Hi everyone!:) I'm so glad that I can say that this update took me a little longer coz I did make it home this time!lol More drama and stuff happening, but chapter 10 will be the last, so hang in there. (I will probably post it after Christmas) Also, you might be happy to hear that my Dummy Twins continuation is coming along nicely and will probably be posted tomorrow ;) and, of course, on the 24th I can FINALLY post my Christmas story. lol Then...as I mentioned before I'll post the final chapter for this and then I'll take a break from writing ;) lol And some point in the New Year I will be back with a new BIIIIIIIIIIG project (like "20 Years" or "Again and Again"^^)which still requires some planning. Leave me some feedback, please!:)

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine...

Chapter 9: Memories and Choices

Niles stood outside the hospital room, resisting the urge to press his ear against the door. He tried to tell himself that with Stuart on his side he would probably be able to visit C.C. soon, but he also knew that B.B. was a force to be reckoned with. Impatiently he began to pace, desperate to know if C.C. was awake by now, how healthy she was and all the other questions he was dying to get answered.

"Did we get kicked out again?" Maxwell asked, apparently miffed about having been left on his own with 2 cups of coffee.

"Yes, C.C.'s parents arrived."

"Stuart is here?" Fran exclaimed happily, putting all her weight on her good leg.

"Yes," Niles answered sullenly "but so is her mother, who despises servants. It's not surprising that C.C. had that attitude, she practically grew up with it."

"With me and Stuart on your side ya don't have ta worry. We'll find a way." Fran promised and earned a stern look from Maxwell.

"I am telling you not to get involved, you see what it got you the last time."

"But Max, this is about Niles and Miss Babcock-"

"He's right, Miss Fine, though I appreciate the thought."

The brunette's shoulders slumped and she allowed Max to guide her to the nearest chair.

Niles spent the following days in the hospital. Even though he wasn't allowed to see C.C., he felt closer to her there than at the Sheffield mansion and he gladly spent his free time being near her. Maxwell couldn't quite understand his behaviour, but then Niles doubted that he had ever been really in love, and even with Fran always with him, he was still experiencing difficulties expressing his feelings. Maxwell was British through and through, while the French part of Niles' descent sometimes led him to commit foolish acts of an emotional nature.

One day as B.B. swept past him and into the room without giving him a second look, Stuart gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze and left the door open ever so slightly. Niles moved closer, careful not to make a sound and stood on his tiptoes to catch a glance of C.C. She was lying in bed but was looking decidedly healthier if also still tired. She was talking to her mother in soft tones and his heart swelled at the sight of her beautiful smile and light-blue eyes. Then her eyes moved to the door and lingered on his face and he lifted his index finger to his lips, signalling her to keep quiet. From then on their steady eye-contact continued until Niles heard B.B.'s distinct voice ask:

"What are you looking at, dear? You haven't been paying attention to me at all."

"Why isn't Niles here? Why's he waiting outside?" C.C. asked innocently in return.

He heard B.B. mutter something under her breath, before the door was opened wide and Stuart waved for him to enter.

"I've missed you," Niles said, walking over to her bed without hesitation and placed a small kiss on her cheek.

"Why didn't you come and see me more often?" C.C. asked quietly.

"Well, you know your parents are here and I wanted to give them some time alone with you." he lied, it was incredibly hard to tell the truth with the current state she was in.

"Yes, they've come to see me every day." C.C. told him proudly, a big grin sweeping over her face "Mother said that she has been missing me terribly but that daddy has been really busy as always, so they had to wait a while."

At this piece of information Niles turned around and raised a questioning eyebrow at Stuart who merely shook his head.

"Well, you know how your father gets. Work, work, work." B.B. commented airily.

"I'd like a word with you now," Niles addressed her firmly.

"Surely it can wait, you wouldn't want to waste the precious little time I have with my darling daughter."

"Mrs. Babcock, you will come with me now." Niles repeated, his voice growing as steadily as his anger.

"Niles, what's wrong?" C.C. asked shocked, but to his relief Stuart stepped in and took her hand.

"It's nothing, kitten, just leave him and your mother to have a little chat, alright? Why don't we talk in the meantime, mmh?"

Niles gave him a nod of thanks before marching out of the room, the click of B.B.'s heels telling him that she wasn't far behind.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, without making sure that the corridor was deserted.

"You're going to cause a scene," the woman replied in a clipped tone.

"I don't care, the worst thing that could happen is that I'm banned from entering C.C.'s room and since that's already happened I have nothing to lose." he told her firmly "So why are you lying to your daughter?"

"I don't know what you mean." B.B. denied without batting an eyelid.

"You are making her believe that you and your ex-husband are still together. You make it sound as if you're a happy family. What are you trying to do, why are you manipulating her?"

For a brief moment he saw the expression in her eyes change and something visibly softened.

"All I want is a second chance," she told him crisply "to be able to start all over with Chastity, establish a good relationship."

"You expect me to believe that? By lying to her?"

"I do not care about your opinion. But I know that you cannot judge me because you have been doing the same."

"You are crazy, do you know that?" he asked, his voice rising in volume.

"You are taking advantage of Chastity's situation. How else would you explain your relationship with her? If my poor girl hadn't suffered from amnesia she never would've believed those lies you have been feeding her. Now the man who did this to her is being punished, I already took care of that, and sooner or later you will disappear too."

"I will never leave C.C., if that's what you're trying to imply." he barked.

"But she will leave you once she finds out the truth, after all, she doesn't really love you, does she?" B.B. questioned and turned around to enter the room again.

But Niles now completely lost his temper and grabbed hold of her arm, his grip firm and painful.

"If you tell her, I am going to take you down with me," he said, dangerously low.

B.B.'s eyes blazed angrily as she stared into his and neither of them noticed that C.C. had opened the door and was witnessing it all.

"I have nothing to lose," B.B. said coolly.

"Why are you two fighting?" C.C. asked quietly.

"Because your mother has been telling you lies, she hasn't seen you for over a year. She and your father are divorced and have been for a while."

"Chastity, dear, don't listen to him, he's just a lowly servant, he's trying to be with you so he can get your money. You cannot trust him."

C.C. felt her head when all this information flooded her brain. It was too much to take in and she didn't know who to believe.

"C.C., I love you, please, you have to listen to me. If you don't then your mother will find a way to keep us apart." Niles pleaded, taking her hand and placing it against his chest so that she could feel the rapid beating of his heart.

"You are pathetic," B.B. told him frankly "you have done nothing but make my daughter's life miserable from the first day you met her. She may not remember now but you know how often you've hurt her. She isn't safe with you, she should be with her family."

"What family? You have been the worst possible mother and C.C. has been severely scarred by it."

"Stop it, now!" C.C. yelled, yanking her hand away from Niles and clutching her head "I can't think."

Once again voices were floating to her and pictures were flashing in front of her eyes. A large empty house, rich with paintings and expensive objects, but it was so silent that it was almost eerie. Christmas time, unwrapping presents underneath the tree, her father on another business trip and her mother drinking bourbon from the bottle without any shame. Noel holding her, D.D. crying. If you want to become a proper lady, you will have to find a husband soon. My daughter is too smart to become someone's mindless dummy, she will take over my business one day. Niles, blue eyes, warm and caring, asking her to stay with him. His mouth curved into a sneer as he helped her off the floor. Her legs were hurting, her entire body aching, so why was he enjoying this? Couldn't he see that she was in pain? Sara's dead, limp body. The children's refusal to accept her. Work, contracts, scripts. Maxwell...vulnerable, weak, just like her. Fran sitting at the table with the entire family, laughing, chatting, not even noticing her hovering by the door. All these insults, all the pranks. A door hurtling towards her and painfully colliding with her head.

C.C. held on to the wall for support, acutely aware of her surroundings again. Niles' deep-blue eyes were filled with worry and he took one step in her direction, arms outstretched trying to steady her.

"Don't touch me," she snapped.

"It seems my daughter has made up her mind-" B.B. began but C.C. cut her off.

"The same goes for you, mother. Telling me all those lies, what sick plan did you have in mind this time? Is a future husband already waiting?"

She could see it then in Niles' eyes that he knew that she had regained her memory, that he was on the verge of losing everything.

"I want you both to leave," she continued, each word draining her even more.

"C.C., I tried to tell you," he began quietly.

"You always try, Niles." she spat out "But you are too big a coward to actually follow through with something. You took advantage of my weak state and you lied to me."

"You know that all the things I told you when we were alone weren't a lie," he pleaded, trying to get through to her, ignoring that anyone else was in the room "you told me that you loved me, that you had loved me before the accident, C.C. Those feelings haven't vanished and neither have mine. This isn't some stupid prank!"

"You can't get away with this anymore, Niles. I remember...I remember everything you ever did to me and I don't believe you anymore."

A light went out in his eyes and his shoulders visibly slumped. He held her gaze for one more moment, almost as if hoping that she'd change her mind, but then he turned around and left.

"Blanche, you heard C.C.," Stuart said, rising from his chair and wrapping one supporting arm around his daughter's waist.

"He was never there for you either," B.B. spat out but C.C. merely shook her head and finally her mother left.

"You have to lie down again," Stuart gently told her, guiding her back to the bed "and I will call a doctor. I'm sure you must be overwhelmed."

"Not just yet, daddy." C.C. declined firmly "I don't want a bunch of quacks flittering around me...I need time to think..."

Niles' words, his pleas, were still running through her mind. She remembered the time she had shared with him in the solitude of his room. His strong arms holding her at night, his gentle care and soothing words. His whispered confessions when he thought that she was asleep and his tender lips, capable of erasing any worry or pain. He was a changed man, so very different from the annoying butler who enjoyed teasing her and spend most of his days insulting her. He had become a loyal partner, an attentive listener, someone she could always rely on to make her smile and who couldn't stand to be without her. Maybe if they had got to know each other without the limitations of class, without their individual histories that had made them so cynical and suspicious they would've seen each other in a different light. Hadn't her positive relationship with Nanny Fine proven the same? Shown that without the stereotypes and petty jealousies she was capable of establishing something resembling a friendship with a woman who was so very different to her and whom she had been competing with since the beginning?

"Niles is a good man, kitten," Stuart voiced carefully "he has been at the hospital every single day just hoping to be able to see you. But you know what your mother is like. He is obviously smitten with you and-"

"Daddy, I don't want to talk about him. He knew I couldn't remember our past and he used it to his advantage. So if you want to talk about him I'm going to ask you to leave, otherwise you can stay."

"Don't make yourself unhappy, C.C., that's all I'm saying. Niles can take care of you but he lets you be yourself. Do you really want to throw all that away?"