Emily had been laying in bed for what felt like forever. Having the lights on helped ease her anxiety a little, but she was still afraid to fall back to sleep. She yawned, exhausted, but there was no way she was going to close her eyes. Not this time. Once he'd come to her dreams he was there to stay. Waking up couldn't make him go away... and neither could sleeping with the lights on. She closed her eyes and he was there. She covered her face with the pillow to try and hide her thoughts, but there he was again, towering over her. And of course she knew what was coming next, what always came next... so she just refused close her eyes and let the images in at all.

She turned towards the clock that sat on the nightstand. It had only been an hour since Brian had left the room. One measily hour.

She was beginning to believe this night would never end.

The voices had returned. They were with her nearly constantly now, taunting her and reminding her all time how easy it would be to just let go and end it all.

"They won't miss you," they would say...

"You're worthless."

"You're nobody."

Those voices inside her head sounded an awful lot like him.

She slid out of bed and moved over to the window. "We're on the 12th floor," she thought to herself as she peered out the window and down to the parking lot below, "it would definitely be high enough."

She shook her head and backed away quickly, taking deep breaths in and out. It wasn't her thinking these things. It couldn't really be her. This was all too crazy. And besides... that would be way too gruesome. Way too painful for everyone else. She didn't want to end up on the front page of the morning news. Really as much as those inner voices told her she wanted to die... she didn't really want to die at all.

God she was going crazy.

She sat back down on the bed and sighed, "the freaking pills would have been so much easier."

She looked towards the bathroom where Nick had flushed them down the toilet hours before and for the briefest moment she resented him. Then, coming to her senses once more, as she always thankfully seemed to do, she shook her head and took fistfuls of hair in her hands, pulling it furiously. "Stop it!" she told herself harshly, leaning forward and rubbing her eyeballs with clenched fists. "You have to stop thinking this way!"

She sat there for several more long and agonizing minutes before she stood. She was thirsty now and she definitely wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. She slipped to the bedroom door and opened it carefully, letting herself out into the living area of the suite. The first thing she noticed was the light from the television that illuminated the room and made her glance towards the couch. Nick was sleeping there, sitting up, his head leaned back at an awkward angle, the remote still resting in his hand.

Emily moved quietly across the room, careful not to wake him up as she opened the door of the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. She reached up to grab a glass from the cabinet above the stove and when she turned around he was sitting up watching her.

"You're awake?" He asked rubbing his eyes.

"OH MY GOD!" she yelled dropping the glass as it shattered into pieces on the floor. They both jumped and he hurried over from his spot on the couch, grabbing the broom to sweep up the glass before she could even process what exactly had occured.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry Nick... y-y-you scared me!" she choked out, reaching out to steady herself on the counter and accidently slicing her hand on a large piece of glass in the process. Nick grabbed her hand and ran it under the faucet, squeezing it gently to stop the bleeding, never once taking his eyes away from her face.

"It's okay Em, it's just me... I'm sorry I scared you." He pulled her into a hug and led her to the table after sweeping up the last large slivers of glass. He poured her another glass of water and sat down beside her. Her hand had stopped bleeding but she was still visibly shaken by the entire ordeal.

"God Emily, you're shaking like a leaf." He stood up and rubbed her shoulders. She tensed at first but then relaxed a little as she tried to steady her breathing and calm down.

"I'm okay, honest." She said after a few minutes when she'd finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Why are you up then?" He asked, clearly not buying the whole "I'm okay," bit any longer.

"Couldn't sleep," she responded... and this was the truth even if it was only part of it.

He nodded and looked her dead in the eyes. She knew he was searching for the real reasons... but he wouldn't find it there. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Not for Emily Carter. She'd gotten extremely good at nailing up the blackout curtains.

"What about you?" She asked, turning away and trying to change the subject.

"Oh... well Brian came in and said you had a really bad nightmare, so I thought I would sleep on the couch in case you needed me."

"Oh..." Oh. It was embarassing being 17 and knowing your big brother was sleeping on the couch just because he thought you might get scared in the middle of the night and need him. But as embarassing as it was, for Emily, it was also comforting. Nick couldn't save her from the images in her head... but there was something about knowing he was always there that never failed to make her feel better.

"Is it true? Are you having nightmares Em?" The look on his face showed a mixture of concern and compassion.

She shrugged and looked away, "Something like that."

He sighed and took her hand in his, "I wish you would talk to me... but I want you to at least know that I'm always here if you want to talk."

"Okay."

"And Emily... even if you don't want to talk to me... it's time for you to talk to someone. You have to get better. You need this."

She stared blankly at the floor, unresponsive. Closing up as she always did anytime this subject came up. He didn't push it though, not saying anymore just then. He stood and she watched as he walked back towards the couch and sat down. He flipped through the channels as she sat at the table and finished her water, but she could tell he was really still watching her. She stood and took her glass to the sink, emptying the contents down the drain... "like my life" she thought to herself as she watched the water wash away... "down the drain."

She walked back to her bedroom door and turned once more to watch Nick. He was sitting there on the couch watching her, a frown plastered on his face.

"What?" She asked, taking in his sour expression.

"Nothing..." He responded... "it's just... nevermind."

She turned to open the door but couldn't bring herself to go back in. The fear had taken her over now... no escaping. She turned instead and walked over to the couch where Nick had settled in. He looked up at her questioningly.

"I can't sleep." She told him matter of factly.

"Me either." He replied obviously not really knowing what else to say.

"Can I sit out here with you?"

His face contorted in a show of recognition and relief and he smiled. "Of course you can." He scooted over on the couch and let her slide in beside him. He wrapped his arm around her and she cuddled in close as he covered the both of them up with a blanket. She felt safe there... always safe when Nick was around. Safe enough even that she might be able to close her eyes. She gave it a try and let out a sigh of relief when his figure did not appear behind her eyelids.

"You okay?" Nick asked when he felt her sigh, looking down at her with raised eyebrows.

She nodded up at him, "Actually... yeah... I think I am now."

He sighed and pulled her closer still as she snuggled in and he flipped through the channels on tv.

She was finally able to drift off to a peaceful sleep there beside him. For the moment, unafraid.