"You're going to come to Bex's party, right?"

Katy looked up from the paperwork spread across her desk and sighed. Sonia looked at her hopefully from the doorway. Along with the hope, however, was an expression that was far too close to pity for the younger woman's liking.

"I dunno, Son… I've got loads of stuff to do and the kids are coming back from Spain tomorrow and then I need to get them sorted for school before we go on holiday, so I need to–"

"Oh, Katy, come on." Her cousin moved closer, folding her arms and frowning. "We haven't seen you for weeks. You've been locked away in here avoiding everyone."

"I've been busy."

"I know Tyler getting married was hard for you, but–"

"No, Sonia, it wasn't." Katy argued irritably. "I genuinely couldn't care less. If Tyler and I hadn't broken up, I wouldn't have this place. I wouldn't be here. It was the best thing for both of us, because we've both got what we wanted."

"Right." Nodding slowly, she shrugged. "So you'll come to the party, right? Twelve at the Vic."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Please."

"I said I'll see, alright?"

Holding up her hands in defeat, the brunette backed out of the office and left her cousin in peace. Katy sighed and put her head in her hands for a moment, thinking about what would probably face her when she went to the pub. She knew she'd have to – for Bex's sake more than anything – but she wasn't looking forward to being greeted with more people who would look at her the way Sonia had.

Now that she had got used to the idea, she genuinely didn't care that Tyler was married to someone else. It had been a shock to begin with, but Katy also knew that they both needed to move on and stop torturing themselves. What she'd told Sonia was true; if they hadn't broken up, she would still be living the same mundane life they'd fallen into when they'd left Walford.

Seeing the time passing twelve, Katy stood with a sigh and grabbed her bag. She would never hear the end of it if she didn't at least show her face at the party. Besides, she would feel slightly bad if she didn't go and congratulate Bex. Telling the barmaids that she wouldn't be long, she headed out across the Square and painted a smile across her lips, preparing herself for the questions that would no doubt be thrown her way.

Spotting the teenager standing alone, looking less than thrilled by the situation, Katy made her way straight over and dumped her bag on the bar. Bex turned quickly, only relaxing a little when she saw who was standing beside her. Frowning a little, Katy turned to lean against the wood and fix the younger woman with a knowing look.

"You OK, kid?"

"Yeah… yeah. I'm fine."

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

Katy snorted. "You should be better than fine. I heard you smashed those exams. You wanted those grades, right?"

"I needed those grades… doesn't mean I wanted them."

"Ah…"

"What?"

"I remember when I was doing my A Levels… Mum really wanted me to go to Uni, but I didn't think it was the right thing for me. I kinda hoped that I'd mess up my exams, just so that option would be taken off the table."

Bex stared at the blonde for a moment, obviously turning over her words in her mind. "Do you regret not going to Uni?"

"I could say no… that would probably make things easier for you, right?" Katy said, seeing the answer immediately on her cousin's face. "But… sometimes yeah, I guess I do. I mean, now I get what Mum was on about. I did kinda rush into life too soon. I love my kids – don't get me wrong – and I love running the bar, but sometimes I wish I'd lived a little bit more before I had to settle down."

"I just don't know whether I can go through all the stress of the work and exams and the massive debt I'll get into. You know what I was like with these exams. How can I do that again… but it'll be so much worse?"

"You've gotta give yourself a break, Bex."

"But everyone's so… my mum has barely stopped crying since I opened my results."

"This ain't about her." Katy pointed out. "Sonia's had her chance… it's your life and only you can decide what's right for you. You cannot do what you think will make other people happy. It just doesn't work."

"Yeah, I guess, I…"

"Trust me," the blonde glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the teenager's mother, "she might be a little bit disappointed if you decide Oxford ain't for you, but she's your mum. She just wants the best for you and if that means you don't go, she'll understand."

"Really?"

"It might take a while," Katy acknowledged with a shrug, "but yeah, she will."

Realising that the conversation was over, Katy squeezed Bex's arm and left the brunette to her brooding. She briefly stopped in to show Sonia that she had turned up, before smiling at Jack and heading out of the pub. Hanging around would just have meant that she was forced to make conversation and avoid questions about things she'd rather not talk about.

"Phil's home and he's asking to see you."

With a frown, Katy looked up to see Sharon standing in the doorway. She paused for a moment, looking the older woman up and down carefully, before leaning back in her chair and folding her arms. Sharon rolled her eyes.

"What does he want?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself; I'm just the messenger."

Katy sighed deeply. "I'm busy, Sharon."

"Yeah and Phil's lucky to be alive and he wants to see you, so you make time, alright?"

"Who made you the boss of me?"

"Don't be so childish, Katy."

"Whatever."

"Just go and see him." Sharon commanded, before turning and stalking out the office.

Katy glared after her, before throwing her pen onto the desk in a temper. She hated being ordered around, especially by Sharon. It was bad enough Phil acting as though he could tell her what to do, but at least Katy had a grudging amount of respect for him. Kicking the bin, which flew across the office and crashed into the sofa, she picked up her mobile and considered calling her grandmother. Then she changed her mind and stood up abruptly.

Calling over to Tina that she was popping out for a bit, Katy stalked out of the bar and along towards Phil's house. She was furious that she had been summoned and more furious that she was actually doing as she had been told. Without even bothering to knock, she slammed her way through the back door of number 55 and shouted her step-uncle's name.

"I know who hit me."

Phil uttered the sentence without any preamble. Confused, the young woman frowned, but said nothing. When he made no further attempts to talk to her, Katy dropped heavily to sit on the sofa, now completely unsure why she had been summoned.

"Right… what do you want me to do?"

"Kat said Ben knew the truth about what happened." Katy was unable to stop the snort that escaped her at his words. "You don't seem surprised."

"I'm not." She replied bluntly. "Come on, Phil, you're not stupid. I don't trust Ben as far as I could throw him. You shouldn't trust him either. He's going to do whatever he has to take you down."

They eyeballed each other for a long moment, understanding passing between them. Then Katy nodded sharply and stood up. She turned and headed for the door, before hesitating on the threshold. With one hand on the handle, she turned again and met his eyes.

"I'm glad you're OK."

Then she walked out of the house, closing the backdoor much more carefully than she had flung it open. Katy didn't know what would happen now, but she could guess that the situation wouldn't just disappear quietly. Ben would no doubt be wanting to speak to her, if nothing else. Briefly she regretted speaking to Phil the way she had, knowing that Ben could make things difficult for her if he wanted to. Then she decided that she didn't much care either way; she doubted there was much he could actually do to cause her any trouble.

"Katy?"

Sighing, more at being collared yet again than anything else, she paused and waited for her father to catch her up. Furrowing her eyebrows at the expression on his face, she tilted her head expectantly. Jack's grin broadened at her expression and he laughed.

"What's put you in such a good mood?" His daughter demanded.

"Just a bit of good news."

"Go on then."

"Dunno if I should say."

Katy rolled her eyes. "Dad, come on. I haven't got time for this."

"Oh, yeah?" He frowned, remembering something. "I thought you were off to Ibiza this week?"

"Nah, we're going next week now. Gran was being annoying about Mathew and the twins starting school and decided that we needed to do all the shopping and stuff this week."

"Ahhh… that would explain why she asked me about Amy and Ricky's shoe sizes."

"You hadn't even thought about it, had you?"

"Well Glenda's on it, so I don't need to." He reasoned with a shrug.

"Good thought process." Katy sighed. "So, what's this bit of news then?"

"Someone I used to work with offered me my old job back."

Confused, the blonde stared at him for a moment. "As a copper? What? Are you gonna do it?"

"I dunno… maybe?"

"OK…"

"You don't seem keen."

Katy shook her head. "It's not that. I just… you know… the old bill. We don't exactly see eye-to-eye."

"All that's behind you now." Jack reminded her, much more confidant that he really had any right to be. "You're a legitimate business owner and I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad." Katy smiled weakly, the smile not meeting her eyes. She struggled to hold his gaze, finally dropping it to her phone in her hand. "Listen, I think you should go for it. You always said you loved being a detective and I think you'll be great. Look at what you did for Tiff."

"What? Getting arrested for beating the bloke up?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, maybe…" Jack sighed and shrugged. "Right, make sure you come and see me before you go on holiday, yeah? Maybe come round for dinner tomorrow?"

"Sounds good." She agreed with a proper smile. "Catch you later."

By the time she got back to the bar, Katy didn't want to speak to anyone else. She went straight to the office and closed the door, dropping heavily onto the sofa and flinging one arm dramatically across her eyes. For a while, she didn't move. Instead she simply let her mind whirr through all the thoughts that were fighting for dominance.

Katy knew that her father's sudden interest in returning to the police force was down to his sudden cash flow problems. The fifty thousand that was sitting in the bank, unable to be touched until they worked out where it had come from, was almost taunting her as she thought about it. If only she could be sure it wasn't some sort of trick or trap, she could offer it to Jack to go some way to sorting his problems.

"Is it OK if I pop out for a bit, boss?" Tina asked, poking her head around the doorframe. Seeing the younger woman lying on the sofa, she entered the room and closed the door behind her. Moving to perch on the seat, she looked down at Katy in concern. "Hey? You alright? Should I call someone?"

"I'm fine." Katy assured her quickly. "Just got a lot on my mind."

"Yeah? Anything I can help with?"

"I thought you needed to pop out?" Katy reminded her, arching an eyebrow. "Anything wrong?"

"Oh, just Shirley. You know what she's like."

"Yeah? What's she done?"

"Punched a woman who was making out Ollie wasn't normal."

Katy snorted. "Sounds like Shirl did the right thing."

"Don't encourage her. She doesn't think she did anything wrong, either."

"I'd have done the same for one of mine."

"Mmm… I don't doubt it." Tina said, rolling her eyes. "So? Your problems? Anything I can do?"

"Foot rub?"

The brunette laughed as Katy grinned at her cheekily, moving her legs slightly so that they lay across Tina's thighs. Swatting at her gently, the older woman shuffled backwards so that she was sitting on the sofa properly with her back resting comfortably against the cushions. They sat in silence for a couple of moments, each considering their own problems. The weight of Tina's hands on her legs had an oddly comforting effect on Katy, who felt her mind calming a little as they sat.

"So… wanna talk about what's bothering you?" Tina asked eventually.

"I'm a Mitchell; take a wild guess."

"Phil?"

"Mmmm."

"He giving you a hard time about something?"

"Not exactly… It's Ben more than Phil, to be honest." She admitted quietly. "I have a feeling he's not going to take too kindly to me telling Phil not to trust him."

"Well, you're probably right."

"I'm definitely right, T. Ben is bad news."

"Don't let Kathy hear you saying that; she thinks the sun shines out of him."

"Don't I know it?" Katy muttered, earning herself a grin and a weak slap on the thigh from the other woman.