Jack pulled the car to a halt. He switched the motor off before stepping out and locking the vehicle. Grinning, he gazed up at the large house. He couldn't help marvelling at the way his life had changed in only a matter of weeks.
Four weeks had passed since the video of Hans and his uncle Edward 'Pitch' Black had surfaced. His uncle and Elsa's dad had been quick to act. They had spent most of the first weekend holed up in their respective studies going over files and paperwork from their shared business. His uncle, Nick, had relayed everything he remembered from his time at the bank and how he had always found himself going to Pitch's teller where he had been engaged in conversation by the man.
The two former friends had then decided to seek legal action and had called upon one of the city's best lawyers to help them build their case. Together with their lawyer, they had set about contacting the bank where Pitch had worked and had tried to find further proof of the crime that he had committed. However, it had been near impossible to find evidence with Pitch having been clever enough to cover his tracks before he had left the bank.
Taking a deep breath, Jack pressed the doorbell. He could hear the sound of footsteps approaching the door from within. Nervously, he ran a hand through his hair before checking over his shoulder for his aunt and uncle's car. His family had been invited to join the Blanchards for dinner to discuss the events of the day, but Jack had chosen to leave a few minutes before the rest of his family.
"Jackson," Walt greeted, opening the door and poking his head out. "Your aunt and uncle not with you?"
He shook his head. Wiping his shoes, he stepped into the home. "No, sir. They will be a bit late. They are still waiting for my cousin to get ready, she was late home," he explained.
Walt nodded and beckoned for Jack to follow him into the lounge. "Elsa's in the shower. She'll be down soon," he said. "Come sit down, we'll talk."
Gulping, he followed Walt into the lounge room and took a seat on the couch. He still found himself getting nervous around Elsa's father. The tension that had existed between them for so long was still there, although, he knew that Walt was trying. After the revelation that had come from the video, Walt had softened. He'd started to acknowledge Jack's presence in his daughter's life and had even invited him to join the family for dinner the week before.
"Your studies going well?" Walt asked.
He nodded. "Yes, sir. That said, it's been exhausting having to carry on with my studies through the summer, but I keep telling myself that it will be worth it when I graduate earlier," he admitted.
Walt nodded. "Smart boy. That's what I told Elsa. I told her that the earlier she graduates, the earlier she can start putting her degree to use and start living the life that she's worked for."
"So, you and my uncle met with this Pitch guy today?" he asked, running a hand over the back of his neck.
Walt coughed. "We did indeed. We managed to meet with both him and his lawyer," he explained. "Some interesting things were revealed - not only about him, but about his nephew as well. It seems that he is the same old Pitch, only too happy to throw his own family under the bus if it will serve him."
"Dad, you are not talking business are you?" Elsa asked, shaking her head as she crossed the room to take her spot next to Jack.
"Elsa," Walt groaned. "You, your mother and your sister all wanted me to talk to Jack and to get to know him. I was chatting with him."
"Yes, but not about business. Ask Jack about hockey. You know that he's a brilliant player and you...you...well, you like to yell at the hockey on TV," she giggled, reaching her hand out to take Jack's.
"Only when my team loses!" Walt chuckled. "I'm sure that Jack can understand what that is like, right, Jack?"
Grinning, he raised his head to nod at the older man. "That I can, sir. There is this one team, Brechin, that is always hard to beat. We have only ever managed to beat them three times since I've been on the team...and I've been on the team since my first year," he muttered.
Walt chuckled. "Ahh yes. Brechin, they have always been hard to beat on the sports field. I remember they used to kick our asses at baseball, back in the day."
"Right!" he agreed."I mean, we have some pretty good players on our team, but somehow Brechin always wins."
Beside him, he heard Elsa let out a low groan before she moved to rest his head on her shoulder.
Elsa stood up from her seat as the sound of the doorbell ringing rung through the house. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Anna racing towards the front door to open it. Smiling, she reached down to grab Jack's hand as they moved to greet his aunt, uncle, cousin and sister.
They stood awkwardly in the entranceway for a few seconds before her dad cleared his throat and called them all to join him in the dining room. She watched as their guests started to make their way into the room where her mother's homemade lasagne and a salad had been set out in the middle of the table. Holding onto Jack's hand, she watched as her father turned to take his seat at the head of the table.
She still couldn't believe the change that had occurred in only a few weeks. With the support of her mother and Jack, she had slowly started to be more honest with her father about her feelings. She'd opened up to him about the pressure she felt to be the perfect daughter and how it had affected her. Initially, he had been shocked and had expressed that he realised he was tough, but hadn't been aware of how it had impacted on her and the loneliness she had felt growing up. In order to move forward, he had offered her a deal. He had promised to try and lighten up on her in exchange for her continuing to be more open with her feelings.
"Elsa, are you going to be sitting down, or would you prefer to stand?" her father joked.
Blushing, she shook her head as she realised she'd been staring into space. Carefully, she took her seat at the table between Jack and his sister, Emily. She glanced up and watched as Anna took a seat next to Jack's cousin, Thia. Her eyes settled on her parents at their normal spot at the head of the table and Jack's aunt, Clara, and uncle, Nick, who had taken the seat opposite her parents.
"I hope you all like lasagne," her mum said, smiling as she gestured to the dish. "I'm afraid, Clara, that it is still my best recipe. I never could cook as well as you."
"Lillian, unless you have changed the recipe, then I'd say that we will love it. Your lasagne was always superb. It was always better than anything you could buy in a store," Clara praised as she heaped a serving of salad onto her plate.
She felt a squeeze on her leg and looked down to watch as Jack settled his hand on her leg. Catching his gaze, he nodded his head in the direction of their families and smiled.
"Jack, stop touching Elsa's leg!" Emily teased, pointing her finger at her brother.
She felt her cheeks heating up as all eyes turned to face her and Jack. Beside her, Jack coughed and promptly removed his hand from her thigh before placing it on the table.
"You tell him, Emily. He was doing it all last week when he came for dinner," Anna chimed in, winking at the younger girl. "Even Kristoff noticed it and he usually is oblivious to those sort of things!"
"What is this, pick on Jack night or something?" Jack chuckled, holding his hands up in defeat.
"Jackson," North began. "It is part of the younger sibling's job description to embarrass the older sibling. Especially when in the presence of their girlfriend, or their girlfriend's parents. Am I right, Walt?"
Her father chuckled and turned to face Jack with a stern look on his face. "Your uncle is right, boy," he stated, wagging his finger. "Don't think that I didn't notice your hand on my daughter's leg last week either."
She blushed as the sound of loud laughter erupted from the table. Beside her, she heard Jack sputtering before turning his attention to his plate of food. Still, she couldn't complain. Her father had been trying to accept Jack. In light of the new information, he had eased up on her punishment and had allowed her to spend more time with Jack on the condition that her and Jack remained honest about their whereabouts.
Walt Blanchard watched as his daughters cleared away the last of the dirty plates from the dining room table. Clearing his throat, he stood to his feet and invited their guests to follow him into the lounge room.
Taking his usual spot on the recliner, he watched as Nick North, his wife and their family took a seat on the lounge. A few seconds later they were joined by his wife, Lillian, who came in carrying a plate of cookies to place on the coffee table. Last to join them was Anna, Elsa and Jack who took a seat on the smaller couch. He waited patiently for his daughter's to settle and watched as Jack took his seat next to Elsa before draping his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him.
Truth be told, it was taking him a while to get used to the idea of his eldest daughter being in a relationship. Elsa had always been so fiercely independent and was far less prone to romantic whims than her younger sister. Still, if he had learned anything over the last seven months, it had been that he didn't really know his daughter as well as he had hoped.
Catching her in bed with Jack had shocked him. He had been beyond furious. He had been unable to believe that his daughter had not only been lying to him, but that she had done so in order to spend time with a boy whom he deemed highly irresponsible. The fact that Jack was related to someone whom he had a rivalry with had also angered him. He had reacted in anger and had set about grounding Elsa and had forced her to work more hours as a way of keeping an eye on her. He had tried to demand they end the relationship, but it had not worked. Instead, the boy and his daughter had refused to break up. Jack had even dared to send Elsa flowers at work for their anniversary. However, the news of her relationship with Jack had paled in comparison to the information that he had received four weeks ago.
When Elsa had presented him with the video of Edward 'Pitch' Black and his nephew, Hans, it had left him speechless. He had been hit with a wave of emotion; anger, grief, confusion and humiliation. While they had not had all the answers, it had become evident that everything he had thought he knew, for over two decades, had been wrong. He had lost his first business and his best friend thanks to the actions of a petty man from their past. Not only that, but his daughters, his sweet, caring and innocent daughters had both been hurt and used as pawns in a plot to bring him down.
In the weeks since he had seen the video, he had spent more time trying to talk with Elsa. It had become evident to him how fractured their relationship was. Everything he had thought he knew, had been wrong and he had inadvertently hurt her. He hadn't realised just how badly he had hurt her until she had come clean and admitted that she felt she had to be perfect in order for him to love her.
As a result, he had insisted on rebuilding his relationship with his eldest. He had started to insist on spending at least one lunch break together with Elsa at work. Together, they had made a rule to turn off all phones, close the door and to ignore all work related topics and has focused on sharing conversations and jokes. It was early days, but his wife had urged him to continue and had claimed that it was a positive decision.
"Walt," Lillian called, snapping him from his thoughts. "Are you going to tell us how the meeting with Edward and the lawyers went?"
Gulping, he sat up and caught North's eye. "Well," he began, turning to face the room. "It turns out that it's true. Pitch stole the money from us. It was his fault."
Together, him and Nick took turns to fill their families in on the news that had been discovered. How Edward 'Pitch' Black had always been jealous of the two of them. How his jealousy had started when they were just the young sons of migrant workers who worked in his father's business. How he had failed to build a career as a baseball player and had squandered his family's wealth on gambling debts before being disowned and finding work in the bank where North had lodged their rent and bills.
"He always was a proud boy," Nick pointed out. "He always believed that his family's wealth and name made him better than others."
Anna snorted. "Oh yeah, he is definitely Hans' uncle. Hans is full of himself as well."
He waited for the room to fall silent again before continuing. Slowly, he filled his family and their guest in on how Pitch had confessed to stealing the money and had even filled them in on how he had avoided the security cameras.
"What about Hans?" Jack asked, his gaze flicking between North and Walt as he tightened his grip on Elsa. "I mean, the guy isn't innocent. He threatened Elsa twice, slapped her, bashed me twice and wrote disgusting things about Anna. He better not get away with it."
Walt nodded. "He's not out of trouble," he began. "In fact, his uncle was only too happy to sell his nephew out. Apparently, Hans hired a hacker to hack into the university computer system - the same hacker that he intended to hire to hack into our own computer system. That was how he was able to figure out your and Elsa's timetables in order to follow you and take those photo's."
"Wait, so Pitch sold his own nephew out?" Anna gasped. "What does this mean?"
"It means, that Pitch was willing to confess all in the hope that we would settle without this going to trial. We spent the rest of the afternoon at your university with our lawyer and a copy of the confession as well as the screenshots of the slander that Hans wrote about you, Anna," he explained. "Needless to say, the dean wasn't happy. There will be an investigation into Hans' behaviour. If we are lucky, he will be just as ruthless as his uncle and will reveal the name of his hacker friend as well as the thugs he hired to bash Jack."
Letting out a deep breath, he settled back on his chair. His wife stood from her stair and moved to kneel beside him. Sighing, he reached to grip her hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"So will Pitch be punished?" Thia asked, looking between her father and Walt.
"He will," North chimed in. "He's being charged with embezzlement which resulted in loss of livelihood. He's been sentenced to a minimum of 10 years jail."
Gulping, he watched as the room broke into a low chatter with people reacting to the news. Turning to face his wife, she nodded and gave him an encouraging smile.
Slowly, he stood up. He could feel his palms sweating. In the business world, he was not known for being nervous. His years of hard work and success had given him a certain level of confidence. However, with all eyes on him, he found himself losing his confidence at an alarming rate. Still, he knew that he had to continue with his plan. One of the lessons that he had tried to pass on to his daughters was to face up to their mistakes. Something that he had to do as well.
"Ahem," he coughed, calling attention to himself. "I'd like to say something."
He paused and waited for the chatter to stop and for all eyes to fall on him.
Taking a deep breath, he began. "I owe a few apologies," he admitted. "For over two decades I wrongfully blamed Nick, my supposed best friend, for the downfall of our business. I was so consumed with anger and the disappointment that I felt in watching our business fail that I took it out on the wrong person. I lost my best friend - "
"Walt," North interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you. Pitch, he played us both. If the roles were reversed then I'd likely have believed you had done it as well."
Walt nodded. "Still," he continued. "That doesn't make it right, North. I was a complete jerk. No, I was an asshole. I said such awful things to you, about you. I truly believed you'd betrayed me. Yet, I was the one who betrayed you. I should have trusted you, my friend. I'm sorry and I can only hope that in time you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
He watched as the room fell silent.
"Walter," North's voice boomed as he stood to his feet. "Of course, I can forgive you. There was pain, hurt and anger on both sides, but it is water under the bridge. I would like nothing more than to work on rebuilding our lost friendship. It may take time, but the good news is that I have plenty of time to spare."
Grinning, he watched as North crossed the room to face him. Sticking out his hand, he went to shake his friends hand, but was pulled into a firm hug instead. "You always were a hugger, Nick," he chuckled. "Always."
Elsa felt her eyes widening as she watched her normally confident father lose his nerve. She couldn't help feel proud of him for having apologised to Jack's uncle. She knew that he was a proud man and was not used to being wrong, or having to own up to mistakes. For him to have publicly apologised was a big deal.
She felt Jack nudge her. Turning to face him, she noticed the sparkle in his blue eyes and smiled at him. Reaching over, she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Elsa, Jack," her father called. "I'm not finished yet."
Pausing, she turned to face him. She bit her lip as she waited for him to continue. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jack leaning forward as he turned his attention to her father.
"I owe both of you an apology," her father began. "Elsa, for so long I pushed you. I mistook your silence for acceptance. Stupidly, I let my arrogance take over and told myself that you were happy. I saw things in you, certain traits that you share with me and assumed that I knew what was best for you. I treated you different than how I treated Anna. My behaviour nearly cost me greatly. For that I am sorry. I need you to know that I am so, so proud of you."
She nodded. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and blinked. She felt Jack's hand as it moved to her back and began to rub soothing circles.
"Jackson," her father continued. "I owe you an apology as well. I judged you simply because of who your uncle was. I convinced myself that you were a no-good thug, lazy and disinterested. When I found out about your relationship with my daughter I was furious. If I could have had you arrested, I would have. However, with all that has happened and under the begging of my daughter's and even my wife, I have tried to give you a chance...and I have to say that I'm glad I finally decided to listen."
Gasping, she felt as Jack's hand dropped from her back. She turned to face him, watching as he sat blinking in the direction of her father.
"As I was saying," her father continued, winking at her. "In the last few weeks I have started to get to know you. I can see that not only are your feelings genuine and you truly love my daughter, but that you are a good man. Now, I'll be honest and will say the fact that you and Elsa lied about your relationship for so long still doesn't sit well with me. However, I can also understand why you did it. I believe that you have both paid your dues for lying. I would also like to thank you for standing up for my daughters, both of my daughters. I know that you and Elsa initially had your own disagreements and for you to stand up for both her and Anna is honourable and I respect that."
Springing to her feet, she made her way across the room and wrapped her arms around her father. She felt him stiffen slightly before his arms relaxed and reached around to return the hug. "Thank you," she murmured.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Jack as he turned to shake her father's hand. Taking a step back, she watched as her father and boyfriend shook hands before breaking apart.
Beaming, she stepped closer to Jack and buried her face in the crook of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Shifting her head, she caught Anna and Thia sitting on the couch grinning widely at her.
"Just so you know," her father broke in. "It is going to take me a while to get used to this relationship. This situation, as you are aware, is unique. However, I believe if we maintain the level of honesty that we've had over the last four weeks that things will work out well."
She nodded and shifted in Jack's arms to face her dad. "We understand," she said. "As I said earlier, we are sorry for lying. I know that it has been a shock for you."
"So, does this mean I can still see your daughter?" Jack asked, tightening his grip on her and resting his head on her shoulder.
Her father nodded. "Yes. It means that I have no objections to you dating each other. However, I would like it if you, Jack, could spend more time here so that I can continue to get to know you some more," he added.
"Oh great. I should probably invest in earplugs if Jack's allowed here. I don't need to hear my sister and her boyfriend at night," Anna groaned, poking her tongue out.
Blushing, she buried her head in her hands.
"That's another thing," her father continued. "When I say that Jack can spend more time here, I mean that he comes for a few hours and goes home at the end of the night. Same for you spending the night at Jack's house, Elsa. If you want me to give your relationship a chance, you have to work with me a bit."
Jack grinned as he pulled Elsa into his arms while he leaned against the side his car.
His family had returned home a few minutes earlier after sharing in a bottle of wine with the Blanchard's to celebrate the end of Pitch's evil plan. He knew that their two families had a way to go in order to rebuild the broken relationship, but tonight had created an openness and had marked the beginning of their healing. The pain that had existed had been acknowledged with vows made to work together and to move forward.
He had seen a different side of Walt Blanchard. The man had been forced to give up his normal confidence and to admit his mistakes and his wrongdoings.
"So," he whispered, stroking Elsa's face. "Quite a night, hey?"
Elsa laughed and tightened her grip on his neck as she stepped closer. "You could say that," she agreed. "You were right though, about things getting better."
Smirking, he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. His arms moved to tighten their hold on her, keeping her safe and secure. He felt one of her hands move to brush through his hair as she returned the kiss.
Breaking the kiss, he looked at her. His thumb moved to wipe away the dried tears on her face. "I'm nearly always right," he boasted.
Elsa groaned and buried her head on his shoulder. "You're cocky," she teased. "That is what you are, but I love you and I'd not ever change you."
Smiling, he moved his hand to cup her chin and tilted her head to look at him. "I love you too."
A/N- Whew, so this was quite a chapter. Slowly winding down, there are 2 more chapters to go, and then chapter 30 is the very last one, the epilogue. For those who are wondering, yes Hans will be punished. We will find out what happens to him soon.
Thanks as always for reviewing, and your support.