Lily woke with a start. "What on earth was that?" she thought, alarmed. Clambering out of bed she crept to the door and eased it open before peering around the door frame. With some apprehension she saw her step father trying drunkenly to clamber up the stairs. She quickly closed the door then heaved the single chest of drawers in front of it. A few months ago, just after she had turned 17, he suddenly seemed to spot that she was, in fact, a girl The sheer amount of alcohol he had consumed was the only reason she had managed to evade his groping hands and she had no desire to repeat the experience, so was going out of her way to avoid him, even more than usual. She crept back to bed and attempted to get a few more hours sleep.

The next morning Lily arrived promptly for her shift in the care home. After volunteering there for 18 months she had been offered a job and absolutely loved it.

"Morning Lil'!" Gavin said. He was one of the staff nurses at the care home and absolutely adored by everyone. "Any word of those exams, yet?"

"Not yet Gavin!" Lily laughed, "Though I did only finish them last week!"

"What's that got to do with anything? Folks have got things riding on these results! They want to get there arses in gear!" he said indignantly. Lily snorted,

"How's Stephen?" she asked, changing the subject. Gavin's eyes suddenly seemed to radiate happiness.

"He proposed last night," Gavin said almost breathily. Lily could have laughed at his dreamy manner but instead squealed in delight and ran over to hug her friend.

"Oh, Gavin that's brilliant news, congratulations!" she gushed.

"Thank you! Though you may not be saying that when I'm a stressed out Groomzilla for weeks on end, who then leaves you with Jackie for two weeks while I'm in honeymoon!" Lily groaned theatrically. Jackie was another staff nurse who, while very good at her job, terrified most of the staff. Except Gavin who seemed to have no greater pleasure in life that winding her up. "But, more importantly, are you ok to work nights next week?"

"Sure," she replied but knew she would have to pray that her step father made to work everyday next week. God only knew how he managed to keep the job.

"Great!" Gavin said, "Can you start in room 204? The podiatrist is on holiday and he needs a hand with his toe nails."

"Oh, and I may have misplaced that health and safety file you wanted me to read," Gavin's voice floated around from reception as Lily headed out after a long day.

"You what?" came the answering shriek. Ah. So Jackie had arrived.

"Well, maybe if this place was a bit better organised I wouldn't lose things," he answered innocently. Lily turned the corner to see Jackie becoming increasingly red in the face and Gavin with a cheeky smirk on his face. Not wanting to get involved she called a hasty,

"See you tomorrow!" before scurrying out passed them, getting a slight nod from Jackie and a wink from Gavin as she heard Jackie start to rant about her perfect system and how Gavin never bothered to keep anything in order. Same old, same old.

Deciding to take the long way home, walked through the park and around by the university, where she paused. She had a conditional place and everything was riding on these exam results. If she passed she could move into halls and start studying to become a doctor. If she failed she was stuck at home until she turned 18 and could get a flat and would probably never get another chance at her dream.

Lily pushed her thoughts aside, knowing there was nothing she could do but wait now and decided to head home. Over the years she had got better at avoiding her step father and right now he should have been home from work and off to the pub. This gave her time to clean the house and be barricaded in her room before he came home. Thank God for his predictability! He was not one of those happy drunks, that could be highly amusing. In fact he was just downright nasty.

"Lily!" someone hollered from across the road. She spun around to see Holly Matthews waving at her, clearly out for a jog. She waved back with a smile. Holly had been one of the few genuinely nice kids she went to school with. While she never had any close friends there, she was never particularly bullied either, once they discovered they couldn't get a rise from her. And maybe because she had turned around and floored one of them when they had pushed to far about her mum. That earned her a bit of respect but she was mostly just the quiet, clever girl who sat at the back and was generally ignored.

Deciding to take a shortcut through the woods, Lily didn't realise Holly's would be the last familiar face she saw for a long time...

A/N: I know this is clichéd and no doubt Mary-sueish but I have a weak spot for stories like and figured I can't be the only one so thought I'd have a stab at it!