When Jo and Sam knocked on Nikki's front door later that evening, they were both irritated that her girlfriend opened the front door. Vix stared at them for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed, as she clearly didn't recognise the two women on the doorstep. From the wine glass clutched in her hand, the detectives guessed that they were interrupting dinner, which probably accounted for the annoyed expression on her face.

Holding up her warrant card, Jo broke the silence. "We're here on official business. Can we speak to Nikki, please?"

"Umm... Nik?"

There was a pause and then the living room door opened and Nikki appeared in the hallway. She took one look at the two women outside her house and frowned. "What?"

"DI Nixon and I would like a word." Jo told her formally, flashing her warrant card again. "Can we come in?"

All the colour drained from the woman's face as she immediately thought the worst. "What's happened? Is it Hollie? Where is she? Is she OK?"

"Maybe we should sit down." Sam suggested calmly, ushering the younger woman into her own living room and pushing down onto the sofa. Neither of them jumped to reassure her, both feeling a sick sort of pleasure that she was suddenly so worried about her daughter.

They settled themselves on the cream settee on the opposite side of the coffee table from Nikki and her girlfriend with serious, totally professional expressions painted on their faces. When neither of the detectives spoke for a minute or two, Nikki became agitated, twisting her hands in her lap and frowning between them.

"So? What's going on?"

"We've come to notify you that Gavin Ashton was released from Longmarsh Prison on Monday morning. We were informed that someone had already contacted you, but that evidently hasn't happened. We'll look into why you haven't already been informed." Jo told her formally, her eyes flickering over to Vix to see how the other woman reacted to the news. If she wasn't very much mistaken there was a flicker in her eyes at the news, but she managed to keep her features under control and a neutral expression on her face. "It'll be part of the terms of his release that he isn't allowed to make contact of any sort with Hollie or anyone connected to her, but you need to be aware that he will no longer be detained."

"But that's… that's ridiculous!" Nikki exclaimed, leaning forwards in her seat and fixing the two detectives with an outraged scowl. "He got sixteen months! He's done six and a half!"

Jo ground her teeth. "I know…"

"So what's to stop him coming after her? How are you going to ensure that my daughter is safe from him?"

"She'll be offered protection and she'll be given a phone number to call if she's worried about anything at all." Sam soothed her.

"A phone number?" Nikki demanded furiously. "A phone number? Is that it?"

"Like Sam said, Hollie will be offered protection but we both know her well enough to assume that she will totally refuse any such offer." Jo pointed out. "Listen, Nik. I think you should try and persuade her to move back in with you." Seeing Vix's face hardening slightly, she frowned. "She is your daughter and, whatever she's done, you would never forgive yourself if you didn't fix whatever's going on between you and something happened to her."

"You think something's going to happen to her?"

Jo shook her head. "No. I'm sure she'll be fine, but imagine if it did."

The younger woman's face twitched as she imagined something terrible happening to her elder daughter and she opened her mouth to respond. Almost imperceptibly, Vix's hand crept out and covered her girlfriend's. Immediately, Nikki shook her head and looked down into her lap.

"I don't think I can be the mother Hollie needs. She's so damaged and everything I've done so far… I've got two other children to think about. Eve and AJ need me too, possibly more so than Hollie. She… I can't be there for her, Jo. Not now."

Jo gaped at her cousin, not having expected that at all. She shot a sideways look at Sam, not even bothering to hide her confusion. The blonde, too, was concerned about Nikki's words. She shifted slightly and fixed her with a serious look, reaching across the space between them and taking the younger woman's hand tightly in her own.

"I know this is difficult and worrying and I understand that you've got to consider your other children, but Hollie is your daughter." She reasoned softly. "She needs you now, perhaps more than she's ever done before." Sensing that Nikki was about to argue again, Sam smiled. "Nikki, I know what it's like to feel like you're fighting a battle you can never win. You'd never know it now, but there was a time when I thought that Abigail and I would never have any sort of relationship at all. She rebelled and fought against me at every opportunity. When she was fifteen she had an affair with a man old enough to be her father, a Sergeant I worked with, just to spite me. Later on, she was kidnapped by one of my ex-boyfriends. It turned out that she planned it with him, just to get her own back on me. He brainwashed her and she ended up getting pregnant by him. He's Harry's father." She shook her head, squeezing Nikki's hand tightly again. "However bad things got, I never gave up on her. And trust me, things got bad. But I kept reminding myself that Abi was my daughter and she needed me. Hollie is your daughter and she needs you."

"I… I can't." Nikki said quietly, shaking her head and pulling her hand out of Sam's. "I just… I can't."

"Nikki… please." Jo almost begged. "Just… at least be there when we tell her about Ashton. Please."

"I don't–"

"We'll come." Vix cut across her girlfriend firmly.

"Technically, you shouldn't be here." Jo snapped at her. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Hey!" Nikki frowned. "Don't talk to Vix like that. She's my fiancée. She's going to be Hollie's stepmum. She has every right to be here."

"No," Jo spat, "she doesn't. She's–"

Sam laid her hand on the brunette's arm. "We're going to tell Hollie tonight, when we leave here."

Vix stood up, pulling Nikki to her feet beside her. "We'll get our coats."

Tom showed the four women into the living room, before calling up the stairs to tell Hollie they were there. When there was no response, he sighed and jogged up to knock on her bedroom door. Poking his head inside, he found her typing away furiously on her laptop with her headphones on. She jumped when he tapped on her shoulder, looking up from the History essay that had commanded her full attention. Removing the headphones, she spun her desk chair around and looked at him expectantly.

"Your mum is here with Jo and Sam." He told her gently. "And Vix."

"Why's she here?" Hollie scowled.

Tom shrugged. "I don't know, love. But, just… play nice."

"Nice?" The teenager arched an eyebrow. "You want me to play nice?"

"For now." He told her, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You need to get close to Nik. You have to go home, sweetheart. She needs you. She needs you to look out for her."

"She's my mum… she's supposed to look out for me."

Tom chuckled. Crouching in front of her desk chair, he put his hands on her thighs and smiled. "She's looked out for you as much as you've let her. When you were kidnapped… she went out of her mind, Hol. She worries about you more than you know. She spends her life worrying about you. She puts you and your feelings before hers all the time… remember when she and I first got together?"

"So why is it different now, with Vix?"

"I don't know." He admitted, running a hand over his face and suddenly looking weary. "I really don't know."

"There's something going on, isn't there?" Hollie asked quietly, tilting her head and looking at him. It had suddenly dawned on her that her mother might have got herself into a situation that she couldn't get out of. She had wondered whether Vix might have some kind of hold over Nikki, but it was only just hitting her that it could be something darker than she had thought. "Mum really does need me."

With a wry smile, Tom put his hand on her cheek and nodded. "I think she does, love."

"Hey?" Hollie entered the living room, moulding her expression into one of bewilderment at the sight of the four women sitting awkwardly on the sofas. "What are you all doing here?"

"Sit down, darling." Sam encouraged her gently.

Hollie felt as though it was a test. There was space on the sofa between her aunts, but also between her mother and Vix. Deciding to take the safe option and not inadvertently make the wrong choice, she settled herself in the armchair across the room from both sofas. Pulling her legs up underneath her, she looked expectantly around.

"So? What's going on?"

"Hollie, sweetheart, we've got some news." Jo began gently, playing up to the idea that the teenager had no idea what was happening. "Gavin Ashton… he was released from Longmarsh on Monday morning."

The teenager felt her heart clenching. Her hands balled into fists at her sides and cold swept over her as she thought about the fact that the man she had put in prison was free to roam the streets once more.

"He's… he's free?"

"I'm sorry, love, I really am." Jo told her, sending her a weak, sympathetic smile.

"I… what's going to happen now?"

"We can assign someone to–"

"I don't need babysitting." Hollie informed her bluntly. "I don't need someone watching my back."

"Hol, it's just a precau–"

"No."

Jo shot Nikki a look, which clearly said 'I told you so', before turning back to her niece. "Look, Hols, Ashton is dangerous, you know that better than anyone. He knows that he's not allowed to contact you, but there's no telling whether he will ignore that and attempt it anyway."

"I don't care. I don't want someone spying on me. I'll be fine."

"Hollie, be sensible." Nikki chipped into the conversation at last. "If he's going to–"

"I said, no."

There was a pause as the teenager shot down her mother without so much as a glance in her direction. Hollie continued to stare at Jo with a determined expression on her face. Jo stared back, her eyes narrowing as they had a silent argument about the situation. Arching one eyebrow, the teenager leant back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest firmly.

"Right, fine." Jo held up her hands.

"You're just giving in to her?" Nikki demanded.

"Like you care." Hollie snapped, still not looking at her mother.

"I do care!" Nikki protested. "Of course I care!"

"You've got a funny way of showing it."

Jo and Sam exchanged a look, wondering what was going on. They hadn't expected the intense hostility that Hollie was sending her mother at all. While the detectives had guessed that the teenager would give Nikki a hard time, they had assumed that she would have attempted to work things out. Instead, it seemed that Hollie was determined to punish her mother further.

"Look, sweetheart, I do care. There's just… I've had a lot on my mind and–"

"And none of those things were me?"

"Hollie…" Sam shook her head warningly.

"What?" The teenager asked, looking at her and shrugging. "It's true, isn't it? Why else is she not at all bothered that I'm staying with Tom and not living at home."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to–" Vix started.

Hollie's eyes blazed as she turned to look at the woman furiously. "What has it got to do with you? Did anyone ask your fucking opinion?"

"That's enough!" Nikki ordered.

"Enough?" Hollie laughed sarcastically. "I haven't even started yet."

"You have finished." Her mother snapped. "I don't want to hear anymore."

There was a tense silence. No one seemed to know what to say or where to look. Hollie wriggled uncomfortably in her seat, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes. Clearing her throat as though she was about to say something, Jo shifted forward on the sofa and rested her elbows on her knees. Her eyes darted between Hollie and Nikki quickly.

"Listen… I really think it would be best if Hollie moved back in with you, Nik." She started gently. "It makes sense and I think having her under the same roof as you would give you peace of mind that she's safe."

"I'm happy where I am, thanks." Hollie muttered, earning herself a swift glare.

"Come on, Nik…"

"I agree with Jo." Everyone turned to see Tom leaning in the doorway. He shrugged as his stepdaughter shot him an indignant glare. "As much as I love having Hol here, she should be at home. Nikki… we both know that if she stays here you'll spend all your time worrying about her."

"She doesn't want to come home."

"You don't want me at home." Hollie retorted almost before her mother had finished speaking.

"We just think that it's best if you stay here." Vix started, taking one of Nikki's hands in her own.

"Again, why do you think anyone cares?" The teenager demanded. "This has nothing to do with you. Why are you even here?"

"I'm Nikki's fiancée. This affects me as much as it affects–"

"You are nothing to me." Hollie snapped at her. "You're…" She broke off shaking her head and biting her tongue. Sending an imploring look at her aunt, the girl was forced to look away before she accused Vix of being involved with Gavin. "I can't even…"

"Stop acting like a brat." Vix told her, rolling her eyes.

There was another long silence. "Are we done here?" Hollie demanded, standing up and looking around. "'Cos I am."

Turning, she stamped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Not caring about how much noise she was making, Hollie stamped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door closed. The familiar sound of AJ wailing from his bedroom was clearly audible through the walls but she didn't care.

Dropping onto her bed, Hollie stared up at the ceiling and scowled. Despite the conversation that she had with Tom before going downstairs, as soon as Vix had started talking, clearly making her connection to Nikki the most important in the room, the teenager had lost her temper. Maybe making it very clear that she had no respect for Vix, and never would, wasn't the best way to convince them that she should move back home. The truth was, however, that Hollie didn't want to live under the same roof as her mother's fiancée.

A knock on her bedroom door drew her out of her thoughts and she stiffened as it opened. Catching a fleeting glimpse of her mother on the threshold, she turned onto her side so that her back was to Nikki. Not making any other sign that she knew who had just entered her bedroom, Hollie fully expected her to just leave.

Instead, Nikki walked in and closed the door behind her. She hesitated for a moment or two, before crossing the carpet and perching awkwardly on the mattress. One hand sneaked slowly across the duvet and came to rest inches from her daughter's ankle.

"Hollie?"

When there was no reply, Nikki extended her index finger and stroked the skin of the teenager's ankle, just above the bone. Hollie twitched at the contact, but refused to react any more than that.

"Please, Hollie, listen to me."

"What?"

"Please come home."

"I thought Vix said you thought it was for the best that I stayed here."

"That's… we…" Nikki sighed. "Hollie, please."

"She doesn't want me there, Mum."

"I do."

Rolling over, the teenager looked at her mother seriously. "Vix doesn't like me, Mum. She doesn't want me to come home."

"You're my daughter and it's my house." Nikki informed her firmly. "If Vix doesn't like that…"

"What? You'll break up with her?"

There was a pause. "I… Hollie…"

"It's fine. I get it."

"Just… think about it, baby, please?"

"Yeah… maybe."