The clock on the wall seemed to tick louder than ever before as everyone started to come to terms with Robert's outburst. In all the time I had known him I had never seen him speak in a way that many would consider rude and disrespectful. He had always seemed like the type to keep what he was feeling inside but he had done that for far too long and it had finally taken its toll. No one quite knew how to react to what had happened, but Robert had fled in such a hurry that someone needed to make sure he was alright.

I glanced over at James who appeared to have had the same thought as me and nodded his head. Without saying a word, I stepped away from the piano and through the Ealing's who didn't even try and stop me from going. Everyone was still trying to process just what he had said and what may have caused him to say something so rude to his own family. I brushed past them and stepped out into the hallway before opening the door and walking out into the busy streets of London.

People walked past the house in droves, despite the cold temperature and the dark clouds that loomed overhead the streets were as busy as ever and finding Robert would be a harder task than I first thought. There were very few places he was likely to go inside London, so I headed in the direction of the one I thought to be the most likely; Doctor Ealing's office. It was his home away from home and most likely the only place he felt safe in the current situation.

Without a coat, the cold wind felt almost impossible to stand. It nipped at my cheeks and fingers as I made my way through London towards the office. Most people ignored me as I brushed passed them in the direction of the office, but a few turned and caught sight of the burn on my arm which hadn't been hidden by a coat sleeve or the glove James had made. Although many people no longer cared or even thought of the factory, there were those that still found it an interesting event and would stare at those they knew to have been there. I was one of the few whose identity had become known.

Ten minutes later I reached the office and noticed the door had been left slightly ajar, something Doctor Ealing would never do. I jogged up the steps and pushed the door open, closing it behind me so no one would try and enter whilst I was talking to Robert. A single stream of light travelled through the window above the door, bathing it in the little sunlight that broke through the winter clouds. I stepped from the hall and into the main part of the office.

Robert sat perched on the edge of the chair at the far end of the room. His elbows were pressed into his knees and he hid his head in the palm of his hands. He didn't appear to hear me as I made my way across the room to stand beside the chair.

"I thought you'd come here," I said. He sat up and looked at me.

"There aren't many other places I can go, and I don't get to use my spare key that often."

"I suppose it's better than an ally way. I wouldn't be able to find you otherwise." I perched on the edge of the chair. "That was quite the outburst just now."

"I never should have said any of it."

"Why not?"

"Why do you think? Mother is going to hate me now, especially after telling her I would much rather be living with her own sister than her. She was mad enough at me already after I agreed to keep you company during your three days confinement, this only made things worse.

"What was that thing you said to me last month? The things a person says in the spur of the moment is what they wished they could have said but never did."

"I said that?"

"Yes, when I told you to leave me alone after the second infraction. I thought you were talking nonsense at first, but you were right. Sometimes we say things we had only ever thought in the past but saying them out loud can feel a lot better than keeping them in, trust me. That was the first time I have ever heard you speak out against your mother in such a way and I expect it was long overdue."

"Regardless, I shouldn't have said it. It just came out and I couldn't stop it. For the past few weeks, she has done nothing but talk about you and your family as though you're worth nothing and I just got tired of it all and what she really meant by it all. I couldn't exactly talk to Father about it so I never said a word, until now."

"Can I show you something?"

"What?"

"Just come with me."

I held my hand out to him and after a few seconds of uncertainty accepted it and allowed me to pull him to his feet. He brushed off his coat but didn't pull his hand out of mine and instead allowed me to drag him from the office and back out into the street, making sure he locked the door behind him. With the door locked, I dragged him back through the streets and down a rather familiar route, though not one that he would have known unless he looked a little harder at the shops and people we passed along with away.

The further into London I dragged him, the more familiar he appeared to be with the surroundings, but he didn't say anything. He said nothing when we reached the large iron gates and the chains that barred anyone from entering. He allowed me to drag him around the side and through the gate I knew to be partially open and allowing us access to the courtyard. From there. We went through the collection of allies and to the main courtyard that had been obstructed by the large stone building in front of it.

We moved down another small crevice between two of the buildings and I came to a stop, releasing his arm and pausing to look at the red-brick wall in front of us. I crouched down and pushed a wooden crate out of the way before sitting on the stone floor and staring at the wall. Robert joined me but didn't see what I had been looking at.

"What are we doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to show you this." I pointed to the carvings in the stone. Four names that stood out amongst the red brick. "We did that with the back of a metal spoon about three years ago."

"Why? I didn't think you would want your name here permanently."

"It was Lucy's idea. She wanted us to carve our name into the stone so that if none of us were around people would know who we were. It was our way of telling people we existed and putting a name to what would have been a number when what really happened here finally came to light. We didn't just want to be a number."

"Why are we here?"

"This is where I like to come when I need some time to myself or someone to talk to. That carving is the only thing I have that Isabel did herself and in a strange way it's almost as though she is here with it. Since the fire, I've only been here a few times since being gone for so long would be noticed by pretty much everyone. The last time I came here would have been the morning after Samuel dropped me off at James' shop. Even as I stood on the step, I didn't know if I had done the right thing, so I came here to talk to her and get some reassurance that I did.

"Just being here gave me a lot more clarity than being anywhere else, and I think that is something you need. Keeping everything tucked up inside you won't do you any good so you need an outlet, or better yet, somewhere to go whenever you need a break. I come here and I have my paintings."

"I don't have anything. The only thing I've ever been good at is getting on Matilda's nerves."

"You have your piano and judging by the letter you wrote to me, you're not too bad a wordsmith either. Just chose something, you don't even have to be good at it, but having something is better than anything. That's what I've learnt anyway."

Robert regarded me with a tilt of his head but said nothing. Instead, he looked at the scratching on the wall and furrowed his eyebrows as though in deep thought. I didn't blame him. He had spent so long just allowing the anger and frustration he felt towards his mother to build up and ultimately his outburst in our living room had been the result of that. I had learnt long ago that having an outlet for emotions worked better than keeping them trapped inside.

The carving in the stone of the factory always helped me when I needed to figure something out, especially if I knew I couldn't discuss it with anyone else. It had helped me decide that leaving the Ealing's had been the best thing for me and it was my only connection to Isabel. James had tried to convince me to go to her grave, but I could never bring myself to do it. By going to her grave I would be admitting to myself that she was really gone but that carving was a part of her; it always would be. If they ever intended to knock the factory down, I wanted to keep that stone so I would always have a piece of Isabel with me.

After a few seconds of sitting on the stone-cold floor, Robert pushed himself up using his knees and offered me his hand. I took is and allowed him to pull me up to a standing position. Rather than removing his hand from mine, an action I more or less expected, he laced his fingers with mine and pulled me back through the crevice and to the main courtyard.

He remained holding onto my hand as we walked back through the factory, through the gate and down the street back to the house. I had no doubt in my mind that Mrs Ealing would be happy with his actions, but I didn't want to be the one to bring it up and when we got to the house, I knew we wouldn't have to. The Ealing carriage which had been outside the house when I left was no longer there and Robert noticed it too.

I pushed open the door and Robert and I headed straight for the living room where Christopher and James sat in deep conversation and Kitty carried in a tray of tea to place on the table.

"Where are my parents?" Robert asked dropping my hand, though not before James had seen it.

"They left, not long after you did. We decided it would be for the best if you spent the night here, to give everyone the chance to calm down a little. I doubt anything good would come of this if we sent you home. I hope that's all right," James said.

"I suppose so. As long as I won't be intruding on you or anything."

"Not at all, Mrs Baker won't mind doing a little extra for dinner and perhaps you can help us convince Rosie that her angel from when she was younger needs to go on the tree." He pulled it out from behind his back.

"It really doesn't," I said.

James grinned and I knew what he was trying to do. Even if he remained uncertain with the Ealing's and Robert, he enjoyed making people smile through a difficult time and this just happened to be one of those moments. He wanted to distract Robert from what had happened, even if it would only be for a little while. I thanked him for that, Robert needed a break from what had happened and somehow, I doubted taking him back to the factory worked in the same way.

In an attempt to distract Robert, James set him the task of seeing what he could find amongst the boxes of decorations that had been abandoned when the Ealing's had first turned up. Whilst Robert did that, James pulled me to the drawing-room so we could talk. I knew I wasn't going to like what he had to say but I could hardly say no without it seeming odd to both him and Robert.

"Were my eyes deceiving me or were you and Robert holding hands when you arrived back?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow at me.

"There is nothing to it, James. The streets were really busy and the last thing we wanted to do was end up lost."

"Hm." He somehow managed to raise his eyebrow higher. "What did you two discuss whilst you were gone?"

"Nothing important, just finding ways for Robert to contain his anger so he doesn't have another outburst." James gave me a pointed look. "Don't give me that look, it's the truth."

"I just don't like you being alone with him."

"I was alone with him for three days."

"Mrs Baker was here. I don't want you to be alone with him, he's older than you."

"Only by a few months."

"Still, I want you to be careful."

"I can look after myself, James. Besides, Robert is the only one from that family not to lay a hand on me. The only person who seems to have a problem with him is you."

Without waiting for him to reply, I left him in the drawing-room and returned to the living room with the others. Robert was elbow deep in one of the crates, routing around to discover the treasures that we kept in our attic. It couldn't have been that much of an interesting task, but he threw himself into it nonetheless and ended up discovering a lovely collection of Christmas tree decorations that James and Christopher had made. If my angel had to go on the tree, so did they.

Before supper, James sent the two of us upstairs to wash up but I ended up taking the angel with me to try and hide it from James so it wouldn't end up on the tree. The only place both of them were forbidden from going was the art room so I would have to hide it in there until Christmas was over and we no longer had any need for the dolls head. Robert accompanied me and watched as I tucked the angel under a pile of cloth in the corner.

"Why did you hide it in here?"

"This is the only room in the entire house no one but me is allowed to enter so they're never going to find it in here unless they both break the promise they made when I first claimed this room as my art room."

"Are all these canvases yours?"

"Yes, some of them have been used but others haven't. This is where I come when I can't sleep at night, I'd prefer being in here with a canvas then staring at the ceiling in bed."

"Does it help? Painting it?"

"Not really, but it calms me down somewhat and it's nice to get it down on a canvas. In a few years, I would probably have an entire timeline of the factory on these canvases. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, if I decided to share them in the future then everyone would be able to see exactly what happened without the need for explanation."

"You should show these to people, I'm sure they would want to see them."

"I don't think I'm ready for that just yet. No one has seen these paintings and I have no intention for anyone else to see them just yet, maybe one day."

"I was thinking about what you said earlier, about finding something to occupy my time with whenever I feel stressed. I like the idea of using the piano, the one in Library is rarely used and I'm sure Father won't mind and would most likely be pleased that it's being used. If your painting works for you, I'm sure the piano would do the same for me."

Robert smiled at me and leant against the doorframe, looking around at all the covered canvases but not once asking if he could see what was underneath them. If he had asked, I would have shown him since he had been the only one who really knew most of the events that took place at the factory. I was glad he didn't though as there were some things I wanted to remain private and the contents of those paintings happened to be one of them.

It wasn't as though I didn't trust him, but my paintings had been for me and me alone and no one else needed to see them unless I wanted them to. I just hoped that his plan to play the piano helped him the same way the paintings worked for me, but I knew better to pry about something as personal as that, so I never intended to bring it up unless he did first. Some things were better off remaining private.

"Robert! Rosie! Supper is being served!" Christopher called up the stairs.

"We're coming!" I replied. "Come on, or Christopher will eat everything."

"Thank you for today, I don't think I would have been able to deal with what had happened if it wasn't for you. And thank you for showing me the carvings on the wall, I know you have never shown that to anyone before."

"As long as you promise to keep it a secret."

"Of course." He turned to the door to leave. "Oh, and you have a marvellous singing voice."

He smiled and turned back to the hall, disappearing down the stairs and in the general direction of the dining room. Whilst I watched him go, I wondered if James had a right to be concerned about Robert and I getting rather close.

He might have been right.

~~~

A/N - Chapter Eighteen is here and one of our Robsie moments! I put off finishing my ONC entry to write this chapter because I was so excited about it. This was one of my favourite chapters to write so far!

Also, if you haven't already noticed, I have a new book on my profile called 'Maddox Academy' and I would love for you to check it out! It's a bit different from TFG but I hope you enjoy it!

I want to know your feelings about our Robsie moment!

Comment below!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to The_Lady_in_Grey who not only mass-voted on TFG, but left me the sweetest PM! It meant so much!

First Published - 12th May 2020