Chapter 25

Busted

A/N: So I got mostly positive reviews from the Heather/Gwen subplot, which is good, as they are actually one of my favourite if not my favourite non-canon couple from the show.

I just have to say that this chapter will be shorter than the previous chapters, and relatively boring until the end, because it takes place over the summer, which usually isn't nearly as entertaining as during the actual school year. Don't worry, I'll try and make Chapter 26 extra dramatic to make up for the substance lacking in this one.

Time: 29 June 2007

"So… this is it. At this house anyways." Rudy said.

"Yeah; so many memories here… I'm gonna miss being neighbours with Heather."

"It must've been pretty cool to have your best friend live right next door," Rudy said.

Well, I'd say we're a lot more than best friends at this point, but that's not important at the moment, Gwen thought. She then said, "We'll still hang out a lot, both in and outside of school, but… it just won't be quite the same. On the other hand, it will be pretty awesome to have a parent who's… y'know… a human being."

"Hey, my dad is… yeah, I guess you're right Gwen."

Todd and Ace were given custody of both Gwen and Rudy, as Todd was the closest living relative to Gwen he didn't want to split the kids up, so he agreed to take Rudy as well. Joe had pleaded guilty to tax fraud and was still awaiting his prison sentence, but everyone knew it would be a long, long time before he was getting out. Todd was also given the house until Gwen was 18, but Todd put it on the market and was trying to sell it.

Todd rolled up in his big truck at around noon that morning, ready to pick Gwen and Rudy up and take them to their new home. Rudy didn't see the point in bringing any of his friends to say goodbye to them, as they would still be going to school together, and they would still hang out after school, so he didn't really see the problem. Gwen, on the other hand, did bring Heather here to wait with them until they got picked up, partly because it was somewhat of a symbolic thing, and partly because she really just would miss her FWB.

"Y'know, life just won't be quite the same without you next door," Heather said.

"You think it's bad for you? I'm the one who's moving!" Gwen said, "But hey, at least I don't have to live with Fatass Joe anymore."

"That's good."

The two girls embraced in a hug, and then Gwen discreetly squeezed Heather's ass. Heather jumped a little bit, which Gwen found kinda appealing. Heather then whispered in Gwen's ear:

"Y'know what would be really cool? If we could just do it right now."

"That would be so hot." Gwen whispered back, "It sucks that there are people watching."

The two girls ended the hug, and Gwen brought her suitcases to the car, and threw them in the trunk, and Rudy followed suit. Todd turned around and said, "Hey Heather, if you want to live with us, you can too."

"Do we have room for another person?" Ace asked.

"Yeah Ace, we do." Todd said.

"Quick Heather, go inside and pack your shit," Gwen said, "This is gonna be awesome!"

Heather; however, didn't go and pack her things, instead she looked down for a few seconds and then said, "I'd love to come, but… I don't think I can just ditch my family like that. I'm sorry Gwen, I really am."

"But your dad's a dick, and your brother isn't much better," Gwen said.

"Yeah, but they're still my family, and I still love them, even if I don't like them all the time."

"Well… OK, I guess I understand." Gwen said, visibly upset.

"If you ever change your mind, all you have to do is call," Todd said, "Until then, take care."

Gwen and Rudy got in the back of Todd's truck, and he drove away, taking them on the relatively short drive which felt, to Gwen and Rudy, like it took hours. Gwen had been to her dad's house before, Rudy never had, so Rudy was surprised to see that the house was actually significantly larger than their old one.

"Where did you get all the money to buy a house like this?" Rudy asked.

"Let's just say both Todd and I have done some things we're not proud of," Ace said.

"Like… what?" Rudy asked.

"You'll understand when you're older kid," Todd said.

"Were you selling drugs?"

Todd and Ace said nothing for a while. Finally, Todd said, "Well… that's part of it."

Rudy realized he wasn't going to get any answers out of them, so he dropped the subject.

Rudy got to pick from a few rooms upstairs. There were a lot of spare bedrooms in the house (2 on the top floor, 2 in the basement,) because when Todd and Ace first bought the house, there were several more people staying there who they eventually bought out. Anyways, Rudy chose the room with no decorations on it, so he could design it to his own liking, (or try, at least.)

Gwen, on the other hand, was given the option of taking one of the rooms in the basement, which she accepted. Both of the rooms had strange designs on the walls, and other things in the room that Gwen didn't really want there, so she chose the larger room, (although it wasn't much larger.) Apparently, the last person who lived here was really into psychadelia, as there were lots of colourful patterns and designs all over the walls and in posters.

"I know you probably don't want your room looking like this," Ace said, "So I'll help you re-decorate it if you want."

"Yeah, thanks, that'd be awesome." Gwen said, "And holy fuck you guys are loaded."

"We aren't quite as successful as it might seem, we aren't the Cunningham's or anything like that, but we do think we've done fairly well; I mean, drug dealing is a lucrative business after all."

"So why don't you think your friend wanted to stay with us?" Ace asked, "I mean, she clearly wanted to."

"I don't really get it either," Gwen said, "She's never said anything nice about her family, and to be honest, she's right, her dad is a giant douchebag."

"Well… maybe you should talk to her about it." Ace said, "Because I'd really like to find out."

Meanwhile upstairs, Todd was having a chat with Rudy.

"Listen Rudy," He said, "You probably could've figured out at this point that I'm not really a parent, and I don't like parenting."

"Um… yeah, I think anyone with half a fucking brain could figure that shit out," Rudy said, and Todd rolled his eyes.

"Just try not to be a little shit, okay? That's really all I'm asking here, man, try to make me have to parent you as little as possible."

"Alright, I'll try," Rudy said, "But no promises."

Todd scowled and left his room.

Time: 30 June 2007

Heather was over at Todd and Ace's house; well, I guess that it was now Gwen's house too; and both Gwen and Ace were eager to find out why exactly Heather didn't want to stay at the Morrow's place.

"Why the hell would you rather stay at your house than live here?" Ace asked, "Are you being bribed to stay or something?"

Heather laughed, "No, I already said, I just didn't want to ditch my family."

"But that's what we don't understand," Gwen said, "You've always said that you hated your family… it just doesn't really make sense."

"Remember last year, when you decided to live with Joe because you didn't want to abandon Rudy?" Heather said.

"Yeah."

"Well it's the same thing here. Yeah, I've had problems with my family but running away from your problems can't always be your answer. I can't just ditch my brother, and my dad… well, he can be an asshole sometimes, or most of the time, but he's still my dad, y'know."

"Well, as Todd said yesterday, if you ever do change your mind, all you have to do is call," Ace said.

"Thanks, but… I don't think that'll be necessary."

Time: 4 July 2007

Now that Gwen was living with the comparably lenient Todd and Ace as opposed to Joe, who was… Joe, she decided that she would throw a party, and what better day to throw said party than Independence Day, because nothing says patriotism like booze and sex. Both Todd and Ace were gone for the night anyways, and Rudy didn't have any plans to go anywhere that night, so Gwen asked him to just chill in his room, which was fine for him 'cuz he had a TV and an X-Box in there.

Anyways, Gwen actually didn't invite that many people at first, but it appeared as if word spread around, and quite a few people ended up showing up. With that being said, it was still significantly less than the number of people who were at Cody's jam, which was over 100 (not 9000,) but there were still about 30 or 40, plus most of them were in Gwen's grade and were some kind of friend/acquaintance. Lindsay and Heather were the first people to show up.

"I think this is the first time any of the three of us have had a party," Heather said.

"Well, first time throwing a legit party," Lindsay said, "I mean, when we were little kids and stuff…"

"You know what I meant, Lindsay. By the way, what the hell is Rudy gonna do?"

"Meh, he's in his room playing Call of Duty or something," Gwen said.

"Well… it's illegal fireworks day." Lindsay said.

"Illegal fireworks day?"

"Duncan and I bought a whole bunch of illegal fireworks, and were setting them off in your backyard tonight."

"Uh… I don't think that's a good idea," Gwen said.

"C'mon Gwen, don't be like that," Lindsay said, "It'll be fun."

Gwen sighed, "Fine Lindsay, you and Duncan can set up your fucking fireworks in the backyard, but I don't want to be a part of it,"

"That's cool," Lindsay said, "Oh, and… um… Geoff's in on the fireworks thing too."

"I don't really give a shit," Gwen said, "Just go set it up or whatever you need to do."

"We have to wait for Duncan to show up; he's got the fireworks at the moment."

And speak of the devil, because Duncan drove up, and parked on the side of the road. Courtney was in the passenger's seat, while Geoff and DJ were in the two back seats.

"What's good, ladies?" Duncan said, as he got out of the car.

"Nothing much," Heather said.

"You have the fireworks?" Lindsay asked.

"Yeah, they're in the trunk." Duncan said. He proceeded to go open it and pick up the box that had the fireworks in it.

Although Lindsay knew that Courtney had changed a lot in the past few months, mostly courtesy of Duncan, even Lindsay was shocked by what she saw when Courtney was getting out of Duncan's car. All previous signs of Courtney's preppiness (is that even a word?) were gone, and in its place was the outfit of something you'd expect from a girl dating Duncan Russell, which meant a girl who was clearly willing to show off her body. She was wearing thigh-high black leather boots, short jean shorts, and a black leather jacket over a white bra, and nothing else. In one hand she was holding a cigarette, in the other one a lighter, which she then used to light said smoke.

"Are those Belmont's?" Lindsay asked.

"Fuck yeah!" Courtney said, "You want one?"

Courtney handed Lindsay one of the remaining smokes in her pack, and Lindsay lit it, and began to smoke. Duncan and DJ also had cigarettes and proceeded to light theirs.

"Where's your smoke, Geoff?" Lindsay asked.

"I don't smoke cigarettes, just weed." Geoff said.

"That's the same with me and Heather," Gwen said, "It's 'cuz we're smart, and we don't want to get lung cancer when we're 28."

"It might make you die younger, but it makes your social life way more awesome while you're still alive," Lindsay said.

"Yeah… keep telling yourself that, Lindsay." Gwen said.

It wasn't long; however, before the party was full-blown. People were doing, well, all the things people usually do at high school parties. There were several people there who Gwen didn't even like very much, including Bridgette and Ashley, but she didn't want to tell them to leave, as she had other things she'd much rather be doing. Trent was there too, and the two of them awkwardly bumped into each other at one point in the night.

"Oh… hi Trent," Gwen said.

"Um, hey Gwen, what's up?"

"Nothing," Gwen said, trying desperately not to sound awkward or nervous.

"You sound kinda awkward and nervous," Trent said.

Shit, Gwen thought, "No, I'm fine… just, um… just a little drunk. So how are things with Lauren?"

"They're good. She couldn't be here today, 'cuz apparently she has strep throat or something like that, but… yeah, things are pretty good. Anyways, I heard that Duncan and Lindsay are setting up illegal fireworks in the backyard, wanna come watch?"

"No thanks, I'm good," Gwen said.

"Alright, see ya around, Gwen." Trent said, before leaving to go watch the fireworks.

While the firework display was going, Gwen and Heather were inside the house, in Gwen's room… making love.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to do it right here?" Gwen asked, "I mean what if someone sees us?"

"Is there anything you won't worry about today?" Heather asked, "If someone see us, we can just blame it on being drunk, like we did the last time we kissed at someone's party."

"Yeah, your right."

"Of course I'm right. Now, since we're both really fucking horny right now, let's fuck."

Just as Heather reached for Gwen's top to go take it off, Gwen's phone rang, and she went to pick it up, expecting Todd or Ace.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hi, it's me, Lindsay. I'd just like to let you know that I don't really care if you and Heather fuck, but I really don't fucking appreciate you two keeping secrets from me."

Gwen said nothing.

"Who's there?" Heather asked.

"It's Lindsay… she knows."

"How did you find out?" Gwen asked.

"I'm Lindsay, I'm good at figuring shit out," Lindsay said, "Anyways, we'll talk about it later, right now, I'm gonna enjoy the fireworks show."

"OK Lindsay, you have fun with that."

"Oh by the way, have you ever tried Dramamine?" Lindsay asked.

"No… why?"

"It's pretty fucking awesome, I took these pills and now I'm seeing all this crazy shit. Personally I'm still a cocaine girl myself, but it ain't half bad. Peace."

"Well, that was weird," Gwen said, "So where were we?"

"Heather took Gwen's top and bra off, and then started licking her left tit."

"Oh yeah… there." Gwen said.

When the fireworks show ended, most people went back inside, but all Lindsay could do was sit on the grass and marvel in amazement and, to a lesser extent, fright, at what these pills were doing.

"So how's the Dramamine working for you?" Lucas Choudary asked.

"Well, I can see fucking zombies," Lindsay said, "So either this is the night of the undead or it's working pretty damn good. Any particular reason why you asked me?"

"Uh… no, just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Are you sure it wasn't because you wanted to steal my cash or something, Lucas?"

Lucas laughed, "Paranoia; yup, your definitely fucked on that shit right now."

"Hey!" They heard a voice yell from the bushes.

"Lucas, why didn't you tell me you had Dramamine?" The voice, which sounded like Duncan's, yelled.

"Sorry Duncan, I'm all out," Lucas said, "And why are you hiding in the bushes?"

"Lucas, don't…" but by then it was too late, Lucas had walked over to where Duncan was, opened up the bushes and saw Courtney giving him a blowjob. Lucas started killing himself laughing.

"Wait, what the fuck is going on?" Lindsay asked.

"Courtney is giving Duncan a blowjob in the bushes." Lucas said, and Lindsay started laughing maniacally too.

"Yeah, yeah, it's hilarious," Courtney said, "Now both of you get the fuck out of the backyard."

"Alright, let's go," Lindsay said. Lucas; however, discreetly snapped a picture on his cellphone before going back inside.

Meanwhile, upstairs in his room, Rudy was playing X-Box when one of the girls from Gwen's party wandered into his room.

"Oh… hi," she said, "Who are you?"

"I'm Rudy," he said, "I'm Gwen's brother."

"Oh… my name's Ashley; I'm Gwen's friend… kind of. So… your kinda cute, how old are you?"

Um… am I about to score? Rudy thought, "Um… 10." He said.

"Oh…" Ashley said, "She pulled a pen and a little piece of paper out of her pocket, and wrote down her phone number, "When you hit puberty, call me." She said, and then she left.

Rudy put his head back on his pillow, and said, "Fuck me!"

Time: 5 July 2007

At about 3 am, when the party was long over, Todd and Ace came back. The first thing they saw was that there were a whole bunch of people lying around at various places within the house. Lucas fell asleep on the television, yes, on the television; Courtney and Duncan were passed out naked in the yard, and Tyler was asleep on the stairs. Lindsay was in the kitchen, looking for something to eat, when she turned around and saw Todd and Ace.

"Oh, hi Todd, hi Ace." Lindsay said.

"Did Gwen have a party or something?"

"No… no she…"

"Lindsay," Ace said, "Neither of us really care if Gwen had a party, all we care about is that she tell us, and that she helps clean up the next day. So I'll ask again, did Gwen have a party last night?"

"Yeah, I guess she did."

"See, I'm not angry and neither is Ace," Todd said, "Now go get some rest, Lindsay, and we'll talk to Gwen tomorrow."

Time: 6 July 2007

"So, I didn't get in any trouble for throwing that party," Gwen said, "Todd just told me that next time, if I'm going to throw a party, I should just tell him beforehand, and that I help clean up the next day."

"I don't think either of those things are unreasonable," Duncan said, "I wish my parents were that chill."

"Yeah, your dad's an asshole. I don't even know why he gave you a car in the first place."

"Oh no, he didn't give me the car, I just, ahem… 'borrowed' it for the night."

Time: 16 July 2007

It was finally the day. After over 14 years of misery, torture, and feeling like she didn't belong, Lindsay was finally leaving the Cunningham house. Her sister had left a few weeks ago, and she and her new fiancée, Sam, had moved to Chicago to start a new life. Now it was Lindsay's turn, except instead of moving to a different state, she would simply be moving to a different area in Dramatika, in fact, her old house was about a 20 minute walk from the new apartment that she, Duncan, and Wanda were staying in. But it didn't matter the distance, it was the symbolic nature of her moving out that counted, and that symbolic nature was that she was finally 'master of her own domain.'

Lindsay had packed her stuff over the previous few nights, and, at about 5 pm that evening, was waiting near her front door for Wanda and Duncan to come pick her up. She took a look around her house, the large mansion that it was, and thought, Fuck, this is gonna be the last time I'm ever living here.

"Hey," Leanne said, "You'll come back and visit from time to time, right? For Joanne, at least."

"Yeah," she said, "For Jo."

She saw Jo just as Wanda pulled up. At first both girls were trying to act tough by not crying, but they both soon broke into tears.

"If you have any problems, call me." Lindsay said.

"Same," Jo said.

Eventually they broke off the hug, Lindsay picked up her bags, walked out the door, and they went their separate ways.

"Looks like it's just you and me, mom." Jo said.

"Yeah," Leanne said, "Can't say I'm not partly to blame for it, though."

The good news about the new apartment that Duncan, Wanda, and Lindsay were staying at was that it had 3 bedrooms. The bad news was that two of them were very small and shared the same bathroom. Duncan and Lindsay were given those two bedrooms, and when they explained that that didn't make a lot of sense, as it would make more sense to have Duncan and Wanda, who were siblings, or Lindsay and Wanda, who were both girls, share, Wanda said that she was the majority payer for the house, so she would get the largest bedroom and her own bathroom, and neither Lindsay nor Duncan could really complain about it.

"Just, um… keep the door shut if you're taking a shower." Lindsay said.

"Or a shit," Duncan added.

"I can't believe we're actually going through with this. We got our own place all to ourselves." Lindsay said excitedly.

"Well you better believe it, 'cuz it's fucking happening right now. I'm so fucking glad to get away from Mike [Duncan's dad], I mean, I don't have to put up with his bullshit ever again. Hell, I could just not go to school anymore, and there isn't a damn thing he could do about it."

"Duncan…"

"Why don't I just quit? I mean, Wanda's supposed to come back for a super senior year because she failed a few courses, but she isn't, so why should I come back for my sophomore year."

"Because you have friends there." Lindsay said.

"Touché. Alright, I'll try to deal with Ryan Leaf again; I was never really seriously considering quitting I guess."

"Who knows, we might both end up quitting after all, but for now, we're gonna start Grade 10 in a few months."

Time: 3 September 2007

After those crazy first few weeks, the remainder of the summer was surprisingly uneventful for most of the kids in Dramatika. Yeah, they went to parties, yeah they (mostly) had a good time, and yeah they did some stupid shit, but no one was in any serious trouble, no one had anything seriously good or bad happen to them, and no one had anymore jams like the one Cody had, which, in hindsight, it was a miracle that he only got grounded for 1 month. Heather and Gwen were still FWBs, and still no one except for Lindsay and Leanne knew about it; and that would continue past the first day of Grade 10. However, on said day, many other things took a turn for the worse.

Starting near the end of the 2006-07 school year and continuing right through the summer, Tyler was virtually obsessed with Gwen. He would constantly ask her out, and constantly be turned down, he would try and do things for her but she would basically ignore him, he even tried raping her once, and that didn't work. So, when Gwen and Heather showed up at school the next morning, and the first person they ran into was Tyler, you could imagine that they wouldn't be very pleased about that.

"Hey Gwen," Tyler said, "How was the rest of your summer?"

"Tyler, it's been 8 days since you last saw me, nothing new has happened, I promise you," Gwen said, "Now fuck off, we have places to go."

"Can't you just stay and chat for a bit?" Tyler asked, "I promise this time I won't try to shove my hand down your jeans."

"Well isn't that so gentlemanly of you, Tyler," Gwen said sarcastically.

"C'mon babe, please, just give me a chance. I mean, you're single, I'm single, it's like fate that this would happen at the same time."

"It's not fate Tyler, there's a perfectly logical explanation; no girl wants to fuck you and I'm just not interested in having a boyfriend at the moment."

"You know what," Tyler said, "I'm sorry if I came on too strong. Here, I have an idea, at some time this week; we'll go to a movie or something. And if you don't like it, and don't like me, I promise I'll never bother you again. But all I want is a chance, is that too much to ask for?"

Gwen looked at Tyler and thought for a moment, and Heather was suddenly alarmed.

"Gwen, you can't be seriously considering doing this." She whispered in her ear, "This is the guy who tried to rape you, remember that."

"Alright, fine," Gwen said, "I'm free tonight, so…"

"7 pm?" Tyler asked.

"Deal." Gwen said.

"Awesome." Tyler said as he walked away jubilantly. Heather wasn't so happy.

"Gwen, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Heather asked.

"I can't believe you're getting pissed at me, I mean, you're still dating Cody last time I checked. Hypocrisy much?"

"I'm not mad at you for having a boyfriend, we both agreed when we first started that it would be okay if we also had boyfriends, I'm pissed at you because it's Tyler. I mean that guy may very well be the biggest piece of shit in our grade now that Gary's behind bars."

"He made a mistake," Gwen said, "But I think everyone deserves a second chance, and…"

"What's up ladies?" Lindsay asked, "How are things?"

"Not so good," Heather said, "Gwen just agreed to go on a date with Tyler Young?"

"That scumbag? Really?"

"Yes." Heather said.

"I only said that I'll try and go out with him once to see how it is?" Gwen said, "I never committed to a long term relationship or anything like that."

"It doesn't really matter what you committed to." Lindsay said.

"Thank you." Heather said, but then Lindsay kept talking.

"The way I see it, Gwen's a big girl, and she can decide who she goes out with. Heather, you don't like Tyler, which is fine, I don't like him either, but if Gwen wants to go out with him, that's her business. I know you two are FWBs right now, but you still gotta respect each other's individual decisions."

Heather sighed, and said, "Y'know what, you're right Lindsay. Gwen, I'm sorry, if you wanna go out with Tyler, then that's your decision to make, not mine."

Gwen smiled slyly, "Actually, I only said yes so that after this one night he'll leave me alone."

"Nice one." Heather said.

So while that problem was solved, a much bigger crisis would happen at lunch time, where Lindsay, Gwen, and Heather were off school property, in a secluded, unknown area, smoking weed, which was something that Gwen and Heather didn't really like to do during school hours last year, but hey, they were in Grade 10 now, things were different. Anyways, when they were finished, Lindsay started to pack up (it was her weed,) when she had an idea.

"You two go back," Lindsay said, "I'll be there in 5."

Gwen and Heather were a little bit confused, but headed back to the school, while Lindsay, in the little secluded area where she didn't think anyone would be able to find her, pulled out a bag of cocaine, put some on one of her books, and then began snorting it. As soon as she was done, and she was putting her stuff away, she felt a large hand on one of her shoulders. She turned around, saw that it was a police officer, and her face drained of any and all colour.

"I'm busted, aren't I?" Lindsay said.

"Yup, you're completely and totally fucked." The cop said with an ear-to-ear grin.

A/N: Once again, I apologize for the short length of this chapter, but I really wanted to get it over and done with before the new year, and I didn't have a ton of ideas.

So anyways, have a great 2012 everyone, and I'll see you then.