Dylan left the hospital and made his way slowly through the village. He walked toward the flat he once called home and he knocked the door. He could hear a baby crying and the sound of movement, a female voice shouting that she was on her way. 'Grace is still there then.' He thought in amusement.
Grace opened the door and froze.
"Wow, speechless for once." Dylan joked with a small smirk.
"Is this some kind of sick joke 'ere?"
He shook his head. "Nope."
"I think you better explain somethin' don't you? Get in there, I'll get your dad."
The look on her face made him think better of making a joke and he walked inside. It was the same look his mother gave when she caught him doing something he shouldn't.
Grace sighed and shut the door, grabbing her phone and calling Trevor, but it went straight to voicemail. "Trevor when you pick this up call me back. There's somethin' you need to come back for." She slammed the phone down on the coffee table and looked at the teenager in front of her. "Wanna tell me what the hell you're playin' at?"
He shrugged and explained his story.
"Hold on, so Thorpe knew all this? And ye he still said nothin', you said nothing about getting your dad out of prison?!"
"I tried to! But all he kept saying was I had to prove it. And with no proof, nothing on me apart from a dress I was meant to be buried in, and some clothes he bought, I had nothing."
"Couldn't you have tried anything?"
"Everything I thought of, I tried. If he'd of listened to me in the first place, told Nico I was ok then maybe she could have looked for something. Y'know what she's like if she thinks something's not right she'll find a way to prove it."
"And you couldn't trust me or Esther with that?"
He shrugged. "Esther probably. You with a mouth the size of the city wall? No thanks."
"Oh charmin'!" Grace scoffed.
"It's true! When have you kept anything secret?"
"When you decided to play drag queen for a couple of months. See you're not doin' it now."
"You had a go at Kim about it. The only reason I'm not now is cause right now I don't want to. I just wanna come home and get back to normal, whatever that is."
She rolled her eyes. "Well it's gonna take a lot more than an explanation to your dad, sunshine, he's a wreck. Home and normal for you are a long way off right now."
"What d'you mean?"
She sighed. "He got attacked outside the club when he was sorting the bottles. Whoever did it caught him off guard, he's not been right since." She spoke and looked when she heard the key in the front door. She walked over as Trevor opened it. "Right, before you come in, just prepare yourself alright?"
"What are you talking about? I got your message, now tell me."
Dylan slowly appeared behind her.
"What the hell is going on? D'you hate me that much or something?" Trevor looked at Grace.
"No of course not! It's really him, I promise!"
"I sort of came back... Was put in witness protection cause of what was going on."
"So the police knew about this? Bradley knew?"
Dylan shrugged. "I don't think so. He looked shocked to see me when he saw me at the hospital...so I don't think he knew."
Trevor shook his head, the flashbacks appearing in front of him again. He kicked the door and stormed out.
"Give him time to calm down." Grace spoke, grabbing Dylan's arm to stop him.
He looked, for a fleeting second he saw her guard down, the slight look of fear before the mask went up again and she went to calm a now screaming Curtis. Dylan sighed and ran his hands over his face, groaning. "Got a lot to make up for here haven't I."
"You will. He just needs to deal with his issues. He's been goin' to see this counsellor. He was there with her today."
He nodded and sat down, trying to process the million thoughts in his head.