It wasn't just getting out of the club, it was escaping. Ronnie wanted to get away from everything, nobody could say or do the right thing because nobody was right. But Jack, he was too much to be around at that moment. Playing the happy, loved up couple could only be stomached for so long before she cracked and had to just be alone to breathe. Her pace quickened as she set her sights on the park, it was the middle of the day so it would probably be empty and there was something very tranquil, very calming about that place. Whether it was the calming motion of the swing or just the underlying feeling of happiness, children playing and being carefree that did it she wasn't sure but it was the only place she wanted to go to. Perhaps in fact it was a darkly masochistic desire to look again upon what she had been denied.

As she neared the place she noticed a blonde girl sat on one of the swings. A teenager or maybe in her twenties, her back turned. She looked defeated. She looked how Ronnie felt, as clichéd as she realised the thought was. There were some mothers with young children playing around, all carefully avoiding the teenager. Ronnie didn't care, she was jealous of all of them. The mothers of the young children, the mother of the older girl, it didn't matter. However, as Ronnie got closer to the swings and moved around the front she saw the girls face, a face she knew well.

Pulling herself down onto the swing next to hers, Ronnie looked the girl up and down. Her jaw dropped slightly she couldn't disguise her shock. Neither woman said anything to each other they simply took an odd sense of comfort in just being there. Ronnie examined every detail, the matted blonde hair with dark roots showing already, the face scratched and with painful looking fat lip. Dirty clothes, ripped, the gaping holes revealed skin that was bruised and tender and finally the feet it was her feet that shocked Ronnie most because she couldn't imagine being able to move even an inch if her feet resembled anything like that. Cuts, some of which looked infected, blisters and bruises it seemed virtually impossible that she could have been to walk on these. Ronnie guessed that with enough alcohol anything was possible...

Stacey couldn't take her eyes off Ronnie, though neither spoke a word. They didn't know what to say to each other, they weren't friends, they were barely even civil. But they had a bond, a bond created by the tenuous link each held with Danielle Jones. The girl that had affected their minds and emotions more than either would admit to. Ronnie opened her mouth trying to force out a word but there was nothing to say, nothing she could say that could make this pain any easier for either of them. Hating herself for what she was about to do, Ronnie simply smiled at Stacey, a sad smile, before getting up and walking away. One day, when the time was right those words would come but for now there was nothing that needed to be said, their understanding didn't need words.

Ronnie folded her arms around herself as she made her way through the park to a quieter place. Placing herself down on a bench she was glad of the overgrown trees and shrubs nearby, they made the bench almost secluded and it was nice to block herself off for a minute. Yet she knew that before long she would be desperate for people to be around just for the distraction they could bring. She couldn't stand to be around them and yet being inside her own head all alone, that wasn't any better.

As Ronnie sat, slumped down on the bench she found that her head was actually occupied with something, someone other than Danielle. An unlikely person, Stacey. Ronnie just couldn't shake the intensely anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. Stacey seemed so…broken. Her eyes had been tear stained and they looked vacant. Ronnie closed her eyes harshly as she remembered who Stacey reminded her of, what moment…Danielle outside the wedding, the last night she saw her baby girl alive. The same fear, the same lost expressions. Stacey looked so like Danielle. And once again Ronnie had walked away.

Ronnie let the gentle sun of early summer beat down on her as the breeze whipped her hair around her face. She sat that way for a while, how long she wasn't sure but it was long enough to feel guilty, to feel sad, to feel ashamed, to feel lost, long enough to feel too many things that she didn't want to feel. Her hand was at her chest instinctively grasping for what was no longer there. Sighing she let her feet lead her of their own accord back towards the lively streets of the Square. She was at the Vic before she even registered where she had led herself and since she had no desire to go back to the flat or the club and face Jack anytime soon she wandered inside and up the stairs, aimless.

Reaching the landing of the Vic, Ronnie was surprised to hear music blaring from the front room, it took her a moment for her to remember that Roxy was in Alicante and wouldn't be found singing off key on the other side of the door. Frowning, wondering who's music was resounding painfully loudly through the whole floor, Ronnie pushed the door open. She couldn't hold back a smile at the sight of Ben dancing on the table with not quite in time dance moves of Girls Aloud. He hadn't even noticed her and she stood leaning against the door frame watching him as he sang and strutted his way across the coffee table.

"Nice moves" Ronnie finally broke her silence in the break between songs and Ben span around embarrassed. She gave him a wink and sauntered over to the sofa, throwing herself onto it. "Go on then, you can't be a star without an audience can you?" She tried a grin at Ben, hoping it looked happy, apparently it did as Ben grinned back and plopped himself on the sofa next to her. They chatted about the music for a while as it still played, more quietly, in the background.

"Are you ok Ronnie? We never see you since you moved in with Jack. Don't you want to come here anymore?" Ronnie looked sadly at Ben, she hadn't meant to shut out her family, not really, not completely, well not enough to upset them. "It's not that. Of course I want to see you, it's just, moving in somewhere new, all that organising and boring stuff. I've just been getting settled that's all." Ronnie tried to convince Ben, feeling guilty for neglecting him when he didn't really understand why. Especially with what was going on with Phil, and yet she hadn't even given Ben a second thought.

"Roxy said you're just kidding yourself, does she mean about moving out?" Ben asked, trying to connect with Ronnie. Ronnie squinted her eyes, but laughed shortly. "Did she? Well Roxy says a lot of stupid things." It wasn't stupid though. As angry as Ronnie felt at Roxy for saying it she knew that it held some truth, probably more than she wanted to admit herself. Roxy was probably only speaking about Jack though, she had no idea what any of it was about, Ronnie tried to tell herself.

"Tell you what, how about you and me go out? I could do with getting out of here for a bit. I'm sure your dad won't mind. We can go out west, musical of your choice. What do you think?" Ben's smile was huge and Ronnie couldn't stop the smile that spread across her own face at his enthusiasm.

Talking Phil round to letting Ben go out wasn't difficult, he barely let Ronnie finish speaking before he waved her off saying anything was fine. Ronnie wanted to smack him, he had his child and he took it for granted, everybody took their children for granted. It was sickening. Soon the two of them were grabbing their coats and getting ready for their evening in central London. An early dinner was first on the agenda so the timing was just about right, or would be by the time they reached Leicester Square.

"So you know what you want to see or are we just going to a ticket booth?" Ronnie asked as she and Ben made their way down the stairs of the Vic. "I don't know yet. I've hardly seen any of the shows." Ronnie could almost hear the excited cogs turning in their frenzy in Ben's head. She laughed, letting him know that they could choose over dinner. Ronnie leant over the bar to try and catch Peggy's attention, Phil hadn't paid the slightest attention when Ronnie had told him where she was taking Ben and when they'd be back so if anybody wondered where he was she couldn't count on Phil to be able to tell them.

"Ron." Ronnie turned at the sound of his voice. She really couldn't be bothered with this, that was one of the reasons why she wanted to take Ben out, to avoid him for at least a little longer. But as always Jack Branning never did what other people wanted. "Not now Jack, if it's about before, I just had a migraine and needed to get out." Ronnie preempted his interrogations and fixed a smile on her face to stroke his cheek. "I'll make it up to you later." She watched his face soften slightly but he didn't smile. "You aren't helping to set up the club? What are you avoiding me or something?" Ronnie let her hand slip around his neck to play with the hair at his nape. "I am not avoiding you." She smiled, enunciating each word, "but I do have plans. With the dashing, youngest Mr. Mitchell here. I've been neglecting them all lately Jack. You've kept me pretty busy." She added the last part in a husky tone into his ear, making sure her voice was low enough not to be overheard.

After making peace with Jack and doing what was necessary to placate him, convince him that migraines were the only problem she had, the two Mitchells left the Vic. Ronnie extended her arm to Ben, winking and he linked his hand into the crook of her elbow. Arm in arm they left Walford and their troubles behind, if only for the night.