Hesitantly Franky walked up to the door, standing just beside the gate for a few seconds before knocking once, quickly deciding she'd made the wrong choice, trying to leave before the door opened.

A soft click sounded from behind her. "Crap," she whispered before turning around. There he stood, the one man that had stood up for her, the man that she believed she could truly trust no matter what was thrown her way. "Hey..."

"Hey..." Both were at a loss for words, staring widely at eachother, both shocked that the other stood in front of them. Nick believed he had lost Franky, and though the thought tore him to pieces, he knew if she chose to he'd let her go, and Franky believed that she had gone one step too far, pushing the boundaries of friendship too far.

"Are you ok?" She muttered quietly, stepping forward to assess the stitches that littered his face.

"Yeah..." And it was true; He felt little physical but his mind and his heart were aching at the thought of the possibility of losing Franky, and with the cuts that scarred her petite frame, he felt her pain aswell. "Are you ok?"

Franky felt herself go into a tailspin, losing control of herself. Nick had been through hell because of her, yet here he stood asking if she was ok. "Yeah," she whispered trying to stop the pain leaking into her voice as a lone tear spilled down her face.

"Oh no..." he started, seeing the tears streak down her face, before wrapping her in a hug, mumbling lightly to her. "Hey, hey, hey! It's alright!" He pulled back to look her in the eye and for the first time in days she spoke to him properly, allowing her words to be backed up by the emotion that played in her once blank eyes.

"I'm so sorry Nick! He just went crazy-" her frantic words trailed off as the scene replayed in her head, watching as Luke smashed Nick against the wall, forcing him to his knees.

"It's ok," he soothed and went to pull her back in for a hug, yet neither noticed until last minute that they were aiming for each other's lips, desperately trying to change direction without the other noticing, not wanting to ruin their relationship, yet ending up headbutting each other instead, effectively breaking the spell that had been cast over them for those brief moments.

"Oh shit!" Nick swore, clutching his stitches with his hand, yet he couldn't help but smile as Franky fussed over him, babbling nonsensical lines to him before they both stopped, taking a small step apart and looking at each other in silence.

"Mates then?" She asked politely, although she'd rather have been asking him out instead. "Because I could really do with one... one like you..." she smiled slightly, her head tilting lightly to the left, a quirk Nick had noticed months before. She raised a hand, hoping not only for confirmation, but to feel his hand in hers, if only for a brief moment; and once his hand touched hers she felt as though her one wish had been granted.

As pleased as she could be with the answer to her question she turned slightly, looking at the street, needing to put some distance between herself and Nick, to relieve some of the tension. "I'll see you round, ok?" And once he had nodded in agreement, though he wanted anything but, she turned and walked down the street, not allowing herself a moment to look back, knowing that if she did she wouldn't be able to contain herself.

Nick stood at the gate, staring after her longingly, shaking his head lightly to himself before whispering a quiet "What are you doing to me, Frankie?" to himself and returning back inside.

Once home, Franky sat in her room, ignoring the calls off both of her parents, craving a few moments alone to process all that had happened that week. She had lost herself, and along the way almost lost her father. She had allowed herself to be reeled in by Luke once more, and lost him all the same. And Nick, dear Nick had once again been her one saviour from this mess. He'd pulled her from the darkness so many times, even when it came to Matty and she couldn't help but feel a certain amount of love for him, a love she had yet to find wasn't unrequited.

However, while Franky pondered her life, her love and her mistakes, Nick looked forward, believing not only that he could find a way with Franky, but that he could make her happy; that they could make it work properly, for both of them. It was something they both needed.

He opened his laptop and slowly the background dissolved onto the screen, showing a picture of him and Franky back in Morocco, when things between them were light and friendly. After staring blankly at it for ten minutes, he snatched his phone from the side, opening a new text and typing quickly before sending it to Franky.

"Meet me at the pub later? Just you and me. I have something to ask you."

Seconds later, his phone buzzed to life on his desk, opening onto her reply.

"I'd love to. x"