Prologue

"Robin and Kim." The letter began, "thanks can never be enough."

Kim's hand rose to her eye. She'd barely read the first sentence but already it was having a severe effect on her tear ducts. She swallowed and tried hard to keep her composure as she carried on reading.

"You took care of me from my first day back in the real world and helped me find my way home. You saved me from weeks shut away with strangers by taking me into your home. You helped me to regain my strength and then to stay strong enough to work out how to return to Gene. Your friendship has gone above and beyond the call of duty."

Kim hiccupped as the tears began to escape. Alex had written the letter some weeks before, when they journeyed to Manchester. She'd left it out for Robin and Kim to find along with letters for Molly and Evan, but when her plan to return home had gone wrong she'd packed them away. It wasn't until Kim began the arduous task of going through Alex's things that the letters turned up. She had been reluctant to even open it, anxious about doing it without Robin but she had no idea when or if he would wake up so eventually she made the decision to go ahead and face it alone.

"There is one thing you should know," the letter continued, "I have placed a request with my will for my ashes to be scattered alongside Gene's. Please make sure that this happens, I trust you both implicitly and I know you will do all you can to make sure we are together. The details of my request are held at Beardless, Beardless and Beardless solicitors. They are aware that you have been the representative adults in my care and will take you very seriously.

Finally, please, keep doing what you're doing and don't let anyone try to tell you that you're wrong. Love doesn't read the rule book. For everything that you've had to go through together, it only takes one look at you to see you're doing everything right."

Following that there was a line that had been crossed out. Kim held it up to the light, then back on her lap and finally squinted at it and pulled it closer to her face before she managed to read;

"as long as that 'one look' doesn't happen to involve extremely enthusiastic lovemaking in somebody's hospital room". It made Kim give a tearful giggle, despite herself. She put her fingers to her mouth as finally a hint of a smile fell across her lips.

"I will miss you both more than you'll know," the letter continued, "Take care of yourselves, and of each other, until we meet again. "

Alex signed off the letter with a kiss and a small drawing of a tin of baked beans. As she reached the end of the page Kim laid it down and slowly got to her feet. The full reality of the situation hit her hard. Alex had already been gone for a few days. Time felt strange to Kim. It seemed as though she'd been gone for far longer, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all. She shuddered as she walked through the empty rooms of the flat. She felt haunted, so alone. The rooms were so bare when there was no laughter filling the air.

"When are you going to come back?" she whispered, her eyes moving to a framed photograph on the wall of herself and Robin, "If Alex has made it home then why can't you?"

He'd been gone for weeks. So had her smile.

~xXx~

Almost two months.

She'd been living without him in her life for two months, She'd spent hours beside his bed but it only hurt when she knew his soul was somewhere so far away. She needed him back so much. It pained her to even think it. She was supposed to be strong and independent, she always had been never relied on anyone else. Well it seemed something had changed her. No, someone had changed her. For the first time in her life she really felt like part of a couple, two halves of a strong connection.

But now, as time went by, she began to fear he was never coming back.

"Maybe you've made your decision," she whispered beside his bed. Her heart was splintering into sharp, painful shards inside her chest as she thought about it but the question wouldn't go away. What if he'd decided to stay with Simon? She'd always feared that. She didn't see how having less than a year together could wipe out all those years of closeness between them. While the rings on their fingers said differently she couldn't fight her fear, especially since the one man who could tell her for certain one way or the other was stranded years away from her.

She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead before she stood up and left the hospital room, glancing back at him one last time. All the wishing in the world couldn't bring him back to her if he didn't want to make it.

~xXx~

Arthur Layton wiped his dripping nose against his coat sleeve. How many weeks had he been in hiding now? Three? Four? It felt like more than that. But then, unable to find anything to slip into his veins, the withdrawal had been horribly painful and stretched every damn day of it out for an eternity. When word had got around about his attack on the dealer he soon found it impossible to find anyone who would sell him anything. In fact, he found it impossible to find anyone who wouldn't attempt to kill him when he approached them. His own stolen stash disappeared very quickly and soon he was back to being free of the poison in his body.

So why did he feel crazier without it? Why, now he'd been off the stuff for a good while, did he feel crazier than ever? Voices in his head, or one voice at least; barking at him, telling him what to do, pushing him towards more and more violent thoughts. Had he finally cracked? Was it the years of substance abuse that had finally turned his brain inside out? He didn't want to think about alternatives.

And now, there he was, on that very night the cold and rainy night where he stood outside of the hospital, swathed in dark material, the hoodie hiding his features and the rain drowning out the voice. Not that it made a difference. It was too late. He'd already listened to what the voice wanted him to do.

The corridors passed in a blur. Had to act fast. Didn't have a lot of time. Had to do his best to make this swift and stealthy; keep out of sight, wait for the right moment. There was no guard on the door now, not any more. That had been stopped only days before. So when he reached the door of the hospital room there was no one and nothing to stop him.

Except for Robin's determination to open his eyes and wake the hell up.

~xXx~

A/N: So I've apparently decided to write this, especially since I think I'm going to need something a bit less mind-bending while I'm writing my other fic to give my brain (such as it is) a break when needed. This is a… well, not a *sequel* to What Do You want From Me? Because it would be shoehorned in the middle of it rather than following the end. I guess it's a companion piece. I wanted to write about what happened during the 6 weeks Robin was back with Kim in the real world before he died, mostly for my own fun because I really miss the Robin/Kim story arc I wrote on Fictionpress, but the idea's also grown in my head to focus a bit more on Layton and what he was doing all that time, lying low between trying to Kill Robin in his hospital room and finally succeeding.

Also, this story may eventually involve Evan's beard regrowth

And Geoff.

The rating may rise to M for dark themes and Robin/Kim sexy-times later on (oh yeah, as well as Layton causing the Fenchurch East bloodbath, lovely!)

I'm also continuing my theme of naming fics after songs, this one named after a Nelly Furtado song which last year I ended up playing on repeat through writing much of Whispering and since then I'd always wanted to use the song in a story.

Also, Rant needs to stop deducting points from me for being mean to Kim!