Thank you for 20 reviews on this story! *all the squeals and virtual hugs*

To celebrate... here's a MID-WEEK UPLOAD! Oh yeah, that's right, guys - I couldn't wait til Saturday to upload this chapter!
(Also, thank you to the guest who reviewed on the last chapter asking for more frequent uploads, I'll try to upload twice a week)
Every spare minute I seem to be writing, planning or thinking about this fic!
I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it and coming back each week; I'm now sticking to my new 4,000+ words per chapter target :)

P.S. I've contacted the administrator to get the character list updated, so hopefully Ryan and the rest will be on there soon so I can add him as a main character!

Enjoy xx

LAST TIME, ON 'GOING HOME'...

Johnny shows interest in Emily, bringing back memories of her past.
Emily skips school and is brought back to the Dumping Ground in a police car.
Mike tells Emily that social services have located and contacted her mother.

Chapter 10: Mum's the Word

The kids of the Dumping Ground had come home from school on that hot summer's day to a police car drawing up outside the care home. A tall policeman had got out and opened the door to reveal an ashamed Emily who quickly went into the house. There was a bit of a commotion as the kids bombarded Mike and May-Li with questions as Mike ushered Emily into the office and said a few words to the policeman.

"What's going on, then?" Ryan muttered, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

Tee ushered everyone into the living room and closed the doors. Mo blinked behind his big glasses, concerned for Emily, and sat down on the sofa next to Harry and Finn. Floss stood next to them with her arms crossed and Ryan perched on the arm of the sofa. Jody, Tyler, Carmen and Kaz had taken a seat at the round table and Bailey and Johnny, who had returned from training in the park, leaned against the pool table. They all stood, or sat, there in their school uniform and looked at each other.

"Why is the policeman here?" Jody asked, breaking the brief silence.

"Yeah, has Emily been arrested?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Looks that wey," Ryan put in.

"Guess she's worse than we thought," said Bailey, looking unimpressed.

"Hey, don't be so hard on her;" said Johnny, "We don't know what's happened."

"Yeah, we don't," Carmen snapped, "What if she's dangerous?" She looked genuinely a little bit scared.

"What do you think she'll do to us?" Harry said sarcastically.

"You don't know her," Finn piped up.

"Yeah, she's just a kid," said Floss.

"Yeah, it's not like the police haven't been around this place before," Tee reasoned.

"That is true," said Kaz.

"Well, what's she done then?" Jody asked, folding her arms, "We don't know anything about her. Well, you guys don't."

"Oh, has she told you something?" Carmen said, frowning, "What makes you so special?"

Jody looked hurt.

"Carmen, shut up, yeah," said Bailey, shooting her a glare.

"I suppose you two are best friends now," Carmen went on, in a baby-voice.

"Well, maybe you should try being nice to her," Ryan snapped.

"What do you know about being nice?" Tee responded, folding her arms.

"Woah, tone it down with the teenage angst," May-Li said, entering the room from the kitchen. She held both hands up, then folded her arms as all of the kids looked at her. "Having a nice gossip session are we?" she said in a dangerous tone. "Emily's having a hard enough time right now, without you lot talking about her behind her back." She crossed the room and opened the door. "I'm not very impressed," she said, as the phone rang. She left the room to see if Mike wanted her to answer it, as he was still talking to Emily.

"That wasn't very kind, Tee," said Mo, "Ryan is nice."

"I'd like to think so," Ryan said, smirking.

"He's got you fooled," Bailey accused. Mo looked hurt and went out into the garden. Johnny swallowed.

"Yeah, Ryan's my mate," said Harry, as the kids started to disperse to do their own thing or finish their homework.

"Sure am, Harry," he said, clapping the blond boy on the shoulder and getting up. He was face to face with Tee.

"Oi, shut up, you're only nice to Harry," Bailey said with a frown as he left the room.

"I thought we were talking about Emily," Tee said defensively.

"Exactly," Ryan said, with a smug look, as if he knew something she didn't. This unnerved her.

"Let's just not talk about it anymore, shall we?" Johnny said, leaving the room after Bailey, followed by Jody and Tyler, to go outside to play football.

"Your brother's right, Tee," Ryan said seriously, then raising an eyebrow at her. "But... you like to gossip, don't you?"

Tee swallowed when she remembered how Ryan had heard her conversation about him with Johnny. He sauntered past her and picked up a pool cue. Floss scrambled for the TV remote.

"I get to choose what we watch!" she cried in victory, as Harry and Finn sighed in unison.

"You always get to pick," Finn complained.

Tee glanced around the room and looked at Carmen, who still looked annoyed about Emily. She sat down next to her.

A few minutes earlier…

"What… how?" Emily had stammered after hearing the news. "I don't understand."

"Well, seeing as your father is not available to look after you at the moment, I asked social services to see if you had any other family," Mike explained gently.

"But, she left!" Emily exclaimed, "Why would I want to live with her?"

"I'm not saying you have to go live with your mother if you don't want to, for the moment," he said.

"I don't ever want to live with her!" Emily retorted, a little shrilly. "You don't know what she's like!"

"I know, but she wanted to meet you," he said, wincing at the bad choice of words. He raised a hand but Emily ignored him.

"Meet me?" Emily returned with vigour. She sneered. "Like I'm some stranger or someone she met on the internet?" She turned and sat heavily on the sofa, placing her head in her hands. "Six years, six years, Mike," she emphasised.

"Emily, I'm sorry," he said, sinking into his own chair behind his desk, "I didn't know. If you'd tell me more about yourself-"

"So you can write it in my file?" Emily said wryly, gaining a little interest in exactly what Mike had told her just now. She leaned forward.

"Oh, about the police," Mike said, taking off his glasses, "We've agreed not to get social services involved, just this once, seeing as you weren't actually arrested for a crime."

"Oh... good," Emily mumbled in response, secretly glad she wasn't in too much trouble.

"But you won't be skipping school again, do you understand?" Mike said sternly. "If you didn't want to go, you could have just told me. You were already excused."

"Yes, Mike," said Emily, hanging her head. She then looked up at him again, remembering. "So, about my mum-" she began.

The phone rang, and Mike sighed.

"You don't have to get that," Emily tried to persuade him. They were in the middle of a conversation for goodness' sake! Emily needed to know about her mother, she had six years of information to catch up on.

"I'm really sorry," said Mike, looking apologetic. "But it could be important."

"But, this is important!" Emily said haltingly, but Mike picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello, this is Ashdene Ridge," he said.

May-Li came to the door when she had heard the phone from the hallway and looked questioningly at Mike. He listened for a few moments whilst motioning for her to enter the office. She opened the door and poked her head around.

"Yes, hold on a minute, please," he said into the phone. He looked to May-Li. "It's the twins' social worker. They're not happy with their new foster placement."

May-Li glanced at Emily.

"Emily, would you mind stepping out of the office for a moment?" Mike asked tentatively.

"But-" she began.

"Now, please, Emily," May-Li interjected, "Come on." She gestured for Emily to get up. And Emily did so, standing up with her fists clenched and stalked out of the room.

How could Mike spring such massive news on her – again – and not answer her questions concerning it? The office door closed behind her and Mike continued to talk on the phone while May-Li listened into the conversation. She reluctantly went into the living room but found that the room was mostly empty. She smiled at Tee, and attempted to smile at Carmen, though it wasn't returned. She hovered for a moment as none of them said anything.

"Would you like to sit down?" Kaz offered, and Emily sat down next to her.

"So, what have you done?" Carmen asked, sounding uninterested.

"I didn't get arrested if that's what you're thinking," Emily defended herself.

Ryan looked over with interest and leaned on the pool cue. Carmen looked surprised.

"What's with the policeman, then?" she asked.

"I skipped school," Emily explained, not really caring that they knew. It would stop them from thinking any worse of her, anyhow. "And… the policeman found me, and took me to the police station so he could call my parents."

"But you do not live at home anymore," said Kaz.

"Yeah, what did you tell them?" Tee asked.

"I gave them the name of this place," Emily muttered, "It was my only option."

"True," Kaz considered. "Didn't he ask you anything else?"

"Nope," said Emily shaking her head and letting her hair fall in front of her face. She guessed her face was pale and her eyes were still red from crying earlier. She glanced down at her shoe which was still broken and was glad she had pilfered those boots from her mum's cupboard the other day.

"Well," said Carmen, changing the subject, "It's nearly the summer holidays and I really need a manicure." She stood up. "Coming, Tee, Kaz?"

"Are you joking?" Kaz asked with a straight face, getting up. "I have chores to finish." She left for the kitchen.

Carmen started across the room but stopped when Tee didn't follow. Tee looked meaningfully at Emily and then back at Carmen. Ryan smirked and leaned forward to adjust him aim on the white ball.

"Oh, um," Carmen said reluctantly, "Want to join in, Emily? I could paint your nails... blue, to match your… eyes." She grimaced, almost face-palming at what she had just said.

"Uh, no thanks," said Emily, who didn't even have blue eyes, "I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself." She stood up. "You should go for pink, to match your personality." She gave a smirk.

Carmen gave a simpering look, not sure whether Emily had complimented her or not. Tee pulled on her friend's arm and they left the room. Emily stuffed her hands in her pockets. She glanced at Ryan who seemed absorbed in his solitary pool game.

"You skipped school," Harry piped up, turning round to look at her from where he was sitting on the sofa. "Pretty badass."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Emily mumbled, "I guess…"

Floss laughed. "Is your school even more boring than ours?" she asked. Emily wondered if Floss ever said anything without shouting it.

"Um, yeah, proper boring," Emily stammered, then turning and starting to walk towards the kitchen.

"Hey, good one," Ryan muttered from the pool table, as he potted a red ball.

"What?" Emily asked, confused.

"That one-liner to Carmen just now," he explained, raising an eyebrow appreciatively.

"Oh, yeah, stroke of genius," Emily drawled modestly, wondering what Ryan was trying to do, "I kind of based it on her "compliment", though." She made quotation marks in the air with her fingers.

"Well, using something of theirs against them," Ryan reasoned, "It's what all the best do."

"Right," Emily said, raising her eyebrow at this apparent compliment or even commendation from Ryan, assuming that he used this principle himself in his mischief, "Well, I'll go see if May-Li has any chores for me."

"She's talking to Mike right now," he protested, "They probably don't even have any chores for yew." He seemed to remember something. "What were yeh talking to Mike about?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Emily said logically, leaving Ryan in the living room. Sure, all of the kids were nosy and asked questions, but there was something about Ryan's random change of conversation that threw her off. She guessed this was the idea, so he could find out more about her without directly quizzing her. There was something very clever about it, though. And there was something else about him...

Tyler had run back into the kitchen for a packet of crisps.

"What's the rush?" Kaz asked, amused. She was setting the table for dinner.

"I don't want to miss Jody trashing Bailey at his own sport," he explained, quickly going back outside.

"I think I want to see this," Emily said, following him.

The sun was shining and the grass was a bright green as Bailey and Jody ran around in their school uniform, chasing after the football. Mo was watering the vegetables in the patch at the bottom of the garden. Emily went towards the lawn, catching up to Tyler who paused as he munched on his crisps. Jody dodged the taller boy who deftly gained on her for possession of the ball.

"Is it bad that I don't know who to cheer for?" Tyler asked.

"Shall I make it easier for you?" Emily laughed, curving her hands around her mouth and yelling, "Come on, Jody!"

"Hey, Emily," Jody said when she heard her voice, though she kept her eyes focused on the ball as she neared the goal posts.

"Hey, Bailey," Tyler jeered, "Gonna let a girl beat you?"

"Yeah, thrash him, Jody!" Emily added. Jody grinned as she thought about how she would score.

"Hey, that's not fair," Bailey said angrily in his East London accent, "Tryin' the distract me."

He glanced up at them for a moment, and Jody took this opportunity to guide the ball to the side and kick it into the goal. She let out a whoop and ran around in circles with her arms in the air. Tyler raised his hand for a high five which Emily returned with a grin. Bailey scowled, though he didn't look completely angry that Jody had scored against him. He ran to her and clap her on the shoulder in a friendly fashion.

"Hey, I let you score, all right," he said, folding his arms as Jody looked mildly at him. "Don't expect to score so easy next time, though."

"Sure, football freak," Jody returned, "But I win for now!" She jumped in the air before running up the garden to where Emily and Tyler stood. She held her hand out for a crisp and Tyler offered the packet to her. As she took a crisp, she looked at Emily curiously.

"I didn't get arrested, OK?" Emily said with a sigh.

"How did you know I was going to say that?" Jody asked, frowning.

"Lucky guess," Emily shrugged it off. "I was skipping school; the policeman found me and brought me ho- here," she corrected herself. Ashdene Ridge was not her home. "He brought me... back here." She smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, right," said Jody. "You didn't do anything wrong, then?"

"She did skip school," Tyler put in.

"And there was us lot thinkin' you were a criminal," said Bailey, pushing past them to go back into the house. Emily couldn't tell whether he sounded disappointed or pleased that Emily didn't have a criminal record.

"Well, I'm gonna get out of my uniform," said Jody, turning to go back into the house.

Bailey ran out, Mischief's lead in his hand. He knocked Emily's shoulder as he passed, sending her off balance. She took a step forward but tripped over her laces. She smacked into the ground, ripping the knee of her jeans and jolting her shoulder. She winced.

"Hey, Bailey!" Tyler protested as Bailey ran out of sight, followed by the black and white dog.

"Are you all right?" Jody asked, offering Emily a hand. She gladly took it, letting Jody pull her to her feet. She brushed down her jeans, and jacket, though her shoulder twinged and her knee felt sore.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Emily, "must have tripped on my own shoe lace." She rolled her eyes for effect, stooping to tuck the stray lace into the side of her shoe.

The three of them went into the house and Emily went back into the living room and sat on the sofa next to Finn. Harry had moved to sit on the beanbag next to Floss when Emily came over. She shrugged off her denim jacket and put it over the arm of the sofa. They were watching a show on CBBC that Emily didn't recognise. Harry looked at Emily's shoe in surprise.

"Your shoe's broken," he declared, pointing at it. In his other hand he clutched his toy giraffe. "Jeff noticed," he explained.

"Well, Jeff is a very clever giraffe," said Emily, untying her laces.

"I taught him everything he knows," said Harry in a matter of fact tone.

Emily pulled off her shoes with a slight smile and wiggled the toes of one foot through a hole in her grey sock. Floss giggled as she watched.

"You need some new socks," said Finn, eyes wide with surprise.

"Maybe I'll ask Santa," Emily laughed.

"But then you'll have to wait..." Finn counted on his fingers, "Five months!"

"I'm sure if you ask Mike or May-Li, they'll get you some new ones," Harry advised.

"Sure will," Emily replied, smiling at the fact that she had made friends with the little kids.

"You might want some new jeans, too," Floss suggested.

Emily glanced at the new rip in her old jeans.

"You kidding?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning, "They're selling ripped jeans in the shops, you know."

"They'll call anything fashion," Floss said exasperatedly, and Finn and Harry laughed.

Carmen came down the stairs and into the living room. She glanced around before going to the bookshelf and picking up a fashion and beauty magazine.

"Finished already?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, actually," Carmen snapped, "I've done Tee's base coat but I needed this mag for the design."

"OK," Emily said, raising both hands, not scared of the older girl.

Carmen made to leave the room but stopped, noticing something on the floor. Emily looked down and saw the bracelet she had found was lying on the carpet by the sofa, peeking out from Emily's tossed shoe. Carmen stalked over and picked it up.

"Right, who stole this?" Carmen demanded, holding up the bracelet.

"Stole what?" Tee asked, having come back downstairs to see what was taking Carmen so long.

"This," said Carmen, spinning round to show her friend. Her head snapped towards Emily. "It was you, wasn't it," she glared at her.

May-Li and Mike were still talking in the office as the misunderstanding continued.

"I never," Emily retorted, folding her arms.

"I bet it was, though," Carmen went on, "You could've been lying about the police."

"I was not," said Emily standing up to face her opponent, hoping it wouldn't end in a fight and another black eye this time.

"Carmen," Tee reprimanded her, stepping closer to the two angry girls.

"Well, who knows what else she's done?" she said, a bit shrilly.

The room was silent. Harry had even muted the TV.

Emily felt all eyes flitting from her to Carmen and back. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ryan watching the two of them, leaning on his pool cue. He wore an expression of apprehension, perhaps for her side, though he quickly hid it with a smirk.

"Not again," yelled Floss, running into the kitchen.

"I can't believe you," Carmen said, shaking her head. She looked at the bracelet. "And it's broken." She huffed.

"How was I supposed to know it was yours?" Emily said coldly.

The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. The other kids flooded into the living room but stopped short when they saw Emily and Carmen.

"So you did steal it?" she accused.

"I found it," Emily emphasised.

"Yeah, right," Carmen replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "In my room, you mean."

"You're ridiculous," Emily scoffed, and Carmen looked as though she would go for her.

"No, Emily found it in the bins!" Mo piped up, pushing past Tyler and Johnny who stood in the doorway to the kitchen. He had dirt on his school trousers and still had the watering can in his hand.

"Well, trust your boyfriend to stick up for you," she said, sneering at Emily.

"Mo is not my boyfriend," Emily said, jaw clenched. "I wouldn't date someone I class as a brother."

"Ooh," said some of the kids, remembering when Carmen had dated Rick, a boy who had used to live at The Dumping Ground. Carmen scowled.

"I can back Emily up," Mo declared, coming to stand by her side. Emily gave a grim nod.

"I can vouch for Emily, too," Ryan spoke up, winding through the little crowd to stand on Emily's other side.

"But you weren't-" Mo began, but Ryan reached a hand behind Emily to touch Mo's shoulder.

"I was there when she found it," Ryan said smoothly.

"Well, looks like that's sorted," said Tee, "Come on Carmen, you need to finish my nails."

"No, I want to know what really happened," Carmen insisted. "If you three are telling the truth, how did the bracelet get in the bin?"

"How should they know?" Bailey put in. Emily wondered whether he was sticking up for her. "Mo's got nothing to do with it," he added. No, he was just sticking up for Mo.

"Just leave it, guys," Johnny advised, and Tee gave Carmen's arm a tug before they left the room.

"Well, that was boring," Floss declared, flopping back onto the sofa where Emily had been sitting. "Harry, give me that." She snatched the remote off him, much to the protests of Harry and Finn.

Emily impulsively hugged Mo, and he squeezed back. He grinned at her.

"Thanks, Mo," she said.

"No problem," he replied, "It's always best to tell the truth. And I know you wouldn't have done it anyway."

"Well, that was an anti-climax," Ryan muttered, raising an eyebrow. Emily turned to him, looking awkward.

"Um, thanks," she said, not knowing whether to go for a hug, or a high-five, or what.

"That's fine," he muttered, glancing away awkwardly, then back to her face.

Chickening out, Emily offered him her hand. He shook it with a firm grip, and Emily noticed just how bony his fingers were, though his hand was still bigger than hers. They both hesitated, seemingly reluctant to let go. Mo eyed the both of them. After what seemed like an hour, Ryan let her hand go. He glanced at the office across the hall.

"Are they still talking?" he said irritably.

"Yeah, I'm really hungry," said Mo, his hand going to his stomach.

Just then the office door opened and Mike and May-Li came into the living room. Jody bounded down the stairs in a dark blue t-shirt and jeans. She had re-tied her hair in her signature ponytail and came in behind the two care workers.

"House meeting!" Mike yelled on his entrance.

"What for?" Ryan muttered.

"Can we get everyone in here, please?" May-Li called, and Jody ran out of the room to fetch the kids from the garden.

"Where's Carmen and Tee?" Mike asked.

"Um, upstairs," Emily filled in, and he went out into the hallway to call them.

When everyone had gathered, they looked at Mike expectantly.

"You literally could have just come in here five minutes ago," said Johnny.

"Why?" May-Li asked, going to stand next to Mike.

Emily shot Johnny a look, and he just shrugged at Mike.

"Right," said Mike. "A lot's been going on the past few days."

Please don't talk about me, please don't talk about me, Emily pleaded silently.

"But we'll be having some familiar faces returning to Ashdene Ridge," Mike explained.

"Is Lily coming to visit?" Carmen demanded.

"No, the twins will be returning to us," said May-Li.

"Billie and Toni?" Tee asked.

"Why?" Mo asked curiously, in that innocent tone of his.

"Their foster placement didn't work out," Mike said shortly, "And that's all that needs to be said about it."

"OK, well, can we go now?" Bailey asked impatiently.

"Yeah, when's dinner?" Harry asked.

May-Li laughed. "It's only five o'clock! Come and help me get it ready, then."

The little kids got up and followed her into the kitchen. Emily made to go back outside, but Mike stopped her as Bailey, Jody and Johnny went back out into the garden.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Well, Emily, you're going to need to move rooms," Mike said hesitantly.

"I don't need to share, do I?" she asked reluctantly.

"No, but you'll be moving to the box room," he explained, "The twins had been in your current room when they were here before, and the smaller room isn't big enough for two beds."

"Oh, OK," Emily said, wondering if the box room would still be bigger than her room back home.

"Good," said Mike, relieved that things had gone smoothly. The other kids had dispersed, but Ryan was still in earshot. Mike lowered his voice, "About your mum, wanting to arrange a meeting?"

"Um, yeah, sure, whatever," Emily rambled, looking at the floor.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked.

Emily looked at him and faked a smile. "I'm sure," she said, sounding decided, "It has been six years, after all, and I should give her a chance."

"Great," said Mike, smiling. "I'll see if I can arrange a meeting before the end of the week."

"OK," said Emily, as Mike put on his glasses and headed back to the office. She turned and saw Ryan staring at her. He tried to look away but wasn't quick enough. "Getting rusty," she teased. "I know you were listening."

"I thought yer mum left," he said in a lowered tone.

"Yeah, but she wants to see me," she said, shrugging. Ryan came up to her. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure her out.

"What are yew going to say to her?" he asked, "I didn't think yeh'd want to see her."

"Well, she'll most likely be apologetic and then ask to take me shopping," Emily muttered.

"Bet if she comes for a chat during the week, yew'll be out shopping with her on Saturday," Ryan said with a smirk.

"I won't forgive her," Emily said stoutly.

"Yeh don't have to forgive her to get stuff off her," he pointed out.

"True..." Was Emily's selfishness kicking in?

"Bet you I'm right, now," he said.

"Is that a bet?" Emily asked playfully, vaguely wondering if Ryan was actually flirting with her.

"Sure is," he replied swiftly. "If I'm right, yew do my chores for a week."

"And if I win," Emily said, raising an eyebrow, "You can do mine."

"Deal," he said, offering her his hand to shake, masking his awkwardness. Emily took his hand and shook it for the second time that hour.

"Deal," she said. How things had changed.

NEXT TIME, ON 'GOING HOME'...

Emily is nervous about meeting her mum, bringing old memories to the surface. Ryan admits something about himself. And who's turned up - the last person Emily wanted to see?

Catch the next chapter on Saturday! xx