A/N: Thanks for the feedback so far, reviews are much appreciated!

Disclaimer: Not owning…just borrowing!

Chapter 3: Boiling Tension and Broken souls

Several hours later, Abby's shift had finished. Her lack of sleep on the previous night meant she was wiped-out. She headed to the lounge in a zombie-like state. Once changed, she grabbed her stuff, slammed her locker shut and turned around, finding Carter stood behind her. His brown eyes cast a searching look over her. She stubbornly stood in silence, remembering how irked she was this morning.

A look of hurt quickly flashed across his face. Carter suppressed it quickly, but it didn't go unnoticed by Abby. He moved towards his locker, removing his wallet, keys and jacket. Meanwhile Abby scrabbled about in the lounge not really wanting to leave things as tense as they were between them. As she got near the door the rational part of her kicked in and she turned around suddenly,

"I'm sor..."

"I didn't..." was said in unison, and both stopped abruptly.

"You go" Abby offered, but Carter waited to hear what she had to say.

"I'm sorry about this morning"

"It's okay...but Abby" he touched her cheek softly so that she met his gaze. "It's just that I think we need to talk about things sometimes...I know that you keep hiding from me." Like this morning, unreasonable anger began to boil inside of her again; she couldn't let him get too close, this, all too often usurped the love and affection that she felt. He was the one person to whom she wanted, but couldn't possibly tell.

"You agreed not to fix me, or help me" She protested.

"Yes, But..."

"You agreed" she emphasised angrily.

His understanding began to disappear from the surface. "Can we be in a relationship if you don't talk to me? Don't you trust me?"

"This isn't about trust Carter." Abby broke the intense eye contact that magnified the tension between the two.

"Then what it is about?" Carter persisted, as Abby continued to look away from him in silence, idly playing with the drawstring of her scrub pants.

She paused silently. Her mouth moved several times before her vocal chords matched the crafted movements, thoughts and sounds together, "I'm here and I care about you, isn't that the most important thing?" she desperately tried to conceal and change the subject, she couldn't reveal the truth, not to him or anyone.

"I love you – you should be able to talk to me" he found his voice raising. Once more she evaded his gaze, she was hiding again.

"Abby" He reached out to lift her chin turning her head gently. His other hand reached for her small palm, holding it gently. As he looked into her deep brown eyes, he was shocked at the lack of expression and sadness that was contained within them. He had hoped that the physical contact would make a connection that his verbal ones couldn't.

"You said that you wouldn't hide anymore, we're still hiding from each other, and you're still hiding from me"

"I know I said that" she softened slightly and gave his hand an affectionate squeeze "but really I'm okay…and I'm not hiding anything" she cringed inwardly for lying and for the ease in which it rolled off of her tongue "Besides, I'm a big girl and can take care of myself"

Carter sighed heavily, it was only Abby who could make him simultaneously ache with love and boil with frustration. His understanding waned now he found himself unable to bite his tongue "Crying in the middle of the night is taking care of yourself?"

He had gone too far; pushing the button that infuriated and upset her, causing a single tear to escape down her cheek. The only way for her to protect herself, was to end it, she had to run. It was what she always did. She knew she would rather feel pain now rather than the immense pain that she would feel if they got closer and her past emerged. Through gritted teeth and suppressed sobs she looked into his eyes, "I can't do this anymore…" Thick walls that enclosed her soul had sprung up with a vengeance at his words. Not even Carter could break through the concrete walls that Abby built around herself, their relationship crashed down around her, and she did run, as she quickly left the hospital.

Carter was stunned for the second time that day; "Shit" was the only word that reeled around in his mind. This morning he had been concerned, but happy. Now, it looked like he had lost the woman that he loved and he didn't know why. Anger surfaced, Abby kept hiding from him, and she had before with her drinking. Why wouldn't she hide one more time, maybe she had been planning to hide forever? He didn't know the answers to any of these questions and was in no state to think clearly about it. He left shortly after Abby, ignoring all goodbyes from his colleagues. At home, functioning on auto-pilot, he showered and changed, collapsing into bed.

Willing sleep to wash over him, he looked across the empty side of the bed at the phone. Her words resonated in his ears every time he decided to call: "I can't do this…", then his anger would rise again, followed by hurt and loving feelings that he would no longer be able to convey to her.

Abby had left quickly, she felt numb on the outside, but her emotions were a whirlwind on the inside of her. The dark streets of Chicago provided eerie comfort and she walked for a long time before going home, a white carrier bag at her side, its contents clinking with every step.

Darkness and silence surrounded her as she cried quietly on her couch; she nursed an unopened beer in her lap, not daring to open it. She sought solace by the smooth feel of the green glass bottle in her hands. Drink: the one demon, that had caused all the trouble in her past and even now she was sober, her past pain had ruined her relationship with Carter. She stopped, chastising herself for blaming alcohol on her problems. She was weak and used it as a coping crutch. She had done then, and she would now as the neck of the beer bottle reached her lips letting the amber liquid burn her throat.