Hello dear readers! I hope your week has treated you well. I have another chapter for you, but I'm breaking it up into two parts and hope to have the second one up by the end of the weekend.

Fanfic-Reader-88: iFight Shelby Marx left off with them being friends, but not particularly close. With meeting up again in 'We Love Each Other' and the time between the stories, they've reestablished a friendship. During that time, she's realized how she missed out on a good catch with Freddie, so naturally when she finds out he has a brother, why not be interested if they are similar?

Shay's got to get started if he's going to be President in 2016.

Twilight Warrior 627: He knows how to make an entrance and an exit. Shay's an old soldier that has seen things and done things that we have no right to ask a fellow human being to do, yet ask and he has done it. Now Dusty is asking him to do a little more and clearly Ruby thinks he's done enough.

Challenge King: Once Freddie's out of Seattle, he's not overlooked anymore and a new look can give someone a fresh perspective on someone and that's what happened with Shelby. However, it's too late and as I pointed out in the last chapter and perhaps this one, people ask 'Do they have a brother/sister?'. Jon is not blind to Tori and may just make him think he could have a shot. Dusty's experiences has led him to see a bigger picture and it can cause stepping on people's toes.

xemtlenc: Even though we only have an hour of show to work with in her single experience, I think it's clear that Shelby is a strong girl with a healthy does of self-confidence. One has to be to be a champion.

Dusty is confident in his belief, so it may look like stubbornness to people. Jade has just as much tenacity, so we'll see how that plays out.

Shay has been to Afghanistan and Iraq during that time, but there was a stretch during that time he was involved in a certain program

Rating: T, Language

Chapter 17

Schoenberg Music Building
UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Jade was distracted while she made her way to her music composition class. Dinner the previous night had ended in a complete disaster. She was no step closer in figuring out the truth about what happened between her friends and probably alienated one of them on top of the fact that the Colonel had went back to his place in a pensive manner. Saying her mother was furious at the situation was an understatement. The irony wasn't lost on the fact that she couldn't pull off a better plan than some of the hair brain schemes by Tori. She guessed she couldn't pull off lightning striking twice as she did with her visit to Carly during her senior year to get her and Freddie to reconcile.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she nearly bumped into Jonathan as he was trying to leave the classroom. The second born Benson child fortunately stopped before colliding into her and gently grabbed her by the upper arms to steady both of them.

The dark haired musician snapped out of her thoughts and cracked an apologetic smile. "Whoa, sorry. I didn't see you."

"It's okay. You looked like your mind was somewhere," he answered while dropping his hands off her arms.

"Yeah… it kind of was."

His expression turned from mild amusement to concern. "Is everything okay?"

"It'll be fine. It'll just take a few days for everything to settle down and cool off."

The second born son to Leonard Benson tightened his charming smile with her comment striking pretty close to his recent train of thought. He quickly recovered and asked in concern, "Did you and Freddie get into a fight?"

Jade waved him off and replied, "No, we didn't. We don't really get into fights… maybe about laundry and sometimes what we want for dinner… or we get a little intense with our video games, but that's about it."

"You're lucky you're that compatible."

She slightly cocked her head to the side and offered, "I think of it more of us being unafraid to be honest with each other and trying to see where the other is coming from and we remember that through it all, we love each other. It's worked out for us well since we got together."

Jonathan half smiled, wondering if he would ever find a girl that would be so honest with their feelings, but then realized that he may have met such a girl… and she was three thousand miles away in New York.

Jade finally noticed that they were outside of the classroom instead of inside with a quick glance around then asked, "You're leaving? I'm I running late." She didn't wait for an answer and reached into her pocket to pull out of her phone to check the time.

Jonathan raised a hand and answered with a disarming smile, "No, I was just getting out of here after class."

"Why? You usually hang out for a bit. Since we've met, you've always hung around to play on the piano."

Jonathan glanced to the floor and admitted, "Okay, I was kind of trying to avoid you."

The admission caught the musician by surprised and she was having her fill of surprises recently. "Avoid me? Why?"

"I didn't want to risk offending you."

Jade knotted her brow. "Offending me?"

"You know my view on the idea that Freddie is my brother. I'm pretty blunt about it. I didn't want to offend you since he is your boyfriend—fiancé."

Jade sighed out a breath of relief, hearing that it wasn't something serious. She directed a reassuring smile to him and answered, "Jon, you didn't offend me. You'll loyal to your father and we understand that. What you're saying can be a little… inflammatory to Freddie in regards to his mother and since I'm his fiancée and Mrs. Benson—Freddie's mother will be my mother-in-law, it could cause some antagonism."

"That's why I was hoping to avoid you today. Give a little bit of time too cool off some emotions. Tori mentioned before she left that she didn't want this to spoil any friendships and that I could upset you over it."

"So she warned you about me? She's using friendship with you now?"

Jon nervously smiled, feeling that he was under the famous musician's scrutiny. "Yes, she did warn my about you and she's using the word 'friendship'. Is that strange?"

"No, I am protective of him as he's protective of me, so it's a fair warning, but I think an unnecessary one. In regards to friendships, Tori just has that way about her. She's still very trusting of people even when she should be more cautious with the fame and trying to see the best in them."

"I've picked that up. I guess that's why she was so welcoming of Amanda and went so far as to invite her to fly back with her.

Jade knowingly smiled. "It's quite the fun experience… if you enjoy flying. If you're going to ride in a private jet then you have to ride in style."

"So that's one of the perks of being a star? Private jet rides?"

"We don't like being felt up by the TSA and that's a definite plus, especially what happened with Heather that one time,"

Jon tightened his look on Jade, vaguely recalling the mention of the story. "What happened with Heather?"

"That's a story for another time…"

"Okay… Amanda was still thrilled that she got to ride with her when she called to say they arrived. She called me back a few hours later to tell me that she and Tori would be going out with her Friday; I just hope she doesn't disappoint Amanda."

Jade shook her head and reassured him, "Don't worry. Unless filming runs late or she's just too exhausted to get out of bed, she'll be there. If not, she'll probably just invite her over to wherever she's staying. She's a fan of sleepovers."

"Really?"

"She did invite both of you over to her going away party."

Jon tight lipped grinned. "True. That was still unexpected."

"I guess she saw something good in you then Amanda."

"Or she saw something of Freddie?"

Jade half-smirked. "I won't deny how close they are and he possesses a lot of attractive qualities to her, but I thought you didn't believe."

Jon paused for a moment in contemplated that he could share the qualities that she was attracted, regardless if he really was the former tech-producer's brother. He filed that away for a second and answered with a smooth tone, "What I believe isn't the same as what others believe. Amanda has made that quite clear."

The green hair highlighted teenager gave a barely perceived nod in acknowledgment.

The slimmer Benson kept his charming smile that was expectedly similar to Freddie's smile then recalled why they ran into each other in the first place. "You never said what was bothering you."

The musician embarrassingly glanced to the floor and answered, "I tried helping out a friend last night and it kind of blew up in my face."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah," she answer, softly smacking her lips as if she was trying to get a bad taste out of her mouth.

"Hopefully everything will work out."

Jade cracked a barely perceivable smile and answered, "It's taken some time, but whatever problem we've face, it's always worked out in the end."

"If there is anything I can do to help…"

"Careful Benson, you don't want to obligate yourself. We'll really count you to show up."

"I didn't say to say it. I meant it."

Jade eyed the younger brother of her love, trying to gauge his truthfulness and see if he had any of the same telltale signs as Freddie.

Other students of Jade's class started approaching and trying to walk past them to get inside.

The pair stepped aside to let them inside, promoting Jade to say, "I guess I have to get to class, so I'll see you later."

"I'll see you. Call if you need any help."

"I'll keep you in mind Benson," she replied while slipping past him and into the classroom.

Cat Valentine/Sam Puckett Residence
Apartment 22
Venice, CA
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The time was mid-afternoon when Sam stood behind the L-shaped kitchen island with a tall and large aluminum pot and several bottles of various shapes, sizes and colors. She was mumbling to herself as she poured various sauces into it, "And a little a'dat. And a dash a'dis. A blob of red, a plop a'brown come on now, plop on in there."

Cat called out from the small circular table at the end of the kitchen as she was scribbling into a small spiral notebook, "Excuse me, I'm trying to work on some of my lyrics."

The dirty blonde sarcastically remarked, "Well, try to keep it down, would ya?"

The now natural brunette after having washed out all her red velvet dye, much to her regret, questioned slightly perplexed, "What are you even doing?"

"There's like a billion sauces in the world, right?"

Cat got up from her seat and approached the about equally tall girl to answer, "I haven't counted the sauce of the world."

Sam stirred the large pot with her large metal spoon and answered, "Well, I am making the perfect sauce for any food." She pulled the spoon out of the pot and offered it to Cat, "Open your mouth."

The former redhead pouted, "I don't wanna."

Sam almost commanded, but there was a clear plea to her request, "Open."

Cat sighed and decided to humor her friend. She opened her mouth and allowed her roommate to slip the spoon into her mouth.

Sam pulled the spoon out and allowed the future popstar to taste her concoction. She hopefully asked with a soft grin, "Well?"

The childlike teenager responded by spitting it all out and making a mess all over Sam's grey outer tank-top with a cat's face and gold sunglasses.

The former troublemaker smacked her lips in disgust and looked down at her shirt.

Cat looked embarrassed that she had done such a thing and regretfully added, "It's not a sauce for me."

The dirty blonde remarked in a sour tone, "Well, now I gotta go change shirts before I start to smell. So I'll just…"

The former Seattle troublemaker barely made it to the perpendicular side of the island when the apartment door flew open and Dice, their twelve and a half year old neighbor, friend and go to guy for anything they needed, ran into the apartment, "Okay, I know you guys told me that I should knock, but I got a situation so I forgot to knock."

Sam sighed as she stopped at the end of the opposite end of the couch. She suggested to Cat in a disinterested tone, "Don't ask about his situation."

Cat happily ignored her as she stopped beside Sam and asked, "What's your situation?"

Sam sighed loudly and rolled her eyes, clearly frustrated with Cat ignoring her, "Geez."

Dice took a calming breath then answered, "Okay, so two nights ago I was playing in a poker game. Now, try to picture this in your minds as I tell ya the story."

Sam answered, "Sure," followed by Cat, "Okay."

The tween began his story, "So I was at bots after hours and I was just about to win a big hand…"

Bots Restaurant
Monday, October 14, 2013

…Dice and a number of his friends were sitting around one of the large round tables near the windows to look out onto the pier and ocean. He glanced to Tandy, the large red robot waiter who was also holding cards and in on the game, and thanked, "Hey, man. Thanks again for lettin' us play here."

Tandy replied in his robotic voice with a motion of his right arm, "Just please don't tell my manager."

Dice waved him off, "Ah, no worries."

One of the other tween players sitting across from Dice asked the middle-aged man with a mustache, "So what do you do again?"

The man casually answered while glancing away from his cards, "Me? I'm a spear fisherman." He picked up a spear gun resting on the table and carelessly waved it about as he finished, "I spear fish using this here spear gun."

Dice asked in reasonable concern while raising a hand up, "That things not loaded, is it?"

The fisherman laughed while just dropping the gun back on the table, "Oh, oh, yeah. It's loaded."

Dice other friend sitting to his right that loved munching on hardboiled eggs slightly scooted back as he was in the line of fire of the spear gun.

"C'mon. Who's in?"

"Me," Dice answered with a smirk then pushed all his chips into the pile and confidently stated, "I'm all in."

The tween sitting next to the unnamed spear fisherman slammed his cards on the table and stated, "I'm out."

The third middle schooler randomly spoke, "I'm Randy."

The one that loved his egg got up from his seat and stated, "I'm gonna get more eggs."

"Okay, spear fisherman."

The fisherman pushed his pile of chips into the pile and confidently replied, "This is for all the tuna."

Dice laid his cards down on the table and stated, "Flush to the ten."

"Ah, crabs. I lost," the fisherman shouted in frustration and slammed his fist on the table. The spear gun resting on the table fired from the jarring and the spear went flying across the restaurant and they heard a shout, "Owww, my eggs."

Randy shook his head and took a sip from his drink.

Present Time

Cat Valentine/Sam Puckett Apartment

Cat softly questioned, "Okay, did the egg boy die?"

Dice slightly squinted and answered, "No."

Sam laughed and motioned with her right hand, "Then be happy. You won a lotta money."

"I didn't win any money."

Sam slightly squinted and pointed out slightly perplexed, "You said the spear fisherman guy bet all the tuna."

"He did. I thought he meant money, but he was betting actual fish."

Cat knotted her cute brow. "Tuna fish?"

"Yeah, he paid me with twelve hundred pounds of tuna."

The L.A. immigrant smirked and pointed out, taking a step to her pot and giving it an affectionate rub, "Y' know, I got the perfect sauce for tuna fish."

"They aren't ready for sauce they're alive, swimming in a tank down at the Fisherman's wharf."

"So just sell 'em to some tuna fish company."

Dice snapped in frustration, "You don't get it."

"I don't want it," Sam mocked with a face.

"They aren't normal tuna fish. They're Kansas razor back tuna."

"So what? People can't eat Kansas razor-back tuna?"

"No, they taste terrible and they eat everything, even people."

Cat furled her brow and muttered in confusion, "Why would a tuna fish wanna eat me?"

"I don't know, revenge?"

The petite musician sucked in a deep breath and opened her mouth wide in shock at such a thing.

Sam grinned and walked around the end of the kitchen island. "All right I wanna check out these vicious tuna."

Dice eagerly added, "Let's go."

Cat pointed out in a near pout, "But I was working on some lyrics and we're babysitting Ian. You have to go get him."

Sam rolled her eyes then pointed out, "You can work on them when we get back. Besides, you've been working on them since you got back from school and you're going to be writing with Jade tomorrow. We'll just take Ian with us. We told his mother we would be taking him out and if she figures out that we've lied to her and just letting Jade do it, she's going to be wazzed off then Jade will be wazzed off even more and at us. I can only take so much of her before and want to punch her in the face."

The former redhead saw her friend's point. "Okay, I'll take a break."

"Then come on, let's go…" She leaned over to Cat and finished with an annoyed filled voice, "…after I change shirts."

Dice eagerly offered, "I'll meet you there."

Sam suggested with a motion of her hand, "Cat, why don't you go ahead and go with Dice while I pick up Ian. I can't fit both of you on my bike."

"Okay, I'll go with Dice and we'll meet you there," Cat answered while she trotted to beat her to the bedroom to pick up her keys and wallet.

Fishermen's Wharf
Venice, CA

About half an hour later, Sam pulled up to the fishermen's wharf on her motorcycle with Ian in customized seat attached to the end of the backseat. She threw down the kickstand then stepped off and turned around to unbuckle her passenger. She picked him up under the armpits and set him on his feet. She took his helmet then dropped it in his seat before pulling off her helmet and resting it on the right handle.

Sam took Ian's hand and approached Dice and Cat near a large water tank and arguing with a bearded individual before the tween handing over some money to him.

Dice threw his hands out and desperately asked when he saw Sam, "Will you please help me with my tuna problem?"

Sam sighed, "Relax."

Ian eagerly asked, imagining what he had been told to be like piranha fish, "Can we see the 'killer tuna'?"

Dice sighed and motioned towards the tank, "Yeah, they're right in there."

The four walked to the large tank that was big enough to be an above ground swimming pool. Ian was just a little too short to look over the top, so Sam lifted him up with one arm under his left arm and over his chest.

The blonde threw her right hand into the water and easily snapped one of the fish out of the water, "Oh, yeah."

Ian looked wide-eyed to the fish. "A Kansas razor back tuna. Cool."

Dice laughed, believing that them being so dangerous was an exaggeration, "That fish doesn't look so vicious."

Sam held the fish towards Dice's face and started munching air, desperately wanting to get something into his mouth.

He back off and yelp, "Whoa."

The dirty blonde threw the fish back into the water then reached into her right pocket and pulled out a sandwich on rye bread. "Check this out. Sandwich." She tossed it into the tank and the water started bubbling then several of the fishes started leaping out of the water

Cat remarked in surprise, "Oh, geez."

Dice curiously asked with a side glance to Sam, "You always keep a sandwich in your pocket?"

"Try to. I keep rips and chicken in my purse when I carry one."

The kid-conman shook his head and muttered in frustration, "What am I gonna do? Do you know how much money I'm gonna lose on these dumb fish?"

Sam sat Ian back on his feet then jogged back several steps away from the tank to examine it with a quick glance. "Hang on, hang on a sec. How a, how big would you guys say this tank is?"

Ian offered, "Uh, 'bout twenty-five feet."

Cat added, "I'd say it's about twenty-one feet."

"Hey!" a voice called out from the other side of the tank.

One of the pier men sitting on a flatbed truck eating a corndog sarcastically remarked, "That tank is exactly twenty-five feet across. So the brunette is wrong."

Cat's mouth dropped opened, clearly offended by the mocking remark.

Ian smiled at being able to guess the distance, Jade's uncanny ability to eyeball distances rubbing off on him over the years.

The dirty blonde offered as an idea started turning in her head, "Hey, dice. I think I might know how you can make some money off of these tuna fish."

"What's ya thinking?

Sam wickedly grinned. "Motorcycle jump."

Dice squinted and jaw slacked. "Motorcycle jump?"

"Yeah, we put a ramp right here, we set one up over there. We put some bleachers in the back here and then we charge people a bunch of money to watch someone jump the tuna."

The former redhead voiced, "That's crazy."

The curly haired tween was eager for way to make his money back, "I'm on board." However, he immediately saw the potential flaw in the plan and reluctantly pointed out, "But wait, who can we get to make the jump?"

Sam pointed out what she thought was the obvious, "Me."

Dice shouted with practical glee, "For real? Awesome."

Cat was quick to interrupt, "No, I am not gonna let you jump a motorcycle over a tank full of twelve hundred pounds of dangerous tuna fish from Nebraska."

"From Kansas," Sam corrected with a barely constrained expression.

"You're from Kansas."

Sam squinted, unsure of the reason behind the lame insult. She tossed that aside for the moment and attempted to reassure her, "It, it's fine. I've made jumps almost that far before."

Cat was quick to point out, "Over dangerous tuna? No."

"Dude, you got—"

Dice interrupted the potential blow up, "Hey, hey. What about the dirty skipper?"

"Oh, yeah," Sam acknowledged with her pointer finger.

Cat looked more confused and asked, "Who's the dirty skipper?"

Sam eagerly answered, "He's a guy, like a professional daredevil and he'll jump a motorcycle over anything. He's also filthy and disgusting, but he is awesome on a motorcycle."

"All right, I'll try to book the dirty skipper." Dice pulled out his PearPhone and started typing away, looking up the daredevil.

The singer sighed in relief that Sam wouldn't do something so stupid.

Sam looked to Ian and offered, "Since we're right here, you want grab something from Bots?"

Cat eagerly suggested, "We could go to that new salad place, 'Lettuce Have Lunch'?"

Ian slightly frowned, thinking it sounded too much like all that vegan food that his mother was trying to push on him. "Nah, I'd like to go to Bots."

"You heard the kid." Sam grabbed Ian's hand and they headed back to her motorcycle. She picked him up and buckled him back into the seat then hopped onto the bike. She revved up the bike and shouted, "We'll meet you there."

Sam pealed away, leaving her roommate to fend for herself for a lift to the restaurant while Dice absently walked off to try to book the 'Dirty Skipper'.

The same pier man that shouted earlier to mock Cat called out again, "Hey, that new lunch place for salads is called 'Lettuce Eat Lunch', so you're wrong again."

Cat just shook her head and gave him a strange look.

Kerckhoff Coffee House
Kerckhoff Hall
308 Westwood Plaza
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Freddie was at the bar sipping on his smoothie, just relaxing after a day of classes. Usually he would just be waiting for Jade now that she wouldn't need to pick up Ian from Cat's place to take him home, but this time he was waiting for someone else.

The tech-producer wasn't disappointed as Dusty took a seat next to him and looked to the attendant on the other side. He raised a finger and ordered with a charming smile he clearly inherited from his father, "I'll take Peppy-Cola and don't skip out on the high fructose corn syrup."

The cute redhead with a short haircut smiled and turned to fulfill his order.

Dusty glanced to his right and asked, "So, you wanted to see me?"

"Other than just hanging out with my buddy?"

"I may not be actively looking, but I'm still empathic. You didn't call me to just hang out."

"Fine, I wanted to talk about what happened last night."

The always odd-one-out of the Hollywood Arts group shook his head and sighed before stating, "I'm not apologizing for what I said to the Colonel. It's the truth. If you saw what I saw, you would agree with me. Heck, Jade saw that was the case in that alternate future of hers. I'm only sorry if I spoiled the dinner and upset Mrs. West. She's a very nice woman… and according to my dad, wears a pair of jeans quite well."

Freddie raised an eyebrow from that little tidbit about Mister Hale's thoughts on Mrs. West, but refrained from commenting and stuck with his point, "That's between you and the Colonel… but you should avoid Mrs. West. She's quite upset."

The attendee returned with Dusty's drink, thanking her with a smile then answering, "She loves him. She thinks he's done enough. I feel the same way about my dad. They've done their bit for God and country… for the planet and human race, but… you got to think about your kids."

Freddie let out a partial chuckle, "I didn't realize you were planning to have them so soon."

Dusty glanced into his drink and muttered in a distant, detached voice, "I'm not… I'm not having kids. It's not in the cards…"

The Seattle native glanced in concern towards Dusty and was about to speak, but was cut off with him continuing, "I was thinking about your kids and Heather's kids and everyone else's. Children shouldn't live in fear and that's all they want to bring to us… Heaven, they do that to their own children."

Freddie set aside his concern for the second and asked, "And you think he's the best man for the job?"

Dusty took a long sip from his drink then asked with a semi-challenging stare, "You don't?"

The former Seattleite shrugged a shoulder. "I've never cared much for politics, so I never gave it much thought. I wasn't even going to vote after I turned eighteen until we heard what was happening with the Colonel. They all seem like crooks to me. I'd hate to think of him becoming one."

"I didn't care either until I got to this crappy state and realized that anything I earned, half of it would get taken from me if I earned enough. Talk about being punished for hard work. Jade really should move to Texas or Florida so they don't take so much of her money."

The pair took a sip from their respective drinks at the same time then sat quietly for a minute or so before Dusty asked, "So if you didn't want to talk about how I ruined dinner, what then?"

"I wanted to tell you that I accept your explanation for breaking up with Heather. You're just some loser that broke a good girl's heart… you make Beck look like a saint."

Dusty lifted a corner of his mouth, not liking that insult, but remained quiet about it. "Thanks, but I'm guess you don't believe me?"

"That chizz? Not a chance, but if that's what you want me then it's the least I can do for you."

The slightly older teenager turned in his seat and countered with a slightly offended voice, "I don't do what I do to call in favors for the future."

Freddie shifted in his seat to return the look. "I know. You're one of the few people that I know doesn't want that from me. I can't remember one time you've ever asked for anything."

Dusty turned back to focus on his drink and took another swallow. He clicked his tongue, savoring the drink and continued, "Ahh, not my style. I appreciate it though that you accepted it. I don't want anybody thinking the less of her. Heather doesn't deserve anything thrown at her. She deserves…"

"You still love her?"

Dusty just took another sip of his drink.

"I'll take that as a yes. I can't promise anything with Jade though. I don't know if she'll keep pushing or not. She's like a dog with her favorite chewtoy on this and I don't know why… no, I know why."

Dusty sipped his glass then remarked, "She'd be the same way if it was Cat and Robbie or Tori and Beck… wait, she is concerned about them. Jade is not the same person she was when I met her that day at the Asphalt Café."

"No she's not. She's in a place where she can be honest about caring about her friends. She's not afraid to be hurt with disappointment."

Dusty nodded then remarked before taking a sip of his drink, "I believe that. Before she met you, she did care about people, but she just couldn't trust herself to express it. Do you remember offhand the story about how Rex nearly died when he was still a puppet?"

Freddie furled his brow just a little as he tried to recall some of the stories that he was told about their adventures before he arrived, "Yeah. He got sucked into some turbofan they used to simulate wind. He got all torn up. They were going to have Rex 'die' in a hospital so Robbie could let him go."

"Jade was the one to suggest it. Cat thought she was being mean and Beck thought the puppet thing was ridiculous, but Jade suggested it because she really thought it was the best for him. He needed to stand on his own two feet. She wouldn't have suggested it if she really didn't care."

"Yeah, deep down that is Jade. I'm lucky to have her."

Dusty chuckled, "It certainly wasn't in the stars."

Freddie snorted out in agreement before taking another sip from the straw. "It's the same way with you. She wants everyone to be happy ad she can't accept the idea that you and Heather aren't or… with what could be going on with Beck and Tori."

"Heather will be happy. She won't have to worry about that. It's Beck and Tori she should really worry about with the added complication of your brother."

The former Seattle softly bit his tongue.

Dusty cocked his head to the side and casually continued, "Jade told me. It looks like your brother has good taste in girls and Tori still has good taste in guys—if you share qualities she's picking up on."

Freddie raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What? You're a good guy with qualities that Tori likes and in that other universe you visited it turns out you're with Tori. The first question to ask if the person is taken is 'Do they have a brother/sister?' She's obviously asking the question."

The college sophomore really couldn't argue with the point. It was a natural question to ask, but he certainly wasn't comfortable with Tori asking the question when she was with Beck.

Dusty took a quick sip from his drink then remarked, "Since Tori's already taken, he should be looking at Trina… she's free and is the hotter one after all."

Freddie stopped midway through sipping his drink and raised an eyebrow.

"What? I just find her hotter." Dusty snorted out a laugh and shook his head, "I'm always the one that's contradictory of the group aren't I?"

"I won't argue which one of them is 'hotter' with you. They are both beautiful girls that someone would be fortunate to have either one."

Dusty flicked his eyebrows up and remarked, "Or both…"

The computer science major gave him an incredulous expression.

"I'm kidding," Dusty let out a hearty laugh. "Kinda…"

Freddie shook his head and had to let a smile form on his face.

Once Dusty calmed down, he tapped his hand on the bar. "Okay, but seriously, I'll tell you what I told Jade: If Tori wants to move on then that's her business. She may not be happy now, but moving on could be for the best."

"Jade's more concerned about them not falling apart. You don't throw in the towel the first time you run into problems."

"Jade doesn't know what the problem is. She can only guess what it is—a very educated guess with her experience with the guy, but still just the guest. Maybe it's perfectly justifiable for Tori to start looking elsewhere? Has she really thought about that?"

"Or maybe it's not—from your own point since we don't know what it is. Do you know what it is?"

"No and if I did, I wouldn't tell you or Jade. She knows as much as I'm picking up from Tori." Dusty refrained from mentioning that he picked a little something off of Jade, but that was for Freddie to learn on his own—in case there was actually something there to discover.

Freddie sighed, "I just hope she doesn't get hurt in the end—I don't want Beck hurt either."

"Unless of course it is your fist to his face?"

The former Seattleite cracked a soft smile, recalling his one-sided fight with the long haired actor, but it soon faded. "If it comes to that, but… I have this terrible feeling that if there is a 'bad one' in the relationship… it won't be him."

Dusty remained silent, seeing perhaps the first signs that Freddie might be caught up in one of his moral crises if things really did turn bad for Tori and Beck: loyalty to Tori verses who would really be the wronged party.

The friends sat quietly for a minute or so enjoying their drinks before Freddie spoke, "I see what you did there."

"What?"

"Directing the conversation away from yourself."

"I thought we were done about me? You're accepting my word and Jade might not and could keep pushing."

"I guess you're right, but what about Heather? Are you sure she's going to be alright?"

"She's a lot stronger than people give her credit for. Just because she's nice and sweet does not make her week. You have to have strength to hold on to such beliefs in the face of

Freddie jokingly mocked, "She would have to be to put up with you?"

Dusty nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Is she's going to be alright with her new guy in her life? Nate?"

Dusty glance to his friend and sensed that Freddie was holding something back about Nate. "She could be happy with Nate. They have similar traditional outlooks and moral standings. They could have that nice house in the suburbs, white picket fence, the dog playing in the yard and the two point three children… she could have anything she wants with him, if he's smart enough to be willing to compromise with her."

"She couldn't have that with you?"

The Southern teenager turned his face towards Freddie, wearing a guarded expression, but there was just something in Dusty's eyes that told Freddie that he may have just his mark about what really was going on with his friend's reasoning.

The former Northridge student turned back to his drink and Freddie did the same, finishing up the last of the smoothie.

"Are you okay though? Really?"

"I'm fine," he lazily answered and took a drink. "You good?"

"I'm good. I have everything I need right here. I'm just a bit bummed that one of my best friend's heart is broken and not as happy as I am."

Dusty cracked a smile and snorted out a breath before sipping on his drink, "Yeah… sucks to be that guy."

Freddie reached over and patted Dusty on the top of his shoulder.

RPX Records
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, October 17, 2013

As Sam had reminded her roommate to get her to take a break from her writing to see Dice's fish, the next late morning Cat was with Jade in one of the recording studios working on lyrics for both of their second albums. The former redhead was curled with her legs up to her chest in the corner of the couch scribbling while Jade was relaxing in one of the chairs with her feet propped up on a table.

Each of the girls seemed to be in a good place at the moment, Cat reassured that someone else would be making the jump over the fish instead of Sam and Jade knowing that things were alright with her and Dusty. Her mother had lost her irritation, but the Colonel was still a little distant in his thoughts.

The shorter teenager casually remarked as she scribbled out a line of lyrics then started writing another line, "Are you free Saturday night?"

Jade was writing something in her notebook and distractingly answered, "I don't have any plans, why?"

"Good, because I want you to come see the Dirty Skipper jump a tuna tank."

The darker haired teenager looked up from her pad and questioned with a flustered tone, unsure that she had heard her friend correctly, "What?"

"Yeah, Dice won a tank full of killer tuna from Kansas, but he can't sale them. They don't taste good and they're vicious."

Jade sat her pen and pad on the recording booth control panel and questioned, "You're joking?"

Cat turned her attention away from her pad and answered, "No, Dice is going to have someone jump this giant tank of fish and charge people to watch to make his money back. Sam volunteered, but I told her that I didn't want her to do it, so they are going to get some profession stuntman to do it."

Jade blinked then stared at the mostly childlike teenager.

The smaller musician looked to her friend in concern and asked, "What?"

The rock star shook her head and regained her composure to answer with a little stretching of the truth, "Ah nothing… it's just… I've never heard of killer tuna from Kansas before. Are they real?"

"I hadn't either, but apparently they exist. Dice showed them to us yesterday afternoon."

Jade knotted her brow and gave her friend a concern look. "Wait, you were supposed to be watching Ian yesterday."

"We were. Sam picked him up and met us at the dock to see them."

"You took Ian to see these 'killer' fish?"

Cat pursed her lips and answered a little defensively, "Yeah, but it's okay though. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"I know Cat, but Sam… I don't have to tell you how irresponsible she can be."

"She wasn't the best with other kids, but she's not that way with Ian."

"She left him with Rex to take off a few weeks ago."

"That was a one time thing."

"It better be if she's smart enough to realize what is good for her."

Cat didn't like the not so subtle threat against her roommate, but she understood it. She may have not voiced her opinion, but she saw how much Jade loved Ian and had become practically a second mother to him. "Jade, Sam will not let anything happen to Ian, okay? I promise."

"Don't make a promise for her. She'll let you down."

The shorter musician frowned, but pushed on, "So, are you going to come? I know Ian wanted to see it."

"Is his mother going to let him?"

"As long as he's with me and Sam."

"Of course…" Jade hissed out that Ian's mother would trust—want him with them than spending time with her.

Cat misunderstood her and happily cheered, "Great! I'll have Dice reserve you a ticket."

Jade was about to correct her when she realized that if Ian was going to be there near 'killer tuna', she would be there to make sure he was safe, especially as she recalled Freddie's dream about them ten months ago and what happened to him in his 'dream'. She forced a smile and answered, "Thank you. Have him reserve one for Freddie too, just in case he wants tag along."

The former redhead giggled in acknowledgement then happily went back to her lyrics.

The rock star turned back to her pad with a feeling worming through her head and heart that things wouldn't turn out as expected and she and Freddie may have to clean it up.

Author's Note: It's a setup chapter, but I hope you enjoy it. Yes, I'm incorporating the S&C episode, but as always, using it to serve my story purposes. Have a nice day, OneHorseShay.