A/N - Sorry it's been a while! Just a short one to tide you over while I get back into this :)

Chapter 9

If someone had asked me how I'd react in this moment, I'd have put money on me tearing the envelopes open and hungrily devouring Alice's words. Instead I sit and look at them for the longest time. Long enough for my father to finish showering and reappear in the room. He says nothing, just sits down beside me.

"Are you angry at me?"

It's rare that I'm not these days, but in this moment I'm too numb to care that he kept them from me.

"No."

The silence stretches on.

"Does she write to you?" I ask eventually.

"No. She called me once. I asked her not to call again."

Now the anger makes itself known. Like a dangerous snake it slowly uncoils, rising inside me. It remains hidden, but I know it's there, readying itself to strike.

"Why would you do that?" I demand. I used to think I knew him well, but these days I spend most of my time feeling like I live with a stranger.

"I can't…" he shakes his head as he looks down at the counter, and I see the emotions he's trying so hard to suppress cause the muscles in his shoulders and back to clench. When he manages to compose himself, he looks me right in the eye. "She killed my wife."

"Esme was her mother as well as your wife. You think she doesn't feel it too? Besides, you knew," I tell him through clenched teeth. "You knew what was going on with Alice and you did nothing. It was obvious it was going to end badly."

"How the hell was I supposed to know what was going on with her?" His voice is raised as he gets to his feet. "She was a teenage girl. She never spoke to us; she never told us a goddamn thing."

"You have eyes in your head! It was obvious to everyone who knew her that she was always lit. I thought you were a fucking doctor!" The air is thick with vitriol as I stand.

"You watch your mouth." His voice is low and dangerous, taunting me as it goads my adrenaline-filled muscles into action.

"None of us slept when Alice couldn't sleep, she made sure of it. Is that why you turned a blind eye when your benzos started disappearing? Because it made life easier?"

"You think long and hard before you start throwing accusations around." His jaw muscle twitches and I know he's scared because he knows that I know.

"What? You're going to deny it? She told me." I draw the words out. "You didn't even have a script for them, did you? The label was always printed out to somebody else. You even caught her with her hand in your bag one time and gave them to her your fucking self!"

I lash out, catching the underside of the stool and sending it flying across the kitchen as I move close to him, matching him inch for inch in height. "She covered for you in court, and this is how you repay her? You make me sick." My nose wrinkles as I look down it at him. "I should go to the cops myself."

"Go then! Who do you think they'll believe? A respected doctor, or a jumped up kid with a criminal record and an ax to grind?"

"If Alice and I both make a statement-" Derisory laughter interrupts me.

"Alice and I have an agreement. She's not going to say anything."

We stare at one another for an age, both breathing heavily as he smirks and I frown. I wait until the muscles in my hand twitch with the desire to hit him, then I turn and leave, grabbing the pile of letters and scooping up my keys from the table on the way out the door.

I'd rather sleep in my car than spend the night under the same roof as him.