Just a little piece, inspired by tonight's Eastenders, when Jack said to Ronnie something about her not sleeping well. In my opinion, there hasn't been nearly enough post-reveal stuff, and this is an attempt to remedy it. Hope you enjoy - you know where the review button is if you do!

Disclaimer - Unfortunately, none of the characters are mine!

It was amazing really, that it managed to wake him. It was so quiet, so unobtrusive, and he was usually such a heavy sleeper. Maybe subconsciously he had known that something was wrong, that he needed to be awake. Or maybe that was a load of rubbish, and he needed to stop being so sentimental. Love really does make fools of us all, he thought wryly, as he rolled over towards the source of the noise.

Whatever the reason, he was glad he was awake. He had suspected for some time now that she wasn't sleeping well, had watched the dark circles grow under her eyes, watched her retreat back into herself as she felt herself become more vulnerable. He hated it. After all she'd been through, she deserved the comfort of a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear. So why did she keep refusing that comfort?

He had barely seen her cry since the revelation, but she was crying now. He could hear the tiny whimpering breaths and they sent a pang through him. It was late, and it was still dark outside, but from the moonlight streaming through the window, he could tell that she was still asleep, blonde air splayed angelically on the pillow. But it was not a peaceful sleep, she was shifting and muttering, and now, with a quickly-stifled cry, her blue eyes snapped open. Seeing him watching her, she swallowed hard.

"Sorry Jack. Did I wake you up?"

"No." It wasn't exactly a lie, and she didn't need anything else to beat herself up over. "I was awake anyway. Bad dream?"

For a moment, she looked as if she might deny it, but then she nodded , eyes full of pain.

"Want to talk about it?"

Her defences rose at once, he could almost see her building a wall to keep him out. "No. I'm fine. I just need a glass of water."

She made to get out of bed, but he reached out and caught her wrist with his good arm. She struggled against him, but he resisted. She wasn't running away from him again.

"No, Ron. You've been bottling this up long enough. You need to talk about it, and I want to listen. Please...it might help?"

Her gaze met his, just for a moment, and he saw the total vulnerability there. Then she exploded.

"Help? You want to help? How can you? You can't take him away, no-one can take him away, he's always going to be there! He's there all the time, whenever I close my eyes, waiting! Waiting to hurt me again! He ruins everything, even now he's dead! I'm pregnant, Jack, and I can't be happy because I'm just waiting for him to ruin it! I can't do it, Jack, I can't take it, I can't..."

Her voice cracked on a sob, her face crumpled. Wordlessly, he pulled her to him. Her face buried in his chest, she began to sob with a violence that terrified him. Whenever she had cried before, it had been somehow controlled, still Ronnie Mitchell, Ice Queen, despite the display of emotion. But this was raw pain, this was unstoppable and uncontrollable, this was exactly what she needed. For a long time, he did nothing but let her know he was there, gently running his fingers through her hair, rubbing her back soothingly. When the tears finally subsided, he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.

"Listen to me, Ron, I know he's still haunting you, and I know how scary that must be, but you've got to believe he can't hurt you any more. I won't let him ruin this, I promise."

But inside, he was scared. Because he knew how much was at stake here, and how devastated she would be if he couldn't keep his promise.