Hannah felt her legs turning to jelly as Jo's words hit her. "W-What?"

"I was fifteen… I was struggling with who I was." Jo tried to explain, feeling a chill spreading through her whole body as she told her girlfriend her biggest secret. It was impossible to work out what Hannah was thinking because her face was completely devoid of emotion. "One stupid mistake with a boy in my year and I got pregnant. I… I couldn't keep him. I was fifteen and–"

"I was fourteen, remember." Hannah shot back, anger suddenly sparking in her eyes.

Jo shook her head. "Han… we were completely different. You knew you could raise Ellie without screwing her up; you're a survivor. I was a scared, confused fifteen-year-old who couldn't even admit to herself what was going on in her head. Giving him up… that was the best chance he had."

There was a long silence.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hannah asked at last. Jo knew her well enough to hear the hurt behind her hostile tone.

"Babe… it wasn't that I didn't tell you… I just… didn't tell you."

The younger woman's eyes narrowed and she pushed herself away from the counter. "What the actual fuck, Jo?"

"It was almost thirty years ago!" The brunette almost pleaded. "I don't like thinking about it… him. It's… still too painful."

"So, what? You just tried to forget you had a son?"

"Of course not! But I don't… I haven't told anyone about him; my parents are the only ones who know. My sisters were both at University when I had him and when they came home… Susan and Caroline were both oblivious to anything being wrong."

"I'm not anyone, Jo." Hannah told her softly, betrayal flashing in her eyes. "You should have told me."

"I'm sorry… it's just… not something I ever thought would come up. He would have been twenty-one when you and I met… if he ever wanted to meet me I thought he would have done by then. I didn't see the point in bringing it up for no reason."

Hannah's eyes blazed again. "You know everything about me, Jo. Everything. Even the things that probably wouldn't have come up in conversation, even the worst things I've done… the things that, whatever you say, I know you struggled to deal with… things that could have ruined us and our relationship. I told you everything and you couldn't bloody return the favour?"

"Are you really angry about this?" Jo demanded suddenly, anger sparking in her own eyes. "Or is this a convenient distraction from the fact that your family will be arriving in a couple of days?"

Gaping at her, the younger woman shook her head. "I… I cannot believe you sometimes! You honestly don't understand why I'd be upset that you didn't tell me you have another son? You couldn't have found a moment in the past seven years to tell me about him?"

"I don't have another son, Hannah." The brunette snapped. "I gave birth to a baby and gave him away. He has a mother, but it isn't me. I only have two sons and they are both in this house." She stepped forward, closer to her girlfriend, attempting to lay a hand on her arm. She scowled when Hannah shook her off and turned away. "Hannah, my main concern is protecting our family. Whoever sent this note–"

Hannah whirled around, her eyes flashing. "He's your family too!"

"HE IS NOT!" Jo almost screamed at her. "I don't know him. He is not my family. For all we know he sent this note."

"Don't be ridiculous, Jo. Why–?"

Clenching her fists in agitation, Jo turned away, slamming one hand onto the counter top. "You know the statistics, Hannah. You know that most serious assaults and murders take place on family members. Cases like this–"

"You're being fucking ridiculous, you know that?"

"Excuse me?"

Hannah stormed to the door and yanked it open. Stamping towards the front door, she grabbed her car keys. "I can't… I can't even look at you right now."

"YOU ARE SO SELFISH!" Jo screamed.

"TRY LOOKING IN THE MIRROR SOMETIME!"

"DON'T BOTHER COMING BACK UNTIL YOU TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ARSE!"

"DON'T WORRY, I WON'T!" Hannah yelled back, slamming the front door behind her.

As the car engine started out on the driveway, Jo let out a furious scream and stormed upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

As quiet fell over the hall of the farmhouse, the living room door opened slowly and several faces peered out. Seeing that it was deserted, Ellie, Freya, Max and Jen left the living room, shutting the door firmly behind them, so that the others wouldn't hear their conversation.

"Shit… that sounded bad." Ellie muttered, chewing on her thumbnail and looking at the others.

Max nodded slowly. "Almost as bad as…"

"As bad as what?" Jen asked, looking between the three older faces. "What?"

"About a year after they got together, not long after Cait was born, things were rough. Like, really rough. They used to fight all the time, actual screaming fits, then they split up for… ages." Ellie told her worriedly.

"The last time one of them told the other not to bother coming back… Jo didn't." Max replied gloomily.

"They wouldn't…" The youngest of the four asked.

Freya shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to think so, but… we don't know what's happened, do we?"

"What's the betting they were fighting about Sharon's family?" Ellie asked with a frown, thinking about the Grandmother they had only learnt was alive a couple of years ago. "You know how stressed Mum gets about seeing them. She hates the way they act towards their relationship. And the way they treat Mum doesn't exactly fill her with joy."

"I doubt Mum's particularly thrilled by it either…" Jen muttered. Then she sighed. "Should someone go up and talk to her?"

Ellie smiled weakly. "Unless you want something thrown at your head – and she's got a bloody good aim – I wouldn't risk it just yet. Give her a while to calm down and then we'll send one of the little kids up with tea. Then one of us can go and gage the seriousness of the situation and maybe work out what's happening."

x-x

Hannah rammed the car into gear and almost tore through the narrow country lanes. More than once she had to slam on the breaks to prevent her ploughing into approaching vehicles, earning more than a few angry remarks and indignant glares. The red-headed detective didn't care, however, her fury fuelling her irresponsible driving.

Throwing the car around a final bend, she screeched to a halt at cross-roads. Recognising the place name written on one of the arrows, Hannah turned and started driving along a, thankfully, wider road following the signs towards Aberystwyth. She didn't stop to think about what she was doing until she passed a sign that indicated that she was passing the University. Only then did she glance at the time and realise that she'd been driving for over an hour without noticing.

Letting out a long, deep breath, she followed signs towards a car park and killed the engine. Unbuckling her belt, she leant her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes, wondering how exactly she'd found herself here.

It had been an overreaction, pure and simple. She was still hurt that Jo hadn't told her but she, of all people, should have known that there are some things in your past that you would prefer not to talk about. Not because you wanted to forget them, or because you wanted to pretend that they never happened, but simply because they were just too painful to dwell on.

"Stupid…" Hannah muttered to herself, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyes closed.

Jo had been right, as well. She was dreading seeing her mother's family and hearing more of their opinions on her own family. Her grandparents were the most vocal on their disapproval and it made Hannah angry. They had known her for five minutes and had absolutely no right to judge her. Every time she saw them, Jo was the voice of reason, whispering in her ear and keeping her sane and as calm as possible. Hannah knew that it hurt Jo, the obvious rejection from her partner's family, but she didn't let it show. In some ways that was worse.

Making a decision, Hannah reached onto the passenger seat for her mobile. Then she groaned, realising that she hadn't grabbed it before she left the farmhouse. With a sigh, she scrabbled in the pockets of the car for some loose change and went to buy a car park ticket, before shoving the rest of the change in her pockets and going in search of a phone box. Even if Jo was still furious with her, she knew that the kids would be worrying and she felt guilt settle in her chest as she thought about how, yet again, she was the cause of their upset.

Finally she found a payphone outside a Wetherspoons after being pointed towards the train station by an elderly woman who eyed her suspiciously, as though questioning her motives in asking for directions. Yanking open the door, which was much heavier than she had anticipated and almost caused her to stumble forward, Hannah slipped into the box and raised the receiver. She pushed the coins in her pocket into the slot and jabbed her finger against the stiff buttons, waiting for the call to connect.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ells, it's me." She sighed, relieved that her daughter had decided to answer the call from an unknown number. "Is everything OK?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"It's a long story. It's sort of Jo's story to tell, but I overreacted."

There was a pause. "Wait… you're admitting you're in the wrong?"

Hannah chuckled at her daughter's confusion. "Write it on the calendar, babe. Just… is Jo OK?"

"What d'you think?"

"Did you send one of the kids up with tea?"

"Mmm… Cait went in a while ago. Then Jen went to speak to her. She won't say what's wrong, though, just that you had a fight."

"Yeah?" Hannah chewed the inside of her cheek nervously.

Obviously sensing her mother's fears, Ellie was quick to reassure her. "Mum told Jen that you'd be fine once you had a chance to calm down and talk to each other about whatever happened. We told Jen about when you Mum split up and I think she kinda freaked out a bit. I mean, this is the most stable family she's ever had, right? I think she got scared that you and Mum might split up again and she'd lose it all."

Rubbing a hand wearily over her eyes, Hannah sighed guiltily. "I'm coming back, OK? I'll see you in just over an hour."

"Where are you?" Ellie asked, the question only just occurring to her. "Why aren't you ringing from your mobile?"

"I'm in Aberystwyth and my mobile's in the bedroom." Sensing that her daughter was about to start questioning how and why she had found herself in her current location, Hannah sighed. "Don't ask. Look, I'll be back as soon as I can, OK?"

Just as the younger woman said goodbye, the money ran out and the phone went dead. Hanging up, Hannah made her way slowly back to the car, wondering why she had reacted in such a volatile way and caused so many problems within her family.


A/N: So, here's my apology for not posting this chapter last week... I have been so super busy! And I'm so tired that I'm writing the in be. At just gone eight. I am shattered!

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