"Dan, where's the formula? I think she's hungry"

"In the cupboard, where it always is?"

"Okay, let me look"

I had to stop myself from laughing at that one. He asked me before even looking in the cupboard? Such a Phil thing to do.

"It's not there"

"Well, then we're out"

Phil came into the room with a rather frustrated little Alice in his arms. We had been living here with him for about the past week. He'd been so good to both of us. Alice actually had a crib now and everything. He did seem a little surprised when he realized the bags I carried around everywhere were all I had. He didn't ask about it though. That's the great thing about Phil. He doesn't ask questions no matter how many things seem out of place.

He's been a really amazing friend.

He sat down beside me on the couch before sighing heavily. "Aliceeee. Why won't you stop cryingggggg?" he whined dramatically, pulling a face at her. She actually stopped for a moment, making small unhappy whimpering noises.

"You might have actually done it" I said, nudging him gently. No more than five seconds after the words have left my mouth she started to shriek again.

"If only"

He gave me a small smile before handing Alice over to me. He then stood up, stretching his arms above his head before turning to me again "I'll go get some formula real quick. Maybe you can stop her crying in the meantime"

"Okay, try hurry. I think she is hungry"

He threw a grin over his shoulder at me as he slipped on his shoes "Of course, darling" he teased, laughing to himself before leaving the house. A smile tugged at my lips at his comment.

He really was perfect.

A rather loud cry from Alice brought me back to reality. I lifted her to my chest and cuddled her. I gently patted her back, trying desperately to at least sooth her. She had never really cried like this before. And honestly, it was really scaring me.

"Shh, it's okay baby. What wrong? Are you hungry. Daddy- I mean, I'll get you some nice milk when Phil gets back" I paused fore a moment, trying to think of anything that would possibly quiet her down. That's when it hit me.

"Hey, Alice. Do you wanna watch some TV. Yeah. TV sounds good, doesn't it?"

I reached for the remote while trying to keep a hold of her. I successfully turned on the TV. As soon as the colourful pictures appeared on screen Alice's cries stopped. I held her in my arms as her eyes widened with amazement. I laughed softly to myself as I watched her. She looked so cute.

"And now, for the news"

I looked back up to the screen to see a smartly dressed woman shuffling her pile of paper. Why did they do that?. I mean, everyone knows that nothings written on the paper they hold. She introduced herself before moving onto her first story. I didn't even realize I had a smile on my face until I felt it drop.

"The search for the young seventeen year old Daniel is still in process. There was a reported sighting of him last week on the outskirts of Middleton. The police are looking into this. He was said to have been seen without the girl so police are sceptical if this could be the boy they're looking for. We'll keep you updated on this story as we receive more information. Onto our next story"

No. This couldn't be happening. They must have seen me when Phil took us to Middleton last weekend. No. This was bad. Really, really bad. Shit. I turned the TV off and just stared at the now blank screen.

"Alice…oh my god…What if they find us Alice? What am I supposed to do? I can't give you to them. I'll never give you to them."

Tears began to sting my eyes as I looked down at her. She looked back up at me with her big brown eyes. She was beautiful, perfect. I just couldn't let them have her. They would ruin her life like they ruined mine. I couldn't let her go through that. The tears were streaming down my face now. I quickly placed her in her carrier that was sitting on the coffee table then place my head in my hands.

What was I supposed to do?

************************************************** *******************

"Dan. I'm back" I heard Phil call out cheerfully. I tried to stop my sobs as I heard him enter the room but it was no use.

"I tried to be quick but the line was really long and they had- Dan? What's wrong?"

I only sobbed louder as I heard his voice. I just couldn't keep myself together. I felt him sit beside me before his arms wrapped around my shaking shoulders tightly. "Dan…" he whispered softly "Tell me what's wrong…please?"

"I…I c-can't" I stuttered, pulling at my hair slightly. I wanted to stop crying and just smile at him. Tell him everything was fine. But I couldn't. because it wouldn't be. Everything was falling apart.

"Dan, please"

I took a deep, shaky breath "I just…I can't"

"But why, why won't can't you tell me?"

"Because you'll hate me. You'll call me all the names they have. I'll lose the one person who…who I actually care about"

"Oh…Dan" he said softly before he tightened his grip around me. "Please look at me" I shook my head harshly, sniffling softly as I managed to get my breathing under control. The tears still dripped down my face. When I started crying I just couldn't stop. "Please" he begged as he moved to sit in front of me on the floor. He tried to look up into my eyes but I wouldn't let him.

"No…you'll hate me. I can't deal with you hating me"

"Dan. I won't hate you, I promise. Just look at me for a minute"

I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked into his amazing blue ones. He smiled softly as my gaze met his. "There we go" he said softly, using his hand to gently brush my fringe out of my eyes. I smiled back at him shyly. I couldn't help it. My world may have been collapsing around me but he could still make me smile.

"Look, Dan. I don't know what you're going to tell me but whatever it is it won't change my opinion of you. You're someone who I really care about. I…I really like you Dan. I will never, ever hate you. I don't think I ever could. You just mean so much to me. You have no idea how happy you and Alice have made me"

"You…you care about me?"

He smiled, ruffling my hair gently "Of course I do Silly" his expression turned more serious again as he gazed into my eyes "I have a lot more feelings than care Dan. I like you. Like, really, really like you"

"Like me, like-" I began to say but before I could finish his lips were on mine. I looked into his eyes, too shocked to kiss back or do anything actually. He smiled against my lips, pulling away slightly "You've stopped crying"

I blushed furiously, averting my gaze from his as he laughed softly. He took my hands in his, sitting beside me on the couch again. "Do you feel better now?"

I nodded.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

I kept my eyes locked on our hands, thinking over if I wanted to tell him or not.

"Dan? Do you?"

I hesitated, but then looked into his eyes nervously and nodded. He let go of my hands and pulled me into his arms. At that moment Alice began to threaten to cry again.

"Do you want to have a cuddle with daddy and me?" he asked her, leaning around me and picking her up. He then carefully placed her in my arms. I leaned into his chest closing my eyes and taking a quick breath as I felt his arms wrap around me.

"I'm not her dad"

"What?"

"I'm not Alice's dad. She's my sister. I…I ran away with her to get away from our parents"

"Okay…but, why?"

I sighed, hugging Alice close to my chest. "She would have died if I let them have her"