Disclaimer: I don't own anything worth owning in here, the BBC and Jacqueline Wilson do.

Today's weird holiday is crap so I'm deciding to promote the fact that July is apparently anti-boredom month. So in the spirit of things here's a new chapter that will hopefully cheer people up, or at least prevent boredom. Enjoy!

Chapter 5:: It's Too Late For You To Make Me Stay.

Laughter exploded from the living room behind her as she made her way out, a huge smile on her face. She couldn't believe how much fun the kids were here, Liam and Frank especially were hysterical. They played on each other, bouncing jokes and taunts against the other like warring comedians each trying to best the other, but it was all in good fun. At first she had struggled to understand the tall boy due to his speech impediment, however seeing the others having no trouble with it had made her to try harder until she to could make out what he was saying, well mostly, there were still some things that she couldn't quite grasp. Walking towards the office once more, it seemed like she had spent more time in there than she had anywhere else in the house the last day or so, she knocked timidly at the door, still smiling amiably as a voice called out telling her to enter.

They were all in there already; Gina, Mike and Mrs. Bishop, as well as a fourth person who she didn't recognise. She was younger than the others in the room, closer to Tracy's age yet still a few years older. Her hair was scraped back from her face in a severe bun and her clothes could only be described as professional; a smart dark coloured skirt suit complete with a crisp white shirt. She hadn't realised she had been openly staring at her until Gina's hand grasped her shoulder in welcome as she introduced her to the newcomer.

"Anna this is Ms. Campbell, she's your Children's Guardian." She smiled slightly in greeting as Ms. Campbell extended her hand to her, holding out her own to be grasped tightly.

"It's nice to meet you." She intoned, her voice sounding detached as she looked at the girl, studying her. It was silent after she spoke and Anna realised that no one was going to explain what a Children's Guardian was. Gathering courage from the warm weight from Gina's hand which still rested on her shoulder, she spoke up somewhat hesitantly.

"What...What's a Children's Guardian?" She refused to look at anyone as she spoke, choosing instead to focus on an innocuous point on the wall, because of her invasiveness she missed the looks traded between Mike, Gina and Mrs. Bishop as they realised she was beginning to open up, though obviously reluctantly. Ms. Campbell was the first to answer, which Anna thought was good. Who else but a Children's Guardian would be the best to explain what they themselves do? Although interested in the answer Anna couldn't quite meet the woman's eyes as she spoke, choosing instead to look at a point just above her shoulder to show that she was paying attention.

"Well..." She hesitated almost as soon as she began, clearly searching for a good way to word it. "A Children's Guardian is someone who is experienced in social work. They are chosen by the court to make sure that the children's opinions and needs are taken care of when they have to deal with social services. We're independent from social services though, so we aren't under the same restraints they are. We pretty much just make sure children like you are taken care of properly when they are in most in need of it." She couldn't help her head from jerking up to the new woman's face as she mentioned court, but neither of them said anything about it.

"Isn't that what a social worker does?" She asked once she knew she had finished her explanation.

"Yes, but Social Workers tend to work with the whole family, we deal solely with you. Which means that we will be spending a lot of time together, it helps us to find out what would be best for you."

Anna was quiet once more as she mulled over the new information. She could hear the grown ups talking amongst themselves but wasn't paying much attention to what was being said. If the courts were involved her father wasn't going to be very happy, but then again he never was. Maybe they would let her stay here, Ms. Campbell had said that she would take her feelings into consideration and Gina seemed to trust her. Paying attention to what was happening around her once more, she was surprised to find both Gina and Mrs. Campbell staring at her silently. Smiling awkwardly under their intense gaze, she was relieved when they turned back to the others, Mrs. Campbell taking a bit longer than Gina to do so. Her relief was short lived though as she soon discovered that Gina had only turned her attention away to alert the others to the fact that she was now listening. They seemed to have a silent discussion between themselves on who would speak first, evidently Mike won, or lost depending on what way you looked at it, because he was the first one to step forward towards her.

"Anna, I'm going to give it to you straight OK? Your parents have requested a meeting with you, and the thing is, we can't technically say no."

"I, I have to meet them? But you said, you said..." Her voice trailed off as her breathing became harsher and harder to catch as her panic grew. She felt her hands begin to throb painfully and realised that her hands were clenched tightly into fists. Gina once more tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, only to have it shrugged away almost violently. She couldn't stand to have any of them near her at the moment, especially not Gina, she had promised that she didn't need to see them if she didn't want to.

"Anna, I know what we said, what I said, but it's been taken out of our hands. There's nothing we can do, I'm sorry child." She turned to face the large woman after hearing the pain in her voice.

"But, but what if..." Hot tears began to flow down her cheeks and she gave up completely on trying to speak, crumbling in on herself instead as her legs gave out from under her. Gina was, quite luckily, there to catch her and she once more felt herself enveloped in the comfort she brought. She was finding it hard to think or move or do anything but stay where she was at that moment, except for the one single instinctive need to escape that coursed through her very veins, her thoughts were blank.

The corridor was dark, the only light coming from the security lights outside that were placed on the front of the house near the main entrance. The dim glow they offered only served to enhance the shadows though, making them more pronounced rather than chasing them away. She trailed her hand along the wall as she went, keeping her balance as she walked on her tiptoes to try and minimise the noise she was making. Every sound around her made her jump and the larger groupings of shadows had her pausing each time she passed them, her nervousness increasing with each step. She wouldn't let them catch her though, they would stop her and she couldn't let that happen, she couldn't go back to them.

She had waited till the early hours of the morning before moving, lying stiffly on the bed as the minutes seemed to drag endlessly. Just when it felt like she would scream from the tension building around her, everything finally settled down and she had made her move, throwing back the covers to reveal her already clothed body and exiting her room. She had thought about taking some money like she had before, but she couldn't quite force herself to steal from those who had helped her, or at least tried to, she wasn't sure how she would support herself but she didn't have a choice, she had to leave.

Stepping carefully down the last couple of stairs she made a last minute decision to go through the kitchen and out the back door, rationalising that it would less likely that anyone would see her if she sneaked out the back, away from the main roads. She was almost at the kitchen door when she thought she heard a noise from inside, straining her hears in the hope that she was imagining things, she felt her body tense in anticipation. A few seconds had barely passed when she heard it again, a muffled bang from inside of the kitchen. Swivelling round, she quickly decided to just go out the front door, not caring if someone outside saw her or not. It would take them a while to figure out she was the one they would be looking for, if they even found out. She had barely taken a step when her foot connected with a wayward shoe lying haphazardly in the hall causing her to fall forward onto her outstretched hands.

It was the noise her impact made rather than any pain it caused that made her wince. Almost instantly she heard the noise in the kitchen become clearer as the person inside obviously began to make their way towards her. Scrabbling frantically, she tried to get back up only to trip over her bag , once more falling onto the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of her. She was lying with her face pressed into the carpet, the stinging in her nose alerting her to the fact that the carpet had burned her and badly if the pain was anything to go by. Before she could even contemplate getting up an amused chuckle broke through her inner monologue of cursing. Turning her head slightly so that her cheek rested against the carpet, she glanced up to see Liam lounging against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest and a huge smirk on his face.

"It's a good thing I'm so used to girls falling at my feet or this would be awkward." He stated, the smirk still on his face as looked down at her, causing Anna to glare at him. It seemed to have little effect though, if anything it seemed to get bigger. Glaring harder she moved into a sitting position, wincing slightly as she put weight onto her right hand, from the slight throbbing she knew she had sprained it. She was once again stuck for words, a situation that was beginning to frustrate her immensely, she wanted to be able to voice some stinging retort that would stop him in his tracks, maybe even make him respect her a little, not that she needed anyone, especially him, to respect her. She didn't get the chance to even attempt a comeback before he said something that sent her mind into a whirl.

"Why are you dressed? Is that your bag yo...You're running away aren't you?" He was frowning now, no trace of his previous amusement left on his face. She felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her, she couldn't believe she had been caught. But it didn't matter she was still going and there was nothing he could do to make her stay. Standing up in anger, she brushed herself down and grabbed her bag, fully prepared to push past the nosy boy and continue with her plan. She had almost got to the door when she felt his hand grab her upper arm tightly, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

A/N: Late updates are late(y)! Sorry guys but summer has been heavy hectic so far between gigs, the ships, house parties and birthdays. Best part is I've got another holiday, two birthdays, another gig and trips to Thorpe Park and Alton Towers still to come. Don't know why I'm telling you all this but I'm excited and I love summer! Lol.

I'll try and keep the chaps coming more regularly though.

Any thoughts?