Power to the Players

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created originally by MonkeyxMonkey and are copyrighted to him/her, any reposting or archiving without written permission is an infringement on the copyright of this series. So in other words You damn well better ask before you steal it.

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Summary: In the ALL NEW 20th episode of 'Power to the Players' (3rd Season Premiere), Natalie consoles a heartbroken, and over emotional Jessie, as the girl becomes convinced that Lee will hate her forever thanks to her pregnancy. Meanwhile, Beck finds out where Lee stands on the whole situation. Also, with Melody's latest phone call comes news of her new love interest, Charlie, the Charlie that was previously involved with Alexis. An Ocean City trip awaits.

Original Airdate: Monday, June 23rd, 2014 @ 9:30 p.m.

Story Codes: no sex

I covered Natalie's eye as we slowly walked into the front yard. She laughed when I tripped slightly but she quickly held me back up.

"What are you trying to show me?" she asked, trudging through the snow. "Shhhh! It's a surprise," I whispered in her ear. I haven't told Natalie about my brand new car. It had been sitting in the garage for a bit and I wanted her to be the first one to go riding in it with me.

"You remember when I got in that car accident right?" I asked softly. "I wish I could forget" she replied just as soft. I tightened my grip on her and she held on to my hand.

"Well I promise you I won't crash this one". I moved my hands and she gasped. "Your car! Beck, did they get it fixed?" she asked, turning around to look at me. I shook my head proudly and smiled at her.

"Nope! It's brand new. I wanted you to see it because…" "Because you wanted to show it off right?" she asked, smirking at me. "Well kind of but mostly because I want you to be the first one I ride with" I replied, wrapping my arms around her waist.

She leaned her head against my shoulder and I lost my balance, causing us both to fall in the snow. She screamed and I laughed when the coldness hit us. "You did that on purpose!" she exclaimed, rubbing the snow against my face. I moved away from her and quickly stood up when she chased after me.

"If I remember, you said we were to old for this" she teased before tackling me. I laughed and flipped us over so that I was on top of her. "You've changed that I guess. But I really should get up. We've got a lot to do and Lee called me a few minutes ago, said it was important," I groaned, sitting up.

"How important?" she asked, arching her eyebrows at me. I gave her a look and she sighed, biting down on her lower lip and playing with her piercing. "He knows?" she asked. I just nodded and slowly stood up.

"I have to go see him but I will be back," I said. "I know. I'm gonna go see Jessie and make sure she hasn't gone crazy yet". I nodded and leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

"I'll see you soon" I said, running towards my car. Natalie waved me off and I smiled before driving toward my best friend's house.

* * < * > * Lee's Home * < * > * *

Before I even pulled up to the curb, I knew something was wrong. First, Lee was pacing back and forth in front of his house. Second, he was screaming at the top of his lungs every few minutes and third, he kept punching and kicking at the air like there was really someone in front of him.

I put my car in park and turned off my engine, jumping out the car and running towards Lee like it was on fire.

"Lee!" I yelled. He turned around to look at me and I saw it. Utter despair, hurt, disappointment, all of it was displayed on his face and I fell into his arms, hugging him.

"I'm sorry Lee," I whispered, holding him. Lee went rigid for a second before hugging me like there was no tomorrow.

"I'm so mad at her Beck. I'm so fucking mad…I just love her so much" he growled, wiping at the few tears that fell. I just listened to him rant and afterwards, we slowly walked into his house.

"…I want to be there for her," he mumbled. I glanced over at him as my eyes widened. "What?" I asked.

"Fuck Chase. If he doesn't want to take care of his baby then…I'll step up to the plate," he replied, standing up straight. I smiled and stood up next to him.

"Seriously?" I said, smirking at his behavior. "Of course…and to be honest, I had noticed a slight weight gain but I didn't wanna say anything" he said, smirking back at me.

I laughed and leaned back against his bed. "I'll take her back, you know. I'd take her back in a second" he sighed happily. I smiled and watched a huge grin come over Lee's face.

"I'm glad to have you back Lee. I've missed you these last few months," I said. "Me too, Beckley. Me too" he chuckled, staring at his picture of Jessie.

I laughed and smiled at the familiar face of someone that I hadn't seen in so long. I had almost forgotten that he even knew how to smile.

* * < * > * Jessie's House * < * > * *

"He hates me!"

"Jessie, he does not hate you"

"You didn't hear him on the phone with me. He hates me. I'm sure of it. I should have never slept with Chase!"

"Yes, that is true but Lee doesn't hate you Jessie. He loves you more than anything. You know that"

"You're not helping Hope. I can't fit into anything anymore. I'm a cow"

"You're not a cow. You're just mopey and moody and you're not supposed to fit anything anymore, you're gaining weight!"

Hope gave up on her friend and collapsed against Jessie's bed, pushing her clothes on the floor.

"Are you going to tell your parents, Jess?" she asked. "Some time soon. I promise. I told Lee so it shouldn't be so hard telling them, right?" she replied nervously.

Hope smiled sheepishly and laid her head down again. "Hey…" The two girls looked towards the door and saw Natalie leaning against the frame.

"Natalie! What did you do to your hair?" Jessie exclaimed. Sure enough, Natalie's hair was now dark red with some traces of black around the edges. She was wearing gray skinny jeans and a plain black sweater.

"I like it. You kind of look like the chick from 'Paramore' now" Hope said smirking. Natalie chuckled and glanced over at Jessie.

"Awww. Come here" she said, opening her arms to a pouting Jessie. She walked over toward her and held her tight. "Lee hates me," she sobbed. Hope sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Here we go again," she said bluntly. "He does not. Beck seems to think that Lee loves you very much" Natalie said softly. Jessie looked up at her with glassy eyes and sniffled.

"Really?" she asked, like a small child. Natalie just smiled and nodded. Jessie chuckled and she arched her eyebrows at her.

"What's so funny?" she asked. "Your hair! Has Beck seen you yet?" she asked. Natalie shook her head. "I dyed it before I came here. Does it really look that bad?" she asked, rushing towards a mirror.

"No. It looks nice Nat. Don't worry about what Jessie says. We all know how emotional she is right now. She's just gonna get worse as the months go by" Hope teased, poking her friend's leg.

Jessie swatted at her hand and Hope laughed. "I bet you it's a boy," she said, lying her hand on Jessie's stomach. Jessie shook her head. "It's a girl. I'm positive," she said, putting her hand next to Hope's.

"What makes you think so?" Natalie asked, walking over and sitting on the bed as well. Jessie just shrugged. "I just feel like it's going to be a girl" she replied. "Beck thinks it's gonna be a girl too but I agree with Hope. I think it'll be a boy," Natalie said, leaning back on the bed.

"It seems like our biggest worry was who was going to be with Beck…now things are different. Really different" Hope said sighing. Natalie nodded and stared at the ceiling.

"Beck, Alex, and I are going to Ocean City on Sunday. Do you guys want to come with?" she asked, glancing at them for her peripheral vision.

"I wish I could but Sunday is the day I plan on finally telling my parents" Jessie replied. "Yeah, and I have a date with Mark…who I will have to tell Jessie's pregnant" she said, looking at Jessie to make sure that she was alright with Mark knowing.

She waved her off and went back to her closet; fussing about what clothes she couldn't fit into anymore. Natalie looked back at the ceiling and sighed happily, thinking about how much she had overcome with Beck.

"It's gonna be a boy" she said outloud. "Nuh uh!" Jessie shot back without missing a beat. Hope and Natalie burst out laughing before getting up and helping Jessie find something to wear.

* * < * > * Beck's House * < * > * *

I walked upstairs towards my room and was half expecting to find my parents or Brandon but to my surprise, they had gone out to the market to get some food for dinner. I wondered if they took Alexis with them so I headed towards the guest room and was surprised to see her lying on the bed, the blankets pulled up close around her.

I smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking my hand over her hair. Her glasses were sitting next to her and she seemed to be having a nightmare. As much as Alexis annoyed the living hell out of me, she was my cousin, and I loved her with all the love a family member could.

I pressed my lips against her cheek and sighed. "I'm sorry you have to go through this Lexi" I whispered. She tugged at my arm in her sleep before mumbling a meek, "Beck". I smiled and got up off of the bed, slowly closing the door as I walked out of her room.

I went into the game room and clicked on my X-Box 360. Playing a few games of Modern Warfare and Halo 3. I got bored soon after and picked up a magazine for 'Playstation'. I had already ordered Call of Duty: Black Ops and the new Halo: Reach and was determined to play them both as soon as I got them.

I laughed to myself when I thought of Natalie's reply to what I was just thinking. "You're such a nerd, Beck," I said, trying to mimic her voice. My phone went off in my pocket and I quickly flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Beck! I need to talk to you!"

"…Melody??!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry to just call you so randomly but…I have to ask you something"

"Uh…sure. Go ahead"

"…Did you ever really…love me?"

"Of course I did! I still do. I just realized that maybe the love you had for me was meant for someone else"

"And the love you had for me was…meant for someone else"

"Yes. Melody, don't think that the reason I broke up with you was because I loved Natalie. That only had a part to do with it. I broke up with you for my own reasons"

"I know. I just wanted to try and understand why and get some type of…closure between us. I'm sure Natalie wouldn't mind that"

"Not everything I do has to do with Natalie, Mel. I wanna try and be friends with you"

"…So do I, Beck. And you were right. Sasha and Mary really weren't who I thought they were"

"Yeah they weren't. So what are you doing?"

"I'm in Ocean City right now with my family. It's kind of cold down here but the waves are still nice. I'm coming back tomorrow"

"Really? I'm actually going down there this Sunday to see an old friend"

"I didn't know you knew someone down here. I actually met a few cool people down here while I was visiting"

"Ha. Cool people? Do these people have names?"

"Yeah. There's this boy named Dylan…"

"Dylan huh? I could have sworn you were…"

"Bi? Yes I am"

"I wasn't gonna really say that but alright. So you're interested in Dylan?"

"No, actually I'm interested in his sister but…she's so…I can't even explain her"

"So we're back at that gay thing now?"

"Hahahaha. Shut up and I'm very interested"

"What's her name?"

"Danielle, but she likes being called Charlie".

I dropped my cell phone on the ground as my eyes widened. "C-C-Charlie??!" I exclaimed.

"Beck? Beck? Beck, are you there? What's wrong? Beck!"

- - - - - - -

I could hear the sound of Melody's voice coming from my phone but I was in too much shock to actually pick it up and hang up on her.

Melody was interested in Charlie? Melody knew Charlie? The fact that these two elements came together at this particular time…complicated things.

Did Charlie like Melody back? Had she forgotten about Alexis? When we go to Ocean City, will she even care that she's there? I shook my head and quickly leaned down to pick up my cell.

"Are you still there? Hello…."

"Yeah, I'm back. Sorry about that. Are you sure her name was Danielle Charles?"

"Yeah, I'm postive. Beck, what's wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all. I was just wondering if she was another girl that I knew. Her nickname is Charlie too but her name is Danielle Charles…ton. Danielle Charleston!"

"Danielle…Charleston?"

"Yeah, we go way back and I'm going down to visit her. Danielle Charleston. And not Charlie. Danielle Charles"

I slapped myself when that lie left my lips. I was never good at lying, I was going to have to ask Natalie to give me some tips.

"I'm not even going to try and understand what lie you're telling me but I hope you have a nice time in Ocean City, Beck" Melody replied bluntly.

"Shit!" I mumbled. I almost forgot that she could always tell when I was lying too.

I hung up the phone and quickly ran upstairs, grabbing my snow boots and coat before trudging out the front door.

I had to let Natalie in on this. There was no way we were going to Ocean City if Charlie had moved on to Melody. I couldn't let my cousin get her heartbroken.

I saw some girl with red hair in Natalie's front yard shoveling snow and I arched my eyebrows at her before knocking on their door.

"Natalie! Natalie, open up! I gotta tell you something really important!" I yelled, hopping from foot to foot in anticipation and from the cold.

"Beck, I'm right here".

I swirled around so fast that I almost fell. Wait? Red haired girl was Natalie?

"Natalie? What you do to your hair?" I asked, walking towards her.

"I dyed it. What's wrong?" she asked, shrugging. "Why'd you dye it?" I continued, wondering why her hair was now dark red.

"Cause I wanted a change. What's wrong?" she asked again. "A change in style or a change of color?"

"Color. What's wrong?" she replied, getting a bit annoyed now. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"You don't like it?" she asked, glaring at me. I shook my head nervously and ran my hand over my neck.

"No! No…I mean, yes! Of course I like it Natalie, it's on you" I replied, laughing so she wouldn't attack me.

She stared at me for a bit before smiling and walking over to kiss me. I smiled back and wrapped my arms around her neck.

"Now, what's wrong?" she asked for like, the 4th time. "Oh! Melody just called me and guess who she ran into while she was in Ocean City?" I exclaimed.

"Wait. Melody called you?" she asked, pulling away a bit. "Yeah, but just to get closure. I kind of ended things on a sour note and if we were in different places, I would do the same thing. You have to remember, we were still good friends before we dated and I wanna be friends after we date too" I replied softly.

She smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "Good cover" she whispered. "Thanks. I was thinking about it on the way here" I said laughing. She slapped my arm and I pulled away from her.

"Jerk" she mumbled, sticking her tongue out at me. I laughed again and she started to laugh a bit with me.

"No, but really. Melody was in Ocean City and she met Charlie! Alexis's Charlie!" I said.

"I'm sorry. I still don't see what the problem is," she said in slight confusion. "She's interested," I stated, staring right at her.

Natalie's eyes widened and I just nodded my head. "Oh, now I see what the problem is. Did you tell Alex?" she asked. I shook my head and sighed.

"I don't think I should. I mean, she's been pretty upset about it lately and I kind of blame myself. I think I opened up some old wounds and I feel like I should help her gain some closure with Charlie the right way. Plus, she would be destroyed if she found out Charlie wasn't interested in her anymore" I replied.

"But don't you think she'd be even more upset if we went down there and Charlie didn't even want to see her? I mean, the way you explained it to me, I wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to see Alexis at all" Natalie said.

I just shrugged my shoulders and rubbed my hands together to gain some heat. She saw the way I looked and smirked.

"Do you want to go inside?" she asked, putting down her shovel. I just nodded and ran towards her steps. She laughed and quickly opened the door for me.

As soon as I felt the heat in her house, I smiled. "I hate the cold. I'm a summer baby, you know," I said, pulling off my jacket and boots.

"I love it" Natalie teased, taking off her jacket as well. "That's because you were born in January," I teased back.

"And you were born in August" she said, smirking at me. "I can't believe you're 7 months older than me. Although, I'm taller so I guess that makes us even".

She slapped my arm again and I laughed when she pretended to storm off. I followed her to the living room and smiled when I saw Kylie watching TV.

"Hey Kylie. How come you're not hanging out with Brandon?" I asked, sitting down on the couch next to her.

Natalie sighed as Kylie frowned before saying, "Because he's playing with Heather!"

I arched my eyebrows at the Hudson sisters and Natalie decided to fill me in. "Heather? Heather Marie Davids? She lives across from you? Beck, you really need to start spending time outdoors," she said, lying down on the couch with her head in my lap.

"Who needs the outdoors when you have X-Box?" I scoffed, like my reasoning was better than hers. Natalie just laughed and started to play with my fingers.

"So Brandon is somewhere with this Heather girl?" I asked Kylie. She nodded and changed the channel again.

"How old is Heather?" I asked, looking down at Natalie. "About 12 years old" she replied. "So Brandon is going after an older girl? I didn't know he was that smooth" I said, nodding my head.

Kylie just frowned some more and I swear her lip was touching her chin. "He's being a….a…idiot!" she yelled. Natalie and I both watched her outburst and I smiled.

"Kylie, do you like Brandon?" I asked, smirking at her. Her face turned bright red and she quickly shook her head. "No! He's an idiot and he's so selfish. I can't believe he would rather play with Heather than me" she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Kylie, if you like Brandon you can say it. There's no reason to act shy," Natalie said softly. Kylie just shook her head again which made me laugh.

"I can say it. I like Natalie. See? Nothing wrong there" I added on. "And I can say I like Beck" Natalie replied.

"Well…I…I think I like Brandon but I shouldn't. He's my friend and friends don't like other friends" Kylie said, getting up from the couch and standing in front of us.

"Says who? Friends can like other friends. There's no law against friends liking other friends. As a matter of fact, people can actually marry their other friends" I stated. Kylie gasped and Natalie laughed at how I explained it.

"See Kylie? If you like Brandon, you like Brandon. And I know it takes boys longer to mature than girls, but I'm sure if you wait a while, Brandon will say he likes you too" Natalie said smiling.

Kylie smiled back and then glanced outside, watching Brandon pull Heather around on her sled. She frowned again and stormed off upstairs.

"He's such an…UGH!" she screamed, slapping her door. I glanced down at Natalie and watched as she did the same.

"Your sister and my brother…who would have guessed?"

* * < * > * Lee's House * < * > * *

Lee paced back and forth as he thought about his options.

One: He could abandon Jessie in her time of need as revenge for sleeping with Chase.

Two: He could help Jessie with the baby despite the fact that the baby wasn't his.

Three: He could help Jessie wit the baby and try to get back together with her.

Four: He could tell his parents the baby was his even though he would be lying.

Five: He could go to jail for killing Chase.

Five and Three were starting to look pretty good. Lee didn't know completely what he was going to do. He had told Beck that he was going to be there for Jessie and the baby and he meant every word of it…but how would his parents react? How would the school act? How would he feel knowing that when he held this child in his arms that it would never really be…his?

Lee growled and picked up his keys. Fuck the future. Fuck everyone else. Fuck what his mind was telling him to do.

He was going to do the right thing and right now, the right thing was to be with Jessie.

He opened his car door and drove to his ex-girlfriend's house. It was almost a sobering feeling. Driving the familiar path that he hadn't taken since the two split up.

It felt good to actually be able to drive to Jessie's house again; to know that she actually wanted to see him and that no matter what happened next, they would be together.

Just as Lee reached the curb, he saw Jessie's belongings being thrown out of the window along with a suitcase. The girl was being pulled out of her house by her step-father as her mother pleaded with him to stop.

Lee snarled and put the car in park, jumping out the side door and running towards the house.

"Please Patrick! Please don't do this to me! I have nowhere else to go!" Jessie screamed, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I expected better from you Jessie! And you thought I wouldn't find out. Look at you! You're 3 sizes larger! Why don't you go stay with the kid you got pregnant with huh? Why don't you go do that?" he yelled, his veins practically popping out of his neck.

"Patrick, don't do this! She's still my daughter. I won't let you!" her mother screamed. "This is my house Janet! I've worked too hard to have everything thrown away because of her. I am not going to let some 'pregnant teen' ruin our happy home. Leave. And I'm not saying it twice". Patrick walked back into his house, pulling Janet with him, and slammed the door.

Jessie almost fell to the ground but she felt warm arms wrap themselves around her and she sobbed before letting herself fall against him in the snow.

"It's alright. I've got you" Lee whispered, pushing her hair out of her face. He carefully picked her up and walked around to his car, putting her in the passenger side and buckling her in.

He walked back to her front yard and picked up the suitcase and the rest of her belongings, wiping the snow off of them and putting them in his trunk.

He got back inside the car and looked over at her. "I was…going to tell them on…Sunday. He just…walked inside my room without knocking and…I was putting on a sweater…and he saw. He saw everything. I couldn't hide it anymore. I just…didn't know he was going to react that way," she sobbed, talking between each gasp of air she would take in.

Lee took her hand and kissed the top of it. "I'm here for you Jessie. I promised I would be. Patrick's a prick and I know you're mom won't stand for this either. Do you want to stay with Natalie until this whole thing blows over? Or do you want to go to Hope's house?" he asked softly.

Jessie shook her head and looked at him with her beautiful grin.

"I want to be with you" she replied, just as soft. "Alright you can stay with me" he said, putting his car in reverse. "No!" she yelled, putting her hand over his. Lee looked down at their hands and then at her.

"I know you're sorry…and I forgive you…could you ever forgive me?" she asked, tears once again welling up. Lee smiled and leaned over to kiss her, cupping her face and his as she pulled at his shirt.

It had been a long couple of months for the both of them and they knew what they needed. Each other.

Jessie leaned her head against his shoulder as he brushed the hair back from her head. "I already have. I love you Jessie. So much" he whispered.

Jessie pulled him closer and they stayed like that for a while until Lee slowly moved away and grabbed her hand. He put the car back in reverse and pulled out her driveway.

For once, his mind was blank. He wasn't thinking about the future. He wasn't thinking about the baby. He wasn't thinking about his parents, or Rachael, or what anyone else would say. Because nothing else was as important…as right now.