Wow! It's been a long time since I updated this fic! Thanks for all your reviews, and I hope you like this chapter.

"Dani," The yelling up the stairs continued for a few minutes before Danielle reluctantly left the comfort of her bedroom to come face to face with her dad.

"I said I'm coming dad," Danielle called back down the stairs as she made her way out of her bedroom. Her thoughts were drifting off to other places, mainly Ronnie; but now wasn't the time to think about her mother, the one person who was meant to protect her but ended up causing her more pain ever imaginable, more grief, more desperation and more hurt than Danielle had ever faced. Even Lizzie's death came nowhere near the pain Danielle was feeling at this moment in time, but she knew she had to move on if she was going to become the person she once was, just forget Ronnie Mitchell.

"Dan…oh you're there. I've been calling you for ages!" Her father's face was directly in front of hers as she reached the bottom of the stairs, his voice soft and warm just like a parent's should be, just like Ronnie's should have been... She had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts to even be thinking about what she had been doing.

"I know, dad, I said I'd be a few minutes…"

"Never mind, Danielle. Dinner's on the table for you,"

Danielle slowly walked across the lounge to the table in the corner, a room which had held so many memories, which were now emptying from Danielle's mind as she could only think about the past seven months, the painful seven months… She had to stop thinking about it, she needed to stop thinking about it, but however hard she tried, Ronnie Mitchell would just not disappear from her mind, her hair, her face, her clothes, her smell, her voice…everything was just flashing in front of Danielle's eyes as if screaming out to her, look what you are missing, she's your mum, you need her. But she doesn't need you, Danielle felt a voice in her head say. Freak. Biggest mistake of my life. Who'd want a daughter like you? Stay away from this family. The thoughts stabbed deeply into her mind, as if imprinted upon her mind, always there, always reminding Danielle of the painful past, the past she just wanted to forget. Danielle shut her eyes tightly, trying to erase her thoughts, her hands digging deeply into the cutlery she was holding as she concentrated.

"Gareth and Jenny are coming down in a few weeks, it's his first leave since he went back in February, how I miss him," Andy broke the silence, his gaze turning to his daughter. "It would be good if you were still here…"

Danielle simply shrugged, not knowing what her next step was, did she stay with her father and face been overshadowed by her favoured brother or did she leave, go to a place where no one would find her, or…she could go back to Wal…No. She couldn't, the pain was too raw, everything was too raw.

"Anyway, you never told me how London was? How's Stacey? And that friend of yours…the blonde one?" Andy questioned, "The one I met when I came down to see you?"

Raising her head, Danielle stared at her father a neutral expression upon her face. She knew exactly who he meant, she didn't want to, but she did. Everything, everything always found a way back to her. "Ronnie?"

"Yes, the pretty blonde one," Andy continued to press his daughter, wanting to fill in the gaps of the time he had missed with her; time had become so precious since Lizzie had passed away. He didn't get a reply however, as his daughter just ate her food before leaving the table, once again locking herself in the safety of her bedroom.

Over in Walford and Ronnie was desperately trying to find the location of her daughter, her beautiful daughter, the one thing in life that mattered to her and the one thing she had let go.

"Stacey," Ronnie increased her speed as Stacey started walking away from her, "Stacey, please. Wait," Stacey, ignoring the cries of Ronnie Mitchell, continued walking away from the Square, "Please, Stacey," She had caught up with her, tugging on the jumper to grab her attention.

"What?" She spat at Ronnie, she didn't deserve her attention, nor had she deserved Danielle's. "Come to shout at me too?" She mimicked.

"No, Stacey. Please, do you know where Danielle is?" Ronnie was pleading with the girl in front of her, she needed her baby, she needed to apologise, make all the pain disappear, tell her how much she loved her.

"If I did Ronnie Mitchell, I wouldn't tell you. Danielle deserves more than you, much more,"

"Stacey…I need her, she's my daughter…my..my...baby,"

"That didn't stop you before Ronnie, you broke her heart," How could Ronnie Mitchell be acting like this? Stacey thought, she caused her daughter so much pain, so much hurt and rejected her, how can she want to know her now?

"I know, I know, I just want to tell her I'm sorry, please, I need to explain," Her eyes were filling with tears at the thought of never seeing her daughter again, seeing her smile, smelling her smell…

"She's moved on Ronnie, she doesn't need you…"

"No! She needs me, I'm her mother," Ronnie was desperate not to hear those words, her baby did need her and she needed her baby, more than anything. "I…I need to give her this, please Stacey tell me where she is…" A swinging locket hung from Ronnie's hand after she had reached into her pocket. An identical one that had hung from her neck for almost twenty years, the one she had given away with her daughter, her baby, all those years ago. Stacey turned her head away from Ronnie's, unable to look her in the eyes. The pain was evident from Ronnie's tear stained face and unusually casual clothes, but could she betray her best friend? She knew all Danielle ever wanted was Ronnie, her mother, and her she was just trying to find Danielle, caring about her. The locket had been the final nail in the coffin for Stacey, she knew that locket had got Danielle through thick and thin and she'd be lost without it. She couldn't be the one to cause more pain to either of them than had been caused already, she too just wanted to see Danielle smile again.

"She's gone home Ronnie, back to Telford. Rose Street, Lawley. You didn't hear it from me though,"