I am back! I'm sorry it's been so long - your reviews, favourites and follows mean so much, I am excited to get back to this and finish it off!

\She wasn't sure that she would even see Will after the shift they'd had.

Her heart ached for poor baby and his parents, but she knew deep down that she'd gotten too emotionally involved, too attached. There was no way baby Iain, born so prematurely, would make it – so why had she reacted the way she did? Why had she fought so hard and given the parents so much false hope? Why had she pitted herself directly against Will and caused so much added anguish.

Luckily it had worked out somewhat. The parents were grateful for her efforts. Will had been right though, it had been luck above all else that had allowed her to avoid the parents lashing out and laying the blame firmly at her door.

She wasn't sure she would see Will tonight, but that didn't stop her glancing to the window every time a car passed by. She was grateful for the space he'd given her to think and to spend time with Owen, but she really wanted to see him. Glancing at her phone for the hundredth time that hour, her phone that had remain silent and dark screened since she had checked it (no messages or missed calls) after putting Owen down, Nat sighed and resigned herself to sleeping alone.

it wasn't like he stayed every night, she thought in attempts to sooth herself, it was just that it had been a couple of weeks since he'd last stayed at his dad's place. Heaving another sigh, Natalie picked up her phone and made her way quietly upstairs.

She was in bed, lights out and struggling to fall asleep, when the lock clicking on the front door woke her up. Will.Natalie fumbled for the light switch, glancing at her phone for the time – 00:21. Her boyfriend appeared in the doorway, before she could get out of bed. He looked as exhausted as she felt.

"I'm sorry it's so late –"

"It's okay." She shook her head cutting him off. "I'm glad you're here." She offered him a smile, looked at the empty space beside her before looking back at him. "Come to bed."

His whole body visibly relaxed, and he crossed the room, shedding his clothes as he did. He folded them, leaving them in a pile at his side of the bed, before sliding under the covers. Natalie gave him another warm smile, before putting the light off.

Instinctively, Will reached for her through the darkness, and Natalie slid into his arms, pressing herself against his chest. For the longest time, neither spoke. It seemed like one was waiting on the other to make the first move. This time, Will took the jump.

"I understand why you did what you did." He whispered into her hair. "I understand, but I still think it was wrong."

He felt Natalie pull away slightly, and through the gloom, made out her face looking up into his. "I know, I know it was wrong, I shouldn't have gotten so involved. You were right – and I won't make the same mistake again."

"I just don't understand why." Now that the floor was open for conversation, and Will knew Natalie was willing to talk, he was determined to understand what had been going through her head earlier. "You know the odds, you know the difficulty preemies face – never mind those born under 24 weeks."

"I know, I just, I don't know why but all I could think about was what if it were me? What if it was us? Our child? Wouldn't I want the doctors to do everything possible for them?" She was almost trembling.

"Of course we would." Will soothed, brushing a kiss across her forehead. "Of course we would fight for our baby – but we would know the odds, we would know it was futile."

"I know, I know that. I so sorry. I should never have pulled a stunt like that. I w-"

Will laughed. "Don't say you won't do it again, we both know that's a lie." Nat laughed too, pressing herself back against Will's chest. "Just, if you could not pull this particular stunt again, I would be grateful."

He could feel her smiling against his chest. "Okay boss, promise." Will rolled his eyes.

"Boss." He snorted. "When have you ever done anything I've asked you to do without complaint?"

Will could tell she was smirking as she pulled back to slide her arms around his neck. "We could start now," she whispered, pressing kiss to his lips. "Tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."

"Music to my ears Dr Manning." Will replied, his voice thick with desire. "Now, where to start…"

Sometime later, standing in the bathroom doorway, admiring Will sprawled sleepily across her bed, Natalie cleared her throat. "I'm really glad you came over tonight, I'm glad we could talk."

Will blinked up at her. "I thought about not coming, but we did need to talk and, I really didn't want to go to sleep on it."

Natalie chuckled, crossing the room to crawl back into bed. "Have you been reading Dear Abby again?"

"Maybe." She caught his sleepy smile just before she clicked the light off. "Mostly, I didn't want to sleep alone." Her heart swelled at his words.

"Me neither." She replied, sliding easily into his embrace. "I really love having you here."

"I love being here." Through the dark, she felt Will pause. "I love you Natalie."

Her breath caught, and her chest tightened. Tilting her head, she captured his lips in a kiss, putting all the emotion she could into it. As she broke away, she rested her forehead against his. "I love you too, Will, so much."

Will sighed his relief, and tightened his arms around her. "Goodnight Nat."

"Night, Will."

Contented, their issue of the day resolved, they slept.

What did we think? Please leave reviews and any suggestions for future chapters/story ideas - L x