Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am

After explaining everything and washing up Ferin and Tash joined everyone else at the table for supper. However supper was cut short when Tash started complaining about having a hard time breathing and her throat and tongue being itchy. After a few minutes of just resting it only got worse. So Bam, Ape, Ferin, and Johnny rushed Tash to the hospital.

After a little while they let Ferin in to see her. Tash was as red as a lobster and swollen with blotchy patches all over her body. Ferin giggled as she sat down in a chair beside the bed.

"So you're allergic to shrimp huh?"

Tash groaned, "that's what they tell me."

Laughing softly Ferin reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone and did what any best friend would do. She took a picture to remind Tash of what she looked like later. And maybe turn a few into computer back drops and print some off for a laugh later.

She returned the phone to her purse, "so the doctor wants to keep you here over night just to be safe, and Johnny is going to stay with you."

"Oh lord," Tash huffed. "He's never going to let me live this down."

Ferin smiled, "do you want me to stay with you instead?"

Tash shook her head the best she could, and placed her hand on top of Ferin's. "No you go back with them, get some sleep, I'll be back tomorrow."

Ferin nodded and kissed Tash on the forehead before saying goodbye and getting up to leave. She passed Johnny in the doorway and said goodbye to him to.

"She gonna be alright?" Ape asked when Ferin got back to the waiting room.

"Yep," Ferin smiled and showed Ape the picture on her phone.

"I feel so bad," Ape sighed. "I shouldn't have put shrimp in the salad."

Ferin smiled, "nobody knew she was allergic to it Ape, you live, you learn."

Ape nodded, "well, Bam went to get the car, are you ready to go?"

Ferin nodded and walked with Ape out of the hospital and down to the parking garage. She was thankful when she was finally able to breathe fresh air. The smell of hospitals nearly made her sick. But she guessed that was from all the time she had to spend in one.

The sound of HIM's 'Buried Alive By Love' was becoming more apparent signaling that Bam was nearing them. When he pulled up beside them in the hummer, Ferin climbed into the back seat allowing Ape to have shot gun.

"She gonna be alright?" Bam asked, he was looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah," Ferin nodded as she looked out the window, the day had certainly become an eventful one.

"We're going to Duffers tonight are you coming with us?"

Ferin mulled the thought around in her mind, she could stay at the castle, be fairly bored and go to bed early, or she could go out with the guys....and Jenn.

"Yeah I guess I could go."

"Good," Bam smiled triumphantly, he was scared there for a moment that she wasn't going to go with them.

"What about Riley?" Ape glanced at Bam.

"He can stay with you and Phil."

"Bam that won't be much fun for him, he doesn't know us that well."

"I'll stay with Riley," Ferin piped up, she had forgotten about the poor boy. They could definitely find something to do together, that way she could relax, wind down and still go to bed at a decent time.

"I thought you were coming with us?" Bam protested.

Ferin shrugged, "I don't really feel like going out tonight, Riley and I can find something to do."

Bam pouted the rest of the way back to the house. He never said one word even inside. He explained to Tony that Ferin was going to stay with Riley then they all loaded up into the hummer and Jenn's car and left for Duffers, leaving Riley, Phil, Ape and Ferin sitting at the table.

"So he really got you arrested?" Riley grinned.

"Yes he did," Ferin smiled. "So now I have to think of something to get him back, as well as everyone else."

Riley glanced down at the floor then back up at her. "I could help you."

Ferin grinned, an ally was always welcome, "sounds good to me. How about you go get your coat and skateboard, we'll go to the store before it closes, get some ice cream, then we'll head off to the skate park to scheme?"

Riley nodded in agreement and headed off to find his coat and board.

"You guys leaving?" Ape asked as she returned from the pirate bar with tea for her and Phil.

"Yeah," Ferin pushed the chair back underneath the table. "Would I be able to borrow the PT loser? And I promise that I won't get pulled over," she grinned.

Ape laughed and got her the keys, "I trust you."

"So why didn't Ferin come?" Tony asked Bam from the passenger seat.

Dunn and Dico were sitting in the back seat of the hummer arguing over who had to buy the first round. Jess, Raab, and Rake were riding with Jenn.

"Said she didn't really wanna go out tonight, and that she would keep Riley company so that he wouldn't get bored."

Tony looked at Bam, "he would have been fine," he looked Bam over. "You're really bummed aren't you?"

It was quiet for a few moments. Their conversation seemed to have attracted Dunn and DiCo as well.

"That girl is just....I don't know....I guess irresistible would be the word. She just gives off this, 'you need to be around me' aura."

Dunn, Tony and DiCo all laughed. They'd never really seen Bam this confused about a girl before. Bam had never really been in a situation where he had to chase the girl, they had always flocked to him. He was use to getting what he wanted, and this was clearly getting to him.

"So what's wrong with Jenn?" Tony asked.

Bam shook his head, "nothing, she's great. Deep down she really is. But what if what I think is great, really isn't as great as something greater. Like Ferin?"

Tony looked totally confused.

"He just used the word 'great' four times in one sentence," DiCo giggled.

Dunn laughed, "do you realize what you just said?"

"Yeah," Bam glanced at him over his shoulder quickly. "I just couldn't think of a better way to word it."

And he really couldn't. He'd always thought of Jenn as the one for him. They had alot in common, and they'd known each other for a very long time. He thought he was in love, but now he wasn't so sure. Hell, he didn't even know what love was anymore or if he had ever actually been in love. It seemed to be a word everyone just threw around now-a-days. He was now beginning to believe that the word 'love' was simply used to provide a false sense of security, and that scared the hell out of him. Maybe Jenn didn't really love him either. He hadn't been this confused since school, when Raab cheated off of him on an exam and Raab ended up with the higher score. Sighing he glanced out the window, maybe everyone in a relationship was living a lie.

Ferin and Riley drove to the grocery store and made it just in time. They were minutes away from hanging the 'closed' sign in the window. Hurrying to the frozen section, they finally both agreed on Rolo Ice Cream and on their way to the till they grabbed a package of plastic spoons. Ferin paid for everything then they walked back to the car in the nearly deserted parking lot then headed off to the skate park.

Leaving the bag in the car, Ferin grabbed two spoons and the carton of ice cream while Riley grabbed his board and helmet.

"So what do you want to do to Bam?" Riley asked as they picked a cement bench under one of the many street lights that kept the skate park bright even on the darkest of nights, and tonight was no exception. It was pitch black out.

They sat down cross legged on the bench facing each other with the ice cream between them.

Ferin smiled, "something really good."

Riley nodded his head then took another bite of ice cream.

"So do you skate alot?"

Riley nodded then swallowed, "I try to. Dad helps me out alot."

She wondered what it would be like for Tony if he'd had a son that didn't want anything to do with skateboarding.

"Do your brothers skate?"

"Sometimes."

After a few minutes he set his spoon aside and reached for his skateboard. "I might think better when I skate."

Ferin laughed as she watched him drop into one of the bowls. She did the top of the carton of ice cream up then placed both of their spoons on top. She turned sideways so she could watch him. He was damn good. He stopped suddenly and stared at her as his board continued rolling.

"What if you take away all of Bam's skateboards so he can't skate?"

Ferin nodded, that was a start but she needed something bigger. If only she knew Ashton Kutcher she laughed to herself, she'd definitely give him a call.

"Do you skateboard?" Riley asked as he wall rode by.

Ferin laughed at the mere thought of even trying to skate. She'd either land flat on her face, or flat on her ass, neither of which sounded appealing.

"No," she admitted. "I wouldn't be any good at it."

Riley stopped near her and kicked his board up. "You never know until you try."

Ferin guessed that was something Tony had probably said to him. Though he did have a point, but she wasn't going to start tonight. Riley ran past her towards a higher part of the park and dropped in again. A few minutes later a couple of kids who looked to be about Riley's age showed up, boards in hand, and before long they were all skating together.

Ferin took the ice cream back to the PT Loser and placed it back in the bag so that it didn't melt and leak all over Ape's floor. She then returned to the cement bench and laid down on it, listening to the monotonous but soothing hum of skateboard wheels against the cement as she looked up at the sky and the stars. Blinking a few minutes later she sat up and decided to call Tyson while she had a few minutes before she fell asleep right there on the bench.

She tried his house but no one answered, so she tried his cell, he answered after a few rings.

"Hey you," Ferin said sweetly, in hopes that would sway his anger a little. She knew he'd be upset for her not calling earlier.

"Hey," he replied rather laxly, there was alot of noise in the background.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"I'm at the bar, where do you think I am?"

Ferin was taken aback by his reaction. "Jesus Tyson, I don't know that's why I asked you."

"Ferin?"

"Yeah, who did you think I was?"

"Sorry about that, I thought you were Ava."

Ahhhh, that explained everything. Tyson and his girlfriend were on bad terms before Ferin had even left for Pennsylvania. Apparently things hadn't gotten any better.

"No I'm not Ava, I just thought I'd phone you and tell that I am alive and doing fine."

"About friggen time," Tyson mumbled. "Are you behaving yourself?"

Ferin laughed, "don't I always?"

"That's not what I hear."

She froze, "what did you hear?"

"That you got in trouble."

"It wasn't for real though, it was a joke...how the hell did you find out?"

He laughed, "I didn't, I don't know anything, but now that you've brought it up you might as well share."

Oh he was lucky that he wasn't sitting beside her because she would have decked him. She should have known better. Now how do you go about telling your family about your little prank war with Bam.

"Ferin?"

"Yeah, well....Bam and I had this little prank war going on, anyway he made me swim down the river so I stole his hummer then I got arrested but it was all just a big joke, no harm no foul," she said it as quickly as possible hoping he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"You stole a hummer and got arrested?" he repeated slowly.

Great, he'd completely skipped the part about her having to swim down the river, apparently that didn't matter.

"Yeah," she said finally as she watched Riley grind across a railing.

"I knew you shouldn't have went," he stated. Ferin knew he was no longer in his drinking happy go lucky mood.

"Tyson everything is fine, I promise. I'm actually having fun.....Now I phoned to see how you were doing, are you riding this weekend?"

There was a pause and Ferin could hear Tyson talking to someone in the background. "Dusty says hi...But yeah I am riding this weekend."

Ferin smiled. Dusty was basically part of their family. From the age of eight until twenty he had lived with them when his parents moved away and he didn't want to. At 20 he and both of her brothers had went off to college and now Dusty and Tyson traveled the rodeo circuit together.

"Tell him hi and give him a hug for me," Ferin laughed.

"What the hell, I'm not hugging him," Tyson stated before relaying her message to Dusty.

"So you're riding with a broken hand?"

"Yeah I drew a gnarly bull too, but that's okay, if I can ride him, he's a money maker," he paused for a moment. "Wait a minute, how did you know I hurt my hand?"

"I talked to Trace," she mumbled as she readjusted her cell against her ear.

"Oh I see, my twin is clearly more important, you phone him first."

Ferin rolled her eyes as if he could see, "oh grow up."

Tyson laughed, "so when are you coming home?"

The million dollar question.

"I don't know," Ferin stated as Riley sat down on the bench beside her. "Hopefully soon, but I gotta go Tyson."

"All right, I'll call you after my ride this weekend and tell you how I did."

"Sounds good, be careful...love ya."

"Love you to."

She flipped her cell shut and glanced at Riley, "tired?"

He nodded then laughed, "and I still don't have any more ideas on how to get Bam back."

She smiled, "no worries, lets go back to the house."