AN-Hey, this oneshot is a little more on the serious side than the rest of them. But if that's not your thing, I uploaded another chapter after this one:)

Fool

"And see, now you just enter the information from your last paycheck here," Freddie said, typing in a few items onto Carly's laptop. "And viola! You're already halfway done with your taxes. It's easy."

"Well thanks for making me seem like an idiot for spending eight hours trying to figure this chiz out," Carly mumbled. "I swear, I should've never gotten this stupid idea to do my own taxes this year. I never had any problems when we just forked everything over to an accountant."

"But Carls, I've been telling you this for years," Freddie said. "You get such a sense of accomplishment from doing your own taxes. Why give some stuffy old accountant that pleasure?"

"How has Sam managed to live with you for the past twenty-five years without strangling you?" Carly asked, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Ha, ha," Freddie said dryly just as his wife entered their kitchen, talking on her Pearphone.

"Ashton, no. That's not what I said," Sam said, frustrated as she yanked open the refrigerator door and grabbed a root beer. "You're putting words in my mouth!"

"Oh jeez," Freddie sighed.

"Is everything okay?" Carly asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Freddie said, shaking his head as Sam chugged the entire root beer in five seconds flat. "But Sam only drinks that quickly when she's real upset."

"All I said was that you may be rushing things a little bit!" Sam continued. "Maybe. I didn't say your boyfriend was a total loser!"

"Ah…another boyfriend fight," Freddie mumbled.

"Oh that's right, Clarissa told me Ashton started seeing a new guy," Carly said. "What was his name…Roger?"

"Robert," Freddie corrected darkly.

"Do you not like him?" Carly asked knowingly.

"Nope," Freddie said at once.

"Yeah, well, you've never liked any guy that dates one of the twins," Carly grinned.

"This guy's on the top of my list," Freddie said. "I really don't like him."

"Ashton, you've been dating the guy for three weeks!" Sam exclaimed. "All I'm saying is you shouldn't be changing your whole life just to make him happy! I-Ugh!"

She pulled her phone away from her ear and slammed it down on the counter. "She hung up on me!"

"What's going on?" Freddie asked as Sam grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet and angrily sat down with him and Carly at the table.

"Besides from my blood pressure sky rocketing?" Sam snapped.

"Breathe, baby," Freddie said.

"Man, I haven't seen you this wound up since you thought they were getting rid of Fat Cakes," Carly commented.

"Yeah, well, Ashton's doing a good job of recreating that now isn't she?" Sam mumbled.

"Is she okay?" Freddie asked.

"I don't know, she might've hit her head and lost all her common sense," Sam said. "You know here and that stupid Robert jerk are moving in together?"

"What?" Freddie cried. "They haven't even dated for a month!"

"Uh-huh," Sam nodded. "And here's the worst part. You know how she's been doing so amazing down at college for the past two years?"

"Yeah," Carly said. "Isn't she going to graduate early next semester and start that great internship with some fashion company?"

"Not anymore!" Sam fumed. "She withdrew for the semester because Robert wants to move across the state away from the university and she's not going to miss that opportunity!"

"You're kidding," Freddie groaned, rubbing his temples. "She's leaving school? Just to live with that loser!"

"Yes! And when I told her that I thought she should think about this more, she went insane and said that I wasn't supporting her and that I just wanted to control her life!" Sam said. "I swear, this kid is being more difficult now than she ever was when she actually lived here. And the worst part is I can't force her to listen to me anymore!"

"I'm going to kill this guy," Freddie said heavily. "He's wrecking my daughter's life!"

"No chiz!" Sam agreed.

"Um, okay you both seem like you're about to hit something," Carly said, getting to her feet. "Maybe I should leave you two to discuss this."

"Yeah…thanks," Sam sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

The couple waited until Carly had left before they turned back to each other.

"What are we going to do?" Freddie asked.

"I don't know," Sam said softly. "I don't like this guy. He seems so…controlling. You know it wasn't Ashton's idea for her to withdraw from school. I don't want her hanging around him anymore, but when I even suggest that she might've made a mistake with him, Ashton winds up getting mad at me."

"Well she's twenty," Freddie mumbled. "She-She's an adult. We can't tell her what to do anymore…Even though that would make this all way easier."

The two were silent for a moment.

"We need to at least be careful and make sure we don't push Ashton away," Sam said finally.

"I know," Freddie nodded. "We need to let her know that we support her, even though we don't…agree with what she's doing right now. Listen, why don't we have the two of them over for dinner? Ashton's supposed to come back up here to grab a few boxes of her old stuff from the attic this weekend anyway, so why don't we just tell her to invite Robert so we can get to know him?"

"We've already met him," Sam pointed out. "When we went down to California to visit Ashton when they first started dating three weeks ago. Don't you remember? She was supposed to spend the day with us but then Robert told her that she needed to spend the day with him instead."

"I know," Freddie said, gritting his teeth at the memory. "But it's like you said, we don't want to push Ashton away. At least if we make an effort, she'll feel more supported."

Sam sighed as she pushed the now-empty bag of chips away. "Fine. But this is only for Ashton."

….

"Remember Sam, be nice," Freddie said as he set the dining room table. "Don't jump down her throat when they get here."

"I will be nice," Sam snapped as she finished preparing a large bowl of potatoes. "Tyler! Go put this on the table!"

"Alright, alright," the sixteen-year old said, taking the bowl from his mother. "Jeez, you're in a mood."

"Tyler, if you know what's good for you, you'll lay off," Freddie sighed as Sam turned back to the stove, where she began stirring a pot of vegetables in a rich cheese sauce; Ashton's favorite.

"When are they getting here? They said they'd be here by six," Sam said. "It's six twenty."

"I'm sure they just hit traffic," Freddie assured her. "Don't get so worked up about-"

Just then there was a knock at the door.

Freddie hurried over and opened up the front door, revealing his daughter and a tall, muscular man.

"Hi dad," Ashton smiled, stepping into the house.
"Hey sweetheart," Freddie said, giving her a hug. "I've missed you a lot."

"Me too," Ashton said.

The man behind her cleared his throat impatiently.

"Oh, um, dad," Ashton said, taking the man's hand. "You remember Robert, right? I think you met him briefly a few weeks ago when you came to visit."

"Yeah, briefly," Freddie said, plastering a fake smile on his face. "Before your parents, who drove twelve hours to see you, were left in the dust…Nice to officially meet you, Robert."

"You too, Mr. Benson," Robert said, shaking Freddie's outstretched hand.

Freddie looked back over at Ashton. He could tell that something was different about her. She didn't have her usual beaming smile and her brown eyes weren't shining like they always had.

"Right," Freddie said, quickly releasing Robert's hand. "Well, dinner's ready and your mom and brother are in the kitchen, Ashton."

"Okay," Ashton nodded, still holding Robert's hand as she led him into the kitchen.

Freddie took a deep breath as he followed the couple. He just wanted to get through this night.

"Hi, Ty," Ashton said, greeting her younger brother.

"Hey," Tyler said, giving her a quick hug. He eyed Robert uneasily, undoubtedly having heard his parents discussing him at some point, but said nothing.

Ashton looked over at Sam, who was standing by the stove still.

"Hey mom," Ashton said simply.

"Hey Ash," Sam said, though she was glaring at Robert.

"Um, thanks for having Robert and I over for dinner," Ashton said.

"Yeah, well, we've missed you," Sam said.

"You know, I was looking at the weather report for tonight and it looks like it's going to rain," Freddie said as everybody began to sit down around the table. "It might be a good idea if you two just spent the night here instead of trying to make it back all the way to California."

"I'd like that-" Ashton began, but she was cut off quickly by her boyfriend.

"That's okay," Robert said firmly. "We really only have time to stay for dinner. Then we need to go."

Ashton looked down at her lap. "Thanks though," she mumbled.

Freddie bit his tongue as Sam sat down next to him.

"So Ashton," Sam said as everybody began to help themselves. "I made those vegetables that you used to love. You know, with the special cheese sauce and everything."

"Oh," Ashton said, glancing over at Robert. "Um, actually…I-I think I'm going to pass on those."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Ashton nodded. "I've been trying to watch my figure, so I started this new diet and I've been staying away from fatty sauces."

"Ashton, what are you talking about? You don't need to watch your figure," Freddie said.

"Well, it never hurts to start a healthier diet," Robert shrugged, putting his arm around Ashton. "Right hon?"

"Right," Ashton said with what both Sam and Freddie could tell was a strained smile.

"Okay," Sam said, trying to keep herself from throwing something at Robert. "That's fine."

"Whoa, babe, slow down on those potatoes," Robert said as Ashton started to pile her plate. "You had that bagel this morning, remember?"

"Believe it or not, it's normal for people to eat more than three hundred calories a day," Tyler said coldly.

Sam hid a proud smile behind her napkin.

"I'm just trying to make sure that Ashton treats herself right," Robert said, narrowing his eyes.

"Weird…She somehow managed to do that before you came along," Tyler spat.

"Tyler, stop," Ashton whispered.

"Tyler, enough," Freddie said firmly.

Tyler started to open his mouth to argue, but thought better of it and went back to his plate.

The five finished dinner in silence. Once the table was cleared, Robert got to his feet.

"Well, this was fun, Mr. and Mrs. Benson," he said. "We'll have to do this again sometime, but we need to head back. Babe, go grab whatever junk you were supposed to get and let's go."

"Hold on," Sam said, standing up as well. "Why the rush?"

"Mom, he's right, we-we should get going," Ashton said quickly.

"You really drove all the way here to barely eat anything and then leave?" Sam said, crossing her arms.

"If you guys are planning on going all the way back to California," Freddie said as Ashton was about to speak. "You're going to need to get some gas first. Robert, why don't you go fill up the car and give Ashton a few minutes to get the stuff she came to pick up?"

"I can get gas on the way back," Robert replied.

Freddie pulled out his walled and handed a few bills to him. "Consider it my treat."

Robert reluctantly took the money. "Okay," he finally agreed. He looked over at Ashton. "I'll be back in twenty."

"Bye," Ashton said, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll miss you."

Sam waited until she heard the front door close behind him before turning to her daughter.

"Ashton-" she began.

"Mom, don't!" Ashton moaned.

"What are you doing?" Sam exclaimed. "This guy is horrible for you!"

"I happen to love him!" Ashton retorted.

"You've known him for a month!" Sam cried. "And in that month you've stopped eating, you've withdrawn from school and decided to move away from everybody!"

"You're just mad that for once you're not controlling my life!"

"Well I should be controlling it because right now you're doing a pretty good job of screwing it up!" Sam yelled.

"Sam, stop," Freddie said, stepping in between the two.

"This is why I didn't even want to come here!" Ashton frowned, close to tears. "Because all she wants to do is criticize my relationship!"

"Relationship?" Sam scoffed. "You don't have a relationship! You have-"

"She's worried about you," Freddie said to Ashton, cutting Sam off. "And so am I. Sweetheart…I-I don't know how I feel about Robert."

"What's wrong with him?" Ashton asked harshly.

"You mean besides the fact that he made you leave school and won't stop pressuring you about what you eat?" Freddie said.

"He didn't make me leave school," Ashton snapped. "I withdrew for a semester. It's not like I dropped out! I just want to see how I like living in the real world."

"Oh, so Robert had nothing to do with it?" Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Stop talking about him like that!"

"Ashton, you were so happy in college," Freddie said slowly. "You were making straight A's, you had that great internship lined up, you were going to graduate early…"

"So now you're saying I'm throwing my future away just because I want to be with a boy I love?" Ashton frowned, crossing her arms.

"I'm not saying that," Freddie said, taking a deep breath.

"I am," Sam mumbled under her breath.

"Robert loves me," Ashton said firmly. "That's why he cares about what I eat. He wants me to be healthy. Excuse me for not being like you mom and shoveling anything that's deep fried into my mouth."

"Ashton-" Freddie began.

"And you know, you didn't give Emma a hard time at all when she moved in with Quincy last year," Ashton pointed out. "And you didn't say a word when Jason and Eileen moved in together."

"Jason and Eileen are engaged," Freddie said. "And Emma and Quincy have been together since high school. Plus Quincy's a gentleman and-"

"Oh, so now my boyfriend's not a gentleman like Emma's?" Ashton snapped.

"Ashton, open your eyes, will you!" Sam exclaimed. "Robert's changed you! He's not a good guy, I can tell! He's controlling. He tells you where to go, what to eat…Ashton…" she suddenly lowered her voice. "Does he do anything else?"

Ashton narrowed her eyes. "How dare you accuse Robert of that?"

"Ashton," Freddie said, his voice suddenly shaking. "We love you. We do. Your mom and dad. We don't want you to get hurt or-"

Just then Robert walked into the kitchen.

"I filled up the car," he announced. "Now come on Ashton, let's go. We're already behind schedule."

"Yeah, let's leave," Ashton said cruelly, giving her parents one last glare. "I'll send for my things."

….

Two weeks had passed since Ashton and Robert's visit, and she still hadn't said one word to her parents. Sam and Freddie tried calling her, but were continually met with her voicemail. They asked Jason and Tyler to try calling her as well, but they got the same results. Clarissa and Quincy tried, but no matter how many times they tried, they couldn't get a hold of her. Even Emma seemed to have been cut out of Ashton's life.

"-And Quincy and I are thinking of driving down to California tomorrow and tracking her down so she'll be forced to talk to us," Emma told her father over the phone late one night. "What the heck happened with her?"

"I'm not sure," Freddie sighed.

"All I know is that if I ever get my hands on that stupid Robert freak, I'm gonna let him have it," Emma said. "I knew I didn't like him."

"None of us do, Em," Freddie said heavily. "Now it's late. I know you have early classes tomorrow so get some sleep and try not to worry about your sister."

"Yeah," Emma mumbled. "G'night."

Freddie hung up the phone and leaned back against the couch. Him and Sam had talked about possibly going down to California themselves to talk to Ashton, though he knew that if they were to do that, it would likely just result in another fight. But him and Sam were getting desperate. They wanted to at least hear from Ashton to know if she was alright. He was close to calling the cops at this point.

He looked down at his watch. It really was late. Sam was already upstairs; she had said she was going to sleep a few hours ago, but he knew she was probably laying in their bed, just as worried as he was.

Slowly, he got to his feet and started for the stairs. Just as he stepped onto the first step, though, he heard a soft knock at the door.

It's past midnight, Freddie frowned. Who would come over this late?

Freddie headed back to the front door and looked through the peephole.

"Oh man," Freddie breathed, quickly opening up. "Ash…"

He pulled his daughter into his arms at once, though not before seeing a sight that made his heart shatter. Ashton's face was bruised and her lip was swollen and she had tears streaming from her face.

"Ashton," Freddie said gently, sitting her down on the couch, still hugging her tightly. "What-What happened-Did he-"

"We got in a fight," Ashton squeaked, her voice shaking. "And-And I didn't know where else to go, so I drove here and-"

"Okay, it's okay," Freddie said, rubbing her back like he used to when she was younger.

"He wanted me to get all dressed up and go out with him to pick up his suit from the dry cleaners," Ashton said, still crying. "But it was late…and I was tired and I didn't feel well. I told him I would go with him later, but he said I had to go do it now. And then he just…lost it. All of the sudden. He started hitting me…"

Freddie felt his blood boil. How dare someone do this to his daughter? How dare someone hurt her like this.

And then he felt a surge of guilt…why hadn't he forced Ashton to stay at home that night she had come home for dinner? He should've done a better job of protecting his baby girl.

"I'm sorry," Ashton whispered, burying her head in Freddie's shoulder.

"No, sweetie, you didn't do anything," Freddie said.

"I didn't listen," Ashton mumbled. "I was stupid…I should've-"

"Hey, listen," Freddie said firmly. "You didn't do anything, Ashton. You understand me? You didn't do anything wrong. You're not stupid; you're far from stupid. Right now, you're not even going to give that-that monster another thought. We're going to get you cleaned up and then you're going to stay here as long as you need, okay?"

A fresh batch of tears began to fall from Ashton's eyes. "He has all my stuff…I shouldn't have moved in there with him…He has my credit cards and all my clothes and-"

"We'll replace them," Freddie said at once. "You're not going back there."

"Freddie? What's going on?" Sam asked, coming downstairs. "I heard-"

Ashton looked up at her mother, who was standing at the foot of the stairs and let out a soft sob.

Sam didn't say anything as she quickly rushed over to her and wrapped her arms around her.

"You were right, mom," Ashton sniffed.

"Shh," Sam said, shaking her head. "Don't."

Ashton sat with her parents until the sun began to rise. Then Sam slowly helped her to her feet and went with her upstairs to help her get cleaned up.

….

Sam and Freddie wasted no time in pressing charges against Robert. Frankly both of them, especially Sam, would've loved to take the law into their own hands and serve him their own justice, though.

Emma, Jason and Tyler were ready to kill Robert as well, though they channeled their rage into helping Ashton, especially Emma.

Sam and Freddie managed to convince Ashton to move back in with them, at least until she could get back on her feet. And even though Ashton wanted everyone to stop fussing over her and treating her as if she were fragile, she reluctantly agreed that she needed her parents right now.

"Hey," Sam said a few weeks later as her and Freddie stepped into Emma and Ashton's old bedroom, where Ashton was currently staying. "Whatcha up to?"

"Nothing," Ashton sighed, shutting her laptop. "I was just trying to find an Internship or something to start up again when I go back to school next semester."

"Any luck?" Freddie asked.

"I found a couple of places," Ashton shrugged. "None as good as the place I gave up last semester, though. I guess I really blew that…"

"Hey, you'll find something," Sam said encouragingly.

"Maybe," Ashton mumbled. "Although I haven't exactly been good at finding decent things lately."

"Sweetheart," Freddie said, putting a comforting arm around her. "You've got to stop blaming yourself for this. It wasn't your fault."

"Everybody keeps telling me that," Ashton said, shaking her head. "But I still can't help but think…I should've known Robert was no good. God, I was such a fool. He always go so angry over stupid things…I mean, I've read all about this sort of thing in my Psychology books at school. I should've-"

"Don't worry about what your should've done," Sam said firmly. "Focus on now."

"I know, I know," Ashton said. "But…why did I fall for him?"

"People like him…they draw you in," Sam said gently. "They know how to act."

"I guess I was just desperate," Ashton sighed. "I-I just wanted someone to be with. Pretty stupid."

"Everyone feels that way sometimes," Freddie said.

"No, not everyone," Ashton said miserably. "You and mom never did. You got married practically right out of high school. And Jason's getting married soon and he's only four years older than me and him and Eileen have been together since high school too. And it's only a matter of time before Emma and Quincy tie the knot. It's like I'm the only one who hasn't fallen head-over-heels in love yet. I guess…I guess that's why I let myself fall for Robert. He said he loved me and I thought I could force myself to love him. But, well, he obviously lied about that."

"But who says you have to be in love right now?" Sam pointed out. "You're twenty,"

"The same age you and daddy were when you got married," Ashton said softly.

Sam and Freddie exchanged looks.

"Ashton, I-I know it might be hard," Freddie said. "But-But you don't have to find your perfect match right away."

"But you and-"

"So be different," Freddie said. "I know you, Ashton. I know you have much bigger dreams than just getting married as soon as possible. You want to finish college and start your own fashion company. You want to go to Europe. You want to learn to Scuba Dive and take your painting further…You have so much ahead of you."

"I just don't want to be alone," Ashton whispered.

"Ashton, you're never going to be alone," Sam said. "You'll always have me and your dad. And Emma and your brothers. And Clarissa. And you're a beautiful girl. I don't think you realize that. You don't think you get guys attention? You don't have to settle for someone who's not good enough for you. You'll find someone, someone who wouldn't even dream of hurting you. But it doesn't have to be right now."

Ashton didn't reply.

Sam gave her a shoulder a small squeeze. "I'm gonna run to the store, okay? You want anything?"

"Whatever you buy is fine," Ashton said quietly. "Thanks mom."
Sam gave her warm smile before leaving the room, leaving her and Freddie.

"Hey," Freddie said, kissing the top of your head. "You're going to get through this, okay? I'm so proud of you for coming this far already."

"You make me sound like some big hero," Ashton mumbled.

"That's because you are one," Freddie said. "Sweetie…I wish more than anything I could go back and keep what happened to you from happening. You didn't deserve it; no one does. But it happened and I know you're going to get past it because you're one of the strongest women I know. I meant what I said earlier; you do have so much ahead of you. This isn't going to change that."

Ashton rested her head on her father's shoulder. "I love you, daddy."

Freddie hugged her tight. "I love you too."