AN: I feel I should explain my interpretation of Klaus. First, he's a narcissistic, sadistic asshole. HOWEVER his harsh teaching methods do have a purpose. The entertainment industry looks nice but it's really cutthroat and people can be really cruel to performers. You think Klaus was cruel and wrong for slapping Johnny with the riding crop but the crowd could be even more cruel. If you don't have a thick skin, you have no chance. When Klaus says this "Only when we suffer can we be great" he's actually trying to warn Johnny of this fact. It would be worse on stage. He was still very wrong but that's why he's an antagonist in Sing 2, not a villain. And he's an ally in this. When he bowed to Johnny at the end of the battle, I got the idea that he'd learned his lesson.

And yes, I'm implying that Eddie's parents abused him and willfully kept him dependent on them so he'd always have to do as they said if he wanted a place to live and food. Because they knew he was gay, they just didn't care in the worst ways. They were always planning to force him into a marriage with a woman regardless of his preferences. And they couldn't do that if he was independent.

You refer to your parents as egg/sperm donors when they're abusive either mentally, physically or emotionally. It basically means you don't consider them your real parents, they just gave birth to you.

My Ryan is very much based on Troy Bolton from High School Musical. Discovering a love for dance as opposed to the sports his father wanted him to play.

Part 14

Rosita was just getting dinner on the table when the doorbell rang again. They all looked over at the door and groaned. She had hoped they had gotten the hint but Mrs. Noodleman had simply gone to get her husband. "Just ignore them." She said, dishing up tuna casserole for each of her kids, him and Norman. "They'll leave if we just ignore them."

Except they didn't leave. They just kept ringing the bell. Even threats of calling the police didn't work this time. Eddie got out his phone and sent a message. After a moment, he looked up. "Nana says to let them in and stall them. She's coming."

Rosita nodded and reluctantly dished up two more plates while Norman answered the door. "What?" He demanded harshly.

Mrs. Noodleman seemed reluctant to come in with the kids staring at her, but her husband had no such inhibitions. "My wife came earlier to retrieve our son and was treated very rudely."

"We already told your wife. Eddie is staying with us for as long as he wants. He's a grown sheep and he can make his own decisions. But if we must talk about this, then come in. It's dinner time and there's plenty," he showed them to their simple table.

Mr. Noodleman looked around the small condo with derision then to his son. "Edmond C Noodleman, your mother and I are done playing games. It's time for you to come home and start learning your place in this family."

Eddie shook his head. "No, Dad. I don't want to go back. I'm happy here."

"Eddie, dear, you can't keep imposing on Mrs. Pig and her family. I'm sure they have enough on their plate without having to worry about you," Mrs. Noodleman said. "You don't want to be a burden on your friends."

The sheep looked down. "Well no, I don't want to be a burden…"

Rosita tapped his cheek, making him look at her rather than his parents. "Eddie is not a burden. He is not imposing. He is welcome here. If he wants to live here the rest of his life, he is welcome here. And my name is Mrs. Suarez."

Mr. Noodleman turned to Norman. "Then surely I can appeal to your better judgment. You already have 25 children to house and feed in this tiny apartment. You can't possibly want to take on my son and his arrested development."

"His arrested development is your own fault, my son." Nana announced her arrival. She glared at her son and his wife.

"Mom, you're here. Good. Please talk some sense into your grandson," Mr. Noodleman pleaded.

Nana looked at Eddie. "Eddie, do you feel I need to talk sense into you?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I like it here. Rosita and Norman are very good parents and I like helping with the kids."

Nana nodded. "That's what I thought too. But, Mr and Mrs. Noodleman do have a point. This is a very tiny condo for such a large family. I might have a solution for that." She held up a form. "I've decided to sell my second house. If you'd be interested."

Mr. Noodleman held up a hand. "Mom, that's where we live." He protested.

She glared at him. "Yes, and your yearly lease is up at the end of next month." She handed him an envelope. "Notice of nonrenewal." She chuckled. "And I will happily sell it to the Suarez family for the low cost of 100,000." It was easily only a tenth of what the grand modern mansion was worth.

In any other situation, Rosita and Norman would have at least needed to discuss it. But at this point, they were ready to be rid of these snobs. "Thank you, Nana. That's a great idea." She signed the purchase agreement's top line while Norman signed the bottom line.

Nana laughed. "Of course, you could choose to continue renting it out to the Noodleman's. But I have a feeling you'd be better off using it yourselves." She looked at her son. "You forgot, you're only marginally more independent then you taught your son to be. Everything you have is because of me, my son. Even your business only operates because I have saved it from bankruptcy so many times. Guess what I won't be doing again."

She knew it wasn't very gracious but Rosita didn't care. She had tried grace but it hadn't worked. "At this point, even if we didn't want to live in it, we wouldn't continue to rent to them."

Mrs. Noodleman sputtered. "Mom, you can't do this. Where will we live?" She asked. "Eddie, please, dear. Don't let them do this."

He shook his head. "It's not my choice. Maybe you shouldn't have been such jerks." He ate his tuna casserole. "Nana, you gotta try this tuna casserole. She uses red pepper flakes."

Rosita offered Nana a plate with a smile and the older ewe accepted. "So my son, I think it's time you two left. You have some house hunting to do."

Mr. Noodleman stood firm. "You can't be serious! Mom, how can you possibly approve of this? At least half of this troupe are a bunch of criminals at best. They broke into and hijacked a theater according to the news. You can't possibly want Eddie involved with them."

"I trust them with Eddie more then I do you. I tried to warn you, son. That I wouldn't tolerate your abuse and negligence any longer," She walked them both to the door.

"We are not leaving without Eddie!" Mrs. Noodleman protested until she saw the piglets getting ready to help chase them out again. "Eddie, honey…"

"Leave Ma. I don't want anything to do with you or Dad anymore. Get out of my life and leave these good people alone!" He ordered.

Facing down the potential piggy pile, the two Noodlemans had no choice but to leave. Nana sighed with disappointment. "I am sorry for that but they shouldn't harass you any further." She sat down to eat with the large family.

"It's okay, Nana. We should have known they wouldn't give up so easily," Rosita said. "We appreciate you coming down to help get rid of them. I will never understand why some people feel so entitled to hurt others. First Mr. Crystal, now them. Why? What is the fascination with causing other people pain? I don't understand…" Her breath became sharp as she tried to control herself.

She became aware of everyone looking at her with concern as her husband took her hand. Even her kids were staring worriedly. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

Her youngest, Caspar, hugged her around the neck and she sighed. "I'm okay, really…" She kissed her son's forehead and put him back in his seat. "I'll be right back." She went into the bathroom, grabbed a washcloth and started soaking it in hot water before draping it over her eyes. The steam helped to soothe her burning eyes.

The door opened slowly. "Honey?" After making sure she wasn't actually using the bathroom, he came in with her.

She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, honey. I keep thinking I'm ready to start getting past this but then…" She bent over the sink. "I just want to stop feeling like this."

He hugged her. "There's no time frame for grief. It's not like we're talking about Mr. Smith who barely knew my name. We're talking about Buster." He said softly. She felt a little wetness hit her forehead and she realized that he was crying too. She realized that she hadn't even noticed that he was hurting too.

"Oh honey…" She hugged him back, trying to comfort him as he comforted her.

When he heard the screaming coming from the control booth, he knew something had happened. And he had noticed Crystal carrying Buster up the catwalk. He watched him fall, unable to do anything and when his kids asked what happened, he had no idea how to respond. All he could do was hold them as best he could and pray.

"I owe you an apology honey. Before Mr. Moon, I took our marriage for granted. I took you for granted and I'm so sorry for that," he kissed her forehead. "I love you so much."

Rosita smiled. "I love you too, sweetheart. I know you didn't mean to. You were so tired from trying to make sure we had a home to live in and food on the table." She reassured him. She had no idea it still bothered him. "We'll just have to make sure we never take each other for granted again. Life is way too short." Suddenly, she gulped and pulled away to rush for the toilet.

He was at her side in an instant, rubbing her back as she lost her dinner. "Are you alright?" He asked when she finished retching.

She nodded. "Just all of a sudden needed to get sick, I'm fine now. Those people just nauseate me." She rinsed her mouth out with mouthwash and cleaned her face again. "We should go back out. We still have company."

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The whole day, Porsha felt awkward. She hadn't meant to chase Johnny out. She only wanted them to keep it down. She sighed as she hugged one of the pillows on the bed. Her selfishness just kept hurting people and she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to not be selfish.

"Dad! Nooshy! Porsha! We brought dinner!" Johnny's voice echoed from the door.

She leapt out of bed and ran out to the living room. "You came back!" She hugged her adopted big brother. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you last night. I didn't mean to."

Johnny hugged her back. "You had every right to, we were being too loud. I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep." He reassured her.

She shook her head. "No, I was being selfish again. I'm so sorry."

"Nothing selfish about wanting a good night's sleep," Marcus corrected her. "Did you lads have a good day?"

Ryan nodded as they handed out sandwiches and pouches of French fries to the group. "We sure did."

Johnny smiled. "We found the perfect place. It's right across from the theater." He pulled out his phone and showed them photos of the building and the apartment they found. "Wouldn't that make a perfect dance studio?"

Nooshy took the phone and scrolled through. "Oh most definitely. Plenty of room. Just need a few balance bars and stuff."

Porsha looked over her shoulder. "Wait… you're not moving out permanently, are you?" She asked.

Johnny shrugged. "Well, yeah… not yet, there's still some details we have to get through but they only want 65,000 for the whole building including the apartments." He replied, holding Ryan's hand.

She looked down sadly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

Johnny stopped her. "Sis, I'm 24, I was never going to live here forever. You'll still be my sister and we'll still see each other. It's just time for me to start my own life now." He looked at his father who nodded.

"He's right, it had to happen eventually." Marcus' voice was heavier than usual. "65,000 is pretty good for something like this."

Ryan grinned. "It always helps when the building is supposedly haunted. The realtor had to tell us, apparently there was a double homicide in one of the apartments." He laughed. "I ain't afraid of no ghosts. And we'll be together."

Nooshy nodded, impressed. "That's awesome."

Porsha pouted but sighed. "You promise you're not moving out because of me?" She unwrapped a chicken sandwich.

"I promise," Johnny replied. "It'll take a couple of weeks to close. And it's only that fast because I was able to pay cash up front." 'Only because of Mr. Moon,' he thought to himself. He must have looked sad because Ryan took his hand back and squeezed it.

"Hey, what if… when it's all done, what do you think of calling it the New Moon dance studio?" He suggested. "We could even hang a big picture of him somewhere."

Johnny looked at him gratefully. "That would be a nice way to remember him." He laid his head on Ryan's shoulder. "Won't Kickenklober be surprised tomorrow?" They had already talked about letting him have one of the apartments.

"What? That fat, stupid, old monkey is here?" Nooshy asked. "I didn't think he'd actually come."

Marcus frowned. "Remind me to have a talk with him at some point. I do not like how he treated you."

Johnny shook his head. "It's okay, Dad, we've already dealt with that and I think we'll be on better terms now. Besides…" He looked at his partner. "I do have him to thank for bringing Ryan into my life so I think I can let bygones be bygones."

Ryan kissed him and sighed happily. "There is that. And he gave me a place to live after my egg and sperm donors kicked me out until I could get on my feet. I kind of feel like it's only right to repay the favor in kind."

The larger gorilla scratched his chin pensively. "I guess you have a point. But if he hurts you again, son, you better tell me."

"I promise, Dad," Johnny sat down to eat his dinner. He was pleasantly surprised when a chicken nugget appeared in front of him. He gladly accepted it, kissing Ryan's hand after eating it.

Porsha giggled, earning twin blushes from the boys. "You two are so adorable." She felt a little better about the situation. She still felt selfish but at least that wasn't why Johnny was moving out.

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Six o'clock came quickly and they were closing the ice cream truck after a very successful day. Meena noticed that Alphonso responsibly separated out the profits from what they would need to start the next day and the cost of the hotel room before splitting the profits three ways. Tyler pocketed his share after writing down the amount in a small notebook. Alphonso made his own notes in his own little notebook.

When he offered her the second pile, she shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't. I only wanted to help so I could be here with you." She admitted. "You don't need to pay me, Alphonso."

He smiled at her and pushed it into her hand. "You earned it." He kissed her cheek.

She sighed and put the money away. She would find some way to sneak it back into his pocket at some point. She did not want to be paid to spend time with her fiancé, even if it was working the truck. Besides, it almost didn't matter. They were all but married anyway and she had her own career. Even if they were taking a short hiatus to rest and recuperate from the drama.

Thinking about being married to him someday made her smile, daydreaming about what the day would be like. She had already asked Ash to be her maid of honor, to which she agreed as long as Meena promised not to make the dresses pink. She was fine with that. She preferred teal anyway.

"Hey Alphonso, have you told your dad yet?" She asked.

He nodded. "Called him the next morning. He was ecstatic. I had to stop him from calling Pastor Rick right there. Because I'm guessing you don't want our wedding in Redshore City." He had once dreamed of getting married in his church but he'd never ask Meena to go back to a place where she experienced such trauma. Besides, it wasn't going to be his church much longer anyway. Once he found one he liked, he would change his membership over.

She shook her head. "Not really but I'd be open to thinking about it if that's what you really wanted." The thought of going back there was terrifying but, "I know it's hard for your dad to travel." It really was. Alphonso's elderly father was wheelchair-bound, on oxygen and living in a nursing home. The only time he left was when Alphonso came to take him to church on Sunday.

He nodded quietly. "Yeah, but he said he'd gladly make the trip if we have it here." He assured her. "As long as I'm marrying you, I don't care where we have it." He squeezed her hand. "Whether it's a church or a local park or the beach or wherever. It'll be beautiful as long as you're there."

She swooned slightly and let herself fall into his arms, just savoring the feelings he gave her. "Alphonso, you're so sweet."

"Well, you two lovebirds can hang out here all night if you want. I'm going to go eat," Tyler said, trying to get their attention.

Alphonso nodded. "You go ahead, Ty. We'll meet you back at the hotel." He said. "Do… would you like to get something to eat, Your Majesty?" He asked Meena, not sure why he was still so nervous. They were engaged, asking her out should be easy now.

"I'd love to," she agreed, taking his offered arm, and they left the farmer's market on foot while Tyler took the suv.

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In the pit of his stomach, Jerry knew Suki was right but he just could not let this go. It would drive him insane if he didn't do something. He needed to avenge Mr. Crystal if he was going to get any peace at all. He picked up his phone and dialed. "Yeah, Linda, it's Jerry and have I got some Hot News for you."

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AN: Gonna have fun imagining Meena's dream wedding. I was thinking she might wear the dress she wore in the show (after it changed to the white gown). I do plan to get them back to Redshore City at some point and thinking the wedding might be a good way to do it. I need them there for a big plot point coming up. Please review. I love constructive criticism.