A/N: Ok, weird. This whole chapter was blank when someone PM'd and told me about it this morning. Must have been a glitch. If you've already read this then don't worry, nothing's changed and you can ignore it. I'm just reposting it as it was before. :)

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31: Closure - Erin’s POV

I gave the bouncer outside the club a smile as I approached. He recognised me, and began to smile back until he saw the numerous cuts and bruises all over me.

“Erin? What happened to you?” he asked, eyes wide.

I waved the question away. I was tired and my body was aching and I just wanted to get this over with so I could go back to Chris, eat take out with him and fall asleep over him on his couch.

“It’s a long story,” I said tiredly. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Is Luke around?” I changed the subject, before he could ask me anything else.

“Yeah, he’s down at the bar, getting ready for the club to open,” he replied, looking baffled as he studied the bruise on my cheek. He made no move to stand aside.

“Is it alright if I go down and say hi?” I prompted, and he seemed to realise that he was staring. He gave a start and jumped to the side, moving out the way.

“Of course.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

I made my way down the steps and headed for the bar, where I could see Luke wiping glasses and placing them in the correct places.

He looked up when he heard my footsteps. He frowned, looking puzzled at my presence, and then his eyes widened as I came closer and the harsh club light reflected off my face.

“Erin? Are you alright?” he asked, alarmed, moving to vault over the bar to get a better look at me. I made a motion with my hand to stop him.

“Please, don’t do anything so energetic as leaping over bars. It makes me tired just thinking about it.”

My dry comment, no doubt influenced by Chloe’s sense of humour, seemed to momentarily stun him into immobilisation. I took those few seconds to sit down on the stool directly in front of him.

“What happened?” he asked, after he’d recovered himself.

I sighed. In order to apologise for being a completely paranoid bitch to him, I’d have to explain everything first, leaving out all the supernatural stuff, of course. He’d think I’d gone mad if I told him.

“It’s a long story,” I began. “Basically, I have…had, rather, a stalker. He attacked me two days ago.” I motioned to my face.

At his horrified look I realised how emotionless my voice had sounded. To be truthful I didn’t want to think about it at all. The constant ache in my body reminded me of all the places Jack had forced himself on me. I didn’t want to have to relive it. I was already apprehensive about going to sleep, in case of nightmares. Last night I’d been too exhausted and felt too safe in Chris’ arms to dream, but I didn’t know how long that would last.

“It’s been going on a while,” I told him. “A man, leaving me creepy messages. He picked the lock on my door the other day and was waiting for me when I got home.”

He hesitated, and then reached across the distance between us to grasp my hands.

“How did you get away?” he asked, his green eyes dark with concern.

I attempted a smile, but failed. “My…” I paused. How did I describe Chris? “Friend,” I continued, “was coming over. He heard my scream, kicked the door in and got the stalker off me.”

Luke raised his eyebrow at the fact that the friend had been male, and I’d hesitated in using the word in the first place, but he said nothing about it.

“He didn’t…” Luke asked, gesturing at me. He looked like he was afraid of the answer, and I suddenly understood what he meant.

“No,” I said quietly. “He didn’t rape me.”

He sighed in relief and squeezed my hands. I squeezed back, smiling slightly, before sliding my hands out from under his. He wasn’t the person who I got comfort from holding hands with anymore.

“The police came and had him arrested, I’ll probably be going to court soon to try and get him locked away,” I explained. “He…” here, my voice cracked a little and I cleared my throat. “He lived across the street, could see through the window. He worked near me too, saw me almost every day and watched from a distance. They found a kind of diary in his flat, tracking my movements, hundreds of photos of me, and the cosmetics I use.”

Luke looked horrified.

“The notes he left…he knew I wanted to leave to go to Uni within the next couple of years. He was trying to keep me here so that I’d be near him.”

He reached out for me again, but his hand stopped halfway across the distance between us, and he pulled it back, looking hurt.

“That’s why you broke up with me,” he said. “You thought it was me.”

It wasn’t a question. He knew the answer, but I still nodded my head miserably.

“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling the inadequacy of that word more than I ever had at that moment. “The notes I kept getting…the person who was sending them wanted me to stay here. They knew that I planned to go to Uni eventually and didn’t want me to leave. I was frightened and paranoid and I jumped to conclusions.”

He stared at me for a long time, not saying anything, and I squirmed uncomfortably, feeling my guilt intensify.

“Please try and understand,” I said, twisting my hands anxiously. “I had no idea who I could trust and who I couldn’t. And you…well, you always seemed so comfortable where you are. You never really wanted to leave here and go anywhere else, you always just wanted to settle down. And the stalker knew so much about me. I thought that it had to be someone I was close to. And you were the closest.”

He sighed, and the nodded his head, accepting what I’d said.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “You didn’t deserve being treated like that.”

He sighed again. “It’s ok, I understand. Really. If I were in your position I probably would have done something similar.” He looked up and smiled at me hesitantly. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”

I smiled back. “Me too.”

We lapsed into a comfortable silence and I decided to change the subject to something much less depressing.

We spent the next twenty minutes catching up. I asked about the club and how things were going. If he’d found a new place yet and whether anything interesting had happened. It was nice, and familiar. I hadn’t talked with him like this for a long time and I realised that I’d missed him.

Abruptly, after a few more minutes of light conversation, he interrupted what I was saying.

“Are you here so that we can try and start over, go back to how we were before?” he asked me. I studied his features. His tone wasn’t hopeful, nor was it condescending or arrogant. Just curious.

I looked down at the bar and traced my fingers over the surface. “No,” I answered. “I’m not. I don’t think we were ever right or each other.”

He smiled softly. “No, we weren’t,” he agreed.

I looked at him, surprised. Then I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. I may have broken up with him, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still know him pretty well.

“Who is she?” I asked. He would’ve realised we weren’t right for each other if he’d met someone more suited for him. I smiled when he blushed.

“Come on,” I prompted. “Dish the dirt. What’s she like?”

He laughed a little. “Her name’s Katie. She started working here a few weeks ago. She’s…loud and over the top and…feisty,” he finished lamely, blushing more. My smile widened.

She was basically everything I wasn’t. Just like Chris was everything Luke wasn’t. Luke and I were far too similar to have anything lasting.

“She sounds lovely,” I said. “Have you asked her out yet?”

He shook his head, fiddling with a cloth he’d been using to clean glasses. “No, she scares me. I need to build up the courage to do it first.”

I laughed outright at that. He was apparently fed up with the focus being all on him, however.

“What about you? Anyone new taking your breath away?”

My mind flashed back to Chris pressing me against the counter, his hands burning into my hips and his lips moving over mine, sending coherent thought right of my head. Heat flooded my cheeks and Luke smirked.

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” he said. “You gonna tell me anything about him?”

I fidgeted for a moment. How much to you tell your ex boyfriend about your current boyfriend?

“He’s lovely,” I said finally, stifling a laugh at the thought of the outraged expression Chris would have worn if he’d heard me call him lovely. “He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s a complete sweetheart on the inside.” I trailed off with a shrug, unable to stop the smile spreading across my face. “He makes me happy.”

Luke nodded, smiling back. “I’m glad.”

At that moment a young man came hurtling down the stairs and made his way to the bar.

“We open in ten minutes, Luke,” he said, nodding politely at me.

“That’s my cue to leave then,” I said, hopping out of my seat and regretting it several seconds later when pain ricocheted around my poor battered limbs.

I turned back to Luke. “Do me a favour?” I asked.

“Of course.”

I grinned wickedly. “Have a stiff drink and then ask this girl out.”

He spluttered, and was about to protest when I held up a finger.

“Nope, no getting out of it. You said you would.”

I laughed at the expression on his face and started to walk away, waving over my shoulder.

Climbing the stairs back out of the club, I smiled. That had gone a lot better than I ever could have hoped for. The guilt I felt weighing on me eased slightly. He understood why I’d broken up with him now. I still felt bad about the way I’d done it, but his forgiveness and understanding helped ease the horrible feeling.

I skirted around all the people lining up to enter the club and walked down the street, hugging myself at the slight chill in the air. Summer was nearly over, and although the days were still very warm, the nights were starting to get a little chilly.

My thoughts drifted to Chris. All I wanted to do now was arrange him like a cushion in front of the TV and fall asleep on him.

The walk to his flat didn’t take long. I practically bounced up the stairs into his building. Well, as bouncy as a person can manage with a cracked rib and several aches and pains in other places.

I knocked on his door and silently brought a thought clearly to the front of my mind. It’s me, I called, hoping he’d heard it. I wasn’t entirely confident in this new empath thing yet.

The door swung open and I smiled happily, although it faltered when I saw the look of thunder on his face. This was followed by a rush of emotion that wasn’t mine. Anger…hurt.

My eyes flew to his in astonishment and then it was like a brick wall had slammed into place all around him, and I couldn’t feel anything he was feeling anymore.

“Are you alright?” I asked, concerned. I moved to touch him, but he moved away from me, walking back into the flat and leaving me to let myself in and close the door behind me.

“I’m just peachy,” he muttered, and if he didn’t look so intense I would have laughed at his use of the word peachy.

I was about to ask if he was sure, wanting to know what had made him act like this, but he got there first.

“So, how’s Luke?” he asked stiffly, moving into the kitchen and determinedly not looking at me. He obviously wasn’t going to tell me what was bothering him so I attempted a stab at a normal conversation.

“He’s fine,” I said, smiling a little. “We talked and he understood why I broke up with him. I apologised for how everything happened and he accepted it. Things are ok between us now.”

If possible, his body tensed even more at my words. I could see the muscles in his arms cording from way across the room.

He pulled open the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice in an attempt to look casual. “So that’s it then,” he said, his voice false and light. “I helped you get rid of Jack. I looked after you and protected you as much as I could, I even let you into my head, but that doesn’t matter because it’s all over now and you’re precious boyfriend is more important.”

I stared at him, completely stunned. He finally looked at me, his dark eyes so intense I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“Now that he’s been declared not guilty, I don’t matter and you’re going back to him. I was only a bodyguard after all.”

I was astonished and hurt by his words. After all this time, and everything we’d been through, he didn’t trust the fact that I wanted him and no one else?

“When did I ever say that I was going back to him?” I asked calmly. He frowned at me, obviously realising that I never had, but too stubborn to say it.

“If you only wanted to apologise to him, I don’t see why you had to do it right away,” he argued. “Surely it could have waited until tomorrow, unless you wanted something more?”

I resisted the urge to smile. He was so silly and adorable. But I knew he wouldn’t appreciate me laughing at him right now.

“I went to apologise to him tonight,” I told him, “because I was a complete bitch to him when we broke up and the guilt was suffocating me. That’s all.”

He still looked incredibly sceptical, and so I decided physical attention was in order. I’d never touch him if I was with another man after all. I walked purposefully towards him and wrapped my arms around him, resting my chin on his chest and looking up at him. He didn’t push me away, but didn’t exactly pull me closer either.

“Things were never right between Luke and I,” I told him firmly. “We didn’t fit. We’re too similar to each other to have anything lasting. I don’t want him. Breaking up with him was the right thing to do and I don’t regret it.”

I looked into his eyes and tried clumsily to open my mind, not entirely sure how but wanting him to see the truth in my words. Slowly he relaxed, and the barrier around his emotions fell away.

“Besides,” I added, resisting the urge to jump up and down in triumph when his arms finally came around me, “he’s hugely in like with a girl he works with, and I happen to have a major crush on this guy I know anyway.”

He sighed, his dark eyes no longer hard and tense, instead a delightfully melted chocolate. “This bloke better be me.”

I laughed, and the tension evaporated around us. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down slightly, placing butterfly kisses along his jaw. It clenched under my lips and his hands tightened around my waist.

“Of course it is,” I said softly, moving lower, placing a tender kiss on the pulse point in his neck, which was beating steadily and a little faster than normal. I grinned, loving the effect I had on him. He made a muffled ‘mm’ noise, his face pressed into my hair, and I abruptly pulled away.

“Is Paranoid Chris satisfied now?” I asked impishly, laughing when a blush spread across his cheeks. Chris. Blushing. Does it get better than that?

He pulled me back. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have a Paranoid Chris. That was Moody Chris. He’s been absent for a while. It was about time he made a bit of a comeback.”

I laughed again, and his expression sobered.

“I’m sorry,” he said, placing his hand under my chin and lifting my face up. “I didn’t mean to act like such a git.”

I pulled him down. “I don’t care,” I mumbled against his lips, before kissing him fully, surrendering to the incredible sensations he brought out of me. He responded instantly, his lips hot and seeking, turning my legs to jelly in a matter of seconds.

We kept kissing, and then somehow we were on the couch, with no recollection of getting there. My hands were content to switch between running through his short hair and then down along his back, delighting in the shiver I got from him every time I ran my fingers gently down his spine. He settled his weight over me carefully as his lips left mine and started to trail down my neck. My breath hitched at the slow kisses I was on the receiving end of. His arms went around me to roll us over, and then…

We fell off the couch and hit the floor.

I landed on top of him, and heard the air whoosh from his body.

“Ow,” he wheezed, and I burst into an insane fit of giggles, sitting up and looking down at him.

“Are you ok?” I managed to asked through my giggles, looking at the wound on his shoulder with concern. He smiled at my laughter, as if he couldn’t help it, and nodded, sitting up and positioning me better so that I was sitting on his lap. He placed a series of light, gentle kisses on my lips, before pulling away.

“So,” he said. “Now that you’re back, can we order some food? I’m starving.”

I laughed and nodded. I watched him happily as he lifted me off his lap and went about the difficult business of locating the phone and the Chinese menu.

As I watched, I revelled in the relief I felt now that all the pain I’d been through was over, for the most part. There were still unpleasant things ahead, the trial and having to see Jack again for one thing. The possible nightmares I was afraid I’d start experiencing. And I desperately needed to make sure Chloe was ok, but right now it would wait. Right now, I was going to try and find some cartoons to watch on TV, coerce Chris into watching them with me, eat until I could barely move, and then fall asleep in his arms. Because I was safe now. Jack couldn’t hurt me, and Chris was there to keep me safe.

That was all that mattered.

There was darkness everywhere. I couldn’t see anything around me. A sense of panic gripped me so completely that I could barely breathe. Where was I? What was going on?

And then I heard it. Soft, quiet singing, co close I could feel the breath ghost across my face.

Either way you turn…I’ll be there…

I tried to run away, tried to go anywhere I could, as long as it was far away from that voice as possible, but my limbs were frozen. I couldn’t move. Cold flooded my body as panic and terror gripped my heart. He was going to get me. He was never going to let me go.

Open up your skull…I’ll be there…

I tried to scream but no sound came out of my mouth. He was closer now, so close I could feel his lips moving across my cheek as he sang. His arms came up to gently grasp my hips, but I was still immobile. I couldn’t get away.

Climbing up the walls…

Suddenly his touch turned rough. He pinned me to the wall that appeared behind me. His fingers were bruising, his mouth suffocating. My clothes were ripped under his uncaring hands.

And then suddenly my mouth was free and I could breathe. My vocal chords started to work and I used them, screaming for help. For someone,anyone to come and save me…

“Erin! Erin!”

I started awake, my eyes flying open. The room was dark and for a moment I panicked again, thinking that I was back in the dream. But then Chris’ face swam into my vision, his dark eyes large and worried. He was holding me tightly, to stop my struggling. A sob escaped me before I could stop it, and I realised my entire body was shaking.

I clung to him, unable to stop the tears after such a horrible nightmare. I could still feel Jack’s breath across my face.

“He wouldn’t let me go,” I sobbed incoherently. “I couldn’t move or get away and he wouldn’t let me go.”

My voice was so garbled I wasn’t even sure if Chris understood what I was saying. But he kept his arms around me and held me, pushing my face gently into his chest. His scent, and the gentle sound of his breathing overwhelmed me, and after who knows how long, I began to calm down.

Finally, I pulled back a little, sniffling and wiping my eyes on my sleeve. He let me go, but didn’t remove his arms from around me completely, for which I was grateful. His presence was firm and comforting, something sold that wouldn’t go away.

“I knew it would happen,” I said, looking up at him in the dark. “I knew I’d get nightmares about this.”

He stroked my cheek, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear that I’d missed. “I was worried it would happen too,” he told me. “But I thought you’d be ok after yesterday. You didn’t have nightmares last night.”

I sighed, cuddling closer. “I think I was just too exhausted to dream yesterday.”

We stayed silent for a few moments. “Do you want to talk about it?” he finally asked. He sounded a little awkward, as if he wasn’t sure what to do, and it raised a small smile from me. I remembered how uncomfortable he was with these situations. How he completely freaked out when someone cried in front of him. He must be getting used to it by now, I thought. I’ve cried over him too many times to count.

“No, I don’t want to talk about it,” I told him. I didn’t want to have to relive the nightmare just yet. “Maybe later.”

“Ok,” he said, stroking my back gently. There was another silence, and then, “Do you think you’ll be able to get back to sleep?”

I thought back to my dream. The darkness, the feeling of complete paralysis and fear. Not being able to move or talk, just standing there and waiting for him to attack me. The thought of going back to sleep and risking slipping into that nightmare again was unbearable, and I shuddered.

“No,” I whispered. “I don’t think I can.”

“All right,” he replied, sitting up and pulling away. I looked at him in confusion as he got up out of the bed, rubbing his eyes. He looked so sleepy and rumpled with his t-shirt askew and his eyes half open.

“Where are you going?” I asked, confused.

“Well,” he replied, flicking the lamp on. “You can’t go back to sleep, and I’m sure sitting in a dark, quiet room isn’t gonna help. So I’m gonna go make some hot chocolate and you can find something to watch on TV. We can amuse ourselves until morning.”

I looked at the clock and saw that it was just after four. He was actually going to stay up with me? I felt guilt surge through me at the thought that I was disrupting his sleep.

“You don’t have to stay awake too,” I told him. “Just because I can’t sleep it doesn’t mean that you have to miss out as well.”

He threw me a scathing look, as if I was an idiot for suggesting he go back to bed in the first place. Then he ignored me completely, grabbed a blanket off the end of the bed and walked out the room with it, presumably to throw over the couch. I stared at the doorway for a few seconds before smiling softly. He was such a sweetheart. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, he cared enough about other people to sacrifice his own comfort to help them.

Feeling slightly more relaxed and a little warm and tingly on the inside, I scrambled out of the bed and followed him out the door, straightening my t-shirt as I went.

He was already in the process of making hot chocolate when I walked out, so I wandered over to his TV and looked for a DVD to watch. Some of the films from my collection had somehow managed to migrate over here in the time that I’d known him, and I grinned when I found The Lion King sitting innocently on his floor. There was nothing like a good Disney film to cheer a person up, even if it was the one where Mufasa dies.

By the time Chris had finished with the drinks, I had set everything up and the DVD menu was showing on the screen. I was making a nest out of the blanket he’d brought in, and the throw over the back of the couch, when he put two mugs laden with marshmallows down on the coffee table.

He looked up at the screen and laughed when he saw what was on it, shaking his head at my obsession with cartoons.

“You are insane,” he told me affectionately, before sitting down next to me. I helped him arrange the blankets around both of us, and then settled myself against the crook of his arm. Craning my head upwards, I kissed him softly.

“Thank you for staying up with me,” I said, smiling.

He smiled back but didn’t reply, taking the remote control out of my hand and pushing play. I settled back down against him as the film started.

These nightmares would go away eventually, I decided. And until then spending early mornings on the couch with Chris and a pile of blankets wasn’t and altogether bad alternative.

I stood in front of the door to Chloe’s flat and took a deep breath. I needed to talk to her and make sure she was ok, but I was a little apprehensive about doing so. What if she hated me? The one guy she’d liked in ages had ended up using her to get to me. What was stopping her from feeling hurt that I was the one he’d wanted? Even if he was a complete creep.

Chris and I had stayed up watching light hearted films for the rest of the morning. I’d left his place as early as I could imagine Chloe being awake, and headed straight over there. Chris had to work, but I’d been given a week or so off because of what had happened to me. Unlike the man who ran the restaurant, my boss was actually nice.

And now I was standing in front of her door and trying to work up the courage to knock on it.

Please don’t hate me, please don’t hate me, I thought, and then lifted my hand and knocked before I could change my mind.

It took a minute, but I heard her shuffling about inside, and then she finally opened the door.

I breathed in sharply at the sight of her. She did not look like she’d had the best day yesterday, which I could understand.

She smiled at me weakly, and then moved aside to let me in. That was a good sign. At least she wasn’t spitting at me in fury and slamming the door on my face.

“Hi,” I said pathetically. “Are you ok?”

She gave another small smile and shrugged, closing the door. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I feel like crap, but then, what I’ve been wallowing about is nothing compared to what you’ve gone through, is it?”

I shook my head at her. “Let’s not play ‘who has it worse’, it’ll just depress me.”

She laughed then, and it was so unexpected and welcome that I couldn’t help but laugh too.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted after it had died down, and she looked at me quizzically. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this. I’m sorry he used you. I’m sorry I encouraged you to go out with him.”

I could have gone on for longer, but she wrapped me in a hug before I could say anything else. I returned it gratefully. Another good sign. She was hugging me instead of throwing things at me.

“Now you’re just being ridiculous,” she said, pulling away. Her light blue eyes were slightly red rimmed, but there was a determined look in them. “Honestly, I was mad at first. But I was being irrational. None of this is your fault.”

I stared at her for a minute, trying to make sure that she really was telling the truth. But there were no lies, and I smiled.

“I’m glad you don’t hate me,” I told her.

“Me too,” she replied. “Now, what’s happening with…him?” she asked, obviously unable to say his name just yet.

I sighed, and told her about the journal they’d found in his place, and the cosmetics and the photos. Her eyes grew more and more horrified as I went on. Finally, I told her that I’d have to go to court, but that with all the evidence he’d probably end up in jail.

“Good,” she said forcefully. “I hope they put him away for a long time.”

“Me too,” I responded quietly. I didn’t want to think about the possibility that he’d get off with a light sentence.

“What if he…” Chloe began to ask, trailing off hesitantly, as if afraid to say whatever it was she wanted too. “What if he gets into your head…during the trial I mean. Can he change what you think? Force you to say something to save him?”

I paled at the thought, horrified at the possibility that he could free himself by using me.

“Chris can block people from entering his mind,” I said, my voice sounding strange and frightened to my own ears. “I can ask him to teach me how. He can protect me.”

She nodded, looking a little reassured. I pushed the horrifying prospect of him using me again to the back of my mind, as something to worry about later. I didn’t want to think about it right now.

“I take it David got you home all right?” I asked uselessly, wanting to change the subject a little.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “He fussed over me for ages before I could finally convince him that I wasn’t going to do something stupid. Well, stupider than eating two tubs of ice cream in two days, that is.”

I smiled a little at that, but didn’t pry any further. Both Chris and I had felt David’s rush of concern for her the other day in the kitchens, and I remembered instances when Chloe had told me she’d been puzzled by his behaviour when she was around Jack. Maybe it’d been jealously. But whatever it was, I wasn’t going to meddle in it now. Time would tell if anything good happened between them, and I was content to wait and see if it did.

“It’s gonna be ok, you know,” she told me.

I thought about all the pain I’d been through, and the possible pain I still had to face. The trial, rebuilding the friendships I’d neglected, the nightmares I knew I’d keep having.

But I had people to help me, support me. Chloe, who was still my closest friend despite the problems we’d had. And Chris, who’d been there for me so much it was hard to imagine my life without him in it anymore.

"Yeah,” I replied. “Everything will be fine.”

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A/N: Goodness, I’m sorry this has taken such a long time. I meant to be finished with this story by now. I’ve had a bit of a hectic month, what with my parent’s colossal attempt to decorate the entire house, numerous projects due in at college and the start of my Final Major (I’m writing and illustrating my own children’s book). I promise the epilogue will be out within the week, and then that’ll be it. As for what I’ll be writing next, I’ll be going into a bit more detail about in my note at the end of the epilogue. So I’ll see you then :)

jekodama-Erin still has her job and her friends, they’ve just all been sadly neglected by me. They’ll be included a lot more in the rewrites. I kind of lost track of all my side stories as I went along. :P

violin-lady13-Up next for me on the writing plan is a couple of one shots, and then a humour based story. I’ll be going into more detail about it all after the epilogue is posted. :)

Olivine-Ha, I saw the film of Howl’s Moving Castle before I read the book as well. I love the film and the book. Although I love all of Miyazaki’s work, especially Spirited Away. Oh, and I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to look at your story yet, I promise I’ll get to it as soon as possible.

Fresh Harvest-Haha, no. No more twists. I’m all twisted out I’m afraid. Besides, after everything I’ve already put my characters through, they deserve a little peace. :)

anacharlie-Yes, my next story is the one I did for NaNo, so I’ve already got a fairly sizeable chunk of it written.

Armith-Greenleaf-Alright, I’m sorry. :P I take full responsibility for the increase in your paranoia. People don’t just talk to you because they want to; they’re out to get you. The people around you are reading your every emotion. Cower in a box. Now, I dare you. :P Oh, if you want me to look at the story you mentioned then just let me know, although I’m afraid you’ll be on the bottom of a long list of people also wiaitng for reviews from me. I’ve been a tad busy lately. Oh yeah, I’ve heard of Paramore. Have an album, actually. They’re fun for energetic moods. Oh, sure. I’ll let you know when the next story goes up. Does that count for one shots too? Because a couple of them are going up first.

Snowy708-Letters to You? I’ve never written a story by that name. Letter Tag, yes. Maybe you got mixed up:)

cherrypiesizzle and Mizz-Insane-I took Letter Tag down because it was old, poorly put together and badly written. Looking at it on the site made me cringe. :)

JD Allen-Ha, thank you. I’m glad you’ve been liking the story.

Layla-darkest night-Thank you for all the reviews. Rape/torture in stories isn’t my cup of tea. I couldn’t put my characters through that anyway, especially after all the crap I’ve already thrown at them, so no gruesome version is being written.

Everybodyloveschocolate-The idea for the story mainly came from the lyrics of a song, although the beginning chapter with Chris walking along with the scars on his chest showing came from a real life experience that I couldn’t get out of my head.

AB-Criticism duly noted. Thank you. :)

Nefertiry-Haha, yes, I’m fine thank you. Just a tad scattered and generally overworked. Sorry it took so long. :P

Also thanks to Cheryl, bluetinkerbell, Twinkle Star Bell, bandgeek1688, LovelyxXxDreams, CharlyB, trix-a-belle, Lalaith7, Liquid-Sorrow, Seisaset, EnChAnTeD-KoReAn, Faith Adeline, Morwen Anduneiel, sarahpor, chocolatechipash, Reflection Unseen, cls81690, violet-eyez, peaches08, chic rebel, Libi, clavira, Brit, justalilcrazy, ellie, sleepiedreamer, cartuchonegro, and x3life.