Disclaimer: I do not own Emmerdale or anything to do with Emmerdale, it all belongs to ITV

I'm on a roll with these chapters today! After this one there's going to be an epilogue and then that's it! Get ready for the sequel! J

Remember Me…

Chapter 9: Go get the girl

After their drinking session Pete and Finn had decided to leave Ross on sofa to sleep it off, Pete decided to stay in Ross's room that night, not wanting to leave him, while Finn stayed in his own room. James had gone off to some farm convention up in Leeds and had taken Emma with him, they had decided to stay the night and Moses was staying at Debbie's so it was just the Barton brothers in the house.

Pete was once again woken up by the terrible nightmares of him nearly killing Ross, causing him to bolt upright in a panic covered in a cold sweat. It took him a while to convince himself that Ross was alive and downstairs, and only then did his heart rate begin to return to normal.

Pete slumped down against his pillows. His head was pounding and his tongue felt rough as sandpaper. That would teach him to help his brother's work their way through a whole bottle of whiskey!

Rubbing a shaking hand over his face, Pete felt overwhelmed with grief. He was such a bad brother. He hadn't even realised what a hard time his own brother had been going through, and to top it all off, he had tried to kill him. An affair was such a small thing when compared to killing someone.

Pete could stand the feeling of having a doormat for a tongue no longer and decided to go downstairs to get a drink of water, and he should check on Ross as well. He could trade sleeping arrangements with him if Ross was awake.

When he got downstairs Pete headed first to the kitchen to get a glass of water to ease his stinging throat, then he went through to the living room to check on his little brother.

Pete groaned in horror when he realised the living room was empty. He checked behind the sofa, the cupboard and the kitchen before running upstairs and rousing Finn.

Both the brothers searched the house high and low, in case a drunken Ross had stumbled and fallen anywhere, but to no avail.

The young Barton was gone.

Pete and Finn dashed outside into the cold night air. It was heading into mid-September now and there was a definite chill to the air, goodness knows where the young mechanic had got to!

Pete dashed one way up the village and Finn went the other, agreeing to meet at the Woolpack in half an hour.

Pete searched high and low, even tracking through bushes and getting covered in mud, leaves and brambles. His brother had always been good at disappearing, he had left the family home for a good four years without a trace. It had driven his father mad with worry, losing nearly all their money trying to find the wayward Barton.

After half an hour Pete had still had no luck in finding his younger brother and tiredly made his way to the woolpack. He sat down on one of the benches to wait for Finn to return. The sun hadn't even began to peek from the horizon yet and the moon was still shining brightly in the sky. What if Ross had remembered what he had done to him and, out of fear, had done a runner? It would be all Pete's fault if Ross had run away again, it would kill his parents to know their middle son had taken off in terror over what his older brother had done.

Pete shivered, and not just from the cold, and pulled his coat around himself tighter. The guilt was eating him alive, always wondering when Ross was going to remember and how he was going to react. Pete promised himself that when the time was right, he would tell everyone the truth about what he had done and face to consequences.

Pete was pulled from his thoughts by Finn shouting his name and running up the road.

"PETE, I'VE FOUND HIM!" Finn yelled, before turning on his heels and running. Expecting Pete to follow him. Pete jumped off the bench and took off after Finn, and was soon hot on his heels.

They found the middle Barton brother in the grave yard, curled up on the ground. Pete and Finn ran over to him. The young mechanic was cold and shivering in his sleep, curled up on the grave of Donna Windsor clutching a photo of them both together in his hand.

"Oh Ross" Finn cried, falling to his knees by his big brother side. Ross had always seemed so strong and indestructible, and seeing him so vulnerable was both unnerving and devastating at the same time.

Pete shook Ross awake, his eyes flew open and looked around, not recognising his surroundings.

"What state have you got yourself in, hey?" Pete asked sadly.

Ross looked down at his hands and then to the picture of him and Donna, "I had to make it more real, I had to see for myself… How could I forget someone I love so much?" Ross questioned himself, tears forming in his dark eyes. "I killed her."

"It wasn't your fault mate, okay?" Pete patted his brother's shoulder consolingly. "She was dying anyway, she died to save you."

Ross still looked on the verge of tears and was shivering uncontrollably now.

"Come on, let's get you warmed up" Finn said, getting to his feet.

Finn and Pete helped their broken brother to his feet, and together the three of them made their way home.

It had been three days since Ross had been found in the graveyard. Pete and Finn had filled in Emma and James over the events of the previous days, both parents were concerned and eager to help their son.

But Ross wasn't letting anyone near him to help. Spending most of his days shut up in his room, the young mechanic was slowly getting back to his old ways. Avoiding his family and full of self loathing. As far as Pete knew, he hadn't had anymore memories since the last flood where he'd remembered Donna, and for that he was grateful. He was preparing to tell his parent everything, and had confided this information in Finn who had agreed to support him, but with everything that had happened finding a moment had been difficult.

Debbie had been keen to stay away from Ross since his discovery and return home, for Pete's sake. She hadn't seen the young mechanic since before the accident, but upon hearing what had happened over the memories of Donna she had been desperate to help him. It was her, after all, who had been there for him when the accident had first happened and she felt she should be there for him now. Even if he didn't remember her.

When Debbie had voiced this to Pete one night after the children had been put to bed, Pete was quick to put her off. In fact Debbie's omission had panicked him quite a lot.

April had caused Ross to have the flash backs of Donna, and after some research on the internet, Pete discovered that certain people could bring back certain memories. Especially if there is a strong link attached to them. Pete was scared that if Debbie went round, the sight of her would cause Ross to remember what Pete had done before he'd had chance to explain to his family. Or he could remember his love for Debbie.

Pete had explained to Debbie about how he suspected she would bring back some recent memories for Ross. He didn't tell her about his fear of Ross remembering he loved her or about how Pete had actually caused Ross to lose his memory in the first place. Instead he had said how he didn't want Ross to receive some more memories, when he was already in a state about the ones he had recalled.

Debbie had seemed to except this, and had agreed to stay away from Ross as she had been.

Little did they know that this plan wouldn't work…

Ross had awoken from a restless sleep. Since he had recalled the memories of Donna they had replayed over again in his mind. Sleeping and waking.

Ross was desperate to recall more, he needed to know more. But no matter how hard he tried, there was nothing.

Walking over to his window, Ross whipped open the curtains to let light into his darkened room. He had kept it dark for days, it had matched his mood since discovering Donna.

Ross looked out of the village, it really was pretty in the early morning sunlight. All rolling hills and fields. It was his older brother walking down the street that caught Ross's attention. He went to duck behind the curtains, not wanting to attract his brother's attention. Yes he had got out of bed today, but that didn't mean he was ready to talk about things. But a sight before him made him stop.

Down on the street was a pretty, small brunette. Her hair was lighter than Donna's and she had high cheek bones and a frosty look about her which were both excruciatingly familiar to the young Barton. Who was this girl?

Ross felt like he was hit with a ton of bricks, and like snow melting. The wall that was hiding his memories slowly melted away, giving way to the flood. Overcome, Ross sank to his knees.

He remembered.

So stay tuned for the epilogue and then the sequel! :)