Here's the final installment...

It had been a bad day at work. A bomb had gone off in central London killing scores of people. Ruth had taken herself up to the roof, needing time alone to deal with the aftermath of a terrible day. Harry argued with himself whether he should go and meet her and decided that he couldn't possibly make things worse by his presence so he put his coat on and went to see her.

He saw her figure leaning over the railings watching London go by. He waited not wanting to disturb her until he had to.

"I know you're there," she said without turning to face him. Harry walked closer to her and stood next to her. He hadn't slept in longer than he could remember but he was glad he could stand this close to her without her shrinking away from him.

"That was a bad day," she said to break the silence.

"Yes. Bombs, destruction and death. Its never good." He turned and looked into her eyes, sad to see the tears coursing silently down her face.

"I hate this," Ruth said. "I hate how much I need you. I wish I didn't need to see your face every hour of the day. I wish I could forget how it feels when you touch me and I wish I didn't love you so much. Everyday for two weeks, I've been desperate to see you and now you come home and…"

"I'm so sorry," he said, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. He covered her freezing hand with his own, hoping she wouldn't shy away from him. She didn't. Ruth sighed as his thumb stroked the back of her hand softly. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to wake up and realise I've had the worst dream of my life," Ruth said hollowly. He kept his hand on hers, not wanting to move it. "You know you've hurt me," she said with a hint of a question.

"Yes," Harry said. "I do. And I am so, so sorry. If it makes you feel any less horrible I can't really remember much."

"That doesn't help me," Ruth said, shaking her head. "As demeaning as it is, I need you too much. I don't want to leave you." Harry started to cling to a fraction of hope that she was giving him. She turned to him and looked him in the eye. "It's going to take a long time for me to trust you again."

"I know," Harry said. And he did. It had taken eight years for them to get this far in their relationship, he knew it would take a long time for her to trust him. If she ever would. But he would do anything within his power to earn that trust. No matter how long it took.

THE END

Now I've got the angst out of the way I can concentrate on my alphabet of fluff. Leave a review please!