She'd been roughing it, by anyone’s standards there was no question of that. Vince and Linda had been sending Sabine money for Stephanie's care, $50 of which Sabine had been depositing into Steph's bank account as 'pocket money'. Even if she'd only had to buy food, 50 bucks couldn't get her through the week. But there was more than food, and more often than not, Stephanie found herself struggling to survive from one week to the next. What was worse was that Sabine had forgotten about this weeks money. There was another 6 days until she got more money - if her aunt remembered.

She crept around the corner and looked down the alley. It was too early to be settling in for the night, but the abandoned apartment building that the street kids and homeless adults slept in during winter filled up quickly and she'd prefer to stake her corner and curl up for the night without having to deal with any of the others.

She moved slowly past the barely functional blocks of flats. The people living in them were even more desperate than those on the streets. They were down and outers for who the idea of living on the streets was worse than death. She stopped towards the end of the building and looked up. Standing out on the balcony was a young man, with a long blonde pony tail. He was leaning on the railing watching her. She'd seen him before, often out the balcony despite the cold weather. He was always watching, and two nights ago, when they made eye contact for a brief second, Stephanie felt as though he was looking into her soul. With a shiver, she pulled her flimsy jacket tighter around her and walked faster.

"Hey girlie!" The shout froze Stephanie in her tracks. Shaking, she turned around to see a well dressed man in his thirties, accompanied by a woman in a short tight dress approaching her. She'd seen the woman before, strutting her stuff on the street corners. This was obviously her pimp with her now.

"See Paulie?" The woman said, lighting a cigarette. "She's a cute one that's for sure."

"You certainly picked out a good'un this time Modina. What's your name kiddo?" asked Paulie, reaching out to touch Stephanie's hair. She flinched away and glared at him. "That's none of your concern."

"Oh she's fiesty." Modina grinned at her. "That might be an asset."

"Could be a liability too." Paulie pointed out. "Listen, kid with no name I have a business proposition for you -"

"I'm not interested." Stephanie knew exactly what Paulie wanted and there was no chance in hell that she would agree to it. Modina sighed. "It ain't such a bad life kid. You get taken care of by Paulie, he's not like a lot of the other scumbags out there. It'll be a better deal than what you got now."

"I'm quite happy with the way my life is being lived." Steph glared at Modina, who just smiled and shook her head. Paulie rolled his eyes. "Yeah they all say that. Mo here said it herself when I approached her to work for me. Just consider it eh?"

"The lady said she wasn't interested." A voice made the three of them whip around. It was the blonde man from the balcony. He was leaning against a garbage can and watching them carefully. Modina smiled "Heya sexy."

"Good evening Modina. Looking for new recruits Paulie?" he asked, joining the trio. Paulie held his hands up. "Gotta grab em somehow Lionheart."

"True, true. I'm not arguing that. But not this one Paulie. She's too good for that kinda life. No offense Mo."

"None taken." She grinned at him, butting out her cigarette. She looked at Stephanie. "Kid, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." The two women walked a few metres away from the men. Modina smiled at Steph. "Are you sure you're ok livin on the streets?"

"I'm surviving." Steph replied a little tartly. She nodded in the direction of the man Paulie had called 'Lionheart." Do you know him?"

Modina laughed. "Lionheart? Yeah, he's a great bloke. Looks out for me and Paulie's other girls. He's saved my ass more times than I can count. Not just from other pimps and their girls or johns either. When Paulie drinks, he has a temper on him. Gets a little violent y'know? Lionheart over there has always given me a bed when I need to get away."

"A bed?" questioned Steph. For some reason the idea of Lionheart sleeping with Modina made her skin crawl. Mo laughed. "His bed, but never with him in it. There was this one time, I'd had a shitty night with a john - he wanted me to-" She glanced at Steph "Ah, you're too innocent to know. Anyways this prick wanted me to do some stuff that was well, fairly bent. I have no problem with kinky sex, y'know but this was fuckin twisted. I was fairly shook up and wasn't quite brave enough to go back on the street. Lionheart came by while I was curled up in the corner havin a teary and took me back to his place. By stage, he knew me well enough to know that I may be a hooker, but I'm a damned good one. Nothin worries me y'know? But he took me back to his place and comforted me. I stayed there and he stayed at my side. I had a nightmare right, and without thinking about it, Lionheart jumps into bed with me, holds me till I go back to sleep. Stays at my side till morning."

Despite herself, Stephanie smiled. She glanced back at Lionheart and wondered what it would be like to spend the night wrapped in those muscular looking arms. Modina smiled knowingly. "He's a fine physical specimen that one. If I had the chance, I'd give him for free what I make the rest of the men pay for, but he's too much of a gentleman. Damnit."

Stephanie flushed with embarrassment as she realised how blatantly she'd been checking him out. To change the topic she asked "Why do you call him Lionheart?"

"He's got the heart of a lion. That night I was tellin you about, I get up, in a complete panic. I've only picked up three johns for the night, I got nowhere near the amount of money that I need to keep Paulie from getting angry. What does Lionheart do? Gives me the money. That boy can barely afford to get through the week as it is. So I told Paulie's other girls and we upped our prices the next night and gave the money back."

"That's a nice thing to do." Stephanie smiled at Modina, finally warming up to the world-weary hooker. Modina smiled back. "Look, the real reason I pointed you out to Paulie is because the girls and I have seen ya round here. You're obviously not a typical street kid y'know? As soon as Lionheart sees Paulie, he gets defensive. I knew that if he saw Paulie hangin around you, he'd be down here to save ya."

"So, you're doin this to get me off the streets?" Stephanie sounded a little confused. Modina laughed self-consciously. "Hooker with the heart of gold, that's me. Look you're not like the other kids ok? You came from a better place than most of these rats. You look like a nice kid. I don't wanna see you get fucked over like the rest of em."

"MO!" Yelled Paulie. "Enough with the chit chat. Get that fine ass back out on the street. You got money to make."

Modina rolled her eyes. "Been good talkin to ya kid. I'll see ya round."

"Bye Mo." Stephanie hated admitting it to herself, but she liked the cheerful woman. She waved as Modina and Paulie walked off, Paulie muttering under his breath. Lionheart watched till Paulie was out of sight, then turned to Stephanie. "Well it looks like I've got myself a room mate. I don't know what you're used to, but I'd say its a little more fancy than what I've got."

"I've been living on the streets. As long as it's comfortable I don't care."

"OK, some ground rules. No drugs, no sex, no stealing from me, no stealing from anyone else. Nothing illegal at all. Financially it'll be tough, but we'll get by from week to week. You got any cash?" He looked at her hopefully. She shook her head and he sighed. "Oh well. Like I said it'll be tough, but we'll do it. You gotta name?"

"Stephanie." she replied hesitantly. He grinned. "I'm known as the Lionheart, but my name's Chris. Just don't call me that in front of Mo and the girls and especially not Paulie."

"OK." Stephanie liked him instantly. There was a definite connection there and she felt safe knowing he'd be looking out for her. He grinned down at her. "Well Steph, to quote some old movie I once watched with my mother, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

~~~~

Chris looked at Stephanie worriedly as he lead her up the stairs to his flat - their flat now. Mo had been right, this was not your average street kid. Probably a runaway. Even so, if Paulie wanted to get his mitts on her, then she was staying with him. He'd already seen two of the most adorable teenage street kids go to hell because of Paulie and he'd be damned if he let it happen to another without a fight.

A little nervously, Chris unlocked the door of the flat and ushered Stephanie inside. For some reason, he avoided looking at her as he showed her around the 3 roomed flat. It was a dump, with dodgy water and gas, but it was neat and it had the essentials. He would never admit it, but he was terrified that Steph would run screaming. Not because of his personal feelings towards Stephanie, but for her own safety, he told himself hurriedly, as Stephanie explored the flat. ~ Personal feelings? ~ He thought. ~I haven't known her long enough to have any personal feelings for her. ~

Stephanie looked around the flat with a growing sense of contentment. It wasn't much and she'd lived in better places - the entire flat would've been half the size of her wardrobe in Greenwich - she'd also lived in worse over the past two months. It was a hole, but for now, it was home.

She walked back to where Chris was standing in the kitchen, making himself a coffee. "Do you want one?"

"White with one." Stephanie placed her order and sat at the kitchen table. Chris handed her a coffee mug and sat opposite her. "So what do you think of my little palace?"

"Very cozy." She replied with a smile. ~ Cozy means incredibly small. ~ The thought crossed his mind before he could stop it. Shaking the thought away, Chris smiled back and took a long swig of the coffee. "I have no idea what you think of the stuff, but coffee's not a luxury, it's a necessity."

"I knew someone like that." Steph smiled a little wistfully. Shane had never been a morning person. Chris looked at her closely. "What did you runaway from?"

"What?" She looked up at him in surprise. He laughed. "I've been living here a long time. I see street kids every day. As I bet Modina said a million times, you're not a typical street kid. There's something about you that makes that Aretha Franklin song 'Respect' spring to mind."

Steph looked at her mug. She'd tried not to think of her family over the past couple of months and when she had, she'd concentrated on the bad times. But now, sitting opposite Chris with a hot cup of coffee, she couldn't help but remember the fun. For a second her resolve crumbled, and she burst into tears.

Chris looked at her in shock. Ok, so it was a dump but it wasn't that bad. Then he realised that the cause of her tears was something else entirely. Without thinking, he moved to the chair next to Stephanie and pulled her into his arms, rocking her gently as she cried on his shoulder. He'd seen this before and knew that it was best to just let her cry it all out. Instinctively and hoping she wouldn't hit him, he dropped a light kiss on the top of her head.

Stephanie looked up at him in surprise. "What was that for?"

"I thought you could use a little TLC." Chris explained, feeling an little confused. Why had he done it? He didn't know himself. But what was done was done and there was no taking it back. Stephanie sniffed. "I'm sorry about that."

"No it's fine, you had to get it out." A look of understanding passed between them. Stephanie smiled. "So do you make a habit of picking up strays?"

"I do actually. I can't help, I see a kid in trouble, I have to help them out. It's a bitch for financing and I've been fucked over a few times. He shrugs. "It happens."

"So what do you do?" asked Stephanie wide eyed. Chris laughed. "I just find them and tell them that if they wanted the money that badly, then they should've just asked me for it."

"God. You're so different to everyone else around here!" cried Stephanie. "Would you really give your last dollar to some kid who's just likely to stab you in the back as say thank you?"

"Probably. It's just the way I've been raised and some of the beliefs and values my mom gave me." Chris flashed a million-dollar grin at Stephanie before standing up. He knew that twenty questions would follow and even though he hated doing it, they had to sort a few things out before they played getting to know you games. "It's getting a little late. When was the last time you ate?"

"It was..." Stephanie struggled to remember. She'd had half a hamburger that someone had left on a park table, but she wasn't sure if it had been today or yesterday or even the day before. She told this to Chris who shook his head in despair. "Do you eat eggs?"

She didn't, but a quick glance in the refrigerator when Chris had gotten the milk out of it earlier told her that there wasn't many other choices. With smile she said "Eggs would be great."

As he scrambled a couple of eggs, Chris thought about where he was going to sleep. The couch couldn't support his weight, one more night on it would probably result in a broken couch. Of course, he could always put the cushions on the floor and sleep like that. But he had training early tomorrow and a night on the floor would mess up his shoulder for the next day. As he scraped the eggs onto a couple of plates, Stephanie told him "I'll sleep on the couch. You were thinking out loud." She added, laughing at his confused look.

"I can't let you do that!" he protested.

"You don't have a choice." She teased. Growing serious, she said "Look, you know nothing about me, you've taken me in without question and so on, if sleeping on the couch is gonna hurt your shoulder, then I'll do it. It looks like it would collapse under you anyway and I'm lighter than you."

"It might collapse under a feather. It's a risk I'll take."

"No you won't." Stephanie said firmly. Chris laughed at her. "And how will you stop me?"

Stephanie's response was to grab her plate and fork and run over to the couch, sprawling across it. Still laughing, Chris sat on the floor opposite her. As they ate, Chris asked Stephanie about herself. She answered hesitantly, not wanting to give away too much about herself.

"So once I reached my aunt's place I tried calling Joey again, but nobody would tell me what’s going on." Stephanie shrugged, pushing her left over eggs around on the plate. Chris felt anger welling up in him. If he ever met this Joey punk, he'd deck him. He sounded like a typical rich brat who didn't worry about others as long as he got what he wanted. Biting the inside of his cheek, Chris asked "Do you ever think of him?"

"Occasionally." Stephanie's voice was candid. Chris bit down so hard he drew blood. "Despite what happened, do you want to see him again?"

"Shit yeah." The reply was vehement. Chris looked at her in surprise and she smirked at him. "Because I want to kick that asshole in the balls so hard that they comes out his mouth."

Chris laughed even as winced at the mental image. "So it's over?"

"Incredibly." Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I cared about him, but it certainly wasn't love. Sometimes I felt like a trophy girlfriend and that's not what I want out of a relationship."

For some reason Chris felt a rush of relief at Steph's words. Whoever Joey was, he certainly didn't know when he had a good thing. He choose his next words carefully. "What kind of background do you come from Steph?"

"My family has money. A lot of it. Billions in fact." She said shortly before changing the topic. "Tell me about your history." She asked with a smile that made the rest of the room dim for Chris.

"I grew up in Winnipeg, in Canada. My father was a pro hockey player, spent a lot of time on the road with his team. Mom and I have a fairly close relationship as a result." Chris smiled, thinking of his mother.

"So does that make you a Momma's boy?" Stephanie smirked. Chris poked his tongue out at her. Stephanie returned the favour as he continued. "No. I am not a Momma's boy. My dad taught me how to ice skate and I played little league ice hockey. When I can scrape the dollars together, I got ice skating. Unfortunately, there's no lakes or anything around here that I can just skate on. Do you skate?"

There was no answer and when Chris looked up to see that Stephanie had fallen asleep. With a smile, he covered her with a blanket, rather than risk waking her by carrying her over to the bed.

"Night princess." he whispered, lightly stroking her hair. He made a mental note to thank Modina for bringing Stephanie into his life.