There's a knock on the door and Rhys looks up, pulling gently away from his daughter to answer it.

"Flynn, hi"

Flynn bit his lip, glancing solemnly at Rhys before glancing into the house, noticing that Kirsty was also home. He had hoped he would be able to break the news to Rhys alone without any of the girls there.

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news... can I come in?"

Kirsty looked up from the sofa as her father's face paled, all sorts of thoughts racing through his head.

"Yeah, sure"

Rhys attempted to smile, but Flynn's sullen expression cast a shadow over him too

"You'd better sit down"

Rhys took Flynn's advice, taking a seat next to Kirsty, trying to prepare himself for bad news. What was it? Who was it?

"There was an... incident... earlier today"

Rhys was frantic with worry as Flynn struggled on how to word it. He would have called it an accident, but it wasn't.

"It's Shelley...I'm afraid she committed suicide..."

A brief moment of silence passed.

"No, that's not possible... the hospital's meant to be taking care of her... making sure nothing happens to her... and I thought she was meant to be getting better?"

He was stumbling over his words, desperate for it not to be true.



"I don't have the details Rhys... I'm so sorry"

Rhys grasped hold of Kirsty's hand in an attempt to draw strength from her. He couldn't face to look at her, blaming himself for Shelley's breakdown in the first place. But Kirsty was too numb to start blaming anyone. Every time it looked like things could be getting better something happened to knock them back. Now her Mum was gone, her Dad was falling apart already and she had turned her back on the one person whose support she longed for. Flynn left, sensing their need to be alone. Dani, Jade and Max would be returning for lunch soon and he couldn't face breaking more hearts. He'd go for a walk before returning home, he couldn't face going back to Sally and playing happy couples, not whilst Rhys was suffering.

Kirsty glanced down at her hand. She still wore his ring, and somehow she gained strength from it. It was her comforting Rhys now, staring blankly ahead of her at the fireplace, eyes glazed. Her first thought when Flynn told them there was bad news had been Kane. That he'd gone and done something stupid. She could see the sort of state he was in when he left. She just wished she had been there when Shelley was on her road to breakdown, she could have helped. When she had visited her mother in hospital for the first time in months, her last time ever, she had been barely recognisable.

...........................

"Kane!"

Flynn walked cautiously closer to the figure perched dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. He didn't want to have to deal with this, not that day. There was a tiny part of him that wished he had never chosen to take a walk and had returned home. It would have made his life easier, but being a counsellor meant his job was continuous. It felt like he never got a break, and he had to deal with this situation. Kane merely glanced back.

"I can't do it anymore... I've tried but I just can't"

He'd given up on life, convinced that no good could come from his life. Yet he had been trying for the past ten minutes to jump but fear had stopped him, fear of what came after death. Especially for someone like him. He couldn't even kill himself without being afraid, what hope could there be for him in life?

"Kane... come down... we can talk about this..."

He was only aware of the basics of the situation, but it looked like Kane was back at square one. Exactly where he was before he met Kirsty, his self-confidence dwindling at an all-time low.

"Talk?! You think talking's going to do any good? I tried to talk to Kirsty... it didn't get me anywhere"

Flynn glanced around desperately, seeing Nick heading towards them. He waited until the boy got closer, before stepping back and calling out, lowering his voice in an attempt to keep out of Kane's hearing distance.

"Nick, I need you to go and fetch Kirsty - now... tell her to get up here"

He only had to glance at Kane to know what was going on. He didn't know the ins and outs of Kane's relationship with Kirsty, but he'd picked up enough from Seb and Jade to know that they'd been living together for a number of months ever since they did a runner together on the day of VJ's christening. Turning, he bolted back down the path, heading for the caravan park.

...........................

CARAVAN PARK

"Kirsty!"

Nick burst through the door breathlessly

"Do you mind?!"

Rhys leapt up from the couch threateningly. The time he least wanted to be disturbed, the one time in his life when peace and quiet was the one thing he wanted most in the world. He had lost his wife and Nick Smith wasn't showing an ounce of respect.

Nick ignored Rhys, still talking to Kirsty, aware of just how important the situation was.

"It's Kane... he and Flynn are up on the cliff..."

Kirsty looked at him in confusion, not managing to comprehend what he was saying, wiping away her tears. Nick didn't seem to notice the air of grief looming over the house.

"...he's going to jump..."

Kirsty paled, not sure how she was meant to react. Not an hour ago she was wishing he would disappear, but now she was so close to losing him she realised it was the last thing she wanted. Especially when she yearned for him so badly. Because then it really would be the end.

"Flynn wants you to come and talk to him"

She couldn't lose two people. Not in one day. Without waiting another moment she darted out of the door, leaving an exhausted Nick behind, making her way up the path towards the cliff.

Flynn watched the approaching figure with relief. If anyone could put an end to his stupidity it was her. But the fact he hadn't yet taken that step forward gave him reassurance and told him that Kane had doubts. If he had truly wanted to finish it he wouldn't have stuck around that long already.

"Kane... we need to talk"

She was breathless as she finally staggered up beside Flynn. It had been too long since she had done any proper training. She hadn't had time whilst they were away. It was all full on work to make sure they could survive.

"What's there to talk about? It's over"

His eyes maintained his gaze down to the sea, his voice almost mesmerising. Now she wanted to talk. He knew very well what she wanted - what they all wanted - was to get him back from the edge. Just so they could ease their own consciences. She turned to Flynn

"Could you give us a minute?"

"Sure"

Flynn walked back until he was out of hearing distance, putting his trust in Kirsty. She took a step closer to Kane. She still couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. Of all the stupid and selfish things he could do.

"Are you doing this to get back at me? To make me change my mind?! You think that once you're gone I'll regret it?"

He wasn't sure what he was expecting from her, but it wasn't that. How could she stand there asking him to come back when she so blatantly didn't care.

"No! This is... this is the best thing for everyone... I'm not trying to get back at you... it's just... it's the best way"

He wasn't really aware of why he was doing it. All he was aware of was that persistent pain and longing, how lost and alone he felt without her. Feelings that he didn't have the strength to live with. And along with that the demons of his past raised their heads time and time again. A constant reminder of who he was, what he was.

"So you'd rather put me through this pain rather than trying to get your life back on track?"

She couldn't help sounding spiteful, but she just had to get through to him. Make him see what he was doing, what he was throwing away. Things had been so bad between them recently that it was so hard to put all that anger aside.

"I don't have a life... I've lost you, I've got no job, no qualifications, no home, no family, no friends... what sort of life is that?"

She didn't reply, she couldn't. However hard she tried she couldn't find any positives in his life. He was a shadow of the man she knew and loved. The man she had returned home to every night for three months. That Kane would never have considered doing this, he had been so happy just building up his life with her. Been so delighted at everything that went right for them, picked himself up if something didn't go to plan.

"Why are you here? Because you'll feel guilty if I do take that step forward... just in case you could have stopped me...?"

"No! Because I care... you know that"

He shook his head in disbelief, unable to respond. Maybe she did still care, he didn't know anything anymore. He didn't understand life in general. When he was young he hadn't understood why he was so different to all the other kids in school, why they had kept their distance. He hadn't understood why his Dad got so mad, or why his Mum never dropped him off at school like everyone else's mothers did. Why Scott never kicked a ball around with him in the park like everyone else's brothers did. He had just accepted life the way it was. But now it was all so much more complicated.

"Do you know what it would do to me if you jumped?"

He didn't dare look at her, the tone of her voice said it all. Hurt, anguish and disappointment. Disappointment at him for giving up.

"Mum killed herself today"

He looked across at her, stunned into silence. She didn't know why she had just come out with it so easily.

"I don't wanna lose you as well"

She was on the verge of tears, trying so hard to stop thinking about her mother. The minute she came to terms with it would be the minute she broke down and became no use to anyone. It hadn't quite hit home yet. It hadn't become real.

"Kane..."

She took another tentative step closer, blinking back the tears from her eyes.

"Don't"

He was less aggressive now, sensing her upset and unwilling to cause her any more grief. He didn't think he could go through with it, even if he wanted to, for her sake more than his own. Hurting her would be worse than hurting himself.

"I love you Kirst"

He just wanted to see what her response would be. He expected the worst, he had geared himself up for the worst.

"I love you too"

He looked back at her, the words sending a jolt of hope through his body. After everything she still loved him.

"No you don't... you're just saying that... to get me to come back from the edge"

He tried to find fault, just to make sure she was genuine. He couldn't understand how she could still love him. After all he'd done to her and her family, it just seemed unreal. The words he had been wanting to hear for days.

"Think what you like Kane... but nothing could change those feelings... we tried, remember... after the boat accident? I tried to turn off my feelings..."

She loved him despite his faults, an unconditional love which she wasn't able to change, even if she wanted to

He allowed his eyes to meet hers as she continued.

"If it had been that easy we would have never made it this far..."

She would have stood by Dani if she had control over her heart. She'd have fallen in love with someone her family approved of and wouldn't have hurt them for the world.

"If you love me... why did you finish it?"

"You know why... you lied and deceived me... I can't forget that..."

They'd been over it time and time again. Now she was just getting irritated with him again. There was no one else in the world who had this much effect on her emotions.

"I just... I really thought I was doing the right thing Kirst... I mean, your Dad hated me... I thought if I did this for him he'd accept us"

"No, Kane... It's the fact you didn't tell me... that's what hurt... that you didn't trust me enough"

That bond of trust that she had in him had almost been demolished completely.

"You know I trust you Kirst... you know... you know things about me that I've never told anyone before... stuff I never dared tell anyone else..."

She'd heard more about him than she wanted to know, forcing her to carry his burdens with him, things from his past that she hadn't believed possible at first. It was like something from the news, or one of her Mum's worst cases. She had seen the terror that lingered in his eyes as he opened up his heart for the first time in his life.

"...you're the best thing that's ever happened to me... I really thought I was doing the right thing... I didn't mean to hurt you... I just wish I could turn back time..."

The tone of his voice tugged at her heartstrings, any anger or anguish directed at him cooling down. It wasn't exactly his fault that his train of thought was so different to her own, that he found it so easy to bottle things up and hide them away in fear of going wrong. Her voice softened considerably.

"I know"

She paused before continuing. She was so fed up of the bad feeling between them. All the tension and anger. She just wanted to go back to the way things were.

"Please don't do this..."

He took a final look down towards the ocean. Perhaps life wasn't that bad after all, maybe there was some hope in the midst of all that pain and loneliness. He had tried killing himself once before. He had saved up a collection of pills under his mattress, knowing his Mum would have been too drunk to miss them. It wasn't like she took the tablets the doc prescribed for her anyway, they just built up and she made no attempt to keep them 'out of reach of children' as the bottles stated. He had so nearly succeeded, but Scott had found him in time. At the hospital, his Dad had managed to convince several doctors, and social services, that he mistook the pills for sweets. He had been too scared to admit that he didn't want to fight anymore, that he wanted the misery that was his life to end. So he had played along with the story, trying to smile and look happy whilst the social worker interrogated him. He had only been seven back then. When his father was sent down, there was hope again, and when Kirsty came along it had given him a reason to want to live. He couldn't give up on that, he had to fight. And so long as he had her he could succeed, he knew it. Kane nodded, taking two steps back from the edge before facing her, unsure what reaction he would receive. He felt guilty for getting her so upset.

"I'm so sorry... for all this... for everything"

Just looking at her made him wonder why he could have been so stupid. That he had been willing to just give up instead of fighting for the love of his life, the only happiness he had ever known.

She closed the gap between them, letting her hand rest on the side of his face, staring into his glazed eyes, wondering why she had ever been so stupid as to let him go, knowing that if anyone could get her through the next few weeks it would be him.

"Just don't do that to me again"

They were both close to tears, the enormity of the situation hitting home, both collapsing into one anothers arms, him muttering apology after apology into her ear, not knowing what else he could say to try and make things better. He knew the rocky period wasn't over yet but he'd be there for her, every step of the way.