Jody POV

He should've been here by now.

Glancing at my watch one more time, I tapped my foot nervously on the ground. This plan was risky enough without Tyler being late as well. One thing was for sure, if he didn't leave now then I'd be forced to see Luke by myself.

To say I was nervous would've been an understatement.

I'd grown up a lot since the last time he'd seen me. I'd stopped being that impish child who ran around the house searching for chocolate biscuits and adventure books. I wasn't as naïve as I had been. And I was certainly a lot more cautious about the decisions I made.

Giving that witness statement had certainly stirred up some trouble with Kingsley. Luke might have supported my decision back then, but maybe he regretted it now given that Kingsley was after him.

And where the hell was Tyler?

We'd made plans ages ago that I'd wait for him by his radio station and we'd travel back to the DG, but not before meeting Luke. Things were a little rocky between us since the weekend I'd gone away. I'd learnt that Mike had offered him another opportunity to go on holiday with his family if he could spare the cash, and Tyler had gone a little too far with a plan to raise money for his trip. He'd ended up on the wrong side of everybody in the DG, treating them all like slaves for his cause and even nicking some cash from Mike's stash.

It wasn't like Tyler to act so irresponsible and even though I forgave him for his moment of madness, I couldn't fathom why he'd been so desperate. It was almost as if he would do anything to spend more time with Sally and Kamal and I wondered if that's what he truly wanted.

A life with them instead of at the DG. With me.

He'd brought up the idea before, moving away so we could be together without any of Mike's consequences but I'd shut him down. It would've been too weird for me, not seeing him in the house everyday.

But what if that's what he really wanted? What if this was yet another thing Tyler was reluctant to tell me?

What if he was having second thoughts..?

"Mum's face was a picture!"

"She asked me to DJ! Of course, I was going to play that song..!"

My ears pricked up as I heard Tyler's voice drift towards me as I leaned against the bus shelter. I glanced through the rain-streaked glass as I noticed Piper striding by his side. The two looked to be in fits of laughter and my gut clenched with envy. Tyler only laughed like that when he was with me.

What was I thinking? It's not like we were actually physically together, anyway.

"Jodes! I completely lost track of time..."

I smiled shortly. "It's fine, we can get the next bus."

He forgot.

Piper smiled a little wider, to my annoyance. She made a show of saying goodbye to Tyler, pulling him into a hug and flicking her hair as she left. She didn't need to rub it in, so what if she was pretty and could get any guy she wanted? At least I knew Tyler would always have my back.

When it came to my family, Tyler knew better than anyone that they were bad news. Maybe I was taking a risk.

"Hey..."

I glanced up from the letter that was crinkling in my hands.

"It'll be okay. You've got me, Jodes."

Tyler POV

To be honest, I was bricking it.

Jody was practically trembling with the cold, though I supposed it was more from the nerves. I wanted to say something to put her mind at ease but I could barely convince myself.

We'd been here before. Many times.

I desperately wanted her to be happy. And yet, I couldn't help but feel guilty that I'd pushed her into this. That I'd made her feel like she had to reach out to Luke. To save whatever relationship we had going on.

My phone beeped quickly, breaking the silence between us on the bus. I glanced at it quickly noting a message from Piper. A little video snip of Mrs B from the party last week.

A little smile lifted the corners of my lips and I momentarily forgot about the gravity of what we were about to do.

Jody leaned over me as she pushed the STOP button and the bus slowly came to a halt. It was getting dark outside and we only had a small window until Mike began to wonder where we both were. We stepped off the bus and headed towards the chicken shop that Luke had indicated in his texts.

Sure enough, he was there and had taken the opportunity to buy us a little meal. Probably to distract us from the massive gash on the side of his head.

"Hey. Uh sorry, I didn't realise you were coming along too otherwise I would've got you something to eat."

I peered down at his hands and noted the bruises along his knuckles. It didn't take a genius to work out what had happened earlier and from the way Luke had his hood up, looking shifty, I suddenly didn't have a good feeling about any of this.

"Lost my appetite," I replied shortly.

He clenched his fists but held his nerve before taking in Jody's gaze. Her face was unreadable. All we wanted was an explanation but it was taking Luke a hell of a long time to deliver it.

"You not gonna eat those chips?"

"Why did you bring up Dad?"

He pursed his lips and looked away guiltily. The big family secret. I was lucky in that sense, I suppose. Mum had always told me about how my dad had walked out on her all those years ago. He couldn't deal with the responsibility of a baby and a mentally ill mother.

I doubted things would've been better if he'd stayed.

"Because he's the reason Kingsley hates me. Your dad, Jodes… he was a heavyweight champion. Mum saw him at one of his matches and well, y'know what Mum's like when she wants something. She'll make sure she gets it. And she did."

Jody seemed curious.

"What was he like?"

"Strong. Brave..."

"Angry?"

"No. He could definitely take someone out but he was a good dad. Better than Mum ever was."

"So what happened?"

"I did."

I frowned, Luke wasn't making any sense. And what did any of this have to do with Kingsley getting him into trouble? Luke's eyes glazed over as he recollected the events of his childhood.

"We were a happy family for a while. A proper unit. Mind you, we didn't have much but we made do. Then... Christmas Day. You must have been only a few months old when it all happened. Mum and him had a huge fight. I was young; I only remember bits but it was violent and messy... so much shouting. And he just upped and left."

Jody's hand slipped into mine under the table. I could tell she was struggling to piece together what had gone on.

"What were they fighting about?"

Luke grimaced as he glanced towards the window of the chip shop once more. Whatever he was trying to tell Jody, it was obvious that he was scared. But why?

"Mum had been having an affair."

"Huh, like that's news!"

"No, Jody. Dad was seriously heartbroken. And then when he found out that she'd had a baby with the guy..."

Her hand slipped out of mine.

"What do you mean a baby?"

A few seconds passed as Luke licked his lips together and wrung his hands together. And then it all seemed to fall into place. His guilt and why he'd taken so long to unveil the truth.

Jody frowned.

"Are you saying... that I've got some more family somewhere? A stepbrother or sister..?"

"Jody..."

"Have you met them? Do they live near?"

Luke's gaze was lifted from the table and he shot a pleading look my way. I placed a hand on Jody's shoulder as she turned to me bewildered.

"I don't think he's saying that."

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm your stepbrother."

Jody POV

I swallowed quickly as the revelation set in. Mum had always been so set on the fact that we were a Jackson family. A family that looked out for one another no matter what. One that always had each other's backs.

And it turned out she'd been playing dirty from before I was even born.

My eyes drifted over Luke once more; somehow, it made sense. He hardly shared the same appearance that Kingsley and I shared and there'd been many moments where it had felt like he was the black sheep of the family. For one, he'd hardly been one to get himself into trouble like the rest of us and barely ever spoke his own mind.

"Jody?"

I snapped out of my daze as Luke shot me a worried look.

"It doesn't change anything, does it? Me, being your stepbrother and all."

I shook my head adamantly; I'd taken too long to react.

"Course not! You've been more of a brother to me than Kingsley ever has."

That much was certain. He'd supported me through all the shit Mum and Kingsley had put me through. Well, up until recently anyway. I couldn't deny that I'd missed him being there for me. The only one in my family who hadn't tried to manipulate me into doing any dodgy stuff.

"Speaking of Kingsley, what exactly has he got you doing?"

I might've already felt inclined to forgive Luke and accept him back into my life, but Tyler still wasn't impressed. And the truth was, it was clear that Luke had recently been involved in some sort of fight. It was probably under Kingsley's influence but it still didn't make it right.

"It's nothing, really. Honestly I'm sorting it..."

"If you were sorting it, how comes you look like that? And why do you keep looking over your shoulder?"

Tyler sounded annoyed. Seriously annoyed.

"Does it matter? I'm trying to talk to my sister..."

"Half-sister. Look whatever, I don't care if you ain't even related to Jody but you ain't getting her mixed up in anything dangerous."

"Who says I am?"

"Careful, you're starting to sound like Kingsley..."

The two of them had started sizing up against one another and everyone in the shop had paused their conversations to watch them curiously. I didn't get what Tyler's problem was; Luke was nothing like Kingsley. And yet I was starting to doubt that fact as each second passed and nothing changed.

"Jody, can you tell your boyfriend to back off?"

I opened my mouth to automatically dispute the little misinformation but Tyler narrowed his eyes at Luke.

"Not until you tell us what's really going on. Or do you want all these people in here filming you beating the life out of a care kid?"

It was clearer than ever now that Tyler didn't seem to trust Luke at all. He was angrier than I'd ever seen him and Luke soon began to see sense and sat himself back down.

"Well? What's he got you doing?"

"It's... um, drugs."

"Right Jody, we're leaving..."

"No, not like that!"

Tyler raised an eyebrow in disbelief as Luke quickly clarified that Kingsley was mixed up in dealing and not him. He was, in fact, trying to stop Kingsley from preying on kids in the local neighbourhood... hence the frequent fights he kept getting into with Kingsley and the rest of his gang.

I sighed and looked away as Tyler mimicked my actions. I realised now that he'd merely been getting Luke wound up so he would spit out what had been going on with Kingsley. But that still didn't explain why Dad was relevant in any of this.

"He was KO'd during a fight a while ago. Had to go into hospital. I'm sorry Jodes but he didn't make it..."

In a matter of minutes, Luke had managed to bring my hopes up before making them crash all over again. He might've walked out on us when we were younger but so had Mum. At least he'd had a proper reason...

The irony that he too had been a boxer. And a good one at that. I supposed I'd grown up to be my father's daughter all along, without either of us knowing.

"He left you some money in his will. Well, a lot of money. About 500K's worth."

The words drifted over my head as I kept wondering if he'd died alone. All that fighting in the ring and for what, a life of solitude? Or maybe he'd found himself another family.

"Kingsley was supposed to get some as well but Dad found out that he'd been in prison so he left it all to you instead..."

This man who I was supposed to call my dad was a stranger to me. A stranger who I was meant to feel some sort of paternal love towards and yet, there was nothing there. Just a numb emptiness. I always knew my family was fucked, I just never knew how much.

"He told me to come to ya, Jodes. 'Cause if Kingsley ever found out, he'd do anything to get that money from you."

"Jody?"

I looked up towards Tyler whose arm was wrapped around my back. My dad had died. A parent I'd never knew who'd existed had vanished from my life. All those years... why didn't he come looking for me?

Why did he just leave me?

My head was a whirlwind of thoughts and I couldn't concentrate. On anything. So many unanswered questions. Destined to be left unanswered. For eternity.

"He told me he always regretted it."

I glanced up then as Luke seemed to answer the biggest question in my head.

"Leaving us behind. He did love us but he couldn't face Mum. He thought we'd be better off with her."

"And if he hadn't left? What then? Luke... we could've been happy. With him."

He took my hands in his and looked me earnestly in the eyes.

"There's no point in dwelling. Trust me, I've asked myself that same question a hundred times and the fact is, he chose to leave us there. You have your Dumping Ground. Your own family. Things could've been different but then if they were, you wouldn't have what you have now."

Tyler rubbed my back comfortingly.

"If this getting too much Jodes, we can always go back?"

I stared down at my hands... it was a lot to process. I'd thought I'd put my family behind me, I'd thought things were starting to look up for me but there were some strings left untied. If there was one thing I knew for sure, I needed to close the chapter on my Dad.

"What was his name?"

"Arthur. Arthur Gray. They nicknamed him the Artful Dodger in the ring, though."

I cracked a little smile at that. For some reason, it felt reassuring that I'd gotten my passion for boxing from somewhere in my family. The one good thing that I'd received from my family. Maybe it was meant to be, after all.

"He was alright, Jodes. I mean it was hard for him, knowing I wasn't his son. But he told me that he never blamed me. It just... took him some time to accept it. To be honest, I'd have been happy with him as my dad. Shame things didn't work out that way."

"I want to get to know him. Learn about his life. Does Kingsley know about him?"

Luke shook his head sadly.

"Whenever I see him he's either bashing my head in or too high to even focus on what I'm saying. The state Kingsley's in now, I don't even know if it'll be good if he even found out."

A few moments later, Tyler and I were sitting silently on the bus trip home. The streetlights all blurred into an orange haze and I found myself getting lost in them as I tried not to think about everything that had just happened.

But I couldn't help it.

I couldn't stop thinking about why Dad had left us when he did, why Luke was busy picking up after Kingsley and getting into trouble with his gang and why Kingsley was even dealing in the first place. I mean he wasn't exactly a stranger to being on the wrong side of the law but this was certainly a lot more serious than his usual looting and selling.

He'd turned to drugs.

I couldn't help but wonder if I'd somehow caused this. I'd sent him to prison twice now. I didn't regret it but maybe he'd well and truly given up on a clean life. Maybe he'd thought that this was the life destined for him now.

I scoffed to myself; I was doing it again. Empathising for him. Thinking about him like a brother after everything he'd done to me. After he'd betrayed me and used me in his horrid schemes.

Tyler slipped his hand into mine alerting me out of my daze. I glanced towards him, he'd been nothing but supportive throughout this whole thing. And I could tell that he really cared about me.

To the point where he'd fight my own brothers on my behalf.

I leaned back and rested my head on his shoulder as the motion of the bus lulled me into sleep. I was afraid of losing myself again, becoming the old Jody... the one that had driven everyone away.

But as long as I had Tyler, maybe this time things would be different. Maybe this time, I'd have the upper hand.

(A/N): Sorry I've left it so long to upload this one, life has been a bit hectic and I wanted to really focus and write this without any distractions. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if so, please leave a review on your thoughts. Thanks for everyone who's still following this, I appreciate you all so much!