(A/N: Writer's block struck again. :/ And sorry for the lame chapter title. Enjoy! I hope...)


We Meet Again

Ch. 7


It was a few days after the "Tangled incident", and Shenzi had long recovered from her panic attack. Despite the incident, she and Chuckie still maintained a strong friendship, although they settled on small boundaries for comfort. They still gave each other hugs and kisses on their cheeks, but understandably avoided lips-to-lips kisses. They also mutually agreed that what started the incident wouldn't count as their first kiss. She had her appointment the day before, and her braces were fixed up. Funnily enough, Chuckie had an appointment there on the same day, around the same time as her!

Getting ready to hang out with him at the Big Mall, Shenzi put on a pair black and dark red acid ombre denim shorts, a a baggy Akumu Ink Tea Time t-shirt, black Converse high-tops with dark red laces, sugar skull Persian cat stud earrings, a matching necklace, and a dark red extension. Grabbing her handbag, she walked downstairs where Friar Tuck was waiting for her. He was going to drive her to the mall, where Chuckie would be waiting for her. Little did she know, there was a disaster waiting for her as well.

She had noticed that her father was a bit more protective of her since the incident. When she and Chuckie interacted in the dentist office before their respective fixings, Friar Tuck seemed a bit wary when he was normally just fine with it. She thought that he was still simply having trouble grasping the concept of her growing up. She wasn't a little girl anymore, after all. She understood that for him, time flew by fast, but she felt that he should let her grow.

Felicia felt the same way, somewhat; She felt weird seeing their youngest daughter growing up this fast, but knew she had to accept it. She just wished it was easier on her husband.

"Hey, Dad? I'm ready to go when you are," She told him, leaning on the recliner.

"Alright," He nodded as he stood up from the couch, Felicia following. "Let's get going." In the car, Shenzi sat in the back seat; She and Frankie weren't allowed to sit shotgun until they were 13. Shenzi stayed silent during the drive to their destination. She had this feeling that something was going to go bad, but she shook it off, thinking it was nothing.

After a short while, they arrived at the large entrance, where Chaz and Chuckie were waiting. Shenzi was surprised to hear that her father was going to stay in the building, but shook the feeling away. "Hi, Chuckie, Chaz!" She greeted the two redheads.

"Hi, Shenzi," Cha greeted her, "Well, I don't want to be a third wheel. I'll leave you crazy kids alone. Call me when you're ready to go, Chuckie."

"Will do, Dad," Chuckie nodded as Chaz headed for his car. "So Shen, what do you want to do?" Before she could respond, her stomach growled with good timing.

"Let's hit the food court first," She giggled with slight embarrassment.

"Good idea." Deciding on hamburgers this time, after getting and each paying for their respective meals, they sat at a booth on the wall, across from each other. As they ate, they simply enjoyed each other's company. They were at the stage in their friendship where they cherished each other's presence, no matter how long they were apart. There was a little surprise coming their way, on Shenzi's behalf.

From a table a distance away from the two good friends, Friar Tuck watched them to ensure that nothing bad would happen. He didn't want them to get stuck again; He knew about Shenzi's claustrophobia, and knew that her getting stuck to Chuckie was a bit of a traumatic experience for her, no matter how close a friend the redhead was to her. He didn't want her to go through that again. When Shenzi was little, around 2 or 3, Santana had locked her in the tiny hall closet as a "harmless" joke. Needless to say, Shenzi went crazy and the closet was a mess. Before he and Frankie let her out, they heard banging, heavy breathing, and shrill screams coming from inside. It was then when he and Felicia learned about her claustrophobia, and were much more careful with her and small spaces. Not to mention Santana was punished with no dessert that night for her "joke." It took around a week for Shenzi's traumatic feelings to go away.

Snapping out of his thoughts, his eyes widened when he saw a pink smoothie between Shenzi and Chuckie, with two straws in it. And it looked like they were going to drink it together, at the same time. Panicking, Friar Tuck hastily grabbed his own, and ran up to the table, unintentionally startling his daughter. "The waiter forgot one of your smoothies!" He told them, setting his on the table, and sticking Chuckie's straw in it. Shenzi had her hand on her forehead and over her eyes in embarrassment. "There you go, kids." He then left them alone.

"S-sorry," Shenzi stammered to her friend.

"It's okay," He shrugged, "Parents can be overprotective like that."

It didn't get any better after that. Many more attempts of "protection" made Shenzi's tolerance shrink. She was just hanging out with Chuckie; It wasn't like they were making out or anything! She wished that her father would understand, and just let her grow up. Her anger ceased when a romantic, but innocent song she enjoyed started playing on the mini speaker at the table. "I like this song," She let a small smile grow.

"Me too," Chuckie smiled back.

But the moment was ruined by Friar Tuck rushing over once again. "How do you turn this thing off?!" Shenzi hid her heavily-blushing face in her hands as her father roughly turned off the speaker. "There's that's better." Finally having enough, the emo girl stood up with a slam to the table with her hands, and stomped away without a word. "Shenzi, where are you...?"

"I, I got her." Chuckie stood up, and ran up to her. "You alright?"

"N-no," She shook her head, "Can your dad drive me home, please?"

"Sure," He nodded, "Just let me call him."

Soon, Chaz drove up, and after Chuckie explained what happened, he agreed to take her home. "Um, Ch-Chuckie?" The redhead turned to look at her when she said his name nervously. "This doesn't change anything between us, right?"

"No, of course not," Chuckie assured her, "I wouldn't give up our friendship for anything. Like I said earlier, parents can be overbearing. You should've seen Dad when Kimi was hanging out with Z."

"Who?"

On the way to the Tuck residence, Chuckie told Shenzi the story about how Kimi was hanging out with the school's bad boy. She was shocked to hear that Kimi even had a Mohawk in her hair for a day. Soon, they arrived at her house. After thanking Chaz for the ride, Shenzi stepped out of the car, and walked in the house with an angry, yet embarrassed look as the Finsters drove off.

"Hi Shenzi," Frankie greeted her sister, "How'd it... what's wrong?" She asked her after noticing her demeanor. The emo girl didn't respond as she walked up the stairs, her eyes gazing downward.

"Shen, you okay?" Felicia tried to ask her, but they were answered with a slam of the door. "I wonder if something happened with her and Chuckie."

"Well, if that was true, then she would be crying," Frankie pointed out, "But she was completely silent."

In the dark-themed bedroom, Shenzi flopped face-down on her bed, feling more humiliated than she ever did in her life. Since when was her father so overbearing? He wasn't before! So why now? It only confused her more, as she laid in silence. She didn't move when someone knocked on her door. "Who is it?"

"It's Frankie, and Mom," Her sister answered from the hallway. "Can we come in?"

Shenzi pushed herself up with her arms. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead." And with that, the door was opened, and her mother and sister entered the room.

"What happened with Chuckie?" Frankie asked her, sitting on the bed next to her.

"Chuckie didn't do anything wrong," Shenzi shrugged, "But... Dad doesn't seem to want me to grow up."

"Uh oh," Felicia muttered.

"Yep," Shenzi nodded.

Before any more words were exchanged, the girls heard the front door open and close.

"Oh boy," Felicia muttered quietly, as Frankie grimaced nervously.

"Where is everybody?" Friar Tuck called out around the house.

"We're in Shenzi's room," Felicia called back.

When he entered the room, Shenzi angrily turned away from him. Mentally and emotionally, that hurt him more than anything, seeing his youngest daughter so angry at him. He didn't blame her, though; He did embarrass her, although he didn't mean to.

Shenzi instantly regretted her former action, but stood her ground. He had to know that she was mad, although not more than embarrassed. "We'll um, leave you two alone to talk things through," Felicia and Frankie exited the room, and walked downstairs. Shenzi slowly turned herself back around, so Friar Tuck was in her sight. She let her anger go, but still showed that she was unhappy. "Shen, I..." He hesitantly sat next to her, "I'm sorry I embarrassed you today." He decided to continue when she stayed quiet. "It's just hard to imagine you growing up this fast. You'll be dating before long." Shenzi nodded a bit, but didn't speak otherwise. "And... you and I have been very, very close for years, ever since you were born, so it feels so weird seeing you with boys other than the Goofs and Bobby."

"Um, D-Dad? I know what you're thinking," Shenzi spoke for the first time in what seemed like hours, "I'll start dating guys soon, but that doesn't mean any of them will replace you. You're my dad; I've known you my whole life, literally. And I've been a "Daddy's Little Girl" throughout it all. I can guarantee that I'll be just that for life. And if any guy I date has a problem with that, to the curb he goes." She kicked one leg out for emphasis with a giggle, and a smile that didn't last long. "But... I'm not a little girl anymore, and I love hanging out with my friends... especially Chuckie. He's the greatest friend I've ever had, and I don't want to lose him."

"Well again, I'm sorry for doing all that."

"It's okay," Shenzi let a small smile grow. "I understand." After a few silent seconds, the father and daughter shared a reconciling embrace. She suddenly felt guilty for reacting so angrily to what happened. He was just trying to protect her, because he loves her. No harm in that, right? She couldn't be mad about that. They separated after a few seconds. "Um, y-you said that we were very close when I was little... er?"

"Yeah, we were," He nodded, "I carried you almost everywhere until you were 8 years old."

"Ah," Shenzi giggled, "Um, do we have any photo albums of me when I was younger?"

"We sure do," He smiled, "You wait here; I'll go get them."

The father and daughter spent the day, up until dinner time, looking through old, adorable photos in the album. Shenzi was surprised at how long her hair had been throughout her baby/toddler years. She was even more so to hear that she was born two months early! Her original due date was October 30th, but she was born on August 27th instead. That pretty much explained why she was so short for her age. She was around as tall as Matt and Dil, and they were both 9! She giggled at a photo from her 1st birthday; She was sitting in a high chair, wearing a black and pink with zebra birthday dress, and an "I Love My Daddy" pacifier in her mouth. She had learned how mashed potatoes with shredded cheese became her favorite home meal; Because it was the first solid food she ever ate! She laughed when Friar Tuck told her that after the life-changing trip to Paris, she showed signs of jealousy whenever he'd show any affection to Frankie, and even Felicia. She felt a bit sheepish when learning that she cried on her first day of preschool, but giggled a bit at the tale nonetheless. She was overall entertained by her baby/toddler days.

As they ate with Felicia and Frankie, Shenzi felt better than she did only minutes ago. On the way to the kitchen, she was told that she and Chuckie could still hang out all they wanted, which made her very happy. She knew that it would take some time for Friar Tuck get comfortable with her hanging out with boys, but she knew that he'd come around eventually. But one thing she said earlier was and will be true.

She would be Daddy's little girl for life.


(A/N: I hope you enjoyed this family-centered chapter! You know the disclaimer. I was inspired by the Big Time Rush episode "Big Time Crush" for this one.)


Random Fact About BxB

My most favorite part of Halloween is dressing up. It's the time of year where I can buy certain clothing articles for casual wear. No joke. XD