I thundered down the stairs and ran to the door. I flung it open and stood panting in the doorway.

"Hey." I breathed.

"Hi." Laura said, "are you okay?"

"Me? I'm fine, yes, nothing wrong with me. I'm so great that there isn't even a word for it and I should really stop talking now." I hid my face behind my hand.

"You ready to go?" She laughed.

"Yeah, just give me a minute." I said and went back into the house.

I went into the kitchen to get my ticket and dad looked up at me.

"Are you going out?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, who with?" He asked, looking out the window which over looked the front step.

"Just a friend." I said and he smiled.

"That girl you had over for lunch again. Well have fun."

"I will. Bye dad."

"See you sweetie."

"Sorry I took so long." I said and closed the door behind me. "Dad accosted me."

Her face flashed with something that faintly resembled terror but it was gone so quickly I must have imagined it. Why would she be scared of my dad anyway?

"When's the game?" She asked.

"It starts at seven. We should get there in plenty of time."

We were heading to a local football match between our home team and another club from across the country. It was a friendly, nothing serious, and should be good fun.

"Okay."

"Had any more trouble from Caitlin?" I asked.

"Not really." She said, "I think my phone is going to crash from the amount of calls it has to deflect but other than that all is well."

"Good. So how have you been?"

"What in the week since you last saw me?"

"You never know." I said and hit her gently, "I was only trying to be polite, cheeky!"

"Sorry, I have been absolutely fabulous." She said.

"Why do I get the feeling you're mocking me?"

"Aw, am I picking on you?"

"Yes." I pouted.

"Poor you."

"I should report you."

"To who?"

"A teacher." I said, then realised how stupid that sounded.

"Bad luck, we tend to stick together." She grinned.

"The police then!"

"Why would you report me for?"

"Uh... Kidnapping!" I announced.

"You're not a child plus you got in the car of your own will, it's not my fault the doors locked themselves."

"That's actually quite creepy." I laughed.

"Really? Would it be scarier if I told you that the doors are actually locked." She looked at me seriously and I shrank back in my chair.

"I'm going to start recording this conversation."

"I have your phone."

"No you don't, it's in my back pocket and that would be sexual assault."

"Not if you liked it!" She winked.

My mouth fell open and I opened and closed my mouth looking rather like goldfish.

"I can't think of anything to say." I admitted and she laughed evilly.

"I'm too good for you!" She said.

'Yes you are' I thought and my good mood was suddenly dampened.

"Sure!" I rolled my eyes. "Sorry but I'm not sure."

"I've had much more practise than you."

"Awesomeness can't be practised, either you have it or you don't."

"I have a feeling we're talking about different things."

I shot her a look and she smiled at me innocently.

"You... dirty minded little..."

"Who said I was talking about that?" She asked looking genuinely shocked.

"Doesn't take a genius to work it out."

"That says more about you than it does about me." She said and I felt a flash of uncertainty, closely followed by embarrassment.

"Sorry." I said my face red.

She smirked at me,

"Students these days."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry."

"So gullible." She laughed and I glared at her.

"Teachers these days!"

She laughed and punched me gently on the shoulder.

"Sorry, but the look on your face was priceless!"

"I'm not talking to you." I sulked.

"I feel so bad." She said sarcastically.

"You should!" I said.

"I thought you weren't talking to me."

"Shut it you." I said, sticking my tongue out.

"There you go again."

I crossed my arms and slumped down in my seat.

***

"We're here." She said and I sat up again.

I opened my door and stepped out into the gravel parking lot. It was a warm afternoon and the sun was still fairly high in the sky. It wouldn't set anytime soon so we should, with a bit of luck, be warm for the duration of the game.

We went into the stadium and found two seats fairly near the exit. I still didn't talk to her.

As it was warm there were lots of men drinking beer and laughing raucously. Things could get violent but right now it was too nice for any of them to bother doing anything more straining than lifting a glass to their lips.

"Who do you think'll win?" Laura asked.

"Dunno." I said, "it doesn't really matter."

She looked appalled.

"Of course it matters!" She said, "that's the whole point of the game."

"No it's not, it's the taking part that counts."

"That's what people say to the children who lose. In the real world you want to win."

"Not in a friendly!" I stressed the last word.

"Whatever. They're probably just calling it a friendly 'cause they know they'll lose!"

"What?" I demanded, "We could thrash their asses any day!"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that."

"Just watch!" I said, "We're going to win."

"No you're not."

"Yes we are!"

"You're not. Why does it matter anyway?"

"Because everyone wants to wi-" I stopped myself and couldn't help but smile. "Well played."

"Thank you." She smirked, "You're still going to loose."

I stared out at the pitch watching as the players ran out onto it, cheering my team and clapping the other.

"No we're not."

***

We did lose in the end but it didn't matter. I was too happy to bother about that fact.

As we had been sitting watching the game, Laura getting rather more into it than anyone else, I felt her hand creep over to hold mine. She released it seconds later to scream at the referee but the fact she'd held it for those few seconds kept me smiling for the rest of the game.

As we walked back to the car she took my hand in hers again and leaned on me as we walked.

"That was fun." She said. "I liked that."

"I could tell."

"What's that mean?" She demanded.

"Nothing, it's a good thing, honest."

"Okay." She was smiling again.

We didn't speak again until we were almost back at my house. Laura had opened her mouth a few times as though she wanted to say something but quickly closed it again. Now she seemed ready to say whatever it was.

"Could I...eh... see those... crystals you talked about?" She asked, her eyes fixed on the road.

"Sure." I agreed quickly before she could change her mind.

Maybe she was ready, she had asked to see them, so would she believe now? Could we start using telepathy properly? Or was I moving too fast again? I'd already made that mistake once, maybe I should wait until she asked about that as well.

Before I could make any kind of mental decision we had arrived. Laura was getting out the car and I realised I had to follow.

The walk up to the house was long and tense. I was worried beyond words about her reaction. Would she think it was all just a joke that I'd taken too far or would she finally accept that what I was telling her was the truth?

I opened the door for us and we went inside.

I stood awkwardly in the entrance, unsure whether or not she wanted to go straight there or if she wanted a breather, a drink maybe.

"So... uh... where do you... uh... keep them?" Laura asked and I suddenly realised that she was just as nervous as me, if not more so.

"They're in here." I said and led her down a hallway and through a door into a curved passageway.

It wasn't really a room, though there were chairs arranged opposite the wall in which slots were carved and our crystals were placed in them. Whenever a new baby was born, a new crystal would be found in their hand when their father first held him or her.

It would grow when the father touched it and become full sized, then it was up to the parents to decided what to do with it.

The room was not lit by any lamps yet it wasn't dark. The crystals glowed brightly and the colours mixed to create a warm, slightly disturbing light.

There were my parent's, glowing purple at the end and Tom and Anne's just along from their's, separated by their partner's. Those four were also purple.

Then were the empty spaces in which Harry and his unknown partner's crystals should have been. Dad had smashed them the night he'd died, the sight too distressing.

Then was mine, green as grass, and Laura's beside it. I pointed them out to her and she went over, curious.

She passed Jarrod's crystal which was resting on a ledge as his partner's crystal was in the process of forming off the side of it.

She touched my crystal gently and stared at it for a long time. She picked it up carefully and turned it about in her hands. She found the hollow where they'd had a bit cut out of it to attach it to my necklace and ran her fingers along it.

"What are you doing?" Mum asked from where she stood in the doorway.

"I'm just showing her the crystals." I said.

"Why?" Mum asked, "you know you're not meant to show anyone unless they are your par-"

A loud wail, like a dying animal filled the air. A never ending scream of pain that only seemed to get worse.

Mum turned and raced down the hall.

"What's going on?" Laura asked.

"I don't know." I replied and tugged her after me down the hall.

The scream had ended and been replaced with sobs that tore at my heart. They were getting louder and I saw my mum and Eric at the top of the stairs supporting Anne between them.

She was the one making the dreadful noise and I could hardly hear myself think.

"What's going on mum?" I asked but she just shook her head at me.

"Look after Tara and Jarrod for me." Dad said as he ran past me with an armful of towels, following them out the front door.

I stared after them, still trying to understand what had just happened.

"Lilly!" Laura slapped me across the face and I held my cheek where it stung.

'"Aw!" I said, "What was that for?"

"You wouldn't listen to me, I think you're in shock."

"I'm not." I said.

"You're shaking like a leaf and you haven't stopped crying since Anne left."

"I'm not crying."

She reached over and captured a tear on her finger, holding it up for me to see.

When she'd touched me before I'd felt it like a tingle, a spark but now I felt nothing, it was like I had died. That was how I realised what I'd already known.

"It's the baby." I whispered, "she's lost the baby."

I staggered into the living room and collapsed on the sofa.

"She's lost the baby. She's lost the baby, she's lost the baby."

"She's lost the baby. She's lost the baby. She's lost the baby." Lilly chanted to herself, as though if she said it three million times it wouldn't be true.

"What's going on?" A thin, young voice asked and I looked up to see Tara standing beside the coffee table, looking at Lilly. "What's wrong with her?" She addressed me, seeing that Lilly was not capable of replying.

"Nothing honey. She just got a bit of a fright, that's all."

"Where's my mum?" She asked, looking around as though she was hiding behind me.

"She had to go out." I said, "with your dad."

"I can't sleep without someone to tuck me in." She said, tears brimming in her eyes.

I stood up carefully and took her hand.

"I'll do it then."

She led me up the stairs and into her room.

She climbed into bed and I pulled the covers up around her and turned to go.

"You need to sing me a song too. Dad always does."

I turned back and perched on the edge of the bed.

"What do you want me to sing?" I asked.

"Jar of Hearts by Christina Perrie." She said.

I coughed a little and tried to remember how it went.

"No I can't take one more step towards you,

'cause all that's waiting is regret..."

***

When I went back into the living room Lilly was asleep on the sofa, curled up into a ball.

I sat beside her and she opened her bloodshot eyes.

"Do you want me to go?" I asked.

"No." She croaked, "stay, please."

"Of course I'll stay." I said.

"Thank you." She whispered and fell back into her restless sleep.

I watched her for a long time until I couldn't fight it anymore and fell asleep as well.