Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad everybody loves David and Quinn so much.

Warning: Allusions to sexual situations, also the end of the chapter is going to allude to something really dark but I don't want to give anything specific now because I don't want to ruin it. If you are sensitive to dark things please stop reading when Quinn gets called out of the Ashley Foundation banquet.

Part 11: An Empire State of Disaster

Quinn was nervously running around her house trying to pack everything for the trip to New York. They had to be at Union Station in an hour and a half and she still wasn't sure where her Melody pumps were. She hoped the twins were packed but she doubted it. Normally, they would be coming with her but finals were coming up and the girls could not miss the next week of school. Personally, she considered it a miracle that Monique was letting David come with her for a few days.

Actually, she considered it a miracle that Monique and Trent were allowing both girls to stay at their house for the next five days. If they said no, she wasn't sure what she would have done. She barely trusted her dad to take care of himself for five days let alone the girls. (Considering Dr. Mike just gave her dad the all clear to engage in certain activities that Quinn doesn't want to think about and he now had a brand-new girlfriend, she is sure that her father wants some alone time. She doesn't ask him about Cassandra and he doesn't ask questions about David when he runs into him at breakfast now. It works well for both of them.)

Kat would be coming with her to New York to handle things otherwise she would be perfect for long-term babysitting. The girls actually listen to her. Her mom was obviously out especially considering she was going through the 12 stages of grief. She was currently stuck in the pissed off at the world stage. There is no way the twins would stay with her mother voluntarily under the best of circumstances.

Let's be honest, she doesn't trust them to stay alone especially in light of Chloe's complicated relationship with Alexis. They were on speaking terms this week but that could change quickly and most likely result in bloodshed. No, this was the best arrangement for everyone. Now if only she could find her damn shoes.

Ten minutes later and still no shoes, Trent pulled into her driveway in a vehicle that his wife refers to as the blue bomb II. "We have two freaking Lexus and yet he still won't part with that stupid van." Mo complained to her over coffee one time. She despises the thing but he doesn't like the other cars.

"Chloe, Bianca, your ride is here." She called up from the bottom of the stairs remembering all the times her dad did the same thing when her dates came. Thank God her daughters aren't into that. She doesn't think that she could take the serial dating if they were anything like her in those days. Actually, she is not sure she can deal with dating at all.

"Thank you for doing this." She said letting Trent into the house.

"No problem. It's not like we don't have the space and your children are kind of cool. They're nothing like you at that age." Trent said with a trademark shrug. If she didn't agree with him, she would be offended.

"I guess you don't have to worry about your various siblings stopping by unannounced anymore?" Quinn asked.

"Monique stopped that after my brother's last divorce. She doesn't like being cried on unless it's a student or Madison. Only Adrianne comes now and that won't be for a few more weeks."

"Is he still in law school?" Quinn asked still slightly shocked that anybody from the Lane family would do something that traditional. Well anyone other than Madison. That particular Lane wants to be a psychologist just like David.

"Yes, mom is still quite upset about it but then again she wasn't that happy about me getting a teaching certificate. I kind of expected it, especially considering how much time he spent with your mother. He was always mad about what happened to his mother, he sees getting into law as a means to change that. Sometimes you just got to let kids do their own thing." Who knew Trent was such a fountain of parenting advice. Quinn decided not to ask Trent to elaborate on what happened with his sister. It probably wasn't anything good considering Summer is still in the Alderson facility.

"Are you going to see your sister when you're in New York?" Trent asked after a few more moments of silence. Seriously, what was taking those girls so long upstairs? It wasn't like they were not experts on packing. The twins could pack their own stuff by the time they were five according to Lindsay.

"We're supposed to do a home-cooked dinner at Jane's loft tonight." Her boyfriend was forcing it because he thinks she needs to deal with her spat with her sister. Even the threat of dealing with the big sister was not enough to scare him off.

"Jane is actually going to cook?" Trent asked crooking his head. They were both familiar with James nonexistent culinary skills. However, what do you expect from someone who considers gummy bears an art supply?

"Actually, I think it's her cute next-door neighbor that is the chef and has a crush on your sister. As long as this dinner doesn't take place in front of an army of paparazzi I don't care if we are eating cold Cluster Burger." She likes it when she doesn't have to be her other self. She doesn't want this reconciliation with her sister to be front-page news even if no one else knew what was really going on (Although Britney probably would). In addition, she doesn't want the inevitable boyfriend interrogation to happen in public. That was just going to be bad, although, if her sister was focused on the new boyfriend they wouldn't have to talk about why they were not speaking to each other for three months.

Then again, she is dating a licensed therapist therefore this family dinner may just become a therapy session. Just last week there was this incident where Helen stopped by for dinner when Cassandra was there and all hell broke out. Helen wasn't doing very well with dad moving on. Thankfully, David was there to mediate when she and the girls hid out at Pizza Prince to avoid the fireworks and to prevent her from having flashbacks to senior year.

"That's good either way. I'm glad that you and Daria are speaking to each other. She can use all the family support she can get after losing the baby and everything." Quinn wasn't expecting that.

"What baby?" She asked completely lost. Trent has not confused her this much since she first met him.

"You didn't know?" Trent asked with a panic expression.

"I didn't know what?" Quinn asked realizing that she was missing something that apparently involved a baby.

"I'm just going to help the girls with their things." Okay, even she could tell that was an obvious attempt to get away from her.

"Trent what are you talking about?" Quinn said physically stopping him from going upstairs.

"If she didn't tell you she must have a reason. I can't say anything else." With that Trent was up the stairs leaving an extremely confused Quinn behind.

Now she can absolutely believe that her sister had a miscarriage and didn't tell her about it. She has a much better relationship with her sister now but it's still slightly screwed up. On the outside Daria may seem like the toughest person on the planet but underneath those horrible doc Martens she is still a sensitive soul as Jane would put it. Now she could call her sister and confront her but that would just lead to a lot of screaming and she doesn't want to do that with David in the car. He may take her cell phone from her and she needed it for the three hour train ride to New York. Instead she called Nikki because, one, she wouldn't yell at him. Second, he would actually answer her questions. Finally, he was nowhere near as defensive as her sister.

Her brother in law explained everything including the real reason why her sister backed out of coming to Lawndale last spring. Apparently, she didn't want to be around Quinn and her supposedly perfect family after losing the baby that she wasn't expecting but secretly wanted anyway.

She was angry that Daria didn't tell her because she would understand probably more than her sister would know. Two days before she found out that Jonathan was a complete asshole she missed her period. Then everything fell apart. She didn't have time to take a pregnancy test and then her monthly intrusion showed up. Her gynecologist said it was possible that she was pregnant but lost the baby due to the stress. For the sake of her sanity she decided to go with the idea that she was never pregnant in the first place. No one else but David now knew about that. She told him during her angry rant on the way to New York. Kat was currently hiding in the observation car giving the couple space to talk.

"Don't you think you're being a little unreasonable?" David said as he took a bite of the salad that they picked up at Union Station. She prefers to travel by train into New York but the food in the snack car left much to be desired.

"I have a right to be upset. Not only did she back out of her promise to help me with dad she didn't trust me enough to tell me why. It's not like I'm going to sell her out to TMZ and the like. I'm her sister." Quinn said in an angry whisper.

"Maybe she just wasn't ready for other people to know. The loss of a child even during such an early stage can be very hard for some. She just needed time to recover." David said squeezing her hand.

"I get that. I could understand if I accidentally found out from Jane but I found out from Trent. Trent!"

"The guy has been your sister's friend for almost as long as Jane has been. Also I don't know if you know this but Trent was a bit more familiar with the situation because he went through something similar with Monique a couple of years ago." Quinn knew what David was talking about thanks to Madison. Quinn made the mistake of asking the girl if she was as obsessed with getting a new sibling as Chloe and Bianca. Madison then went on to tell her all about her mom's last pregnancy and subsequent delivery of a baby that did not survive childbirth. Quinn already knew that Jane was supposed to have a new niece or nephew but she never knew the details of how it fell apart.

"Okay, I can see your point. Trent probably understood the situation better then Jane. However, I could understand as well considering what happened to me." Quinn complained.

"Does she know that?" Of course, David would have to ask her such a logical question.

"You're the only one who really knows. I just didn't see the point of telling anybody since it was probably just a pregnancy scare."

"I thought your doctor said that you were most likely pregnant and lost the baby due to stress." David said stroking her hand. She really did need his touch at that moment.

"It's just easier for me to think of it as a false alarm. It was for the best." Quinn said on the verge of tears as David wrapped his arms around her. Fortunately, Kat came in at that moment carrying something that smelled horrible. The fact that she instantly became nauseous broke her out of her depressing thoughts.

"Did you get that from the snack car? That doesn't even smell like food." Quinn said as she started to gag.

"I'm not sure this is food. It was supposed to be a cheeseburger." She said looking at the burger dubiously.

"I told you to get something at Union Station. I think I'm going to throw up." Quinn said mentally trying to remember where the closest restroom was.

"You have been using condoms right?" Kat asked taking a bite of that horrible Burger as Dave it started to choke.

"Don't even joke about that. As I told the Whites, I'm not willing to get stretch marks for anything less than an engagement ring."

"How many carrots?" David asked after his breathing return to normal.

"For you I would take something out of the gum ball machine." She whispered in his ear. He just smiled back at her.

Xxx

"I thought we were staying in a hotel?" David asked when the cab dropped them off at an apartment building on the Upper East Side.

"That was the plan but Jane won't let me." Quinn explained as she tipped the driver.

"Why should she stay in a hotel when technically she owns the place? "Jane said leading the two inside.

"This is your house? How rich are you?" David asked almost joking.

"It was Lindsey's and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it after everything happened. Jane needed a place to stay, so we came to an arrangement." Actually, the arrangement started a little bit before then but David didn't need to know that.

"Yes, so began my career as a professional house sitter." Jane said jokingly. "You're upstairs in Lindsey's old bedroom. It's still soundproof."

Really she should have known that she was being set up as soon as she heard those words. The couple walked into a dominatrix's paradise. There were chains, whips, handcuffs, and leather restraints everywhere. She's pretty sure she saw the device hanging over the bed on Tommy Lee's episode of MTV cribs.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" David asked calmly, maybe a little too calmly.

"This is Lindsey's old stuff or at least I think it is, unless Jane is keeping something from me. I was sure we got rid of all this stuff after Lindsay died." Quinn doesn't even want to think about cleaning out Lindsey's various bedrooms. She was blushing the entire time. Although, it wasn't as disturbing as finding her father's private drawer when they were cleaning out his condo.

"No I just put it all in the basement because I thought I could use it for a statue or something. I'm working on an installation called housewife S&M." Considering some of the artwork Jane does she really should not be surprised. At least twice the publisher went apoplectic when they saw Jane's original cover work. She said they were more appropriate for hustler than the cover of a novel.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Of course I'm sending you tickets for the show next month and I'm going to take you on a preview tomorrow. Just don't bring the kids or take pictures. Also don't tell your mother."

"Because you want at least one of your nieces to still respect you." Quinn quiped.

"Damn right. Besides I thought you two would need some of this stuff. I mean seriously family room couch, who knew you had it in you. Then again I have read your books and I sincerely hope that you don't sue me for re-creating the infamous table scene." She would do something like that. Actually, Jane already has.

"I won't but I can't say anything for the publisher unless you tell me exactly how you found out about what happened in the family room." Quinn demanded.

"Bianca said your father found a condom wrapper in the couch cushions."

"Fuck." Quinn wanted to crawl under furniture. No, she wanted to get out of there and into the nearest coffee shop. She needed a dose of caffeine to survive this week intact.

"That explains the 'if you get my daughter pregnant before the wedding I will kill you' talk I received from your father last week." David said calmly. Okay, now Quinn wanted the earth to collapse beneath her.

"And you haven't gone screaming into the hills yet?" Jane asked laughing.

"If the twins haven't intimidated me, I doubt her father will." David answered as he kissed her on the cheek. That was the only thing that kept her from running.

"Okay this one's definitely a keeper." Jane said. Quinn just happened to agree.

As she sat in the green room for her first public appearance of the day she couldn't help but wonder which meal yesterday was more uncomfortable. First, there was this highly uncomfortable lunch with Jane at some high-end bistro down the street. Quinn wasn't sure what was worse, Jane's sex jokes or her trying to push Quinn to do a Lawndale base version of America Splendora. Also after maybe a few too many glasses of wine, Quinn may have accidentally told Jane what Trent accidentally told her. Apparently, her sister has yet to tell her best friend about the entire thing. Jane was not happy.

Because Jane was not happy, the semi family dinner essentially imploded in grand Barksdale style, putting the explosion that occurred the last time her mother got together with her sisters to shame. (For situations like these, Jane is an honorary Morgendorffer sister.)

Before they could even get to the first course, Jane yelled at Daria for not telling her about losing the baby. Daria yelled at Quinn for telling Jane about the miscarriage. She then yelled at her husband for telling Quinn about the miscarriage. Then Quinn yelled at her sister for not telling her about the miscarriage. David tried to calm her down but somehow instead everyone found out about the pregnancy scare that occurred right when she found out about the whole Jonathan thing. Both Daria and Jane yelled at her for not telling them about that.

At this point, David tried to intervene again but Nikki quickly pulled him away already very familiar with Barksdale-Morgendorffer screaming matches. Quinn is pretty sure they escaped to the pizza bar four blocks over but she was okay with it because David brought her back a slice of real New York pizza. Unlike a normal Barksdale sisters' arguments that usually ends in alcohol and tears, Barksdale-Morgendorffer(-Lane) sister arguments end in coffee and snide comments about the cookies. Also all hugging was reserved for private, if such hugging were to occur.

She's glad that they prefer coffee to alcohol because Quinn isn't completely sure she could handle today's interview if she was hung over. She knew it wasn't going to be pretty the moment that she saw the introductory package. Even though her publicist specifically requested that no images of Jonathan be used they did anyway. Actually, they had the audacity to use stuff from the wedding. They also dedicated half the introduction piece to her divorce. She was currently trying to keep her anger and checked by imagining the way she would tell her publicist that she was never coming on the show again.

It just got worse from there. It was probably her fault for not specifying that Anna should be the one interviewing her. At least she is actually a journalist. Instead, she was stuck with the pompous Matthew. Quinn thinks of him as a slightly more talented Sandi Richardson. All the questions were either about her ex-husband, his new girlfriend, or her new boyfriend. Every time she tried to talk about the new book, they would bring the conversation back to her personal life. By the third question about Jonathan she had enough. It was time for her to utilize the Daria Bryant technique to deal with the annoying.

"If I was here to sell a biography about myself I would have no trouble talking about my personal life but I'm here to talk about a work of fiction that has nothing to do with Jonathan Star."

"The public has a right…" Matthew tried to interrupt but Quinn wouldn't let him.

"It's my turn to talk. I'm sure everybody is tired of hearing your voice. Instead of talking about my book that took a lot of energy to write, you want to talk about something that really doesn't matter anymore. No wonder the competition is starting to catch up with you. Robin is a much better person than you. I should've gone on her show. See she would ask one question about what happened and move on. You on the other hand keep asking me about something that really doesn't matter. What you couldn't come up with any better questions? My husband cheated on me. I divorced him. I'm dating someone else who is a much better person. Now can we please talk about my book?" Quinn said with a fake smile.

The weatherman had the good sense to break through and switch to the weather at that point. Anna apologized later via Twitter. She sent a private message to Quinn herself and not her public account. Quinn wasn't surprised that Anna was talented enough to figure out the truth only that she did not go public with that information.

Apparently, most of America thought that Matthew was a complete ass for the way he treated her. According to Kat she was trending. In an effort to regain good will Mr. Matthew sent her an obviously fake and very public apology that he sent to a woman from Nebraska who happened to share her pen name. The move was unable to help him. Quinn sincerely wished they would get rid of him but when the ratings continue to go south they'll probably blame Anna and she'll be the one fired.

After that disaster they went for coffee and Quinn was able to get ready for the next wave of interviews. The next two days were filled with them. Things went slightly better on The Chat because the personal questions were related to the Ashley Foundation and why she started it. She talked about Tiffany and one of Chloe's old friends in Malibu who had the same issue. She was okay with that. At least talking about Tiffany would do some good. What did airing her dirty laundry with Jonathan really accomplish?

The interview with MTV also concentrated on the Ashley Foundation and her new book. However, some questions about David came up. David and she had a really long talk about the effects of him being a celebrity boyfriend. They both agreed that it would be better if they went public instead of having the paparazzi follow them around. That way it would be less likely that someone may discover the truth before Quinn was ready to go public.

Her favorite was the Political Comedy Show. Bianca was so mad that she didn't get to come for that taping. That was like her favorite show. John gave her M&M's as he asked her questions about the political motivations behind her latest book. After the interview she was able to get an autograph for Bianca. During the limo back to Jane's house David pointed out how ironic it was that the person who asked the best questions about her book and the one most likely to read it happened to be the comedian.

Monique said the same thing when she called late at night to check on the twins. Thankfully, they have not caused any property damage or anything else. The only thing she was concerned about was Chloe and Alexis speaking to each other again.

After that taping, she finally was able to ditch Melody for the night and they went clubbing with Jane. By clubbing, she means they went to a place where she wouldn't have been caught dead in high school and David spent most of the evening hiding in a corner nursing a beer. She may or may not have recreated a certain scene in her last book involving oral sex in a club bathroom. It's amazing the fun things you can do when you're not crowded by teenagers. A night of uninterrupted grown up funtime was exactly what she needed.

The next day involved jogging around Jane's neighborhood and exclusive tour of Jane's new exhibit. Daria was there for that and made various snide comments that Quinn just cannot repeat before they headed out for breakfast. Thankfully, that went better than the dinner a few days before and her sister said various nice things about her new boyfriend. Apparently, Daria approved of her dating a guy who actually understood her literary references. Thankfully, David was not there for any of this craziness.

Her brother in law decided that breakfast would be a good time to interrogate her boyfriend. Quinn is not entirely sure where they went but at least he came back sober.

David went with her to have lunch with her favorite wedding dress designer Sierra Vera. She actually had sketches for the pirate theme wedding. Quinn didn't know whether to laugh or scream. Although looking at some of the designs Quinn wondered if Jane had a hand in the work and this was all some sort of joke.

"Him, I like." Sierra said when David went to the restroom. "This one is much more your equal."

"However, contrary to whatever my children told you, I'm not planning on getting married anytime soon." Quinn explained.

"Is this because of Jonathan?" Sierra asked. Why did she have to know so many intuitive people? "He was never right for you and he was essentially an opportunistic bastard."

"Why didn't anybody tell me that before we got married?" Quinn said as she went straight for her wine glass.

"You were to love blind to see it." Sierra said simply. "If we told you, you wouldn't have believed us. You had to see who he was for yourself."

Quinn would have liked to have argued otherwise but Quinn knew that she had a point. She was too blind at the time to see anything.

"You may be right. I was not in love with Jonathan I was in love with who I thought he was. That is why I'm not rushing into things this time. I can honestly say that I do love David. Also unlike with Jonathan, I know that David is not perfect. Sometimes, he can be a complete ass. Underneath that he does have a good heart. He actually helps with the dishes and with the girl's homework. He's not intimidated by Bianca or my father. He can even deal with my mother." Quinn then went on to explain his birthday present to her and everything else that happened that night.

"He seems like a keeper." She said after Quinn was done.

"He is, I just don't want to rush things. I mean I barely knew Jonathan for six months before we were engaged. It wasn't even a full year before we were married. That marriage lasted just months. I don't want a repeat of that." Quinn said.

"I know you don't want to hear this but Jonathan was only with you to further his career. You and I both know that's true. He didn't know you. According to Chloe David knew you when you were and I quote, 'a self-absorbed fashion obsessed teenager'. If he liked you then, then we all know he really likes you now. Jonathan Start took two years of your life don't let him take the rest of it."

The conversation ended then when David returned. Wedding talk was avoided for the majority of the night except when David jokingly suggested that they do a Starbucks theme wedding because she spent so much time there and that was where they met again. A part of Quinn wondered if he was half serious.

What happened to her dress should have been a harbinger of how bad the night was going to be. Jane's little crazy dog named Jackson Pollick managed to destroy her dress and one of Jane's paintings. It was now covered in multi colored paw prints. Thankfully, Quinn was friends with a fashion designer and could look good in anything. The cream dress was more her style than Melody's but she was just glad that she didn't have to wear one of Jane's more bohemian outfits.

She dazzled on the carpet and managed to avoid the most stupid paparazzi questions. Britney was there covering the entire thing for her blog. She was one of the few reporters allowed inside. Quinn was shocked when she hugged David. Apparently, he was responsible for Brittany actually passing high school. (The man has the patience of the saint.) Britney also confirmed her suspicions that the twins told her all about her new boyfriend. Somebody was not going to get there iPad this summer.

Brittany approved of David and promised not to publish anything about the disaster that was his almost marriage to she-who-will-not-be-named. Britney said that she owed him that much for teaching her how to study. They made plans to do lunch when Britney was in town next week.

Apparently, she was coming down to visit her brother who was a member of the Lawndale Police Department. Considering what she heard about the mouse incident she was surprised that he was not in jail himself.

The formal part of the dinner went well. It paid to have a date who was actually intelligent and who could keep up with her. David was the perfect date. He was okay with her being in the spotlight and didn't try to jump in front of her or promote his latest project. He was also quite helpful talking to some of the people at the fundraiser. Because of his work with young people, he was very familiar with the issues that the Ashley Foundation worked on. He was able to draw from his personal experiences and manage to get some of the most Scrooge like people to write big checks. Also, unlike the night before, he actually danced with her.

"I thought you didn't dance?" She said when he began to twirl her around after several long drawn out speeches that she wished she didn't have to listen to.

"Last night wasn't dancing. That was jumping around to noise that may or may not be able to be classified as music." He quipped.

"You obviously never went to a Mystik spiral concert back in the day. Compared to that anything is music." Quinn said smiling. During her last year of high school she was dragged to many concerts that she would not have went to on her own by Lindy.

"I was forced to take ballroom lessons by my sister-in-law." David said referring to the woman who left him at the altar. He only refers to the gold digger as the 'sister-in-law' and the mother of his niece and nephew. He says he tries to think of her like that so he doesn't get overcome by bitterness. All things considered, he really does love his niece and nephew.

"Her loss is my gain. It's good to have somebody for these things." Quinn said pulling closer to him. It felt wonderful being in his arms like this.

"How many charity balls do you do?" David asked with a smirk, as his hands went a little bit lower.

"A lot, that's actually one of my favorite things to do." She hated normal celebrity things but she always felt comfortable at things like the Ashley Foundation dinner.

"Of course, it would be your favorite thing. You love getting dressed up." David said with a laugh.

"No, I like getting dressed up for a good cause. Other times, it's just annoying."

"Of course," David said with half a smirk,

"This is kind of normal for me although I have cut down because I'm in Maryland right now. I'm sure I'll be attending various galas in DC next season." Kat was already getting lots of invitations now that certain people knew that Miss Powers has relocated to the Metro to work on her next book.

"So you're planning to stay in Lawndale for a while?" David seemed hopeful as he asked.

"I think I am just tired of LA and Malibu. I miss being able to walk to places. The girls fit in better here than they did there. At least they have real friends here even after the fashion club debacle." Despite everything her children seem to be a lot happier here.

"So you're not running away as soon as your father is better?" He asked.

"Well, you see there was this guy that I met. I knew him from high school but he just wasn't interested at the time because I was still a conceded little nightmare. Now that we are both adults and I finally decided to develop a personality, I think there might be something there." She said with a smirk.

"I don't think it was you developing a personality, it was more you no longer being jailbait." David said laughing. He tried to pass it off as a joke but it was probably true. Unfortunately, she didn't get to find out because the moment was interrupted by a certain uninvited guest.

"Can I cut in?" Asked the voice that Quinn would unfortunately remember anywhere, she had to literally restrain herself from saying, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Sorry Jonathan, I promised my boyfriend exclusivity tonight. I am sure that word is not even in your vocabulary." She snapped before deciding it was best to get the hell away from him. He wasn't worth her time. "I also feel like punch now." She said as an excuse to get away from him. She went straight for the bar. She would get something alcoholic but she needed sobriety right now. Whoever let Jonathan into this was so fired, (unless it was Kat, who she can forgive mostly for her awesome cookies.) Unfortunately, you know who followed behind her. Thankfully, she had David to protect her from the idiot.

"So you're the infamous Jonathan." David said saving her again. That gave her time to get far enough away so she could watch the whole thing from a safe distance.

"Melody talks about me a lot?" He asked smirking.

"Not really but her daughters did. Bianca told me about how you would never help her with homework or anything else. Bianca also said something about you attempting to send the girls off to military school. I'm sure you know what Chloe told me about." Jonathan almost looked ill by that point. "Essentially, they both think that you are an absolute prick."

"No Child likes their step father. Besides they weren't even her children." Now that just made her furious. Again, she wished she knew that before she screwed him or rather he screwed her over. That's when she decided to intervene.

"Just because I didn't give birth to Bianca and Chloe does not mean that I'm not their mother. Mothers are the ones who kiss boo-boos and scare the monsters away from under the bed. I was doing that long before Lindsay died. Now, I'm dealing with best friend betrayal and college applications. They are my children. Besides if it wasn't for your current girlfriend, the girls wouldn't be orphans." There was no way she was going to be quiet on that. Thankfully, Jonathan didn't have the balls to defend himself from that accusation.

"The girls adore David." That was a completely true statement. "They were the ones who got us together."Quinn said with a wicked grin.

"Are you going to tell the story of how you and David got back together?" Brittney said with her trademark hair twirling. Quinn now knows she does this to make people like Jonathan under estimate her. She knew that Britney was there to rescue her from Jonathan. Probably unlike anyone else there, except for maybe Jane and her sister, no one else knew how much Jonathan actually put her through. Her sister and Jane were a few feet away watching cautiously. Actually, she thinks that they are waiting for the carnage to truly begin so they could take pictures. Jane and her sister still appreciated a good train wreck and this was turning into the ultimate wreck.

"Again?" Jonathan asked very confused. "You two know each other? Why are you even here? This is close to the press." He asked Brittany when he noticed that Britney was hugging her. Jonathan didn't like Brittany at all mostly because she turned him down and tarnished his image with accurate reporting.

"We went to high school together and I was good friends with her sister. David and Quinn dated in high school but her mom was really against it because of the age difference. I'm sure you remember how Helen is." Jonathan winced at her words.

"It wasn't about the age difference, it was because she interrupted a certain incident in the dining room. Hello Jonathan. I would say it was nice to see you again but I don't believe in lying." Daria said with her trademark tone as she interrupted. Jonathan received a glare that could cut a normal person to shreds.

"Is that what inspired page 172 or page 224? I'm thinking about painting that scene from my next installation." Jane asked joining the conversation. Quinn decided it would be best to play along.

"My prude of an editor made me take out what really happened. It was fun at the time though." That was kind of true. The original version was toned down. Also, certain things that happened on the limo ride their will be utilized in the next book. It turns out reality is much more fun than anything she could've wrote in her books.

"What are they talking about?" Jonathan asked in total confusion.

"He doesn't know?" Britney asked innocently still twirling her hair. "I thought everybody knew that Tutor for the Heart was about David. I knew and I was barely friends with you back then." Later she is going to have to figure out how Britney really knew that but she is sure that Bianca was the responsible party. It didn't matter because Jonathan seemed absolutely shocked. Quinn wished she had a camera but she wasn't allowed to bring her cell phone with her, besides a bag would completely ruin the ensemble. Thankfully, Jane took care of it for her.

"I was hoping I would get to meet you. I personally want to thank you for screwing up. If you didn't sleep with that very young costar in your wife's bed, we would have never had a second chance. Thank you for being a moron."Jonathan was seething at David's words. If it wasn't for the intervention of a wait staff member who pulled Quinn and David out for a phone call, she was sure that Jonathan was actually going to hit him.

"I'm sorry about that. I have no idea how we got here. Even taking Jonathan's money for a good cause is not worth dealing with his presence." Quinn apologized to her boyfriend as they followed the waiter.

"I can have security remove him?" The waiter suggested.

"That's not necessary. You did enough with the fake phone call."

Actually, you really do have a phone call at the front desk. Your daughter Bianca said it was urgent."

"I hope nobody got arrested." She said out loud as various worst case scenarios ran through her head.

"Just leave the idiot alone for now. We'll be leaving in a few minutes anyway." She said not wanting Jonathan to go to the press and claim that she kicked him out of the event. She just needed to be the bigger person.

"Don't you have to make another spectacular speech?" David asked.

"No and besides, it wouldn't matter if I did, my kids always come first." She said starting to get worried.

"If more parents were like you I probably would have less work. David said as his cell phone when off.

"Why did you get to keep your phone?" Quinn asked in annoyance.

"Because Meredith the event planner was afraid that yours would go off again during your speech if you were allowed to bring it with you."

"It happened one time during an interview and they never let you forget it." Quinn said as she grabbed the white courtesy phone as David answered his.

"Please just tell me that nobody was arrested?" Quinn said immediately as Bianca picked up.

"No, Chloe just locked herself in Mr. Lane's bathroom and she won't stop crying. It has been 40 minutes already." She was worried. Mostly because Bianca thought the situation was severe enough that She looked up the phone number for the hotel and had her literally pulled out of the banquet.

"What happened?"

"Ashley called about 45 minutes ago in hysterical tears. At the same time, Dr. Lane got a phone call from my boss." That worried her but when she was standing at a semipublic phone she didn't have time for all the details, especially considering her boyfriend is now about as pale as her dress.

"Bianca, I would love to hear all the details of what happened as soon as I get my cell phone out of lock up from the overbearing party planner. Just give me the basics right now."

"Alexis tried to kill herself because her mom is a bitch and Chloe blames herself. Now she won't leave the bathroom." Okay now she realizes why David was so quiet. He must be getting the same phone call.

"Fuck!" Because really, there is nothing else that can be said at a time like this.

To be continued

If it makes you feel better about the cliffhanger the draft of the next chapter is done and going through proofreading.