Chapter 1

"No Rose."

"But Mum -!"

"I said no, and that's final!"

"I love him Mum, you can't stop me!"

"You're sixteen years old Rose, you're stuck here until you're eighteen. You're too young to move in with him! And he's twenty! He's not the kind of man I want you to be around, God knows what you see in him."

Rose wasn't giving up without a fight. "What about you and Dad? Hmm? Gran told me that you were exactly the same age I was when you moved in with him and he was the same age as Jimmy!"

"Yeah, and look how that's ended up. Pete's dead and I had to bring you up alone."

"Please Mum, just give me a chance!"

Jackie flipped. "I said NO! You're too young, you're staying here, and that's final."

Like the teenager that Rose was, she growled in obvious frustration and stormed off to her room, slamming and locking the door behind her, and didn't appear for the rest of the evening.

Jackie backed off, giving her daughter the space to blow off the steam. She'd come out eventually, if she was hungry.

But little did she realize that was the worst mistake she could've made.

Rose looked around her room, making sure she had everything. A red rucksack and a black suitcase lay on her bed, already stuffed with clothes and her belongings. Her Mum didn't know that Rose had planned this night ages ago. She'd even discussed it with Jimmy, and together the two plotted.

The plan was, if Jackie disagreed, which was most likely going to happen, which it did, then Rose would go ahead and get ready, and would sneak out when her Mum had gone to bed, and Jimmy would be waiting for her in his car outside the block of flats.

At around 11:45, Rose finally heard Jackie lock up the flat and shut her bedroom door. Her Mum loved her sleep, and Rose knew that she'd go as soon as her head hit the pillow.

When it was 12:15, Rose couldn't wait any longer. As quietly as she could, she pulled on her jacket and zipped it up tight, knowing that it was freezing outside, with it being winter. She opened her bedroom door and took one last look at it, before nodding confidently and closing it behind her. She hoisted her rucksack onto her back, and placed a letter for her Mum on the coffee table, knowing she'd see it when she had her morning tea. And then she was gone, making sure to lock the door again behind her.

Rose leaned over the balcony of the flat and smiled, there was Jimmy's car, small and black, just as he promised. She literally ran down the stairs and out of the apartment to the car to greet him. He motioned for her to put her stuff in the boot which she did, and she jumped into the passengers seat.

Jimmy grinned and kissed her on the lips. "So I take it your Mum said no?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Shut up. She was totally against it, so I played dirty and used the ploy about Dad against her."

(Even though she'd stung Jackie more than she intended.)

Jimmy chuckled. "Nice one, Rosie."

"Would you stop calling me that? It sounds like a pets name!"

He held his hands up in surrender. "Alright! Sorry. So, to Cardiff?"

She grinned excitedly. "To Cardiff. How long will it take?"

"A couple of hours at most, we should be there in the early morning. Oh, and we're picking Danny up along the way. He's helping us move in."

"That's sweet of him," she murmured, bitterly regretting Danny coming along. She wanted Jimmy all to herself.

Is this how it would be? Her being the jealous girlfriend? She shrugged and dismissed the thought from her head as Jimmy started the car, and they pulled out of the estate into the night.

When Jackie awoke the next morning, the flat was quiet. Eerily quiet. It must be around eight o clock, and normally, she slept in until about eleven, considering it was a Saturday. But something from the conversation between her and her daughter the night before was playing on her mind.

She wrapped her pink fluffy nightgown around her and opened the front door of the flat, picking up the bottle of milk from the doorstep. She closed the door and headed into the kitchen, and started to boil the kettle for her cup of tea. As she walked into the living room to switch on the TV, she noticed an envelope on the table, with Rose's handwriting on it, addressed to her. Eager to see what it was, she picked it up and opened the letter inside, and began to read.

Mum,

I'm sorry if I went off on one last night, when I got into my room I was all set for apologizing, but I was too much of a coward to do so, just like I've always been. So, this is what I'm doing now, apologizing, only without all the shouting etc. If you're reading this now, then you will have noticed that I'm no longer in the flat.

The colour drained from Jackie's face, and she rushed into her daughter's room, only to find it pretty much bare. The rickety wardrobe was empty save a few hangers, as was the chest of drawers. Her pictures off her bedside table of Rose and her Dad (the only one she had of them together when she was a baby), had vanished too. As had the one of Rose and Jackie. In fact, all of the pictures of her friends and family had gone. There was nothing left, it was like she never existed.

Jackie felt her knees beginning to buckle, and she set herself down on the edge of the bed, and continued to read the letter.

I'm sorry, I really am. But I had too. I love him. And I know you don't like Jimmy, but to me, he's the most wonderful man I've ever met, and I know he'll look after me. We've already got a flat in Cardiff … oh, damn, I wasn't meant to tell you that, he'll be pissed. Alright, so we're in Cardiff, but I won't say where OK? So don't ask questions. I've taken my old phone with me, but Jimmy's given me a new phone, you know, the one that I asked for on my birthday? Anyway, I'll try and call when I can, it'll have to be when Jimmy's not around, he's not a very family orientated person. His Mum died when he was one and his father was never around. I think that's why we connected, cos we'd both lost someone we loved.

I've asked Mickey to look after you, not that you need looking after, but you know what I mean. I'm sorry Mum, I really am. I hope that one day you can forgive me. Speak to you soon.

Love,

Rose X

Jackie folded the letter back up and placed it in the envelope, and buried her head in her hands, and began to cry.

AN: I hope that explained things, I wanted to explore this relationship with Jimmy as I was fascinated as to why it went wrong. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please review if you want more.