Frank threw his keys onto his kitchen counter and sunk onto the sofa with a sigh. He'd been back at work for a week. There'd been a mountain of paperwork on his return. Whenever he did too much paperwork the letters always got jumbled up and back to front, and it took twice as long to complete. He was still glad to be back. He was lucky to have a job after the stunt he'd pulled.

The counselling sessions had gone better than Frank had imagined. He'd expected his counsellor to spend a great deal of time telling him off for throwing chairs, seeing as the Chief had sent him there. She'd simply asked him why he'd felt he had to do something so drastic. Frank had said it was to get his parents out of going to jail. And she had suggested it was because it was the only way he could get them to listen to him.

So, they'd talked about his parents. And not just about what they'd done to Ellie. At the end of it all, Frank had wished he'd spoken to her when he'd first wanted his parents to stop overparenting. That was a word she'd taught him. It was good to have someone tell him it wasn't he who had the problems. What his parents had done was a result of their own failures, not his. He was right about taking responsibility for his own actions – like throwing the chair. But he wasn't responsible for how his parents had been treating him.

A splash sounded from the backyard. It was followed by a whiney, and then Chase's voice, cussing.

Frank yelled out the backdoor. "Horse! What did I tell you about knocking before you come into people's yards?" The animal's presence wasn't surprising. Horse often wandered into his yard, and despite telling him multiple times, Frank had failed to teach him proper manners around visiting friends.

Chase's voice, and the splash, were more puzzling. Frank stepped out onto his patio to find a crumpled paddling pool beneath Horse's hooves.

Chase leaned against Horse's rear end, trying to push him, unsuccessfully, out of the pool. "It won't hold water if you stand on it. No! Don't eat it."

"He think's its an air mattress," said Frank.

Chase startled, and then gave up shifting Horse with a groan.

"What are you doing in my back yard, Chase?"

"You're not going to question the horse?"

"I'm still trying to teach him. But I know you know to knock on people's doors. I mean, you told me in the first place."

"It was supposed to be a surprise. I figured since you and Ellie have had such a rough few weeks, and you can't use your parents pool anymore, that I'd throw you a pool party here."

Horse started chewing on the rubber in earnest.

"So much for that idea."

"Aw Chase, that's sweet. I don't think we all would have fit in that pool anyway."

The sliding door clicked open. "Frank? What's going on? Chase told me to come over." Ellie stepped into the backyard and frowned. "What the heck are you two doing?"

"Chase was going to throw us a pool party. But Horse ate it."

Chase shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I really didn't plan this very well. I don't even know how Horse got over the fence."

He looked so dejected, and Frank didn't want him to feel that way. He stepped over and put his arms around him.

"Frank, I don't need a hug."

"Sure you do."

"Fine."

Ellie giggled.

Frank pushed Chase back so he was just holding his shoulders. "Seriously, Chase. My parents always got me stuff. But coming from you, an inflatable pool means more. Even if Horse ate it."

Chase cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. "Well, I was kind of hoping I'd get to use it with Natalia later."

Frank's phone rang. It was his father. Frank's stomach sunk. His parents hadn't been calling him too often lately. Since they'd been forced to clean up the beach at Krabby Cove, they'd been kept busy. He couldn't be sure they were avoiding him. Although his father had sounded grumpy last time he'd called; perhaps he blamed Frank for what they'd had to do. Frank had told his counsellor he felt bad about it, and she had told him how they felt wasn't his fault.

Frank sat down on one of his patio chairs. "Hi, Dad."

"Frank," Harold cleared his throat. "How are you, son?"

Frank felt his chest tightening. "Good."

"I just wanted to let you know how your mother and I are doing. We're nearly finished cleaning up the beach. You know, when I told Officer McCain we could work something out I was thinking along the lines of us buying the department something."

"Technically that's illegal, Dad. If you're using it to get out of paying for crimes."

"Well, yes, technically, I suppose."

"And cleaning up the beach isn't as much work as if you had to go to jail."

"Listen Frank, I know you don't really want to talk to us right now. But I just wanted to check how you're doing? Chief Dunby told us you'd been off work and seeing a counsellor."

"Well, I'm back at work now."

"That's good. I'd hate to think we'd made things difficult for you with what happened in our interrogation."

"You didn't make me throw that chair, Dad. I chose to. And I need to take responsibility for my own actions now."

Harold was quiet for a moment. "You know we're always here for you, if you do need us."

"I know." Frank said. "But you have to let me tell you when that is, not before, okay?" His counsellor had told him he had to stand up for himself. He was an adult, and just because they were his parents didn't mean he couldn't have boundaries.

"Okay," his father said gruffly, "if that's what you want."

"Ask him if his counsellor understands his special needs," Beatrice's voice came from the background.

Frank swallowed hard. He might have finally got his Mom and Dad to listen to what he wanted. But they still thought there was something wrong with him.

Ellie sat down beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

Harold grumbled something in reply, then his voice became clear again as he spoke into the phone. "Well, it's good to hear your voice again, Frank. You can call us again whenever you're ready."

"I… I will. Bye, Dad." Frank hung up. He drew in a steadying breath.

Ellie rubbed his back. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I think so. That went better than I thought it would. But I still don't think my parents think I'm capable of anything. At least they're not trying to force me to accept their help, I suppose." Frank wiped quickly at his eyes.

Chase shooed Horse off the destroyed pool and onto a patch of grass. He grabbed one of the patio chairs and sat down in front of Frank. "I know it sucks. And I know they're your parents. But that doesn't mean what they think of you is right."

"But they've known me forever."

"Maybe that's the problem. You've changed, Frank. And sometimes people you've known forever aren't going to be able to see it, or like it, or, I don't know, maybe they liked you better the way you were before. But I've been working with you over the past few months, and I can see how hard you're trying. I mean, think about it. If you were so incapable of holding down your job by yourself do you think Dunby would've let you stay?"

Frank shrugged. "He did suspend me."

"But he realised something was wrong and sent you to get help too. That's the nicest thing I've seen him do for anyone. You really are doing a lot better than you were; I've seen it. I told you before: I'm proud of you. And I still am."

Frank smiled faintly. "That's really nice, Chase. I'm going to give you another hug."

"Of course you are." Chase didn't protest further, and slapped Frank on the back when he finally released him.

"We can still do something. We don't need the pool to swim. Why don't we swim in the ocean?"

Chase cringed. "In the ocean? Are you kidding? Have you seen the sharks in there?"

"Maybe ice cream would be safer," Ellie suggested.

"I like buying people ice cream."

"No, I wanted to do something nice for you two. I'm buying everyone ice cream," said Chase firmly.

"Can Horse…"

"Not for Horse! He's already eaten. I'll go bring my car around. I parked it down the street so you wouldn't know I was here."

Frank grinned. "Oh, yay. I like your car too."

"You can't eat ice cream in it," Chase shot back over his shoulder.

Ellie grasped Frank's arm. "Hey, I'm proud of you too. I wanted you to know that."

Frank blushed. "Thanks, Ellie. I'm proud of you too."

"Aw, Frank, for what?"

Ellie had stuck with him, even after what his parents had done to her. And when he'd been stupid, not thinking about how it had affected her, she'd forgiven him. There were too many things. She was just awesome. Frank put his arms around her and squeezed her tight. "For just being you."

A/n: Seriously, have you seen the sharks in Lego City: Undercover? If you've ever made poor Chase try to swim in a part of the ocean the game doesn't want you to… holy crap it's terrifying. Hope you enjoyed the story, please leave me a review!