Bex woke early, after barely sleeping the night before. She looked pale and ill, so at least she wouldn't need to pretend to her mum!

'Mum, I don't feel well, can I have the day off?'

'Oh sweetheart, you don't look well at all! Go back to bed; I'll bring you some paracetamol and a hot water bottle. Do you need someone to stay and look after you?'

'No thanks, mum, I'll be fine. If I feel better later I'll try and get some work done.'

'No you won't! Make sure you have a good rest or you won't get better. Are you sure you'll be OK on your own?'

'Yeah, honestly, Mum.'

'Okay, do you need to go to the doctor? You know, just in case.' She glanced down at Bex's tummy, even though she wasn't visibly pregnant.

'Nah, I'll be fine. I've probably just got the bug that's going round. I'll ring you if I feel any worse, yeah?'

'OK, if you're sure. Go on, hop into bed and I'll bring everything up.'

'Mum, can I have a hug?'

'Of course,' said Karen, surprised but happy. She couldn't remember the last time her daughter had asked her for a cuddle!

Bex tried but failed to not cry as she inhaled her mother's familiar smell – the smell of safety and love. She buried her face deeper into her, wanting to never let go. She didn't want to have to go through what she was going to have to today without her mother, but she had already made up her mind and she didn't want her mum to change it. She was also scared that Karen would figure out that Bex knew who the dad was.

Eventually, Karen let go of her daughter and handed her a tissue, before blowing her own nose.

'Look at me, I haven't stopped crying since you came home,' laughed Karen.

'Me neither!' sniffed Bex. 'Anyway, I'll go back to bed before you catch my germs!'

The house was strangely silent once everyone had left and Bex hated it. She turned every radio and TV on, which made it slightly easier. She wasn't sure if you were allowed to eat or drink before an abortion, but she wasn't hungry anyway. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel. Was she supposed to grieve the death of her son/daughter or treat it like a medical operation? Would the people in the clinic judge her, or think she was a bad mother?

She was glad that Janeece was coming with her, and knowing that she was going to be there was the only thing that gave her the strength to leave the house.

Meanwhile, at school, Janeece was preparing to go. She shoved all her things into her fake Prada handbag before saying bye to Karen and Chris, who were in the office, and promising she'd bring them back something from the bakery as lunch.

Chris came out of the office and saw that Janeece had left her phone on the desk. He glanced out of the window of and saw that she was only just getting into her car. Realising that she might need her phone, he grabbed his car keys and set off after Janeece.

When Janeece pulled up into the clinic's car park, she took the last parking space and Chris cursed as he had to drive back out and find a space on the road. He noticed that it Janeece had gone into a different door than Kim had always used, and with a start he realised that this was a very private appointment for her! If Janeece was having an abortion than this was none of his business, and he decided to leave immediately.

Just as he was starting the engine up again, he saw that Janeece's phone was ringing.

Bex Fisher calling

Everything seemed to go into slow motion and Chris tried desperately to organise the thoughts in his head. It wasn't Janeece having the abortion, it was Bex. It was his child who was going to be aborted. Bex hadn't been joking when she'd said it last night. He had to stop her.

Chris ran across the car park, nearly running into a woman who gave him an extremely dirty look as she dodged out of the way. He burst through the door and ran up to the desk.

'I need to, er, I need to see Bex Fisher. She's got an appointment now.' He was breathless and panicking.

'I'm sorry, are you a relative of the patient?'

'Yeah, I'm her baby's father,' said Chris.

The receptionist didn't look convinced.

'Please, it's really important,' begged Chris, and tears sparkled in his eyes.

'OK, come this way,' said the receptionist, still scowling. She led Chris down a long white corridor to a small room.

Bex was sitting up on a white bed, and Janeece was there holding her hand while a doctor explained the procedure to her.

'Bex,' said Chris. 'Wait, please.'

'Chris! What are you doing? I told you, I've made up my mind. You won't need to be bothered by us ever again after this.'

'No, Bex, listen. Please, just listen. I promise I'll leave you alone after you've heard me out, if that's what you still want. Please, can I just have two minutes?'

Bex looked confused and slightly angry, but she nodded to the doctor, who left the room.

'Bex, I'm so sorry. I've handled this really badly, but I've never had a baby before and to be honest, it's scaring me. I should never have let you go when you did, and I missed you every day that you weren't there. When I saw you in Waterloo Road, my life seemed complete again, but then I realised you were a pupil and the headteacher's daughter. I thought I'd lost every chance of being with you again, and I was devastated. But then I heard about the baby. Our baby.
'And although it's scary and unpredicted, it brings us together. And once I'd heard we had a baby, there was something that joined us together, something that gave us a chance. And I'm not saying it will be easy, but it's possible. I still love you Bex, and I love our baby, even though I don't know it yet. I'll leave Waterloo Road and get a job somewhere else. I'll give you money; I'll support you the whole way through. You can move in with me if you want, or you can stay with your family.
'It's not going to be easy, I'm not saying it is. But I want to make this work, I don't want to mess up again. Bex, you're special, and I don't want to even lose you again. We can do this, I love you.'

Tears glistened on Bex's and Janeece's cheeks.

Bex didn't know what to say, she didn't know how to reply.

Chris ducked his head, and turned to walk away. 'I'm sorry,' he muttered.

'No, wait,' called Bex, and Chris turned round, barely able to see her through tears.

Bex didn't know how to tell him what she felt – it would have taken hours. So she kept it simple.

'I love you.'