Author Note:

Thank you for all your reviews guys. It makes me really happy to know you're enjoying reading, as much as I am writing.

Sorry I haven't updated lately; it's been a bit of a busy time and I've been ill. I've had this written for a few days now but I wasn't happy with it at the time, so I didn't upload. I've tweaked the ending a little and I like it much more now.

If you have any suggestions for things you'd like to see happening, feel free to drop me a PM, or leave it in a review.

Please read, and continue to review. Look out for updates to my other fics over the next couple of days!

Leanne xx

Disclaimer: I still don't own Waterloo Road.

Part Four

When Karen woke up the next morning it took her a minute to remember where Charlie was. She rolled over in bed and checked the clock, surprised to find that this was the best night's sleep she'd had in months. She pulled on her dressing gown and began to look for something to wear that day. There was a quiet knock on her bedroom door. "Come in," Karen called.

She heard the door creak open. "Morning Mum."

"Hi love," Karen's voice was muffled by the fact that her head was buried in the wardrobe.

"Hey," Jess said breezily from the doorway, dressed in a pink dressing gown and slippers. "I just wanted to ask if Vicki could stay tonight." She asked, giving her mum a hopeful grin.

"Have you asked your Dad?" Karen said, moving over to lay her clothes on the bed. Selfishly she didn't have a problem with letting her stay, because while there were people in the house, Charlie would behave impeccably. But then they always had to run everything past him.

Jess shook her head, "He's still asleep," She answered, rolling her eyes. "Please Mum."

Karen thought about it briefly. If they said no then Jess would probably go out anyway, and she'd have preferred to have them there rather than out in town until all hours. Jess had grown up a lot lately, and Karen thought she'd learned her lesson but it didn't mean she didn't worry. "Of course she can," She answered. "Is pizza and chips okay for tea tonight?" She turned around to look at her.

"That'd be–" Jess started but then stopped as she noticed the bruise on her mum's face. "What happened to your face?" She asked nonchalantly.

Karen flushed slightly pink, and Jess observed that she didn't meet her eyes as she answered. "Oh I caught it on the corner of the kitchen cupboard," She said lightly, reaching up to touch the bruise, accidentally lifting the sleeve of her dressing gown and slightly revealing the marks on her arm, something which Jess noticed, but didn't comment on. She just looked at her through narrowed eyes. "I need to get into the shower." Karen changed the subject, "Do you want a lift this morning?"

"Please," Jess forced a smile, "I'd better go and get dressed too." She disappeared out of the room and Karen sank down onto the bed, shaking violently. How could she have been so stupid? Although she was thankful she'd thought to put on her dressing gown because she'd have had a harder time explaining those injuries. Sighing, she picked up her towels from the cupboard next to the en-suite and disappeared inside, locking the door behind her.

Jess was sitting at the table eating breakfast when Karen came down from upstairs. She looked at her again and the bruise was barely visible under layers of make – up. If it was as innocent as her mum said it was, then why had she gone to so much trouble in order to hide it? "Is your Dad awake yet?" Karen asked casually, at the same time as pouring herself a bowl of cornflakes.

"Not yet," Jess answered, getting up and rinsing her cereal bowl, before putting it in the dishwasher. "That's some hangover he's going to have later." She fell silent, as if wanting to say something but not quite knowing how to start. "Mum, can we talk?" Jess managed finally, fidgeting slightly. She moved over and shut the kitchen door.

"Of course love," Karen peered at her worriedly. "What's the matter?" She gestured at her to come and sit down at the table.

Jess did so and looking directly into her eyes replied, "I don't want to talk about me; I want to talk about you." She said stubbornly, throwing caution to the winds. Karen froze; her spoonful of cereal halfway to her mouth. "Is it Dad? Did he do that to you?" She gently touched her cheek, where she knew the bruise was.

"Leave it Jess, please!" Karen knew that not telling her was tantamount to admitting the truth but she didn't have the words to tell her what a monster her father really was. Just as she'd confessed to Rob, that she couldn't. "It's nothing really." She met Jess' eyes, wincing at the steely glare in them. "Look," She started again, changing tack. "Marriage is a complicated thing… and this family has been through a lot over the last couple of years…"

"Don't patronize me," Jess said angrily, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm not a little kid Mum!"

Guiltily, Karen found herself unable to look at her. "No you're not!" She agreed her voice barely audible, as she hesitated whether or not she could confide in her daughter. A battle of wills was taking place; on one hand she wanted nothing more than to be able to admit the truth because she was tired of living a lie but on the other, she knew she couldn't burden Jess with the truth. She was her mother. She was supposed to be able to protect her. "But it's really nothing you need to worry about." The latter voice won out, and she forced herself to look up, "We just had a little difference in opinion."

"That resulted in you getting a fist in your face," Jess shot back, running a frustrated hand through her hair. She couldn't understand why she was protecting him.

"Please Jess; I don't have time for this. Not now." There was a pleading note in Karen's voice as she begged her to let the matter rest.

With a resigned sigh, Jess stood up. It was clear who she'd inherited her stubbornness from, and in this instance it wasn't a good trait. Karen had as good as admitted it, and Jess was willing to bet that it went further than that. The atmosphere in the house had been tense for months, and both she and Harry had been waiting for their parents to announce they were getting divorced. Now Jess wished they would.

"When then?" She stated flatly, still unwilling to let it go. "When are you going to face up to what he's done to you and deal with it?"

"I don't know, okay Jess?" Karen said sharply, silently willing herself not to break down.

Her daughter coloured slightly at the sharp manner in which she was addressed. "Fine," I'm off to finish getting ready." She spoke with an unnerving return to her usual tone of voice. She disappeared out of the room, letting the door shut with a louder than necessary bang.

Karen looked down at the table, tears swimming in her eyes and beginning to clog her throat, and her breakfast threatening to make a reappearance. Mindlessly pushing her spoon around the remainder of food in the bowl, she stood up and emptied its contents into the bin. She'd completely lost her appetite.

The drive to school seemed to take an eternity that morning. Harry was running late and wasn't ready to leave when Karen did so it was just she and Jess in the car. They were both silent – their argument from earlier lingering overhead like a dark cloud – but Karen couldn't miss the occasional sideways glance that Jess sent her when she thought she wasn't looking. She couldn't miss it anymore than she'd been able to miss the fact that Jess was closely observing the the stilted conversation taking place between her and Charlie when he finally awoke. It had made her feel distinctly on edge. "Do you want a lift tonight?" Karen finally broke the silence between them, as they pulled up at a set of traffic lights.

Jess shook her head, her attention concentrated on her mobile phone, "I think we're okay to walk," She said, tapping away at the keypad. "We'll probably go into town for a little while first."

"Give me a call when you're on your way back then, and I'll have tea on ready for you." Karen said, with an almost inaudible sigh. She hated the tension that was between them now, and couldn't help but to blame Charlie for that as well.

"Thanks Mum," Jess said awkwardly, glancing out of the window so she didn't have to look at her. She had no idea what to say to her now, because they both knew there was more to the situation than met the eye and Jess couldn't believe she was refusing to do anything about it.

They pulled up at the school gates and Jess opened the car door. "Jess–" Karen started, over the sound of the engine humming. Her daughter turned to her expectantly. "I'm sorry." The words sounded stupidly insignificant to both of their ears, but she didn't know what else she could say. "Have a good day," She finished finally.

Jess just shrugged, climbing out of the vehicle and slinging her bag over one shoulder. "See you later," She muttered quietly to no one in particular, watching as her mum drove around to the car park.

Karen sighed as she reversed the car into her usual parking space. Her relationship with Jess had really improved since the previous year, and the last thing she wanted was for that to change. Her daughter wasn't stupid, by any definition of the word and Karen knew that she could see the situation for what it really was. It made her feel so guilty, and ashamed for not having the strength to do anything about it.

A car pulled into the space beside her and she realised she'd just been sat there, lost in thought. Tom knocked lightly on the window, and plastering a smile on her face, she wound it down to speak to him. "I know the feeling," He started. Karen looked up at him, confused. "I often sit here of a morning, trying to work up the enthusiasm to go in there." He jerked his head towards the building. "Come on, you have it easy!" He joked.

Karen managed a genuine smile, "You should try doing my job some day," She bantered back. "It's not all sitting around in an office." She shut the window, and got out of the ca, reaching for her things.

"Do you want a hand with those?" Tom offered, not waiting for her to reply before he took the pile of files, she'd just retrieved from the car, out of her arms.

She looked at him gratefully, pulling her bag off the seat and locking the car behind her.

"Thanks Tom."

When Karen made her way up to her office after a detour to the staff room, she was surprised to find Janeece already at her desk. "Morning Mrs Fisher," She commented, looking up from her computer screen, and quickly minimizing an internet window, which her boss pretended not to notice.

Karen afforded her a brief smile, dropping two manila folders onto her desk. "These are the results of last month's inspection. They need typing up and sending out to the parents."

"I'm on it," Janeece replied efficiently, opening up a blank document. "Oh, and Mr Fisher's in the office, waiting for you." She added, as Karen turned to leave.

Karen felt a shiver run down her spine, and a sudden chill ran throughout her body. "Thank you Janeece," She replied steeling herself for the next few minutes. "Would you mind nipping to get me a coffee before you start?"

Her legs felt like lead, and she struggled to coordinate them enough in order to be able to walk into her office. Arms full, she leaned against the door, pushing it open. Sure enough, Charlie was sat there on her sofa, an empty mug in his grasp. "You left in a bit of a hurry this morning." He said by way of greeting.

"Charlie? What are you doing here?" She tried to inject a positive note into her voice, dumping her coat and bag on a chair, and her work on the desk. He just looked at her. "I was running late," She explained, lamely.

Her husband smiled at her standing up from the sofa, and she had to fight not to move away from him, as he lightly kissed her on the cheek. "The agency phoned, said you needed some cover… so here I am."

Karen busied herself with arranging the files she'd just brought in from the car. "That's news to me," She answered, trying not to show that that it affected her. Fear clutched her heart; work was the only place where she could put everything that happened when she was at home into boxes. Waterloo Road was her domain. It was her name above the door and for the ten hours a day she was there, Karen was in control.

"Do you have a problem with it?" His voice remained calm, but she could detect the underlying threat there. She couldn't even be reassured by the fact that they were in school and he wouldn't try anything, because his behaviour had been so unpredictable lately there was no telling.

"Of course not," Karen managed, her throat dry as she panicked. "I just expected you to be feeling a little worse for wear this morning." Charlie opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the office door swinging open.

"'Ere get that down your neck; you look like you could use it." Janeece commented, with her usual brutal honesty, placing the steaming mug of liquid in front of her.

Karen mustered a rueful smile; for once she was grateful for her timely intervention. "Thanks Janeece," She said sincerely, taking a large mouthful of the drink. She could feel the beginnings of a headache brewing and gently began to massage her temples. It was going to be one hell of a day.

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