Next Morning, Shane's House, 9:21 AM…..

Shane had spent the previous night helping his newly arrived friend in Paige, sort out her stuff and figure out what her living arrangements were going to be like for the next couple weeks. Despite protests from Paige, Shane insisted that he sleep in the living room, and she take his bed. Why? Well, cause it's Shane, we've been through this. Luckily for Price, his dad thought it would be a good idea to actually purchase a blowup mattress after the whole sleepover thing happened with the Squad. So now, the boy was still able to spend his night in a bed, as opposed to on a couch. He was having a great sleep too. The key word there is, "was." Like I said before, peace for Shane is basically nonexistent. He was woken up by the feeling of his mattress moving, and the sound of something playing on the television.. And as if that wasn't disorienting enough, he soon felt a decent amount of weight on his side. Sure enough, the weight came from all 120 pounds of the pale one from across the pond. She was basically using him as lumbar support for her back as she sat on the mattress, decked out in a black sports bra and black pajama pants. The girl aimlessly flicked through channel after channel, looking for something that piqued her interest.

"Midnight?" The boy vocalized, still barely awake with fatigue all over his tone.

"Oh, good morning, love. Did you rest well?" She asked, turning her attention to her American companion.

"Uhh, yeah kinda. Di-Did you?"

"Sure did."

"Good to hear. What-uh… What are you doing?"

"Trying to find something decent to watch on the telly. I know it's early, but it's worth a shot, ya know?"

"BBC America is channel 264." He joked.

"Ha, ha. You're a right fucking comedian. Sarcasm aside, I've really never understood that. Why the hell is there a BBC America? BBC literally stands for the "British Broadcasting Corporation."

"You're asking the wrong guy, Midnight. I have no idea whatsoever. But you said it was early. Uh.. how early exactly?"

The Brit glanced at the time on the cable box.

"Right now it's 9:30."

"Oof… Alright, Paige? Ya know I love you, and I'm super pumped about the fact that you're here with me right now. That being said, I still have to go out and do some stuff for the party in a couple days and I was sorta hoping to get a little more rest than what I got so…."

Paige understood what the boy was getting at.

"Oh, my bad love. I'll let ya sleep. Can I get the WiFi code outta you first?"

"Yeah sure, sure. It's uh-"

Price was cut off by a small, rumbling sound.

"What was that?"

Before Paige could give an answer, the sound popped up again, and this time it was a lot louder.

Is that… Did that noise just come from your stomach?"

The pale girl felt a rare case of embarrassment coming on as she began to respond. She let out an awkward chuckle first.

"Yeah, I guess I'm a bit hungry. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've eaten since yesterday morning." She admitted.

Shane was immediately shocked into action by the fact that she hadn't had food in a while, and his fatigue pretty much evaporated.

"You said yesterday morning? Oh no way, we can't have that. Imma get you fed. What do you want, waffles, pancakes, bacon?"

Now keep in mind, Paige was still leaning on the boy, so with him suddenly moving into an upright position, she had to quickly keep herself from falling backwards.

"Hey, hey! Mate, calm down, Jesus! I thought you were tired." She pointed out.

"I am, but you're hungry right?"

"Well… yeah, but-"

"Ah ah, no buts! You're my guest, you're getting fed. I gotta use the bathroom, then I'm putting on a shirt. After, I'm making us breakfast."

The boy got up from the mattress and trotted over to the restroom to take care of his business. Before he fully entered, he turned around.

"And the password is "bigkevrules88, all lowercased, no spaces. Don't ask me why that's the code, my father's the one that set it that way."

He then shut the door, but Paige had one more thing to say.

"Thanks! Your abs are comin' in nicely, by the way! Impressive!" She said, raising her voice so he could hear her from inside the bathroom.

"Thank you, I try!" He yelled back.

After that, all Paige could do was smile to herself.

"Too nice for his own good, I swear." She thought.


An Hour and a Half Later….

The two teens were now sat at the kitchen table, enjoying what Price had prepared. Waffles with cinnamon sprinkled on them, scrambled eggs and bacon were being consumed.

"Hey, where's your dad at?" Paige asked while stuffing her face.

Price raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why, so you can make googly eyes at him again?"

"No, no, I don't do that anymore. I've realized how much that actually makes you uncomfortable, so I'll chill with that from now on."

Shane was taken aback by that response.

"Oh… Well… Thanks, I guess."

"But don't think I'm just gonna stop messin' with you completely. I promise you that as long as I'm in your life, which will of course be forever, there will be fun had at your expense."

"Ah well, a guy can dream. Anyway, as far as where my dad is, I actually have no idea. He's usually back home from work by now. I kinda need him home soon too. Don't forget, I still need to go to the store get the stuff for the party. Food and other junk."

"How come you can't just go? I'll even come with you and help you carry some of it if ya need." She offered.

"Well here's the thing, Midnight. One cannot purchase items from the store without money. And that's something I currently don't have access to." He explained.

"But didn't you say something about a cash prize you won when you and your band finished 1st in that competition?"

"Yeah, we split the check amongst the four of us, so I had $750. Now, I only have half of it. On top of that, the money I have left is in a savings account my dad told me not to touch. Tryna set me up for the future and stuff."

"That's smart. What happened to the other half though?"

"I spent it on Christmas gifts."

"Oh, okay. I'm sure you've gotten me one as well." She said, jokingly fluttering her eyelashes as well.

"You know, I did actually. I just wish I would've gotten you something bigger, but I legitimately had no idea you were even going to be here, so my bad."

"Love, come on, you know me. I couldn't give less of a shit about how much money the gift costs or how big it is. It's the thought that counts, you bloody moron. I think you're gonna like my gift a lot though."

"The anticipation is killing me. Mostly because I know that this either gonna be an actual gift, or a prank. Ya know, cause you're kind of a dick."

Paige flung a piece of bacon at the Irish boy's forehead.

"It's a real gift, asshole."

Shane laughed as he picked the bacon up off of the floor and put it on a used napkin.

"Just playing, I know. Hey, I got an idea."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"No one knows you're here except me and my dad. How's about we go around introducing you to the homies from over here?"

"Eh… I think it would be more fun to meet your friends when they come over for the get together. But, I wouldn't mind seeing Alexa again today. I've missed her."

"Good shout, good shout. If you're done eating, I'll put our dishes in the sink and then call her."

"And to make it even better, I'll surprise her so hard she'll wet herself."

"Okay, maybe… maybe don't do that."

Paige shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Would be funny though. And you're letting me wash the flippin dishes. You've done enough for me today."

"But-"

All the Brit had to do was glare at him, and that was enough to halt whatever protest Shane was about to make.

"We clear?"

"Yeah… we're clear." He reluctantly agreed.

As Knight took care of the dishes, Price phoned his girlfriend. Three rings, and he got an answer. He put it on speaker so, Paige could hear.

"Babe? What's up?"

"Hey, princess, nothin much. What are you up to?"

"I'm just laying in bed. Kinda just woke up about 20 minutes ago."

"That's cool, rest is important. So, how would you feel about coming over?"

"Um, sure. When?"

"Oh, about.. right now."

"Right now? I don't know about right now. I'm comfy in bed right now."

"Come ooooon, please?"

"Why do you want me over there so early anyway? Did something happen?"

And this is where Paige stepped in.

"Because the boy loves you, mate. Why else would he? Also, his dad's not home, so you two can get some naughty time in. Don't worry, I'll be completely outta your hair. Won't even know I'm here."

Alexa recognized that voice immediately and gasped.

"Oh my God, Paige?! You're here?!"

"How about you come over and see for yourself?" She responded cheekily.

"Let me throw something on really quickly, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Bliss then hung up the phone, and Shane laughed.

"Man, 10 minutes? I usually get like an hour at least before she's even finished with her hair." He joked.

"You talk about that so-called Price charm that runs in your family. Well I think based off that alone, the Paige charm is waaaay more effective."

"Oh get outta here with that, people just think your accent is cool."

"The accent, the wit, the fact that I'm PENG as fuck. Total package, if you will."

Price rolled his eyes.

"Someone's obviously into self love."

"Yup. And who knows, I might be participating in a little self love in your bed at some point. If I feel like it, of course."

At that moment, the door was in the process of being knocked on, which Shane couldn't appreciate enough. He pointed at his friend right before he got the door.

"You…. behave yourself."

"I'm just doin dishes, love."

Shane then opened the front door to let in Little Miss Bliss. Her hair was tied back, she had one of Shane's hoodies on (Because y'all girls LOVE stealing our damn hoodies), and grey sweatpants.

"Dude I've been looking for that one for weeks. When did you even jack it?" He asked.

"Like two months ago, now move over before I freeze to death out here." She demanded.

He did as he was told, and she was now inside. The two shared a quick embrace, before they made her way over to their sister. Paige was in the process of drying her hands with paper towel when she came face to face with the petite princess. They hugged as well.

"Mate, seriously…. How the hell did you get her?"

"It's that-"

"Say Price charm, and I misbehave."

"Got it, got it."

"How long are you staying for?" Lexi asked.

"About two weeks. Got here last night actually."

"That's great. That's plenty of time for us to hang out. Have some girl time, ya know? Have you been to New York before?"

"Once, when I was really young on holiday with my family. I don't remember much of what I did though."

"Perfect. I can take you downtown, so you can explore the city and see what it's all about."

Shane leaned in toward Paige, pretending to whisper in her ear but speaking loud enough so his girl could hear.

"Careful, you let her be the guide and you'll be stuck shopping for hours. Trust me I've been there, she has a problem."

"Shut up, Price." Alexa told him.

"I was just joking…. sort of. Anyway, me and Paige just finished eating breakfast, but there's some leftover if you wanna help yours- Hold on."

The boy had been interrupted by his phone vibrating on the kitchen table. He went to see who was ringing him.

"Oh it's dad. Nice, I was starting to get worried." He said to himself.

He answered, and his dad spoke first.

"Buddy?"

"Nah, this is Shane. There's a guy I go to school with named Buddy though. You know he's Australian? Pretty cool, huh?" Shane joked.

Kevin chuckled.

"Smartass. Everything okay? Sorry, I never made it home last night. Things got wild at the club, and I had to take care of some stuff. Phone was dead for a while."

"Everything's fine, dad. I'm just glad you're not hurt or anything."

"Me? Hurt? Please boy, you know who I am. I'm friggin Teflon. You can't hurt Big Kev."

"Right, right sure. You getting back soon though? I kinda need money so I can get the ingredients for the food for the party."

"Oh shit that's right. Uh… tell you what, send me a list of everything you need, and I'll pick it up before I get home. Cause I can't really give you an exact time of when I'm getting home."

"That works actually. Sure, I'll get right on it. Wait, are you still at the club right now?" Shane asked.

"Sadly yeah. But, I'm gettin paid extra thoooough." He happily answered.

"That's good at least. Okay, I'll see you when you get home. Oh, Alexa's here by the way."

"Oooh, my son's home alone with TWO girls? I'm so proud!"

Shane sighed and chuckled.

"You are the worst. Love you dad, see ya."

"See you son. Love you too."

Shane hung up, and turned his attention back to the two girls.

"Big man's busy with work stuff, so it looks like we've got the house to ourselves for a while. What do you guys wanna do?"

Paige shrugged.

"Nothing in particular. Ooh! I wanna see princess's house! You said it was really nice when you told me about that one time you and her did the role play thi-"

"AAAAA-okaaay. Whaddya say, babe? You mind me and Paige comin' over? Heh heh." He asked nervously, adding in one of those uncomfortable ass laughs.

Bliss narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend.

"….Sure, mom and dad wouldn't mind."

"Great! I'll throw on my shoes and a shirt, and then we can go." The Brit excitedly proclaimed.

She then went into Shane's room, where her belongings were. Alone, Alexa was staring a hole through the poor boy.

"Okay, me and you gotta have a talk about privacy and what NOT to tell our friends." She stated.

Man didn't even try to fight it.

"That's…. that's fair."


Same Time, Central Park Bench…..

"Lying to him like that fuckin killed me, man. Damn!"

"No one told you to lie. Why didn't you just tell him where you were?"

"Because…. I still owe him an actual explanation about us in the first place. Him knowing where I am and who I'm with right now would only make the kid even more confused. Plus, didn't you do the same thing to Ruby? Cause this park don't look like a damn tattoo parlor to me."

"Nice to see you're still an asshole, Kevin."

"I could say the same thing to you, LITA."

The parents glared at each other for a few seconds, not giving the other the satisfaction of looking away. After about 20 more, the staring contest devolved into them both laughing.

"I was always better than you at staring contests." Mama Riott claimed.

"Ha! In your fuckin dreams, lady."

They laughed together once again.

"So… We're both old now, huh?" Lita lamented.

"Guess so. You're older than me though, I'm not a senior citizen quite yet."

"Lucky, shut up." She said with a smile.

"Fuck, no one's called me that in decades. Still, you're right. We're not teenagers anymore. You're a mom now, and you got a whole lotta ink on you to boot. Your daughter's awesome by the way. Nice kid.

"I can say the same for your son. I gave him a hard time when I first met him, but he dealt with it the right way. He's a dead ringer for you, ya know. I saw him and the first thing that came to mind was you. I legitimately had to a double take."

"Yeah, he's pretty lucky he inherited his pop's good looks."

Lita rolled her eyes.

"And he better thank God he didn't inherit your grooming habits. He's not allergic to haircuts like you."

"You act like it's down to my shoulders like when I was 15."

"It's not, I'll give you that…."

The mother's demeanor gradually shifted to a more melancholy state.

"Look, I know we haven't really addressed the elephant in the room but…. I'm sorry for leaving outta nowhere all those years ago." She apologized.

Kevin's eyes fell, and he took a deep breath.

"You.. you were my best friend, Lita. When you left home I didn't really have anyone to talk to anymore. We did everything together. It took me a long time to forget about you, and even then…. you were always in the back of my mind."

"I knew you'd probably take it the hardest out of everyone but… I just had to get out of Phoenix. There was too much going on for me to handle."

The Elder Price felt a bit of anger seep into his state of mind.

"Why didn't you at least tell me you were leaving? I thought the worst! Everything from kidnapping to death crossed my mind at one time or another! That was the worst feeling in the world man, what the fuck?!"

"BECAUSE!" She snapped back.

The outburst left the normally talkative Price at a loss for words.

"Because…. I knew you'd end up convincing me to stay. I would've taken one look at you, and boom, I would've given up. I wouldn't have been able to just turn around and go away forever."

No one spoke for a good 5 minutes. Both adults looked down at their feet in silence, before Kevin broke it.

"What was so bad that you had to leave anyway?"

Lita looked him in his eyes.

"Kevin… Don't act like you don't know. You know exactly why I left."

All the man could do was nod. He then put his arm around his childhood friend and held her close to him. She didn't fight it.

"Doesn't matter now I guess. You're here now, and that's good enough for me."

Lita chuckled.

"Yup. Lucky and Lita reunited once again."

AN: Christmas in… Summer. Yeah, I suck. Ya know who doesn't though? You guys, for still enjoying this story despite the big gaps. I appreciate. Leave a review, yell at me if you'd like. See you in the next chapter.