A/N: I'm too tired to decide if I like what I've written here, but I hope it works :) thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed - I'm glad so many people seem to like this.

Sarah x

Serena turned for what felt like the millionth time. "What's wrong?" Hanssen asked quietly. She turned again only to collide with his chest. "Oh, for goodness' sake. Can't you lie at peace, woman?" he demanded sleepily. Despite his clipped tone, she felt his arm fall over her.

"No, I can't." she retorted. He may have been half-asleep but she was still wide awake. "Do you hear that bloody wind?!" The gale howled outside the window, causing Serena to bend her pillow over her head in frustration. She was exhausted and yet unable to sleep. "Are you sure the window is shut?"

"Yes," he replied. "There's not much I can do about the weather, Serena." She hesitantly leaned her face into his chest; they had been together months and yet she still doubted whatever kind of relationship they had created. It was not in her nature to accept the possibility of complete contentment. Not anymore. That was a theory wiped out years ago.

She sighed. "Do you know something, Henrik?" she asked quietly.

"I know many things, but what you're thinking always seems to be fairly low on that list," he answered.

She ignored his comment and contemplated what was running through her head for a moment; the nights she had spent during storms alone, the wind denying her sleep, her husband passed out next to her and her daughter rightfully sleeping, were innumerable. This was the first time that she could recall that anyone had stayed up with her. "I don't think anyone has ever stayed up with me on a sleepless night."

"There's a lot to be said for midnight conversations," he mused quietly. "Why wouldn't I lie here and talk to you?" Serena shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing what the answer really was. "It's obvious the sound of the wind keeps you awake. It's a common problem; many people can't sleep in a storm." She smiled to herself at his logic. He was right, of course, but unfortunately the rest of the world lacked his rational thinking. "What usually happens?"

Serena shrugged again. "Ellie goes to bed, and I toss and turn all night."

"And when you were married? Did Edward lie awake with you?" She was surprised at his genuine interest; was this his attempt at getting to know her better?

She let out a short, echoing, hollow laugh. "You must be joking. Nine times out of ten he was passed out or away to the pub. No, he didn't do this sort of thing." The more she thought on it, the worse she saw her marriage really was. She had been more a caregiver and a crutch to Edward than a wife. Their relationship had been more one of reliance on his part; she had, of course, loved him. She wouldn't have married him had she not. But she sometimes feared he had never loved her at all, and at times it made her feel like a fool.

Her honesty surprised even her. She was not so open very often. Maybe it was because she was tired and her defences were weakened, but she actually wanted him to know what being married to Edward had been like, if only to discourage him from the same behaviour. "You loved him. If not, you wouldn't still feel hurt about the way he treated you."

"Of course I loved him. But he spent his time wasted and I was just...wasting my time," she confessed hopelessly, her hand falling onto the plain of his stomach. "Why are you so interested, Henrik?"

His arm tightened only briefly around her, and she sighed when she realised she had frightened him off with her question. However, she knew he was awake when he carefully pressed a kiss into her hair. He had not abandoned her; he had only gone quiet on her. His behaviour earlier had been relaxed – and even just now he had been relatively at ease – but he had gone back to the same old uptight Henrik Hanssen in the blink of her eye.

He kissed her forehead and then her cheek, eventually catching her mouth in his. Huh. Maybe he wasn't as uptight as she had thought then. She smiled into his lips and slowly wrapped her arms around him. "You are so very odd," she breathed quietly.

"So I've been told," he replied. She laughed and kissed him again. "This is one way to pass a sleepless night."

"Hmm. Why are you bothering when you could be sleeping?"

"It's the only way I can be honest with you." His answer threw her slightly. She didn't understand what he was dishonest about, or why he was so, but she knew when he was holding back and it seemed it was most of the time. "And anyway, who could resist?"

"Anyone with a brain stem."

He kissed her and she was astounded by his sudden ferocity; nevertheless she reciprocated it, her heart racing and her head pounding as they moved roughly and yet in perfect rhythm with each other.

What was he trying to tell her? What was the truth in what he did? Once in a while he became silent and passionate, and she knew he was holding something back unsaid. His arms were wrapped around her like he would never let her go, so close that nothing could come between them. If only she could believe that would be true, but she knew this was too good to last.

Jac felt Jonny roll over for the third time in as many minutes. She was uncomfortable enough due to the fact she had a massive bump stuck to her. She didn't need Jonny making matters any worse. "Will you just lie at peace?!" she hissed at him. She just wanted to sleep but every time she started drifting, he shuffled and woke her up.

"Sorry!" he hissed back. "I can't sleep when I know it's snowing outside!"

"Aw, getting excited about snowmen and snowballing and sledging?" she retorted, her sarcasm particularly caustic as she lost what little patience she had.

"No. Worrying about Hanssen having to drive in the morning," he corrected her.

Jac scoffed to herself. "He's Swedish. I'm sure it's nothing he's not dealt with before." When she had gone to Sweden I search of him, the air had felt like she was stuck in a giant freezer until the weather broke and snow had absolutely poured down. If Hanssen could drive in Sweden, he could drive here; she was sure of that.

He fell silent for a minute or so, and she felt herself become hungry once more. As far as she knew, there was only leftover takeaway food in the kitchen. They were still to do a food shop for the week – the plan for tomorrow evening, no doubt. "I walked in on Hanssen and Serena snogging the faces off each other earlier," he informed her quietly. "My eyes still hurt."

"That's what happens when you just waltz in without knocking," she reminded him with a grin to herself. She could only imagine the look that must have crossed Jonny's face. He never was very good at playing things like that down. "Anyway, you've seen them kiss plenty of times before," added Jac.

"Yeah, but not like that! They were seconds away from ripping each other's clothes off!" he exclaimed quietly. The horrified tone of his voice made her laugh out loud. "Although, now I've got over the trauma, it was kinda cute. They were kinda cute. The smile on Serena's wee face..." he trailed away. "I don't think I've seen her so happy."

"It's weird to think that almost a year ago she was sending me to Stockholm to put my boot up his arse," Jac mused. "Although I didn't do it," she confessed. "I lied to her and told her to trust Hanssen's judgement."

"Why?"

"I owed him for screwing him over," she sighed. She sat up and swung her legs around, feeling around for her slippers. Forcing herself to her feet, she managed to stand up and toddle through to the kitchen. She was starving. And thirsty. "And besides, he's not all that bad. He's a lot softer than you'd think; I saw a crack in his guard in Sweden."

Jonny didn't reply and Jac didn't really expect that he would; he was trying to keep his opinions to himself, and she knew him well enough to know he did that only because he knew he didn't understand the man. Jac didn't really understand him fully either, but she at least understood his shield and why it stood.

She went to the tap and ran it for a moment before she filled a glass with water, gulping it down like her life depended on it. With pregnancy had come bizarre eating and drinking tendencies she could not reel in, including thirst. There was something unusual about the way that water tasted. "Jonny," she called. She turned to find him piling leftovers onto a plate for her. She hadn't even had to ask. "Does this taste right to you?"

He took a sip. "Tastes fine," he shrugged.

"It tastes...sweet," Jac decided.

"It's hill water. Of course it tastes sweet," he laughed. "You're too used to city water, ya wee townie."

"Shut it," she grumbled. She watched him put the heavily laden plate in the microwave. She leaned against the counter and kept drinking her sweet water – it didn't taste bad, but the stark difference to what she was used to had startled her a little. Actually, it tasted quite good now she had got used to it.

Over the buzz the microwave was the sudden shout of a man, a loud, Scottish man who was not Jonny Maconie, for he was standing silent in front of her. "Who's there?" Jac called quietly, not wanting to wake Hanssen and Serena.

"Oh, for God's sake!" the voice shouted. "Isla, come here, lass!" he called. Jac exchanged a glance with Jonny; the voice was coming from outside, but the lack of streetlights meant they could not see him. "Charlie, get back here!"

"Kids," Jonny muttered. He went to the door and Jac quickly followed him outside. They quickly found the source of the commotion – a man was running after two young children, the boy chasing the girl, ordering them to come back. Jonny stepped out to see better what was going on, and Jac followed, but, as they ran after each other, they disappeared one by one into thin air right before Jac's eyes.

The wind blew across Jac's face as she stood there shocked, unable to comprehend how three people had vanished into nothing. The snow was falling thick and fast into the two inches already on the ground as Jonny went back inside. "I'm just gonna get my phone."

The microwave pinged, making Jac jump slightly as the high-pitched sound shattered the silence. There was a calm around her like she had never felt before; it did not tire her but it did settle her, despite what she had just witnessed/

"Henrik, you better not have taken us to another bloody haunted house," she muttered to herself. It was her first thought on the matter now her brain was fully functioning, and she suddenly felt eerie standing there. Jonny soon returned with his shoes and his phone, and Jac's flat boots and hoodie. She took her slippers off and put her boots on over her pyjamas and her hoodie over her top, following Jonny to where the man and children had been running.

He shone the light across the ground – across the perfect, untouched snow.

He looked around at her with an expression of mingled shock and horror. "Come on. Inside," he sighed, guiding her indoors with his hand on her back. He shut the door and said, "What do think the odds are that we've found out second haunted building in under a year?"

"Knowing my luck, pretty damn good."

Jac walked away from him and took her food and water, switching the light off behind her. A fluttering in her stomach reminded her that they might not be alone here, but she remembered that the last time she had seen a glimpse of another world, she had not been harmed. As she climbed into bed and started eating, sharing with Jonny, she found herself nervous but not frightened. And even if there was something bad going to happen, Jonny was there.

Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to leave me a review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x