Not So Sweet Sixteen

[Kirsty&Kane4eva]

Aww that was heaps sad, poor Kane. But i'm absolutely loving this fic and I cant wait for more

[shahhnun]

Yay, delighted to see an update! Again, another really well written chapter. I hope there's more soon.

[tasha7905]

Amazing chapter. Feel so sorry for Kane and Kirsty. Please post more soon

[SamanthaJane]

That was great, I just read the whole thing from start to finish! Can't wait for the next chapter!

[Holly]

Absolutley excellent!! Please post more!

[Jackieleanne]

Another good chapter Ashirr-leigh.

[SamanthaJane]

Will there be an update soon? Pretty please!!!!!!!

[harrisonsiobhan]

I love this fanfic I hope you are able to update it soon as I can not wait to see what happens

Keep up the good work

siobhan

-x-x-x-x-

[Ashirr-Leigh]

Sorry there's been no update for a while.. but it has been Christmas and everything! Lol! Hopefully everyone who reviewed - which were great reviews, btw - is still interested in reading more.

Thanks for the reviews because they were really lovely, meant alot! *sniffle* .. lol, jokes.. but anyway, here's the next chapter.

"How is she?"

"I don't know."

"How'd you mean?"

"She wasn't there."

Kane sighed, unable to get thoughts of his daughter out of his head. Her not being at the Hunters when Kirsty called in probably wasn't a coincidence, she was probably avoiding them. He could see her point but it didn't stop it from hurting.

"Oh, ok. Well.. she'll be back soon, maybe I can go around later?"

"I.. I don't think you'd be welcome there, Kane."

Of course not. How could he be so stupid? He would never be welcome in the Hunter house, not now.

"But, listen to me, yeah? We've got to sort ourselves out."

"What?"

"Me and you. We can't try and tackle Imogin if we're at each other's throats."

Kane sighed yet again but this time it was a sigh of relief. Kirsty was willing to talk things through with him, there was still a chance.

"Good idea. When will you be home?"

"About 15minutes. Tilly and Tierney are still at the neighbours so we'll have the house to ourselves for a couple of hours."

"Ok, see you soon.

"Bye.

"Kirst?"

"What?"

"I love you."

"Yeah.. yeah, I love you too, Kane."

Hearing her say that, however reluctantly, forced a smile across his face, the first one in days. With Kirsty on his side, he felt more confident in trying to win his daughter round. Perhaps things would work out after all?

***

"Imogin, please listen to me.."

"Dani, I am listening, I just can't do it."

"You have to. He's your dad."

"No, no he's not, not anymore. I don't want my dad to be a rapist. I won't talk to him."

Dani could hardly believe that she was trying to persuade Imogin to go and talk to Kane. All her instincts were telling her to leave it alone but she couldn't. She didn't want to be the cause of breaking a family up. Not even his family.

"You'll regret it."

"I won't."

From somewhere, a little smile appeared on Dani's face.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing."

"Well you're smiling at something.."

"It's you. You just.. you just remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"Well, if you must know, it's me. You remind me of me."

Imogin screwed up her face, confused.

"How?"

"Because you're so stubborn. I was like that when I was your age."

"Yeah well I think I have a right to be stubborn, Dani."

"Of course you do but I'm just trying to tell you that it won't pay off. You'll miss out on time with your mum and dad. You'll regret not seeing more of them."

"Whatever."

Deep down, Imogin knew that Dani was right but she couldn't do it, she couldn't face it. They'd lied to her and betrayed her her whole life, things couldn't just go back to normal.

"Just think about it, ok?"

"Maybe... can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Did he ever apologise to you? Back then I mean?"

It hurt Dani to cast her mind back but if it meant allowing Imogin to feel better about her dad then she would do it.

"After a while, yeah."

"When?"

"It was my first day back at school after the trial and everything. I hadn't wanted to go because I'd known that he was going to be there and I didn't think I could face him. It was too soon. But.. he.. well, he said he was sorry and he never went back to school after that day."

"Right."

"And he is you know."

"What?"

"Sorry. If he could take it back, I know he would."

***

Kirsty and Kane sat uncomfortably side by side on the couch. No one said a word because neither of them knew quite where to start.

Unable to handle it anymore, Kane got up and stood by the window.

"I thought we were going to talk this through."

"We are."

Again, there was silence for a few dragged out, long minutes.

"I can't do this anymore, Kirst. I love you, I really do and I'm sorry that Imogin found out the way she did but there's nothing I can do about it now, nothing I can do about any of it."

"I know."

"But we've got to be together on this if we want her back."

"I know, you're right."

Kane sat back down next to Kirsty again, this time a little closer. He took her hand as he sat down and she squeezed his, showing her support of him.

"I don't know what to do for the best, Kirst, you've got to help me."

"I'm not so sure myself, I just know that we need to act fast or else we'll lose her for good."

The prospect of never talking to his daughter again visibly terrified Kane. He and Imogin had always had a special relationship, she was a real daddy's girl. They needed each other.

"Well she won't listen to me."

"We have to sit her down and explain the whole situation to her."

"Won't Dani have already done that?"

"Yeah but she'll be upset right now and we need to show her why we got together. Show her that it wasn't to hurt or spite Dani."

"Ok.. but how do we get her to talk to us in the first place?"

After thinking for a few minutes, Kirsty came up with a plan.

"What's her friend's name? Alexi or something like that?"

"Alexiah, why? What about her?"

"If we get Alexiah to talk to Imogin then it might work because she's impartial, Imogin might listen to her."

"Yeah.. but how do you know that she would tell Imogin to talk to us?"

"I remember Imogin telling me that Alexiah's mum is dead.. so she'll understand how it feels to lose a parent. She won't want Imogin to lose touch with us, I know she won't."

"Ok.. well, I hope it works. Now we just need to get Alexiah."

"I'll tackle that. Why don't you just go for a walk or something? Try and prepare yourself for talking to her again."

"Ok. Oh and Kirsty?"

"What?"

"Love ya."

"Love ya too honey!"

***

[I love music]

Have to admit, Ash, the good fanfics (and the very occasional message that happens to catch my attention in the other other forums) are the only reason I visit BTTB these days as I don't watch the show anymore.

As always, you never disappoint. Looking forward to the next update already!