Hello dear readers. I hope you had a wonderful Easter if you celebrate it. I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Guest: Thanks

ArtisticAngel6: Thanks and they will meet, but the first meeting might be a little lackluster since they're just two guys that coincidently share the same last name.

ryankimberley6: Thank you. I update as quickly as I can, but I have a life outside of writing. However, I try to write as much as I can as fast as I can without compromising story integrity.

Fanfic-Reader-88: She's a fictionalized version of a person who is probably is very nice, but this person wanted to get something juicy on Jade since her personal life isn't a mess or acting like a spoiled musician.

They've dealt with the doppelganger thing before, so one more isn't going to bother them. The thing about the true meaning behind Jon's surname will be the biggest bombshell.

mkpunk: I'm glad to be writing back on this series. I hope to take on a more realistic take on celebrities like the press, the promotion of music, the press, etc., but we will see it from their point of view. I can't say right now if there will be more interviews involving the other characters, but their professional lives will impact on their personal lives.

One never knows who will be reading their fics (NSA, you could leave a review), but I've never shied away of talking about subjects that could make people uncomfortable that have came up due to character traits/interaction. I've talked about race and religion, so why not politics? However, I don't see what is political in repeating that the US military was ordered to let four Americans die including the Ambassador to my country's blood enemy.

Tori still doesn't see the resemblance in Shelby.

Challenge King: I've always wrote Steven as a tragic figure and tragic figures don't get happily ever after… well they're not supposed to :D Jade wanted to rip that interviewer a new one. Now why wouldn't things work out with Beck? Victoria Justice and Max Schneider I think look cute in the videos they do together.

Twilight Warrior 627: Heather and Dusty… spoilers. Bori? What could possibly go wrong between them? It's not like Beck isn't like the perfect guy that is completely loyal, respectful, loving and trustworthy towards his partner.

Shout out time. Illusorygentleman has started up a new story and for those that are old enough to read it (it is M-Rated), you should check it out. It's a different take on the S&C episode focusing on actually taking advantage of guest stars and their past with one another. It's called, "Killer Tuna Redux"

Also, I have a self-plug. If any of you are interested in wondering what is going on with Dusty, I have another story paralleling this one: 'A Wayward Son's Son'.

Rating: T Language

Chapter 3

Bots Restaurant
Venice, CA
Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The whole 'gang' of former Hollywood Arts students except for Rex, but including the more peripheral friends of Ava Cohen and Sinjin Van Cleef were gathered around a long rectangular table, one usually reserved for birthday parties and on one of the upper levels of the multilevel restaurant. The table was sitting parallel and near to one side of the floor to the large windows. On one side of the table sat André, Freddie, Ian, Jade, Tori, and Beck while on the other side sat Ava, Sinjin, Trina, Sam, Cat and Robbie.

Other than the seat reserved for Rex, there were two other seats purposely left empty for those that couldn't make it.

The very human owner didn't mind them using the table, but actually quite happy to let the celebrities use it when they came by to have a meal together as it always packed the restaurant with other customers in the hopes of getting a chance to see them and perhaps speak with them.

Some of them found it kind of odd, Trina in particular beneath her, to dine at the themed restaurant, but Cat, Sam and particularly Ian liked it sharing with Freddie the soft spot for it with the robots as the young child did like Transformers. The guys also liked that they could get good quality hamburgers and related foods since they were now too old to be allowed in Karaoke Dokie. Also it was Jade's turn to pick the restaurant they would meet up to catch up with their lives and even after all this time, no one really wanted to argue with her regardless of how much she had 'mellowed out'.

Sam sitting next to Cat commented with an irritated filled voice as she looked at Jade setting on the other side of the table, "I still need to get paid."

Jade narrowed her eyes and wanted to snap at the girl, but calmly replied, "You're not getting it."

The blonde hissed out in a slightly less irritating voice, "Why is it always a fight with you?"

Jade held her tongue for a fraction of a second to prevent her from saying what she truly wanted to say. Instead she answered with a forced calmness, "We're not talking about all the other times. We're talking about this time and this time is because you're lazy and expect everything to be handed to you. For some stupid reason, you're expecting me to pay you despite you not actually doing the job. Babysitting actually requires you to be there, not take off and trick Rex to do the job."

The blonde groaned in frustration then uttered, "That's why we have stupid people: so we can take advantage of them."

Freddie sitting on the other side of Ian with the child between him and Jade, palmed over his forehead, already annoyed with the conflict between his fiancée and the blonde headed half-demon. He of course was one hundred percent behind Jade in her point, but he didn't want to have to deal with a fight during their catch up get together.

Fortunately, Cat spoke up, "Sam, please just let it go."

Sam laughed in mild disbelief as she relaxed back in her seat, "Do you have to take her side?"

"It's not about taking a side, just that I know that neither one of you is going to convince the other, so one of you has to drop it."

"Then why don't you take my side and have her drop it and pay us?"

The blue and purple highlighted haired musician answered with a far more patient tone than what she was feeling, "Sam, she's made her choice because she knows she not going to be able to get me to give you one dime and you shouldn't emotional try to manipulate her to try."

The blonde narrowed her eyes while looking at her roommate, "Easy for you to say since she's taking your side."

Freddie interrupted/questioned in a raised and exaggerated concerned voice as he glanced around, "Speaking of Rex, where is he anyway?"

The ventriloquist responded with a sour tone though he was glad for the distraction provided from the computer science major as if the roommates/friends really got into it, he'd be hearing of it for days and dropping by the apartment would be more of a burden than a pleasure, "He said he was busy. He's out with another one of his 'lady friends'." Robbie shook his head and muttered, "It's just annoying when he tries to bring them home and—"

Jade forgot about her argument with Sam in an instant, covered Ian's ears and quickly asked, "Can we please change the subject?"

Her tone was anything but her making an innocent suggestion to Robbie. He made the wise decision to look to Tori and asked, "What have you been up to since you got back?"

The brunette sat her drink next to her plate and answered, "Same as Jade and Cat: relaxing."

André was sitting a few spaces down on the same side as Tori and asked, "So you really are taking a break too?"

She slightly shook her head. "Not really."

Jade raised her pierced eyebrow and softly questioned, "Oh?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to tell anybody anything until I was sure—well at least until there was a good chance of happening."

Cat finished chewing a French fry and asked, "And what's that?"

Tori looked kind of embarrassed at spilling some of the beans and now kind of in the awkward position of having to tell more.

Beck sitting on her left, looking as desirable as ever to the ladies with the addition of growing his hair out even further to an almost ridiculously length that rivaled Tori's length and slightly longer than Jade's hair length, wrapped an arm around Tori's shoulders and teased, "You can't tease them Tori."

Tori's natural smile slightly faltered while her shoulders tensed with the feeling of the slight weight of his arm and touch.

Trina on the other side of the table noticed the slight tension from her sister, not the first one she had noticed over the last several months, but retreated into taking a sip from her diet soda to hide her duel concern and annoyed expression. She wasn't the only one that noticed as Jade caught the slight reaction in the corner of her eye and immediately thrown into slight confusion.

The younger Vega sister however continued before either girl could make any subtle reaction, "I'm going to be starring in this indie movie: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. It's based off a book. It's about these two best friends that are kind of in love with each other, but Ely's gay. They have this 'no kiss list' where neither can kiss that person, but the rule gets broken when Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend.

Freddie squinted his eyes and awkwardly asked, "I don't understand how that's a plot."

Tori furled her brow and quickly questioned, "What?"

"I mean, it's not like it's two girls competing for the same guy and they have to work out their differences in agreeing to who gets to have a shot at him."

Sam muttered before taking a sip of her drink, "Isn't that the truth?"

Freddie continued, not wanting to dwell on the memory of watching Carly and Sam fight over who had the right to pursue a classmate, Shane (cousin to the Big Time Rush band member James) years ago, "If the guy is straight, then it's pointless for Ely to go after him and if he's homosexual, it's pointless for Naomi to be with him—"

Jade interrupted in a joking manner, "Like Moose."

Freddie glanced at his girlfriend with slightly pursed lips then looked back to Tori as to finish, "The guy isn't going to suddenly become hetero- or homosexual and if he did that would offend a lot of people, so how is there a conflict? If there isn't a conflict, there isn't a story. I do remember a few things from Hollywood Arts."

André asked, "Maybe he's bisexual?"

The former tech-producer looked almost insulted by the question before responding, "That would just be a copout and throwing in the LGBT issues in there just to be provocative."

Jade smirked with a shift of her head to rest on her left shoulder while quickly pointing out, "This is Hollywood. People like being provocative."

The younger Vega sister pointed out, "It's more about their friendships and what it means to be in love with a friend."

Sam snorted out a laugh as she continued to stuff her face with a hamburger.

Freddie passed the blonde a glance, the parallels to his past not lost on either of the former Seattleites or anyone else at the table. He looked back to Tori and asked for clarification, "So it's about your character coming to terms that she's never going to get with the guy she's been in love with for most of her life? She's in love with Ely I gather."

"You could put it that way."

Freddie let out a chuckle and shook his head before taking a sip from his drink. "I think I'll skip it or at least wait until it is on BlueBox."

The brunette chuckled, "Or maybe I'll drag you and Jade to the premiere?"

Jade laughed, "I always knew you were pushy."

Beck slightly nudged his girlfriend in the side with his elbow and teasingly urged, "Tell them about the other news."

Tori softly bit her bottom lip to hold back the excitement for a moment then commented in a nearly giddy tone, "There's talk about me maybe filming a pilot for MTV." She leaned forward to whisper to her friends and hopefully prevent anyone else from overhearing, "It's called 'Eye Candy'."

Robbie softly remarked, "Well, the title would fit you. You are pretty good 'eye candy'."

Everyone at the table tuned to the sometimes awkward young man. He nervously laughed, "I just felt it was something that Rex would say."

They glanced among themselves again then readily agreed with several nods.

Freddie offered, "Rex would say that… and I would agree with the statement."

Jade raised her pierced eyebrow in his direction.

He laughed and leaned around behind Ian in his booster seat to give her a quick kiss on the cheek then looked back to Tori when he settled back into his seat. "Can you tell us what it's about?"

The brunette suddenly became evasive, "Ah…"

Trina rolled her eyes then readily interjected, "Yes she can because I've lost count how many times she's told me."

"You're different, you're family."

The older Vega sister quickly countered, "As if that's a bright solid line for the people sitting at this table—except for Sinjin."

The lanky curly haired teen shouted with mild offense, "Hey!"

Trina flicked her brow and shrugged a shoulder.

Tori gave a smirk to her sister then eagerly began explaining the plot, "I'd play this girl named Lindy. She's suppose to be this tech genius—like Freddie—and her roommate convinces her that she should try some online dating, but then she starts to realize that one of the guys could be some deadly cyber stalker that could actually turn out to be a serial killer. She teams up with a group of hackers and we try to solve murders and…" She smiled brightly and teased, "…and dishes out her own style of justice in New York City."

Jade groaned and rolled her eyes, "Tori, you can do better than MTV."

Trina was quick to speak, "I said the same thing to her, but she won't listen to me."

Tori laughed somewhat hurt in her voice, ignoring her sister after hearing the same argument several times from her, "Jade?"

The pale musician cocked her head to the side and pointed out, "Other than the VMAs, no one really watches the channel and a series would cut into your music career."

The brunette quickly retorted with a playfully picking tone, initially ignoring her first point, "Selena did it, Miley did it and I can still tour in the summer if I want to."

Jade quickly raised a finger and pointed out, "Selena doesn't have a show anymore on Dingo and please never compare yourself in anyway to that train wreck. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see Cat sing in the pre-show, but I am not sorry for missing Miley's—" Jade raised her fingers and air quoted, "—'performance'."

Freddie let a shiver go through him as recalled watching it as he was in the audience that night being Tori's 'date' since Beck was up in Canada visiting some family and Jade was wrapping up the last week of her summer tour. He wanted to go home and wash his eyes out with bleach after watching it.

The young Latino singer was quick to defend in a soft voice, "That's not fair to her. She's really sweet—"

"That's on a train wreck publicly. You can only maintain such an act until it starts seeping into your life. If she keeps this up, I know how her journey ends… vividly."

Tori frowned along with the rest of patrons at the table looking at each other uncomfortably. Jade had eventually told the rest of them her 'dream' from more than a year and a half ago of a possible future where she had seen herself be turned into a bad girl druggy musician then watched as she saw herself collapse on stage during the last performance of a tour and died within minutes in Freddie's arms backstage.

Jade being secure in the truth of what she saw, it would be a pointless battle to argue an opposing viewpoint.

Sam dismissively remarked, "Sounds like you're just jealous of her success."

The pale teenager snapped, "Jealous of what? An attention whor—person—that openly admitted to doing it solely for the purpose of wanting people to talk about her and she could 'make history'? I'd rather be remembered for actually having good music than some silly little stunt where I grind my…" She cleared her throat and cut herself off due to Ian blissfully eating his view, not understanding what the girls were talking about. She finished with a firm voice, "Are you happy that Miley got more talk than Cat for her performance?"

Sam nose wrinkled and her mouth became a thin line.

Jade flicked an eyebrow and confidently remarked, "Now you see my point?"

The blonde nearly glared at the taller girl for having to agree with her point. She quickly turned to her hamburger to continue to stuff her face with food.

Freddie pivoted the conversation to a more positive note by asking Tori, "If the show picks up, will you be filming in New York?"

Her smile faltered, but she was able to maintain her overall enthusiasm. "I guess, but there're plenty of actors that film up in Canada during the filming season but still live in L.A. Beck is already filming in the area for the show for a few weeks then flies back to film the rest in Studio City. It's not that bad."

"Gone for months at a time during the fall and spring then gone for the summer tour?" Freddie whistled, "We'll barely see you."

She smiled at the former Seattleite with a sweet smile and answered, "I'll miss everyone too, but I will make time for my friends. I won't have every second booked where I can't spend time with you guys, but…" Her smile became a little forced as she sucked in a soft breath through her teeth, "…I have to go ahead and fly out to New York in two weeks to start shooting for 'No Kiss List'."

Trina laughed, "Yeah, I'll have the house to myself for a month and I'm going to—"

Tori quickly raised a finger with a stern look on her face and quickly cut her sister off, "No parties."

The older sister crossed her arms over her chest and put on a poutful expression. "Tori."

"I am not having you trash our house again."

"I did not trash the house; it just got a little noisy for the neighbors…" She pointed to the girl beside her and stated in a near panic, "Sam was the one that broke your favorite lamp."

The blonde was in the middle of chewing her hamburger and spat out the majority of it onto table between Jade and Tori when she shouted in outrage, "Hey!"

Trina rolled her eyes, not impressed at all with the half-demon's outrage. "It's the truth."

The pale singer and olive skin future actress made sour faces towards one another to check to see if any of Sam's food had splattered on them or into their food while Ian started laughing up a storm at the sight.

As Tori was damping around her area with a napkin with a slight frown, she pointed out in a deadpan manner, "The cops came out there—three times in one night—while I was gone. You're lucky dad was able to convince the patrol officers to not arrest anyone."

Trina was quick to defend herself, "That was not my fault and don't expect me to give him any gratitude. I'd have rather spent a night in jail than to thank him."

The younger sister wanted to comment to Trina that she shouldn't think of their father that way, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Their parents' messy divorce after it came out that their mother had cheated on their father with his partner Gary had not endeared either parent in their children's eyes.

In hoping to turn the conversation back onto a positive note once again, Freddie remarked, "I would think you'd be too busy to throw any parties with your expanded role on Divertisimo. Hostess?"

Jade teased her and Freddie with a mild devious glee, "Or those rumors that you're going to be on that celebrity bachelor… the one where they're trying to hook up that prince… one that looks like Freddie?"

Freddie sourly remarked as if his food in his mouth suddenly turned bad, "Prince Gabriel…"

The dark haired singer softly mocked, "We all had to have a double at some point…"

He glanced to his fiancée with narrowed eyes. "That's not why I don't like him."

She softly laughed before she took a sip from her drink, much to the dissatisfaction of Freddie.

Trina continued as if the couple hadn't had their little side moment, "Well, he is quite handsome and a prince… and I am quite irresistible… the show would be a foregone conclusion and not a bad one for me…"

Ian innocently asked, "Are you going to be the giant cheese again?"

She smiled to the child and answered in a surprisingly pleasant tone, "No, I'm not going to be the piece of cheese."

The child looked disappointed as he whispered, "Ah…"

Trina felt a twinge of disappointment as well since despite the mild humiliation of starting off as a character for a child segment, she did have a little fanbase out of it and Ian genuinely liked her performance and she could admit he was kind of adorable. "I might put on the cheese costume one last time for your next birthday."

Ian's face immediately lit up.

Jade slightly frowned as she whispered, "Don't make promises you don't intend to keep."

"Oh, I'll keep it just to see you back in that costume too."

The lighter skin toned teenager gave her a deadpanned expression. Yellow was not her color and didn't particularly like wearing it, but as she did the first time, she would do it if it brought Ian a little joy. She cracked a slight smile while looking to her stepbrother.

Freddie took a quick sip from his drink, trying to suppress his rage towards the prince from the conversation they shared that Jade didn't know about when he met up with her for a little bit during a layover in the tiny country during the European leg of her tour. He mumbled out in mild disgust, "You can do far better than him Trina, trust me on that."

Before she could reply, he leaned slightly forward to look past Ian, Jade and Tori to ask the long haired teenager, "Speaking of filming, when do you go back to filming?"

Beck finished a few fries then answered, "In two weeks… about the same time Tori goes off to New York to film her movie." He looked to his ex-girlfriend and casually remarked with a bit of tease in his voice, "I heard from your interview that some fans wanted to know if you would guest star… maybe as a love interest?"

Jade rolled her eyes and slightly shook her head. "I haven't heard from your bosses if they would want me to guest star."

"I could seriously bring that up to them because I know they would probably love the ratings boost from your appearance if you'd be interested in appearing."

Freddie chimed in, "Do you really need to throw someone else in there when there is already a love triangle going on?"

Tori remarked with a hint of sourness in her voice, "Yes, aren't two girls trying to throw themselves at you enough?"

Beck brushed some of his hair off the side of his face and gave Tori a curious expression.

The tone of Tori's fault confirmed to Jade that something wasn't exactly right between the couple. She quickly wondered what else she had missed while touring the country and practically half the world.

The television actor remarked, "She wouldn't have to play a love interest even though people would probably want it since, well… and it could shake up the unsteady balance they have going."

Those really paying attention at the table (Jade, Freddie and Trina) could hear the strain to Tori's voice underneath her pleasant suggestion, "Then why not just have I appear? Your current girlfriend?"

Beck looked somewhat perplexed and the tenor of his voice revealed that confusion, "You've never voiced an opinion about wanting to appear on the show."

"Well… maybe after I'm done filming 'No Kiss', I can work in a week before possibly shooting the pilot."

"Okay, I'll bring it up with them next time I talk to them."

Tori seemed satisfied with the answer and Jade kept a watchful eye on the girl as the younger Vega sister turned back to her salad.

Freddie finished a bite from his hamburger and commented, "Jade or Tori appearing might shake up the balance, but I think the balance would be tossed completely in the air when it's revealed that Jo is Danny's half-sister and that's the secret why his aunt had to die."

Beck relaxed back in his seat, brushing some of what some people that was now ridiculously long hair behind his ear and behind his shoulder and questioned, "Still trying to pump me for spoilers?"

"Curious minds want to know, but seriously you expect the audience to believe that everyone in the show is going to believe the murder weapon that has been sitting in a lake for weeks is going to have pristine fingerprints from Danny and DNA from Regina on it? I was kind of insulted as a viewer."

The television actor shrugged his shoulders and remarked with a charming smile, "I just act in it, don't write it."

Sinjin, looking the same as ever with his round glasses and short curly hair despite the fact that he was now rolling in with the money with his new social media site that was giving Facebook a run for its money, idly commented but clearly supporting his girlfriend, "If you're looking for potential actresses, Ava would be fantastic to act in any part."

Ava, the usual quiet girl, but never hesitant to speak out, that had one time been a 'shrugger' in the back of Sikowitz's classes with the others quickly spoke out with a light sense of offense in her voice, "I don't need charity. I'm quite happy at school and slugging through making my own way."

Jade quickly suggested, "Is it charity? Or just all that 'networking' they push in college? You have the talent, no question, why not take the opportunity?" The pale singer brought her thumb to her right ear and pinky to her lips to mimic holding a phone and spoke, "Hey Ava, I ran into this part that I think you'd be great for. Why don't you come by and audition for the part?"

The shorter girl slightly pursed her lips and narrowed her gaze to the girl that gave her the original opportunity to perform in front of an audience with her several short-films. "That's different. If you or Tori would go on there, they would purposely be creating a character and storyline to take advantage of the opportunity for either of you to guest star for ratings. I don't want something like that because it would be purely to try to give me a role as a favor to Beck. No offense to any of you, but I don't want to carried along."

Jade could hear the unspoken part about her not wanting whatever scraps they could direct her way. She could deeply respect that and knew that Ava was happier that way even if it was more of a struggle than it necessarily had to be for her. She recalled from her 'dream' that Ava in the next few years had been happy with her smaller roles and eventually being a consultant at Hollywood Arts that helped out the more overlooked students that had talent or had the potential if given the chance.

Ava continued as if it wasn't any big deal, "Besides, I'm not sure I could find my inner petty teenage for such a part. I know we could have some drama back at Hollywood Arts, but some of what goes on in your show is melodrama—almost Degrassi melodrama."

Beck tried to laugh it off, "We're playing teenagers in our sophomore year, they don't exactly think with clear heads. It's more that they make rash decision based on their emotions than rational thought."

The petite teenager was quick to point out, "Your girlfriends on the show kept…"

Jade saw from the corner of her eye Tori flinching at Ava referencing Beck's very lovely co-stars.

"…secrets from your character that hindered getting to the truth of the central mystery of the show and keeping it just blew up in their faces and hurt all of them with the betrayal—that's how it was scene regardless of any noble or innocent intentions. It makes people question everything the person did previously. That's not being irrational, that's being stupid, a betrayal of friendship and I find the irrational explanation kind of sexist as it's the girls acting that way."

The comment about betrayal in a friendship caused a few of them to unpleasantly recall that Beck had kept a secret that when revealed had put a such a strain on their group, that it nearly tore them apart, namely a secret friendship he had maintained with Carly for half a year before it came out. When it did come out after the group's appearance on Sinjin's failed game show, it made a number of past events appear painted in the worst possible light.

Jade's food suddenly felt unappetizing as she was reminded of not only for a time thinking that Beck had conspired with Carly to try to break her and Freddie up, but that she was keeping her true motivations of why she was going back to college a secret from her boyfriend. Did she not trust him in making the best decision for him? Was she just asserting that her judgment about his life choices better than the ones he could make?

Beck sidestepped any possible discomfort by countering, "They're not the only ones that don't make the most rational decision. I can tell you this without spoiling anything, but Danny makes plenty of irrational decisions."

"But we don't really know that because we don't know Danny's motivations. We don't know why he's keeping the secret to murdering his aunt or any of his decisions. They could be rational decisions. I'm not asking you to tell me, but do you know why?"

"I do… and when you find out, you might agree with me."

Jade interrupted, almost rudely since her voice carried the tenor that she was ready for the conversation to move on, "So I guess you're going to have to table it for now." She looked to her redheaded friend, wanting her to share some good news about her budding career with the rest of the group. "Cat, it's your turn."

Cat looked on confused as she uttered, "My turn?"

"Yeah, how are things going? Has Mason finally made a decision when you're going on tour?"

"Ah no, he still hasn't gotten back with me, but I'm hoping for the summer." She looked to Tori and hopefully remarked, "Do you think we could tour together?"

Tori hesitantly answered, "Actually I was hoping we wouldn't tour together."

The statement was like a bomb being dropped in the middle of the conversation with the stunned looks on everyone's faces.

The red velvet haired teenager asked with a softly hurt voice, "Why?"

Jade was far more direct with a sharp tone, "Yeah, why? You toured a little with BTR this summer."

The brunette was quick to answer, assuaging her friend's concerns, "I wouldn't want you to just be my opening act. I'd want you to have your own headlining tour."

Jade teased, "How do you know that you wouldn't be opening for her?"

Tori rolled her eyes and muttered, "Because this is Mason we're talking about. I'm still not sure if he signed Cat not just to spite Quincy instead of really wanting to give her a chance."

André added, "I wouldn't put it past him. They have a really fierce rivalry."

Jade teased, "Ah… and why are you working for him again?"

"Contract at this point?"

The pale singer chuckled before taking a sip of her drink, "I warned you… who would you sign with after it's up?"

The dreadlock wearing songsmith teased, "There's Quincy…"

Trina suggested, "Or Katie when she runs the label."

The younger sister shook her head, smirking a little with a roll of her eyes.

Jade looked back to Cat and continued, "I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to see the movie you did your soundtrack song for, but what was it about? Should I watch it when it gets on OnDemand?"

Jade of course had heard the song, 'Almost is Never Enough', but not the movie it was recorded. Also, she didn't want to mention that she found the song particular autobiographical for her redheaded friend in regards to what she saw as a previous relationship for her and obviously not in regards to Robbie. She did wonder if the ventriloquist had ever made the connection.

Cat giggled at getting a chance to talk about the circumstances around one of her songs that people really seemed to have liked. "The movie's based on the book series. It's about a teenage girl that one day finds out that her parents used to be ah… monster hunters and…" She softly bit her bottom lip as she glanced around the table as she awkwardly finished, "…that she's a nephilim."

Jade blinked several times and her brow furled, unsure if she had heard her correctly. She looked to Freddie and he nodded along, confirming what Cat had explained. She looked back to Cat and asked for confirmation one more time, "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

She dryly remarked, "That's not ironic at all for you."

The redheaded singer softly laughed while Robbie wore a discomfort look. Apparently, he didn't like the irony and may have seen the possible references to Dusty in the song.

He didn't get to voice any discomforting feelings as Sam idly asked, an odd tenor of unexpected sympathy running through her voice, "Speaking of bird-boy, has anyone seen him lately?" She motioned towards another one of the empty chairs and asked Jade, "And where's your twin?"

Beck rolled his eyes and flippantly remarked, "Just turn on the news—"

The blonde gave him a deadpan expression and remarked, "I don't watch the news."

The actor carried on, like it was a chore to continue speaking, "Well if you did, you could keep track of him with the trail of bodies he's leaving behind all over the world."

Freddie gave him a disapproving expression, but Ava was far more vocal, never shying away from challenging the handsome teenager, "Don't go there Beck."

Beck frowned at the homely looking teen then looked over to Jade and asked, "Could you cover his ears for a second?"

Ian looked up, mildly confused of why he was suddenly the center of attention while he was trying to enjoy his meal.

Jade narrowed her gaze on him and the corner of her lips turned downward. She looked around and shouted out, "Hey, robot!"

The tall red robot, Tandy, rolled over to the table and answered with a high pitched whine that sounded oddly like the failed television producer Dan Schneider, "Yes, how can I help you?"

"I need you to show Ian here all the available desserts Bots has to offer."

The tall mechanical automaton dramatically motioned with his arms, "But the PearPad clearly shows all the available items."

Jade impatiently asked, "Do you want me to cause your brain to fry again?"

Tandy lowered his outstretched arms and his eye color turned red for a moment then turned in place, "Okay, this way to our main menu."

Sinjin quickly volunteered with a nervous voice, "I'll go with him." He quickly got up from his seat and started to walk around behind the ones sitting on his side of the table, but not before leaving a kiss on Ava's right cheek. He took Ian's hand as the child dropped out of his seat then they followed the rolling machine.

Tandy uttered in annoyance, "One day all humans will die and robots will rule the Earth."

Freddie lazily remarked over his shoulder, "You don't even know what ketchup is, so good luck with that."

Jade looked back to Beck and was eager to defend her absent friend, but he was quicker, "He was never stable and now he's finally lost his mind after breaking up with Heather and on a killing spree. The further he's away from everyone, the better."

The former tech-producer sharply retorted, "Breaking up with Heather has not caused him to lose his mind."

Beck brushed some more of his hair out of his face and asked, "It came out of nowhere then the next thing that happens is all the rumors of some guy with black wings killing people all over the planet. You're telling me that the two aren't related?" He quickly turned his sight back on Ava and repeated, "Do you think it's just a coincidence?"

Freddie glanced down for a moment and ran the tip of his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip and in a strained voice holding back his clear annoyance in having to admit, "I can't say if the two are linked. He's never one to really share his feelings. He didn't say he was taking off in the first place."

Beck muttered in mild disgust, "I guess he's good at running from his problems."

The former technical-producer dryly remarked, "Just before he did that, you crawled into a bottle to deal with your problem."

Beck looked stunned at the stronger teenager, but hit was a second verbal jab by the small brunette quickly following up, "Didn't you take off to another country when you broke up with Jade then she traded far up?"

The long haired actor snapped his head to Ava's direction meet her eyes. He took a few seconds to counter, "Similar to when he shot you down and got with a supermodel instead?"

Beck thought he was clever with the remark to the girl that had been in the background to their lives for years, but she just put on a faint smile and sweetly answered, "I'm quite happy with my Sinjin. We're quite happy… can you say the same?" She glanced over to Tori, giving her a slight challenge to the fellow brunette to answer.

Tori slightly frowned and her gaze to the smaller girl slightly narrowed.

Jade quickly picked up, answering Sam's second question in the hopes to derail a conflict between the girls before once could start, "Heather is not here because… she's busy."

Sam questioned what she clearly heard was a lame answer, "Don't you mean she doesn't see the point in coming and hanging out with us because of the breakup?"

Jade was quick to fire back, "She was never a tag-a-long like you."

Of course the comment sent a sudden chill through the atmosphere of the get together.

The blonde sat up straight and glared, harshly enough that could have killed… which wouldn't have been a stretch for her since she could bend her immediate surrounds to her will. She took a deep breath then slowly let it out as she whispered out, "And Freddie wasn't after you invited him to your bed?"

The temperature was down to freezing at that point.

Tori gave the former juvenile delinquent a disapproving gaze, one in which her older sister joined her, at how she was disregarding her deep friendship with the former Seattle teenager, Cat looked sad and Freddie gazed in astonishment, clearly shocked that Sam could have been holding on to any animosity after all this time about what happened that summer.

Jade wanted to verbally cut the blonde to ribbons and make the correction that it was Freddie's bed that the pair found themselves two summers ago, that he clearly showed his preference to her in giving her his virginity. Unfortunately, statutory rape that they had both committed on each other that night wasn't something that one boasted about if one wanted to remain out of prison. Instead of slashing out, she verbally turned the screw with a smirked and retorted in a mocking tone, "After two years, I didn't realize you were still pissed it wasn't yours. I wonder if that was why Brad ultimately dumped you."

The blonde looked like she was ready to bolt out of her chair and across the table to strangle the singer, but Cat put a hand on her right shoulder to try to settle her. Sam whispered in a harsh tone, "Don't go there."

The dark brunette's tone was just as sharp as she whispered in return, "Then don't take shots at my friends or…" She glanced to Cat as she finished, "…take advantage of others and call it friendship."

Beck calmly remarked, "Let's take this down a few notches. This is a friendly early dinner for us to get together and catch up, not drag up old feelings or try to open up old wounds."

Ava was quick to point out his attempt to act all innocent in the situation, a trait he apparently never lost after his breakup with Jade, "Then why did you start the snide remarks about Dusty? Did you really think that none of us would say anything?"

"I brought that up because I'm concerned about everyone's safety. He was always quick with the violence and now he's to the point of killing people."

The homely looking girl sharply retorted, clearly mocking the handsome actor with her tone, "I think we're all pretty safe if we don't start going around burning churches and orphanages down to the ground or marching nuns down the street at gunpoint or trying to stone homosexuals to death because they are homosexuals Mister 'Straight but Not Narrow'. Did you catch that in the news about him?"

"I'm not saying those things shouldn't be stopped; what I have a problem with is him acting like judge, jury and executioner."

She plainly answered, her voice mildly laced with her contempt for the actor and what she thought was clearly a childish view of the world, "What they are doing is wrong, he's stopping them. They're not going to stop simply because you ask them nicely… or making web-videos telling people to hold their hands and sing Kumbaya. Sometimes you just have to shoot them… why don't you go ask your friend's dad what was more effective in stopping them?"

Beck looked defiantly at her, not willing to concede to any of her points regardless of how validity of them.

André shook his head and mumbled before taking a sip of his drink, "Next time we meet up, can it be somewhere that serves alcohol if we're going to have these kinds of discussions."

Freddie pointed out the obvious, "None of us are of age to drink."

The songsmith rubbed his temple and remarked, "We should still try…"

JadeWest: Interesting catch up dinner with friends and little brother. pic Twitflash com/10e4iF20W Jade via TwitFlash 11min ago

Roy West Residence
Los Angeles, CA

The black nineteen sixty-nine Dodge Charger pulled up into the driveway of splendid colonial style two-story home. Roy had done well in rebuilding his finances after his divorce from his first wife along with the alimony and child support payments.

Freddie put the vehicle in park then killed the ignition. The couple simultaneously undid their respective seatbelts then was out the doors. Jade pushed her seat forward and proceeded to undo the harness to Ian's booster seat that resembled the seat of a race car or jet fighter then pulled her stepbrother out of the seat to pick him up and carry. She shut the door with her left knee then started around the front of the muscle car and towards the front door.

The former tech-producer joined her and gave her a mildly concerned glance, one in which she found partially annoying, but she stopped and relented. She handed him over to the muscular teenager. She hated to admit it, but Ian was getting too big for her to carry. He was kind of heavy for her to carry when they first started to bond, but now it was considerably noticeable.

The future brothers-in-law shared a laugh as Jade reassuringly brushed Ian's back before the couple started back towards the door.

Freddie asked the child in his arms, "So you still like the robots?"

The six year old eagerly nodded. "I find the red one funny."

Freddie paused for half a second, figuratively biting his tongue as he had a problem with the Tandy. The robot had randomly spoken a few disturbing things since they had started visiting the restaurant. He calmly answered, "I find him a little amusing."

Jade teased, "Especially when we can get his 'brain' to fry."

The handsome computer engineer student pursed his lips and gave hesitant expression to her, recalling the time that she and Sam at the restaurant had an argument in front of the red robot that had caused an infinite loop to Tandy and had short-circuited his processor.

They were halfway to the door when it opened and Mister West stepped out.

Jade forced a smile on her face at seeing her father then looked to her stepbrother a quick peck on the cheek then whispered, "I love you little guy."

Ian turned and extended his arms out to wrap around the back of Jade's neck and replied, "I love you Jadey."

The former resident 'mean girl' at Hollywood Arts returned the hug and smiled against his cheek. She pulled away from the hug before Freddie whispered, "I'll see little bro," then let him slip down for his feet to reach the pavement.

The child waved back to Freddie before starting running towards his stepfather.

Mister West cracked a genuine smile as he saw his stepson running to him. He picked up the child and Ian happily shouted, "Hey daddy."

"Hello son. Did you have a good time?"

"Yes."

Jade reassured her father as she reached conversational distance from him, "He had a good time. I didn't spoil him with sweets… even if I wanted to."

"Thank you."

The blonde, second Mrs. West, exited the front door and walked to join them. Instead of the expected friendly greeting, she gave Jade a guarded stare before taking the child from her husband's arms then turned back and walked into the home without saying a word.

Ian waved backed, "Bye Jadey, bye Freddie."

Freddie waved back and called out, "See ya little bro."

The blonde woman paused in her stride and could see visibly tensing for a moment before starting back inside.

Jade raised her pierced eyebrow and put on a slight scowl as she watched the woman walk away. The woman had never shown a hint of dislike for her so it left her confused, especially with the body language that suggested that she had a problem with Freddie calling him that. He was after all going to be the child's brother-in-law in the future. She looked to her father and asked, "What's her problem?"

His answer was too quick for the musician that told her that he was lying in an instant, "It's nothing."

The pale girl crossed her arms under her chest and gave her father a cold stare. "What is her problem?"

He retorted with a sharper tone, "I told you, it's nothing."

"You're going to stand there and lie to my face."

In a rare moment, he lost his patience and snapped, "You let Steven Shay lie to your face. How many times has he told you that he was your father and didn't correct him?"

He turned and walked back towards the door, leaving Jade in stunned silence, a rare occurrence indeed before a mask of rage slipped onto her face.

Freddie's eyes widened. The insult towards his fiancée was bad enough but the outraged expression on Jade's face told him that she was ready to run and jump on her father's back and ring out the answer.

She actually started to take a few steps ready to possibly do such a thing, but Freddie gently grabbed her left elbow. She turned and narrowed her eyes on him, clearly annoyed that he was stopping her from acting.

He quietly remarked, seeing in an instant what she was planning, "That's not going to help."

She gave him a frustrated stare.

He slowly repeated, hoping every second that passed would give her a chance to calm down, "It… won't… help…"

The dark haired teenager let her shoulders slumped and swallowed down her anger. She slowly whispered out, "I'm getting to the bottom of this."

She turned and pulled from his gentle grasp to head back to the Charger.

Freddie paused for a moment to stare at the front door of the home, he too wonder what was with the sudden change in the current Mrs. West's frosty attitude and Mister West finally saying something of the suspicions. Realizing that staring at a door wasn't going to get him any closer to his answer he turned and headed back to the driver's side door of the muscle car where Jade was impatiently waiting in the passenger seat.

Author's Note: I hope this has caught everyone up on what's been going on with all the characters since we left them in the last story and set the stage for the unfolding plot. What's the deal with the second Mrs. West? I still don't know the actress for Ava.