It's been a while, but I finally got this update complete to my liking. This thing's been through a lot of edits, that's the primary reason it's been put on hold for so long. I'm glad I get to post on what used to be my regular posting day.

Mkpunk: Thank you. Freddie is one to stand by his friends and Tori certainly will need the support for the time being. Let's just hope her secrets from him won't cause him to question that support. If/when they become a couple, the difference in transition could be easy but without the physical violence and the emotional manipulation and dominance.

Hopefully the next update won't be as long, but no promises of that until at least mid-June when writing will significantly pick up.

pbow: Freddie's still trying to recover from his emotional mess, so words for him won't necessarily roll off his tongue. He lost the love of his life and was in another relationship that was a complete disaster.

ursula horlucheayokolie: I update as fast as I can with time and quality. I won't sacrifice quality for quantity. Thank you and love you too.

Agent-M-0167: It's only torture if you don't enjoy it. I hope this installment was worth the wait.

darck ben: I'm working on and finishing iWHPHS this summer where I can really focus on it.

Jeremy Shane: Thanks.

Challenge King: There was definitely a shift between them, right into his bedroom. :D Actually, Freddie is getting back into the grove of himself and when push comes to shove, he'll find his principles and won't buckle this time.

Kari Winters: Tori finally did something to get her feelings out, too bad it was her parents falling apart that was the push. Freddie is going to seriously have to do some soul searching if he's going to be sharing an apartment with her and being involved at the same time.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Yes, the first one's a dream and the second time, this isn't a ratings stunt like Dan pulled, so I'm not just going to chunk Freddie's morality or things really would have gotten heated… then I couldn't have actually shown it if I decided to try to write it due to site rules.

Freddie is once bitten, twice shy. Actually at this point, it's three times bitten: Carly dating Steven instead of answering him about getting together, Sam and Carly again for not coming back.

Twilight Warrior 627: They did take their sweet time to act on their physical attraction. Marissa will flip when she finds out that his roommate is a girl. She would assume the worst and hate Tori worst than she does Carly or Sam.

Also, illusorygentleman has updated his horror story 'Schneider's Island' and I've updated one of my other stories 'Who are My Brothers?'

(Watch one of my fellow writers will update after I post this and not get a chance to plug them.)

Rated: T Adult Content/Situations (I'm really pushing the T, maybe crossing a little into FF's M-Rating)

Chapter 13

Apartment 316
Venice/Barry Apartments
11811 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, October 7, 2012

Freddie took a soft breath as he looked at the lovely Latino sleeping peacefully culled up against him. His mind traveled back to the kiss—mini-makeout session that nearly went further—they had before bed and it was quite a pleasant memory with the sweet, sexy and passionate affection that she showed him.

His mind recalled his times of interacting with a girl in that manner but not going that far: Carly, the sweet and mostly innocent manner in which they exchanged their affections that expressed their more innocent views of love. Then there was Sam where it was based almost exclusively on a sexual nature since her primary reason for liking him was physically based and him shamefully for the same reason for a time.

However, last night was different than either case as it was a mixture of both. He wouldn't deny that there was a serious physically attraction between them and if he had been a lesser man—maybe the one that had said yes to Sam in the first place—he may have let her take him wherever she wanted to have gone regardless of the fact it was her way to try to escape the hurt of betrayal by her mother.

On the other hand, he felt they had started to make a real connection with each other. They had a very similar outlook on life and their personalities seemed to mess well. He could just be himself around her without worrying about if he was acting nerdy or goofy and she genuinely wanted to be around him. He felt that had also seemed to be expressed in them making out (she did point out the fact on how well he had treated her over the last nearly two weeks) then being able to relax with one another to sleep and hold on to each other.

He was glad that it was a Sunday morning and there was no rush for them to get up. He knew he should probably feel guilty for such a thing, but Tori was so warm and her soft curves were comfortable against him. He had no urge to separate himself from the lovely girl's grasp. He wanted her to have a friendly sight when she woke up, so leaving the bed even if he was wide awake was not an option.

As he waited for her to wake up and he admired her beauty, his mind continued to drift and contemplate on the pleasant situation and wondered why a piece of him felt uncomfortable with it. He was free to pursue any single girl he wanted and he found Tori quite attractive as a person, both physically and personality wise, so why hadn't he made a move? Was it because they were sharing the apartment? Was he not ready for any kind of emotional commitment after the abandonment at the beginning of the summer? Was it because he didn't want to screw up one of his new friendships by asking her out and her not feeling the same way? The latter seemed not to be much of a problem if last night was any indication, unless it was driven more out of the need to be comforted than any actually feelings on her part. That idea was certainly an unpleasant reminder of his failed relationship with Carly after the accident.

That painful thought soon drifted away as he continued to look at the lovely and kind girl in his arms. He fought the urge to gently kiss her awake starting with her forehead then traveling down her cute little nose and across one of her high cheekbones until he reached her soft pink lips.

His self-torture soon ended with her fluttering her eyes open and taking a deep breath before closing her eyes back and snuggling her forehead into his upper chest.

He smiled at the gesture and gently rubbed his hand up and down her upper left arm.

She smiled at the gentle touch and finally lifted her head to meet his eyes. She looked adorably cute with her makeup free face and sweet smile. Her greeting to him sweetly rolled off of her tongue, "Hey."

He answered just as softly, "Hey."

She glanced away to see if she could see a clock and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's just after eight—"

"Eight?!" she shouted in a near panic as she pushed off of him by the left shoulder and sat up. She looked like she was about to bolt out of bed, but Freddie gently rested a hand on her right forearm and whispered, "It's okay, it's Sunday. We're not late to any class."

She paused in trying to process what he said then blew out a calming breath and without hesitation lay back down over his chest and snuggled the crown of her head under his chin.

He took a soft breath, still a little surprised that she would want to snuggle up with him. He softly asked, "Are you alight?"

She stared off across his clothed muscular chest to the opposite wall. The memories of yesterday—all of yesterday—flooded her mind. She clenched her eyes shut and fought back the first slight stinging sensation behind her eyes signaling the first tears threatening to fall from the hurt of the truth she had taken for granted crumble then she slightly blushed from her actions before going to bed. She nervously swallowed and answered, "I think I'm supposed to apologize for what I did last night before we fell asleep but… I can't. I know it was wrong and inappropriate to do that, but I can't say I regret it."

He pursed his lips and glanced away for a second towards the opposite side of the room to look towards the window before looking back up to the crown of her head. "Ouch, I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted for being on the receiving end of a makeout session to ease some emotional pain."

She sat up and pulled away to scoot back a little from him to sit cross-legged in front of him. "Hey, I wasn't using you. I was…"

He slightly rolled his head to the side and gave her a questioning, but still welcoming expression.

She bowed her head. "Okay, I was taking some comfort with you and letting out some sexual tension, but I wasn't—"

He interrupted with a mildly confused tone, "Letting out some sexual tension?"

She looked up embarrassingly with a bit of deeper blush forming on her cheeks and muttered, "You're very handsome and sweet and nice and we've been living together for the last week and a half with you showing off your muscular body in working out…" She playfully pinched his bicep. "…how could I not feel a little something for you?"

Freddie felt genuinely flattered by her compliments then snorted out a laugh, "Oh, so it's my fault?"

She slightly lighted her chin as she gazed down at him lounging in front of her. She teased in a hoity tone, "Yes, it is your fault for being so good looking and sweet. How could I resist?"

He finally sat up to sit cross-legged in front of her, actually resisting the urge to pull her into his lap, and retorted in his Benson charm, "The same way I've resisted you this last week and a half?"

She knotted her brow and put on a poutful expression.

He laughed at her genuinely adorable expression and continued, "Hey you haven't exactly made it easy for me either with your sexy self, dressing in flattering outfit after flattering outfit every day for class or after we get home for the afternoon and evening when you look adorably cute and sexy in casual wear… and let's not forget how hot you look when you put your glasses on. Then when we finished working out, you're dripping with sex appeal."

He laughed and raised a finger to make a final point, "Then there was you not making it to the bathroom before taking off your shirt and sports bra to give me a fabulous view of your gorgeous back or when it's time to go to bed—" He motioned to her chest and actually finished with a hint of indignation, "—you're Miss 'I don't need support'. How do you think that's going to affect me? Pardon my language but… I'm still a teenager and shocked that I'm not trying to hide a permanent…" He cleared his throat and bashfully finished, "…hard-on."

The brunette looked down then crossed her arms over herself with her cheeks feeling warmer than usual. She realized she hadn't given it a second thought about how she had been dressing like she did during the summer months for bed. She had been throwing on an undershirt but not bothering to put on a second shirt as she would at home when she'd leave her room for something. Her downward gaze also picked up on seeing a hint of a tent in his boxers.

She looked back up to him with deeply blushing cheeks and whispered, "Okay, we're physically attracted to one another and staying together has tested that for both of us, but last night… I did want to find comfort with you because I trust you and feel safe with you—I wanted to find comfort with you, not just go out and find the first boy I could. I'm not like that… I'm ah…" She swallowed down her confession and finished, "…I don't know how far I was going to go last night, but I trust whatever happened I would have been alright with you."

He glanced down to the spot between their laps and put on a mask for his expression.

She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, that she had revealed too much, too soon and that he would turn away from her.

He quietly remarked, "That's a lot of faith to put into me."

"It's well placed…" A soft smirk formed on her face as she continued, "…especially after just finding out what I've been doing to you and you not making any kind of inappropriate move… but I think I already knew when you first gave me your key."

He remained silent and avoided looking at her for a few seconds until Tori reached over and softly placed her hand on his right forearm. She quietly continued with a hint of fear in her voice, "I'm physically attracted to you Freddie. That cat's out of the bag, but it is more than that… you're my friend and last night I finally stopped denying the obvious that I was liking you more than just a friend."

Freddie slightly lifted his head and met her eyes, his face remaining a mask to shield his emotions. He quietly asked, "So we're really addressing 'us' now? Not just how awkward it's become with use sharing the apartment?"

She bashfully looked away and muttered, "I guess so… what do you think about 'us'? The possibility of us?"

He looked down at his lap again and snorted out another laugh, "Before this morning, I haven't had the time to really consider 'us'. I've just been getting situated to the situation and just enjoying the idea that I've been hanging with people that are genuinely nice and friendly with me—even Jade and her 'mean girl' way then there was the whole situation of Ryder trying to drug you to…" He muttered in disgust, "I still haven't found him yet."

A fearful expression crept onto Tori's face and she swallowed down some nervousness, fear if she would be honest with herself. However, it struck her that he had thought about it since last night, "Before this morning?"

"I did wake up before you and having such a lovely, sweet and kind girl snuggled up to me, so it did give me time to think. I asked myself, 'Why hadn't I made a move on you?' You're single, I'm single and from not just from last night, you seemed like you could be interested in me."

She swallowed down some apprehension and asked, "How did you answer?"

"By weighing the possible outcomes if I did make a move on you… it would screw up our friendship—and I do want your friendship. I don't want to mess what I'm building right now with you and the others. I questioned whether you could really like me or that last night was just you using me to satisfy your emotional need." He took a deep breath then slowly let it out, "I have experience in being used like that… even if it wasn't intentional… I don't even know if I'm in the emotional state to get into a relationship."

The brunette softly bit her bottom lip then quietly asked, fearful of his answer, "Because of Sam? Because of Carly?"

He looked up to meet her soft brown eyes and paused in answering.

She knew it was a loaded question and that he could take it any number of ways, either by their failed friendship or their romantic involvement—from either girl. Sam's question about why he wasn't in Italy had been a slightly nagging question that she had tucked away, but would have liked an answer. She would take either as she was just hoping for anything that would allow him to emotionally open up to her.

"No, yes… no… I…" He took a deep breath and just studied her warm eyes, inviting him to just be honest and she wouldn't judge him.

"I've been lost since graduating from Ridgeway and ashamed over some of the decisions I've made over the last year…" He snorted out a laugh, "…I've been lost since before graduation without realizing it." He blew out a breath, a tired one even if he had just had one of the best night sleeps of his life.

"It's not something I've wanted to share… wanted to even look at again in myself. I just wanted to put that behind me, but with Sam here and…"

He paused to look at her, debating one last time whether he wanted to bare his soul or not to her, but her kind eyes was the push to speak.

"…I realize that I can't hide from it and keep it secret from my friends if I want to move forward. Let's start with Sam… I've been hesitant in telling you about my relationship with Sam—platonic or more so—and really delving into the emotions behind it because… it hurts and I've frankly I'm ashamed of my behavior getting into it and while I was in it. I find the whole thing embarrassing in hindsight. I chose to follow hormones and try to kill the loneliness of what had been frankly relationship fatigue in failure after failure than to do what was the right thing to do in the first place which was to try to let her down as easy as I could and not try to force something that I knew truly in my heart wasn't there. I simply didn't look at Sam in that way, but I gave her a chance when she wanted to try. A year later she's gone without a word and if I hadn't met her that night at Cat's, I probably still wouldn't know where she was."

The brunette nodded her head and reached out to rest a hand on one of his forearms.

He cracked a thankful smile to her then softly continued, "Then there was Carly… the girl that I've loved for a good chunk of my life that I could just never have and when I thought we finally were going to connect that way… it's snatched from me… just a trick to the eyes. Instead of coming back for us to start… she's gone and not coming back… at least not in the immediate future."

He looked down at the space between their laps again and took another deep breath before continuing in a solemn tone, "Finally there's me… I realized the people I love the most don't give a damn about me and I gave up me self respect time and time again to keep the illusion up, but it finally collapsed in front of your eyes… and now I'm trying to find my self respect again… I want to be able to look myself in a mirror and not be disgusted with myself."

He looked her straight in the eyes and whispered his final point, "…and maybe eventually find someone to let in again who's not going to tear my heart out."

Tori practically lunged at him and pulled him into the tightest of hugs.

Freddie was frozen in place then glanced to the side of her face and cautiously wrapped his arms around her to pat her on the back.

The brunette whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Thanks," he whispered in a near solemn tone.

Tori just held on to him, hoping her physical presence alone could soothed his heart… his injured soul as his embrace with her throughout the night gave her a peace she shouldn't have had to sleep through the night.

She finally pulled away of pressing against him, but kept her hands on his shoulders. She gave him such a sweet smile that for a moment he thought she was actually renewing his soul. Saying such a profound thing might not be the most

He nervously laughed, "Why don't I go make myself useful and fix us some breakfast?"

She took that as the clear sign that he wasn't up for any more sharing. One could only bare one's soul for so long without it becoming to raw to talk about. She nodded her head then surprised him by placing a chaste kiss on his forehead, an act where he slightly tilted his head to the right and closed his eyes.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen. I just have to stop by the bathroom first."

She pulled away from his grasp and crawled off the bed then walked towards the door.

The former tech-producer watched the nimble looking half-Latino make her way out of the room—actually watched her near athletically shapely legs that seemed to go on forever, her rear slightly shifting back and forth under the short tight sleep-shorts with each short swing of her hips from each step and soft long hair sway back and forth across her back.

He took a deep breath then slowly let it out once she was out of sight. He looked down at lap and seeing that he was still tenting a little bit under the material of his boxers. He reached behind him to grab a pillow and cover is lap. He groaned out in frustration as he stared at the empty doorway. "I definitely need a cold shower."

A few minutes later after a stop by her bathroom to take care of her morning business, Tori took a seat at their round dining table in the corner of the apartment and across from their kitchen. Though Freddie had commented on her state of dress in their heart-to-heart, she hadn't returned to her room to throw anything else on and just remained in her tight fitted tank top and very short sleeping shorts. She may have been teasing him a little in her state of dress, but as vein as it sounded, she liked the attention from him and she highly doubted that he was going to change his lazy casual wear that showed off his desirable body.

She patiently sat there for a few minutes, surprised that she had beaten him to their shared living area. She turned her head in the direction of the hallway to their rooms when she heard a shower running. She flicked an eyebrow up at wondering why he would just hope in the shower, not realizing that she was the reason he had stepped inside to cool off. She thought about getting started with breakfast, but she decided to wait as he said he wanted to fix them breakfast.

In only about ten minutes later, he exited the hallway with slightly damped hair and in a new pair of boxers and a black athletic shirt. He bashfully smiled to her and remarked with a lace of embarrassment, "Sorry, I needed a… quick shower."

She watched him immediately go the kitchen without further explanation and about his task of fixing them breakfast. She found the sight of him performing such a mundane task quite attractive as his muscles slightly flexed and pulled while he moved about the kitchen. She had to softly bite into her bottom lip to suppress an animalistic groan in physically needing him.

After consuming her eye candy for a few minutes, Freddie brought two plates to the table, setting on in front of the long haired brunette and another one to her left instead of across from her. He went back to the kitchen and retrieved a glass of orange juice for her and a cup of milk for him. He sat the glasses down on the table less than a minute later then took his seat to her left.

They sat in relative silence as they ate breakfast, but the silence between them wasn't entirely an awkward one, but a mild bashful one where youngsters were out on their first date as each were on their very first date and really didn't know what to say to the other without fear of embarrassing themselves. They had confessed a lot in a few short minutes and both, perhaps Freddie more, needed to sow themselves back up before they could continue conversing.

After the pair finished their breakfast, Freddie picked up the plates and took them to the kitchen to go ahead and wash them. Tori soon joined him to rinse and dry them.

He quickly got the water hot and soaped up a washcloth to wash over what little food particles were on the plates. He handed a plate to Tori to quickly rinse it then set it in the drying tray so she could take the other one before drying them both.

The task didn't take more than a few minutes, but in that time, Tori decided to finally speak up to reveal at least one truth she had been keeping from him after he made his confession to her. She stated in a rhetorical manner, knowing he couldn't have forgot, but didn't know how else to start the conversation, "You remember the nightmare I had recently? The one that spooked me all day?"

Freddie cautiously answered, not meeting her eyes, as he finished rinsing his hands after washing the second plate, "Yeah?"

"I lied about it to you."

Freddie stopped midway taking a cloth and drying his hands.

Tori looked on in mild worry while watching him just stopping in place. She felt her stomach start to sink just before he slowly started drying his hands again before turning to face her. "What?"

"I'm sorry; I lied to you about it. I was just embarrassed about. I'm sorry if I violated your trust."

He glanced to the floor and asked in barely above a whisper, "So I did try to hurt you in your dream?"

"No, I was calling out your name because… in my dream we were being intimate—really—intimate and I was calling your name out in pleasure and… when I woke up, I was… in a compromised position, so I couldn't have you see me."

He had to take a few seconds to process what she had said. "Wow, ah…" He glanced away and cleared his throat. He brought his hand to the back of his neck and idly started rubbing it. "I'm not use having girls really be attracted to me, especially to the point of having… explicit dreams where I'm involved."

The brunette knotted her brow in the most adorable way to Freddie's eyes and asked, "How do you know if a girl has had that type of dream?"

He knotted his brow in a matching fashion then laughed, "I don't."

She soon joined him in the laughter, softly patting his shoulder with a hand. She leaned her head towards him and the sides of their temples touched. The laughter soon faded and she looked up to meet his eyes. She saw they were so soft and welcoming and he in turn saw the same thing in her eyes, free of any judgment he was afraid she'd hand down to him.

Tori reached up her right hand and cupped his cheek then crashed her lips against his lips.

Freddie was caught by surprise for a second, but it was the quickest second of his life as he returned the kiss with just as much ferocity and took her by the hips with his strong hands.

Her right arm snaked around the back of his neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss to near devouring his mouth.

His fingertips on her hips tightened then lifted her up to sit her up on the counter while her hands moved from his face and wrapped her arms behind the back of his neck.

His hand moved off her hips to hold her sides for a moment before his fingers slipped under the hem of her tight tank-top, his fingers playfully brushing over her smooth olive skin of her sides.

They traded kisses so fast that they were stealing each other's breaths, playful tongues poking out and swiping at each other's lips.

Tori was the first to start loosing too much breath and had to break for a moment to catch it. Her arms loosened their grip around the back of his neck to allow some separation, but Freddie took the opportunity of the space to move his mouth down her cheek, jaw-line and to the left side hollow of her neck where he started leaving butterfly kisses along it.

Tori's left hand cupped the back of his neck and her fingertips played with his hairline as she closed her eyes and breathed out, "Freddie…"

His hands moved away from teasing her sides and back down to her hips before moving back and cupping her rear. She spread her legs apart, signaling for him to draw closer to her. He stepped forward as he pulled her towards him to balance on the edge of the counter, wanting more contact between them with muscular chest pressed against soft and supple breasts, only the thin material of their sleepwear separating them.

She felt him press against her center and it sent a shiver up her spine right to her brain with a piece of the feeling going into her heart. Things had gotten a little heated with Danny, her first serious boyfriend and with Steven, the two timing loser, but nothing like this and she had never given serious thought about letting them go all the way with her. She had been raised to get some real commitment out of a guy before giving him that as in a wedding band on her finger. However, being in Freddie's arms, his delicate touches, the things he was doing with his lips across her skin as they made their way up to below her ear and just being him made her seriously consider letting him take her right there on the counter. She expected to do that on her wedding night and this obviously wasn't the most romantic setting, but… God did he feel good against her.

The same thoughts were running through the Seattle boy's mind as he softly pecked on her skin, massaged the lithe body through her clothing and his pelvis started slowly rocking back and forth as he could feel her press against him, her soft whimpering invading his left ear with her lips close enough to kiss it. The only person he thought he would give his virginity to would be to Carly on their wedding night, granted a little naïve in this day and age for his age group, but they had been hammered home beliefs that he did believe in, but… the way Tori felt and fit in his arms and hands along with all the kindness and friendliness she had shown him that he say had been real since they reconnected… he was seriously considering making love to her on the counter… on the kitchen table, the couch, his or her bed… heck any flat surface would do including the wall if she wanted it.

Their respective internal debates as they lovingly groped (and ground against) one another were interrupted with their doorbell ringing. The ringing pierced the sounds of their breaths and heartbeats pounding in their ears. Freddie pulled his lips away from Tori's exposed shoulder from being able to pull the strap over her shoulder, but each held tightly on the other as Freddie turned his head towards the door and she looked around his muscular arm.

The brunette breathlessly asked, "Maybe they'll go away?"

Her suggested possibility flew out the figurative window when the doorbell was replaced with a loud knock and a familiar Vega shout, "Tori?! Open up!"

Tori bowed her head, brushed a few stray hairs behind her ears and huffed out, "Trina… I'll get it."

Freddie awkwardly smiled then took a step back from between her legs and away from the edge of the counter.

She slipped off the counter then turned to the skin then turned on the cold water. She gathered a bit of water in her palms then lightly splashed her face, neck and upper chest. She grabbed the spare dry rag then damped away the water to help cool down. She dropped the rag to the counter, pulled up her fallen tank top strap then headed for the door. She took a few calming breaths to lower her heartbeat and hoped that with the dissipating of heat off of her cheeks meant the blush was vanishing with it. She glanced downward to her shorts and relieved that there wasn't any… 'spots' on the material.

She stopped at the door and looked through the peephole then pulled back, a look of utter shock forming on her face. She opened the door and softly uttered in surprise even if she had already heard her sister from the other side of the door, "Trina?"

The older Vega sister stormed inside past Tori into the living room, carrying a suitcase in her right hand and pulling her rolling luggage with her. She dropped her bags just feet into the foyer and was about to turn to Tori when she stopped in surprise to see the muscular teenager in his undershirt and boxers leaning against the edge of the kitchen counter drying his hands with a towel hanging past his waist almost to the hem of his shorts.

She stopped and looked him up and down, taking the briefest seconds to process who she was seeing and admiring a little of his physical features. A brief comment raced through her mind of seeing that he had gotten handsomer and got even better fit than the last time she had saw him. "Freddie? What are you doing here?"

His state of dress finally hit her as she turned back to look at her sister and seeing her state of dress as well. Her mind quickly put the pieces together and uttered in shock, "You're with Freddie?"

"Ah… no, yes, no…" She dropped her hands to the sides and shouted in mild panic, "…wait what?"

"I asked if you two were together." The older girl motioned a hand towards him and shouted incredulously, "He's in his boxers and you two look like you both just got out of bed."

"We did just get out of bed… but that's because we woke up at the same time and Freddie fixed us breakfast. He's my roommate—I'm his roommate…"

"Roommate? How are you two roommates?"

"There was a mix up in the room assignments and they thought I was a boy. They're still trying to figure out how to get him—me a new room." The younger sister knotted her brow and asked, "Didn't mom and dad tell you?" She instantly felt embarrassed about bringing them up.

"No, they didn't tell me anything after they left." She suspiciously looked her sister up and down then towards the former technical-producer. She had her doubts about her sister's explanation, especially since she could see the hint of flush on her sister's tanned skin, but this wasn't the time to challenge her on it.

Freddie looked caught in the middle. He thumbed over his shoulder and asked, "Would you two like some privacy?"

Trina raised a hand. "No, it's fine. Unfortunate it's nothing private and we'd probably need your help if you're willing."

Tori squinted. "Help?"

The older Vega flippantly remarked, "With fixing this between mom and dad."

Tori shouted in outrage, her blood being set ablaze, but for a far different reason than what Freddie had caused last night and just minutes ago, "Fix this?! We can't fix mom cheating on dad with his partner! She betrayed him! She betrayed us! You came all the way back her to do that?"

"Yes. I want our family to stay intact."

All the emotions she had buried late last night and this morning being in Freddie's presence exploded out in one outburst along with other buried feelings and thought she wasn't consciously aware, "And why do you care?! They don't love you! They don't even want you to be a part of this family. Why do you think they were so eager to ship you off to New York?"

The former technical producer looked wide-eyed in shock and his jaw slacked.

Trina reeled back as if her sister had physically slapped her in the face.

Tori crossed her arms under her chest. Her words were vicious, but in her mind quite true, so she pushed on, "We both know it. They haven't cared for you for years. When you had your wisdom teeth pulled out, what did they do? They purposely took a trip so they didn't have to take care of you, but dumped you on me. Dad couldn't care less for you! Before that he was more concern about his camera than you. He had to bribe me with a car just to take you along to go to Yerba because he just wanted to get rid of you for our break. Did you really want to go to New York for college? Or was it because they pushed it so they could get you as far away from them as possible?"

The younger sister quickly drew and release breath, harsher than when Freddie was heating her up less than five minutes ago once she was finished.

The older sister on the other hand glared at her then pointed harshly at her. "Oh, but they definitely love you! Little miss perfect that they always praised and put first!"

Tori narrowed her eyes and sharply retorted, "Do they? Dad stopped caring and Mom's been neglectful to us for the last year. She could care less about my problems too. She was too damn busy with Gary!"

The sisters looked at each other with buried anger, jealousy and resentment and perhaps ready to tear each other apart but for a calming voice calling out, "But you do love each other?"

The sister turned to look at him, each directing their hateful gazes at him.

He shrugged a shoulder and quietly continued, not intimidated in the least by their looks as he had seen worst, "Right now it doesn't matter whether either of them loves you. You're sisters and you should love one another. It might be a simplistic view, especially coming from a guy who doesn't have any siblings, but they seem to be the source of the problem, not either of you. Don't take out your anger and pain out on each other because… you're both feeling the same hurt and betrayal."

Both sisters embarrassingly looked to the floor for a second, having taken their good natured sisterly rivalry over the line with their words.

Tori looked back to her sister and cracked a bashful of smile. "You might be crazy… but have I told you lately that I love you?"

Trina closed her eyes, the first stinging tears coming from them and snorted out a breath at her sister quoting the song that she had wrote for one of her birthdays then losing the right to it. She opened her eyes and took a step forward, drawing her sister into a hug.

The younger sister returned the hug, the sisters holding each other tight.

Trina bowed her head into the crook of Tori's shoulder and heaved out a cry.

Tori softly rubbed a hand up and down her back, trying to comfort her older sister.

"What are we going to do Tori?"

The younger brunette closed her eyes, a few stray tears falling as she softly answered, "I don't know Trina. I don't know."

Freddie stood off to the side, feeling helpless in the situation. He couldn't pull some high-tech computer gimmick or throw himself in front of a truck or beat the mess out of someone to fix this problem. His father had left his mother soon after he was born, so he didn't have any real advice to give them.

Trina finally pulled away from her sister's embrace, wiping away her tears with her thumbs then softly chocked out as she was still trying to settle her breath, "Let's go see mom."

Tori shook her head and looked to the floor. "I can't see her… I can't even look at her."

"But we need to talk to her."

The younger sister demanded, "And tell her what?"

Trina opened her mouth, but she couldn't form words. She embarrassingly closed it and glanced to the floor.

Tori saw that her older sister really didn't have an answer and her heart broke a little more at seeing her older sister partially crumbling. The girl obviously threw some clothes in her bags and hopped on a plane to get back here without thinking through exactly what she was going to do to resolve the situation other than seeing her parents.

Freddie softly suggested, "We were just finishing breakfast. Why don't you sit down with us and let me fix you some breakfast. You can catch your breath and calm down a little bit so you can think things through with a clear head?"

She glanced to the cleared kitchen table, a little touched that he offered to fix her something after it was clear they were done eating.

The former Seattleite continued, "Do you want to crash here for the day… or however long you're going to stay? I wouldn't think staying at home would be something you'd be comfortable doing."

The older brunette looked to her sister on what her opinion was on the offer.

Tori rested a comfortable hand on her upper arm and nodded her head in approval.

Trina looked back to Freddie and replied, "Thanks." A wicked smile formed on her face as she continued, "What are the sleeping arrangements for you two?"

Freddie cleared his throat then calmly stated, "We do have separate bedrooms and beds. Give me a chance to change the sheets and you can have my bed. I can take the couch."

Trina glanced to her sister and flicked an eyebrow up and smirked. "Why would he have to change his sheets?"

Tori frowned as a hint of blush formed on her cheeks.

Freddie rushed in to rescue her with the obvious explanation, "Because I did pick up a few unfortunate habits of my nearly hypochondriac mother and it would be rude not to give you clean bed linen." He turned back to the kitchen to prepare her something without waiting for a response.

Trina had a seat at the table while Tori went about getting her something to drink and Freddie prepared her breakfast. She took the opportunity to admire the handsome hunk of man in the kitchen as her baby sister had done earlier before she arrived.

Tori blocked her view as she sat the glass of orange juice in front of her and for a split second, she saw a disapproving expression on her younger sister's face. The younger teenager then took a seat next to her and took her hand in support.

The girls just sat quietly for a few minutes it took Freddie to finish preparing breakfast, but soon he was back at the table and sitting the plate in front of the older Vega sister along with some silverware and commented, "I'm going to grab a shower, get dress and change my sheets."

Tori refrained from commenting that he had already taken a shower, but if he had gotten as heated up as she did in their makeout session on the counter, he could use one. She still needed to get one. Her mind drifted for a second on how they could save some hot water while both needing a shower.

He turned and headed to cut through the living room to head for his room. The instant Freddie disappeared down his hallway, Trina looked to her sister and asked, "So you've really been living together since you moved in?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what?"

The older teenager rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Tori. I knew you had a little thing for him at Kenan's party then again when he stayed for the weekend and now… look at him. He's gotten even better looking and you're sharing an apartment. Do I need to explain it to you in baby talk?"

"He's been a perfect gentleman to me while we've been staying here together. He hasn't made one move on me." She wasn't exactly lying about the last part as she had been the one to initiate the moves on him.

The older sister beamed and chuckled with a soft catcall, "Oh? So he's not interested in you and available? You haven't called a claim on him and made a move on him?"

"Would it do any good? You jacked my date with Mark McCallan that one time."

"Yeah, but… this isn't just beating little sis to the punch if there is something really going on between you two. Hoping to get another chance with him?"

Tori glanced towards the table a soft blush started forming on her high cheekbones.

Trina pried as she recognized the body language. "So is that a yes? Is there something there from last year? You're calling dibs on him?

Tori took a deep breath then let most of her worries leave with her breath then answered, "Yes."

"You're going to tell me how 'involved' you are with him? I'm not buying about no moves have been made by at least one of you. I think I walked in on something."

"I… we're still trying to figure that out. You did kind of interrupt us."

Trina smiled triumphantly and teased, "I did."

Tori glanced to the table and softly blushed. "Maybe…"

"How maybe? Was it G-rated?"

She shrugged a shoulder and hesitantly admitted, "PG-thirteen I would say… it may have gone a little higher if you hadn't knocked."

Trina's voice dropped to a serious manner, "It's that serious? How far would have you gone with him?"

"I don't… I'm not sure. I guess to the point I wasn't comfortable going any further."

"And where would that be?"

Tori looked up at her, her face nearly turning pink having this discussion.

"I'm not mom. You don't have to be embarrassed about telling me anything."

"I don't know."

The older teenager nodded her head then gave her a gentle warning, "That's a big step baby sis and you want to do it with the right mindset and have the proper protection. Not out of just lust or for comfort or just wanting to hold on to him…" Trina cracked a smile as she softly joked, "…even with a guy as hot looking as Freddie."

Tori snorted out a laugh, "Thanks. I'm going to let you finish breakfast while I go get a quick shower and get dressed then… we can go see mom." She got up from her seat and headed to the hallway, but she wasn't six feet away when she heard Trina call out behind her, "Why don't you ask to join Freddie? You could save some hot water."

Tori became nearly as red in the face as Cat's dyed hair as she stopped in place then quickly dashed to her room to get away from the laughter of her sister.

Author's Note: I hope that this chapter was satisfying and sorry if I teased again with them. It is a T-rated story and there are site rules. Heck, maybe I could get illusorygentleman to write a 'What if?' scene if he has the time.