90210: 2012

"You called?" Adrianna asked as Navid escorted her into his Office, a few years ago when they'd been a couple it might have been cute, now it just seemed creepy and wrong, completely wrong, why she'd even decided to come she didn't know: maybe it had been the use of the word emergency? Of course she associated that with being hold hostage at gunpoint or finding out you have cancer – not, I need a quiet word with you in my Office, which it had become painfully clear since he'd kept her waiting for two hours while he discussed things with his Secretary – Kim, slutty and wearing one of those tops that made her already full chest seem…ridiculous, in fact Ade was almost certain they weren't real.

She settled into one of the armchair's and waited, fuming only mildly as he took what seemed like an age to circle round his desk and settle into his chair, he looked at her and smiled as though he were a College Interviewer or something, as though he was over sixty. It was very Navid. It was also very annoying. Adrianna looked out the window towards the deep, blue waters of the ocean and reflected she could have actually been at the beach enjoying herself – in fact she could have been anywhere but here, at the same time she also recognized that she was acutely annoyed for another reason. She'd been neglecting her relationship with Teddy and wanted to help him through the time rather than letting Silver take all the burden, being stuck with Navid in his Office – which was decorated with exceedingly poor taste, his taste she reminded herself – was…suffocating.

"I did, I need your help."

"And why would I help you?" Adrianna quizzed, "Because you broke up with Silver and believed your crazy Uncle, or that you fired Dixon rather than listen to one of your oldest friends, one of your oldest friends since I seem to remember, before the Wilson's came to town Navid you had no-one." She was being deliberately harsh – not that it was out of character – but he needed to hear this, he needed to know that they still weren't at the forgive and forget stage, he hadn't actually apologized yet, officially, to any of them – he hadn't even started taking baby steps toward reconciliation. And now he wanted a favour. Typical Navid.

"I deserve that," he said and suddenly he sounded very mature again, very world-wise, as though he'd seen the globe and understood everything in perspective, Adrianna without even thinking about let out a sigh longing for Navid to have stopped fooling around and have actually grown up, "and I want to make a change Adrianna. Do you know a few hours ago I contemplated committing suicide?"

She sat up at that point but didn't let surprise twitch across her face in an intrigued expression, for all she knew this was just an elaborate stunt – a very elaborate one but she wouldn't but it past Navid, if he could be theatrical in a relationship, he could be theatrical outside of one – perhaps his thespian side had yet to manifest itself publically.

"Navid cut the crap," she said brutally, meaning every word to sound as cold-hearted as it came out, "stop using big-words, talk like the real you because if you don't stop this whole sage-act then I will walk out that door and I doubt if anyone will come back through to give you a second chance, I know I won't."

"How do I get you guys back?" he said, and suddenly he seemed desperate, his eyes like those of a Puppy beginning for a scrap from the table, his voice like a man on his last legs – maybe he had been telling the truth about suicide, his entire body language suddenly deflating, his bravado of before banished – and so easily too. Suddenly she felt a pang of sympathy and then extinguished it, nothing excused what he had done and she couldn't just forget it because he fluttered his eyelashes, neither could any of the others.

Adrianna settled back in her chair, "Apologizing would be a start Navid, apologizing and then a hell of a lot of grovelling from a distance."

"We can't just-"

"-no, Navid," Adrianna replied robustly, "we can't just go back to being friends and all going around together like at the Camping Trip, or before any of this happened to us Navid…you're acting like a kid when the rest of us are maturing, you should trust us by now and know when we're telling you the truth – but you don't, you're still the guy that ran the College magazine, you might be running a multi-Million dollar Company here Navid but so what? You just…you need to take a long look at yourself and figure out how to do what you have to," Adrianna rose and picked up her purse, strutting out of the room confident that she might at least have dented his ego and landed the message hope loud and clear to him, maybe if she was lucky he might actually be receptive to what she said and changed, she paused on the threshold of the door, "and fire Kim, she's a slut and an accident waiting to happen."

Navid watched her go and suddenly felt confused, it was so much more complicated than she made it sound, and an apology wouldn't be adequate in some people's cases…he wasn't even sure if he was on speaking terms with some of them. Suddenly the pills didn't seem like such a bad option.

.

"How did he seem?" Annie quizzed as she perched on the work surface above the cabinets, crossing and uncrossing her legs – between Marco's death and the return of Liam's Dad she'd been on edge, neither event particularly affected her but somehow she had become absorbed by the situation despite her remoteness from them. She knew that part of her wanted everything to subside so she could return to the Acting Jobs that she had started turning down to take time off to be there for her friends, purely because their bank balance was dangerously close to slipping into the red and she couldn't let them go under – at the same time she was acutely aware of how that would be perceived.

"Composed…more composed than I thought he'd be but I guess some of that was for me," Liam said, opening a Coke and tossing another can to Annie, "in all honesty I don't know how he's doing…we aren't exactly guys that like to discuss our feelings openly…I'm not even sure exactly how to help him, and I don't get why Silver thought I'd be the guy for the job anyway…cause clearly I didn't help him." Annie let the can fall from her hand and bounce along the floor – was Liam about to? Yes he was, he was crying, she could see the tear trailing down his face. She crossed the room in a heartbeat and cupped his face in her hands, looking up into them.

"Liam," she looked up at him, exuding warmth and love from her eyes toward him, "do you know the reason why I know you helped Teddy? Because you wouldn't have come home if you hadn't done something, your head might tell you one thing but in your heart you know that you did what you're meant to as a friend, and what you're going to keep doing – because you care Liam, you might act the tough guy, and you might act as though you aren't attuned to your feelings but you love everyone of your friends so much. That's how I know you didn't leave Teddy without helping him, he might not be better, or over Marco yet, that's going to take months, maybe years even for him to get past this – you just have to be there to help him Liam, and you're doing that already which is what counts," she wiped the tear from his eye, "but this isn't all about Teddy is it?" He shook his head and pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her, she opened the inbox and checked his text.

"My Dad is back in town, he's back in town and he's also on bail for attempted theft," Liam clued-up as she absorbed the text – from his Mom – about his father, "I knew my Dad had sunk low but I never expected it come to this Annie…he's going to prison…when Mom first told me he was back I thought she meant passing through, trying to get money out of us…but to find this out…it puts everything in perspective," he pulled away from her and stood beside the door to their balcony for a moment, "do you think…I mean do I go and see him, before he goes to trial?"

Annie regarded him and found herself torn. Liam's Dad was destructive that much she had always understood about the man, but despite how he had treated Liam she had never doubted that somewhere there was affection for his son, if he went to Prison without reconciling with his father there wouldn't be a reconciliation just a plastic window and a telephone – sure he wouldn't be in there for life but when he got out would he be embittered? Never talk to his son again, even if the experience had reformed him and steered him away from a life of crime?

"I don't think I can take that decision for you," she replied quietly, unsure of how he would respond to that, "I can make it with you but I can't take it for you Liam. It's a question of whether you think he's just going to bring you more pain and hurt to see him now at his lowest ebb, or whether you'd feel worse to never speak to him again? I mean you don't know how he's going to respond to prison life but I'd say there's a high chance he'll want to move-on from his life, if you aren't with him every step of the way you might lose any parent you ever knew…I know my parents try to be there for you, for us – but…having that bond with your Dad might be a good thing…if you can still salvage your relationship."

Liam considered his father – he had variously been a symbol of violence, anger, hatred even sometimes in his life…other times he had been the perfect father, the one every boy dreams off, the one who does all the things a Dad should do…plays catch with you in the yard, takes you sailing…the Dad that is there for you whenever you need him. But the bad outweighed the good, how many times had he really been there to help Liam in a rough patch? Liam had found things out for his own, true he had had a streak of bad behaviour but he'd gotten through his jackass stage, he was trying to do better now.

"With everything else going on my Dad is…not my biggest priority…but I'll go see him…once…and then at least I'll have closure."

Annie nodded approvingly and turned back to pick up her can of coke as she heard the doorbell chime out and Liam open the door, and then yell out as he was felled to the floor by a baseball bat. Annie turned around and looked as the masked-men swept into her apartment. The can dropped from her hand for a second time and she screamed before being smacked across the back of her head with the same bat that had struck Liam. She felt hurled into the blackness around her as she was dragged from the apartment, bundled into a car and driven away.

.

It might have been a Funeral but at least she had looked fabulous to lift everyone's spirits. Naomi once more glanced at herself in the mirror, her skin-tight black dress was cut-short a few feet above her knees and was one-shoulder, showing of more of her perfectly golden-tanned skin. She had tied her hair tightly back into a pony-tail that allowed her to appear natural and gorgeous at the Funeral – Marco had after all played on a Soccer Team, she had hoped secretly that she might hook up with one of his Athletic friends. She looked to Silver and received one of the most venomous looks that she had ever received from her friend and immediately focused back upon being there for Teddy.

They had both decided (well Silver had decided, Naomi had listened) that they would go to the Funeral and they alone since they had the least commitments and since Teddy had already told them that they didn't have to go since he wasn't sure whether it was right they should go since they hadn't known Marco, although Silver had informed Naomi point-blank they had to go since it would look awful if none of Teddy's bestfriends went to the Funeral. She put her mascara back in her clutch and walked out of the room, followed by Silver whose choice of mock-1950s style long dress, pinched in at the waist to show off her skinny, toned upper body, while allowing her legs to remain and object of mystery, apart from her ankles – her feet being concealed by her kitten heels, seemed rather more dignified than Naomi's funeral-chic choice.

Teddy was saying his goodbyes to Marco's parents and close family and then parted the ceremony – Silver stifled a smile at how chivalrous he was being, leaving the Wedding because he had been such a small part of Marco's life, even though his Parents had wanted him to stay longer, she had met Marco's five ex-boyfriends and was glad that Teddy had been the last, the one to go out on – the one Marco had actually loved, the others had been superficial in three cases and too bohemian in the other two, Teddy was the right fit. She fought back a tear as she thought of the perfect future that would never be.

She slipped into the back of Naomi's ivory-white BMW convertible, letting Teddy have the passenger while Naomi slipped into the driver's side, she pulled out and then furiously accelerated out of the lot – she hated traffic and the way that people were starting to leave the Funeral they would have been backed up and stuck for hours in it, and wearing black in the hundred-degree heat was not advisable, especially since she lacked even a fan to give herself a mildly refreshing breeze.

"It was a beautiful ceremony," She murmured once they were safely away and moving along the highway at speed, "he would have been proud of you." She wasn't sure where this sentimental side to her had come from but she was quite pleased with it, it was a nice addition, one that she could use to her advantage in work whenever she was doing something in competition with her co-workers – she didn't buy all the crap about co-operating with your co-workers, you were fighting against them, it was war, and you had to win every battle or you'd lose and be swept away. She focused back upon the present once more, glancing at Teddy and seeing that he remained relatively calm considering how distraught she'd presumed he would be.

Silver added encouragingly, "For what it's worth I think the way that you behaved in there was…amazing Teddy…wherever he is now he's definitely proud of you, of how you conducted yourself, of how you behaved around his family, of everything you did Teddy."

"Thanks," he murmured distractedly, "and thank you two for coming today…I know I was being…a little frosty at first but I guess…I guess I didn't realize how important it is to have friends to fall back on in the hard times – so what do you want to do tonight?"

Naomi seemed taken aback, she'd assumed they'd just hang around his apartment for a couple of hours, "I…don't have any plans." She admitted shooting Silver a bemused look in the mirror.

"Neither," Silver murmured, she continued tactfully, "what do you want to do?"

"I guess just be around my friends and…relax you know?"

Silver nodded, opening her phone and typing a message to everyone telling them to meet them at the Beach Club, "Sure, I think most of us are going to the beach club, so we can all just meet up there and hang out?"

He nodded approvingly and then cast his head toward the ocean, for so long that had signified his relationship with Marco – the ocean, relaxing by the beach, long strolls in the shallows as the sun was setting on the horizon, and now it was all gone, as though part of his world had just been torn from him, swallowed up by the deep and dragged down into the abyss. Now he had to try and get over it, he pulled out his phone and answered the unknown number.

"Hey," he paused, "oh the Cop from the other day, sorry I didn't call you back…I had the Funeral today…I mean I could come down now if that'd help? Okay I'll see you in like half an hour, bye."

Naomi turned to look at him, wondering whether that had been what it sounded like, then she recognized, "come down" and realized he wasn't already dating, she rolled her eyes in disappointment, "You want me to swing by the station?"

"If you could?" Teddy asked and she nodded, Silver hammered out a cancellation text and sat back in her seat and then felt the urge to swear at the sky for all she cared as she received another text from Navid. Some people just didn't know when to stop.

.

"So what's the big news?" Dixon quizzed as he returned, still jobless, after a fruitless day of searching for internships at PR companies, Ivy was sat on their terrace, waxing down one of her new boards – given to her by a company for having won several competitions, a little token of their esteem – likely still angling for a sponsorship deal with her.

"Well…I didn't want to tell you till I was sure but I am now," Dixon gave her a puzzled look and she grinned, "I took a test too and well…I'm pregnant."

If she'd been expecting him to punch his fist in the air in excitement she was sorely disappointed, Dixon just frowned and started to brood, looking out to the sea before turning back to her, his face clearly devastated by the news and seeming completely indifferent to the elation she had been feeling a few moments before, "That's great." He replied flatly.

"What is your problem?" Ivy asked, "You were the one that said you'd love to have a family!"

"When we were older Ivy – I don't have a job and your pregnant…and if you aren't working that means we have no income." He slammed the door angrily and she went to follow him and then took a deep breath and settled back in her chair, she pulled out her phone as it was vibrating and listened to the voice on the other end, "Yeah who is this?" she felt the phone drop from her hand and smash onto the floor in the same instant.

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Hope you liked 5,

Reviews and responses welcome and appreciated,

Acrobat

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