TIANA'S POV :

      "Are you sure you actually know what you're doing ?", Kelli's voice says through the speaker of my phone . " I mean , yeah , he seems to have grown up some since then , but he DOES still have sort of a questionable reputation ."

     "I know , Kel , and I've kinda been piecing things together from stuff that Scott , and Bri , and everyone else has said . Apparently , some of it has been pretty much blown out of proportion by the media , and all the idiots on the internet . I do have enough sense to be careful , and I have no intention of jumping willy - nilly into bed with him , or anything like that . I'm just going to go out and see how it goes . Besides , if I'm gonna do what we talked about , I kinda need to see where his head is at  , don't you think ?"

     "Yeah , I guess you're right . Just be careful , I remember how he used to be able to talk you into pretty much anything he wanted when we were kids ."

     "Yes , Mommy , I'll be good , I promise !" , I say , in a syrupy - sweet voice , and we both start laughing , just as Ash and Brian walk into the room .

     We say goodbye , and I end the call . "Hey , was that Bonnie ?" , Brian asks . "I could've hollered at Scott ." 

     "No , it wasn't my mom , it was Kelli , giving me the standard lecture ." , I inform him .

     "She still hates me , doesn't she ?" , Ash inquires .

     "No, she doesn't hate you , she's just a bit paranoid . Unfortunately , your public persona is a bit too much like her walking penis of an ex - husband , and it's still kinda fresh . He basically fucked anything that stood still long enough for basically the entire time they were together , but she didn't find that out until they split after she caught him with the most recent one ."

     "The guy sounds like a total douche ." , he observes .

     "Why so surprised , dude ? I remember you and Rick talking about that when I was still in middle school ." , Brian says , and Ash spews the mouthful of beer he was in the process of swallowing .

     "Are you telling me that she married Jackson Littlefield ? Holy fuck , now it makes sense ! That fucker was bad news since grade school . He always had the idea that just because his folks had money , that rules didn't apply to him ."

     Yep , that's Jackoff to a T !" , I reply . "Doesn't work so well for him now , his folks took Kelli's side and cut him off , so now he's either gonna have to man up and do some real work , or end up in jail for non- payment ."

     "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy !" , Ash says , wiping the beer off of the counter , and himself . "But just in case either of you were wondering , I plan on being the very epitome of patience . If this goes anywhere past our respective parties , how far and when are entirely up to you , Tiana . No matter what else people have said about me , they've never been able to accuse me of trying to force someone into something they don't want , and they never will ."

     "I wasn't worried about it , but that's good to know ." , I tell him . "I'm just glad that things are finally on track and everything is sort of normal ."

     "Yeah , me too , especially with your book release and the awards thing . No drama , for a change . " , he laughs .

                                        ________________________________________

The next morning , 

ASHLEY'S POV :

     I wake up to my phone ringing non - stop . Ring , go to voicemail , brief pause , repeat . I grab it and check , and fucking EVERYBODY has been calling me !

CC :  "Dude , pick up , shit has hit the fan !"

Jake :  "Ash , man , this is bad ! Call somebody ."

Jinxx :  "Be prepared for an absolute shitstorm , buddy , the vultures are out in force !"

     WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ???

     Before I can call anyone back to find out what the hell is going on , the phone rings again . I check the caller ID , and it's Scott . I click on , and say , "Dude , what the hell happened ? My phone has been blowing up all over the damn place !"

     "Get on the internet , Ash , shit went down yesterday , and it wound up on mother - fucking TMZ ! Even the shit that was nobody's fucking business  !"

     I scramble over to my laptop and power it up , then bring up the TMZ site . Let's see , here we are ; airplane , FBI , Andy and Juliet ..... Oh , shit ! I keep reading , and find what Scott is so irate about , and my heart drops into my stomach . That was something that NOBODY outside of their families and the band had been aware of , and now it's plastered all over the fucking universe . Nobody should have to go through that sort of thing in front of the whole world , but apparently these bastards don't care .

     Suddenly , over the phone , I hear a really loud ,metallic , sort of  "BONG !" noise , and Scott yells , "Hey , be careful , I'm in the line of fire here !"

     "What the hell was that ?" , I ask him .

     "That was my sister venting her frustrations over the lack of ethics in the majority of her colleagues by flinging a mixing bowl across the kitchen ." , he replies .

     Crap , I'd completely forgotten that she's actually worked as a reporter . But , it seems , she' s one of the few who actually has some compassion for people , instead of looking at them as nothing but a story .

     "Hey , dude , I need to see if I can get in touch with Andy , but why don't you gather up your sister and Brian , and see if you can get ahold of Rick and Shan , and everybody can come on over here . Maybe by then I'll have some word from him about what the plan is if someone tries to contact one of us ."

     "You got it , Ash ! I'm on it !" , he says , and hangs up .

     I immediately call Andy , and talk to him for quite some time , giving him the chance to vent as much as he needs to , so I'm still on the phone with him when the others walk into my living room . I mouth "Andy" to them , and they all sit down and don't say anything as I listen , and occasionally respond , to what he's saying .

     To be honest , I'm not sure how much help I'm actually being to him . I was lucky enough to be able to keep most of my shit out of the media , which means that I've personally never been in his exact position , so I can't say that I actually  KNOW what either of them are going through , especially her . I can't imagine that this shit is going to help in the slightest , though , so all any of us can do is let them know we've got their backs , and they don't have to deal with it by themselves .

     I finally hang up , and put my phone on the charger , then tell everyone , "Apparently , they're both posting some sort of statement on their Facebook accounts , and that's all they want said about the matter . So if anyone asks , refer them there ."

     "I'm alright with that ." , Rick says , and Scott nods in agreement 

     "What about you two ?" , I ask Tiana and Brian .

     "Yeah , of course ! , Brian answers . " It's not like it's anyone else's business anyway ."

     "I'm fine with whatever they want , of course , but I guarantee you it's not gonna be that simple ." , Tiana says flatly . "I've run into a lot of these paparazzi -type stool samples on some of my assignments , and they'll be like hyenas on an injured antelope . They might back off a bit if somebody challenges them , but they'll just try to sneak around the other direction and grab another bite ."

     "Then we'll just have to find a way to block the path , won't we ?" , I reply .

     "Oh , I think Yanni and I are up for that !" , Scott exclaims .

     "I'll be calling Phoebe in a bit , and see if she can arrange for some extra security for the release party , since at least some of the band is supposed to come ." , Tiana informs us .

     "I'll suggest the same to Blasko , assuming he hasn't already talked to the people at the venue for the award show ." , I say . "So apparently , we're going to have to have our guard up even when we're trying to enjoy ourselves . Which means , mostly for myself out of this group , that there should probably be as little alcohol involved as possible . I'll have to get with the other guys and get them on board , but it shouldn't be a problem ."

     "All I know is that if anyone decides to make an ass of themselves , CC won't be the one who'll have to worry about getting flung across the room . That is totally unacceptable , and I sincerely hope that there are medical personnel handy if anybody's actually that bloody fucking stupid !", Tiana announces , in a surprisingly venomous tone , causing Brian to give her a rather startled look .

     Ooookay , then , given her opinion of the other members of her chosen profession , I guess I can understand why she decided to trade it in for the products of her own imagination .