It was almost midnight and evryone had slowly left Doug's christmas feast.
Everyone except Lynsey.
She had stayed to help Doug to clear up the mess of turkey, chocolate and party poppers.
Doug took some plates into the kitchen area while Lynsey picked strands of coloured paper out of the carpet.
Opening a cupboard, Doug laughed out loud.
"Look at that! We ran out of wine two hours ago and yet, there's two full bottles of vintage red in here! How'd I miss that?" he chuckled.
"Hmmm, what shall we do about that eh?" Lynsey raised her eyebrows.
"Lynsey Nolan, you're not suggesting we open a bottle ourselves are you?" Doug feigned shock.
"Yup." she grinned.
"Good, 'cause I love this brand." Doug smiled as he poured them both a glass.
"Here's to hoping 2012's WAY better than 2011 then?" Doug suggested.
"I'll drink to that!" Lynsey agreed as they clinked their glasses together.
After a few minutes of silence, Doug decided to bring something up with Lynsey.
"Lyns... you know how I believed you about Silas even though it seemed TOTALLY crazy?" Doug asked.
"Yeeees..." Lynsey wondered where this conversation was going.
"Well, something happened to me today; it's not really like that, but it's definitely crazy and I'm guessing a lot of people wouldn't believe me." Doug grinned ruefully.
"I'm listening." Lynsey took another sip of her wine.
"Well, today, when my clothes were all wet... It was because I tried to kill myself." Doug admitted.
Wine sprayed on the carpet.
Lynsey coughed as she stared at Doug in disbelief.
"You did what?" she spluttered.
"It sounds stupid, but Texas was away at her mom's and Ethan was in prison and everyone was away with family at Christmas and it just reminded me how I didn't have a girlfriend or any family here and it just felt... it just felt like there was no point anymore, so... I jumped in a canal." his voice seemed hopeless.
Lynsey reached a hand out and put it on his shoulder.
"Why didn't you tell me? You know I'd come round if you needed cheering up!" Lynsey reassured him.
"It was way worse than needing cheering up Lyns... I'd lost Becks and... I'd blamed Brendan for killing those girls... and it just didn't feel like I'd done anything right this year!" he said.
"Anyway, so I jumped in and next minute I was at home..." Doug told Lynsey the whole story - about Steph being an angel, about choosing Becks over everyone, about how he only truly realised that he couldn't sacrifice other people's lives, innocent people's lives, just to make his own happier.
About finally getting the goodbye he'd always wanted.
By the end of his story, Lynsey was crying silently.
"So I just ran home and invited you all here. I guess, if anything it made me appreciate the people I've got... while I've got 'em." Doug looked at Lynsey, who just sat staring at him, crying.
"Lyns? You ok? You do believe me right?" Doug asked worriedly.
Lynsey nodded slightly, reaching a hand up to rub a thumb up and down his cheek.
"Poor Doug. You've had a horrible year haven't you?" she whispered.
"No worse than yours." Doug admitted.
"No, mine's been bad with Silas and that but... You lost Beck's and... your best friend had loads of bad stuff happening to him that you had to hide from him and, I haven't been there and-" Lynsey babbled, tears still streaking down her face.
"Lynsey." Doug silenced her with a finger on her lips. "You're here now. And that is all that matters."
Doug leant forward until his lips touched hers and they were kissing.
It was the best christmas present either of them had ever had and they had waited so long for this.
"Wait... Lynsey wait." Doug pulled away, a hand still cupping her face, his stormy blue eyes staring into hers. "You know about Becks and everything and I just... I like you, I mean REALLY like you, and I just don't think I can do this if it's not gonna mean something."
"I understand. But I have been waiting for this for so long. I just have to say it and it doesn't matter if you're not ready to but... Doug, I love you." she confessed.
A slow smile spread across Doug's face.
"I love you too Lyns!" Doug smiled the biggest Lynsey had ever seen and kissed her again.
After a little while, they stopped kissing.
"So I guess, after this year we're pretty screwed up yeah?" Lynsey asked.
Doug handed her her wine glass as he raised his own.
"To being screwed up together." he grinned.
And they raised they're glasses to a new life, each knowing that the other person would believe them entirely in whatever they told them, because they'd had first-hand experience of crazy things that turned out to be true and neither had let the other down yet.