Author's Note: Hello everyone. I hope everyone is having a great Friday. Thank you to all that are reading and review. I appreciate that time you take to read this and my other stories.

Chapter 12

About forty minutes later, Steven was holding the door open as Taylor entered first into the pizza place.

Steven glanced around and noticed some light brown haired teenager at least a few years younger than Steven and Taylor, being hassle by a few other teenagers about the same age as he sat at a video game cabinet table. The kid was dress kind of nerdy in Steven's estimation and looked like easy pickings for the other boys. He didn't pay it much mind as he approached a table so the pair could dine in.

Steven turned and started, "Okay, so what do you—" He stopped as he saw that she had disappeared from behind him. "Taylor?" he asked with evident concern in his voice as he looked in all directions to try and find her. He spotted her standing beside to the brown haired teenager's right with her arm around his shoulders and resting a hand on his left shoulder. One of the boys took a step towards Taylor with a look of anger evident on his face.

Steven walked up quickly behind Taylor pointed at the blonde boy and whispered coldly, "You need to take a step back from her."

He swallowed nervously and took a step back.

Steven got between Taylor and the younger teenager. "What's that problem?" Steven asked in a cold tone.

The younger boy motioned to the boy sitting at the video game. "Dorkman here won't get off the machine."

"What did you call him?"

"Dorkman, that's his name," he snorted out.

The light brown haired boy snapped back, "It's Dorfman, it's German."

Steven blinked for a moment then looked to Taylor. "Your little brother?"

Taylor nodded then pressed her lips on the top of Barry's head.

Steven nodded in return then looked back at the blonde teenager. He smiled briefly before he grabbed the younger teenager by the neck and slammed his face down onto the Pak-Rat cocktail. It wasn't enough force to really hurt him or damage the plastic cover, but it certainly got the teenager's attention. The young man's friends stood up and tried to approach to help their friend, but Steven turned his glare unto them and they hesitantly backed up.

The long haired teenager leaned down so that he could meet the fourteen year old's face pushed against the plastic covering and look in straight in the eyes. "Now, I'm going to take a leap here and say that you should be able to count numbers and read. From what I can read it says he has several credits left. Do you agree?"

The blonde hair kid nodded his head best he could with his face pressed against the machine. While staring at the frightened teenager, Steven reached into his own jean pocket to pull out some change and deposited a few quarters into the machine. The credit counter on the table cabinet blinked to higher values. "Now he has a few more, so why don't you and your friends go before you really piss me off and I have to ruin your night."

He swallowed nervous and replied, "Yeah sure."

Steven leaned in closer to whisper directly into the teenager's ear. "You or any of your buddies ever step towards Taylor Dorfman like what I just saw you doing; I'm going to break you worst than I did Evan Davis. Understood?"

He nodded wiping the side of his face against the plastic covering of the Pak-Rat machine.

Steven jerked his arm back and the younger boy flung backwards and landed hard on his behind. The long haired teenager looked at the two other teenagers. The three scrambled out of the restaurant as fast as they could, just avoiding knocking down a waitress.

Steven looked to the Dorfman siblings. "Not exactly how I wanted to start the night, but it was exciting."

Taylor smiled and the younger Dorfman boy laughed.

Steven looked to the younger teenager. "So, your name?"

"Barry Dorfman," he answered hesitantly.

With a slight nod of his head, Steven replied, "Steven Shay."

The younger teenager looked to his sister and asked, "Is that him?"

She nodded.

"So my reputation precedes me?" Steven asked with a grin.

"She has been talking about you all week, so yes," Barry replied hurriedly.

Steven chuckled and looked at the brunette. She instantly blushed and looked to the floor. Steven stopped his chuckling in an instant.

"What are two doing here?"

After clearing his throat and looking to Taylor, "I'm taking your sister out to eat."

Barry looked to his sister in surprise. "Are you two on a date?"

She blinked in response then looked to Steven with a hesitant look.

Steven looked to Taylor for a moment and he gave her a small smile. "If she says it's a date then it's a date."

She returned her answer with a big grin.

"I guess it's a date," Steven answered cheerfully.

Barry replied, "Okay, I'll be over here while you two eat." He looked to Taylor. "Dad'll pick me up in about an hour, so don't worry about me."

Taylor nodded hesitantly then kissed his forehead. She then pointed at the table that she and Steven would be sitting.

"I'll holler if I need anything big sis," he replied cheerfully.

She nodded and walked to Steven. She gently placed a hand and his arm and motioned her head to Barry.

He whispered to her, "I'll keep an eye on him." He then pulled out his wallet and a few bills to hand to her. "Order anything you want," he instructed with a smile.

She smiled and nodded then headed for the order counter. He watched her go for a moment as he put away his wallet. He then looked to Barry. "What do you call this thing?" Steven asked as he pointed to the machine.

Barry grinned and answered happily, "It's a new game they just released. It's called Pak-Rat."

Steven had a seat at the other side of the machine. "I'm more of a Star Invaders myself. So how do you play?"

After about twenty minutes of barely holding his own against Barry at the maze game, the pizza was ready for the pair. The couple took a booth on the other side of the restaurant from where Barry was playing his game, but allowed for Taylor to keep a line of sight on her younger sibling.

"He's kind of the nerdy type isn't he?" Steven asked after taking his first bit out of his pizza.

She turned her gaze back to the boy sitting across from her and pouted at him.

He looked back seriously at her. "It's an observation, not a judgment. I'm a snot nosed badass punk of a loser. That's what I am, not a judgment. We are what we are."

That seemed to placate her for the moment as she looked down at the table. She then reached over the table and gently grabbed his wrist. She looked straight at him and shook his head.

"What?"

She just continued to stare.

He sat his pizza down and lifted both hands up in surrender. "I'm not judging your brother."

She shook her head.

"You don't believe me?"

She nodded.

"Okay, you do believe me. If it isn't your brother we are talking about, then who?"

She let go of his wrist and pointed at him.

Steven sighed, "I am what I am Taylor."

She shook her head vigorously.

"You don't think I'm a loser?"

She shook her head and stared him straight in the eyes.

He swallowed down a lump in his throat. He was grateful he didn't have any pizza in his mouth or he would have choked on it. "Well, that was unexpected. I think my father would disagree with you. It's not everyday a pretty girl tells me I'm not a loser without speaking."

She rolled her eyes at him and giggled. After she stopped giggling, she took another bite of her pizza.

He smiled and shook his head. Steven then motioned his head over to Barry. "Do people bother him a lot?"

She sat her pizza down for a moment and nodded her head with a sad look.

He looked to her with dark eyes and a slight frown. "I'll make sure that stops. People will understand that he's off limits."

She did something unexpected to him: she mouthed 'thank you'.

Shay Apartment

Carly was grinning nearly ear to ear as she opened the door to the apartment with two shopping bags in her hands. Sam sighed in relief just thankful it was over.

"Hey Carly," Faye greeted her cousin in a cheerful tone as the web-hostess entered the apartment.

The brunette stopped dead in her tracks. "Faye?" Carly questioned in surprise at seeing her cousin in the living room.

Sam nearly bumped into Carly, but quickly side stepped around her friend. "The Dorfmans are here?" Sam questioned in dread.

"Just me and my dad," she eagerly answered.

She then looked to her cousin. She asked in a cheerful tone, "So Creddie really happened?"

"Yeah, we're ah, 'Creddie'," Carly replied hesitantly.

Faye hugged her cousin. "I'm so happy for you. I knew you'd come to your senses at some point."

Carly dropped her shopping bags on the floor then patted her back with a hand. "Thanks." She paused for a moment realizing how happy her cousin really was for her. "Thank you Faye."

The Dorfman pulled out of the embrace and raised a finger, "You better hold on to him though or I just might try for him."

Carly blinked at the statement. Now she had to worry about her own cousin trying to get with Freddie, but at least she had the decency to say she'd only try for him if they broke up. That possibility of breaking up instantly sent a dreaded feeling to the pit of her stomach. Before she could reply to Faye, the Colonel came walking down the stairs.

"Excuse me Faye." Not waiting for an answer, Carly immediately approached her father as he came down the stairs. She immediately grabbed a wrist and pulled him towards the kitchen. "Why are they here?" she asked when the two of them were in the kitchen and hopefully out of earshot of Faye. Sam followed the pair and Spencer joining right behind her.

"They wanted to see us while I was here?" Shay asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at his daughter.

"I'm gone then," Sam replied flippantly.

"Why?" Shay asked genuine confused.

"Carly's told me how they are and then I met them. I can understand why she hates them."

Shay looked to his daughter with a stated of shock on his face. "You hate the Dorfmans?"

"They're all goofy and weird and dorky and they have all these weird eating habits that drive us crazy," Carly replied defensively.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," he replied with a shake of his head. Shay raised a hand and pointed directly at Spencer. "You don't hate him and you just described Spencer to a T."

"Hey!"

Shay replied sharply, "It's the truth, you take after you mother more than you take after me." He then looked at both of them. "Do either of you have any idea how upset your mother would be if she heard you say that? That's her little brother and they were just as close as you two. As much as Spencer had to be a father to you, she had to be a mother to him." He then shook his head and looked to the floor. He took a calming breath just to get his temper in check and thought for a moment before looking back to Carly. "How would you feel if one day your children told you they hated Spencer's children?" He then looked to his son, "How would you feel if your children told you they hated Carly's?"

The siblings looked to one another for a moment shocked at the question then each shamefully looked to the floor.

"That's what I thought," Shay replied in disgust. "I don't care how goofy or dorky or weird you think they are; they are your flesh and blood and they have done nothing to either of you to deserve that kind of feelings from you. I will not put up with that attitude from either of you." He looked specifically to Carly and said, "I can still ground you until college." Then he looked to Spencer, "And I can throw you out." He looked at both of them now, "I would not put any of them before either of you, but they are your family and your mother would want you to love them as such. Barry and his family are always welcome in my home. Do I make myself clear?"

The both nodded hesitantly and replied with weak, "Yes."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Shay said sternly.

"Yes, sir," they both replied clearly.

"Good, now we are going to have a nice dinner with our family. I will try and fix something they can eat while the rest of you fix whatever you want, okay?"

"Yes sir," Carly, Spencer and surprisingly Sam answered the Colonel.