AN: Hello everyone and welcome back to this story; I hope you are all well and that you all enjoy this little chapter as I look to set the scene a little for the future of the story. As always let me get to the business of thanking those of you who read and reviewed last time. Challenge King – the sister bonding I think is long overdue and Mr Vega DID give Freddie his blessing; he knows what he and the younger daughter get up to and, albeit reluctantly, accepts it because of what Freddie did for Tori earlier in the story. Agent-M, thanks and as above yes a little bit of the two girls working together is, I think, a nice thing to see rather than Trina always being ignored, ridiculed or overlooked. AA6 – I think a lot of the craziness may be in the next chapter with more of an ensemble cast than this week's update. Pbow – thank you for your feedback and thoughts. And you are correct; my knowledge of LA is limited to google maps so travel times are a product of artistic license to that extent.

Spring Break was fast approaching, it was less than a week away now, and most of my friends were feeling the stress as they rushed to meet our course deadlines. Luckily, Andy and I had been able to get everything finished early leaving my friend free to party the last week away.

With me still having memories of the party that Tori and I went to before Christmas (and that we reluctantly had to take Trina to with us, and protect her from harm when she got drunk) I wasn't really in the mood to attend any of the frat parties (assuming that I'd be allowed in after we got kicked out of the Christmas one) so I spent my evenings either shooting pool when my buds decided they needed a break from their work, doing a couple of extra shifts at the campus Pear Store or just hanging at the dorm with the guys, chatting with them and enjoying a stress-free end to the term. Unfortunately my girlfriend was far from stress-free as she and her friends approached the end of their senior year and graduation from Hollywood Arts so she was unable to join me on an evening at the moment. Instead we were having to make do with some quick video chats and phone calls whenever she felt she needed a break from her studies and her work, like right now...

"Hey babe, still busy?" I asked as she called.

"So busy," she complained.

"You're nearly there," I reminded her in what I hoped was an encouraging voice, "and soon you'll be a college chick."

"I know, I can't wait to join you at UCLA!"

Even though she could have done her college degree at Hollywood Arts, as Trina was doing, she had decided on a change of scenery (and to be at the same place as me). André, Beck, Jade, Robbie and Cat were all going on to UCLA as well, so the seven of us would be looking to see if we could find a way to all be house-mates; if not then we'd look for two places fairly close together and likely Beck, Jade, Tori and I would take one with the other three living together – or on campus. Whatever happens, Tori had told me, we'll be looking for some place together. With Beck and Jade also wanting to get a place together it was logical for the four of us to look to split the cost. The practicalities of us all living together could take some getting used to but it was a challenge that we were all looking forward to and I had already started looking through the university network to see if I could identify any suitable places.

"So it's going to a crowded house next week," my girl observed.

"Right, so your parents aren't going away – or Trina?"

"Well you know how things are between mom and dad right now," she reminded me. Of course, they were still having "issues". Their daughters had been unable to figure out exactly what was going on just yet (despite their combined efforts and attempts to come up with a plan to get to the bottom of things) but from what she had told me the evidence seemed to suggest that Tori's suspicions about her mother were correct. That they weren't going away at all, as they did frequently, certainly lent credence to those suppositions of marital disharmony, something that was obviously troubling both Tori and her sister. "And Trina… no we can't get rid of her this time," she added humorously; she really did love her older sister and they were getting closer as they got older, especially with working together in an attempt to keep their family in one piece. "So when you add Carly and Sam in the guest room, you and me in mine, mom and dad, Trina… it's gonna be busy."

"Well we'll probably be out of the house all day every day," I noted reasonably, "so it'll just be morning and evening that it gets a bit crazy. You may just have to barricade Trina's door so she doesn't hog the shower."

Tori laughed at the idea before admitting that it appealed to her, as did making Carly wait until last in the line for the bathroom; my brunette friend's long showers were the stuff of legend in our little group in Seattle and I had shared some of the tales with my girlfriend.

"How about we get up before them, take our turns and then let the rest of them fight over the bathroom?" I suggested.

"I like the sound of that, with a minor change to the plan," she teased before, in an unusually husky voice, she suggested her modification. I glanced in the mirror over my desk and saw that I was indeed turning a fetching shade of crimson at her words.

"Yeah my mom would love that if she ever found out," I commented.

"I won't tell her," she laughed, "and she's not exactly delighted about our relationship right now anyway is she?"

I had to admit that was true; Mr Vega may have given us his blessing after the little incident we had in January but my mother was very much old school and opposed to the ideas of cohabitation or sex outside of marriage. She had made her disapproval crystal clear to me (though she conceded, through slightly gritted teeth, that she did like Tori) though she also had to accept that there wasn't much that she could do about it while we weren't under her roof. It was one of the reasons that she would have to visit us over the summer rather than us going to Seattle.

"Fortunately our opinion of our relationship is more important than hers," I pointed out, something Tori was able to happily agree with.

We talked a little more before Tori had to return to her project work as she still had a lot to do before Friday. I had received a text while we had been talking, from my course-mate Gary, asking me if I wanted to shoot some pool. I fired back that I did and made my way down to Cooperage where I would meet him. As I was walking, however, I heard my phone's ringtone; it was Carly calling.

"Hey Freddie, how are you?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh hey Carls, I'm good thanks, really good. Are you looking forward to next week."

"Yeah I can't wait to see you again; it's been ages since we were last together and uh… last time wasn't under the best of circumstances really."

I couldn't disagree; waking up in a hospital bed after being beaten up in defence of my girlfriend wasn't exactly how I wanted to see Carly, though it had touched me that she had made the mad dash south along with my mom in order to make sure that I was ok.

"Sam's looking forward to seeing you too," she added in a light tone.

"Why do I get the feeling that the first thing she'll do is poke and prod anywhere she can to see if I still have any bruises?" I complained.

"Because you've known me for years, Benson!" the blonde's voice called.

"Oh hey Sam, Carly didn't say you were there too," my tone was slightly accusing but jovial enough for the web stars to know I didn't mean anything by it.

"Where else would I be?" the blonde laughed with Carly joining in a moment later.

"So do you girls have your flights booked?"

They did and would be arriving at LAX around lunchtime on the Saturday; Carly had wanted an earlier flight but didn't think she'd be able to carry Sam to her car or through the airport along with the luggage that they'd both be bringing for their week-long visit so she felt it best to give her best friend time to wake up before they left.

"So you don't have any early lectures on your course then Sam?" I asked curiously.

"None that I attend," she retorted, half-sheepish and half with bravado.

I had just spotted Gary by this time so I told the girls that I'd have to go but was looking forward to seeing them this weekend. We said our goodbyes and rang off and Gary and I spent the next hour or so splitting four games of pool; he declined a decider as he needed to finish his project.

"So, the blonde by the bar then," he nudged me in the ribs with his elbow as we left.

"Huh?" I was genuinely completely oblivious.

"Oh come on dude, she was totally checking you out!"

He didn't believe my protestations as I played dumb. "I never saw any blondes by the bar."

"What? She was staring at you for like half the time we were there!"

"Was she cute?" I was a little curious, I must admit.

"Hell yeah! Dude, if she'd looked at me like that we'd have finished after two games and I'd be spending the rest of my break from work at her place."

"I already have a girlfriend, I'm not looking for another one."

"Who said anything about a girlfriend? I'm talking a free lay."

"I'm not looking for one of those either. I love Tori, I'm not gonna cheat on her!"

"She'd never know!" he insisted.

"I would," I said quietly, ending the discussion. He wisely dropped it, realising that I wasn't going to go any deeper into that territory. I could tell he thought that I was crazy but I meant every word.

The remainder of the week passed in similar vein; people started to head out on Friday afternoon, most were going to either Florida or Cancun for the week whereas I would be going a few miles away to Hollywood after work (Tori was going to call by after her performance early this evening; she'd arrive at the store, get my keys from me and wait in the dorm until I was done with my shift).

The plan worked seamlessly but, to my slight surprise, only Tori was in the dorm when I got back.

"Everyone else has gone?" I asked.

"Yeah, Tom was leaving just as I got here. Two others, I don't know their names," she admitted, "left a few minutes later so it was just me and the TV."

"So we have the place to ourselves," I smiled, joining her on the couch and slipping my arm around her shoulders. She matched my smile as we turned to face one another.

"It seems a shame to waste it," she agreed.

"Maybe you should text your folks and let them know we won't be over until tomorrow? Just so we don't get any interruptions later?"

"Good thinking Benson," she laughed, pulling her phone from her jeans pocket and sending off a message. She switched her phone off, I did likewise and we idly lobbed the pear-shaped items onto a different couch.

"Now," I asked, gazing into her eyes, moved by the love I could see reflected in them, "what can do with the whole place to ourselves tonight." And I leaned in to claim her lips.

"I have a couple of ideas," she whispered in that damn husky voice of hers, kissing me in return.

"I'm listening," I grinned, leaning back and pulling her down on top of me; thoughts of any college chicks who may or may not be giving me the eye were long-since forgotten in my girl's presence – I already had everything that I wanted.

AN: Thanks for reading; next chapter will be Spring Break and involve Carly, Sam and the Hollywood Arts gang in addition to our favourite couple. I hope to see you all for that. In the meantime please drop me a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter and keep an eye out for a little bonus one-shot that will be published on Thursday (the date that day will provide a clue to the plot of that one…)