Corrine

She smoothes down her blonde hair and grabs the small girls hand in hers, rubbing her thumb back and forth she gives her a small smile. "Ready?" Corrine whispers, she isn't sure if she is asking her daughter or herself. It had been so long since she has been home, she had been trying to forget about Small Heathe for the last 10 years but here she was, back home and trying to make a life for her and Fiona. Corrine shakes her head and knocks on the old wooden door, she was sure if she pushed hard enough it would fall apart in her hands. She steps back waits for the door to open.

"Mummy, you're hurting me." Fiona yelps from beside her, Corrine loosens her hand and gives her daughter an apologetic smile. The door swings open and she feels Fiona sink into her side.

"Corrine!" A tall woman beams back at her, Polly hadn't changed much. She had the same brown eyes and pale skin, she wore all black and her dark hair was cut much shorter and was in sharp curls against her head. Corrine can't help but feel welcomed as the woman leans forward to help her with her bags. "And you must be Fiona!" Polly grins at Fiona, who hides behind her mother. "Shy are we?" Polly gives Corrine a knowing look, one that would only be shared by two mothers on the understanding of a small child. "Come in." Polly waves her hand toward herself to insist like they would come all this way to stand outside.

Corrine can't help like feeling like a small shy child herself as she makes her way into Polly's home, it felt like she hadn't changed anything since she had last been here. The table still in the middle of the sitting room, Polly said it was so that she could work from home when the children where little, that she didn't have the space for comfy chairs, even the tablecloth was the same.

"You will be in John's old room." Polly returns from the kitchen with a pot of tea in one hand and a tray of biscuits in another. "He lives with his wife now," Polly answers Corrine's unanswered questions. "Would you like a biscuit?" Polly sits down next to the child and slides the tray towards her, Fiona takes a ginger biscuit tentatively and begins to nibble on it. "How old are you?"

Fiona brushes the crumbs from her mouth and gives Polly a wide smile, showing her missing front tooth. "Ten!" Polly mouthes wow to the small child, causing her to giggle.

Corrine lets out a sigh of relief, she was worried that the change in environment would be too much for her daughter but clearly, Fiona was adaptable. She couldn't blame her daughter for falling for biscuits, she would have done the same, hell she would probably do the same now. "We won't stay long." Corrine offers but she isn't sure how true her words are, she would be spending all of her spare time training, she wasn't sure how she would find the time to work and look after Fiona, never mind find somewhere else to live.

"Nonsense, your family." Polly nods firmly and Corrine knows immediately not to bother arguing with her.

"Corrine!" The blonde spins in her chair as the door slams shut behind her. Standing at the entrance way is a woman around the same age as her with short brown hair and a beaming smile.

"Ada!" Corrine squeals, pushing Fiona off her lap she leaps up and embraces her old friend.

"It's so good to see you!" Ada holds her at arm's length and takes her in. Corrine sees the same girl that she was once so close to but not she is older, wiser and has certainly learned how to apply red lipstick well.

The pair hug once again, rocking back and forth for a moment until Corrine feels her coat being tugged, looking down she sees Fiona with her bottom lip stuck out. "And who is this?" Ada looks from the small girl back to her friend with her eyes wide.

"Ada this is my daughter, Fiona. Fiona, this is Mummy's friend Ada." Corrine runs her fingers through her daughter dark hair and brushes it behind her ears.

"Daughter?" Ada asks, her eyes still wide. "Right, hello Fiona, how do you do?" Ada reaches out for the girl's hand and shakes it gently.

"Fiona, why don't I show you to your new bedroom?" Polly appears beside the trio, Fiona looks up at her mother who nods at her, giving her permission to go with Polly. That's all the confirmation Fiona needs as she skips out of the room ahead of Polly.

"It's good to see you." Corrine smiles once Polly closes the door behind her.

"Cut the shit, Corrine." Ada no longer looks like the young girl she once knew, her face is hardened and determined.

"I don't know what your"

"Don't you lie to me," Ada warns her, her eyebrows raised. "You left in such a hurry, you were pregnant then." Corrine sighs as she nods, shame washing over her. She didn't want everyone to know what Fiona was, what she was.

"Don't tell anyone, please Ada." Corrine pleads.

Tommy

Tommy breathes, in and out, in and out. He watches as the clock on his bedside ticks, tick tock, tick tock. He wishes he could stay in this position all day, with his head on the pillow and the sheet over him, if only the world would freeze and he could spend another minute just like this. But the world doesn't wait for him and that fucking clock was getting on his last nerve. Pushing up from the bed he grabs the metal clock and throws it across the room, it lands with a loud thud as the metal pieces scrape along the floor. Tommy throws himself back on the bed and lets out a low groan, if today could go away, it would make him very happy.

The door to his bedroom creaks open, immediately Tommy reaches for the knife beneath his pillow. "Dad?" Tommy releases his grip on the knife and sits up.

"Charlie." Tommy gives his son a small smile, he had grown so much in the last few months, a growth spurt Polly had called it.

"Can we play today?" Charlie looks up at his father hopefully, he is dressed in a blue buttoned jacket and matching trousers, his dark brown hair cut in the same fashion as his fathers.

"Not today, son." Tommy sighs, Charlie looks away from him then and begins to leave the room. "We have to go see Aunt Polly today." This makes the small boy beam up at his father. The sight squeezes Tommy's heart, he looks so much like Grace when he smiles. Shaking the thought from his mind, Tommy pulls himself out of bed and goes to get dressed. It was Polly's birthday and he hadn't seen her properly in weeks, he had avoided going to her house at all costs and hadn't been to the shop for more than five minutes at a time. Project avoid Corrine was going well, it wasn't that he hated her, that couldn't be further from the truth but he knew what drama she could bring and after she left she never bothered to contact him again, they had been neighbours for years, had gone to school together and had been friends up until he had left for war. When he had returned, she was gone. He had thought that maybe she would have waited for him to return, he had daydreamed of them courting and he had toyed with the idea of asking her to be his girlfriend. After all, they just made sense together.

Tommy wasn't sure if there was ever really a romantic connection between the two but they got on well enough and she was a pretty girl. Tommy shakes his head, he was thinking stupid thoughts about a girl he wasn't even sure he ever even liked.