A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter – I really appreciate it and I'm glad that you are enjoying it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing – Casualty belongs to the BBC. No copyright infringement intended.

Twenty-Four Seven
Chapter 4

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

The rhythmic sound of the ticking clock filled the otherwise silent room as he stared at the sentence, trying to think of the best way to complete it. Nick Jordan sighed deeply and placed his pen down a few moments later, knowing that he was far too preoccupied by the phone call he had received earlier to be able to concentrate on something as mundane as paperwork. He'd been stuck on that same sentence for at least the last half an hour and it wasn't going anywhere fast. He glanced up at the clock that sat proudly on the wall, ticking away. An hour to go until the end of his shift. He had sixty minutes to fill somehow until he was due to meet her again. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about this fact although the nerves that were building in his stomach at the thought of seeing her again sort of spoke for him and now he was starting to agonize over what to say to her. He had no idea what he was going to say to her but he reckoned that he was probably over-thinking it and that it would work out just fine. He hoped it would – he wasn't sure how it was going to play out but he just wanted it to go right. Now he really was over-thinking the whole thing. He just had to get through the last hour of his shift and get out of there on time, then he would be able to see her.

Yvonne Rippon sat quietly in one of the corner booths in the pub, nursing a glass of white wine as she waited anxiously for Nick to arrive. She had eventually managed to get hold of him earlier after a couple of attempts. Their phone call hadn't lasted for long admittedly – neither of them had been particularly sure how to speak to the other – but at that moment in time, she was quite happy to take comfort from the fact that he had asked her to meet him in the pub at the end of his shift. They had decided not to meet in the pub closest to the emergency department – they both knew that this first meeting was going to be awkward and quite possibly painful for them both and they both agreed that they wanted to do it as quietly as possible which meant meeting somewhere where neither of their colleagues - or ex-colleagues in her case although she wasn't quite sure what they were to her now - were likely to walk in.

Her nerves increased and she felt decidedly nauseous as the door swung open and a familiar figure walked in. She watched silently as he walked over to the bar and ordered a drink before he glanced round the pub, immediately spotting her sitting there. She gave him a tiny smile as he paid the barman and then walked over to sit next to her, placing his drink on the table in front of him.

"Hi," she offered awkwardly, her voice soft as she took a sip of her drink, trying to quash the nerves that were continuing to swirl in her stomach.

Nick said nothing by way of reply, he just sat there and stared at her as if he couldn't quite believe she was actually there. Yvonne shakily took another sip of her drink, quite happy to allow him to sit there quietly with her. She knew that this whole situation was a lot to take in, a lot to process and if he just wanted to sit there without speaking for now then she was quite happy to let him do that. Eventually, he cleared his throat and looked at her properly. "How are you?" He asked quietly, inwardly cringing at the inadequacy of his question after three years of turmoil for both of them. He probably could have come up with a better conversation starter than that, he thought, but for now it would have to do.

"I'm fine, thanks. You?" She replied faintly, knowing that she was anything but fine – in fact, she was probably a long way from fine - and although she hated herself for lying to him, she just felt that she had to protect him from what she was currently going through. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel trapped, like he had to be there for her just because they had dated for a while some time ago. She most certainly didn't want to heap expectation on him, she just wanted him to make his own mind up. If he wanted to stick around then that was fine by her but equally if he wanted nothing more to do with him then she was determined to respect his decision and let him go, if of course it came to that.

"Good." He shot her a small smile, suspecting that she probably wasn't as fine as she was trying to make out she was. He wasn't going to pull her up on it though, if she wanted to tell him then he knew that she would, in her own time and on her terms. "I missed you."

Yvonne nodded, feeling guilt tear through her even though common sense told her that it wasn't entirely her fault. She hadn't actually had any say over what had happened, by the time she had woken in hospital, certain events had already been put in motion and she had been powerless to stop them. Despite that, she still felt guilty for putting him through it, knowing that if she hadn't acted the way she had done during the riots then perhaps this would never have happened. In a way, she supposed, it probably was her fault. "I'm sorry."

Nick shook his head, not wanting her to feel any worse than she obviously already did. He saw her grey eyes cloud over with guilt and just then, Sara's words echoed in his ears: "Don't be too hard on her, it's an unusual situation. It's going to be incredibly difficult for you both."

"Don't be." He moved his drink out of the way so that he could slide his hand over towards her. He stopped just before their hands touched, neither of them wanting to force the other into making the first move. The only problem with this though was that they were effectively dancing around each other, both of them waiting expectantly for the other to make a move. It really was a vicious cycle and if it continued then they wouldn't get anywhere any time soon.

Hesitantly, she moved her hand slightly so that it was resting against his. Neither of them failed to miss the strong spark that jolted through them as their skin touched. Even after three long years, their connection was still just as strong as it had been before the riots and the subsequent events. Nick squeezed her fingers gently, knowing that they needed to talk. However, now he felt that the pub was too public, too exposed for their conversation. Some conversations were better done in private, that much he was sure of.

A tiny ghost of a smile appeared on her lips as he squeezed her fingers, the simple touch sending a mix of emotions through her. She hadn't thought she'd ever feel his touch again and now that she had, she was feeling quite overwhelmed by the feelings that accompanied it. He looked into her eyes, seeing that her grey orbs were full of conflicting emotions: confusion, exhaustion, sadness, a slight glimmer of relief but most of all, her eyes were full of guilt and his heart went out to her. He desperately wanted to make it all better for her but realistically he knew that he couldn't do that, no-one could. They couldn't change what had happened, they just had to find a way to deal with it. If, of course, there was a way.

The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence, listening to the chatter of the other patrons. They didn't feel the need to speak until Nick decided to break the silence a few moments later. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked suddenly, his voice soft. Yvonne glanced at him, surprised. She wasn't quite sure where this question had come from.

"I'm fine." She repeated, having forgotten how hard it had been to hide how she felt from him. She still couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, not wanting to make him feel like he had to stay. She didn't want to influence his decision by letting him see how badly she was coping. For now, she had to hold it together.

"You look tired." He stated, watching as she took another sip of her drink. "I'll give you a lift home if you want – do you want me to take you home?"

Yvonne shook her head, feeling the emotion begin to well up in her at that simple question. Home? Where was home these days? After being back in Holby for less than twenty-four hours, she was becoming more and more convinced that she didn't fit in there any more. She didn't feel a part of this place, she was aware that too many things had happened here. Now she wasn't sure where she belonged. She didn't feel any more at home in Holby – even though Holby was supposed to be her home – than she had done there.

Her hand was gripped tightly in his own, a concerned frown upon his face as he saw her mood shift. She looked overwhelmed and not entirely happy but he suspected that was down to the stress of the last few days. It had to be stressful, didn't it? Going back to a place where most people were convinced you were dead when in fact you weren't. He guessed that you probably had to be fairly strong to be able to cope with the uncertainty of it all and if their roles had been reversed – which thankfully, they hadn't – he wasn't sure if he would have been able to show the sort of strength that she had just by being there with him now.

He bit his lip, moving his thoughts from Yvonne's return to the question that was playing on his mind, the question that he was desperate to ask. He didn't want her to think that he was being too forward or trying to rush things but he just wanted to spend some time with her before they went through that rather difficult conversation that they both knew they needed to have. After a few more minutes of a furious internal debate, he decided to just bite the bullet and ask her. "Do you want to come back to mine? I've got some wine in the fridge, I think – or there's coffee. It'll be quieter than here."

Before she answered, she glanced around, noticing that the pub was starting to fill up with people either wanting a quiet drink or to start a night out. His question hung in the air between them and she knew that she needed to give him an answer but if she was honest, she wasn't sure what the right thing to do was. She desperately wanted to accept, the prospect of spending some time with him away from other people was extremely appealing but there was still an element of doubt in her mind. Was it really the best thing to practically go back to how things had been before, even if it was just for one night? She wasn't sure but maybe some attempt at normality would help. It was worth a try, wasn't it? "If you don't mind," she replied eventually, knowing that it was quite a conservative answer.

"Of course not. I wouldn't have suggested it if I did." Nick reassured her, noting with concern that she seemed to be more on edge, more nervy than he had remembered her to be. Before the riots, before all of this, nothing had fazed her but now it seemed that even a simple invitation would set her mind reeling with doubts and uncertainty. He wasn't entirely sure whether that was down to the stress of her current situation or whether it was something more. Intuition told him, however, that there was something at play here with regards to her behaviour. He just wasn't quite sure what it was, not yet at least.

He watched as she finished the rest of her drink. She shot him another, tiny smile before she spoke. "Ok," she agreed, trying to put the doubts that she felt to the back of her mind. She hoped that once they had talked properly and she had settled back in, all these feelings would go away. A part of her wasn't sure they would however and if she was honest, that was what scared her the most. Pulling herself abruptly out of her thoughts and pushing them firmly to the back of her mind for now, she placed the glass back down and stood up, collecting together her things as Nick took her empty glass and his drink back to the bar. He returned to her side a few moments later and they left the pub, walking the short distance in silence to where his car was parked.

Yvonne stood in Nick's lounge, her eyes darting around her surroundings nervously. She could hear him crashing around in the kitchen – he had said he was getting them a drink but if she was honest, it didn't sound like that – and her mind involuntarily flashed back to the last time she had been here. Nothing had changed in his lounge, she suspected his house hadn't changed much in three years. Everything was still as she had remembered it. She didn't feel right standing here, it was a strange feeling to be standing in his front room after everything that had happened and she wasn't sure it was a feeling she would get used to.

"Here you go." Nick's voice jolted her from her thoughts as he walked back into the lounge with two glasses and a bottle of wine. She was still standing in the spot he'd left her, looking around nervously with an uneasy expression on her face. "You can sit down you know." He said casually, concern gripping him as he noticed that she seemed to be quite intimidated by her surroundings even though they should have been familiar to her.

She gave a small nod and sat down on the sofa, dropping her bag by her feet as she leant forward to accept the glass of wine he held out to her with a small word of thanks. She was sitting on the edge of the seat, clearly uncomfortable, twirling the glass around her fingers anxiously as she dropped her gaze to stare at the carpet.

Pouring himself a glass of wine, he sat down on the chair next to the sofa before placing the bottle on the coffee table. He took a sip of his drink. "I went to the station today." He started, unsure as to whether she would want to know but deciding he needed to start a conversation somehow.

"You did?" Yvonne's head shot up at that and she looked at him, biting her lip as his words washed over him. He saw her visibly retreat back into her shell and he almost sighed, knowing that this nervousness was new thing. He hoped it was temporary and that when she felt a bit more secure...a little safer about being back then it would dissipate and her true personality would shine through again. If that didn't happen then he knew he would just learn to cope with this new Yvonne, that is if they managed to find a way out of the mess they were currently in. He wasn't sure whether that would happen – he hoped it would because he still had feelings for her, that much had become increasingly obvious over the course of the last few days.

Nick acknowledged her question with a small nod, wanting to reach out to her but he didn't want to push things too far, too quickly. It had been a difficult day for them both and there had been a significant step forward by them returning to his house after spending a little while together in public. He was aware that there was a possibility he could lose her for good if he pushed her too much – she already looked like she wanted to run - and he wasn't sure if he could cope with losing her for a second time. "After last night, I needed to find out about you and I thought the station was the best place to start." He clarified, feeling that he should give her some sort of explanation as to why he had gone to the station that day.

There was silence for a few moments as she absorbed his words. "I'm sorry about last night." She met his gaze briefly, her gaze pained, before she dropped her head again.

"It's fine." His voice was quiet as he spoke, not wanting to make her feel any more guilty than she already did.

She exhaled deeply, blowing her cheeks out at his words. "You're too reasonable." She told him, running her hand through her curly hair. It was slightly longer than he remembered and maybe a little darker but still just as curly. "You should be angry or something, I don't know."

"Would it help?" Nick asked simply, somehow knowing what the answer would be.

Yvonne shrugged. "Probably not, no." She answered, a small smile playing on her lips as she shifted her gaze back to his face.

"Not a lot of point then." Nick smiled, placing his drink down on the table before leaning over to take her hand. This time she gripped on to him almost instantaneously, her smaller hand cold and clammy in his larger, warmer one. "Yvonne, we've got to talk." He said gently.

"I know." She swallowed, giving him a tiny smile as she took another sip of her drink. "Can we leave that until tomorrow? I'm too tired to think tonight. I just want to spend some time with you, you know?"

Nick nodded, understanding exactly where she was coming from. "I know." He reassured her, squeezing her hand briefly before releasing it from his grasp and standing up. He moved over to sit beside her, taking the glass out of her hand and placing it on the table. She turned to look at him, her gaze questioning. They both felt the mood in the room shift as he leant towards her, their lips meeting in a soft kiss for the first time in three years. As they broke the embrace, moving away from each other slightly, he was alarmed to see tears swimming in her grey orbs. "I never stopped loving you," he murmured, his tone sincere as his gaze met hers.

She was silent for a few moments, closing her eyes as she took in his words. He watched a solitary tear slide down her cheek, leaving a silver path in its wake before she re-opened her eyes and looked at him. "Nor did I." She replied, resting her forehead against his as he grasped her hands in his own.

Relief rushed through him at her words. He knew exactly what she was trying to say and although they had been apart for three years, three long years, it seemed that there wasn't a lot that had changed – if anything – between them in terms of their feelings for each other. At that moment in time, it felt like those three years apart hadn't happened. They had though and that was something they were going to have to deal with – they both knew that.

Tomorrow, they would have to talk and get everything out in the open so they could see if there was a way forward for them. For now though, they just needed to be with each other without thinking about the "what ifs", the "buts" and the "maybes" of the future. They just needed some time together without any pressure before the big decisions had to be made. Tomorrow was the time for thinking and talking about the important stuff whereas tonight was purely for them. It was something they both needed.

Enjoy the fluff, it's not going to last ;) But yes, no idea where that last bit came from – it wasn't the plan originally haha but it is now or so it seems. Next part should be up within the next few days. Please review – I'd love to know what you think.