Firstly, I know it has been an incredibly long time since I updated this - please forgive me - but the next part is finally here. You might want to read back over the last few chapters to refresh your memory to be honest. Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. If you've stuck with it then an extra big thank you to you; I know I'm terrible when it comes to updating. The next part will be up sooner than this one, not sure when yet but I'm hoping it will only be a couple of weeks at the most. Hope you like it and if you can, would be great to hear any of your thoughts.

Twenty-Four Seven
Chapter 9

"Thank you." An uncharacteristically small voice whispered suddenly as she spoke for the first time in hours. The pair were currently in the lounge, Yvonne curled up under just the one blanket this time whereas Nick had opted to perch on the arm of the sofa. Both of them were wary about pushing the boundaries too much despite everything that had happened between them since she had walked back into his life. It was almost like the events of the last few hours had caused them to revert back to the way they had been with each other during that first meeting in the pub. Neither of them could explain why – they didn't exactly understand it themselves.

He immediately pressed pause on the remote, the picture stopping just as the credits for the program they had been watching off and on for the last hour or so began to roll and glanced sideways at her. "What for?"

"Coming to get me, letting me stay." She replied simply, tugging the blanket around her body a little further, searching for more warmth. "You didn't have to."

"I was worried about you," he told her honestly. "I still am."

"No need." Yvonne mumbled, shifting into a more comfortable position on the sofa and grabbing hold of the blanket before it slipped off of her and ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor. "I'm fine."

Nick frowned at that, unsure as to whether he should point out the glaringly obvious – that she really wasn't fine – or not. He was loathe to; he didn't want to upset her, he suspected she had done enough of that herself already that day without him adding to her misery and he certainly didn't want an argument on his hands. He suspected that he probably wouldn't get one given her current, timid state but he knew how fiery she could be and quite frankly, he just didn't want to risk it. Or worse still, he didn't want to frighten her and cause her to run again. That would be the worst case scenario. He wasn't quite sure whether she was ready to hear it yet or not but he knew that trying to get her to talk about what had happened that day would be the best thing for her, whether or not she saw that yet. It was worth a try and if it didn't work then he would just have to find another way in so to speak. Now what should have been a simple conversation had turned into a complicated mess.

"That's the thing," he began carefully, deciding to stop dissecting it and just risk it. "I don't think you are."

She moved the blanket aside and sat up so she could see him properly in the dimly lit room. "You're not me," she shot back almost immediately, her tone giving nothing away.

Explosion successfully averted. So far. He couldn't help but feel relieved at that. "No, I'm not." He agreed, deciding to just press on with this line of conversation whilst he had her full attention, whilst she was talking to him of her own accord. "But I know you, remember? I know when there's something you're not telling me."

A sigh and a slight roll of her eyes was the only response he received but if he was entirely honest, he wasn't expecting much more than that now. She had changed, that much was becoming rather apparent the more time he spent with her. Was it expected? Probably. Was it understandable? Definitely. But that didn't mean it made it easier to deal with for either of them. The next few months at least were going to be difficult, of course they were. She had a long road ahead of her and he just hoped that she would let him stick around, let him share her troubles. He loved her, that hadn't changed and that would never change, that much he was sure of. 'For better, for worse' and even though they weren't married, surely the same principle still applied? Or was he just jumping the gun and getting a little bit too ahead of himself here? The latter was definitely possible. Nick had a feeling that it was probably best if he didn't verbalise that particular sentiment just yet.

Was he pushing her too far, too soon? He couldn't help but think that he might be but whether that was a realistic assessment of the current conversation or just him over analysing the situation, he wasn't sure? Where did he go from here? Did he continue down the potentially treacherous path of trying to get her to open up or did he just back down and leave it for now? Both could make things worse. It really was a no-win situation. What was the worst that could happen? If he continued to try and get her to talk then it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that she would eventually bite back. Or she would shut down completely and refuse to say anything more. He wasn't quite sure which one was preferable and most likely. At least with the former, he might see some spark, some fight come back into her eyes even if it was only briefly. He knew that eventually, it was possible that all he would achieve would be to make himself feel terrible for effectively forcing her to run before she could walk but if he didn't try then he was aware that he might not get another opportunity for a few days. So, with all that in mind, he decided to change track just a little bit and push her a little further to see whether she would open up or not. If she wouldn't then he was more than ready for that.

"What happened today?"

A resounding silence met his question, broken only by her shifting around on the sofa, obviously extremely uncomfortable with the direction their conversation was heading in. He didn't mean to make her feel like that but he was positive that she would feel better if he could get her to open up a little bit. However, her next words brought any thoughts that he might have had about her letting him in crashing firmly back down to the ground.

"Nothing happened." She eventually answered, her voice a little too quiet and shaky for his liking as he watched her push her little finger through a small hole she'd found in his blanket.

Nick nodded, pausing for a moment as he considered the best way to respond to her obvious lie. "Something did." He told her gently, knowing that he was stating the obvious with those two words but unsure how else to keep the momentum of the conversation going.

"It's nothing."

"If it's nothing then you wouldn't mind telling me, would you?"

Ok, maybe that wasn't the brightest thing to say. He was well aware that he was most likely teetering on the edge of the fine line between pushing her enough and pushing her too far. Part of him was still hoping, still expecting her to react in some way – their disagreements had always been fiery, both of them having a way with words – so when she didn't, it was another part of her character, her behaviour that he'd noticed had changed. Whether that was temporarily or permanently, he wasn't sure and if he wasn't already concerned for her then he most definitely was now.

Yvonne exhaled deeply, releasing the breath slowly into the room. "Maybe something happened." She admitted eventually, her voice low as she averted her gaze, feeling too ashamed to look at him. "I will tell you everything that happened today Nick, honestly I will but I can't do that now. I'm just not ready. Don't push me, please?"

"Fair enough." He leant over and took her hand, squeezing her cold fingers reassuringly. As she reluctantly raised her eyes to look at him, he offered her a smile, not wanting her to feel any worse or think that he was angry or disappointed by her refusal to open up to him because he wasn't, he was far from that. He was just worried about her, desperately worried about her and it sounded awfully like a cliché but talking did help. All he wanted to do was help her in any way he could but he knew he had to let her go at her own pace. If she wanted him to leave it, then of course he would respect her wishes. For now. "When you're ready, I'm right here."

He received a small nod in reply. "Promise," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper as she gripped on to his hand tightly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's ok." He told her quietly, squeezing her hand for one final time before releasing it and watching as she curled back under the blanket, a visible shiver passing through her small frame.

The pair fell into silence for a few more moments, content in each others company before Nick spoke again, changing the direction of the conversation slightly once again. "You're ok though?"

"Fine." Yvonne answered, the word slipping off of her tongue with ease. She just hoped that if he saw through her, he wouldn't question her. She didn't want to talk about it, not tonight. So far all she had managed to do that day was thoroughly embarrass herself and she really hated the way she had reacted...the way she did react to things that would never have bothered her before the riots. Right now, all she wanted to do was forget. Forget about everything. About the events of the day. She was just glad that Nick didn't know the full extent of it, she wasn't sure if she could cope with him knowing just yet. He would just worry about her and that was something she didn't want.

He nodded, satisfied with that answer for now. He wasn't stupid, he had eyes and he could see that she was far from 'fine' but if it made her feel better to try and convince him (or herself) that she was ok then he was quite happy to let that happen. He wasn't going to press her for an honest answer – it would do more harm than good if she wasn't ready. So far he had managed to avoid any sort of disagreement, she hadn't reacted the way he had expected to and now, he just wanted to continue to avoid conflict. It wouldn't do either of them any good right now. She had told him that she would talk to him about what had really happened that day in her own time and that was good enough for him. Progress was being made, it might be extremely slow progress with the odd few steps backward but nevertheless it was still progress. That in itself was positive.

Half an hour had managed to slip by before he realised that she was being oddly silent next to him. After their conversation had finished, he had pressed play and then he had flicked the channel over to the news. But now, instead of actually watching it and taking it in like he usually would, he just seemed to be watching the headlines go round in a loop, the pictures flickering. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to fully take in what was being said on the television.

A quick glance to his left confirmed what he had suspected. She was fast asleep, gripping the blanket with her small hands as if it were a safety net or something. He noticed that she seemed to be doing that a lot; holding on to things when she slept. Last night it had been his shirt, today it was the blanket. He could only assume it was a reaction to everything she had been through and that it made her feel a bit safer, more secure. He didn't have a problem with it, he just wondered why she did it. She looked peaceful and it relieved him to see her looking calm for the first time since he had brought her back – her expression had been constantly marred with fear and uncertainty since he had picked her up earlier.

Nick sighed deeply, wondering what on earth he should do now. He couldn't leave her to sleep on the sofa for much longer, it certainly wasn't very comfortable and he didn't want her to wake up all stiff and sore. That wouldn't do her any good. They had decided whilst they were eating dinner – well, when he was eating and she had been picking at the food on her plate, her previously healthy appetite gone, agreeing with whatever he said – that it would probably be the best thing all round if she spent the night in the spare room despite the fact that they had already shared a bed with him the night before. On reflection, they had gone too fast and both of them wanted to slow everything down and take each day as it came for now without committing to anything. They weren't in the right head space to be committing to anything, they both knew that. But now he really wasn't sure whether he should go and put her to bed in the spare room or just tuck her into his so that he could keep an eye on her. He just wanted to keep an eye on her especially after their conversation but he knew that he could only do as much as she wanted him to do.

After a few moments of furious internal debate in which he had weighed up the pros and cons of both options, he decided to simply stick to the original plan and go put her in the spare room but leave the door open so that he would be able to hear if anything was amiss with her. He was a light sleeper these days so he knew that if she woke prematurely then he would probably wake as well. It did feel like he was treating her with kid gloves but given recent events, if it meant she wouldn't suffer alone with her demons then it made him feel a little happier. It was a pretty good compromise. He knew he had considered it before but he did want to see some fire come back into her. However he reckoned that would only happen once she had worked through at least some of the things that she needed to. It wasn't going to happen overnight, no matter how much he wanted everything to be ok again for her instantly. It had obviously taken time for her to deteriorate this much so it made sense that it was going to take time to put her back together again. Of course there was always the possibility that she wouldn't mind being put in his bed but he thought it was best to stick to the plan instead of trying to guess what she wanted – she never had liked people assuming they knew what was best for her, that was one sure fire away of irritating her immensely. So he turned the television off and placed the remote back down on the table before he got to his feet and moved round to where she lay, lost in a serene slumber.

Nick slid one arm under her knees, the other immediately slipping around her shoulders to support her body as he lifted her. She was light as a feather in his arms as he manoeuvred her into a comfortable position. He left the room with his exhausted bundle in his arms and carried her up the stairs, being careful not to jolt her or accidentally hit her head, legs or her injured hand against the banisters, the door frames, anything that might hurt her. He managed to get her into the spare room without any incident or further injury and he placed her in the spare bed, pulling the sheets around her. She didn't stir as he tucked her in and he just hoped that a good night's sleep would go some way to making her feel better but little did he know that a good night's sleep wouldn't necessarily be on the cards for her whether that be tonight or indeed at all.