Hello my dear readers! I hope you've had a fine week and you'll enjoy this new installment to the continuing story of Tori and Freddie.
TenorSax93: That was the point: the expected story is for Tori to get drugged and Freddie to be the one to rescue her, so I switched it up for a future bonding moment. It also brings up the point that things like that do happen to men and if the woman gets pregnant from it, you're screwed twice as even though you're the rape victim, you're financially responsible for the child until he or she is eighteen. Equal protection under the law may…
We'll see what happens when/if Freddie finds out what happens.
Challenge King: Well sometimes events are similar to some parallel universes * Cough iSwitch Schools Cough * with certain characters. I hope you like this chapter.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Like I told TenorSax93, it does happen, but of course it isn't considered a great concern about society. Do you think it was just to have one night with him?
PD31: Tori can be pretty vicious when push comes to shove. We'll see how the dominos fall with whatever choice Tori makes and how that will affect the future Teddie relationship.
ArtisticAngel6: No one expected the expected scene to be flipped on its head. Since my Jedi story is complete, I'm working out a new writing schedule on how to be able to work on several stories at once and I hope to pick iWould Have Pounded Him Silly back up in the near future.
Agent-M-0167: I hope I can pull off Teddie in a believable and satisfying manner as I did with Jedi. The pairing is quite a different dynamic to it and they are coming from it from different points in their lives than Jedi.
Boris Yeltsin: The story picks up post iCarly and Victorious, so of course Jade and Tori have issues to work out as they were never resolved before the series prematurely ended. There are plenty of issues that need to be worked out with several characters. You really think Bade was resolved properly?
darck ben: Sometimes you have to risk big in writing for a big emotional pay off. My favorite Doctor is Number 10 and Clara Oswin Oswald as my favorite companion, even surpassing Rose.
Rating: T Mild Adult Themes
Chapter 8
Apartment 316
Venice/Barry Apartments
11811 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Freddie blinked several times and began to stir on the couch as he heard several muffled voices in the background. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and shielded his eyes from the natural light filtering into the living room. He took several deep breaths then sat up, the blanket resting on him falling into his lap while he swung his legs out to plant his sock covered feet on the carpet between the couch and coffee table. He suddenly felt woozy and his head spinning, grabbing the edge of the seat cushion to steady himself.
Tori timidly and softly called out from the left end of the couch, "Hey."
He glanced over to his left to see Tori in her sleepwear in a small T-shirt (that fit her really well in his opinion), pajama bottoms and her rarely worn glasses. He was too groggy to really appreciate how cute she looked in them and her entire outfit. He rubbed his right temple and groggily responded, "Hi."
She immediately took a seat next to him with a glass of water in her hand. She offered it, "Drink this," and he quickly took it to start chugging it down.
After downing half the glass, he pulled it away from his lips and sat the glass down on the coffee table. He looked to her and asked with a tired and confused tone, "What happened? Why do I have what I think is a hangover?"
She turned her gaze to the television, the source for the background voices that he head heard when waking up. She took a calming breath then answered, "Ah… there was something slipped into yo—my drink, but somehow near the end of the party, we accidentally switched cups. You drank from mine and it hit you pretty hard." She rubbed up and down his upper left arm and finished softly, "It probably would have killed me with what it took to knock you out."
He blinked and took a few moments to process what she had spoken but once he did, he turned and met her eyes before gently taking her by her upper arms and quickly asked, "Are you alright?"
A smile formed on her face without a thought from his concern for her. She placed a hand over his heart and answered, "I'm fine and you're fine. You ah… passed out in a bathroom and Jade and I carried you back to the car."
He dropped his hands off her arms and put on a relieved smile. "Thank God." He dropped his hands from her arms (with her instantly missing the warmth) and took a few breaths to comprehend her story. He surprisingly snorted out a laugh that drew a surprised expression from Tori.
"What?"
He held a grin as he answered, "You could have asked Sam to carry me. She could have thrown me over her shoulder and got me to the car without a problem—then again she'd probably drop me on my head for the fun of it."
The lovely brunette frowned at such an idea.
He placed the butt of his hand just above his right temple and groaned, "I always worried someone slipping stuff in Carly's drink during proms and I was proven right with my concern, but I never thought I'd be the one to be on the receiving end."
She nervously laughed out, "I'm just glad you were there for me."
He turned and smiled to her. "More like you were there for me, but…"
"But what?"
He picked the glass off the table and quickly gulped the rest down then noticed his sneakers under the coffee table. He tugged them on and tied them as he ignored her question. Once tied, he quickly stood up and took several seconds to steady himself on his feet, clenching his jaw and willing himself to be steady.
Tori stood up and grabbed his arm to help steady him. "But what?"
He slipped out of her grasp, turned and headed for the door.
Tori walked around and stood in front of him in an instant just as he reached next to the kitchen before the door. She asked in a near panicked voice, "Where are you going?"
He growled in an effort to help him focus then answered, "I'm going to go find Ryder and… teach him a hard lesson."
Her concern turned to confusion in an instant. "Ryder?"
He grabbed the edge of the countertop one his right to balance himself as he felt a new wave of dizziness overwhelm him. He took a steady breath and stated, "Yes, Ryder. Who else would do such a thing when it was only former Hollywood Arts students and a handful of the fraternity?"
He attempted to walk around her, but she sidestepped and held up her hands and desperately spoke, "Stop. You can barely walk."
He snapped, "I don't care! Don't try to talk me out of kicking the chizz out of him! Don't you dare tell me that he could pound me silly for being a nerd or any of that other bullchizz! He tried to drug you to do what you and I both know what as payback for humiliating him in front of the whole school and I'm going to make him pay for it."
She took a step back, surprised at how fierce he could get over the matter. She took a breath and calmly replied, "Freddie, you need to take a few breaths and think this through. He didn't drug my drink. He didn't get a chance. We talked one time and that's when you showed up and scared him off pretending to be my boyfriend."
Freddie took those calming breaths and focused on her lovely eyes. He blew out a breath and patiently asked, "Then who?"
Tori took a breath and drew on every bit of willpower and acting talent she had to deliver her next words, "I don't know, but what I know that I'm okay and there'll not be a chance for it to happen again. I was in eyesight of you and Jade so they couldn't have gotten me alone without one of you noticing. You don't have to worry about it."
The former tech-producer took a few calming breaths as he studied the girl's eyes.
As he looked to her, she took the opportunity to offer with a hopeful expression, "Why don't you have a seat and let me fix you some breakfast?"
He took several more calming breaths then relented from her hopeful expression. "Okay, I'll sit down. Could I have some more water and one of my Gatorades?"
She let a relieve smile form on her face and nodded her head. "Yeah, sure thing. Just have a seat at the table and I'll be right back with your breakfast."
He walked over and took a seat at the table, trying his best to clear his head and focus on anything. Tori was back by his side in a moment with another glass of water, not bothering to retrieve the one left on the coffee table and a bottle of his Gatorade. He smiled his thanks to her and she patted him on the shoulder before turning and heading to the kitchen.
Tori immediately went about fixing a light breakfast for the muscular teenager while he started alternating sipping from his water and forcing himself to slowly sip from his Gatorade. He started feeling better in rehydrating his brain and let his eyes gaze over towards the side of the kitchen in his direct line of sight from his seat.
His eyes finally stopped wandering and focused on Tori as she went about in the kitchen going from the refrigerator, the cabinets, the toaster and the microwave. His eyes wandered to her taunt abs just above the waist band of her pajama bottoms when she stretched to reach something in one of the cabinets then to her cute behind from how her pajama bottoms hugged her rear in just the right way to entice the male senses. He felt ashamed that his eye was draw to parts of her anatomy, but he was still partially on autopilot and Tori was a beautiful girl to follow with his eyes.
After finishing his water and half of his Gatorade, Tori had returned to set a plate of toast, a bowl of cereal and a hefty bowl of oatmeal in front of him on the table. "Old family remedy of settling your stomach and hopefully it'll fill you up."
"Thanks."
She smile in return and took a seat cattycorner to him.
He asked in concern, "You're not going to eat?"
She shook her head and lightly answered, "I already eat something after getting up."
He nodded then started on his breakfast in comfortable silence; however, Freddie kept stealing glances from her.
She finally noticed and playfully asked, "What?"
He quickly cleared his throat then hesitantly commented, "It's just… you look very cute in your glasses."
She bowed her head while absently adjusted her glasses with her middle finger on the side and let a soft blush form on her cheeks. "Thank you."
He softly laughed then continued eating with her protectively watching him to make sure he ate everything, but not in the annoying manner he remembered from his mother.
After about fifteen minutes, he took a final sip from his drink and smiled to the brunette. "Thanks Tori. That was a delicious breakfast."
"You're welcome, it's the least I could do for—you taking one for me."
His smile slightly faded, but held most of it while he nodded his head. He stood up and commented, "I think I'll change and go hit the exercise room downstairs."
She looked up and asked in a worried tone, "Is that such a good idea? Are you steady on your feet?"
He picked up his plate and bowls and walked towards the sink. "I need to burn and sweat the rest of whatever was meant for you out of my system and I don't need to be on my feet to pump some iron and down some leg presses."
She stood up and offered, "I'll go with you."
The Seattle born turned away from the sink after placing them in it and looked to her with a questioning expression. "Tori, I'm really going down stairs to workout, not hunt down Ryder."
"I believe you, just…"
He softly shook his head and answered with a slightly impatient breath, "I don't need a babysitter."
She nervously laughed, "I know, it's just… I need to stay in shape too?"
He looked her up and down Tori. He'd be a traitor to his sex if he tried to talk her out of a chance of working out to keep her in such a fine shape. "Okay, I'll meet you in the living room after I change."
She breathed out a relieved breath and answered, "Okay, I'll be out in a few."
He stepped out of his room a few minutes later after using the bathroom and changing. He started absently paced and stretched about the room to try to save himself some time in warming up before hitting the room.
"Hey!" Tori laughed out from the hallway as she entered the living room.
Freddie turned to look at her and his words were immediate caught in his throat as he saw the brunette. He was strangely reminded of Shelby, as if their near identical appearance wasn't enough for the teenager, in that she was wearing a sports bra (with a visible outline of another undergarment under it) and showed off her abdomen down to her hip level waistband loose and very short gym shorts with the Hollywood Arts Logo on the right leg as if she was ready to step in the ring with Carly.
She held on to each end of a white towel hanging around the back of her neck and a sports bottle in her right hand. She didn't think nothing of it as she asked, "You ready to go?"
He cleared his throat again and answered, "Ah… yeah, just ah… let me grab my water bottle."
She nodded and watched him turn to head for the kitchen to fill his water bottle. She had to take several breaths to cool herself down at seeing him in his navy sports shorts and his black athletic shirt that showed off his muscular arms and shoulder blades.
He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a Crystal Waters bottle of water then back to the counter by the sink, closing the door with the back of his foot. He opened both bottles and started pouring it into his sports bottle, but he fumbled in his pouring and spilt some of it on the counter when Tori walked up to the other side of the counter and his vision was suddenly dominated by her pushed up shapely chest encased in her sports bra from resting on her folded forearms on the counter.
Tori laughed and quickly went to grab a paper towel to wipe off the access water.
He laughed to and attempted to cover his clumsiness, "I guess I'm still a little butterfingers."
"It's okay," she commented as she walked around the counter to wipe up the water then took the bottles from him to finish pouring the contents in his bottle. She smiled as she handed him the bottle and commented, "There."
"Thanks."
She wrinkled her nose then softly laughed.
Exercise Room
Venice/Barry Apartments
11811 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Tori was running an easy pace on the treadmill, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and gently bouncing off her back. Her breath was heavier than just the running as she watched Freddie a few yards away straddling the end of a bench and lifting a dumbbell with his right hand. He gritted his teeth from the strain of lifting the weight and a hint of anger on his face that she guessed from what happened last night. It looked like he was preparing to get into a fight. She would be hesitant to admit that the sight did get her heart to beat just a little faster and sweat a little more than her running would extract from her body.
However, she didn't get to enjoy the sight as much as she instinctively would desire as she frowned from not expecting him to be that upset with her cover story. He seemed to be genuinely angry that someone would try to spike 'her' drink. She was becoming fearful she'd have to tell him the truth just to prevent him from doing something rash like beating the chizz out of Ryder. As fearful of such an occurrence happening, it was the fear of how he would react to her lying to him that was the most troubling.
Freddie held his breath steady as he focused on the floor while pumping the iron. Bits and pieces of the late evening were crossing his mind. He remembered everything clearly until a little bit after his encounter with Ryder, but he had to admit he was a little surprise with his forwardness towards the player.
He realized he should be thankful that Tori didn't get upset with him for being so presumptuous and implying that he was her boyfriend. He hated that to get around in case a good guy was interested in the lovely singer and she could return the feelings and inadvertently sabotaging her before she had a chance. He ignored the tiny pang of jealousy that struck his heart and powered through a few more sets.
His next memory was in the bathroom feeling a little sick on his stomach, but that was when things started to really get hazy in that he could remember a famine touch around his waist and voice in his ear suggesting he lie down. He couldn't place the voice, but he sensed some form of sinisterness to it, not the sweet caring voice that he should have heard from either Tori or Jade when they found him in the bathroom according to the brunette's retelling of the night's events.
He switched arms in pumping during the next memory was even hazier as he saw through a cloudy vision of Tori kneeling over him while he lay on his back in a bed and her having her hands inside the open fly of his jeans and around his… with Jade's voice in the background saying something about zipping him.
He disregarded that notion in an instant of them trying to take advantage of him as he was aware of how fickle the mind could be in regards to forming memories, especially while under the influences mind alternating drugs. When Sam had her teeth fixed (at the Shays' expense), what they gave her made her so delusional she genuinely thought her thumbs were missing at one point. He was on the couch, not in a bed and the television was on when he woke up and didn't know how long Tori had been watching it, so any one of the voices he heard could have been from the television and warped or outright replaced the girls' voices.
"Freddie? Freddie?!"
He nearly dropped the dumbbell on his foot from the shouting and looking up at the fearful expression on Tori's face. "What?"
She motioned to his left arm. "Kind of over doing it with the dumbbell?"
He took several calming breaths as he realized that he had started overexerting himself in the speed that he was lifting the weight, too caught up to force his mind to give him clear memories of the night. "Right," he laughed it off then stood up to replace it back on the rack. He continued without turning back to face her, "Sorry, just trying to think back to last night and the memories are hazy and… they're not making sense—they got corrupted by the TV being on. I assume that you had it on for a little while when I was out and before you went to bed?"
She swallowed down her nervousness as various scenarios went through her mind about what he could be remembering from last night, but pushed that aside for the moment to answer, "I had it on as just something in the background while I was watching over you before I went to bed on the loveseat."
"Oh?" He looked down somewhat embarrassed that she had been that concerned for him to do such a thing.
She suggested as she tried not to get distracted from his toned back that his athletic shirt clearly outlined, "Why don't you cool down with a slow run on the treadmill with me?"
He turned and nodded his head to the suggestion. He followed her back to the treadmills (and trying not to stare at her rear where her shorts were clinging tighter to her with the light sheen of sweat from her workout so far) while retrieving his PearPhone. He placed the pear shaped device in one of the bottle holders in front of the treadmill controls then placed the earbuds in his ears while starting his place list. He tried to focus all his attention to the song playing through his earbuds and ignore the fact of how sexy Tori looked jogging next to him.
It was a tortuous twenty minutes and he was use to torture.
Apartment 316
Venice/Barry Apartments
11811 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, September 29, 2012
The pair laughed as they entered their apartment, thoroughly worn out as if they had played several hours of Tori's Wii sports. Freddie laughed with a genuine happy tone since he woke up this morning as he closed the door behind him, "I really needed that. I'm going to be a little sore for the rest of the weekend, but I feel better."
The pair stopped in the foyer between the kitchen and the dining room table. "I'm glad, but…" She sniffed herself and him and laughed, "We could both use a shower—I could use a shower, you still smell great in that manly fashion—so our good feelings aren't spoiled with a stinky apartment."
His smile turned into a bashful expression at seeing her pat her cheeks, neck and upper chest with her towel. "Thanks, but I wouldn't say you smelled, you have too heavenly a scent."
She laughed at the bit of flattery as she continued to try to pat away the bit of perspiration still on her forehead, cheeks and neck that she hadn't completely wiped off of her sweat. His eyes notice some rolling sweat drops traveling over the soft swell of her breasts and down the valley of the little bit of cleavage that could be seen over the top of her sports bra. He cleared his throat and felt a hint of tension in his groin.
Fortunately, Tori provided a distraction by damping over her upper chest again with her towel and pointed out, "You don't have to try to make me feel better. I know I'm stinky."
He laughed, "I won't argue then."
She playfully poked his chest. "Good, but we'll have to split the hot water."
His mouth answered before his brain to process a response, "Actually, I think I'll take a cold shower. I need to cool off after that workout so you can have the hot water."
She missed the possible double meaning behind his words and simply nodded her head and giggled, "Thanks."
"As soon as I'm out, I'll fix us a good lunch."
She leaned her head over to her right shoulder and damped her neck on the opposite side. "We could always order in."
He reached up without thinking and cupped her elbow and offered, "You fixed me breakfast, I can fix you lunch."
She smiled and absentmindedly dropped her towel on the edge of the kitchen counter and shook her head in accepting his offer. "Okay."
He let her take the lead to the hallway as her bathroom at the end of the hallway beside her room. He stopped at his bathroom on the right and flipped the light switch to step inside, but stopped when the corner of his eye caught a heavenly sight.
Tori continued to the end of the hallway to her bathroom and crossed her arms under her chest and took hold of the hem of her sports bra to prepare to take it off. She misjudged her timing before reaching the small dividing wall that shielded the exit from her room and half the line of sight of the bathroom, so when she pulled her sports bra and undergarment off over her head and taking her hair up with her, she gave Freddie a full, unobstructed view of her smooth, toned and lightly tanned back and the side outline of her breasts before her hair fell down to shield part of her back and disappeared into the bathroom.
His throat constricted and a certain body part stiffened from the sight. He mumbled, "You won't have to worry about me using up all the hot water." He quickly dashed inside his bathroom and locked the door behind him.
About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and fortunately Tori had just finished her shower and was in her comfy blue bathrobe and drying her hair with a blue towel. She called out to the other bathroom as she walked by it, "I got it." She wasn't sure if he heard her as she could still hear the shower running.
A few strings of Tori's hair was matted to one side of her face as she dried the other side and majority of it over her right shoulder. She took a quick peek out of the peephole and instantly squealed in excitement. She opened the door without a second thought and called out, "Mom, dad!"
Mrs. Vega quickly leaned over and pulled her daughter into a hug, apparently not caring that Tori was in the middle of drying, while her father patted her on the shoulder. She quickly apologized, "Sorry honey that we dropped in on the middle of your shower."
The brunette laughed as she pulled the towel from her hair, "Oh no, I was just stepping out."
As soon as her words left her mouth, Freddie stepped out around the right corner to them of the entrance to the hallway leading to the bedrooms and asked, "Who's at the door?"
He was in his bathrobe with clearly wet hair.
Mister and Mrs. Vega looked to each other with mild shock then he looked at Freddie with a cold stare.
Freddie laughed, "Good morning ma'am, sir or is it afternoon?" He glanced around to see the digital display on the DVR for the time as they had returned sometime around lunch and he wasn't sure how long he was under his cold shower (because he certainly needed).
Mrs. Vega cautiously and with a surprising hint of embarrassment asked, "Did we interrupt something?"
Tori squinted her eyes as she pulled the towel away from her hair. "Interrupt something?"
Mister Vega darted his eyes back and forth between Tori and Freddie with great concern. He asked with a slightly annoyed and disapproving tone, "Yes, did we arrive at a bad time?"
The lighter brunette looked back to Freddie over her shoulder then back down at her before her face fell in horror and quickly explained, "We ah—ah, just got back from our morning workout and having a shower—separate showers, we have separate bathrooms."
Mister Vega asked with a flat tone, "Morning workout?"
Tori's voice caught in her throat for a moment at realizing how her phrasing may have sounded to her father in light of the teenager's dress. She swallowed it down and quickly continued, "Yes, the apartments have their own exercise room so we don't have to go on campus to use the gym. Freddie has kept a regular workout regiment since his rehabilitation and I decided to join him. I don't really know anyone else in the apartments and I didn't want to necessarily be down there by myself. You made it a point to try to be with someone when I'm out on campus."
The police detective let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Freddie cleared his throat, out of annoyance at the implied accusation than any kind of embarrassment, and informed them, "I was just about to fix us some lunch. Let me get dressed while you catch up with Tori while I'm cooking."
Mrs. Vega smiled to the native Seattleite. "It's good to see you again Freddie."
"Thank you ma'am. It's nice to see you too." He turned and headed into his room.
"I'll be right back too," Tori followed and turned and quickly disappeared around the corner down the hallway.
The detective shook his head and let out another breath.
His wife playfully asked, "What?"
He glanced to her and stated in a disapproving tone, "That was not what I wanted to see when we got here: them getting out of a shower together."
"That's not what happened—"
He pointedly asked, fueled by his suspicions, "Are you sure? I didn't see them come out of separate bathrooms."
She looked away and mumbled, "I don't think we're that lucky this soon."
"What?"
She looked up to her husband and laughed, "I don't think we should be assuming things about Tori or Freddie. I remember him being a perfect gentleman last year when he spent the weekend with us—it was Trina we had to worry about."
Mister Vega rolled his eyes and blew out a soft breath from his nose in reluctantly agreeing with his wife. He wasn't originally happy with the young man staying the weekend in the first place when he didn't know him at all, he wasn't André or Beck—he wouldn't have let Robbie stayed—and had to be arm twisted by his wife, but it was Trina that had to be reined in with her repeatedly coming on to Freddie. He finally admitted, "I'm still going to worry."
"That our baby girl isn't going to be a baby girl anymore?"
He looked to her in near horror. "Are you approving them—"
She raised her hands with a knowing smile. "I'm going to trust Tori to make the right decisions. She's eighteen and has to make her own decisions now."
He shook his head. "I'm not ready to be a grandfather and if they start, that's going to happen pretty quickly if he's not using protection."
She chuckled and shaking her head, "That's not happening."
He narrowed his eyes on her, unsure how she could be so sure of that not becoming an occurrence.
He didn't get a chance to ask his wife for clarification due to Freddie returning in a Penny-T and a pair of blue jeans and immediately sat off about in the kitchen as the Vegas sat at the dinning room table. He laughed, "We had a light breakfast this morning, so we're going to have a heavier lunch, especially after our workout. I was going to treat Tori to a Seattle meal after she fixed me breakfast this morning, now I get to treat you too. It just might take me a little longer in preparing more."
Holly Vega commented with a bright smile while eyeing over to her husband, "Isn't that sweet of you?"
"What is he being sweet about?" Tori asked while she stepped into the living room in an old Hollywood Arts baseball tee and a pair of jean shorts, her hair still partially damp.
Holly laughed while eyeing the Seattle native bouncing between cabinets and stove, "Freddie was about to fix lunch for you."
Tori laugh as she went about getting her parents something to drink. "When we haven't ordered in, he's cooked dinner." She looked over her shoulder from the refrigerator, "What do you want to drink? We got water, soda, I got some of my pink lemonade made."
Her father asked, "Water will be fine."
"I'll take some lemonade."
Tori dodged between Freddie getting some pots out and the food to get a bottle of water, her pitcher of lemonade, and glasses. She returned to the table to give her parents their beverages. She returned to stand next to Freddie at the stove to help him, but he shooed her off, "Go talk to your parents, I got this."
She relented with a smile then walked to take a seat at the table with her back partially turned to Freddie.
Mrs. Vega teased before sipping her lemonade, "So how do you two like living together?"
Tori embarrassingly looked down at the table while the former Seattleite offhandedly laughed, "We're putting up with one another pretty good."
The brunette softly laughed off a retort, "He's kidding. We're getting along fine—better than I did with Trina, but don't tell her that."
The parents surprisingly shared a laugh with their younger daughter.
She continued while passing a glance over her shoulder to see him stirring the tomato sauce in the pot on the stove, "He's making sure I get up for my early classes—he even went with me to my Thursday morning class to make me feel better in that gigantic class. I have a great partner to workout with on my Wii and he's been a fantastic cook—as you're going to see with his wonderful meal—and…" She looked to Freddie with a grateful smile. "…it makes me feel safe that he's here at night."
Freddie cleared his throat and bashfully looked down to turn his attention to the spaghetti he placed in the water just starting to boil.
Mrs. Vega hid her smile behind a sip of her glass while Mister Vega looked on in mild surprise. He decided to follow his wife's example and ask in a cautious tone, "So Freddie, how do you really feel about temporarily living with my daughter?"
Freddie glanced away for the boiling water and answered, "It's been nice. The companionship over the last week has been nice; I'm an only child, so I didn't have siblings to be around. We also share a few interests: gaming and we both love Celebrities Underwater." He laughed, "It has helped that we do have separate bathrooms so we don't have to share."
"So how does your father feel about it?"
The Seattle native slightly frowned and answered in a detached tone while attending to some spaghetti sauce, "My father isn't in the picture and his opinion is not worth anything to me sir."
Mister Vega didn't seem all that concern about hitting a sore point as he continued, "What about your mother? How does she feel about you temporarily sharing an apartment with Tori?"
Freddie embarrassingly laughed over his shoulder, "I haven't told my mother. I've just been leaving it vague about my roommate. I've told her that we've been getting along great and she's told me not to…" He trailed off as he checked the warming spaghetti sauce.
"To what?"
"Bring girls over to spend the night. She doesn't want me to spend inappropriate time with girls like overnight."
The police detective continued to press on, "Why haven't you told her about the situation?"
"My mother would be quite upset. She would be seeing it as me cohabitating with a girl, something she would quite disapprove of me doing even if it was just temporary…" He refrained from mentioning the part where she would probably get further upset that said girl was Catholic and all the possible negative influences she could have on her boy.
"Do you share that opinion?"
Freddie turned away from the stove and confidently smiled. "When we found out the mix up, I wanted to just spend the next few days staying in a hotel or something until they could get it straightened out, but she was quite insistent that I stay because she didn't want me to be inconvenienced by her mistake. However, your daughter can be quite persuasive. I share the opinion on cohabitation, but that's not what we're doing. We're not living together as a couple, just temporary roommates with separate living quarters."
Mrs. Vega asked in a well acted innocent tone, "Do you think that will change after one of you moves out?"
The teenagers looked to her with curious expressions with Freddie asking, "Ma'am?"
She casually took a sip from her lemonade and continued, "I mean, you're single if I'm not mistaken and Tori's not seeing anyone…"
The teenagers looked to one another with lost expressions, trying to gage the other's reaction to the musician's mother's suggestion.
Tori's attention turned to the food on the stove and immediately jumped out of her seat to offer, "Let me help you drain the spaghetti." She walked over to one of the cabinets to retrieve a drainer then met him next to the sink after he pulled off the boiling pot from the stove. They passed each other curious expressions then he carefully started pouring the water and spaghetti into it as to not splatter any of the hot water on her. Once the spaghetti was drained and shook to get as much of the excess water off of it, he took the drainer from Tori to put the spaghetti into a large bowl. He picked up the warmed sauce and started pouring it over the noodles, passing her a quick glance for her to get the taco shells resting on a tray.
Tori placed a plate of taco shells in front of Mrs. Vega then in front of the police detective while Freddie brought a bowl of spaghetti to sit in the middle of the table.
Holly looked to Tori in a questioning expression about the odd combination of food.
Freddie quickly explained as he took a cattycorner seat to Tori and across Mrs. Vega, "They are a creation of my Carly's brother Spencer. They're called Spaghetti Tacos."
The police detective raised an eyebrow. "Spaghetti Tacos?"
"Yes sir. One night we couldn't decide if we wanted tacos or spaghetti for dinner, so Spencer decided to combine the two into one meal for us."
Tori laughed, "They became popular at Hollywood Arts. We had them at several of our Friday night concerts."
Freddie picked up, "iCarly cooked them on a famous cooking show, so that's how meal got out into the general public.
Mrs. Vega asked, "Hungry Girl?"
Freddie laughed, "We wish, but Ricky Flame's old show. He quit after we beat him in a cook off." He shook his head. "There was something seriously wrong with him in the head."
Holly looked to her husband and laughed, "Okay, let's try them."
Freddie picked up the large fork in the spaghetti bowl and started filling the shell then with the spoon poured a little sauce on them. He repeated this until each of them had at least two tacos; he gave himself three because he was hungry.
Mister Vega was hesitant in trying it, but quickly found he enjoyed the taste. After a few minutes of eating, the detective tried to bring up in a casual tone, "So do you know when one of you will be moving out?"
Tori was caught in mid chew of her taco while Freddie was sipping on his soda. The pair looked to one another as they felt they were back to the question her mother brought up about them being a future couple. The brunette suddenly felt a little uneasy on her stomach at the prospect of them being separated. She cautiously answered, "We still haven't heard anything about them finding a room for either of us."
Mister Vega pointed out, "You would think someone would have dropped out by now."
His wife quickly brought up, "It has only been two days of school."
"People do drop out that quickly," he quickly retorted.
Holly shook her head and continued to her daughter, "So how's the rest of college life been treating you?"
Tori laughed after taking a sip from her drink, "It feels a little overwhelming in some of the large general ed classes, but there's Cat, Jade and Beck in them and Freddie in one or two. We were lucky and we all have the same literature course that's fairly small, like high school small."
Freddie added, "I feel right at home in the computer science department."
"So you're majoring in computers?"
"Yes sir, Computer Science and Engineering. I may dabble in some kind of production later on if they'll let me take a few classes without having to major in it. We'll see how things go over the semester."
Tori laughed, "You'll have us to keep you company if you do get to take some of those classes. You can help us out in production with all your experience."
Holly hid her smile behind a sip of her lemonade at the possibility of the pair spending more time together.
Mister Vega asked in a slightly worried tone, "Did you celebrate your first week of school? Any parties or anything?"
Tori answered without thinking, "We went to a party last night thrown by Hollywood Arts Alumni exclusively for us to welcome in the freshman from the school…" She glanced to Freddie as she finished with a softer tone, "We had a great time."
The former tech-producer picked up, "Yes, it was nice to meet a lot of the people Tori went to school with over the last few years."
Years of experience as a police officer and detective (along with some fatherly instinct) tipped off Mister Vega that Tori was being less than completely honest and Freddie was some how a part of the reason. He was about mildly question them in a way that they wouldn't realize they were being interrogated, however his wife was quicker in speaking, "That must have been nice to have such a warm welcome, to let you know that you have support while you're here just like back at Hollywood Arts."
Tori's spirits picked up as she nodded, "Yeah, it is quite comforting—along with Freddie of course."
Holly laughed while giving Freddie an approving glance, "Of course."
Mister Vega took a sip of water to wash some of his food down then asked, "What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?"
Tori motioned between herself and Freddie, "We were going to get in some studying this afternoon, but I don't think there's been anything so far that's been overwhelming with the course work. We'll probably get done pretty early then probably just relax."
Freddie finished chewing a bit of spaghetti then answered, "I think Beck's coming over later this afternoon to take a look at my car that I just bought earlier in the week. She's going to need a lot of tender love and care to get her fully restored. It's going to be a labor of love."
The detective asked in a concerned, fatherly tone with a sparing glance towards Tori, "Are you driving it?"
"It passed inspection, but I'm the only one going to be in it until I'm sure it's really safe. In the meantime, I'm riding with Tori or Jade and giving some gas money."
Mister Vega sighed in relief and Tori decided to turn the conversation away from them by eagerly asking, "So how's Trina liking New York? How did you two like your sightseeing?"
After about another half hour of eating and the Vegas' telling about their impromptu vacation after settling Trina in college, the parents were ready to head on out. They were gathered in the foyer and Mrs. Vega looked back to her daughter and pointed out, "We're right down the road if you need anything… if you need a weekend to get away from it all and crash in your room."
"I'll will. Bye, I love you."
The family shared a hug then exited the apartment with Tori closing the door behind them. She turned and rested her back against it while letting out a breath. She smiled to Freddie wearing a relieved expression. "That was kind of awkward. I felt like I was bringing you home to my parents."
"Actually, they dropped in on my home."
"Our home…"
Her smile was quickly replaced with an awkward expression while he glanced away with mild embarrassment.
He turned back a second later and chuckled out with a nervous tenor sounding through it, "I think I survived it pretty well, but your father looks like he would hurt me if I tried anything with you and I think he's expecting something. I can understand your father's concern. I wouldn't want my daughter to just be living with some guy."
She furled her brow and looked to him with a slightly sad and hurt expression. Her expression filtered into her voice, "Freddie, I thought we had settled this. I gave you the keys back… I don't lock my room at night. You're not just some guy, you're Freddie. You're my friend."
Freddie swallowed then cautiously replied, "I ah… I really appreciate the gesture, but I realized after graduation, the word 'friend' has not been a word that's been kind to me in life. Looking back on my life so far, I'm not sure if I've ever really had any."
Tori's face fell and she felt her stomach sinking, the delicious meal he had prepared for her feeling as if it was souring inside her stomach. She also felt as if her heart was cracking and the only way she though she could stop it was quickly cross the distance between them and pull him into a tight hug.
He was cautious, but he finally wrapped his arms around her slender waist and around her back.
She whispered to him in a tender voice, "I know we haven't known each other that long and haven't been together in our crazy adventures, but you are my friend Freddie."
He closed his eyes and the pair just held on to one another.
As the Vega parents made their way down the stairs to head for their car, Mrs. Vega pointed out, "He's just looking out for her."
He slightly shook his head and commented with a weary tone, "I'm afraid of what else he could be looking at, especially after walking in on them getting out of the shower."
Holly shook her head with a knowing smile.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I've said this before, but I hope to pick up on a regular schedule for updating this story. I'm not sure if it will be on a Monday or Thursday night. Like I said in some reviews, I'm still adjusting a writing schedule after the last year of 'We Love Each Other' being my primary story. Thanks again for reading.