Jason

I knocked lightly on Seth's bedroom door before entering. I peered around the door to find him lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

"Hey," I said gently pushing the door open and joining him on the bed. This caught his attention and he watched me sit beside him.

"Do you remember that day when we went to get Anne from junior school?" He questioned and I was thrown for a second. I smiled though as the memory came back to me. It was strange I hadn't thought about that day for years yet I could remember it so clearly.

"Yer."

"We never did find out why." Seth said in realisation.

"No we didn't." I agree still replaying the day in my head.

"Why were we even getting her from school?" He questioned but I had no idea either.

"Her mum had been missing for about a week and she never told anyone. Mum was annoyed with getting nothing but her machine so she went over to the flat and found a note saying that she had left for Anne saying that she had gone on holiday and that there was cereal in the cupboard."

We both turned in shock to look at Riley. He stood in the doorway a pained expression on his face.

"Mum wasn't really mad at her that day. She had rushed to pull us out of school early and then over to Anne's school. She didn't know what she would find when she got there and then to see her walking out of school chatting and laughing happier than she'd ever seen her with her mother. Well it struck her just how little her sister looked after her daughter; it made her feel really guilty."

"That explains Anne's reaction as well. She had been caught out." Seth said while we both added the new information to what we remembered of the day.

Riley moved into the room closing the door quietly behind him.

"Anne was doing better with out her mother around. At the age of six she was making her own way to and from school, feeding and clothing herself; but that was the last straw for mum she demanded that Anne come and live with us. They had a huge row about how they couldn't have noticed, and how dad couldn't refuse to have her living with us now he knew the way that Anne had to live."

"I don't remember the argument." Seth said trying to remember.

"It was one of the biggest I've ever heard them have. Anne and I sat on the top step listening to them. We were shoulder to shoulder and I could feel her shaking beside me. Silent tears ran down her cheeks but she made no attempt to wipe them away. I told her everything was going to be ok but she jumped up used the sleeve of her school jumper to wipe away her fallen tears and ran down the stairs into the living room.

"Please stop." She whispered, but she caught their attention and both parents looked ashamed.

"It's my fault," she confessed, "please don't fight over me. I'm fine, I'm better without her around. I can look after myself." She sounded so determined but I watched as my mum burst into tears over her little speech. Anne had no idea what she had done wrong but started apologizing anyway.

"I'm sorry, I'll be better. I promise." She vowed her little voice sounding very serious.

"Sweetheart you haven't done anything wrong, far from it," mum started gathering Anne up in her arms but Anne didn't know how to respond. She didn't move to hug her, but she didn't pull away either.

"Would you like to come and live here with us?" Dad asked shuffling towards his wife and the small child who was about five years older than his Jasmine but still smaller than her. Anne did not know what to say to that, she was silent for a while before finding her reply.

"What about my mum? She will be angry when she gets back."

"I'll talk to her," my mum vowed, "it wasn't right for your mum to go off and leave you all alone."

"I don't remember her living with us." I said interrupting Riley, trying to remember.

"She didn't. Mum sent the three of us to uncle Pete's that evening and when we got back she was no where to be seen. I still don't know what happened that evening whilst we were gone. We didn't see her for over a year after that. Mum, dad not even Anne would ever tell me what happened to her that night.

I was beginning to think that she was dead. Such a long time had passed and mum and dad refused to talk about her and we hadn't seen her either, I didn't know what to think and her being dead seemed to be the only answer. I didn't think mum and dad would let her return to her mother and I couldn't think where else she could be.

I could barely believe my eyes when she turned up at Grandma's seventieth. I was so relieved, but she wouldn't come anywhere near me. Every time I tried to get close to her, to talk to her and ask her where she had been; she moved away from me. All evening she made sure that wherever she was she could see me to make sure that I couldn't get close to her." He stopped clenching his hands together.

"Why wouldn't she come near you?" Seth asked.

"I never found that out either." Riley replied with a sigh.

I want to say a big thank you to GirlWednesday, hollyoaksfan and lovethelove for reviewing my last chapter it's great to know that you want me to continue :D thank you for reading, enjoy xx