Robbie POV
"You ready?" I ask
Cat nodded beside me and started to the front door.
I hold it for her and we walk out to the SUV and start towards the front of our neighborhood.
"You nervous?" Cat asked quietly, looking at herself in the mirror.
I see DeVaughn's car behind us.
"No, I know what I'm going to say."
"Which is?" She asked me.
"Say sorry for being so harsh, and our general points."
"Which are…?"
I glance at her, and she is still messing with her makeup.
"It's not that big of a deal. Yeah, they should have told us, but the fact that they aren't talking wasn't our goal."
"Exactly. Our goal was to show them that Syd was supposed to meet…him with you. Not go rogue on us." She frowned.
"Still mad." I say.
"And you aren't? I don't know what she's doing and why she's acting like this!"
"It could be a phase Cat."
"Or it could be the start of her going off the rails like Amanda Bynes! Look at her! She was a star as a child! Then she went crazy, pierced her cheeks then OD'd on diarrhea medication and died! She's freaking dead!"
"Sydney isn't going to die babe. C'mon." I say calmly.
"But maybe she's not meant to be famous! She's supposed to be normal, and we're not making enough of the fact that she ran from cameras and fame 4 years ago!"
"I just think she's being a teenager."
"Did you do anything like this as a teenager Robbie? You didn't lie to this extent!" She almost screamed at me.
"My life was terribly simple Cat. And my parents were hands off. They just wanted me happy and to have good grades. Things aren't so simple here."
"Yeah they are! Sydney could just play by our rules! And she could stop avoiding us!"
"Now that's true." I say.
She's been avoiding all of us like we have the plague or something. She's been at the studio, verified by Cat's producer, who is helping her.
We haven't brought up the fact that she's come back at like 2 AM every morning and shattered her curfew because we know where she is.
We just want to talk to her. We barely got the words out that she wasn't grounded, and that we loved her, then poof.
Bye Bye Syddo.
Kevin and Matt have been suffering thru finals, but Corey has been asking why Sissy isn't home.
We just told him that she's trying to be like Mom and working on music.
"But why does she have to go? Mom records here at home right?"
"Yeah but Sydney is trying to figure out her style. So she probably doesn't want to be here."
Corey gave his classic "Well that's dumb." response.
After a hug and some ice cream, he didn't bring it up again.
What really has Cat in a bundle of nerves is what Ellie dropped to Jade.
Apparently Austin and Sydney aren't talking.
I…we didn't mean that to happen.
Cat's been freaking out that they broke up.
Which CERTAINLY wasn't our intention.
I overheard them arguing when I talked to them Thursday, but…here we are, the next Wednesday and they aren't talking.
Apparently it's ice.
So here we are.
Driving to take Austin to lunch.
Sydney doesn't know, and Austin doesn't know either. Cat talked to his grandma, after she stole the number from Sydney's phone at like 3 AM a couple of nights ago, and set this whole thing up.
We're actually almost there.
"Don't worry. We'll fix this." I try to be reassuring.
I hear her make a nervous noise, then sip my water bottle.
The girl who is impervious to outside pressure. Is nervous about meeting someone's grandmother.
And Austin.
…
Man. I feel bad that this is even happening.
Yeah, Cat was upset. She really wanted to make that whole Jordan thing work.
We don't even know how it went.
But now I was too harsh, Sydney is avoiding us, and she and Austin aren't speaking.
Just great.
We were due to mess something up.
I park on the curb, and stop the car.
"Whose car is that?" Cat asked me.
It's clearly a rental car; it's too neatly polished to be a normal car.
Either that or somebody very well off is here.
I shrug it off, and Cat leads us to the door and rings the doorbell.
…
…
I hear footsteps.
The door swings open to a gigantic guy, with a thick beard and athletic frame.
"Oh! You must be the people here for Austin. I recognize you. You're Cat Valentine. His girlfriend's mom." The guy smiled.
"Yeah. Hi. Can we come in?" Cat smiled.
"Yeah, come on in. We were just in the kitchen." He held the door for us."
"Robbie Shapiro." I extend my hand.
"Bryce Harper. Nice to meet you."
"Same here."
Cat walked into the kitchen and darted to an unknown spot.
A cheerful voice said "It's so great to meet you!"
I walk in to see a small woman with jet black hair talking to Cat.
"Oh, and you must me Sydney's dad. Amanda, nice to meet you." She smiled and waved to me.
"Hi, thank you." I say.
"Do you guys want a drink?" The guy asked.
"No, we didn't mean to be interrupting anything. We can just get Austin and go if you'd like." Cat said.
Good point.
Why is this guy here?
"Oh, no you're not. I'm leaving soon. Game at 7:05."
"Game?" I ask.
"Yeah. In Anaheim. I'm playing the Angels." He replied.
"Baseball? Aren't you a little old?"
The guy laughed. "Uhm, no. I play professionally. So not really."
"That's nice." I say diplomatically.
"Where is Austin?" Cat asked.
"he's upstairs in his room. Like usual."
"Usual?" I ask, sitting down next to Cat.
Amanda and Bryce sit opposite us.
"Yeah. Most of the time when he's here he likes to be alone. He won't admit it, but this disaster with his parents is affecting him."
"Disaster…yeah. What is going on?" Cat asked.
"All we know is something is wrong, and now he's here."
"Haven't you asked your daughter?" Bryce asked.
"Yeah, but she said she doesn't want to tell us until Austin wants us to know. Which bugs me." Cat frowned.
"Well, my son and his soon to be ex-wife have been silently fighting for years. Years. But now they've allowed it to boil over, and according to Austin lead to daily screaming matches over trivial stuff like taking out the trash or dishes." Amanda said.
"Daily?" I ask.
Jeez! That's not home!
That's torture!
"From what he said, yes. I haven't seen any of it in person, because they act like everything is just great when I come. But the papers have been filed, divorce court is in a few months, and Austin is here."
"Do either of them care. Like at all?" Cat asked, seemingly flabbergasted.
"My son unfortunately doesn't. he just wants to move and forget about his ex-wife. That's his mindset, which I can't blame him for. The woman he married doesn't exactly exist anymore."
"Huh?" I say.
"What do you mean?"
"Basically, she's become a different person. We don't know why." Bryce said.
"And what does she do? Scream at him? Because the only information we have first hand is Austin screaming at his phone about them getting their lives together. Then he said it was a disagreement." Cat said.
"And the car accident. She yelled at him too." I add on.
"It's no disagreement." Bryce said.
"We know. We assumed it was divorce, but didn't want to state that right away." I say.
"Yeah. Getting back to your point, essentially all she does is scream at him. About not having a job, about not having good enough grades, anything she can possibly find fault it, she screams at him."
"Doesn't he have straight A's?" Cat asked.
"Yeah."
"So she is screaming at him for nothing." I connect the dots.
"Yes. And now he's here." Bryce said.
"And how is that coming along?"
"Oh, it's fine. I'm just readjusting to having company. My husband passed away of a stroke a few years ago, and since then I haven't done much. But now with Austin here I need to be more active and momly and that whole deal. As I'm sure you both know." Amanda smiled.
"Oh. Sorry to hear about your husband." I say.
"Yeah." Cat adds.
"It's water under the bridge now, don't worry. But it's fine."
"Why do you want to speak to Austin?" Bryce asked.
"We just wanted to take him out to lunch. Apparently he and Sydney had an argument about us, and we want to just clear things up with him." Cat said
"Oh. Is everything okay between them? He hasn't left the house to see her in about a week." Amanda said.
"We don't know. We're going to ask at some point, but we're really not sure."
Bryce nodded, then got up.
"I'll get him."
He walked out of the room, then whistled.
"Uhm, if you even need a break, Austin is welcome to stay with us." Cat said.
"Oh! That'd be great. You aren't worried about them being teenagers and all?" She countered.
"Separate rooms. It'd be very hard for them to sneak around." I bend the truth.
"Alright. If you're willing I might take you up on that." She said, just as Bryce reentered the room.
"Grandma, what's going o—Hi! Mr. and Mrs. Valentine. How are you?" Austin jumped, then smiled.
Acting.
He's not perfect yet.
It's obvious, at least to me, that he was no expecting us.
And why would he?
"We're great. We just dropped by and wanted to see if you would come to lunch with us." Cat smiled.
"Uhm…sure. I need to get shoes. But then I'll be ready." He smiled.
"Go. Get your shoes." Bryce said.
"And comb your hair!" Amanda nagged.
I hear him groan as he went upstairs.
Bryce laughed.
"It was nice meeting you." He said.
"Same here. Sorry we're just two ships passing in the night."
"No worries, I'm pretty transient this time of year." He shrugged.
Cat turned and shook Amanda's hand.
"Please call, anytime. We'd love to have him." She smiled.
"Alright. I will." Amanda said.
Then Austin came back down.
"Ready."
"Then let's go." I say, leading the way out.
"Bye!" Cat waved.
"Bye." Bryce waved, then closed the door behind us.
…
We all hop in, Austin in the back and buckle in.
"Uhm…what's going on?" He said.
"We're going to lunch." I say, starting the car.
"But why? If you don't mind me asking."
"You'll see." I say, as Cat kicked on the radio.
We drive in radio filled silence for about 10 minutes, and I park next to DeVaughn's car.
"Austin?" Cat began.
"Yeah?" Austin hopped out, as I did on my side.
"Eating out with me is a bit of a hassle. Just stick with Robbie and me, and you'll be fine."
"What do you mean different?"
"Bodyguard. Incessant staring. Fans wanting to say hi in the background. Not simple. C'mon." I lead the way.
…
…
The hostess silently grabbed 3 and led us back.
I mentally block out all the eyes, and the conversations, and lead everyone to the back, next to DeVaughn's table.
He's already ordering.
Cat slides into a booth nect to me, and Austin nervously sat opposite us.
"What can I get you to drink?" The server asked us.
"Water." I say.
"Lemonade." Cat smiled.
"Uhm, lemonade too please." He smiled.
The server silently walked away.
We all start perusing the menu, Cat and I half heartedly
…
"Ok. So you're confused. Wondering why we dragged you here. And why eating out with us is so complicated." I begin, trying to loosen him up.
"Well, you didn't drag me, but yeah."
"We have to do this because of me. That's why we almost never eat out. We pay extra to eat in most of the time." Cat said next to me.
"That sucks. Both of you can't even eat out like normal. Isn't that law supposed to do something?" He asked.
"No, that just applies to paparazzi. Her fans can be a little…invasive. But it's just because they like her work."
I feel Cat light up beside me, and I open my mouth to start on why we're doing this, when the server came back, asking for our orders.
I got a grilled chicken sandwich with chips.
Cat ordered a chicken salad with mango and Caesar salad.
Austin seemed sheepish about ordering a BLT with fries.
Probably because Cat and I went healthy.
"So, I was about to explain why we're here." I joke, as Austin sipped his drink.
He nodded.
"Last Thursday didn't go as we meant."
He briefly froze, then swallowed and sat back.
"Uhm…okay?"
I opened my mouth, but Cat took the reins.
"I didn't mean to become such an emotional mess. Robbie said you know what happened with me and Sydney's biological father. And it's complicated. But I shouldn't have fallen apart like that." She said quietly.
"I…that…okay. I understood that. I just felt bad that we did that. I just thought she had cleared meeting that guy without you guys there before inviting me. That's why I spoke up."
"We understand that. It seemed like you said that, thinking that it wouldn't cause a wave." I say.
"And it created a tsunami. Yeah." He said.
"It's really not that big of a deal that you both saw him. The key thing was that it went well, and that Sydney is fine with everything."
"I…I think she is. I don't know, I haven't asked her that directly." He said.
"Did it go well?" Cat asked.
"Yeah. Went great. He was very polite, up front, brutally honest and open. It went really well I thought." Austin said, looking to me.
Glancing at Cat tells me her wheels are going 1000 MPH.
"Anything that stood out?" I ask.
"Uhm…not really. He gave her a picture of the last time he saw he before that. Sometime when she was tiny. Syd has it, I can't really describe it. He invited us to dinner sometime. That's really it."
"Dinner." Cat said suddenly.
Austin gulped and went pale.
"Uhh…yeah. As far as I know, she hasn't scheduled anything yet."
"Okay." I say.
"Why aren't you guys talking?" Cat blurted out.
I close my eyes and groan.
"Huh?"
"Ellie let slip that you and Sydney aren't talking. Why not?" Cat said.
When I open my eyes after a moment, our food is being dropped off.
I immediately dig into my sandwich, and keep my eyes down.
"It's between us. And no disrespect, but I'd like to keep it that way." He said quietly, then taking a huge bite.
Cat took a surreptitious glance at me.
I guess it's a dead end there.
He has a point.
Bad move by Cat there, it isn't our business.
We all eat in silence for a minute, then I ask "Do you know why she's avoiding us?"
He looked up briefly.
"No. I haven't really talked to her much in the last few days. I've had games."
Syd wasn't there.
She's been camped out in the studio.
"Oh. Well I hope this trouble isn't because of us." Cat said.
…
"It's not. I just need to find a time to talk to her."
"She was at home when we left. If you'd like you can come over." She said generously, adding a soft smile.
She feels bad.
The fact that he's not talking isn't helping that.
"Uhm…yeah. That'd be great. Thank you. And thank you for lunch." He said.
Where'd his food go?
It's all gone.
I'm basically done with mine, but all he has is crumbs left.
"Are you full? We can get you more." I say.
"No, thanks though. I'm fine. I usually don't eat a big lunch."
"Why not?"
"I'm working out later at some point." He replied, then paused.
"Hold on…"
Cat and I keep eating, and I direct the server to DeVaughn's table to take care of the ticket.
He has our credit card info, and knows the deal.
Before I know it, Cat turned to me and asked "Are we done?"
I nod, and look to Austin, who is already leaking out.
DeVaughn leads us to the door, and then slips behind us as we hop into the car.
By the time I start pulling out, Cat is already typing furiously on her phone.
She hates not interacting with people when she goes out.
"Austin?" Cat suddenly said, as I negotiate the traffic.
"Yeah."
"Uhm…we spoke to your grandma briefly about your parents. We're really sorry." She turned to look at him.
"Oh. Uhm…thanks."
"We didn't know how bad things were at home, or after the accident. We didn't know what to think." I say.
"yeah. It's not really that bad. It'll work itself out somehow." He said quietly.
"Well, you're welcome to come over anytime ok? And I'm all ears if you wanna talk to somebody ok?" Cat smiled at him.
I smile to myself.
That should get him to trust us a bit more.
"Thank you. I'll keep that in the back of my head."
"Are we cool?" I ask, winding our way thru the neighborhood.
"Yeah, we're cool. As long as Sydney doesn't kick me out…" he trailed off.
WHAT?!
"That won't happen. I'll stop her." Cat said, as I pull in.
"Is everyone here again?" Austin asked, as he sees everybody parked around us.
I know Beck and Jade are here, keeping an eye on the kids.
"Everyone but Tori and Andre."
"So no baby today. Okay. Can I use the charger? My phone's about to die." He said, as we all walk inside.
"Sure." I say.
"Hey! You're back." Jade said, poking her head out.
"Hey. Where is everyone?" Cat asked.
"Beck and the boys are at the electronic store. The bulb on your projector screen in the game room blew out." She said.
"How's he paying for it. That's my bulb."
"He's paying for it, but you can pay us back."
"Good." I say.
"Where's Sydney?" Austin smiled.
Jade pointed out back.
"Tanning and reading. Ellie is just reading."
Austin silently plugged his phone in, then walked outside and closed the door.
"How'd it go?" She immediately asked.
"We…overstepped our bounds." I say.
"Huh?"
"He shut us down. It's between them We'll have to talk to Sydney, because apparently she didn't tell Austin, as we suspected."
"So it goes back to her then."
Cat nodded, and we all step out to the backyard.
Right in time to see what was coming.
Austin was creeping towards Sydney, was was indeed reading and tanning.
But Ellie is running behind him.
Oh no.
Suddenly Ellie pushed him, and he yelled "SHIT! CRAP!"
SPLASH!
Sydney screamed, jumped and scrunched into a ball.
Then she saw cat and I.
"What's going on?" She asked.
Then Austin surfaced.
"Hi. She pushed me. I need to talk to you in a second." He said, swimming to the side, clothes sticking to him.
Crap.
That's a problem.
"I…okay. Should I get your swimsuit?" She asked.
Suddenly Austin was standing next to her.
HE WHAT?
He literally JUMPED out of the pool.
Didn't use his arms or anything.
One second in, next second towering over Sydney and dripping wet in his shoes, jeans and t shirt.
"Yes please. You might want to get Ellie's too." He said.
Suddenly Sydney hugged him, and whispered something into his ear.
Ellie meanwhile, said "You can't catch me!"
Austin didn't seem to notice, and was clearly listening to Sydney.
He nodded, smiled and then said "Ellie…c'mon. You know better than to doubt me! And taunt me!"
Cat, Jade and I all swivel back to Ellie.
Who screamed and started to run.
Somehow, and again I'm not sure how, Austin beat Ellie to the door.
Ellie was about 60 feet closer, and Austin had furniture, and a pool between he and the door.
But now he has her by the arms.
"LET ME GO!"
"Oh no. You know what is coming." Austin smirked.
"MOM!" Ellie yelped.
"I don't want to swim, so I'm going to stay out of this one." Jade smiled in reply.
Sorry Ellie, you have got this one coming to you.
"Smile!" Cat said.
Ellie turned away and Austin smiled happily as Cat took a picture.
Then Ellie got the bright idea to elbow Austin in the stomach.
But her elbow seemingly bounced.
Sydney literally laughed, and Austin frowned.
"Bye bye!" He smiled, lifting her into the air.
Ellie let out a ear splitting scream and yelled "NOOO!"
But Austin simply and gracefully pulled them both back into the water.
Splash.
Sydney beamed and I look over to see the back door open, with the boys running out.
"Who's in the pool?" Kevin asked, smiling.
"Please say it's my sister." Matt beamed.
Ellie popped up, somehow red faced.
Austin surfaced about 10 feet away, beaming.
Matt, Kevin and Corey cheered.
"She's in the pool!"
"Not for long I'm not!" Ellie growled, then grabbed Matt, who was too close.
"Uh oh!" Beck said, smiling as his son was pulled in.
"Oh no. We have their swimsuits?" Jade asked him.
"in the car. What spawned all this?"
We all looked over for Austin to climb out of the pool this time, with Sydney's assistance.
He smiled and said "Ellie pushed me, I got revenge just a second ago. And now he's in. So I guess I'm sorry."
He parted his hair to the side.
"You're fine. Let's get you changed." Sydney said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the house.
Beck, Jade, Cat and I all exchange a look.
What?
Aren't they supposed to be fighting?