A: Thank you, and I'm glad you're still enjoying the story. Thanks for reviewing :-)

Chapter Forty-Four

Iain woke up at exactly three o'clock the next morning to screaming.

He immediately began to panic and quickly threw on his trainers and dressing gown before leaving for Gem's room. Gem was crouched at the side of the camp-bed, desperately trying to wake Lily out of what appeared to be a nightmare.

"What happened?" He asked, kneeling beside his sister.

"She just randomly started screaming," Gem informed him. "But I...I can't make her stop, she just keeps saying that he wants to hurt her and the baby."

"Who?" Iain frowned.

"I don't know!" Gem yelled, shrugging her shoulders. "She won't say."

"Okay," Iain sighed, nodding at her as he tried to calm Lily down. "Has she left the room at all tonight?"

"N...No," Gem stuttered, shaking her head at him. "I don't think so."

Lils, sweetie, can you hear me?" Iain asked, stroking gently at her hair. "It's Iain, talk to me Chuckles." Lily violently shook her head, her fingernails digging into the duvet that she was clinging onto. "Please Lily, you're scaring me."

He rubbed soothing circles up and down her back and eventually, Lily's eyes snapped open. She caught sight of Iain and Gem who were both staring intensely at her and jumped away, her hair soaked in a hot sweat and sticking to her face.

"It's alright," Iain calmed her. "It's just me and Gem. Don't panic."

Lily gulped and small tears rolled down both sides of her face.

"Gem," Iain whispered. "Why don't you go and watch TV or something?"

"It's three in the morning!" She shouted. "I know I said I didn't sleep much but I am actually tired, Iain. It was a long day at work."

"Then sleep in my room!" Iain shouted back. "I just want to talk to Lily for a bit," he added, his voice quieter and softer. "Come on," he whispered, as soon as Gem had left, and he went and sat on Gem's bed. It was bigger and a more comfortable place for them to talk.

Lily nodded and clambered out of the camp bed, going to snuggle up beside Iain on Gem's bed.

"Nightmare?" He asked. "What was it about?"

"Please Iain, I don't want to talk about it," Lily whispered, keeping her head held low.

"Didn't Mary tell you that you need to talk about this stuff?" Iain asked. "With anyone. It helps to get stuff off of your chest, Lily."

"And I'm seeing Mary in..." Lily glanced at the clock and said, "seven hours so I'll just tell her."

"But I'm your boyfriend," Iain reminded her. "And we're having a baby together. I want us to be able to share these kind of things with each other, and I don't want you to feel as if you have to bottle everything up. Because you don't, you're going to have some setbacks and you're going to have low days. I want you to talk to me about this stuff."

"But I don't want to bring you down either," Lily said.

"You won't," Iain said. "The only thing that will bring me down is knowing that you're bottling stuff up because you're scared about my reaction or my feelings."

"Really?" She asked.

"Really," he said, giving her knee a rub. "Now tell me, what was this nightmare about?"

Lily took a nervous breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She bit her lip and gave an anxious shrug, but Iain waited patiently until she felt ready to start speaking.

"It was about Archie," she finally said.

"Okay, okay." Iain nodded, giving her forehead a comforting kiss. "I guessed that much. What happened?"

"I...I saw him," she whispered. "You weren't there but I was out with the baby, and...He came over to us. I couldn't quite work out what he was saying but I just knew that he was hurling abuse at me, telling me that it was my fault. I showed him my scars, crying, and the next thing I knew our baby was gone. I looked up and saw that she was in Archie's arms, and he said that he needed to take her because he was her dad, not you. He ran away with her in his arms, and...That's when I started screaming."

"Oh Chuckles," Iain said sympathetically, holding her close to him. "Come here. You know that's not going to happen, right? I won't let it."

"But you weren't there," Lily sobbed, clinging to him. "There will be times when you won't be there Iain, like when you have to work."

"It won't, Lily," he whispered. "He's gone. I know we saw him that one time in Selfridges but we won't ever see him again, and he won't get near our baby. He has a restraining order, and he knows that he'll go to prison if he comes anywhere near you."

"I don't mind if he hurts me again," she cried. "But I can't have him hurting our baby."

"Don't say that," he said, pulling her into his lap. "You're safe, and our baby is safe," he said, wiping a tear from the side of her face.

"It's not the first time, you know?" Lily whispered. "The nightmare?"

"No?" Iain raised an eyebrow, stroking the sweaty hair out of her face.

"I made Gem promise not to say anything," she said. "I was embarrassed."

"Gem cares for you so much," he said. "Which is why she didn't say anything to me. No more secrets, yeah? If you ever have another nightmare or if you're ever too scared to sleep, come to me. It's about time you started sleeping in my room anyway, you're my girlfriend now."

"I've been such a crap one," she whispered. "I can't even sleep in the same room as you."

"Why is that, do you think?" Iain asked. "We kiss, we...well we've done other stuff as well, considering the fact that you're actually pregnant."

"It's just the sound of a man's breathing in the dark," Lily said. "I used to lay awake and I could hear Archie breathing, and it really scared me. You're right though, I'm your girlfriend and it's about time we began sharing a room. It doesn't make sense for me to sleep with your sister."

"Only if you're okay with that," he said. "We can try it for the rest of the night if you like, see how you feel."

"I don't know if I can go back to sleep tonight," she said. looking across at the clock. "Sorry."

"I have an idea," he said. "Why don't we go for a drive?"

"At this time?" Lily laughed.

"I used to like going out for a drive in the middle of the night," he said. "If I ever got upset or couldn't sleep."

"But what about Gem?" Lily asked.

"She'll be fine," Iain said, leaning in and touching noses with her. "Come on. You can bring a blanket with you." Lily nodded, climbing off of his lap and grabbing the duvet to take with her. "Can I ask you something, Lily?"

"Of course," Lily said.

"Have you...Have you had one of your binge sessions tonight at all?" Iain asked her. "Tell me honestly."

Lily smiled and made eye contact with him, before answering, "No. I haven't."

"Do you feel better?" Iain asked, as they drove down a country road at sixty miles per hour.

It was pitch black outside, they were the only car on the road, and Lily had the window down so that her hair blew in the wind. She smiled and rested her head against the back of her seat, the duvet draped over her and pulled up to her chin. Iain was still in his pyjamas as well, driving at such ease and happiness.

"Yeah, I do," she replied. "Thank you."

"We're going to have to decide what to spend our money on then," Iain said, reaching across and rubbing at her arm. "I think a cot is needed, so little one doesn't keep crawling into our bed."

He received no answer though. He frowned and glanced across at Lily, only to see that she'd drifted off to sleep. He smiled and shook his head, turning his eyes back to the road as he continued to drive.

"Night Lily," he whispered, even though she wasn't able to hear him.

Just one more chapter to go guys! That's right, the next chapter will be the last. I am really sorry to finish this but I know it will get boring and drag if I just keep it going. Besides, I have new ideas that I want to write and I have other stories to update as well x