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*PART 2 OF DOUBLE UPDATE! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ '12' MAKE SURE YOU GO READ THAT BEFORE YOU READ THIS PART! THANKS <3*

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I spent the rest of the day and the following trying to focus on anything but Jimmy. I busied myself with the girls, offering to take them to the park, spending more time there than I probably should have, until Nancy called me to let me know that we had to get home for dinner. At dinner, I deliberately sat on the other end of the table from Jimmy, not even glancing at him when he spoke, although it was extremely difficult. I went to bed earlier despite Jimmy's protests, as he wanted to show me a movie that he really liked. It was hard to say no.

But now it was July 4 and I knew there was no getting away from him tonight. There was going to be a huge firework display down by the pier, which they went to every year. All I had to do was focus on the girls... And not look into his gorgeous brown eyes.

But it was damn difficult. Every time I accidentally caught his eye my heart felt like it was in my mouth, prohibiting me to speak and turning me into a baffling idiot. I had no clue why he had this effect on me. I knew I was probably just feeling vulnerable from all this James shit and needed something, but I wasn't going to find that with Jimmy.

"So what is your normal tradition for July 4, Izzie?" Nancy's question caught me off guard, as up until this point we'd been sat in near silence eating our late lunch. Winnie and Franny were making noise of course, but I was relishing just sitting and not having any attention brought to myself. As predicted, Jimmy's eyes snapped to me.

"Oh, um, I don't really have a tradition," I told her. "We usually just go see the fireworks in Philly, I guess. Me and James."

"James is your boyfriend," Nancy said it more like a statement rather than a question, and I nodded. "That's nice. What about your family? Are they in Philly too?"

"Yeah, my mom lives not far, in a small town." I hoped that she wouldn't ask about my dad, as I couldn't deal with having to explain that in front of them all, but luckily she didn't and moved the conversation onto their family traditions. But Jimmy clearly noticed the worry in my eyes.

Since talking to Hayley about my dad the other day, I couldn't help but dwell on it even more. I knew I was being ridiculous and there was probably nothing I could have done, but the more I thought about it the more I realised I should have tried more. I was young but I wasn't that young – I was mature enough to realise I should have been seeing my dad. It was something that had played at the back of mind for weeks now, and bottling it up probably wasn't helping.

But who could I talk to? Speaking to James was pretty much out of the picture, and the only other people I really spent time with were the Fallons, and I wasn't going to sit with their 2 and 3 year old daughters and spill about my father's heroin addiction.

After lunch I went off to shower and get ready for tonight. I kept on thinking it was weird that I was even working this week, as they were spending all their time with the girls anyway, but I guess it was so they could have some alone time if they needed. They hardly spent any real time together, I had noticed.

I decided on small heels, black jeans and a gold sparkly top – it was dressy but not too dressy, which is what Nancy had told me to go for. I went downstairs a short while later and they were all dressed nicely – Nancy in a dress with wedge heels, Jimmy in a loose shirt and the girls looking adorable in cute matching blue dresses.

"Izzie, you look beautiful," Nancy beamed at me. I didn't dare glance at Jimmy, although I could see him looking. "Would you like a drink?"

"I'll get it," I smiled back, walking across to the kitchen. "Anyone else want anything?"

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