CHAPTER 1

Author's Notes: In this story - it's been two months since we last left Kady, Lily, and Chris in their semi-blissful state (no thanks to Phoenix's totally cliché, sappy ending! Haha! Still, I loved it!) And so we're back for round TWO of new craziness. Welcome back to the dark side! It's like… what Jaws 2 did after the whole 'Jaws' craze thing came about in the 1970s. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water… dun, dun, dun! Or, in this case, back into .Seriously, you have no idea what we got in story for this sequel. We're introducing three new characters, and also taking the story to a whole new level of twistedness.

TO ALL NEW READERS (If any!): I strongly suggest you read our first story, Fractured Reality, before delving into this one. Trust me, you'll know why.

Phoenix and I ('The Dark One' Lizzie) decided to do a sequel for no other reason than… we're just so fricken bored! Seriously! What? You didn't expect a noble cause of providing more twisted entertainment for you all, right? Nah. We're just bored senseless. Right, goose? (Phoenix is such a goose)

So – the new characters. They all have pivotal roles in this story. You'll all be left thinking about just how sick Phoenix and I really are, after you finish this story. Anyway, enough of my psycho babble. Read on, chickens! Lizzie

Disclaimer: We don't own TNA. We don't own anyone you recognize. All other characters are ours.

Lily Myers looked down at the pregnancy test in her hand and let out a strangled sob. Positive? How the hell could it be positive? Her mind wandered back over the last few months and she groaned at remembering her drunken one night stand with a complete stranger. Things in her life since that night had changed dramatically, mostly for the better. Her relationship with her fifteen year old daughter, Kadence, was better now than it had been for years. Things were improving in relation to her work, as well. The suspension had ended and there'd been no new dramas. But, now? This could change everything!

"What am I going to do?" Lily asked herself out loud. A moment later, she heard the front door open and close.

"Mom! I'm home!" Kady's voice filled the air. "Mom?"

"I'll be right there." Lily called back, shoving the pregnancy test – box and all – into the cupboard under the sink. She checked her reflection in the mirror, wiping away a few stray tears before taking a deep breath to collect herself. Letting the breath out, she turned and opened the door, coming face to face with her daughter.

"Hey, baby. How was school?" She asked nervously, hoping Kady wouldn't notice that anything was up.

"School was good. Is it okay if I go over to dad's for a while? He promised to help me with an assignment." Kady told her, consumed by her own world and, so, missing the emotions written across her mother's face.

"Sure. Just let me know if you're staying there for dinner, okay? And no walking home after dark." Lily warned.

"I know, I know. Thanks. See you later." Kady replied as she turned and headed back towards the door. Lily noticed, somewhat sadly, that Kady hadn't even bothered to take her bag off when she came in.

"Bye, baby." She whispered as the door closed. Her hands instinctively moved to her stomach before she realized what she was doing and moved them away again. It had been over fifteen years since her first pregnancy... how was she supposed to handle this one? Did she even want to handle it?

After leaving the house, Kady walked around a hundred paces before opening a car door. Bending down, she peeked over to the driver and smirked. The guy behind the wheel smiled back motioning for her to get in quickly. Kady complied before he put an arm across her shoulders and pulled her towards him so he could kiss her. Kady couldn't help but twirl her tongue around his tongue ring, playing with the metal object that had made their first real kiss a rather interesting experience.

"I told you it would be easy. She thinks I'm at my dad's... you can drop me off there in a while." Kady told him after they'd both recovered from the kiss.

"How long have we got?" He asked her as he turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life.

"As long as we need. I should probably be at dad's before dinner, though." Kady shrugged.

"Excellent. You up for some shopping, Sebastian style?" The guy asked, wiggling his eyebrow's as he looked at her. She laughed at the way his eyebrow piercing moved.

"Only you would have a different way to shop, Seb." She smiled.

"I'll teach you. If you're up for it, that is." Sebastian told her with a sparkle in his eyes.

"As long as I'm with you, I'm up for anything." Kady assured him.

"Good answer. To the mall!" He yelled before peeling the car away from the curb in a noisy, smoky display.

Once they'd reached the mall and locked up the car, Sebastian put an arm around Kady's shoulders and leaned on her, having to bend down slightly to do so. Kady put an arm around his waist and allowed him to lead her into the mall. The odd looking pair got many strange looks, mostly from older people, as they made their way around. Not surprising, given that Kady looked relatively normal today, wearing plain blue jeans and a tank top.

Sebastian, on the other hand, was looking the way he always did – completely off the wall. His dark hair was not quite short, yet not exactly long. It was currently looking like he hadn't brushed it after getting out of bed, strands running every which way. The shirt he was wearing plainly showed off the tattoos on both his biceps – tribal armbands. He also had a tattoo (Japanese symbols depicting the word 'rogue') on the back of his neck, just above the top of his spine. The tattoos weren't all the body art he sported, though. His ears were pierced multiple times each, all the way up the cartilage. As well as his eyebrow, tongue and ears, one side of his lip was pierced, too.

They took their time, ignoring the looks, enjoying looking in several different shops and just spending time together. They'd been there for about half an hour when Sebastian stopped them outside one store.

"Alright, grasshopper, now for your first lesson in shopping Sebastian style. I want you to go in there and come back with something you haven't paid for." Sebastian instructed, pointing at the store in question. Kady glanced towards it before looking back to him.

"Are you insane?" She wondered, knowing how much trouble she could get in for doing what he'd just told her to.

"No, I'm serious. It's not that hard. Just make sure the cashier's busy, pick something small and slip it into your bag and then walk out. No biggie." Sebastian told her before turning her in the direction of the door.

Kady glanced back at him but he nodded, motioning for her to go ahead. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the store slowly. Looking around, she decided she should look casual, so as not to draw attention to herself. She wandered around the store for a bit, looking at several different things. She picked out what it was she was going to put into her bag and glanced over at the cashier. He seemed busy, being distracted by a customer making an inquiry.

Checking that no one else was watching her, Kady saw that the coast was clear. She lifted the small dragon ornament from the shelf and slipped it into her bag before fighting the urge to run out of the shop. She moved away from where she'd been and looked at a few more things before walking casually out of the store. Sebastian waved to her from off to one side of the doors and she walked slowly towards him, wanting desperately to run. Once she'd reached him, Sebastian pulled her into a hug and then lead her away further.

"So... did you do it?" He asked her calmly, wondering if she'd gone through with it.

"Yeah. Here." She told him quietly, slipping the ornament from her bag and handing it to him.

"Wow. Good work! Fancy another shot?" Sebastian wondered.

"Not really." Kady replied, feeling guilty. She knew what she'd done was wrong... incredibly wrong. So far, she'd gotten away with it but she didn't want to push her luck.

"Oh, come on. You're a natural. One more, yeah?" Sebastian urged.

"Why don't you have a go? Show me how the master does it." Kady suggested. Sebastian smirked.

"I could do with a new set of drumsticks. Or is that smalltime, compared to this?" He asked her, holding up the ornament.

"Don't flash it around, god!" Kady hissed, grabbing the ornament and putting it back into her bag.

"Relax, babe. Nothing to worry about. Ah, here we go." Sebastian smiled, coming to stop outside a store filled with musical instruments. "You want to see what the master can do? Come on in here with me."

Kady nodded slightly and followed him in. The store was virtually deserted. Kady got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Surely, Sebastian wouldn't be stupid enough to try and pull something here? There was no way the store clerk would be busy for long enough not to notice them. Sebastian seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he turned to her and whispered quietly.

"Go distract the guy. Ask him for sheet music for Pearl Jam songs or something. Then, meet me outside when you're done."

"Wait... no way." Kady tried to refuse.

Sebastian glared at her and it only took a moment for her to get the hint. She walked over to the clerk and asked him what Sebastian had told her to. The clerk shook his head, telling her that they didn't stock sheet music for Pearl Jam songs. Unfortunately, the distraction didn't last long as the clerk looked over Kady's shoulder and spotted Sebastian slipping a set of drumsticks into his pocket and pulling his shirt over them.

"Hey, you! Stop!" The clerk yelled, moving past Kady slightly. Sebastian heard him yell and bolted for the door, not bothering to stop and wait for Kady. The clerk turned back to her.

"You! You came in with him, didn't you?" He asked.

"N... no. I... I didn't." Kady stammered, trying to make her way to the door.

"I don't think so, kid. You're not going anywhere." The clerk told her, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her towards the counter so he could call for security.

Around an hour or so later, Kady was standing on the steps at her father's house. She was flanked by two police officers, one of which had just rung the doorbell. The door was pulled open and Kady watched her father's face drop as he took in the sight in front of him.

"I'm Officer Davis and this is my partner, Officer Cruz. Are you Chris Harris?" Officer Davis asked, showing the man his badge. His partner did the same.

"Uh, yeah, I'm Chris Harris." Chris nodded, not looking at Kady again yet.

"Is this young lady your daughter?" Officer Cruz asked.

"That depends. If you're here to tell me she saved a little old lady from a burning building then, yeah, she's mine. If you're here to tell me something along the lines of her getting into trouble then, no, never seen her before in my life." Chris joked slightly. Kady could tell he was trying to control himself.

"I'm afraid it's the second variety." Officer Cruz admitted.

"Damn it. Kadence, what'd you do?" Chris asked, glaring down at his daughter.

"She was caught..." Officer Davis tried to explain but Chris held up a hand to stop him.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to hear it from her. Too easy, otherwise." He told the police officer. Officer Davis nodded, turning his attention to Kady. Her father did the same.

"It wasn't my fault, dad, I swear." Kady started, only to be cut off.

"The fact that you've been brought to my door by two police officer's says otherwise, Kady. What did you do?" Chris pushed.

Kady clammed up, looking down at the step and kicking at it with the toe of her shoe. Chris sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anything more out of her at this point. He looked at Officer Davis and shrugged.

"Guess you'll have to tell me, after all."

"She was caught by the owner of Simply Music at the mall. He says she ran interference for a friend while he helped himself to at least one item off the shelves. When we got there to question her, the clerk of the store asked that we check her bag, just in case she'd helped herself to his merchandise as well. We found an ornament that she couldn't prove she'd paid for and discovered that it had been taken from another store." Officer Davis told him.

"Holy hell. Are you serious?" Chris asked, raking a hand through his hair in disbelief of the fact that his daughter could be this stupid.

"Very. Luckily for her, being a first offense, both store owners have agreed not to press charges. She's been banned from both stores indefinitely, though." Officer Cruz explained.

"That's the least of what she deserves." Chris fumed. "Can I take her or would you two rather keep her?"

"She's all yours." Officer Davis smiled, knowing he'd hate to be this kid once her father was alone with her.

"You guys will probably be back here in an hour for a murder investigation. If so, it was him." Kady commented as Chris reached out and grabbed the back of her neck to pull her inside.

"Thanks, officers. Hope the rest of your day is better than hers will be." Chris farewelled, closing the door as the officers turned to leave.

Once he was alone in the entryway with his daughter, Chris raked a hand through his hair again. It was a nervous reflex that he'd found himself doing more and more whenever Kady was concerned.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He asked her, wondering if she'd speak up now.

"It wasn't my fault, okay? I... forget it." Kady stammered before turning and running upstairs to her room. There was no way she'd possibly be able to explain the situation to him without getting herself into further trouble.

"Kady, get your butt back down here! I'm calling your mother about this!" Chris called after her.

"Go ahead, moron. Not like it matters now anyway." Kady muttered under her breath as she closed her bedroom door.

Her mind was racing with the events of the afternoon and she knew she'd been in the wrong. That didn't change the fact that she felt a little let down by Sebastian. He'd bailed and left her behind to face the heat. Pulling the cellphone her mother had gotten her for her birthday out of her bag, Kady located Sebastian's number and hit the button to make the call.

"Kady? You got out okay?" Sebastian's voice greeted her after the call had rung a few times.

"No, actually, I didn't. The store clerk grabbed me. The cops were involved. You have no idea how much trouble I'm in. My father is yet to kill me but I have a feeling it's coming. And, the worst thing is, I can't tell him the truth because that would only get me into more trouble. Thanks a lot, Seb. Brilliant date. Maybe next time we could rob a fucking bank or something, yeah?" Kady challenged.

"A bank? Sure, princess. Anything you want." Sebastian replied smugly.

"Why didn't you get me out of there? Why'd you leave me behind?" Kady questioned.

"I thought you were following me. By the time I realized you weren't, it was too late – security was already there. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean for you to get into trouble. So... what happened, exactly? Are they pressing charges?" Sebastian wondered.

"No, thank god. First offense or whatever. I'm banned from both stores, pretty much for life." Kady told him.

"Both stores?"

"They searched my bag and found the fucking ornament. Traced it back to the other store." Kady filled in.

"Oh, shit. Babe, I really am sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Just... don't tell anyone about me, okay?" Sebastian told her seriously.

"Like I can anyway. I would rather live, ya know." Kady pointed out before ending the call.

With a frustrated cry of anger, Kady threw the phone down on her bed and sulked, thinking of nothing but the impending doom she was now facing – no doubt Lily would unleash her wrath of hell upon the teenager, not that it was the first time. From over the years, Kady had become used to her mother's rage and angry lectures. It was Chris in particular who she wasn't looking forward to being confronted by, as she knew she would be soon enough.

Chris paced angrily in the living room, muttering under his breath for Lily to pick up the phone. Finally, after ten rings, the phone line was picked up.

"Hello?" Lily's tired-sounding voice filtered through the receiver.

"Lil?" Chris momentarily forgot about the reason for calling her after hearing the tone with which she answered. "It's me. Everything okay?"

"Huh? Chris? Oh, uh... yeah, yeah. It's all good. Just tired, that's all. Work's been a bitch," Lily tried to laugh off, hoping to lessen his suspicion. It didn't work though, as he could tell something was wrong – Lily was never good at lying, especially to him. Still, remembering the reason for the phone call, he decided to let it go.

"Uh huh," he replied, unconvinced. "Sure you are. But I'll grill you about that later. We have a problem."

"Oh?" Lily spoke, while yawning.

"Yeah. A serious problem."

"Do I wanna know? Actually, don't answer that. Whatever she's done now, just ground her for a month and kill her allowance for the same amount of time, or whatever," Lily suggested, not caring to know what was going on.

"That ain't gonna cut it this time, Lil."

On the other end, Lily sat up from where she had been laying on her bed for the past fifteen minutes. She groaned and held her free hand to her forehead, as the blood rushed through her head, from moving so quickly from a horizontal to vertical position.

"Fuck," she muttered, closing her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Chris pressed, hearing her curse.

"I'm fine! What is it? What's she done?"

"You may need to come over for this one," he told her. "I swear, Lil..."

"Chris, what the hell are you talking about?"

He sighed. "Kadence was dragged home from the mall by the police today."

No, Lily's mind screamed. No... he didn't just say that.

She took a deep breath and pressed her fingers just above her right ear, and sharply inhaled, before opening her eyes.

"Please. Tell me you're joking. Please," she stated as calmly as possible.

"I wish I was. She was caught shoplifting."

"WHAT?"

Lily had jumped up and within seconds, she was already pulling her jacket over her shoulders while keeping her phoneat her ear. This wasn't happening!

"She told me she was going straight to your place!" she yelled at Chris, looking around for her handbag.

"Hey, what are you yelling at me for? Don't tell me you actually buy into her stories of where she goes after school?" Chris sarcastically shot back, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, what, and you don't?"

"She's a teenager, Lily. Of course I don't believe her... remember what you were doing at her age," he teased.

"Ugh! Don't remind me! Okay, moron. If you don't believe her, then why do you let her out after school?" Lily challenged, finally finding her bag underneath a pile of her clothes in the corner of her room.

"I don't pretend she's a delicate little flower. I have my ways of keeping tabs on her."

"Care to share those wonderful ideas?"

"Not particularly."

"My God, you are such a fucking asshole at times," Lily groaned and jogged down the hall towards the front door. She silently vowed to put a leash on that troubled child of hers, once she got her hands on Kady. For the past few weeks, everything had seemed to be going very well in terms of getting their lives on track. Now, this was more than just a setback... the possibility that Kady had already got herself a bad rep with the enforcers of law, was something Lily couldn't deal with right now.

"Yeah, well, I try," was Chris' response. "Just don't trip over the doorway on your way out the house..."

"Drop dead."

They both said their goodbyes, and Lily ended the call and dropped her phone in her bag, while simultaneously taking out her car keys and raced over to her vehicle, her blood boiling with rage. That kid had gone and done it again...

Chris pulled the door open when Lily arrived before turning towards the stairs.

"Kadence! Get your butt down here!" He called. A few moments later, stomping footsteps could be heard on the stairs and Kady appeared. Upon seeing her mother, Kady groaned and turned to head back upstairs.

"Freeze, brat. Get down here." Lily ordered. Kady sighed and carried on down the stairs to stand facing her parents.

"I told the cops that they'd be back for a murder investigation. Neither of you will get away with killing me." She told them.

"Killing you? Kady, I think I'm beyond wanting to kill you. You lied to me! You said you were coming straight to your father's. On top of that, you were caught shoplifting? What the hell were you thinking?" Lily yelled.

"I don't know, okay? I was only going to be at the mall for a little while... I didn't mean for anything to happen..." Kady stammered, knowing she couldn't say much more than that without having to bring up Sebastian.

"You didn't mean to get caught, isn't that more accurate?" Chris spoke up.

"No! I didn't mean to do it... I... god, just ground me and get it over with, already."

"Who was the friend you were running interference for at the music store?" Chris asked, remembering what Officer Davis had told him. Kady closed herself off, a blank expression replacing any emotion previously held on her face.

"No one." She answered calmly. Inside, she was banging her head against a wall and screaming in frustration.

"Stop lying, Kady. You're old enough to know better by now." Lily sighed, feeling rather ill.

"He was no one." Kady repeated. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"He?" She wondered, turning to look at Chris. She wondered if any of his ways of keeping tabs on their daughter included keeping tabs on who she was with.

Chris shrugged slightly, admitting silently that he had no idea. Kady realized she'd said too much and turned to go back up the stairs to her room, hoping to end this uncomfortable situation.

"Don't you dare take another step." Lily hissed before being hit by a hot flush. She stumbled slightly, a hand to her head and the other on her stomach.

Chris and Kady watched intently for a moment, both shocked to see Lily looking so pale. Lily finally regained her senses and pushed past Kady and ran up the stairs, slamming the bathroom door behind herself before bending over the toilet bowl and vomiting. Kady turned to her father, a confused look on her face.

"Stay put. We're not done with you yet." Chris ordered before heading up to the bathroom and knocking on the door.

"Lil? Is everything okay in there?" He asked hesitantly. Getting no reply, he opened the door and peeked his head in. Seeing Lily on her knees in front of the toilet, he moved into the room and knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her back gently.

"Been drinking again, hon?" He asked quietly, using his free hand to pull her hair away from her face.

"Fuck you, Chris." Lily replied before vomiting again. Chris, assuming he was right, chuckled slightly.

"You never could hold your alcohol, could you, Myers?"

"I haven't been drinking. I'm never drinking again. Happy now?" Lily groaned, wiping at her mouth.

"You haven't been drinking? So, what's with the fountain then?" Chris wondered. Lily leaned back slightly.

"Vomiting is not only caused by drinking." She pointed out.

"So, you're saying it's stress related?" Chris mused.

"No." Lily answered before leaning back over the toilet bowl and vomiting again.

"Food poisoning? Stomach flu?" Chris asked, going through the possibilities in his head. Lily shook her head, not wanting to attempt speaking.

"Then what? Lil, the last time I saw you throwing up like this, you were pregnant with Kady." Chris gave up with a sigh. He didn't fail to notice the guilty look spreading across her face and the penny dropped, a light bulb moment.

"You... you're pregnant?" He asked in disbelief. Lily nodded slightly.

"I... I didn't know you were seeing anyone." Chris stammered, shocked at the revelation. He wasn't sure how he should feel about the possibility of Lily moving on with her life, having other guys around his daughter.

"I'm not." Lily admitted. Chris looked at the guilt still written all over her face and cast his mind back.

"Ian?" He asked, remembering the name of the guy he'd thrown out of Lily's house months earlier after her drunken night out.

Lily moved away from Chris, flushing the toilet before falling to lean against the wall so she was looking at him, finally nodding. She couldn't read him, as much as she wanted to. She couldn't tell whether the look on his face spoke of disgust or... well, anything else. Chris stood up suddenly and grabbed a washcloth from a drawer next to the sink. He wet it with warm water and handed it to her before walking out of the bathroom and closing the door after himself, leaving Lily alone. He made his way downstairs and saw Kady still standing where he'd left her.

"Is mom okay?" Kady asked quietly.

"Depends on your definition of okay." Chris remarked, not helping ease Kady's mind any.

"Should I... should I go talk to her?" Kady wondered hesitantly.

"I don't think so. Just give her a minute. While we're waiting, answer my question from earlier. Who were you with at the mall?" He questioned again.

"Does it really matter?" Kady challenged defiantly.

"Yeah, it does. Because, whoever it is, they're on my shit list and I like to know the names of people on my shit list." Chris replied, his frustration with Kady really starting to show.

"Just put me on there instead."

"Can't. You're top of the list already." Chris growled. Kady gulped. She was sure there was more fueling her father's anger than her being brought home by the police, she just didn't know what it was.

"I'm... gonna... go up to my room now. You and mom can decide how to punish me amongst yourselves." Kady figured, again trying to go upstairs.

"Stop right there, Kadence. You're going nowhere until you tell me what I want to know, damn it!" Chris yelled, the sound startling Lily up in the bathroom as well as Kady.

The teenager stopped momentarily before defiantly taking another couple of steps up. Chris growled, low in his throat, before grabbing Kady around the waist and pulling her into his arms. He left the stairway and walked into the living room, easily ignoring Kady's struggles, before dumping her onto the couch harshly. She tried to get to her feet immediately but Chris held a hand out to stop her.

"If you so much as move another muscle without answering my question, I swear to god it's going to hurt." He warned.

Kady slumped back into the couch, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes and she knew then that she was not going to get away from this without confessing everything – which, of course, would bring about another load of trouble for her. She couldn't think of any other way out of this, though, and her father was definitely scaring the heck out of her now.

"His... his name is Sebastian." She whispered, fighting the urge to let loose her tears.

"Yeah? And who the hell is he?" Chris pressed, not letting up on her for a second. Kady got defiant again, raising her chin and scowling at him.

"My boyfriend, if you must know." She told him, matter of factly. That one word caught Chris off guard almost as much as the news of Lily's pregnancy had. Boyfriend? Since when did his little girl have a boyfriend?

"Your boyfriend? No, I don't think so, Kady. See, a boyfriend wouldn't have you running interference for them while they stole shit. They wouldn't be influencing you to steal stuff yourself. And a boyfriend definitely wouldn't leave you behind to take the heat for his crime." Chris challenged.

"Yeah, well, Seb's different. That's what I like about him." Kady shrugged, not wanting to back down to her father over this.

"Different? He's a fucking criminal, Kadence!" Chris blurted before stopping himself and taking a breath, deciding to take another stance. "I want to meet him. No boy is going to be dating my daughter without my permission."

"You're kidding, right? If I brought him over here to meet you now, you'd probably kill him." Kady pointed out.

"It's a possibility." Chris nodded. "I want to see what he has to say for himself about your little crime spree."

"Not much. He didn't mean for me to get caught, he's sorry... that's basically it." Kady confessed with a shrug, wondering what her father was working towards.

"Invite him over for dinner tomorrow night." Chris told her.

"Uh uh... not gonna happen." Kady shook her head, releasing her legs and lowering her feet to the ground before starting to stand up.

"What do you think you're doing? We're not done here." Chris stopped her.

"I'm done. I'm going home." Kady informed him before getting to her feet completely and heading for the doorway out of the living room. Chris stepped in front of her and shook his head.

"You're not done until I say so. Sit down." He ordered, the menacing look in his eye telling Kady not to argue. She didn't have to, however, as Lily stepped into the room.

"Kady, let's go. Chris and I will figure out your punishment over the phone. I need to go lie down and you have a date with your room until I say otherwise." Lily said, reaching out a hand for her daughter. Kady moved so that her mother could put her arm around her and smirked up at Chris.

"Wait a second, here, Lil. I was getting somewhere with her." Chris spoke up, hating the fact that Lily had just totally undone all the hard work he'd done in getting Kady to crack.

"Hooray for you. Tell me all about it over the phone." Lily stated flatly, leading Kady to the door.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind them, Chris yelled out in anger, and curled his hands into fists. Being a professional athlete, there was only one way for him to channel his rage and that was by throwing his fist straight into the wall. The physical pain shot through him like a bullet, and he reeled back, clutching his injured hand and gasping in pain. Blood trickled from the same, gapping wounds that had opened upon impact, and Chris gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain. Tears stung his eyes because it hurt so much, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the hand injury, or because everything he and Lily had been working towards with Kady, now seemed to have completely collapsed.

"Fuck..." he mumbled and inspected the severity of the wound. He could still move his fingers, so nothing was broken. But it still hurt like hell, and he made his way out of the living room and up the stairs.

Ten seconds later, he arrived in the bathroom and opened the cabinnet underneathe the sink. He searched both shelves and spotted the disinfectant cream and a bandage. He set both items on the counter and closed the cabinet doors, and stood up straight. Applying the cream to the wounds and winced at the coldness of it, which quickly turned to a burning sensation that came from the immediate contact to the exposed wound.

After he had applied the bandage and secured it with clip, Chris looked up and stared into the mirror. His reflection spoke of nothing but anger and self-hatred for not knowing sooner what was going on with his child. His baby girl had a boyfriend? This was a development that he never expected, though probably should have. The whole fatherhood thing was still pretty new to him, but still... he should've had some idea, right?

"Goddamn it, Kady," he whispered and turned away from the mirror. The two bombshells he had received from Lily and Kady, within minutes of each other, was more than he could bear. And there was only one way for him to deal with it. "I need a drink..."

Fifteen minutes later, Chris pulled his car into the parking lot of the closest bar he could find, and switched off the ignition. For a moment he sat there in silence, still recovering from the shock of everything. It hit him just how much he had still yet to learn about Kadence. True, she is a teenager and will hide things from her parents... but it was still a huge shock.

He got out of the car and slammed the door shut, making sure everything was locked up before he started walking towards the front entrance. From what it looked like, there wasn't many cars in the parking lot, and so he assumed that there weren't many people there. As soon as he entered the place, he gazed around and saw that his assumption was confirmed and saw only a few patrons scattered around the place. Chris walked over to the bar and took a seat on the stool at the very end.

It wasn't long before someone on the other side of the counter approached him, and he looked up to see a pretty, young red head smiling at him while cleaning a glass.

"There are only two types of men who choose that seat," she lightly commented. Chris dropped his keys and wallet on the surface, and ran his hand over his hair, sighing in frustation.

"Oh yeah?" he replied. "And who are they?"

"The lonely. Or the pissed off," she told him and set the glass down, and then stretced her arms out so her hands were resting on the edge of the lower counter behind the bar. Her smile widened only a little, though remained friendly. "This is just a wild guess here, but I'm guessing you're the latter?"

Chris raised an eyebrow out of curiousity. "Oh yeah? And you think that because...?"

"Because I've been doing this job long enough to read people," the woman laughed and wiped the cloth over the main counter. "Besides the fact that you got a bandage covering your hand that you're protecting quite well, suggesting that its a recent wound. But hey! I could be wrong."

Chris chuckled and nodded, confirming the young lady's observations and stared down at the wound again. Each time he looked at it, he could feel the rage boiling through his veins again, as well as all the accompaning emotion of the afternoon. He looked up again, not wanting to unleash his anger on this innocent person. She noted the tensed reaction he got when looking at the injury, and thought it best not to push it further.

"So what can I get you?" she asked the routine question.

"Just... a beer, thanks."

"Sure. Anything particular you like, or just random?"

"Anything is fine."

"Okay. Just give me a sec."

Chris watched her walk down the bar a little, and then looked around. In the background, a large television was broadcasting a reply of a football match he had seen, and so was not of particular interest to him. Other than that, there was not anything even remotely interesting happening.

"Here ya go," the bartender's voice caught his attention again, and he sat forward and looked at her again, giving her a small, grateful smile.

"Thanks."

"No trouble at all. Want me to run ya a tab?"

"That'd be great," Chris told her.

"Okay. I tell ya what, this one is on the house. The next one, I'll start running a tab for you," she kindly offered, and he was slightly taken aback at the offer. Did he really look that pitiful?

"You really don't have to--" he started to say, but the lady waved her hands to silence him.

"Hey, no, I insist. As a wise man once said – alcohol is the cause of and solution to all of life's problems. The first one's gotta be free!"

Chris frowned and accepted the beer and sipped it. "What wise man said that?"

She shrugged, nonchalantly and smirked. "A great man. A wise man. A poweful man."

"Huh?"

"The god that is Homer Simpson."

He almost choked on the alcohol and had to choke it down, before coughing. The bartender burst out and laughing and clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" she asked, giggling.

It took a moment or two before Chris fully regained his composure and he set the bottle down on the counter again.

"Yeah," he replied, still catching his breath. "Geez... do you do that to all your customers?"

"Only the ones worth talking to," she shrugged. "Between the bums, the alcoholics, and the just plain jerks, its not often that we get actual humans coming in here. Especially this time of day."

"Fair enough."

Chris downed the rest of the beer in literally one or two gulps, much to the amazement of the bartender who simply watched in stunned silence. After he had finished and practically slammed the bottle down on the counter, causing her to jump back a little, she took it away.

"Wow," she said. "You must really be hurtin'."

"Lady, you have no idea. Is this the part where you stand there and ask me to tell you all about my problems?" he questioned.

"I'm gonna save you and me both some time and energy and just not ask you. Besides, I hate playing into all that bartender-stereotyped cliched bullshit. I'd rather not know the crap going on in people's lives. It distracts from the tipping," she winked. Chris laughed again, silently deciding that this woman was alright, and relaxed a little more.

"Thanks," he told her, honestly. "I appreciate it. You know something?"

"What's that?"

"I think you'd better get that tab running, if you don't mind."

"Honey, I'm way ahead of you. By the way, I'm Ryann."

"Chris."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Chris."

"Likewise."

Author's Notes: There's the first chapter, and you've just been introduced to two of the three new main characters, Ryann and Sebastian. This is really just a test chapter to get some reactions. Let us know if we should continue, or if we're just wasting precious space and time. Flames are good for nothing but for me to torch the people who submit them, so… please be kind! Lizzie