Hollie turned up the volume on her laptop, attempting to drown out the sound of her baby brother's crying from downstairs. Not only was it Hollie's first week back at school after the summer, it was her second week at a brand new school where she knew no one at all. So far she'd made no friends and, if they'd thought she'd avoid being recognised, they'd been seriously mistaken. While Hollie's attitude – which had landed her in several detentions at her new school already – was enough to avoid anyone actually attempting to bully her about her past, the whispering and pointed stares were enough to ensure that she wasn't enjoying being at Shoreham Academy.

"Hol!" She rolled her eyes at the sound of shouting from downstairs and was incredibly tempted to turn the volume of her music up even more. "Hollie!"

Sighing, the girl swivelled her chair in a half circle and stamped out of her room. Leaning over the top of the banisters she looked down into the hall where Nikki was juggling several tasks at once. She had a muslin thrown over one shoulder as she bounced baby AJ in her arms, the landline handset clamped between her other shoulder and her ear and a pile of freshly dried baby bodysuits in her free hand.

"Little help here?" She demanded, motioning towards the front door with the washing. As she pointed the doorbell rang, obviously not for the first time.

Nodding, the teenager jumped down the staircase and moved to answer the door, wondering whether Tom had forgotten his keys again. He seemed incapable of taking them whenever he went to the supermarket to pick up extra nappies or wipes or whatever else they had run out of.

"Hey!" A broad smile lit up Hollie's face as she spotted her stepbrother leaning against the porch wall, waiting to be let in. "You forgot your keys too? Like father, like son."

Josh laughed and followed her inside, closing the door and hanging his jacket on the hooks. Nikki appeared, still trying to do several things at the same time. Pressing a kiss to the boy's cheek, she thrust the baby into his arms and retreated to the kitchen to continue her conversation in peace.

"So, how's school? How was your trip to Manchester?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Hollie asked, leading the way into the living room and collapsing onto the sofa. Josh shook his head, handing her AJ and dropping down beside her.

"I don't think I've seen you long enough since you got back to talk about anything."

She shrugged, looking down at her baby brother who was finally falling asleep. Hollie had finally agreed to go up North to visit her Dad's family. It had mostly been Nikki's idea because she had received a letter from Paula, asking whether she would mind if they contacted Hollie again after receiving no response to their previous letter. Once she'd got past her nerves about meeting the large Evans side of her family, Hollie had actually really enjoyed the two weeks she'd spent with them and even visited her Dad in prison.

"It was good, actually. They're much nicer than I had imagined." She laughed softly as Josh raised an eyebrow at her. "I know, I know… but from everything that's happened and what I've heard I imagined them to be some kind of hardcore crime family or something. But they're not. Not really, anyway. My uncle Gary and cousin Craig are a bit dodgy and my granddad and Dad are both in prison which is a bit… well… but the others are fine." She told him with a shrug. "But it was nice to come home… there are just so many people around all the time up there."

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, on Sunday the entire family were there for Sunday lunch." Hollie sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not used to like thirty-five people being around… it was mental."

"Yeah… no wonder you're glad to be home." Josh agreed with a laugh. "I thought it got crazy with you and our parents around." He shot her a look. "They OK?"

Hollie nodded and smiled. "I think so. Obviously AJ being a bit premature was worrying, but they seem so much stronger now. But Tom not being able to get a job and Mum being on maternity isn't great."

"You alright? School any better?"

"I really hate it there." Hollie admitted, shaking her head. "Everyone's stuck up and the teachers are complete arseholes."

"Have you told the parents yet?"

She shrugged. "They've got enough on their minds seeing as there's barely any money coming in at the moment. I can handle it, Josh, so don't say anything, right? Tom still hasn't managed to find anything…"

"Where is the old man, anyway?"

"They ran out of nappies… again. I have no idea how many this kid gets through every day, but we always seem to be running out." The girl laughed weakly, looking down at their brother again and shaking her head. "Babies are more trouble than they're worth."

"You don't mean that." Josh told her with a shake of his head.

She sighed. "Nah… you're not that bad, are you Alexander John?"

"Formal." Her stepbrother teased, earning himself of roll of her eyes and the baby being gently transferred into his possession as Hollie climbed to her feet.

"Cuppa?" She asked, pausing in the doorway.

He glanced at his watch. "It's only a fleeting visit… I was down this way to pick something up, but I need to get back to Uni. I said I'd get milk and stuff on the way back."

"You're gonna wait for Tom though, right?" Hollie asked, grinning. Not waiting for an answer she made her way into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

Nikki was still on the phone when the teenager pushed the swing door open silently. Leaning on the counters by the sink, the woman had her back to where her daughter stood, one hand running through her hair repeatedly as she listened to whatever was being said to her. Curiously, Hollie leant against the doorframe waiting for her to speak.

"That really is a generous offer, Christine, but I'm not sure if we should come back." Nikki responded after a moment or two. "This was supposed to be a fresh start; to get back on track. Hollie's only been at her new school for two weeks and coming back now would be disruptive. It's not much of a fresh start if it lasts less than two months. Not to mention I have a four-week-old to think about as well." There was a long pause as she listened to the woman on the other end. Hollie wished she could hear what was being said and almost made up her mind to pick up another handset and listen in. "Well not exactly; but we knew she might struggle to settle in after everything…" With a sigh, Nikki caught her daughter's attention once more. "I'll speak to Tom and see what he thinks. We could definitely do with two wages… Alright… I'll speak to you later. Bye."

Jumping as the beep of the 'end call' button met her ears, Hollie pushed the door open even more so that it banged on the counter and signalled that she was in the room. Nikki turned with a frown and told her to be more careful.

"Sorry." Her daughter muttered, pretending to be contrite. "Who was on the phone? Anything interesting?"

"Not really… Christine Mulgrew."

Hollie's eyebrows rose slightly. "What did she want?"

"Nothing much… she was just ringing to see how we all are and how AJ is getting on." The woman lied smoothly. "What did Josh want?"

"Tea." The teenager replied with a frown, turning away to put teabags in the mugs so that her mother couldn't see her expression. She knew that Nikki was lying and she hated it. "Want one?"

Moving past her, the woman absentmindedly pressed a kiss to the top of her head and tapped her cheek. "I'd love one, sweetheart."

By the time the kettle had boiled and Hollie had made the drinks Tom had arrived back and they spent the rest of the evening, before Josh left to return to his University flat, watching television and chatting about nothing in particular. Nikki didn't mention the conversation she'd had with Christine, which just served to make her daughter even more curious.

In fact, Nikki didn't mention anything at all for a couple of days. On Sunday, when Hollie had reluctantly gone round to the house of a girl in her English class to work on a presentation they had to give, she settled herself on the sofa beside Tom who was flicking through the sports channels for something to watch and laid her hand on his to attract his attention. He smiled at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the screen.

"Tom?"

"Mmmm…?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Hmm?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, the woman shifted so that she was straddling his lap and completely blocking his view of the television. Tom blinked at her for a moment, nonplussed, before grinning and finally putting down the remote control. As his hands moved to her hips, Nikki turned the television off and moved the remote out of his reach. Then she pulled herself out of his embrace and settled herself back on the sofa.

"Hey!" Tom complained.

She smiled. "Now that I have your undivided attention, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"You could have just said."

"I did." Nikki replied, arching an eyebrow. "Christine phoned on Friday night. Apparently she's having a bit of trouble with our replacements and was wondering whether you'd consider going back."

"What?" Tom frowned, his attention completely focused on his partner now. He turned so that he was facing her completely. "Just me?"

She shook her head. "No, my job is there for me when my maternity leave ends. I just… is it the best idea?"

"After everything that happened last year, you mean?"

"Mmm…" Nikki chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I mean, is it selfish of us to go back because we'll both have jobs in a school we love, even though it might not be the best thing for Hollie?"

"Have you asked her?" Tom asked curiously, evidently wondering whether he was the last to hear about this.

"No, I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"I think we should consider it." Tom answered honestly. "Neither of us are really earning at the moment and Hollie's only in her second week. Let's face it; she's almost been in more trouble in the two weeks since she's been at her new school than she was in a year at Waterloo Road. She's not really settling very well, is she? And if we went back soon then the disruption to her schoolwork would be minimal. I think you should speak to Hollie and ask what she thinks. When does Christine want an answer?"

"As soon as possible; she wants us back there as quickly as we can be."

"Then speak to Hollie when she gets back from Liana's and find out what she thinks about it." He smirked. "I have a feeling that she'll start packing straight away."

"Probably," Nikki agreed with a sigh, "but is it best for her? I moved us because I didn't want the past hanging around."

"You know what that place is like, Nik. There'll be a new drama by the time we get back and no one will even remember anything about it."

"But what if she doesn't want to go?"

Tom smiled, wrapping an arm around his partner and pulling her into his side. Nikki rested her cheek on his chest and sighed. "We'll talk about it. There are lots of options. With Jo and Sam just down the road Hollie could live with them in term time if she wanted to, or–"

"I am not leaving my daughter behind again, Tom!" Nikki argued, her eyes flashing angrily.

"OK, so maybe I could go back and live in the school house and then come back at weekends and holidays."

"That's stupid."

He laughed at her indignant tone. "We'll think of something, babe, I promise."

As Tom had predicted Hollie's first question had been to ask when they were moving back to Scotland. Nikki peered at her warily, wondering whether she had thought about it properly. With a smile, the teenager assured her mother that she was well aware that the events of the past year might be brought back up as soon as she stepped foot in Waterloo Road again, but it couldn't possibly be worse than her current situation. All the teenager wanted to do was get back to people and places she knew and felt comfortable with.

So, on the following Tuesday, Tom headed up to Greenock to discuss things with Christine and try and find them somewhere to live seeing as they'd sold their house when they moved down South. After informing the school that Hollie would be leaving, Nikki didn't really see the point in her daughter continuing to attend and so Hollie spent her time helping her mother to pack up their things and look after her baby brother.

Everything was full steam ahead and, by the end of the week Tom had found them somewhere to live and returned to collect some of their things. Hollie wondered at the fact that moving back up to Greenock was accomplished much more quickly than moving away from the town. There was no waiting around for removal companies or Estate Agents. They hired a van to transport their things, signed the papers and put their new house on the market.

Within a fortnight of Christine's phone call the four of them were settling into their new house in Greenock.

"Get the door, Hol!" Nikki called from upstairs as the doorbell rang three times in a row.

With a smudge of green paint on her cheek and her hair tied back messily the teenager put the paintbrush she was using on the pallet and headed to do as she was asked. She grinned broadly and threw herself into Kevin's arms as she saw her boyfriend standing on the doorstep. He laughed and hugged her back, not worried about the fact that she was possibly getting paint on his uniform.

"The oversized shirt is a good look, babe." He said with a wink as she ushered him into the house. "Very sexy."

"Oh, shut up!" Hollie laughed, leading the way into the kitchen and grabbing a couple of cans of coke out of the fridge. She threw one to Kevin, deliberately shaking it up and grinned triumphantly as his attempts to open it carefully were futile and he ended up being sprayed. "How was school?"

"The usual. Pictures of Rhiannon got sent round the school and she got upset, understandably."

"Pictures?" Hollie asked, smiling as her mother walked into the room and grinned at Kevin, who immediately held out his arms for a cuddle with AJ.

"You know; pictures." He repeated meaningfully.

The girl's eyes widened as she realised what he meant. "Oh… poor Rhiannon. Is she OK? Who did it?"

"Who d'you think?" Kevin asked clenching his jaw.

Hollie flinched as she realised he was talking about Barry Barry. "I can't wait to get back to school on Monday." She said, changing the subject. "I swear Mum's got me working harder here!"

Nikki laughed. "The hard work is only just beginning, kiddo."

"Is there anything I can do to help, Miss?" Kevin asked politely.

"It's Nikki out of school, Kevin." She reminded him with a warm smile. "But you just keep my son asleep so we can have a couple of minutes peace and that's enough of a help for now." She settled herself at the table, waving off her daughter's suggestion that she went to get some sleep while they watched AJ. "How's Chalky?"

"He's great… he's loving the new project they're working on at the moment. He sent me a prototype and it seems great!" Kevin enthused.

"That's good."

"Seriously, Mum, go and sleep." Hollie ordered, physically helping the woman out of her chair and directing her towards the stairs. "We've got this."

When Nikki finally agreed and headed upstairs, her daughter returned to the kitchen and leant in the doorway, smiling at her boyfriend rocking her baby brother carefully in his arms. He was smiling down at AJ without a single trace of panic or anxiety in his expression. The first time Josh had held the baby he had been absolutely terrified; Kevin was a natural.

"You're good at that." Hollie told him casually, ruffling his hair as she rounded the table and took her seat once more.

He looked up at her quickly. "I love babies."

His girlfriend arched an eyebrow. "Don't you dare go getting any ideas, Chalk."