Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognisable, including the chapter titles which are all lines from the song Running Away by Midnight Hour. It's a good song, you should check it out. :p

It's Happy Senior Citizen Day in America. Apparently Ronald Reagan made it a holiday when he was president. There weren't any fun ones for today. Gutted much?

Chapter 6: No I won't stay, so I'm running away.

Even in her disorientated state she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't wearing a t-shirt. She was scared, terrified really, and he was preventing her from escaping a terrible fate. But all she could think of was his half naked state and the fact that he was holding her in place rather close to him. She could feel his gaze burning into the top of her head as he stared at her questionably and shivered somewhat at the attention. She'd never felt like this before; like she was the only person in the world, like she was important. He was so close that she could feel warmth radiate from him like a furnace, it made her jumpy, edgy, like she was waiting from something to happen. She shook her head a little to dispel her thoughts, she was only twelve! What the hell was wrong with her to be thinking the things she was? Sure she had thought boys were cute before, had crushes, but this was different, it was electric. Liam cleared his throat, the distraction welcome as it brought her back to the situation, to the fact that she was supposed to be running away. Looking up into his face she felt herself flush at the direction her thoughts were going in and vainly tried to pull away from the young boy, her face scarlet.

"Let me go Liam!" Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she spoke but her eyes were hard, determined as they stared back at him.

"Do you even know where you're going to go, what you're going to do?" He demanded, seemingly ignoring her as his grip only tightened. She shoved at him angrily with all the force she could muster, feeling pleased when he stumbled backwards, letting go of her arm as he did so.

"What would you know about it? Just leave me alone Liam, I can't stay here." She was breathing hard now in fury, trembling a little as she glared at him from where she stood just an arm's length away. She was expecting him to get angry, to rage back at her or at least show annoyance for questioning him, anything but what he actually did. It had started off as a snicker but his laughter soon became loud enough to wake up everyone else in the building causing her to try and shush him. As he calmed down a little at her insistence she soon realised what it was about his laugh that was bothering her – other than the loudness that was. It was bitter and harsh, a sound that was and should have been foreign to a fourteen year old's lips, it made her sad.

"I know a lot more than you think." His voice was low and mirthless, a contrast to the smile that still played around his mouth and it threw her off more than she thought it would. She could only stare at him then, all thoughts of leaving once more gone from her mind at something he had said or done. Shaking herself a little to try and break away from the stupor she had fallen into, she picked up her stuff and began walking backwards towards the door, facing him so that she could deliver what she thought was a good parting shot.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway 'cause it's got nothing to do with you." Spinning around and grabbing the handle, she barely had the door open an inch before it was slammed shut again. Sighing loudly at yet another intrusion in her plan, she allowed her eyes to follow the arm that rested above her head against the door, not stopping until she was glaring into the young boys face so that he would know her displeasure. "Seriously? You're still doing this? Why won't you just -" The hand covering her mouth prevented her from taking her rant any further and she was taken over by the sudden compulsion to either bite him or spit on it just to see his reaction. She did neither though as he began to speak, still so low that she almost had to lean in slightly to hear him, but with an intensity that kind of scared her.

"You need to stop the act and listen for a minute. From what we've heard, you weren't surviving all that well out there the first time round so what makes you think this times going to be any different?" He paused in his monologue long enough to pull back from her a little, though he still kept his hand over her mouth so she couldn't interrupt. "Look, I've already told you that Gina and Mike will do well by you, and I stand by it. They might not be able to stop the meeting with your parents," he hesitated then as he saw her look of confusion, grinning a little in smugness as he explained himself. "nothing stays secret in here for long, especially when Tracy and Cra – I mean Liam, fight about it, loudly, in the toy room. I mean really, those two kinda fail at not letting us kids know about things." He leaned against the door frame, his stance becoming more casual as he realised she wasn't fighting him as much. "They're not gonna let anything happen to you and yes, I do know what I'm talking about." She was silent as she considered all that he had said, maybe he was right, but could she risk it? The thought of whether or not she would ever have a day in which she wouldn't have to worry about these kind of things any more passed fleetingly through her mind before she pushed it away, deciding to deal with it another day.

He was still staring at her, his brown eyes boring into hers as he waited for some kind of response. His hand was no longer over her mouth, leaving her the opportunity to speak freely, but she kind of missed the contact in a way she didn't quite want to admit even to herself. Clearing her throat to hide her nerves she too relaxed her composure, though she made sure to keep a tight hold of her bags. "You really heard everything?"

He shrugged a little trying to appear nonchalant. Only the look on his face let her know that he was serious. "More or less, but I wouldn't worry about it, we all have parent issues or we wouldn't be here," he reached over towards the table and picked up a mug that she hadn't noticed before then, waving it slightly in her direction. "do you want some, it's hot chocolate. Well, I don't think it's that hot any more but still."

"I think I'll pass," she raised her eyebrow a little in amusement as she answered, she couldn't believe that they were having a chat about hot chocolate now after everything that had just happened, it was a little surreal. "but thanks anyway."

"Your loss," he replied cheerfully as he took a swig from the cup, grimacing a little as he realised just how cold it had become. "on second thought, you probably made the right choice there." Still grimacing he placed the mug back on the table and pushed it a little so there was a fair bit of space between them. The look of disgust on his face had her giggling loudly though she tried to stifle it behind her hand. Any restraint disappeared however when he glared at her jokingly and her giggles dissolved into full blown laughter that she had to fight to control.

"All right it's not that funny." Liam stated, any animosity behind the statement belied by the small smile on his face.

"No, it kinda is," Anna replied cheekily, slightly taken aback by how easy it was for her to banter with someone. "you've got to admit, the look on your face was funny."

The smile on his face had grown into the cheeky grin that he was famous for at her comeback. "I wouldn't know, it's not like I saw it." She snorted at his response, clearly enjoying the conversation. It seemed like every time she was around him she managed to enjoy herself, a feat that she hadn't achieved in a while before coming here. The realisation only saddened her though as she remembered that it wouldn't be able to last. Smiling sadly she decided to try and go back out the front door since Liam was still blocking the exit to the garden. The young boy must have noticed the change in her demeanour however as he asked his next question.

"You're still going to go aren't you?" The smile had slid from his face, leaving him looking annoyed and a little disappointed. Looking at him, Anna couldn't help but feel bad, but only for a moment. It didn't last long as she soon became angry with herself for letting her mind drift away from what she was supposed to be doing.

"I have to," she stated simply. She was already at the door connecting the hall with the kitchen and could feel the solid wood behind her. She pressed her back against the door, hoping to feel some comfort from it. After seeing the distress on Liam's face she figured she'd need all the support she could get just to leave the room. "I told you I can't stay here, why can't you just understand that?" His expression stayed the same, his lips pressed tight as he refused to answer causing her to sigh in frustration. "Maybe, maybe I'll see you around." Her nerves had her stuttering slightly, and she felt heat flood her cheeks as he flashed her another, if half-hearted, cheeky smile.

"Yeah, maybe." Giving him a slight wave, then feeling immediately stupid for doing so, she pulled open the door and prepared to leave, swinging her bags in front of her as she went. She wasn't watching where she was going, paying too much attention to Liam instead, and so it took a moment for the fact that her bags had hit something to register, and an even longer moment – or so it seemed to her at the time, to turn and see what, or as the case turned out to be who she had hit.

Her eyes grew wide and she felt her mouth gape in what must have been a comical way. Trying unsuccessfully to hide the bags she had just used to hit him, she grinned sheepishly in what she hoped was an endearing way. "Hey Mike, want some hot chocolate?"

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