Love Thy Neighbour *editing*

"Where there's trouble, there's Evie."

"We should have got the baby checked out while we were at the hospital," Niall said, glancing over at me. "That smoke can't have been good for the little guy."

"Trust me, it's fine," I replied, stifling a yawn.

"How do you know?"

"Niall," I said, looking right at him. "It's still pressing down on my bladder and making me need to pee; so how about less chatting, and more driving?" Niall laughed and I scowled at him; this wasn't a laughing matter. I really needed to pee! He could stop once he had experienced the wonder of carrying a baby and all of its delights. Until then, he could just keep driving.

"Is your hand alright?" Niall asked. I looked at the bandage that covered my entire palm and wrist. I hadn't even thought about it in all truthfulness, but now that he had mentioned it, it throbbed painfully. I was very tempted just to unwrap the dressing and have a peek underneath, just to see how much damage I had done this time. But I decided against it; as soon as I let the air in about the nerves, I was only letting myself in for more pain.

"It's fine," I sighed. "You worry too much."

"As opposed to you, who doesn't worry about anything," he shot back at me.

"Touche," I murmured, resting my head against the cool glass of the window. Snowflakes fell onto the path of the car. Add that to the darkness of the night, I was beginning to feel a bit uneasy. See! That's worry, but I was guessing that it wasn't the type of worry he had been angling for. I did worry about things; he should have seen the mess in my head right now. It was just that...I had never really been that bothered about my own safety. Ever since Denny had...well, you get the picture; safety had never featured high up on the things to look out for. But I supposed, now that I was pregnant, I was going to have to rethink my priorities. The fact remained, that I had a baby growing inside of me that completely relied on everything I did; it would be selfish of me to go on like I was doing right now.

"Where there's trouble, there's Evie," Niall muttered under his breath. I snorted.

"I used to think that it just had something to do with really bad luck," I told him lightly. "But now I'm beginning to think that someone's out to get me. I think I might have to send God a Christmas present this year." Niall laughed at my joke but kept his eyes on the road. My mind kept wandering back to Sian and Jen. I had been checking my phone since we had left the hospital but I had no missed calls or messages. God, I hoped that they got out okay. And if they had, why weren't they at all concerned with the fact that I hadn't reappeared from the toilets? Some friends they were if they had just decided to let me burn.

Niall turned into his driveway and turned off the engine. We sat there, waiting for the heat to be absorbed; it was freezing so there was no point in wasting it. Then Niall turned to look at me. I couldn't take my eyes off of the savageness of his cuts. They looked much worse in the dark. I reached out to touch his face, cupping it in my hand. He kissed it lightly, sending shivers down my spine. I stroked his cuts, avoiding the ones with steristrips and the one with the proper stitches.

They felt rough under my fingers, criss-crossing in random directions. The glass had made such a mess of the formerly flawless skin. His mum was going to crucify me. When I thought of Pam, I drew away from Niall and faced the front of the car. He looked at me, confused.

"We should probably go inside," I mumbled, opening the car door. Niall was still sitting there, looking slightly bemused. He got out as well, slamming the door.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, walking around the car to reach me. I sighed and leaned against the fence. He stood close to me, his body heat radiating onto me.