"Have you seen Eve?" Nikki asked her older daughter as people began to disperse. The teenager looked around, just noticing her sister's absence, before shrugging. "Has anyone seen Eve?" Nikki asked the group of teachers near them. Sue avoided her eyes, looking shifty. "Sue? What is it?"
"I may have… I might have told her about Vix?" The blonde said uneasily, almost as though she was questioning the statement, rather than making it.
Nikki exhaled sharply and rolled her eyes. Then she turned to Hollie hastily. "Go and find Eve. She spoke to you when she wouldn't speak to me before. Make sure she's OK."
Nodding, the teenager left the staff room and headed slowly through the corridors, checking each classroom she passed for a sign of her younger sister. She eventually spotted the fifteen-year-old sitting, cross-legged, on their mother's desk. Slipping into the room, Hollie closed the door firmly behind her and settled herself on the front table, watching Eve carefully.
After a couple of moments she glanced up, her head tilted slightly to one side as she surveyed her older sister. Neither of them spoke, Hollie waiting for Eve to break the silence first and Eve clearly pondering what to say.
"So, Mum's a lesbian?"
Hollie shrugged. "Sometimes."
"And sometimes not?"
"Well, Tom's a guy… my dad's a guy… your dad's a guy…"
"And… you're OK with it?"
"Course. She's still Mum, whoever she's sleeping with." Hollie reasoned with a casual jerk of her shoulders. "Besides, it's not like she flaunts it in front of me or AJ… she barely even kisses Vix if we're around. I think she thinks I'll freak out or something. I don't care though… Auntie Jo and Auntie Sam aren't as… private… and that doesn't bother me." She stared hard at her sister. "Why? Does it bother you?"
Eve shook her head. "No… not at all. I just… I wasn't expecting it. I mean, I thought she was still with Tom until not long ago…"
"So you're OK?"
"Yeah." The younger girl agreed with a warm smile, just as there was a light knock on the classroom door and Nikki appeared in the doorway, looking warily between her daughters. "Why didn't you tell me about Vix?"
"I didn't want to freak you out." Nikki admitted, causing Hollie to shoot her sister a knowing look.
"Mum… I've seen Modern Family. I know all about the bees and the bees." Eve reasoned with a smirk. From her new perch on the desk beside her, Hollie snorted.
"Well I didn't know if you knew or not… and obviously you do… so…"
"Oh, god, this is so embarrassing…" Hollie muttered, watching her mother's awkward dance as she settled herself on the recently vacated table in front of them.
"Shut up, you." Nikki ordered half-heartedly, evidently relieved. "Are you angry with me?"
Eve shook her head vehemently. "No, I… I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell me about her."
"Because she'd make a troll look attractive." Hollie deadpanned. Nikki leant forward and slapped her thigh with a mock stern glare. "Ow! OK, OK, I'm joking. She's actually really hot."
"I was scared that I might push you away when we were just getting to know each other." The woman admitted, looking more vulnerable than Hollie had seen her look for a long time. "It was the same when I was just getting to know Hollie properly and I started seeing Tom. She freaked out… she hated it. I didn't want to risk that… not again." Hollie started to apologise, but Nikki stopped her. "It wasn't Hollie's fault. There were… so many things going on with her and with me and with us and it just… it imploded for a while. But then what Simon was saying, you know about our time being limited, he's right… I want you to be a part of my life… our lives… part of all of it… which means I need to be completely honest." She took a deep breath and stood up. "OK…"
Nikki walked out of the classroom and the girls saw her beckoning to someone out of their sight. As the click of heels sounded on the floor, Eve shot Hollie a wary glance and her sister smiled back reassuringly. Nikki led Vix into the room, holding tightly to her hand as Eve slid off the desk to stand in front of the couple. Hollie stayed where she was, letting them have their moment with her interference.
"Vix, this is Eve. Eve, this is Vix… my fiancée."
Eve glanced back at Hollie, evidently not having known that the two women were engaged. Hollie just shrugged back, a smile curling the edge of her lips as Eve raised her eyebrows. Then the younger girl turned back to their mother and Vix and smiled.
"Hi… it's lovely to meet you."
At first things were incredibly awkward with Vix and Eve walking on eggshells around each other. Nikki looked between them as though she thought something terrible was about to happen and Hollie was growing more and more irritated by the minute.
The birthday girl half wished they hadn't bothered going out for dinner after that, seeing as everyone was being so fake and polite to each other. Tom and Josh were clearly uncomfortable about being there with Nikki's new fiancée, although they were doing their best to pretend otherwise. Just as Hollie was thinking up excuses to end the evening early, just so they could drop the pretence and act normally again, Vix began teasing Nikki and Eve joined in. Just like that, the tension vanished and everyone relaxed.
The next morning, Hollie was up early, eagerly awaiting the arrival of her aunt and her family. Vix laughed and said that she was like a toddler at Christmas, earning herself a swift glare from Nikki who quickly informed her of how many birthdays she and Jo hadn't been able to visit Hollie when she was younger and how much it had affected the teenager. The woman looked mortified that she had teased the teenager over such a sensitive subject, but Hollie shrugged it off and reminded her that the past was the past and she was happy now.
Finally, Sam's car drew up outside the house and Hollie was out of the front door in seconds. She threw herself at Jo almost before the woman had climbed out of the car completely, hugging her tightly. Laughing, her aunt returned the embrace, kissing the side of her head affectionately.
"Have you missed me or something, love?"
"Like you wouldn't believe." Hollie told her with a broad grin.
"Oh, I would." Jo told her with a nod. "I missed you too, kiddo."
Hollie moved around the car to hug Sam and Abi, before swinging four-year-old Harry into her arms and squeezing him tightly. She turned to say something to her aunt, but stopped as she realised that the woman was staring towards the house with her eyebrow raised. Following her gaze, Hollie spotted Nikki and Vix on the doorstep.
"Who's that?" Jo asked, nodding her head towards the blonde beside Nikki.
"Vix…" Hollie replied, not wanting to say anything else. It was down to Nikki to explain who the woman was and the teenager had no intention of doing it for her. "Come on… come and meet Eve."
"Where's Tom?"
The teenager frowned, glancing between the visitors. "Mum didn't tell you?"
"Tell us what?"
"Her and Tom broke up… like, ages ago…"
"What?" Sam's eyebrows almost shot up into her hairline. "Again?"
"Yeah… properly this time." Hollie replied with a shrug. "Like, he's got a new girlfriend and Mum's–"
Jo looked towards the house, realisation on her face. "Vix?"
"OK, yeah, but… I'm not saying anything."
"That makes a change." Abi teased her with a grin.
Hollie poked her tongue out. "Come on! Come and meet Eve. She's so nervous it's funny!"
Jo took an immediate dislike to Vix. No one was quite sure why, but the brunette detective spent the whole weekend making snide comments and sending her cousin's girlfriend dirty looks. It was actually quite amusing to Hollie, Eve and Abi to watch as Nikki grew steadily more annoyed and Sam grew steadily more embarrassed. Vix brushed most of the comments off, apparently deciding that Jo was just being protective.
After lunch on Sunday, everyone was lazing around in the living room, watching a film and preparing for the visitors to leave. Jo climbed to her feet, saying she was going to load the car, shooting Hollie a meaningful look as she walked past her. Understanding what she meant, Hollie waited a moment or two, before asking whether anyone wanted a drink and following her aunt out of the room.
"I spoke to Stevie at Sun Hill the other day." Jo told her in a low voice.
Hollie swallowed, guessing that whatever had been discussed wasn't going to be good news. "And?"
"Gavin Ashton's being released in a month or so."
"What?" The teenager breathed, feeling as though her throat was constricting. "But… he got sixteen months in July. He'll only have been in prison for like six!"
Jo winced, reaching out and squeezing her upper arms reassuringly. "Sweetie, I explained it at the time, didn't I? Because it's his first sentence, the time he'd serve would likely be halved anyway and with good behaviour…"
"I'm dead, Auntie Jo. He's… he'll…"
"He won't get anywhere near you."
Tears filled the teenager's eyes and she leant her head back against the wall, biting her lip. "You really think so? You really think that your lot can actually do anything to stop Gavin and his mates?"
"We can." Jo assured her firmly. "We can and we will. If he comes anywhere near you, we'll–"
"What?" Hollie snapped, more viciously than she'd intended. "He comes after me, I phone the police and I'll be dead before they've even left the station."
"Don't be overdramatic. He wouldn't–"
"He would!"
Jo sighed deeply. "Hollie, sweetheart, I can't promise you that he won't try and track you down. But I promise you… I promise… he won't get to you."
"Have you… have you told Mum?"
"No. I wanted to tell you first. I can tell her now if you want. It'll be better to get it out in the open so that she can get her head around it. You can put things in place to prevent what you're scared of happening, happening."
"Don't."
"Don't… what?"
"Don't tell her." Hollie ordered. "At least until after Christmas."
Jo looked confused. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to understand what the girl meant. "Why not?"
"AJ, Eve and Josh…" The teenager squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head.
"What about them?" There was an air of someone talking to a child who wasn't making much sense to the tone Jo had adopted.
"I won't put them in danger. I won't risk Gavin coming after them."
"So… what are you suggesting?"
Hollie looked at her blankly. "I'll think of something."
"Hollie…"
"Auntie Jo, please. Please don't tell Mum or… does Sam know?" Jo simply shook her head at the question. "Please don't tell anyone else."
"I can't promise they won't find out; victims are contacted by the police to let them know of an inmate's release. You've probably got about two weeks before they get in touch."
"Happy Christmas me." Hollie muttered sarcastically.
"You can't shut your family out to protect them, sweetheart. It won't work."
"It'll have to." Her niece said stubbornly. "Gavin will come after me and I won't let him hurt them."
"Hollie, just–"
"Who's Gavin?" A voice asked from behind them. Both females whirled round, wide-eyed, as their gaze fell on Eve standing in the doorway. She frowned as she looked between them curiously. "What are you talking about?"
"I…"
"I told you." Jo murmured. "They'll find out."
"Who's Gavin?" Eve repeated.
"He's no one. It doesn't matter."
"I'll ask Mum."
Hollie turned and fixed her with a furious glare, looking angrier than her younger sister had ever seen her. "Don't even think about it. You're just a silly little kid. You don't understand anything!" She hissed, advancing on the fifteen-year-old threateningly. "You mention anything to Mum and I swear–"
"Hollie." Jo wrapped her hand around the teenager's bicep and yanked her back roughly. "Stop it."
Eve looked as though she was on the verge of tears after her sister's outburst. She didn't wait around to hear any more, fleeing from the kitchen before either of them could stop her. Shooting a look at Hollie, Jo hurried after the younger of the sisters in an attempt to calm her down.
Turning away from the door, Hollie laid her hands flat against the surface of the cabinet beside the sink and squeezed her eyes closed. She felt terrible about losing her temper and scaring Eve. The girl had never seen her like that before and hadn't been expecting it. Eve had simply been curious about what they were talking about. There was no way she could have known how serious the conversation was.
Letting out her held breath in a long, steady stream, she mentally kicked herself. Even if Eve didn't say anything to Nikki about the conversation she'd walked in on, there was no way their mother wasn't going to realise that something had happened. Jo evidently didn't agree with her decision to keep the news about Gavin being released a secret and Hollie was sure that she would be only too happy to let the information slip.
Unwilling to hang around and deal with the consequences of losing her temper at her younger sister, Hollie grabbed the jacket off the back of one of the kitchen chairs and hastily made her exit through the back door. She shrugged the coat on as she started to run, through the back gate and along the alleyway that connected all the houses on their street.
It was icy underfoot, but the teenager didn't care. She liked the biting cold, eating away at her nose and toes and fingertips; the pain almost a welcome distraction from the internal battle that she was fighting. Hollie bit back the urge to scream, channelling her anger into running faster instead.
Every time things seemed to be going right something came along and threw a huge spanner in the works. While Hollie couldn't honestly, hand on heart, say she didn't still harbour the hopes that her mother and Tom would get back together, the teenager was glad her mum seemed happy for now. Eve had come into their lives and was becoming more and more comfortable as a part of their family. Even school seemed to be going reasonably smoothly. But now Gavin was being released and Hollie knew, she just knew, that their lives were going to be tipped upside down all over again. And it was all her fault.
"Fancy meeting you here."
Hollie jumped as a familiar, not particularly welcome, voice met her ears. She straightened up from where she had been doubled over, gasping for breath after her run and glared at the young man who was slouching against the metal railings that ran between the park and the footpath she was standing on. He smirked at her, before pushing away from the fence and moving towards her.
"What do you want, Barry?" Hollie demanded with a sigh, fixing him with a suspicious glare.
He shrugged innocently. "Nothing. I was just minding my own business when you came running towards me like a bat out of hell. What's wrong?"
"None of your business."
"Had an argument with Kevin?"
"No."
"Oh, that's right… he's a bit of a wimp. He's probably not capable of standing up to you." Barry taunted, dodging as the girl aimed a slap in his direction. "Then it must be family stuff." He guessed, pulling a face of mock-sympathy.
"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Hollie shot back irritably. "They forgiven you for what you did to Kacey yet?"
Barry's face clouded over and he scowled at her. "I was doing what was best for the family. Kacey shouldn't have gone to America!"
"Really? Are you sure you weren't doing what was best for Barry?"
"You don't know anything."
"Whatever." Hollie shook her head and turned away, preparing to start running again.
"So, what is it? Your precious mummy said something you don't like?" Barry taunted her. "Has she finally decided she doesn't want damaged goods for a daughter?"
The girl snapped. Before Barry had time to react she had brought her fist up and smacked him straight in the face. He staggered backwards slightly, not expecting the blow. Hollie used the opportunity to get into his personal space, narrowing her eyes angrily.
"My mum isn't like that." She hissed. "She's so much better than that."
"Yeah?" Barry rubbed his jaw and smirked at her. "You know I love it when you lose control."
"Stay away from me." Hollie ordered, turning her back on him and heading in the direction of the town.