Chapter 23: Hot Atmosphere!

(A/N: Sup. Miss me?)

Abby and I stared into each other's eyes, our bodies unmoving. 

"So. What's happening here? Are we falling in love with each other?" I teased with a smile as I saw Abby's face beginning to blush. Unexpectedly, she didn't try to move away nor did she try to break eye contact. 

"You know you had been so weird today?" Abby asked.

"How so?" 

"More...calm. More mature. It's as if I hadn't gone for 10 days, but instead 10 years." 

Abby paused while still staring at me, her face was determined to get the answer. My bright smile turned into an awkward smile as I understood what she was talking about. Even though I retained a lot of the Newgate's characteristics, I was not him entirely. 

"So. What happened to you?" Abby asked. 

"It's because I now understand what I didn't before." I replied.  

"Explain. Or I won't let you go." Abby said, locking her legs now with my legs as she thought I would be uncomfortable with this – as the previous Newgate was uncomfortable when she tried to hug him or get closer to him. 

The teen me did have a major crush on the goth girl – it was weird how she never understood that. 

"That puts me in a hard spot." I said. Abby smirked and thought that I would tell her everything next. 

"If you're thinking, 'I've won this round.' That's just naive thinking. You threatened me with this…" I said, referring to her thigh sliding up my legs. "...And didn't even notice that I don't have anything to lose here. In fact, I'm enjoying this." 

"Ugh!" Abby groaned and tried to let go, causing her to fall sideways to the bed while still close to me. Her face turned away as she tried to get up. However, I placed my hand on her chin and gently, yet forcefully turned her face back towards me. 

"W-What?" Abby asked, her heart palpitated quickly as she didn't expect me to do anything. 

"I got to say, you're really beautiful Abby." I complimented honestly while I slid her hair back against her ears to see her face better. Abby's eyes move toward my lips, and she inches closer and closer. 

"No! You're 14!" Abby suddenly pushed me away, causing me to fall from the bed. 

"Oww!" I winced in pain, but I was still laughing from her beet red face. She was mad and she threw a soft pillow at my face. 

After calming down the angry goth girl with some promise of my very own strawberry shortcake to be given to her tomorrow, I taught her some of the programs I had used in my website creation and to create the program that synchronized both the website and the office system. 

Although she barely got 10% of the matter, her eyes showed glimmering interest and undying resolution to learn more about software development.

"Abby please, it's almost 10. I need to go home." I said in frustration as the goth girl was hugging me from the back, not wanting to end the session early. 

"Just a bit more…Just a bit more…" Abby begged with teary eyes as I wanted to say goodbye. I taught her to make her own 8-bit game, which she was almost completing the first step. 

"Okay. But I'll type. You're too slow." I said as I took her laptop from her. 

-3rd Person POV-

As Desiree was going to open the door, she heard the voice coming from inside the room. 

"Wow. You're really good." Abby said while panting her breath. 

"Abby, are you done yet?" Edward asked with a desperate tone.

"Just a bit more. Faster…Bigger… Harder!" Abby exclaimed in excitement. 

Desiree quickly turned backward and decided not to interfere…not until her daughter had 'finished'.

 Desiree muttered to herself, "I sure hope they are using protection."

-Edward POV-

"Okay. I'm done." I said as I showed her the primitive era game that she had made by herself. It was just a walking skeleton that carried a club with him. It walked on an empty field for 20 seconds, and then the game ended. 

However, that short bit had made the young girl so excited. She hugged me sideways and kissed my cheeks repeatedly as she thanked me. 

"I had always been looking for ways to do this, but I never got the chance." Abby said. 

"Okay. Stop. I need to go home now." I said with a flat tone, already regretting my decision to teach the girl to code. 

Desiree suddenly knocked on the door as Abby was hugging me. She looked at me with some indecipherable glint in her eyes which weirded me out. 

"Next, we're going to try some leather equipment and make sure it lasts more than 20 seconds." Abby said excitedly to me, which caused Desiree to freeze in her spot.

"Okay. Whatever you want. Just let me go now." I said. Abby finally lets me go after she made me promise to hang out with her tomorrow.

-3rd Person POV-

As Edward said goodbye and walked to his house, Desiree turned to Abby and asked, "Are you having se-…No… Are you using protection? You did…right?" She asked. 

"Hmm? No. Not yet. We didn't have time yet to use protection." Abby replied as her mind was thinking about the game character's defense. 

Desiree became ashen, "Why don't you? Do you know how dangerous it was? Where did he 'finish'?"

Abby was confused by her mother's question. "Inside my -" She wanted to say laptop, but Desiree stopped her as she couldn't bear to hear another word. 

Desiree holds Abby's shoulder with both hands. "Abby. LISTEN TO ME! I know that he is your first boyfriend, but always use protection!"

"Mom….what?" Abby muttered. 

"We will get you to the pharmacy to get you some pills if he 'did it' inside you. Come with me! We will get you some birth control along the way."

Abby was confused at first, and then her face turned red, and she couldn't believe what her mother just said. 

"There are a few other ways to finish. Don't let him shoot inside of you. Make him pull out-" Desiree continued. 

"We didn't HAVE SEX!" Abby shouted in a weird high pitch voice to stop her mother from spiraling, causing Edward who's still nearby to hear an echo. 

-Edward POV-

"Hmm? What was that?" I muttered as I turned around to look for the source of the echo. I gave up after not finding anything and walked toward my house. 

My dad's car was already parked, so I knew he had gotten home. Ted was sitting on the sofa and watching a show on Tv with a can of beer in his hand. 

"That's pretty late. What are you doing?" Ted asked as I entered the house. I took off my slingshot bag and placed it on the sofa.

"I was teaching a girl how to create her own game. Anyway dad, didn't you meet with Claire today? How did that go?" I asked as I sat down on the sofa.  

"She said to give her one or two days to think. Although I think she was great at the interview, she was also…."

"A bit weird?" I finished Ted's sentence for him. 

"Your words. Not mine." Ted said. "But yeah."

I smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if she's a bit weird. She has this desperate need to prove herself and the skills to achieve it. Although I'm starting her part-time, she will be able to move up the corporate ladder in no time." 

"Corporate?" Tim asked in confusion. He thought that I was speaking metaphorically, but I actually had a long term plan for the company. 

"Anyway. Give her some time. She is worth it." I said. 

Tim was silent as he stared at me. Then, he broke into a smile. 

"You trust her that much?" He asked. 

"Yup." I said casually. Before Tim could ask further, we heard someone knocking on the front door. 

"LAPD!" The voice shouted from outside of the house. 

Tim and I looked at each other, and we walked to the front door. A tall, African-american cop with short hair and a flashlight in his hand had waited for us to answer the door. 

"Hello Ted." The cop said. 

"Buddy, why are you here?" Ted asked in confusion. "Did one of the guys get drunk again?" 

I would advise Ted to not call a cop buddy, but in this case, the cop's name was actually Buddy. He was also a familiar face that I had seen before in the series, therefore I was wondering why he was here. 

"I actually came here for your son." Buddy said and turned toward me. "Where were you around 6 in the evening?" 

Ted interjected with a solemn tone and moved forward to protect me, "Are you questioning my son? What is it for?"

"Ted, it's just a procedure. I need to ask." Buddy said with a wry smile.

"I was having dinner with the neighbors in 314. You can ask them if you want. They can vouch for me." I replied easily, and then I got curious. " Why? What happened?"

Buddy sighed in relief and said, "Well. Someone burned down a high schooler's car. I heard rumors that he had fought with you yesterday from my son, so I had to ask."

"Fought with? Brian's car or Dylan's?" I asked. Brian also had a car so I need to ask.

"It belonged to Dylan Marshall. It caught fire while he was buying some food, and we found traces of arson. Someone used gasoline to burn down the car."  Buddy explained. 

"Is he injured?" I asked in concern.

Buddy controlled his laughter and said, "His… eyebrows are gone." 

'What kind of bad luck do you have Dylan?' I thought. 

"Any CCTV footage or any witnesses on who did it?"

"No. The place is quite deserted, so we didn't find any suspects other than a witness's ambiguous statement." Buddy said and explained no further. He was only answering my initial questions because of his friendship with my dad. 

They had met a few times at the pier as there was a lot of trouble there, especially in the night. They were also drinking buddies at some times. 

"Okay. I also need to go question one Haley Dunphy even though that Dylan kid swore she would never do something like this. Thank you for your cooperation, Ted, Edward."

Buddy thanked us with a nod and he walked back to his police car. I texted Haley about the matter to inform her about the police coming for her, but she wasn't replying. So I tried Alex next. She also wasn't replying, so I called Phil. 

-3rd Person POV-

Dunphy's house. 

Inside the master bedroom, Claire and Phil were kissing each other goodnight before they turned off the light. The moment Claire turned off the light, her husband's phone rang. 

"Who is calling in the middle of the night?" Claire asked as Phil reached for his phone in the night stand. 

"I don't know. Wait- It's Eddy! Hello E-Money!" Phil answered the phone cheerily after he saw the caller id.

"Hello Vitamin P. Is Haley there? Can I speak to her? It's urgent." Edward said hurriedly from the other side.

"Why is he calling?" Claire asked. 

"I don't know, he wants to speak to Haley. It's urgent." Phil whispered. Claire snatched the call from Phil and talked to Edward herself. 

"Hi Ed, what is so urgent?" Claire asked. She was a bit dissatisfied that Edward was calling them to connect to Haley, but she still needed to know the situation so she let him speak first. 

"In a few minutes, a cop is going to your house to question Haley about a few things. Is she home yet? I've been texting her, but she didn't reply." Edward said from the other line. 

Claire quickly becomes restless and gets up from the bed. "Why are the cops coming here? What did Haley do?!" Claire ran toward Haley's room without taking a second to wear her slippers properly. 

"Wait? Cops? HALEY!?" Phil's smile disappeared and his face turned solemn. He ran to follow Claire from behind, almost slipping on the floor because he was at his highest speed.

Claire barged into Haley's room, causing both Haley and Alex to scream in surprise. Alex was studying at her desk while Haley was laying on her bed, gossipping. 

"MOM! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Haley asked in a high-pitched voice as her call with Tara was interrupted. 

"Haley. What did you do? Why are the police looking for you?!" Claire asked in a full panic mode. Phil barged into the teenagers' room and shouted, "THEY'LL NEVER TAKE HALEY AWAY, NOT WHILE I'M ALIVE!!" 

"MOM! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Haley shouted in fear as her parents' reaction to whatever was coming was scaring her. 

In Newgate's house, Edward was facepalming himself as he didn't think it through while telling the family about the police. 

"Edward is calling. He said the cops are coming for you." Claire said hurriedly to get an explanation from Haley. The noises woke up Luke, and he was rubbing his eyes as he watched the scene coming from his sisters' room.

Alex finally checked her messages during the chaos, "Wait. There's a text from Edward. He said that someone had burned Dylan's car. The police are coming to question Haley about it." 

"I didn't burn Dylan's car!!" Haley shouted hurriedly. 

"Wait, who's Dylan?" Claire asked. 

"Her ex-boyfriend. They broke up today." Alex explained. 

"You have a boyfriend?" Claire looked at Haley weirdly and asked. 

"Claire, focus. We need to hide her from the cops. Grab your passport and some cash." Phil said. 

"I DIDN'T BURN HIS CAR!" Haley shouted again. Haley grabbed the call from Claire and asked, "Edward. What is going on?"

Edward finally got a word in after uselessly trying to explain to Claire about the matter as she was tuning out everything he said.

"It's only for questioning. Someone had burned Dylan's car around 6 in the evening…You didn't do it, did you?" I asked. 

"NO!" Haley screamed in frustration. "I was with Tara at the mall, getting our nails done." 

"Just tell the cops that. They are only trying to find the suspect, not bringing you in so you can calm down. Ask Claire and Phil to calm down too and stop Phil from finding a gateway car, he won't find any in time." Edward said in a calm tone, which in turn had calmed down Haley too. 

"Ohh." Haley exclaimed after she finally figured out the situation. Suddenly, a knocking sound could be heard coming from the front door of her house. 

"We're too late! QUICK, CLIMB DOWN THE WINDOWS!" Phil whispered.

"No dad. They are not coming to get me. They are only asking some questions. They asked Edward some questions too." Haley explained and gave the call to Alex. 

"Okay. Now, narrate to me exactly what is happening." Edward requested Alex. 

"Okay, we are going outside of the room now." Alex said and followed her family from behind. 

Phil and Claire calmed down a bit, and the entire family followed Haley to open the door. Luke was not interested as he knew Haley wasn't in trouble, so he went back to sleep. 

"Are you Haley Dunphy?" Buddy asked as Haley opened the door. 

"Yes." Haley replied meekly.

"Where are you at 6 in the evening today?"

"I was at the mall, doing my nails with my friends." Haley said. 

"Okay good. Thank you for your cooperation." Buddy said, smiled, and walked back to his car.

"SHE IS A VERY GOOD GIRL!" Phil shouted at the cop as he drove away. 

"DAD!" Haley shouted in embarrassment as all of her neighbors had heard what Phil had shouted. 

"And Dad had just shouted 'Haley is a good girl', which I know she isn't." Alex said as she was having fun narrating the scene to Edward. 

Edward said, "I can hear him from my house." 

"I know. Dad is crazy." Alex laughed. Claire snatched the call from Alex who was making fun of her family and said to Edward, "Who burnt down the car?" 

"I don't know." Edward replied. 

"Is it you?" Claire asked.

Edward was silent after he heard the question, "..."

"No mom. He had dinner with his girlfriend at her house. It wasn't him." Haley said with a tone of disbelief. 

"It's not that I don't trust him, I just wanted to make sure nothing is happening with him."  Claire explained herself, but everyone was staring at her with disbelief in their eyes. 

"Okay kids. Go to bed." Claire said hurriedly. "Edward, thank you for notifying us. You should go to bed too." Claire said and ended the call after saying goodnight. 

"Wait. I want to-" Before Phil could finish his sentence, Claire already cut the call.

…

-Edward POV-

After the incident ended, Haley returned my text and asked me if I knew who did it. She couldn't text Dylan as the guy's phone was still broken. 

Edward: Even I don't know. Anyway, go to sleep. I'll text you if I hear anything, and you do the same thing for me. Deal?

Haley: Deal. 

As I was doing my homework from Mrs Henderson, I heard my phone chiming. 

Haley: Tara is asking Madelyn who's asking Brian who's asking Dylan if he knew who did it. But Dylan said he only saw a girls' figure.

Edward: I see. Was his car destroyed? 

Haley: Be right back. 

I returned to my homework when Haley texted me 5 minutes later. 

Haley: Yes, his car is destroyed. Anyway, what are you doing now?

Edward: I'm doing homework. That's too bad for Dylan. Can you ask Tara to send a message to him? Tell him I want to talk to him tomorrow.

Haley responded almost instantaneously after reading the text. 

Haley: Why do you want to meet him?

Edward: Can you do it or not?

Haley: I can…But can you tell me why first?

Edward: No.

She responded with a series of furious emojis, in which I ignored all of them. She finally gave up and told me that she had already delivered the message from Tara. 

Haley: I did you a favor, so you need to do me a favor too.

Edward: No.

Haley: WHY NOT!?

Edward: I already did you a favor by calling your mom before. I owe you nothing. (smirk.emoji)

And then, the emoji bomb exploded once more. I felt satisfied after making Haley annoyed and I ignored her as I continued my work to develop the website.