When Hollie returned home, to her mother's house, it was deserted. She frowned, but guessed that Nikki was celebrating the end of term at the pub with her colleagues. Closing the front door behind her, the teenager headed back to her stepfather's house to fill him in on the good news. Somehow Tom had managed to miss out on the drama of the day, apparently up to his eyeballs in essays and exam preparation. She assumed that he had heard what had been going on, but obviously he didn't know how serious it had got or she knew that he would have stepped in and tried to help.

"Tom?" Hollie called, letting herself in through the front door and dumping her bag in the hallway. She shrugged off her denim jacket and hung it on the hooks beside the mirror. "Tom? Where are you?"

"Kitchen!" He shouted back and she grinned, imagining him sitting at the table with a mug of tea and the paper spread out in front of him. It was his daily routine when he got in from work. Half an hour of 'Tom-time' before he started on dinner. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine… I'm great actually." She assured him with a broad grin, grabbing a can of coke from the fridge and sitting opposite him at the table. "I'm guessing you heard what happened today."

"Mmm… How's your mum?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Tom shot her a look. "I don't know if it would be appreciated."

Hollie grinned again. "Mum's ending it with Vix."

"What?" Tom frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"Because… because…" For a moment the teenager hesitated, unsure as to the real reason why her mother had made her decision. "After everything with Gabriella and her mother today, I think Mum realised that… oh… I don't know. Maybe she realised just how important our relationship, me and her, is."

"Your mother has always known that, Hollie." Tom assured her gently; looking at her so intently that Hollie was convinced that he was seeing into her soul. "She just… lost sight… for a while. She would never knowingly put you in danger. If she knew about Vix…"

"I know." Hollie smiled sincerely, before standing up and rounding the table. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I love you."

"I love you too, kiddo." Her stepfather told her sincerely, returning the hug wholeheartedly.

"I want our family back, Tom." She said. "I want you and Mum and me and Josh and Eve and AJ to be a proper family."

Tom sighed. "That's… that's not… listen... There's a lot we need to get through before anything like that can even…"

"I know. I just… one day?"

"Maybe, sweetheart."

Hollie's mobile beeped and she glanced at the screen for a second, before pushing it back into her pocket. Tom arched an eyebrow at her, but didn't comment on her apparent lack of interest in the message. Instead, he moved over to the fridge and opened the door, looking for something to make for dinner. Screwing up his nose at the lack of anything appetising, Tom turned around and shrugged at his stepdaughter.

"Pizza?" Before Hollie could reply, her mobile beeped again and she sighed, reading the message quickly. "Who's that?"

"Just Zoe… apparently everyone's in the pub."

"And you're not because?"

"I wanted to see you and Mum."

"Well, you've seen me and your mum is probably at the pub." He told her with a grin. "If I was you, I'd text Zoe back and tell her you're on your way."

Grinning, Hollie pecked him on the cheek and headed back towards the front door, grabbing her denim jacket and bag on the way. The door closed behind her with a click and the teenager felt as though somehow, finally, things were going right.

When she arrived at the pub, however, she received her first disappointment of the night. There was no sign of Nikki at the bar or at the table in the corner with the other teachers. Crossing the room quickly, Hollie bend to speak to Maggie, asking whether the Housemistress had seen her mother. When she shook her head and said that she hadn't seen the English teacher since their end of term staff meeting, Hollie frowned in confusion.

"Maybe she's gone to speak to Vix?" Scout suggested when Hollie joined them at their table. There was a brief interruption as Rhiannon finished downing her dirty Vimto and burped loudly. "That's what you wanted, isn't it? I bet that's where she's gone."

Hollie nodded slowly and took a long drink from her vodka and coke. "I guess."

"Come on." Scout urged, nudging her in the shoulder. "Enjoy yourself. It's the last day of school… we've got exams and then… uni or whatever… to look forward to. Your mum will break up with Vix and things will be better. Will whatever you do tonight have any effect on what your Mum does? Just… enjoy!"

Reluctantly, Hollie nodded and finished her drink. She nodded when Dynasty asked whether she wanted the same again. A short while later Connor returned with another round and then, after that, it was Scout's turn to get the drinks in. By the time she found herself back at the front door of the house she shared with her stepfather, Hollie could barely remember her own name.


"You have absolutely no right to look that perky." Tom teased the next morning as Hollie dropped into a chair at the kitchen table and took a bite out of the slice of toast she had made herself. He handed her a mug of tea with a grin. "Get that down you."

"Thanks." She murmured, taking a slurp from the mug and setting it down in front of her. "Have you heard from Mum?"

"Nope." Tom said with a shrug, settling himself down opposite her with AJ on his lap. "Why don't you go over and see her. Maybe take her out for lunch?"

"Lunch?"

"She's had a rough time." Her stepfather reminded her. "You both have. Just… do something nice and talk."

Nodding, Hollie leant over to kiss him and AJ on their foreheads, before jogging upstairs to get dressed. She threw on some jeans and a t-shirt, deciding to take Tom up on his advice. Pushing her feet into flip-flops and grabbing her bag off her bed, she headed back downstairs, calling out that she was going round to Nikki's.

"Take this." Tom caught her arm and pushed few twenty-pound notes into her hand. "Treat yourselves."

Thanking him again, Hollie walked up the road in the direction of her mother's home. It took half an hour to walk from one house to the other and the teenager enjoyed the exercise. With her headphones on and the sun beating down on her, it was easy to forget all the bad things that had been happening recently. With the exception of a handful of exams, she was free for the foreseeable future and Hollie was suddenly determined to make the most of it.

"Mum?" Hollie reached out to knock on the front door; her hand dropping to her side as she realised that it was already swinging on its hinges. Knowing that her mother would never have left the door unlocked caused the teenager's heart to plummet. "Mum?"

There was no response to her calls, so Hollie walked further into the house, making sure the door was closed behind her. She didn't need the surprise of anyone sneaking up on her; it was already eerie enough without having to worry about that as well. Her footsteps across the laminate wooden flooring were deafening and Hollie had the urge to kick off her shoes and go barefoot, just to stop the tapping sound.

Pulling out her mobile, she selected Jo's number from her favourites and held the handset to her ear. It rang and rang, eventually going to answerphone. Hollie swore under her breath, peering around the doorframe into the kitchen, before choosing Sam's number and trying again.

When there was no answer on Sam's mobile either, Hollie swore under her breath and crept into the kitchen. She pushed her phone into her back pocket, wondering where her mother was and why the door had been open.

Just as she decided to leave the house and go back to Tom's, she heard footsteps in the hall and rushed in the direction of the sound. Her mouth dropped open as she realised who was looking at her with their arms folded across their chest and a smirk fixed on their face.

"Hey, Hols."

"Gavin? What are you…? You can't be here. Where's my Mum?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry about your mummy… I'll take you to see her soon."

"You've got her?" Hollie leapt forwards. "Where is she? What are you doing with her?"

Grasping her arm uncomfortably tightly, he yanked her towards the front door, stopping when she started to struggle. Sighing, Gavin spun her around and bent down slightly to look in her eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows.

"You wanna stop struggling now?"

"No."

"You wanna see your mum?"

"Yes."

"Then stop struggling."


A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews on the last chapter! I really do appreciate it!

As for concerns about where this is going to end up and who Nikki will end up with... surely you know I'm all about Tom/Nikki by now ;)

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