Chris drove Bex back home in his car, and Janeece drove back to school, promising she wouldn't say a word.

Chris took Bex to the doorstep, but didn't dare step over the threshold.

Bex giggled. 'Come on, if you're going to be the father of my baby you can at least come into my house.'

Chris stepped in and took her hand.

'Bex, I know this is a massive thing to agree to, but I meant every word of what I said back there.'

'I know you did,' whispered Bex. 'And it scares me how close I was to destroying everything we had.'

'It's OK now,' soothed Chris. 'I promise you, everything will be OK.'

He kissed Bex tenderly, and she returned his gentle kiss, pressing her soft lips against his.

Not wanting to push things, Chris pulled away before they got too passionate and walked into the living room and sat down.

'Bex, I know a lot's happened in the last two days, but I think we need to tell your family about the baby. About us,' he corrected.

Bex sighed. 'How? I don't think I can. It'll break Jess' heart, and I don't know how Mum would cope. And Dad will probably hit you!'

'I know it won't be easy,' admitted Chris. 'But we'll do it together, yeah?'

'Yeah,' agreed Bex. 'When?'

'We could get it over with now?' suggested Chris.

'Oh, I don't know,' said Bex, her heart beginning to pound.

Chris slid his hand into hers and entwined his fingers with hers. 'It's best to get it over with. And I won't leave you, I promise.'

Bex, desperate for reassurance, leaned up and kissed Chris again. He returned it, and this time he allowed them to get more passionate, as he wrapped himself around the most beautiful girl in the world, to him. It felt as though the past two months hadn't happened, and they were in their blissfully happy cocoon again.

But then the phone rang, and Bex was forced do get up and answer it.

'Hi Mum.'

'Yeah, I'm feeling OK; I managed to eat a bit of lunch.'

'Yeah, I will do.'

'OK, see you later.'

'Love you.'

'Come on, Chris,' said Bex. 'I need to get this over with.' She took his hand and led him towards the door.

Chris giggled.

'What?' said Bex.

'You're not going like that are you?'

'Like wha–? Ohh.' Bex flushed red as she noticed her t-shirt was still on the floor from when Chris had taken it off. 'Yeah, that might have given Mum a bit of a shock!'

'Here, I'll help you put it back on,' offered Chris, as he proceeded to kiss every bit of exposed flesh as he eased the top over Bex's head.

'That's really not helping you know,' she said.

'OK, sorry,' said Chris, backing off.

'I didn't say I wanted it to stop, though, did I,' grinned Bex.

Chris drove as slowly as he possible could, delaying the inevitable hurt and pain that they were going to cause when they revealed their secret. He cared deeply about Karen and Jess, but Bex and their baby had to come first.

'So who do you think we should talk to first, Mum or Jess?' asked Bex.

Chris sighed. 'Bex, I was thinking…'

'Yeah?'

'Wouldn't it hurt less people if we didn't tell your mum about me and Jess? Because it's completely over now and it'll just bring it all back up…' His voice trailed off.

'Chris, are you trying to protect my sister or yourself?' asked Bex angrily.

'Your sister, honestly,' said Chris. 'Listen, your mum won't trust her if she finds out where she goes in the evenings and she won't trust either of us if she thinks I'm just going to move onto the next sister the second we have a bit of a difficult time.'

'But that's what you did, though, isn't it? You couldn't have me so you just pulled someone else who looked a bit like me.'

'No, Bex, it wasn't like that, I promise. I was in love with you, but I thought I was never going to see you again. So I thought by going out and pulling, it would help me get over you. And it did, for a couple of hours. And then I saw you, sitting in my science class, and I realised that nothing would ever stop me being in love with you. So please, keep me and Jess a secret. For both of our sakes.'

'OK,' Bex agreed. There was something about Chris' face that stopped her being able to make rational decisions – one look at his shining eyes and everything inside her turned to jelly. And as long as she was with him, everything would work out OK, somehow.

'So do you think we should talk to Jess first then, and then your mum when we're a bit more psyched up?'

'OK, yes sir!' joked Bex as the car pulled into the Waterloo Road car park.

She got out and moved to hold Chris' hand, before remembering that nobody knew about them yet and stopped. She was surprised by how natural it felt, stepping out of his car and taking hold of his hand. It was as though there was a magnetic force, drawing them together and Bex hated resisting it.

'So where will Jess be?'

'Well it's not quite half one so I think she'll probably be on her way to her next lesson,' said Chris, looking at his watch. 'I'll tell you what, why don't you go and sit in the canteen and I'll go and find her. It'll be easier than everyone asking why you're here when you're supposed to be ill in bed.'

Bex agreed, and went to sit on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. She knew what she was about to do wasn't going to be easy – she had no idea how Jess would react, but she loved Chris more than anything and it had taken the near-abortion for her to realise that. When he was around, it seemed like no one else mattered in the world, as if the entire world was orbiting around the two of them. And for the first time, the tiny baby growing inside her didn't seem so scary and weird. It was a piece of Chris and a piece of her, as one. It reassured her that she wasn't just living in a bubble – the baby would make sure that Chris stayed with her.

'Bex?' A confused voice interrupted her thought.

She turned round. 'Hi, Jess.'

'What are you doing here? I thought you were ill.'

'Well I, er–' Bex turned to Chris for support.

Chris took Jess' arm and made her sit down. 'Jess, we're going to tell you something that might upset you or confuse you, so I'm sorry.'

'What is it?' asked Jess. 'Come on, you're scaring me!'

'Jess, you know how I'm pregnant?'

Jess nodded.

'Well I lied when I said I didn't know who the father was. Remember I told you about the boyfriend I had who actually cared about me and loved me?'

Jess nodded, still confused.

'And I left him because I was scared he'd find out all I was, was a junkie and a prostitute?'

'Yeah, is he the dad?'

Bex nodded.

'But how do you know? I mean, no offence, but weren't you sleeping with quite a few men at that point?'

'No, not then,' Bex explained. 'Seeing him made me realise how stupid what I was doing was, and I would never cheat on a boyfriend, not even for drugs or money. So certain he's the father.'

'So what, are you going to try and find him?' asked Jess.

'I already have,' said Bex quietly, and looked at Chris, her eyes welling up.

'No!' said Jess loudly, standing up. 'No way!'

'Jess, listen, please. He didn't know who I was, or who you were.'

But Jess had turned to Chris, pleading with him. 'Please tell me it's not true, please.'

Chris took Jess' hand. 'I'm sorry, Jess.'

Jess shook her head, trying to sort things out. Her voice was weak and strangled. 'I– I could cope if you'd just slept with her, because you didn't know who we were. But the baby. It's never going to go away, is it? I'm going to see that baby every day and it'll just remind me of what I could have had, if I wasn't just a stupid schoolgirl.'

'Jess, I'm so sorry,' said Bex, trying to comfort her sister.

'Don't be, please. It's not your fault is it? It's not even his, unfortunately. Sorry, I'm just being stupid.'

'Chris can you…?' said Bex quietly, nodding towards the door. Chris gladly left the room to give the sisters some privacy.

'Jess, I thought you were over Chris?' asked Bex, rubbing her sister's hand.

'Yeah, well, so did I,' said Jess thickly. 'Just ignore me; it's just a stupid teenage crush isn't it? It's just another boy I'm going to have to get over.'

'Aw, Jess, I'm so sorry,' said Bex. 'Come here.'

But Jess shook her head. 'I'm fine,' she said, and ran out of the canteen, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

Chris came back in, and he wrapped his arm around Bex's tired shoulders.

'I've just broken my sister's heart,' she whispered, and buried her head in his chest. She didn't cry, but lay there, still, trying to make the guilt she felt in her stomach unknot itself. But it didn't, and eventually she sat up.

'I guess we'd better go and tell Mum, before she see's Jess.'

'Yeah,' said Chris softly. Bex could see he was dreading this, and she squeezed his arm.

'I'm here, don't worry.'

She knew that whatever Karen did to her, she was still her daughter and she would always be forgiven. But she didn't know how her mum would react to Chris.