"Flack!" Mac barked as soon as he saw the Detective enter the precinct. He had been trying to get hold of him for a while but his phone had kept going straight to answer phone so that was how the head of the Crime Lab found himself to be stood in the precinct, talking to Flack's fellow Detective until he saw him.

"Mac" Flack greeted. The man looked like he hadn't slept much and in truth he hadn't slept at all. But he had just had a run in with Mr Clarke and he thought work might help to calm him down slightly. He had dropped Jess off at her parents for the afternoon and he knew Hannah and Mark needed time to discuss what to do.

"What the hell has just happened?" he snapped at the detective and Flack raised a puzzled brow, removing his jacket from his body and draping it over the back of his chair.

"What do you mean?" Don asked

"We've just received a formal complaint about you assaulting a member of the public. One Mr Clarke" Mac checked his notebook and Don simply just shook his head in disbelief at what he was hearing. The son of a bitch was making a complaint against him even though Don should easily be the one complaining against him for speaking of his daughter in ill terms.

"Jesus Christ" Don complained, shaking his head as he looked at Mac "is he planning on suing?"

"No. Said he just wanted to make a complaint. I have an officer down there taking a statement. Correct me if I am wrong Don, but Mr Clarke…your daughter is dating his son, right?"

"Yes" Don said simply

"And so the reason as to why you were hitting him around are…?" Mac trailed off and Don thought for a moment. He didn't want people to know his daughter was pregnant. He didn't know if she wanted them to know, airing her business in public wasn't something which Don felt comfortable doing.

"Just look at his statement" Don mumbled before picking his jacket back up and leaving the precinct.

…..

"Mark…what are you doing?" Hannah asked when she saw her boyfriend walk back into her home, newspapers tucked under his arms as he went back up to her room with her in tow. It was still the afternoon and her dad and Jess were still out, they thought they were talking to Mr and Mrs Clarke still. Little did they know that conversation didn't last that long.

"I have no home…I have three hundred dollars I have saved…I'm still in college…I think I need a job" he said and set the papers down onto her desk. Hannah looked at him and blinked several times. She hadn't thought of anything like that for him.

"Mark…you can stay here" she promised him and he laughed once before scratching the back of his neck and looking at the floor;

"I don't think your father would like that very much Hannah and besides, I don't plan to scrounge off you and your family. I'll manage and find something" he assured her "but we need to talk about us Hannah?"

"What about us Mark?" Hannah worried for a second. Surely he couldn't be breaking up with her, that wasn't an option in her head.

"What do we do?" he asked "as much as I would love to start a family with you Hannah…we're…"

"We're not ready" Hannah finished off his sentence. He sighed loudly and just nodded at her before she opened up her balcony doors, feeling extremely warm in the cold winter air. She stepped outside and leant against the metal railing. Mark stepped out next to her and they looked over the backyard.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he murmured, one of his hands resting on top of hers. Hannah edged closer to him and leant her head onto his shoulder.

"We're in college, have no money, won't be able to afford to support the baby with childcare, won't be able to give it the time it deserves…which means we can't love it like it should be" Hannah said and she looked into Mark's eyes as he looked back into hers;

"We have no choice" she whispered and he kissed her on the top of her head for a short few seconds before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and going back to looking at the frost covered grass.

"Another time maybe" Mark sighed "when we're older…and want a child…"

"But the thought of it hurts Mark" Hannah counteracted, thinking of both sides of her problem "I mean…this is our child…it'll hurt to give it up"

"But it will be for the best" he promised "for the baby and for us"

"You're sure you want adoption?" she checked

"I'm sure" he assured her "you sure?"

"No" she admitted "but it's for the best…we both know that"

Two days later

"Mark…this…doesn't look…" Hannah struggled to find the right word. The twenty third of December had just approached them and everyone was in the festive mood. Apart from the Flack's and Clarke's it would seem. Of course, they went on decorating the home but none of them felt in the mood to celebrate. Mark had found himself a flat going cheap. With the two hundred dollars he had, he had managed to put a deposit down and then he had quickly managed to begin working in a coffee shop which would help to pay for the rent. But as Hannah climbed out Mark's car and looked at the building she felt like she wanted to sob. The building looked run down and men in hoods stood in front of it, slipping each other money. The front door was coming off its hinges and the mail boxes were all open and had graffiti writing on them.

"The apartment isn't as bad as this" he told Hannah, holding her tightly by the hand and leading her up the steps which were littered with coffee polystyrene cups and other assortments of rubbish.

"Here we go" he stopped and opened up number thirteen and Hannah walked in timidly as he hit the switch. Instantly, her hand went over her mouth and she looked around the small room which housed a cheap mattress which pulled out from a sofa. There was a small grubby kitchen area and one chair at a table which looked worn. The carpet was a deep red and looked stained in some places as Mark set his keys onto the bed next door to his case.

"Mark…" Hannah said, looking at her boyfriend and wanting to cry "Just come back with me" she begged him "please…"

"I can't go back to yours and live there Hannah…and I'm not off back to my parents" he told her and Hannah walked over to him and rested a hand onto his stubbly cheek as he closed his eyes slightly and his lips parted.

"Mark…please…I can't leave you here…not when you can be with me…this isn't right Mark" she told him

"It's all I can afford Hannah" Mark sighed

"If it makes you feel any better than you can pay lodge to stay at my house…but this isn't for you Mark…this is run down and this place could make you ill…look at it" Hannah said and looked at the ceiling which looked like it had damp and mould growing onto it.

"And what would your father say Hannah? Hmm? He already dislikes me" Mark said "and there are lots of people like me Hannah"

"I know. But I don't care about them Mark. I care about you" Hannah picked up his case which he hadn't unpacked and moved for the door. Mark rolled his eyes as he walked after her;

"Where are you going with my stuff?" he asked her as she moved onto the hallway where she saw a woman sat on the step above and she was shaking, a needle beside her body.

"You're coming home with me" Hannah said as Mark shut the apartment and followed her

"I can't baby" Mark grabbed her elbow and made her face him, hearing shouting and screaming from the floors above. Hannah turned white and looked at Mark hurriedly;

"Yes you can. You can pay to stay with us Mark…we have a spare room…I'm not letting you stay here" Hannah began to move and Mark had no choice but to follow her.

"Hannah" Mark complained "I don't mind it here"

"Well I do!" Hannah spat at him, moving hastily down the steps until she was back on the sidewalk

"And what do you think your dad will say?" Mark asked, as she stood at his car. Hannah looked at the sidewalk and thought about it.

"We'll play that card when we get there"

…

Thank you to everyone who reviewed my previous chapters and to everyone who is reading! Please review