This is going somewhere eventually, I promise!
It had been a month since Mark had broken into Rita's house and everyone was worried about her, she'd withdrawn completely, she hardly ate, she barely slept due to the nightmares and panic attacks that disturbed her every single night. She was running herself into the ground and everyone felt powerless to stop her. Mark had won, both Rita and Iain knew that, he might not physically be controlling her, but her mind, her mind was his, a constant stream of 'what ifs' echoing in her head. She was still getting the notes from Mark, the last one reminding her that he wasn't planning on leaving her alone any time soon.
'I haven't forgotten about you, I'll be in touch soon to tell you what you need to do, and you'd better do it or we might have to find out if LoverBoy will still want you when your pretty little face isn't so pretty and we wouldn't want that now would we Darling, I'd hate that just as much as you.''
She'd somehow managed to avoid Iain finding out about them, the notes all hidden in the bottom drawer of her desk, she couldn't tell anyone, she knew Mark meant what he said, him hurting her she could deal with but the fact he'd already threatened to hurt Zoe turned her stomach, she couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of her own stupidity.
The only place Rita ever felt truly safe was in Iain's arms, they'd been lucky that they'd managed to work similar shift patterns for so long, the slight variations meaning they'd go in and leave work together, one of them usually waiting in the staffroom either for the start of their shift or for the other to finish, Iain knew Rita didn't want to be in the house on her own, that she didn't want to be too far from him and he did everything he could to avoid that happening.
"Rita" Iain said softly, "I erm, I've got to do some night shifts next week" he told her calmly one evening, "I've tried to swap but we're really short staffed and…" he'd hoped that the first time they'd been on opposite shifts would have seen him on days and Rita on nights so she could at least get used to being on her own in the daytime, if he was honest he didn't know how she'd cope spending the night alone.
"Oh right" she'd said, panic already beginning to set in, 'what if Mark was watching the house?' 'What if he knew she was home on her own?' 'What if he broke in again?' She had to force herself to keep breathing, she couldn't let Iain know how scared she was, she couldn't make him think he couldn't leave her on her own. She was a grown adult, it wasn't fair that Iain felt like he needed to constantly be looking out for her, he should be free to do whatever he wanted without her holding him back.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Iain asked, "I erm, I could ask Zoe if she'd come round or…"
"No, no I'll be fine" Rita tried to convince both herself and Iain, "I'll set the alarm and stay upstairs" she told him, "I'll be fine.
"Okay Love, but if you change your mind I'm sure someone would…"
Rita shook her head, "I'll be fine Iain, don't worry about me."
"I can't help it" Iain said softly, "I love you Reet, I'll always worry you."
The day of Iain's first night shift arrived quickly, and Rita was already upstairs, curled up on the bed when he left. He kissed her, reminded her he loved her and told her to call him if she needed anything before he left, making sure to set the alarm for the downstairs of the house on his way out.
"Are you going home?" Iain asked, walking into the department just as Ethan and Cal were walking out.
"Yeah, we've bought a sega megadrive" Cal told him, "we're going to relive our childhood as I beat Ethan at every single game we've got."
"Will you do us a favour? I'll make it worth your while the next time we're in the pub."
"What is it?" Cal asked
"Will you stop off at mine and check on Rita? It's the first time I've worked a nightshift and she's been at home on her own since Mark came back."
Ethan nodded, "of course, we'll let you know how she is."
"Thanks, she erm, just between us, she's had a couple of panic attacks since everything happened so…"
"Nah, don't worry about it mate, we'll go and see she's okay" Cal said, patting Iain on the back before leaving the department with Ethan.
Cal knocked on Iain's door after a short drive from the hospital, "she's not answering" he called back down to Ethan who was waiting in the car, "do you think she's gone out?"
Ethan got out of the car, dialling Rita's number as he walked up to his brother, "she's not answering either."
"Ring her again" Cal frowned, waiting for Ethan to do so and pressing his ear to the wood, "I can hear her phone ringing inside."
"Rita" Ethan called as he knocked on the door, "it's Ethan, it's just me and Cal, can you let us in? It's just us, there's no one else here." They heard the scrape of the locks turning before the door opened just a crack, "it's just me and Cal" Ethan said softly, "we just came to see how you were."
Rita closed the door once she saw it was just Cal and Ethan, slipping of the chains so she could open the door properly, "Iain's at work" she said quietly, her red eyes giving away the fact she'd been crying.
"I know" Rita seemed to be responding to Ethan so Cal hovered by the door, letting Ethan do the talking, "are you okay?" he asked.
"I…" she shrugged, "I don't know."
Ethan held his arms out and Rita gratefully accepted the hug, more tears beginning to fall. "Why don't we pack you a bag?" Cal suggested, "you can come and stay with us til Iain's home so you're not on your own."
Ethan nodded, "shall we do that? Cal's bought a retro games console, he think's he's going to, and I quote, 'completely thrash' me on all the games he's got. You can help me beat him."
"Thank you" Rita whispered, "I…"
Ethan smiled softly, "let's get you some things together yeah?"
"I'll let Iain know" Cal told them both, "so he doesn't worry when he gets home."
"Thank you" Rita whispered.
Ethan went upstairs with Rita to pack a bag as Cal rang Iain, "Cal mate" he answered quickly, "is Rita alright?"
"She's a bit upset" Cal told him, "I think she's scared about being her on her own, she's upstairs with Ethan, packing a bag, she's going to come and stay with us tonight, I just didn't want you to worry if you came home and she wasn't here."
"Cheers Mate, look after her won't you."
"Yeah, course we will, you know we will."
"Will you, will you tell her I love her?" Iain asked quietly.
"Yeah" Cal smiled, knowing it wasn't the right time to tease his friend, "of course I will."
"Thanks, and tell her I'll give her a ring later when I'm on my break."
"Alright. Don't worry about Rita, she'll be alright."
"I know mate, thanks."
Ethan came back down stairs a while later with Rita, a black holdall on his shoulder, "right, I think we should go to the supermarket on the way home, get some snacks and things for our slumber party."
"Slumber party?" Iain teased, "what are you, a 14 year old girl?"
"No I…"
"Chill Nibbles, you know I'll never say no to, well, nibbles" he laughed at his own joke before looking at Rita, "I called Iain so he didn't worry about you, he asked me to tell you that he loves you and that he'll call you later when he gets a break."
Rita spent the evening sat on the sofa between Cal and Ethan, she'd turned down actually playing the games but occasionally pointed out something to help Ethan as he was trailing considerably behind his brother. She had to admit, she certainly felt less stressed, less worried now she wasn't at home on her own. She wasn't sure if Ethan would be much use if anything happened but he seemed good at keeping her calm, making her relax slightly and she knew Cal was like Iain, that he'd try and protect her as well as he could.
"You okay?" Cal asked, grabbing a handful of popcorn whilst Ethan went to make another cup of tea for himself and Rita, Cal sticking to the beers he'd bought from the shop.
"Yeah" Rita said quietly, "thanks for letting me stay."
"It's alright, are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"
Rita shook her head, "I'm okay thank you."
"Everyone's worried about you Rita, we…" Cal sighed softly, he'd never been great at expressing his feelings "we, we just want you to be okay."
"I'm sorry" Rita dropped her gaze to the floor.
"Hey, no, don't apologise, just, just let us know if there's anything you can do for us yeah?"
Rita sat in silence for the rest of the night, only speaking when Iain rang her like he promised he would. She spoke briefly to him in the privacy of Ethan's bedroom, reassuring him that she was okay, that Cal and Ethan were looking after her and telling him that she loved him.
Cal offered to sleep on the sofa that night, letting Rita sleep in his bed. She couldn't settle though, every time she closed her eyes Mark was there, leering at her, grabbing at her, his hands all over her body. She wanted Iain, she needed Iain to hold her closely, she needed Iain to tell her everything was going to be okay.
It was a little after 2 when she pulled herself out of bed, gently padding through to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water, she'd given up attempting to sleep, she felt guilty that Cal had given up his bed but she couldn't sleep, she just wanted to be at home with Iain.
"Hey" Cal said softly as he stood in the kitchen doorway, "are you alright."
"I erm, I was just getting some water, is that okay? I didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't" Cal said, walking into the kitchen and getting himself some water, "and of course, it's fine, help yourself to whatever. I think Ethan's got some horlicks or something somewhere if you fancy it, to help you sleep?"
Rita shook her head, "I erm, you can have your bed back, I don't think I'll sleep, not without Iain."
"Would it help if I came in with you? I mean to sleep on the floor or something?" Rita shrugged, "why don't we try it?" Cal suggested, "only if you're comfortable with be being in there with you?"
Rita nodded, "you erm, you can share the bed if you like, I mean we're both adults."
"Okay" Cal smiled, "if you're sure you can resist me" he winked cheekily, "I'll just grab my pillows and then I'll be in."
"Cal" Ethan mumbled sleepily, walking out of his own room, just in time to see Cal following Rita into his own, "what are you doing, I thought Rita was staying in there?"
"She said she can't sleep without Iain, I asked if she thought sharing would help, why don't you come too, make it a real slumber party? And at least if this ever gets out you can back me up and say I didn't try anything."
Ethan nodded and followed Cal into the room, "Cal, I can't believe you didn't tidy up, Rita, if I'd have known I'd have let you have my room, I'm so so sorry" he said as he took in the state of his brother's room.
Rita shrugged from where she sat in the middle of the bed, the duvet pulled up to her chin, "I don't mind."
"Well" Call flopped onto the bed, "I don't know about you two but I'm suddenly wide awake, how about a film?"
Ethan nodded, "sounds like a good idea to me, shall I get the popcorn?"
Cal rolled his eyes, "you'll be asking me to paint your nails next, any preference?"
"Anything but a horror film."
"Rita?" Cal asked, anything you'd like to watch?
Rita shook her head, "I don't mind."
"Okay" Cal stuck a DVD in the player and grabbed the remote, "don't complain if you two don't like it then" he said as he got into bed.
It didn't take long, Rita didn't know if it was the fact that a small light had been left on, the soft noise of the TV or the fact she felt safe sat in between Cal and Ethan but it didn't take long, less than half an hour into the film her body gave in and her eyes fluttered closed, her body slumping into Ethan's as she finally fell asleep.
