Jamie quietly and dreadfully followed as Mandy's mother grabbed her by the arm and dragged her outside towards a darkened alley lit in some places by two street lights.

He stood back as Mandy's mother Katherine asked in a vexed tone.

'What are you doing here? Where is your father?'

Mandy shook her arm out of her mother's grasp.

'It is none of your business.' She gritted out.

Panic was creeping its way into Jamie's heart at the scene unfolding in front of him.

Mandy was right to be mad at her mother but she had to do some damage control. Otherwise, they were all doomed.

'This is none of my business?' Katherine waved her arm around wildly.

She was pissed.

'Your father brought you here and then let you go to hang at some bar in the middle of the night.'

Mandy snorted. 'It is really none of your business. You gave up all your rights the day you left me. You don't even contact me and if you think that dad knows that I am here, you are…' She controlled herself before she said something which was going to escalate the situation further.

'I am still your mother! And I was busy, I thought I could trust your father.'

'That's rich,' Mandy said derisively.

'Where is your father? Let me just show him what a responsible parent he is. It will be nice to see him fall off his pedestal for once.'

'Oh, so you are going to use me as a pawn to bring your ex-husband down? He is a far better parent than you at least. And just to let you know, I lied to him and he trusted me. So it is solely my fault. Do not blame dad.' Mandy emphasized each word of her last sentence as she gradually lost her cool and yelled loudly.

And Jamie knew that they were almost doomed.

Katherine was after all Mandy's mother. She did not hold back either.

'I am not a better mother? Okay. At least I would not have trusted you or your blatant lies!'

Jamie was starting to lose his cool at that point too.

Mandy was overall a good kid. It was unfair of Katherine to say those things. Mandy was wrong too but Jamie was going to protect his girlfriend in this fiasco.

Katherine wasn't finished.

'I am here with my colleagues. You would have embarrassed me to no ends if they had seen you. I am lucky I dragged you out before they saw what a disappointment you are.'

Jamie lost his seemingly never ending patience.

He stepped out and addressed Mandy's mom.

'Stop being a bitch. Just stop.'

For a while, even he couldn't believe the words he had just uttered.

Mandy gasped and Jamie watched as first shock, then understanding, and then shock again dawned over Katherine's face.

'What did you just say to me Jamie?' was her first response. She waited for a reply and Jamie wasn't the one to back down after starting something.

He opened his mouth and slowly said. 'I said, stop being…'

'Jamie, don't.' Mandy stopped him in his tracks.

'Oh no. Let him finish his sentence. But just to let you know Jamie, I have both of your parents in my contact list.'

The youngest Reagan was instantly snapped back to reality.

He did not bother to finish his thought.

Katherine looked satisfied.

She then turned to her daughter and said wearily.

'Just tell me the truth. Did you both come to this city with your father? Or does he not know that you are in California?'

There was no getting out of this mess.

Mandy was silent as Jamie said boldly.

'We both came here together.'

Katherine shook her head.

'And to think of those days when I was happy that my daughter was dating such a responsible boy.'

'He did not drag me here without any choice.' Mandy said angrily.

'No one said that you were without blame.'

She jumped straight to the next point.

'Where are Sarah and David?'

The only sound was the muffled noise from the bar.

Katherine snapped her foot down impatiently.

'You both cannot this pull this trip by yourself. Where are they? Whatever lies you both told, they did too. So the truth is going to come out sooner or later.'

'They are inside. I'll get them.'

'Don't try to pull anything on me Jamie.' Katherine warned as he made to leave.

Jamie walked towards the bar gloomily.

His parents were going to find out and they were going to kill him.

And when his dad found out what he had said to Mandy's mother, he was dead. Again.

But at the same time, he allowed himself to smile as he thought about the good run they had in LA. He wished that they could have spent more time but you don't always get what you want.

It was time to face the music.

He entered inside and looked around for his friends.

He found them dancing wildly in the middle of the crowd.

'Guys' He yelled loudly over the music.

'What?' David yelled back.

'We have to leave. Mandy's mom saw us here.'

'What?' Sarah was shocked.

Jamie nodded his head and gestured them to follow him.

Once they were away from the noise, Jamie filled them in.

'You are dead Jamie.' David laughed.

'But she totally deserved it.' Sarah said, referring to Mandy's mother.

'Dead all the same.'

'You are not that better off David.' Jamie laughed in amusement.

'At least I did not call her mom a bitch.'

David shrugged and teased his best friend again.

Jamie shook his head at his antics.

Soon enough, they were facing Katherine again.

'Come on,' she led them to her car.

'I thought you had significant colleagues to attend to,' Jamie just couldn't help himself.

Katherine ignored him.

She pulled out her keys and when they were all in the car, said.

'I am going to call your parents and my daughter's father. You all are going home tomorrow. Where are you staying now?'

'Why?' Mandy asked just to get on her mom's nerves.

'You are going to get your stuff and are spending the night with me.'

Katherine took them to Jess' house. She did not forget to lecture her too. But it didn't seem to affect her in anyway. They all gathered their belongings and took their sweet time in saying goodbye to Jess.

It was a testament to how strong their friendship was that they weren't willing to be nice to Katherine after what she had said to Mandy.

And besides, they were pissed at getting caught by her too.

Katherine booked a room for them in the hotel she was staying in.

Mandy of course chose to stay with her friends.

Katherine let her, she knew how to pick her battles.

Jamie was quite relieved that Katherine wasn't calling his parents in front of him.

He watched silently as Sarah and David told each other stupid jokes to make Mandy laugh. She seemed to be enjoying herself but Jamie knew her well enough to realize that her guilt at lying to her dad had skyrocketed after arguing with her mother.

Him, on the other hand was surprisingly feeling mixed emotions. There was a lone voice inside instigating him to be rebellious. That voice was telling him to not worry about his parents' reaction because he wouldn't exchange his time here for anything else.

But Jamie wouldn't be Jamie if he didn't care about the feelings of each and every person around him.

And his parents were going to be utterly disappointed because he had thrown their trust in him back at their faces.

TBC…