A/N: Flashbacks continue from the past. Alice's POV here, and Elsie's.

TW for sexual harassment. It won't get any darker than this.

Crying, Alice sat in her dorm room. Nothing had turned out the way it was supposed to. The way she thought her life would go.

They want Charlie, not me. Professor Murray recommended he audition in Chicago. Him.

Not me.

Of course he'd been excited when he told her. He wanted them both to go, to try their luck. He'd asked her if that was what she wanted, a chance to make it.

It was, when they started university. Ironically, she had begged him to join her in the theater program, even though she knew he wasn't sure then of what he wanted to study.

A part of her wanted to try Chicago. To see how it went. Maybe Charlie was right, they could make it.

Maybe.

I'm not good enough.

She could see her life spread before her, and she didn't like it. She'd audition, and only be offered bit parts at best. She wasn't an idiot. They had been in their first week when she realized playing the lead roles back home meant nothing. She had worked as hard as she could, but she never felt satisfied by the roles she was given.

She had never played second fiddle to anyone before. She was Judge Neale's daughter, and her mother, Eugenie Patricia, was once the second runner-up in the state's beauty pageant.

Charlie would audition, and she knew he'd become famous. She'd be nothing more than the woman on his arm. If he stayed with her.

Alice saw the admiring looks he got. She smiled, shaking her head. No one other than Charlie Carson could miss the attention he gets from other women. His obliviousness was her safety.

Until someone catches his eye, a voice whispered in her head. Then you'll lose him.

She was proud of the fact that he'd stayed with her all through university. Back home, she didn't doubt herself. But away, other women intimidated her. The women who weren't afraid of the world outside of their comfort zones.

She could not compete with them. But why should I have to?

I won't lose him. Not now.

Two weeks before graduation, she told him she was pregnant. He was ecstatic, she less so, but he thought her downcast face a result of timing, nothing more. He proposed a few days later with a smaller ring than she would have liked, but she gladly accepted him.

They came home and married in a quick ceremony. She was radiant, the center of attention, everyone's golden girl. They settled in her grandparents' old house on the edge of town.

He went back to work at his family's business, at Downton. He was happy. He had a family to look after, a life to look forward to.

She realized he would be content anywhere. Whereas by the end of the year, she felt trapped.

000000000000

Da, I miss you.

Elsie swiped the back of her hand across her face. Tears won't bring him back, girl.

It had been two years since he died suddenly, and life had only gotten harder.

Mam's latest boyfriend Barry – or was it Arnold? - was the worst one yet. He'd made a pass at Becky the week before, after trying with her.

And she was only fourteen. Mam wouldn't hear anything against him. A real mother would take her children's side.

When has she been any kind of mother? Always thinking of herself...

She clenched her teeth and opened the refrigerator door, just for something to do. Moments later, whatshisname staggered into the kitchen. She backed against the counter.

"Maggie?" he shouted back into the bedroom. "Whisky?" He grabbed the bottle and two glasses, setting them down when he caught sight of Elsie.

"Hello, beautiful," he said in a low voice. He reached over and pulled her hair. "Your sister looks like your ma. Pretty. But you-" he leaned forward, and she tried to lean away from him as much as possible- "-you are stunning." He reached down and fumbled with her skirt. She grabbed his wrist, trying to push him away.

"Stop," she hissed. "Don't touch me!"

"Don't be shy, honey," he slurred, his yellow teeth showing, "I love redheads. Your hair looks like fire." His breath stank.

"FRED!" Mam bellowed. "BRING ME MY BLOODY DRINK!"

"Coming!" he yelled. He leered at Elsie for another moment, then disappeared back into the bedroom. The door clicked shut.

Elsie was still shaking when the front door opened and Becky came in. She jumped at the sound.

"You're late," she snarled. "You should have been here at nine." Becky glanced at the clock.

"It's 9:03, I was coming up the stairs at nine," she said. "You don't need to yell at me!"

"Yes, I do," Elsie snapped. "It's not like our mother's going to, not while Fred is here-"

"Wait," Becky said. She stepped forward and put her hands on Elsie's shoulders. "Did he do something to you? Hurt you?" She pulled her sister's chin up, looking her in the face.

"No," Elsie mumbled, feeling the tears come. "H-he tried, but Mam yelled for him, so he went back." Becky let out a relieved sigh.

"Els, you should have come with the group, we only went to the drugstore!" She hugged her sister, who held on tightly. "You should not have been here alone! You always take care of me. Always," Becky whispered into Elsie's ear. "Let me look after you once in a while, all right?"

"All right," she whispered. "I'm glad I have you." She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. "The second I turn eighteen, we're out of here. We'll find a cheap place. It won't be much, but at least it will just be us."

"What about Mam?" Becky said in a low voice. Elsie looked back at the closed bedroom door, hearing the now-familiar sounds. Her stomach turned over.

"She made her choice a long time ago," she said quietly. "Maybe she will change, but – I don't think so. We take care of ourselves, anyway. We'll survive."

Just a few more years. Then we can live free.