AN: Hi everyone and welcome to Chapter 7 of this story; I hope it finds you well. As always my thanks go out to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 6.

Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes that's a fair description of Marissa, but then we know that from the show.

Challenge King – yes Jade is still trying her best to get the two of them back together and Beck, albeit reluctantly, was willing to give up his little enclave for his friend (especially as he's not using it right now).

Agent-M – Freddie's father? Little if anything is actually known about him (I believe somewhere, maybe on the iCarly website, he was named as Leonard but nothing else is known. Who knows, maybe he's out in LA somewhere?)

Pbow – I've no idea on the legalities of it, though I'd suspect it's not something she could be tried for as it was done by a "questionable Venezuelan doctor" so it was likely that the surgery was done in South America; I have no idea if a US court would be interested, unless it was evidence of her fitness, or lack thereof, to be a parent. Cat came up dry, but why? Because he's not interested or because she's currently dating someone else so Freddie wouldn't make a move even if he wanted to? Maybe we'll find out in time. As for Freddie moving in with her family… nice idea, it would certainly horrify Marissa.

Ok on with the story.

Chapter 7

Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles

Monday, 16th November 2009

Freddie was smiling as he, Beck and Jade arrived at school together. The Canadian teen's mother would be giving the boys rides to and from the Oliver home over the next couple of weeks while her son was still on crutches after his accident at the studio. Jade had made her way to the house before school to meet her boyfriend so there had been three teenagers in the car this morning.

The main reason for Freddie's high spirits was that he was revelling in the freedom of his new surroundings. His mother still didn't know where he was living and her increasingly frantic calls were being ignored or deflected by the boy, something else that he was enjoying immensely.

He grinned happily to himself as he walked, a step or two behind the couple; Jade had her arm looped through Beck's as he needed his hands free to manipulate his crutches and he smiled briefly at the closeness of the couple before reflecting a little mournfully on his own love-life – or lack thereof – at the moment before his grin returned as he recalled what had occurred during his shift the previous Saturday, the day after he had moved to Beck's RV.

Pear Store, 189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, Los Angeles

Saturday, 14th November 2009.

The tech genius was working behind the store's Brilliance Bar; it was a busy shift for the youngsters in the area as there had been a recent influx of repairs and what seemed to be an unusual spate of damages to Pear phones. He therefore was blissfully unaware of his mother's arrival at the bar until he heard her distinctive tones, thanking his lucky stars that his workstation hid him from view of anyone on the customers' side of the counter.

"I want to talk to Freddie Benson," the irate matriarch had demanded; Freddie groaned and mouthed "I'm not here" to his colleagues, who nodded supportively as most had heard the story, given their curiosity over why a patch of hair had been shaved from the back of his head.

In accordance with his wishes, any of the boy's colleagues in the vicinity vehemently denied any knowledge of his whereabouts; meanwhile his supervisor merely commented that he was busy working and wouldn't be available until his break in a couple of hours. An irate Marissa began to rant and rave and was promptly escorted from the store by an obliging security guard.

Monday, 16th November 2009.

The brown-eyed boy had texted his mother on the Friday evening, following his chat with an incredulous Sam, to inform her that he was ok, though he had ignored her reply demanding to know where he was. He had been forced to switch his phone off after declining her tenth call (aside from however many she had tried to place while he was talking to the Vegas-based blonde). This had clearly failed to satisfy his mother's demands for knowledge of his whereabouts, hence her visit to his place of work that morning. He remained hopeful that she wouldn't attempt to ambush him at school, but continued to fear the worst and keep a watchful eye out for her, mindful of the fact that she had shown up at Ridgeway in the past to confront him while they still lived in Seattle.

The three teenagers met up with their friends, Cat, André, Eli and Robbie in the Asphalt Café; the others were eager for news of how Freddie was settling into life with the Olivers.

"It's great," he enthused, "I'm really enjoying the freedom – I can see why you like it there," he told his friend and landlord with a smile.

"Don't get too comfortable," Beck warned him jokily, "I'll be back in there once I'm off these things and then you can deal with mom and dad."

He chuckled lightly at the actor's words, knowing the truth behind them; he was fully prepared to live under the Olivers' roof, and grateful to have a place to stay that didn't involve dealing with his mother, but the total freedom he had right now was something he had never been able to experience before – and something he knew it would be tough to give up.

"Do you want some company this evening?" Cat asked as they walked to first class together. "We could make a start on the science homework we got last time?"

"Uh sure," he answered, caught a little off-guard, "unless you and Martin have plans."

"No, no plans for Cat tonight," she announced a little more loudly and exuberantly than was really necessary.

"That'd be great then. I have work for a few hours after we finish here but shall I see you there around eight?"

"'kay 'kay," the ebullient red-head smiled as she swept a few stray hairs casually over her shoulder; they continued their walk with the girl edging a little closer to him as they did, almost close enough to bump arms as they made their way across the school.

The tech producer knew from her shift patterns that his mother was working day shifts all of this week; he hoped that, despite his fears and concerns, it meant she would be unable to find the time to visit (or ambush) him at school and that it would give him at least a few days of peace (aside, of course, from the near-relentless telephone calls). So it seemed perhaps a strange decision when, over lunch, he acquiesced (seeing the dozens of missed calls while his device had been on silent during the school morning) and answered a call from her.

"Hey mom, how are you?" he asked casually. At the table his friends looked on in surprise at his decision to talk to her.

"How am I?" she near screeched; he flinched and moved the phone away from his ear; just for fun he put it onto speaker so that his friends could enjoy the scene with him. "I'm frantic and worried sick about you Freddie Benson; you get home right now this minute."

"That's a little difficult mom; I have school today," he pointed out wickedly; Jade grinned widely at his retort and only forced herself to maintain her composure so that she could clamp a hand over Cat's mouth as the usually-giggly girl threatened to outright explode with laughter.

"Then right after school I expect to see you at home."

"I will be at home, my new home," he replied evenly. "I live there now."

"Where?" she demanded.

"Goodbye mom, I'll talk to you later." He rung off, turned his phone back on to silent and returned it to his pocket before carrying on with his lunch.

"Look at you all grown up and standing up to your mom," the brunette teased in an impressed voice; he chuckled a little at her observation, noticing Beck's face momentarily contort into a slight frown before he joined the group's laughter.

"How long do you expect to stay there for?" Cat asked him.

"Until Beck kicks me out or she apologises for what she did and agrees to stop treating me like a baby."

"Has she said anything about the chip?" Eli enquired. Freddie shook his head.

"Not a word. I think she's trying to pretend it never happened in the hopes that I'll just forget about it. That is not going to happen," he resolved testily.

"Couldn't she just demand that you come home though?" Robbie pointed out. "I mean you're still only fifteen, a minor, so she could force you to come back."

"She has to find out where I am first," he shrugged. "And if she did try anything then we could easily get into debates about her fitness to be a parent given the chip and a few other things from over the years." He barked out a brief, mirthless laugh before continuing, "and you guys thought she was bad at my birthday party. So anyway, I've taken up far too much of everyone's time with this chizz; Cat," the red-velvet haired girl's gaze left her food and she turned to face him, "I never asked this morning, how was your weekend? Did you see Martin?"

"I did," she said, surprising the boy with the fact that she was not smiling quite as much as she usually did. "We saw a movie on Friday and spent some time walking around the mall yesterday, had a smoothie. I had a nice time with him but…" All eyes turned to meet her brown ones as she trailed off, "I just don't know whether we… click like that. He's a nice guy, really cute and an alright kisser but I don't think that we're going to be together too much longer." There was a note of sadness in her voice; she was clearly disappointed by the prospect of another failed relationship. Jade, meanwhile, had to work hard to suppress a look of triumph that one obstacle to her 'mission' could soon be overcome; Robbie also widened his smile a little, something that piqued Eli's interest given his own brief attempt at dating the girl. Freddie, meanwhile, tucked the revelation away in a corner of his mind, wondering whether it, and their brief hand-holding the previous week, were connected to her desire to hang with him and do homework this evening. Does she still like me in that way? he found himself wondering as the others talked around him; he was completely unaware of the conversation continuing as he retreated into his own thoughts and mind. How do I feel about her? was his next question, realising that he had pretty much tried to turn his emotions and romantic ideals off like a tap since that September evening when Lindsey had unceremoniously dumped him on the eve of their return to school. He then thought of his recent talk with Jade and about how his retreat had been an attempt to protect himself and his heart from any further pain. Do you really believe Cat would do that to you? the brunette had asked him.

To his surprise, and concern, he found that this last question troubled him more and more; as he had pointed out to the girl, Cat had broken up with him before (admittedly over the actions of other people – namely Marissa and Carly). They were a year older now, theoretically a year more mature (he ruefully thought that HE certainly had grown up a lot since his move to LA, though he had to admit that he saw little evidence of it when it came to his red velvet-haired friend) so he hoped that she would be able to function better in a relationship these days – though again her recent track record implied otherwise. If she does like me like that still, he reasoned, then maybe we could try again, but is it worth the risk? I'd never want to feel about her the way I do about Lindsey now – I can't imagine going through my life hating her…

"Earth to Freddie?" Jade's sharp voice pulled him from his thoughts; he turned to the speaker with a distracted expression.

"Huh?" he muttered.

"You zone out there a little, man?" André asked.

"Just… you know, thinking," he shrugged.

"Must have been some pretty deep thoughts to miss the bell," the pink streak-haired girl observed coyly, mentally noting that his "zone-out" had started the moment Cat suggested that her fledgling relationship was on the rocks and hoping that in this instance she wasn't putting two and two together and making five. "We need to go," she told Beck and helped him up, holding him steady until he was ready to support himself on his crutches; she looped her arm through his again and they left, followed by Robbie, Eli and André.

"You coming?" the talented musician asked, seeing Cat hadn't moved.

"Oh I'm just waiting for Freddie," she noted as the distracted Seattle-born teen finished gathering his things together, "we'll be right behind you."

The songsmith nodded and the three boys left the two of them alone.

"Thanks for waiting; you didn't have to, I could have caught up," he told her casually as they walked.

"It's ok," she said happily; the two continued to chat lightly and, in Cat's case randomly, as they made their way to the Maths department where they found Jade already in her seat and biting her lip to keep the grin from her face at the sight of the pair looking, again, so comfortable together.

"So you and Cat are going to be hanging together tonight?" she prompted during the break between periods; the shorter girl had headed for the restroom and the other two hovered in the locker area waiting for her return before going their separate ways (Jade to English, Freddie – and Cat – to music).

"Yeah, like she said she wants to do some studying and look at the science homework that we have to do."

"How do you feel about that?" Jade probed.

"Fine," he answered with a slightly confused shrug, as if wondering why it should be a problem, "I enjoy hanging with her – with all of our little group."

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. However, before she could press the issue, André and Beck passed them; the injured teen stooped for a brief kiss from his girl and the other two boys exchanged pleasantries before the red-head's return prompted them all to go to their respective final class of the day. Jade sighed in mild annoyance as she watched the pair's retreating backs headed for the music department. I have to talk to that boy, she determined before heading for her English lesson.

West Residence, Hollywood Hills.

Tuesday 17th November 2009.

Jade had surprised Beck by declining a ride home with his mother after school; instead she had informed her boyfriend that she and Cat would be hanging at her home this evening, news that even surprised the red-head, at least until Jade's trademark glare convinced her that it was a good idea to agree.

The gothic teen used their evening as an attempt to glean information from her friend about how her evening with Freddie the previous night had gone; the child-like teen's answer had simply been to discuss their study session and, when pressed for details of anything else, had told her that nothing else had happened.

"Did you at least try to make something happen?" the exasperated gothic girl had snapped a little.

"We talked; I sat close to him, smiled a lot."

"And what was his response?"

"Oh he wanted to know if I'd spoken Martin about what I said at lunch."

"And what did you say?"

"That I was seeing him on Friday."

Jade had rolled her eyes in abject frustration at that point. Obviously Freddie wasn't going to try anything, even if he wanted to, while he knew that she was dating someone else. She wondered why her friend hadn't just said that she was going to break things off with the other guy and make it clear that she was still interested. Sometimes, she thought ruefully, I wonder whether this plan is worth all this trouble.

FunXional Fitness, 4111 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California

Straight after they left school Freddie and André had made their way to the gym for their weekly session. The two sophomores completed a punishing half-hour cardio work-out to begin with before taking a well-earned breather by the gym's water fountain.

"So how was Cat last night?" the musician enquired.

"Oh she was fine," the tech genius answered. "She still struggles a little with the science but I think she's getting there with most of the basics now anyway."

"And how are you?"

Freddie took what he tried to make out to be a casual sip of water in order to avoid answering the question too quickly. He opted to play dumb and simply turned the question around with one of his own, "I'm fine. Is there a reason that I shouldn't be?"

"You've been down ever since you broke up with your girl," the talented singer pointed out regretfully, "it's been tough to see you like that since we got back to school. Then on top of that you're missing a patch of hair because you had a chip taken out of your head – a lot of people would be messed up by all that chizz," he noted reasonably.

"It has been a tough couple of months," Freddie conceded, "but I'm getting there with it all. Mom's out of my hair – what's left of it," he chuckled darkly, running his hand over the back of his head, and his friend smiled at his little joke, "and I don't have to deal with any blonde juniors anymore at school, so it's all good."

André nodded loyally but chose to keep his concerns to himself for the time being; sooner or later you're going to have to really deal with all of this Freddie.

Beck Oliver's RV

Friday, 20th November 2009.

The rest of the school week had passed fairly uneventfully for the gang. Beck had a check-up at the hospital one week after his scan; the actor learned that he was progressing well and should be off his crutches in another couple of weeks. Jade had been unable to find a time to speak to Freddie alone due to their busying workloads as the term drew on, in addition to his time that he had spent working or on his hobbies outside of school. Finally, though, she realised that it was time to do so, particularly after a surprising talk with André the previous day; the songsmith had mentioned his concern to the group over Freddie's state of mind (while Freddie was in his The Slap meeting that morning) and it had been enlightening for her to discover that she wasn't the only one who was concerned about the boy, something that she followed up with him that afternoon while they were between classes. She had been visiting Beck anyway this evening and, upon leaving the main house, saw that a light was on in the RV – not too surprising as it was only around ten o'clock on a Friday night, so she decided, given that she assumed he was alone, that this was the perfect opportunity to talk to her friend.

Jade glanced back to the house and, unable to see anyone at the window who might wonder about her paying a visit, late at night, to a guy who lived on his own in an RV – far away from parental supervision, she knocked smartly on the door.

"Jade?" Freddie asked in surprise as he opened the door to reveal the faintly-smiling girl, "what are you doing here?"

"I've spent the evening with Beck and I want to talk to you now," she explained.

"Okay then, come in," he was a little surprised and confused but stepped back from the door and allowed her access.

"How are you?" she asked, letting a little concern slip into her voice, electing to stand while he sat next to the pillow on his bed.

"I'm fine," he reassured her with a small smile as he looked at her.

"No you're not," she contradicted, giving him a piercing stare, "you're still cut up over what Lindsey did and you can't move on from it – and her."

Freddie was well used to his friend's bluntness after this time but it was still a little surprising to hear her psychoanalyse him so readily. They stared at one another for a few seconds before he swallowed and leaned back against the wall of the RV as he responded, "Okay, you're right. What she did does still hurt – and I don't want to be hurt again."

"So you're going to spend the rest of your life alone? That's the big plan now?" Jade sounded incredulous; in reality she was trying to point out what she saw as a rather absurd viewpoint, if indeed that was how her friend was feeling.

Freddie bit his lip to give himself time, rather than simply firing back an instant reply. "The rest of my life?" he wondered, slowly and thoughtfully. "Maybe not that long but right now? I'm afraid; I don't want to get hurt again – and I couldn't bear to be hurt by Cat. The thought of hating her the way I hate… her," he refused to even utter the name of his blonde ex-girlfriend, "I couldn't bear that," he finished in a low whisper.

Jade nodded sympathetically; while she, and when she'd pressed him Freddie himself, didn't believe that Cat would ever hurt him that way, the fear of hating the girl was somewhat less illogical than some of the other theories and obstacles that the gothic girl had considered.

"Maybe you should talk to someone about all this," she suggested.

"A therapist?" He raised his eyebrows at the suggestion. "No thanks, my mom has one and I think it just makes her worse."

The girl ran her hands through her hair; his experiences were shaping his reactions in such a way that it was getting more and more difficult to try to help him through his problems. "So what's your plan then? Keep brooding until you wake up one morning and you've magically snapped out of it?" she fired tersely.

"I just need some time," he protested weakly, the words sounding hollow as he thought about her argument.

"It's been two months and you're no different than you were a couple of days after we got back to school," she snapped before pointing out in a softer voice, taking a seat next to him on the bed, "you already know she won't wait forever." Jade placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look; the identity of the she in question was not in any doubt. Freddie nodded.

"I don't know, the idea of telling someone everything that went on, particularly someone who'd maybe make a big deal of it, I'm really not sure about that."

"It is a big deal," the dark haired girl shot back, "you need to get through this – and what happened with your mom – so that you can get on with your life and be happy. And if you're worried then don't be; whoever it is would have to make anything you said confidential or they'd be fired the same day they opened their mouth."

"I still don't like the idea of spilling my guts to someone I don't know or trust, but I'll think about it," he promised.

"Good boy," she teased wickedly before getting up to leave.

"Jade?" The girl turned back at his call. "Want a drink before you go?"

"Sure," she agreed with a smile; Freddie headed to the fridge and produced a couple of bottles of peppy cola.

It was around eleven-fifteen before the brunette eventually left the RV, after they'd had their drinks and chatted a little more; Beck happened to be glancing towards the window when he saw the brief additional illumination of the front yard that resulted from the RV's door being opened to allow his girlfriend to leave. Out of curiosity he hopped over to the window on his good leg, resting the palms of his hands on the windowsill to support his weight and keep it off his injured knee. He gave a curious look as he saw the obvious form of Jade's retreating back as she made her way slowly down the driveway, looking as if she was using her pear phone while walking; Beck scratched his chin thoughtfully as he wondered why his girlfriend had just spent over an hour in his RV alone with their friend.

Valentine Residence

Cat had returned a little earlier than expected from her date with Martin; the two had talked and it had been a perhaps surprisingly frank and honest talk about how they both saw things between them. For the boy's part he felt that the red-head was a nice girl but suspected a lack of commitment to anything with him at this time and outright asked her whether she felt it was worth carrying on with anything if that was, indeed, how she felt.

"I guess you're right," she conceded sadly, and a little to his own surprise and disappointment. "I love hanging out with you – and you are a good kisser – but I don't know that I want to be seriously dating you, or anybody else, really at the moment."

"Anybody else?" he picked up on the stray word with a little confusion.

"There was one guy," she began, "we dated a little last year but…" she shook her head at the memories, "some people didn't like the idea of us together; his mom, one of his friends – and I let them break us up. I've regretted it ever since, then he got with another girl; they're not together now but he's still really cut up over it."

"Then I guess you really need to talk to him and find out what's going on," Martin said, giving the girl a sad smile. She nodded and flashed him a grateful little smile of her own. "Still friends?" he asked, offering his hand.

"Friends," she grinned and shook it. "Hey, it's still early; do you want to see a movie with a friend?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, why not?" he agreed; he was as relieved as she was that he now knew where he stood, even if it was a little disappointing as he quite liked the pretty teenager. "I'm picking the movie," he told her assertively, figuring that now they were 'just friends' that he didn't need to subject himself to another chick-flick or kids' movie that was the staple choice of the Hollywood Arts student with him.

The girl had explained the evening's events to her mother after returning home; she hadn't mentioned Martin's 'advice' about talking to Freddie, nor about her still being hung-up on him or he on Lindsey, simply saying that they decided that they were better off as friends and that she had enjoyed hanging with him and seeing a movie together. She had received some surprising news herself, however, as Mrs Valentine relayed the contents of a phone call that she and her husband had received while the girl was at school and that they hadn't had time to share with her yet, not least because they'd had to discuss exactly what it would entail.

"The clinic in Idaho called," she began, after asking her daughter to sit down. Cat smiled, knowing how much the respite care had helped the family over the summer and even given a slight improvement to her brother's condition, though he was starting to regress again as time moved on and the memories of the clinic faded. The girl felt that another couple of weeks there over Christmas could really help him, and the family, out. "They're in a position now to accept him as an in-patient for a residential stay."

"What does that mean?" the scatter-brained girl asked.

"It means," her dad informed her, "that he'll be there for as long as he needs to be; it could be six months, it could be two years, it could be longer. It all depends on how he responds to the treatment. They are confident, having assessed him over the summer, that they can really improve his condition, but there are no guarantees and he almost certainly won't be like he was before this all started."

Cat nodded quietly; to be without him for such a long time would be difficult, but it was for the best for him – and would help the family a little to not have to deal with him on a daily basis.

"So when does he go?"

"We go there after Christmas," her mother corrected, "the spot is available from December 27th so we'll travel up there and stay in the area while he acclimatises to the new surroundings."

"How long will that take, I'm meant to be back at school just after New Year's," the teenager pointed out.

"I know sweetie," her dad said with a sigh, "which is why we've arranged for you to stay with your Nona for a little while; we think we'll be there with him for a month at least."

"That long?" she gasped.

"Yes, and with the end of the semester, your tests and a few other things, we think it would be better for you to move in there just after Christmas before we go, rather than coming up to Idaho with us."

"'Kay 'kay," she nodded, mind a whirlwind at this news.

Saturday, 21st November 2009.

Beck was a little disappointed the following morning when he struggled downstairs; he was hoping for the opportunity for a little chat with Freddie about what he and Jade were doing in the RV the previous evening. The Seattle-born was not at breakfast, having decided instead to go straight to work and get something on the way there. It was a slightly brooding Beck who sat through breakfast, unsure about just how much he trusted his girl and his friend.

His parents, however, misinterpreted his silence for frustration with another issue.

"It's just another couple of weeks," his mother told him with an encouraging smile, "then you'll be off your crutches and you can be back out there under your own roof." There was a faint trace of bitterness in her voice at the thought of her son being back out there alone given how much she enjoyed having him back in the house, though she knew that he would much prefer to have his independence back.

Because he really didn't want to go into any details, or give anything away about his feelings, the boy said nothing about his true feelings, preferring just to brood on the situation until he could talk to either Jade or Freddie about it, instead he simply smiled at his mother and thanked her quietly for her encouragement and understanding.

Freddie, meanwhile, was finally ambushed on the doorstep of his workplace; having stopped for breakfast he was cutting it a little fine to make it on time for the start of his shift, so he sighed and rolled his eyes a little as he spied his mother near the doorway as he approached the Pear Store.

"Freddie!" she called to him as he approached.

"Hello mom," he responded tersely, standing stock still as she launched into a hug, having not seen her 'baby boy' properly since that night in the hospital.

"I've been so worried since you left," the Benson matriarch lamented.

"I've been fine; I told you that I was," he remarked casually.

"Where are you staying?"

"I need to get to work; my shift is about to start."

"Freddie!" she complained; he sighed.

"Mom; Thanksgiving is this Thursday so I've no fencing lesson; I'll be over to spend the day with you and we can talk then. But for now I have to get to work." He also neglected to say that he had invited Sam to visit for Thanksgiving, despite how awkward the arrangements could be given everything that was going on at the moment; he wasn't sure how anyone, particularly the Olivers, would feel about the prospect of her staying with him in Beck's RV for the night, but he also knew that there was no way she would stay in the house with Marissa and without him either. The boy was dreading the logistical nightmare that the evening would entail.

"Call me tonight," then she grimaced and locked her jaw a little before choking out, "please."

"I'll call when I get back to where I'm staying and we can make arrangements for Thursday,"

"Where is that?"

"Bye mom, I'll talk later," he blew her off and entered the store, glancing at the clock and noting that it was a minute before his shift was due to start. He walked briskly to the brilliance bar and snuck behind it, greeting his supervisor and co-workers before nipping to the clocking-in machine and swiping his ID card.

"Just in time," one of his friends commented with a grin as he returned to his work station.

"Yeah I got way-laid by my mom on the way in," he complained.

"You're still not back at home then?"

"No, I'm free and loving it," he grinned and turned to the device on his desk that was in need of repair.

Oliver Residence

Sunday, 22nd November 2009.

Jade strode confidently up the driveway and rang the doorbell of the main house; she had marched right past the RV as she was here to meet her boyfriend and head to the mall with him for the afternoon. Freddie, she knew, was going to be busy with his homework anyway and given his limited time at the moment, between his new job and his hobbies, she was unwilling to disturb him.

Mrs Oliver greeted her at the door and welcomed her into her home; still neither she nor her husband were delighted by their son's choice of girlfriend but they were willing to set that aside a little so long as she continued to make him happy.

Beck received a kiss to the cheek from his girlfriend and the young couple sat together in the living area for a while. Mrs Oliver offered the girl a Wahoo punch; she accepted politely, as did her boyfriend, and they talked while finishing their drinks before Mr Oliver drove them to the Green Meadow mall where they would see a movie and get a bite to eat (Beck wasn't really up to walking around the mall on his crutches).

"So what do you want to watch?" Jade asked as they stood looking at the list of movies.

"Actually I'd like to just sit for a while over there," he gestured to a secluded corner of the area; a confused Jade acquiesced and they made their way over.

"Is everything ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," he began casually, "I was just wondering what you did with the rest of your Friday night after you said goodnight to me."

"Oh," she began, hesitating for a second. "I figured, since I was passing, that I'd call in on Freddie and see how he was getting on; you know he's had a rough time of it since Lindsey broke up with him – and we're all still hoping that he and Cat get back together so we just talked about what was going on with him and whether he was any closer to making a move towards her again."

"And is he?" Beck asked, now feeling genuinely relaxed following his girlfriend's frank admission of what she had done; there was no denial, no lie, no claim that she had gone home so he felt no reason to suspect her of any wrongdoing.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "He seems a little calmer but still balked at the idea of talking to someone about it – and I don't think he's going to snap out of his funk until he does. I suggested Lane and he said he'd think about it, but the more I think about that the more I think that was his way of saying no to me."

"Why does it matter so much to you?" the Canadian-born asked curiously; it was unusual for the mean girl to take such an interest in somebody else's life.

"Freddie confided in me a couple of times over the whole Lindsey thing," she began cautiously, determined not to breach her friend's trust yet wanting to provide her boyfriend with a satisfactory explanation. "He's my friend, he's messed up and I want to help him. I also want Cat to be happy, and I think those two would make each other happy, so I'm trying my best to hook them up again – if only they'd both actually listen!"

Beck nodded. "He's lucky to have you as a friend and willing to do that much for him," he commented, happy that – because of what he'd thought earlier, and the fact that he trusted both his girlfriend and the Seattle-born – he was able to push one question out of his mind. Just how much ARE you doing for him?

AN: Thanks for reading; please don't be shy about adding a review using the box below to let me know what you think of how it's all going, and please come back again next week for the next chapter.