Chapter 21:

Whitney and Chad's eyes connected with those of TC Russell's.

"What are you doing here?!" he hissed at both of them.

Chad squeezed Whitney's hand as a means of comfort and encouragement to speak.

"Daddy I know what I did was wrong," Whitney began to say. "That's why I'm here."


"Here to make up for what you did?" TC glared at the two of them.

"Yes," Whitney gulped.

"Come on in," TC said, opening the door further.

Chad and Whitney both advanced closer inside, before TC's hands prevented Chad from going in. "Nuh-uh. Not you. You can just leave."

"Daddy!" Whitney exclaimed, angrily.

"Dammit, Whitney, what's so special about this street thug? Huh?" He turned to stare incredulously at his oldest daughter.

"I love him, Daddy!" she protested. She took Chad's hands, and brought him inside right along with her.

"NO!" TC's voice boomed. "You want to come back to this house, you don't bring HIM along. Do you hear me?!"

Whitney fumed. Here she was trying to make amends with what she had done wrong, but her father still wouldn't let her. How dare he!

"Fine then," Whitney snarled loudly and menacingly. She grabbed Chad's hand and led him outside with her. Chad felt like he was being pulled every which way.

"Where are you going?" TC shouted.

"I shouldn't have even come back here," Whitney yelled. "You're so irrational it's not even funny."

"Come back here, Whitney!"

"No! If you're not going to let him in, then I'm not coming in. That's final."

TC could feel his family breaking up in half. He eyed Chad angrily. It was his fault of course. The only reason that Whitney's life was now upside down. She didn't want to play tennis, she wanted to become a singer, and was willing to leave her family - all for him.

"You son of a bitch!" TC screamed, lunging for Chad. "You did all this to Whitney. You brainwashed her!"

"No, Daddy!" Whitney protested, trying to push her father off of Chad. It wasn't working. TC kept trying to punch Chad's lights out. So Whitney did the only thing she could do, which was the thing that was being done at the moment. Making a fist, she threw a punch squarely into her father's jaw, causing him to stumble back. He stared at her in a mixture of horror and disbelief.

His hand traveled to his mouth, where he not only felt the blood pouring out, but also saw it on his fingers.

He looked up at Whitney who looked just as shocked by her action as he did. But he didn't care. She had hit him - her own father. If that wasn't a sign of familial betrayal, he didn't know what was.

Turning around, he stormed back inside the house that once used to be a home.

"Daddy...." Whitney whispered longingly as the door closed shut in her face. Tears glistened her eyes as the sound of the door being shut resonated through her ears. It was final. Her family had pretty much expatriated her - even though it technically was only her father who banished her, she knew that her mother and sister wouldn't dare disagree with TC.

Whitney broke down in tears, her legs going numb and almost giving out. Before she fell to the ground, she felt Chad's arms around her, supporting her from what would have been her likely fall. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to lessen the pain and anguish she was feeling at the moment.

"I'm so sorry, Whitney," Chad whispered into her ears.

She continued to cry, his arms being her only comfort.

"Let's get out of here," she managed to say through her heaving sobs.

This time around, he didn't disagree or protest at her not wanting to head back home. He knew that this falling out that Whitney had just had with her father was a final one. Their relationship would never be the same again.

"Where do you want to go?" Chad asked. The only place they could go was his cramped apartment.

"I want to see Theresa," Whitney informed him. "I need to see my best friend." She had a plan in motion. And she was hoping Theresa and Ethan would help them with it.

{a/n: whats whitneys plan? and will theresa and ethan agree to it? read on to find out.}