So, this wasn't what I planned to post today but once I had the idea it sort of wrote itself. It's also got, what I think is, the cheesiest ending to anything I've ever written! I hope you like it :)

"Iain" Rita gasped as he approached her from behind, as she stood outside the department, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck as he lifted her off her feet, "what are you doing?"

"Saying hello" he laughed as he put her down, his arms still wrapped around her waist.

"Giving me a heart attack more like" Rita scolded him but didn't move from his grasp, instead shuffling slightly until her back was pressed against his chest.

"Will this make up for it?" Iain asked, fumbling in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a card, slightly bent from being carried around all day.

"What is it?" Rita frowned as the envelope was passed to her.

"Surprise" Iain smirked, taking the opportunity to kiss her neck again.

"That's not what I meant" Rita frowned, shrugging him away, "stop it, someone'll see."

Iain shrugged, "they all know anyway, and if you open that you'll know what it is."

Rita frowned as she pulled the card from the envelope, "it's not my birthday."

"Good job it's not a birthday card then."

"Bon Voyage?" Rita frowned as she read the front of the card, "what...Oh my...Iain" she gasped as she opened the card to find two First Class Eurostar tickets to Paris inside.

"I hope you don't mind, when we were talking the other week you said you hadn't used any holiday since you started working here so I thought it was about time we changed that. Everything's sorted, Zoe's going to drive us to the station after our shifts finish, we're staying in London tonight and then we're getting the Eurostar first thing in the morning. Is that alright?"

"Iain it's, it's amazing but I haven't got any time to pack or…"

He put his index finger on her lips to silence her, "it's all sorted, just meet me in the staff room after your shift."

"But my passport…"

"Trust me Reet, all sorted."

Rita smiled and kissed Iain's lips, "Thank you"

He returned the kiss, only breaking away when he had to leave on a shout, "see you later?"

"Try and stop me."

Iain was already in the staffroom when Rita walked in that evening, he'd changed from his uniform and had a large black suitcase with him. Rita frowned slightly, they'd walked to work together that morning and he certainly hadn't had it with him then. "Stop trying to work everything out and go and get changed" he laughed, "Zoe said she'll be ready to go in 10."

"If I'd have known we were going to Paris I'd have picked better…"

"Rita" Iain stopped her in her tracks, walking up to her and kissing her firmly, "you look amazing."

Zoe walked into the staffroom and cleared her throat, "I believe you two lovebirds have a train to catch?"

Iain laughed and nodded, "yeah" he slipped his hand into Rita's, "you got those tickets I gave you earlier?"

"In my bag" she nodded.

"Well then let's go" he grinned,picking up the suitcase on the way out of the staffroom. "Are you sure you don't want any petrol money Zoe? I don't mind gi…"

"Iain, it's fine" Zoe cut him off as she drove towards the train station, "It's only about 10 minutes away from my flat so I'm not really going out of my way. I wouldn't have agreed if it was a problem. Just bring me a nice bottle of red back." She joked.

"I can't believe you were too tight to pay for a taxi" Rita teased.

"Hey, I've nearly bankrupted myself paying for this weekend, it was either a lift from Zoe or Jez taking us in the ambo."

Rita smiled and reached for Iain's hand, he'd insisted on sitting in the back, letting her sit in the front with Zoe, "you shouldn't have, I'd have been happy spending the weekend at home with you."

"You're worth it though" Iain gently squeezed Rita's hand.

"That's enough of that thank you very much, save it until you're safely locked in your hotel room please." Zoe told them both in mock seriousness.

Rita laughed, "not a chance, he might have planned a dirty weekend away but if I'm going to Paris I'm going to see all the sights."

It wasn't long before Rita and Iain were settled on the train, Iain once agains surprising Rita by leading her to their seats in the first class carriage. They'd found they had a table for 4 to themselves, so Rita had lifted the armrest so she could curl into Iain, her head on his shoulder, her arm over his stomach as he gently rubbed circles on her back, "thank you" she whispered, tipping her head up to look at him.

"You deserve a break Reet, everyone in that department knows how hard you work, you need time to switch off and relax."

"You didn't need to spend a fortune on me though."

"Listen yeah, you're worth every single penny and more, so don't you worry about how much I've spent, how much I'm going to spend or how you're ever going to repay me for this. You just concentrate on enjoying yourself and having a relaxing weekend."

Once they arrived in London it was just a short tube ride to their hotel which was located just across the road from the station where they'd catch the Eurostar the next morning. "What do you think?" Iain asked as he saw Rita gazing around the room.

"It's perfect, thank you so much."

"It's okay" Iain smiled before frowning as Rita opened the door, "what are you doing?"

"That bath looks big enough for two" she showed him the piece of laminated cardboard in her hand before hanging it on the outside of the door, "and I don't know about you but I certainly don't want to be disturbed" she winked.

They arrived in Paris just after lunch time the next day and, less than 45 minutes after stepping off the train Rita was unlocking the door to their hotel room, Iain stood behind her waiting to see her reaction. "Iain" she gasped as she walked into the spacious room, a large, super king size bed was piled high with soft blankets and cushions and a picture of the Eiffel tower hung behind the head of the bed, "it's beautiful" she felt tears filling her eyes. She and Iain had only been 'together' for a couple of months but he already made her feel so happy, so loved. Mark had never made her feel like this and she'd been married to him for years.

"You've not seen the best bit yet" Iain peeked through the curtains that Rita hadn't even noticed were closed.

"Yeah, what's that then?"

Iain smiled, "I erm, I paid a bit extra to make sure we had a half decent view" he told her before opening the curtains, another shocked gasp falling from her lips as she realised exactly how close they were to the Eiffel tower, so close she swore if she stepped out onto the small balcony she'd be able to reach out and touch it.

"Iain…"

"I thought if we're gonna be this close we might as well be able to see it. It lights up at night and 'twinkles' apparently, I know you like all that romantic stuff, so just imagine us tonight, curled up in that big bed, the lights turned down low, being able to see the Eiffel tower lighting up the sky."

Rita wiped at her eyes, tears rolling freely down her cheeks,"it's perfect Iain, it's… thank you so much."

"Come here you big softy" Iain held his arms out and Rita all but fell into them, sobbing against his chest.

"No one's ever done anything like this for me before" she whispered, "thank you so much."

Iain kissed the top of Rita's head, "you're welcome Love, I'd do it every weekend if I could" he held Rita in his arms, swaying gently with her until her sobs calmed and he wiped at her tears with his thumbs, "want to go out on the balcony?" He asked softly, knowing he had another surprise planned for the woman he loved.

"Yeah" Rita nodded and wiped at her eyes, "okay." Iain opened the patio doors and stepped onto the balcony, taking Rita's hand in his, "I don't…" she frowned slightly as she saw a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket on the small metal table.

"I know you don't drink and I'll understand completely if you'd rather we left it there or poured it away but I was hoping we might have something to celebrate" he said, suddenly feeling more nervous than he'd ever been in his life.

"Celebrate what?" Rita frowned again.

"Celebrate the fact that I love you, that, even though we haven't been together long you make me so happy Reet, I, you're the first, the only woman I've ever fallen for like this. You're the only woman I've ever, ever… I don't want to lose you Rita, I, I know we said we could still see other people but I don't want that any more, I only want you, I only ever want you so…" he heard Rita gasp as he dropped to one knee and pulled a small black box from his pocket, "I was hoping we could celebrate you agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?" He asked as he opened the ring box to reveal a stunning, white gold and diamond ring.

Rita froze, her hands covering her mouth, unable to speak as yet again tears rolled freely down her cheeks "I…"

Iain looked up at Rita, "We don't… if it's too soon or if you don't want to then…"

"No" Rita whispered.

"No?" Iain felt his heart break.

"No" Rita whispered, crouching down to Iain's level, "I mean yes, I mean…" she took a shaky breath, "no, it's not too soon" she said, wiping a tear from Iain's cheek that he hadn't even felt fall, "and yes, yes I'll marry you".

"You…"

"I'll marry you" she whispered, Iain pulling her from where she crouched so she could sit on his lap as he sat on the floor of the balcony, his lips crashing against hers, her fingers tangling in her hair as their tongues battled against each other, the pair only parting when the need for air became too great. "I love you" Rita whispered as she laid her head, in it's favourite spot, against Iain's chest.

"I love you too" he replied, taking the ring from the box and carefully slipping it onto her finger, smiling as it fitted perfectly.

"It's beautiful Iain" Rita whispered as she took a proper look at it, "thank you so much."

"You're the beautiful one" he whispered, kissing the top of her head before a content silence fell over the pair, both happy to be in each other's company, neither caring that Iain had paid a small fortune for the hotel room and they were sat on the floor of the balcony.

"Are we going to tell everyone?" Rita asked softly, "or just wait and see if anyone says anything?"

"Well I've got an idea if you want to tell them?"

Rita nodded, "We should at least tell Dix."

Iain nodded, "do you want to sort yourself out while I find what I need?" Iain asked, "your mascara's run a little bit" he said tactfully. Rita had cried so many happy tears since they'd arrived at the hotel that her mascara was long gone, Iain didn't care though, she was beautiful, she was beautiful and she'd agreed to be his wife, he was going to wake up beside her every morning for the rest of his life, "do you want the champagne or would you prefer a coffee? There's a coffee machine in the room."

"We can have the champagne" Rita nodded softly, pecking Iain's lips again as he helped her to her feet, heading into the bathroom to reapply her makeup.

Iain quickly unpacked whilst Rita was in the bathroom before he went back out onto the balcony, popping open the champagne before pouring it into the two mugs he'd brought with him in the hope Rita would say 'yes.' He couldn't believe it, he'd never been so nervous about anything in his life, he'd been half expecting her to say no, that it was too soon. They hadn't even been together a year yet but everything seemed so right he struggled to remember what his life was like without her in it.

Rita took longer than usual in the bathroom, she'd become lost in her thoughts after catching sight of her ring as she'd washed her hands. She'd told herself after Mark that she'd never get married again, things hadn't been awful with Mark but they hadn't been amazing either. Mark was set in his ways, as the woman, he thought it was Rita's 'duty' to cook and clean, even when she was working long shifts he'd never lift a finger to help. Iain was completely the opposite, he didn't even need to be asked to help, in fact he was usually the one telling her to sit down and take it easy, that he'd 'sort it', whether that was washing the pots, hoovering or putting on a load of washing, Iain was more than happy to help. He'd brought her to Paris to propose, Iain had brought her to the most beautiful hotel room Rita had ever seen simply because he loved her. Rita knew if she told Iain all she wanted to do was cuddle he'd be fine with that, Mark bought her a couple of cheap glasses of wine in the pub and a kebab on the way home and then expected her to fall at his feet. No, Rita shook her head, to Mark she'd just been a 'wife' someone to see to his needs, to run around after him the way his mother had, and someone who'd look good on his arm. Iain made her feel like she was his world, like he'd do anything for her. Everything with Mark somehow seem worthwhile now she knew what it lead to, she'd go through all the arguments, all the fights a million times over if that was what it took to get her back in Iain's arms.

She smiled softly to him when she walked back out onto the balcony before frowning when she saw the two white mugs on the table, "what's your plan?" she asked softly.

"A selfie" he smiled, taking out his phone, "you sat on my knee, the Eiffel tower in the background with those…" he pointed to the mugs, "and that" he gestured to the ring.

Rita bit her lip and chuckled as she saw the other side of the mugs Iain had had made, one printed with the words, 'I popped the question' the other 'I said yes.' "Are you taking it?" Rita asked as she sat on Iain's knee and picked up her mug, smiling as she saw it was designed to be held in her left hand to show off her ring."

"Yeah okay" Iain picked up his mug, kissing Rita's cheek just as he took the photo so she had a huge smile on her face, "that alright?" He showed Rita the picture and she nodded, it was perfect, even she could see how happy she was, the Eiffel tower stood proudly behind them and the sunlight was glinting off her diamond ring.

"Who are you sending it to?" She asked as she sipped at the champagne in her mug.

"Dixie and Robyn? She'll tell everyone else for us."

Rita nodded, "send it to Zoe and Charlie too" she asked and Iain nodded, typing out a short message 'No postcards, just this x' and showing it to Rita for her approval before pressing send.

"Now Mrs Dean-to be" he said as he turned off his phone and put it on the table, he'd deal with the replies later, "we can go out and explore Paris, or…" his free hand slipped under her t shirt to rest on her stomach, "we can go and celebrate in that very nice hotel room."

"Well" Rita chuckled, "it would be a shame to let this champagne go to waste wouldn't it" she winked as she stood from his lap and picked up the rest of the champagne, "I noticed the bath's pretty big too."

Iain's face lit up, "you'd better close the curtains" he told her, "but leave the doors open, I know you're already quite hot as it is but I think things in here might be about to get a lot hotter."