Disclaimer: I'm currently in negotiations for the rights to Tracy Beaker. However at this particular moment in time it still belongs to Jacqueline Wilson and the BBC.

The next couple of days flew by in a daze for Tracy, as she found it hard to focus her mind on anything other than the kiss. Her absent-mindedness had affected not only her personal life, but her work at Elm Tree as well. Mike had picked up on her distraction fairly quickly and had confronted her about it, a meeting which had ended quite suddenly because a fight had broke out upstairs between Sapphire and Elektra. Tracy had never been so happy about the rivalry between the two girls as in that moment.

After the failed meeting, another chance to discuss her 'carelessness' – as Gina had called it – had yet to offer itself, and so Tracy had escaped explaining herself, but had in exchange had to put up with the disapproving looks of both Gina and Mike each time she made the smallest of mistakes. It was like all her hard work at proving herself capable enough since her first day had went down the drain.

It had affected her so much that up until he had sent her a text to tell her that he was looking forward to that night, Tracy had completely forgot about her plans with Liam once again. The thought that she was once more forgetting about her friends through selfish reasons caused her to feel an immense amount of guilt. Especially since one of those friends had been Liam in both cases.

I hate feeling guilty, Tracy thought vehemently, unconsciously reiterating a similar thought she had had a few days ago. Her mood now soured by her thoughts, Tracy spent the rest of the morning with a permanent scowl on her face.

It was nearing five o'clock by the time Tracy noticed that the kids seemed to be staying away from her. By half six she finally decided to do something about it, although she would never admit it, she missed their teasing. She would have to do it quickly though, as Liam was coming to pick her up soon. Striding purposefully into the rec room, she smiled thankfully when she realised that only a couple of the kids where there, she wasn't sure she could face all of them at once.

Standing by the couches where the kids had congregated, she fixed them with a trademark stare. "So what's going on?" She demanded, arms crossed in front of her.

"What do you mean?" Lily reflected innocently. Out of all of them, she was the most used to dealing with Tracy's tempers after her time spent living with her and Cam.

"You know fine well what I mean. Why have all of you been avoiding me?" She continued, her tone gaining new levels of aggression.

"Well..." Tee started, looking around her for any support, only to find none was coming. Sighing she continued on, there was nothing else she could do under Tracy's intense stare. "You seemed kinda angry today, and we didn't want to make it worse."

"Or have it turned against us." Carmen muttered.

"I'm not that bad am I?" Tracy asked after being stunned into momentarily silence by their answer. Thankfully, the kids were saved from answering by a car horn sounding outside.

"There's your date." Lily said mischievously, glad to change the subject. Tracy paused before leaving, she didn't to let this go, but she didn't want to keep Liam waiting either. Hearing the doorbell go, she quickly reached a decision and headed for the door.

The night had gone well. They had gone for dinner and passed away the time talking about their days in care. By some unspoken consent, they had firmly stuck to talking about the good times they had had, rather than focusing on things that they would rather forget. The conversation had carried on after dinner, taking them into a pub near Tracy's house. Neither of them were big drinkers, so the few drinks that they each had, lowered their inhibitions enough that they spoke more freely with each other.

It was getting late and Tracy was considering calling it a night when Liam surprised her. They had been sitting quite close together near the back of the pub, and Liam had turned slightly in his seat so that he was facing her fully, his arm around the back of the seat so that it was nearly brushing her shoulder. Tracy had been focused on the story she had been telling, her delight in the tale clear on her face, when he had leaned in and kissed her. She had been so shocked that it had took her a moment or two to react.

Startled, her hands had come up to push him away at the same time she drew her head back away from him. "Liam..." She began, before stopping, she had no idea what to say. "I have to go." She finally finished before rushing out of the building, leaving Liam alone and bewildered in the pub.

After the incident on Friday night, Tracy was dreading Monday morning at the Dumping Ground. Liam would be back for his training, and she would have to face him. He had phoned a few times over the weekend, but she had refused to answer. She was too confused by the situation to handle it, but she was going to have to now, there was no way she would be able to avoid him all day Monday, the house wasn't that big.

Now that she was here, the anxiety was worse. It had manifested itself into a constant throb behind her eyes, putting her in a less than happy mood. Gathering her courage, she forced herself to walk forward, into the house.

She managed to make it till lunchtime before running into him. She had been coming down the stairs with a load of washing that the kids had 'forgot' to bring down and had got to the bottom just as he had walked through the door. The moment seemed to stretch on forever as his eyes caught hers. She was rooted to the spot and it was only Gina's entrance behind the boy that broke the tension and allowed her to move. Going quickly, she gratefully retreated to the laundry room. She knew she was hiding, but at this point in time she didn't care.

She stayed in that room as long as she could, unintentionally taking over Frank and Liam's punishment. It was nearly dinnertime when she finally came out, and by then she couldn't help it. Surprisingly, another fight had broken out in Elm Tree. This time however it was between Toby and Johnny, and that was a surprise.

Gina and Crash had managed to break the two boys up by the time Tracy had gotten there and were trying to find out what was going on, without any success. Tracy quickly dispersed the group of kids that had stayed to watch the fight, before turning her attention to the two boys. She was surprised at them, Toby especially wasn't one for fighting. Before she could ask what was going on, Gina had declared that she had work to do in the office and was leaving the two of them to deal with it. Apparently it would be good training for Liam.

Several bribes and a few threats later, neither of them were any closer to figuring out why the fight had started. Both boys were refusing to talk, so it was finally decided to send them both to their rooms and get Mike to deal with them later. This left Tracy and Liam alone together however, making Tracy look nervously around her for the quickest exit.

"We should probably talk, about last night." Liam said nervously, after a couple of moments silence.

"Yeah, probably." Tracy answered, obviously reluctant. "Maybe we should do it somewhere a bit more private though." She added. Liam nodded in agreement at the idea and suggested, the laundry room.

"After all, everyone still thinks that's where your hiding out." He teased lightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere between them as they walked towards the room. She had barely closed the door behind her, before Liam had began speaking rapidly.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night, I just thought...I just thought you liked me as well." He finished lamely.

"It's fine. It's just that me and Seth..." Tracy paused, sighing tiredly before continuing, "I do like you , just not like that."

"You and Seth?" He asked smiling. "I should have guessed." Liam leaned back against the washing machine and ran his hand over his face in fatigue. "Is it serious?"

Tracy blushed at his question. "Not quite. We've only been on one date so far, but we've got another one planned for Wednesday night." Still blushing, she fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt as she spoke, embarrassed.

"Well, I hope you have a good time." He said. "Are, we good? I mean, things aren't gonna be to awkward...?"

"We're fine." She replied quickly. "We should stick your training out together." She added, jokingly repeating something that they had agreed back in the day.

"Yeah we should." He answered, brightly. Clearly relieved by her reply. "We should probably get back to work though."

"Course, don't want Gina chasing after you." She joked.

When Wednesday night came around, Tracy was just as nervous as she had been last time. But at least she didn't have to put up with the kid's teasing, only Cam's 'warning' about staying out too long. In trying to calm herself down a little, she had gotten ready a bit too early, and now she was left with nothing to do but flick through the TV. Letting her mind wander, she lazily thought back over the last couple of days. So much had happened that she couldn't quite believe it. Hopefully after tonight it would all get back to normal, or as normal as you could get at the Dumping Ground.

It was Seth's car horn that finally pulled her out of her thoughts. Quickly giving herself a once over, she took in a deep breath, before hurrying out to meet him. If nothing else, the place is good for a laugh, she thought briefly, smiling before she hopped enthusiastically into the car, eager for the night ahead.

Finis.

A/N:So gutted this is over, I've enjoyed it too much lol. Good news is I've got another story planned. I won't be able to post it for a while though, cause I'm going on holiday on Thursday. Woot, Woot! A whole week of sun, sea and sand, can't bloody wait.