Beginning

6:45. The time Leanne Tilsley dreaded everyday. It was when she was awoken from her peaceful sleep to face the hell of a new day. The reminders of what had been lost and the mistakes she had made. As well as the abuse she suffered at the hands of her step-son, Simon.

Despite losing all the husbands, fiancés and boyfriends in her life, Simon remained the constant male figure in her existence. But now it seemed even he had become fed up with her. It felt that way to Leanne anyway.

In the past two years, she had buried friends, watched the man she loved suffer with brain damage and bury her new start, Kal.

The phone bleeped again, this time it was a text from Nick.

Nick:

Morning. How are you Lea? Robert said he has some new menu ideas. Could you be in the Bistro for 9? I could take Si to school if you want. X

Leanne gave a weak smile as she read the text. The hours Leanne had spent on her own recently made her realise the mistakes she had made. Letting her marriage to Nick end was one she had noticed more and more. Despite him not knowing about everything with Simon, he always texted and made sure she was okay at work. It made life easier knowing someone cared. She thought about inviting him for dinner the other week but she remembered he was with Erica.

Leanne often thought about Nick and Erica's baby and what could have been. The child would have known her as Daddy's ex-wife. She felt a pain, sharp and throbbing on her heart. A child she had been desperate for since...well, 1999. And then Leanne wondered about her own child. The baby that would be a few months older than Nick's niece, Bethany. She often thought about the situation now and how her son or daughter would have fitted in. Would Nick have stayed with her all those years ago? Sometimes Leanne even wished that were the case. If she had stayed with Nick and gone to Canada with their baby then she would never have met and married him. She wouldn't have fallen pregnant with Peter's child and miscarried, leading to her fertility problems. Then of course, Simon. He would not use her as his personal punch bag and she'd have her own children. Children that would respect her, and she could love without being treated like dirt on the bottom of Simon's new black trainers Carla bought him for his birthday.

Her phone said the time was 7:00. It really was time to get up and face the day. Quickly typing back, Leanne wrote:

Sure thing, I'll be there. I'm okay thanks, how are you and Erica? Thanks but Simon thinks he's too cool for school now- prefers the bus with his mates. X

Leanne quickly jumped in the shower and washed her hair. She desperately tried to look decent as it would turn everyone's attention away from her black eye. After blowdrying and curling her shoulder-length blond hair, Leanne properly looked in the mirror. The bruise on her eye purple and black. She cried as she looked at the fading person in the mirror.

The broken woman sniffed her tears back and applied layer after layer of foundation on her eye. It felt like deja vu. When Nick hit her across the face two years ago at Christmas she said, "Just one hit and that would be it." It was what had stuck with her when she worked with a woman in Leeds who had been abused. It all hurt Leanne even more as she thought about it. Why did she treat the man she had known since she was sixteen and had married twice like a wife-beater? How come she wasn't talking to Simon with such disgust? Just because he's a child, she often said to herself. A child who has suffered so much in his short life.

Leanne left her bedroom wearing her favourite black leather dress and necklace. She felt better in a way. Knowing the summer holidays were over and his anger was now the problem of his teachers at Weatherfield High. Simon was sat at the kitchen table playing a game on his IPad. "Morning Si," Leanne said quietly. She still felt fearful after he lashed out the night before, when he had thrown a glass at her face and called her an "Ugly cow". She had managed to clean the blood of the cream carpet in the living area, but Simon's cruel words still rung in her ears . "Mm," he grunted back. Leanne sat at the table with her morning tea; watching the swirls of milk in the flowery mug. Simon looked up at her with his puppy-dog brown eyes. The innocence and childish look changed and he looked angry. "Why are you dressed up? Are you gonna be standin' on the street corner sellin' yourself again?" Leanne stared at him in wide-eyed horror. She could feel her eyes filling up with tears as Simon became a blur. "No. Don't you talk to me like that Si. We need to talk about this!" Simon appeared un fazed by his telling off. "I will you're a dirty prostitute. No wonder me Dad left ya for Carla." Simon grabbed his school bag and headed off for the bus. Leanne held her head in her hands and sobbed, ignoring the fact her make up was running down her face and onto the glass table she had cleaned just yesterday.

Out on the street, Simon stood outside the flat. Nick, dressed in his usual suit, walked towards Simon and smiled at the boy he had seen as his own. "Hi Si, is your Mum still in?" Nick asked, touching the lad on the shoulder. "Yeh. She's getting ready for work. She's dressed up too much though, she looks stupid." Nick's smile soon turned into a straight line across his mouth. "Oi. Don't you speak about Leanne about that. She's put up with a lot lately. What with Dan and Kal." Simon rolled his eyes at his former step-dad and stormed off to the bus stop.

Nick rung the buzzer to Leanne's flat. Leanne jumped as the phone began to buzz. She hastily wiped her tears off her face with the back of her left hand. "Hello," Leanne whispered down the phone. "Lea, are you alright, I thou...", Nick began but Leanne interrupted, she didn't want to be reminded of what Simon was doing to her. "Oh Nick, I'm fine. What are you doing here anyway?"

Nick sighed. He suddenly felt embarrassed. He had brought him and Leanne a coffee from Roys Rolls and had planned to ask if he could take Simon out for the day. He had really enjoyed the past few months; working with Leanne again. He'd said it to her before but it was so true; they really did make a great team. "Er, never mind. I thought we could walk to the Bistro together. It would be good if we were there before Robert so we could discuss ideas. Still, I'll leave you to it."

The guilt descended over Leanne immediately and she replied, "Oh Nick, sorry. I'm just 'aving a bad day. I won't be a minute." Grabbing her handbag and quickly glancing in the mirror, Leanne noticed the bruise was prominent again. Her crying had removed her cover up; her way of keeping Simon's abuse hidden. Now Nick would ask questions.

Leanne opened the blue door of 19a Victoria Street and was greeted by a warm latte from Roys and Nick's concerned look. "Oh my god. Leanne, what happened?" Nick asked, gently touching Leanne's cheek. Without realising- she flinched at the touch of someone. It had been weeks, maybe months since somebody had touched her without the intention of violence; Dan and Simon both sprung to Leanne's mind. "It's nothing..." she lied, shrugging Nick off and locking the door to the flat behind her. "Slipped over in the bathroom." Nick didn't look convinced. "Slipped into what? Someone's fist? Sorry, it just looks painful. Are you sure that's all it was Lea? You would tell me wouldn't you if something was going on? It's not Dan again, is it?"

Leanne took a sip of her piping hot drink. "Nick, I'm fine. Shouldn't you be more worried about the black widow sinking her claws into you?"

Nick grinned and joked, "Why would I be worried about my Mum?!" The two laughed as they walked past the Rovers. "You know I mean Carla. Surprised she hasn't measured you for a coffin already, just to be on the safe side an' all." Nick pulled a mock scared face and laughed again. "Aw, come on Lea, she's not that bad!" Leanne turned and gave Nick a look of disagreement. "Oh no. Not Saint Carla. She's like Henry VIII with stilettos." The former couple reached the doors of their Bistro, that Nick unlocked and put the code of the alarm in. It was 1981. He hadn't changed the code since the decree absolute came last Christmas.

The twinkly lights of the Bistro lit up in the main bar and Leanne smiled. She loved the Bistro, especially as she and Nick both had a say in the way their restaurant looked. It felt like a place of safety. Simon couldn't harm her in a public place and she was around people all the time. Steph had become a good friend of Leanne's and she had even had a laugh with Gail and Kylie. More than anything, it was nice to know Nick was always there to support her. He just knew when something wasn't right with her and vice-versa. It was obvious that despite the heartache they'd caused each-other- there was always love between them.

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you are interested and I will update again soon. It will get much better, I promise! It's boring now but there is much more trouble to come! :)

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