So after watching the summer trailer my assumption was that Rita will be leaving soon and Riain will be no more :( This fic catches up with Iain a few years down the line. The title is partly inspired by the 1D track/partly because it's from Iain's POV. Not sure yet if it'll just be a one-shot. Let me know what you think! x

"Come on mate it'll be fun. You're not gonna get a better offer for this evening than coming into town with me and those two girls we met earlier. Total Rihannas" Iain rolled his eyes at his partner wondering whether the guy's enthusiasm for absolutely everything would ever show any sign of diminishing. Not that he wasn't grateful for it helping to pass those shifts that seemed to drag.

"Seriously, I'm fine. I'm just gonna see who's up for a drink in the Hope and Anchor and have a quiet one"

"Again? Oh well suit yourself. Never say I haven't tried to make sure you have a life mate. I'm off for a shower then a kip so I'm fresh for whatever the 'ladeez' might have planned for later" Jez gave the older man a friendly punch in the arm and grinned cheekily before making his way out of the station.

Iain sighed and picked up his mop. If Dixie could see him now. Casanova he was not. As he thought of his close friend and former colleague, he realised how long it had been since they had last met up. Resolving to check the holiday rota first thing the following morning and give her a call in the week, he smiled and shook his head as he resigned himself to the fact that any visit would lead him to having his head pecked about whether there was 'anyone special' in his life.

Only two women had ever got inside Iain Dean's head and heart. The first only because it started as something 'safe'; being on active duty as a soldier hardly counted as real life and the woman in question was married. What had begun as a bit of fun had ended with him wanting something he couldn't have, was the reason he'd arrived in Holby in the first place. With hindsight he could see that his actions were probably driven by jealousy and obsession rather than love. But remaining in Holby empty-handed after she'd gone, along with the memory of how he'd acted before she did, had served as a painful lesson.

The second couldn't have been more different - a friendship turning into something more. Something much more. More passionate and intimate than anything he'd ever experienced, he'd attempted to convince himself it was purely physical. She'd fallen hard and he'd been so terrified at the thought he might be feeling the same that he'd pushed her away when she needed him the most. In wanting to protect them both he'd damaged her and them beyond repair in the end.

He wasn't about to leave himself open to hurting himself and others like that again. He was Iain. He loved his job, his friends, still had the legs to be a half decent football player twice a week. Loved being an uncle to his sister's kids. Anybody that tried to argue that he needed more in his life wasn't going to win that one easily.

He closed up the back of the ambulance and thought about whether he fancied a run or a session at the gym before he made his way to the pub later. A noise from round the other side of the vehicle interrupted his train of thought and he rounded it expecting to see Jez back having forgotten something.

A woman with a kid had found her way onto the ambulance station forecourt. Iain smiled ruefully as he observed she was probably the type to have set his pulse racing a few years back: curvy, petite, tanned limbs. His more pertinent thought however was that civilians rarely turned up directly to his place of work without there being some kind of drama unfolding. Already beyond the end of his shift, he braced himself for how serious this could be, how long it was likely to delay him leaving.

"Erm, hi… Can I help you?"

The woman had been distracted, bending down to fish something from her bag for the boy, oversized sunglasses slipping down onto her forehead as she did. Hearing Iain's voice she pushed them back to the top of her head as she straightened up, her long blonde hair falling in waves over her shoulders and the thin straps of her sundress. Iain found himself automatically scanning the pair of them for any obvious signs of injury until he saw her face and froze.

The woman visibly inhaled and let out a shaky breath before biting her lip and locking her gaze on his.

"Hi Iain"

Iain's mouth went dry and he blinked as though needing to check his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Rita." The word hung in the air between them before he spoke again.

"I… I thought you were in the States?" He ran his hand nervously through his dark hair and noticed that she too seemed uncertain what to say next. She cleared her throat.

"My sister's moved to Holby. I thought it was time to visit her… This is erm… this is Charlie" her hand ruffled the child's fair hair as she spoke.

"Your nephew?" The shake of Rita's head was barely perceptible but Iain saw it and his heart sank. He always knew she'd move on, he'd wanted her to, he'd needed to know she could find someone who could truly make her happy. He just wasn't expecting his heart to ache so much when he found out she had. "Charlie's yours?" His voice was much bolder than he felt.

Rita smiled sadly, pain flashing across her face but she shook her head once more.

"No" her voice cracking as she delivered the word. She gulped and straightened out imaginary creases in her dress. "He's ours."