With a resigned nod, Nikki turned and began walking again, Hollie just behind her. They soon caught up with the father and daughter by the lockers. Stuart appeared to be bargaining with Eve, promising to let her come and visit Nikki whenever she wanted. Slowly the two females approached them and suddenly Hollie wished that she had listened to her mother and let her do this on her own. Nikki, on the other hand, was glad that her older daughter was by her side.

"I'm not coming with you!" Eve argued with her dad.

"Stuart…" Nikki almost whispered, moving closer to the pair. "I can't let you do this…"

"You can." He told her, as though he was pleading. Both teenagers looked at him curiously, wondering what it was that they were talking about.

Shaking her head, the woman squeezed her eyes tightly closed. "Eve, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"It's about your dad and what he told you about me."

"His lies!"

"He didn't want to lie to you." Nikki told her firmly.

"Please don't do this, Nikki." Stuart begged again.

"I asked him to." There was a long pause as Eve tried to process what was being said. Instinctively, Hollie shrank back, leaning against the wall and staring, almost unblinkingly, at her mother as she spoke. "I was really young… I was stupid… I was confused and I... didn't know what I was doing. I'd just lost one daughter and… I couldn't bear to mess up another one."

"But… he made you go?" Eve tried to reason, struggling to comprehend what she was hearing. "He wouldn't let you see me."

"Eve… I'm so sorry." Nikki breathed, fighting against her tears. "I wanted to get an abortion. But your dad… he found me in time and he begged me not to and… we made a deal."

Standing a little way off, Hollie felt her eyes burning with tears. She hadn't been expecting that. She had always thought that Nikki was so brave for having a baby so young, but to hear that she had wanted to get rid of her second child… the teenager was conflicted. Her own experiences told her that she had no right to judge; she hadn't been brave enough to keep her baby and so she couldn't say anything about Nikki wanting to get rid of one so soon after having her first essentially ripped away from her. Unconsciously, Hollie's hand drifted to her stomach as she listened to her mother's story, tears managing to escape under her closed eyelids.

"A deal?" Where Hollie was devastated by the information, Eve was furious.

"I said I'd give birth to you and your dad would bring you up." Nikki told her sadly. "He wanted me to keep in contact with you, but I… I just thought it would be easier if I was… erased." She glanced over her shoulder quickly and met her older daughter's eyes. "Ask Hollie, I was never any good at being a mother. You were both better off without me."

Without a word, Eve walked away. Her dad followed, leaving Nikki and Hollie alone in the hallway. The woman turned to her daughter beseechingly, but the teenager didn't know what to say. She simply blinked away her tears, staring back at her mother.

"Hollie…"

"An abortion?"

"It wasn't…"

"No wonder you weren't bothered when you found out about mine." The teenager replied, her voice oddly devoid of emotion. "Would you… did you want to get rid of me, too?"

"You know I didn't."

"What about AJ? Is that why you didn't tell Tom for so long?"

Nikki looked as though she'd just been slapped. "Of… of course not! Hollie…"

"How can you say I was better off without you?" The teenager asked, hurt and betrayal shining through her tone. "How the hell can you possibly think that's in any way true? If you'd have been there I wouldn't have had to…"

"I'm sorry." The woman said softly, tears falling thick and fast. "I really am. I'm… I'm sorry."

"Me too…" Hollie told her, shaking her head. "Everyone thought it was just me with issues… maybe it isn't."

Leaving Nikki staring after her, Hollie strode towards the doors and out of the building. She passed Tom as she went and told him that Nikki could probably do with some support, before going in search of Eve. She thought that she could at least try and comfort the younger girl a bit.

Reaching the bottom of the steps and looking at her sister, who was staring at something behind her, Hollie inhaled sharply. Glancing round, the older girl saw Nikki emerging from the building, Tom just behind her, looking totally confused.

"… she is not what she makes out." Eve spat, looking directly at Nikki. "You know, you're such a hypocrite! Pretending to be this amazing teacher who cares so much… but really you're just a massive fraud. Everything about you is a lie."

"I'm sorry…" Nikki whispered. She turned to look at Hollie and repeated her words.

"How could you treat your own daughter like that?" Eve looked at Hollie as well. "How could you treat either of us like that? You just threw us away like we were rubbish. No normal person does that. I don't know why Hollie's forgiven you… I won't."

Hollie watched as she turned and began walking away. Shooting a look at her mother, she started after the younger girl, catching up with her at the bottom of the slope by the school gates. Eve glared at her for a moment, as though expecting Hollie to start shouting at her, or even slap her again.

Instead Hollie nodded her head to the left and indicated that they should go that way. Neither of them spoke until they had made their way down the road and onto the beach. They picked their way over the rocks until Hollie sat down beside a rock pool. After a moment, Eve sat beside her silently.

Rummaging in her bag, the younger girl pulled out a couple of photographs and a small teddy. She looked at them for a moment before dropping all three into the rock pool at their feet. Still Hollie said nothing. Instead she waited for Eve to speak first.

"How can you bear to be anywhere near her?" She asked at last, almost spitting the question out.

Hollie thought for a moment before answering. Then she shrugged. "Because she's my mum and I love her."

"But… she ruined your life? Both our lives."

"No… before you found out that she was still alive, were you happy?"

Eve hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah…"

"So, she didn't ruin your life by not being there. She didn't ruin mine, either. Everything that happened to me… it was easy to blame it on Mum or my nan or anyone else that I thought let me down. But no one forced me to do anything. I made the choices that got me to a place where I was…" Hollie trailed off and shook her head. "Everything I did… everything that happened to me… it was my fault. And then Mum… she saved me."

The younger girl scowled. "So you just fell into her arms."

Hollie laughed and shook her head again. "No. Not at all. In fact, I slapped her in front of my entire English Class. She didn't know I was here and one day she just turned up and taught my English lesson. Things weren't… they weren't good or easy for a very long time."

"But… now they are?"

"I was kidnapped back in January." The older girl said. Seeing the disbelief on Eve's face, she smiled. "I know, it sounds crazy. My dad's family… they're not exactly the most law-abiding people around. They got caught up in this feud and my half-sister, Natalie, and me were abducted because of it. There was… Nat died." Hollie looked away, suddenly going cold. Her eyes stung as she remembered the event clearly. "Other things happened too… secrets came out and… we worked through it all." She sighed. "Give Mum a chance, Eve. She's not as strong as she seems… she really does love you."

"She didn't want me."

"Because she was scared you'd be taken away from her like I was. Her parents didn't give her a choice when I was a baby. They wouldn't let her raise me. She was just scared, Eve, surely you can understand that?"

Eve shook her head slightly. "I can't imagine ever getting rid of a baby… can you?"

Hollie visibly flinched. "Yeah," she admitted softly, "I can."

"Oh…" The younger girl's eyes widened. "Did you…?"

"I was fifteen and it was…" Hollie shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it. But I know what it's like to be in that situation and feel like you have no choices. You got lucky being Mum's daughter; my baby wasn't so fortunate. Whatever she says… Mum wouldn't have been able to go through with it. I know her and she couldn't."

"She still lied to me."

Nodding in agreement, the older girl shrugged. "She did. So be angry with her. But don't punish yourself by cutting her out of your life. Besides, I think I'd make a pretty good big sister, if you wanted one."

"Hey…" They both looked up as a new voice met their ears. Hollie smiled at Kacey, who was looking at them in concern. "You OK?"

Climbing to her feet and dusting herself down, the older girl nodded. "I'll leave you two to chat. Just… please think about what I said, Eve?"

The younger girl nodded slowly and sent Hollie a fleeting smile. Returning it quickly, Hollie turned and picked her way back across the rocks and up the beach. She walked slowly and had barely made it to the bottom of the road that led to the school before the two younger girls caught up with her.

She glanced sideways, trying to assess the mood. Kacey grinned at her and Eve's lips twitched upwards in a movement that could almost be counted as a smile. Returning the look, the older girl led the way back to school, turning through the gates and pausing as she saw Nikki and Eve's dad leaning against the side of, what she presumed was, his car.

Eve walked around it, heading for the passenger side and completely ignoring her mother's presence. It was only when Nikki called out to her that the teenager gave any indication that she knew she was there.

"Eve, wait…" Nikki reached out and held her younger daughter's hand tightly. They both looked at the connection for a moment, before the woman spoke. "Your dad wanted you more than anything else in the world, he loved you so much. And… I knew what a great father he'd be." She smiled. "Look at you… look at what a brilliant job he's done. If you… if you need, like, any help choosing a uni, or… anything… maybe… give me a ring."

"Yeah…" Eve nodded slowly and then looked sideways, meeting Hollie's eyes. "Hollie… you're right."

The older girl moved forwards, awkwardly. She was surprised when Eve hugged her, but accepted it nevertheless, muttering in her ear. "Anytime you want to talk… call me, OK?"

Then Eve pulled away and got into the car. Hollie moved to stand beside Nikki as they reversed and turned to head out of the gates. Slipping her hand into her mother's, she gave it a tight squeeze as they watched the car disappear from view.

"She'll call." Hollie said confidently. "She just needs time."

Nikki looked at her daughter carefully. "What did you say to her? She said you were right. Right about what?"

Hollie grinned and started pulling her mother back towards the school building. "That Biffy Clyro are way better than Foo Fighters. I also told her to start listening to My Darkest Days… I can't believe she's never heard of them!"

"Hollie?" The woman frowned in disbelief.

"Really, Mum, it was nothing."

She smiled at her mother and watched as Nikki turned and headed towards where Tom was waiting for her in the doorway, letting them walk inside together. Without looking sideways, she knew that Kacey had moved to stand beside her, her gaze trained on the doorway as well.

"I didn't know you were into decent music." She said lightly. "I thought you'd be into all that dance stuff like our Dynasty."

"Who says they're mutually exclusive?" Hollie replied with a shrug. Then she turned to look at the younger girl. "Whatever you said to Eve… thanks. I know it can't have been easy having her distracting Mum today when you really needed her… And I'm sorry I've been so bitchy to you recently. I was jealous Mum was spending so much time with you."

Kacey nodded. "I get it. That's why I was jealous of Eve. But… I didn't really say much to her. I think you convinced her before I turned up."

"I heard about your mum shutting down the Training Camp plan. I'm sorry. Maybe… maybe Mum will be able to convince her to change her mind."

"Nah," the girl shook her head dejectedly, "Mum won't change her mind now. That dream's over."

Hollie smiled and winked. "I wouldn't be so sure; Bostons hate failing. Don't give up, Kace."

The next week was Miss McFall's World War Two re-enactment week. Hollie, who had noticed a lot of tension in the house since Eve's identity had been revealed to her stepfather, could have done without the whole thing. She kept catching the tail end of arguments between her mother and Tom; urgent, whispered conversations that stopped the minute she entered whatever room they were in. The couple would send her reassuring smiles and act in a completely unbelievable way, as though trying to prove that they were fine.

Finally having enough of walking on eggshells, at dinner one night Hollie told them to either get over it or finish their relationship once and for all. The teenager reminded them that it wasn't healthy for AJ to be subjected to the atmosphere between them. She had barely heard the instant denials that there was anything wrong, before dumping her plates on the side with a loud clatter and storming up to her bedroom.

"You look great, sweetheart." Nikki enthused the next morning when Hollie appeared in the kitchen, dressed in her 1940's finest – a boiler suit with the sleeves rolled up, accessorised with a belt and scarf – and barely glancing up from her mobile. The teenager had completely ignored the strict no jewellery or make up policy that the school was trying to enforce for the week. "Coffee?"

"Mmm…" She agreed, still not raising her gaze to meet her mother's eyes.

"Are you still sulking, Hollie?"

"No."

"You are!"

At that, the teenager did look up, glaring at the woman leaning against the counter and smirking at her triumphantly. "Shut up."

"Don't act like a child, Hollie."

"You can talk." Her daughter retorted bitterly.

"It's not me!" Nikki assured her in a loud whisper, her eyes flicking towards the door. "I should have told Tom about Eve before, but he's the one who's completely overreacted. I'm trying, Hols, he just won't let it go!"

"Have you apologised?"

Nikki looked scandalised. "Of course I've bloody apologised!"

"But then–" Hollie broke off abruptly as her stepfather walked into the kitchen, fiddling with the knot of his tie.

Rising to help him, something she did most mornings, Nikki tried to hide her hurt as Tom swatted her hands away and turned to the kettle. He shook Hollie's mug, which the woman had abandoned to talk to her daughter, at the teenager and she nodded. Sending him a weak smile, Hollie settled herself at the kitchen table and tried to ignore the expression on her mother's face as she busied herself making toast for the three of them.

As they were off timetable for the living history week, AJ had been booked in with the child-minder all day as Hollie wouldn't be able to look after him. The family climbed into Tom's car, none of them speaking. Nikki climbed out, spoke to the young woman at the nursery briefly, before getting back in and fastening her seatbelt as Tom drove them to school.

Hollie watched as they both got out, gathered their things and walked into the building without exchanging a single word. She scowled at their retreating figures, kicking the tyre of the car in her agitation and immediately wishing she hadn't.

"Hey, babe!" Kevin slung his arm around her shoulders once he'd jogged up the slope from the gates to reach her side. "You are looking hot in that boiler suit."

She rolled her eyes and swatted at him half-heartedly. "Shut up."

"What's wrong? You seem down?"

"Mum and Tom…"

"They still arguing?"

"Yeah…"

"You think they're gonna break up?"

"Yeah…"

"Have they said anything about breaking up?"

Hollie shook her head sharply. "No. They're making out everything is perfect. But it's not. Tom didn't even acknowledge Mum's presence this morning. She was going to help him with his tie and he slapped her hands away." With a long sigh, she shook her head again. "I know she shouldn't have hidden Eve from him… I know after Lorraine it's another lie, but…"

"Tom doesn't trust her?"

"No…"

"Morning!" Scout and Zoe joined them cheerfully, not noticing the expression on their friend's face or the fact that she surreptitiously wiped her eyes when they turned away and headed up the steps and into the school.