Title: Home
Rating: This part; PG-15
Characters: Nathan, Kelly, Nathan's mum, Kelly's mum, OC
Disclaimer: I do not own and never will. Written for my own enjoyment
Summary: Kelly returns after going away for a while, with a little boy. Charlie is Nathan's son. Together, the two have to learn to accept each other for who they are. Can they make it work, or is this all just a lost cause?
A/N: Well, I can't remember if Nathan's mum was named so she is now Brenda. And Kelly was always just Kelly B, so she is now Kelly Byrne. Unbeta'd, but read through and edited by me, so one or two grammar mistakes may have slipped through. I'm trying to keep it as IC as possible.

Home

Part one.

Kelly was standing in the hallway, body still. For a moment, Nathan was sure she would bolt, run towards the door and disappear out of his life once again. His eyes met hers and they were the brightest blue he remembered.

His eyes fell to the child in her arms; blonde hair, green eyes. Nathan frowned and noticed Kelly flinch as she listened to his thoughts.

Shit. A kid. Where'd she get that from? Oh. I wonder whose it is.

If only he knew, she thought bitterly, averting her gaze for a moment. It remained silent in the hallway as their eyes met once again and all they could do was stare.

'Well, who is it, Nathan?' came the sound of his mum's voice as she stepped in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a tea towel. She blanched as she caught sight of Kelly in the hallway, blinked and then glanced at her son. Brenda Young had never expected to see the day when Kelly Byrne would arrive back into their lives. Truthfully, the only woman had grown very fond of Kelly over the months she'd dated Nathan and had been surprised at her sudden desire to just leave. Brenda braved a smile. 'Well, put the kettle on, Nathan. Don't just stand there gawping.'

Brenda shooed Nathan into the kitchen and smiled at Kelly again. Kelly managed a smile back, following the older woman out of the hallway.

Nathan leaned against the counter, arms folded across his chest and Kelly could tell by his thoughts that he was still in a state of shock. Not angry, yet, but not overly happy either. But, what had she expected? For him to welcome her back with open arms without being mad at the fact that she'd left without a real reason.

What could she have said? I'm sorry, Nathan, but I'm pregnant and I'm going away to get rid of it.

It should have been simple.

If she hadn't fallen in love the moment she set eyes on the wailing infant. Now, she couldn't bear being away from her son for more than five minutes.

Nathan was still staring at the boy, but it hadn't clicked. Kelly waited patiently.

'What's his name?' Nathan finally spoke up.

'Charlie,' she said. Nathan fell quiet again, a frown creasing his brow. The kettle boiled beside him and he distracted himself by making up three cups of tea. Maybe it's Simon's. Or some chav on an estate. I could break their legs for her.

Kelly bit back a smile, but felt her heart surge at the same time. That was part of the reason she loved him, even after all this time. He was reckless, but he had a good heart really. Yeah, he was a dick and he acted like he didn't give a fuck about anything or anybody, but he'd loved her and that's all she'd needed.

'How long have you been back?' Brenda asked. Kelly looked up; Charlie was sat on her lap, playing with a placemat on the table, seeming amazed at the small square object.

'Two or three days,' Kelly replied with a shrug. 'Just got back on Thursday. Had to go shopping with my mum though.'

'Buy anything nice?' Brenda asked.

'Mum, can we have a minute?' Nathan suddenly piped up. Brenda nodded, getting to her feet.

'I'll be in the living room if you need me,' she said, taking her cup of tea and leaving the kitchen door partly open when she left; Kelly guessed she wanted to listen in. Nathan seemed to think so too and moved, shutting the door. He turned, looking at her again.

'Four years. You've been gone four years.'

'Nearly,' she shrugged. 'Charlie isn't four yet.'

'Why did you leave?' he asked and his voice held his emotion well. Too well. Kelly could tell he was guarded; shoulders bunched defensively as if warding off an attack, body angled away from her.

'Isn't it obvious?' she replied, looking down at the top of Charlie's head. 'I fell pregnant. I ... freaked out, I ran. Nathan.' Kelly looked up and her blue eyes were watery. 'Nathan, you're a dad.'

In the living room, a cup smashed on the laminate.

'Did you see 'im, then?' Janet Byrne asked her daughter later that night, standing in the bedroom doorway as Kelly dressed Charlie for bed. She pulled a Bob the Builder top over his head, before pulling up his blue pyjama bottoms.

'Yeah.'

'How did it go? Here, let me.' She reached into the bag for Charlie's dummy. The boy took it and sucked it into his mouth.

'It was fine,' Kelly snapped, rubbing her eyes wearily.

'Does he know-?'

'Mum, will you stop fussing and give me five minutes. Fuck.'

Janet nodded, patting Kelly's shoulder. 'I'll see you in the morning.'

'Whatever.'

Janet left, shutting the door behind her and leaving Kelly to sink on the bed with a soft sigh. Charlie leaned against her, hitting her knee with the flat of his small palm. 'Bed, mummy,' he said, looking up.

'Yeah, bedtime now.'

'And play out tomorrow, yeah?'

Kelly smiled and she lifted Charlie up onto the bed beside her. She cuddled him against his side. 'Yeah, tomorrow we can play out.' She paused for a moment. 'Charlie, you know the man we saw today?'

'Yeah?' Charlie looked up at her.

'You know he's your daddy?'

Charlie was quiet for a moment, before shrugging. 'He didn't seem like a daddy,' the four year old replied. Kelly laughed, despite herself.

'No, he didn't, did he?'

'Will we see him tomorrow?' Charlie asked. Kelly shrugged.

'Maybe.'

The boy stood up, clambering over the duvet to sit on the pillow. He snuggled down into the covers and stretched. 'Come on, mummy,' he smiled, patting the bed. Kelly kicked off her shoes and pulled herself into bed.

'We'll go to the park in the morning,' she told him, as Charlie snuggled up into her side. 'Night, baby boy.'

'Night night.'