Not So Sweet Sixteen

[Jackieleanne]

Awww how emotive ash, your a brilliant writter.Great chapter.

[I love music]

Wow, you're handling this fic sooo well. Awesome!

[shahhnun]

Excellent chapter. Its so well written.

[tasha7905]

Amazing writing, your getting the characters emotions perfectly. Well done!

[Ashirr-Leigh]

Ok.. so, it's been a long time since I updated any of my fics..but!!.. in my defence, my computer has been down for the past week or two so I haven't had much of a chance!! I'm getting round to updating them all now though, starting with this!

As the sun streamed through the open window, Paige screwed up her eyes and pulled herself out of bed. As she stood up, she heard a squeal and only then did she remember what had happened the night before.

"You."

Imogin lay on the floor, in a sleeping bag, where she had slept the night before. Paige had protested for almost an hour that she didn't want to be in the same room as Imogin but been told that there was nowhere else for her to go. Although both girls had been awake all night, not one of them had said a word to each other.

"Paige, I.."

"Imogin, I don't want to talk to you."

With that, Paige left the room and went downstairs. There, she saw her father, hopelessly trying to cook breakfast in the kitchen. Now she could identify the smell that had almost made her sick.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"Morning."

***

The bed felt enormous now that Kirsty wasn't in it. Normally, Kane and Kirsty would have snuggled up together all night but not last night. When Kirsty had come home after relentlessly looking for Imogin, she'd made up a bed on the sofa downstairs. Kane hadn't questioned it.

The door creaking forced Kane to open his eyes.

"We need to talk."

"I know."

It was awkward. Never had it felt like this between them before. Even when they had fights, it wasn't like this. They would shout and scream at each other, sure, but within hours, they would be in each other's arms again. But this was different.

"I'll be downstairs."

Kirsty closed the door again and tidied the sheets that she had slept in away. It had been her choice to sleep on the sofa but she wasn't sure why. She just didn't want to be beside Kane. She'd never felt that way before. There was never a time when she didn't want to be around him but now, she couldn't stand to be. She'd only gone in and woken him because she knew this needed sorting out.

***

"Dad, do you think I should go round and see Paige?"

Sally and Flynn had been bombarded with questions from Pippa last night. She wanted to know everything about Imogin's dad and Paige's mum and why her parents hadn't told her.

"No, Pip, just leave it for a while. I'm sure she'll call you if she needs you."

"But dad, she's my best friend."

"I know, ok.. but she needs time with her family right now, trust me."

Pippa didn't understand. She didn't understand any of this. She wasn't the most mature of 13 year olds, her parents always treated her like she was younger, her being so precious to them. It didn't make sense to Pippa that Imogin's dad could be so evil when Imogin had been so nice. One thing she did understand, however, was that her new found friendships with the older girls surely wouldn't be the same.

***

Imogin nervously knocked on the door of Dani's bedroom, not wanting to barge in. When she got no reply, she timidly opened it just a little and was surprised to find Dani sitting at her desk, fully dressed.

"Dani? Can I come in?"

Dani nodded her head and turned to face her niece. She had to put things right.

"Can we talk? Please?"

"Sure."

Imogin breathed a sigh of relief as it seemed that Dani was alot calmer than she had been last night.

"I don't really know what to say, Dani.. but.. I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For what he did.. for what my dad did."

That night, she had spent the hours trying to make sense of the situation. She couldn't keep on denying it like she had been, she had to tackle it.

"It's not your fault, Imogin."

"Yeah.. but.. he's my dad."

"And you're my niece."

They smiled at each other but there was still hurt in their eyes. They'd never known each other but were actually extremely alike. Nothing stopped Imogin doing what she wanted, just like a young, rebellious Dani.

"Have you spoken to your dad?"

Imogin sheepishly shook her head, knowing that, soon, she would have to.

"He'll be worried."

"Why do you care? I don't."

"Of course you do, he's your dad, nothing will ever change that."

"Yeah, I know.. but nothing will ever change what he did to you either."

Dani took a deep breath, knowing that what she was about to say was the right thing.. even if it didn't always feel like it.

"That's true, nothing could ever change it but.. he's different now. I don't know Kane anymore. I only know the old Kane, I only know the guy who raped me. When I saw him again though, after all those years, I could see that he had changed. I only had to take a look at Kirsty and you guys to see that."

"But I can't forgive him, Dani, even if you can."

"I can't forgive him either.."

When saying this, Dani let her head drop down, ashamed of the fact that she couldn't let go. She knew that if she was able to forgive Kane, then she would be able to move on a bit further but it wasn't something she could go. Not now.

***

"So.. where do we go from here?"

Kane's voice was shaky as he asked this question, knowing that his wife probably wouldn't know the answer, just as he didn't.

"I don't know, Kane, I really don't know. She wasn't meant to find out, not like this anyway."

Ever since his horrible past had been announced to a room full of teenagers, Kane had had an awful feeling in his stomach, a feeling that he now knew was shame. Shame because of what he'd done and shame because his daughter now couldn't even stand to be in the same house as him.

"She'll come round, won't she?"

"I don't know!! Kane, I just don't know anymore!!"

Kirsty was shouting now, unable to hold the emotion back.

"She might come round, she might not.. we don't know."

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? What? And you think that's going to do much good now??"

Kane and Kirsty never spoke about what had happened with her sister. It was subconsciously marked down as a no-go area. Now that they were forced into talking about it, alot of hidden emotions and angers were seething out.

"I didn't want her to know either!"

"Yeah but she does.. she knows and it'll never be the same again - ever!!"

Kane approached his wife in an attempt to comfort her but he didn't quite get the reaction he was hoping for.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!! Just.. don't touch me, ok?"

The defeated look on Kane's face instantly made Kirsty wish that she hadn't done that. She knew her husband wasn't a danger to anyone anymore, she just didn't know how to prove that to her daughter.

***

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Will mum be ok?"

Paige had hoped that Scott would immediately answer with a steady yes but, instead, she was met by silence.

"Dad?"

"I don't know, Paige. This is alot for her to try and deal with."

"I just want her to be the way she used to be, before Kane came back."

"Me too, Paige, me too. But it'll take a while. We've got to understand that."

Paige wrapped her arms around her body and allowed her head to rest on the table, her eyes closing. In her mind, she was with her mum and she was ten years old. When she had been younger, Paige was the complete opposite of who she was now. She used to be a tomboy and her favourite hobby had been climbing trees.

On this day in particular, Paige had been dared to climb the highest tree by her friend, and, not wanting to look like a wimp, had attempted.

"There! I did it!"

Paige was grinning like a Chesire cat as all the other kids looked up to her in awe. No one else had ever managed to climb that tree, not even the bigger kids from Yabbie Creek.

"Paige.. I think you should come down now."

Pippa was always the more cautious of the two girls, always the one who was afraid of getting in trouble or getting hurt.

"In a minute, Pip!! Look how high I am!! It's like I can fly!!"

The rest of the kids gasped as Paige let go of the branch with one hand and began flapping her arm about, imitating a bird.

"Paige.. no! Come down, please!"

Before Paige could shout down to Pippa that everything was ok, her other hand began to slip and, before she knew it, she was falling from the top of the tree.

She landed with a hard thump on the ground, her arm twisted and her head cut.

The feeling that Paige had felt then was the one she was feeling now. She just wanted her mum so much, in both situations.

***

[Jackieleanne]

Great chapter Ashirr-leigh, I can't wait to read more of this fanfic.

[I love music]

You're handling a really difficult situation (everyone finding out about Kane) and dealing with everyone's emotions very, very well, I honestly don't think I could. I know I said Too Much to Take was my fave fic of yours, but this is a very close second.

[Murrin]

I have read only few fanfictions before, not many about Kirsty and Kane but I really love this! I read them all now, all the chapter, and it was great. It is different, take the story from a complete different angle. Well done!

[Ashirr-Leigh]

"Can you believe it? And to think I let my daughter go to his house!"

"I know, anything could have happened."

The engine on the gossip wagon was well and truly fired up. The kids from the party had all gone home and repeated to their parents what Dayna had so callously told them and so the Diner was now buzzing with people trying to find out exactly what had happened.

"That Hunter girl was only 17, that's just a year off my Donna's age."

"I dread to think what he could have done to any of those girls."

Behind the counter, Irene listened to the customers, shaking her head in disgust. A part of them was excited that something was happening in their town, with no concern for the people involved.

"The police should have told all the residents exactly what he was the moment he stepped foot in Summer Bay."

"That's the thing though, Helen, it's nothing to do with the police because he was never convicted. Jury found him not guilty."

"Yeah? Well, even so! My Donna said he didn't deny it. He's a danger to our daughters."

Being so wrapped up in their conversation, no one had noticed Dani and Imogin walk into the Diner.

"And his wife being her sister! It's disgusting, the family should have been forced out before they had time to settle in."

"I know! Imagine what it must be like for his poor kids, and hers. I'm telling you, if I was his wife, I'd be shot of him.."

The woman stopped mid sentence, finally realising who was standing infront of her. Dani Hunter and Imogin Phillips.

"Oh.. emm.. Mrs Hunter, we were just saying.."

"I know exactly what you were just saying and I'd be grateful if you didn't bother."

***

Kirsty timidly knocked on the open door, praying that she wouldn't be immediately rejected. When Scott appeared, she breathed a silent sigh of relief that it wasn't her sister. She wasn't ready to handle that just yet.

"Kirsty..."

The first time she'd met her sister's husband, she'd been impressed. He was handsome, had a good, steady job and was great with the kids. When Dani was younger, she'd gone on looks only, not caring for anything else but it was obvious that her connection with Scott was much more than this.

"Is Imogin here?"

"No."

"Where is she?"

"She's gone out with Dani."

"Where to?"

"Think they said they were going for a walk."

Kirsty hoped that Dani would be able to talk Imogin round a bit, but she wasn't sure how her sister herself was feeling.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

As she sat herself down at the table, Paige appeared at the doorway to the hall, her eyes fixed on her aunt.

"What's she doing here?"

"Paige, go to your room."

"No! This is my living room and I won't be forced out of it by some traitor."

Kirsty looked down at her hands and the shine of her wedding ring caught her eye. Kane. They'd let this come between them when they'd vowed that nothing ever would. Now, though, she was finding herself wondering whether or not it was worth it.

She'd often dreamed of one day reuniting with her family and meeting her nieces and nephews. Now they would inevitably hate her.

The ring signified so much for Kirsty. Her undying love for Kane. Their unbreakable bond. The fact that they'd be together forever. The sacrifice that she had made for him. A sacrifice that she was still making 18 years later.

"Paige, do as your told."

"No, it's alright Scott. I probably deserve it."

"There's no probably about it, you're disgusting."

"I never meant to hurt your mum."

"Oh, really? You knew who he was, you knew what he'd done to her."

"You wouldn't understand. I loved him, you're too young."

"I might be too young to understand love but there's one thing I do know for sure. If anyone ever hurt my sister, I would never take their side over hers. Ever."

"That's not how it happened."

"Yeah? So how come I couldn't sleep last night because my mum's crying kept me awake?"

There was no real response that Kirsty could give to this. There was no point in arguing because she would always lose. She had been the one in the wrong.. if she could only make them all understand. But how could she? How could they be expected to understand what had happened all them years ago?

***

"This is one thing that I'll never again get used to."

"What?"

Dani looked around the Diner and saw that almost every pair of eyes in the room were focused on her and her niece. No one was speaking.

"Oh right.. that. No one ever did stuff like that in the city. Everyone minded their own business."

"Yeah well this isn't the city. This is Summer Bay where your private business is treated like public property."

"I'll say something if you want. Tell them all to get lost or something."

"No point, you'd just be giving them more ammunition. Let's just talk like we said we would, ok?"

Imogin nodded, trying her hardest to ignore everyone around her.

"My dad said he'd changed."

"He has."

"How do you know that?"

"He's still got Kirsty, hasn't he? And then there's you and your brother and sister. If he was the same man that he was all those years ago, you wouldn't be here."

"But how can you ever be sure?"

"I can't be. But I've got alot of faith in your mum."

Her mum. Although finding out that her father was a rapist was obviously a shock, Imogin had been perhaps equally as shocked to find out that her mother knew all about it. As far as she knew, her mum was a firm believer in justice - something which Dani had never gotten. It hardly seemed fair that the perpetrator of the attack had gotten away with it, gotten married and became happy whilst the victim had been forced to relive the rape for many years to come.

"I still can't believe she knew and yet she still.. still went with him."

Dani thought back to when her parents had first told her who Kirsty had run off with.

"We've got something to tell you, Dan. It's about Kirsty."

"Has she been found? Is she ok? Please say she's ok.."

"No.. no she's not been found. We still don't know where she is.. but.. we know who she's with."

"Oh, em, ok, who?

"You're not going to like this."

"Dad, who is it?"

"It's.."

"Who? It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Kane. It's Kane.

Back then, merely the mention of his name had been enough to make her entire body shudder with fear and the tear ducts in her eyes would begin working overtime. She hadn't believed them at first, thought it was some kind of cruel, twisted joke that she just didn't get. Then she'd seen the seriousness in their faces and her world had come crashing down.

"He wouldn't have been my choice for her but I guess she's happy."

"But how could she ever be happy? Knowing what he'd done and thinking that he could do it again."

"I don't know."

"I'll never forgive him, Dani, not ever."

***

Kane could hear his daughter saying that in his mind, over and over again. He made her sick, so sick that she couldn't stand to be near him, in the same house as him.

In his hand, he clutched a family photo that had been taken only 3months eariler for Tilly's 4th birthday. Kirsty had looked amazing that day, not that she ever didn't to Kane. Infact, they all had.

Kane would give anything to have that back. He felt so lonely and isolated in the house all alone. The photograph was bright and oozed happiness but he, now, could not even bare to turn the light on in fear that he would accidentally catch sight of himself in the mirror.

[I love music]

Another superb chapter, Ashirr-Leigh. This is a really interestin fic.