Next Morning, Shane's House, 8:34 AM...
After the events of the previous night, it's pretty easy to see why Shane and company would opt to forego attending the school today. In fact, Price and the girls were all still knocked out. Since his bandmates decided that they wanted to stay at his place, accommodations had to be made. And by accommodations, I mean Shane doing what Shane normally does. Papa Price had to head out to go to work, so it really was all up to the son. The Price family did not own a blowup mattress, so he decided to give up his bed. Ruby and Liv were no strangers to sharing a bed with one another, so that's what they did. Morgan made the quip of "Technically you can say that you had two girls in your bed at once." She then received a smack to the back of the head from the girl she affectionately referred to as Rue Rue.
"None of that tonight, Liv." She tiredly told her.
Two of the girls were situated, which left one more. The only other bed in the house was his dad's, and that was obviously off limits. So, thinking on his feet, Price went over to the linen closet and pulled out two extra blankets and pillows. He came back to the couch area and tossed one blanket on the carpeted floor, doing the same with a single pillow. He then laid out the other blanket and pillow onto the couch. Essentially, he turned the couch into somewhat of a makeshift mattress.
"Alright, this is where you're sleeping tonight. I wish I could come up with something a little more comfortable, but this it's gonna get I'm afraid. Sorry, Rhea."
"Nah, mate. Don't apologize, ya tried. This couch seems comfortable enough anyway. But, don't tell me you plan on sleeping on the floor."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I plan to do actually. That's why I got the extra blanket." He said, picking up said blanket.
"Not on the floor, I'd feel bad for makin' ya do that."
"Oh don't worry, you're not making me do it. You're my guest. Gotta make sure you're straight." He stated.
"As much as I appreciate that dude, why don't you just sleep in your bed? It's your house."
"Cause then where would Liv and Ruby sleep?"
"Can your bed really only fit two people?" Rhea asked.
"Uh… nah. It can fit more than that but, there's no I way I'm sharing a bed with them. Not happening."
"Why mate?"
"Rhea…. I think you know why. I'm 100% certain that Alexa wouldn't be the biggest fan of sleeping in bed with another girl, let alone two of em. Plus, it's not appropriate."
"Pffff, not appropriate my ass. One, there's no way she'd even find out about it unless somebody squealed. And two, she trusts you. We trust you. Matter of fact, hold on."
The rough and tumble Aussie grabbed the boy by his arm, made her way to Shane's room and opened the door. Inside, Liv and Ruby were under the covers, seemingly sleeping the night away. At least they were, until they were woken up by the commotion. Liv was the first to speak up.
"Whaaaaat? I just fell asleep." She whined.
Ruby rubbed her eyes.
"What happened?"
"There's been a change in sleeping arrangements. You're crashing in Shane's bed tonight, with Shane." Rhea declared.
"Wait, wait! Not cool, Rhea!"
"Yay, Riott sleepover." Morgan happily said.
"I did not agree to this! Come on, Ruby. Back me up." The boy protested.
"Look, I don't care who sleeps where, I just wanna go back to bed." She responded annoyed.
"Then it's settled. Go on Shane, climb in there."
"But-but it's not right. I can't- Alexa, remember?"
Liv found Shane's flustered demeanor to be amusing as usual. However, this time she chose to try and calm him down instead of making it worse.
"Honey, listen. Just like when you grabbed my butt by accident, we know you're perv and we know you have nothing but good intentions when it comes to us. There's nothing wrong with sharing a bed with friends. I even promise not to pull any funny business if it makes you feel any better."
"Wow. You? No funny business? I'm surprised those words even left your lips." Ruby commented.
Morgan shrugged.
"I'm tired just like you. Anyway, sweetie? Come to bed."
Poor Shane was about to protest once again, but realized that the numbers weren't in his favor at all. He sighed before cautiously getting in between the two girls occupying his bed.
"See? That's not so bad is it, mate? Now, go to sleep you three. See ya in the morning." Ripley said before turning around and shutting the door.
As the blonde boy settled, he felt some pressure on his left side. Lo and behold, Liv had taken it upon herself to snuggle up next to Shane.
"Liv, what are you doing?" He asked awkwardly.
She giggled.
"You're a heat magnet, honey. I'm just takin' advantage of it."
Ruby groaned.
"What happened to no funny business, Liv?" She asked in an exasperated tone.
"There is no funny business-uh. He really is warm, get closer to him and you'll see."
"Fine."
Riott moved in closer to her frontman and quickly realized that Liv was telling the truth.
"See? He's really comfy isn't he?" Morgan asked.
Ruby kind of blushed a little bit.
"She-She's kinda got a point, man. You're like a human furnace."
Price wasn't really sure how to respond to that. All he knew was that he was starting to feel annoyed at Rhea for putting him in this situation to begin with.
"Uhh… thanks, I guess."
"Honey, relax a little. You feel so tense." Liv pointed out.
"I just… I feel like this isn't the right thing to do."
"Shane, you know I'm not gonna do anything, and Liv promised that she wouldn't either. Plus, again, I wanna go to sleep. The way I see it, you either lay here and fall asleep, or go out there and deal with Rhea." Riott explained.
Shane took a quick second to ponder those two options before making his decision.
"Well, when ya put it like that… Goodnight ladies."
Morgan let out a happy noise and snuggled in even closer to the boy, basically laying her head on his chest. Instead of shying away, Price just went with it and even wrapped an arm around her. He could sense Ruby wanted to do the same, so he pulled her closer as well. Finally comfortable, the three teens drifted off to dreamland.
Now, we get back to the present and as mentioned before, all 4 members of the Riott Squad are still fast asleep. However, that wouldn't be the case for much longer. The boy started to stir before his eyes slowly opened and he was officially awake. He went to go through his normal stretching routine before he realized the position he was in at the moment. He had two girls basically using him as a human pillow. As a result, homie couldn't move. The slight feeling of him trying to move caused Liv to whine in her sleep and grip him tighter. As you guys remember, he's been in this predicament before. Only difference is, that was just one girl. Double trouble is real, and that's exactly what our boy Price was dealing with. He could feel the soft breaths of both Ruby and Liv, and he really didn't wanna disturb them. They both had these kinda adorable little smiles too.
"Damn it! I can't move but…. I really gotta go to the bathroom." He thought.
Quite frankly, things looked bleak for the young man. He had nowhere to go with a full bladder, basically no man's land. He almost felt like praying for a way out. Well, luckily for Shane, his almost prayers were answered by a certain Aussie badass. The loud sound of Rhea bursting into the room without warning instantly woke up Ruby and Liv, with the latter nearly falling out of the bed.
"Mornin' friends! Oi, Shane, would ya be a doll and fix us some breakfast? I'm friggin starvin'." She asked while stretching and yawning.
The cheerleader and the punk girl were not fond of their sleep once again being disrupted by Ripley.
"Rheaaaaa. You almost made me fall." Morgan complained.
"Girl, you really gotta start knocking. What time is it anyway?" Ruby asked annoyed.
"Almost 10, mate. Sorry about that, would've slept longer but Shane's dad just came back. Woke me up when he opened the front door." She explained.
Liv jumped up at the simple mention of the Price Family Patriarch.
"Shane's dad is here?!"
She ran to the mirror over Shane's dresser and started messing with her hair.
"Rue Rue, how do I look? Do I look hot?" She asked frantically.
Price audibly groaned.
"Too early for this, please. Right, I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick. Rhea, when I'm done I'll get started on the food you asked for. And Ruby, keep Liv away from my dad's room. Knowing him, he's passed out on his bed right now and the last thing anyone wants is for his sleep to be disturbed. Trust me, you don't want those problems."
"Oh honey, I want ALL those problems." Morgan cheekily responded.
Riott sighed.
"I'll try my best."
11:27 AM…..
"Shane, how?! How do you do this?!" Liv exclaimed while she ate her food in delight.
Price and the girls were all sitting at the kitchen table and enjoying the meal he had prepared for them. Scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage links, bacon, and waffles is what it consisted of.
"Seriously, you must be some sort of food wizard. You gotta tell us your secret, mate." Ripley added.
"Not really a secret, my mom taught me when I was real young. When she passed, my dad picked up the slack. Now your boy can make a mean breakfast. I promise, I'm not a wizard. Just a normal guy." He joked.
Ruby chimed in.
"Eh, I'm not so sure about that. You're athletic, a great cook, and you can sing. I wouldn't exactly describe you as "normal."
"You forgot, "Is a fuckin nutcase." An unidentified voice called out.
The four teens turned their attention to the direction of where the voice come from and saw the Price Family Patriarch making his way to the kitchen table. He scratched his stubble a bit before coming behind his son and ruffling his hair.
"How are you kids feelin' this morning? Still beat from last night?" He asked.
"Eh, a little bit. The food's helping me recover though." Shane answered.
"Of course it is, greedy. What about the rest of you?"
The girls normally would respond, but this time they were a little… distracted, for lack of a better term. Big Kev had bags under his eyes and his hair was all over the place, but most importantly, it seems like he had forgotten to locate a shirt before leaving his room. Therefore, this man's whole torso was exposed. All he had on were basketball shorts. Liv was on the verge of passing out, Ruby awkwardly tried to hide the blush that was forming on her face, and even Rhea caught herself staring a bit. Shane noticed the tension and immediately attempted to defuse the situation.
"Hey, uh… dad? Can you go put a shirt on?"
"NO!" Liv shouted.
All eyes were now on the cheerleader after her sudden outburst.
"Oh uh, heh heh… My waffle almost fell off of my plate and I got scared." She explained, trying to cover up the true meaning.
Kevin chuckled.
"Damn, Shane. You got the girls goin crazy over your grub, huh? My bad for the no shirt thing, I'll go put one on. Forgot for a second I had kids in my house that weren't mine."
The man retreated back to his quarters to change his attire, leaving the four kids at the table. Liv started to dramatically fan herself.
"My God, and I thought Shane was a human furnace. That man… Oh that MAN!"
"Liv, come on, you can't keep doing that." Ruby said.
"Oh look who's talking! Don't think I didn't see you turn into a tomato when he was out here. Whether you wanna admit it or not, you think the same way I do, Rue Rue."
"Okay fine, I might think that Shane's dad is… good looking, but I don't openly and verbally fantasize about him in front of his friggin kid! That's not right."
Morgan crossed her arms and pouted.
"Hmph."
Riott gave her a stern look.
"Liv… Don't start."
"Ugh, fiiiine. I'll stop talking about Shane's sexy ass daddy."
Shane's eyes popped out of his skull.
"Dude!"
"What, I said I'll stop! Give a girl a break, I've been single for a long time, alright?"
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"Of course you'd say that, you're the only one here in a relationship! Of course you wouldn't understand."
"We need to get this girl a boy soon then, before she goes insane." Rhea joked.
"Oh no, no. I'm not doing the matchmaker thing again. Last time I did that my best friend was nearly stabbed to death in the woods by a crazy person." Price refused.
"Alright, enough about relationships and Shane's dad. Can we just continue eating?" Ruby asked annoyed.
"You don't have to tell me twice, sister." Ripley agreed before returning to her food.
As the gang ate more, Big Kev returned, this time fully clothed. He grabbed a sausage link off the stove and chowed down before sitting in between his son and Ruby.
"I have clothed myself, people. Anyway, what are you guys chattin' about?"
Price had to lie on the spot.
"Eh, nothin important. Random stuff that goes on at school."
"Normal, normal. It's weird eating at a full table. It's usually just me and the idiot. Maybe Alexa every once in a while." Kevin said with a smile.
"We got some new family members, I guess."
That made the father laugh.
"I'd rather you say that while talking about your close friends than you telling me about how Alexa's expecting."
Rhea nearly choked on her food due to laughing, along with the other girls at Kev's quip.
"Trust me, you ain't hearing that from me and her anytime soon. No babies, no babies."
"Good, keep it that way. So, tell me, do you guys plan on keeping the band together, or are you pretty much done."
"Oh we're definitely not done by a long shot. Your son can't get rid of us that easy, mate." Ripley confirmed.
"Yeah, that was way too fun for us to stop now." Liv piggybacked.
"Well that's a relief. You can't just come up with a name as cool as the Riott Squad and just dead it. Speaking of, who came up with the name anyway?"
"That would be me, pops. But, I was just playing off of Ruby's last name."
"Kid, your last name is Riott?" Big Price asked surprised.
Ruby gave a small laugh.
"No, sir. My name's Ruby Prange. Riott's just something people starting calling me when I was younger cause of my personality and how much I liked punk. The name just stuck after a while, I guess."
"Not a bad name to stick… although, I could think of another name that would've suited you just as good." He said with a smirk.
Ruby's face was filled with confusion before a feeling of dread washed over her.
"Dude… don't."
Kevin laughed.
"Oh come on, you know it's true, and that song's awesome."
"I know but… it's way too easy."
Shane was confused.
"Dad, what are you talking about?"
"I'm glad you asked, son. You see, back in my teenage years-"
Price cut off his father.
"You know, back in the Stone Age."
"Boy, I'll end you. Anyway… When I was a kid, there was this band that came on the scene called Rancid. Rancid had a song called… You wanna tell em?"
The punk girl sighed.
"Ruby Soho."
"DESTINATIOOOOOON UNKNOWN, RUBY RUBY RUBY RUBY SOHO!" Kev belted out at the top of his lungs.
This caused everyone, even Ruby to bust out laughing.
"Aaaaand that's why I don't want anyone calling me that ever." She said in between giggles.
"Why, so people in their mid-30s don't burst into song the second you introduce yourself?" Shane asked.
"Precisely."
"Shit, that sounds amazing to me. Look, I've never heard that song before in my life, but you do understand we have to learn it now, right?" He told her.
"Damn it. Whatever, at least it's a good song."
"I'll do the backup vocals if you want." Kevin joked.
"Yeah man, you got the voice of an angel." Shane stated sarcastically.
"I know right?"
Throughout all this conversation, the mention of Ruby Soho caused the wheels to start turning in Liv's head.
"Wait, Rue Rue. Isn't "Soho" your middle name?"
Yooo… the phrase death glare doesn't even come close to describing the look Ruby gave her best friend. Morgan literally felt like cowering in fear.
Through gritted teeth, the girl responded.
"Yeah…. Yeah, it is, OLIVIA!"
Normally, the mischievous cheerleader would loudly object to the use of her full first name, but seeing as she was about 5 seconds away from being eviscerated by her closest companion, she thought it best to just keep her mouth shut. Smart girl.
"Wow, so… your mom literally named you Ruby Soho?" The elder Price asked.
Riott let out a sigh of defeat.
"Yes, sir. She did."
All he could do was shake his head and smirk.
"That is so Lita, I swear. She always swore she'd name her kid something memorable." He reminisced.
The mention of Ruby's mother caused the confusion of the previous night to reappear within the kids' respective minds. They all shared a look before Ruby herself decided to speak up.
"Um… speaking of my mom… What, uh… What was up with you and her last night? How do you know each other?"
The man's face dropped when he realized the mistake he made.
"Shouldn't have said her name." He thought to himself.
"Uh.. Me and her technically grew up together. That's basically it. We were shocked because we hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years."
"Oh… Oh! That's.. kinda cool actually. Were you guys best friends?" The girl asked interested.
"Eh, you could say that, yeah. We had similar interests and hobbies. Used to do a lotta stuff together."
Now, that answer might've been good enough for Ruby and the rest of the girls, but Shane knew his father. He could tell when he wasn't being completely truthful, and it was happening at that moment. However, he kept silent.
"Who knows, maybe when Rue Rue and Shane have kids of their own, they'll be friends with each other also. That would be sooooo cute!" Liv stated happily.
"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Like I said before, no babies right now. That won't be for a looong, long time." Shane responded.
"Yeah, I second that." Riott followed.
"Just sayin'."
"Anyway, speaking of your mother, are you guys ready to go back to her house? Or do you wanna stay here a little longer." Kev asked the girls.
"I have some schoolwork that I need to get done by tomorrow so, yeah I'm ready." Ruby answered.
"I'm coming with!" Liv proclaimed.
"Right, so I'm taking Liv and Ruby back to Lita's. What about you, Rhea?"
"I could use a lift home if it's not too much trouble, mate. Or I'll just find my own way back, doesn't make much of a difference to me."
"Nah, no trouble at all. Go throw on your shoes and I'll meet y'all outside. You comin with, son?"
Price shook his head.
"Nah, I might just go back to sleep. I feel lazy today."
"Awwww, you don't wanna see your girls off?" Liv asked, feigning sadness.
"I'm seeing you all at school tomorrow, lay off." He responded.
"So mean. Come and hug us then at least."
The boy obliged, and one by one he hugged his bandmates. Him and Ruby shared a normal, friendly embraced, Rhea nearly lifted him off of his feet with hers, and Liv just looked at him. Shane knew what was coming, so he cracked his knuckles and readied himself. The girl ran up and plopped right into his arms, with no missteps this time.
"You could've copped a feel again if you wanted." She jokingly said.
"Ha! And get my shit rocked by Ruby? I wish I would do some stupid shit like that."
Liv giggled and hugged the kid, then he let her down and she blew him a kiss.
"Bye honey! See you tomorrow." She told him before leaving with the rest of the girls.
That left the Price boys by themselves for a little bit. They looked at each other, and Kevin knew exactly what was going through his son's head.
"You… you saw through my bullshit didn't you?"
Shane gave him a knowing nod and Kev smiled.
"I'm glad I didn't raise a dumbass. I'll tell you the whole thing later, I promise. In the meantime though…. when I walked in, I only saw Rhea sleeping out here. We don't have a guest room or a blow up mattress. And I know you didn't make the other girls sleep on the floor so…. pre-tell, where were you sleeping last night?" He asked with a smirk.
Price rubbed his neck awkwardly.
"Uh…. In my bed… with them….. Please don't tell Alexa."
He patted the boy's head and laughed.
"Your secret's safe with me, kid. And for the record…. I would've done the saaaame shit."
AN: ANNNND this dude Mark decides to show his face on this site after God knows how long. Uh… hey. Not really sure what to say other than sorry for making y'all wait so long. But just know, no matter how long the gaps are, the story's not dead until I straight up tell you it is. So, I hope you enjoyed. Also, admittedly I'm not really sure which direction to take this story. Obviously, Ruby and her mom are gonna be a bit more focused on, but other than that, I ain't really sure. You could tell me if you have any suggestions. Man is always listening. Anyway, I'm out. You're the best and I'll see y'all in the next chapter.
