"So… you and Tyler, eh?"

Katy sighed, sending her father a sideways look. "What?"

"Any chance you'll get back together?" Seeing the expression on her face, Jack shrugged. "He's back… clearly there's something still between you. You could do a lot worse."

"Since when have you been a fan of Tyler Moon?"

"I ain't saying that." He assured her quickly. "But you and him are like me and Ronnie, ain't ya? On and off more times than a streetlight."

"That's not a thing." Katy informed him, slightly sulkily.

"Nah, all I'm saying is that you're good together. You love each other, K, and you need that support."

"Mmm…"

"Look, whatever he did–"

"He didn't do anything, dad."

Jack paused, not looking entirely surprised. "Well… whatever happened, I'm sure you can work it out."

"Where were you earlier, anyway?" His daughter asked, changing the subject abruptly.

"There was something I needed to sort."

"Something blonde?"

"Katy."

"Look, Dad," she sighed, leaning on the bar and fixing him with a hard look, "if you wanna see Mel, that's your business. Just be honest with me, yeah?"

"I weren't with Mel, OK?"

"Whatever you say."

Rolling her eyes at him, Katy moved away to serve Tina and Shirley, grinning at them and letting herself be drawn into a conversation. She steadfastly avoided looking anywhere near where Tyler was standing, entertaining the children.

She carefully avoided him until the party was wrapping up. Letting Whitney and Stacey head off for a bit until they opened again that evening, Katy waved at the children as they happily headed home with Glenda and Jack. Katy laughed as Aunt Sal informed her the afternoon hadn't been as awful as she'd been expecting, pressing a kiss to the old woman's cheek and promising to visit soon.

When she looked around next, there was no sign of Tyler in the bar. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, convinced that he wouldn't have just gone without saying anything, she started the clean up operation. It was incredibly helpful in keeping her mind off things and, by the time Whitney and Stacey reappeared with Ruby, she had almost finished clearing everything away.

They laughed together as they restocked the bar and Ruby introduced the DJ she had managed to hire at the last minute. Arching an eyebrow as the events coordinator announced she was going to take some photos for social media, Katy warned her not to catch her yet, before disappearing up to the office to change and sort her hair and make up out.

"Looking gorgeous, Miss Mitchell." Max told her, pressing a kiss to her cheek when she finally reappeared. "This place is looking really good. Jack said it was, but I thought he was overselling it."

"Ha ha." She replied sarcastically. "Thanks, Uncle Max."

With Whitney and Stacey working the bar downstairs, Katy was alone in the upper bar. She was relieved as the number of people in the building steadily grew. Ruby joined her behind the bar, leaning close to shout in her ear that everything seemed to be going exactly as they had hoped. Thanking her for the offer to help out behind the bar, Katy moved to the opposite of the end to take more orders.

"K? Can I slip out for a bit?"

The blonde frowned at Whitney, taking in the worried expression on her face and the way she was clutching her mobile like a lifeline. She sighed and nodded, telling her she'd see her tomorrow and pulling out her own phone to give her Gran a call. Glenda huffed at being asked to cover Whitney's shift, but agreed to get Kathy to babysit.

By one in the morning, when it was time to lock up, there were only a few stranglers hanging around. Katy had let Ruby go home at about midnight, thanking her for everything and promising to work out what she owed her in the morning. Stacey and Glenda looked a little unconvinced when Katy told them that she would lock up and deal with everything in the morning, but headed away, leaving Katy alone to tidy the worst of the mess in the bar.

"Thought you might appreciate some company on the walk home."

Katy sighed. "I don't need you to walk me home, Tyler. I thought you'd gone, anyway."

"I decided to stick around." He told her with a shrug and a grin. "I guessed you might do something stupid like lock up on your own."

Rolling her eyes, she moved behind the bar and poured herself a double vodka. "Drink?"

"Won't say no."

"You can get it yourself." She replied bluntly, knocking back her drink. "I need to lock the takings in the safe."

Tyler chuckled as she opened the till and collected the money. Katy smirked at him, before heading upstairs to empty the other till and lock the money away safely. By the time she returned, Tyler was perching on one of the bar stools and sipping on a whiskey.

"Obviously you went for whiskey over beer because you knew I wasn't going to charge you."

"Obviously." He agreed with a grin.

"How long are you here for?"

Tyler watched as she refilled her glass and moved to rest on her elbows on the bar. "Only 'til tomorrow. I need to get home."

"You got somewhere to stay?"

"Is that an offer?"

Katy looked at him for a moment, considering her next move. Draining her glass, she placed it on the bar before moving towards the door, twirling her keys around her finger. Tyler spun round on the stool, watching her in silence, a smirk twisting his lips.

"Come on, then, before I change my mind."

Katy yawned and stretched, rolling over and seeing Tyler under the duvet beside her. Slipping out of bed, she pulled on a hoody and some jogging bottoms and made her way into the kitchen. She filled the kettle, setting it to boil before dropping onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar and resting her forehead against her palm tiredly. Her head was pounding and she needed at least one coffee before she could tackle whatever the day would bring.

"Morning."

Glancing up, Katy smiled weakly at Tyler and moved to pour him a mug of coffee as well. "Morning. Sorry if I woke you."

"I should probably get going before the kids get up and the entire Square gets the wrong idea."

She chuckled. "You really think you can leave without being spotted? Nah, no chance."

"So…?"

"We'll just have to front it out, Ty," she told him with a shrug, "tell everyone you crashed on the sofa." Glancing at the time she sighed. "I need to get the kids ready. Can you–?"

"Breakfasts?" He nodded, already moving towards the fridge. "I'm on it."

Pausing in the doorway, Katy glanced back and smiled softly for a moment, remembering how things had once been, before making her way towards the children's bedrooms. As usual, Ruby was already awake, playing quietly so she didn't wake the twins. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head and telling her it was time to get dressed, Katy moved to wake the four-year-olds quickly.

"Can you help them, please, Rubes?" Katy asked, already heading through the door to wake Matthew.

She was still helping her little brother with his socks and shoes when she heard an excited shriek from the kitchen and knew that Ruby had discovered her dad in there. Another soft smile appeared on her face as she heard the twins rushing to see what the matter was, laughing as Matthew grabbed his remaining shoe from her hand and pushed past her.

Leaning in the doorway, Katy watched as Tyler attempted to fend off the children and hand the right bowl of cereal to the right child. It reminded her of how things had been a long time ago; practically since before they'd left Walford. Taking pity on him as he tried to give Matthew Sophie's breakfast, Katy swept in and took over without really thinking about what she was doing. The blonde finished filling the lunchboxes as she listened to the excited chatter going on behind her.

"Dad can take you to school, if he's not too busy, but he's going back to Spain later, so he won't be able to pick you up." She answered Ruby's question before Tyler could think of a way to let her down gently. "He's really busy, you know that, Rubes."

"Do you have to go?"

"Yeah, sorry, sweetheart." Tyler apologised, wrapping his hands round his coffee mug. "Grandad Eddie needs me back today."

Ruby frowned, stabbing her spoon into her cereal irritably. Then she looked between her parents curiously, as though something had just occurred to her. "Did you sleep here last night? Mum said you couldn't?"

"Yeah… she changed her mind and let me sleep on the sofa." Tyler told her with a wink. "She's nice really."

"You taking them to school, then, Ty?" Katy asked, straightening up in her position against the counter and frowning lightly. "They need to leave in about five minutes."

"Uhh, yeah, sure." He grinned. "I'm sure I can still remember the way."

"Good. You need to drop Ruby first and then take Matthew and the twins round to the nursery door."

Tyler chuckled. "I'm sure I can handle it."

Loading the bowls and cups into the dishwasher, Katy nodded quickly, before turning to smile tightly at him. "Well… have a good flight back, say hi to Eddie and the others for me."

Standing on the doorstep, Katy waved as Tyler and the children headed away. She had practically shoved them out of the house and the smile dropped from her face as she headed inside to get dressed and ready to head over to the bar. She was just pulling on a jumper when she heard the flat door open and sighed deeply, guessing that Glenda had questions about the comings and goings that morning.

"Before you start getting any ideas, Tyler slept on the sofa." Katy lied before her grandmother could even open her mouth. "He was at the bar and offered to walk me home after I locked up. I could hardly send him packing after that, could I?"

"And will he be sleeping on the sofa again tonight?" Glenda asked meaningfully.

"No. He's going back to Spain later. He's gone to drop the kids off and then he's going to the airport, I suppose."

"You're OK with that?"

Katy nodded, looking confused by the question. "Of course I am. That's where he lives."

"Katherine, you know what I mean." Glenda sighed deeply.

"I'm messed up and Tyler just keeps trying to fix me. It's never going to work. I'm unfixable. I don't want him around playing the martyr anymore."

Rolling her eyes, Glenda folded her arms and sent the younger blonde a disbelieving look. "Do you realise that I heard your mother saying almost exactly the same about Jack?"

"Yeah, well, look how that turned out."

"Your father lost the love of his life when your mother died."

"Gran… Tyler's leaving. He's got a new life in Spain and I've got my life here. It's just not going to happen, OK?" Katy shook her head tiredly. "Look, if you've got nothing better to do than stand around and lecture me, I could do with a hand over the bar. You know I didn't clear up properly last night and we're opening at eleven." She ran a hand through her hair. "I hope to god the kitchen staff can get to grips with stuff fast because Ruby's put a lunch promotion on to get people in today."

"Calm down, darling." Glenda placed a hand on either side of her face and smiled. "It'll all be fine. I'm yours all day if you need me."

"Thanks, Gran." Katy exhaled slowly. "I know I'm on one at the moment, I just–"

"Don't mention it. What are grandmothers for, eh?"

Thankfully there wasn't as much to clear up as Katy had imagined when they got to the bar. She and Glenda collected the glasses and ran them through the washer while the older woman restocked the fridges and Katy spoke to the kitchen staff about the promotion Ruby had set up. Relief surged through her as they seemed totally unruffled by the thought of it, moving to start prepping as she headed up to the office.

"I'm popping over to the Vic for a bit, if that's OK?" Glenda asked, poking her head around the office door and smiling at her granddaughter. "I'm meeting Kathy for a couple of drinks."

Katy frowned, glancing up from the laptop. "Bit early, ain't it, even for you?

"Cheeky cow." Her grandmother chuckled, before shaking her head. "It's lunchtime, darling. There are already customers downstairs."

Looking at the time, Katy stood up abruptly, shaking her head and wondering how so much time had passed. Squeezing Glenda's arm as the older woman left the bar, Katy smiled around at the people sitting at the tables and booths and went into the kitchen. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, so she left them to it.

"I'm popping over to the caf." She told Emily, one of the new staff members she'd hired. "Any problems, give me a call, alright?"

Instead of going to the café, however, Katy headed into the Vic and scanned the room for her grandmother. Grinning, she made her way over and settled herself beside Glenda, asking whether they minded if she joined them for lunch.

"It's good to see you actually doing something that's not work or child related." Glenda informed her with a nod, pushing her gently so that she could stand up. "I'll get you a drink. A large one."

"I still have to go back to work and pick up the kids later."

Glenda made a sound of derision, showing her what she thought of that idea. "I'll pick up the kids."

"Gran–"

"Oh, she's right, Katy." Kathy agreed, nudging her in the side. "You've been working hard. You need a break every once in a while."

"Following that train of thought," Glenda motioned towards her with her wine glass, "why don't you go and get your hair done. Denise and Kim are doing that trail day thing for Patrick… your roots could do with a touch up."

"Oh, thanks, Gran!"

"Seriously, darling, go and have a bit of 'me time'."

"I suppose my roots do need doing…"

"That's the spirit!" Kathy grinned at her. "Get yourself over to their pop up shop and get them to sort you out."

Rolling her eyes, Katy heaved herself off the bench and headed out of the Vic in the direction of the temporary salon.