(A/N: Hey everyone! I am DONE with finals! WOO HOO! My last one was yesterday from 5-8 PM. I wanted to clear some things up. I've had a few people asking where the chapters have been. Answer? Finals. I don't write the night before, because I need to study. My family would kill me if I got another 2.7 like I did in the fall. Also, I will miss more days in the coming weeks because I'm moving Saturday. New house, new school, new life, whole 9 yards. So I'll update when I have my stuff together, and as often as I can. Hope you guys are well, and thank you for reading. –James)

Sydney POV

"So yeah. After that tourney I'll be home for 2 whole weeks."

PWING!

"Cool." I smile.

Austin loosened up his neck, then hit another ball.

PWING!

…

PWING!

He bites the edge of his lip and keeps hitting.

I know he's mad.

Frustrated is the word I should really use.

It's more that than anything.

His dad came to his grandma's house today. Which is ok because Austin's dad is her son.

But since he's essentially pretended Austin doesn't exist, Austin said that he'd be with me, and called me.

And now we're here.

Daddy was here, dropping off Kevin, Matt and Corey for baseball practice. I thought he was going to come say hi, but he simply waved and walked back to our car.

He wants me to drive everyone home, to save him the trip.

He also texted that Austin was welcome for dinner. Tonight everybody is coming for a "End of School" celebration.

It ends next week, but Austin, Ellie and I don't have finals. So tomorrow is basically our last day.

Not that we'll be bored. Splashface has been nuts since I unveiled Austin to the world.

He's gained almost a million followers, became a verified account and was in last weeks "America Weekly".

It was that annoying picture of us holding hands downtown. They don't really have anything better and can't use the splashface pictures of us since they're my property and I don't want them to use them.

Next week they'll have the ones some people took of Austin when he jumped into the pharmacy to get his grandma's heart medicine.

He's been approached 4 times, and every time he's been exceedingly nice. The word online is that he's a really cool guy and that I basically stole his from a Christianson and Finch catalog.

I'd disagree, because I hate Christianson and Finch with a disdain usually held for spinach or something.

Ugh.

But…yeah. Life's good.

I'm going to start going into the studio tomorrow after school. Cannot WAIT.

So. EXCITED!

I smile and sip my water.

Oh he's done.

He's looking at me and smiling.

"What are you smiling about?" He smirked.

"Thinking about tomorrow." I say.

"Oh. The studio?"

I nod happily.

He laughed quietly.

"You're seriously excited."

"Yeah. Can't wait."

"What do you want it to be?" he asked.

"I…I don't know." I tell him.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know. What you asked is vague, and it can go about 10 directions."

He shook his head with a smile.

"What kind of vibe do you want to come from it? Let's start there."

"Upbeat. Happy. Positive."

"A dash of love?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Maybe a little."

"What about lyrics?"

I shrug. "Mom always says it's the music that;s important. The words come naturally."

"Do you want to come straight out with an EP, or start an album, what do you think?" He asked, leaning onto his bat.

"Album. EP's are for people who don't have time, or have an alterior motive. It's doing half the work and getting most of the money." I frown.

"Mom again?" He assumed.

"Yeah."

"But she did one. Way back when." He said.

"Yeah, for charity."

"It sold. I know that."

"Doesn't mean it was bad." I say. "I just know that when Mom talks about the music she's made, that never gets mentioned by anyone. It's just kind of forgotten."

"Kind of like Olivia's mom's song. Her name is Tori right? Tori Harris?"

"Yeah. I don't know what happened. According to dad she was the big star coming out of school."

"She was in the middle of all those pictures we've seen of them back then. Like she was the star." Austin said.

"Dad was the weird one. With the puppet."

Just like Robert.

That whole thing is just too weird.

"We're not sure about weird. Plus he obviously changed. Look at those pictures and compare them to the ones of you as a baby. Something made him radically change and go from acting to performing."

…

Mom.

"What?" Austin said, leaning forward.

"Mom. It was mom."

"What about your mom?" He said.

"You know how I told you how Mom initially broke his heart? That was it!"

Austin bit his lip and looked off to the side.

"That…that'd make sense. And it'd fit. He totally escaped from her, and did his own thing. Like it or not, she broke him." Austin glanced up at me nervously.

All true.

I motion for him to continue.

"But as I said, he changed, you came and changed things even more and suddenly it wasn't about him. He had you, and suddenly he was with your mom again, and boom here we are."

"It…it just seems too simple. How bad can a broken heart be?" I ask to dead air.

Austin shrugged.

"I can't say, I've never had my heart broken. I'm lucky."

"You haven't?" I say.

"Nope. Skylar was my first real relationship, and I was the one to break it up. By the way, I got more condoms."

I sigh and wave him off.

"Bad time?"

"I don't want to think about that." I say.

"Oh yeah…right."

At least he's smart enough to know not to mess with me all this week.

I'm mad, grumpy, and need affection all at the same time.

I'm a mess.

Suddenly the sound of mesh fence being rattled, and somebody crashing into me caused me to jump.

"Hi Sissy!"

I look down to Corey hugging me.

"Hey Corey. How are you?"

He peered up at me in his little hat, smiling.

"I'm great! Matt and Kevin walked me here."

"Cool. Hi." I smile at them, who wave.

"We ready to go?" Austin asked.

"No, my dad's not here yet." Kevin said.

"I'm driving everybody home." I say.

"Including him?" Matt pointed to Austin.

"Yeah." He said.

"Can't you drive?" Corey asked.

"Yeah, but I don't have a car. That's my problem." Austin explained paitiently.

"Why?" Kevin asked.

Can you three just stop with the questions?

"Okay. Sorry." Matt said suddenly.

Did I say that aloud?

"Let's get going." Austin jumped out of the cage, bringing his bat and hat that was hanging.

I steal it from him and put it on my head.

"Looks good on you. Better than me." He smiled.

I hear Kevin pretend to gag, but Austin poked his leg with the bat to shut him up.

"Thanks." I say, as we all are walking to my car.

The drive home is easy, since Austin cranked the radio. One of these days he's going to crack a speaker and I'm going to want to kill him.

But until then, I'll have to settle for singing along.

Once I pull in, everybody piled out and ran inside.

Corey thoughtfully kept the door open for Austin and I, and we happily walked inside.

Ellie's in my room.

Playing music.

Probably doing her nails too.

I smile and spot Mom, Dad and everyone outside on the patio.

"Patio?" I ask him.

"I'll get drinks." He smiled, then took a right towards the garage.

I open the door and slip outside.

"Hey!" Aunt Jade said.

Mom got up and hugged me.

"Hi." I smile, hugging mom back.

"I assume everyone is home then." Dad joked, causing a few laughs.

"Yeah. Austin's getting drinks. I don't know where the boys went." I say sitting where Aunt Jade scotted over.

"By the way, we followed him if you don't mind." Aunt Tori smiled.

"That's fine. Olivia?" I look to Uncle Andre.

"She's here. But she's in Corey's room asleep."

"She was cranky when we first came, and bit Ellie, so we put her down for a nap about an hour ago, and here we are." Mom said.

I smile softly, just in time for Austin to open the door.

Everyone said something to greet him.

He smiled back and said "Hi." Then handed me a glass of peppy cola with ice inside.

"Thank you." I say.

"No problem."

"So, I assume you guys' last day is tomorrow like Ellie?" Uncle Beck asked.

"Yep. Tomorrow." I smile.

"You guys still have to get the exemption cards signed right?" Aunt Tori asked.

"yeah. They didn't want to sign them today, which is a pain." Austin said, then sipped his drink.

"They didn't?" Mom asked.

"No, they didn't want to 'Distract from class.'". Austin pretended to act all stiff and teacher like, then rolled his eyes.

Mom and Tori giggled.

"It obviously didn't work." Andre said.

"It didn't. They just got students that were more focused on tomorrow than classes." I say.

"Including you?" Dad said.

"Yeah. I just texted him."

Jade shrugged, while Mom and Dad seemed to cringe just a little.

"So, what are your big summer plans? Now that you're out of our control with a car and all." Dad joked.

"Uhm…not much. Music mostly." I say.

"That's it?" Aunt Tori said.

"Yeah, we've done basically everything else. Nothing big on the horizon."

I see mom and dad shift a little, but keep listening.

"Austin?" Mom asked him.

"Oh, nothing really. We already met that Jordan guy, school will be over. So I'm going to play baseball and…what?" He asked.

Oh crap.

Both Mom and Dad are frozen, looking at him.

"You did…what?" Aunt Jade whispered.

"Uh…I'm confused."

"Keep up Austin. Robbie and Cat told us that you know what's going on with Sydney. Jordan. Her biological father." Beck snapped at him.

"You met him?" Aunt Tori asked, eyes almost falling out of her head.

"Am…am I missing something? Because I was under the impression Sydney told everyone—" he began.

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

"What?" Austin yelped.

Mom and Dad…

Mom looks like she's trying not to cry.

"Sydney. You told me they knew." Austin told me.

"Mom…mom?" I say, not listening to him.

I think her hands are shaking.

"Sydney."

"MOM." I say stronger.

C'mon Mom.

"Sydney, I think you should go inside." I hear Andre say.

…

"Inside. Now. Both of you." Beck said, grabbing us both and literally shoving us inside, then shutting the door behind me.

I turn back to look at mom.

She…

She's in Dad's lap.

I think she's crying.

"Sydney." I hear Austin say.

I turn.

"Why'd you lie to me?" He asked.

"I…you wouldn't have done it otherwise!" I say defensively.

"You don't know that! Instead you just plowed on ahead and let me jump off that cliff. Why?"

"Why what?" I ask.

"Why'd you let me do that?"

"Stopping you would have been awkward!" I say.

"But now your mom is CRYING. They might hate me now!" He yelled.

"They won't hate you."

"You don't know that. You're not psychic. You just let me fall on you sword!" he said.

That's true.

…

"Why don't you trust me?" he asked.

"I trust you."

"No you don't. You straight up lied to me before we went downtown. That whole thing was a lie. I just blindly followed you and trusted you. How can I trust you now?" He asked.

"Yes, I do trust you! And don't say otherwise!" I snap at him.

"Oh, I'll say otherwise. But now isn't the time. We'll talk when leave. Until then, stay away from me please." He said, then starting upstairs.

"Wait, Austin!" I yelp.

Stay away?

He brushed me off and kept walking.

"Austin!"

…

"Can you please wait?" I ask, just before he got to the media room.

He didn't turn around, and slipped inside, to the cheers of Kevin, Corey and Matt.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" I hear him say, then the door shut.

…

Uh oh.

"Psst!" I hear behind me.

I turn and see Ellie's head poking out.

"My toes are drying. Get in here!" She told me.

I slip in, and she shut the door.

"What's going on? I heard yelling." She immediately said.

(2 hours later)

Oh come on.

…

It's getting cold.

And you've left me out here for 10 minutes saying goodbye Austin.

By my car.

This is getting quite old.

Dinner was ok. Mom, Dad, everybody pretended everything was ok over barbecue, and talked about silly, goofy stuff.

Ellie and I sat together, while Austin sat with the boys and within Olivia's sight.

Once she woke up, she wailed if Austin walked away from her.

I wish Ellie would have said more positive stuff.

She's freaking out that we just broke up.

Her saying I'm stupid for lying to him isn't helping anything either.

I would have walked out, but I had nowhere else to go. So I had to listen to her freak out about my problems.

Out of all the times for her to put a double glossy coat of polish on her toes, which require an hour to dry properly…

Slam.

I perk up and after a moment, see Austin walking towards me.

"Hey." I smile.

He bit his lip.

"I'm still mad."

"Mad? Why?"

I texted him like a thousand "I'm sorry baby." Messages.

He pulled out his phone.

"These messages….don't mean anything to me. Anything at all. Okay? I don't care. If you mean you're sorry, say it to me in person please." He frowned at me.

I gulp nervously, and then force myself to look him in the face.

"I'm sorry Austin."

He rolled his eyes.

"What was that for?"

"You don't get it." He spit at me.

"What? Yeah I do. I just said sorry!" I say.

"Yeah, only after prompting. Tell me something. Have you ever made your idol cry?"

…

"Well?" He said.

"Uhm…no. I haven't." I say.

J Law is my idol. And she smiled when we met her.

She approached us.

My mind is still blown about that.

"Yeah. I know that. I just made my idol cry. Bawl. Like a baby. She couldn't even say goodbye! She took one look at me, let out a wail and ran into your dad's bedroom and shut the door!" He shouted at me.

Ouch.

"Do you know how awful I feel? I feel like shit! Like somebody should really just run me over for being such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot." I correct him.

"Yeah I am. For trusting you so blindly!"

…

What?

"I told you, right when we first started going out, that I don't trust people easily. I told you how I got bullied, and my so called friends ratted me out so I could get shoved into lockers like Kevin. Why do you think I stuck for him, other than the fact it was the right thing?"

…

"You know that I don't trust anyone completely. You saw me when I told you about me messed up family! I said…what did I say?" He asked me.

"I don't trust anybody totally." I say quietly.

I told him he could trust me completely.

"Exactly! Well guess what? I violated my own rule I've had since 3rd grade when I was getting pushed around. I trusted you totally! Totally! Why else do you think I'd do that stuff in the back of the car with you? And by lying to me, you totally ruined it!"

What?!

"What" I ask.

"You ruined it! It's tainted! I don't think I can look back on this and think "Oh, she does love me." After you lied right to my face!"

"I do love you! Austin! Don't think that!"

That's a dangerous road to go down!

He and Skylar went down that road!

"Too late, I'm already thinking it. I don' get it. Why didn't you—"

I hear two knocks and jump as Austin stopped talking.

"Hey guys? I need to talk to you for a second." Dad said quietly, emerging from the shadows.

Oh crap, how much did he hear?

Oh no.

"Okay sir." Austin said, sidling next to me.

He sighed, then leaned against the house.

"So. Austin knows, but you don't Syd. Your mom is bawling her eyes out right now."

Gulp.

"He told m—"

"Fine. Okay. Whatever. I don't care about details right now. I just want both of you to listen." Dad said darkly.

"Okay." Austin said quietly.

"Sydney…you know how important it was for me to tell you about Jordan. And I'm not dumb enough to think you didn't tell him. So congratulations, you're now adults, and I'm going to treat you like adults."

…

"You…Syd, you pulled something right out of your mom's playbook. You total double crossed him. I know it's not my business, but I don't care. He has a right to be furious with you, and I hope he is."

"He—"

"SHH!" He snapped at me.

Okay.

…

"I don't care what your logic is, or how you justify it. That was a very, I mean VERY painful time for your mother. She is not proud of it. At all. She is constantly afraid, to this day that the true details are going to come out. The public doesn't know who your real father is, and they're still obsessed with finding out. That is her greatest fear outside of losing one of you for good."

"Now, Austin and I have already had a conversation about this, but I'm going to highlight some stuff. Your mom and I know what it's like to be at that age, with the hormones and sudden freedom. And if he knocks you up, there will be hell to pay. Because if you ever have a moment, subtract your age from your mom's. You'll know why immediately."

Austin told me that.

Mom had me at 19.

Teen mom.

"As I said, she's crying her eyes out. All the boys are confused, but know it has something to do with you two. Expect some whiplash from them. The other adults are going to drop it, but they're also mad that you two met Jordan without me or you mother present."

"I don't know whether it's some teenage rebellion thing, or just wanting to get out of our thumb, but I don't care. That kind of thing, should ALWAYS be discussed with us. Sydney. And Austin. That's how our family works. If you have a problem, pull us aside and tell us. Privately. We won't freak out, and will react rationally. Not telling us and having it sprung on us like it was today is not acceptable."

"I'll leave you on this note. I've given both of you a lot of rope since we found out you guys were dating. We like you Austin. You're a good guy. But this is between you and Sydney. And this will not be tolerated again. Because this is personal."

What?

"I know you see her as Mom Sydney, and Austin sees her as a celebrity and your mom, but she's my wife. I love her. I have had two kids with her, and would throw myself in front of any vehicle for her. And you made her cry tonight. Because of you. So, tonight, you're my enemy. Goodnight."

He scowled at us, then turned and walked inside.

Uh oh.

I'm definitely grounded.