The news had leaked that Zac and Lauren were dating so they had to leave Corbin's and attend a press conference. Lauren's friends were staying at Corbin's for a few more days before flying back. Corbin was cool about it; he was crushing on one of them anyway.

'Hey Zac?' Lauren said as they were walking into the building.

'Yeah?'

'What if they don't want us together?'

'Well then I wont care, I can be with whoever I want to be with'

'So you won't leave me?'

'As if'

He grabbed her hand and they walked in, cameras flashing everywhere, journalists shouting questions. When they'd sat down and order had been made, they began to ask questions.

It was all over in less than 2 hours. Lauren and Zac decided to go and grab a coffee at Starbucks. As they got their, a gang of teenagers rushed up to them giggling, asking for autographs. They posed for photos and when asked if they were really together, they smiled at one another and Zac pulled her in for a short but sweet kiss. The girls 'awwed' and soon left them in peace.

They grabbed their drinks and sat in the back on the sofas.

'Lo?'

'Mmm?'

'Did you ever date Jacob?'

Lauren snorted and thought he was joking, when it became clear he wasn't she said,

'Oh come on, you don't really think so?'

'Well I dunno, I just wanted to learn about my girlfriends past'

'Oh you do, do you?'

'Yep'

'Well, I was born in London but my Mum, who's American originally, moved here when my Dad left us when I was seven, that's why I have a slightly different accent to the rest of you. Anyway-'

She carried on but was interrupted by Zac.

'That must have been hard'

'Not really, I guess I was too young for it to hurt that much. It's worse for my brothers.'

'Why?'

'Well I have three, Rowan, the oldest, was my Dad's favourite, he's 23 now, then Harry, who's 20, he was always jealous of the attention my dad gave Rowan, and then there's Billie, he's only just turned 13, it's been hard for him because he never really knew him very well. Even if he did he can't remember it now.'

'Wow'

'Yeah, but worst of all, he made it difficult for my Mum'

'How?'

'He cut off money supplies and things so my Mum had to work 16 hours a day just to feed us and Rowan had to go out and pretend to be older to find work. Whatever he earned he'd bring back and it would go in a little pot on the mantelpiece. Eventually we had enough to get a decent flat somewhere, I shared a room with my mum and the boys shared, it was really small but it felt as if we were going places, you know?'

'Yeah, I understand'

'But then he came back 2 years later, said he wanted access to Rowan, he didn't bother about the rest of us. I remember the day he came back'

She began to tell Zac the story.

Flashback

A nine year old Lauren was sat telling her baby brother a story on the tatty couch when there was a bang on the door. She looked up to see her mother look worriedly at her eldest brother Rowan. She saw him pat her arm and then go and answer the door.

Lauren's second eldest brother walked in and kneeled next to them, protecting them if someone came in and tried to hurt them.

When he saw who it was, Billie got up off Lauren's lap and ran to his father yelling,

'Daddy, daddy!'

He reached out his arms but Ricky (the dad), pushed him away with his leg. Billie toppled over backwards and hit his head on the table corner. Harry jumped up and lunged at his father who swiped at him. Harry was knocked out cold. Lauren's mum screamed and tore at her dad, scratching his face, tearing his hair.

Her dad just smiled and punched her, right in the stomach. What made it worse was that she was four months pregnant…

End of Flashback

'Oh my god Lo, I didn't realise it was this bad, you don't have to tell me any more.'

Lauren was crying now, the silent tears when you're over something but can't help but cry when you think of it. Zac got up and walked over to where she was sat; he picked her up and placed her on his lap, stroking her hair.

Lauren looked around, there was only one other person in the room and she was on the far side of the room, engrossed in a magazine.

Lauren shook her head and said,

'No it's good to get it out once in a while, I've started now anyway so I might as well finish'

'Ok but stop if you want to, I'm not pressing you'

Lauren carried on with the story…

Flashback

Her dad just smiled and punched her, right in the stomach. What made it worse was that she was four months pregnant…

Lauren didn't know who to run to first, her mother who was screaming on the floor or her two brothers who were just laying there. Rowan went to their mum, helping her up and laying her on the couch where she passed out, Lauren dabbed cold water on Harry's face, trying to wake him up, she cleaned Billie's wound. All the time her dad just watched, smiling evilly. Lauren's first thought when she saw him like that was,

'What a monster'

There was a tap on her shoulder and she turned round. Rowan was stood there, he said,

'I'm going to take a walk with Dad, I'll be back to take mum to the hospital, stay here and don't let anyone in'

Lauren nodded and tended to her broken family. It wasn't until four hours later, midnight, thatRowan came back, he was stumbling, bruises and cuts all over his face, and he was clutching his arm so she thought he'd broken it. There was nowhere for him to go so Lauren led him through to her bed and laid him down, she grimaced when she saw his arm, he hadn't broken it but there was a huge gash all the way from his wrist to halfway up his upper arm.

Luckily he too had passed out from the pain; otherwise Lauren couldn't have cleaned him up. It would have been too painful. She walked back through to the living room to find Billie's head bleeding, the gash was straight across his forehead and it looked as though he needed stitches. Harry was still out of it so she ran and fetched a pillow off her bed to prop his head up.

She ran around looking after them for three more hours. Eventually she collapsed from exhaustion. She rested against the wall and cried and cried, watching her family. She was only nine and she'd had to deal with all this.

She went to Harry and tried to lift him up to move him to his bed but he ended up throwing up all over her. Lauren wept as she tried to drag him through. She was tall for her age but there was no way she could move a thirteen year old boy.

She ended up dragging a mattress through and putting him on it, with Billie next to him.

Her mother still wasn't moving even when she tried to wake her. Lauren didn't know what to do and eventually ran to the flat opposite.

The man answered, not too happy about being woken up at 5:50. When he saw the state she was in, he was shocked, she had sick all over her, and blood as well. Lauren explained hurriedly and led him through.

He reeled backwards at what he saw. He hurriedly phoned an ambulance and told Lauren to sit down and rest, he'd look after them for now.

Eventually the ambulances arrived and they took all of them to the hospital. Lauren was suffering from exhaustion, she'd been up half the night before washing Billie's bed because he'd wet it and she didn't want her mum to find out. Lauren's mum lost the baby but she herself was ok. They kept the whole family in hospital for two weeks, until the council found them a nicer place to live.

End of Flashback

Zac was appalled by the story; he hugged Lauren closer and kissed her head repeatedly until she stopped crying.

'I was only washing Billie's sheets because if my Mum found out she'd just cry and have one of her days. I only realised a few years ago that she had severe depression. I used to go to this one place, a lake somewhere on the other side of town, and I used to sit and watch the butterflies, they used to come really close. The ducks used to sit near me as well. It helped me forget whatever was going on at home.'

'Lo, I promise you will never have to go through anything like that again. I'll protect you from everything. I don't understand why Rowan went with your dad anyway'

'He'd threatened him, apparently, if he didn't go with him, he'd – he would-' Lauren stuttered, trying to get the words out.

'You don't have to' Zac said softly.

'He said he'd rape me and then kill me and my brothers, so he went with him. My dad tried to get him to go back to England with him but when Ro refused, him and some of his mates started beating him up.'

'Lo that's awful, what happened after that?'

'Nothing, never heard of him again'

'Ever?'

'Nope, Ro thinks he'll turn up soon, what with me being a bit famous now. He'll try and be all matey just to get my money'

'Don't ever let him, you understand?'

'I understand Zac, don't worry'

'If he ever shows up, just call me and I'll be there, no matter what happens to us, if we break up or whatever, I'll still be there'

'I didn't think I'd be saying this so soon but, I love you Zac'

'I love you too'

'honest?'

'Honest, now lets get you back, come on, you're staying at mine'

A/N

That was a really sad chapter wasn't it. I thought when I was writing this that I was giving the impression that Lauren was perfect so I thought I'd mix it up a bit. Review and tell me what you think xxx