Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas! Again, apologies about the time it has taken for me to update this, my stupid computer deleted what I had written a week ago so I had to start practically all over again! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and favourited the story so far! I hope you enjoy and forgive me for being so slow!

Chapter Ten

Six Weeks Later

'Maddiiieeeeeeee!'

As soon as Louise opened the front door a very excited Stephanie came running to her and jumped into her outstretched arms. Her dad had finally given in to Stephanie's pleading and begging for a puppy and she was here to visit the new member of the Hansen family, Georgie.

'So where's this Georgie person you were talking about over the phone? He's your new boyfriend right?' Stephanie let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes dramatically as she carried her into the house. 'Boys are icky! Georgie is my new best friend and he's a puppy silly!'

'Hmm I see dad has been teaching you a few things,' Maddie smirked as she put Stephanie down and turned to give Louise a hug.

'Gotta drum it into her from a young age, not that she'll listen, you sure as hell don't,' she looked nervously at Louise who immediately shot a glare at her dad.

'This isn't the time or the place to be starting with this again Edgar. Maddie's here for her sister, not to be interrogated by you so play nice or go upstairs out of the way. Come on Maddie,' Louise took her hand and led her into the sitting room where Stephanie, Logan and Michael were all crowded around their new Labrador cooing over him.

'So this is Georgie?' She walked over to the four of them and got down on her knees to start petting the cute as a button dog who lapped up the attention gratefully.

Normally she wouldn't feel so tense and nervous in the family home but even meeting Georgie and being with her brothers and sister didn't help her to feel comfortable. Her dad was treating her like public enemy number one because he'd convinced himself that she was seeing someone and no matter how many times she denied it he just wouldn't believe her. Okay, it wasn't as if he was completely wrong to be suspicious considering her feelings for Jake but what was she meant to do? They were nothing more than friends but her dad wouldn't see it that way.

That's why she'd pulled back from Jake ever since her dad had got home. When he'd called her the night that the boat had got home and told her what her father had said to him she knew that she had to distance herself from him to protect him. Her father was like a dog with a bone when he got an idea in his head and she knew he'd be watching her like a hawk, he'd done it in the past and he'd keep doing it. The last time she'd seen Jake had been almost three weeks ago when she'd agreed to meet him for a coffee in a small café on the outskirts of Seattle. They still exchanged messages and telephone calls but they were nowhere near as close as they had been before her dad had got back in town.

She thought that not seeing him and spending so much time with him might make her feelings for him weaken but instead they'd just grown so much stronger. He was consuming her thoughts nearly every minute of the day and it was becoming clear to her that nothing would change how much she loved him.

'Are you staying for dinner Maddie?' She jumped a little when she heard Michael speak, she was off in a dream world nearly all the time these days.

'Um well I'm not sure…..'

'Please Maddie! Georgie wants you to stay! Look he's wagging his tail at you!' Stephanie started to give her the puppy dog eyed look which had won her over so many times in the past, this time wouldn't be any different. She hadn't spent much time with her siblings recently, the least she could do was to stay for dinner and put up with her dad for just a little while longer.

'Okay, okay you've twisted my arm! I'll stay for dinner,' she leaned over and planted a kiss on Stephanie's nose before going back to playing with Georgie who had now focused his complete attention on her.

She remained in the living room playing with Georgie and her siblings whilst Louise went into the kitchen to finish off making dinner. Her father had chosen to hide himself away upstairs after Louise had snapped at him and she was glad that he wasn't around. She would never stop loving him but there were times that she didn't like him all that much. He just couldn't seem to accept the fact that he didn't have complete control over her anymore. That's why she'd kept boyfriends hidden from him for so long in the past, she knew damn well that he'd find faults in anyone that she chose to date, he always did. She could date the President and he still wouldn't be good enough for her in her dad's eyes.

After spending half an hour with her siblings and the new addition to the family Louise shouted from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Leaving Georgie to have some much needed rest she followed her brothers and sister into the kitchen hoping that her father would choose to remain upstairs out of the way. At first it looked like he wasn't going to make an appearance but halfway through her spaghetti and meatballs he came in and grabbed his plate of dinner out of the oven and sat down at the table without saying anything.

An awkward silence took over as she continued to eat her food without looking up from her plate. Now wasn't the time for an argument, not with the kids around.

'I wonder if I should give Junior a call to see how he's getting on with Kate,' she almost choked on her spaghetti when her dad uttered words that tore right through her. Kate? Who the fuck was Kate?

'No you shouldn't give him a call. You've already done more than enough, I can't even believe you set him up with that girl. She's obviously not his type,' Louise snapped at Edgar as she continued to stare down at her plate and tried to keep eating as she forced herself to remain calm even though she wanted to upend her remaining pasta over her dad's head.

'Not his type? And how would you know what his type is Louise?' Her father replied.

'Now isn't the time to be having this conversation Edgar, this is meant to be a nice, happy, family meal. Now the Hansen Express has rolled in and derailed it, as usual,' Louise sighed heavily.

She tried to finish off the food she had left to eat but she couldn't do it, she felt sick to her stomach. Every part of her was aching both physically and mentally. All she wanted to do was go home so she could be left alone to cry and comfort eat until she puked.

'You know what, I just remembered that I left some paperwork that I need to finish off this weekend at the office so I need to leave,' she got up from her chair quickly as she fought to keep her tears at bay. She knew that her excuse wasn't at all convincing but she didn't care, she just had to get out of this fucking house before she broke her dad's nose.

'You're not going anywhere until we've had a chance to talk…..'

'Dad just stop this okay? I'm tired, I'm stressed and I really can't be dealing with your questions and stupid ideas right now so just leave me alone,' she couldn't even bring herself to look him. She'd idolised him, she'd worked so hard to make him proud and with just a few words he'd pretty much broken her heart in two.

Before a huge argument could take place she quickly made her way around the table, giving goodbye hugs and kisses to Logan, Stephanie and Michael whilst completely ignoring her dad whose face was getting redder by the minute.

'I'll walk you to the door,' Louise got up from her seat and wrapped a protective arm around her as she escorted her past her dad and out of the kitchen. Nothing was said as they walked down the hallway to the front door, once they were on the doorstep and Louise closed the door behind them she struggled to contain her emotions which threatened to boil over.

'I'm so sorry you had to find out like that Maddie, I don't know what possessed your dad to set him up with that girl. She's been around the block and back again several times, she's really not the sort of woman Jake would want….'

'Dad knows, that's why he's done this. He wants Jake to be with someone else so nothing can happen between us, you and I both know it.' At first she hadn't wanted to believe that her father would do something to hurt her so much but it was the only explanation for his sudden need to pair Jake off with someone else.

Saying the words out loud opened up the floodgates that had temporarily held in place. She was reduced to a pathetic sobbing wreck in the space of a few seconds. Louise's arms came around her and held onto her tightly as she cried into her shoulder, without her support she would have ended up on the floor. It didn't matter what Louise said, all she could think about was Jake being with another woman and it killed her.

Jake's POV

He stared down at his plate of half eaten pasta and just wished that the ground would swallow him up. He'd been on his date with Kate for just over an hour but it felt like he'd been here for days. He'd tried to make an effort and at least have a friendly conversation with her if nothing else but she didn't exactly have the skills to be able to hold a moderately intelligent conversation. She was more interested in pouting and preening herself, she was the type of woman he wanted to keep as far away from as possible. He never should have agreed to take her out on this stupid fucking 'date' that had been set up by Edgar, he should have had the balls to refuse but where Edgar was concerned he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was absolutely terrified of him.

'So um, when we finish here do you wanna come back to my place for a coffee or something? I would say a beer but you don't drink so….'

He looked up from his food for the first time since it had been brought to the table and he tried to think of a way to let her down gently. 'Look Kate….' Before he could finish a sentence he felt his cell vibrate in his pocket. 'Sorry, I need to take this.' Using the call as a chance to escape from an awkward moment he got up from the table and made his way outside. He didn't recognise the number that flashed up on his screen but for some reason he decided to take the call anyway. 'Hello.'

'Hi Jake, how are things going with Kate?' He was shocked to hear Louise's voice, she was the last person he was expecting to speak to.

'Um not great, is everything okay? Nothing's happened to Maddie has it?' He began to panic a little, he couldn't understand why Louise would call him unless it was to break some bad news to him.

'She knows that you're out on a date, she's just left here in floods of tears. So no, everything is not okay right now,' he didn't know how to react to Louise's words, why was Maddie upset? They were friends. Friends didn't get upset about dates, did they? 'Enough is enough Jake, I feel like banging your heads together so you can both see what's in front of you!'

Was this really happening? Was Louise actually telling him that Maddie felt something for him? Surely she'd got things mixed up? How could someone like Maddie want someone like him?

'Go to her Jake, talk to her. She needs to see you and I'm guessing that you need to see her too, that's all I'm going to say,' before he could respond Louise ended the call and he was left standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant with a million different thoughts racing through his head.

He began to pace up and down as he tried to figure out what to do for the best. If he took Louise's advice he knew what that would mean, he wouldn't be able to lie to her face again. The date with another woman had just proved that he would never be able to get her out of his head. He'd told himself that one day he would find someone else but now he knew that wasn't true. He hadn't stopped thinking about her, he'd been comparing Kate to her and there was just no comparison. No one would compare to her, ever.

Before he could lose the guts that he managed to summon up from somewhere he marched back into the restaurant and pulled a one hundred dollar bill from his wallet. He figured it would give Kate more than enough to pay the bill and pay for a cab home. He felt bad for abandoning their date so quickly but he had no choice, if he stuck it out he knew he would change his mind and not go to Maddie.

'What do you think you're doing?' Kate glared at him as she saw him approaching the table with the money in his hand.

'I'm really sorry Kate but there's somewhere I need to be, I should never have agreed to come out on this date in the first place and I'm sorry for wasting your time,' he placed the money on the table in front of her and she quickly snatched it away. 'I only came because I felt sorry for you, you're not man enough for me,' she snapped whilst sending him a hateful glare which he deserved for being a jerk.

Rather than standing in a crowded restaurant arguing with someone he really couldn't care less about he gave her one last apologetic look before turning on his heel and heading for the door. There was only one place that he wanted to be right now.

Maddie's POV

She placed the empty tub of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream down on the coffee table in front of her and threw herself back against the couch whilst pulling her shirt up slightly to allow her bloated stomach some room to breathe. She'd eaten the whole fucking tub in less than twenty minutes without stopping for a break and now she was paying for her gluttony with stomach pains and a huge wave of nausea washing over her.

The urge to run to the toilet and vomit was almost overwhelming but she remained on the couch and took some deep breathes in an attempt to stave off the sickness, she really hated being sick, she always had. She couldn't count how many times her dad had had to stay up with her through the night holding her hand and trying to keep her calm as she'd puked. She'd loved her grandparents so much and indeed Louise but when she was ill it was her father that she'd always wanted by her side.

She'd always looked up to him and respected him for how he'd faced up to his responsibilities as a father. A lot of men in his position would have just paid their child support without wanting to be a part of their kid's life but he'd always been there for her. That's why she didn't want to believe that he'd worked out her feelings for Jake and tried to set him up with someone else in an attempt to stop anything escalating but she knew damn well that he'd figured everything out for himself. He'd hurt her so much and what hurt even more was the fact that it didn't seem like he wanted her to ever be happy. What did he want her to do? Go through life alone having no one to come home to or love her? There had been a time where she thought that the single life would be better for her considering how manic her career was but now that she knew Jake that had all changed. He made her happy, he helped ease the stress and tension that came from such a difficult job and most importantly he understood her.

She wasn't expecting her dad to be happy about how she felt but part of her had always believed that he could eventually come to terms with a relationship between her and Jake once he saw how well Jake treated her. Of course these thoughts were just a pure fantasy on her part, she hadn't seen him for three long weeks and they were slowly drifting apart. Now he was out on this date set up by her dad fuck knows what would happen. Whilst she was sprawled out on the couch in a food coma he could be sprawled out on some cheap motel bed getting his dick sucked.

She remained on the couch in the same position for a while until her eyelids started to feel heavier and heavier. She switched off the depressing music she'd been listening to and slowly rose from the couch. As she started to walk towards her bedroom she stopped in her tracks when she heard a loud knocking on her front door. At first she decided to ignore it, it was a Friday night and she'd had drunken assholes knocking on her door before and running away. She was almost at her bedroom door when someone knocked again but this time they followed up the knocking by calling her name.

She froze on the spot holding onto the door frame for support. Just hearing his voice almost made her lose every single one of her senses. She tried to get herself together but knew that she looked like complete shit after crying so much.

'Maddie I know you're in there, please open the door!'

He started to knock again and she knew it wouldn't be long until Mrs Green from across the hallway would call security if he didn't stop shouting and knocking. Summoning up the courage from somewhere she quickly made her way to the front door before Stan the night security man came to take him away. Unlocking the door and unhooking the chain she took a deep breath before opening the door and coming face to face with Jake.