A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing! I've only got one more complete chapter after this because I still need to write the rest! Had exams etc but am now free until September jumps for joy apart from trying to find a pesky job. So hopefully should get some done... I've also been very enthusiastically writing quite a few Dr Who fics instead of continuing the fics I've already started... feels bad for abandoning them. Ah well... rant over!

Liam could stand it no longer. His mother and father hadn't had another screaming row in weeks, mainly because Alex had had the good sense to only visit the house when Carol was sure to be at work. Instead, there was a silent tension in their house; no one would speak to each other much about anything. His mother was doing all the usual things, nagging them all about the state of their rooms, muttering about electricity bills and could they all please try and empty the bin when they could see it was full to the brim? Abby, his younger sister, was rarely in; she was working double shifts this summer to earn enough money to go travelling next year after she finished university. Emma was completely absorbed by books, old ones, ones far too young for her really. Amber had gone on holiday for a fortnight with her mum and step-dad, and the house had been even more deadly without the vivacious redhead dragging Emma out of the house and out and about. Emma had made no effort to contact any of her other friends; in fact, Liam could almost believe that she was glad Amber wasn't hanging around anymore, such was her disinterest in the latter's absence. There was still something troubling his little sister, and he resolved to find out what.

He slumped down on the sofa next to her. She barely looked up from her book. He waited several seconds before saying, "What you reading?"

"Nothing," Emma replied, almost automatically. Liam was used to her giving their mother this bland response. Never before had Emma dismissed her brother so easily.

"Don't be stupid, I can see it's something," he said teasingly. He took the book off her in one quick movement. " 'The Adventures of Bobby the Dragon'," he read. He flicked through the seventy-odd pages. "Didn't you used to read this when you were like ten?"

Emma reached to take it back. "Give it back, Liam."

Liam withheld it. "Emma, you're way ahead of this. Christ, you're a better reader than I am! You should be reading some trashy romance novel where they have sex on every page ending in a nought, or some sort of literary masterpiece where they only have pages ending in a nought. Not… this."

"Was I asking for your opinion?" Emma glared at him and succeeded in taking the book back. She stood up and made to leave the room.
"Oh hold on, Em," he said. "Don't go. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. But you have had your nose stuck in books for weeks now. Don't you want to do something else?"

Emma looked at her brother doubtfully. "Like what?"

"I don't know," Liam shrugged. "We could go for a drive if you like. Dad's garage finally fixed my car." It still annoyed him that he'd had to pay so much for the repairs; having a father who owned a garage should have had some perks at least.

He could tell Emma was interested, and trying hard to deny it. "Where to?" she asked finally.

Liam grinned. "Anywhere you like," he replied.

Once out of the city traffic, Liam relaxed a lot. It was all that sitting in traffic that had made his clutch go, not anything else. Certainly not the way he drove, he thought, as they swung around a tight corner in fourth gear.

Emma yelped slightly and he glanced over anxiously, before dropping his speed.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" he asked.

"No," Emma shook her head, though her face was pale. "No, it's fine, Liam. You know I don't mind the way you drive."

Even so, Liam took greater care around bends from then on. Emma was staring out of the window peacefully enough; for the first time since she'd come out of hospital, she actually looked serene and Liam was pleased he'd suggested this. Back when their parents had been arguing and on the verge of divorcing, he'd taken both Emma and Abby out for long drives to get them out of the house. Abby had grown tired of it, and since going to university in Sheffield, she'd all but become a stranger to the other two. But Emma had never lost her enthusiasm for these long car journeys with her beloved elder brother.

Emma began fiddling with the radio as soon as they got out into the countryside. "We need proper music for out here," she declared, as she skimmed through commercial pop and dance stations, searching for something more to their joint tastes.

"There's some tapes in the glovebox," Liam said.

Emma rifled through them, laughing out loud at some. "Since when have you been a huge fan of Celine Dion?" she questioned him, as she threw the greatest hits onto the back seat. Liam thought how ironic that action was; that tape had instigated a lot of action on that seat with his ex-girlfriend.

Eventually Emma found a tape she liked and she shoved it in. It crackled slightly, betraying its age, and Liam had to grin as he recognised the song.

"The old ones are the best," he agreed, as the chorus kicked in.

I'd hold you, I'd need you, I'd get down on my knees for you, and make everything alright, if you were in these arms. I'd love you, I'd please you, I'd tell you that I'd never leave you, and love you till the end of time, if you were in these arms tonight

They drove in relative silence, appreciating the old familiar song. This tape had been the accompaniment to many a long drive back when Abby was in the back seat, insisting they'd put on something "better" and more modern, like Flat Beat by Mr Oizo. Liam had listened to that track once and felt like driving into a ditch; that was the last time Abby was allowed to sit in the front.

The song played out and the next began. Liam finally reached their destination and pulled up.

"Well kid, here we are," he said, putting the handbrake on and cutting the engine. "Back in the old place."

They looked out over the spread of the Chiltern Hills. From their vantage point, they could see for miles, across rolling hills, green pastures and small villages. Emma fumbled for the door, not wanting to take her eyes off of the sight before her.

They sat on the bonnet of the car, as they always used to do, even though Abby had always made prissy noises about it not being clean. Now that Liam thought about it, he didn't miss Abby joining them on these jaunts. She'd always been so narky.

Finally, Liam broached the subject he'd been wanting to for days. It had seemed hard at home, but here, where they'd spent some of their happiest times together, it seemed far simpler. Emma had never lied to him before.

"How you feeling these days?" he asked.

Such a simple question. Emma had thought that once she was out of the house and back up here, where she'd always been happiest, that she'd find the words to express how she was feeling. She'd thought that she'd have found it easy to share her experiences with Liam; she'd never had trouble talking to him before. It had always been so irritating, how he'd always been able to get to the heart of whatever petty problem she'd had in the past. She'd never been able to hide anything from him. But now something was holding it all back from him.

Opting for the simple answer, she shrugged.

"That's not an answer, Em," Liam insisted, sounding suspiciously like her mum for a moment. She was always claiming that Emma didn't tell her the truth.

Emma sighed. "I'm alright," she lied, sounding, she thought, pretty convincing. Liam clearly disagreed.

"If it's about the accident, I'm sure Dr. Stone will be able to sort out some sort of counselling sessions for you," he said. "She said she would, didn't she?"

Emma shook her head firmly. "No, it's not."

Liam frowned. "Emma, there's something you're not telling me. You've never kept secrets from me before."

Emma considered pointing out the serious flaws in his statement. She had kept many a secret from him. She hadn't told him about her crushes on boys, at least not when she was younger. She hadn't told him about his surprise twenty-first birthday party two years ago, even though she'd been dying to. There was loads of stuff she'd kept from him in the past.

She'd hoped being up here would help her sort things out in her head. It hadn't. She was only more aware now than before that the one person she wanted to be with was Edmund.