"What's this then?" Caitlin asked, pushing herself out of the chair and making her way towards Laura and I. "Cheating on me again?"

"We broke up Caitlin! Get over it!" Laura snapped.

"You still want me! Clearly you're using this..." She gestured at me, "child to try and get to me!

"Oh grow up! Not everything revolves around you."

"You know you need me, I'm the only one who understands you!"

"Just because you know a couple of things about me doesn't mean you 'understand' me." Laura said, her voice rough with annoyance.

"You need me!" She repeated. "How can this little girl match up to me?"

"She doesn't need to! She will always be so much better than you can even hope to be!"

"Aw, does she listen to you, does she pretend that she knows what you've been through?" Caitlin asked, her voice thick with sarcasm and mockery.

"Shut up!" Laura shouted, "just stop talking!"

"Doesn't she know?" Caitlin feigned surprise, "hasn't she told you?" She addressed me now, her eyes wide with fake surprise.

"Told me what?" I asked, trying to meet Laura's eyes.

"It's nothing, I'll tell you later."

"Little girlfriend doesn't know what daddy did to he-" She was cut off as Laura launched herself onto her.

"I-told-you-to-shut-up-you-stupid-cow!" Laura snarled, punctuating each word with a punch. She was sitting on top of Caitlin, her hair tangled and her fists flying as she rained blows down onto the woman. Caitlin was screaming and trying to cover her face and body with her hands, trying to protect herself.

"Laura!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulder. "Stop it!" She stood up and spun round to face me. Her eyes were wild and for a second I was scared by the raw anger there. Then the fire in her eyes died and guilt swept across her features.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly, relaxing her hands with effort. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's all right." I moved to hug her and then it was like everything slowed down.

As I went into the hug my head was at an angle at which I could clearly see Caitlin who, until that moment, had remained curled in a ball on the floor. As I watched she reached into her pocket and pulled out something which glinted with menace. She threw herself forwards and towards Laura, the knife held in front of her like a spear.

I yelled and pushed Laura out of the way, sending us both sprawling on the floor. After that I did a lot more than just screaming, in fact I completely freaked out. In my defense I'm pretty sure most people would have reacted similarly if faced with my situation.

Everything around me became blurred and out of focus. I lost all sense of space or time. I could hear screams, cursing and even at one point sirens, but the only constant was the crying and my own, ragged breathing.

Someone was shaking me, telling me to calm down and that it was okay. Since I didn't appear to have any sharp objects sticking out of me I chose to believe whomever it was and ceased my wailing. I focused on the face in front of me and was met by the stern frown of a policeman. His bright blue eyes examined me thoroughly making sure I was safe to leave alone.

"Are you all right now love?" He asked and I felt a sudden rush of shame. Anything could've happened to Laura and I'd just sat there without noticing. I looked over his muscled shoulder but Laura wasn't in the room. It was empty apart from me and this man.

"Is she okay?" I asked as my brain kicked into overdrive imaging all the things that could have happened to her. She could have been stabbed, or fallen and broken her neck, or Caitlin might have jumped on her and broken all her ribs, or-

"They're both fine darlin', don't look so worried eh?" He tapped me under the chin and smiled.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I examined the floor for any signs of blood.

"It's okay, you've had a bit of a scare. How about you and me go to the station and get a nice warm cuppa before you have to give your statement?" Suddenly this felt a whole lot more serious than it had a second ago.

"I have to give a statement?"

"'Fraid so love, that was a serious assault you witnessed. She could get time." She could get time? Would include Laura? What if she did go to jail? Would she be fired because of it? Would she be able to get another job with a criminal record? Was this my fault? I had a sinking feeling that it was.

If only I'd told everyone about us! Then we woudn't have argued and this would never have happened.

"Will Laura get time?"

"She's the one who owns this house, right?" I nodded assent. "Then she should be fine, the other woman was trespassing and Laura had every right to defend her home."

"Oh, good." I breathed a sigh of relief, "shall we go then?"

***

The man frowned at me.

"You don't remember anything?" He didn't sound like he believed me.

"Not a thing." I confirmed. "Once we hit the floor I panicked and everything went fuzzy."

"Absolutely nothing, are you sure?" His moustache wriggled on his top lip as he talked and it was quite distracting.

"Oh, yes; nothing." I assured him.

"Alright," he stood up, "thank you for your efforts Miss Daniels." I couldn't quite tell if he was being sarcastic, but shook his hand anyway. It was cold and impersonal, just like everything else about him and his grip was lukewarm at best. He held the door open and I wiped my brow, glad to be away from his shrewd glare.

Now I could finally see Laura. When I'd arrived at the station she was already being interviewed and there had been no way to speak with her. I was still worried despite Barry's (the policeman who'd stayed with me in Laura's house) constant reassurances.

When I stepped through the automatic doors of the police station the warm summer air hit me like a blanket. I'd phoned my father before my interview and he now sat in my mothers Jeep, talking to Laura and waiting for me to emerge.

He didn't look angry, but then he rarely did, yet it still felt like there was a pillar of wrath seeping from the car. It didn't feel like he was angry at me or Laura but I ddn't want to risk checking in case he blew a fuse.When your in a family of mind readers you learn how to read everyone pretty quickly, and right now dad was as angry as I've ever read him. Which was not good.

I climbed in the back of the Jeep and was instantly bombarded with questions.

"Are you okay?"

"What did they ask?"

"Did she hurt you? If she did I'm going to-"

"How you holding up?"

When there was a gap in the flow of questions I tried to answer.

"I'm okay, they just asked what happened, she didn't hurt me at all and I'm holding up fine but I'd really like to go home now."

"What did they tell you about this?" Laura asked.

"Nothing, just thanked me for my time."

"He said to me that they can keep her overnight but that a sentence depends on what you saw."

"Shit!" I groaned slumping back in my seat.

"Language!" Dad warned sternly.

"What's wrong?" Laura asked.

"Sorry dad, and I saw nothing that's what's wrong."

"What do you mean you saw nothing? You were right there."

"Yes but I was going crazy and not watching you two."

"So you saw... nothing?"

"Exactly."

"Shit."

"Language!" Dad repeated, out of habit.

"Sorry. That means she'll be out tomorrow and looking for me, probably wanting revenge."

"You can stay at our place anytime you like." Dad offered.

"Thank you." She said, "but I think it would be best if I went home, at least for tonight."

"Alright, if that's what you want." Dad didn't sound too happy but she wasn't his daughter and he could hardly force her to spend the night with us if she didn't want to.

"Okay." I whispered softly, wishing she would stay. I'd worry about her a hell of a lot less if she did.

The journey passed in silence apart from when Laura gave my father a direction. Sitting in the back seat I could observe her without the risk of being caught.

The street lights would flash across her and light up the lines and curves of her face. Her eyes flashed bright green every time and they reminded me of a cats in the night. The gentle slope of her nose and her high, striking cheek bones, everything about her was absolutely breath taking. Her lips looked plump and delicious in the dark, and as I watched, her tongue darted across the bottom lip, to moisten it, making my heart race. My heart pounded as I remembered the things that tongue could do and if anyone had looked at me my face would have been flushed.

I tried to shake off these totally inappropriate thoughts but to no avail. By the time the car pulled up outside her house I was red in the face and seriously pissed off by myself.

I got out the Jeep, because I would take Laura's seat at the front of the car beside my dad. I had just slammed the door and was about to grabbed Laura's as it swung closed but she stopped me, grabbing my arms and pressing me back against the car.

One of her hands moved behind my head and gripped my hair. She had to bend her head down slightly to gain access to my lips and I pulled her closer to me so her whole body was pressed against mine. Her breasts crashed against mine and I could feel her abs against my stomach.

She pressed her lips gently against mine and my stomach fluttered as the the sweetness of sugar and the spice of cinnamon spread through my mouth. Her lips pressed harder against mine and she ran her tongue along my top lip, then the bottom.

I moaned softly as she slipped her tongue inside my mouth. She chuckled softly and nibbled my bottom lip until I moaned again. She pulled away from me and rested her forehead on mine.

"I'll see you tomorrow or something, okay?"

"Mhm," I agreed, pulling her lips back against mine.

"You're dad's watching." She said as she pulled away again, "I'll see you later."

"Bye." I climbed back into the Jeep and watched as she walked up the path to her house, admiring the sway of her hips.

"That looked enjoyable." Dad said and I blushed bright red.

"Shut up!"