He hadn't been asked to, but he did it anyway. Placed in front of Lily was a mug and a plate of toast, stacked so high that she couldn't see him standing at the foot of the bed. She was glad, it meant she didn't have to make eye contact.

Unfortunately for her, Iain didn't give up so easily. He sat on the end of the bed, rooted to the spot.

'You don't have to stay.' Lily peeled the ends of the toast off.

'I already cut the crusts off.' He replied with a little eyebrow raise.

'There's still a bit-' She argued, prodding it suspiciously with her nail.

'I took time and care over that, nowt's up with it.' He replied. 'Unless you need feeding, that is. Mm mm.' He picked a piece up, jabbing at her closed lips with it. She winced, but he had the upper hand. If she opened her mouth to protest, it would be in there before the words came out.

'Mmph, stop!' She tried to cover her mouth, but predictably, he got there first.

She chewed, glaring at him. With victory, he grinned for a few seconds before reverting to his state of concern.

'Now are we going to talk?'

'You won't go away until I do, so I suppose it's a yes.' She replied.

'Good, and it's my job.' He reached for her hand, squeezing it in his. 'I'm not pushing you, alright? Take your time, no rush.'

'This time we were on a beach. It was a good dream, nice and sunny. You were larking about, but, what's new?'

He chuckled. 'Anywhere nice?'

'I... I don't know.' She shrugged. 'I never thought of a place, and if I did, I don't remember.'

'Hmm, Corfu?' He suggested.

'Uh, no!' She replied. 'Bora Bora, or somewhere Caribbean.'

'Somewhere fancy?'

'Yes, of course. I only do fancy.' She said.

He laughed again. 'So, what happened?'

'Well...' She nibbled delicately at the toast, swallowed, and looked back at him. 'You were swimming. I wasn't.'

'Of course you weren't, you hate the beach.'

'Precisely, so, I felt it was an accurate dream.' She began to look nervous again.

'Accurate, but for the bad part.' He raised an eyebrow.

'I don't know, I still worry...'

'Right, continue anyway.' He dismissed her, deciding at once to reassure her after he knew the full extent of it.

'So, I was reading, then I looked up and people were running everywhere. There was this massive wave that had swept all the holidaymakers out. I couldn't find you.'

He paused, blood running cold. 'Right...'

'Then I woke up. I didn't think much of it, I stayed calm. Well, calmer than usual. I stayed up a while, then attempted to sleep again.'

'You didn't call me?' Iain asked.

A sigh. 'No, I didn't.'

'Why? I specifically said you were to ring at the slightest-'

'Let me explain. It was fine... I felt fine. I went back to sleep. The dream resumed, which is physiologically unusual. Not a phenomenon, but unusual. We were in the sea, then you were underwater. I couldn't reach you.'

'And then you woke up?' He asked. Alongside recognition, strangely Lily noticed that relief seemed to wash over him. He visibly relaxed, white knuckles from clenching the sheets regaining their pink colour.

'Yes. I... I was quite shaken. In the daylight, it seems minor. It felt very real, so, thank you for coming at such an unsociable hour.'

'Lily...' He pulled her in with one arm. 'We are partners, right? No hour is an unsociable one, not least when it comes to you.'

She gave a weak smile. 'Well, likewise.'

'This probably won't do much in the way of reassuring you, but I feel as if you ought to know.' Something in his eyes had changed, and a strange sensation crawled up Lily's spine.

'I would rather know.'

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. This was repeated a couple of times, in a way that made him look like a goldfish.

'What is it, why are you so lost for words?' She asked, voice hoarse.

'I'm not, I'm just... well. I'm just baffled, that's all. I don't really get it.'

'Get what?'

'That... that actually happened.' He gulped.

She felt her skin tingle with a mixture of confusion and fear. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean, it happened to me. Five years ago.' He repeated himself.

'I don't understand.' She shook her head.

'No, me neither.'

He looked at her, and she looked at him. They stared for what felt like forever, both glazed over.

'I...' Lily tried to begin, but her ability to form speech appeared to be frozen. 'What... when? Where were you?'

'You tell me, you saw it for yourself I gather.' He replied quietly.

'But did I?' She asked, panicked.

'Yes!' Iain snapped without meaning to. 'I'm not going to relive it for either of us.'

Seemingly unaffected, Lily continued. Her brown eyes glittered, both fear and intrigue pooling deep within them. She was gripped by what she thought to be a mystery, and had forgotten to be scared. 'What exactly happened to you?'

'I was on a beach, I got washed out by a wave. The current pulled me under, I came close to drowning. Like your dream.'

'Why were you on a beach? Who were you with?'

His eyes dropped. 'It doesn't matter now.'

'Iain, it matters! Can't you see? This is really strange! Just explain more and we-'

'It's clearly a coincidence, alright?' His eyes darkened. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'I didn't want to talk about my nightmare, it was scary! I-I relived it, for you!' She was almost pleading him now, voice catching in her throat.

'Well, thank you very much, I guess.' He stood up, brushing his joggers down.

'Iain, please, this is one sided!' Lily's legs unfolded from under her in an instant and she sprung up, clutching his hand.

'Not right now, alright?' He snapped his hand away.

'Then when?!'

'Stop this!' He turned, quickly, away from her.

'I- I don't...' Her voice cracked, the very noise that he hated. 'I don't see why you're angry with me for this, I couldn't control it!'

'Don't you see? I-' He was nearly shouting now, the words tumbling out his mouth in a tone he knew he'd go on to regret. Their eyes locked, and in a second, he mirrored the vulnerability she harboured in his own expression. 'I need to go.'

'Go where? And for how long?'

'Is this 100 questions or what? I don't know.' He sighed with exasperation.

'Just... just...' She searched for words, hurt etched into her face.

He exhaled noisily, running a hand down his face. 'Eat the rest of that. Drink water today. Take care of yourself.'

'This sounds so... so... final...' She shook her head.

His face fell. 'No, no. I'll call soon.'

'How soon is soon?' She croaked, not missing a beat.

Plagued with thoughts that circled round in his head, unrelenting, all he could manage was a shrug. 'I don't know.'

'And what happens if I have another-'

'You're going to have to learn to cope with them.'

Lily gave a strangled sort of laugh, hurt. 'You have completely changed your mentality in a heartbeat. If it's just some coincidence, why don't you let it go and stay?' She whispered.

In that second, he hated her. No words could bulk out and unravel what he felt inside. With a quick shake of the head, he barged his way out the door. She dashed after him, taking the steps in the building two at a time. The fluffy slippers encasing her feet didn't cushion the impact of each fall, but it didn't seem to matter.

'I don't understand!' Her voice sounded feeble in the open air.

In one glance, he hoped to communicate a multitude of emotions. A hard swallow, then a hand on the car door handle.

'Me neither.'