Hi everyone! So I finally managed to update, sorry for the delay. This chapter is definitely dedicated to Trixfan for all her kind words and encouragement. Hope it's OK :)

Knocking gently at the door in front of him, he couldn't blame Scully for picking this as her hideout. It was a pretty cottage with ivy growing around the door, set away from the other cottages a bit. All around were hills and countryside, and he knew that it had to be the most peaceful place she could have picked.

Getting no answer at the door, Mulder wandered around the side of the pretty house. Looking up, he easily saw her small form sitting on a swing at the top of the hill behind the house, looking out over the view. Smiling at seeing her, he instantly made his way up the hill.

As he got nearer to her, he could instantly see the change in her. She was hunched over in a baggy cardigan, not paying the slightest bit of attention to anything around her, as if her mind had wandered somewhere else. It was the picture of a broken woman, and his heart broke to see her in such as state.

"Scully," he said gently, seeing her jump and look around in fright.

Her jaw dropped as she looked at him in shock, obviously not expecting to see him standing there. He watched as a variety of emotions flickered across her face, from surprise to anger to hurt, before finally setting on a deep sadness that seemed to reach right into her bones to settle around her heart.

"I can't do this right now, Mulder," she replied softly, standing from the swing. "I'm sorry."

She walked quickly back to the house, leaving a heartbroken Mulder standing with his hand on the rope of the now empty swing, watching her walk away from him as he had walked away from her so many times recently.

Following her slowly into the house, Mulder felt his heart drop as he realised that she had locked herself in her room, shutting him out. He stood outside the door and leant his forehead gently against it.

"Scully," he called gently, getting no answer and hearing no movement. "I'm going to stay on the couch tonight. You don't have to talk to me, but I'm staying for a while because I want to make sure you're alright." He faltered slightly, not wanting to have this conversation through a closed door. "We've both been so wrong in this thing between us, Scully, me more so than you. And I just...I hope we can sort it out."

Leaving her to her own devices, he made his way to the sofa, cuddling up under his coat and stealing a cushion to use as a pillow.

The following day, Mulder waited until mid-afternoon before deciding to check on Scully. He had not seen her all day, and was starting to get a bit worried that he had chased her away from her safe haven. He shouted through her door, but got no response. Since she hadn't said anything about him staying on the couch, he took that to mean that it was alright, mostly because it suited him to think that, rather than he thought she meant it that way.

By early evening he was starting to really worry about her. Knocking gently and getting no answer, he pushed open the door slowly, waiting for a shout and getting none. The room was empty.

Heading up the hill again, he soon found her sitting in just a T-shirt despite the cold weather, with her legs crossed on the grass. He could tell that she was still on edge from her posture, despite being on her own, and his heart went out to her.

Not really knowing what to do, he sat down next to her, saying nothing. He felt the familiar Scully-warmth cross over him again, not wanting to admit that he felt like he was complete sitting with her again, and hoping that she felt the same despite the seriousness of the situation.

Eventually she looked across at him, hurt written clearly across her face. "Why are you here, Mulder?" she asked softly, her eyes searching his for a brief moment before she looked away, closing the connection.

He thought for a moment, wanting to be honest. "Because you mean the world to me," he replied, seeing her close her eyes briefly. "I don't know how to help," he eventually admitted.

He was shocked when she looked back up at him, her eyes cold and the barriers firmly in place again. She had shut him out completely.

"If you want to help, go home. There's nothing to save here."

Standing up, she moved away from him to sit on the swing, wrapping her arms around herself in comfort again and ignoring the fact that Mulder remained on the hill. She was surprised when he didn't leave, and instead came to stand directly in front of her so that she had to look up at him to see the sorrow and compassion in his eyes.

"There's always something to save with you, Scully," he told her gently.

Tears started to run gently down her face as she huddled closer in herself, all of the emotions that Mulder was stirring up coming to the surface. He hated to see her cry, his hand moving automatically forwards to wipe the tears away, surprised and worried when she pulled away sharply, not letting him touch her.

"You don't care about me, Mulder. We have to call this a day, because it's not doing either of us any good."

"Scully, you don't understand. There's been a horrible mix up, you have to listen to me..." he started, before the cold eyes looked at him again.

"Save it, Mulder. I can't deal with anymore hurt right now, I'm only just holding on as it is."

He looked at her face, knowing that she was hurting so much and wanting to do nothing but wrap her in his arms and hold her until it all drained away. He sighed.

"That's why I'm here," he whispered, reaching out for her.

His hand touched her arm gently, her whole body moving away from his touch with a flinch, making him frown again that she was so nervous around him. Angry and hurt he could understand, but not nervous. Not only that, she was freezing and didn't seem to care. Taking his coat off, he held it out to her, the cold hitting him through his jumper.

"Here, Scully, put this on," he said, holding it out to her, seeing her open her mouth to argue. "No arguments! You're freezing. Please," he asked, seeing her sigh and take it from his hands.

She nodded, looking away and expecting him to leave. Crouching down so that he was on her level rather than standing towering down at her, he waiting until she looked around at him.

"Come back into the house with me. It's too cold to be out here, and you must be tired."

Thinking for a moment, she eventually nodded, hopping off the swing and rushing to the house before Mulder had a chance to catch up with her. He sighed, breaking into a jog in an effort to catch up.

He caught up with her just as she was about to lock her bedroom door, his hand putting gentle pressure on the door so that she couldn't shut him out. She jumped away from the door as if she had been shot, standing the other side of the bed from him. He sighed, hating that he kept scaring her unintentionally.

"Scully, I'm going to stay, and there's nothing you can do about it. But I'm not going to force you into doing or saying anything that you don't want to, and there's nothing for you to be scared of. I just hope that someday you'll trust me like you used to and let me help you however I can."

He stopped, seeing that her eyes were piercingly on him, some of the fear gone and tears in their place at his words. Nodding, he went to step out of the room.

"Mulder," she said quietly, but he heard and turned back. "There's a spare room across the hall."

She blushed, seeing a huge smile spread over his face that she had accepted him staying. He nodded.

"Good night, Scully."

Closing the door gently behind him, he left her alone, not realising that she spent most of the night crying into her pillow, all of the confusion, hate and fear pouring out of her as she eventually slipped into the freedom of sleep.

So that's chapter four! Hope that was OK, and you're all still enjoying the story :) Thank you so very much for reading, and please let me know what you think! :)