A/N – Okay so my parents decided that I could stay at my grandparents instead of going for a three hour drive down to Tauranga so I am able to write chapter 14 for you guys. Thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and/or favourite it means a lot.

After Hit List's opening night Karen had offers coming out of her ears; she was being offered leading roles in films, TV shows, musicals and plays all of which she politely declined. She'd made the conscious decision to stick out her contract for Hit List until the very end even if it did mean co-operating with some of Jerry Rand's unreasonable rules and requirements. That meant a six month run, doing eight shows a week, leaving her with very little time for a personal life and yet she and Derek still managed to make it work.

It had been two weeks since the opening night of Hit List and the Dev incident, as it had been dubbed, when, at 5am, Derek received a phone call from his father. "Dad what could you possibly want?" Derek sighed in his sleep-deprived state as he got out of the bed he and Karen shared and began pacing across the floor.

"I'm coming to New York to see this new musical of yours," the elder of the two announced.

"You're coming to see Hit List? W-when?" Derek said worriedly.

"I fly into New York the day after tomorrow and I'm keen to meet this new girlfriend of yours. Don't deny it Derek, Grace had told me about her, Katherine or whatever her name is," Charles Wills told his son.

"Her name is Karen," Derek grunted, "What time do you fly in?" he sighed.

"2pm," Charles grunted.

"Are you bringing Tiffany with you?" Derek asked, unsure whether the woman he was forced to call a step-mother would be turning up with his father.

"Didn't you hear? She's divorcing me! Yeah turns out women value fidelity in a relationship," Charles said as if it was the least obvious thing in the universe.

'Thank god,' Derek thought to himself, he resented his father's third wife; the woman was younger than Karen and insisted on having Derek call her mum.

"No, really? I never realised!" he replied sarcastically.

"Don't take that tone with me son, now I've got to go, I'll see you at La Guardia on Tuesday,"

"Fine, see you," Derek said feeling completely deflated. It seemed pointless to get back into bed so he decided to quietly creep down the stairs, into the lounge and sit reading newspapers on he sofa until Karen came downstairs about an hour and a half later.

"Hey what's up?" she said softly as she sat down beside her boyfriend.

"Am I really that easy to read?" he asked.

"Babe, you're sat on the couch reading yesterday's paper at 6.30am and I'm guessing you've been doing that for a while, now what's going on?" she asked again.

"My dad's coming to see Hit List and knowing him it's just another excuse to make me feel inferior," he said as Karen put her arms around his broad shoulders.

"You never know, maybe he's changed, maybe he wants to apologize for all of his mistakes," she said optimistically.

"You don't know my dad, he doesn't change at all. He has this pattern: he turns up, he makes you feel overly inferior so that you'll do whatever in the world he wants and then he up and leaves again," Derek said a disappointed tone to his voice.

Karen knew exactly how he felt, her biological mother had turned up several times and requested masses of money from her father and had used Karen in the process.

"Like I said maybe he's changed," she said her voice still full of hope.

"How do you do that?" he asked, a slight smirk beginning to appear on his face.

"Do what?" she asked slightly taken aback.

"Always see the good in people," he replied "Because it's one of the many things I love about you," he said making his girlfriend giggle like a school girl.

They had rehearsal the next day and Derek worked everyone ten times harder than normal. He would yell over the smallest of mistakes and by the time Karen had missed one step when they ran through I'm Not Sorry everyone was at their wit's end. "Miss Cartwright, you missed that step again! There is a turn there before you start the pas de bourre. Let's run from the top of the number again!" he shouted.

"No!" Karen exclaimed suddenly "Derek I know you want tomorrow night's performance to be our best yet but it's going to be our worst if we miss our cues because you've overworked us!" she continued as Derek stood stationary, totally astounded. In all of the time that they had known each other Karen had never once answered back to him. "To be honest you're almost at burnout point; look at yourself, you've got bags under your eyes and you're legs are practically giving way as you stand there because you were up all night making sure that the sets looked perfect. Take a break it's one show in front of an audience just like it's been for every other night, the only difference is that your dad will be there," At that revelation everyone gasped. It had been a surprise that Karen and Derek had gotten together but to hear that the Dark Lord of theatre had father issues was like a blow to the head with a mallet. It took a few seconds for Karen to realise what she had just announced to the whole cast and crew, "Crap! I didn't mean to blurt that last bit out," she said apologetically.

"No, it's fine love," he said, his personal life had been the topic of discussion with every member of the press and public since he'd won his first Olivier award. The rest of it, the bits that weren't sordid sex scandals, may as well be known to the cast and crew, many of whom he'd begun to count as a second family, "Everyone take the rest of the day off, it's 2 O'clock now that means that you have three and a half hours before you have to be backstage in full costume," he said as everyone filed off the stage. He grabbed Karen's arm, spun her into him, bent his head down to hers and softly pressed his lips to her, "Thank you," he told her.

She replied with another kiss.

The next day at 2pmCharles Wills arrived at La Guardia airport and was met by Derek and Karen. He took Karen's hand and kissed it making her blush. "So, Miss Cartwright, it's lovely to meet you I believe you're destined for a Tony," he said in a flattering manner.

"I don't know about that, it's shocking to me that I even have the lead in a musical, let alone thinking about the idea of a Tony," she said.

"Nonsense darling, you're definitely Tony worthy and if they don't realise it then they're an awful lot stupider than I remember them being," Derek told her.

"Yes, well you're just a tiny bit biased aren't you?" she said as she laughed.

After picking up Charles' baggage and dropping him off at his New York apartment, Derek and Karen headed to the Ambassador Theatre so that she could get in a little bit of extra practise. When they arrived there the entire cast and crew had already arrived.

"What are you guys doing here?" Derek asked "Aren't you supposed to be at home resting?" he continued.

"We figured that seeing as the only person that could scare Sauron himself was coming tonight we'd get in some extra practise so that you can show your dad how awesome a director you are, even though the numerous Tonys and Oliviers should already have done that," Ana said before the doors were unlocked.

The final rehearsal went extremely well and everyone thought that they were ready for their performance in front of the great Charles Wills. Their performance that night went better than any of them could have hoped for, including Derek, they were all met backstage by Charles who looked awestruck to say the least, a look Derek had never seen on his father's face.

"Wow! That was remarkable! I couldn't have directed it better myself son I'm proud of you," Derek stood stock still for a moment. The words 'I'm proud of you' had never once escaped his father's lips.

"Th-thanks Dad," Derek heard himself say, still shocked by what his father had said.

Karen bounded up to the pair saying "So Charles have you seen how amazing your son's interpretation of this show was?" she said "You know he choreographed it as well, we really couldn't have done this show without him!" she continued proudly.

"Yes, I have to say I've not seen anything quite like it and I'm sure that I see a Tony in your future Miss Cartwright," Charles told her.

Derek was still astounded, "Thank you but like I said it's all thanks to Derek," she told the older man "My boyfriend truly is an amazing director,"

"Yes but we wouldn't be here if you hadn't found Jimmy playing Broadway Here I Come in that bar," Derek told her as he pecked her on the cheek.

"Speaking of which where is the famous composer? The music and lyrics are really something," Charles said.

"Sing Sing prison I'm afraid," Derek said a little reluctant to reveal the truth.

"Can I ask why?"

"Oh he hit me with his car about three months back," Karen said as she picked up on the shellshock her boyfriend appeared to be suffering from.

"Oh my! And yet you're still able to perform tonight that is remarkable,"

"Well she is a remarkable woman Dad," Derek announced proudly as Karen blushed before giving her boyfriend a large, passionate kiss.

"Hey Iowa we're all going to do a bit of karaoke with Ivy and Bobby at Lily Hayes if you want to join us," Jessica yelled, interrupting the moment.

"In a minute, Jess," Karen yelled back "You two should definitely come," Karen told her boyfriend and his father.

When everyone arrived at the Lily Hayes Theatre, with Derek and his father in tow, they found the place crowded with the cast of Bombshell and discovered that Tom was still there. He was surprised to see Derek and his father actually getting along as he mentioned to both Ivy and Karen when they got up on the stage, requesting to sing. "Since when do Derek and Charles get along?" he asked in a whisper.

"I don't know one minute Derek was being really cold with him and now they're getting along," Karen said.

She and Ivy stepped towards the microphone as the piano intro for Garth Brooks' Friends in Low Places. It was Karen who began the song and Ivy continued the second verse.

Blame it all on my roots

I showed up in boots

And ruined your black tie affair

The last one to know

The last one to show

I was the last one

You thought you'd see there

And I saw the surprise

And the fear in his eyes

When I took his glass of champagne

And I toasted you

Said, "Honey, we may be through

But you'll never hear me complain"

'Cause I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

And I'll be okay

I'm not big on social graces

Think I'll slip on down to the oasis

'Cause I've got friends in low places

By the end of the song Karen saw Derek and his father arguing and she excused herself in order to attempt to diffuse the tension between the two men.

"What's going on guys?" she asked in a slightly happy-go-lucky voice.

"Oh nothing except my father explaining to me that he wants me to go to London and teach a damn class, I should have known that you wouldn't come here without an ulterior motive," Derek told her watching her face fall.

"Now that's not fair Derek! All I asked is that you teach one class for two weeks your mother will be heartbroken if you don't," Charles told his son in a patronizing tone.

"Since when did you ever care for mum? She gave you everything and you threw it back in her face by screwing that dumb blonde you forced me to call mum for six months after the divorce!" Derek yelled, which made Tom stop playing the piano and walk over to his friend before the fight got violent. "Tell me when was the last time you actually spoke to mum?"

"I… I," Charles stuttered.

"Exactly you can't tell me so therefore you don't know what would break my mother's heart and therefore I think you can leave!" Derek continued to yell.

"Would you two please stop it and talk about this like grown men! Charles it's childish to bring up your ex-wife as a way of persuading somebody to do something and Derek quit yelling it doesn't become you," Karen exclaimed and noted the shocked look on the faces of both men. "Charles you can't expect Derek to drop everything just so that he can do exactly as you want, he has a life here and a job. You've caused enough trouble in Derek's life as far as I know, it's because of your patronizing nature that he ended up losing one of the best friendships he's ever known and I will be damned if I'm going to let you screw everything up for him. He's your son not an employee, now treat him as such and stop belittling him!" she continued allowing her voice to raise itself before walking towards where Ana, Jessica, Sue, Ivy, Bobby and Dennis were stood.

"Charles I think maybe you should leave and let everyone calm down," Tom his friend's father who proceeded to leave the building. Derek turned to walk towards Karen "Derek, maybe you should let her calm down before you talk to her," was all Tom could tell his friend.

About half an hour later Derek decided to talk to Karen who was now laughing with her friends. He took her to one side "I'm sorry, it's just my dad's a bit of an arse when it comes to getting what he wants and it gets into my head, I should have realised that he wanted something," he told her remorsefully

"I accept your apology Derek but please, please promise me that you'll remember that it shouldn't matter what your dad thinks of your work so long as you're proud of it," she reminded him.

"It's just he said he was proud of me and I bloody well believed him because he's never told any of us that! Not even my brother, James, who's always been his favourite of his kids and so I believed him didn't I?" he said his head hung low.

"Hey, I get it, you shouldn't feel that you have to seek your dad's approval of everything, why seek the approval of someone who doesn't even give it without having a catch right?" she told him before giving him a quick kiss and returning to her friends.