Bonnie Sveen Fan, I'm sure Ethan won't report Cal if he can possibly avoid it - reporting your brother to your wife must be pretty awkward! Thank you for your review.

CBloom2, thank you for your review - I'm glad you're finding the story interesting. This chapter might answer some of your questions!

X-Sammii-X, thank you so much! I'm sure Ethan will believe Cal in the end - but I don't think we're very near the end yet! I don't think very much scares Louise. Thank you for your review.

Tanith Panic, I'm really happy you think Cal's lovely. I think Ethan had a lucky escape with Honey! Though he could now be in a bit of trouble with Lily. Btw, I'm really sorry about the lack of Lofty - I have no idea how that happened! Thank you for your review.

Tato Potato, you don't need to imagine anymore - this chapter should tell you exactly what happens next! Thank you for your review.

ETWentHome, you'll find out what Ethan's done in this chapter! You could be right about Cal - he's not good at holding back if he thinks something is wrong. It is difficult for Noel, especially now they're all living under one roof! Thank you for your review.

"So, what's up, bro?" said Luke, a relaxed smile on his face.

Dylan didn't know why it was so difficult. He was used to breaking bad news. Of course, Luke was family, but he didn't actually know him that well.

"Is everything okay?" said Luke, his smile fading. "Listen. Dylan. If you think I'm outstaying my welcome or something, just tell me. I could always go and stay with Charlie Bateman: his parents are really cool. Um, not as cool as you, but… you know…"

"It's not about that," said Dylan. For some reason, it was even harder now Luke had told him he was was quite tempted to think of something trivial Luke had done and pretend it was that, but then he remembered what the other Dylan had said to him.

As soon as possible and as honestly as possible.

It wasn't as though the problem was going to go away.

"It's your mother," said Dylan. "She called me. She's in hospital. Our father was angry with her when you left so he threw her down the stairs. She's still quite unwell and she can't leave hospital yet, but she's not going back to… to him. You can stay here as long as you like, of course."

There. Quick and honest.

But, he very quickly realised, completely wrong.

Iain and Rita were enjoying a drink and a flirt when the shouting started. They sat, frozen in their chairs, as Alfie raged at someone on the other end of the phone.

"No, for the last time, IT WAS NOT ME! I didn't tell anyone. Well, okay, I did tell Luke and Charlie, but I swear that was all."

Iain and Rita looked at each other. Iain could see the same questions running through his wife's mind as were going through his own. Who is he talking to? but most importantly: do we intervene?

It was a question they often asked themselves and often a question to which they didn't know the answer.

"No, they didn't say anything either!" shouted Alfie. "For God's sake, Ariana, why can't you believe me?"

Alicia glanced hopefully at Sam, but he didn't even seem to have heard the door. She put her pile of paperwork on the floor, threw a cushion at her husband, and went to see who their visitor was.

It was most likely a friend of Charlie's, but there was no chance of him answering the door. He was far too busy with his FIFA 2030 tournament (or his 'homework', as he sometimes liked to call it).

Alicia opened the door, already half-prepared to shout upstairs to Charlie that Alfie or Luke was here (Luke had only been here a few weeks, but Charlie and Alfie had really made him welcome), but it wasn't one of Charlie's friends. It was one of hers.

"Lily, what is it?" she said, staring in shock at her best friend. Lily's cheeks were tearstained and she was holding a hand to her head as though she was in pain.

Lily began to cry again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to turn up like this."

"No, it's okay!" said Alicia. "Come upstairs, babe, and we'll chat." She looked at Lily again. "Have you got a headache?"

Lily nodded. "We've run out of painkillers," she sobbed.

"Don't worry. We've got plenty," said Alicia. She gave Lily a hug. "Go on upstairs. Help yourself to tissues and soft toys. I'll just go and tell Sam to keep out of the bedroom, then I'll get you some painkillers and I'll be right up."

Instinct, experience and a long friendship with Lily told her that Lily wasn't crying over a lack of painkillers.

Alicia stuck her head into the living room. "Sam, keep out of the bedroom. Lily's here. We're having girl talk. Periods could be mentioned."

Sam laughed. "Don't worry. I'll keep out of your way."

Alicia blew him a kiss and went to find some codeine, a glass of water and a couple of chocolate biscuits. She dissolved the tablet in the water and took it up to Lily, who was dabbing her eyes with a pink tissue and hugging a pink teddy bear. "Here you are, sweetie." She gave Lily one of the biscuits. "Get that down you, then you can have your tablet and tell me what's wrong."

Lily took a bite out of the biscuit. "I was going through Ethan's things and I found a letter."

Alicia gasped, then she shook her head very firmly. "Lily, no way is Ethan seeing another woman! There will be an innocent explanation for that letter. I promise, babe."

"No, I don't mean that." Lily wiped her eyes. "Ethan was offered the post of clinical lead before I was."

Alicia felt her eyes sparkling. "You mean he gave it up because he knew you wanted it? How romantic is that?"

"Too romantic!" said Lily. She finished her biscuit and started to drink her painkiller. "He never should have done that for me. And…. And…"

"Yes, sweetie?" Alicia tried not to sound too desperate for Lily's reply. "Come on. You can tell me."

"It means they didn't want me!" sobbed Lily. "I was proud of myself when I got this job, Alicia. Especially to have got it ahead of Ethan. I finally felt like I was good enough. But they didn't really want me. I was just their second best!"

Zoe flinched as she heard Max slamming the door. A moment later, his bag hit the floor. She realised she was hunching down in her chair and wondered what was wrong with her. This was Max. He wasn't going to hurt her.

She couldn't even be sure that he knew.

She heard Max's heavy footsteps coming towards her. He stepped into the room and stood framed in the doorway, a shaky finger pointing at Zoe. "So, I'm not good enough, am I?"

"Max-"

"We've got enough money, Zoe!" said Max. "We're earning enough to live on. We can even afford to send Ariana to university, though that's mostly because of you and your savings."

He spat the word as though it was something dirty and in that moment, Zoe felt dirty.

Max came closer to her. "But it's not good enough for you, is it?"

"Max, of course it's good enough for me, but-"

"All you can think about is your stupid £400 shoes!"

Zoe held up her hands. "Max, please keep your voice down. Ariana's upstairs. We don't want to frighten her."

Max dropped into an armchair and looked sadly at Zoe. "You can't even deny it, can you? You should have just divorced me when you had the chance."

Matilda fell, sobbing, onto her bed. She didn't know why she wasn't more used to it after all this time. She knew what they were like. She knew they hated her.

But it still hurt.

I know you didn't go to the hospital because you were worried about Charlotte. You don't care about anyone but yourself. You just wanted to get out of school.

Charlotte and Dilys are nice girls. They'd have to be to put up with you. But you shouldn't take advantage of them. They don't actually like you.

I was ashamed of you today. All Charlotte wanted was to go home, but all you cared about was flirting with that doctor! The poor man. He must have been so embarrassed. As if a handsome, intelligent doctor would be interested in you!

We've done so much for you, Mattie. We've given you a home; fed you; clothed you, and what do we get in return? Nothing! But what else could we expect when not even your own mother wanted you?

We could send you back, you know, Mattie. We could put you back in care. Nobody would blame us. But we're not going to do that because we're nice people. It's our duty to look after you and we're going to do our duty.

Just go to your room, Matilda. GO TO YOUR ROOM! I don't want to see your ugly face. And yes, you do have an ugly face. That's because you have an ugly mind.

It seemed an age before Matilda's tears stopped. She lay there for a moment, sniffling, then she went to the bathroom and got some hard, crackly toilet paper to blow her nose on. Her parents only let her have tissues when she had a cold, and then only grudgingly. She couldn't buy them for herself as they didn't give her any money. All she had were the tissues Cal had given her and she didn't want to use those any more than she had already. They had come from Cal and that made them special.

She remembered how worried he'd looked today and how kind he'd been. She remembered how safe she'd felt when he'd held her in his arms. She remembered the moment when she'd so nearly told him everything, only to change her mind because she was so afraid he wouldn't like her anymore.

He'd even kissed her. Matilda couldn't remember if she'd ever been kissed. She'd believed she never would be.

Cal…

She found his number in her phone and looked at it. She was too scared to text him, but his name did give her some comfort and she went over to her laptop and typed it into google.

Cal had a profile on the Holby City Hospital website. She read it eagerly, discovering that he had been at the hospital for nearly seventeen years, along with his brother, Dr Ethan Hardy. Matilda wondered if they were half-brothers or if Ethan had taken his wife's surname. Another day, she might look at their profiles, but for now, she just wanted Cal.

The next item was a facebook profile. Matilda saw an equally handsome but younger Cal, beaming in a slightly drunken-looking way with his arm around Ethan.

Beneath his profile was a sentence.

A sentence she read, and read again.

I will always love you, Matilda.