"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Nikki bellowed, wrenching open the front door at the sound of the bell ringing continuously to find her elder daughter leaning against the wall with her forehead pressing the button.

"Out. It's only nine… chill out."

"Get in here." The woman yanked Hollie's arm, pulling her into the house but causing her to crash to the floor in a heap.

"Ow!" Hollie cried, pressing a hand to her head where she'd hit it on the radiator as she fell.

"Stand up." Her mother snapped, displaying no sympathy or concern at all. "Now, Hollie."

Struggling to her feet, the teenager stumbled slightly as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, spotting the cut just above her eyebrow that had resulted from her fall. She rounded on her mother furiously. "Look what you did!"

"That wasn't me. It's your own fault you stupid, drunken, little–"

"Mum?" Nikki stopped speaking abruptly as Eve appeared at the top of the stairs, peering down to see what was going on. "Is that Hollie?"

"Yes."

"Where's she been?"

"I don't know. I'm about to find out, though."

Hollie rolled her eyes and moved unsteadily towards the staircase. "I'm going to bed."

"You're not." Nikki informed her. "Not until I get some answers."

"Don't touch me." The teenager spat venomously, shaking off the hand on her arm. "You've done enough damage, don't you think?"

"What does she mean?" Eve asked, confused, as her sister pushed unsteadily past her and shut herself in her bedroom.

"Nothing, sweetheart." Nikki ground out as calmly as she could. "Don't worry about it. Go back to bed."

As soon as Hollie closed her bedroom door, she took a deep breath, forcing herself to sober up almost instantly. Listening for the sound of her mother following her up the stairs and not hearing anything, she rushed over to her wardrobe and pulled out a holdall. She began indiscriminately pushing clothes and shoes inside. Zipping it up, she filled her school bag with her makeup and other things she felt were important, before opening the bedroom window.

Pushing her bags onto the porch roof, Hollie sat on the windowsill and swung her legs over the edge, before dropping down onto the surface below her. She paused, making sure that she hadn't been heard, before kicking her bags to the ground and jumping down beside them. Without a backward glance, Hollie strode away from the house and down the road, heading for the train station.

Most of Hollie's birthday money went on buying a single ticket to Brighton and she ran, being told that the sleeper train, the last train of the night, had just arrived at the platform. If she missed it, she'd have to wait seven hours on the freezing platform for the first train the next morning. Relieved, Hollie sank into a forward facing seat on the train and stared out of the window into the pitch black. As the train began to move, she exhaled deeply.

Nikki didn't bother to check on Hollie after she stormed up the stairs to bed. She was still furious with Jo and with her daughter and thought it was better that they all cooled down before speaking again. She shook her head when Vix asked whether she wanted to talk about what was bothering her, saying that she'd rather snuggle up on the sofa in front of the telly and forget about it.

When there was no sign of the elder teenager at breakfast the next morning, her mother assumed she was suffering from a hangover and banged on the door loudly. "I'm taking Eve to the station." She shouted through the closed door. "I expect you downstairs and ready for school by the time I come back, or I'm going to come in there and drag you out of bed myself. Understand?"

There was no reply, but Nikki assumed Hollie was being stubborn and just rolled her eyes. She threw an arm around Eve's shoulders, giving her a squeeze, as they made their way to the car. After waving the fifteen-year-old off at the station, the woman glanced at her watch and saw that she had twenty minutes to get home and to school before registration started.

"Hollie Joanne Boston, I swear to god I will drag you out by your foot if I have to–" Nikki bellowed, stamping up the stairs when she realised there was no sign of her daughter in the kitchen or the living room.

Barging through the door, the woman realised at once that Hollie wasn't there. The duvet was rumpled, but it definitely hadn't been slept in and the window was open. Throwing open the wardrobe doors, Nikki saw that lots of the teenager's clothes were missing, but that her uniform was hanging neatly inside.

"Shit!" Nikki breathed, feeling physically sick at the realisation of what must have happened. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"What's all the shouting?" Vix asked, leaning against the doorframe and rubbing her eyes blearily. "You better have disturbed my beauty sleep for a good reason."

"Hollie's gone!"

At once the other woman was alert and narrowed her eyes. "What d'you mean she's gone?"

"She must have climbed out of the window… she's taken clothes and shoes and… I don't think her bed's been slept in."

"Call the police." Vix suggested at once. "Get her back."

Nikki didn't notice the strange expression on her face or the odd choice of words her fiancée had used. Instead she simply nodded, but didn't make any attempt to make the call. With a sigh, the other woman went downstairs and picked up the landline, doing it herself. She gave the police the details, outlining what Nikki presumed had happened, before ending the call and heading back upstairs.

"Come on, babe, you've got work." She encouraged, seeing that the darker woman hadn't moved.

"Work? Hollie's run away." Nikki reminded her in a strangled tone. "How can I go to work… how can I pretend nothing's wrong when my daughter is missing? How can I face Tom and admit that the girl that he thinks of as his daughter can't stand to live with me."

"Maybe she's gone to Tom's?" Vix suggested thoughtfully. "Maybe you should call him?"

"He would have let me know."

"Unless he's punishing you."

Nikki blinked at her. "P-punishing me?"

"Maybe Hollie's been telling him things? Maybe she's been putting the blame on you?"

Before she could respond, Nikki felt her mobile vibrating in her blazer pocket and scrambled to answer it, hoping it would be her daughter. Seeing Tom's name on the display, she wondered whether Vix's assessment of the situation was correct.

"Tom?"

"Are you coming in this morning, Nik?" He asked, not bothering with greetings. "Simon's called some meeting and he specifically asked whether you'd be here."

"Is Hollie with you?"

"What? No?" He frowned. "I haven't seen her since Saturday."

"Shit, shit, shit." Nikki swore again, putting her head in her hands.

There was a pause. "Nikki, what's going on?" The whole story came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it. Tom listened until she finished, with a sob, before he said anything. "I'm coming over. We'll find her, Nik, we always do."

A/N: To those of you who have pointed out that Nikki is acting out of character... I know. It's completely intentional and it will be addressed a little later on ;) Don't you worry!

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