A/N – Hey there! There was so much inconsistency with the fanfic relating to Chris having a long-lost daughter he knew nothing about, and so there are extra bits that I thought up to go into it, which I would've loved to go into its predecessor. Ah well not everyone gets things their own way.
More to come!

Thanks

xXx

She never thought she'd find the right road in the teeming rain.
It came down even heavier than back when she'd picked up her journey from the train station, and it glistened along the pavements and road as it fell.
The only thing she was glad about was the fact that she had a hood on her very thin jacket.

She presently came to the block of flats she was meant to go to, yet refrained from proceeding any further. She couldn't bring herself to.
What if no one wanted her? What if no one wanted to see her again? They were all questions floating about in her mind and they were ones that she just couldn't shift.

Unable to come up with an answer, she settled on taking refuge in a nearby bus shelter around the corner from the road, thankful that the rain hadn't leaked through the plastic roof on it.
Pulling the sides of her jacket closer against her, she huddled up in the driest corner she could find, and fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning.
Karen was surprised at how bright it was.
She wasn't able to sleep that well the previous night, and so she hoped that the bright weather would've continued by the time work was over.
She looked over at the time, worried that none of the kids had come down. "Come on, are any of you up yet?"

Harry dashed down the stairs, all ready to go.

"Where's your sister?" Her mother's question was answered pretty much straightaway when Jess came slower down the stairs soon after her brother.

"Doing your hair, weren't you?" He teased.

"Well…" She got herself ready to go. "Now that's all sorted, I guess we can head off."

Karen had only just walked into her room when a knock came at her door.
Chris came in, his bright blue eyes shyly meeting her darker ones.
"Morning." He noted chirpily, seemingly having no recollection of the fact that it was actually a Monday, although he was like that any day of the week.

She wished she could have whatever he was on. "Someone had a good weekend."

"Me?" He came closer to her desk. "Well, it was ok, I guess. Couldn't complain although I didn't do anything special."

"It wasn't really nice all weekend, was it?" She couldn't take her eyes off his slender body, admiring a slight dewy finish to his exposed skin at his neck. Such a subtle sight was doing all sorts to her inside.

"No, especially last night." He creased his forehead in mild dislike. "Did you hear that rain? I thought it wouldn't stop."

Karen nodded. "I didn't sleep all that well because of it."

"Oh dear." Chris stated. "Light sleeper, are you?"

"Not really," she suppressed a yawn, "I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping recently."

He knew he wasn't really there for a social chat. Although they were close enough to engage in such talk, he had to explain his real reason why he was there. "I hope you don't mind, but I completed my appraisal paperwork for you."

She smirked to herself. She couldn't get over his diligence. The paperwork in question wasn't even due for a few more days. "Don't tell me you spent all of your time this morning working on that?"
She knew he came in early some days, but for him to work on something like that was a bit too attentive for her liking.

There came a knock at her door, interrupting their banter, and Harry slowly came in.

"Everything ok, love?"

He nodded dimly.

"You want me to go?" Chris wanted to know, not really minding if they both didn't want him there.

"If…that's ok," Karen started, looking to Harry, "unless you've got some objection to it."

"I think I wanna go home, mum." He stated loosely.

Chris frowned at how poorly he sounded. "You not feeling very well, Harry?" If that were the case, he couldn't understand why Karen didn't send him home.

She came over to her son. "He hasn't been well for a while, Chris. I thought him coming back in might help him feel better."

"What sort of 'poorly' are we talking here?" He folded his arms across his chest. "By the look of him, I don't think he should be in."

"He's been sick and he's lost his appetite a fair bit." She explained, looking to him worriedly.

"If you wanna take him to the doctors, don't let me stop you." He offered. "Or if you want, I can always take him up there if you're too tied up here."

"I've already taken him." Karen went on. "They told me to keep him at home."

"Then that's really where he should stay, Karen." He replied slowly. "He looks fit to keel over any second."

"I can't." She weakly stated. "I just…I can't have him going home anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because he's so near his exams." She helped him to sit down on the sofa. "Any more time off sick and he'll miss them. I can't risk that." She heard her mobile going off, and she quickly answered it.

Harry dimly lay down on the sofa from his sitting position and clutched his stomach.

Chris was worried at how poorly he'd become and kept a close eye on him.

"I'm sorry, Jess, what…?" The tension was mounting in her voice, and it was something she couldn't hold back. She drew in a small sigh and disconnected the call.

"…Everything ok?" The young male perched himself against the windowsill, raising an eyebrow in concern.

"Jess is having labour pains…or so she thinks." She quirked a smile. "So she's just asked me to take her to the hospital."

"You're a bit tied up, and if you're not careful, you're going to get yourself seriously burned out." He explained. "Take her to the hospital and I'll deal with things here. I don't have any sets at all, so I don't mind staying here. As for Harry, he can stay here till he feels better or I can always take him home myself by the time you get back."

"But the exams…"

"We can stall the exams, it's not a problem." He went on. "I'd rather him be well for them than for him to miss them altogether. He will not miss taking them, don't worry."

Karen smiled thankfully. "Thank you."

Chris perched behind her desk when she'd gone, his gaze darting over to Harry every so often. He was worried that he hadn't have moved; just simply lay on his side, clutching his stomach.
What worried him all the more was the fact that he could be violently sick just like that.
"I think I should take you home, Harry." He emerged from behind the desk, bending down beside the sofa so he could look at him better. "You're not well enough to be here."

"I don't wanna go," he dimly insisted, "please…let me stay for a bit longer."

"I don't think your mum's going to be too happy about me keeping you here just because you wanna stay." He smirked teasingly. "Come on, let's get you home before you end up really poorly."

Harry resignedly followed him to his car and he sat in the front passenger side. He felt even sicker when he was taken back home.

Chris looked over at him as he made to get out. He frowned at the sight of him.
It was almost as though he'd gotten sick from the sheer motion of the drive.

"Can you come in with me?" He looked to him dimly.

"If…you want me to." He twisted the key out of the ignition, locked the car and went with him into the house. He didn't know why he wanted him there with him – and it was at the worst possible time.
He had a school to go back to and look after, and he knew he was going to be the one in trouble if Karen were to come back and see that all the kids had run amok.
"Harry, I don't know why you want me here."

"I don't like being on my own."

He frowned at his response and came closer to him. "Has something happened?" He wanted to know.

He shook his head.

"If you can't say, then I won't be able to help you and I'll go." He added. "I mean you should feel able to tell me now, it's just you and I here."

Harry bleakly looked away.

"Just get some sleep and try to get yourself better before your exams, if you can." He got his car keys out, ready to go. "I'll let your mum know when she gets back that I've taken you back home." And with that, he saw himself out.