She wandered in, half-expecting her dad to be planted on the sofa with a paper in his lap, still reminding her of curfews and insisting on meeting her gentlemen caller. But then she remembered she was an adult now – one of the many advantages that came with the territory; despite being back under her father's roof. All subtlety had worn off, they had an unspoken agreement, she could exit and enter as she pleased and in return, she would stop asking him whether he'd been out at speed dating again.

"Dad?" She called down the hallway.

'I'll be there in a sec, Honey,'

She could hear him trudging, ever since the accident he had a subtle limp; but with each days he seemed to improve and Veronica's concerns lessened.

It could be way worse, you know that.

She sat down on the orange-brown leather sofa and peered down at the collection of files splayed out across the coffee table. The words she heard so many times before jumped at her like flying darts.

Accessory.Contribute. Guilty.

'You rang?'

She gasped. He already stood in front of her, dressed in his old Sharks jersey, signatures and names haphazardly adorning the front and sleeves like a memorial to heroes past.

Ahh, the naivety of youth.

'Dad, I need to talk to you about something,'

He sat down on his ottoman, still looking directly at her and leaned in close, just like he always did when he was preparing himself for bad news.

'What is it?'

Here it goes, better late than never.

'I made a promise to Hunter, I told him, that if Mom gets put away - I'd take care of him,'

Keith took a deep breath and shifted in his seat, 'You what?'

She gulped back a nervous ball forming in her throat, 'I-I promised him, that if something happened to Mom, I'd look after him,'

He looked at her incredulously, his voice measured 'Veronica, do you have any idea how hard that would be? You just came back, you can't take on that responsibility. I know you want to help and all; but this isn't your problem. Your mother and I will figure it out,'

Problem?

The word rattled around inside her head.

'He is my problem, he's my brother and I made a promise to keep him safe – To make sure he isn't alone!' She quavered.

'Shit. And how are you going to do that, huh?' Keith's voice bellowed through the living room, he was standing now, arms crossed with a furrowed brow, 'Tucking him in before chasing after adulterers and petty criminals? Stuffing a taser under his pillow? Putting a tracking device in his molar, huh?'

Her mouth hung open, riled, she could feel the hot tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She let out a whimper, trying to force back the burning sensation engulfing her throat.

'I just….I want him to be with family,'

'And where will he sleep? Who will pay for his clothes, his food?' He sat back down now, his head in his hands, rubbing softly at his temples.

'I don't know, I was kind of hoping we could do a Trading Spaces kind of thing, we have a spare bedroom, right? I could take the costs out of my wage,'

'And what does Logan think of this?'

Oh yes, the million dollar question.

'Well, he hasn't really said,' She ran her hand along the edge of the table, suddenly more cautious at his mention, 'He seems okay with it, he understands it's important to me,'

'You can't save everyone, Honey, you know that right?' He looked at her wearily.

'I do,' She agreed, offering him a melancholy smile, 'But I'll save him if that's what it takes,'

Keith sighed and looked across the room at the montage of photos on the wall: towhead Veronica, his little girl at soccer practice, on prom night, in her high chair – that little face covered in crusty food, smiling up at him happily, innocently and he closed his eyes.

'If…' He trailed off, 'If your Mom gets convicted, Hunter can stay here, and we'll organize something. But, Veronica-This is a huge responsibility and if you make this decision, there is no going back,' With that he got up and ambled back down the passage to his bedroom.

'I have,' She blurted a little too late.

Well, he won't be singing Sister Sledge any time soon.