Missing You, a waking the dead fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Waking the Dead or any of its episodes or characters. I'm just borrowing them for a trip down the pub- I promise I'll return them (sober!) in time for work tomorrow.

Pairings: Boyd/Grace

Spoilers: Specific spoilers for the series 6 episode 'Double Bind'. This is set just after that episode, and before Yahrzeit.

Rating: T

Notes: Another little songfic to (hopefully!) entertain you whilst I have a bit of writer's block on 'To Hell and Back'. This is inspired by the Chris De Burgh song 'Missing You'- all the words in italics are the words to that song, and belong to Chris De Burgh. I'm just borrowing them to help Boyd tell Grace how he feels. They're a little OOC for Boyd, but the song just reminded me of the Boyd/Grace scenes in Double Bind. Hope you enjoy!

Missing You

Peter Boyd looked around the dimly-lit office for the thousandth time, wondering if he'd forgotten anything. Mentally he ticked off the list in his head. 'I've got the roses, I've got the wine.' The wine and two glasses were neatly arranged on her desk, the dozen red roses in their cellophane wrapper laid neatly beside the green bottle. It was a rather expensive bottle, by all accounts, but he knew it was her favourite and if he was going to do this, he wanted to do it right. 'With a little luck she will be here on time,' he reflected to himself, glancing at his watch yet again to see that he had five minutes until the time they had agreed to meet. Five minutes to check for the millionth time that everything was perfect. With candlelight, wine and roses it all looked perfect. And yet there was something missing. Suddenly it struck him what it was, and he hurried across to his office to rescue the CD of love songs from his desk drawer. As he slid the disc into her stereo, he hoped it would do- when it came to music, love songs were not his forte. In fact, when it came to music, his reaction generally was 'switch that bloody racket off!' But there was something romantic about love songs, he had to admit; and so buying the CD especially for this occasion had been necessary. 'Ah, that's much better!' he thought to himself as the first silvery notes sounded from the stereo. 'This is the place we used to go, with romantic music and the lights turned low.' He just hoped he'd read her smile right and he wasn't making a massive fool of himself.

As she headed along the corridors towards the Cold Case Unit HQ, Grace Foley wondered for the thousandth time that day why on earth Boyd wanted to meet her regarding her return to the team at eight o'clock in the evening. Possibly so the younger members of the team weren't around; or so that the meeting wouldn't interrupt a working day. What were working days like without her, anyway? She'd often wondered that during her brief absence, but for all that she wasn't sure if she was ready to go back yet. The break had been nice, refreshing. Was she really ready to go back to a life without a life: long working days filled with arguments with Boyd followed by cold lonely nights at home? She just didn't know.

Almost without realising it her chain of thoughts had carried her all the way to the office, and she pushed open the doors with trepidation, breathing a mingled sigh of relief and annoyance when she found the office deserted and in darkness. That was when she noticed the soft glow emanating from her own office. Curiously she crossed over to the door, intending to march in and demand to know what on earth Boyd was doing in there. But as she pushed the door open, her ears caught the soft sound of one of her favourite love songs filling the air. Now totally confused, she pushed the door fully open. And stopped, amazed. Her office was bathed in the soft glow of candlelight shining from the dozens of candles strategically placed around the room. On the desk stood a bottle of her favourite wine and two glasses, accompanied by a bunch of red roses- a dozen, by the looks of it! And on her sofa sat Boyd, patiently waiting, an unusually soft smile on his face.

As Grace breathed deeply, struggling to hide her surprise, Boyd rose to his feet and reached for the wine bottle. Pouring two glasses, he held one out to Grace, and she took it mutely as he began to speak softly, amusement and embarrassment and hope colouring his tones in equal measure.

"And as you stand there amazed at the door, and you're wondering what all this is for, it's just a simple thing from me to you, the lady that I adore." There. He'd said it. But there was so much more that Boyd wanted to say and she was listening to him, amazement and emotion shining in her eyes as he continued, hoping that his carefully prepared speech didn't sound too stupid.

"Cos there's something that you should know: it's that I've been missing you, more than words can say; and I've been thinking about it every day." That was so true- working without her had been so difficult, it had been so bloody difficult getting up every morning and going on without that guarantee of seeing her.

"Oh, Boyd," she breathed as he came to stand closer, all her long-suppressed emotions rising to the surface. But he was not finished yet. Taking her wine glass from her and setting it down carefully on the desk, he took her hands and carried on with what needed to be said.

"There is no reason to the things that we do- you can break a heart with just a word or two, and take a lifetime to apologise when the one you love's in front of your eyes." Again he spoke the truth from his heart- her cutting comments of 'repressed, depressed, in denial, lonely and unloved' had cut him right to the core, breaking his heart; and it was then that he had realised what he supposed he had known deep down all along- he loved her. He loved Grace. She'd been standing right in front of him for six years and it had taken that long for him to realise. And it had occurred to him that if he didn't apologise for the way he had treated her, he would lose her forever. He only hoped that this apology was good enough. Taking a deep breath to replenish his courage, he sank to his knees.

"And I will fall to my knees like a fool if it's the only way of getting through- you see if I think you are beautiful, someone else is going to feel it too. So there's only one thing to do- tell you that I've been missing you more than words can say, and I've been thinking about it everyday."

Gently Grace reached out her hands and helped Boyd back to his feet, pulling him close, overcome with emotion. Wrapping her arms around him, she smiled into the security of his shoulder as she felt his arms wrap around her just as tightly. Swaying softly in his arms, she reached up a hand to touch his cheek softly before she leaned up and kissed him full on the lips. It wasn't something she'd ever thought she'd get the opportunity to do, but his romantic speech had made her see that she too had been blind. She was a psychologist, for God's sake- how had she failed to notice that he liked her as much as she liked him? Probably, she reflected, because she'd been too sensible to allow herself to get her hopes up. But the days of wondering were gone now. She kissed him again tenderly. It just felt right.

He smiled against her lips at the second kiss, still scarcely able to believe that his gamble had paid off; that Eve had been right about Grace's reciprocated feelings for him. As she pulled away once more, he stroked a tender hand down her cheek and murmured in her ear as they swayed together.

"Well tonight's our night for dancing nice and slow; because now I've found you I'm never letting go." That last was true, he thought with a smile, holding her tighter and kissing her again, thrilling at the touch of her lips against his. It seemed as if God had forgiven him for all his mistakes and granted him the one thing he had ever prayed for. Pulling back from the kiss, he looked deep into her eyes and repeated himself as if to confirm that this wasn't just a dream.

"No, now I've found you, I'm never letting go."