Serena POV

Ash was the first one to react. Eyes narrowed distrustfully as he turned to face his dad, who was a couple of steps away from our reach. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" he asked, the chilliness coming from his voice almost tangible. My ears burned with shame as I slipped down from the counter my boots touching the tiled floor, suddenly wishing I was somewhere else. My eyes darted around the kitchen and I cringed. Flour, splats of batter and frosting everywhere. We had made such a mess. And for what? A few minutes of fun, a little bit of pleasure? This isn't going to end well.

Mr. Ketchum rolled his eyes sardonically. "I decided to come home early." A patronizing note in his voice, he added, "Is that a crime?"

Brushing against me as he leaned against the counter Ash glowered at his dad and sullenly muttered, "No."

"And what a surprise I got." Mr. Ketchum grinned friendlily at in our direction, setting his laptop case on a relatively clean part of the kitchen table. "Two teenagers making out in my kitchen- that's actually pretty tame by your standards, Ash." The sarcasm in his voice grew as his eyes twinkled. "But by all means, carry on." He smiled and gestured his hands to proceed.

Running a hand through his hair, Ash said, "We were just wrapping – things up." His hands were clenched into tight fists and I could feel him stiffen as his body bumped up against my hip. Obviously, things still weren't going well between him and his dad. My heart went out to Ash as I stared at his smiling father. Does the man not have feelings, or what?

"Don't stop on my account," Mr. Ketchum said expansively, waving a hand at Ash. "In my day, I got caught doing things like that all the time." He winked at u . "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Heaving a stressed sounding sigh, Ash shook his hair out of his eyes and said, "If you say so." He sounded mildly perplexed, like he wasn't too sure where his dad was going with this. I wasn't sure, either. Is he pissed off? It didn't look that way, due to the big grin on his face. But maybe the grin and gibing banter was just a prelude to his anger.

I bit my dry lip. I could say what I wanted about Alain, but at least I knew where he stood as far as mood swings were concerned. He went from civil to furious in less than 10 seconds. There was no in-between for him. As for Mr. Ketchum... It looked like Ash had to use a temper meter if he wanted to figure out where he stood with his dad, mood wise.

Gesturing towards me, Mr. Ketchum rumbled, "Now where are your manners? You're not going to introduce me to your friend?"

He grinned at me as, looking more confused than ever, Ash stared from me to him. Finally, after a short brain lag, he spoke, "You know her. Serena Yvonne. My gala date."

For a short period of time. Recognition lit up Mr. Ketchum's features as he nodded in affirmation, rubbing his hands together. "Ah, yes! Miss Yvonne from Vanville." He shot me a lopsided smile and clapped his hands together making an echo noise in the room we were in. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks, Mr. Ketchum," I said politely, playing with my own hands. I didn't want to be the one to rock the boat. He was being nice for the time being, so I was all for prolonging that as much as possible.

Mr. Ketchum perched himself onto the nearest barstool. "So... you guys were making cookies, eh?" he asked, raising one eyebrow as he glanced around the messy kitchen. Getting every bit of detail of our surroundings.

I looked at Ash, expecting him to answer, but he was just staring at his dad with a slightly unfocused look on his face. Like he was trying hard to figure out whether the real Mr. Ketchum's mind had been replaced. Guess it's up to me to make awkward small talk. Oh well, could be worse. He could be on that 'are you sure you're not a billionaire in disguise living in Vanville to prove a point' tip.

"Yes," I nodded. "We were going to give them to your neighbours," I replied truthfully.

"What happened? They have a kid or something?" Mr. Ketchum asked, chuckling at his own wit.

Taking a deep breath, I forged on, hoping against hope that I wouldn't trip up and give him fodder to go on the attack. I guess all those years living under the same roof as Alain has taught me to be extremely cautious. "No, we just wanted to be neighborly. Ash said he barely knew them so we figured this would be a nice way to reintroduce him." I trailed off from my sentence.

Snorting condescendingly, Mr. Ketchum said, "What a quaint idea." He picked up a clean napkin and dabbed at a pool of batter on the table. "Too bad that the majority of the cookies didn't end up in the oven, or hell would break loose."

I twisted my hands together, my insides knotting nervously. "I'll clean up, I promise."

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Ketchum said dismissively. "You just got carried away, that's all. I understand. I was once in love too."

My forehead creased as I gazed at him, puzzled. What a strange thing for a married man to say. I was almost positive that I heard Ash mumble, "Yeah, with yourself," under his breath.

His dad quickly shot him a quick, probing look as I tensed, expecting him to go off, but to my relief, he decided not to comment. Instead he said, "Ash, do me a favor?"

"What?" Ash asked, eying his dad warily.

"Hope and Leaf are still at the museum. Go pick them up, will ya?" Mr. Ketchum may have said he wanted a favor, but Ash and I both knew it was a straight up demand. "Use my car."

He takes out the car keys from his suited pocket and tossed it across the room and Ash single handedly caught them lazily. "Don't they already have a ride?"

"Their chauffer wasn't feeling too well so I let him go home for the day. I don't want little Leaf catching anything."

Massaging his forehead, Ash muttered, "How kind of you," in the most sarcastic voice ever.

"So be a good boy and go pick up your little sister."

Ash shrugged, apparently deciding not to argue with his dad, which was good enough for me. It worried me when Ash got worked up. I always pictured that aneurysm, with all that pressure on it...

"Fine." He turned to me, a resigned look in his deep hazel eyes. "Let's go, Sere," he said softly, slipping his warm hand into mine and wrapped it around. I smiled and was about to start walking, but...

Mr. Ketchum cleared his throat as I was picking up my bag from the tiled floor. "Actually, why doesn't –Miss. Yvonne - stay here?"

I quickly looked up from brushing flour off of my bag, my eyes widening at his suggestion.

"What?! Why?" Ash asked, his arms folded across his chest as he stared right at his dad. "I can drop her off home on my way..."

Pointing at me, Mr. Ketchum said, "She has frosting and cupcake batter all over her! You'd actually let her leave like this?" He let out a bark of laughter. "Obviously somebody isn't a true romantic."

"I can go clean up-," I started, eager to avert a fight between father and son. Ash's eyes were narrowed and from the way his head was cocked, I knew that he was getting close to the edge.

"No, it's okay!" Mr. Ketchum gave me another cheery smile that I didn't trust at all. "I'll keep you company while Ash's gone. Then you can finish what I interrupted."

Ash shot me a bewildered look as he bit his lip, obviously wondering what his dad was up to. Hell, so was I! Why is he being so damn nice? "Um..."

"The sooner you leave, the quicker you get back," Mr. Ketchum trilled, tapping his silver watch on his wrist.

I turned to face Ash, squeezing his hand. "It's okay, go. I'll stay till you get back."

Ash gave me an 'are you crazy' look as he leaned closer to me so that he could whisper. "You sure? I don't know about you, but he's freaking me out. He's being- civil!" He stared darkly at his dad over my free shoulder. "He's up to something."

"Maybe, but I get the feeling that he won't back down on this. If he wants me to stay, he'll get me to stay."

"Whenever you two are done whispering, there's a six year old girl standing out in the cold who wants to come home," Mr. Ketchum said loudly behind my back.

Ash rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "God, he's annoying. Okay, I'll go. If he starts s***, throw something at him and run."

I grinned at the serious look on his face. "Okay. Now go," I told him, squeezing his hand again.

He leaned in and pecked me on the lips in front of his dad and whispered, "Be right back."

Ash stuffed his dad's keys in the back pocket of his jeans and walked out of the kitchen out of my own sight. There was the loud slam of the penthouse's front door, then an awkward silence.

This is just awful.

When Ash left. Mr. Ketchum broke the heavy silence. "So, you seem to be getting along with Ash very well," he commented which made me turn around and face him, rubbing an red apple till it shone. He took a bite out of it, suddenly remembered his manners and held the fruit bowl out to me. "Fruit?" He spoke mouthfully, his words muffled when speaking.

I shook my head in responce, careful to keep the bland, polite smile plastered on my face. "No thanks."So let me get this straight. Mr. Ketchum had made me stay behind so he could offer me fruit? but I totally wrong.

"What do you like about Ash? In general." The unexpected question came out nowhere which made my whole face turn into a one big puzzle. Um... I don't think Mr. Ketchum wants to hear about his son's amazing kissing skills, Serena.

I swallowed and took a short quick breath. "He has a very generous spirit," I said honestly. Over the past few months I had seen as Ash proved that. It always left me in awe.

Mr. Ketchum snickered. "We talking about the same Ash?" he asked, disbelief in his voice. That alone was enough to get me on my high horse.

"I spend enough time with Ash to see how special he is," I answered haughtily, almost biting my tongue as I realised what I had said and how it must have sounded to Ash's dad.

Mr. Ketchum's piercing eyes shot to me and I pressed myself against the counter. "Are you implying that I don't?" he asked, sounding rather dangerous. And then he spoiled the whole effect by taking a huge bite out of his apple.

Wildly, I tried to right my slip up. "No, I just meant-," I started, scratching my nose nervously.

"Because you're right." Mr. Ketchum shrugged, reminding me forcibly of Ash. "I don't. But you know what? Leopards don't change their spots." He waggled a finger at me like he was about to teach me an important life lesson and it would be best for me to pay attention. "Ash may have claimed to have had an epiphany when Gary passed away, but people like him always relapse. He hasn't reverted to his old ways yet because of the aneurysm, but once he gets better, rest assured that he'll turn into the old Ash."

I was shaking my head before he even finished his sentence. "I don't think so," I argued. "He really is making an effort to change his life for the better."

Mr. Ketchum shrugged again, giving me an inscrutable look. "At least you believe in him," he said cryptically. Taking another bite out of the apple which was half-way finished, he chewed thoughtfully before asking me, "So tell me, what's the big deal with you two?" I guess the blank look I gave him was telling, because he elaborated. "You an item, or what? cuz I don't see it. All I see is the activity you two were making." he laughed heartily before finishing off his sentence.

Nodding proudly and a bit timidly, because I had no way of knowing how Mr. Ketchum was going to react, I said, "We are an item."

"Good for you." He grinned cheerfully at me, appearing to be quite pleased at the fact that Ash and I were dating. Hesitantly, I smiled back. The man is full of surprises. "You will see it lasting?"

"Well, I don't like to think that far ahead," I replied carefully. Of course I hoped that what Ash and I had would last forever, even though I knew that was just wishful thinking. Nothing, but nothing lasts forever. Still, I could only hope...

"See? Even you have your doubts," Mr. Ketchum pointed out shrewdly. "Think about it. Why you?" And we were back to basics. "Of all the girls Ash could date, he chooses the one from the poorest ghetto? Why would he? Huh."

Despite the negativity of what he was saying, Mr. Ketchum didn't look like he was angry or bent out of shape about Ash and I being together. He just sounded curious, like he really wanted to know how it came to be.

i took another short breath inhaling the sweet air which came from the bowl. blinking my eyes for a moment. "Because he's not closed minded," was my response.

"Maybe he's not. But think about it." Mr. Ketchum stood up and walked to the sink to toss the apple core down the disposal. "He's been trying to piss me off for years." He opened the tap to wash his hands, looking at me over his shoulder. "That's his game plan, annoying me into paying attention to him. And now he's come across you. Beautiful, yes. But you're poor. Ash's my only son. What would he annoy me more than having my heir 'hook up' with a girl who brings nothing to the family?" He paused for effect. "Nothing." he repeated and dried up his hands with a small towel taking out from the drawers.

The words he spoke out stung me like needles, but I stayed strong, tugged on my short hair exasperatedly. "Mr. Ketchum, I may bring nothing to the table, but I have respect for Ash and what he's doing to turn his life around. And I care for him." I stared incredulously at him. "Can't you see that?"

"I'm not saying you're wrong for caring for my son, I'm just saying you'll probably regret it. Ash is flighty. One moment you're in, the next- kaput." He stroked his tie, a self-assured air surrounding him. "I'm just warning you. Quit while you're ahead. This may be your last chance."

I could barely believe my ears. Is he saying what I think he is? "You want me... to dump him?" I asked with hesitation.

Laughing out loud, Mr. Ketchum said, "Don't say it like that! I didn't say kill him!" He laughed at his dull joke as I stared at him.

"I can't do that, Mr. Ketchum," I exclaimed. "I'm pretty much all he has, friend wise."

"Yeah, I heard about that many times." He shook his finger at me in an admonishing manner. "You see? You're making him choose between you and his friends. That's not nice."

My cheeks flushed at the accusation. "I didn't make him choose," I said, my voice sounding heated to my own ears. "He chose to do what he thought was right!"

"Only because everything else he tried didn't work," Mr. Ketchum replied calmly. I was beginning to realise that the man had an answer for everything, no matter if it meant that he had to contradict himself. "But do you really think Ash needs a girlfriend to get through this illness of his, or friends?"

I looked at him and shrugged wearily. This back and forth is tiring me out! "I don't know, Mr. Ketchum. He needs what he needs."

"Do you know what you need?" he said, coming at me with another tangent.

"What?"

"You need to name your price, Miss Yvonne." A stern look on his face, Mr. Ketchum started pacing a few feet in front of me. "This has gone on far too long enough. I like you but in the long run, you're not right for my son."

My mouth literally dropped open as I listened to his self-righteous spiel. "Are you trying to buy me off?"

"I'm a businessman, Buying people off, buying companies out, that's what I do. Now, are you going to stand there with that pious look on your face or are you going to tell me how much it'll cost to get you out of Ash's life?"

I pursed my lips, deciding to stand my ground. I wasn't about to let Mr. Ketchum threaten me into doing what he wanted. Only one person could tell me to get out of Ash's life, and that was Ash himself.

"I'm not going to be bribed."

Mr. Ketchum nodded, much like he had expected I would say that. "Fair enough." He chuckled evilly. "I'll just watch you crash and burn. That should be fun."

"I don't get it," I started, shaking my head and staring at Mr. Ketchum, trying to figure the man out. "Why are you so negative towards Ash?"

Mr. Ketchum did a small double take. He was obviously not expecting me to come at him with that. "Huh?"

"He's smart, kind, generous- Ash's a great person! So what if he made mistakes, did some things he's not proud of... we've all done that! What will it take for you to realise what an amazing son you have?" I was almost pleading, so heartfelt was the sentiment behind the statement. All Ash wanted was a positive relationship with his dad. Yet his dad was always focusing on the worst that Ash had done. And that stony look on his face told me he wasn't trying to hear me.

"Spare me the theatrics," he grumbled through his clenched teeth, just as Leaf ran into the room, her brown hair streaming behind her. She made a beeline for her dad with a photo gripped tightly in her hand. Hope and Ash followed at a more leisurely pace. I winced at the look Hope gave the messy kitchen.

"Daddy! Look at the picture I took with Ash!" Leaf screeched, waving it in front of her dad.

Making an effort to seem interested, even though it was obvious to us older folk that he didn't care, Mr. Ketchum looked at the picture. "That's very nice, sweetie."

Hope came across and gave him a perfunctory peck on the cheek. "How was work, dear?" she asked him.

"Bearable," Mr. Ketchum replied. He gestured to me without making a single eye-contact. "I'm having more fun with Miss Yvonne, here."

"Serena! You're here too!" Leaf spotted me and ran to hug me .

Hugging her back, I smiled. "Hi, Leaf!" I looked up at a beaming Hope. "Hi, Hope."

"Good to see you, Serena," Hope replied, walking over to try and wrest Leaf away from me. "Okay, Leaf, time for your nap." She picked up the squirming girl and walked out of the room leaving only with three people.

Mr. Ketchum's phone rang inside his pocket and he strode off to answer it.

"How'd it go?" Ash asked from beside me.

I turned to smile at him. "Okay," I said vaguely, noting the concerned way he stared into my eyes.

"He didn't try to brainwash you, did he?"

Too close for comfort. I wondered if I should tell him what his dad had proposed, then dropped it. Telling Ash would only make him mad and I didn't want that to happen. I'm so over drama.

"Nope." I shook my head.

"Good." Ash tapped the tip of my nose. "Coz I'd hate for you to get brainwashed."

Giggling, I said, "You're a trip."

He smirked back. "Takes one to know one."

"I really should be leaving," I said softly.

Ash nodded understandingly. I knew that he wanted to spend more time with me, but it was way past midnight. "Go clean up first. I'll drive you home." He dangled his dad's car keys in my face. "I still got the Range Rover keys."

"You show off."

Our noses brushed past as he kissed me slowly, his arms wrapping around my body. "I'm sorry he cut our fun time short," he murmured against my lips. "We can bake and make out some other day."

"I'll hold you to that."

Ash grinned widely and I smiled back even more with a red blush engulfed across my cheeks. "You better. Now go clean up."