Hello there! Thought I should tell you that I'm taking haveunotthought's general timeline for the episodes (fanfiction[.]net/s/4725861/3/Two_Christmases_Dempsey_and_Makepeace if you want to read it), minus her version of series four, obviously. So for mine, 4.1: Robert Miller was late June 1987, 4.2 and 4.3: Dogged Determination was July-ish, and this can be August. One episode a month, which is the timeline she goes with, seems to work fairly well.

Oh, and the general idea for this is from haveunotthought. I'll also be taking elements of Krato's suggestions. So thanks you two, if it wasn't for the pair of you, this wouldn't exist!

PS, I know nothing about the 80s, so if I get stuff wrong in my stories, just ignore it :P

He'd bought it months ago, but he hadn't yet got up the courage to tell her in case she turned him down. And of course, the longer he left it, the more chance there was of practical issues getting in he way, quite aside from the possibility that she wouldn't want to.

He kept telling himself that he was waiting for the right moment, but eventually he recognised that if he wanted the right moment, he would have to create it himself.

He waited until they were on their own, talking amiably as they waited for a snout to meet them. When there was a lull in the conversation, he sensed his opportunity and leapt in with both feet. "So, Harry, what you got planned for summer?"

"I thought I'd go and see my father for a couple of days, but apart from that, nothing really. What are you doing?"

He didn't know how to turn the question into an invitation, so he just ignored it. "You got a week, right, same as me?"

"Yes," Harry replied slowly, wondering where on earth he was going with this and suspecting an insult or gripe was on the way.

"Have you decided which week yet?" He wanted to make sure she could go before he asked outright; it seemed safer.

"No…" Harry watched him, utterly bemused.

"Well, uh, I got some tickets for a holiday next week. I meant to go with a friend from New York, only he can't go and I thought, maybe, you might wanna come?" His heart was pounding.

Harry searched his face, looking for…well, she wasn't sure. "Where is it?" she asked, to buy herself time.

"We decided to go for that classic British seaside holiday."

"Really?" She looked sceptical, oh hell, why did she look sceptical? "I wouldn't have thought Britain would be good enough for you." Ah, so that was it.

"Sure it is," he said simply, wanting to hurry a definite answer. He held her eyes, waiting.

"Alright then," she responded at last, and Dempsey's face broke into a grin completely without any conscious thought from himself.

"Great," he said, pleased.

I'm not really sure where they're going so I'm just sending them to a generic English beach. Also, the bit I keep telling you nothing about that I started writing this series for will definitely happen at the end of this episode! It's gonna be a complete anti-climax, it was just a scene I got in my head.