Author's Note: I'm back! I really am so sorry for taking such a long time off from writing, but I really did need the break and everything is better now which is good. I've wanted to return to writing for weeks now, but my writer's block was horrendous after being away for so long. It seems as though my creativity has finally returned, though, because I managed to write this over the course of two days and I'm so pleased! I hope that you all enjoy it and thank you for your continued support x

From where she was sitting on a bench in the cemetery and rocking a flat out Lily in her arms, Anna sighed sadly as she watched Grace kneel in front of Edward's grave. She couldn't quite hear what her little girl was saying to her father due to the wind, but she could see tears rolling down her face, and the sight alone was enough to make her feel as though she had been stabbed through the heart. Even though she had only just turned eight, she – much like herself – was a very strong and private individual. Her daughter kept her feelings to herself for the most part and only allowed the diary on her nightstand to know about them. It took a hell of a lot to reduce her to tears and so, when she sobbed like this, it broke her heart completely.

She was unsure as to why, but this past week had been difficult for Grace from the very start.

Everything that she had done and seen had reminded her of Edward in one way or another and she had broken down in her arms several times, asking her why he had sworn that he would be coming home and then gone back on his word, and – for the first time – she had despised her husband. In the back of her mind, when he had been making his promises to Jack and Grace, a soft voice had warned her that he had been making a terrible mistake. She had agreed, of course, but she had also known her husband. She had already told him once that she didn't agree with the bad choices he'd made. If she had tried to tell him that a second time he would have gone into one of his dark moods. And those dark moods of his had always terrified her.

She had never once worried that he would strike her because he hadn't been that kind of man.

His dark moods had always led to him drinking all night, though, and he had been a completely different man while drunk.

He would snap, shout at her, sulk, slam doors and give her the silent treatment for hours on end.

The morning after, however, when he would come 'round with a horrid headache and memories of the night before would come rushing back, he would turn to her in bed and pull her into his arms before apologising sincerely. He would kiss her and make love to her and remind her of just how much he loved her, and she would forgive him every time. Her friends at the time had thought her stupid for doing so, but what they hadn't realised was that she had been unable to afford to lose him. Everything that they had owned had been in his name and she dreaded to think what would have happened to her if she had lost him. Besides, his awful moods had been rare and more often than not he had showered her with nothing but love and affection.

'Mummy?' The sound of a soft, tearful little voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Grace approaching.

'Yes, sweet-pea?' She sighed while reaching out to brush several black curls out of her face.

Grace sniffed as a single tear fell down her cheek. 'Can we go home, please?'

'Of course,' Anna nodded. 'How about we put Lily in her cot when we get back? Then, if you like, we can have a nice cuddle on the sofa while she naps.'

The thought of cuddling and having her mother to herself made Grace smile. 'Can we have hot chocolate, too?'

Anna laughed. 'I don't see why not.'

The two of them then shared a smile before she rose from the bench with Lily nestled safely in one arm and slid her hand into Grace's, her daughter sliding her fingers through the gaps in her own before she leaned down to kiss her head and began to lead her out of the cemetery. Just as she shut the gate behind them once they were back out on the street she heard an all-too-familiar half-step and turned her head, a gentle smile appearing on her lips at the sight of John strolling in their direction. A mere week had passed since their date, yet she had missed him more than she could explain. 'Good morning.' He greeted with a tip of his hat once he had reached them, the affectionate glance that he offered her causing her heart to flutter.

He had missed her just as much.

'Good morning, Mr. Bates,' She replied. 'What brings you here?'

'I just have an errand to run for His Lordship and this route gets me there that little bit faster,' He chuckled before lowering his gaze to Grace and feeling his heart sink at the tears in her eyes and the stains from ones already cried on her cheeks. 'Is everything all right, Grace?' He asked softly.

Anna sighed and caressed the back of her little girl's hand with her thumb. 'She's missing her daddy quite a lot this week, aren't you, darling?'

Grace responded with a mute nod as she looked up at John.

'I'm sorry,' He said before thinking for a moment and looking down the street at the sweet shop. 'Do you like sweets, Grace?'

The young girl's eyes sparkled. 'I love sweets!'

He smiled and reached into his coat pocket before bringing out a number of shillings and allowing her to take them. 'Why don't you go and buy some?'

Grace looked up at her mother. 'Can I, mummy, can I?'

'I'll wait here with Lily while you go,' Anna nodded. 'Make sure you aren't too long, though, because I don't want her getting cold.'

After sliding her hand out of her mother's and making sure that there were no cars coming down the road, Grace walked over to the opposite side of the street and Anna watched her walk down to the sweet shop before turning to John with a smirk. 'I'm struggling to decide if you did that to cheer her up or if you did it for your own selfish reasons, Mr. Bates.' She teased while pulling Lily's blanket a little tighter around her to keep out the chill.

'Does this answer your question?' He asked before, after reassuring himself that no-one was looking their way for the moment, discreetly resting his hand on her waist and leaning down to catch her in a warm kiss. Her lips clung to his for a second as she leaned into him and basked in their closeness with a hum, and when they parted just moments later they were grinning like idiots. 'No,' He breathed. 'My motives weren't wholly selfish, but I have to admit that that was quite something,' He watched a blush rise in her cheeks and he gave her a smile. 'I've missed you so much this week, you know.'

'Me too,' She bounced Lily in her arms as she whimpered in her sleep. 'But it's just two more days until my next performance.'

'I know, I've been counting.' He chuckled.

She couldn't help but giggle herself in slight disbelief before her expression turned somewhat serious and she rested her hand over his on her waist. 'I haven't been able to speak with Jack and Grace about…us…yet. I have wanted to and I've almost done it a number of times, but this week has been so difficult for Grace and I just don't think it's the right time. She's been so upset about Edward and I just can't ask her to accept another man into her life while she's struggling like this. I hate the thought of keeping you waiting because I really do want to be with you, but things are just diffic…'

'Hey,' He soothed with a comforting stroke of her cheek. 'I've already told you that I don't care about how long it takes for you to speak to Jack and Grace about this. You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me, my darling, and I mean it when I say that I would wait years for you.'

Her vision became blurred with tears.

She hadn't been called anyone's darling for six long months and it filled her heart with happiness to hear those two lovely words fall from John's lips.

'I love you…' She blurted out before she had the chance to even realise what she was saying, her voice quieter than she had ever heard it.

She didn't have to ask if he had heard her, though, because the shocked expression on his face reassured her that he had heard her as clear as day.

'You…you what?' He used the thumb on the hand on her waist to trace the curve of her side through her dress.

She looked into his eyes, unable to tear her gaze away. 'I…I, um…' She stumbled over her words. 'I love you.'

He shook his head with a smile as his heart swelled in his chest. 'You haven't the first idea of how pleased I am to hear you say that.'

'You mean…' Relief flooded her veins. 'You…you love me?'

He looked at her as though she had grown a second head. 'What do you think? Anna, I've been mad about you since the night I met you.'

'Really?' She beamed.

'Do you honestly find it so hard to believe that someone could fall in love with you?' He frowned slightly.

She shrugged. 'I…I come with baggage, Mr. Bates, and most men would just run off at the thought of me having three children waiting back at home.'

'Then I guess I'm not like most men,' He squeezed her waist. 'When I kissed you at the end of our date last week, I kissed you with full knowledge of what I was taking on. I understand that I need to let your children into my life if I want to be with you, sweetheart, and I am more than happy to do that. I'm happy to help you take care of this little one,' He brought his spare hand to Lily's face and caressed her round little cheek with the back of his palm. 'I'm happy to help Grace and Jack in any way I can, and I'm more than happy to adore them all just as much as I would if they were my own.'

Anna released a trembling breath. 'You're so wonderful. I don't deserve you.'

'You deserve the world…' He brushed a fallen strand of blonde hair out of her face.

'And that's exactly what I have when I'm with you.' She sniffed while nuzzling against his hand.

The two of them gazed into one another's eyes for a moment-or-so before John lowered his gaze to her lips, but just as he started to lean in to kiss her they heard the sound of little feet running down the street. 'Mummy, mummy!' John allowed his hand to leave Anna's waist and they turned their heads in Grace's direction before watching her cross the road safely, Anna smiling at her little girl when she ran to her with a bag of sweets in hand. 'Look at how many sweeties I was able to get! I bought some lemon drops for you, too, because I know that lemon drops are your favourite sweeties!'

'Oh, my darling, bless you,' Anna giggled with a stroke of her dark curls. 'Don't you have somebody that you need to say thank you to?'

Grace gasped before turning around and giving John a gentle cuddle. 'Thank you for the sweeties, Mr. Bates, I'm glad that you're my mummy's friend!'

John chuckled and stroked her back before lifting his gaze to Anna. 'I'm glad I'm your mummy's friend, too.'

He didn't miss the way that Anna's cheeks burned as she looked down at Lily and fixed her blanket again.

'Can we go home now, mummy? I want Jack to see all of the sweets I have!' Grace exclaimed after releasing John from her tight hold.

'All right,' Anna nodded. 'Thank you again, Mr. Bates, for what you did for Gracie.'

'You're welcome.' He replied.

He then watched as Anna took Grace's hand in hers and began to lead her down the street, nothing but love for her in his eyes when she looked back at him and flashed him the most beautiful smile. Even though she and her children had only been in his life for a month at the most, to him it seemed as though he had known them a good deal longer. He loved Anna more than he had ever loved anything or anyone and he was certain that he was going to end up loving her children just as much. He knew that things wouldn't fall into place overnight though. It could take weeks or perhaps even months for Jack and Grace to come around to the idea of him being a part of their lives – if it ever happened. Nevertheless, he was going to remain hopeful.

Anna needed him to be patient with her and with her children.

And – true to his word – he would be patient for as long as she required.

There was a slight frown on Anna's face as she sat on the sofa with her little girl curled up in her lap a short while after they had made it home, the fingers of one hand running through her raven curls while her other hand laid on her waist and kept her snuggled against her chest. When the two of them had first returned home, Grace had been so excited to show Jack all of the sweets she had bought and happiness had shone in her eyes as she had eaten the peace babies. Ever since she had climbed into her lap and cuddled against her chest, however, she hadn't heard a single peep from her.

She had been in this odd mood ever since she and Jack had returned home from their afternoon at the park with their friends the past Wednesday, and even though she wanted to believe that nothing had happened to her daughter while the two of them had been gone, she was struggling to shake off the suspicion. 'Gracie, sweetheart, is it all right if I ask you a question?' She asked gently after holding her little girl in silence for a short while, her hold of Grace tightening slightly when she moved her head from her chest to her shoulder and nodded in response while looking up into her eyes. 'When you and Jack were at the park with your friends last week, did something happen? Did someone say something to you that made you feel sad?'

Grace just curled her fingers into the cardigan that her mother was wearing and looked at her in silence.

'You can tell me, Grace, I'm your mummy and you never have to be afraid to talk to me.' Anna comforted while holding her a little closer to her chest.

'Um…' Grace dropped her gaze as soft tears burned her eyes. 'Vincent…Vincent said that daddy died because he didn't want to fight for me anymore.'

Anna stiffened a little at that.

Vincent Davison had always seemed to take pleasure in upsetting and tormenting her children.

Three years ago, Edward had gone to his cottage and given him an earful after he and his friends had pushed Jack over and stolen his pocket money. He had been fifteen at the time and she would have thought that he had matured since then, but Grace's confession had made it obvious that he was still as much of a bully as he had been back then. He was eighteen, practically a grown man, and he'd taunted an eight-year-old girl about her father's death. Thanks to him, as if she wasn't suffering enough already, her little girl had been going through so much pain because she had been teased into thinking that her father hadn't cherished her enough to continue fighting. She had been made to believe that he hadn't wanted to come home to her.

The mere thought of the pain that Grace had been trying to endure on her own for the past week made hot tears brim in Anna's eyes.

'Grace Miller, look at me,' Anna ordered once she had cleared her throat of tears and took her daughter's chin on her finger in order to lift her gaze back to her own. 'Everything that Vincent and his friends told you last week was nothing but horrible lies. Your daddy loved you with all his heart and he wanted you from the moment he found out that I was going to be having a baby. When you were in my belly, daddy used to give you so many kisses and he never stopped going on about how much he wanted a baby girl,' She was aware of the fact that she was sobbing as she spoke to her daughter, but she didn't care. 'The night you arrived, he sat beside me with you in his arms and promised you that he would never stop loving or protecting you.'

'So…' Grace stammered with tears of her own streaming down her cheeks. 'What Vincent said wasn't right?'

Before Anna had even had the chance to open her mouth, Jack came storming into the sitting room with balled fists and nothing but fury in his eyes. 'No, Gracie,' He snarled once his sister and mother had turned their attention to him. 'It wasn't right at all and I am going to kill him for saying that.'

Then, just as quickly as he had come storming into the room, he stormed out again and Anna was immediately overcome with an awful wave of nausea. She wasted no time in moving Grace out of her lap and getting to her feet, but by the time she had hurried out into the garden her son had mounted his bicycle. 'Jack, don't be so stupid! Get back here this instant!' She snapped, her words clearly falling on deaf ears as he began to cycle as madly as possible out of the garden and down the lane. 'Stay calm, Anna, stay calm…' Her voice trembled as she tried her hardest to maintain some composure.

Knowing that the longer she waited to take action the more danger her little boy would be in, she ran back inside the house and into the sitting room before looking at a rather shaken up Grace and taking a deep breath. 'Grace, run upstairs and get Lily while I telephone Mrs. Robins,' She instructed. 'She's going to need her pacifier and her blankie, and don't forget the bag with her cloths and clean dresses,' Her daughter nodded and left the sofa at once before walking past her and running upstairs to fetch Lily. 'Jack, you silly boy…' She muttered under her breath while going to the telephone.

She chewed on her bottom lip and shook with impatience while waiting to be connected after picking up the telephone, and as soon as she heard Mrs. Robins' voice she released a tearful sigh of relief. 'Mrs. Robins, it's Anna…' She managed to get out. 'I need you to mind the girls. It's an emergency…'

Almost as soon as she had handed Lily over to Mrs. Robins and kissed her and Grace goodbye, Anna was hurrying out of the garden and down the lane to the cottage she knew Vincent and his parents lived in. She was furious. Furious and terrified at the thought of her twelve-year-old trying to fight a grown man. Jack was tall for his age and extremely athletic thanks to the ridiculous amount of football he played with his friends, but she knew he was no match for someone of Vincent's stature. Vincent, for as long as she had known him, had towered over her son and the chances of Jack coming out of a fight with him in one piece – especially if his friends chose to join in – were nil. She just prayed that she succeeded in getting to him in time.

It took her some time to reach the front of Vincent's cottage, but once she had she opened the gate and walked down the path she started knocking on the door as loud as she could. 'Mrs. Davison? Mrs. Davison, are you there?' She repeated herself several times before stopping when the sound of a key turning in the lock reached her ears. She could tell that Mrs. Davison wasn't all that pleased to see her on her doorstep, but her happiness was far down on the list of things that she cared about at that moment. 'Mrs. Davison,' She panted, breathless from running. 'Where's Vincent right now?'

Mrs. Davison frowned. 'And why would that be any of your concern?'

Anna didn't have the time nor patience for her attitude. 'Because he may very well be beating the life out of my son! Now, where is he?'

Mrs. Davison looked at her in pure shock for a moment. 'He…He said something about going to sit near the park for an hour with his friends.'

'Thank you,' Anna nodded. 'That's all I needed to know.'

'Wait!' Mrs. Davison said before turning back to the cottage. 'Richard, get down here!'

She then turned her attention back to Anna before giving her the minutest glimpse of sympathy. 'Just in case. You might…you might need some help.'

Once Mr. Davison had come downstairs and pulled on his shoes, he and Anna shared the slightest smile before they left the garden and headed down the street in the direction of the little park. She wanted to believe that Jack wasn't there and that Vincent and his friends were simply lying around nearby like he'd told his parents, but when the sound of cheers and encouragement from around the corner reached her ears she felt her heart sink like a rock in her chest. There was no doubt in her mind that Jack and Vincent's fight was what had caused all the commotion behind the tall hedges.

There was also no doubt in her mind that her son was the one losing.

She and Mr. Davison picked up their pace at once, and as soon as they rounded the corner they were met with the sight of their sons having it out on the grass while a growing crowd of children watched on. If Anna hadn't felt sick before, the sight of so many people simply observing her son in such a situation definitely made her stomach turn. After standing at the entrance to the park for a minute, too dumbfounded to move, Anna realised that Mr. Davison had started running towards the fight and began to follow his lead. If there was one thing that she was sure about in that moment, then it was that she needed to help her little boy. The time for scolding him for being so stupid and starting such a fight would come when he was healed.

Once she had managed to elbow her way through the crowd that had formed around the two boys, she saw that Mr. Davison had succeeded in prising Vincent off of her son and Jack was lying on his back on the grass, too weak to even attempt to move. Seeing her baby in such a state killed her, but she had to break up the crowd before she could fall to her knees beside him. She wouldn't stand by and allow him to feel more humiliated than he most likely already did. 'Don't you lot have homes to go to?' She snapped after facing the children staring down at her son. 'I can't believe that I'm in a position to say that I recognise some of your faces. It's disgusting and the lot of you can rest assured that I'll be informing your parents about this.'

It was clear to pick out the children that knew her from the children that didn't.

The children that knew her were the only ones who had shame written across their faces and couldn't bring themselves to look her in the eye.

'All of you, get out of my sight,' She barked. 'Now!'

The crowd then began to slowly disperse and once she was comfortable with the distance between them and her son she knelt down next to him, the deepest sigh escaping her as she ran a hand over his hair and took in the sight of him. His face was badly bruised and swollen and both his lip and his nose were bleeding ever-so-slightly, but other than that he seemed to be okay at first glance. Nevertheless, she would be ringing doctor Clarkson to arrange a house-call as soon as she had gotten Jack home and into bed. The groan of pain that came from her little boy caused pain to surge through her heart when he turned his head in her direction, but she couldn't help but smile down at him when he opened his eyes a little and looked up at her.

'I'm grounded…aren't I, mummy?' He wheezed, a tell-tale sign that he had been winded at some point during the altercation.

'Of course,' She caressed his cheek. 'But you've got enough to worry about at the moment without throwing that into the mix. Just rest, sweetheart.'

For the next couple of minutes, while her son laid on the ground with his eyes closed and attempted to control the pain, she sat beside him in silence and stroked his face with delicate sweeps of her fingers. She was still furious with him, she wasn't going to pretend that she wasn't, but there was a time and a place for her to sit him down and talk to him about it and that was not then and there. 'My brave boy…' She whispered when he arched his back and grimaced when a surge of pain coursed through him. The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up from him sometime later and the sight of Mr. Davison approaching her made her sigh. 'Mr. Davison, this has gone on for much too long and I'm truly beginning to lose my patience now.'

Mr. Davison looked at her in silence.

'I…I can't have my children feeling too scared to come and spend an afternoon at the park with their friends because Vincent is incapable of allowing them to play in peace. It was bad enough when he and his friends were teasing Jack all those years ago, but now it's my little girl that he won't leave alone and I won't stand for it. He's eighteen years old, Mr. Davison, practically a man and yet he thinks it's acceptable for him to pick on children and pummel a twelve-year-old until he's barely conscious. If he can't leave my children be, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to consider pressing charges.'

'There's no need for that,' Mr. Davison said quickly as his eyes widened. 'Just have Jack apologise to Vincent and we can put all of this to bed.'

Anna couldn't quite believe what she had just heard.

Had he truly just told her to ask her son to apologise to the man who had just beat the life out of him?

'You can't be serious…' She shook her head at him.

'According to Vincent, Jack was the one who asked for the fight.' Mr. Davison shrugged.

She felt her anger flare. 'I don't condone him initiating the fight, Mr. Davison, but he never would have done it if Vincent had just left Grace alone.'

'My son might have said a couple of hurtful words, Mrs. Miller, but he is not the one to blame for this little scuffle.' Mr. Davison snapped.

'Little scuffle!' She scoffed. 'That's easy for you to say when your son isn't the one lying on the ground in agony! Vincent hasn't a single bruise on him!' She took a deep breath to calm herself down, purely for her son's sake, as Mr. Davison went on staring at her. 'I'm not making him apologise for this.'

'Have it your way, Mrs. Miller,' He said flatly. 'Have it your way…'

She glared at him and his son as she watched the two of them make their way through the park and after they had disappeared behind the hedges, she gave her son her full attention and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. 'I think it's time for us to at least try to get you back on your feet, precious, because I'm afraid you're a little too big for me to carry home,' Her heart swelled at the sight of the handsome smile that curled his lips as he listened to her, and when he opened his eyes once again she slipped her hand into his. 'Ready?' She raised an eyebrow at him before, when he gave her a weak nod, aiding him in sitting up. 'I'll take you straight home and get you settled in bed with a nice cup of tea before I go and get your sisters.'

'Thank you,' He whispered after turning his head in her direction and looking into her eyes. 'I'm sorry for what I put you through today, mum, really.'

'You should be,' She tutted before kissing his temple tenderly. 'I never want you to do something as foolish or dangerous as this again, is that clear?'

'As a bell.' He reassured her.

Satisfied that he had learned his lesson, she allowed him to rest for a couple of minutes before smoothing her thumb across his knuckles and looking into his eyes. 'The sooner we get you up, the sooner we're going to get you home,' She reminded him. 'Just lean on me, sweetheart, and you'll be okay.' She moved the hand that was settled on his back around to his waist for added support when he began to stand up and when he was finally on his feet, she helped him find his balance before he leaned most of his weight on her and she buried the softest of kisses in his hair. 'I love you so much.'

'I love you too.' He told her with nothing but sincerity in his eyes as he snuggled into her side.

'Come on,' She gestured with her head towards the exit to the park. 'Let's get you home.'

And, with that, she brought her son a little closer and held him tight to her as the two of them left the park and began the slow walk back home.

She trailed a hand along the curve of Jack's spine through his nightshirt and studied his swollen face as she held him while he slept that evening, his head lying on her shoulder and his arm thrown across her stomach as the deep grimace on his face told her that the pain relief he'd taken some time ago still had yet to take effect. She had thought that he had been fine when she had been sat with him after the fight. She had deemed his injuries to be simple ones that wouldn't take all that long to heal, but she couldn't have been more wrong. Vincent had managed to break two of his ribs in the fight and he had come extremely close to breaking his nose also. It was going to take around six weeks to two months for her son's bones to heal and thinking about how expensive the hospital appointments were going to be turned her stomach. How was she supposed to afford to feed her children?

She wasn't going to have a penny to her name by the time she had finished paying all of the medical bills.

'What a mess…' She whispered while lifting her hand to her son's face so that she could stroke the bruise next to his eye which she knew would be a full-on shiner the next morning. Even though he had been the one to go out and almost get himself killed, she just couldn't bring herself to be mad at him for the situation she was in. Everything he had done that morning had been out of the deep love he had for Grace. The thought of anyone coming near either of his baby sisters with the intention of hurting or upsetting them had always infuriated him, and so it didn't surprise her that he'd gone into a blind rage. As far as she was concerned, he was the best big brother in the world to Grace and Lily and she knew in her heart that both of the girls would only adore him more the older they got. 'I love you so much, my beautiful boy.' She whispered against his temple before kissing him there.

Deciding that it would be easier for him to get some much-needed rest if he were left alone, she removed his arm from around her after a couple of minutes and began to wiggle her arm out from underneath him so that his head landed on his pillows. 'M…mum?' He mumbled groggily as he stirred at the loss of her embrace when she sat up, his eyes flickering open a little before he looked up at her and she stroked his face. 'Where are you going?'

'You need to rest, darling, so I'm going to leave you be,' She explained. 'I'm right downstairs if you need me, though.'

'Can you open the window a little before you leave, please? I…I just feel a little hot.' He told her as she rose from the edge of the bed.

She couldn't help but smile while brushing his hair out of his face. 'Of course.'

She then padded across the dark bedroom to the window on the opposite side and pushed it open just enough to let the light breeze enter the room. 'Try to get some rest, my love, all right?' She looked at him from the end of his bed after coming away from the opened window. 'Your body needs it.'

'All right, mum,' He replied. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight, Jack,' She swiftly made her way over to his bedroom door before opening it and looking over her shoulder at him a final time. 'I love you.'

'I love you too.' He sighed.

And, with that, she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her before heading down the stairs and out into the garden so that she could get some air and clear her head. She ran a hand through her hair after closing the front door behind her and began to walk over to the bench on the grass, tears blurring her vision as she lowered herself down onto it before allowing her head to fall into her hands. Why did everything have to be so difficult all the time? It truly seemed as though it had been one thing after another for her and her children since her husband's death and she was beginning to think that she would never know true happiness again. Yes, she had John these days and he made her happier than she could explain, but it felt like the universe was constantly trying to counteract that happiness and she was so tired. She didn't feel as though she could take much more.

'Anna?' She lifted her head wearily at the sound of her name and felt a surge of delight and relief course through her when her gaze landed on John.

She wasted no time in rising from the bench and walking over to the gate, and as soon as she was out in the street with him she laced her arms tight around his waist and hid her face in his chest. She tried her hardest to control her breathing and keep the tears in her eyes from escaping while he held her tight to him, but when she felt him press his lips to the top of her head and run his hand along her back she allowed herself to dissolve into body-wracking sobs. This was the first time she had ever truly cried in front of him and even though she felt quite embarrassed, the way his hold of her tightened made her feel so adored and protected. 'Sweetheart…' She heard him sigh somewhere above her head as she clung desperately to him.

'I…I don't think I can do this anymore,' She choked through her sobs. 'I thought I was strong enough to do this on my own, but it's just too difficult!'

John cradled the back of her head in his hand and shushed her comfortingly as her tears seeped through his shirt and glued the material to his skin. 'You don't have to handle any of this alone for a minute longer, my darling,' He told her with a shake of his head. 'I'm here now and I'm not planning on going anywhere. Whatever you and the children need, regardless of the time of day or how busy I may be, I'm always going to be here for all of you.'

Moments later, once he had stopped talking, Anna tilted her head back on his chest and looked at him through wet eyes. 'I need you to do something.'

'Just name it…' He pressed his forehead against hers.

'I need you to kiss me,' She brought one hand to the side of his neck and sniffed at the feeling of his hands coming to settle on her hips through her dress. 'I haven't been able to feel certain about anything today, but if there's one thing I'm certain about at this moment in time then…then it's that I love you and all I want is to be with you…' She fell silent then and rose up onto her tiptoes to catch him in a kiss that was long and tender, her hand venturing around to the back of his neck so that she could play with his hair when he brought her flush against him and started to return her kisses. It didn't take long for them to become caught up in one another and their closeness, and in no time at all, they were aware of nothing but each other.

Not even the fact that a twelve-year-old boy above them had just thrown his curtains closed and returned to his bed feeling nothing but betrayed…

Author's Note: Thank you all for taking the time to read this chapter and I hope that you found it an enjoyable one! I do apologise that this chapter wasn't the happiest, but the next one will contain much more Banna fluff, I promise! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter with a review because I truly love reading them and finding out what you think of this fic. I'll see you all soon! x