"Annie, sweetie, what's the matter where are we going?" asked John as he followed after Annie who was still pulling his arm to go after her.
"We are going outside Dad, we need to talk" said Annie as she waved her hand and the door in front of them pushed open on it's own as she walked out of the Palace with him into the garden.
"Talk about what dear?" asked John in confusion, he didn't get why she looked upset right now, it was rare for her to be upset with him.
"You'll know soon Dad" said Annie as they walked further into the garden and before they walked further into the hedges, she finally let go of his hand and she bent down and placed her hand on the grass as a purple barrier covered them.
"There" said Annie as she stood up, satisfied once she saw the barrier turn clear.
...
"What's wrong Matty boy?" asked Maddie as she looked at Matt who was frowning.
"I can no longer hear Annie or her dad" said Matt as he frowned and looked at Maddie.
"Maybe that's because she doesn't want you to hear them, she probably used a barrier or something" said Maddie as Matt's frown deepened further.
"Oh relax Matt, if she did that, it means she has a lot to say to her dad, you just remain calm" said Maddie as Matt didn't know whether to believe her or not.
...
"What is this all about Annie?" asked John as he was very confused by her actions, first she dragged him out of the Palace to the garden, and now she made a barrier, he didn't know what was going.
"This is about Matt Dad" said Annie as she looked at her father with a frown on her face.
"What about Matt, dear?" asked John as he frowned, not liking that she mentioned him at this moment.
"Dad, lately, I've noticed the way you treat him, the way you talk to him and look at him, and it's not nice at all" said Annie as John frowned and looked away, obviously annoyed by the topic.
"I don't know what you are talking about Annie" said John as he feigned ignorance, he didn't want to talk about this right now.
"Oh yes you do Dad, stop pretending, everyone notices how you treat Matt, it's like you don't like him" said Annie.
"That's because I don't like him" replied John as Annie frowned.
"Why don't you like him Dad? Did he do something wrong or what?" asked Annie in confusion as she furrowed her brows, she didn't get this at all.
"That's not important Annie" said John as he was prepared not to say anything further.
"And that's all you are going to say Dad?" asked Annie in disbelief as John displayed the act of keeping his mouth sealed as he pretended to have a key and he locked his mouth and threw the key away, which made Annie scoff.
"Dad, I don't know when exactly this your whole dislike for Matt started, and I don't care, because it's obviously a one way thing, Matt doesn't dislike you at all" said Annie as John looked at her and frowned.
"I don't like him for good reasons Annie, reasons you are too young to understand" said John.
"Dad please don't give me the whole, 'you are too young to understand' nonsense, because I'm not a child, I'm seventeen, I've been through a lot, more than you did when you were my age, if anything, I'm sure I am not so young anymore, and this whole thing is just petty in my eyes" said Annie as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why are you being mean to my friend? Matt is my friend, you're just being petty by treating him like that" said Annie as she didn't like that at all, she could recall Maddie telling her something about this before, but she had never seen it as serious as it truly was.
"You might not like him Dad, but I do" said Annie with resilience as that caused John to groan, he didn't want to deal with this right now, he had thought that he was lucky enough to skip the rebellious phase with Annie, but boy was he wrong.
"I just don't trust that boy okay, I know many boys his age and they are more or less the same" said John as he tried to explain.
"Well Matt isn't like other boys, I can give you many reasons why he's not like other boys, one, he's a half vampire, half witch, two, he's responsible because he has nine siblings of whom he's the oldest and he always takes care of them, three, he's a wonderful guy who is sweet, and someone you can count on" said Annie as John flinched hearing Annie defend Matt like that.
"You might not trust him, but I do, I trust him with my life" said Annie.
"Dad, if this is a matter of you not trusting him then it's wrong, because time and time again he has proved to you and everyone that he's a true friend, he protects me, he helps me, he's been with me through thick and thin, instead of living with his family, he's over here, because he knows I would miss him if he leaves" said Annie.
"He went with me to Caligo and back, he's part of the team, he's an essential person who I would vouch for and defend in front of you or any one else" said Annie as John sighed.
"You really admire him a lot don't you?" asked John.
"Yes I do Dad, and you should to" said Annie.
"And you like him?" asked John as Annie frowned, not liking where this was going.
"Of course I like him, but I'm not defending him because of that, I'm defending him because it's the right thing to do, he would never say it straight to your face that you are being childish" said Annie as John sighed, his little girl was chewing him out for a boy... how great...his worst fear had come to pass.
"Dad, Matt respects you a lot, the least you could do is return half his respect" said Annie as she sighed.
"Look, Dad, that's all I ask, I don't like it when you're mean to him, it's not nice, and I know that you aren't like that at all" said Annie as John looked at her.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't know it meant a lot to you" said John apologetically.
"It does Dad" said Annie as she nodded and John sighed.
"So will you change?" asked Annie.
"Annie, I don't like you arguing with me just because of a boy" said John as he sighed.
"Dad, it doesn't matter if Matt was a boy or girl, I would still say the same thing to you regardless" said Annie.
"I'm sorry Annie, I won't be mean to him... anymore... I mean I will try" said John.
"That's all I ask Dad, you know that I love you no matter what, and nothing you do can make me love you any less" said Annie as her words made John smile.
"Really sweetie?" asked John as he smiled.
"Really Dad, just be nice, and try not to be so intimidating whenever you see him, you scare him really" said Annie as she hugged her dad and laughed as he laughed.
"Alright for you, I will" said John as he smiled and hugged her.
"And that's all I needed to hear, now come on let's go back inside" said Annie as she smiled and snapped her fingers as the sound of glass shattering could be heard, but no glass could be seen.
"Alright let's go" said John as he smiled and Annie walked happily ahead of him as he let out a small sigh, your children growing up was one of the hardest things to go through as a parent.
...
"We are back!!" said Annie as she happily walked into the lounge as John followed behind her.
"Welcome back, how did it go?" asked Maddie happily as Annie sat down.
"It went great, Matt, my dad has something to say to you" said Annie as she looked at Matt and smiled.
"He does??" asked Matt in a mix of fear and confusion as he turned his head slowly to look at John.
"Yes he does, right Dad?" asked Annie as she smiled at him.
"Oh this is going to be good" said Maddie as she laughed and John cleared his throat.
"Matt, I want to apologize to you, I realize that I have been treating you unfairly, and being unnecessarily mean towards you, and It does not speak well of me, you are a good guy, Annie knows that, everyone knows that, even I know that... so would you please forgive me?" asked John sincerely as Matt was shocked to say the least, but he quickly came out of his stupor of shock.
"Of course I forgive you Mr. Grey, no hard feelings" said Matt as he smiled.
"Yayyy, finally, now shake on it to make it certain" said Maddie as she laughed and John gave Matt a handshake.
"Better, now my wonderful father, and my second best friend are friends now" said Annie as she smiled and they laughed.
"Hey has anyone seen Curtis?" asked Annie.
"Oh he left a while ago, he should be back soon" said Maddie while smiling.
"Oh alright then" said Annie as she was happy that things were happy.