Love Thy Neighbour *editing*

"Did you kill anyone?"

I sat there for about ten minutes in the rain, shaking and sobbing quietly. I heard a car door slam and I jumped. Footsteps raced towards me and, for a moment, I thought that it was Denny coming back for another go.

"Evie?" I don't think I had ever been so glad to hear Niall's voice. I looked up at him, the rain from the above catching me in the eye. Niall bent down to survey the damage and he swore. Loudly.

"Who the fuck's done that to you?" he snarled, pushing my hair away from the cut. I shook my head but wished that I hadn't; I was dizzy from the collision with the wall. Niall took my hand and tried to help me up but I stumbled, the only thing stopping me from hitting the ground were Niall's arms. He pulled me into a hug, and accidentally ran his fingers over the cut on my head. He took it away and looked at it in horror, the fresh blood all over his palm.

"Evie," he said. "I'm going to take you to A&E, alright?" I didn't move; my head was spinning and, now that I was on my feet, I thought that I was going to fall down. Or throw up. Niall had to drag me to his car because my legs weren't working properly. He set me down and then inspected my cheek. All the while, he was swearing to himself about how he was going to kill the person who had done it. It would have been quite sweet had the person not been Denny and I hadn't been swimming in and out of reality.

Niall got into the drivers' seat and started up the car. He looked over and noticed that I was dozing off. He shook my knee.

"Don't you dare pass out on me, Evie," Niall warned. His voice seemed so very far away and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. The lights of the street were turning into one big blur and I was beginning to feel heavy. Niall voice sounded distorted and he kept shaking me.

"Niall...." I mumbled. And I was gone.

***

When I woke up, I was alone. I was in a ward, nurses bustling up and down with grumpy faces. Okay, maybe not completely alone, but there was nobody I recognised sitting next to me. I traced the place where I knew there was a cut. Someone had cleaned it and stuck on some steristrips. At least it was no longer bleeding. I tried to sit up but my head was throbbing. Not such a good idea. I sank back down. My hands flew to my stomach. Oh shit, shit, shit. I tried to get the attention of one of the nurses but they just ignored me. Fucks' sake; what was the point in having a national health service if they paid no attention? I was just about to start playing with some of the tempting buttons next to my head when someone said my name. I looked and saw Niall walked towards me. He looked so tired and drained, but his face lit up when I looked at him.

"Jesus Christ," he sighed, sitting down next to me. "Don't do that to me again."

It hadn't exactly been the highlight of my evening either.

"Why does this feel like deja-vu," I murmured. He smiled and kissed my forehead. His eyes lingered on my face and I looked away. I really didn't want him to start asking questions, not here at least.

"What happened?" I asked. Okay, I remembered the whole thing with Denny in the alleyway and I could remember Niall coming to get me but after that, there wasn't really much else. I looked at Niall and his face clouded over as he remembered.

"You blacked out," he told me, his voice wavering a bit, "I thought...I thought you were dead; you weren't moving and..." his voice faded away to a whisper. Was he...Was he about to cry? I must have imagined it because he shook his head and kissed me again.

"But you're fine," he dismissed. "Mild concussion and stitches."

"And the baby?

Niall bowed his head.