I love music

!!!!!! It's excellent to begin with, Kat. I'm at work all day so not on the internet till around 8-9 Mon-Fri evening and I don't write as quickly as Kat does, but, just to let you know, I've downloaded Kat's part and we're working on the next chapter.

Thanks for your lovely review, Adia. It might be a while before I next update as I'm working with Kat on SBH now.

The pairing we have in mind for Kane (Kat's idea!) is going to shock all of you...

Still feeling a bit weird about Ron though. I know he tried to save Jamie, but he obviously has some other reason or intention for being there which I just cannot fathom. Maybe I'm reading too much into it? Adia, you know far, far too much. Any day now expect a visit from the Men in Black...

Kirsty and Kane...Their legion of fans are still in mourning over their departure, but this poll proves that their popularity has decreased within a fairly short amount of time since their departure. I don't think their popularity decreased. I think it's more a case of a lot of viewers don't bother watching the show (and therefore don't visit BTTB to vote) since they left. I'm not a particular Kane/Kirsty fan (more a Kane fan) and I'd certainly watch the show again if he returned.

”Ooh, tell me please, I’m dying to hear it!” Cindy laughed and lighted up a cigarette from a brand new carton. ”Some hooker got stabbed down at the dock,” Dalby said, ”A pimp was arrested, and the police are looking for a runaway woman from Queensland.” ”Yeah, I heard about that woman,” Cindy muttered, and took a deep drag, filling her lungs with smoke. ”Apparently they are trapping up the search in two weeks if they can’t find her,” Dalby said, ignoring Cindy’s smoke-choking. ”Why are they looking for her anyway?” Cindy asked, ”If she’s just a runaway I mean?” Dalby shrugged. ”Old Rosie on the corner claims she ran away because she was charged with murder,” he said, ”But old Rosie also claims she is a reincarnated, Buddhist man.” Brilliant chapter, Eli. The above in particular was fantastic dialogue, sounded just like real street talk. It might be best if you put Ric’s memory scenes in italics (or put Yesterday as a title each time) to make it clear they’re flashbacks.

Thank you for your very flattering reviews! Guess everybody who reads my fics knows by now that I want to write for and about kids so I must be doing something right! The characters have been written so well, I never watched H&A when they were on (bit hard when you're a toddler...) but I can really picture them and their interactions with each other. I never saw any of the early series either, Adia. I got my information about Sally, Steven, Carly etc (Kathy, Jenny and Zammo are my own creations) from asking (a LOT of) questions on BTTB.

Sorry for the long delay in updates. Been working on other stuff. Think I might be approaching the end of this fic in a couple more chapters tho so thanks to everyone for all their information about the early characters. I feel like Lynn is the only one I never really got to know properly, but Tom, Pippa, Sally, Steven, Carly and Frank have all come alive for me during the writing!

Uh, are you KIDDING me!? You didn't ruin it! No, I wasn't joking. I was getting more and more worried because every time I came back to this site more and more people had hit on the fic and hardly anyone at all had responded...so I thought nobody liked the direction it was going in... Glad everyone seems okay with the Hayley back story tho. Thanks for your support. The Dani/Will/Gypsy/Noah/Kit and the Freddie Teddy idea (including when Hayley sits on the bed and wraps her arms round the teddy bear) is all from Kat, who is an absolutely fantastic writer and brilliant to work with. *Goes off to nominate Kat for a scriptwriting Logie*.

OMG can someone else comment on this chapter and say what you did or didn't like about it? I know Kat was happy with my Hayley childhood input, but I think most people prefer reading about the scandals at the party. There've been loads of hits but only 3 reviews so far -and I'm worried I spent too long on the kids part and may have ruined the story.

No problem. I have used some actual events anyway, but put my own slant on it (eg it was apparently never made clear if Sally witnessed her parents' deaths or not, but in my version she does). Sorry for the long delay in replying, blame the time difference between the UK and New England.

They had just finished one cigarette each, and there was a heavy fog of smoke in their little corner at the stairs. That was a great line. Creates the scene well. ”You wait here and watch our supplies, prettyboy,” Cindy said and got up, ”If you give it away, I’ll kill you.” Dalby didn’t know whether to take this seriously or not, Cindy always said things like that. “I can see you have taken good care of the supplies,” Cindy said and sat down, ”good prettyboy!” She talked to him like he was a puppy that had just gone outside instead of pooping at the carpet. “I just got us weed and money for coke,” she said, smiling like Dalby had never seen her smile before. Cindy is a very believable character. I’d love to know much, much more about her. (Actually, she’s so believable that I’m far more interested in Cindy than I am in Ric!) I don’t mean that in a bad way. Cindy is a more realistic creation than H&A’s Eric Dalby.

Hmm, well I thought Chapter 20 was one of my best chapters for a while, but, seeing as nobody commented, I don't think anybody else did. I've been working on other stuff for the past few weeks, but don't think you're getting away from this fic. I'm getting back to writing it pretty soon so, time permitting, expect another update in a couple of weeks...

Is it just me or is the standard of the fics on this forum getting higher and higher...? Really great start, Eli! ”I don’t use coke,” she said, ”Too strong if you wanna stay sharp.” ”So what are you doing with it then?” he asked, putting out the half-smoked cigarette. ”Hey! Don’t throw that away!” Cindy said, pointing at the cigarette. ”Smoke isn’t cheap, and this isn’t exactly Wisteria lane.” He gave her the cigarette back and she put it back in the box. There are hobos on Queen’s street too, you know. They buy drugs!” she said. ”Yeah, prostitutes,” Dalby replied, ”I think you can defend yourself down there. The worst thing that could ever happen down there would be one of the girls bitchslapping you!” ”Awwhh... Poor Dalby,” Cindy sighed and shook her head, ”So naive... There are pimps down there too you know.” Dalby swallowed. He hadn’t thought about that. I loved the conversations and the way Ric is no naive and Cindy so streetwise. And the little touches, like Cindy never dreaming of wasting cigarettes is very realistic. ”You didn’t kill anyone, did you?” He tried not to sound as shocked as he was. ”Maybe,” Cindy replied, shrugging while lighting up the cigarette, ”maybe not...” Great ending to the chapter. I find Cindy’s character fascinating...

”I’m not justifying murder,” he said, ”but Owen killed you just as much as you killed him.” Dalby looked up, completely forgetting about his last, poor pieces of tough image. Eye contact for a few seconds. I really felt for Dalby in that scene. ”Oh, I see,” Mattie said. To be honest she wasn’t really sure how to respond to all this. She could only imagine what kind of memories he had, and she would probably never be able to understand everything. That’s good too. Realistic. I don’t think many people, unless they were professionally trained, would know how to deal with someone else’s deep psychological scars. ”Yeah,” he thought to himself as he grabbed his shorts, ”There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. You just sometimes have to walk a bit to get to it.” And the line I've quoted above was, without any doubt, my favourite line of the chapter. It brought a lump to my throat. Really, really great line and well done - very, very few fanfics make me feel that emotional!

Eli, shattered and really have to go to bed right now, but I'll definitely read and review this tomorrow.

Don't worry about it, Eli. Reviews, after all, are only someone's personal opinion and everyone has different opinions. And, anyway, I've done things like that myself. When I was at college, I ended a story really abruptly once because I couldn't be bothered starting a brand new page just for two or three lies... tho it did mean the story lost its impact... Re what you said about not being able to think what to write when Ric was homeless. I want to add some advice on that on the "writer's etiquette" thread.

Good chapter, Eli, but hope you don’t mind some constructive criticism. Be careful of too much introspection. You have Ric thinking a bit too much now and you need to balance that out with more drama. (Or you could split the Ric/Flynn conversations between chapters.) He knew the streets in Yabbie Creek, but even though that seemed like his first choice he decided to go to the City. The safest thing was to roam the streets in the City, stay different places and don’t talk to anyone. The first night was pretty horrible, and so was the second. But the pain would go away soon, wouldn’t it? Even though his chest was screaming from the pain of the broken ribs, and his shoulder was still in a pretty bad shape he crawled into some old storage boxes outside a sushi restaurant and forced himself to sleep there. See this was good, but I’d like to have known more. Why was the first night horrible? Who did he see? What happened? He was constantly scared of someone finding him, and all his injuries didn’t seem to get any better. No, he would have been terrified. I picture him hearing people walking past (probably drunk), maybe somebody deliberately banging on the box (use ideas from homeless people’s actual experiences), maybe it starts to rain etc... Some even blamed him for the death of a young girl some time ago, and Dalby knew they would do anything to send him to the slammer if they found out the police was looking for him. But that was very intriguing! All Flynn knew was that somewhere out there a scared, lonely and confused boy pretending to be tougher than he really was, was hiding from his life. Great line and a very skilful ending to the chapter.

I feel like I’ve picked out a helluva lot in this fic, but there was a helluva lot to like about it... Peter suddenly felt a wave of sympathy for the people he arrested and interrogated, he now knew how they felt. Great line. Made me smile. He looked around the cold, sterile room. The lime green walls, comfortable sofas and various, assorted pot plants were assumedly somebody’s feeble attempt to make the place seem homely. The effect however was the opposite. It was overbearing, suffocating, as if the walls were closing in around him. People sat on the Doctor’s surgery style sofas, a lurid shade of green, which created the exact opposite ambience to the one he assumed the person responsible had intended. Superb description. I think we’ve all visited places like that! My previous doctor’s surgery was in a converted house with a miserable, stiflingly hot waiting room that always stank of the gas fire... *shudders* Peter hated the City, the noise, the bustle, the smell. He was more of a small-time guy. A small-time cop. Now that sounded like something his mother would say. Again, lines that made me smile. His eyes lighted on the pub across the road. The sign clanking against the wall, like the death tolls on a church clock. The bright lights and obvious warmth that radiated from it. He could almost imagine the heat, the suffocating atmosphere. The smell of ale. So you’ve been in a crowded pub on a cold, rainy day too...? Great image, Kat. “As they go.” She replied, her answer summing up his thoughts. “You?” “As they go.” “Families huh? They’re the ones who screw your life up and they’re also the reason you have to get back on track.” Loved this rapid fire conversation. Reminiscent of TV cop shows. The pavement seemed grayer today for some reason. There was something so dull about pavement and yet even the cold concrete seemed to be having problems. Cracks had opened at strategic points and through the cracks sprouted intoxicating, green weeds, violating the pavement, adding a splash of colour to the dull canvas. Things must have been bad if even the Pavement had complications. I just loved this! It’s fantastic when a writer doesn’t just pick up on the emotions of the characters, but picks up on them so well that the scenery blends in with their thoughts. Brilliant touch of humour with that last line! He looked around the Coffee-house at the whitewashed walls, the plastic bright red stools and chairs, the metallic counter and old fashioned juke-box. The place looked like something from a 1960’s movie, like Grease or something. It was tacky, tasteless, bland. And we’ve all been to cafes like that too! Well pictured. Just one small criticism. Grease is one of my fave movies of all time so I know it was made around 1977/8. It’s always best to check out any facts before posting (I’m forever looking up stuff on Google!) Excellent writing, Kat. Really flowed. Very, very readable.

He had heard the talk in the hallways; the interns and nurses trying to avoid getting his room on their list. No one wanted to be there, they felt uncomfortable, some even scared, and no one knew how to react when he was talking. Amazing touch of realism there, Eli. Well done! Eric Dalby was probably not aware of it, but he answered a lot of the questions the psychologist asked. – Just not during their sessions... I liked that. Great insight! “I loved him!” Dalby burst out, shocked to realise he was starting to cry. Definitely the best line in this chapter because it’s so unexpected and makes you realise exactly how confused Dalby is. The fact you left it till almost the last line of the chapter made it all the more dramatic. Can I give you some advice tho? Next time you have a very dramatic moment, make it the last line. Always leave your readers catching their breath.

She was playing some kind of tea-party or picnic, and all he had to do was sit there and let her serve him ”tea” and ”soup”, both from the barrel at the corner of the house while he was pretending to drink and enjoy it. Aww, I loved that scene! Ric didn’t say anything, he was afraid he would start crying again. It's really good the way you're getting into Ric's emotions, Eli, particularly with the Morag/Dalby and Flynn/Dalby flashbacks.

Thank you! If Kat's okay with it when she gets back, I want to do a scene from Hayley's past (it's only a picture in my head at the moment) that mightl make some people hate Hayley more and some people sympathise with her more, but will make everybody understand where she's coming from...

he had felt bad for being so mean and abusive, but he had managed to go to sleep every night. Perhaps it was weird, but it was the best revenge he could think of after all his father had done to him; to be exactly the opposite of what he had been told to be, - and to be loved for that. from the moment Flynn had looked him in the eyes and said ”I see tears in a tough guy like you,” Ric had found strength to carry on a bit longer being strong sometimes meant crying and being vulnerable... Some great lines, Eli, especially the last one. I didn't know Cassie was so pushy, but I don't watch the show now. I think I only saw her once or twice.

Very realistic fight, Eli! Well done! (I always find fight scenes very difficult to write. ) And I could really feel Ric's confused emotions.

Kat, don't be so modest, the ending with Kane/Hayley was your idea, the Cassie/Martha friendship was your idea and the whole story in the first place was your idea. I'd always wondered what it would be like to collaborate with another author on a story and I'm finding I love writing with someone who has so many ideas and writes both so beautifully and so fluently. Thanks for your lovely reviews, everyone. And ignore Kat not taking the credit, anyone can write a few lines - the most difficult part of writing is coming up with new ideas and it's Kat who invariably does that! Can't stay online for long tonight and I know Kat's away at the moment but we'll get back to collaborating (I love the "double act" comment, burr, I have this image of us both dancing on to a stage!!! ) soon as poss. Hmm, guess who had to edit this post because she can't spell collaborate...