Hello readers. I hope you've had a pleasant two weeks or so since my last update. Sorry for the delay. Things happen. However, I hope to have another update after this fairly soon as they're really supposed to go together.
TenorSax93: I don't mean to tease, but the truth will come out in due time. Thank you.
Fanfic-Reader-88: That was the point. They didn't have money, but instead of simply letting them use a phone to call someone, Mrs. Lee forced them to work under threat with the cook. The fact in the story than canon that all that happened was the guy getting knocked out by Dusty was quite fortunate for the woman.
What could possibly go wrong with trying to hook up someone that looks identical to a girl that he may or may not be interested in pursuing?
Why would Dusty do that? He let her go in the first place for a reason—one his dad knows. Her hating him could further his ultimate goal, so why sabotage his plan?
You're welcome. Looking forward to any updates.
Twilight Warrior 627: Dusty's perspective is funny because it happens to be his life coincidently. To sum up Dusty, he's truly one to deploy tough love. He doesn't have any genuine dislike for Robbie.
His interactions with Sam will always be colored by the fact that they are opposite sides of the same coin. I put several Easter Egg references in that last chapter.
Challenge King: Freddie setting Jon and Shelby up was mostly for Shelby's benefit and we'll see if that has any lasting impact. We'll get to them settling as brothers, assuming no outside influence hampers that. The Jade/Ian's mother confrontation will soon come to a head and it will not be pretty. Hopefully I haven't teased too much, but in the next few chapters things should really start to settle between Dusty and Heather. Remember, it is only one of the lesser plots to the story when the others take priority.
Xemtlenc: Dusty is handling the Heather situation to the best of his ability. Just because we don't like the choices he's making doesn't mean they're not rational from his point of view. If his goal is to make Heather happy above his own, then his actions could be argued to be rational. We'll see how they play out.
Rating: T, Language
Chapter 21
Schoenberg Music Building
UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, October 21, 2013
Jade felt rejuvenated as she made her approach to her class. She got to spend Saturday with Freddie and Ian, giving her a greater sense of peace than she realized even with how rudely Ian's mother had cut them off, Cat and Sam had worked out their conflict over the jump and that turning out alright and Jon and Shelby may have hit it off after they left Nozu. Things were going good in the rock star's mind.
The musician reached the entrance of her class and stopped as she heard an upbeat song coming from the room. The voice singing was instantly recognizable, so she stepped inside and saw Jonathan at the piano. She quietly waited until he finished playing
Jade started clapping and called out, "Now that's a happy tune."
The lean teenager looked up from the instrument and greeted the young rock star with a familiar (in more than one way) smile, "Hey Jade." He glanced to the piano and softly chuckled, "Yeah, I thought I'd play something a little more upbeat today."
The dark haired teenager raised her pierced eyebrow and questioned, "So the rest of your evening with Shelby went well?"
Jonathan tentatively smiled and answered, "If you're thinking that is the reason for my upbeat feelings, I couldn't say. I will say that went fine. I took her home, but her grandmother was waiting up for her, so we parted for the evening."
Jade did something that surprised the hopeful musician; she put on what looked like a soft sympathetic pout, "Oh, that kind of sucks. Did you at least make plans for a real date before you were interrupted?"
"Other than meeting up to workout with Freddie, no and… I don't know if I want to."
The pale musician's eyes widened, stunned at that plot twist. "Why?"
"I'm not sure."
The green streaked highlighted teenager turned a curious gaze to him.
Jonathan smiled and attempted to explain his reasoning, "Don't get me wrong; Shelby is a nice and sweet girl and very, very attractive, but I just don't have my head into getting with a girl right now. It's not… not part of my plan for the moment."
Jade laughed and looked to him with a patient smile. "I didn't expect to get with anyone so soon after Beck. A piece of me thought there was a chance that after he got back from his—disastrous—trip and I had some help to shove me in that direction, but… it didn't work out that way and Freddie was there and the rest is history."
The younger Benson brother paused at hearing the brief explanation of Freddie's involvement with his happenstance presence. It got him thinking that perhaps his older brother had a hand in sabotaging the former couple's possible reconciliation and if that was the case, perhaps he wasn't as good a guy as he and others made him out to be.
Jade continued as the younger teenager was processing the question, "Just because you haven't planned anything, don't let yourself be cut off from the possibility of finding something fantastic in your life."
Jonathan nodded, unable to argue with her logic. Wasn't it the case with his father and mother after Mister Benson's first marriage? He smiled and politely answered, "You're probably right and on the positive side, she really couldn't financially take advantage of me like my father is worried about."
"There is that besides all the other qualities she has. Don't be afraid of taking a second look."
The inspiring musician thought on the advice, but didn't contemplate it too deeply as he felt the vibration in his jean pocket from his phone receiving a text message that saved him from having to give any reply. He pulled the phone out and checked to see who was messaging him. His face seemed to figuratively light up with joy at the sender and the message.
Jade teasingly asked, "Is it Shelby?"
"Ah…" He looked up from his phone and answered, "No, it's Tori."
The rock star's smile slightly waned and asked in a clearly surprised voice, "Tori?"
He answered with a light voice, "Yeah, she's just sorry she's not here to say hey before class."
Jade tightened her smile back up and remarked, "That's nice for her to text. Tell her hi for me."
"Not a problem," he answered while his thumbs flew across the screen.
A few seconds later, a ping indicated that he received a message. He turned the phone to let her see the message.
Jade quickly read it out loud, "Hi Jade, please take good notes for me happy face emoticon," then let out a deep sigh.
"I assume she's joking."
Jade answered with a half-hearted smile, "That I take good notes for her, no. That it's her way of being happy to hear from me, yes. We've… we've come a long way since we first met."
He started texting away again, causing Jade to slightly squint with a slight nod of her head and ask, "What are you telling her?"
He innocently answered while focusing on the screen, "Oh nothing. Just that you will and I have to get going before your class starts." He snorted out a laugh, "I got to go grab something to eat before my last class."
"Are you going to stop by and see Freddie? I know he's probably just getting to lunch right now. You said you were going to talk to him."
He politely smiled and answered in a tone that reflected some internal debate, "Maybe Wednesday. I need to get some things done."
Jade nodded and tightly smiled, unsure if he was just making up some excuse or not, bud decided not to push the issue. "Okay, I'll see you later."
"Later," he replied with a wave back as he headed out of the classroom, leaving Jade slightly less upbeat than when she arrived.
Kerckhoff Coffee House
Kerckhoff Hall
308 Westwood Plaza
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Freddie was relaxing back in his seat sipping on a smoothie with his laptop resting in front of him casually browsing the web with his PearChat open in case Tori had a chance to talk between shooting scenes. However, instead of the familiar brunette's name active on his list, he noticed that Amanda was online. He glanced at the time in the right hand corner of the screen and realized that she must have just gotten out of school with the time difference. He clicked on her name and patiently waited for a response.
A few seconds later, his request was accepted and Amanda brightly smiled to her older brother. "Hello."
"Hey, I noticed that you were online and thought I'd say hi and see what you were up to."
Amanda smiled in return. "Thanks. I'm not up to much. I just got out of school and cheerleading practice isn't for another half-hour."
"So you have time to talk?"
The dark redhead nodded and answered with an eager smile, not hiding the fact that she was happy he was showing interest, "Of course. I ah… I spent Saturday showing Tori all my favorite places in the city. It was actually fun playing tour guide. We even took in a Broadway show that night. I think she misses doing live performances—acting wise." She glanced off to the side for a second to recall more of the weekend. "Spent Sunday relaxing and knocking out some homework then back here, classes seemed just as boring as ever today, but no one cares as we're looking forward to the game this week. We have a perfect record so far and we're up against our biggest rivals. It's a toss-up on who'll win."
She paused for a moment then put on what best he could describe as a dreamy expression. "Everyone is counting on Dylan—our quarterback—to pull it off for us. He's a great player."
The way she finished her update with describing the quarterback in an almost dreamy way set a few warning bells of concern off for Freddie. He raised an eyebrow and cautiously inquired, "You're not dating a football player are you?"
The redhead knotted her brow and slowly answered, clearly confused with the random question, "Nooo… why?"
"Oh, just the look that appeared on your face when you were describing 'Dylan' and… I didn't have the best experiences with football players at Ridgeway; they never seemed very intelligent to me and kind of bullies. I don't like the idea that that my baby sister could be dating one."
The dark redhead raised an eyebrow, not only for the concern, but the use of calling her his baby sister. She easily answered, yet started getting a little nervous near the end, "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not dating anyone on the team. I'm ah… I kind of have a… thing with someone right now."
"A 'thing'?"
"We're not putting any labels one what we have. We're just… being at the moment."
Freddie rolled his eyes and laughed, "That's not vague at all. That whole label thing is not what defines what you have. People think they have to conform to a label when really, you're figuring out the label to describe what you have. So what can you tell me about it—if you're willing?"
"We're… we're exclusive. I'm not looking at anyone else and he definitely likes me, but he's so bashful and unsure of himself."
The college sophomore sympathetically half-smirked to the guy that reminded him of how Robbie had danced around the issue with Cat for so long. "What is he unsure about?"
"I guess he's not sure how to interact with me as a potential girlfriend. He's nervous that any little thing he does is going to offend me and drive me away."
"What would give him that idea?" He put on a full blown smirk as he asked, "Do you make him that nervous? Do you just overwhelm him that much with your beauty and qualities?"
Amanda returned the smirk with one of her own and answered, "I hate to sound vain, but that might be the case. Ben has always been socially awkward and I gu—"
Freddie interrupted a bit wide-eyed, "Wait? Ben? As in the Ben that you helped get the card back for Ben?"
The high school senior bashfully smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, one in the same."
Freddie went a little wide eyed and nodded with a mutter, "Oh…"
Amanda softly pouted and questioned, "What?"
"I'm just a little surprised, but he fits your description. He's the socially awkward one with the lack of confidence that needs Griffin to take the lead—he wouldn't have gotten the card back without his prompting. I could see him stumbling over yourself when it came to you."
In some rush sense to defend her potential boyfriend, she questioned, "You never experienced that?"
Freddie paused for a moment to think on the question then answered, "I was awkward because my mother refused to teach me how to interact with girls, because of her overriding fear that I would abandon her like my father did, but I never lacked self-confidence. Failure never deterred me and I wasn't afraid of my own shadow."
Amanda remained silent on the remark of her father abandoning Freddie's mother and instead focusing on his main point, "So you got over it when you got with Jade?"
"How things played out with Jade was unique. We started off as friends and things just developed into a relationship fairly quickly after that. Neither one of us went into it with the intention of getting into a relationship and one could argue that we were both rebounding with each other. I wasn't trying to impress her as a potential girlfriend. After that when it came to other girls I started interacting with in Jade's group of friends and others at Hollywood Arts was shaped by what happened with me leaving Seattle. I simply didn't give a care what they thought of me. I was myself and if they didn't like it, so what?"
Amanda raised a confused eyebrow and questioned, "So you're saying he'll get his confidence with me by not caring about what I think of him?"
Freddie never really thought about it that bluntly, but realized that it was a pretty accurate description. "To an extent, yes. He can't be making decisions because of what you might think of him. He needs to be making them based on whatever moral compass he has—hopefully it being a good one. If you don't like him at the end of the day for that then you don't like him and he can go find someone else that accepts him and won't be wasting either one of your time. You'll never respect him if he's always catering to your wishes. He'll be your servant, not your boyfriend."
The Benson daughter raised a challenging eyebrow and questioned, "You don't cater to Jade's wishes?"
"It's a partnership, give and take with the big things and the little things—the things that you and Ben would be most applicable. There is compromise and there is sacrifice, but at the end of the day it has to be a two way street and it's based on knowing that we love each other and truly want what's best for one another."
Amanda looked pensive, thinking on the deep and hard earned insight on relationships.
Freddie continued, "You have to make a decision what this 'thing' is. This is your senior year, so are you're going to separate by mid-next year when you graduate and going to have to make some decisions if you want to keep him in your life. Will you decide to be a couple? Will you go to the same college? If not, will you do the long distance thing? Are both of you going to college in the first place?"
His questions brought Amanda out of her contemplation. "I haven't thought that ahead." She cracked a smile and teased, "Unless he moves in with me? That would answer a lot of those questions."
Freddie slightly tilted his head and half-joked, "I don't think our father would appreciate such a thing."
"It happened with you. You moved in with Jade your senior year and still live together," Amanda pointed out in a semi-serious manner.
"My situation was unique. I was still a minor and needed a place to stay while basically getting away from Hell and an abusive friendship where no one gave a damn about me that it was happening. I'm a guy and she's a girl, so no one cared that she repeatedly assaulted me and I'm not allowed to defend myself. Society doesn't grant me self-defense against a girl trying to assault me—though now I wouldn't let myself be prevented to do such a thing if a girl wanted a fight—so I had to leave and Mrs. West took me in."
The dark redhead deeply frowned. She had heard all about the fallout from him leaving Seattle that involved Sam's treatment of him, but it quickly became personal after finding out the blonde had dished it out on her brother. She hadn't had the chance of confronting Sam over the matter.
She would fight that battle another time and continued with the topic at hand—the real topic, her love life. She embarrassingly smiled and admitted, "He's not exactly who I pictured that I would like."
Freddie chuckled, bringing a slight brush to the tanned girl's cheeks.
"What?"
"I know the feeling, but you can't let your expectations prevent you from missing out on something that's potentially great. I fell in love when I was eleven and it really took off when I was thirteen. When I pictured love and who I would be with, it certainly wasn't with someone like Jade. If anyone I knew fit that 'ideal' I had when I was younger, it would be Tori."
"Really? You don't fit with Jade, but you and Tori?"
Freddie sighed then calmly explained, "When I first met Jade—the second time being the important meeting—I saw her as the abrasive girl that made people tremble at school. She was the typical mean girl in a different fashion than Sam and had what would be considered odd and morbid interests and frankly the complete opposite of what I was attracted to, which would have been someone like Tori. However, we found out of the course of the first few weeks and months of our relationship, that we fit in our own unexpected way and quite happy."
Amanda remained quiet, allowing herself to let his words sink in for further contemplation. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."
The former tech-producer prompted, "Is there anything else going on?"
Amanda thought for several moments before answering, "I'm looking forward to Halloween. We're going to have a Halloween dance at school."
"Have you picked out a costume yet?"
"Not yet. I'm debating on a few choices. I was thinking about risking going as Princess Ablingada… to match up with Ben of course since we'll probably go together."
"Oh? You're doing it for him… or just using him as the excuse not to draw unwanted ridicule from others."
Amanda frowned at being called out.
Freddie gently and sympathetically continued, "Amanda, you need to realize that high school popularity is meaningless and has no bearing on your life after you leave high school. Outside your immediate group of friends, most, if not all of those people at best don't care about you or worst, don't like you and hope to see you fail, so why should you care about their opinions?"
"Speaking from personal experience?"
"Yes. Ridgeway was horrible and though I liked Hollywood Arts a lot, the only thing I concerned myself with about their opinions was whether they were smart enough not to sabotage me or generally mess with my life. Fortunately, none were foolish enough to try. I'm sure with being one of the most popular people at your school, you have to watch your back on the people that would love to put a knife in it to have your spot."
Amanda thought for several seconds, letting his words sink in. She admitted, "I want to fit in though. I don't want to be a target—a target without power."
"You're only that if you let them have the power and right now, you're giving it to them because you're afraid of being called 'Mandy the Mutant' and hide your interests. You'll probably never see half of them again—or even that—after you graduate and they aren't doing anything for your life. They'll become no different than the people you pass on the street and never see again."
The Benson sister remained silent again to think on his words. She would have to take more time to reflect on them, but she was grateful that she could have this conversation with him.
The cheerleader put back on a pleasant smile and asked, "Do you have plans for Halloween?"
"They're still fluid at the moment. We just know we're going to do something. There are plenty of Hollywood parties we could go to, but then again we could decide to do our own private thing. I know that Jade wants to spend at least some of it with Ian, so that would go into our plans. I wouldn't be surprised if the evening turned into us just going Trick-or-Treating with him and end up spending the rest of the night watching kids Halloween movies and eating candy."
"Is that how you want to spend your Halloween? Playing babysitter?"
Freddie slightly tilted his head to the side.
"I mean, I've seen the pictures of you out with Jade and her stepbrother. It's almost as if you've become his parents in some of them."
"Ian is very important to Jade. She's going to always make sure that he knows that she loves him."
"Yeah, but what about you?"
Freddie flashed a perplexed expression and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Some say you've kind of took on a father role with him—some fans have thought he was your child. Jonathan told me that you two brought him with you to Sam's jump and after dinner. Did you want to sign up for practically fatherhood right now?"
Freddie rolled his eyes and chuckled, "I think that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but if the appearance happens sometimes then it happens. I'm the one that initially encouraged her to have that sibling relationship. She wasn't happy with her father starting a new life with a whole new family. She saw Ian as the child he chose over her. I reminded her at the time that a four year old had nothing to do with his choices and she shouldn't be hostile towards him as a way of expressing her dislike for her father. She took my advice and she found that slipping into the big sis role was surprisingly easy for her and emotionally rewarding."
He took a quick sip of his smoothie then continued, "I personally like Ian. He's going to be my baby brother after Jade and I get married. If their relationship sometimes steps on our plans, well that's just how things play out."
"That's… that's, I'm not sure how to describe that. I'm not sure many guys would be that accommodating."
Freddie grinned and there was a knowing glint in his eye as if he held a secret between them, yet she wasn't aware of it. He answered simply, "It's simple… he's family."
Amanda paused, making sure she heard him correctly then broke into a soft giggle.
The older Benson shared in a soft laugh for several seconds.
The redhead calmed her laughing then answered with a let out breath, "I understand."
A few moments later, apparently something caught her eye then looked back to him. She regretfully sighed and explained, "Sorry, but I got to get going. I have to make it to practice. It was great talking to you, really Freddie. I appreciate it."
Freddie boyishly grinned and answered, "You too. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye," she bid farewell with a puckered lips as ifs he was blowing him a kiss.
"Bye," Freddie answered with a soft smile as the video chat clicked off.
Shay Apartment
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, October 21, 2013
Shay sat at the counter to his small counter with his laptop sitting in front of him. He had a browser window open and was bringing up PearChat. He skimmed through the members on the list and sent a request.
A few moments later, the request was answered and Spencer Shay appeared on the screen. He immediately shouted for joy, "Dad!"
The former flyer smiled to the happy expression of his son. "Hey Spencer, how's my boy?"
The artist burst into a grin and answered, "I'm doing great. I couldn't be happier—well I could, but… you know. Things with my girlfriend are going great and the art has picked up."
Shay sympathetically smiled to his son, who even after a year, was still adjusting not having sister with him. "I'm glad to hear. Make sure you keep her happy, but don't let her run you over."
"I'll remember that. So, how's Aunt Ruby and Jade and Freddie and Sam?"
"They're doing well. Work's fine for Ruby and Jadelyn's happy to be home. I think she's really enjoying the time off."
"When you're months away from your family and your guy, it's really good to be back. You understand that."
Shay answered bittersweetly, "Yes I do." He cleared his throat and finished up his updates, "Freddie's hard at work at school and Samantha… is Samantha. It's been a year and I still think she's trying to adjust being down here, but she's seemed to have really bounded with your cousin."
Spencer was the one this time to give his father the sympathetic smile. "The resemblance still wigs you out, doesn't it?"
"If you're suggesting that I find polite excuses not to be in the girl's presence, then yes, I take them. I do wonder at times how they would have interacted if given the chance."
The Shay son nodded then continued as to not let his father dwell on it, "How are you doing?"
"I'm… I'm good. All my girls are doing well, I have no real complaints."
Spencer studied his father for a few tics of the clock and asked, "Why do I feel that this isn't just a call to check up on me?"
"It's not."
The artist excitedly made a guess, "Have you decided on a wedding date?"
Shay lazily shrugged a shoulder and pointed out, "Technically, she hasn't said yes to me. I need to properly propose to her."
"You need to make it happen dad."
"I hear you, but that's not what I called you about."
"So what's going on?"
Shay took a deep breath then answered with a voice laced with some regret, "Some things are developing and it's got me thinking about the future, something I might do. I need your advice, maybe your approval."
"Dad, I'm fine with you marrying Ruby—Carly is too. You don't have to worry us not approving. I think you should have done it sooner. Mom wouldn't be upset. I think if anything, mom might have been upset that you two waited so long."
The former flyer had thought on more than one occasion how things could have turned out if they had gotten together far, far sooner as just a matter of convenience for them as to a stable household. Carly would have had a woman in her life that would have loved her as her own and Jade would have had someone to call father that would have been real. However, that was for another quantum reality.
"I appreciate that, I really do, but it's another decision I need to make."
"And what's that?"
"I would you feel if I ran for President in twenty sixteen?"
Spencer looked to his father for a second then burst out laughing. His laugh soon ceased when he saw the serious expression on his father's face. His mouth moved like a gulping fish for a second before he was able to ask, "You're serious?"
"Unfortunately yes."
"What made you think about that?"
"Things developing around the world and someone pointed out that it's not getting any better, especially with who is and who may be in office."
"And you're thinking it's your job to fix it?"
Shay paused, instinctively thinking on how to advocate his reason to attempt it, "At some point you're going to have children, right? Maybe not with your girlfriend—don't you dare have a bastard child—but at some point."
Spencer rolled his eyes and remarked with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, dad. I plan to have some."
"What kind of world do you want them to live in?"
The artist took a deep breath and thought on it for a moment. The happy, go lucky man-child was not as naïve as one may have expected. He did have a bachelor's degree—in political science of all things—as his grandfather had expected him to become a lawyer and understood the world better than expected. He could see the news like everyone else and was keen on international affairs since his father could wind up in them. He was around ten during the first Gulf War and in his teens when his dad had gone to Bosnia.
He finally admitted, "Not the one that we're in right now."
Shay nodded.
"You think you can make a difference?"
"I think I probably could—if I could win, which I'm told that Heaven would back me and practically make sure it would happen."
The artist's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets before asking, "Someone actually told you that?"
"Dusty's mother… she told me some other things with her last visit."
"About you maybe being president? Hasn't she told you that before?"
"Yes she did and… about your mom," he finished in a guarded tone.
Spencer's eyes opened so wide that they threatened to pop out of their sockets. "Mom?"
"Yeah. I'm told that she's quite happy in Heaven… she spends a lot of time in recreated Florence discussing art with the greats of the Renaissance, all those she read about and wish she could have spoken to. She's not eager for us to join her anytime soon for obvious reasons."
The son of an artist smiled and felt a sense of overwhelming relief as he thought on how his mother was spending eternity. It was just too profound for him to add anything, so he gathered his composure with a deep breath then asked in a goofy manner, "Have you talked to Carly?"
Shay half-heartedly smiled and answered, "Not yet. You know it's spotty getting a hold of her in Europe. If you get a hold of her first, please let her know that I need to talk to her, but don't tell her what we talked about. I think it's better for me it to come to me."
"Okay, I will. She's pretty good on getting up with me."
Shay raised a curious and almost accusing.
Spencer bashfully smiled as if he had just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. "She knows you're busy in L.A."
The former special operator maintained his frown and remarked with a dry tone, clearly disliking the idea that Carly though he was too busy for her. "Not too busy for her. You tell her that the next time you speak with her."
Spencer quickly sputtered, still intimidated by his father despite being an adult and a thousand miles away, "What does Aunt Ruby think?"
Shay let the point slide for a moment then answered, "I haven't talked to her about it. I thought I'd get your take on it first."
"Would you put off marrying her or… not marry her at all?"
"I'm not making that sacrifice. If she says no, I'm not doing it and we're getting married."
"So she gets the veto?"
The joke didn't go over the Colonel's head, but mostly let it slide with only a grin. "Yes."
"What if I said no? Or Carly says no?"
"Would you be pissed at me if I say it wouldn't be as clear cut a decision?"
The artist madly grinned and gently teased, "Are you saying you love Ruby more than us?"
Shay narrowed his gaze on his only son.
The artist raised his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I didn't mean it."
"I'm just saying that the decision wouldn't affect you as much. Yes, you and Carly would get scrutinized and perhaps… there could be some danger to you being my children and the same would be said with Ruby but… you and Carly are on your own with your own lives and it would be a partnership between me and Ruby. She'd have to give up her career and move. She'd have to completely uproot her life in being the First Lady."
Spencer acknowledged the point with a sideward nod of the head and answered, "You're right." He hesitated for several seconds then continued, "If you're going to do this… if you feel you need to… then you have my support. I'll let you know the next time Carly calls or texts or tweets."
Shay nodded his head and spoke somberly, "Thank you son."
Father and son shared meaningful grins before Shay's turned into a smirk and started, "Now tell me how serious you are about this girl…"
Punchy's Gym
Venice, CA
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Freddie stood in the middle of the mat with shin guards and punch guards up, taking punch after punch from Shelby's repeated combinations after their warm-ups for the afternoon workout. The look of intensity on her face was unmistakable, but Freddie couldn't tell if it was from her focus on working out or the events of Saturday night.
Shelby took a step back and caught her breath, resting her hands on her hips.
Freddie rested his padded arms against his thighs and idly commented, "You're putting a little more power into those punches today."
She lazily shrugged. "I just don't want to slack off. I have a match in the month."
He directed a charming smile to her and pointed out, "There is overdoing it though."
She rolled her eyes and laughed, "I know, I know, Juan says the same thing."
"He's not wrong, but… is that there all there is to it?"
The professional fighter directed a guarded gaze at Freddie, but was met with a disarming smile. "I don't think I'm going to get a second date with your brother."
"Why is that?"
She dropped her guard and lazily strolled to the bench and picked up a bottle of water. She took a quick sip of it while Freddie took off the pads.
"I have a feeling that you're right, that he likes Tori. I think my appearance threw him off."
Freddie sighed and genuinely apologized, "I told you that I could be misreading the situation about that, but… I'm sorry Shelby."
She responded with a confident smile and a shrugged shoulder. "It's alright. I thought I'd give it a shot. Thank you for letting me get the shot."
The brown eyed teenager licked his lips and asked with a clearly uncomfortable in asking the question, "Anytime, but… do you really think he could like Tori… more than in a friendly manner?"
"It might be my own ego, but since I don't think he was that into me, I think that he probably has his eyes on someone else and since I know he found me physically appealing…"
Freddie sighed in worry, "You think it is probably Tori… I'm sorry."
Shelby rested a hand on her sparring partner's shoulder and reassured him, "I'm touched that you feel bad that I got shot down, but it's alright."
"It's not that—well it's that, but…"
Shelby raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"It's not my place to talk about."
She studied him for a few seconds then instinctively guessed, "You think it could be going both ways? Is there something going on with Tori? Could she like him back?"
"I don't want to speculate and just start up a rumor. She's my friend and I'm not going to assume something bad about her."
"You just kind of let something slip there Freddie. Do you honestly think there is a chance that Tori could like him back?"
"In the way that you may be thinking… I hope not."
The fighter formed a trouble look on her face and commented, "I'd hate to think that Tori would cheat on Beck."
"I don't want to think about that and I'm not going to assume that would happen. It'll be fine though. She's in New York and Beck will be there by the beginning of next week. He might be leaving at the end of this week."
"Doesn't your family live in New York?"
Freddie raised an eyebrow and answered, "My father and Amanda lives in New York. Why?"
"Has Tori met up with her to hang out or anything?"
"Well, Tori let her ride with her to New York and they hung out last Friday. Filming ran so late that instead of going out, they had a sleepover. I talked to Amanda yesterday and they're supposed to go out again either tomorrow or Thursday."
Shelby raised an eyebrow and stifled a laugh, "So she's already met his parents and becoming best buds with his sister?"
Freddie pursed his lips and gave her a slightly perplexed gaze before answering, "I could point out that Tori and I are best friends. That doesn't mean anything."
"But you're the rejected child of that family."
Freddie raised an eyebrow and for a moment, Shelby thought that she had insulted him, but was surprised with a lazily remarked, "You're right about that."
The fighter directed a confused look to him and asked, "You're that blasé about it?"
"I dealt with whatever issues I had with my father a long time ago. He doesn't hold some significance to me. If there are any lingering feelings, it's how he treated my mother and if he starts publicly accusing her of adultery then… I'll get upset how you believe I should and it won't be pretty."
Shelby patted his forearm and remarked, "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."
"I know you didn't. It's what people think I should react: find my father that abandoned me and my mother then be outraged and demand answers and want payback, but… my life is good and I don't need anything from him. I don't need 'answers'."
"That's a pretty mature attitude about it."
Freddie shook his head and answered in a tired voice, "No it's not. It's not forgiveness as I've given others from all the chizz in Seattle, I just don't care."
The training partners fell into an awkward silence as Shelby wasn't sure how to respond to such a statement. Fortunately, it didn't last long as Freddie patted her on the knee and stated, "Come on. You have training to do."
They got back up and Freddie slipped the arm pads back onto his arms. They took opposite stances to one another.
The fighter narrowed her gaze and focused on her plan of attack. She threw two left jabs then a right cross, Freddie easily blocking with the pads. She threw a few more combinations, putting enough power into them to injury anyone if they connected and trying to slip past his defenses without concern about injuring him. It was one of the advantages of sparring with the former Seattleite.
After failing to slip through his defenses, she grabbed his shoulders and drove her right knee into Freddie's side. She was able to hit him just under his diaphragm, driving a little wind out of him, but she stepped back and turned away. She rested her hands on her hips and started walking around with a slight limp of her right leg.
Freddie took a few breaths to catch them as he dropped the guards. He licked his lips and asked while seeing her pace about, "You okay?"
The brunette glanced over her shoulder and threw a half-smile before softly laughing, "Could you put on the padding back on? I don't think my knees can take hitting you."
Freddie tried not to laugh while he answered, "Sure, not a problem." He was about to do such a thing, but as he walked to the bench, he noticed that Jonathan in a light T-shirt and gym shorts approach the final counter before the main workout area. He immediately struck up a conversation with one the employees.
Freddie gave a gentle brush over Shelby's arm to catch her attention and direct it towards his brother. Shelby turned a brief glanced to her sparring partner's younger brother.
"Do you want talk to him?"
Shelby easily answered, "It's fine. I'm not going to renege on the invite. It's not like I'm some delicate flower that is going to wilt because a guy didn't return my advances… it's actually kind of refreshing that a guy didn't fall over themselves to try to impress me."
Freddie raised an eyebrow.
The lovely fighter bashfully smiled and reassured him with a pat of his muscular bicep, "Present company excluded of course. I was flattered in hindsight."
He half smirked and returned jokingly, "Thank you and I never suggested that you were. I think that championship title would say otherwise."
Freddie called out and waved him over, "It's alright. He's with us."
The gym worker glanced over to the fighter and regular patron. He certainly wasn't going to argue with the CFC champion about a guest.
Jonathan walked over and bashfully greeted the fighter and his brother, "Hey."
Freddie warmly greeted his brother, "Hi, glad you could join us."
Shelby turned on a welcoming and alluring smile and followed up, "I'm glad you could make it too, especially after our abrupt ending of the night."
The younger Benson just smiled then glanced around and casually remarked, "So this is the place."
The professional fighter gently laughed, all too similar to Tori's laugh to Jonathan's ears, "Yeah, it's a great place to train and hang out."
Jonathan took a quick glance back over Shelby, noticing the bit of perspiration on her forehead and on her neck that he hadn't originally noticed. He cleared his throat and asked, "So you've already started or are you just warming up?"
Shelby thumbed to Freddie and answered, "I've been sparring with Freddie. He's a great partner."
Jonathan glanced to his brother and spoke his first thought, "You're not wearing any protective gear."
Freddie chuckled, "Don't need it."
The younger Benson pointed out, "A Shelby's a professional fighter; she could easily accidentally hurt you while working out."
The long haired brunette and older Benson brother shared glances before Freddie answered, "That's actually up for debate."
Jonathan put on a perplexed expression, curious about such an idea.
Shelby picked up, "You mentioned that you spared with your father, so are you up for a little sparring?"
"I was going to join the workout, but I'm up for it, but I'm not going to spar with you."
The brunette fighter raised an eyebrow and mockingly questioned with a seductive smile, "Because I'm a girl? Afraid you'll hurt me?"
Jonathan wondered for a split second if she was testing him, something that he wouldn't put past any girl when they were sizing up a man, but figured the truth was the best option. He uneasily answered, "The thought did cross my mind."
She playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You're lucky I'm not one of those that would get offended. I wouldn't step into the octagon with a man."
Freddie playfully picked, "Or a female fighter that used to be a man?"
The CFC fighter shook her head and laughed it off, "No I wouldn't. I don't care what the doctors say to be PC. They have the same muscle and bone structure as a guy. That's nowhere near a fair fight in weight and I wouldn't accept such a challenge."
Shelby handed Jonathan a pair of fingerless padded gloves and explained, "But I'm sure that you'll get a good fight out of Freddie."
"We usually use boxing gloves."
The attractive teenager just smiled. "It's actually safer."
Jonathan answered, "I know, less likely to hit the temple for an aneurism."
Shelby turned on a bright smile and glanced over to Freddie and commented, "You got a smart brother."
The college freshman tightened his smile at the comment and let it pass before followed them to the pair's claimed bench. He dropped the duffle bag he was carrying in front of the bench along with the gloves Shelby just handed him. He took a few minutes to stretch and loosen up before he slipped on the gloves and let them lead him to one of the punching bags.
Freddie took a position behind the punching bag to steady it for the leaner Benson. Jonathan shook his hands out then took his first tentative punches at the bag, finding a rhythm he hadn't used for nearly two months.
Jonathan smiled at the familiar sensation and peace that hitting the punching bag brought him. He didn't realize how much he missed it and what a calming affect it had on him. He let his mind slipped to being back in New York and picked up the pace and put some power into the bag, forcing Freddie to brace himself a little more to hold the bag.
He glanced to Freddie and was startled for a moment at that near, but not quite expected face on the other side of the bag, loosing his rhythm. His sister was right about Freddie's resemblance to their father and couldn't deny it after that surprise of seeing him instead of his father.
Shelby held a half-smile as she watched and damped a little more sweat off her neck. She watched him throw disciplined punches, indicating to her eyes that he was trained and had practice in throwing solid punches, though she was curious to his faltering for a moment.
After a few more minutes of warming up, the CFC fighter suggested more than questioned with a smirk on her lips, "You up for a little sparring?"
Freddie cocked an eyebrow and gently mocked Shelby, "You just want to see us fight, don't you?"
Shelby rested her hands on her hips and smugly smiled while answering, "People watch me fight for entertainment, so why can't I enjoy watching at least a good sparring match?"
Freddie lifted a corner of his mouth in a smirk and raised an eyebrow before responding in a softly mocking tone, "You do realize that we're not fighting over you?"
Shelby confidently raised her chin and remarked, "Shh… let me have my moment."
The handsome teenager rolled his eyes, suddenly recalling the same desire Trina wanted for a time when she wanted guys to fight over her and that ending embarrassingly for her.
Jonathan finally voiced his opinion while wiping off his own brow with a towel, "She's got a point. If we watch her for entertainment, isn't it only fair that she gets a chance to watch?"
"But people pay her for that entertainment. That's the exchange."
The inspiring musician shook his head then reached over to the bench and picked up the boxing headgear. He slipped it on then turned to Freddie. "I haven't had a good bout since I left New York, so…"
Freddie relented then put on his own fingerless gloves then walked over onto the match to give them space to practice.
Jonathan noticed that Freddie wasn't wearing one. "You're not going to wear anything?"
Freddie knowingly smiled and idly answered, "I don't need it."
Jonathan looked to Shelby, hoping to confirm that Freddie would be safe. "Are you sure? I don't want to accidentally hurt you."
"Trust me when I say this, but I've been hit harder than anything you can throw at me."
Jonathan raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious as to what he meant. Freddie didn't elaborate, so the younger Benson held up his hands and he started bouncing on his feet, remembering all the lessons his father taught him.
Freddie shuffled on his feet and raised his arms up.
Shelby announced to the brothers, "Gentlemen, whenever you're ready."
The younger Benson threw a few quick jabs to get a feel for Freddie's defenses, but the older Benson easily deflected them away with open palms. Jonathan bounced on his feet to his left then quickly moved right to see if he could get an opening. He threw out a right hook and connected harder than he intended against Freddie's cheek as he felt it in his hand even through the glove.
His eyes nearly bulged out of his eyes and hastily began to apologize as he dropped his guard. "Freddie, I'm—"
Freddie's head jerked to the side but he straightened his posture and looked back at the younger teenager as if it was nothing.
Jonathan took a step back and looked on in awe. He knew he connected with the more muscular one of them and had hit him hard enough to put any other guy down, but Freddie stood there as if it was nothing. He thought he could take a hit, but…
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. That was a good hook."
Jonathan cleared his throat and answered, "Thanks."
Freddie threw two jabs then followed up with a cross.
Jonathan was able to deflect the jabs, but Freddie's cross demolished his raised hand and the fist clipped the edge of his cheek passed the padding. He slightly stumbled from the momentum shift more than any discomfort or pain from the strike with the padded helmet. He quickly shook it off and counterpunched, but it was deflected away. The miss didn't bother him as he was going for and connected with a strike to the left kidney.
Freddie practically ignored the strike then hit him with a left cross, causing the younger teenager to teeter backwards, but maintain his footing.
As Shelby watched, she quickly assessed the differences in the brothers. Jonathan was quicker on his feet and just a little faster on his punches and used the proper technique. Freddie on the other hand was more stable on his feet and more power to his punches and powered through Jonathan's guard.
At this time, the other gym patrons had stopped their respective workouts to watch the match, including a fellow CFC fighter, a tall muscular man with a simple, almost childlike personality, and walked up next to Shelby. He leaned over and whispered, "Who's Freddie fighting?"
Shelby looked up and over her shoulder to see Goomer's rapt attention at the brother's sparring. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should reveal that Freddie had a brother due in large part of Jonathan's continuing denial. "Ah… he's a classmate at Freddie's university."
They watched for several seconds as the brother's weaved and exchanged light punches, neither seemingly being affected by the strikes.
"Oh… he's pretty good."
"Yes he is."
Jonathan threw a left as a distraction then put more power into his right jab, wondering what kind of hit the older teenager could take.
Freddie stumbled backwards from the fist colliding with his face, but quickly gained his footing with his right foot. He came back at his younger brother with a quick combination, one which Jonathan was either able to dodge, parry or outright block.
The quicker participant counterpunched with a right cross, but Freddie opened up his left hand and swatted away the punch with his palm then drove hard with a jab. Jonathan's head snapped back with the padding giving him little protection, but fortunately he seemed to have the same ability to take a punch as Freddie. The ability, however, didn't equate to not feeling pain and that punch was certainly felt by the New Yorker.
Jonathan shook his head and sidestepped Freddie to circle around him, but the older teenager kept his guard up and eyes locked with his younger brother.
"Sorry, a little harder than I intended. I was in the moment."
Jonathan fainted to his left then went to his right to find an opening. "It's okay. I know the feeling." He bounced to his left as he finished, "Sometimes Dad and me get a little enthusiastic. Competition is a Benson thing."
Freddie wondered about the truthfulness of the statement as Jonathan fainted right then tried for a left hook. He was able to raise his guard, but the younger brother drove hard with a right jab to the face. The punch connected with his nose, but Freddie ignored the minor pain and shoved hard forward with a quick combination towards Jonathan's head.
The inspiring musician was able to barely block them, but was caught by a surprise shift from Freddie to the punch to the right side. The former tech-producer finished with an uppercut, jerking Jonathan's head up and teeth rattling to knock him off his feet and landed hard on his back. He took a few breaths, shaking his head.
Freddie offered his hand and Jonathan took it to stand up. The older teenager patted him on the back and stated, "That was fun."
Jonathan pulled the padding off around his head then cupped his jaw and moved it back and forth to check to see if he broke anything. Satisfied that he was fine, he mumbled, "Yeah, 'fun'."
Shelby wrapped an arm around Jonathan's shoulders and teased, "You're not gong to be sour that you lost?"
The younger Benson turned on a confident smile and answered, "Absolutely not. Freddie's the one that gave up by offering a hand to pick me up. I didn't throw in the towel."
Freddie raised an eyebrow, quite surprised at that interpretation of the end of their fight.
Shelby laughed and pulled Jonathan closer to her, pressing her soft curves against his side. "I love that attitude."
The brothers took a seat on the bench with Shelby sitting on Jonathan's right side and privately regretting letting him go.
Freddie chuckled, "That was a good workout."
Shelby joked with a soft laugh, "I found it enjoyable watching."
The brothers turned curious stares to the lovely fighter.
The brunette smirked and licked her lips, giving a devilish look to the pair and answered, "What? I can enjoy some eye candy like anyone else."
Freddie laughed before taking a swig from his bottle of water while Jonathan looked on bashfully.
Goomer drawled and eagerly commented, "That was sparring. If that turned into a real fight, I think you could make it in the CFC."
Jonathan looked up at the tall stranger then glanced to the others for an explanation for his presence.
Shelby politely introduced the tall gentleman, "This is Goomer. He's a CFC fighter too."
Freddie added, "Dice is his manager. You remember, the young kid with curly hair that Sam jumped for?"
Jonathan's eyebrow shot up and questioned in a clearly disbelieving voice, "Oh? He's a manager too? Of a CFC fighter?"
Shelby praised the tween, "He's a very good manager." She patted Goomer's muscular arm with a smile. "Goomer's on his way to becoming his weight's champion."
Freddie joked with a good humored tone, "He's too stubborn to go down."
"Sounds more like you. Man, you really can take a punch. I know at least one of those punches should have put you down."
The older Benson lazily shrugged a shoulder. "I can take a beating. I've unfortunately been at the wrong end of a beating far too many times before I got out of Seattle to prove it."
Shelby picked at her friend, "You got hit by a truck and all it did was break a leg. I say that makes you more than just tough."
Freddie raised his pointer finger of his right hand and answered, "And a wrist. I did break the wrist."
"I think I heard about that one time."
"Yeah, I jumped in front of a truck to save Carly. It hurt like Hell, but the rehab was good."
Shelby flicked an eyebrow up and remarked in a flirtatious manner, "Oh, it definitely was."
Freddie shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Goomer awkwardly waved and spoke, "I got to get on with my workout. It was nice meeting you."
Jonathan waved a hand and returned, "Nice meeting you Mister Goomer."
The tall and slow witted fighter turned and headed for a punching bag.
Shelby noticed the clock above the entrance way then regretfully mentioned, "I have to go. I'll see you next week." She patted Freddie's shoulder and turned a smile to Jonathan before she turned to head out.
The brothers watched the fighter walk away towards the showers. Jonathan's eyes lingered a bit longer at the girl's swaying hips and slim frame. He remarked, "She's a very pretty girl."
"She's a lot more than that, but she's not one you want to try for?"
Jonathan embarrassingly smiled while glancing at the more muscular of the pair. "I'm kind of holding off on the ladies. I don't need the distraction."
Freddie raised an eyebrow.
Jonathan quickly covered, "Sorry, I didn't mean it was a distraction for you. I can tell that Jade's probably the best thing in your life."
"She is. She's my rock. She also keeps me on my toes and she reminds me of the best in life."
"That must be pretty something to have," the slightly curled hair teenager commented almost whimsically.
"Oh yes it is. It wasn't easy to get there and there were plenty of reasons why things shouldn't have turned out this way, but we were fortunate to both want the same thing."
"And what was that?"
Freddie took a deep breath then slowly let it out with a smirk, "Love, true genuine love."
Jonathan smiled, mildly taken aback at Freddie's apparent naïveté, and asked, "Are you saying all you needed was love?"
"Nooo…" Freddie shook his head and laughed, "If it was only love, plenty of relationship wouldn't fail. It's the desire to make it work and the cliché of communicating with one another. In our case, we happen to complement each other."
"Dad's just concern about a girl taking advantage of me like what happened to him…" Jonathan trailed off as he didn't want to antagonize Freddie.
Freddie calmly smiled, perhaps picking up the reference or perhaps not, and answered, "I understand that. If I wasn't with Jade, I probably wouldn't date at all in college because there are plenty of girls that are willing to take advantage of me. Dad has a good point."
Jonathan held his tongue at Freddie collectively calling Leonard Benson their father and instead remarked, "There is always Shelby for you and depending on if others were still together, you have a few options. I'm sure you probably could have worked out with them."
The computer science major grinned and acknowledged with a slight nod of his head and a look in his eyes that Jonathan just couldn't place, perhaps a deeper knowledge or secret. "You have a point. If circumstances were different, I could have easily ended up with Tori…"
The words struck Jonathan and caused his memory to flash to the conversation he had with Tori on Saturday night after dropping off Shelby that she wouldn't object to such a possibility. She had complimented Freddie and through that, had bragged on him and spoke if circumstances had been different, she saw that she could be interested in him. If only circumstances were different…
Freddie continued while Jonathan was lost in thought, "I could have ended up with Cat or perhaps even Trina… people always underestimates her because she's certainly a catch for the guy that finally mans up and tries for her. However, all that is beside the point. I just tried to hook you up with a great girl, so don't say I never did anything for you."
Jonathan licked his lips and nodded his head. "You certainly did try."
Freddie stood up and joked, "Good, but I don't know about you, but I need to head home and cook dinner for my girl. I'll see you later."
"Later." The younger teenager raised an eyebrow, contemplating what it was like to have someone to go home to, as Freddie gathered his things to head out of the gym.
Author's Note: I hoped you enjoyed some Benson family bonding. I hope to get the second chapter out fairly quickly. Thanks for reading.