Wow, it has been a while since I updated this story. Too long, but you know, life and trying to wrap up other stories. As my fellow writers understand, the Muse is a fickle mistress. I hope the weight was worth it.
The Darkness Writhes: It is funny and I do wonder how my writing and a little bit of the fandom would have been different if I had ended the very first chapter of the first story in this series as someone suggested. A hint, he woke up with a different girl in his bed.
darck ben: Thank you.
darren smith: And here it is.
TenorSax93: Nope, Dusty is not happy at all. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and hope to pick it back up on a regular basis. Thanks for reading.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Freddie having both Trina and Jade? The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanical solutions would have that life exist. It would definitely be an interesting world to explore in fiction.
Dusty's responses to things are pretty predictable and Beck could be in a world of hurt. Killing him? Dusty wouldn't be that merciful especially after what he's seen and been through over the last few weeks including what happened in Philadelphia.
It would be major spoilers to get into why Mr. Benson left, but he does have his various reasons that will be revealed as Freddie learns about his new immediate family.
Challenge King: I'm going to actually defend Beck in that he was under some deep emotional stress about what happened in feeling pretty helpless. The last time he felt close to this helplessness was when Jade nearly died and got plastered. He'll also listen to a few more voices in the future. Will Dusty kill him? You'll have to see. I really don't want to spoil Mr. Benson's motivations and thought processes, so I'll let the story tell them.
Twilight Warrior 627: Life is filled with drama even if it is a comedy. Dusty certainly came back with a bang and the Benson family will certainly be experience some up helves in the coming chapters. Hopefully I will get back to more of Dusty's story in the future. I'm trying to wrap up other stories that are close to completion.
If anyone wants to catch up as to what Dusty has been up to, I finished his little side adventure: 'A Daughter's Salvation'.
On a far serious note, I'd like to point out in light of recent events in Canada that parts of this story were already planned and written in advance to those events.
Stand in solidarity with our Canadian friends against evil and remember the victims there and all over the world.
Rating: T
Chapter 12
Twisted Set
Studio City, Los Angeles
Monday, October 14, 2013
Beck stared down at the slightly shorter, but far more muscular teenager, trying not to be intimidated by Dusty's shining blue eyes instead of his normal soft brown eyes. In the long haired actor's eyes, the teenager hadn't changed much at all since he had last seen him weeks and weeks ago. The Southern teenager had grown more muscular since graduating from Hollywood Arts and his hair was just a little longer and messier in front.
The actor did notice that over the teenager's right collarbone there was a deep slash into his black leather jacket as if someone had taken a sword or an axe to his shoulder as preposterous the notion might sound. There was a considerable dark blood stain from the slash that ran down across his right side chest however led to credence to the idea.
Beck finally spoke with a calm voice, "Hello Dusty."
Dusty slowly responded, almost dismissively towards the actor, "Hello? Really? That's your response to me?"
The television actor answered with a surprisingly conversational voice, especially when it was hiding the tremor of fear running through him, "That's what people usually say when they see someone, especially those that have been gone for a while."
The older of the two simply didn't have the patience to deal with such a smart-ass answer and replied in a curt tone, "Don't get cute with me you little piece of shit. This isn't my first stop. Trina filled me in on what happened at the hospital and as you can tell, I am not happy with what I heard."
Beck snapped back with as much anger as he could muster to drive away his lingering fear, "I needed you and she was the only one you were going to answer, so of course I got a little upset that she hadn't gotten you here already—" The actor's outrage shifted to concern midway through his furious defense, "Wait, is Tori alright?"
Dusty cocked his head to the side, still giving him a look that literally bore into his soul. He gave him a bit of pity in feeling the heartache Beck had for Tori's troubled condition. "Tori's… there's not a physical mark on her, but… I couldn't completely put her back together."
Beck's outrage quickly returned, "What do mean you couldn't put her completely back together?"
"I can mend physical hearts, but I can't put the other ones back together again. It's not within my purview. Perhaps in the future I might, but not today, but I do wonder who's breaking it…"
Beck clenched his jaw tight and glared at the young man for the faint accusation.
The Southern teenager hissed, "But back to the subject at hand…"
"Jon overreacted."
Dusty dismissively laughed, "Overreacted? I'm told you swung first after he got in front of you when you startled Heather so much she nearly fell backwards if not for Jade catching her. You got your ass handed to you by another Benson. Is this going to become a running joke?"
"That's because she hit me first, so I got back in her—"
Beck was cut off when Dusty threw out his right hand, grabbed him by the throat and lifted him until his arm was nearly vertical, allowing Beck's feet to helplessly dangle a good foot or more above the ground.
The actor's breath was caught in his partially constricted throat and he clawed at Dusty's hand and wrist.
Maddie standing at the side shouted, "Let him go!"
Dusty ignored the curly haired actress and continued, "I don't give a damn what your reasons were. I don't care how much you hurt or how distraught you were. If Heather had to hit you then you damn well provoked her to it and deserved what you got. If you ever step up to her like that again or make her feel threatened, I will break you so utterly that not even the archangels will be able to put you back together."
The intense look in Dusty's blue shining eyes gave Beck pause and resisted the urge to soil himself from the tremor of fear that passed through him.
Beck was able to garble out, "She… she for… forgave me."
Dusty narrowed his eyes and peaked into Beck's soul, not caring one bit about the invasion of privacy. The well-built teenager slightly frowned, confirming the actor's words and seeing that she had slapped the tall teenager in defending his honor. He let go of his grip and unceremoniously dropping the actor to the floor in a heap.
Beck landed hard on his behind then pushed himself up on his elbows and quickly rubbed his throat with his left hand while taking large gulps of air.
Dusty looked down to him in disgust before he turned and took a few steps away before he disappeared from sight with an accompanying rustle of air.
Beck nostrils flared and felt a flush of rage fill his body while everyone else looked on in utter shock and disbelief.
Maddie muttered, "What the fuc…"
LAC+USC Medical Center
1983 Marengo Street
Los Angeles, CA
Beck had quickly pulled himself together and left a thoroughly stunned cast and crew behind to race back to the hospital, nearly running a few red lights in the process. He had called the hospital to try to get a hold of somebody to update him on Tori's situation, but since they had so many reporters trying to ferret out information, they were hesitant to answer him. He soon hung up on them and continued on his way.
He arrived there in record time without being pulled over and soon was parked, in the hospital and exiting the elevator to Tori's floor. He nearly ran down the hallway towards Tori's room and stopped at the doorway when he saw Trina, Jade and Freddie patiently waiting in the room as Tori went over making sure she had everything as she had changed.
"Tori?"
The brunette singer turned and looked on in relief at the sight of her boyfriend. "Beck?"
The long haired actor immediately pulled his girlfriend into a hug then kissed her temple.
The brunette wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face into the side of his neck. She took a deep breath to take in his familiar scent. She may have pushed him away last night, but she had missed his presence.
They pulled slightly apart, but Beck didn't let her go. He simply smiled. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she mumbled almost shamefully.
Beck knotted his brow in confusion at the sound of her voice. Why would she feel bad for being alright?
Freddie idly commented, "I guess he heard."
Trina rolled her eyes and mumbled, "He certainly did."
Beck looked to Freddie in a near accusing glance and snapped, "Yeah, I did. Dusty just came to my work place and trashed the place with his entrance then threatened me. Where were either of you for a phone call to let me know Tori was alright?"
The former tech-producer narrowed his sight on him, not appreciating the accusation while Jade crossed her arms under her chest and raised an eyebrow. She uttered mildly shocked and ignoring his question, "He threatened you?"
"Yeah, he did the whole flashing and shorting out electronics—he even did the whole shadow wing thing in front of everyone. He had to do thousands of dollars' worth of equipment damage just to try to intimidate him."
Tori interrupted, "Why?"
Beck passed the quickest of glances Tori then looked to Trina while he answered in a strained voice, "Someone told him about what happened between me and Heather."
Trina snorted out dismissively then answered, "Someone had to tell him what you tried. You think that was going to remain a secret?"
"And that just had to be you?"
The older Vega sister spat back, not intimidated in the least by the handsome teenage actor, "He showed up last night. I filled him in on what happened. You're the one that got in his girlfriend's face. What did you expect was going to happen when he found out? I'm surprised you didn't show up here in an ambulance."
"Ex-girlfriend," Beck he sharply corrected.
"Yeah, that just made such a difference to him," she fired back.
"Enough," Tori cut them both off with a sharp tone. "I don't know what happened between you and Heather, but I'm not in the mood to listen to you two fight. I just want to get my things together and go home."
Her older sister crossed her arms over her chest and snorted out, "Fine."
Freddie softly stepped in to help bring down the tension in the room, "Yeah, let's make sure you haven't forgotten anything or some nurse might sell it on Craigsmix."
Jade followed up to Freddie and Trina, "We got this. Why don't you two double check Tori's release paperwork to make sure there isn't any snag in leaving."
Trina and Beck traded guarded looks, ready to pick up their confrontation in a moment's notice. The highlighted brunette relented, "Fine." She quickly walked past Freddie to head for the nurses' station.
Freddie spared a glance to Jade, questioning his role in babysitting Trina, but the musician looked back pointing out her babysitting Tori and Beck. He remained quiet and simply followed the older brunette out.
If Beck or Tori realized what Jade was doing, neither said anything, but turned to double check the actress had everything in her bag and scanning the room to make sure nothing was left behind.
In route to Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Tori quietly sat and looked out at the passing scenery as she rode in the passenger seat of the black '69 Dodge Charger. Beck hadn't appreciated her deciding to ride home with Jade and Freddie, but acquiesced to the reasoning that he could throw off the paparazzi hanging around the hospital by leaving the hospital in his recognizable car with a brunette in the passenger seat—which happened to be Trina with her face shielded. Neither one of them wanted to ride with the other, but necessity of putting Tori's wellbeing first kept them both quiet in objecting. The paparazzi and other entertainment news outlets took the bait and currently there weren't any vehicles following them.
The blue highlighted teenager happened to be right, Tori knew she was physically fine leaving the hospital (to the complete bewilderment of the doctors who fortunately were turning their attention to the little girl and her miraculous healing), physically refreshed with not one mark on her and not one ache or pain from any bruises or muscles strains. However, she felt inside that she was tired, so very tired… and her soul being eaten away.
Freddie kept his focus on the road with the occasional glance to his side and rear mirrors even though he was filled with worry about how his brunette friend slumped in the backseat. He may have just had a bombshell of finding out that Jon was his brother, but he had more important things to worry about than seeing his abandoning father or his half-siblings.
Jade shared that worry as the life she was all too familiar with seeing in the brunette's eyes had only briefly returned when she had arrived after the half-Latino musician have finished her visit with the little girl that was in the accident with her. In the back of her mind, she treated the news of Jon possibly being Freddie's brother—half-brother—and her future brother-in-law in stride for the time being and worry about the ramifications later.
Vega Residence
Tori's head bodyguard Marcus with several other security guards met the trio at the multimillion dollar home and opened the gate from them. Tori surprised the couple and the security detail by nearly jumping out of her seat. Freddie looked over his shoulder to his equally confused fiancée. He got out and let the seat down to let Jade step out. He started after their brunette friend and passed a thankful nod to Marcus while Jade grabbed Tori's bag and shutting the car door before starting to catch up.
Tori turned to the couple before they could enter and leaned against the edge of the door, letting the hardwood hold her head up. She gave them a lazy smile as she explained to the confused teenagers, "Thanks for checking and staying with me and helping me dodge the paparazzi, but you don't have to stay—"
Freddie looked like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets in utter shock that she was just brushing them off. He quickly recovered his composure and stated in hopefully a disarming tone that usually worked with any of the ladies, "Tori, we're not leaving you alone right now, especially with Trina not here."
The brunette sighed, "Guys, I'm fine. You know I'm fine. There's not a mark on me."
Jade spoke in a more forceful tone with the use of her last name, "Vega, we are not leaving. You refused to see us yesterday, but not again. You're going to have to put up with us for at least a while until Beck and Trina get here since you do not look alright. Dusty may have put you back together again, but you are far from fine." The fellow starlet shrugged a shoulder and finished remarking in a casual tone, "Besides, you owe us lunch for driving you home."
Tori snorted out and a smile formed on her face. Jade's prickly demeanor that had dominated the majority of their relationship surprisingly caused her tension to pop like a pin pricking a balloon. She turned and let the couple inside then closed the door behind them.
Tori blew out an exasperated breath, "Okay. I'll go fix us some brunch/early lunch if you insist on staying."
Freddie spoke up and quickly stepped around her to head for the kitchen. "I'll find something for us to fix while you sit down and try to unwind."
The lovely musician frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not helpless. I'm fine."
"No, you're not helpless, but just relax for a bit and let us take care of you for at least a little bit. You may be healed, the rest of us need to feel like we're not useless. That's a wound for us that takes more time to heal."
Tori suddenly recalled last year when they were all helpless in watching Jade bed bound hooked up to a ventilator and fighting a losing battle for her life. That was helplessness in watching such a thing and it haunted her for while without mention and it took a trip to Vegas for Freddie and Jade to heal from the experience.
She sighed in defeat and plopped down on the couch.
Jade dropped Tori's bag at the end of the couch then took a seat on the couch, picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. She quickly flipped through the channels then switched to the DVR. She quickly looked through the recorded shows and selected a program. Several seconds later 'Celebrities Underwater' appeared on the screen.
Tori pulled her legs under her and quietly watched the program she enjoyed watching with Cat and Freddie, but Jade could barely tolerate. They watched only for a minute before Tori asked, "Shouldn't you be heading to class? Shouldn't Freddie be in class?"
"Yes, but we called our professors and let them know we were going to miss today. They saw the news about what happened and they're not going to give us any grief… we'd just go to their chairs and deans if they want to be real ganks about it."
"That's a little harsh."
"When have I ever had the patience for stupid people?"
Tori slightly cocked her head and cracked a taunting smile.
Jade looked back and oddly stared at Tori's knowing expression. It finally occurred to her that before Tori organized what she thought was Hollywood Art's first prom, she had implied that she thought the lighter brunette was stupid. She looked away and shook her head, drawing a snort of a laugh from Tori.
The one time rivals sat quietly watching the program for a few minutes until the door opened, pulling the girls' attention away from yet another celebrity on the verge of drowning.
Trina blew out a breath as she pulled her key from the lock. She and Beck trotted inside, the older Vega sister closing the door behind them.
Jade got up from her seat on the couch and approached her ex and brunette. "So you lost them?"
Beck brushed some of his long hair out of his face and remarked in bated breath, "Not really, but it's kind of pointless now that we're home. They know we'll call the cops on them if they try to jump the gate."
Trina threw a quick glance towards the long haired actor at including himself in considering the house was his home. She would have a talk with at a later date in setting him straight about who was included in considering this house as home. However, right now she didn't want to deal with him and get into another argument, so she caught sight of Freddie in the kitchen and decided to join him.
Beck plopped down beside Tori and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her close. She snuggled onto him and the crown of her head onto the side of his neck. He kissed her just above her temple and breathed against her hair, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah…" She lifted her head off his shoulder and continued, "But what happened between you and Heather to get Dusty to show up to your set and threaten you?"
Beck pursed his lips in a frown and glanced away towards the coffee table.
Jade leaned forward to look around Tori and asked, "Are you going to tell her or am I?"
The 'Twisted' star looked to his ex with a withering look, debating whether or not she was just goading him.
"Beck?"
He sighed out and reluctantly started while avoiding Tori's eyes, "He was upset about my… 'interaction' with Heather yesterday after she arrived to check on you. I ah… got a little passionate in stressing the importance of Dusty to come back and she was the most likely person he would answer as she wasn't answering Jade or Freddie. Dusty didn't like that and he threatened me over it."
Tori lifted a corner of her mouth and raised an eyebrow at hearing his vagueness about his 'interaction' with Heather.
Jade interrupted before Tori could question, "Interaction? That's how you're defining what happened? Trina's right: you're lucky you didn't show up in an ambulance and I'm surprised you didn't."
Beck rolled his eyes and muttered, "Here we go again with you defending him…"
Jade was quick was to retort, "If you would have come at me like that, I would have hit you then Freddie would have put you on the floor like Jon did. The fact that you don't have a serious injury from Dusty says he's not as 'crazy' as you think he is."
The lighter color brunette hesitantly questioned, "What did you do? Did you get in a fight with Jon?"
He looked to Tori and put on a shameful expression. He cleared his throat then tried to carefully pick his words, "I was upset. I'm not denying it. She was the best chance of getting him here and I wanted to know why she hadn't called him and I did that by… kind of getting in her face. I… startled her and she tumbled backwards—"
"And would have fallen back if I wasn't behind her and caught her. Jon stepped in after Heather slapped Beck and put Beck on the floor."
Tori's eyes bulged out of her sockets and shouted, "Wait, what? Heather hit you? Jon put you on the ground?"
Beck took a breath then slowly breathed out. "I was shocked that she slapped me and I instinctively took a step towards her. Jon thought I was threatening her, so... we had a disagreement..."
"You swung on him."
"He pushed me first," Beck was quick to retort.
"Yeah, to get you to take a step back from me and Heather."
Tori frowned and the look she was directing at him was borderline judgmental.
Beck blew out a breath and glanced away. He clearly wasn't going to have any understanding by Tori if he continued on his present course of trying to explain his actions. "I talked to Heather afterwards and we're cool…" He finished, perhaps rubbing it in his girlfriend's face in the difference in how the 'victim' was far more understanding than she, "…she understood my feelings and forgave me." Beck reached for his throat and oddly rubbed it. "…I think that's the only reason why Dusty didn't go further."
Tori crossed her arms over her stomach and slightly pursed her lips.
The ABC Family actor saw her reaction as pouting and that his statement hit the mark.
Jade dryly remarked, "She's a forgiving girl."
Trina walked to the side of the kitchen island and to the left of Freddie as he was pulling out bread and various other sandwich toppings from the refrigerator.
She quietly called to him, "Hey."
"Hey," he replied as he glanced up to meet her gaze. "You look exhausted Trina."
"But I'm still beautiful, right?"
He dropped the items on the kitchen island and answered, "Always, but—"
She brushed a few loose hairs from the side of her face as she had most of it pulled back into a ponytail. "I know. I was practically up all night. I couldn't really sleep then Dusty showed up and…"
Freddie nodded in complete understanding. He didn't particularly sleep well last night even with Jade's presence in his bed.
He decided to state the obvious as to not dwell on those helpless feelings, "Well she's fine and the little girl is fine, so…"
"Yeah, she's 'fine'," she sputtered in sarcasm.
He attempted to reassure her with a smile, "One battle at a time Trina. One battle at a time."
Freddie grabbed a tray from a cabinet and opened up the bread bag while asking, "How is he?"
The older Vega sister took a moment to realize the change in subject and who he was referring. She answered a few seconds later, "I'm not sure. He didn't say anything about himself, but he has a pretty noticeable slice in his jacket over his right shoulder and blood stain."
The former Seattleite raised an eyebrow in concern which she hoped to reassure him by readily pointing out her observation, "His arm seemed to work fine to me, so I guess he healed up. Being the son of an angel has its benefits."
The computer science major nodded and turned back to his task with a mutter, "Yeah." His smile tightened as he continued, "Hopefully he'll come around and we can find out for sure. I know Heather would probably like some kind of answers and know he's fine."
Trina shrugged a shoulder and pointed out, "Unless he just dropped by to answer our prayer, put the fear of God into Beck and on his way again."
He clenched his jaw and Trina saw that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
She embarrassingly remarked, "Sorry."
Freddie paused midway lathering the piece of bread with some mayonnaise. He tightly smiled as he continued preparing the sandwich and sighed out, "I've worried about him since he's been gone. It was just so unexpected breaking up with Heather and taking off and it's not exactly like he's on some world tour."
"He kind of is…" She quickly bit his tongue when she saw his disapproving expression. She took a deep breath and continued, "I've seen the news about what he's been up to. I'm not judging him either way."
Freddie shook his head and started back on finishing preparing the sandwiches.
Trina idly stood and watched him as he finished one sandwich then asked, "So, Jon is your brother—half-brother?"
He stopped midway making the second sandwich and looked up to meet her gaze. He hesitantly answered, "It looks like that's the case. Some things match up and his father admitted that he was married to my mom, but is denying I'm his."
"I saw the resemblance, so I don't buy it. I always wished you had a brother I could go for, but now that you actually have one, it sucks," she continued in an odd mixture of flippant and regret.
The brown eye teenager looked to her in confusion.
"Because he has the hots for my sister," she dejectedly pointed out.
Freddie raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Showing a little concern doesn't mean he has the hots for Tori. He didn't do anything I didn't do; does that make me have the hots for Tori?"
Trina rolled her eyes and nearly made a 'piffting' sound as she replied, "It's different with you."
"How?"
"You and Tori… do I really have to explain it to you?"
Freddie knotted his brow and slightly frowned before he answered, "I think you do."
Trina sighed then attempted to explain it as if speaking to a simpleton, "What you do with Tori or Cat or even me can never be seriously construed as you putting the moves on us."
He turned his head slightly and squinted. "Because I'm with Jade. I am completely devoted to Jade," he offered as the obvious explanation.
She shook her head. "Everyone already knows that and you already said your vows to her last year, but that's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"It would never occur to you that you could use it as a way of getting close, just like right now because frankly… you love us and you've never been hung up about treating your female and male friends differently due to how it would look to others… but he's not you and he doesn't have that kind of relationship with any of us. Frankly, what Jade knows about him is that he could be a ladies man like Beck if he wanted to."
"And you think he might take advantage of such a situation?"
"Tori's a pretty girl—not as pretty as me of course—" she inserted with a playful smile, "—and an international musician and actress, so… why not?"
"Honor? It would be wrong to try to go for another man's girl unless there is good reason?"
She flicked a flirtatious eyebrow and playfully and curiously questioned, "Good reasons?"
Freddie motioned his head to the side and vaguely pointed out, "There are good reasons at times to interfere, but I don't see any involving Beck and Tori right now."
"But not all guys are stand up like you."
"And you don't know that he isn't."
"Giving him the benefit of the doubt because he's your brother?"
Freddie cracked a soft smile and shook his head. "No. I barely know the guy, but I can't just assume the worst of him. I'll have to see some proof that he wants to be more than friends with Tori just like I need to see some in regards to Beck other than your and Jade's suspicions when it comes to Tori."
A sour expression formed on her face, apparently taking his doubt of her observations to heart. "Our suspicions aren't enough? His history isn't enough? The same history that let you get with Jade in the first place?"
"I don't doubt what you and Jade are seeing; I just don't share the interpenetration. People change. People grow."
"And some people never change," she softly retorted with a raised eyebrow thinking of several people including a certain dirty blonde roommate to Cat.
Freddie looked back down at the food he was preparing and couldn't find a counterpoint.
The doorbell rang, thankfully breaking the uncomfortable silence between Beck and Tori while Jade tried to ignore it by watching a show she didn't enjoy. She started regretting that she didn't go into the kitchen and let Freddie babysit the couple.
Jade hopped off the couch and walked around the end of the couch and behind it to answer the door. The reporters and paparazzi knew better than to actually try to trespass onto the property as they would have the cops drag any and all of them away and prosecute. She was glad that when she eventually bought her house that it would be a gated community to avoid such things.
The dark haired musician took a quick peak out to see that Marcus and his detail allowed Cat and Sam onto the property. She could have done without Sam, but she wouldn't refuse to let her redheaded friend inside.
She opened the door and Cat quickly walked past Jade and Tori barely had time to stand up before the redheaded singer threw her arms around her and nearly tackled her to the couch.
Tori let out a soft laugh, "I'm okay Cat. I'm okay."
The redheaded rising musical star gave her taller friend a pitiful expression and pointed out, "We were worried and you didn't want to see anyone."
"I'm sorry. I just wasn't feeling like company."
Cat apparently understood with a half smile while dropping her arms away from the brunette.
Sam shrugged a shoulder and lazily remarked, "I told Cat that you'd see her when you were ready, but she insisted that we come by and check on you and… I guess I was concern about you."
Jade took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure what she was disgusted more by: Sam's behavior or that the behavior reminded her of herself from years ago.
Tori tiredly smiled, not fazed by Sam's comment. As she had seen with Jade years ago, she saw that Sam's abrasive exterior was just that and there was a heart in there somewhere. "Thanks. I do appreciate concern even if I don't deserve it."
The brunette's comment threw even the dirty blonde off for the few moments that Freddie and Trina just happened to exit the kitchen. Freddie paused in seeing the new arrivals and commenting, "I didn't realize you were coming over."
Sam quickly walked over and snatched a sandwich off the tray.
Freddie directed an annoyed expression at his onetime web-coworker.
The dirty blonde looked to him innocently and remarked, "What? I'm hungry."
He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
The doorbell rang again before anyone could admonish the blonde as she stuffed her face with the sandwich.
Jade lazily remarked to Tori as she decided to check the door again, "I guess everybody knows you're out."
Trina offhandedly remarked, "The nurses probably leaked it as soon as we left the hospital."
Beck needlessly suggested, "Or the paparazzi called their sellers for an update."
Jade looked through the peephole and immediately took a step back, mildly surprised by the arrivals. She opened the door to reveal Heather and Nate standing on the other side.
The model wore a slightly baggy black Nike T-shirt with the phrase 'Fight with Honor' printed in gray across the chest and a pair of dark blue jeans. Jade recognized the shirt as belonging to Dusty and wondered the meaning behind the doppelganger wearing it.
The model quickly asked, "Is Tori here? Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she's fine." The slightly lighter haired twin motioned for her doppelganger to step inside with her 'companion'.
Heather hastily walked through the foyer to the couch and explained to Tori, "I wanted to check on you, but we had just missed you at the hospital." She chuckled and reached into her back pocket to quickly pull out her PearPhone to wave it back and forth. "I found it out on my TwitFlash feed that you had been released… and about the little girl."
Trina crossed her arms and lifted a corner her mouth in a smirk in triumph at possibly being right.
Nate remarked in a good natured laugh, "Yeah, that was some miracle about the little girl. It's like God sent down one of his angels for her."
Heather's breath hitched, but quickly covered it with a tight smile, the reference hitting too close to her.
Tori looked to the muscular built young man standing at about the same height has Beck and gave him a polite smile.
The muscular and tanned Texan returned the smile and let his eyes linger on the songstress for a few seconds before he replied with a phantom tip of a hat, "I'm glad you're alright. We've been worried since we heard about your accident."
Tori apologetically smiled and answered Nate then turned to Heather, "Thank you. I'm sorry no one called to let you know. We were trying to keep a low profile that I was leaving. We did some switcheroo with the cars to throw off the press and I'm just trying to settle."
"It's okay. I've had to pull a few of those tricks to escape them during my trips."
"Thanks Heather." She passed the quickest of glances to Nate then looked to the model to finish in an unsure voice, "Thank you for… making the call… I know that probable and easy call to make."
Nate curiously looked between the two lovely teenage girls, instantly knowing that they were having a separate conversation than the one he was a part.
The raven hair girl tightly smiled, understanding the hidden meaning statement. "You're welcome. It wasn't that bad and it was obviously worth it."
Jade had noticed the gaze Nate had directed her friend that he apparently didn't realize it was noticeable by anyone else. She smiled warmly, the one that she used for meeting fans, and greeted him, "Hello Nate."
The Texan quickly put on a tight smile, apparently still not all that comfortable to the doppelganger to the girl he was accompanying. "Hello Miss West."
Freddie remembered Jade's sense that the Texan didn't care and saw that it was still the case, Saturday's get together not thawing any tension, especially with his voiced negative opinion of Dusty. He set the plate down at the coffee table and stepped in to offer his hand and politely smiled, hoping that he could ease that tension and if note, remind the young man of his presence in regards to Jade, "Hello Nate."
The slightly taller teenager accepted the handshake and answered in a reasonably polite tone, "Nice to see you again Freddie."
The former tech-producer and his musician fiancée weren't the only one that noticed the gaze Nate had directed to Tori again with Beck failing to wear a casual expression. He would have brushed it off as he did all the other fans that had given her such a gaze, but Jon's presence in their lives had caused a bit of perhaps unhealthy paranoia of guys trying to move in on his relationship, especially with Dusty's ominous and vague warning about Tori having a broken heart.
Tori continued before Beck could even hint at having some problem with Nate's presence, "We were just about to have an early lunch, would you care to join us?" She would have preferred if everyone one of them would leave, but she didn't want to be rude and she figured she had used up all of Jade's patience in being pushed away and Cat could possibly get upset.
Heather slipped her phone back into her pocket and waved her off with the other hand, "We didn't mean to intrude. I just wanted to see for myself that you were alright. I'm sure you just want relax."
Tori smiled and glanced to the others in the room. "I really would like to do that, but I think since I kicked everyone out yesterday they want to keep an eye on me for a little while."
Freddie wrapped an arm over Tori's shoulders and chuckled, "We love you, what do you expect?"
The brunette turned her face to look at Freddie and half-grinned.
Sam raised a hand. "Hey, let's not go that far with me."
Cat threw a disapproving look to her roommate. She couldn't understand why Sam would find any opportunity to separate herself from the rest of the group as she did with her remark to Tori and trying to antagonize Freddie. She really wished Sam would stop before the blonde pushed so hard that there would be a confrontation where she would have to pick a side. Over the last year, she thought she had grown pretty close to her roommate and didn't want to lose their friendship.
Heather let escape a soft laugh at Tori's predicament and began, "We'll kick ourselves out, so you want—"
A soft whoosh of air, the sound of a fluttering wing or piece of clothing, sounded in the foyer directly behind Heather and interrupted her farewell.
Heather eyes widened and she froze at the sound.
The others had heard it plenty of times, but to her, she could distinguish it from those other things that could easily be mistaken for that unique sound to her ears. The sound brought so many feelings to the surface and not all of them good, but the one that dominated them was happiness and safety. There was always safety with that sound.
The group looked as one to see Dusty standing in the foyer. Each one had their reactions to his appearance: surprise, astonishment and happiness. Nate in particular was trying to figure out the new arrival suddenly appeared.
The former Minnesotan slowly turned in place until she was face to face with a handsome young man that she hadn't seen in nearly two months.
Dusty cracked a bashful smile while looking into her eyes. "Hi."
All the hurt feelings and anger that Heather felt towards him disappeared for that one moment and she softly uttered, "Hi."
The others respectfully remained silent as the former couple looked to one another, neither apparently knowing what to say to the other.
Heather just studied him, looking at his soft brown eyes, his messy front hair and that faintly boyish grin. A tiny part of her screamed how much she hated him and wanted to tell him that, but the rest was just happy and relieved to see his face. Her eyes finally trailed down and noticed his right shoulder. Out of instinct, she placed her left hand on the sliced and blood stained opening and asked in a concern filled voice, "What happened to your shoulder?"
Dusty suppressed the shiver of her warm touch on him, the feeling of her delicate fingertips that he had missed over the weeks. He glanced to his shoulder with the visible sliced leather and blood stain on the right breast of the jacket. He lazily shrugged the shoulder and looked up to meet her eyes to reply just high enough for only her to hear him, "I got into a fight with a fallen angel… he lost."
The model's mouth became a thin line and she stared at him with a naked look of concern for him, any anger and resentment she had for him momentarily forgotten.
Heather finally muttered under her breath, not really wanting the others to hear, "Are you okay?"
Dusty shrugged his right shoulder. "Yeah, it took a little bit out of me, but I healed up and it's working fine now."
The raven haired pale teenager softly questioned, "What could hurt you?"
The former Carolinian looked down to see the pendant hanging from her neck. It brought a small smile to his face to see she was still wearing his gift, but focused on her question, "Angel weaponry. Fallen angels usually keep their toys when they fall."
He hesitantly smiled to the model, seeing the look for him that he had missed. "I got your prayer… I heard all of them since I've been gone."
She bowed her head shamefully. She had prayed, shouted to Heaven all the anger, hatred and hurt feelings and what she thought about him after he left and for weeks after when she had moments of sadness. She spoke the first words that came to her mind, "I'm sorry. I—"
He dipped his head slightly to the side and gave her a submissive expression and answered in an acquiescent tone, "You have nothing to apologies to me for." He dropped his voice lower, "I'm the bad guy in this, remember? You're the wronged one."
She looked up and met his eyes. Her anger returned, but it was empty and hollow as she saw the defenseless expression. He still made no excuses or massaged anything, just making it clear that he was a bad guy and allow her to verbally tear him apart if she wished.
The Texan knotted his brow, utterly confused with them talking about him hearing a pray and somehow not using the door. How else was he going to get inside? He brushed those questions aside and the Texan snapped at the former Carolinian since he didn't like the apparent closeness the pair was sharing, "So you're the jerk that dumped her?"
Heather was pulled out of their little world to realize they weren't alone. She threw a look to the Texan and whispered in a softly admonishing tone, "Nate."
The sandy blonde hair teenager threw a quick glance to Heather, showing with his facial expression of slightly tightened muscles around his eyes and locked jaw that he didn't appreciate the subtle rebuke from her and shouldn't do it again. He answered with a slight edge to his voice, "Heather, you may not have spoken about him, but I can read the stories on-line about what he did and see no reason why I should show any respect to him."
The others momentarily remained silent at the scene playing out, Jade and Freddie being the first to show their disapproval with their respective expressions. If Ava had been present, she would have torn into the Texan.
Dusty turned and looked to the slightly taller teenager. He took a step or two to close the distance with him and stand in front of the Texan. The pair started sizing each other up, each giving the other a quick glance up and down. Dusty cocked his head to the side and studied Nate's eyes. "Mmm…" Dusty hummed as he apparently saw something from Nate's eyes then he calmly replied, "I prefer the term 'asshole' or just outright a piece of shit because 'jerk' just doesn't seem to cut it in describing me. There's not enough 'umpf' in that description in what I have done."
Nate was slightly taken aback from the readily admittance of not just identity but description.
He wasn't the only one surprised by Dusty's description of himself as the others had their own reactions. Sam's mouth formed an 'O' shape, Cat looked confused, Jade saddened and Freddie a mask to hide his feelings.
Nate cleared his throat, trying to rally himself, then guardedly commented, "Not many guys would readily take all the blame in the ending of a relationship. They would make some sort of excuse or shift the blame or justification to the lady."
Dusty answered in a chilly voice, "I'm not like other guys and there is no blame to shift to her, no justification I could make in regards to my actions and you would be wise to remember that if you ever ask the question 'What did she do?'"
Any further potential one-upmanship was interrupted when Cat nearly skipping to Dusty and nearly tackled him as she did Tori. He cracked a smile and returned the hug that lifted her off her feet. She sat her back down and smiled down at her. "It's nice to see you too. How are you doing little Re—"
He paused and lifted the right corner of his mouth, giving her a concerned expression. "Oh Cat…" He raised his right hand and placed his first two fingers to her forehead. He pulled his fingers away after a soft hissing sound then leaned forward and conspiratorially whispered, "It's time to stop with the hair dye, okay?"
She looked down and started playing with the ends of her hair, "But I like my color—"
He sympathetically smiled and pointed out, "You'll eventually go bald. It's starting to get damaged to the point of falling out."
Cat frowned and nodded.
Nate looked on in confusion at what he just witnessed while Dusty looked to the dirty blond and jovially questioned, "You've been staying out of trouble you little she-demon?"
Sam half smirked. "Trying, but I've seen you haven't. Interesting nickname you've picked up Bird Boy."
He grinned. "It's the right kind of trouble you want to get into and it kind of has a nice ring to it… and it's kind of ominous for those that need to be afraid. It's making them think twice from butchering Coptic Christians and their own people… until they really start to push and we lose the war…"
Dusty broke any awkward silence before it could form from his words by looking to Jade and cracked another grin. "Hello Angel Girl. How are you doing? Taking a break from topping the charts?"
Jade walked over and gave him a hug with a big smile plastered on her face. "Hey, I'm doing fine and yeah, I'm taking a break. How are you doing?"
Dusty returned the hug with a pat on her back. He pulled back and wore a tired, but genuine smile. "I'm… I'm in one piece." He glanced to Freddie while remarking with a half smirk, "You've been keeping an eye on him? You know how he just seems to draw trouble like a magnet."
"Like you running towards it?" Freddie returned with a chuckle as he approached his friend.
The former Seattleite offered his hand in a grasp then the pair gave each other a one arm hug and pat on the back. Each pulled away from the other and Dusty answered, "You know me, rushing in where angels fear to tread… family trait."
Freddie nodded his head to the side, seeing that didn't change.
Dusty looked to Beck with a lopsided grin and prodded, "Hello pretty boy."
Beck snorted out in disgust, "Jank you."
Dusty chuckled with a hand over his heart, "Ahh, you say the sweetest things, but you're not my type and you don't want to pick up your old bad habits of trying to make your girlfriend get jealous."
Beck admonished him, "Will you stop being a smartass? You put a lot of good people out of work for a few days with all the equipment you destroyed and you threatened to kill me."
The older teenager repositioned his cold stare and sharply retorted with a raised finger, "No, I told you that I would break you; there is a big difference… I needed to get your attention and I certainly did. Why don't you pay for it? You aren't hurting for cash."
Heather was quick to question, "Why did you threaten him?"
He looked to Heather and spoke in a nearly offhanded manner, "Why do you think?"
The black haired teenager took only a moment to realize that Dusty had found out about her and Beck's 'confrontation'.
Nate glanced from Heather and Dusty then hastily to Beck. He quickly repeated the process to gauge their expressions and asked, "Why did you threaten him?"
Dusty broke from his looking at Heather and calmly answered, "He needed reminding on how to speak to a woman that hasn't provoked him."
The Texan knotted his brow and let his imagination start to roam wild before looking to Beck with a glare.
Beck didn't flinch under the gaze and realized he would have another Dusty on his hands. He turned his attention to Dusty and stated, "She did slap me… for you."
Dusty was quick to bite back, "And I have given you fair warning if she's provoked to do that again."
Heather quickly saw things could escalate with either Dusty keeping his warning to Beck or Nate may decide to have a talk with the long haired actor. She placed a hand on Nate's upper arm and stated in a sweet voice, "It's alright. Beck and I had a talk and we're good." She directed to Dusty with an understanding tone, "We're good and you didn't have to do that."
"I…" The words seemed to die on his lips. He couldn't very well say that just because they broke up—he breaking up with her—that he stopped loving her and wanting to keep her safe. He cleared his throat and bashfully stated, "…old habits die hard."
Heather took in a soft breath through her nose as she recognized the emotion in his eyes. He loved her. He still loved her, but…
She looked away from his eyes and passed a long glance over the others in the room then stated with a bright smile, "I guess we'll go ahead and go and let you rest. I'm glad everyone's alright."
The pale and black haired teenager passed an unsure glanced to her ex-boyfriend and he returned with a bashful expression. She turned away to head for the door without consulting Nate and from the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a brief flash of disappointed on Nate's face. She brushed it away and thought it was just a trick on her eyes.
The model made it a just a few feet to the door when Dusty called out without thinking, "Heather?"
She stopped and looked over her right shoulder.
He stood tongue-tied for several seconds before he cleared his throat and muttered out randomly, "Nice shirt."
She glanced down at the black t-shirt with gray writing. She looked at it and seemed for the first time realized what she was wearing. She cracked a sweet smile then looked to him. "Thanks, it was… I kind of borrowed it from someone very special to me and never got it back to him."
"I know for a fact that he doesn't mind."
She granted him a smile before starting back on her way, but just as she was crossing the threshold of the door, she looked over her shoulder and a ghost of a smile on her lips then stepped out the door.
Dusty's gaze lingered for a moment, fighting a smile then turned to Nate as the Texan looked over his shoulder and the pair traded challenging glances before Nate followed Heather out. He was pulling it shut behind him when Dusty called out, "Remember Nate, this is the United States in the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth century."
The sandy blonde young man gave him a curious look, unsure as to the cryptic message. He turned and headed out the door without another word.
The former webmaster kept his focus on the door for several moments, lost in his own thoughts. He subconsciously lifted his left hand to palm over his formally injured shoulder where Heather had touched him before he stated in a detached voice, "I'm going to go ahead and go. I need to make a few stops and catch up on some things. It was good to see everyone."
He took his first steps to the door as Tori whispered in a nearly accusatory tone, "I didn't ask you to heal me."
Dusty stopped in his tracks. He slightly turned and looked over his right shoulder.
The brunette star kept a cold, almost accusing stare onto him.
Trina quietly asked her sister, but was ignored, "Tori?"
The former Northridge student turned and quickly assessed her stare. He gave her a cold one in return and spoke with even a colder tone, "Take your guilt and shove it up your ass. I don't have any need of it, because I'm not responsible for how you feel and you should be grateful for me coming back. I was busy when I got Heather's prayer and I dropped everything to come back here."
Beck snapped in disgust, "Sorry if your killing spree was interrupted."
Dusty turned his gaze to Beck and verbally cut at him, "Actually Pretty Boy, I was in Heaven taking care of some very important business when I got Heather's prayer. I had to rush my business to get back down here because she—" He pointed towards Tori. "—apparently can't drive a damn car. The world does not revolve around any of you and I am not at your beck 'n call every time you scrap your knee."
He took a step to Beck and continued in a cold tone, "And my other business that I've been attending while I've been gone, I make no damn apology for sending them to Hell. They want to stone the homosexuals to death for being homosexual in Iran—since it is a capital offense in that country if you weren't aware—then they're going to pay for it with their lives. Your silly Splashface video about being 'Straight but not Narrow' doesn't do a damn thing but makes you feel good in thinking you've actually done something. They want to execute woman for adultery after they've been raped, I'll stop them when I can. If the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt wants to slaughter Coptic Christians and the Muslims that didn't want to be dragged back to the seventh century then I'm going to make them bleed for it and put a little fear in them."
The former Carolinian shook his head in disgust. "Damn, it is so easy sitting in your high horse Mister 'Television Star' while the rest of the world is burning, people are dying and judging the ones of us that are trying to stop it."
Beck's face flushed and Dusty snorted out in disgust to the actor then turned and continued on his way out the door.
Author's Note: Tori's home and lines are being drawn on a variety of fronts. There will be some other familiar faces in the next chapter, especially to Freddie. Thanks for reading.