R&R.

"How hard can it be to find two porcupines wearing the exact same outfit?" Meena asked, as Ash sipped on her soda.

"Probably because you're looking in the wrong places," Ash said. "We checked out all the places Lance likes to go. If it's Astrid, there's only two places she'll go; one of which Lance would never set foot in."

"So...?"

"Let's go clubbing," Ash said.

"Okay...Wait. What?!"

~Meanwhile~

"Here, this should help with the swelling," Johnny said, putting an ice pack on Reese's ankle.

"Thanks Johnny," she said, wincing when the cold ice touched her tender ankle. "Ow."

"Are you sure you're alright," he asked. "Because Mr. Moon's bound to have Rosita take me back to the hospital once they find out I'm here. We can take you along, and get your ankle looked at."

"No, it's fine," she said. "It's not the first time I've done this."

"But I could have sworn I heard something snap when you fell."

"It's fine," she said, taking off her glasses, and biting them again. Johnny putting a hand on top of hers, and pulling the glasses out of her mouth.

"Please don't do that. The last time you did, you had to get rushed into the hospital to get shards of plastic removed from your stomach."

"I remember," she said, putting her glasses back on, and sitting there in what was probably an awkward silence for him. But to her it was just a tense, hate filled silence. Because although she was getting paranoid over nothing, she couldn't help but think about what kind of lies Charlotte was shoving down Johnny's throat in an effort to ruin everything.

"Is something wrong?" Johnny asked her.

"Johnny, do you hate me?" she asked, blurting out the question before she could stop it.

"What?" he asked, pulling up a chair, and sitting down beside her. "Why would you want to know that? Of course I don't hate you, you're one of my closest friends."

"It's just..." she hesitated, knowing Charlotte was probably close by eavesdropping on the conversation. "Never mind."

"Reese," Johnny said. "Just tell me what's going on. I promise, I won't get mad."

"Charlotte ruined the show," she said, feeling a weight come off her shoulders the second those words left her mouth. "She bullied away two of the contestants, and Moon had to cancel the show to avoid kicking out the wrong person. I would have told you earlier, but she would have scratched me like she did last year."

"What?" he asked. "Reese...why do you let her do these things to you? You have no problem sticking up for yourself with anyone else. Why let her get the best of you like this?"

"Because she constantly uses you as leverage," she said. "She keeps telling me that if I go against her, you'll hate me."

"Reese, I've known you for too long. Why would I ever think what she says is true?"

"Because she's manipulative," Reese said. "Remember last year when she bullied that ocelot out of school? She convinced the school board that he was dating his mom, and needed an intervention."

"Reese, you've known my family for years," Johnny said. "Trust me, I know a few tricks to tell if a person's lying. And I knew it wasn't you to told the school about my dad because you've known for years, and still never told anyone."

"So you're not mad?"

"Not at you," he said, caressing her face with his hand.

"Juste baiser déjà (Just kiss already)," a tiger said from the doorway.

"Well Leo, it's nice to see you back," she said, annoyed that the striped cat ruined her moment; because she honestly thought that Johnny was going to kiss her.

"Voici M. Moon (Is Mr. Moon here?)?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, he's upstairs," she said.

"Merci (Thanks)."

"Who was that?" Johnny asked once Leo was out of earshot.

"That was Leo, he's one of the contestants Charlotte scared off," Reese explained.

"Oh," Johnny said. "Does he speak English?"

"Very little. He can understand it perfectly, but he has a lot of trouble using it in his speech."

"Well, he'll get the hang of it eventually," he said, caressing her face again. "Now, where were we?"

Leaning in to kiss her, Johnny felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and saw Reese go ghost white.

"Is my dad right behind me?" he asked, seeing her nod before he turned and saw his dad standing over him; and he was not happy that he left the hospital.

"Hi dad..."

~Meanwhile~

Lance knew he shouldn't have let Astrid get behind the bar at the nightclub on account of her still being a minor. But he had to admit, business was booming, and she was raking in a lot of money.

Now if only he could convince her to let him have a shot.

"Lance, you're not twenty-one yet," she said, pouring some vodka into the glass she had set on the bar. "I can't serve you alcohol."

"Astrid, you're fifteen and working a bar when you shouldn't be. And I've had alcohol before, so either give me a shot, or I'm getting the manager."

"Fine," she said, getting a lemon. "I'll make you one in a minute."

"What are you making anyway?" he asked, seeing her cut the lemon in half, and squeeze the juice into the glass.

"Raspberry lemon drop shots," she said, pouring in some raspberry puree, and shaking the contents together before pouring the shots in one fell swoop; Lance taking one when she wasn't looking, and drinking it. And he had to admit, his sister did make good drinks.

"Hey!" the bartender yelled, making Astrid jump over the bar in an attempt to escape, and accidentally step on her brother in the groin region.

"Sorry Lance," she said, as he fell to the floor.

"Damn you, Astrid," he grimaced, holding his nuts.

"See Meena, I told you we'd find them here," Ash said, pushing her way through the crowd of animals that had gathered at the bar while Astrid was making the drinks. "Lance, why are you on the floor?"

"Chuck Norris caught me in the balls," he said.

"Just be happy it wasn't the face," Astrid said, getting up, and helping Lance to his feet. "What do you want Ash?"

"We need you guys back at the theatre," Ash said. "Like, now."

"And why would I do that?" Astrid asked. "I go back, Charlotte's just going to start shit again."

"Astrid, she's trying to put on her own show to compensate for kicking Leo out," Meena said.

"And that's my problem why?"

"She's going to ruin the show," Ash said.

"She did that the second she bullied Leo into forfeiting, and it is not my problem," Astrid said, counting the tips she had earned.

"Astrid."

"Ash, let me tell you something about people like Charlotte," she said, putting the money down and looking Ash in the eye. "They're manipulative liars who will do anything to come out on top, even to go so far as to make sure a few "accidents" happen. I go back now, she's just going to lie, she's going to hurt someone, and she's going to win; she doesn't care about Johnny at all. And Leo was just in it to prove he could be more than just a tiger working a donut shop; so he doesn't care either. And when Johnny finds out about this, he's just going to put himself right back at square one where he's in the hospital dying because his body was under too much stress. So why should I come back when two people don't care about Johnny, and Johnny's just going to find out anyway?"

"Because you're like him," she said, nodding at Lance, as Astrid got up. "You love to perform and hog the spotlight. That something we need."

"What part of Charlotte making sure "accidents" happen don't you understand?" she asked, tipping the deejay. "I'm not going back."

"Fine," Ash said. "Hey Lance, you-"

"Okay, I'll do it," she said. "I don't want him blasting out everyone's eardrums, and singing a song unrelated to trying to tell Johnny not to give up. But if I'm going to come back, it's going to cost you."

"How much?" she asked, as Barbie Girl started playing. "No!"

"Oh man, I cannot stand this song," Meena grumbled, covering her ears.

"Thanks for the ear-wig Astrid," Lance said, covering his ears before the song could get stuck in his head.

R&R