Modern Family: New Life

Chapter 81 - Leonard's anger

'Oh no... This is not good,' thought Howard as he watched the video on Steve's phone. It was too late to take the phone away and stop Andrew from seeing the video. Besides, if he did, Andrew would get suspicious, and sooner or later, he would find out.

Andrew frowned as he watched the video. It was him, but it wasn't one of his videos from his Andrew-Pritchett-Tucker channel. No. It was the video from that disastrous night when they went out drunk to explore Los Angeles with Howard, Steve, and Leonard.

In the video, Andrew could be seen punching two men—whom Howard had dubbed Orcs.

"What? Who sent you that video, Steve?" Andrew asked.

The most surreal part was what happened after the two guys ran away. Howard and Steve started celebrating as if they had just won a Super Bowl.

They raised their arms and began doing some kind of tribal dance, shouting like warriors who had won a hard-fought battle—when they had done absolutely nothing.

"Howard," Steve answered, not noticing Andrew's frown or the tone of his voice, which seemed ready to explode in anger.

Howard swallowed hard and looked away.

"You... idiot!" Andrew yelled, glaring at Howard. "I told you not to share that video! And of all people, you send it to Steve?!"

Andrew then noticed that the video had been uploaded to YouTube, on the channel SteveTheConqueror69.

The video was already going viral since Andrew's name was well-known on YouTube for his videos, which had hundreds of thousands and even millions of views—especially now with all the hype around the CIF.

"Hey!" Steve protested, feeling like Andrew had insulted him somehow, though he wasn't sure exactly how.

"It's not my fault! Steve uploaded the video, not me," Howard defended himself.

"But you sent it to him! Why?" Andrew asked, exasperated.

"Steve didn't believe that I kissed Karen, so I had to show him the proof recorded on video," Howard replied, scratching his cheek.

"And why does it matter if he doesn't believe you? There were plenty of witnesses at the party who saw the kiss," Andrew said, running a hand down his face.

Howard said nothing more. He knew Andrew was right, but he couldn't let Steve think he was lying. He had to show him his great achievement.

"Now we're screwed..." Andrew said, looking at Howard and Leonard. "If our parents see this, they'll know we were wandering the city and that we lied about going straight to your house."

Howard's expression darkened as he realized this. All three of them had told their parents the same lie. They hadn't mentioned the city exploration so that their punishment wouldn't be worse for the risks they took while drunk on the streets.

Leonard, realizing this, glared at Howard furiously. His punishment wasn't even over yet, and now it might be extended.

Leonard couldn't hold it in anymore. Ever since the party, he had had nothing but bad luck. His mother had grounded him for a month. His girlfriend had found out he cheated on her and dumped him after a massive fight. And now, thanks to that damn video, his mom might find out about the lie and extend his punishment for another month—or more. This was the last straw.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Leonard roared before lunging at Howard like an enraged bull.

Howard was tackled to the ground by Leonard.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Archie in shock, just like the rest of the table.

No one had ever seen Leonard explode like that. He had always been the quiet and intelligent type.

But now, he was on top of Howard, trying to land punches while shouting unintelligible things about his punishment, his mother, and how everything was going wrong for him.

"Separate them before a teacher shows up!" said Kevin as he and Andrew rushed to grab Leonard.

"It's not my fault you can't control your libido, man!" said Howard, trapped under Leonard's weight.

"SHUT UP!" roared Leonard, still struggling.

The commotion had already caught the attention of the entire cafeteria. The students were watching the scene like it was a live episode of a telenovela.

Andrew and Kevin quickly pulled Leonard off Howard, who remained on the floor, disheveled and with his shirt half-unbuttoned, looking like he had just survived an ambush.

"To hell with this," Leonard muttered before storming out of the cafeteria under everyone's surprised gazes.

"Was that Leonard?" Andrew murmured in confusion. He had never imagined seeing Leonard this angry. He wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing.

"Well... that was weird," Haley murmured, watching Leonard leave. She knew about Leonard's drama and honestly didn't feel guilty. She had also been drunk but had kissed Leonard consciously. At that moment, she and Dylan had been separated after one of their usual fights, and they had only recently gotten back together.

"So... does that mean I won?" Howard asked as he got up from the floor, fixing his shirt and hair.

"Oh, totally. Because flailing like an overturned cockroach and keeping your eyes shut is the definition of winning a fight," Reggie said with a slight smirk.

"Delete the video, Steve. You could get punished too if your parents find out you were wandering the city drunk," Andrew said as he sat back down.

"Dude, my parents know I slept in the park for four hours like a hobo..." Steve said, giving Andrew a strange look.

"Besides, they're pretty liberal. They know young people do crazy things sometimes. They didn't even punish me," he added with a smile.

Andrew shot Steve a withering glare, and Steve quickly added, "The video's already been uploaded by other fan accounts of yours. Even if I delete it, it'll still be on the internet, man. That's how it works."

Andrew sighed. Steve was right. Now, all he could do was pray his parents wouldn't see it. Although, considering how obsessed Cam was with his YouTube career, he'd find out sooner or later.

"What happened with Leonard?"

Andrew turned his head and saw Pippa walking toward their table with her food tray. She sat on his lap and placed the tray on the table.

He quickly filled her in on what had happened, and Pippa couldn't help but frown at Howard, who immediately leaned back, watching her cautiously—her Valentine's Day date with Andrew now hanging by a thread.

Pippa sighed and shook her head. She had spent the whole day planning tomorrow with Andrew, and now everything could go up in smoke if his parents found out about this, grounded him even longer, and didn't let him go out.

"Why did you come here? What about Cara and Lauren?" Andrew asked, curious this time.

Pippa went on to explain that she had fought with Lauren. Lauren wouldn't stop complaining about Leonard and kept throwing passive-aggressive comments at her for not telling her about the situation—and at Andrew for supposedly encouraging Leonard to be unfaithful.

"I'm tired of hearing her complain. And I've apologized so many times, but she still keeps making those comments," Pippa said with a frown.

"Mm," Andrew nodded, not really sure what to say.

"Well, cousin, looks like your Valentine's Day isn't as guaranteed as you thought," Haley commented with a slight smirk—a little revenge for Andrew's earlier sarcastic remarks.

"Ha, ha. You're funny," Andrew said, clearly sarcastic, making a face.

"This is bad..." Pippa muttered.

"Don't worry. Maybe they won't see the video today, so I won't get punished. But if they do, we still have a way to save ourselves and not lose tomorrow," Andrew said with a confident smile.

"How?" Pippa asked.

"You."

"Me?" Pippa repeated, raising an eyebrow at Andrew.

"Yes. If my parents ground me and don't let me go out tomorrow because of the video, you have to convince them. Tell them you planned the whole day. I'm sure if you ask, they'll let me go," Andrew explained.

"That might work..." Pippa said thoughtfully.

It would especially work with Cam, who took these things very seriously and wouldn't want Pippa to miss her first Valentine's Day as a couple because of Andrew.

The school day continued. Andrew prayed his parents wouldn't see the video of him beating up two sketchy-looking men.

Once classes ended, Andrew only had an hour of training before heading home. Cam acted normal—he still hadn't seen the video. Mitchell was at work.

'Let's hope it stays that way... at least until tomorrow,' Andrew thought as he went to his room.

He didn't have much to do, so he threw himself on the bed and started reading comics. Luckily, he could at least do that.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until, inevitably, sleep won.

He had no idea how long he had been asleep, but at some point, in the depths of unconsciousness, he heard someone yelling his name in anger.

"ANDREW!"

His eyes shot open.

Still dazed, he blinked several times and pushed himself up in bed. He soon heard hurried footsteps approaching his room.

The door swung open, and there they were.

Mitchell stood with his arms crossed, an expression of pure judgment on his face. Cam held his phone in one hand, his brows furrowed so intensely that Andrew could almost feel them piercing his soul.

The silence was terrifying.

Finally, Cam lifted his phone and, without a word, hit play on the video.

On the screen, past-Andrew was seen beating the crap out of the two thugs while Steve and Howard shouted as if they had just won a medieval war.

"YEAH, BABY! WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, VOLDEMORT, YOU SON OF A BITCH! WE GOT THE GOAT!" Steve shouted in pure euphoria.

Then, he grabbed Andrew by the shoulder and turned him toward the camera with a proud grin.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! The heir of Isildur! Our modern-day Aragorn! The Ranger of Los Angeles!"

"For Gondor!" past-Andrew shouted, raising his fist in the air. "We're coming for you, filthy orcs!"

Andrew swallowed hard and slowly lifted his gaze from the screen, only to meet the piercing stares of Cam and Mitchell.

"Uh... I can explain," he said with a tense smile, raising his hands in innocence.

"No. You can't," Mitchell replied.

Yeah, he was definitely screwed.

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