Hey guys. It's me, Jesspikapal, but you probably already knew that! ;)

So, I thought I'd try something new and write for "Tracy Beaker Returns". Liam being my favourite, I'll tackle him and that arrogant persona of his - or at least, try to... ;D

So, this'll be an OCxLiam but I'll try my best not to make it sloppy. As prior to my other fanfictions, I'll choose a theme from my router and then write for it. Luckily, the theme I received just now was "Can You Hear Me?" and I have a clear idea of what I'm gonna do. Depending on feedback, I may turn this into a collection of fanfictions for these two. :3

Please review! I'd like to hear your opinion on how I did!

~Jess~

X x

Can You Hear Me - "It's not a case of whether you can or can't. It's a case of whether you want to or not..."

X x

The streets were his most likely whereabouts, though he couldn't be sure which street he was walking down in the dark of night. Either way, it didn't matter: Liam refused to join the other care-kids on their little holiday to Burnywood, that much was for sure. Though his bag was stolen earlier that evening while he'd been begging for money, he was not yet detered as he carried on with his dangerous trek through the black of night, his only guidance the occasional lonely lampost in which was alligned neatly beside the straight road.

Liam'd never admit so, but he was intimidated by the never ending danger that he had to face on the streets, though he'd been there too many times in order to be truly frightened. Afterall, this was as good as it got for him, or so he believed.

"Gettin' cold out..." He mumbled under his breath, his words mixing in with the cold summer air. A strange collaboration indeed. Subconciously, he tugged his jacket tighter around his lean torso and held the fabric closer to him, feeling the warmth course through him minutely. Better than nothing.

Suddenly, he heard a yelp. Or at least, he thought he did. Did he? He couldn't be sure; his food shortage was leading to hallucinations and violent dizzy spells. Maybe he was just imagining? Casually, he pocketed his hands, felt the slight and brief dismay of emptiness, and then shrugged, turning his back on the opening to the ally-way. Then, he heard a scuffling sound.

"A'right, who's playin' games?" He demanded, spying a trash bag and a broken lamp. His arm shot out for it and he snapped the useless lamp shade from it, leaving him with a threatening metal bar between his fists. "I'll use this! Don't think I won't!" He yelled. Nothing in return. Not even the scuffling remained.

Liam grinned, satsified.

"Knew that'd set 'em straight..." He smirked. "I should probably hold onto this. If I come across that idiot who stole my bag..." He cursed into the air, letting his cold warning linger there, though there was no one there to regard it.

At that moment, a cat leapt out from underneath a car and startled the young man. He clung to his jacket as he raised his leg to kick the feline away.

"Oi!"

"Huh?" Liam quizzed, turning his head to look at the source of sound, his leg still bent in the air. The cat screamed a final withering cry and then scampered away, dashing around the ally-way and disappearing from sight.

"What'd he ever do to you?" A strong voice demanded as he felt a shove being issued by his chest. He barely stumbled backwards, though the force did manage to get through to him a little. Out of habit, he retalliated by shoving back, a squeak of suprise following slightly after. He halted, his fists curling by his sides.

"You're a... Girl?" His thick accent rang out in the silence as both people breathed heavily due to the constricted conflict between them.

"Always have been." She responded, crossing her arms across her chest. Getting a look at her as she turned her head away from the darkness and the side of her face was illuminated by a street light, Liam spectated carefully. Dirt: Her face was covered in it, though coating the top of her head was a pile of dirty brown hair. Her clothes, from what he could see, weren't in that good a state either, though it looked - from Liam's experience - she had been on the streets for a number of days, most definitely longer than him. He'd been four days, and he was finding it tough, despite having experience. Was this mysterious girl a runaway? Did she think this through? It certainly didn't look like it.

"Uh, sorry about that." Liam muttered, wanting to walk away and leave.

"Whatever. Uh, what are you doing out here?" She responded kicking at the pavement in a valiant effort to distract herself from meeting his eyes. They had yet to exchange names and here she was questioning him about something that could be extremely personal to him.

"Heh, I could ask the same about you. Name. What is it?" He quizzed vaguely, treading his ground carefully. Providing he played his cards right, he could get something from this girl, whether she had some spare food, change or cardboard, despite him knowing it was a free-for-all when living on the streets. He silently longed for his bed, his warm duvet, a filling supper and his friends. Frank and Toby. He couldn't deny that he missed them and he hoped for their safety back at Burnywood. They were tough; they had to be. They were care-kids.

"Don't have one." She stated, though she was smirking. It appeared Liam wasn't the only one who was being careful. Still, he wouldn't give in quite yet.

"Everyone has a name." Liam argued, pocketing his hands habitually. He waited in the small silence that followed him afterwards.

"But I'm not everyone." The girl retorted, finally having the dilligence to meet his eyes. He did so effortlessly, though it seemed to take her a little bit of work to maintain his hard stare.

"A'right then," He began, chuckling. "I'm Liam. Now, do you wanna tell me?" Why he was telling her this, or even sticking around to talk to her in the first place, he didn't know, but he felt safe in doing so though the late night chill was begining to get to him. Afterall, she was a girl; what harm could she possibly cause him? Exactly...

"Fine." She answered, her head dropping as she smiled a real smile at the floor. "Kiki."

"Kiki." He repeated, testing the name on his tongue. It felt strange as the name was not at all common. Or at least, as far as he'd heard, though that name was most likely short for something. Deciding to voice his thoughts, Liam posed the simple question.

"Short for anythin'?"

"You want my whole life story?" Kiki growled in response, curling her small hands into fists.

"Nah," Liam grinned. "though some food would be nice." So he'd meant it as a joke, but he'd be happy to accept, would she be so kind as to offer him something. Though to his expectence, Kiki simply shook her head and scoffed, slightly impressed by his aloof attitude.

"I was searching." She stated, expecting him to catch on. The sentence, foreign to his registartion, made a single of his eyebrows quirk.

"Eh?" He quizzed, stepping towards her briefly. She spared him a glance before she pointed to a bin.

"Food. I was just gonna search for food." Kiki replied, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly, begining to feel slightly exposed underneath his rough gaze. She was sure he wasn't meaning to be intense, though his stare was something she could find herself getting lost in if she wasn't careful, despite having only just met him. That was not the point afterall.

"Let me help!" He enforced his company a little too readily, making Kiki suspicious as she narrowed her eyes in speculation and watched him twitch in the low moonlight, awaiting a response.

"Why do you care?"

"Well, let me put it this way. If there are two people looking instead of one, whatever one person finds, they can share. Plus, we'll cover more ground. C'mon, if you're gonna live on the streets then you should know that numbers mean quicker finds. Get with it!" He mocked, nudging her arm and easing her into gentle conversation. What they talked about as they wandered idly down the path was neither relevant nor trivial; again, an almost forbidden concoction.

"You live in a care home?" She exclaimed as she threw aside a bin lid and began to scavenge. She hated doing so, but what else was she going to do? How else was she supposed to live if she was to stay on the streets just as she had promised herself. She wouldn't give in to go back home, that much was for sure.

"Used to." He corrected firmly. "But now they've all been moved to Burnywood. You've heard of it, yeah?"

"Yeah." She responded, grimacing as she threw a banana peel in a random direction.

"Oi!" She heard and she turned to see Liam with said banana peel on his head, his face clearly not amused. "Watch where you throw that stuff, eh?" He frowned, watching her laugh at him, her hands clutching onto her stomach as she screwed her eyes shut and laughed herself dry. He tutted and then threw the rubbish away and onto the opposite pavement. Maybe someone would slip on it...

"Sorry..." She mumbled, though she obviously wasn't.

Liam scoured through the trash heap, ignoring her inceasant mumbling and her throwing gestures as she rid her sight of rubbish as she searched for food intently. He needed something, or he was going to end up starving. He decided to speak once more.

"So anyway, I was smart enough to run away so I didn't get sent there too. I did pretty well for myself but... Then my bag got nicked and..." He trailed, his tone filled to the brim with embarrassment.

"So really you're not smart at all?" She sat up from the bin and smirked at him, a devious glow amongst her eyes as she did so. What was he supposed to say to this girl? Normally, most of them would either cower because he was tough and a trouble-maker (naturally!) or fall to his feet because he was "sexy", this of course excluding the kids he was living with because they were used to him and his persona. But to have someone standing up to the mark was a refreshing change for him and he welcomed it gladly.

"Careless is a better word." He remarked. "Look 'ere. Found something." He smiled as he pulled out a box from the trash and looked sternly at it. It was still luke-warm within his fingers so this must have been fairly recent. Maybe eating with her wouldn't be so bad; afterall, he was the one who enforced his company and all with reassuring words so to go back on them would make him a cheat. Which he was, but to people like him, it was down-right disrespectful. He knew how much it would suck to be on the other end of the stick!

"Same." Kiki stated as she pulled out a perfectly untouched bag of what looked to be crackers. It appeares whoever ordered their chinese takeaway wasn't a fan them. Shame for them, win for Liam and Kiki, which was fine by them!

"Say uh, don't these-"

"Go together?" She interrupted knowingly. "Probably. Open it. See what's in it." She ordered, watching as he peeled back the lid of the container and then smirked.

"Yep. The question that gets me is... Why would someone throw away a perfectly good curry?" His lips quirked into a frown as he raised a pair of inquisitive brows in question. It didn't make sense! Why would someone order food and pay for it, just to throw it away?

"Who cares?" Kiki grinned, taking the box from him and running into the ally-way, Liam following wearily. He didn't want her stealing his grub when he'd been the one to find it!

"Whoa..." Was all he could whisper as he followed her behind some trash bags and into a small clearing amongst the rubbish. A small square of space made him halt. Maybe she had thought this through a little more than he gave her credit for...

"Yeah," She voiced, though her body remained front ways. "I've got everything I need here. I set up a little bit of whatever I could get. Bed's behind you." She informed as she watched him stumble backwards to get a better view, not wanting Liam to fall over it.

Though it would have been rather funny to watch... Kiki voiced silently, smirking ever so slightly. There, to the left hand corner, buried in the shadows was an old matress that was soaked down, clad in a barely-pieced-together blanket. But it was a bed all the same.

"You've done well for yourself, haven't you?" He smirked, cocking a cheeky eyebrow at her, ushering her towards him. She rose an eyebrow at him but did as he said regardless. When she noticed what he wanted, the slight question vanished. Of course he only wanted his food. Though she was willing to share if he was, otherwise she had a full bag of crackers to live on for the next day or so. Not that they would last with her appetite...

"I suppose. I didn't really have to do much work since it was all dumped here in the first place. I just moved it around a little. I've still got to get some new clothes though. These ones are ruined that much's for sure." She explained lightly.

"You can tell me everything over dinner." Liam grinned in return, sitting down without invitation on the right side of the matress, patting the empty space next to him. She complied, though she sat quite a ways off from where he had originally patted and placed the bag of crackers down cautiously. Then, without another word, she undid them and then fiddled with her hands, slightly alarmed that he was sticking around so long. What was it about him that made him different? However, she covered up what she felt with the same old smirk as it slithered along her face effotlessly. Eye contact was her issue!

"Katie." She suddenly said as they began to absentmindedly dip the crackers into the curry sauce, thinking things through in their heads.

"Eh?" He asked, leaning backwards slightly as he cracked his back. She winced and he laughed lightly. "Doesn't hurt."

Ignoring his last statement, she shook her head slowly and then said: "Uh, that's my name. But, I hate it so... It's Kiki." She forced a smile. He nodded with a slow pace and then looked confused once more.

"But why Kiki?"

"Well, it was what my sister used to call me before she could say my name properly. And I guess it just kinda stuck with me. 'Cause after my sister got sent to live with my dad, everything just went wrong." Why was she telling him this? He was a stranger give or take a couple of exchanges and yet she was willingly telling him about her life. Why?

"Ah, I understand." He smiled, nodding his head more forcibley this time. "But why did you get split up?" He just couldn't stop himself! This was the most decent conversation he'd had in what felt like years! And she wasn't boring either, that much was for sure. He was happy enough telling her about himself too, seen as though she seemed to be ok with telling him about her. It was a fair exchange.

"Well, my dad see," Kiki hesitated. "He's this big-shot business man who's full of all these stupid ideas. He's in America, but I didn't want to go because... Well, would you leave where you'd lived all your life?"

"Not now." He responded. "Though I wouldn't mind it when I'm an adult. Could be a laugh! So... If you weren't with your dad, who were you being looked after by?"

"You ask alot of questions." She commented, scooping out a mouthful of curry onto a cracker and holding it over the container whilst it dripped and dribbled dry. Then, she shovelled it into her mouth, protective of her property and fearing the worst for the defenceless cracker.

"Naturally." Liam smirked

"Anyways," She continued, grinning mischieviously. "Uh, my carer, Carrie. She was like a mum but she was trying too hard. I just got sick and tired of being treated like a child, so I decided to live on my own. Out here. It didn't really prove my point to her as I never went back to tell her that I could do it no sweat but, in my mind, I'd already proven the most important things to myself, so there was no need to go back and gloat, I suppose," She shugged, Liam listening intently. He'd never been one for "feel-sorry-for-me-because-I'm-hard-done-by!" stories but there was no denying that she'd had alot to cope with. Though so had he and he wasn't complaining about it. But she wasn't either was she? She was merely telling him about it: Because he asked. "Either way, I've only been out here for a week tops and it's alot harder than you'd expect."

"Trust me," He grinned, using his fingers to smear the outsides of the box and grab any remaining food. "I know what you mean. I've been out on the streets too many times to count. But still, it's home eh?" He nudged her and she nodded, licking her fingers clean. She then seemed to fall sheepish.

"Sorry. I'm just so hungry."

"Don't worry about it. You do what can to get through, no matter what it is." He grinned in return.

"God, there wasn't enough of that..." Kiki whispered wistfully, staring at the now empty curry packet. There were only a couple of crackers left too as she frowned and picked up a small one, nibbling it as she contemplated things. Had she really achieved anything from running away? She felt dirty, stingy and cheap for stealing and conning people, yet she felt proud that she had managed to survive so long on potentially dangerous food and water and a limited access to the world around her. So basically, she had boosted her ego? Hmm... "So, what about you then? You told me about the others moving to Burnywood. You told me that that's why you ran away. But what else is left? What haven't you told me?" Kiki smiled, genuinely curious.

"What, life in the care home or," He swallowed slowly, not liking the sudden change in conversation. "Family life?" He choked out, though she seemed not to notice. She shrugged callously.

"What would you tell me, Liam?" Her voice was soft though her green eyes were ravenous for knowledge. Not that she meant to do it, of course.

Oh this was good. He wasn't really used to receiving a choice; normally, he simply blotted out the conversation with whoever had asked. That was everything he ever did to the other kids back at the Dumping Ground.

"Well, uh, I used to live in this care-home called Elm Tree House - but everyone just called it "The Dumping Ground"," This made Kiki scoff and chuckle. Liam smiled slightly, easing into conversation. "With this bunch of other kids. My best friend, Frank, well, he used to help me with my..." He paused. What could he possibley say instead of "scams" as that's what they were. "Creative thinking." He excused lamely with a crooked grin. "We were partners in the business, but since he's stuck at Burnywood... I've heard they're re-opening The Dumping Ground though so, I'm gonna go check it out in a minute. We're not that far from it."

"So basically, you're saying you were separated from your friends, you ran away because you didn't wanna go to Burnywood and began living on the streets, conning people for money and scavenging just like me." Kiki intepretted flatly, making Liam blink blankly.

"I didn't say con-"

"It's kind of obvious." She smirked. "I mean, like you said so yourself, us street kids have to get by by any means, no matter what it is we have to do. Consider conning and stealing part of the package." Kiki interrupted, leaving Liam to nod slowly.

"Never thought I'd say this but... Smart girl." Liam smiled, before he began to stand up and brush himself off.

"Leaving already?" She asked, somewhat saddened by his sudden departure.

"'Fraid so." He replied, shrugging. "Gonna go see if they've re-opened it yet. Then I can get some proper food and have a proper bed." The boy grimaced slightly as his jeans were wet against his legs. The sodden matress probably contributed to that...

"Can I... Tag along?" Kiki questioned, fidgeting on the spot as she fiddled with her hands in what looked to be an apprehensive manner. "I mean, just to get a feel for the place. You've given it quite a good impression y'know!" She hurriedly covered herself up, but he was smirking a wide smirk that did everything to deter her as she deflated and sat with her head hung low.

"Sure. Whatever." He told her. "Come if you like."

"Really?" She retorted, somewhat skeptically. He rolled his eyes and took her wrist.

"C'mon already!" Liam remarked, laughing as he pulled her out of the allyway and down the dark road. She stumbled after him, her legs tripping over his shoes on several occasions. She then rolled her eyes and smiled fondly, unbeknownst to the teenager who was leading her away from her situation. Her situation of homelessness and her situation of fatigue were soon to be left behind. Or so she hoped.

"I can walk y'know." She informed him heftily, straightening and then smirking once more. Then, she fell worried. "But, what about the staff? What if they're there?"

"Then I'll tell 'em the usual."

"And what's the usual?"

"Wait to you hear it!" He grinned, combing his free hand through his hair as he raised his brows deviously. She blushed slightly at his confidence.

"Alright." But her mind was far away as she began to ponder. Her life could change. It could actually have a potential to change and she realised now that she would have to think positive in order for something to happen. Right?

Afterall... Maybe they'd have a spare room...

X x

Done! Please review! :D

~Jess~