It's been a long time since I updated this, but I'm glad I finally got this finished. I hope you enjoy it and it doesn't disappoint you. Fortunately the next several chapters are heavily outlined, so hopefully with the summer, I can get them out more quickly.

seddieloverfan12: I'm sorry it took me so long to get the next chapter out, but real life got in the way along with some inspiration with other stories. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

midnight craving: I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far. When Dusty shows up, hopefully it will be a dramatic surprise. I hope the Jade, Trina and Beck confrontation meets your expectation, but I am playing the long game with that plot thread. Thanks for the praise.

pbow: Who would actually believe such a thing? Also, there hasn't been anything demonstrateable to show that she is such a thing. It is just the words of the characters.

Guest: Thank you.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Maybe Beck is innocent and Tori is overreacting? Maybe she's not, you'll have to see. I think it depends on the person as not all of them would be in lock step. Trina I would guess excuse Tori while Freddie has a pretty ridged belief structure of right and wrong. As he's faced before, he could have the conflict of personal loyalty verses his belief structure. Those conflicts have always turned emotionally messy with him. André and Robbie could take Beck's side as they've been loyal to him in this series and in canon in regards to relationships he's been involved. The others could be wild cards.

Dusty has never gotten a free pass in criticism for his decisions by other characters (that's Sam's role in canon) as he's far from universally loved by them. I will say Dusty's reasons behind the decision he made are not trivial and Heather does not know them and even if she did, they may not matter as she is heartbroken. Their plot line will be addressed as the story progresses.

Ian's mother apparently is threatened by Jade's presence in her son's life, so she's turned to who is already looking after him some days. How Jade will respond is another ongoing plot line.

mkpunk: Jade's never had an easy life and things aren't necessarily going to make things different. She's decided to have these various relationships and things do happen. She could live as hermit to avoid some things, but that wouldn't be a very fulfilling life for her.

Nate isn't explicitly Heather's boyfriend at the moment, a guy that is interested though. Heather doesn't understand why they broke up as Dusty wasn't straightforward as to his reasons. In her eyes, he just dumped her out of the blue. Heather is guarded because Jade is Dusty's friend and she's not sure who she can really trust among them to talk to since loyalties are questionable.

I always saw Trina as deep down loving her sister and the most dramatic shift that brought them together happened between the stories when their parents broke up. They both felt betrayed and strengthened the sister bond of the only family that wouldn't fail them. In canon, Dan simply didn't give her any real material and frankly I think after the pilot, he really was never sure what to do with the character.

Challenge King: Freddie put his noggin to work, Jade and Trina do have the mutual goal of Tori avoiding getting hurt, but Trina wouldn't shed any tears if she moved on with Beck. She's never really forgiven him for his behavior involving leading her on and saw his true colors in regards to his treatment of Jade when they were together. I haven't explained Dusty's reasons for leaving, but as a reader, I would say that Heather does genuinely love him as her sweet boy that keeps everything 'normal'. Mrs. West #2 is pushing back because she does feel threatened. Sam will always in a sense be confrontational with people, but not to the extent as at the end of iCarly or her separate incarnation on S&C as she's repeatedly paid for those actions.

Twilight Warrior 627: Yes, I borrowed another character as it has become a running gag that our stories are parallel universes to each other. We'll see how things play out.

Rating: T Maybe Language

Chapter 6

West Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, October 3, 2013

Freddie's eyes were wide open and muttered dubiously from his seat on one side of the kitchen island with his back to the living room as he watched Jade head for the coffeemaker resting on the counter towards the garage, "So she really doesn't want you to pick Ian up anymore? She wants him to spend his all his afternoons with Sam and Cat, not just on Mondays and Wednesdays?"

Jade spat out in disgust over her shoulder before turning back to pour herself a cup, "Yeah."

The brown eyed teenager whistled then remarked, "I guess your dad wasn't kidding."

The dark haired superstar walked to stand on the other side of the island with coffee in hand. She answered in a low growl, "I was concerned about her intelligence level the first time I met her, but I didn't realize she was that janking stupid. She actually thinks I would 'steal' him from her."

Freddie bowed his head and licked his bottom lip before looking up to see the pacing form of his fiancée. "There is what Dusty told you last year about how much Ian loves you—as in 'mommy' loves you. Maybe she's picking up on it?"

She took a quick swig from her mug then gave him a guarded, almost stoic expression.

He took the matter in all seriousness, but couldn't help but smile a bit when he pointed out, "You spoil him."

"I do not spoil him. He might get a little smoothie now and then when we're out—your fault for getting him hooked on them—but I don't constantly buy him gifts or anything."

Freddie stood up and walked up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist to rest on her abdomen. He smiled, rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered into her right ear, "That's not what I meant by you spoiling him. You spoil him with attention and affection… love. It's obviously something he feels he's not getting enough at home."

"I can see my dad being that standoffish, but I find it hard to believe with his mom."

He left a quick peck on her cheek then replied, "Maybe you're just naturally better at it?"

She turned her head slightly and cocked her right eyebrow and smirked, clearly questioning how serious he was with the praise.

He charmingly smiled a smile that could get plenty of girls to do what he wanted if he had the inclination. "I mean it. You are the sweetest when you're around him. You're all… motherly."

The computer science major pulled away and walked around the kitchen island to retake his seat. He softly suggested while starting back on his sandwich, "Just go over there and spend your time with him there."

Jade slightly turned her head and narrowed her gaze at him. She slowly asked, her voice dripping with annoyance, "Are you suggesting that I have to put up with Sam for five days a week?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

Freddie teasingly smirked that could have gotten him slap by any number of girls as he answered, "Whether you love Ian more than you hate Sam."

The multi-platinum artist shook her head and closed her eyes. She cocked her head to the right as she refocused on her fiancé and retorted, "Okay, say I can put up with that blonde headed half-demon, but we can't do anything. We'd just have to spend every afternoon stuck in the apartment before she'd pick him up."

"I doubt you'd have to put up with her that often. She'd probably just leave you and Cat by yourselves and don't they take the kids out occasionally? Just have them take him where you'd usually go with him and tag along."

"I could do that when Cat's there, but with Sam…" Jade grind and whispered before taking a sip from her coffee. "Sam wouldn't like that… That would be a good reason to go out on those days."

The former Seattleite hesitantly pointed out since Jade was feeling better about the situation, "You could point out to your dad how disappointed you are in not getting to spend time with Ian."

She slowly sat her coffee down and directed a scrutinizing gaze as the sitting teenager, one that would have chilled most other guys their age, but he knew it wasn't directed at him. She softly muttered, trying to keep a bit of her flared up anger suppressed, "Are we going to have this conversation again?"

Freddie answered in what he hoped was a supportive tone, "Not if you don't want to, but now might be the time to seriously consider it since she's… escalated with this move."

Jade directed a cold stare at the island countertop and hissed, "I don't like the idea of crawling to him over this—or over anything."

"I don't like it either, but… as long as he's not really controlling you."

"But isn't he with this stunt?"

The former Seattleite answered with a sour taste in his mouth, "Yeah he is if he's behind this, but if not, you're just using him to balance things out."

"Maybe, but the Colonel thinks he could be behind it."

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Could it just be his biased towards your dad? It really goes without saying that they don't like one another."

"No they don't, but I don't think he would let his feelings for my father blind him in giving me advice."

"I hope so…"

Jade sat her mug down on the countertop and continued, "I'll go over to Cat's in the afternoons and if something comes up then I'll talk to my dad." She took a deep breath and shook her head in mild disgust. She fear laced out her whispered comment, "I just hope she doesn't decide that Ian should go to some daycare center after school."

"That's when you would have to step in with your father."

The dark haired musician pursed her lips and just stared out, not even really at him as the thought just stirred her anger. The couple shared a quiet look for a few seconds then Freddie took a sip from his drink then asked, hoping for a less stressful conversational topic, "So how did your visit with Heather go? Is she doing alright?"

Jade frowned and shook her head. "No. She puts on a good front, but she's not. Her heart really trashed and it looks like she's already trying to move on with someone else. She said he was just a friend, but he clearly looked like he was interested in being more than friends."

Freddie's mouth slightly parted, more than surprised with the information. He took a few seconds to gather his thoughts then asked, "Wow… Did you find out why they broke up?"

"She said he's the one that initiated the break up with her."

Freddie knotted his brow, unable to wrap his head around the idea. The conversation on the topic with Dusty before he left to parts unknown consisted solely that they had broken up without any given explanation, but the Southern teenager had insisted that Heather was completely blameless over it ending. "He's the one that broke up with her? Why?"

"She doesn't know. She actually thought…" She bowed her head and looked to the counter surface, momentarily putting herself in Heather's shoes of thinking that the man she loved wasn't going to propose, but actually dumping her and leaving her alone. Her heart experienced the first wave of pain at such a thought so she shook her head to clear her mind of such a thing.

The brown eye teenager leaned slightly over and dipped his head to keep his eyes on her to ask, "What?"

Jade looked up and forced a smile. "That he was getting close to proposing to her."

Freddie's eyes nearly bugged out of their respective sockets he opened his eyes so wide. His mouth dropped opened as well to show his shock. He was being bombarded with surprises. "She thought he was going to propose to her?"

She asked genuinely curious, "Does that really surprise you? Do you think that was wishful thinking on her part? Maybe she saw something that wasn't there?"

The former Seattleite softly bit into his bottom lip then slowly answered, "Dusty always kept the details of his relationship with her pretty tight lipped with me. Gentleman never tells and all and I don't know how much he's talked about it with you over the last year, but I always saw how much he loves her. There was a quiet simpleness about it. They just looked like a cute little couple when I saw them together… okay, it was a little weird to see them kiss at times with the whole doppelganger thing you have with her and I could see them getting married one day, but I'm not sure it would be anytime soon." He motioned with a hand towards her, "Hey, in your trip to the future, he and Ava weren't even married a few years from now, so…"

The internationally acclaimed singer nodded her head then answered, "I hear you, but she was definitely sure."

Freddie quietly thought on her words for a few seconds, thinking on how really one couldn't honestly compare one relationship to another even with the same individual. They had gone from hanging out with one another for companionship with knowing each other for practically only a few hours to engaged in just under a year while Tori and Beck had known each other two years before they had gotten together for almost a year and a half and they hadn't heard of a whisper of them possibly becoming engaged. Cat and Robbie had been seeing each other for nearly as long and had known each other for even a longer period of time beforehand and they were in the same position. He brushed that aside and admonished himself, "Maybe I should have checked up on her—I mean went and saw her, but I didn't want to pry. I didn't want it to look like I was trying to interfere or advocate for Dusty."

The couple fell into an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, neither liking it at all. Fortunately and ironically, Freddie broke it by awkwardly remarking, "So she's already seeing someone?"

Jade ran her tongue up and over the top of her teeth before it slightly poked out between her lips, a nervous habit he had noticed long ago, before she answered, "Maybe, but as she told me, the guy's just a friend."

Freddie glanced away and shrugged a shoulder. "You started moving on with me after Beck in about the same amount of time. It might be good for her."

Jade crossed her arms under her chest and cocked her head to the side, giving him a look questioning whether he really meant such a thing. "You really believe that?"

The brown eyed teenager shook his head. "I don't know. I just… I can't understand why he'd break up with her. How he could just break her heart." He quickly knotted his brow then rubbed it with his pointer, middle finger and thumb. He questioned without looking at her, "Do you believe her? That he was the one that left?"

"She may want to be an actress, but she's not that good to fake that heartbreak. She actually tried to get me to think that she was fine, but I could see it in her eyes then she broke down a little. I never knew how deep her feelings went for him until I saw the look in her eyes. She really loves him and she's all broken inside just like… that was one of the times it was creepy for me with us looking alike looking into her eyes. It was the same look I saw in my eyes in the mirror when I broke up with Beck for the last time and before we met up at the workshop."

Freddie recalled all too well how she reacted to just being worried about Beck when he was stuck in Yerba. He was still haunted a little by that time he had found her in the Janitor's closet. He pushed that down and continued, "I just can't see him doing that though." He blew out a quick breath and continued exacerbated voice, "No, this is Dusty. I can't believe he would hurt her so bad. I mean, when there was no one answering... and we were stuck—I mean really stuck where you were going to die within hours—he was there for us. He's been there for us so many jankin' times—you, Cat, Tori, me… Ian. This is Dusty! Don't we owe him the benefit of the doubt at least?"

Jade quietly asked, almost a bit shameful in having to ask, "Doubt? The only doubt is whether you have it for Heather's word. She's either telling the truth or she's lying."

Freddie frowned and looked at the table. "You're right. I can't really hold on to the believing Dusty wouldn't do something like that without calling her a liar, but…" He looked up and with a heavy heart finished, "…if it's a choice right now between her words and him, she's a liar."

Despite using the circumstance to try to argue the opposite point to Heather, Jade pointed out, "Isn't him running off evidence for what she's saying true? Dumps her then ditches?"

"Do you believe that?"

Jade licked her bottom lip and softly replied, "I'm not sure what to believe. None of the pieces are fitting together to make sense. I don't see him doing that, but I saw the look in her eyes. She wasn't making it up. She's not fooling me. She was hurt."

Freddie slumped his shoulders and tried to put pieces that didn't fit together in his head. He gave up after about a minute or so and asked with a tired voice, "What about the new guy in her life? What did you pick up from him?"

"He ah, seemed like a nice guy. He gave me a disapproving look when he thought I had upset Heather and maybe how I looked with the hair extensions and piercings, but that's not the strangest thing about him."

Freddie sat up straight on the stool, not liking at all that some unknown guy was looking down on her in possibly think he was better than her. He questioned in a very guarded tone, "What? What was strange about him?"

"I remember him."

His cautious demeanor quickly turned into one of questioning confusion, "Remember him?"

Jade finally pulled the stool on her side of the island out and had a seat. She rested her forearms on the surface and cradled her mug in her hand. "Do you remember that screenplay I was dabbling on from my dream around the beginning of the year?"

Freddie pursed his lips as he tried to recall which one she was talking about since she had worked on several in the last year since graduation then it hit him. He made a quick connection to one of his outlandish dreams that lead to initially awkward, but very pleasant and intimate morning to make up for his restless night. He softly blushed at recalled memory of what they shared that morning, but quickly gathered his composer and asked after clearing his throat, "The one where we're getting married on some island and everyone is being violently murdered?"

Jade held back a smirk of her own at seeing the mild blush on his face, seeing where he was making the connection. Despite some of the awkward moments that morning, she enjoyed their intimacy as much as he—maybe not as much—and it was something special between them that they had cherished and something they had mutually shared again once she had returned from her tour.

She sat that aside for the moment and answered, "Yeah, that's the one… he was in my dream. I thought he was just a version of Dusty mixed in with his cousin with being from Texas, but now that I see him in the flesh… I remember that he was involved with Tori for a time and murdered a guy for her."

Freddie rolled his eyes and playfully retorted, "You can't really judge this guy by what you dreamed about."

The singer slightly frowned and answered with a slight plea in her voice, "But was it a dream? He turns out to be real. We've had 'dreams' before that really weren't dreams, one where you're with Tori and I'm back with Beck and then there was the 'Twilight Zone' one of me five—four years into the future."

Freddie embarrassingly frowned as he couldn't honestly deny the possibility. He blew out a soft breath and stated, "Fine, I'll concede the point that what you dreamed could be real to some extent, but I'm just saying judge him with what you see about him now. I'm quite different from those other Freddies. I made different choices."

"You're right about that…" she sarcastically laughed then easily continued, "Okay, I will… but I'm going to keep in touch with Heather and we're still going to include her in stuff regardless if Dusty's in the picture or not. She is our… she is our friend even if she's not the closest."

He nodded in support.

Jade directed a thankful smile to him then continued, "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about."

The well-built young man took a quick sip from his drink then answered, "Okay."

The dark haired girl looked to him with a hopeful smile. "I need a favor."

He teasingly smiled. "Oh? And what's that?"

"I need you to have lunch with Tori tomorrow."

The college sophomore alternated flicking his eyebrows, finding the request odd. "Okay why?" He mischievously smiled and asked, "If you hadn't heard Jade, I'm already attached to a very loving and beautiful woman; I don't need you to set me up with anyone."

Jade cocked her head to the side then rolled her eyes. The sarcasm dripped off her voice, "You're cute."

Freddie raised a finger with a big grin. "And charming. Don't forget charming. I am charming."

The dark haired singer lulled her head back and let out a mix off a sigh and a groan with another eye roll.

He chuckled at the playful banter then calmed himself, "So you need me to have lunch with Tori? You need her out of the way to plan some surprise going away party?"

She straightened her head and met her boyfriend's eyes to answered, "No, but that's not a bad idea. I told Heather that I thought we'd have another dinner before we left, but a party would be a good idea. The real reason is that Trina and I need to talk to Beck."

"About what?"

"I've noticed Tori acting a little strange since I got back—Trina's noticed it too."

Freddie turned his head slightly to the side while questioning, concern filling him with worry, "Strange?"

"You didn't find things a little odd and tense between them at dinner?"

Freddie slightly pursed his lips and glanced down at the countertop. "I did kind of notice something. She didn't seem to like Beck touching her and I did find it odd how she reacted about you being on the show instead of her. She almost sounded like…"

Jade cocked her pierced eyebrow and teasingly questioned, "What? Me?"

He chuckled and raised his hands. "I wasn't here when you were with Beck. I only know what you told me and what I heard from others." He dropped his hands and continued, "But why would she start acting like that?"

It dawned on him harder than when Sam broke a tennis racket over his head. He frantically shook his head and responded with a slightly cold tone, "No, he could not have started his mess up again."

Jade felt a mild sinking feeling in her stomach as this was exactly how she knew Freddie would react when she pointed out her concerns. "We don't know, but it could explain her behavior and I noticed something else yesterday."

"What?" he asked slowly, not liking the possibility of what she was suggesting.

"I ah… I think—I know she was flirting with Jon."

"What?"

"When I arrived to class yesterday, Tori was already there and they were at the piano having a good laugh. I asked what was so funny they were carrying on about and she said she was just telling him the story of how she got into Hollywood Arts, but she was sitting awfully close to him and playing the piano together. She even did her flirtatious hair flipping with him. When I asked her about it in class and mentioned that, she got mad and was a Crabby Cathie for the rest of the class and after we left."

Freddie snorted out a laugh and pointed out, "You did just accused her of flirting with another guy. You sure she just wasn't being friendly? You know she has that tendency. She's just naturally friendly with everyone. She's—"

"The 'girl-next-door'? I know, but I know what I saw Freddie."

The former Seattleite smiled and patiently countered, "And I'm just saying you might be reading too much into it. I don't like where this conversation is going in regards to Tori. The way I understand it, when you first met Tori you thought she was flirting with Beck and… nothing happened with them—not until years later and I'm the one who had to get her to realize that she didn't need your permission to pursue your ex-boyfriend."

Jade struggled with a frown as she answered, "Trina didn't like that either, but something is definitely going on with her if Trina's seeing it too, so we're going to go see him to get to the bottom of this."

"Trina's seeing it too?"

"Yes."

A frown quickly formed on his face and the first bit of worry started displaying on his face.

Jade looked to him mildly astonished and let her surprise filter into her voice at a slightly higher than normal pitch, "Oh, now you don't want to dismiss my concern?"

"I'm not dismissing your concerns, it's just…"

"It's just what? I see it and you want to try to explain it away, but if Trina sees something now you're taking it serious?"

Freddie softly bit into his bottom lip then answered, "I just don't like seeing that there's another puzzle in front of me where the pieces don't look like their fitting and if they do, what is that saying about our friends?" He shook his head in mild disgust of himself. "I guess I can only take willful ignorance so far."

The pair became quiet for a few moments until Freddie continued, "But do you really want to talk to Beck without her there?"

"Yes."

Freddie sighed and gave her an apprehensive expression. "Are you sure? You really want to go behind her back?"

The dark brunette attempted to reassure him with a placating voice, "If it's nothing, then she doesn't have to be the wiser, but if it's more… that'll be the least of her worries."

Freddie rolled his eyes then relented, "Just for the record, I'm totally against this idea." He motioned past her with a hand towards the door to the garage and stated halfway through his statement, "If you and Trina are this concerned, let's just get in the car and go over to Tori and Trina's and just talk to her about it."

"And just have her close up and think we're ambushing her? I tried it with someone else and it didn't work."

He frowned at hearing that she was clearly referring to him. He closed his eyes and let out a soft breath through his nose. "The other way didn't exactly work either."

She raised her pierced eyebrow and confidently pointed out, "It did get you to talk to Carly and work things out."

The computer science major sighed in seeing her point then gave a surrendering smile. "Fine, I'll give Cat a call to make sure she'll be there for lunch."

Jade walked around the left end of the island to her and slipped up to Freddie's right to place a soft kiss on his cheek. She smiled against his cheek. "Thanks."

Freddie turned his head and gave her a peck on the lips. "You're welcome. Now just let me finish this snack then I can get on to fixing us dinner since it's just going to be the two of us."

She rested her right forearm on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. She teased, "Just us?"

"Yeah. Your mom said she and Colonel Shay were going out to dinner tonight."

The pale starlet smiled. "Good for them…" She deviously smiled and stole a kiss from him. "…and us too."

Kerckhoff Coffee House
Kerckhoff Hall
308 Westwood Plaza
UCLA Campus
Friday, October 4, 2013

The lunch crowd was just mingling their way into the coffee house as Tori, Freddie and Cat were sitting around their usual table. Freddie was the only one that had classes today, so the ladies were making a special trip to have lunch with their friend. Cat didn't care as she enjoyed spending time with her friend, but Tori did have her suspicions.

The invitation itself wasn't suspicious in of itself as the she and Freddie hung out all the time even when their significant others were out on touring and filming. Those times did fuel the rumor mill that they were seeing each other romantically to the point that they had their names combined for them as a couple, but they just brushed those whispers aside. However, what peeked her curiosity was that they just had lunch together when they had classes on the same days and Cat was particularly giddy.

Tori teased the former Seattleite and the fellow redheaded starlet, "What's with the surprise lunch?"

Freddie smiled around the straw and the answer easily rolled off his tongue once he sat his drink down, "Simple, you're going to be leaving next week and we want to get in as much time seeing you as we can. When you get back, you and Cat will probably be right off again traveling to promote something then I know you'll have another round of touring in the spring, so seeing you over the next few months is going to be spotty."

The brunette licked her bottom lip and playfully smirked. "You're sweet Freddie."

He chuckled and raised his soda, "And charming. Don't forget charming."

The redhead happily popped up after eating a French fry, "Yeah, and we're distracting you so Jade and Trina can help plan a party before you leave to start filming your movie."

Freddie sat his paper cup down and palmed his forehead and shook his head. He looked to Cat with a slightly exasperated expression, but could never really be made at the girl, "Cat, you're not supposed to tell her that."

Tori warmly smiled and held a hand up. "Don't worry about it. It's not like I thought you guys weren't going to do something for me."

The handsome guy turned his gaze back to her with a playful smirk. "Oh? You sound pretty confident don't you?"

The songstress' smile grew larger and playfully remarked, "Of course. You all love me."

Freddie rolled his eyes and lazily replied, "Well…"

Tori reached over and playfully punched him in the arm and laughed, "Not funny."

The former Seattle boy chuckled and rubbed his hand up and down his bicep. "Ow. Alright, alright."

The redhead just laughed at her friends' antics.

Freddie's laugh dissipated and he continued, "We are going to miss you, being gone for another month. It's like you just got back."

"Hey, I've been back for a good month and a half and you'll have Jade to keep you company…" Tori beamed a smile as she further teased her friend, "…you know, your fiancée?"

Freddie rolled his eyes and shook his head with an overdramatic reply, drawing god natured laughs from the girls, "I guess I'll just make do with her…" He continued in a normal conversational voice, "All I'm saying is that I'm going to miss my girls—my friends."

Tori's upbeat spirit softly dampened a little and she replied with a softly regretful tone, "I haven't really thought about it. We go out for weeks, months at a time—Jade, me, Beck, André… now Dusty's nowhere to be found and you're kind of here by yourself."

He wrapped an arm around Cat and pulled her close for a sideward hug as he answered with a grin, "Hey, that's not exactly true, I still have Cat and Robbie and André for the time being and Trina—"

"God help you with her," Tori playfully laughed.

Freddie released his arm around Cat's shoulders and hand from her arm then settled back in his seat. "I won't tell her you said that."

The brunette rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Tori, I'm good. I do have a phone and the internet and I have plenty of people around to hang it I need company."

Tori smiled and accepted his answer. "Okay, so what are you planning for me?"

Freddie's eyes opened wide and pursed his lips while shaking his head back and forth. "Oh, I don't have a clue. I'm leaving that to Jade and Trina. I just know it'll probably be next Saturday before you head out.

Cat happily offered, "Let's have a party! We can invite everyone."

The former technical-producer cocked his head to the side and looked to his redheaded friend with mild concern. "Who's everyone?"

"You know everyone: me, Robbie, Sam, you, Jade, André, Beck, Trina, Dice, Goomer, Ava and Sinjin."

Freddie hesitantly questioned, "Dice?"

The redheaded singer frowned and questioned, "What's wrong with Dice?"

The muscular computer programmer patiently smiled and answered, "Nothing's wrong with Dice; it's just that he's twelve and it would be us at the get together."

"So? Dice hangs out with me and Sam all the time."

Tori spoke up in hoping to calm Cat, "I don't see what the problem would be to let him come. It'll just be us. He can't get into any trouble with us."

Freddie snorted out, "Yeah, we can leave that to Sam."

Cat tried to fight a smile as she just looked at her handsome friend with a disapproving expression even if she agreed with him.

The brunette picked up before even a friendly argument could start, "That sounds like a fine group to have before I go to New York. I know it'll be fun whatever they are planning."

"If we're talking about guests, I know Jade would like Heather there if it's alright,"

"Yeah, that's fine. That's not a problem. I like Heather. She's nice and sweet, but why does Jade want her there?"

"She wants to make sure that she's still included in things despite her and Dusty breaking up. She's still a friend. Not as close as we are to each other, but still a friend."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

Cat quietly asked, "Is she the reason why he left?"

"I don't know, probably."

The redhead almost whined out her questioned as her pitch was higher than normal, "Why? They looked so happy together."

"I thought so too."

The petite girl questioned with a hint of sharpness to her voice, "She didn't break his heart did she?"

Freddie eyed her for a moment, seeing the look in her eyes that she would be quite upset if his answer was yes. "No, she didn't. From what Jade told me when she saw her yesterday, she's the one that got her heart broken."

Tori knotted her brow and questioned, "So he broke up with her?"

"I really don't know the situation other than before he left, he told me that he and Heather had broken up and said it wasn't her fault at all, but all of his and not blame her for anything."

"So he's taking all the blame?"

"Yeah. It looks like it."

Tori slightly shook her head before taking a sip from her straw.

Cat quietly spoke up, "I miss Soapy."

Freddie and Tori looked on their mutual friend in mild surprise as neither had heard her use that nickname for the Southern teenager. The former Seattle smiled and softly answered, "I miss him too, but he'll be fine and be back soon."

Cat hopefully asked, "Are you sure?"

He forced a bigger smile to his face than what he really felt and answered, "We just got to have a little faith."

Pearson Arms Apartments
Embury Street
Silverlake, Los Angeles, CA
Friday, October 4, 2013

Jade pulled her vehicle up to the apartment complex with Trina in the passenger seat. Trina nearly leapt out of her seat just as Jade was putting the vehicle into park. The darker haired girl quickly followed getting out of her seat then locked up her car before she trotted a few steps to catch up with the older Vega sister heading for Beck's apartment.

Beck had finally moved out of his trailer, misnamed as being an RV for the longest time, from his parents' driveway and got himself an apartment after the first few checks from his role on his ABC Family show. The complex was familiar to at least Jade as it was the same complex as their former acting teacher Sikowitz resided. They'd stop for a visit to him afterwards, but since it was the middle of a weekday, he'd be at Hollywood Arts teaching the next group of students that were hopeful that they would be the next big things.

Jade tapped the doorbell then the pair waited a few seconds for the door open and revealed Beck. He immediately smiled at them even if a bit of curiosity appeared on his face at seeing the two very lovely young women. "Hey, what's up with the visit?"

His ex-girlfriend cautiously answered, not bothering to try to hide her apprehension, "Ah, we wanted to talk to you about something."

The long haired actor glanced back and forth between the pair, a slightly worried expression forming on his face. He stepped aside and allowed the young women to step inside one at a time. He shut the door behind him as he questioned, "Okay, what about?"

They turned to face him and glanced to one another, suddenly unsure which one of them should start. Jade continued as it had been decided that she should do most of the talking as Trina after all this time had very little patience with the good looking teenager, "It's about Tori."

Beck fearfully snapped off, "What about Tori? Has something happened?"

The older Vega sister answered, "No, but…"

Jade quickly picked up, "We've noticed some odd things about Tori recently, Trina more than me since they live together and I haven't been back that long. We wanted to let you know about it."

Beck's eyes darted back and forth between the girls as fear turned into confusion. "I haven't noticed anything."

Trina crossed her arms under her chest and flippantly remarked, "Are you kidding us?"

He was slightly taken aback from the question. "What?"

Jade answered, deciding that she was surprisingly the calmer one in the situation and surprised that Trina had been a good enough actress in hiding her annoyance about the former high school heartthrob, "She's showing the same signs I did before we broke up… she's getting over jealous of your co-stars and clingy and we—" She motioned between them. "—know some of the reasons that happened…"

Beck took a few seconds to contemplate what she was saying then looked to Jade and snapped, his anger dripping off of his voice as all the memories for their failed relationship sprung to the forefront of his mind, "You're accusing me of letting girls flirt with me? Ignoring what she says, her feelings? All the things that caused us to breakup on your side?"

Jade calmly watched him for a moment, hoping that his anger would dissipate off of him so he could respond to her next words with a clear head. She finally continued in a calm voice once it looked as if he was calming his breathing and his facial muscles relaxed, "Beck, you can't ignore or not see how she reacted. She didn't like your touch and what happened when it was suggested that I appear on your show instead of her. She seemed pretty threatened by your costars. That's obviously why she suggested that she could guest star."

Beck placed the butt of his hand on his forehead then ran his fingers through his long hair. He looked to Jade and stated in an exacerbated voice, "I'm not flirting with them and they're not flirting with me. I wish I could say it was strictly professional, but they are some great people there—you've met them, you know what I'm talking about—and I kind of consider some of them my friends, but… there is nothing romantic going on between any of us and I'm not encouraging it."

The girls glanced towards one another, trying to gage what the other one thought about his denial.

The muscles of his jaw clenched and she slightly shook his head. "You don't believe me?"

Jade glanced to the floor and muttered, "It doesn't matter what I believe either way. It matters what Tori believes and right now, it looks like to us that she feels her relationship with you is threatened and she's having some problems with you over it."

Trina picked up with a higher than normal pitched voice, "Yeah and to tell you to—"

The pale teenager threw Trina a glance to cut her off then looked back to meet Beck's eyes. "We just wanted to bring it to your attention."

Beck defiantly pointed out, directing a particularly harsh glare at Trina, "Well she's wrong—both of you are wrong."

The pale actress shook her head and answered in a sympathetic tone, "Don't let your pride get in your way."

"Like I did for us?"

Jade softly frowned and felt a wave of regret and pity—some for him and some for her—washed over her. She quickly suppressed it and countered, "Don't make the same mistakes with her—don't even give the appearance of such. I've done my best to avoid making them with Freddie and I'm happy because of it."

Trina was far more vocal, "Don't break my sister's heart… or I'll break your balls." The older Vega sister turned and headed out of the apartment, feeling that she had said her peace and it was up to him to make the right decision.

Jade pursed her lips in the shape of a frown then thumbed over her left shoulder and awkwardly remarked, "And there's that."

"Right," he answered in a dry tone looking at Trina's retreating form with disdain.

The blue streaked hair girl attempted to continue with a non-confrontational voice, "Beck—"

Beck raised a hand to cut her off. "I heard what you said. I'm the bad guy once again."

The pale dark brunette gave him a cold glare, his gesture dragging up old and painful memories of him simply dismissing what she had to say.

The stare was so penetrating the actor paused and shifted slightly back on his feet.

Jade replied in a sharper tone that she would have preferred, "Then think on it."

The former couple exchanged stares for a few seconds before Jade began to turn and state, "I guess I'll see you next Saturday Tori's at the going away party before she leaves for New York if not sooner."

"Yeah, later."

The world famous singer exited the apartment, leaving a very troubled actor behind.

Schoenberg Music Building

UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, CA
Friday, October 4, 2013

Jon felt himself 'off' as the class ended and he couldn't put his finger on as to why. The day was Friday and he had the weekend to look forward.

He glanced over to see a few of the girls in the class. They were looking back to him with hopeful expression. He suddenly realized one of the reasons that things were off: he kind of obligated himself to perhaps going with the girls. He had a sudden feeling that he was going to regret such a decision until he saw to his great surprise the lovely brunette musician stopping at the doorway into the classroom. His feet moved without conscious thought to walk towards the musical sensation. "Hey? I thought you didn't have a class."

Tori returned the smile and answered, "I was on campus having lunch with Freddie and Cat and noticed the time when we finished. I thought I'd stop by and say hello."

The New Yorker smiled in appreciation and answered with a hint of a laugh, "Thanks. I appreciate the hello."

The brunette musician nodded then a nearly awkward silence fell between them, neither really sure how to proceed. Tori glanced over to some of the girls and she could saw how some where eagerly eyeing him while at the same time giving her disapproving looks for talking to him.

The sight became an unwelcome one to Tori and ignited a bit of anger in her chest. She returned with a glare that she had rarely used on Jade when they were on high school that said the nice girl stuff was over she was willing to give it right back to her.

Jon quietly asked at seeing the quick change in her demeanor, "Hey, are you alright?"

Tori turned her attention back to the handsome teenager, feeling like she had just been caught then let out a nervous laugh with a motion of her hands wiggling her fingers on either side of her head, "No, I'm fine. I just—bbllaaa—I had a mental freeze there for a second."

Jon returned a smile at seeing how cute she looked when tongue tied.

The brunette glanced between him and the girls again then asked going out on a limb, "Do you need rescuing?"

He glanced over to the girls approaching him then turned his head back to conspiratorially whisper, "Yeah, I could use some rescuing."

Tori looped her arm around his right one then waved back at the ladies. She laughed, "Sorry ladies, he's mine for the afternoon." She pulled him along out of the classroom, much to the disappointment and mild anger of the other girls.

Author's Note: Things are getting more complicated aren't they? The apartment complex that Sikowitz is shown to live in turns out to be stock footage and coincidently is the actually the same complex that Cordelia Chase from Angel: The Series moved into in 'Rm w/a Vu'.