Chapter 3
Father Knows Best
"Hey," Rhuben walked into hers and Riley's shared room in Ronan's apartment, lightly pulling up her long pajama pants as she went. "I need your advice on something." She closed the door behind her before taking a flying leap onto her bed, grabbing her pillow and placing it in her lap.
"If it has to do with Dak, then yes go out with him, so he can stop begging you for four more years." Riley replied without looking up from her laptop. "Trust me, I'm tired of being asked over and over again how he can get your attention and what he can do for you to finally say 'yes' to him." She closed her laptop and then set it aside. She noticed Rhuben looked at her as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Or did you want my completely serious answer?"
"Yeah, that one." Rhuben said pointedly. She let out a sigh as she brought her hair behind her head in a loose ponytail. "I don't know," she rested her chin in her hands. "It's obvious that he likes me," Riley nodded. "And…I guess I like him too," she practically mumbled. "But I don't want everyone to get up in my business about it."
"You mean like they did with Tristan and Matt?" Riley asked and then nodded. "I can understand that, they nearly had a field day when they didn't know that Nathan was Brittany's little brother and not a boyfriend that we were both seeing."
"You have to admit, that was kind of funny." Rhuben commented with a half smile. Her smile faded. "Anyway, like I said, apart from our family since we're a bunch of nosy people as it is, I don't like my private business being analyzed to death. But I also don't like how other celebrities pretend like they're not dating when they are, it's like they lie to their fans."
Riley stayed silent for a few moments, absentmindedly looking at the ceiling as she thought about what to say. "I could say just ignore it, like I usually, or try to laugh at it. But then people would probably think that you're abusing Dak's feelings for your fame." Riley murmured as she cracked her knuckles. "Personally, I think you should just go for it, and it's not like I'm saying you're going to marry the guy, since we don't know what's going to happen in the future. But try to go out on at least one date with him to see how it goes. If you can stay friends for four years before going out on one date, if it goes badly, you can still go back to being friends with no problem." She noticed Rhuben's hesitation s she continued to run her hand through her hair. "But that's just what I think, you could ask Ronan for his opinion, he knows what he's talking about when it comes to things like this. Especially since we're always so afraid of being hurt again." She added bitterly.
"Speaking of which, what about you and WayneWayne?" Rhuben asked. She laughed as Riley made a face and a noise of annoyance.
"I've been waiting for him to ask me out, but I think I might do it myself if he doesn't ask me in the next couple of days." Riley said through gritted teeth. "I am so freaking tired of waiting for it."
"And yet we all know you'll turn into a nervous babbling mess when you try to actually do it." Rhuben commented to which Riley nodded slowly. "Since you always act all confident about everything, but everything always gets to you in the worst way." She gave her sister a teasing smile. "Who knew that you could be so sensitive?"
"Shut up." Riley said and threw her pillow at her twin sister. "Anyway, since you still seem so confused about this whole thing, I, once again, suggest that you try to talk to Ronan. It might help." She grabbed her laptop and opened it again as Rhuben turned and jumped off of her bed, her feet hitting the floor with a dull thud, and left the room.
She walked over to Ronan's bedroom, passing Noah and Sydney, who were pointing at something on Sydney's computer and Patrick, who was lying on the couch, looking extremely bored about whatever they were talking about. "Ronan?" Rhuben knocked on her adoptive father's door and poked her head in as she slowly opened it. He looked up from a pile of papers that was sitting on his lap and gave her a bright smile. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," Ronan set the papers aside and patted the bed next to him, motioning for her to sit next to him. Rhuben crossed the room and pulled herself up onto his bed, crossing her legs as she got comfortable. "What's up?"
"Well," Rhuben paused as she pulled her hair behind her ears. "We can talk about anything, right?" she dropped her hands to her lap.
Ronan gave her a look. "Considering that you had to come to me when you first got your period-"
"Yeah, I was hoping that we would never bring that up again," Rhuben commented as she rubbed the back of her neck. She grabbed onto her feet and started to rock back and forth a little bit. "Uh, I was wondering what to do…about dating." She made a quick face as she finished her sentence, lowering her voice on the last few words. "You know, since that's all that the media here cares about, but back in Oz, the paparazzi is just nuts."
Ronan nodded slowly, seeming to get what she was talking about. He rested his head back against the pillows that were behind him. "Does this have to do with Dak?"
Rhuben rolled her eyes. "When does it not?" she asked sarcastically.
Ronan rubbed his chin for a second before turning back to his second daughter. "Could you get the others in here, please? I want all of you to hear this." Rhuben nodded and slid off of the bed before slipping out of the room. She came back a few seconds later with her four siblings following her. Ronan didn't speak until they had all piled onto his bed and he was sure that he had their complete attention. "Ok, I know that you are really worried about your public lives being out in magazines like PopTiger and Universe and everything," he turned and gave Riley a pointed look as she stared back at him. "And even if you act like you don't care, I know you do." Riley lowered her head as she twirled her finger around one of her pigtails. "I also know that your main fear about it is the fact that your abuse might get out into the public, especially after how hard we made sure that it wouldn't get out there, but you have to think of it this way; you're in the public eye and the world cares about what you do. They care what you think and, as it stands, they care who you date. I know it sucks, I've had the same problem when all of my success came out as being one of the younger and more successful music producers in Hollywood." He reached out and shook Sydney's foot. "Especially after I nabbed you guys. But now that you're older and that you're getting really good with dealing with your past abuse, you have to think about your own feelings as well as other peoples' feelings."
He turned to Rhuben. "I don't mean to put you on the spot here, but how long do you think that Dak will stick around, even as your friend, if you keep letting your fear get in the way of your happiness?" He then turned back and addressed all of them. "And I know that you really care about your private life getting out in magazines, but that's the break, until something bigger comes along, they're going to be going after someone. The only thing that keeps it going is if you continue to try and fix things on your own, if you keep talking about it when you're asked, I find that ignoring it works better. And if it can't be ignored, segway the question into another topic so the interviewer or whomever, forgets it. As for the potential pictures, PopTiger is usually good about dropping something when asked. You know what the truth and what's not the truth, and as clichéd as it sounds, you shouldn't let it get to you guys." He gave a wry smile. "To be perfectly honest, you all act like you don't care what people think, but I can tell that you care way too much for your own good." He licked his lips. "When it all comes down to it, you have to think about what's more important; your public image? Or your own happiness?"
Sydney let out a short sigh. "But, what if they do find out about our abuse?" He shook his head, his fringe flying. "I mean, I know that we're going to announce it eventually, so we can help all of our fans, or just people who are having the problem, but what if it gets out before we can?"
"Then we'll deal with it, just like we've dealt with everything else," Ronan said with a determined nod. "Your friends will back you up like they always have; I'll be here to help you out, no doubt about that. And it'll probably help you get over it even faster, even though I know you're never going to forget it."
"But…Robert was sent to jail almost two years ago now," Patrick pointed out, lightly pulling at his bottom lip. "What if people wonder why we waited so long to say anything about it?"
"There's such thing as a time for closure," Ronan reminded him gently. He then gave a big smile to dispel some of the tension that was in the room. "So, anything else that you want to talk about?"
"Yes," Riley nodded once. "You just said that you've had this problem before, people wanting to know about your love life, when you were younger and just getting started." She rested her chin in her hands, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Who was this girl and how come we never met her?"
Ronan blinked once, suddenly looking like he wished that he didn't say anything about it at all. He then gave a wistful smile as he placed his arms behind his head, tilting his head back when he thought about it. "I was about…I think, 25 then, since I think I've known you guys for almost ten years now." He said quietly to himself. Patrick started to open his mouth to correct him, but Ronan quickly broke in. "If you're going to be a smart ass, I suggest you don't even try it."
Noah laughed to himself as Patrick shrugged and moved so he was lying down on his stomach, listening attentively. Noah then turned around so his head was resting on Patrick's lower back, bringing his feet up. "We're listening, Ronan, go ahead."
"Alright, so," Ronan rubbed his hands together. "I had been with her for about two years at that time, and I knew that she was thinking about getting married, since she kept talking about it all the time. And the magazines caught wind of it and started to obsess over whether or not I was going to get married. At that point, I was dating someone who wasn't in the music industry, she was someone I knew from home, and she was starting to bask in the limelight as well as continue to push the thought of marriage on me."
"Wow, what a gold digger," Riley commented.
Ronan turned and looked at her. "Do you ever think before you talk?"
"No," Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney replied as they shook their heads.
"Well, that explains a lot," Ronan commented. "Anyway, after month of her dropping hints about wanting to get married, and me, not being ready for it, I tried to sit down and talk to her about it. But she "loved me" so much that she said that she would wait as long as I wanted to. Another year went by and I realized that I still didn't want to be married, and that I didn't have the same feelings for her that I used to. When I tried to tell her that, she screamed at me, ranted, raved, threw a vase at my head, and broke up with me right then and there."
"What does this have to do with the magazines?" Rhuben asked as she tilted her head to the side.
"I'm getting there," Ronan replied. "When the magazines caught wind of our break-up, she went to each and every one and started to spread lies about me. For a while, I worried a lot about it, but then I realized that it was causing me more stress than I needed and started to ignore it. Things got better after that and I was happier."
"Ok, that still doesn't answer the question of why we didn't meet her," Sydney commented, waving his hand in the air. He purposefully widened his eyes. "Were you ashamed of us?"
"You weren't my kids yet, how could I be ashamed?" Ronan replied. "And please don't do that thing with your eyes. There were two reasons for me not letting you meet her," he held up his fingers in the peace sign. "One; do you really think that I was stupid enough to bring her around your dad? And two; because I was almost positive at that point that she would try to latch onto your steady fame and want to try and act like your family member or something. Basically the magazines helped me figure out what kind of a person she really was." He rolled his eyes. "But the tabloids, like the National Inquirer said that at that point we were married, had three kids, and two cats."
"Was that before or after Bigfoot married that rich chick?" Patrick asked sarcastically.
"Nice one," Ronan stated and held up his hand for a high-five, which Patrick gladly gave him as his siblings laughed. "So basically, what I'm saying is that if you allow the magazines to ruin your happiness, I'm going to kick your butts."
"I still can't believe you went out with a gold digger." Riley commented as she slowly shook her head at Ronan. "I mean, couldn't you tell in the first couple of days? It's usually an easy thing to see."
"Rilandon Sydney!" Ronan stated firmly, although his lips were twitching into a smile.
"Ronan-"She paused and looked confused before turning to Rhuben. "Does he have a middle name?"
"I don't know, does he?" She turned to Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. "Does Ronan have a middle name?" When they shrugged, she turned back to Ronan. "Do you have a middle name?"
Ronan blinked. "You've known me for this long and you don't know my middle name?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows. "Gee thanks, I know that you guys are my friends."
"Peter?" Patrick guessed. "I think his middle name would be Peter."
"No," Noah shook his head as he picked at his fingernails. "That sounds a little too stuffy and not much like Ronan." He then made a face. "Well, actually, his mother could give him that middle name just to mess with him."
"My mom isn't that bad." Ronan defended her.
"Ha, that's what you think." Noah replied with a warm smile. "No, I think that his middle name could be…Andrew."
"Ha," Sydney's dimples appeared in his cheeks. "Then his initials would spell RAM that would be funny." He kicked his legs back and forth. "It would explain why he's always butting heads with Gustavo." He added with a shrug.
"Out," Ronan said as he pointed towards the door. "Get out, out of my room. I've had enough crazy for one night, I don't need any more." He waited until the five of them got off his bed and left the room before grabbing a sheet of paper and writing a note on it. "Note to self: never let them find out my middle name."
A/N: I wanted to show some characterization with Ronan and why he doesn't date much, as well as some characterization between Riley and Rhuben. Chapters like these will probably come up through the story sporadically. I hope you guys liked it, I'll update soon.
Cheers,
-Riles