Sydney POV

"Stupid hair…curl!" I say, iron in my hand.

"Say it louder, hair needs to be yelled at." Ellie commented, lounging on my bed.

"I'll pass, thanks." I smile into the mirror.

I'm curling my hair for tonight. It's going to be great.

Another Friday, another date.

I smile back into the mirror and ask "How's it coming?"

Ellie groaned and grabbed a gummy bear. "Bad. I can't make up my mind."

"Between what?"

"What color…purple or svelte purple or sleek black."

…

"What site are you on?" I ask.

"Pandora."

Ahh.

That's where Mom buys all of her award show dresses.

"Remind me why you're dress shopping again?" I ask, twirling a new strand of hair around the hot iron.

"I don't know…I assume you'll be photographed with me somewhere. Might as well look nice."

"Is it a guy?" I ask.

She sighed.

"I wish. They're all intimidated by me. Any time I walk up to a candidate they cower in fear."

"You're tall for a girl. Maybe you're just taller than them." I say.

"No. Austin. He was afraid of me too! It took him like a month to get used to me!"

Uh oh.

She's in her "Forever Alone" mind set.

I knew something was up when she walked up with those gummy bears.

"So…those dresses?" I look over to her, while releasing my hair.

She gave me a look, then turned back to the laptop.

"I don't know…"

"I know who will." I walk to my door.

"MOM! A little help please!" I call out.

Matt, Corey and Kevin are all at baseball practice right now.

So it's just me, Ellie, Mom and Dad.

I start curling another piece of hair.

"Yeah? How are you guys?" Mom asked, quietly walking in.

"I'm fine. Ellie needs fashion help." I say, looking in the mirror.

"Oh? What are you looking at?" Mom sat on the edge of my bed.

"I'm looking for dresses, and I can't choose between these three…" Ellie said.

Curl stupid hair…

…

Good curl.

I get the last strand and wrap it around the iron.

"I like the shimmery purple one. It would show off your legs nicely." Mom said happily.

"Ok. Thank you!" Ellie said.

Looking in the mirror, I see Mom hug Ellie, then stand up.

"How are you?" Mom asked softly, looking at me thru the mirror.

"I'm fine. Just doing my hair." I smile at her.

"Looks great…is this what you're wearing?" She asked.

I nod. "Yeah."

It's a nice dress, kind of white, but a little darker than white.

I'm going to wear boots with it.

"Awesome. Do you need fashion advice too?" She asked.

"Not right now mom. But when I do I'll call you." I say.

"Aunt Cat? I have a question." Ellie asked.

Mom turned around. "Yeah?"

"How often is Austin over here? It seems like every time I text Sydney, she says that Austin's been here for dinner again."

I blush furiously and unplug the curling iron.

Dangling the iron so it'll cool, I shake my hair and let it fall.

I do look good.

"Occasionally. Not very much though. He has his own family and all." Mom said.

I wish.

His family sucks.

Hopefully we won't have to talk about it for an hour again. I…it's all depressing. I'd rather laugh and smile with him.

"Yeah. I guess so. Do you like him?" Ellie asked.

"Uhh, yeah. He's nice. Robbie and I like him, sure."

"That doesn't sound convincing." I blurt out, pulling my shirt over my head.

"I…I just don't understand why such a smart boy would need to leave school and do handy things at a middle school. I don't get it." Mom said.

"He failed that class, and he's doing that stuff to make it up. It's not that hard mom." I say, pulling my dress on.

"I know it isn't hard, but it doesn't add up to me."

I can't hold back an annoyed growl.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Can't you see we're telling you the truth? He said that he told you after he saved Kevin from getting his butt kicked! Why would he lie?" I ask.

"I'm not saying he's lying Sydney. The pieces just don't add up to me."

I plop onto my bed to pull my boots on.

"Fine Mom, what makes sense then?" I ask.

Ellie is looking at me, wide eyed.

Mom gulped, then said "Well, I know that he's a good baseball player. And that people would pay him millions of dollars to play for them. Jade looked online and saw that taking classes outside of school as volunteer work looks good to them. It just seems fishy to me."

…

I have my first boot halfway on.

She has struck me dumb with her idea.

"I…he's not going pro mom! He said that the first time he came here!" I say, trying to keep my voice down.

"He was nervous! How am I supposed to—" Mom began, but a knock on the door silenced her.

I look up and see Austin smiling.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt." He said.

"Hi!" Mom said, coming to hug him.

GET OFF HIM!

You just said that he lied to you when he didn't!

GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MAN!

"Hi! I'm almost ready." I smile.

"Great. Do you have room for a surprise?" He said.

I look up from my boots to see him unveil flowers.

Mom gasped, and Ellie squealed.

"Do you have a vase or something?' He asked my mom.

"I'll go get it." Mom said, then dashing out of the room.

"You're not going pro are you?' Ellie blurted out.

I turn and give her the nastiest glare I can.

"What? No. Absolutely not. No way. Why ask that?" He said, looking affronted.

"Her mom thinks you are." Ellie said.

I groan, and he bit the edge of her lip.

"I'll talk to them about that later. I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me. Sorry." He joked, causing me to smile.

"I'm back." Mom chimed.

"Great."

The vase already had water in it, and after mom put it on my dresser, Austin placed the flowers in them.

I grab my purse and start to the door.

"We'll be back at midnight. Bye."

Then I turn and walk downstairs and out the door.

A moment later, Austin popped out too.

I hop in the front seat of my SUV and wait for him to hop in before backing out.

"You're mad." He stated.

"My mom's stupid." I say angrily.

"Stupid isn't the right word." He placates me.

"Then what is?" I bite at him.

"I don't know. But it's not the end of the world that they don't trust me yet."

"Why shouldn't they? You're my boyfriend. I love you!" I say heatedly.

He smiled.

"You're their only daughter. So they're protective. No big deal. I'll convert them eventually." He said softly.

I softly sigh and keep driving to the Chinese place.

"How are you? You look beautiful."

I smile. "Thanks. You look great also."

Out of the corner of my eye I see him smirk.

"Don't worry about it. Just worry about how fast I'll be shirtless tonight on the beach."

I giggle shyly.

Now that's something I want to think about.

My boy.

My shirtless boy.

Hours and hours to have fun with his sculpted chest.

"I…can I talk to you about something?" I ask.

"Sure. Whatcha thinking about?" He smiled.

"I…what do you want from me tonight?" I ask.

…

"I don't get your question." He replied.

"Like what do you want from me at the beach?"

"What we usually do?" He said, sounding unsure. "Do you want more?"

"I thought you did." I say.

"I…don't. Unless you want to give more."

I stop at the light and look to him. "You don't want more from me?"

"Not right now really, no. Why? Do you want more?"

I gulp and blush, then look away. "I…just thought you were going to start to want more. Like more physical stuff."

…

"Oh. I get what you mean now." He said.

"Uh huh." I say, going again and pulling into the turn lane.

"I'll talk when we pull in." He said.

…

…

I pull into the back of the parking lot and stop.

I kill the ignition and freeze in my seat.

"So…you're worried I don't like you in that way I assume." He started.

"Yeah."

I had a nightmare on Wednesday about being at home, not getting interrupted and things started to get heated.

But he turned me down.

Then somehow…in the same dream I saw him get in bed with Skylar.

He didn't turn her down.

"Sydney…you know I'm not that guy. I'm not going to force you into anything you don't want to do ok? If you want me to do more…I'll do more. Because…"

He stopped.

"Go on. What were you saying?" I say.

He blushed, then grabbed my hand.

"Don't tell anybody this ok?"

"Ok." I say, squeezing his hand.

"I do want more. I'd love to be kissing on the beach, and for something more to come of it."

"Like sex?" I ask.

I don't want to go that far yet.

"No…not yet. I just want to hold you close, feel your skin and tell you how much I love you. Yeah, I've had thoughts about us in that situation, but I know it's too early. Way too early. I…I don't know. I feel like a jerk." He said.

I gently grab his face and pull him into a kiss.

…

"You're not. That sounds great. I'd love to do that. Our swimsuits are still in the back." I say.

We swam at Beck and Jade's the other day, and I never took them out.

"Sounds like a plan. You get me shirtless, and I get more skin." He smiled at me.

"Not that much skin boy. No drooling." I tease him.

"I know. One question before we go in?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Why…I don't get why girls are fine with wearing two piece bikini's on the beach, but are so freaked about being in their underwear. It's basically the same thing."

He has a point.

"I don't know. Maybe because the swimsuit is a public thing, but only special guys get to see us with less on?" I shrug.

He smiled, then hugged me. "I'll be a good boy."

I grab him back and whisper into his ear.

"Kiss me and do something bad."

"Seriously?" He gasped back.

"Yeah. Temporary rule change. Go."

I grab him and kiss him and

—

"MMMMM…"

I pull him closer and try to make him do it again.

God that felt good.

We kissed for about 10 more seconds then break apart.

"Do it again." I say, then pounce on him again.

After a moment of shock, he gently squeezed my boob again.

Once we stop I lay my head on his shoulder.

"I was not expecting that to feel so good." I confess.

"It did? I thought at first you said no." He said.

"No. I wanted you to do it again." I say.

"So…second base is temporarily clear?" He looked tense.

I smile at him.

"Second base is safe."

(1 ½ hours later)

I grab my keys and power walk to the door.

"Kevin, watch Corey until we get back. Bedtime is normal. We'll call that phone if something happens. Don't answer it unless it's me, Beck and Jade or Andre and Tori ok?" I say.

"Daddy!" Corey ran to me. "Is everything ok?"

"Your sister is in a little bit of trouble, but she's fine. We'll be back soon. Now mind your brother and be strong ok bud?' I say, hugging him back.

"ROBBIE!" I hear Cat yell.

"I gotta go. Love you." I say, then nod to Kevin and hop out of the door.

They said 4200 block of Evanston.

Right by the movie theater.

"What the fuck took you so long?" Cat snapped at me as I hop into the car.

"I had to give them instruction Cat. Easy. They said she's fine." I say, pulling out and speeding towards Evanston.

"We don't know that she's ok!"

"Cat. They would have directed us to a hospital if the wreck was that bad. The guy said she got plowed into."

"Shut up and drive." She bit at me.

I look at the speedometer and decide to go faster.

All the cops are probably at the accident.

I go 70 down the sidestreet and get close within a minute.

Immediately I see all the lights and police cars, along with Sydney's Range Rover and a Black car that obviously did the damage.

I stop and Cat immediately hopped out and started running.

I sigh to myself.

That won't help anything.

I kill the car, then walk over to the scene.

Looks like they moved everything into this parking lot.

Cat is clinging to Sydney for dear life, while Austin is holding an ice pack to his head.

"Are you her father?" A cop spotted me walking over.

"Yeah, Robbie Shapiro. Her mom's name is Cat Valentine." I say.

I see sneaky glances to the other officers.

"That Cat Valentine?" He asked.

"Yeah. The famous one. What happened?" I ask.

"Your daughter was at this light, about to go straight, they said to go to the movies. But a guy ran the red and smashed into them." He said.

"Why? Was he that late with the light?" I ask.

"No, she didn't wait the normal beat. You know how you pause, then go at a light? She just went."

I sigh to myself.

"Is she at fault? What's the deal with that?" I ask.

"No, it's his fault. The paramedics are cleaning him up now. His nose got busted when his face hit the steering wheel. We already talked to the kids, so they can go whenever."

"What about the car?" I ask. "Do you need it?"

"No. We already called your insurance company. They're coming to take it to the dealer. You won't have to wait around ,we'll be here for a few more hours taking rubber samples so we can recreate the crash." He said.

"Okay. I'm going to go talk to her." I say.

I walk over to where Cat, Sydney and Austin are.

Cat and Syd are standing, but Austin is holding something to his head.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

Sydney tackled me into a hug.

"Daddyyyy…he just plowed into me. I don't do anything wrong I swear. I'm so sorry—" She said in a rush.

"I know. That's what the cops said. Now are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, just shaken up. The paramedics are waiting to see Austin again." She gulped.

Cat suddenly walked up and squeezed Sydney.

"They're afraid he has a concussion."

Sydney gulped, then wiped her eyes.

"He…he whacked his head on the side of the window. It cracked where his head hit." She said quietly.

I silently walk over to where he's sitting.

"You ok?" I ask, as Sydney sat next to him.

"I…I guess. It hurts to lift my head and to look up, so please don't mind if I just look down right now." He said quietly.

"Sure. That's fine."

"AUSTIN BLAKE HARPER!" I hear a shrill voice yell.

Cat and I both turn around, only to get pushed aside as a woman stormed to Austin.

"What were you THINKING? Getting all crazy with that girl! You got her into an accident!" She screamed.

"Mom, that's not what happened." Austin said wearily.

"That's not what happened Mrs. Harper." Sydney said quietly.

"You stand up and you look me in the eye Austin. I told you that you shouldn't go out with her tonight because you're a failure."

Whoa.

I look to Cat, whose eyebrows are in her hair.

"Mom, it really hurts to raise my head and look up okay? Can I please stay here?" Austin said.

"NO! Stand up and be a man!" She screamed.

"Mrs. Harper. He's hurt and the paramedics—"

"Shut up. I am not talking to you." She snapped at Sydney.

I had to grab Cat's shoulder to prevent her from jumping in.

"Now stand up!"

Austin closed his eyes, took a deep breath and got up slowly.

With what looked like a ton of effort, he raised his head and looked her in the eye.

"Can you please not scream mom? And don't talk to her like that. This isn't her fault." He said softly.

His voice is so much softer than normal.

"No, it is her fault. She can't drive! Why weren't you driving? You have my backup car!" She yelled at him.

"Because you told me not to use much gas. Sydney and I decided to use her car so you wouldn't get on me."

"You're a failure. I don't understand why on earth that pretty girl is associating with you."

I hear Cat gasp in outrage, and Sydney said "Mrs. Harper."

"I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU BITCH!"

Cat and I instantly hop over to Sydney.

"Okay. Timeout. Do not speak to her like that." I say darkly.

"Keep your hands off my daughter. Maybe you should actually find out what happened before you start screaming at Austin for no reason." Cat said heatedly.

"Who are you? You can't tell me what to do! I know what happened! He got your child into an accident. Whatever the hell is wrong with him he deserves!" She said, looking deranged.

"Okay…maybe you should go sit down and take a second to breathe?" I say.

"No, I'm out of here. You all deal with this mess. Yuck." She turned around.

"What about me?" Austin asked.

"Find your own way home." I hear her say.

Then she hopped into her car and drove off.

"What just happened?" Jade asked.

Cat and I jump and turn around.

"Jade?" Cat asked.

"Beck?" I add on.

"Why are you here?" Sydney asked.

"Ellie called me, saying your mom and dad ran off because of some accident. I got the address from her, and here we are." Beck said.

Jade was already hugging Sydney. "You're okay?"

"Yeah." Sydney said.

"Uhh…why's your mom so…" I trail off, not being able to think of the right word.

Austin plopped back onto the curb. "Crazy? Don't worry about it sir. I'll be fine. I just need to find a way to get her car home before tomorrow morning."

"That should be the least of her worries." Cat said.

"Yeah. Sounds like she just screamed at you from what we heard." Jade said.

I turn to Beck and say "Didn't miss much."

A person wearing white came up. "Mr. Harper? Can we have a moment?"

He rose to his feet and followed him silently.

"Geez, how hard was the wreck?" Jade asked.

She seems shocked how quiet he is.

"I pulled out at the green light, and the guy was going about 50 I think plowed into the front left area near the tire." Sydney said quietly, looking towards the back of the ambulance.

In the background, I see the wrecker coming for our car.

It has the BBB logo.

"It's an accident sweetie. Nothing you could have done." Cat hugged her, trying to reassure her.

Sydney half heartedly hugged her back, but kept looking at the ambulance.

"Thanks for coming." I tell Beck.

"No problem. Tori and Andre would come, but they literally just put Olivia down." He said.

"No worries. We'll hear from them tomorrow." I say.

"So now what?' Sydney asked.

"We find out to see how Austin is, then get him home with his car." Cat said.

On cue, the back of the ambulance opened, and Austin was guided out by the same guy.

Geez, why so cautious.

"Which one of you is the mother?" He asked.

"None, but I'm the closest." Cat jumped in.

"He has a grade 2 concussion. He can't sleep for 48 hours, and cannot perform strenuous activities for one week."

At those words, he groaned.

Sydney, who was back at his side hugged him.

"Why can't he sleep?' Jade asked.

"The brain needs to heal, and how it does that is that it needs to be active and conscious. It's active in sleep, but not sufficient to allow for it to heal. Also, in rare cases it can cause swelling and even death."

Whoa.

"Ok. He won't sleep." Cat said.

"How do you know it's a concussion?" Beck asked.

The paramedic came over and said "Please look up for me son."

Austin looked up and opened his eyes more.

"See the uneven pupil size? That's the best indicator." He said.

His pupils are uneven.

He also looks exhausted. Big bags under his eyes.

"So he needs to stay awake?"

"At least for 48 hours, yes. Can one of you supervise him during that period?" he asked.

"I will." Sydney jumped in. "I know something we can do that he won't fall asleep."

Austin suddenly spoke up. "It's the night that's the problem. I can never sleep during the day really."

"Okay, what were you thinking?" Cat said softly.

"Ice skating. I don't know how to get there without driving." She said.

"You can drive. Use my car." I say.

"Really?" Sydney and Austin asked.

"It was an accident right? Not her fault." Jade said.

Cat nodded. "You can take the SUV if Jade can take us home." She looked to Jade.

"Of course we can. No problem." Jade said.

"That settles that." I say.

Suddenly the wrecker hoisted the Range Rover into the air.

Sydney cringed.

"On that ominous note, let's get going." Beck said, putting his arm around Jade.

Cat grabbed Austin, and I lead Syd to our car.

I pull her into a hug and whisper "You'll be fine. Don't be nervous, just be cautious and drive. Call if you need anything or want us to come get you ok?"

She nodded as Cat got Austin inside.

I pull out my wallet and give her 4 $20's.

"Dad…"

"I don't care. Be safe. Love you." I say.

Cat came and hugged Sydney, then let go and walked with me to Beck and Jade's car.

By the time we got to the car, we turned and watched Sydney turn around and effortlessly merge into traffic.

I knew it wasn't her fault.