Well it appears I lied in the authors note before didn't I? Well anyway, here is another chapter. It seems I found inspiration again. Enjoy.

C H A P T E R E I G H T

MATTY

I watched my phone screen closely, waiting for Franky´s reply to my unsatisfactory message. I knew it wasn´t enough of an answer to all the questions she must have but I didn´t know what else to say. I desperately wanted to tell her that we would be home tomorrow, that I would bring back her sister safe and sound, and that we never meant to hurt her. But I couldn´t promise any of those things.

We were running away like cowards. Last night we had slept in an alcove of an alley. To keep warm we had huddled together, me with my arm wrapped tight around Arianna shoulder´s. We were each other´s protection and each other's comfort. People had wandered passed us and a few had shouted out but I had only to look up and glare at them for them to be on their way. Arianna and I had both learned our way around the streets during our respective time spent out in the cold. It was automatic. We both slipped back into the toughness, bravado and defensiveness like it was our second nature. There was no room for showing weakness out here.

Today we were catching a bus to Birmingham. It was the only bus we could afford with the money we stole from some woman's purse. Our few possessions were tucked into the overhead compartment and we were sitting together, our hands clutched lightly between us on the seat. Arianna was staring out the window, her chin resting on her fist. I was pretty sure there were tears tracking their way down her cheeks but I knew better than to ask. I had taken the opportunity to send Franky the text, hoping that Ari wouldn't notice I had my phone out. Nervously I flicked it open and closed as I waited for a reply.

"Why do you have your phone out?" said a quiet voice next to me. I looked over at her startled. Her gaze had moved from the window and was now staring intently into my eyes.

"I...was just checking the time."

She blinked at me. "Mmmm." I silently breathed out as she turned back to the window.

Glancing around us I began to entertain myself by imagining lives for all the other passengers. The middle-aged lady sitting in front of us was an ex-prostitute who now ran a successful string of brothels and was the fiercest Madam in Bristol. The child travelling alone opposite us was running away from controlling stage parents who wanted her to become a teenage beauty queen. All she really wanted was to play with her best friend. The burly bloke behind us worked as a builder. He had stolen hundreds of thousands of pounds from his company and had it buried in a box in the construction site until he could retrieve it without suspicion. I wondered what life people would construct for Ari and I. Maybe they would think we were a young couple madly in love who were returning home from university. Returning to a safe, warm and happy home. On the other hand maybe they thought we were teenage runaways who were living on the streets.

"Just text Franky. Once?" I said suddenly, rousing Ari from her thoughts.

She stared at me blankly for a few seconds like she was returning from thoughts far, far away. She shook her head. "No. I told you. It's better this way."

"How?"

She pulled her hand away and placed it pointedly on her leg. "We've been through this Matty," she said glancing out the window to end the conversation.

I let the silence settle. "She's going to hate you."

Her shoulders stiffened but she didn't look at me so I tried again. "You'll just be another person who let her down. She trusted you!"

"Shut up!" she shouted at me bringing her hands to her ears. Gently I pried them away from her head and gave them an encouraging squeeze.

"Just go back," I said looking straight into her eyes.

"Staying does more damage."

"No it doesn't. Why do you think that? Is that what Mini said?"

She nodded slightly. Angry thoughts flooded my brain. Here was Mini, once again meddling in people's lives, ruining people's relationships just so she could keep everything exactly how she wanted it. She hadn't really changed from the selfish little drama queen I first met.

"Mini is wrong," I said firmly.

"No. I left because deep down I knew she was right. Franky had a good thing going in Bristol. I would just mess it up."

"You're just afraid!"

"What? Bullshit."

"No you are. Things look like they might get serious and you convince yourself that you need to run away. Don't even try to insist that you're doing this for Franky's good."

"What would you know?"

"I have a brother. I left him once too. I ran away from home because my dad was a fucking tool, but that also meant running away from Nick." I looked away from her as the familiar old feeling of guilt began to creep over me. "I ran away too. It didn't do me any good and it certainly didn't do my brother any good."

She was staring at me sadly. I could sense her eyes on me, even as I determinedly glared at my hands.

"I've been keeping secrets from her Matty," I heard her whisper. It was almost more of a breath than speech. I turned my head slightly and reached for her hand.

She pulled her hand back violently and made a frustrated hissing noise between her teeth. Angrily she slammed a palm against the glass. I heard a few mumbles and titters from the other passengers.

"Stop," I commanded.

She turned large, surprised eyes on me. I took a deep breath.

"Just stop. Whatever you are talking about, just stop and tell me the truth. No more lies, no more avoiding things. Why did you come back for Franky and why are you running away again? The real answer this time."

Slowly she gave a shaky half-smile. "Well look at you," she whispered before heaving a sigh and positioning herself to face me.

"There was something I...forgot...to tell Franky. I was going to tell her I just couldn't work out how to start. Mmmm..." she trailed off and threw me an anxious look. She was chewing her bottom lip nervously. In response I raised my eyebrows in a question and waited.

"I...I have a kid," she blurted out quickly.

Somehow I managed to keep my expression blank. It wasn't quite what I had been expecting. Against my will I felt a smile emerge on my face, which only widened when I observed Arianna's comically anxious expression relax suddenly.

"Are you laughing?" she asked indignantly, though smiling now too.

"I just wasn't expecting that."

"Well what were you expecting?"

"I don't know just...wow a kid. How old is it?"

"She is 1 year and 4 months old."

"Does it have a name?"

"It's a she! And yes of course she does. I called her Charlotte."

"Lovely," I replied, smiling at her. "Wait, where is this mystical child?"

"I left her with a friend in London, just until I knew it was... you know, safe."

"So you were going to Franky to...what?"

"Well I wanted to tell her. I mean tell her she's an auntie." She dropped her eyes suddenly. "I was hoping we could be a family."

"But you can't have that if you run back to London Arianna! Are you never going to tell her?"

"No I will! It's just she had everything so sorted. I don't know if you'd notices but single teenage mothers don't tend to get welcomed into stable home. Especially when they're homeless."

I decided to take a risk. "So...who is the father?"

She shot me a slightly angry look.

"Sorry. Not my business at all."

"No I'm sorry. It's okay. I just... it was one of my foster fathers."

"Oh," was about all I could manage. Suddenly I noticed that her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap, were shaking. "Oh Ari," I murmured, reaching out for her again. This time she didn't flinch away but let me wrap her in a gentle hug. Her shaking frame and the spreading dampness against my shoulder told me that she was crying.