Author's note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the slight delay on this one. I had hoped to have this finished over the weekend but the sunshine was calling and I spent a good deal of the weekend eating and drinking. The good news is I have a new chapter ready now!

Thanks again so much to my lovely reviewers Zoe-eoZ, FrankElza, Pembie, Braxtonboyzz123, and Braxton54. You're fabulous, all of you! And thanks to aphass for following. I really hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

I keep saying I'm not sure about my chapters. I'm really not. If I'm honest, I find it very hard to tell if they're any good at all, and I read them over and over, and obsess about every line and piece of dialogue. I'm not 100% happy with this one, but I'll let you lovely folk tell me what you think… Don't be afraid to be critical.

Enjoy!

Chapter 37

i.

Kat rolled over in her bed with a heavy groan, clicking her alarm clock off, and throwing the cover off one side of her body. She was hot and sweaty, and her heart was thumping in a rather disconcerting way. More like a pitter patter inside her ribcage. Palpitations really. Her mouth felt dull and heavy too, like she'd coated it with a layer of carpet at some stage during the night. 'Not again!' she thought to herself, 'Why do you keep doing this?!'

She hadn't taken the loss of her job… no, her calling… very well. Being a cop was all she'd ever wanted to do. All she'd ever dreamed of. Now she was working as a fitness trainer down at the Surfclub, which wasn't the worst job in the world, but it wasn't exactly fulfilling. She knew that drowning her sorrows in the bottom of a vodka bottle wasn't going to do any good but she didn't seem to have any better ideas.

She cracked one eye open and took in the overturned almost empty bottle of vodka on the bedside table, and startled a little when she saw that it was partially covered by a pair of men's boxer shorts.

"Shit!" she said out loud, freezing stock still when she felt the bed shift behind her. She'd obviously brought someone home from the bar last night… 'Oh God!', she thought, she couldn't even remember who he was! How many times had she done this now?!

'Why the hell did you have to drink so much?!' she mentally scolded herself, as she tried to run the events of the evening over in her head. She vaguely remembered being in Angelo's and drinking one too many tequilas, and maybe a few whiskeys too? She was fairly sure that Matt had asked her to leave at some point, possibly after she'd started yelling insults at him? Had she started dancing on the table?! Had she got a rugby team to sing 'I Will Survive' with her?! Had she stolen a bottle of vodka from behind the bar?!

She groaned with embarrassment. How could things have come to this?! She used to be a cop for Christ's sake?! And now what was she?! The town drunk?! And she'd even brought a random man home with her… again!

"Mmm" mumbled a male voice behind her, and an arm suddenly flopped across her side. She couldn't help flinching and pulling away in disgust when she felt wet lips flutter across her shoulder. The image of a dark-haired musclebound rugby player flitted across her mind. Some guy called Hamish or Jock, or some other stupid Scottish name. He'd been so full of himself, while at the same time hardly having two brain cells to rub together. She seemed to remember flirting with him. 'Please don't let it be him!' she pleaded with herself, 'Oh God, anybody but him!'

She glanced behind her and saw the blonde surfer sprawled out beside her. "Ash?!" she gasped.

Now that was something she hadn't been expecting! Lots of questions raced through her mind: When had they run into each other?! What had happened to the rugby guys she'd been with?! Why couldn't she remember?! How drunk had she even been?!

"Mornin'" he mumbled, nuzzling his face into her shoulder with his eyes closed, "Time is it?"

"It's 7am" she said, picking his arm up by the wrist and moving it away from her as though it was a thing diseased, "And I need to get to work… so you know…"

"S'early" he slurred, as he buried his face under the pillows, "You go… I'll stay here."

"No, Ash, come on! You have to go!" she pleaded, "I need to get changed…"

She just needed some time to herself to get her head around things. How had she let this happen again?! How had Martin Ashford ended up in her bed for a second time?!

"Please, Ash?!" she whined, when he showed no signs of moving.

"Won't look" he muttered sleepily, "Promise…" He was clearly still very drunk and only half conscious.

"Ash?!" she begged, getting up on her knees while still being careful to keep the sheets pulled around her. While he'd obviously seen everything on two separate occasions now, she still didn't feel comfortable being naked in front of him. At least not sober. She lifted his deadweight of an arm and began yanking on it rather insistently. "Come on, I need you to wake up and let me get dressed for work!" she begged.

"I'm up" he said, still not having moved an inch, "I'm up! I'm going… in a few minutes." He clearly had no intentions of going anywhere.

"No, you're not!" she growled angrily, "I need my room back, and I really really need you to be gone…"

He lay still for a moment longer before suddenly rolling over and staggering out of the bed onto unsteady feet. "Woah!" he gasped, grabbing onto the side of the bed for a moment to steady himself, "Feel dizzy... give me a sec."

"You okay?" she asked, as she saw him suddenly looking quite pale. The last thing she needed was a pile of vomit on her bedroom floor.

He stood a moment longer, before straightening up and giving a tense little nod. "How much did we drink?" he asked, as he stooped carefully to pick up his t-shirt. He grimaced when he saw an empty wine bottle on the floor, kicked half under the bed. He felt a small flutter of guilt at the thought of being so reckless with the one and only kidney he had left.

"I dunno, I don't remember…" she said, leaning over and hooking his boxers off the bedside table. The empty vodka bottle fell to the floor with an ominous thud. "Here!" she said, as she balled them up and threw them at him. She couldn't help noting his lack of embarrassment at being naked this time round.

"Thanks" he said, as he caught them and then stepped into them a little unsteadily. He managed to get the jeans back on, but chose to throw the t-shirt over his shoulder. When he moved towards the door, as though in a daze, Kat called out to him.

"Don't!" she said, climbing to her feet and yanking the window open, "Go out the window. I don't want your sister knowing we slept together."

The first time had complicated things enough from a flatmate point of view. She didn't think she could cope with Billie making more jokes about the two of them getting it on, or lecturing her about toying with her brother's affections.

"I don't want anyone to know!" she added.

He looked a little hurt by that, but he gave a nod of agreement and headed towards the window.

I don't see why that would be such a bad thing" he said, joining her and placing his hand lightly on her waist, "I mean… You came looking for me. There's a reason this keeps happening?"

"I was drunk" she asserted, pushing his hand away and motioning with her head for him to climb out. She was cringing a little. A memory of hammering on his bedroom door in the early hours of the morning flashed through her mind. Had she gone looking for him when she got home drunk?! Had she dragged him back to her bedroom and plied him with alcohol?!

"I think we both know there's more to this than just a drunken hook-up" he said, "I… I like you, Kat… and I think you like me…"

"Can you just go?" she asked, although her expression had softened a little, "I just… I need some time to think…"

Did she really want to start a relationship with someone like Ash? A convicted criminal? And a man with whom sex seemed to be incredibly unmemorable?

He gazed at her for a moment more, an almost puppy-like yearning on his face, before giving a little nod and turning to climb out. Just as he swung one leg over the ledge, his phone began to ring, and he frowned as the score to Lord of The Rings began to ring quite loudly.

Kat raised one eyebrow. She never would have had Ash down as a Lord of the Rings fan. Her friend back in police training had been completely obsessed by it, and had bored her to tears by making her watch it over and over, but Ash just didn't seem the type. She couldn't help thinking he looked a little shifty too as he fumbled for his phone in his pocket. What was he up to?

"I uh… I've gotta take this" he said, as he hopped out the window as quick as he could.

She narrowed her eyes when she saw him give her a guilty little glance, putting as much distance between them as he could before answering.

"Yeah, mate, good news…" she managed to hear, "The hospital called last night. They said he's agreed to see me… Visiting's just after lunch..."

ii.

"Okay, so… If you'll just follow me this way, Mr Ashford" said the portly older nurse, as she led him down the corridor, "We've given you a private visiting room"

He'd signed in a few minutes ago, presenting his driver's licence as ID and allowed them to take a look at the contents of the gift bag he'd brought with him. A selection of all the normal things that people brought for patients; a few magazines, a couple of boxes of chocolates and packets of lollies, but she'd had to confiscate the iPod. Patients weren't allowed electronic devices of any kind, and besides there was no way to know that any podcasts weren't of a potentially upsetting nature. To his credit, the young man hadn't argued, and had simply agreed to pick it up on his way out.

"Dr Armstrong thought Kyle would find this easier…" she continued, glancing back at the visitor to make sure that he wasn't lagging behind, "He's been a bit…"

"Yeah, I heard" he answered, with a little grimace, "Is that other doctor alright?"

"Dr Yang?" she said, stopping in her tracks and turning to look at him properly.

She hadn't been told what his relationship was to the patient and she wasn't sure how he knew about the assault, but his concern seemed genuine. That was nice… Even if she couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips when she finally did answer. "He'll be fine" she said, before turning and continuing down the hallway. What she didn't say was 'Dr Yang is a pain in everyone's butt around here, and no-one is all that upset that he finally got his ass handed to him. Maybe someone will finally figure out he's an alcoholic and a sexist pig, and we'll get to keep this nice Dr Armstrong instead?'

"Just a hazard of the job" she added instead.

"This kind of thing happen a lot then?" he asked, with a look of concern.

"No, no!" she answered quickly, "Not very often… but unfortunately they do happen… Patients just sort of lash out…" She stopped outside what looked like the door to an office. "Here we are!" she said brightly, "I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you…" With that, she turned the door handle and pushed the door open. "Kyle?" she called out, to the man standing with his back to them by the window, "Your friend Martin's here!"

iii.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Jenny, with a nervous and tight little smile, "You… you don't think Kyle will be upset with us?"

"I don't know" admitted David, "I'm worried too… but I just… I just want to…"

"I do too" she said, giving his hand a squeeze, "I don't think I could refuse even if I wanted to… I need to talk to them… I need to!" She gave a heavy sigh and ran her hand through her red curly hair. "I'm just worried… What if we lose Kyle because of this…? What if he thinks we've betrayed him?"

"He won't… It'll be okay" he assured her, although the look on his face told a different story. He was just as worried as her. He leaned over and gave her a soft little kiss. "He'll understand…"

She shook her head, and then looked over nervously towards the door. They were late. What if they weren't coming? Detective Drazic hadn't called to cancel so there was no reason to think that they'd pulled out… but what if they'd gotten cold feet? Would she be relieved or disappointed? She couldn't quite decide.

"G'day, folks" said Irene, as she appeared beside their table, "What can I get for you lovely people today?"

"Uh… we're uh… waiting for…" David began to say.

"Oh God!" gasped Jenny, as she saw a man and a woman walk through the door, "They're here, sweetie! That's them!"

David turned to look at the door and saw an Italian couple standing in the doorway. They looked anxious, and scared, and a lot older than the photos he'd seen. The woman had a lot more grey in her hair, and a drawn look to her face that hinted at the heartache she'd suffered. Her eyes were full of sadness. The man had the kind of reddening in his complexion that said a heart attack wasn't far off. This wasn't the happy shiny couple they'd all seen in those photos. He wondered how much manipulation it had taken for the photographer to make them look that good.

Suddenly the man and he made eye contact and he gave him a little nod of recognition.

"I'll uh… I'll come back…" said Irene, sensing the tension and wanting to give them some space. She went quickly to the counter and busied herself wiping the countertop.

"Hi" said David, standing up when he realised that the Innocenti's weren't moving. They seemed frozen to the spot. He took a few steps towards them and held his hand out. "We're uh… I'm David Summers" he said.

"Marco Innocenti" said the other man, taking his hand and giving a nervous and wan smile, before nodding to the woman beside him, "And uh… this is… this is Anna." He had quite a strong accent but there was a hint of Australian creeping in. It was obvious that he'd been living here for a very long time.

David shook hands with Anna and gave her a sympathetic little half-smile. He could see that she'd been crying not too long ago. Her eyes were still a little puffy. She didn't say anything, she was staring past him.

"It… It's really nice… really good to meet you" stammered David. He glanced over to where Jenny was still standing. She was white as a sheet, her eyes locked on Anna.

"Um… why don't we get some coffees?" suggested David.

"Yeah" nodded Marco, "That sounds good."

They made their way over to the table and David stepped beside his wife. "This is Jenny" he said, putting his arm around her waist for support.

"Marco" said the other man, holding his hand out to her and frowning when she ignored it. Her attention was elsewhere. The two women hadn't taken their eyes off each other since they'd stepped through the door. "Are you okay?" he asked, with a doubtful glance at David.

"You're… you're Jenny?" stammered Anna, as she stepped up to stand in front of the red-haired woman, "You're the one who take care of my boy?" Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, the words escaping despite her throat seeming to almost close on her. "You're… Kyle's mother?" she choked out, dissolving into tears.

Jenny let out a little gasp and enveloped Anna in her arms. "I'm so sorry!" she cried, holding the other woman who was now shaking against her, "I'm so so sorry… I can't imagine what it must have been like for you. I can't! I'm so sorry!"

Marco stood there looking a little lost. David didn't seem to know what to do either… And Irene stopped in her tracks, tucking her order pad back in her apron, and went back to the coffee counter grumbling. That table definitely didn't look ready to order!

"Thank you so much!" whispered Anna, as she hugged Jenny tight. Her accent was much stronger than her husband's but her English was obviously very good. "Thank you for saving him… for loving him… They take him from us… They take him and they… they hurt him… But you, you w-were good to him. You loved him… Loved him, when we couldn't." Her whole body seemed to be shaking violently.

"I'm so sorry" repeated Jenny, now stroking the other woman's hair, "I wish we'd known… Known you were out there…"

"What did they do to him?!" wailed Anna, "What did those animals do to my baby?!" She'd pulled back and looked at Jenny with anguish-filled eyes.

"Sta tranquilla" said Marco, reaching out and putting a hand on Anna's shoulder, "Stai tranquilla, amore, stai tranquilla…" He pulled gently on her shoulder to make her step away from the other woman. "Let's take a coffee… and… and talk…" he coaxed.

Reluctantly, she let go of Jenny and allowed herself to be guided into a seat at the table but she never let go of Jenny's hand. Both women were shaking and crying and Anna was staring at Jenny's hand in her own.

Marco and David slid into the seats beside their wives, and David nodded to Irene to come over and take an order.

"We'll have two flat whites" said David, as soon as Irene walked over, "And uh… What would you like?"

Marco glanced at Anna and then back at Irene. "Two espresso" he said, giving her a tense little smile, "Thank you".

"No worries, love" said Irene, flashing them a bright smile before walking back over to Chris at the counter. He'd come back from his break. "Two espressos and two flat whites" she relayed to him. They both glanced over at the table when they heard a woman sobbing.

"Anna" soothed Marco, as he put his arm around her, "Dai, smettila! …Tesoro, ti devi calmare!"

She rested her head on his shoulder and took a few shuddery breaths. "I'm sorry" she said, wiping at her eyes and looking at Jenny and David a little shamefacedly, "It's just… It's…"

"It's too much" said Jenny, "We can understand that. You have nothing to be sorry for…"

Irene approached the table a little anxiously and set the tray down on the table. They muttered thank you's as their coffees were set in front of them. A silence descended on the table as they put sugar in their coffees and then began shakily sipping at them. Anna was still trying to get her breathing under control. David put his hand on Jenny's knee as a show of support.

"How was he?" asked Anna, with a pained expression on her face, "Will you tell us? How was he when he came to you?" She reached out and took hold of Jenny's hand again. "I need to know how he was?"

Jenny glanced at David and furrowed her brow. How could she begin to explain? How could she tell this woman who was already suffering so much about the damaged shell of a boy that had come to live with them all those years ago? About his skinny little body and his sad sad eyes? About the nightmares and the bedwetting, and the self-harm? How could she tell her?!

"He's the best thing that ever happened to us" said David, jumping in with an apologetic look to both the father and the mother, "Seeing him recover, seeing him come out of his shell… That's… It's the best thing about my life. Kyle really doesn't understand that… but I'm so grateful I got the chance to be that boy's father… I'm just so sorry those monsters took him from you… That he had to go through all of that… and you."

Marco tried to smile but it didn't reach his eyes.

"He's beautiful" said Jenny, with a little head tilt, "He's got such a good heart… even… even after everything that happened…" She sighed and shook her head. "But he's angry …and… and he's so insecure about himself… He's a beautiful, kind young man, but he …I just wish he could see that about himself. Those people just hurt him so badly…" She grimaced and blinked as she tried to hold back her tears. "Some things can't be fixed…"

At that Anna gave a little whimper.

"But he's doing really well" she said, seeking to reassure the other woman, "Despite it all… He's a good man. A really good man! And he's such a good father!" She looked at David then in a proud sort of way. "He loves his little boy so much… and he and Tamara, that's his wife… They're so good with Noah…"

"Noah?!" gasped Anna, "That's his little boy?! They call him Noah?!"

David smiled widely and nodded. "Something must have stuck" he said, "He didn't forget everything."

"He doesn't remember us" said Marco, with a sad little shake of the head, "He doesn't remember us at all, does he?"

David gave a sympathetic little grimace. "I… I don't think he does" he admitted, "He didn't even remember his own name so…"

"He was too young" nodded Marco, his eyes fixed on the table, "He had only three years when he as taken… Children don't remember when they're so little."

"Nothing?! Really nothing?!" sniffled Anna, "Not even his brother? Not even Nico?"

"Nico?!" exclaimed David, "His brother's called Nico?!"

Anna gave Marco a confused glance. "Yes… Nicola…" she answered, "We call him Nico… Why?"

David nodded towards Jenny's bag for her to get something out. She smiled a bright smile and began to rummage inside.

"We brought some photos" she said, with a nervous little giggle, "We thought you might want to see them." She pulled a bundle of photos out and began to flick through them quickly. "Here!" she said, pulling one out from the stack, "This is it!" She handed the photo across the table to the other couple.

Anna covered her mouth when she saw the photo and her eyes immediately flooded with tears. "Look, Marco!" she exclaimed, as she gazed down at the little boy in the photo. He had shaggy brown hair and big brown eyes, and a sad empty expression. He wasn't smiling but his skinny little arms were hugged around a large plush toy. "He looks same as Nico!" she said, grabbing hold of Marco's hand, "He's so handsome!"

Marco smiled down lovingly at the photo on the table and for the first time his eyes filled up with tears too. "Mio figlio!" he whispered in awe, "E' vivo!"

David pointed at the toy in the photo and smiled at Marco. "We gave him that monkey when he first came to live with us" he explained, "And he wouldn't tell us what he'd called him for months and months… I don't think he trusted us, and he needed something for himself. A friend… Anyway, after a while, he must have decided he trusted us enough to tell us…"

Jenny smiled at Anna. "He named him Nico" she said, reaching for the other woman's hand again. "He named him Nico!"

iv.

"Kyle?" called the nurse, making him jump a little, "Your friend Martin's here!" She beamed at him a little condescendingly when he turned to look, but she failed to register the look of shock on his face. His mouth had fallen open and he'd blanched a little white.

"Now" she said, ushering the man beside her into the room, "If you two boys want some tea or coffee or something there's a little coffee station next door. You know where it is, Kyle."

Kyle was just standing there, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, as he stared at the other man. In the end, he managed a nod. 'What the fuck?!' he thought to himself, wondering silently if he was losing his mind.

"Okay then" said the nurse, giving the man in the baseball cap a knowing roll of the eyes before leaning in and muttering under her breath, "He might be a little out of sorts. They upped his meds yesterday."

Kyle heard what she said and inwardly rolled his eyes. He was taking the anti-depressants alright but he'd been hiding the sedatives ever since he'd got here. There was a plant in one of the common rooms with seriously toxic compost. No-one was going to turn him into a drooling zombie if he had anything to say about it!

"Uh… okay" answered the other man, as he glanced at Kyle with a look of concern. She closed the door, and he turned and took a tentative step forwards. Kyle just stood there staring like he'd seen a ghost. "Jesus, Kyle… I…" he began, pulling his baseball cap off and scrunching it in his hands nervously, "I just…"

Kyle shook his head slowly, his eyes still wide in shock. His mouth was moving like he wanted to say something but he just didn't seem to have the words. An anger was rising up inside him and he didn't know what to do with it. What was he supposed to say?!

"Mate, can I…?" said the man, approaching him slowly like you would a dangerous wild animal, "I just wanted to…" By his body language, Kyle could tell that he wanted to hug him, but he stopped about a metre in front of him. There was worry written all over his face. "Mate, why aren't you saying anything?" he asked.

Kyle's face suddenly turned from one of shock to anger. His cheeks reddened and his gaze grew hard. His hands clenched at his sides. "What is it you want me to say?" he asked, clenching his jaw as he glared at the man in front of him, "What do you want, Brax?! What?!"

He just felt so hurt. Where had the man been when he'd needed him most?!

"How about 'it's good to see you?'" replied Brax, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He rubbed at the back of his neck and ran his fingers through his hair pulling at it. "I'm taking a big risk being here, you know? I had to sneak in here with Ash's ID… I mean… If they catch me…"

"What are you doing here then?!" Kyle growled back at him, "I never asked you to come!"

"No, but… but I wanted to…" he answered, "I needed to see you… You're my brother."

Kyle snorted at that. "Not anymore" he answered bitterly, "I'm not a Braxton anymore. That'll probably make you happy, because let's face it, even before… all of 'this'… I was only your brother when it suited you… when you needed something from me…"

"That's not true" he frowned, "It's not! …Kyle come on?!" He took a step towards him in an attempt to close the gap but Kyle took a step back. "Oi, mate… I don't care if we're not really related…" he said, "It doesn't matter! Even if we're not brothers, you're still my friend!"

"Of course, it fuckin' matters!" sneered Kyle, "It's why… why you didn't even bother to call me…" His voice broke a little and he cursed himself for showing such weakness in front of him.

"You know that's not why!" said Brax, in an equally emotional tone, "Come on, mate, I just…"

Kyle pulled his arms across his chest protectively and shook his head. "I don't want you here!" he said, "I want you to go!" That wasn't true. He knew he was being obstinate and unreasonable but he couldn't help it.

"Come on, mate" pleaded Brax, "I'm here now… I just wanted to see that you're okay. Ash said you're not doing too good?"

Kyle sneered angrily at that. "Ash said so, did he? That was good of him."

"Yeah, he did" admitted Brax, failing to pick up on Kyle's sarcasm, "He's been keeping in touch… You know… letting me know what's been going on…"

"What's been going on?!" repeated Kyle, with an exasperated huff, "And you're only showing up now?! …So, what?! I had to get myself thrown in a loony bin for you to show your ugly face?!" He shook his head in disgust. "Do you even care that we buried your real brother?!"

Brax winced a little at the use of the words 'real brother' and began to protest, but Kyle shoved him hard in the chest to make him back up. "Your little kid brother?!" he shouted, shoving him again, "I mean, where were you Brax?! You didn't even call?! You didn't even call when you found out about me! Or when we found out about… about Kyle…" It still hurt to say that name. "You didn't call!" he shouted, "You didn't fucking call… So, what are you doing here now?!"

"Mate, I couldn't…" protested Brax, "I couldn't…"

"Screw you, Brax!" he snarled, "You could have if you'd wanted to! Christ, you've been talking to Ash all this time?! All this fucking time?!"

"No mate, he just sends me messages" he said, looking a little shamefaced, "I don't actually talk to him… and I didn't know about the… the funeral… Not until a few weeks ago, anyway…"

Kyle shook his head and smiled in a bitter sort of way. "He still had a number to send messages to!" he bit out at him, "Nice to know how much you trust me and Heath!"

"Mate, it wasn't like that!" he sighed, "You know I can't risk the coppers getting suss! This was the only way me and Ric could lay low… the only way we could disappear… make a life for the three of us." He pulled a photo out of his back pocket and held it up to him. Ricky was smiling from ear to ear and hugging a happy looking little boy. "We had to hide out for a few weeks."

Kyle bit his bottom lip at the sight of Ricky and Casey. He wanted to see them so badly. He wanted Ricky to come and put her arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be alright. He wanted her to meet his little boy and for Casey and Noah to be in each other's lives. He missed them.

"Kyle, can we please just sit here and have a talk?" asked Brax.

Kyle stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide whether to let him stay or not. His pride was telling him to kick him out, and inwardly cringing at the idea of talking to Brax about the things that had happened to him. It was bad enough that Heath knew, but he'd always desperately wanted Brax's approval… and he was never going to get that now. It made him sad. 'That ship sailed a long time ago' he thought to himself bitterly, 'How could Brax ever respect someone like me?!'

Suddenly Rachel's words floated through his mind. 'You're a survivor' she said, "You have to start seeing yourself that way!" It wasn't going to be easy but maybe he needed to try?

"Fine" he said, rolling his eyes and sinking into one of the armchairs. He watched as Brax took the seat opposite, giving him an anxious sort of half-smile, and sitting forward on the edge of the seat. He was obviously nervous. "So…" said Kyle, after a moment or two of uncomfortable silence, "What did Ash tell you?"