A/N: Dedicated to BlowUp22. Thank you for your support!

I apologize that this chapter is short but I’m having problems with my Brick again. The battery is getting low and the charger doesn’t seem to be working quite as it should. I was afraid that if I were to write more, I might not have enough charge to upload the chapter. I hope you’ll still enjoy it enough to vote :)

PS: Brick (or Brickie) is what I call my laptop. It’s an old, heavy model.

*****

Caden’s POV

His eyes were bloodshot red yet there was a happy glimmer in them. They glistened that way the moment he looked at Alice. He swept his hand over his short brown hair as if to tidy it up – a useless effort as it always stuck into whichever direction it pleased, regardless of its length.

“So…” He cleared his throat. “I’m Caden’s dad - Gavin.”

“Figured as much,” she replied, pulling on the hem of her green spaghetti top.

I shook my head with a smile; I couldn’t decide who seemed more nervous at their first meeting in person.

“Won’t you come in?” Alice gestured for my father to enter the living room.

Once all three of us were in – Alice and I seated on the couch and Gavin on one of the sofas – there was a moment of silence. I knew what I wanted to say – to ask, actually – but I figured I’d give them some time to get acquainted first.

“Oh!” Alice jumped off her seat. “The snacks! We forgot the snacks,” she was halfway to the kitchen when she turned around and addressed my father: “And drinks. Do you want anything to drink? Not alcohol, of course, but we have sodas…”

My father was so amused by her babbling that he didn’t even flinch when she mentioned his addiction.

“Take a breath, will you, child?” He suggested in his naturally slightly raspy voice. It was strange how that tone could also hold gentle note at the same time. “And yeah, I’d like a soda, kid. Not too sweet, if there’s a choice.”

“I’ll bring it right over,” a calmer Alice replied and disappeared into the other room.

“She’s cute, son,” Gavin commented after a while, smiling at me. “Seems nice too.”

“Yeah, she is. Both of those things,” I added just as my girlfriend came out of the kitchen. She took the sodas and the bowl of popcorn off the plastic tray and placed them on the table before taking her seat by my side.

“How did it go yesterday?” Alice inquired about the same thing I wanted to ask.

With a deep sigh, my father placed his soda back on the table without even drinking from it.

“As I told Cade over the phone, everything is alright now; you kids have nothing to worry about. Now can we just enjoy our Sunday afternoon?”

Alice and I looked at one another. We didn’t even have to speak; we both knew what the other was thinking. She gave me a nod and I shifted my attention to Gavin.

“You said that, but we want to know more. How did you arrange it? And are you absolutely sure we are safe?”

“Yes, I am,” he said, answering only one of my questions.

“And how did you arrange it?” I repeated.

“You don’t need to know that; I told you so on the phone,” he looked away and started tapping his fingers on his knee.
“You seem annoyed,” I noted.

“That’s because I’m trying to protect you and you keep on asking about things that might lead to trouble,” he said, his narrowed brown eyes back on me.

“We just wanted to make sure we didn’t get you in a mess,” Alice intervened sweetly, trying to ease the tension between my father and me.

He looked at her pleading green eyes and his features softened. He sighed and shook his head and I could see his defenses breaking.

“Let’s just say I know two guys,” Gavin began, carefully picking his words. “Let’s call them guy A and guy B. Guy A wanted something from guy B but the latter doesn’t really like A. It’s been that way for a while. Even as teenagers the two of them…” He paused. “But you don’t need to know that,” he waved with his hand. “Anyway, I acted as their mediator, they made a deal, guy A got what he wanted and to thank me he sent a couple of his employees to talk to Marc.”

“Just talk?” I sneered.

“Well, mostly.” He seemed to be suppressing a smirk. I had a feeling that if it had been only the two of us, without Alice, he would not attempt to hide his enjoyment at what those people could do to Marc. But my girlfriend was here so he had to conceal his delight. Even though Marc had threatened us, she still disapproved of resorting to violence to get him off our backs.

“Things got settled pretty quickly,” dad went on. He hesitated, but added: “Apparently Marc has a low pain tolerance.” Alice gasped but he pretended he had not heard her. “He won’t bother you again.”

My girlfriend opened her mouth, probably to inquire what other than talking had taken place, but I cut her off:

“You’re certain of that?” I wanted to make sure. Besides, it would not benefit Alice if she knew the details. I could try and get them from Gavin some other time but I didn’t really care about those men’s methods; I only cared about the result.

“Absolutely,” Gavin nodded.

“And guy A? Do you still owe him?” That was the last thing I needed to know to label this problem solved.

“Nah, A and are even.”

“According to you or him?” I was aware there was a difference. I didn’t want guy A calling on Gavin in the future, claiming my dad was in his debt.

“Both,” he replied with a grin just as Alice’s mobile vibrated.

“It’s Beth,” she said, looking at the screen. Then she turned to Gavin: “A friend of ours is in trouble so…”

“Go, see what your friend wants,” he replied to her asking for permission to leave us.

“Did Sky talk?” She spoke into the phone before she even reached the bedroom. “So he…” She shut the door and we didn’t get to hear the end of her question.

“Her childhood friend Skyler is upset and Beth is his sister,” I briefed my dad and took a sip of my soda.

“Don’t you want to know?” He asked.

“He didn’t say anything,” I began. “And Alice will tell me later what Beth called her for…”

“What are you talking about?” He interrupted.

“What are you talking about?” I asked in turn.

“I was wondering if you wanted to know details about what happened to Marc.”

“And I thought you were asking about Sky.”

“No,” he shook his head. “So do you?”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“No,” he replied with a cocky smirk.

“I don’t want to know anyway.”

He narrowed his eyes as if to decide whether I was telling the truth. He then changed the topic to a more pleasant and less tense one:

“I like your Alice. Your mother was right about her; it’s like she has this aura of benevolence around her. I know I’m not the right person to give advice, but you’ve got a good thing going on here, son; don’t throw it away!”

“I don’t intend to,” I replied. “But maybe you are the right person to give advice on this in particular; you chose mom after all.”

“More like she chose me,” he replied with just a hint of sadness in his smile and I knew he meant ‘she chose me over Cillian’.

“Sky’s back at the apartment,” Alice chirped, coming out of the bedroom and pocketing her phone. “He called Beth and she said he seemed happy. Whatever he and Kee were fighting about, I think they got it settled now.”

She sat next to me and took a sip of her soda.

“So, Alice,” my father leaned forward and took some of the popcorn. “Tell me about yourself.”

*****

Keegan’s POV

Just one more chapter, Keegan, I peptalked in my mind. You can do this; you can finish it. Just one more chapter – only seven pages - and you are done with studying. Sucks to be doing this on Sunday evening though!

I paused, thinking about what had made me turn my back on my homework this weekend: my fight with Sky. It all still seemed so surreal. I’d walked in a daze after that up until my roommate got back earlier today…

What on Earth had possessed him to kiss me?

He’d felt the urge to kiss me. But why?

He’d given me some half-assed reply that he liked spending time with me. I liked spending time with him, but you didn’t see me ambushing him with kisses, did you?

The kiss itself… It had been weird, that was the best word to describe it. Not unpleasant, but wrong. We were both guys for crying out loud! And I was straight. I had numerous one night stands to prove that. As for Sky – I wasn’t so sure and neither was he at the moment.

I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands.

Maybe it had been a onetime thing; maybe he’ll never even think of trying that again…

“I want to try something new,” Sky’s voice announced close to me.

I turned to my right and saw him standing by the couch armrest.

“What do you mean?” I asked startled. He wasn’t implying that he wanted to kiss me again, was he?

That would no longer be new, I protested in my mind.

“I want to go to Strawberry,” he replied bouncing on the soles of his feet. “Are you coming with?”

*****

A/N: Who wants to see Devon (from Here We Go Again) in the Strawberry club?

There will be one more ‘guest star’ in the next chapter but from a story I have yet to upload.