So it's been a couple of days since I've updated. I found myself at a real hospital yesterday, as my friend had a rash she thought might have been meningitis (it wasn't, she's fine.) Completely different in Bournemouth A+E to Holby A+E, I can vouch for that.

Kirsty eventually lead a shaking Nita out of the school and to Adam's car. He was sitting with the window down, playing music and tapping out the beat on his steering wheel. Kirsty opened the rear door and let Nita in before sitting in the front passenger seat.

"That was quick," Adam told her. "How'd it go?"

"She's a whizz at English. Can you just drive us back to Elliot's, please?"

Adam nodded, starting the engine. It was only a couple of streets away, but Kirsty had planned on picking up a takeaway on the way home, which was why she had told Adam to wait. Now she was using the car for a different reason. She'd phone up the school tomorrow and say she'd had a family emergency or something. She knew she couldn't continue with the evening, not after seeing Nita.

"How was your day, Nita?" Adam asked as he pulled up in Elliot's front drive alongside his car.

Nita shrugged, opening the car door. "I don't want to talk about it."

Adam looked to Kirsty. "What's up with her?" he mouthed.

Kirsty shook her head. "Tell you later." Whether she would or not was a different matter. It was just easier to appease Adam that way. She got out of the car and followed Nita into the house.

Elliot was in the kitchen, making a curry. "You've decided to come back then, I see."

"Don't start." Kirsty flopped down on the sofa. "Have you got any drink?"

"There's a bottle of coke next to the toaster, or there's orange juice in the fridge."

"I mean alcohol."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Kirst."

"I need a nice stiff one after the day I've had."

"Oh really?" Adam entered the room and put his hands on Kirsty's shoulders, gently massaging them. "I'm sure there'd be plenty of guys happy to help you out with that."

Kirsty turned slightly and slapped him gently. "Oh, shut up, you. I was talking about drinks."

"Should you be drinking?"

Kirsty glared up at him. "It feels like I'm living with my parents again with you two around. Stay off the alcohol Kirsty, it won't do you any good getting wasted. I can look after myself, you know."

Elliot called out from next to the cooker. "Yeah, but can you look after Nita? I don't know what happened today, but she needs you, and you being drunk won't help her.

Kirsty shrugged. "Yes, Mummy. I'm not stupid."

"Where did you get to today, anyway?"

"Me and Adam...went out." Kirsty decided against telling Elliot everything.

"Oh, well we went to the cemetery and then we kissed and ended up going back to his where I actually wanted to have sex with him but we didn't, we just cuddled and kissed and talked and decided that we were going to have to try and keep our relationship a secret even though we both wanted it, because everyone would judge me because Warren's just died. Then we raced through the streets to get to Nita's school on time where I found out Warren had been beating her as well, and I'm a bad mother for not noticing anything was wrong before. Yeah, that was my day."

Nita entered the room, having changed from her school uniform into baggy joggers and a hoody. Kirsty could see she had tried to disguise her blotchy eyes with make-up. She hadn't noticed it before, but now that she thought about it, her daughter practically lived in jumpers. She wasn't the type to wear short skirts or low cut tops, and it all suddenly made sense. She was wearing the clothes to cover up her injuries, so nobody would see. So Kirsty wouldn't see.

"We've got curry for dinner, so I hope you're hungry," Elliot told her.

"I feel too sick to eat. I think I might be coming down with something."

Kirsty reached out a hand to her. "You need to eat something, darling. It'll make you feel better."

Nita sat down next to her. "How can I? I can't stop thinking about it, it makes me feel sick. I'm glad he's dead, Mum. At least then he can't hurt us anymore."

Kirsty wrapped her arm around Nita, holding her tight. She ignored Elliot and Adam's words of concern, instead hugging her daughter and whispering soothing words into her ear. "It's going to be alright," she promised. "Nobody's ever going to hurt you like that again. I promise."