A/N - Oh my gosh, it's been a while since I've been here! HUGE apologies, but hope this scratches all of your itches and you enjoy! :) Ray's putting his foot down, at last.

Ray had never been so sure he was going to do it. Parked up in the Mercedes on the drive, he could see Abby's silhouette up in Conor's room as she stroked his hair and settled him down to sleep. Bridget's overhead light was already off, but the gentle glow of her reading lamp still illuminated the bedroom. He had wanted to wait, until they were asleep. The last thing he wanted was anything to stop him, he was ready to do this now and he didn't want anything to distract him from his intention.

"Come on, you asshole," he said, looking at himself in the rearview mirror as he saw Conor's light go off. Abby would come downstairs now, she would make herself a cup of coffee and settle on the couch to wait for him. "Let's do this."

He got out of the car and walked over. Smoothing his shirt down, he unlocked the door and tossed his keys on the side. He wouldn't want those again, he was sure of that. If he even kept them, it would be all to tempting to slip back. He needed to commit to his decision this time, and he wanted to. Leaving Lexi had hurt him, abandoning her in his bed had been so painful that he never, ever wanted to go through it again.

"Abs."

"Ray." She beamed at him as she looked up and struggled to her feet, her swollen stomach blocking her body as she staggered up. "Where have you been all day? Avi said you were working, he left you a few messages."

"He did." Ray didn't sit down like he had been that last few weeks. He walked over to the cabinet and poured himself a scotch before going to find a bit of ice from the freezer. Abby watched him, surprised that he hadn't come to cuddle her like he had every time he had come home recently. "I had something important to sort out. Some decisions to make, I needed some space."

She tilted her head to the side and walked over to him as he leaned against the kitchen counter. She stroked his arm but he pulled away, knocking back the remains of his drink before wrapping his hands on the edge of the island. He kept his eyes focused a good distance from her, staring at the floor and preparing himself. Just being in the same room as Abby had no draw to him now. Knowing that Lex was waiting for him in his apartment made him keen to get this done.

"We're over."

It was so easy to say it like that but Abby laughed a little and tapped him playfully. "Where were you all evening, Ray? I missed you. I made dinner, I-" She bent down to pull out a dish of food from the oven but Ray didn't want to play games any more. He wanted to go home.

"I was with another woman," he said bluntly. Abby slowed as she put the hot plate on the counter top and looked up at him. He fixed his eyes on her now and said it again. "I was with a woman called Lexi Stranhope. We've been seeing each other for about four years now, I love her and I want to be with her. So we're over."

God, it felt good to say it all out loud like that. Abby stared at him with a wild expression and shook her head, slowly at first and then faster as she became more convinced that she was hearing things.

"You're just hungry," she insisted, beginning to unwrap the foil on the plate and looking for a knife and fork. "You get all confused when you haven't eaten, you-"

"Abby." He was blunt as he spoke, reaching to still her hand and stop her from trying to mother him. "Please. It's done. We're done."

Abby could feel the rage welling in her stomach as she stared at him. Her eyes glittered as she looked at him challengingly. "You're just going to walk away? From us? From our family? For that slutty little Latina whore?"

"I love her." Ray had said it before he managed to parse her words. How did Abby know about Alexia's heritage? His eyes suddenly narrowed as his hand tightened on her arm, swinging her fiercely against the fridge. Abby grunted as her back hit the door, sending an array of magnets and photographs to the floor in a flurry. "How do you know that?"

"That she's a whore?" Abby laughed, trying to take back control of her arm but Ray's grip was far too strong. "She's got in your head, tried to persuade you of something you don't want. Ray, she's just confusing you. Look, I understand, women like that, they get into your brain, try and convince you of things. We can move past this, we can get on with our lives, with our new family." She drew his hand down to her stomach, resting it on her body. "Here, we've got everything we need here. You don't need her."

"I do." He snatched himself away, not wanting to be thrown off track by the idea of their potential family. A baby would do nothing but add extra grief, there was no happiness or excitement that came with the thing growing inside of Abby. It was just another trap to keep him there. "She's everything to me, and all I want is her. All I've wanted since the day I met her was her. This, us, it's not right. It's not been right for too long."

Abby shook her head. "You're just stuck in her mind games, baby." She reached to caress his cheek and he pushed her hand away quickly.

"No, Abs."

He could see her face suddenly change, her expression growing dark as she glared up at him. "That little bitch." She scrunched her hair beneath her hands, her nails scratching against her scalp as her lips curled into a growl. "What is it, Ray? That she's younger than me? Perter? Tighter? Is that what it is?" He rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Abby, please."

"I told her," she snapped furiously. "I told her to stay away from you. I told her to keep her filthy fucking hands off her. I thought she got the goddamn message." She laughed. "Bet she was too stupid to get that beating through her head."

Ray felt all of the blood drain from his body and pool in his fists as he heard those words. He stared at Abby, his gaze withering as his fingers flexed, his knuckles growing hard as he felt his veins pumping energetically. "Say that again."

"I saw her, Ray!" Abby barked. "I followed you to your little goddamn rendezvous and I watched you go in there. I stayed there while you fucked that silly little girl and then I went in there to make sure she wouldn't go near you again." She shook her head. "I thought she got it, you and me, we've been so good, and-"

Ray suddenly slammed his hands into the fridge with such force that he made the whole damn thing jump a foot off the ground. Abby froze, fearful, as she saw something terrible changing in his eyes. His face suddenly ceased to be readable, he was like stone, cold and rigid in front of her. She tried to reach up to him, to caress him, but he stepped away, putting his hand to his mouth as he realised. Abby, it had been Abby who had attacked her. Abby who had beaten her, Abby who had left her in that state on the ground. Abby who had killed… He stopped and stared at her.

"You. You killed-" He couldn't even bare to say it. He wanted to cry and he wanted to rip her to pieces all in the same breath, but neither seemed to be a good enough fate for her. He shook his head, he didn't even know how to react. "You killed our baby."

She shook her head, pointing to her stomach. "No, Ray, we're good, look." She lifted up her top to show him her swollen stomach. Just the sight of it made him sick, he wanted to take a knife from the block and pop the damn thing like a balloon. "Our baby is good, strong. You've seen the scans, we're going to get over this and it's just going to be a hiccup. I'll forgive you, see? Because I love you, because we make mistakes and-"

"You killed our baby," he repeated, emphasising it differently this time. "She was pregnant. When you hit her. When you threw her to the floor and kicked the shit out of her."

His words were quiet and menacing. Abby felt her throat tightening as she realised what he was saying and held onto her body protectively, hiding herself from him quickly. "Jesus, Ray. I didn't know. She… she wasn't showing, how was I supposed to know?" He looked like a wild animal as he paced the room, never taking his eyes off her for a second. For the first time in her life, Abby was terrified that he might kill her. "Please, Ray. I'm sorry. What was I meant to do? I was gonna lose you."

"You lost me a long time ago."

As he looked up at her, Abby darted to make a move to run. She didn't know what else she could do, but she was sure he would hurt her. Ray moved faster than she could, slamming her to the counter with brute force. She squealed as he crushed her body with his own, his hand reaching across the counter for whatever he could find. He snatched up a blade and turned it in his hand as he moved it against her throat.

"You ruined the one good thing I had," he snarled, his expression was almost murderous as he pressed it to her neck. "She was my new start, she is everything that is good and we were going to be happy, Abby. You destroyed that." He pushed it harder to her, enjoying the look of fear in her eyes as he hurt her. He wanted her gone, he wanted her dead, out of his life for good, punished for what she had done to his family.

"Dad?"

His hand relaxed suddenly and Abby felt herself gasp as the knife clattered on the surface beside her as Ray righted himself just in time as Conor skipped down the stairs. He beamed brightly at his father and skipped over to hug him, ignoring the palpable tension between the two of them as he ran over. Ray paused as he put his arm around Conor and cuddled him, kissing the top of his head.

"Mom said you weren't home yet," Conor murmured warmly. "I won my soccer match, they're gonna put me on the team."

Ray swallowed down all the anger in his body as he listened to his son's excited jabber. He could see the smallest line of blood along Abby's throat from the knife, and he gritted his teeth as he caressed Conor sweetly.

"That's great, Con," he said softly. "Me and your Mom, we were just talking. She's taking a little trip away, aren't you, Abby?"

The look in his eye told her the answer and Abby swallowed. Conor peeked across. "You are? Where are you going?"

"Out of town. For a couple of weeks." Ray was firm, there was no getting out of this. "Grandpa needs a bit of help, your Mom's gonna go give him some support. Aren't you, Abby?"

Abby could see the look in his eye and she nodded slowly, feeling sick in her stomach. "Yeah. Just a little while, then I'll be home, I swear." Conor smiled.

"That's cool. You'll come to my game, Dad? First one's next week." Ray nodded.

"Yeah, of course." He ruffled Conor's hair. "Now go to bed, me and your Mom have a few things we gotta talk about but you'll probably see her in the morning before she goes, okay?" He gave Conor a pat and the boy smiled and waved goodnight to his parents before he galloped back up the stairs. Abby could feel her breathing quickening again as Ray stared at her.

"Ray…"

"Get out of town." It wasn't a request, that was for sure. "You leave, now. Don't even pack a bag, you get out of here and you do not come back, ever." He meant every single word, there was such a darkness in the way he stared at her that Abby didn't dare take the risk. "I don't want to hear from you, I don't want to see you. You make contact with Bridget or Conor, Terry, Bunchy, any of them, I swear to God I will find you and I will kill you." Those last four words were in the most threatening whisper she had ever heard. Abby nodded fearfully as she edged around the kitchen towards the front door. She reached for her car keys and Ray chuckled. "That's the last thing you'll take from me, Abs," he muttered. "Now get out."