Just a reminder, this is an alternative version of chapter 56 that didn't happen this exact way in the original book. 

Everyone continued to stare in stunned silence at Mia's dad, all convinced we had to have heard him wrong. This man surely couldn't be psychotic enough to have just randomly, and boldly just asked if I was sleeping with his daughter.

Mia's dad let out an impatient huff and rolled his eyes. "I haven't got all day, Ethan, have you or have you not had sex with my daughter?" Mia's dad snapped impatiently.

I blinked twice, under the weight of his menacing gaze, and shuffled once more uncomfortably in my seat.

"Dad, what kind of fucking question is that? Can't you ask a normal question, like about soccer or literally anything else?" Mia groaned in annoyance before starting to rub soothingly at her temples no doubt trying to dissipate a growing headache.

"We're all adults here, so I don't see why not. Well, everyone except you, Mia. Your eighteenth birthday is not until next month," her dad pointed out matter of fact.

"Wait, how do you know Ethan's eighteen?" Mia asked slowly, confusion more than evident in her tone.

I paused, realizing I hadn't remembered telling him that either. A frightening chill ran done my spine.

Her dad let out a breath of laughter. "You honestly think I haven't stalked all of his social media and haven't done a full police background check on him. You're my only daughter, Mia. I had to check you weren't going to be murdered, " he scoffed.

I continued to stare terrified, realizing this man had full-on stalked me. I was terrified to know what other research he could have fucking done.

"So back to the topic," her dad said, his head snapping back to me. "Have you or have you not had sex with Mia?" her dad near to barked from across the table.

"No, I haven't sir," I finally spat out. My words were nothing but the truth, but I couldn't hide the light shake of my voice. I couldn't help it. The man looked ready to leap across the table and kill me.

Her dad's head was tilted in thought, and an almost smile appeared on his lips, like a predator who'd just watched his prey slip into his trap. "Interesting....very interesting....," he murmured.

I exchanged a nervous look with Mia, and her mother, who were also looking at Jeff, with deeply furrowed brows. It was clear that I wasn't the only one who thought this man was bat-shit crazy.

Her dad cleared his throat, still smiling ever so lightly. "If everyone wouldn't mind, I want everyone to come watch some home movies with me."

Everyone at the table remained still, and confused, as Jeff, hopped up from his chair and started leisurely strolling his way to the living room.

Mia's mum lazily rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, he's probably just going to show you some old home movies of him doing his stupid martial arts or something to intimidate you," she sighed, as she also climbed to her feet. "Come on let's just get this over with."

Mia and I once more looked at each other with deeply concerned eyes before we slowly climbed to our feet and followed the crazy man into the living room.

Upon entering the room, I noticed Jeff staring at me intensely as I entered with a complete look of neutrality in his expression. He clutched tightly at the remote control while he sat rigidly in the center of his armchair.

"Sit," he said plainly as he gestured to the sofas.

I swallowed hard before joining Mia on one sofa while her mother sat beside her husband, on the other sofa.

I could hear each tick of the clock, as I awaited the madman's next move. Several seconds ticked by and Jeff just rocked his eyes back and forth between his daughter and me before he cleared his throat.

"My daughter told me she was dating you yesterday," he stated simply. "I admit, when I first heard, I let out a few undignified words naturally....,"

"A few?" Mia's mum commented in a light snort under her breath.

Ignoring his wife, Jeff, cleared his throat once more. "But after taking some time to reflect, I realized how odd it was that my little girl had gone from hating to liking you so quickly. So, naturally, I realized there must be a lot I was missing. So, I investigated."

Genuinely scared now, I continued to stare cautiously at Jeff.

"Investigated? What on earth do you mean?" Mia interrupted.

"What I mean is that I decided to dig up our old security footage, and see if I could find anything of interest. Turns out I could," Jeff answered with a simple smile.

Security footage? Shit. Shit. Shit. I tried frantically to think of anything I could have done that could have been caught on his cameras.

Mia's face went instantly paler, clearly starting to panic just as much as I was.

"Who would like to see the first clip?" Jeff said as he reached for the remote.

"Honey, you can't be serious...," his wife said warningly.

Pressing play, he ignored her attempts to keep things civil once again, and the TV flashed with light, and the next minute a clear front view of Mia's front porch came into view.

"Just for context, this day was supposedly the day about a month or so ago that Mia stayed at home from school because she was 'sick', "Jeff stated with a slight raise of his brow.

"Oh crap," Mia muttered under her breath. The next minute, Jeff, the psychopath pressed play. Trying to rack my brain to remember what I did that day, I watched on, feeling sick to my stomach. The screen showed nothing but a still image of the house for a few seconds, before the next minute there was movement at the bottom of the screen.

The next minute, I saw a very clear image of myself skipping up the porch stairs causing me to naturally stop breathing.

Shit. Shit. Shit. What was I doing there? What the fuck was I doing there? I tried desperately to rack my brain for why I had come that day, but overcome with fear my brain refused to cooperate.

I had clearly just come from school as I had a backpack slung over my shoulder, and I had a slight smile on my lips as though excited.

I watched tensely as the video showed me leaning forward to ring the doorbell to the house. Nobody answered the door for several minutes, and that's when I suddenly remembered what I'd done that day, and just how fucked I truly was right now.

Mia snapped her head towards me fast with fear in her eyes, seeming to realize what was about to happen as well.

"I think that's quite enough Dad," Mia snapped quickly.

"No, let's continue," her dad said, the corners of his lips edging upward.

As I settled my eyes back on the TV, I watched as I looked up towards, her bedroom window before I impatiently rolled my eyes. Then the next minute, video-footage-me started aggressively ringing the doorbell over and over again.

Well, this wasn't fucking good....

"It's nice to know you care so much about our electricity bill, Ethan," Jeff commented sassily as we continued to watch me punish their doorbell over and over again.

I pressed my lips together nervously, then I watched horrified as I proceeded to yell, 'Mia open the door!' up at her bedroom window.

"Ever so patient aren't we Ethan when we're harassing my daughter," Jeff said while continuing to watch the clip.

"I'm – Sir, I –", I stuttered, unsure what to say to rectify the situation.

"Shh, I'm watching," Jeff interrupted. I shut my mouth abruptly and turned to look towards Mia's mum hoping she'd do something miraculously to save us. To my horror, I saw she was casually sitting back drinking her tea, looking entirely unbothered like her husband's behavior didn't even surprise her.

Turning back to the screen, I watched as I stopped ringing the bell. Then swinging my bag off my shoulder, I started rummaging through it as though searching for something. The next minute, I straightened up with two bobby pins in my hands.

Shit.

"I think I'm going to be sick...," Mia mumbled.

We all watched as the video showed me starting to pick their lock. Correction, the guy who helps put people into jail watched as I broke into his home.

"Wow, you guys are screwed, "Mia's mum added unhelpfully.

Soon enough the final pin of the lock must have clicked, and the door cracked open. Then without hesitation, we all watched as I boldly let myself in before closing the door behind me.

That's when Jeff finally decided to pause the video before turning to face me. "Anything to say, Ethan?"

I instantly sat up straighter. "I am so, so sorry Sir. I'm- You see I was....I—", I stuttered terribly over my words. "I'm just so sorry."

Jeff blinked at me twice then flicked out a mini notebook, and started frantically scribbling stuff inside.

What the fuck was he writing?

"Dad, look he was just trying to come look after me because he knew I was sick. And I'm sure he just picked the lock because he was worried about me. Right, Ethan," Mia piped in quickly.

I swallowed nervously, then nodded my head quickly, willing to go with anything that might get me to avoid a prison sentence at this point.

"That's interesting, let's see how he helped you, then when you were sick," Jeff said stiffly. "I believe this was an hour after Ethan every so heroically decided to let himself in," he muttered slyly.

The next minute, her dad pressed the fast-forward button and once more pressed, play. Once more a view of Mia's front porch came into view.

Not remembering what happened an hour into my stay, I furrowed my brows while continuing to watch.

Then soon enough a figure came into view on the screen. This time, a tall blonde boy skipped his way up the porch stairs. My eyes widened recognising that it was Ben.

Shit.

He smoothened down his jacket and then rang the doorbell. After a minute or so, the door swung open, and Mia stepped through the door. Her hair was messily strung up in a big messy knot above her head, and it looked like she was wearing nothing but a large male hoodie. My hoodie.

I realised, horrified that it looked like she was wearing absolutely nothing underneath. It undeniably looked like we'd been up to something. God, I was so fucking dead.

I watched as video Mia greeted Ben with a smile. "Oh hey, Ben. What brings you here?"

Of course, Jeff had to have fucking amazing audio.....

"I just wanted to check up on you since you called up sick to work. You're not avoiding me because of what happened at the party, right?" Ben asked cautiously.

"Oh no, no! Of course not. I'm actually sick," Mia replied with a laugh. "I've got snotty tissues to prove it," she said as she fished one out of her pocket for proof.

"Thank god, I thought you hated me for sure," Ben said as he let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Wait, why would I hate you?" Mia asked in confusion.

"I just figured since Ethan lost his shit at the party, that there clearly must be something going on with you two. I should have asked before trying to kiss you, I put you in an uncomfortable position and I'm sorry," Ben mumbled.

Oh shit...

Jeff immediately paused the clip and sharply turned around to face us. An awkward silence settled the room, as everybody slowly started to realize how fucked we were.

"Dare I even ask, Mia why this ken wannabe, has shown up on your doorstep, saying he tried to kiss you?" Jeff asked slowly. "And dare I even ask why he thinks you were already dating, lock-picker over there?"

"Ken wannabe?" Mia said, with a slight laugh despite the seriousness of the situation. "You are so much like Ethan than you even realize."

Jeff and I immediately looked at each other and then frowned. I was nothing like this guy; I could hardly see myself as being the overprotective dad type.

"But anyway, if you must know," Mia muttered with a sigh. "He just came to apologize, for a stupid party game that went too far. That was literally it."

I let out a deep breath, pleased she hadn't mentioned to him, how stupidly I'd acted that night. That's the last thing Jeff needed to know.

Jeff's frown remained etched in place, and he aggressively rolled his eyes before once again pressing play.

The picture started moving once more, and we saw Mia burst into laughter at what Ben said before a figure appeared behind her from the door.

She curiously turned around, and that's when you see me saunter out of the house, completely shirtless. I could do nothing but watch wide-eyed and horrified as I greeted Ben with a far too smug-looking expression.

Then as though things couldn't get worse, I proceeded to snag both my arms around Mia's waist, so I could pull him snugly into my chest. As I watched myself sink my head into the crook of her neck, and put my mouth near her ear, I prayed to every living god that his audio wouldn't pick up what I said.

Unfortunately, it did, and we all saw me whisper, 'Let's go back to bed," right into Mia's ear.

Jeff immediately paused the video and then turned to me. Feeling like all the life had been sucked out of me, I stared at him wide-eyed, wondering if I should just make a run for it.

"So, Ethan, anything to say?" Jeff asked with narrowed eyes.

My mouth fumbled to form words, an unnatural sweat breaking out across my forehead. "I....you see," I stuttered stupidly as I struggled to maintain eye contact with the intense way he was staring at me. " Look, I- I know that looked terrible. Really, really insanely terrible, but I swear to you we didn't do anything. I was joking," I rambled out foolishly.

"Joking?" Jeff scoffed as he cocked up a brow. "And this joke somehow involved you wearing no shirt, and my daughter wearing nothing but your hoodie, did it?"

"Oh, for the love of god, Dad," Mia groaned. "I was already wearing that hoodie before he even got there! If you rewind the clip, Dad, you can clearly see that's not what he was wearing when he arrived!"

"That is true...," Mia's mother commented in agreement as she lazily stirred at her tea.

Jeff's jaw grew tenser. "Still don't quite understand why Ethan's top was off?"

I let out a deep sigh. "I took it off right before coming to the door. I wanted the boy at the door to think I was seeing Mia...," I mumbled reluctantly. "I was jealous of him, I admitted bluntly. "And if you carry on the clip, you'll see Mia looking confused, and annoyed with me, making it obvious I was lying."

There was a moment of silence, as Jeff scanned me up and down with an unreadable expression, looking almost irritated that he knew my side of things made sense. "Fine," he snapped sharply. "Let's move on to the next clip then shall we."

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. He had more fucking clips?

Jeff quickly picked up the remote and with a couple clicks a new still image of their front porch was produced.

He cleared his throat. "I believe this was the day after, I stupidly let you guys go on that weekend trip together."

My eyes immediately widened.

Once he pressed play, I saw a shadow appear from the corner of the screen and the next minute, I appeared into the frame and skipped my way up the porch stairs. There was a sassy Beyonce song playing loudly throughout the clip that was clearly coming from inside the house. The clip shows me starting to smile before I leaned up to the door and rang the bell. There was once again, no response. After some time, I gave a loud triple knock on the door, and there was still no answer. Finally, after a couple of seconds when still met with no response, the clip proceeded to show me digging out two bobby pins from my pocket and sliding them into the lock.

I became incredibly still and nearly threw up as I once more saw myself breaking into this police officer's house.

"You've really got that lock-picking technique down, Ethan?" Jeff called out slyly, as the clip showed me successfully getting the door open, and letting myself in.

I sunk down lower on my place on the sofa, hoping it would swallow me whole. "So sorry," was all I managed to mumble out, in between a thick swallow.

"But this wasn't the curious part, the curious part was what happened 40 minutes later," Jeff suddenly snapped, his eyes taking on a venomous heat as he once more pressed fast forward.

Seconds later, the screen showed movement towards the edge of the screen, and then we all watched as Jeff himself, climbed slowly up the porch stairs. He pulled out his keys and proceeded to let himself in the house.

"Now, if we switch to camera 3," Jeff announced snappily, as he pressed the remote once more.

All at once, the screen flashed to a view looking down from the top of the house at the roof. The next minute, we see the window to a room push out.

Soon enough arms and legs appeared on the windowsill, and my eyes widened in horror as I saw a very clear image of myself climbing smoothly out of Mia's bedroom window.

It was official – he was going to kill me.

To make matters worse, my hair was noticeably disheveled and I had the dumbest of smiles on my face as I carefully lowered myself down from the roof so I could grab a hold of their garden fence.

Jeff once more paused the video and turned to look between his daughter and me. "Why the quick departure after I arrived Ethan, hmm?" he asked his eyes digging into mine like daggers.

"I....erm....," I looked down at my lap nervously, very well remembering why I had escaped so fast, and it had everything to do with making out with his daughter.

He tilted his head, then turned towards Mia. "And Mia, I distinctly remember you telling me that day you accidentally burned yourself with your straighteners and that's why you had that mark on your neck. Was Ethan straightening your hair for you?" Jeff asked, his lips almost curving up into a mocking smile.

Mia blinked rapidly, an angry blush coating her cheeks. "Not exactly," she mumbled.

Realizing, I needed to try and put an end to this, I begrudgingly lifted my gaze with a thick swallow and prepared myself to say something that might get me shot.

"Look, sir, I won't lie and say I'm not attracted to your daughter, but I wasn't lying before regarding your no offense, deeply invasive question about our...erm...intimacy. I have nothing but respect and love for your daughter, and I'd never do anything she wasn't comfortable with. I hope you believe me when I say that," I admitted honestly.

Mia's foot brushed gently with mine at my words, and I saw her lip twitch slightly upward, almost enough to make me smile.

Jeff observed me silently for a handful of seconds, not saying anything at all.

For a split, second, by a weird fluke of nature, I saw the man's eyes almost soften. "That's enough clips for now. Let's go back and finish dinner," he finally said with an almost sigh.

Everyone slowly and cautiously rose to their feet and wandered back over to the dining room. Once everyone was once again sat around the table, and ended up eating, I had a short brief hope that he had finally given up his interrogation of me. I was wrong.

Jeff swallowed his last bite, then turned to me. "So, Ethan, you're a good-looking bloke, so I'm guessing you're quite experienced. You've had a lot of girlfriends in the past, I presume," he said as he looked me up and down analytically.

I nearly snorted at his assumption. "Actually, Mia's my first girlfriend, so I wouldn't exactly call myself experienced," I admitted.

Mia's dad's brow lifted in surprise. "Really? I find that hard to believe," he said as he narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion.

I paused for a second, wondering if this man was slyly trying to tell me I looked like a man-slut.

"Trust me, I'm really not joking. Before Mia, the only kiss I had was from when I was about eight years old."

I hesitated for a split second, wondering just how stupid it was that I'd just boldly admitted that I'd been kissing his daughter.

"Wait, wait, wait, what," Mia suddenly choked out. Turning to look at her, I saw her staring me over with wide, disbelieving eyes.

I knew full well why she was surprised, considering how many rumors there were circulating in the school about my supposed sexual experience. I'd given up trying to correct people after a while when I realized nobody outside of my group of friends seemed to believe me.

I awkwardly averted my eyes. "Yeah, I know it's kind of embarrassing... the guys on the team enjoy taking the mic out of me because of it," I mumbled with a light nervous laugh.

Jeff immediately started to frown, looking particularly irritated by what I said for some reason. "Nothing is embarrassing about that, your friends are stupid. It shows you've got your head screwed on straight," he argued.

I blinked once then twice, convinced I must have misheard him. There was no way this psychotic man who had literally just watched me break into his house, was....standing up for me?

"So, what do your parents do? Jeff suddenly asked abruptly after his last mouthful of food. His eyes dug into mine heatedly and seemed to carry a level of knowingness to them that left me feeling on edge.

I immediately stilled, and Mia whipped her head to look towards me, her eyes searching over mine in panic.

She turned back to her dad. "Dad, that's not-"

"Don't worry, it's fine, Mia," I interrupted before she got a chance to finish. If this man wanted to know my entire family history then so be it. I was fed up of feeling ashamed for a crime I did not commit.

"Well, my mum's a lawyer. She's incredible and everything good in my life I have her to thank for," I stated proudly.

"And your father?" Jeff probed, seeming to look over me particularly carefully this time.

I swallowed harshly before clearing my throat to speak. "That man has been in prison for the past six years. He was convicted for the rape of several young women," I stated bluntly, not seeing the point of beating around the bush.

Silenced filled the air, and unable to help myself I let out a harsh chuckle. "That's probably not what you wanted to hear, sir, but it's the truth."

Jeff stared at me for several seconds without speaking. Just as I was convinced, he was about to tell me to get out and never talk to his daughter again, he let out a sigh.

"I'm not going to judge you for who your parents are Ethan. I'm judging you on who you are," he explained softly. "And as much as I hate to admit it, it's as clear as day that you care for my daughter. Even I can't deny that, considering you willing sat through, my torture of you."

"If it wasn't already obvious, I came to this dinner hating you, but strangely enough I don't anymore. Yes, it is deeply concerning that you broke into my house multiple times, but considering your honesty in my little interrogation of you, I'm choosing to let it slide. Dare I say it Ethan, but I think I'm starting to like you. You're a good guy, and though it hasn't always been the case in the past, you clearly make my daughter happy," he said plainly.

Hardly able to believe the words that were departing his mouth, I stared at him stunned before a smile escaped my lips. "Thanks, Mr. Collins, I'm incredibly happy you feel that way!"

Then the strangest of all things happened, and he started to smile. "You don't have to call me Mr, collins or Sir, son. You can call me, Jeff," he said, a chuckle escaping freely through his lips.

Holy crap, had I just charmed Mia Collins's dad?

-----------------

Holy fucking crap, I had totally fucking charmed Mia's dad!

It had been an hour since dinner, and we had all moved to the living room to relax. By some freakish turn of events, I was currently sitting beside Mia's dad and had been laughing my head off with him as we watched soccer together. I never thought I'd say it, but the man was hilarious, and it became obvious where Mia seemed to get her sense of humour from.

And man did this guy know his soccer! It was like hanging out with an older but odd version of myself. It sounded stupid to say but just talking with him, had made me feel like I almost had a proper dad again.

Just as I was tuning back into the TV, I heard Mia letting out deep sighs from the sofa across as she chatted to her mum. I vaguely heard my name pop up in her conversation along with the phrase 'Forgotten that I'm here.'

My lips pricked up into an amused smile as I turned her way. She'd thought I'd forgotten that she was here, did she?

"Did you just say my name, Chubs?" I called out from across the room.

She met my eyes back, hers shining with a special kind of light. "Nothing, just bitchin' about you," she teasingly yelled back.

"Hey, I didn't even do anything wrong," I laughed.

"Mia, stop being mean to your boyfriend," Mia's dad snapped, as he gave his daughter a stern look.

The moment I saw Mia's eyes widen with betrayal, I immediately lost my shit and started softly laughing. Jeff was clearly on my team now.

"This is ridiculous, you hated him less than two hours ago," she accused.

Jeff blinked once as though his brain was refusing to process this information. "Well, I've changed my mind," he shrugged.

"Yeah, Mia," I couldn't help but chime in childishly. Naturally, Mia looked ready to kick me to the other side of the room which only made me chuckle harder.

I knew I shouldn't' wind her up, but she always looked so hot when she got a little pissed off.

Glancing down at my watch, my eyes widened realising the time. "Oh shoot, I didn't realize it was so late. I should be going," I said as I stood up to leave.

"But it was great meeting you both, and the meal was amazing, Mrs Collins, thank you so much," I said with a bright smile.

Jeff smiled warmly at me, a twinkle in his eyes. "It was a pleasure to have you, son, feel free to come round any time," he said as he reached out and shook my hand.

As I turned to leave, Mia stood up also. "I'll walk you to your car," she said as she followed me to the door.

As soon as we stepped outside, Mia started to laugh. "Well, that was an interesting dinner," she said as we strolled forward.

I chuckled lowly. "Yup, nothing like watching yourself repeatedly breaking into a police officer's house," I laughed.

We stopped at my car and leaned our backs up against it.

"Yeah, but you answered all his questions really well, I was impressed," she said as she bumped her shoulder with me.

My eyes skimmed her up and down. "Impressed, huh?" I smirked as I leaned in a little closer.

"Yeah, I don't know what kind of witchcraft you used, but you managed to make him like you," she said as she shook her head at me in disbelief.

"I just had a lot of motivation, that's all," I murmured as I brushed a strand of loose hair gently behind her ear.

"And what might that be?" she whispered as she slid herself closer to me. She pushed her chest up, and into me, which naturally made me suck in a breath. Then clearly a little too good at this seduction thing, her eyes drifted down to my lips.

I smiled softly. "You," I whispered before descending her lips on mine.

I groaned in satisfaction, the moment I felt her warm lips against my own. I snagged a hold of her waist, and pushed her body further into mine, refusing to let her go. My hands wandered down the length of her spine, half tempted to peel off her shirt in the middle of the street.

Mia soon pulled away reluctantly, leaving me breathless and wanting, clearly a little more aware of me about how public we were.

With my hand still resting on her lower back, she looked up at me warmly. "So, I'm your second kiss, huh?" she teased, looking up at me with a smirk.

Of course, out of all those things I'd said tonight, that's what she'd latched on to.

"You're never going to let me hear the end of it, are you?" I said, my eyes narrowing in on hers.

"I'm just shocked, that's all, it's not like you've had a lack of willing girls," she softly laughed.

"Well, I didn't want them," I said honestly, my eyes dancing over hers. "I wanted you."

I leaned in to kiss her again, but she put a hand on my chest to stop me. "Ethan, we're in the middle of the street," she laughed as she pushed me away softly.

I frowned immediately. "So..," I grumbled childishly. If the neighbors didn't want to look, the assholes could look the fuck away.

Mia lazily rolled her eyes at me.

"See you tomorrow, Ethan," she called out as she pushed herself off the car, and started to make her way back to the house.

I didn't let her get about a centimetre in distance before I snaked my arms around her waist, and spun her around to face me.

"Eth-" was all she managed to get out before I silenced her by pressing my lips down onto her.

She froze, seemingly momentarily stunned but soon relaxed into the kiss, finally forgetting about the nosy neighbors. Finally, a little more satisfied, I pulled away from her slowly and stared down at her with a triumphant smirk stretched out on my face.

"Goodnight, Chubs," I whispered before turning away and making my way back to my car, whistling happily as I went. 

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Sorry it's been a while since the last update, hope to bring more to you soon xx