X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. You're exactly right about how Ethan feels - he finds it impossible to believe he wouldn't be a burden and he really thinks she'd be happier with someone else. He's too modest! I think Louise finds it difficult to open up and trust people - it's easier for her to hurt them before they hurt her.

CBloom2, thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and that Ethan is coming across in a positive way. I can imagine Ethan being really selfless like this - it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to stop Cal from looking after him in the show if they stay for that long (which I really hope they do!).

Tanith Panic, I'm glad you liked the kissing! I didn't want to make it too graphic, but I also wanted to show that they do really fancy each other, even though nothing much can happen at the moment. Ethan really is thinking in completely the wrong way! I'm afraid this chapter might be sad. Thank you for your review.

Bonnie Sveen Fan, it always surprises me how popular Louise seems to be, but I think everyone might be afraid of her - she seems to have a big influence over Robyn in the show at the moment. I'm sure she'd rather have real friends though. Kate really will be devastated if Ethan breaks up with her. Thank you for your review.

Is-there-somewhere-x, I'm glad you liked the conversation between Kate and Louise - I was a bit worried it might seem irrelevant in a story that is mostly about Ethan and Kate. I find Ethan's modesty really adorable, but not believing in yourself can sometimes it can lead you to make big mistakes. Thank you for your review.

ETWentHome, thank you for your review. I'm glad you liked Kate and Louise's conversation. A lot of people seem to enjoy being horrible (which doesn't make it okay), but Louise hardly ever seems happy, so I can imagine her wishing things were different. I'm sure Cal will try his best to stop Ethan from making such a big mistake.

westlife4ever80, thank you for your reviews. It's a shame Louise doesn't have her mistakes pointed out more often - she gets away with far too much. It's true that Kate doesn't really know what she's getting into, but that will be the case for most people. Not even Cal knows as Emilie's cognitive abilities were still fairly good when she died.

Thank you to rhibee4 for the favourite.

Cal stared at his brother in disbelief. Finally, after all this time, he'd found someone he liked and had managed to make a move on her – and Ethan wanted to throw it all away?

Ethan was crying now. "It's not fair, Cal," he whispered. "I'm being selfish."

"No, don't start all this again," said Cal. "I thought we were past all that."

"Maybe I was just kidding myself," sobbed Ethan. This time, he didn't object when Cal pulled him into an embrace.

"Ethan, you're exhausted," said Cal. "You've driven a long way today and it's been very emotional. Why don't we go home, have something to eat and you can have an early night? Then if you still feel the same way tomorrow, we can talk about it."

Ethan's only answer was more sobs.

Cal didn't let go of him, but time passed and Ethan was showing no signs of calming down. Very reluctantly, Cal let go of his little brother. "Come on, Nibbles. Let's go home."

Ethan sniffled and pulled a tissue out of his pocket, but it was in a pretty bad state. So was the next one he found. And the next.

Cal looked at them with something like alarm. "Ethan, have you been crying all day?" He checked Ethan's eyes. They were a bit puffy. Cal quickly checked his own pockets, but as he'd expected, he had no tissues at all.

"Chrysanthemums," mumbled Ethan as he finally found a tissue with a dry corner to blow his nose on.

"Cry what?" said Cal blankly. "You were crying about Mum? Which one? Or both?"

"It's a flower," said Ethan.

Cal was even more confused. "You were crying about a flower?"

"Kind of," said Ethan shakily. He was welling up again. "Can we just go, Cal? Please?"

"Sure." Cal decided the explanations could wait. He put his arm around Ethan and they quickly made their way out of the hospital. "It's okay, Ethan. We'll be home soon."

Ethan didn't argue when Cal offered to cook the dinner. Cal had been rather hoping he would argue as this would show Ethan was starting to feel better, but he didn't really mind cooking. It was only fair that he took his turn occasionally and Ethan's head was all over the place. Cal didn't even want to think about what Ethan might end up putting in the dinner.

Cal didn't question Ethan while they were eating – he thought Ethan might appreciate having a bit of space and he was a bit worried Ethan might storm off without finishing his dinner. But as soon as they'd finished, Cal led his brother to the sofa and asked him what had gone wrong with Kate.

Ethan started to look teary. "She says she loves me. She says she'll always look after me and I'll always look after her. She says you can look after people even when they're feeding you and pushing you around in a wheelchair."

"Well… I think she's got a point about that," said Cal. "I often felt like Mum was looking after me. It felt like she was watching me to check I was okay and when I got upset a couple of times, she comforted me. It will be the same with you, Ethan. You'll always look after people because that's what you're like."

"But I might not always be like that," whispered Ethan. A tear ran down his cheek. "What if it changes me, Cal? What if it changes who I am?

"Ethan..."

"Mum was lucky," said Ethan as he wiped his eyes. "If I can use that word. I know we can't be sure, but her cognitive functions didn't seem to be impaired. Although she found speaking physically difficult, she was able to say what she wanted to say. Her attention span was good. She was able to make decisions and remember things. But we don't know it will be like that for me."

"We also don't know that it won't be," argued Cal. "You have no idea how or when the disease will affect you. But Kate loves you so much and she wants to spend her life with you, no matter what that might bring. There's no such thing as a perfect life. No matter who Kate ends up with, bad things are going to happen to her and to her partner. And if she decides she'd rather spend her life with you than anyone else, why break both your hearts? Seriously, this girl is sweet, kind, caring, intelligent, compassionate, insightful... she's so many things. If any girl is worth hanging on to, it's Kate."

"I know," said Ethan sadly. "She's incredible. Louise was upset today and Kate talked to her for ages. Then Louise came out and apologised to me. Twice. And not in a sarcastic way either."

Cal had to admit he was impressed. He was also impressed (and relieved) that neither Kate nor Louise seemed to have told Ethan that Cal was the one who'd upset Louise.

"She helps everyone," said Ethan. "She was even trying to support the armed robbers. I mean, how many people would even think about doing that?"

"Not many," said Cal. "She's one in a billion."

"One in 7,432,663,275," said Ethan.

Cal frowned. "What?"

"That's how many people there are in the world," said Ethan.

"I'll take your word for it," said Cal. "But you didn't force her to go out with you, Ethan. She chose you. She fought for you. And now you're just going to break up with her? When she's in hospital and needs your support?"

Ethan looked at the floor. "Okay, maybe I won't break up with her till she's feeling better. But the thing is, Cal, if she commits to staying with me forever, she's not going to change her mind."

"Maybe I'm being stupid," said Cal, "but I'd have said that was a good thing?"

"No, it's not!" said Ethan. "It means that if she gets fed up with me; if she meets someone she loves more, she'll ignore her feelings and keep her promise to me. I don't want to trap her like that."

Cal held up his hands. "Ethan, stop a minute. First of all, who said anything about forever? Are you two engaged?"

Ethan blushed. "No. I haven't asked her yet. It seems a bit soon."

"So she hasn't made any promise yet," said Cal. "And if she is the kind of girl who'll choose one guy and stay with him forever… well, if she can't be with you, she's going to end up making the same promise to some other guy, isn't she? How can you know someone else would be a better bet than you?"

"Someone who's likely to live more than thirty years?" said Ethan. "Someone who isn't going to be in a wheelchair after the next twenty years; Who'll be able to work and provide for her; who isn't going to need her to do everything for him?"

"That could happen no matter who she ends up with," said Cal. "Accidents happen. Illnesses happen. We've discussed all this."

"I know we have," said Ethan. "But… I decided to ask Kate out on the understanding that if she'd ever had enough, she could leave and I wouldn't hold it against her or allow anyone to say a bad word about her."

"If Kate or any girl left you, I would say nothing but bad words about her!" said Cal fiercely.

Ethan gave a soft sigh. "But what if she doesn't leave? What if she's really unhappy, but she feels she can't leave?"

"Ethan, if Kate ever changes her mind about you – and I'm not saying she would - it wouldn't be your fault," said Cal. "It would be her decision. Besides, Kate won't be on her own and neither will you. And Kate wouldn't be doing this alone. I'll be there too."

Ethan looked even more emotional.

Cal put his arm around him. "Ethan, I can see why you're worried, but don't make any big decisions yet. For now, just enjoy it. Get to know each other. If you're really worried about it, you could always draw up some sort of pre-nup when the time comes." He patted Ethan's shoulder. "I know the future is always going to be on your mind, but you've got to try and live in the moment. Enjoy every moment together." He smiled. "If you want to do some planning for the future, you can always look up salsa classes and check there isn't a six-month waiting list."

Ethan gave a faint smile. "There isn't. I've checked."

Cal started to laugh. "Why did I ever expect anything else?"

"So, how did it go with Nibbles?" asked Milly.

Kate smiled and was glad they were speaking on the phone so she couldn't see how much Kate was blushing. Nibbles was amazing and just the thought of him made her feel so happy.

"I can't even see you, but I just know you've got that look on your face," said Milly. Her voice was warm. "I'm so glad you've found Nibbles, Kate. I love seeing you so happy."

"I love being happy," said Kate dreamily. "I love Nibbles!"

"So, what happened?" asked Milly. There was a smile in her voice as she added: "I hope he had a good explanation for not spending with the morning with you."

"Oh, he did," said Kate, her voice beginning to waver. "He's amazing, Milly. You won't believe what he did. He… he bought some flowers for my mum's grave and he stayed and talked to her and he took a picture for me…" Kate tried to hold back a sob. "He's perfect, Milly."

"He actually did it then?" said Milly. "He did ask me if I thought it would be okay, but I wasn't sure if he actually would."

"He did it," said Kate, sniffing slightly. "He asked in the shop what has favourites were and he bought them all, even though chrysanthemums made him sneeze. His nose was still red when he got here. Isn't that sweet?"

Milly's voice was affectionate. "Your nose will be red too if you don't stop crying!"

"Probably," agreed Kate, smiling through her tears. "Okay. Enough about Nibbles. How was work?"

There was a short silence. "It was... okay," said Milly guardedly.

"Milly, what's wrong?" said Kate. "What happened?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that anything was wrong," said Milly. "But… I suppose I'd better tell you. Judy came into the cafe."