A/N I seem to be on a roll with this story (I've been singing songs from the show all day as a result! XD), so I thought I'd update again. I'm planning 15 or 16 chapters (we'll see if I need an extra one or not) as that's how many songs there were (as the song for this chapter was repeated later), and I've worked out relatively well how everything will fit, so we're getting through it! :-D

Google have gone and changed their keyboard (as I write on my phone), so I'll apologise for any typos now! XD

Thank you to Holly for reviewing, and thank you for your amazing idea (which I really should have thought of myself! XD). Your idea will be in the next chapter, and it solves my problem of how on earth I was going to get a song about Munchkins to make sense as a chapter title (but you'll have to wait until next time to find out). XD If you want to, and are allowed, then you should get an account, as we could discuss story ideas through messages rather than reviews, as that would make this story even better! :-D Thanks also to Linneagb who reviewed whilst I was writing the chapter. :-D

Tracy POV

I was sitting on the old car seats in the garden, twirling a leaf in my hands, lost in my thoughts.

What had I done to Mike?

I'd seen his face in the quiet room, when I'd been lying on the sofa, completely exhausted.

And as bad as I'd felt, it wasn't fair on him.

I'd tried not to hurt him by not telling him anything was wrong, but in doing that I'd hurt him even more.

And I hated myself for it.

I sighed as a tear made its way down my cheek, just wishing everything hadn't gone so wrong.

I lifted my head as Lily came round the corner, Charlotte with her, both dressed for Lily's party.

As Charlotte saw I was crying she came over to me and hugged me tight. I hugged her back as Lily sat down.

After a few moments I gestured for Charlotte to sit next to her, before Lily began to speak.

"I'm sorry, Tracy," she began. "I should have moved back into the flat, and then..."

I cut her off, shaking my head. "No, it was my fault." I paused. "You're better staying here than with me and Cam anyway."

She gave me a smile, and I gave one back, even though I felt like crying.

"Are you OK?" asked Charlotte.

I nodded, even though more tears were making their way down my cheeks.

As Lily and Charlotte exchanged a look I looked down at my lap, wanting to be left on my own so I didn't upset them.

I heard Charlotte leaving, running off up the garden, but still didn't look up until she came back.

With Mike.

He knelt down by me, looking up at me, his eyes filled with pain and concern.

"I'm sorry," I said, desperately trying to stop crying. "I'm so, so sorry."

Mike just shook his head, before enveloping me in a hug.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said gently, holding me tight. "It's not your fault."

"But I upset you, I upset the kids when I collapsed," I said. "I should have kept quiet."

"No," said Mike. "No, no, no, no. You had a panic attack, Trace. You shouldn't keep that bottled up, not for six months."

"But it's..." I began.

"We've done you a party," said Charlotte suddenly, interrupting me.

"A party?" I said confusedly. "I thought that was for Lily."

"It is," said Lily, glaring at Charlotte. "We'd just like you to come."

I shook my head, pulling away from Mike. "Sorry, girls." I paused. "You really don't want me at a party now."

Mike POV

There she was again, trying to protect others

I glanced over to Charlotte and Lily, before I spoke. "Come on, Tracy. You don't have to stay long if you don't want: no one will mind."

I knew she wouldn't be up to staying at the party hours, not in the mood she was in.

"Even if it's just five minutes?" she asked.

I nodded, giving her a smile. "Even if it's just five minutes."

She gave a small smile, before she nodded. She then got up, and I took her hand, knowing she'd get a big shock once she got to the living room.

And with that we made our way inside.

When we got near the living room Charlotte and Lily ran on ahead, leaving me and Tracy to go up the stairs.

"They're probably just excited," I said, telling a little bit of a lie. The real reason they were running ahead was so they were in position to surprise her.

As we were about to turn into the living room I gave Tracy's hand a small squeeze, not knowing quite how she'd react.

And then I opened the door.

As soon as the door was opened everyone shouted "SURPRISE!". Tracy stood there, completely overcome with shock.

"You OK?" I asked gently.

She nodded, eventually finding her voice. "You've done all this... For me?"

"Of course we have," said Lily, smiling. "I didn't need a party nearly as much as you did."

Suddenly Tracy ran forward, wrapping her arms around everyone.

"Thank you so much," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks again.

But they were tears of joy.

After a few moments Tracy stepped away, and looked up at me. I gave her a smile, before looking over to Liam.

"Let's get this party started!" he said, and everyone laughed, before the music started.

Half an hour later Tracy was doing much better.

She was dancing with Carmen, Lily, Tee and Charlotte. Charlotte kept making up routines for the songs, and then she got everyone to copy her.

It was funny to watch how good she was compared to how bad everyone else was.

They were enjoying themselves though, and that was all that mattered.

Just then Gus rushed in, the Guinness World Record book in his hand, yelling at Toby about the paper chain.

Poor Toby had put the decimal point in the wrong place.

As everyone laughed at his mistake (kindly, of course), I heard the doorbell ring. I went to go and get it, but saw Tracy leaving the room.

Tracy POV

When I got to the front door I opened it. To my shock, Seth was standing there.

I pretended to be happy as he said hello, but inside I could feel myself being overwhelmed.

Seth had caused part of this. By accident, of course. But he'd still caused some of it.

I gestured for him to follow me, before I made my way to the living room.

As we walked in I threw Seth a few smiles, trying to show him I was OK, before I headed straight for Mike.

He could obviously see the tears in my eyes as I looked up at him, and opened his arms, gesturing for me to come forward.

I did as I was told, going towards him and resting my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Shh," he said gently as the tears began to fall. "It's alright, I'm here."

"Seth's here," I said.

He looked confused. "Why are you crying, then?"

I just shook my head.

"Come on," said Mike, pulling out of the hug but leaving his arm wrapped around my shoulders. "Let's go to the quiet room, shall we?"

I gave a small nod.

Mike gently steered me through everyone, before he stopped at Seth.

"Seth," he said, getting his attention.

Seth turned, a smile on his face, before he saw me. "Tracy? What's wrong?"

"Come with us," said Mike, before we made our way to the quiet room.

When we got there Mike sat down on the sofa, gently sitting me next to him as he did so. Seth sat on the sofa opposite, looking at me worriedly.

"Are you upset about what I said this morning?" he asked. "Because if you are, we broke up, and I'm here for you now."

I felt Mike tense. "You told Tracy you'd met someone else?"

"Yeah, she called me at about 9:00 this morning," said Seth. "She had to go before I could explain properly though. You called her."

Mike looked down at me. "You didn't get into work until 10:00, Tracy." His face softened. "What's going on?"

I looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact. "I, I couldn't breathe, I was panicking, I didn't know what else to do..."

"Another panic attack," Mike said quietly.

I gave a small nod, before I dissolved into tears.

"Tracy, I'm so sorry," said Seth. "I really didn't want to upset you, I just..."

Seth carried on talking, but I wasn't listening anymore. I was reliving the phone call in my head, remembering all too well how it had felt, how I'd struggled to breathe, how scary it had been.

"Shh," said Mike, holding me tight as I began to shake. "Shh. It's alright. I'm here. I've got you."

I tried to relax, Mike's words soothing me as I remembered his earlier promise.

"That's it, good girl," said Mike as the shaking stopped. "Good girl."

"Are you alright?" asked Seth.

I gave a small nod, although I knew both Mike and Seth would see through it.

"Do you want tomorrow off as well?" asked Mike gently. "You can't work like this."

I shook my head, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"You could help Charlotte decorate her room," said Mike, suddenly having had the idea.

I nodded, giving a small smile: that would be fun.

"Do you want to come back to the party?" asked Seth.

I shook my head. "You go, I'll come in a minute."

Seth smiled at me, before he left the room.

"You OK?" asked Mike.

I shook my head: I felt awful.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked gently.

"I didn't want you to worry," I said.

Mike chuckled. "So you didn't tell me because you didn't want me to worry, and by doing so you made me worry even more." He shook his head, letting out another small laugh. "What're you like, hm?"

I didn't answer, just relaxing onto him, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

Mike rubbed my arm. "You want to go back?"

I nodded.

Mike smiled. "Come on, then."

We then both got up and headed back to the living room.

Charlotte POV

I was worried about Tracy.

She'd left the living room crying, just after Seth, who I'd met when he came back in, had come in with her.

As soon as she came back in I ran up to her, giving her a hug.

"Are you OK?" I asked.

Tracy nodded, although there were still tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Tracy smiled at me. "Nothing, I'm alright now." She looked around at the party, where everyone was doing their own thing. "You not doing your dance routines?"

I shook my head. "It wasn't the same without you."

Tracy smiled again. "Come on, then." She moved to a space, me following. "Let's dance!"

I smiled, and began making up a dance routine, Tracy copying my every move. Soon we were dancing together, laughing when Tracy made a mistake, which happened a lot.

"Mike said we could paint your room tomorrow," said Tracy when she was too tired to dance anymore.

I smiled. "Can we? That would be so much fun!"

Tracy smiled back, and I ran over to her (I'd been dancing whilst she sat down) and hugged her. She hugged me back.

"Should we get the others to help or not?" asked Tracy.

I thought. "We could ask if anyone wants to, and then they could help, because it'll take a long time to do ourselves."

Tracy smiled. "We'll ask tomorrow morning then, shall we?"

I nodded, smiling, still excited about painting my room.

And I was so excited I started to dance again, and didn't stop until the party was over.

Tracy POV

"Now, just remember, you can come and find me if you need me, yeah?"

Mike was telling me for the tenth time to come and find him if I needed to, probably because he'd sensed my fear about going to sleep. I'd be all on my own, and the nightmares were sure to return.

I nodded. "I will, I promise."

Mike gave me a smile. "Good." He looked at me worriedly. "Becuase the last thing I want is you up half the night feeling scared, but not waking me up."

"Stop fussing, Mike, I'll be fine," I said. "And I'll come and see you if I'm not."

Mike smiled at me again, before he went to leave the room. "Night."

I smiled back. "Night."

And then he was gone.

Immediately I felt scared. I had the urge to tidy the room, to distract my mind, but I knew I needed to sleep.

I went into the bathroom and cleaned my teeth, before going back to my bedroom and getting changed.

I then turned on my bedside lamp, turned off the main light, and got into bed.

Charlotte POV

I hasn't stopped crying since I went to bed.

The clock said midnight, which meant I'd been crying for three hours.

I didn't like being on my own, in the dark, thinking about Mum.

So I went to see Tracy.

The light was on, but Tracy was fast asleep.

I didn't want to wake her up, because she'd looked really tired earlier, so I curled up on a blanket that had been left on the floor, and eventually fell asleep.

Tracy POV

I woke with a gasp.

I'd had the same nightmare again, and as I put my hand to my chest I could feel my heart racing, and my chest heaving as I gasped for air.

As I began to cry I lay back down, knowing I should get Mike, but not having the energy to do so.

"Are you alright, Tracy?"

I jumped as I heard a voice, and looked down to see Charlotte lying on the blanket I'd taken off the bed earlier, looking at me worriedly.

I slowly shook my head, and she ran out of the room.

For the second time since she'd been here she returned with Mike.

"Tracy?" he said. "Are you OK? Charlotte said you were crying."

I looked up at him, my eyes full of fear and pain and everything else the nightmare had given me.

"Come here," said Mike gently.

I slowly sat up, hugging Mike as he sat on the bed next to me.

As I cried I heard someone else sobbing, and turned to see Charlotte in tears.

"Come here," Mike said again, his voice still gentle, patting the bed next to him for Charlotte to come.

She climbed onto the bed next to Mike, and he hugged her as well.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Mike, making his voice softer. "Are you missing your mum?"

Charlotte nodded.

I pulled away from Mike's hug, gesturing for him to hug Charlotte properly. Mike gave me a grateful smile, before wrapping his arms around Charlotte. I rested my head on the side of his arm, feeling much more relaxed now he was here.

Charlotte POV

"Shh," said Mike gently, holding me close as I shook as I cried. "It's OK, I'm here."

"I want Mum!" I said.

"I know," said Mike. "I know."

As much as I wanted Mum, Mike was very kind, still holding me ten minutes later.

"You OK?" he asked as I stopped crying.

I nodded.

"Do you want to go back to bed?" asked Mike.

I shook my head. I didn't want to be on my own again.

Tracy put her hand on my arm. "You can stay with me if you want."

I looked up at her, and knew she was being nice to me because the same thing had happened to her.

I nodded.

Tracy smiled at me.

Mike pulled away, before standing up and looking at us both.

"I'll leave you to sort yourselves out then," said Mike. He looked to Tracy. "Come and find me if either of you need me, yeah?"

Tracy nodded. "I will."

Mike smiled at us both, before he left the room.

Tracy lay back down, before I curled up next to her.

Suddenly I remembered something. "I'll be back," I said, before going to my room, grabbing Emily, Bryony and Annabelle, and then going back to Tracy's.

Tracy smiled as she saw a soft toy dog (Emily) and two model dogs, a mother (Bryony) and her puppy (Annabelle). I introduced them to her, before Tracy put Bryony and Annabelle on the table next to the bed, and I climbed under the duvet with Emily. Tracy wrapped her arm around me, before we both fell asleep.

Tracy POV

I woke gasping for air again. Charlotte was by my side, but that did nothing to calm my panic.

My dream had been different this time. Rather than my real mum, it was Mike standing next to me on the boat. As the wave swept over the boat he'd gone with the water, and I'd had to watch him drown...

"Breathe, Tracy."

I was startled as Mike spoke, standing next to the bed, his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

As I ran over what he'd just said I tried to slow my breathing. Mike was here, he wasn't dead.

I looked down and saw Charlotte looking at me worriedly.

"It's a good thing she came to get me," said Mike. He rubbed my arm. "No way are you working tomorrow."

I shook my head, trying to protest, but unable to speak properly with my breathing.

"Gina won't mind," said Mike. "But you need a proper night's sleep before you do a day's work."

I shook my head again, trying to argue, but it was obvious Mike wasn't listening.

"Just try and slow your breathing down, Trace, yeah?" said Mike. He turned to Charlotte. "Could you give us a minute?"

Charlotte nodded, going to leave, but I grabbed her back.

Mike gently took my hand off Charlotte's, but smiled at her to stay anyway.

A few moments later my breathing slowed, returning to normal, and I didn't even have to look at Mike before he enveloped me into a hug.

"Do you want me to stay in here tonight?" asked Mike.

I shook my head, not wanting to be any trouble.

"Will you be alright, Charlotte?" asked Mike.

She nodded, giving me a hug as well.

Mike smiled. "You're a good girl, Charlotte."

She looked up at Mike, smiling, before she rested her head on my side.

"You tired?" I asked her.

She nodded sleepily.

I gave a small smile. "Should we get you back to sleep then?"

Charlotte nodded again.

I pulled away from Mike for a moment, before I gently lifted Charlotte up and lay her on the bed. I put the duvet over her as she closed her eyes.

I smiled, glad she was OK, before Mike hugged me again.

"What happened?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Just a dream."

"More like a nightmare," said Mike.

I nodded, more tears making their way down my cheeks.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" asked Mike.

I nodded.

"I don't mind, Tracy," he said. "If it'll help you, then..."

"I'll be fine," I said, putting on a brave smile. "Seriously, Mike, stop fussing."

Mike gave me a smile. "I'm allowed to worry about you, you know."

"I know," I said. "But I'm fine."

Mike gave me a look, obviously showing he didn't believe me.

"I'll come and get you if I need you," I said, wanting him to go back to bed so he could get some sleep.

Mike looked me in the eye. "Promise?"

I nodded, giving him a smile. "Promise."

He smiled back, before he left the room, and I lay down, my arm around Charlotte, as I drifted off to sleep...

A/N Wow, my chapters seem to be getting longer rather than shorter! (That's a first! XD) I'm sorry for all the Tracy sad stuff, but I always felt 'Chain Reaction' moved on too quickly, and I love writing that kind of stuff anyway. XD This should be the last chapter of this, but then again with how little I plan I can't say that for sure. XD I've changed the summary as well (I may add I little bit more), but there is a bit of a cliffhanger thing there, so you can try and work out what's going to happen. XD Anyway, really hope you enjoyed the chapter (and my much shorter A/N XD), please review! :-D