(Rachel's POV)

I'd had no complaints about Poppy this afternoon so I'd hoped she'd seen sense and stayed away from Finn Sharkey. I didn't believe he was a complete lost cause but I certainly didn't need his habits rubbing off on Poppy. I already felt like she was pulling away from me and that I was slowly losing her. I met Adam down in the canteen after school had finished, Poppy didn't show up like she was supposed to and something gave me the feeling that she wasn't taking be grounded seriously...

"Have you seen Poppy today?" I asked Adam

"Oh yeah, in the canteen at lunch, she was with her friend" He replied

"What friend?" I questioned

"Finn...Can't remember his last name"

"Finn Sharkey?"

"Yeah that's it!" He confirmed

"I think we need to have a discussion with Poppy about the definition of being grounded"

"Why?" Adam questioned, a look of confusion on his face

"Because after she got kicked out of class again I grounded her and now she appears to have gone gallivanting with Finn. I just don't know what's going on with her... I just feel like she's shutting me out"

Adam pulled me into a tight hug and I rested my head against his chest.

"Maybe you should talk to her?" I suggested

"Why me?"

"Well you're her biological father and I can't help but think she doesn't take me seriously because I'm not her real mum..."

"Rach...You know Poppy doesn't think like that" Adam tried to talk me round

"Doesn't she?" I asked

"No. She's probably just seeing how far she can push you..."

"Yeah...well, I'm just waiting until she turns around and uses the 'You're not my mum, you can't tell me what to do' line" I said

"Rachel, believe me if you had met Poppy's mum you'd know that you mean the world to her...Plus she's not too good with emotions so it just comes out as anger and frustration"

"How come you know this and I don't?"

"Because...It's genetic" Adam chuckled

I couldn't help but laugh at that, he was right. Poppy was exactly like him with her temper, I hadn't really noticed it until yesterday Poppy had mentioned what happened with Max... Adam had been ready to go and punch his lights out, which was definitely what Poppy did. My phone chimed disturbing me from my thoughts as I unlocked the screen I noticed it was from Poppy...I was ready for this excuse and when she got home, she was in so much trouble.

Gone 2 Finn's 4 tea. B home later. Luv U! P xxx

In a way I was so angry that she'd deliberately disobeyed me but I found it so hard to be angry with her...Because whenever I yelled at her or moved my arms she seemed convinced that I'd hurt her. It wasn't her fault; I knew that but it just made it harder for me to be strict with her. And if I shouted at her and then she went and hurt herself because she was feeling that bad...I'd never forgive myself. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.

(Adam's POV)

Rachel was tearing herself up about how to deal with Poppy and she didn't stop once we got home. I felt like we couldn't keep pussy footing around her. Yeah, she'd been through a lot with the depression and losing Em...Tom. But, at the minute she was basically walking all over us because we hadn't set rules and given her boundaries...We'd basically given her free reign of her life, like friends and that wasn't what she needed. It might have been what she wanted but she NEEDED parents, not mates.

Poppy needed structure, which at first she probably wasn't going to like...She'd had her childhood taken away from her, she'd been forced to grow up and take care of Emily. But, Emily was gone and she had Rachel and me so she was acting more of a child now more than ever because she'd never had the chance. I sat down at the table with Rachel and we talked about it.

"I think we need Lara more involved. Poppy won't like it but, we can't carry on having a meeting here and a meeting there because that's not helping her... She needs regular appointments and as much as I'm going to hate doing it to her, we're going to have to force her to go... And I mean drive her there, take her in, wait and then drive her home again..." I told Rachel

"I think you're right" Rachel agreed "But, I think you need to move in here on a permanent basis. We're getting married soon anyway and like you said she needs structure, which means you being here all the time instead of coming and going all the time, staying the odd night...Poppy needs her dad and I think if we present a united front then it will calm her down a bit. I want to make the house safer for her as well, everything sharp goes...Take the doors off for a while make the house open plan...If that's what it takes to keep her safe..."

That's what we did. I was going to move in; first thing tomorrow morning...The weekend gave us chance to get things sorted. Rachel called Lara and made Poppy two appointments a week for the foreseeable future while I took all the doors off and put them down in the cellar. We were both prepared for the fireworks.