Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twenty of "Turnaround." This chapter has plenty of Trevor/Lucky. There will be smut involving them in the near future. Stay tuned for chapter twenty-one.

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Chapter 20: On a Date

The early evening moon beamed its light on Downtown New York City. A young man walked down the sidewalk. He passed Harper's Café. The place was medium-sized. It happened to be between an antique shop and a clothing store close to a street corner. It had tables throughout it. They had anywhere from two to four chairs. Booths could be seen toward the back.

Trevor and Lucky sat across from each other next to the window. He bit into a cheeseburger and proceeded to chew at a slow place. She popped a fry into her mouth. She chewed quickly before swallowing with a loud gulp. She picked up her diet sprite and took a long sip. She set it down. He swallowed with a contented sigh. He looked at her.

"This is the best cheeseburger I've had in a long while," he said, warmth echoing from his voice.

"The same goes for this chicken sandwich," she agreed while gesturing toward her chicken sandwich. "The fries are incredible too."

"It is unreal. We went out to dinner with my family and Ray last night," Trevor said with a soft chuckle. "Now, we are having dinner alone."

"When you asked me to go out on a Monday night while we were at the bathroom, I couldn't refuse. The best thing about this place is just down the street from the Firehouse. It would have been very dumb to pick you up there and drive just five hundred feet down," Lucky said, rolling her eyes. "I don't understand why some people have to burn gas when their destination is just a short walk away."

"I recall an episode of The Simpsons where Homer and Marge were accused of neglecting their children. Bart, Lisa, and Maggie were loaded into a car to be driven to their foster home by the social workers. They were taken to the Flanders residence. It was right next door. That was very stupid," Trevor said and scoffed annoyingly.

"Cartoons are not known for having logic. That's for sure," Lucky whispered and sipped more of her sprite.

"Even Lisa admitted that. Among the cartoon physics are walking on air, producing things from behind your back, sinking an entire ship by throwing an anvil on someone, etc. That is what makes cartoons so funny," Trevor responded and picked up a fry.

"Cartoons were often violent in the old days. They were meant for everyone, not just children. Then someone decided that they should be only for children," Lucky muttered irritatingly. "It is no wonder cartoons don't have much violence in them anymore."

"I watched Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd shoot at Bugs Bunny constantly. I never thought of drawing a gun on someone," Trevor said proudly. "Everything has to be sanitized for young children nowadays due to the decades of 'think of the children' types complaining. It has made so many movies and TV shows so boring."

"It comes equally from both sides," Lucky said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I understand wanting to protect children, but they can't be shielded forever. They need to live as much as possible."

"Yes, they do," Trevor agreed. "There is no way…"

As Trevor continued talking, Dino was nibbling on a piece of bacon from his cheeseburger three tables away from him and Lucky. He laid it down and pulled a tomato from it. He popped it into his mouth and started chewing. He looked over at Trevor, who moved his hand in a circle. He heard her giggle.

"That's why children who are shielded from the outside world are destined for failure," Trevor said, laying his arm on the table.

"You said it," Lucky agreed with a sharp nod. "I can't help but wonder if your birth father was shielded from everything."

"He was. He was not allowed to watch anything with even a tiny bit of violence and bad language. Every show was required to be clean. Even when he was a teen, he wasn't allowed to watch shows geared toward his age group. He got around that by watching them at houses of friends. When his parents found out, they were enraged and beat him," Trevor explained, shuddering in disgust.

She cringed. "What horrible people."

"No shit," Trevor mumbled in some fear. "He would throw temper tantrums when Mom paid attention to Phoebe."

"But Phoebe needed more attention due to be younger than you were," Lucky pointed out.

He scoffed. "He didn't give a shit. He was…"

As Trevor continued talking, Dino narrowed his eyes at him. He wished he could over to him and tell him that none of what the young man had said was true. He didn't dare because it would alert him to his stalking of him and his girlfriend. Trevor sipped his diet coke.

"That is why I will never forgive that bastard for hurting us the way he did," Trevor said bluntly.

"Dino never deserved you, your mother, and your sister," Lucky added while shaking his head in disbelief. "He was crazy to say Gary was not your father."

"Family doesn't always have to be of blood," Trevor commented and ran his tongue all over the inside of his mouth. "Friends can be like family."

"That's true," Lucky said, a soft giggle coming from her. "I have always felt like a part of your family."

Trevor reached over and took her hand into his. "You basically are. You will be an aunt to my niece."

"I never thought that Podcast and Phoebe would choose to name their daughter after the Amazon queen and Xena's best friend. It fits her perfectly. Dad was into Xena: Warrior Princess when he was a teen. He loved how she kicked ass first and asked questions later," Lucky said.

"So was Mom. She went dressed as Xena for Halloween during its third season. She said some people thought she was going to kick their butts," Trevor said, snickering under his breath. "She laughed her head off."

"The majority of today's female protagonists suck ass," Lucky grumbled. "They have to be perfect. They can't have any flaws. It is sexist if they do."

"It's disgusting. Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley are strong women. They are very flawed. They had to overcome their flaws to accomplish what they needed to do," Trevor whispered. "It was not easy at all."

Lucky emitted a soft snort. "Life was never meant to be easy. If it was, it'd be a very boring existence."

"Some people seem to have all the luck in the world. Other people suffer one mishap after the next," Trevor said, shaking his head in disbelief. "The latter happened to Mom until she discovered Grandpa had been a Ghostbuster."

"Hmm," Lucky responded. "Anyway, why do I get this feeling Kevin Sorbo will complain about Podcast and Phoebe naming their baby Gabrielle?"

"I don't know. I don't care. He can be as jealous as he wants. It won't make Hercules more popular than Xena is," Trevor said, bluntness lining his voice.

She smacked her lips. "Isn't that the truth?"

Trevor brought Lucky's hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. This made her giggle loudly. Dino rolled his eyes. He continued to watch them as Trevor picked up a fry and popped it into his mouth.

00000

Trevor and Lucky exited the café thirty minutes later. They were licking vanilla ice cream from waffle cones. They made a left turn. They headed down the sidewalk. They ran their tongues over their teeth. They nibbled on the edges of the cones a tiny bit. They got ice cream on their lips. They licked them before laughing softly.

"This ice cream tastes wonderful!" Lucky exclaimed.

"It sure does," Trevor agreed. "It is the perfect dessert after having cheeseburgers and fries."

"Imagine if we built towers of ice cream scoops. It would take forever to eat them up," Lucky said honestly.

"There is also the risk of the towers falling over," Trevor responded while moving his hand down. "It would be like—"

"KAPOW! WHAM! SPLAT!" Lucky yelled and laughed raucously.

"That's right," Trevor said, a big smile forming on his face. "I would see those words pop up on the screen whenever I watched fight scenes in the 1966 TV version of Batman."

"I would too," Lucky said, giving her ice cream another lick. "Batman and Robin were allowed to fight, but they couldn't kill anyone, not even an animal."

"In the 1966 movie version of Batman, Batman sprayed a shark with repellent. I thought that was ridiculous," Trevor said and made a funny noise.

"The movie and show were campy. They were meant to be ridiculous," Lucky said with a soft chuckle.

"Yep," Trevor whispered and did another lick of his ice cream. "Some movies and shows are so campy that they become unwatchable."

Unbeknownst to the couple, Dino came out of the café. He looked both ways three times. He proceeded to follow them. He slipped his hands inside his pockets while narrowing his eyes at them.

"Have you ever wondered what might have been if you had never learned that your grandfather died?" Lucky asked, curiosity filling her eyes.

"Sometimes," Trevor admitted. "Mom, Phoebe, and I would have had no place to go, except for Grandma's friend. Her name was Lucy Perms." He gave her a serious look when she laughed. "Stop laughing. It's not funny."

"I can't help it. Her last name is weird," Lucky pointed out honestly.

"I don't give a shit," Trevor retorted annoyingly. "Anyway, Lucy would have taken us in. She would have helped us find another place to live. She would have likely helped Mom to manage her money better."

She smiled. "She sounds like a very nice lady."

He chuckled. "Oh, she was."

Dino shuddered in quiet disgust. He had never liked Lucy in the least bit. He considered her a know-it-all as she had a habit of spouting out information about stuff. He hated it when his mother-in-law invited her over for dinner at the family's apartment. He was relieved when he left Chicago as he wouldn't have to see her again.

Dino snapped out of his thoughts when it appeared Trevor was peering over his shoulder at him. He ducked into an alleyway between two buildings. Trevor returned his attention to the area in front of him. Dino moved out at a slow pace. He resumed following the couple after looking both ways twice. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.

"I can't say I blame Phoebe for feeling she and Podcast were being watched while they were out," Trevor whispered and emitted a heavy sigh.

"Me neither," Lucky agreed. "I can't forget her revealing she felt they were being followed home just before we left."

"I do believe Dino and Mina would do something like this. They have so much time on their hands. Their jealousy would motivate them," Trevor admitted and swallowed hard.

"Yeah," Lucky said, nodding slowly. She let out a long yawn. "It is easy to be vigilant during the day. It is different at night due to most of the alleyways being so dark."

Trevor exhaled sharply. "It is a good thing Washington Square Park is lit very well."

"That is exactly where we are heading," Lucky commented, squeaking joyfully. "It is always quiet there at night."

"I can see why Phoebe went there while she was benched. She liked the peaceful atmosphere. She met Melody and forged a friendship with her," Trevor explained and laughed softly. "I will never blame her for being tricked by that ghost. She was so lonely and desperate for companionship."

"Desperation makes people do stupid things, no matter what their age. That's for sure," Lucky said truthfully.

"Youth and arrogance tend to go hand-in-hand. Young people think nothing bad will happen to them. They get overconfident after avoiding injury many times. Then they finally get hurt. They get slapped in the face by reality," Trevor said bluntly. "No one is immune to anything bad happening to them. No one."

"That's right," Lucky said, giving a sharp nod. "I hope we do not ever encounter your birth father and his bitchy girlfriend again."

"I hope we don't either," Trevor said, hissing angrily. "That bastard caused so much pain for my mother, my sister, and me that it's not funny."

Lucky suppressed a yawn. "Gary is the man Dino wishes to be. It will never happen. No way, no how."

Trevor and Lucky grasped hands while licking more of their ice cream. They picked up their pace. Dino followed suit, his breathing soft and steady.