(I own only plot.)

*Nina*

At breakfast, I walked up to Trudy. "Morning." I smiled at her.

"Hi, sweetie. How do you feel today?" She looked closely at me. "You've got purple circles under your eyes, darling. Have you actually slept?"

"Yeah. I was a little bit restless, that's all." I told her, avoiding reasoning why I was restless.

Trudy stroked my cheek, how I remembered my mom doing. "Sweetie, you ought sleep."

I loved hanging out with her. She gave me the feeling of being around my mom and I was happy. "I know. But you know how it is when you can't sleep properly."

"I know, baby girl, but you need to sleep. You're like my baby. It worries me when you don't."

Joy said "Trudy, you're not her mum. You shouldn't have to worry about her like that."

Trudy, ever the lovely mother figure, softly said "Joy, dearie, you and I both know that I do worry over you children and poor Nina here's had a hard time of it lately and I want the best for her. I did this for you before you ad Fabian started dating because you were upset."

I felt a little less important to her, since she was only doing her job. Joy smiled. "I know."

Still, I smiled at Trudy and tried to pretend that I wasn't upset. I helped her set up breakfast and she said "If you fancy it, after you've had a nap, I could take you up to London for the day."

London? I've never been to London... "That sounds great, Trudy."

"But?" She smiled, knowing what I was going to say.

"But I don't want you to go out of your way for me."

Trudy laughed. "Honey, if it means you're happy, I'm not wasting any time or going out of my way."

The doorbell rang and Trudy went to answer it. I heard her talking indistinctly, but instead of someone else responding, I heard a soft sound, as though someone had kissed her. I ran in to find that the guy from the cafe who had flirted with her had tracked her down. He wasn't being gentle with her, either. I saw her shoving him, though he'd pinned her against the wall. I grabbed him and pulled him off her. She punched him in the eye. "Babe, that hurt!"

"I'm not your babe! And there's plenty more punches where that came from!"

He just said "You're a proper beauty, you can't deny that."

I tightened my grip and hissed "Touch her again, I'll cut your arm off and make certain to use it in a way that wouldn't allow you to sit down, move or get on a surgeon's table ever again. Now get out and if you ever come back within forty yards of the school gates or her again, I'll have the police on you."

Trudy looked impressed when he paled. I shoved him out of the school grounds and snapped "Get as far away as you can. I will break you if you dare come near this school or that woman again."

He ran for his life. I turned and ran back to Anubis. Trudy was leaning weakly against the wall. I walked in and hugged her. "Nina! Oh, baby girl, I thought he'd hurt you!" She wrapped her arms around me, but I felt her trembling. "I'm so glad you're safe. OK."

I whispered "He won't bother you again. Come on, I'll take you to your room, then I'll bring you some food."

She was grateful to be in her bed, though she said "Nina, do you want to go up to London?"

"Not yet. You're not ready. You need to rest."

I hated that cruel man for scaring and hurting her. I went to get her some food. When I came back, I hugged her, relieved that she was OK. "Nina, you didn't need to do that."

"You do it for me. You need it. Just eat, drink and relax."

I was happy to just sit with her. We chatted and laughed. Trudy definitely had calmed down and relaxed. We didn't make it up to London, but we had fun just sitting and chatting.