The Coin's Other Side
Disclaimer: Do I own iCarly? No, no I do not. Will I attempt to own it? No, no I will not. Will I write a fan-fiction on it? Yes, yes I will.
A/N:
Chapter 29 (The Protective Cousin)
The next day, Freddie anxiously waited outside the door for the TSA support group, he'd never been to a 'help' meeting like this before. If Valerie suggested it, then he would have to at least give it a chance. His worries spanned to greater concerns outside of how large or small the group would be, or how old everyone in the group might be. He didn't want to be the only teenager in a group of old men and women, nor did he want to be a teenager in a group of small kids.
"Here goes nothing…" Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed the door open. When he entered, he was surprised with how bright the place was, mostly due to the numerous windows along the milky walls. The chocolate brown carpeting matched the tanned chairs scattered about the large room. There were eight people walking around the room, all glancing occasionally at him and greeting him with a friendly smile. They were around his age, seventeen to college. He waved nervously, "Hi."
"You must be the new guy." A boy with curly hair and dark skin moved in front of him and stretched out his hand. Freddie returned the friendly gesture and shook his hand. "I'm Owen. John said you'd be joining." Valerie's uncle Johnny Guglielmo, he always thought it was strange that Vincent's brother had a different name when the two had the same set of parents. He never bothered to question it, though. He liked the name, considering it was Italian, but it was Italian for Williams, so it worked. "Valerie's friend, right?"
"Yeah, I'm Freddie." Quite clearly this sector was headed by Johnny. In the corner of his eye he saw a tall man in a brown suit and khaki pants talking with a girl who looked to be around Vanessa's age. The girl had long brown hair sweeping just below her shoulders and a sharp glare. She had a toned body much like Vanessa's, which came to lead him into the suspicion that the two were likely related. He looked back to Owen and motioned to the two. "That's him, right?"
"Yeah. John and his daughter, Courtney." Owen turned and called them over. He watched Courtney's burning glare descend upon him, much like that of Vanessa's. Not surprising, after hearing that this was her cousin.
"Freddie hello!" Johnny enthused on his way over. Courtney's arms folded across her chest and her eyebrow raised as she studied him. He was uncomfortable with her glare, but if the Williams family told them about him, he wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to string him up just like them. "We've heard so much about you. I'm John, this is my beautiful daughter, Courtney." One corner of her lips tucked up and she extended her hand.
"Pleased to meet you."
"Same," Freddie responded with a firm handshake. "I'm surprised I never met you guys before…Valerie's told me a little about you, not much though."
"Not surprising." Courtney circled him like a lioness eyeing her prey. He could feel the sweat pulling from his hair. "Five or so years ago, we were not in Seattle at the time. Family business, you know."
"Right…so you guys are a part of TSA?"
"Actually," Johnny cleared his throat and pushed his hands into his pockets, "My wife and youngest daughter both have Tourettes. I got involved with the TSA to learn a bit more, eventually became a counselor for it. That is my profession after all, I'm a guidance counselor."
"Cool!" Freddie moved his eyes over to Courtney, still glaring at him. With how she was glaring, he was almost certain they were a part of the mafia. "Er, you don't like me much, do you?"
"Just sizing up the target," she huffed at him. His eyebrows slid upwards and her head tilted towards the right. "Being the oldest, I have to look after my cousins. You hurt Valerie, so I'm sizing you up should you mess with her again. You think Vanessa's scary? You haven't seen anything yet." Johnny chuckled and put his hand to her shoulder.
"All right Courtney, no need to scare him. I do believe Valerie asked you to be nice." Freddie rubbed the back of his head, twitching slightly. He couldn't run, as nervous as he was, because this was Valerie's family. "Now, have you seen your sister?" Courtney glanced about the room and sighed, Freddie followed her gaze to see a ten year old girl standing shyly in the corner of the room.
"Marcie, come over here please!" Marcie was blinking repeatedly and shaking her head as her wide eyes glanced at the teenagers. Courtney smiled at her and walked over, kneeling beside her and gazing into her eyes. "Marcie, what are you scared of?"
Freddie looked up to Johnny, he was watching his daughters with a genuine look of concern in his eyes. "I've recently moved up to counsel the older teens with Tourettes, Marcie refused to stay in the children's group. With as shy as she is, she absolutely refuses to talk to any of the people here."
He frowned and glanced back at the young girl. "Any of them ever try to talk to her?" The man shook his head and Courtney slumped back over, stating Marcie was once more set on remaining in the corner. He had to wonder how to get her out of that corner, nobody tried to talk to her, so nobody tried to push her out of that comfort zone. Clearly they could find common ground with the girl. She likely was just learning about her Tourettes, as he was when he was that age, so she may be frightened and feeling out of place. "Let me try to talk to her…"
Courtney narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Excuse me?"
"Well think about it, she's not had anyone here try to talk to her, so how's she to know if anyone's friendly?" He moved over to the child and knelt beside her. She moved her eyes up to his, after a few seconds of silence, she turned towards him. Her face clenched and relaxed. She'd learn to control the twitching soon enough. "Hey there Marcie, I'm Freddie. You know your cousin, Valerie?" Marcie slowly nodded her head. He flattened his hand against his chest, still gazing into her eyes. "I'm her friend, a friend of the family. I also have Tourettes…"
"You don't look like it," Marcie muttered. "You're not flinching."
"Oh, well you see, Tourettes is something you can control as you get older. It's nothing to be afraid of…" Marcie's almond shaped eyes sparkled with cheer and her lips curved upwards. "I know how you feel. It started to appear when I was your age, it was so new to me that I felt like everyone was going to turn me away. Sure, even now I think some of my closest friends might mock me, but…they wouldn't, I know them enough to know that."
"It's scary, I don't know how to control it! They didn't talk about it in the children's group, they just talked about having it."
"Yeah, I understand that." All the shit people gave towards children with Tourettes was like children with any other disorder, pity and sympathy. Let the world know, everyone donate to a pointless cause that won't actually help the children in any way! "I think you may be in a good one here, though."
"You think so?"
"Sure. As for controlling the tics, just take a deep breath, relax, and focus on something other than the urge to twitch." Marcie lifted her eyebrows and slowly closed her eyes. "Tourettes is affected by stress. The more stressed and tense you are, the more you're going to lose control of the twitching. So the best thing to do is learn to be calm. Your dad says you're shy, and I know how that goes, but it's no fun to stay hidden and away from the group."
"Why not?" He smirked as she opened one eye, gazing with skepticism.
"Look at it this way. You like cake?"
"Very much."
"What's going to happen if there's cake and everyone's eating, but you're too shy to go into the group and grab a bite? Instead, you stay away."
"Cake goes away…no more cake?" Marcie's other eye opened and gloom overtook her expression.
"Exactly."
"Bu-But I want cake."
"So join the group today." She narrowed her eyes and pointed a chubby finger at him.
"Will there be cake?"
He laughed heartily and looked over to Johnny and Courtney. Courtney lowered her arms and gazed with wide eyes and parted lips, Johnny simply had his eyebrows raised and was rubbing his chin. "I think we can talk to your dad and sister about providing cake later." He returned his gaze towards the girl and wagged his eyebrows. "But you have to be a part of the group."
"Okay!" She wasn't shy, just frightened of all the changes going on in her life, she just needed someone who could understand what she was going through. Freddie pushed himself up and motioned for her to follow him over to her father. She grabbed his wrist, taking him by surprise, and ran for her dad and sister, dragging him behind. Courtney was speechless and Johnny looked ready to laugh. "Daddy! Sis! I'm going to be part of the group today!" Johnny reached down and lifted his daughter up, hugging her close.
"I'm glad to hear that!" He glanced over to Freddie, "Thank you Freddie." Freddie blushed and locked his right heel over his left, nervously rubbing his neck.
"It was nothing, sir…she just need someone who understood what she was going through." He felt Courtney's green-eyed glare upon him once again. This woman was not kidding when she said she was scarier than Vanessa! "Uh, I kind of promised her I'd talk to you about getting her some cake later."
"Oh you did?" Marcie put her hands to her father's shoulders and laughed.
"Cake, Daddy! I want cake!"
"Okay sweetie, I'll get some cake for you tonight at dinner."
Her arms shot up into the air as she let out a triumphant cry. "Yes!" Courtney smiled and closed her eyes, chuckling at the sight.
"Impressive, Freddie." He glanced over at her, resisting the urge to twitch. "I have to hand it to you, you're not so bad. If you can get my sister to trust you. But…" Her eyelids rose halfway and her finger poked out at him. A lump began forming in his throat and his hands slid into his pockets as his eyes remained glued to hers. "Just because you won over my little sister doesn't mean that I won't be watching you. You might even get all my cousins to trust you again, but I'm still going to be watching you, making sure you don't break them apart again. Vanessa may break you in two, but should you hurt my family again, worse things than what she'll do, will happen to you. I may sound like a coldhearted bitch, but given the crap that's been happening to my family over the past few years, I have every right to be that way towards you and your little iCarly friends."
He winced inwardly and closed his eyes, imagining himself alone in a dark alley with her pointing a Tommy gun at him. This was not someone he wanted to be caught in an alley with. "Yeah…you're right…" She raised an eyebrow and he slowly breathed out. "I did hurt them, and I deserve everything I get in return for it. I'm trying to earn their respect again, and I know it's going to take a lot of work. You're right to watch me, it's your family, and I don't think you're acting like a 'bitch' at all. I think you're right to be protective…"
"Right." She crossed her arms and tapped her finger on the inside of her elbow. He swallowed the lump in his throat and listened to his heart pounding painfully in his chest.
"I won't hurt them again. I'm not perfect, I might screw up, but I will not leave them behind the way I did. They're in my life for a reason, and I intend to keep them there."
"Benson. Those are the nicest people you're ever going to meet. They're kind, forgiving, trusting, and once you've earned their trust it's yours to keep. You break them, it's harder to regain that trust, but once you do, it's yours forever. That's especially how it is with Valerie…but god help your soul if you break them a second time. You do that, you lose them again, you will never get them back. I don't want to see them hurt, but I will take a certain amount of glee in tearing you apart if that happens again."
"I understand. Also, I know where I stand when I say I won't hurt them again…" He breathed in and tried to calm his frayed nerves. "You said you're the oldest?"
"I'm Twenty-Two. I'm the one that inspired Vanessa to go into martial arts, let's put it that way. Also, good that you know this, that means you don't have to worry about me coming after you."
"Great." Johnny cleared his throat and motioned to the circle of chairs in the room.
"Okay you two, we need to get started. Speaking of Vanessa, we will be heading to her dojo soon, I'd rather not be late." Freddie nodded and watched the man carry his daughter over to the chairs. Courtney studied him one final time, then brushed past him. Still heavily frightened by her, he shook off the emotional remnants of their conversation and followed her to the chairs.
Granted, she had every right to act and talk the way she did. He knew there was nothing to worry about, but damn this woman knew how to put the fear of god into someone.
So what did you think of Courtney? She's a marine XD..
