As Tom and Nicki entered the house later that night, it was to find Taylor rushing downstairs, trying to conceal the guilty expression on her face.
'Hi,' she welcomed them hurriedly, 'had a nice run?'
'Yeah...' replied Nicki, looking sternly at Taylor's uneasy face, 'have you done your homework?'
'Ugh, no.'
'Then I think you'd better go do it then.' Said Nicki.
'But mum!' Protested Taylor.
'Anyway,' interrupted Tom, 'I'm going to go and get the pizza okay?'
Nicki nodded before turning to taylor and saying, 'well go do it.'
Reluctantly, Taylor left the hallway and went into the living room.
'Y'okay?' Queried Josh as Nicki bit her lip.
Nicki sighed before asking Josh, 'what has Taylor been doing whilst we've been out?'
'Well,' answered Josh, trying to recall where she'd been, 'actually I'm not sure. She's been cooped up in her bedroom for most of the time so...'
His voice trailed away as nicki quickly jogged up the stairs.
Josh stared after her. What was bothering her he wondered.
Well, he guesses it was just natural that she wanted to make up for all the years she'd spent isolated from her daughter. Maybe her overprotective attitude was merely to be expected.
He joined Taylor on the sofa in the room next door.
'For your information you shouldn't be watching TV while doing your homework Taylor,' he said grinning.
'For your information,' retorted Taylor, smirking a little, 'I am the best multitasker on this earth.'
Chuckling to himself, Josh looked down and then back at Taylor.
He was surprised to see that her hands were shaking slightly.
'Are you okay?'
'Yes,' she snapped rather impatiently, 'can't everyone just get off my case?'
Josh continued to look at her, slightly confused. Now he knew why Nicki was so concerned.
'Hard homework then?'
'Yeah,' sighed Taylor distractedly.
As Nicki entered her daughter's bedroom, she half expected it to be a mess yet everything struck her as very neat and tidy. In fact, Nicki was sure that some things were missing because the room seemed emptier than before.
Like that little framed photo of the two of them from the other day was no longer on Taylor's bedside table.
Automatically, Nicki started looking for it.
First, she looked under the bed, wondering whether it had accidentally dropped.
It wasn't there however what Nicki did get was an empty bottle of vodka.
This had obviously been what she'd smelt the other night.
Nicki gulped.
Was this the only one?
Nicki strode over to the wardrobe and opened it.
Then she uttered a small scream.
Multiple bottles were stacked one by one in there, crammed into every nook and cranny of the wardrobe.
Overwhelmed, Nicki backed away, staring in horror at the sight that lay before her.
Some bottles were full, some empty, some only half full.
Nicki didn't know what to say.
She didn't know how to react.
It was like her worst nightmare had sprung into life.
Was this all her fault? Was there an error in the way which she was looking after taylor that had caused her daughter to resort to desperate measures?
Nicki stumbled when she reached the bed however she didn't stop retreating.
She scrambled onto the bed and continued to move backwards until her back hit the wall.
It was like the bottled were carrying some sort of disease the way she avoided them so determinedly.
When Tom re-entered the house, it was to find that Nicki wasn't downstairs.
He went up to her bedroom but she wasn't in there.
She wasn't in his bedroom either, or Josh's or even the bathroom.
Slowly, he entered taylor's bedroom.
The first thing that he heard when he entered it was panicked rapid breathing although he couldn't actually see nicki.
He cautiously walked to the other side of the room.
Nicki was crouched in the corner, gasping as her face was wrecked with terror.
'Nicki, what's wrong?' Asked Tom, crouching down beside her.
'T-T-Tom,' she choked, shaking, 'she's been d-drinking. I knew that s-s-something was wrong but I d-didn't know she'd had so m-much!'
She gestured towards the open wardrobe which was full to bursting with alcohol.
Tom stared horror struck at it before sitting beside Nicki and putting him arm round her, 'we'll get through this don't worry. We'll sort it out.'
'I just wanted to be a good mother though,' sniffled Nicki, resting her head on his shoulder as her dazzling face became wet with unshed tears, 'and n-now look.'
'It's not your fault,' Reassured Tom, 'you're an amazing mother, don't ever doubt yourself. We'll make sure this ends okay? Oh I hate to see you so sad.'
He huddled up to her.
Nicki snuggled into him, trying to calm herself down.
She'd be nothing without Tom. He'd helped her out so much. He was always there for her.