I rewatched series 4 and 5 while looking for Laura's story and realised that although they had both good and bad Robson moments, ITV didn't expand on them. Chapters 1 and 2 are my attempt to explain what we saw on TV - chapter 3 is what I would like to have seen, but didn't. Special thanks go to bjo for all her thoughts and suggestions on how dinner should go. I hope you all enjoy the end result. I still don't own this couple, just borrowing them to give them the happy ending we all wanted.
God, what was she thinking? Asking him to dinner, promising to cook? Maybe she should cancel, feign an illness or a sick relative. No, Robbie was too good a detective and would see through her lies. It was going to be a disaster. They weren't ready for this. She had thought they were last week, had decided that they were both on the same page but were too stuck in a holding pattern to do anything about it. Now, as she prepared their meal, Laura began to have doubts. The last year or so had been rough on their relationship, more downs than ups. There was no doubting that they'd been heading towards something - their weekend away might not have gone as planned but something changed between them that night on the bench. Eating fish and chips with little wooden forks wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it suited them. Then Ligeia and the twins had happened. She had been so hurt when he questioned her. Even as she recognised that he was just doing his job, a part of her had hated that he asked. When Robbie solved the case, she had finally understood how everything had pointed to her, and why he had had no choice but to speak to her. But it was too late, the experience had damaged them, had made him nervous around her. They were just finding their way back, when Ali McLennan happened. Even now, months later she could still remember how it felt hearing Robbie say could've been. He'd apologised later, they'd even had a moment when their eyes had locked, each unwilling to look away, until James had spoken and broken the spell. She'd got through the rest of the day somehow, then spent the night tossing and turning, unable to forget the pain she'd felt. That was when she realised she cared more than she thought, more than was good for her. She was looking for something with Robbie, when he was looking at someone else. She'd made a decision to step back. Be the friend he needed while he dealt with memories from the past, but offer nothing more. She couldn't keep waiting for him, she had decided to move on. And yet, just a couple of months later, here she was, still hoping for something more.
Robbie stood in the shop, looking at all the bottles of wine on the shelves. As he tried to make a choice, he realised he was nervous. Laura had never asked him to dinner before. Sure, they had eaten at hers - takeaways at night if they weren't in the mood to eat out - but she'd never planned to have him over, they'd just ended up at her place. This time not only had she'd asked him days in advance, she had said she would cook. Fleetingly he considered that she had something to tell him, something he wouldn't like, and that was why she wanted to tell him in private. But no, Laura wasn't the type to put off bad news. She was more the "rip it off quick" type of person. Like when she asked for the details of her friends death, insisting she was ready for them just hours after fainting at the scene. That case had changed everything, they had been getting so close, and then it fell apart. He'd questioned her, seen the hurt on her face. Saw the moment she pulled herself away from him, and knew he deserved it. Afterwards he had struggled to deal with how he felt when he realised the twins had her. The fear, the sense of loss had surprised him. He'd dreamt one night of being too late, of brushing his hand over another gravestone. And woken to the reality of knowing he'd still lost her, even though he could see her every day. They had still gone out, laughed about James and Innocent but it wasn't the same, the experience had changed them, and Laura seemed nervous around him. He had decided to step back, figuring they had lost their chance. Then he'd gone for a drink with Ali, and it was like going back in time - talking over a case with a pint in the pub. It was easy, even when she'd kissed him it hadn't changed how comfortable it felt - just two old coppers out for a pint. And yet he'd felt guilty when she died. He'd made a relationship sound possible when Laura asked, saying could've been, as if saying no would have insulted an old friend. But Laura's touch on his arm while they talked had proved the answer should have been never - that simple touch had meant more than Ali's arm around his neck, or her lips on his.
"Can I help?" a voice interrupted Robbie's thoughts. "Red or white?" the shopkeeper asked. "Both" he replied making his selection, he was still none the wiser about the reason for the meal, but at least he could enjoy a decent glass of wine while he figured it out.