Jay stopped dead in front of the back gate. He looked straight through into the kitchen; both the back gate and the back door were wide open, yet there was no sign of anyone around.

"What's wrong?" Lola asked, leaning slightly to see what he was looking at.

"I dunno…" He muttered in reply, narrowing his eyes slightly as he took in the scene. Something was definitely wrong, but Jay couldn't put his finger on what.

Moving forward, Jay led the way into the house, looking around carefully for any sign that there was someone there. The house was completely deserted and yet the teenager couldn't spot any sign that there had been a break in of any sort, until they reached the living room.

"Phil?" Jay called out nervously, his eyes raking over the objects littering the floor. "Shirl?"

He moved to the pool table, trying to work out what all the pieces of paper strewn across it meant. He pushed the thick, black marker with his finger, narrowing his eyes in bemusement. The writing on some of the sheets was definitely Shirley's, but most of it just seemed to be random letters. Pulling a face, he turned away as Lola spoke.

"Jay? Has there been a break in?"

As she moved aside, a particular object on the coffee table caught Jay's attention straight away. All the colour drained from his face as his eyes settled on the photo frame that Ben had used to kill Heather. There was a photo of Denise and Kim in it now, but it was unmistakable as the weapon that had caused her death. Jay felt as though he was about to be sick.

"Are you even listening to me?" Lola demanded when she got no response.

As she moved to pick up the frame, Jay suddenly realised what she was about to do. "Don't touch that." He ordered quickly. "If there has been a break in, there'll be finger prints, won't there?"

"Well… has anything been taken?"

"Dunno, I ain't looked yet." He said, thinking of a way of getting rid of her. "I want Lexi out of here now, though."

"Since when do you tell us what to do?" Lola asked, laughing slightly and obviously not taking the situation as seriously as he was.

"There might be someone in here, might'n there?"

"Yeah, and if there is you'll need all the help you can get!"

Jay briefly wondered what good Lola though she'd be if there was an intruder, but he stopped himself saying it out loud at the last moment. "I'm not joking, alright, get out!"

"Alright, fine!" She snapped, obviously not realising that it could be dangerous. "Deal with it yourself."

Huffily, Lola left and Jay stared at the photo frame. He didn't understand what it was doing there, just staring at him from the coffee table. Whatever the reason, it obviously couldn't be good.

Rubbing his hand over his face Jay starting pacing the living room, willing his brain to start thinking of possible explanations and solutions. The house was empty and yet the frame was sitting on the table. Had Ben brought it home? Or had someone else found? Surely no one other than Ben, Phil and Jay himself knew for definite the part the frame had played in Heather's death.

Sitting heavily on the sofa, Jay couldn't keep his eyes away from the offending object. It was the same horrified fascination that caused people to slow down as they drove past the site of a car crash. As much as he wanted to look away from the photo frame, he couldn't.

When the sight of the photo frame in front of him got too much, Jay grabbed it and stuffed it behind the cushion beside him. He couldn't look at it anymore, but he didn't know what else to do with it. Just the mere presence of the photo frame was making him feel sick.

Looking up at the sound of footsteps, Jay was shocked to see Shirley in the doorway, staring at him angrily. At that moment he was sure that she knew the truth about the night her best friend had died. He didn't, however, know the full extent of her knowledge. Jay realised that he was going to have to wait for her to reveal her hand before saying anything otherwise he could land himself in more trouble.

"Shirl! I don't know what's happened here." He told her, looking around at the mess.

She didn't answer. Instead, Shirley walked past him, before turning and leaning again the door frame. She fixed him with a furious stare. "Ben's gone down the police station… to turn himself in."

"What? What for?"

Before he could react, Shirley reached out and pulled the photo frame from its hiding place, holding it up accusingly. "You tell me."

His gaze flicked between the woman and the object in her hands. Jay was lost for words. He didn't have any idea what he should say or not say. He was filled with an overwhelming desire to tell Shirley everything, but he didn't want to land them in any more trouble; especially Katy. The girl had tried her best to protect him and keep him from cracking up and now Jay wanted to make sure he did the same for her.

"You know sometimes… when it hit me that Phil would never love me as much as I loved him… I knew it would be alright… 'cos I had Hev…" Shirley told him slowly. Jay tried to block out her voice, feeling the unconscious stabbing of tears behind his eyes as she spoke. She dropped onto the sofa, as far away from him as possible. "I could see us growing old together… when all the men had gone. And you do go… die or leave. We were gonna be like Laurel and Hardy… in our PJs, tucked up in a big double bed. No prizes for guessing which one was Hardy."

"Never knew which was which…" Jay muttered, keeping his mind on things that weren't important.

"Doesn't matter which was which. They were a pair." Shirley told him after a moment's consideration. Her tone was soft and that in itself was almost enough to cause Jay's resolve to crack. "Don't punish me anymore!"

"I'd never do that."

"Then tell me!" Shirley demanded. "Ben said that he did it, but I don't know… I don't trust him. Not like I trust you. I know that Phil has been working on you both… making you think that you're like Laurel and Hardy… like you're a pair. But you're not a pair. You are not like Ben." She told him firmly, almost begging him to tell her the truth. Jay stared at his hands, fighting to stay in control. "You're kind."

Jay shook his head, his voice waving with emotion. "Nah…"

"You've got a good soul."

"I haven't!"

"You've got a heart… you've got a heart that loves."

"I'm not!" Jay shouted, finally giving in to his tears. "I… I am a bad person! I am a bad person!"

"Just speak, Jay." Shirley begged. "Just speak!"

He scrubbed at his face with a hand and looked around for something, anything, that would take him away from this situation. He was about to open up, to tell Shirley everything, when he heard the kitchen door open and Billy's voice could be heard. At once both he and Shirley leant back on the sofa, the connection between them broken. He could feel his fingers burning where her hand had touched his, willing him to talk to her; to let her in.


A/N: Hello darlings!

I just wanted to say thank you so much for reading and reviewing this! It really does mean a lot to know that so many of you are still with this and enjoying it! :D

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