"What the hell happened to you?" Austin made a confused face as I walked through the door with Nick in tow.

"I did a photoshoot!" I grinned at him.

"For a paint company?" Dad asked whilst he continued chopping vegetables at the counter.

"No, for Logan's university work." I went on a full rant about everything that happened, making sure to include my most favourite part as to why Nick was also slightly bedazzled in rainbow paints. Both Dad and Austin shared my amusement.

"Ash, honey, how on earth are you going to get any of that out of your hair?" Mum chuckled, walking inside with a basket of clean and dry laundry.

"I don't mind keeping it." I shrugged, smiling.

"I'm sure you wouldn't, although I don't think any hairdresser would approve." She laughed again. "Do you want a hand washing it out?"

"Special treatment." Austin muttered, jokingly shaking his head at us.

"Aw, Austin my baby, I'll wash your hair next time it's coated in paint too." Mum fussed over him, kissing his cheeks, and squeezing them until he pushed her off looking pleased whilst still slightly disgusted.

"I'm going to go get changed too." Nick left, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the happiness around, whilst I went to go put my bathers on and wait for a bath to run. I knew mum and dad had a bath in their ensuite, but I'd never used it, and genuinely couldn't wait.

Mum gently massaged my soapy head whilst I soaked in the warm bath. It was the most peaceful I'd felt since I'd last been at school, but I knew that mum would take this opportunity to talk.

"Was it fun with Nick today?" She asked, still massaging my head whilst rinsing out the shampoo. I'd decided there was no better feeling than getting your hair done.

"So much fun. Nick is nice when he's around his friends."

"He's a good kid, that boy." The fondness in her voice was so evident it was soothing. "I'm sure the photos will look amazing once they're developed."

"I hope so." I giggled.

"Do you think you're ready to go to school again tomorrow?" Mum asked, after a slight pause.

"Maybe."

"Levi hasn't stopped asking Austin about you, so I've heard."

"Really?" I shot up in the bath, making mum laugh and gently slide me back down so that my head was in the right position for her to keep combing it.

"Austin wasn't sure if you wanted to hear from anyone, so he didn't mention it until today." I didn't like that so much, but I also knew I was fully capable of contacting Levi directly but had made the choice not to.

"Can I go for a little bit and see?"

"Of course, honey. Just go for the morning and you can let me know if you need me to come and pick you up. All I can ask is that you try."

"Mum?" I asked, after a while.

"Ash?" She mimicked.

"Did you really think I was dead?"

"I-, uh, well..." She stumbled over her words. "Sorry, honey, I wasn't expecting that."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine, you can ask me anything. If I'm honest, well, sometimes I did." I had been thinking about what Nick had told me the other day, and I really did feel as if I wanted to see a different perspective as to what happened back then. Not only for my own holistic recollection, but also to give me some slight preparation for the possible interpretations of Levi, Tate, and Gabby. "I never stopped thinking about you. I felt guilty every time I took the boys out to do something fun, wishing you were there, and then other times I just felt so helpless even whilst being so confident you were still out there somewhere. Everything lessened after a while, you know, when the memory gets hazy?" I nodded, as I genuinely did know what she meant. "It helped when I met Chris though. He always knew the right thing to say when I was thinking about you, and he really did push for everything he could to help. That's partly why Nana knew about you too, because he thought it was important she knew there was a piece of our family missing."

"Why didn't the other boys know?"

"I didn't want to burden them with the information of a crime case with no answers, and Ryan couldn't bear to mention you either, because he had seen more of my coping than I'd tried to let him see."

"Did the police never consider my biological father?" That was the one question I'd been dreading asking, because that seemed the most obvious, yet it had never been mentioned.

"They did, yes, but he was smart. I don't know where you were, but he was cleared as insufficient evidence was found that he had anything to do with it." I looked up at mum to see small tears in her eyes.

"Did you think it was him?" She nodded, then took a big deep breath.

"But I have you now." She smiled at me, rinsing out the last of the bubbles from my hair.

"No more paint?" I asked, changing the topic. I knew the answers to my questions, and didn't want, nor need, to put my mum through the stress of reliving any of that any more than I had.

"All clean again. You should probably get out and put some warmer clothes on. Chris has been slaving away in the kitchen cooking a very aromatic curry."

"Rice too?"

"Yes, there will be rice." I had discovered plain white rice to be one of my favourite dinner foods, but apparently, I just really liked carbs.

"Thankyou." I said, as she handed me my towel, but we both knew it was for more than just that.

"Anytime, my love." She hugged me, and I noticed I'd grown taller since the first time she'd hugged me standing up. "Now, let's go eat! I'm hungry."