Thanks for the reviews! This update's been quicker than others because I am procrastinating from study. Who really wants to write an English oral? You only have to stick around for a few more chapters now, so please keep reading and reviewing!

I have one thing to say to everyone about the following chapter: I'm sorry…

There was no way she could sleep after that. Memories flashed through Kirsten's mind like a song on repeat: running after Jimmy, begging him not to, Jimmy getting the rope, trying to take it from him, trying to fight him-but she was just too weak compared to him, and then… Kirsten's mind blanked out the rest. She didn't want to know; didn't want to remember.

Tears did not seem to want to form and she felt numb. Instead, Kirsten continued staring out the barred window in front of her like she had been doing since Jimmy had tied her wrists and ankles with the rope. She was fairly certain that her arms and legs, although no longer tied up, were in the same place.

A stab of pain attacked her, and she curled up into a ball, hugging her knees tightly to her to try and block it out. It was the only sign that she could still feel.

At last, actual feelings and thoughts (other than what had just happened) penetrated Kirsten's mind. Inconsolable grief welled up inside: there was no way the babies could have survived that. Jimmy had made certain of it.

Underneath it all was an overwhelming sense of guilt. If only she'd listened to Sandy and stayed home; then she wouldn't be here. Her babies-their­ babies- would never get a chance to live now and it was all her fault. In a way, Kirsten decided staying here might be preferable to having to tell Sandy that she'd lost the babies because of her stupid stubbornness and need for independence.

For once in her life, Kirsten did not try to tell herself to be strong as she was attacked by a crippling cramp and tears welled in her eyes. She didn't attempt to be strong, didn't try to resist the tears-for the first time she could remember, Kirsten cried without any guilt or shame until she had no energy left to spare and fell into a deep sleep.

There was no way he could sleep that night. Sandy looked around in vain, half-expecting Kirsten to come in any minute. He was always greeted with a Kirsten-less space.

4:13am. The cops had told Sandy that he would be the first to know if there were any developments. They'd been on the case for over four hours now, they had a suspect-were they that incompetent that it took them hours to make any progress?

As his frustration grew rapidly, Sandy hopped out of bed to try to do something to curb it. The chances of him sleeping now were close to none, and there was only one way that he'd be able to get through the day: coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Sandy walked to the end of the bed and picked up his robe. His eyes couldn't help but hover over where Kirsten kept hers. The one second that he stared at it for was enough to reinforce just how much Sandy loved her. He would give absolutely anything to just have her back in one piece.

Walking towards the kitchen, Sandy paused as he saw a dull light coming from that area. Sandy approached it and was also met with a quiet noise. Turning the corner, Sandy saw Seth sprawled out on the couch, asleep, with the menu of House of Flying Daggersfilling up the TV screen.

Looking at Seth, Sandy couldn't help but give a small, sad smile: he'd inherited Kirsten's snoring and habit of sleeping with an open mouth.

Turning off the TV, Sandy walked to the kitchen and quietly begun preparing some coffee. Sandy had always considered Kirsten and the boys to be the best things that had ever happened to him and had always vowed to do everything in his power to protect them. He felt as though he had failed Kirsten but he refused to fail the boys. Sandy was going to remain strong for them; he'd keep hoping and stay positive.

The taste of coffee brought comfort to Sandy and the strength to keep him going for a few more hours. He started making his way back to the room but stopped as a shadow on the stairs caught his eye. Looking up, his heart couldn't help but sink as he saw Charlotte-every shadow he hoped was Kirsten. Pushing his anger down towards Charlotte, Sandy fought his pride and made conversation.

"Can't sleep?" Sandy asked, knowing the answer from the dark circles engraved underneath her eyes.

Charlotte shook her head and walked down to Sandy.

"I tried," Charlotte attested. "I slept for about and hour, maybe, but… You?"

"Haven't slept at all," Sandy said. He was about to turn around and head back to his room when he looked Charlotte in the eye. Her eyes were bright red and filled with fear and confusion, and Sandy couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for her.

"I'll be right back," Sandy promised, heading back to the kitchen.

As much as Sandy carried anger and resentment towards Charlotte, there was also pity and gratefulness. It had been wrong of Charlotte to accept Jimmy's offer but Sandy could understand the temptation-he did remember what it was like to be in need of money, Sandy admitted, making some coffee for Charlotte.

It was stupid of Charlotte to accept a bribe when she didn't know the other person's motive, but the most important thing was that she had come forward. Jimmy would have found a way to take Kirsten either way, and it was just luck that Jimmy picked someone to bribe who carried a bit of a conscience.

"Here you go," Sandy told Charlotte, sitting next to her on the stairs and handing her the cup he'd just made. "I thought you could use it."

"Thanks," Charlotte said gratefully.

"Charlotte, who are you scared for?" Sandy asked gently. "Kirsten or yourself?"

"Both of us," Charlotte admitted. "I'm scared that Jimmy will want revenge and, I don't know, come after me. But I am really worried about Kirsten. She's and great person, and the more I got to know her the more I liked her. And that's no lie."

"I know," Sandy said, believing Charlotte more as time went on.

"I just want her to be okay," Charlotte stated.

"Me too," Sandy sighed. "Thank you. You know, for coming here and telling the police and me."

"You're not pissed off at me?" Charlotte asked in confusion.

"Of course I am," Sandy told her. "I'm pissed off that you accepted Jimmy's bribe-but I do know what it's like to struggle financially. I'm pissed off that you took so long to come forward but I am so grateful that you did. What you've done could save Kirsten's life and see justice done to Jimmy. So I'm pissed off at you, but I'm also very grateful."

Charlotte gave Sandy a small smile before sipping her coffee. They sat in silence for several moments.

"You know," Charlotte begun, "Kirsten really loves you. And she told me that she had never stopped loving you. You saved her from loosing her life to Newport, she said. Kirsten never shut up about you in rehab."

"Thank you," Sandy said quietly after a pause, the words meaning more to him than Charlotte could have known before they reverted back to silence.

Sandy almost hated to admit to enjoying Charlotte's company. It was good having someone to suffer with and someone to talk to about Kirsten. Charlotte was there with her every day in rehab, a part of Kirsten's life Sandy didn't know back to front. Looking at Charlotte, Sandy was surprised to see a smile-albeit a sad one-on her face.

"What?" Sandy asked.

"I was just remembering when Kirsten came to my house," Charlotte recounted. "She turned dead white when she saw a spider on my wall and you should have seen the look on her face when I told her she should name it."

"You don't know how many times I've had to drop what I've been doing to save her from a spider," Sandy declared, almost smiling. "One time in college, she actually called me up in the middle of the night to come across to her dorm to get rid of a spider because her roommate was out. She just can't face them."

Sandy and Charlotte continued to reminisce about Kirsten until daylight begun to creep through the windows and Seth stumbled blearily to his father, clutching his coffee like a security blanket.

"Any news?" Seth asked.

The sound of Seth's voice brought Sandy and Charlotte back to reality, the answer to Seth's question wiping the smiles off both of their faces.

"No," Sandy said.

Kirsten woke early in the morning to persistent, duller cramps, bringing her crashing back to reality. What she really needed-apart from going home-was to go to a hospital to get checked over. She didn't have much of a chance of getting Jimmy to take her there, so she didn't have much of a chance of getting to a hospital full stop.

Jimmy. The name brought feelings of intense hate and anger. Kirsten had moved past crying; now her sadness had turned into fury. She had never hated anyone before in her life, but Kirsten could say with certainty that she hated Jimmy. The fact that he had been her first love, kiss-her first made her feel sick. Knowing that she had to see him and be under the same roof as him made living with spiders seem highly preferable.

Had Jimmy always been so selfish? Jimmy taking Kirsten proved to her that he hadn't thought of how anyone but him would feel and react. Had he been this selfish all along, but Kirsten just hadn't seen it?

Kirsten shut her eyes quickly as she heard her door being unlocked and opened. If she ever had to see Jimmy again, it would be far too soon, Kirsten decided, fighting the urge to flinch as she heard his footsteps stop next to her.

"Kirsten," Jimmy said softly, crouching down. "I know you're awake. I saw you frown when I came into the room."

This was surprisingly similar to what she had done every morning as a child to avoid having to go to elementary school. She'd simply close her eyes and pretend to be asleep, hoping her mom would fall for it and let her get the day off school. It had changed completely once she'd gotten to middle school and realized that her family was a little screwed up-she couldn't wait to leave the house for school, then.

"Kirsten, open your eyes," Jimmy demanded, in a louder voice.

The method was still just as ineffective as it had been back then, Kirsten thought bitterly, reluctantly opening her eyes.

Looking at Jimmy, the anger left her and was replaced with fear. Looking at him brought back memories of the night before, and the thought of what he'd do next filled her with terror.

"So, have you come to rape me?" Kirsten asked quietly. "Kill me?"

"I'm not gonna rape you," Jimmy told her. "I'm not going to be with you unless I have your consent."

"What do you mean?" Kirsten asked, puzzled.

"I love you and I want to be with you," Jimmy declared. "But we're not getting back together unless it's your choice. So, you have two options."

"What are they?" Kirsten asked, deciding there must be a catch.

"Well, your first option is to be with me," Jimmy begun. "I've got a friend who can get us fake ID's, so we change our appearance a little, buy you some clothes and fly out to Australia where we'll start a new life. You won't get to contact the Cohens but we'll have each other. Maybe we'll even have a kid."

"And the second option?"

"The second option is that if I can't have you, no one can. You're the only woman I've really loved and it's killed me seeing you with someone else all this time. If you choose not to be with me, then put simply: you'll die. I couldn't bear to shoot you or anything like that, so I would kiss you goodbye, close the door and you'd die of starvation and dehydration. I don't want to know you're with someone other than me if you are living."

Kirsten's body began to shake and she almost didn't notice it when Jimmy leaned over and kissed her.

"That's to show you what you could have," Jimmy told her, standing up and heading for the door. "You've got five minutes to decide."

Kirsten's shaking increased and her mouth went dry as she realized what she had to do. She could hear the words echoing in her mind but she couldn't seem to bring herself to say them-if she did anything other than this, she'd never forgive herself.

"Wait," Kirsten called out in a shaking voice, a tear slipping down her cheek as she managed to spit out her decision to Jimmy. "I don't need five minutes. If I can't be with Sandy and my boys…I can't be with anyone."

Jimmy nodded. Walking over to Kirsten, he kissed the top of her head before walking back to the door.

"Goodbye, Kirsten," Jimmy whispered.

Kirsten's mouth dropped open and tears streamed down her face as she watched the door close and lock in front of her.

It will have a happy ending-just hang in there for three more chapters!

So, go on-review and tell me how much you hate me…