So here it is, here is the end. Thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed and who will review this one (cos ya will, right?) and also, from C11, to:
Britgirl2003 – you want it to be luby? I'm sorry… but thankyou very very much for all the reviews you gave – very grateful
Squiggle7 and Carby6 – thanks for the encouragement – let's see how much more cheesy I can make these thankyou's…
Rae10 – who has a very good fictionpress page that I recommend you check out, the link to it may be back a few chapters
Anyway, so this is the final part of All I Ever Needed, thanks lots and Enjoy! Love LJ xXx
Ps. Check out an up and coming fanfic – Beyond All Of Everything
Abby was in shock. Everything suddenly seemed so distant and hazy except for him standing in the middle of the room, trying to look her in the eye. She recalled Luka's quiet farewell and she remembered the front door shutting softly behind her – all as a faint memory. The room spun and she gulped for air – remembering, finally, to breathe.
"Hey," she greeted, back. She frowned in thought. "Erm – how did you, I mean, I thought you – " she gestured at the door, confusedly.
"Susan gave me the spare key – " Carter dangled it from his fingers just like he had done with his own set of keys. "I hope you don't mind," he added.
"Oh, no – not at all," she waved her hand vaguely.
"Good,"
It seemed strange – this tense and overly polite conversation they were having while they stood in the dark living room, her hair still dripping and her eyes still red.
"How was your flight?" she heard herself say and then took a step back, wondering what had possessed her to say that. He nodded courteously.
"It was good, thank you," Carter answered. He shook himself – was it really him saying all this? "So – you're pregnant, then."
"Uh – yeah, that's right," she nodded slowly. There was a long and awkward pause. The rainwater dripped off her hair and splattered loudly on the floor, just to accentuate the silence. Carter's leg jerked, suddenly, as though he began to take a step towards her but thought better of it. He laughed, sharply and uncertainly as he rubbed the back of his neck. Then:
"Forgive me," he blurted, suddenly.
"What?" Abby asked. He bit his lip and rubbed his eyes.
"Erm – I didn't mean it like – erm – right," he squinted into the dark, chewing furiously on his bottom lip. "Listen – I, I know this isn't enough, but I just, I just need to sort this out. I'm sorry, Abby. I'm so sorry and –" His eyebrows knitted together as he searched his mind for the rest of his apology. There was so much he had to say – where had it all gone?
"Look, it doesn't matter," Abby told him, hurriedly. "It doesn't matter, John." He looked up at her with a pained expression.
"No, it does. It really does, Abby," he answered, "because I owe it to you. And because all I ever do to you is let you down. I hurt you and let you down."
Abby walked to him, instead, and she turned his face to hers. He looked deep into her eyes and all he found was forgiveness. He couldn't take it; he looked away.
"It's okay, John," she insisted.
"How can you say this?" he asked, shaking his head. "How can you forgive me just like that? I let you down – all the time."
She shrugged and smiled slightly. "Well – not all the time."
"All I do is let you down. And leave. I leave the whole time, too. Just when we need to stay together and sort things out, I run away. I leave you, when I need to stay. I jump on a plane to the Congo. Just when we have to stand by each other."
"But you come back – you came back,"
"That's hardly enough,"
"It's enough for me,"
"I went off because I didn't understand. I had to try and work out what happened between us. I should have stayed."
"You came back," she repeated, softly. She took hold of his hands.
"And I thought I could go off and find all those fabled things that money couldn't buy and I didn't get it – I found nothing." He looked down at his hands in hers and then straight at her. "I was looking for all these things in all the wrong places. I didn't see it then – I had it all already. And I had found them all in you,"
"John – "
"I'll make it up to you – I promise," he let his hands, still entwined with her own, fall upon her pregnant stomach and he whispered, sadly: "I've missed out on so much; I should never have left."
"But you came back. We've been through a whole lot – but you've come back, even after it all," she maintained with a smile.
Then, at last, he kissed her. When they drew apart, a tear rolled down Abby's cheek. She wiped it away and saw it had fallen from his shining eyes. He smiled slightly, despite the tears blurring his vision.
"I'll always come back."
There's a couple and they stand in a darkened room. Rain and tears drip to form tiny puddles on the living room floor but it all doesn't matter now; they don't really notice. They stand, hand in hand and as they kiss, they know – things will be okay. They have each other now and, as it turns out, it was all they ever needed.
Thanks
Love LJ xXx