A/N: I'm sorry it took a little longer than I had promised, but I think this is the last chapter. When I first posted this story on another website, I finished it here and I think I'll do that again. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this, you really rock my world. Please leave me a review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to ER or to the songs used in this chapter.

Chapter eight: Only you

I want to know why, you're letting this die

Without the blink of an eye

You say that you need time

I say you'll be fine

If you would only see

Like you did before

You became imprisoned

Can I reopen the door

You say it doesn't matter
Then tell me what does
And why that isn't what
You've been thinking of
You say it's never easy
Then tell me what was
Is it never worth the pain
Could you believe it was
When life keeps living
That's what life keeps giving

To us

(song: Us by Celine Dion)


He hadn't talked to her for the rest of the day and he was happy about that. He was tired of fighting with her when all he really wanted to do was hold her in his arms. Tell her everything was going to be ok and see in her eyes that she would let him love her from now on. Yea right: back to life, back to reality… he'd always hated that phrase.

What was he supposed to do now? He was sitting at home…alone…drinking her bottle of white wine. He flicked through the different channels but nothing seemed to interest him. Outside the rain was absolutely pouring down, the angels were crying with him. At least it would melt the snow that had been lying around for a week now.

Abby walked to her ca, getting soaked to the bone. She closed the door and rested her head on the steering wheel. If only she could go home right now and find Carter and just fall asleep in his arms. She was so stupid, she could've had that but instead stupid Abby had taken control once again and decided to hurt him. He was such a great guy. And she hadn't realised how deeply she felt for him until she heard him say all those words to her. She had told Susan that she loved him without even knowing she did, so that meant something at least. Why did her life get so confusing sometimes? As she drove home she remembered his last words "Do you keep doing this because you hate me?" She hadn't answered him at the time. She couldn't tell him that it was the exact opposite of hate, no matter how much he wanted to hear it.

She got out of her car and started for the door when she hesitated. It was late and she had an afternoon shift the next day. The sensible thing to do would be go inside, get dry and then just sleep. But for once, she didn't listen to stupid reasonable Abby. She started walking away even though her car was right there and the rain was literally being thrown out of the sky. It wasn't until she was standing in front of his house that she realised where she had walked to.

Everything was dark and she couldn't hear anything because of all the rain. Well of course, he was in bed! What had she expected, that he would be waiting for her and be standing there with open arms? I think not, it was 3 am. God, what was she doing here? She was freezing, soaked and she'd been walking for about half an hour trying to think things through. It hadn't helped. He thought she hated him. She found herself standing at his doorstep right now. She could hear smart Abby yell inside of her Ring it, just ring it! It's not that hard, press the button and let the doorbell ring. Wake him up, he'll be happy to see you.

Carter was tossing and turning in his bed. He opened his eyes sleepily. Was that the doorbell? Nah, it couldn't be. He turned around to look at his alarm clock and the red letters pointed out that it was a little over 3. His shift started at nine, so he smiled to himself completely satisfied and happy that he was granted another 5 hours of sleep.

All of a sudden he sat up straight. It was the doorbell, he'd just heard it again. Who the hell could that be in the middle of the night?

He put on some jogging pants and went down the stairs to the front door. He looked through the peep hole to see who it was at such an inhumanly hour. Oh my God. He looked again as to prevent himself from thinking that he was still asleep in his bed and dreaming. Abby was standing there right in front of him, on his doorstep. Abby! What on earth was she doing here? He opened the door.

"Abby?" he asked, eyebrows up in the air to show his surprise.

My God, he just rolled out of bed and the guy still looks gorgeous, Abby thought.

She didn't answer and it was only then that he saw the little droplets drip down her clothes, face and hair.

"Oh my God, are you crazy? Look at you, you're all wet, come here" he practically dragged her inside. What did she do, walk all the way over here? She just stood there looking at him and he switched into doctor mode, it was instinct.

"Are you ok?" he felt her forehead but nothing seemed to be wrong so he lost the worried expression that had been on his face. He brushed away a single strand of hair that hung in front of her left eye and he tucked it behind her ear. All the while looking straight into her eyes.

"You could've caught pneumonia Abby, walking in the rain like that. Or something worse." She still hadn't said a word, but now she was looking at the floor instead of straight at him.

Finally she mumbled something but he didn't understand a word of what she had just said. He bent down a little, trying to look into her eyes.

"What did you say? I didn't quite catch that last part" he said jokingly.

She looked up into his eyes and he saw the hurt look on her face.

"I don't hate you" she said so softly that he had to strain to hear it.

He was stunned, speechless, and that didn't happen a lot. He honestly didn't know what to say. She came all the way over here to tell him that she didn't hate him? He knew she didn't, why would she think that? But then it dawned on him, their fight that morning. He remembered his last words just before he'd walked to the hospital. He had said something about her hating him. His face softened and a little smile played on his lips.

"I know you don't hate me Abby" he said just as softly. "Did you come all the way down here - in the rain - just to tell me that?" He wanted her to say it. She must of had this in mind otherwise she wouldn't have walked all the way over here in the freezing cold.

But she remained silent as she didn't really know how to tell him. She'd never been really good at expressing her feelings, not like he could do it. He'd always been open and everyone knew how he felt about her. She wasn't like that, she hadn't had that kind of upbringing. She was used to keeping it all inside.

Carter sighed. She'd never been an easy girl and he had the feeling that she never would be. "Come on" he said, as he took her up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" she asked slightly worried.

He smiled. At least she hadn't lost the ability to talk. "I thought you knew me better than that" he said with a smirk. "I'm taking you upstairs to take a bath. I don't think I've ever seen a person like this before, soaked as you are. You really need to heat up or you could come down with something."

"But it's three in the morning"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that" he looked around at her. "You can borrow some of my clothes and you're staying here tonight. Not like I don't have enough guest bedrooms right?"

He lead her upstairs as he was wondering what was going through her mind. The bath was filling up and he made sure the temperature was nice, so that she could relax a bit, he had put a lot of bath foam in it so the bubbles were everywhere. He took a pair of loose training pants and a T-shirt from his closet and put it on the sink in the bathroom. She hadn't moved from her spot next to the toilet since they'd gotten in there. She was lost in her thoughts, or so it seemed.

"Alright well, I'll be in the next room ok? So if for whatever reason you might need anything, just holler." He looked at her and then turned away towards the door. She stopped him by his elbow and turned him around.

"Thank you" she smiled.

"You're very welcome. Take your time."

And with that he closed the door and left her alone. She started undressing and the minute she laid down a blissful peace surrounded her and she forgot about everything else. She only just noticed that he'd put relaxing music on in the background. How very thoughtful and typical of him. She had no idea where the music was coming from though, she looked around but couldn't see a radio or anything else. That's what you get if you live in a huge house right? She didn't know the song that was playing but it was very soothing and it seemed to put her at ease.

About an hour later she stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her body. She wiped the mirror clean and looked at herself. She had come all the way over to Carter's house in the middle of the night, woke him up and hadn't even said one coherent sentence yet. That's just…great. She put on the spare clothes he had nicely put on a chair for her and she got dressed. Ok, she thought, lets get this over with before I chicken out again.

She opened the door slightly and peeked inside the room. She didn't see him anywhere so she pushed it open a bit further and slipped through it silently. Once her eyes got adjusted to the dim light she saw a sleeping form on the bed. She walked over on her tiptoes because she didn't want to startle him or wake him up. He looked so adorable, just lying there on his bed, breathing slowly. In and out and in and out…She felt like she could just stand there forever, watching him. He looked tired and she felt bad for waking him up so early in the morning when he had a shift the next day. She sat down on the bed and moved a strand of hair that hung on his forehead.

She looked over at the alarm clock and realised that he must've been exhausted and she didn't exactly help it. Well she couldn't go home now and besides, she wanted to finish what she had tried to tell him. She didn't plan on waking him so she walked to the other side of the bed and she laid herself down next to him. She started to close her eyes when she felt him move and turn over.

"Hey" he whispered. His eyes searched hers as he could smell her wonderful scent. She smelled of soap and her hair was still damp. He couldn't really think about anything else than her right now, seeing her there right next to him. He almost pinched himself to check if he wasn't dreaming. He'd dreamt this before.

"Hi", she said just as softly. "I thought you were asleep." It seemed like forever before he replied. They were just lying there and Abby felt as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Yea I know, but I was just resting my eyes for a minute. I heard you come out of the bathroom. You didn't think I'd miss this right?" He smirked slightly. Or well, that's at least what it looked like to Abby. She smiled back at him.

"Miss what?" she asked innocently. "Miss the fact that I'm about to put my heart on the line and die right here and now?" She sighed and turned her face serious again.

"Abby, it doesn't…"

"No, let me finish this. I really just need to get this out ok?" she interrupted him. He nodded silently and motioned her to go on. "You know why I came here tonight. You might have been surprised that I showed up here in the middle of the night…but I don't think you had many doubts about the reason. I know that I can be a pain and I'm unreasonable and that I have my issues and everything."

She took a breath as she continued. "But I know that I haven't been fair to you. Not that night when I left and then didn't call you back during the whole week and not today when we had that…", she searched for the right word, "discussion. So then I started to think things over, because well...I do that a lot. And you know I don't hate you…right? Because I've told you how I felt before. Maybe not in so many words but I just – I always assumed you knew." She stopped talking here for a second and Carter took this opportunity to get a word in between what she was saying.

"You know Abby, it's not that I think you hate me. It's just that things always go wrong when they should be going good. And that frustrates the hell out of me. Mostly because it's out of my control, I can't do anything about it. You always make the decisions. You leave to help your brother, but you won't let me help you, with anything. I can't make you trust me…but oh how I wish you would. You were right when you said I was surprised to see you, but most of all I was happy. I didn't like the way we left things today and I know I shouldn't have walked away. But I'm not perfect either. It's just…just to see you here and the way you're here next to me on my bed…It just feels right, you know?"

He had spoken so softly, his voice full of seriousness and concern for her. She knew she had to take the chance.

"I know, and I also know that I'm willing to work on all of that. Together with you…I want you to help me when I need help and I need you to be there for me, because there'll be times that I'll really need you. Only you…"

He smiled at her and got closer. He gave her a small soft kiss on the lips and draped his arm around her body. They were both tired and he didn't even want to think about his shift the next morning. He looked into her eyes right before they both closed them and fell asleep. There would be plenty of time for everything else tomorrow…

I lost faith in myself and everyone and everything around me

I thought I'd disappear, maybe you'd be better off without me

You showed me I was wrong, everybody needs someone

Love is not about perfection

You made no promises, life is hard enough you said ohh without you

Only you, only you

you're all that matters

only you, only you, only you

Only you give me strength when my world is shattered

only you, only you, only you

I walked this road so many times before

you'd think I'd know the way

But like the fool that I am it always ends the same

You told me everyone deserves a little happiness

no one should have to be alone

Me I'd be satisfied with a just a little tenderness

ohhh with you

Only you, only you

you're all that matters

only you, only you, only you

Only you give me strength when my world is shattered

only you, only you, only you

(song: Only you by Pat Benatar)

THE END

A/N: Aaaaand that's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed it, because the ending seemed a bit rushed to me. But I couldn't be bothered to change anything about it. Please leave me a review, it'll make my day!