Same Night, 11:09 P.M, Shane's House…
About 20 minutes had passed since the major incident had taken place, and the remaining occupants of the Price home were still processing what had happened. Dean and Becky had made the mutual decision to leave for the night, assuming that they weren't really going to be able to make much of a difference when it came to the problem at hand. Before they left, they asked to be notified when Shane and Paige returned to the house. Ruby promised she'd text Becky, but she had a request.
"Oh yeah, definitely. I'll let you know the second they get back. But Dean…can I ask you a favor?"
Ambrose had a confused look on his face.
"Uh.. sure. What's up?" He asked.
"Would you be alright with sticking around? We're trying to get to the bottom of this, and seeing as you're Shane's best guy friend and you've been around Alexa for way longer than any of us, I feel like you'd be able to give us some insight, if that makes sense."
"I mean, I'm not really sure how that's gonna help, but I'm down to stay if you think it will. Becks, you okay with me staying put?"
Lynch didn't hesitate to agree.
"Of course, no problem. Just as long as you come back to my house when you're done. The spare key's under the mat in front of the door."
"Well, the lady approves. Looks like I'm stayin'. Get home safe, alright babe?"
"I will, I will." She assured.
The couple shared a quick kiss and the fiery haired lass left the Price household.
Now, it was down to Dean, Rhea, Ruby, and Liv. By this point, Riott and Rhea had finally managed to stop the tears flowing from Liv's face. Still, the girl was highly emotional. In the aftermath of what had gone down, she was moved to the couch while her bandmates did what they could to comfort her. Ruby sat next to her, holding the cheerleader in a tight embrace.
"It's all my fault, it's all my fault." She recited.
"Liv, stop saying that. At least explain what you mean, because repeating the same thing over and over again isn't helping at all." Ruby told her.
Morgan took a deep breath before doing what she was asked.
"I should've just quit while I was ahead, Rue Rue. Lexi was… She was right to smack me like she did."
Standing behind the couch was Rhea, who wasn't too happy with what Liv had just said.
"That's bullshit! No one has the right to put their hands on you! I don't care what the reasoning behind it was!"
Ripley's outburst made the blonde girl flinch. As a result, Ruby once again had the play the role of peacemaker.
"Rhea, Rhea, calm down. I know this whole thing pisses you off, but the last thing we need right now is more hostility. If you need to go into another room to do it, fine, but I need you to cool off."
At first, the intense Aussie was reluctant to leave, but she ended up relenting and moved herself to Shane's vacant room.
"My God, this boy really needs to clean his room! I almost stepped on- What is this, a PSP? They don't even sell these anymore!" She yelled.
Despite the relative seriousness of the situation, Rhea's complaints about Price's messy room caused the three other teens to let out small laughs.
"Alright, that's funny. But back to what we were talking about, why do you think she had to right to assault you? Because that's basically what she did. Actually, let's back up. Why did she do it in the first place? Do you know?" Ruby pressed on.
"Well… from what she told me, I guess she didn't like the way I was acting around Shane. She basically said that I was too touchy-feely with him, and the way I talked to him rubbed her the wrong way. She brought up the time he accidentally grabbed my butt, how I acted on stage when we were all performing, and all the pet names I've been calling him."
Her answer slightly irritated the punk girl.
"Okay, and? Did she somehow forget that that's how you are with literally all of your friends? So you're a little flirty. There's still people at our school that are convinced that me and you are lesbian lovers!"
"Yeah… Wait, you're not?" Dean asked.
Ruby pointed at the boy.
"See, that's proof right there! Also, if I'm not mistaken, Alexa at one point was actively encouraging you to screw around with him."
"She was. She used to tell me some of the things she'd do to push his buttons and I'd go and do them."
At this point, Ambrose had the wherewithal to realize that the time to chime in had come. He grabbed a metal folding chair from a corner in the living room and sat down in front of two girls, cool teacher style.
"Why didn't you just sit on the couch with us?" Riott asked.
"Eh, I like this way better. So look, here's what I'm gettin' from this. Stop me when I'm wrong, okay? You two and Shane were already friends before you started the band, and you were kinda close but not really. Then the band started and all of you, including Ripley, bonded and became even closer. Since the way you show affection usually consists of being a flirt in some way, the interactions between you and Shane became a little too intimate for Princess' liking. So, one day, Alexa confronted you about it, lost her shit, and decked you in the face."
Morgan slowly nodded.
"Yeah, that's pretty much everything that happened. I'm just happy everyone was there tonight when she lost it. She told me the first time that if I ever flirted with Shane again, she'd do way worse than just slap me. I don't wanna think about what she might've meant by that."
"Right, right. Here's the thing. I've known Alexa since we were little kids, and she's always been selfish. She doesn't do well with the whole sharing thing. On top of that, she always gets what she wants, when she wants it, no questions asked. And on the rare occasion she doesn't, all hell tends to break loose. Now, I along with everyone else that knows her, assumed that she had mellowed out a bunch since Shane came into her life, but based on what she did to you and what she did at the party, that's not the case at all."
"Understatement of the year." Ruby said with a scowl.
"You can say that again. But yeah, she flipped out because she felt like she was being forced to share what was hers."
"But that doesn't make any sense. Since the day we started the damn band, she's been completely on board with him being around us. Not to mention once again, she was fully aware of how Liv is. How can she just switch like that?"
Ambrose shrugged.
"Beats the hell outta me. If I had to guess, it's as simple as she just couldn't hold in how she really felt anymore. Again, Shane and Liv developing such a close relationship must've rubbed her the wrong way. She probably didn't see that coming. But I'm just going off what he's said to me about you guys."
"I got it now then. Alexa's just really insecure." Riott stated.
"I mean that could be it, but what the hell would she have to be insecure about? The girl comes from money, she's always been considered one of the hottest chicks in school, and she pretty much excels at everything she does." Dean pointed out.
"Isn't it obvious? Look at Liv."
This confused Morgan.
"What do you mean, Rue Rue?"
"Liv, you know exactly how beautiful you are, and so does everyone else that you come across. You have a habit of flaunting it as well. And on top of that, the similarities between you and Bliss are more than apparent."
She still looked a little perplexed, so once again Dean stepped in.
"You're both short, you're both blonde, and you both do cheerleading. Y'all have a lot in common. The main difference between the two of you is your personalities. You're way more approachable than she is. Oh yeah and you're both hot. Forgot to put that in the similarity list."
Liv let out a small giggle and Ruby rolled her eyes at the boy's blunt explanation before continuing on.
"I wouldn't have worded that way exactly, but yeah, he's right."
"I guess I kinda understand a little more. But Dean… You think I'm hot? What about Becky?" She asked playfully.
"I'll tell you the same thing I tell her and everybody else. There is no girl I love more than my Becks, and I'd never step out on her… But at the same time, I'm not fuckin blind."
"Oh thank you, sweet…"
Realizing where she was going with that, she stopped and started to borderline beat herself up over it.
"Damn it! Stuff like that's what got me into this mess in the first place! Ugh, what is wrong me? No wonder she thinks I'm a home wrecker." She vented aloud while placing her face in her hands.
Ruby once again wrapped her best friend up in a tight embrace, trying to convince her that there was in fact, nothing wrong with her. While she did that, Dean got out of the chair.
"Where are you going? You're not leaving are you? I'm sorry, Dean." Liv started to apologize.
Dean immediately waved that off.
"Nah, none of that. The one person you don't gotta worry about flipping out on you over some dumb shit like that is Becky. That one doesn't have an insecure bone in her body. And I'm not leaving, I'm goin' to Shane's room to get something to show you."
He walked into the aforementioned room, and the first thing he saw was Rhea laying in bed, tossing a football into the air over and over again. She acknowledged Dean as he entered.
"Everything all good out there, mate?" She asked.
"Yeah. Just grabbin something. Price doesn't like shoes in his bed, by the way."
"Oh, my bad." She said before kicking off her boots. She then asked, "What are ya lookin' for?"
"I guess you can call it an example. Tryna make Liv understand that she wasn't coming in between Shane and Alexa."
"What, was us telling the girl that not enough?"
"Nope. So, that's why I'm showing her… hold on.. this."
After rummaging through Shane's closet for a little bit, he managed to locate a small black box.
Rhea's eyebrows rose.
"No way mate, is that a…"
"No, it's not a ring. I understand why you thought it was, but it's not."
"Then what is it?"
"Come out with me, so I can explain it to all three of you at the same time. I'm lazy, I don't feel like doing it twice."
Ripley shrugged, tossed the football into a corner and followed the boy back out to the living room.
"Alright, ladies. I've calmed down now, I promise." She said while taking a seat next to the two of them on the couch.
Dean sat back onto the previously introduced metal folding chair and presented the item in front of the girls.
"What I hold in my hand is teflon proof that Price has eyes for no other girl on this planet besides the princess we all know and… tolerate. Behold!"
He opened the box, and what was inside caused Liv in particular to gasp.
"It's a necklace! And oh my god it's soooo pretty!"
"Go on, take it out and get a closer look." Ambrose encouraged.
Morgan carefully removed the jewelry from its case, and her along with the other two inspected it.
"It's silver, actual silver! And it says… "SS+SP" on it. What does that mean?" Liv asked.
"It's that name he's always calling her. Ya know, Short Stuff? Then SP is just his initials." He explained.
"That's… actually so sweet." The blonde cheerleader said.
"So, do you see what I mean, dude? I'm not sure there's a girl on this planet that can steal him away from Alexa. As far as Shane's concerned, you're a close friend that he cares about dearly. Nothing more, nothing less. It's Alexa's dumbass that sees you as competition." Dean finished.
"I do feel a little better now that you've explained everything, so thanks for that. But that doesn't change the fact that the whole night's gone down the toilet, and poor Shane is really sad. We don't even know where he is."
"Anybody tried calling him?" Ruby asked.
"He left his phone charged in his room." Ripley said, shutting that option down.
"I wouldn't worry too much about him. He just needs to cool off for a minute. Plus, Paige is out there with him. I don't know much about the chick, but based on what I do know, she'll get him back here one way or another."
With Shane and Paige….
"Love, this is getting bloody ridiculous! How long do you plan on walking for? I'm in heels for God's sake! There's snow everywhere! You know I'm not used to this!" The cheeky Brit said in an exasperated tone of voice.
The blonde boy stubbornly refused to let his friend's words break his stride, opting to respond while walking.
"This is how I calm down. I ain't ask you to come along. You're welcome to turn back at any time, Midnight."
Now that slightly pissed her off.
"You know I don't know this area, smartass. I couldn't find my way back by myself even if I wanted to. Just stop for a second, please!"
This time he just straight up ignored her words, and that did not sit well with Paige at all.
"Alright, that's it!"
Paige stretched out her arm and forcefully grabbed her best friend's shoulder, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. What came next, however, would make her regret that action almost immediately. Before she even had a chance to speak again, Shane aggressively brushed her hand off his shoulder.
The look in his eyes were unlike anything Paige had witnessed from him in the past.
"Don't you ever in your life fuckin grab me like that! Who do you think you are, huh?! Huh?! You see I'm already pissed beyond belief, why would you expect me to respond in a damn positive way to some shit like that?! What the FUCK is wrong with you?!"
To say the girl was stunned would be the understatement of the century. Outbursts like that are just something that Shane Price just wasn't capable of. At least, that's what she had thought. Never once had he raised his voice at her in that manner. So, she couldn't help but be a tad bit frightened.
She felt tears start to form in her eyes as she responded to her enraged companion.
"I'm- I'm sorry, Shane. I shouldn't have… put my hands on you like that."
As quickly as the rage came, the look on his English friend's face caused the switch in Price's brain to flip back, and it was gone just like that. Replacing it was instant remorse for what he'd just done.
He wrapped her in a hug as he apologized profusely.
"Wait, wait, no, no, no. Midnight, I screwed up. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I don't know what came over me, I blacked out for a second, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please stop crying."
The two teens just stayed like that for a little while, embracing one another in the middle of an empty New York City sidewalk. Paige tapped his back a few times, signaling the boy to let go before taking a deep breath and starting a new sentence.
"Where uh… where do you get off raising your voice at me like that, you twat?" She half-heartedly joked around.
They shared a small laugh. Shane spotted a nearby vacant bench and motioned for Paige to follow him to it. She obliged, and they sat next to one another.
No one said anything for a few minutes. They just sat there, admiring the night sky and the smattering of snow gently dropping from it. A gust of wind came through, causing the boy to shiver. He silently cursed himself out for not thinking to at least grab a hoodie out of his closet before storming out the house like he did. Not wanting him to suffer, Paige snuggled up next to him, trying to conjure up as much body heat as her smaller frame could.
Price chuckled at this.
"Aww, that's so sweet." He teased.
"Shut up before I move and let your arse catch hypothermia." She shot back.
"Yup, the sweetest." He continued.
She struck him with a swift punch to the gut, strong enough to make him audibly groan in slight discomfort.
"Was that for the sweet thing or for yelling at you earlier?"
"The sweet thing."
She proceeded to hit him again in the same spot.
"Now that's for yelling at me."
"Yeah, I deserve that." He admitted.
Paige looked up at him before speaking again.
"You were right though. I shouldn't have touched you in that way." Knight said, owning up to her part of the incident.
Once again, silence took over. Shane was trying to carefully pick the right words to accurately describe he felt in his head. Eventually, he figured it out.
"Man… I had this night planned out for a long time, and then everything that happened happened and… Paige, I'm sorry. You missed out on celebrating Christmas with your family just to be around for all this drama."
"Oh rubbish. Up until the last bit, I was having a great time. Plus, the main reason I came over here in the first place was to spend time with you anyway. Is that not what I'm doing right now?"
"Yeah, I guess. Wish it was happening under better circumstances though. And what about Alexa? Yo what if that was the end… of us?" He pondered.
"Look, I honestly can't tell you what's going on with that, but I do know this. Most likely, your friends are back at your place worried sick about you. You walked out here with no jacket, coat, sweater or anything, in 30 degree weather. We need to get your ass home. Now…. lead the way, I can't." Paige ordered.
Shane nodded and got up, beginning the trek through the snow back to his house. Paige followed behind him with a smile, happy that she was able to switch his demeanor around a bit.
Back At Shane's House, 12:45 AM…
Just like Paige had said, the Squad and Dean were anxiously awaiting their return. Well the girls seemed more concerned than Ambrose, on the surface at least. Ruby had been doing her best to reassure Liv that everything was going to be okay, while Rhea frequently checked the time on the living room cable box, wishing he'd come back already. Meanwhile, 'Ol Deano was busy stuffing his face with plate after plate of macaroni and cheese. But while all of that was going on, three knocks at the door was all it took for the four teens to snap to attention. Liv bolted from the couch to the front door, and swung that sumbitch open with the quickness. In walked a very cold and very exhausted Shane Price flanked by Paige.
Liv immediately lunged into the boy, but this time left out the jumping. Instead, she gripped him tight as she burrowed her face into his chest.
"Shane, I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so sorry! Please don't be mad at me." She muffled into his shirt.
He tapped her head before speaking.
"I'm not mad, but I am freezing. You gotta let me walk in at least." He said joking, but not really.
She stepped aside and let him do that. He was then met with the relieved faces of the Squad members, along with the site of Dean going to town on that aforementioned plate. Bro was feasting, and Price found himself laughing at the visual. Ruby grabbed her phone and gladly texted Becky about his return.
His eyes then landed on Rhea… who upon further inspection did not look happy. Despite that, he still approached her.
"You know I wanna hit you, right?" The Aussie asked from the couch.
"Yeah, I could kinda tell from how you're staring a hole through me. But, before you do…. I can't believe I'm saying this. I'm really, really cold, and I'd appreciate it if you… helped me out."
The glare from Ripley slowly morphed into a smirk as she processed what the boy had just said to her.
"So what you're saying is… you want Big Sis to warm you up."
Starting to blush a little bit, Shane nodded.
"Yeah, pretty much."
That wasn't good enough for Rhea.
"Nuh uh, I want you to say it. Word for word."
Realizing this was punishment for stressing her out, Shane sighed and decided to just take it like a man.
"I…. want Big Sis to warm me up." He stated with his head down, embarrassed as all hell.
Satisfied, Ripley motioned for Price to come next to her on the couch. Then, she gently held the boy, pushing his head into her chest as she stroked his hair.
Liv and Ruby looked on with the word "awww" painted on both their faces, while Paige and Dean's expressions told a very different story.
In unison they asked him the dreaded rhetorical question of, "You do know I'm never letting you live this down, right?"
He simply replied with, "I don't care right now. I need this."
They all collectively laughed after that. Shane then spoke once again, this time to everyone in the room.
"I already said this to Paige out there, but it applies to you all as well. Tonight obviously didn't go to plan at all, and I'm sorry. I feel like I let you all down. It's Christmas right now and instead of having fun and bein' festive, I'm a shivering mess in the arms of my frickin' guitarist."
Ruby spoke up.
"You don't have to be sorry though. We saw how much effort you in and we definitely appreciate it. Just look at Dean, he's still appreciating it right now."
Nah cause Ambrose was really tearing the food to pieces. Pretty sure he single handedly cleared a whole tray of mac & cheese. Shane once again laughed at his friend's demonstration of gluttony.
"I'm glad I made more than one tray of macaroni. Merry Christmas, Dean."
Ambrose raised a fork in acknowledgment before commencing with the face stuffing. Price sighed before continuing.
"Rhea, if I start crying on you please don't get angry."
"No worries mate. After what's happened over the past couple hours, you've more than earned a good weep." She affirmed.
"Thanks. Um… Guys, I know that around this time we were supposed to open the presents we got one another, but Becky's not here, I'm really tired, and…. Alexa isn't here anymore either."
That last part had Shane choked up. Sensing this, Rhea held him tighter. Dean then took a break from the food to say something.
"I'm all for letting you rest, but I'm gonna have to get outta here at some point. Becks is expecting me back now that she knows Shane's home. Can I just give you the presents we got for you now? I wanna see your reaction in person."
Price shrugged, seeing no reason to deny the request.
"Go for it."
"Ah man, you're gonna lose your shit." Ambrose said as he made a move toward the tree.
He came back with the goods and set them at Shane's feet.
"Alright "Big Sis", let the kid out of your death grip for a second so he can open what I got him."
Ripley chuckled and obliged, releasing Price. The Irish boy then picked up the smaller of the two gifts and unwrapped it. His eyes bulged when he realized what he was holding.
"Are these… You got me new headphones?"
Dean smiled at his response to the present.
"Yeah man. It's the least I could do after I broke your other pair."
"I still don't know how you managed to… You know, forget that. This means a lot to me man, thank you."
"Eh, don't mention it. Now open Becky's gift."
Price did just that. He tore the wrapping paper off, what he found really had him excited.
"No waaaaay, she got me a Celtics jersey?!" He exclaimed.
"Gets even better too. Turn it around." Dean instructed.
He quickly followed, and was made even happier but what he saw.
"It's my name! She got me a custom one too! Wow!"
It was an away #14 jersey with the his last name stitched onto the back of it. For at least a few minutes, the mental burden of comprehending what had taken place a few hours earlier disappeared. This wasn't Dean's original intention, but he was for sure glad it turned out the way.
"On that note, I'm taking my ass back to my girlfriend." He told everyone.
He fist bumped all 3 female members of the Riott Squad, as well as Paige before coming back to his main homie. Dean shrugged before doing something he doesn't do very often. The unruly teen went in for a hug. The sudden action surprised everyone, especially the one receiving the hug. After a little while, Ambrose felt it was the right moment to explain something to his buddy. He backed out of the hug and placed his hands on Shane's shoulders.
"Tonight didn't go your way, I get it. But with the amount of times you've gotten me out of the…predicaments I tend to find myself in, ain't no way you're not gonna be able to figure this Alexa and Liv shit out. Plus, you know I got you with any help you might need. Pretty sure it's the same thing with your girls."
Price looked around and saw all his female companions nodding in agreement.
"But that's for later. Right now, you deserve a break. So, like I said, I'm out. You go do what a lotta guys could only dream of, and spend Christmas day with four hot chicks. Adios, amigo."
Dean then turned on his heel and left the premises, throwing up a peace sign as he did so. Price boy just stood there facing the door, with a small smile on his face. With a sigh, he turned around and addressed the remainder of his guests.
"…. Liv, you're smiling real hard because he called you hot aren't you?" He asked knowingly.
"I mean, he called us all hot…. but yeah." She admitted.
"Second time tonight actually." Ruby added.
Paige walked up on Price and put her hands on his shoulders just like Dean did, with her best impression of a "bro" ready to go.
"Hey MAN, you gotta keep your head up, MAN. I love you, MAN."
Shane didn't even have a sarcastic response for her shenanigans.
"Midnight. I love you so much. You're a dick. But I love you." He said while laughing.
"Hey, mate, what about us?" Rhea asked with her hands on her hips.
"Of course, of course. You are all loved by yours truly. I think you guys are real cool and I'm glad you're in my life."
After he stopped speaking, Liv went over and stood in front of the blonde boy.
Shane pinched her on her right cheek and brought her in for a tight embrace with a single arm.
"Y'all joining in?"
Ruby, Paige and Rhea did just that, and all five friends were joined together in a big 'ol group hug.
"Merry Christmas, ladies." Price said.
AN: Happy Random Update Day. Any questions or comments y'all got, leave it in the reviews. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next chapter. Yes, the story's still going.