I'm back! Finally finished with uni for the summer and I've got some motivation to write back. This chapter feels like it's mostly dialogue but I have some interesting things planned.

Hope all you lovely readers are well, enjoy!

She ran until her lungs burned and her legs threatened to give way. She'd long heard only the pounding of her feet against the pavement, so it was safe to assume her pursuers had given up the chase. She collapsed onto a bench at the side of a park and sighed. Now the adrenaline was wearing off she was realising she probably had stuck to routes she knew because now she had no clue where she was. Pulling out her phone, a 10% battery warning flashed at her, so she pocketed it again. She'd likely have enough battery for one call, so she better make it worthwhile.

Looking around to gather her bearings she spied a few men standing around a tree across the park and a shady looking off-licence over the road. It was clear she was in a not so nice area of town that she'd rather not spend too long hanging around in. She took a moment to consider in which direction she'd run and narrowed down where she was to one of three estates. Deciding that was as good as she was going to get, she pulled her phone back out and called her mum, crossing fingers and toes that she'd pick up. She didn't.

"Hey mum," she began once instructed to speak by the answering machine, "so I'm kinda lost in-"

And then her phone died…

…

Not expecting a rescue mission any time soon, she began to walk in what she hoped was the right direction towards her house, skirting the park in an effort to avoid the men who had noticed her on the bench at some point and now were unashamedly staring.

Despite her best efforts to avoid them, she still suffered the usual catcalls as she drew nearer to where they were.

Just as they called: "oi love, you lost?" for the third time despite her not responding to the first two, a car pulled up beside her.

For a minute she jumped, heart thumping in her throat as the passenger side window rolled down, expecting to be robbed or kidnapped. But instead a familiar voice called out to her.

"Nat? What are you doing out here?"

Out of all the people in Rochdale, her aunt was one of the last people she expected to have unwittingly come to her aid.

"I'm lost," she admitted, stating the obvious, not explaining the chaotic circumstances leading up to the whole thing.

Melissa arched an eyebrow but didn't question the obvious avoidance to answer the question.

"Well," she said, after an awkward moment, "are you getting in?"

Nat didn't need to be asked twice, hopping in the passenger seat, grateful to get out of the gaze from the men who were still watching her.

She didn't immediately meet her aunt's unwavering gaze, instead playing with the strap of her rucksack at her feet. A gentle cough eventually made her peel her eyes up the kind eyes of her mum's sister, the woman she's had so little interaction with as child she'd literally forgotten her existence, the woman who was content to leave her son to fend for himself for days why she was out with various boyfriends, but in that moment, she was there, and maybe that was enough for now.

"What's happened kiddo?" She asked kindly, adding, "I can see through bullshit as well as your mother so don't pretend it's nothing," when she only received a tight lipped shrug.

Nat leaned her head back against the seat, "I really did get lost," she admitted with a sigh, "wasn't really paying attention when I was-" she paused playing with her bag strap again, "-running."

"Running," her aunt repeated, a little exasperated.

"Yeah, running."

"Right-" Melissa sighed, starting the car, "Well, shall I take you home? Or is that what you were running from?"

"Running away from home?" questioned Nat, surprised, "why on earth would I- I was running from-" she stopped herself from saying any more. "Yeah, home sounds good."

"Home it is," her aunt's voice cheery as she pulled away. "Look Nat, I understand if you don't want to talk to me," she added after a few minutes of silence, "but something's obviously happened, you look beat, and I know that bruise didn't come from nowhere, so please promise me you'll talk to Rach" She reached out a hand, placing it on her neice's for a moment whilst the girl adamantly shook her head, "If not her, then Eddie. They both care about you, deeply, as do I, if something's going on-"

"It's just some girls at school," Nat muttered quietly, so quietly that Mel almost thought she'd imagined it.

"Yeah?" she encouraged.

"I-" The girl shook her head, running her hand through her hair, "I don't even know what I've done! Something about me snitching to mum, but I haven't!"

"And they what? Beat you up for it?"

Nat was quiet for a moment, "it was just comments and stuff at first, today was the first time they've gone further than that. There was a whole gang of them after school, I didn't stick around to see what they wanted. But I can't tell mum or Eddie, don't you see!" her voice pitching up in tone, "if they already think I'm a snitch then it'll just make whatever this is worse."

Melissa sighed, "what does it matter if they already think you're a snitch. It'd just be doing what they already think you're doing."

Nat made a noise akin to a growl, "I'm not going to prove them right! Besides, last time I told them about problems at school it ended up with- he-" she ran her hand through her hair again, "Well it doesn't matter, the point is that I can't tell them."

She hadn't even realised that Melissa had pulled the car over.

"Sweetheart," her aunt said gently, "what happened last time?"

"Nothing!" Nat defended too quickly to sound at all sincere. A raise of an eyebrow was all it took to get the rest of the story. "I told mum and Eddie about Earl, how he'd stolen my stuff, and then two days later Max was dead. It made him worse, don't you see! He was so angry he-" Tears were forming in her eyes and she brushed them away angrily.

"He was a lunatic," Her aunt finished, placing a hand on her arm, "that had nothing to do with you. No-" she stopped the young girl from arguing differently, "He was always going to do something like that eventually, Maxine broke up with him, that was probably what it was. In fact, I'm not sure Eddie got round to dealing with him, did they ever mention it again?"

"...No…"

"Love, that was nothing in the grand scheme of things in the end- Well, obviously it was for you, but you weren't at school that day, things escalated, quickly, it was chaos."

"Okay," Nat conceded eventually. "But I'm still not telling them."

Her aunt didn't argue and soon they were pulling up outside her house, Nat was a little surprised to see the lights on and her mother's car in the driveway - she thought she'd still be at work, giving her some time to get her story straight.

Before she could even climb out the car, astutely ignoring her aunt's eyes once again, the front door opened and her mum came hurrying out.

"Nat!" she called, relief evident in her voice, "I got your message? Are you okay? What happened? Who- Melissa?" She was no looking at the driver of the car, who she'd noticed as Nat climbed out.

"Hey, Rach," the blonde called, "just returning this one to you, can't stop." Adding, "Don't forget what I said Nat." before pulling away at speed.

…

Nat didn't think she'd seen her mum look quite so confused before.

She'd opened her mouth to speak and said nothing twice. Once after her sister had sped off down the road and once when she'd situated herself at the dining table with a cup of tea. She opened her mouth a third time, before seemingly changing her mind and jumping up.

"I need to call Eddie," now it was Nat's turn to look confused. "He'd said he'd look for you on his way home, I need to catch him before he leaves, let him know you've made it home."

Nat waited for her mum to finish the call, grateful that Eddie hadn't yet started searching for her. Part of her was warmed by the fact that he'd offered and that her mum had come straight home upon her call, but part of her felt guilty, even though she wasn't quite sure why.

"Mum, I'm sorry." she blurted out when Rachel returned from the landline in the hall. "I didn't know you were going to worry, I just didn't know where I was and I- I don't even know what I thought you'd do, but then my phone died and-"

She stopped as her mum put her hand on hers, shushing her.

"Sweetheart, there's no need to be sorry. I want you to call me if you have a problem. It's my job to worry about you, you know this. I just- I don't understand what went on. Where were you? Why were you with Melissa?"

"I just- I- It's well-" she had no idea how she was going to explain any of the day's events without mentioning why it all happened. "I got spooked when I left school. I guess I ran, but then I got lost, I dunno what happened. And then I was in this estate and there were these guys, but then Melissa just pulled up beside me and was like- get in." She finished lamely with a shrug.

Rachel looked just as confused, "what spooked you?" she asked concernedly.

"Oh, you know," Nat muttered, "nothing much."

…

"What happened to your face?" Rachel wasn't sure how she hadn't initially noticed the blossoming bruise but with the confusion of seeing Melissa and then Nat's hasty departure to her room she'd missed it. Under the dining room lights it was plainly visible as Nat bent over her pasta bowl, eating as though she'd not done so in weeks.

"Nothing," Nat muttered, mouth full, not looking up.

Eddie put down his fork looking at the girl with a frown, "you didn't have that in maths earlier. Did it happen at school?"

"It was stupid, I wasn't looking where I was going. It's fine, don't worry about it." She added, ducking under her mum's hand that had reached out towards her.

She bent her head over her pasta bowl again, finishing the last pieces quickly so she could retreat to her room and pretend like she couldn't see the silent communication happening between the adults.

…

Once Nat had hurried off upstairs, Rachel put her head in her hands.

"Well there's definitely something going on." she muttered eventually

Eddie patted her hand as she replaced it on the table.

"Seriously Eddie, what do I do? Why is this headteacher/ mothering thing so complicated!"

He smiled sadly, "You're doing great Rach, she'll come to you when she's ready. Maybe have Kim have a chat with her tomorrow? That's what we'd do if any other parent raised concerns."

Rachel nodded and then smiled slightly, "what would I do without you Eddie Lawson?"

"Starve probably," he joked as he loaded the dinner dishes into the dishwasher.