A/N: Big thankyou to leslienicolespeaks, scorching-reality, oh gorgeous one (touch the chainmail and die), betty-boop, Jet,Dani and dogreign - thankyou so much for reviewing!

Alright - this chapter contains content that may upset/offend some. It's a very delicate subject and hopefully, i've handled it in a satisfactory manner.. Hopefully. Let me know.

Ruby stretched, her eyes still closed. Once she had gotten home from the beach she had showered and laid down on her bed still in her towel – just for a minute while she gathered her bearings and listened to some music. She must have dropped off because when she woke up the sun had long since sunk beneath the horizon and it was dark out. Her room held a barely there muted glow from the moonlight coming through the window and the hall light peeked in through the partly opened door.

She sighed, arching her back then relaxing back against the covers languidly. Her hand dropped to her face, just beginning to rub her eyes when she felt a weight creeping up the bed on either side of her, the brush of skin and denim against her legs.

"Are you still sleeping?" Came the rough whisper, ghosting over her skin. She shivered, cracking her eyes open and blinking in the dark.

Leon's long fingers dipped beneath the top edge of the towel tied around her and worked the knot loose, dragging the edge back from over her and exposing her. He looked up to her face and saw her watching him, then dipped his head back to press a wet kiss over her abdomen, just above her naval.

"I think I might be." She answered, her stomach fluttering as his tongue traced from her navel up over her ribs, between the valley of her breasts and up to her collar bone.

He smiled against her skin, nuzzling the warm flesh. "You have dreams about me?" His fingers traced over her hips lightly, his eyes watching her shift beneath him trying to get him to touch her more.

Ruby flushed in the dim light, just enough for him to notice. "Well if I didn't before, I will now." She answered, timidly tugging at the back of his tank from the waist of his jeans. He drew back from her, kneeling on the bed and reached behind him, pulling the black fabric up over his head. No sooner had the shirt hit the floor were her fingers working at his belt buckle, tugging the leather strap undone.

Leon watched her hands pull the belt free of his belt loops and heard the clunk as it hit the floor along with his shirt, his eyes still on her fingers – now unbuttoning his jeans. She was sitting up now, her breath hot against his belly and he lifted a hand to tangle in her hair. Her jade green eyes looked up at him and she smiled meekly, ducking her head to avoid his intense gaze. His fingers dipped beneath her chin and tilted her head up to look at him.

"Are you ok with this?"

Her only response was to lean forward and dart her tongue out to trace the warm skin below his belly button. She breathed in the slightly salty scent of his skin. He'd obviously showered but the scent of ocean water still clung to his skin faintly.

His breath caught and he groaned low in the back of his throat. "Is that a yes?"

Ruby grinned, her knees bent on either side of him, her fingernails scraping across the dip of his lower back. She looped her fingers into two of the back belt loops of his jeans and tugged slightly.

"That's a 'hurry up and get your pants off before I change my mind'."

Leon backed off the bed and undid his zipper, shucking out of the heavy denim before crawling back onto the bed and between her legs. His mouth moulded to hers as he gently eased her back into the blankets, one hand tangled in the hair on the back of her head and the other slipping between her thighs. He swallowed her cries against his mouth, then carefully slid his hands around to the back of her thighs and lifted her legs to hook around his waist.

Ruby rolled onto her side, her face etched with discomfort as she slipped from beneath Leon's heavy weight. She rubbed her stomach and blew out a deep breath.

"Figures," she muttered, recognising the familiar cramping feeling. She winced, slipping out of the bed and flicking on the bedside lamp to make sure she hadn't bled on the sheets. She'd hate to have to wake Leon and explain to him why she needed to change the sheets at three in the morning. Seeing no sign of any stain, she slumped, relieved then flicked off the lamp so the light didn't wake Leon and made for the bathroom.

With every step closer she got to the bathroom the worse her cramps got and she found herself sliding her hand against the wall. She grimaced at a particularly sharp, grabbing pain that hit as she stepped into the bathroom. Her long fingers curled around the basin of the sink and she took a deep breath, then opened the medicine chest to grab out a tampon. She could feel the blood slicking between her thighs and she frowned in disgust, then a little bit of confusion. She never bled like this.

"What the hell?" she mumbled, wincing at the sudden sharp pain in her lower abdomen and her hand moved to rub over the tensed muscles. She went to reach for her tampax when she looked at the small calendar she kept in the medicine chest and her heart almost stopped beating. She plucked the small laminated piece of card from the chest and looked at it, trembling.

"Oh my god.." she whispered to herself, trembling fingers coming up to cover her mouth. It had been almost nine weeks since her last period. That meant she was five weeks late. She looked down at the blood coating her thighs and whimpered, dropping the calendar in the sink. "Oh shit," her voice shook as she whispered quietly to no-one else but the room around her.

She was pregnant. A sob started to swell in her chest when she saw the blood again. Was pregnant.

Backing up toward the shower, Ruby felt the first of her tears pushing free and burning down her cheeks, her shoulders shaking as she twisted the taps on. As she stepped under the hot spray of the shower her eyes were drawn to the pink stained water as it swirled down the drain. Inside she was screaming – that pink stain was her baby being washed away like some unimportant dirt that marred her skin. She watched through her tears as all traces were washed away and grief hit her like a tonne of bricks. Her baby – Leon's baby – hadn't even had a chance.

Her heart jumped into her throat and she choked on her tears. "Leon.." she thought of him sleeping peacefully in the bedroom and squeezed her eyes shut. He couldn't handle knowing about this – not now. Not after everything that had happened and the progress he'd been making lately. It would destroy him to know that she'd been stupid enough to get pregnant in the first place, but for her to go and mess things up even more by having a miscarriage.. That he didn't need.

She leant against the tiles, her arms wrapped around her middle as she cried silently. Her breathing was slow and deep as she struggled to remain the least bit composed. If she broke down there and then she would wake Leon and he would come in to see what was the matter and then he would find out. She had no intention of him finding out.

Standing up straight, Ruby reached out and turned the water off, wrapping the thick black bath sheet around her that Leon usually used whenever he stayed over. She was dreading having to run back to the bedroom to get herself some clothes when she realised she'd brought some panties and a tank in earlier to get dressed in after her shower and hadn't bothered with them. They were still sitting on the top of the hamper.

She stood there for a moment, just wrapped in the towel and stared at the open medicine chest. She bit her lip to keep from crying as she took out a pad and carefully got dressed.

Her stomach was cramping like mad, almost doubling her over with each painful twist and she felt miserable, desperately wanting to just curl up in the corner and sob until she couldn't breathe any more.

Pushing the big black towel into the hamper, Ruby sniffled, rubbing at her red eyes. She couldn't go back to bed like this. Her hair was wet and a mess, she was shaking and she was quite possibly ready to break down at any given moment. He'd know something was wrong with her right away.

She plucked a smaller towel from the pile of clean ones beneath the sink and wrapped it around her hair, then quietly opened the bathroom door. The rest of the house was still in silence and she sighed. She hadn't woken Le. He got such a small amount of sleep as it was that any sleep he did get was precious. She padded down the hall, still clutching her belly and pushed the bedroom door open carefully to make sure he was still sleeping. A shaft of light spilled across the bed and highlighted his face, slack in sleep, mouth slightly open.

Ruby held her hand over her mouth, sorrow threatening to drown her. Cade was such a beautiful little boy and she couldn't help but wonder if her baby would have been just as adorable as his or her father was at that moment. She shook her head and pulled the door shut before making her way down to the kitchen to take something for the pain.

Flicking the light on, she found herself wanting to wretch with every twist and cramp she felt as she searched for some pain killers. Her search came up lax when all she found was a single Advil, not even enough to make a slight dent in a headache. Regardless, she popped the pill in her mouth and swallowed it dry. She was just about ready to give up and just curl up on the floor in the fetal position when she saw the fancy frosted bottle of vodka Leon had bought her as a replacement for the bottle of Absinthe he'd drank. It was something she'd never tried before but he had assured her that it was good stuff and would get her sufficiently plastered if she felt the need to do so. She picked up the bottle and made for the couch. Right now she felt the need to do just that. Anything that would help with the pain was a godsend at the moment.

She put the bottle on the table while she wrapped the gold hued chenille blanket around her, then picked it back up and settled into the corner of the couch. She picked at the plastic seal around the cap and peeled it free, throwing it onto the floor. The blackcurrant scent of the vodka was strong as she lifted the bottle to her mouth and without haste swallowed a good mouthful without thinking. Her eyes widened as it burned down her throat and she coughed, fighting the urge to bring it all back up. He'd never told her it was strong.

She looked at the bottle and felt tears prick at her eyes again. He'd bought it for her not only because he felt bad for drinking all her Absinthe – of which she hadn't gotten a chance to try – but he'd seen her ogling the pretty bottle and deigned it necessary for her to have it. Warily, she brought the bottle to her lips again and took another swig, not as big this time. Already she was starting to feel a little warm in the chest and the ache in her stomach seemed further away as she took yet another swig.

Screwing the cap back on, Ruby set the bottle down on the floor and curled into the corner, her head down and buried in the cushions.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there when she felt a hand brush over her head and touch her cheek. Opening her eyes she was greeted by the sight of Leon crouching in front of the couch, his face the picture of concern. Tears started to well up in her eyes again.

"Hey," his voice was quiet and soft like a warm blanket, "-what's the matter? I woke up and you were gone."

Ruby blinked away the tears, or at least tried to but only more came in their place.

"Cramps." She lied softly to him, "I didn't want to disturb you."

Leon climbed up onto the couch beside her and held his arms out to her, gathering her into his lap. His hand slipped beneath the blanket she had tucked around her and pressed over her belly. Ruby flinched. He didn't know the significance of the gesture.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, being shorter with him than she meant to be. His hand was smoothing slow, large circles over the flat plane of her stomach.

"Tala, my sister in law, is a nurse – she mentioned once that getting your belly rubbed helps sometimes." He seemed unaffected by her tone.

Ruby lay her head against his shoulder and buried her face in his neck as his hand continued its soothing strokes. The thoughtfulness of the mere action brought tears to her eyes, as did the knowledge that she'd lied to him. They leaked out onto his neck as she started to cry quietly.

"It hurts, Le.."

He went tense for a moment beneath her, his hand stilling for a second or two. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out before his hand resumed moving once more, his other arm curling around her and holding her to his chest.

All Ruby could do was cry – she would feel like an idiot in the morning – but for now he was holding her when she needed it and that was all that mattered. Even if he didn't know why he was holding her.