Author's Note: I apologise for posting this later than I'd hoped. I was up working on this until quarter-past midnight Sunday night/Monday morning and then I went to write more this morning (Monday) and six-hundred words had disappeared. By some miracle, I managed not to have a breakdown (had a similar issue with one of my uni essays last year the week before it was due in and I definitely did have a breakdown over that) and re-wrote it. It's a lot more gritty than what I originally had but I hope it's okay. I would like this to be a three-parter but I need a solid idea for the next chapter so it may take a little bit longer. My current thinking is that Chloe opens up to Ange or at least begins to. If anyone has anything they would like to see then throw it at me and I'll see what I can do.

Thank you Nat and Elle for your ideas (sorry they didn't make the final cut) and for helping me not have a breakdown over losing part of my story.

Thank you also to all my reviewers - holbycityjosia, elleigator, IseultLaBelle, twilightwonderer and Megawritesx - you're all lovely and have kept me going! :)

"Go into the lounge." Dom told Chloe once they had reached the bottom of the stairs. "I'll go and check on your mum, okay?" Chloe gave a small nod, let go of his hand and disappeared into the room.

"She's struggling, isn't she?" Ange said fearfully on hearing Dom enter the kitchen. She was clutching onto the sideboard with her back to the door trying so hard not to cry. "She's forcing herself to hold it together when that's the last thing she feels like doing. She doesn't have to do that. Why is she doing that?" She finished in despair, turning to face Dom, desperately searching his face for the answers.

"I know, I know." He responded, stepping forward and embracing Ange. "She's probably still in shock and will have gone over it with the police, maybe more than once so won't want to do that again if she can help it. All you can do is give her time and let her know that you're there when she's ready to talk." He stopped and hesitated for a moment, debating how Ange would take hearing what he was about to say. "She's...she's also terrified of upsetting you." Ange broke away from Dom and looked up at him again, devastation in her eyes.

"How can she still be putting other people first when she's hurting like this?"

"Because...because she's Chloe and that's what she does." Dom answered surely. That one was easy. Although he had only known Chloe eight months, that was something he had very quickly established about her personality. She was fiercely protective over those she loved and would go to any lengths to defend them from pain or anguish, no matter what impact that might have on herself and these circumstances were no different.

"I need to be with her." Ange stated. "Is she still in her room?"

"No, she's in the lounge." He told her and without response, Ange was there like a shot.

It was quiet, too quiet and that only allowed Chloe to overthink. She would never be able to get the image of her mum's face when she worked out what had really gone on out of her head. The pity, the absolute dread, the horrific realisation and the...disgust. You're disgusting. You're pathetic and you asked for this. In fact, you didn't even put up a fight. You let him do it and now you're acting like it's you who's the victim. Your mum wouldn't have done that. She would have fought with every ounce of strength in her body. She isn't pathetic or weak. You're a grown woman, for goodness' sake, yet you can't cope without your mum. She doesn't want you here, she has never wanted you, she just felt sorry for you and felt like she has to look after you because you're her daughter. You don't deserve her. You don't deserve anyone. Why are you here?

"Chloe?" Chloe was vaguely aware of her mum and Dom entering the room but their voices were muffled and distant. She pulled the blanket up around her head so that only her eyes and nose were visible and wished more than anything that she could just disappear into it and be erased from all existence.

"Yes?" She replied, straightening up, trying to tune into the present moment and out of her own thoughts.

"Is...is there anything you need? Anything you want?" Ange asked, taking a seat beside her though being sure to leave enough room whilst Dom took to the armchair opposite. "Any painkillers or..."

"No." Chloe cut her of sharply, though not meaning to. "Sorry. No, I'm fine."

Fine? You're anything but fine. You're such a liar, not that anyone would care if you were to tell the truth. You wouldn't know how, would you? You can't open your mouth without upsetting someone, especially your mum. After everything she has ever done for you you continue to let her down, just like you always have done.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Ange reassured her, wanting desperately to reach out and hold her daughter close but resisting because Chloe's body language was telling her that that was the last thing she wanted.

You have everything to be sorry for.

"Can I stick the telly on?" Dom asked, hoping it would be a welcome distraction. "We can catch Bake-Off on plus shortly."

"Sure." Ange grinned, turning to look at Chloe and rolling her eyes. Having momentarily zoned out, Chloe gave a failed attempt at a smile in response.

See, they're carrying on as if nothing happened. They don't care about you. They have each other now. The only right thing you have ever done in your life is bringing them together. They need each other. Dominic is a much better person than you are, than you will ever be. She wanted him, wanted him so badly but couldn't have him and now she does. You, she never wanted you. You were forced upon her, gave her no choice and now you're doing exactly that all over again, this time by playing the victim. How incredibly selfish. Are you not ashamed of yourself? Why, why are you still here? Get out, leave them to it.

"Chloe, ignore them, they're wrong." Ange pleaded, though trying to keep calm. Her voice was becoming further and further away, fuzzier and fuzzier once more even though she had moved to sit closer to her daughter. Chloe had put her hands over her ears and was pressing harder and harder, whimpering and Ange knew only too well what that meant. The voices in her head were trying to take over. Tormenting her, telling her things that could not be any further from the truth and she would believe them, every single word. Chloe was so vulnerable at the moment, too vulnerable.

You're making a show of yourself, stop it! She doesn't care about you, she's just trying to stop you from embarrassing her in front of Dominic. They don't want you here. Get out. GET. OUT!

All of a sudden, Chloe bolted up from the sofa and out into the hallway, making straight for the front door. Luckily, Dom was quick to react and managed to block the door before she could reach it. Ange was right behind them.

"No, no, no you don't." He told Chloe calmly.

"I have to get out of here!" Chloe cried, tears rolling furiously down her cheeks. "Please, please just let me go!" She begged.

"You're not going anywhere, you're safe here." He persuaded, reaching out for her hands. She took a step backwards in surprise and turned to face Ange, who went to hug her.

"I don't want you to touch me." She choked. "I don't want anyone to touch me." She went back to the lounge and paced up and down, arms wrapped protectively around her body.

"What do you want, Chloe?" Dom asked as he and Ange followed her. "Tell us, let us help you."

"I want..." She sat back down, bottom lip quivering. "I want this to stop, all of it to just stop. The voices, the flashbacks, everything." Her voice shook and cracked as a fresh set of tears escaped. "But most of all I want to go to sleep and never wake up and I want to claw my skin off." She finished angrily, breaking down into heartbroken sobs and gouging at her arms so violently with her fingernails that her sleeves rode up and she drew blood almost immediately. Ange was by her side in no time at all, taking Chloe tightly into her arms.

"Let go, Chloe, you don't need to do that." Ange told her tearfully.

"Get...off...me!" She sobbed, attempting to struggle against Ange's grip which only proved to be too strong, though did not stop Chloe from desperately scratching at her arms. Tenderly, Dom knelt down in front of her.

"Chloe, it's me, it's Dom." He started. "I'm going to hold your hands okay? I promise I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just going to hold your hands." Slowly, he took her hands in his, feeling them instantly relax though initially try to pull away. "I'm not going to hurt you." He repeated. "It's okay." She eventually gave in to her mum and to Dom, though still sobbing hard, limply squeezing Dom's hands to let him know and he rubbed the backs of her hands with his thumbs.

"It's okay, sweetheart, it's going to be okay. Let it all out, you're safe." Ange soothed, tears trickling down her own cheeks as she rocked her daughter gently. Chloe freed one of her hands from Dom's and clung onto Ange's arm, nestling her head into the crook of her neck. Ange kissed the top of Chloe's head, taken aback by the unusual scent in her blonde hair - the shampoo from the SARC, an alien scent and yet another reminder of everything that had happened that day. "I've got you now and I am never, never going to let anyone hurt you ever again."

It felt like a lifetime that Ange and Dom had held Chloe whilst she cried. After a while, the intensity of her sobs lessened a little and her breathing threatened to become erratic.

"Chloe?" Ange said softly. "Chloe, if you can hear me, try and slow your breathing down okay? Can you do that for me?" She instantly felt her daughter try and take a deep breath, her whole body quaking with the effort. "That's it, good girl." She encouraged as Chloe tried another few times before her breathing returned to normal.

"It hurts, mum." She said weakly. "It hurts inside."

"Oh sweetheart." Ange did not know what to say.

"And everything aches. Is it...is it supposed to feel like this?" She questioned despairingly, torn between needing answers and not wanting to upset her mum any further.

"It's not unusual." She replied. "Do you want some painkillers?" She felt Chloe nod.

"I'll get them." Dom instantly volunteered.

"In the bathroom." Ange told him. "Box in the cupboard on the top shelf." Dom nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'll do a hot water bottle for you too, Chloe."

"Airing cupboard."

"The one with the sheep on it." Chloe said wearily. "Not the horrible tartan thing. That's mum's." Both Dom and Ange almost laughed at Chloe's witty comment, unsure as to whether she was intentionally trying to be funny or whether it was her way of masking exactly how much discomfort she was really in.

"Okay. I'll be two minutes." He smiled at them reassuringly, giving Chloe's hand one final squeeze before getting up and leaving the room.

As good as his word, Dom returned minutes later with all of the promised items.

"Here we go." He announced, handing the tablets and water to Chloe, followed by the hot water bottle. "Painkillers, water and one hot water bottle." He reeled off. "The one with the sheep on, not the horrible tartan thing." He smirked. "It really is horrible, Ange. Where on earth did you get it? The seventeenth century?"

"It was my mother's!" Ange retorted in mock offence.

"It's still horrible."

"It is." Chloe agreed. She attempted to sit up so that she could put the now-empty glass onto the table and place the hot water bottle onto her stomach but it only made her groan with the pain.

"Steady, steady." Ange insisted. Dom took the glass from Chloe and Ange supported her to get into a more comfortable position which eventually turned out to be Chloe lying on her side with her head on a cushion in Ange's lap.

Once she had settled down, Dom placed the earlier-discarded blanket over Chloe and she looked as if she might actually drift off to sleep. Whether or not her mind would give her any peace to do so was another matter. Dom resumed to his seat and they all sat in silence for a while, attention turned to the television, or at least that was what they pretended.

"Dom?" Ange whispered after a little time had passed. Dom looked over to her. "Can you turn it down?" She asked. "Chloe's asleep."