Disclaimer: I do not own Skins; right now I own pretty much nothing!

Big thanks to Vaskon, for being the only person to comment on my second chapter, plus for loving Sid! Lets be honest, who couldn't love Sid, especially little baby Sid!

Tony. Age 6 Effy. Age 4

'You know, she was four years old the first time she beat me at hide and seek. Four. I was looking for her for hours. When I finally found her she just smiled. You know, that Effy smile that means, you don't know me at all, you never will."

Anthea.

Anthea had reached breaking point, Effy was four years old, yet when Tony wasn't around she became frozen in time like a doll; unlike any other four year old who would have loved the undivided attention they could receive without their sibling around. During Tony's first term at school she had let it go, but after new years when his second term came around, with no change to her daughter she decided to take action. Climbing the stairs, she poked her head around her son's bedroom door; sure enough there was Effy, sat vacantly on his bed waiting for him to return.

Moving across the room, placing herself in Effy's eye line, she sat down in front of her. "Elizabeth darling, do you want to play with mummy?" she asked, receiving no reply; not even eye contact. She sighed and tried again, "Effy do you want to play a game of hide and seek with me?". This time her daughter's eyes darted up to her face, holding her gaze, Anthea smiled down at her. "I'll count to one hundred and you go hide, then I'll come find you", she grinned, realising she had never played this game with Effy. Her daughter raised an eyebrow, but she climbed off the bed and walked over to the bedroom door, glancing back over her shoulder as she left. Relieved to have gotten her daughter up and moving, she quickly covered her eyes, starting to count aloud.

Effy.

Effy left her mother in Tony's bedroom, she could hear her counting aloud to one hundred, but by the time Anthea had reached thirty Effy had already hidden herself. She stayed rigid and quiet, not even her little breaths made a sound, she knew her mum would have no clue where she was hiding. In the darkness, Effy closed her eyes, that way she felt like she still had control of whether she could see or not. Effy liked control, she didn't like having no control over something, it scared her to much. In the distance she head Anthea reach one hundred, then the bed creaked as her mum stood up, then the floorboards as her mum paced Tony's room. For the next few hours she listened to the silence that surrounded her, every now and then it was broken by Anthea. Floorboards creaking, cupboards banging, doors being opened and shut. "Effy", Anthea called continuously, her voice tinged with the sound of desperation, "Sweetheart where are you, mummy gives up". Yet Effy didn't move, not an inch, she kept her eyes scrunched shut. In her mind, the logic of it was if her mum knew her, she would find her. Effy had played this game with Tony, this hiding place wasn't even one of her hardest, yet he had always found her. The front door clicked open, her mother screamed for her into the street, and then the front door slammed shut. The phone was picked up, numbers punched frantically, "Jim I can't find Effy, we was playing hide and seek and I lost her", her mum cried. Effy smiled to her self, Anthea had no idea where she was, she was well and truly hidden.

Then she heard it, it was louder then any of the other sounds, it surrounded her. "Please Effy", Anthea cried, her voice breaking. Effy froze, her heart twisted, she swore she could hear every single tear drop that dripped from Anthea's chin. So she moved, she made a sound, a sound loud enough that Anthea would hear it. The footsteps of her mother got nearer then, she made another noise, slammed her hand against something hard. Suddenly light burst around her, opening her eyes, she was now back in the bright light of day. Anthea stared back at her, her face twisted, as she took in Effy's hiding place.

Effy stared back at her mum, smiled up at her, capturing her. She smirked at Anthea, she had been right, if her mother knew her she would have found her; Anthea didn't know her at all. Brushing past her, Effy went back to Tony's room, climbed up on his bed and waited for him to come home.

Anthea.

Stunned, Anthea followed her daughter, back to her son's room. How could such a young girl, think of such a hiding place, where no one would find her. Standing in the doorway she watched her, it was like watching a stranger, someone she didn't know. That's what scared Anthea, she didn't know Effy, and she doubted she ever would. That may have been the first time she ever played hide and seek with her daughter, and it was definitely the last time she ever played it, however Effy never stopped playing.

Ok, so I don't know if anyone is really interested in this story, its not really getting many reviews. Though come to think of it, none of my stories really do, this is a shame because I like to know what people think.

So if you do read this, whether you like it or not, let me know what you think! Please =]

I accept anonymous reviews if that helps!