place?" Keith said looking around furtively half expecting Lyla to pop out and continue their fight in a more public venue.

Standing up, Reuben noticed the bill for Keith's coffee sitting on the table. "You pay the bill yet?"

"No, actually. I used the last of my money on the pay phone. Do you mind?" Keith asked.

"Not at all, kid, not at all." Keith was notorious for being broke and Reuben wasn't surprised to hear he hadn't had enough money for coffee much less a cab back to San Pueblo.

Reuben settled with the waitress, gave her a nice tip and followed Keith to his car. He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to the explanation or if he was dreading it.