"What is going on here?" Anne asked sternly as she spotted her son and his girlfriend in bed together, both, thankfully, still clothed.

"Mum.."

"I'm sorry Anne, I didn't want to be alone" Nikki interrupted her boyfriend as she tried to discreetly move her hand away from him under the covers. "I get nightmares and Harry makes me feel safe"

"That's okay then" Anne nodded, glancing from the young woman and to her son then back again, knowing that she shouldn't be worried, they were a good sensible couple "I was a bit worried when I saw your bed empty, I was wondering why you were in bed so late"

"Sorry"

"Don't worry about it, it's your holiday, use it" Anne rolled her eyes "Oh and I'm not saying don't do anything, I'm not going to stop you but if you do please use protection"

She then turned and walked out of the room, closing the door and leaving Harry and Nikki speechless in the middle of the bed. Nikki then giggled loudly and turned back to her boyfriend who raised an eyebrow at her, a slight blush and putout look on his face. He then pulled Nikki down for another kiss and she straddled him under the duvet, allowing him to deepen the kiss and to wrap his arms around her back, holding her close to him.

"How do you feel today?" Harry asked as he broke the kiss and moved some of Nikki's hair away from her face, observing the bruise and her nose. "It looks better"

"It feels better" Nikki nodded "and I don't feel dizzy or sick"

"Still bed rest though"

"Harry" Nikki whined, glancing through the crack in the curtain "Does bed include deckchair?"

"No"

"Harry please" Nikki pouted at him and Harry sighed, caving in already and his girlfriend knew it as she beamed at him. "Thank you"

"You know I can't deny you anything when you look like that"

"Even with a massive bruise on my face?"

"Yes" Harry replied shortly and Nikki knew not to talk about it, it hurt Harry as well as her. She then shifted on him and felt his arousal, which had lessened slightly when his mother had walked in, press against her thigh. Harry watched her closely as she ran her hand down his chest and then stroked him through his tracksuit bottoms. He moaned at the sensation and tried not to arch into Nikki's hand as she applied more pressure. "Nikki if you keep doing that I'm..." his last few words were lost in a moan as Nikki pressed her hand harder to him and a shot of pleasure ran through him.

"Good" Nikki replied as she moved her hand away from him and tugged at the waistband of his tracksuit bottoms. Harry moved slightly and this allowed Nikki to pull them down his legs and for him to kick them off.

"Nikki wait" Harry told her suddenly and Nikki looked up at him, thinking she had done something wrong and made him feel uncomfortable. "It's not you, come here" he motioned to himself and Nikki crawled up his body again, accepting a kiss from him. "We're going to France in two weeks, yes?"

"Yes" Nikki replied as she kissed him again.

"How about we wait to go to the next step and make it even more special in France?" Harry suggested and Nikki beamed at him and nodded, pressing a small kiss to his lips.

"I'd like that, one of your better ideas" she giggled and Harry chuckled, sitting up slightly and wrapping his arms around her waist, leaning up and kissing her again.

"Mum about this morning, Nikki and I weren't doing what you think we were doing" Harry told his mother later on that afternoon as he walked into the house to get some more painkillers from Nikki, despite her protests that she was fine.

"I know" Anne nodded, smiling at her son "But when you do I just want you to make sure you use protection"

"You think we wouldn't?" Harry asked incredulously as he grabbed the box of painkillers "We're not stupid"

"I know, I just want you to be aware"

"We are" Harry smiled at her and Anne nodded, wondering when he little boy grew up. "and it won't be happening any time soon, don't worry mum"

"I'm sorry" Anne sighed "I just keep thinking of you as my little boy and I get worried"

"Mum, I value my relationship with Nikki too much to mess it up" Harry told her and Anne smiled at him, knowing that it was a good thing that Harry had taken responsibility and grown up since his father's death. Her son gave her another smile before he turned and walked out into the garden to give Nikki her painkillers.

"Here we go gorgeous" Harry said as he handed Nikki the tablets and a glass of water. She thanked him and swallowed both tablets with the water before Harry put the glass on the table next to her. "You're in my seat"

"No I'm not"

"Yes you are"

"It doesn't have your name on it" Nikki responded, raising an eyebrow and looking at the deckchair "Nope, can't see one"

"Well I use this one" Harry raised an eyebrow and then pointed to the second one behind him "You use that one"

"Are you telling me what to do Harry?"

"Yes I think I am" Harry chuckled and reached down to quickly scoop Nikki into his arms, making her squeal slightly and wrap her arms around his neck. "Is it working?"

"Nope" Nikki replied and giggled as Harry seated himself on the deckchair, not letting Nikki go to the one that he had labelled hers. Instead he put her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her, leaning down to kiss her.

"You should be in bed anyway"

"Is that an offer Mr Cunningham?" Nikki asked coyly and Harry grinned at her, kissing her again.

"Maybe in France" he whispered into her ear as he kissed her neck and a shiver of delight ran down his neck.

"Maybe" Nikki nodded, kissing his cheek gently as he continued his assault on her neck. She then yawned loudly and Harry chuckled as he moved away from her and shifted her slightly.

"Come on, bed"

"I'm not a child Harry"

"No but you need to rest and these tablets make you sleepy" Harry responded as he stood up with Nikki in his arms, glad that she didn't protest at all as he carried her into the house. He felt her snuggle closer to him and let out a sigh and the time he had reached his bedroom she was fast asleep in his arms.

Later that night Harry was woken by Nikki tossing and turning next to him in the bed. He cracked his eyes open and turned over to see her still asleep but with tears falling down her face, muttering in her sleep.

"Dad I'm sorry" she murmured and Harry was sure his heart broke. "Daddy I'm sorry"

"Nikki" he whispered and nudged her gently, wanting to wake her up and make her feel better. She didn't wake though and continued to cry and murmur in her sleep.

"Please don't hurt me dad" she cried and Harry nudged her again.

"Nikki, wake up" he told her forcibly and his girlfriend let out a small gasp as she opened her eyes and tried to figure out where she was. She sat up slightly and looked around the room, tears still falling down her face. "Nikki" he whispered and she turned to him as Harry wrapped his arms around her.

Nikki then remembered where she was and gripped Harry tightly, burying her face in his naked chest and sobbing quietly as he held her gently, rubbing her back as he whispered soothing words to her. He hated Victor Alexander even more, he was even causing Nikki to be scared in her dreams as well and he wanted to make it all better for her.

"It's alright" Harry whispered to her "He's not here, he's not going to hurt you"

"I don't..want..to go back...there" Nikki sobbed into his chest and Harry tightened his grip on her "He scares..me when he's..like..that"

"Nikki sweetheart I don't want you going back there either" Harry told her quietly as he pressed small kisses to the top of her head "I'm constantly worried about you when you're there"

Nikki just let out a sob and continued to cry into his chest, she felt her nose start to run and reached up to wipe it, then realised that it was bleeding again and moved away from Harry slightly. He looked down and saw the blood and sighed, taking Nikki's hand in his and pulling her from the bed and into his bathroom. He sat her down on the closed toilet seat and grabbed some tissues, gently placing them on her nose as she pinched it to try and stop the bleeding.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be silly" Harry sighed, running his free hand through her hair as he spoke "There's no-one else I would rather be sitting in my bathroom with while I'm holding tissues to their bloody nose"

Nikki couldn't help but giggle, wincing slightly as the bruise on her face pulled and her nose began to ache.

"Do you want some painkillers?"

"No thank you" Nikki replied, trying to keep her head still as she continued to pinch her nose "It'll be fine"

Harry didn't know if she was talking about her nose or her situation in general. He didn't ask.


Thought I'd make Anne an understanding mum, rather than a "get out of bed now how dare you do that in my house" sort of mum :).

xxx