Disclaimer: Blue Murder and all of its characters belong to Cath Staincliffe and ITV. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just borrowing them for fun.
A/N: This follows on from the reunion scene in 'Inside', which I thought was just far too short, so here's my version of how it might have panned out. Please review!
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Richard held her tightly, so glad to be safe, to be back. He'd been so afraid that he wouldn't make it out alive. Seeing Janine again had been all he could think about.
And then he discovered that she'd guessed where he was. All he could feel was overwhelming guilt for putting her through that, and for not telling her in the first place. He should have known she'd find out. She was a detective after all. A bloody good one at that.
Her body was soft and warm and comforting against his. Richard didn't want to let her go. He never wanted to let her go again.
"I'm sorry," he whispered finally.
"What for?"
He pulled back reluctantly and looked down at her. "For not telling you. I wanted to. I..."
She smiled at him slightly, blinking hard. "I know."
A single tear escaped down her cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb. "Hey, it's ok. I'm ok."
Janine held his gaze as he blinked back tears of his own. Then she shook her head and looked at the floor. "I'm being stupid. You're the one who's been..." She paused, glanced at him before looking away again over his shoulder. "It's been a hell of a week."
"Michael." It was a statement rather than a question.
She said nothing, just looked back up at him.
"I got your message."
She nodded. "You picked your week to bugger off and leave me to it."
Richard smiled and pulled her to him again, her head tucked under his chin, his arm around her shoulders. He buried his face in her hair, breathed in the comforting, familiar smell of her shampoo. For a few seconds he stood there holding her close, his hand on the back of her neck, stroking her hair. Then without even really thinking about it, he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
He felt her tense for just a fraction of a second, heard her breath hitch, and wondered if he'd overstepped the mark. Then she sighed and relaxed into him, her arms tightening around his waist.
"Let's get a coffee," he murmured. "You can tell me all about it."
"Mmm," Janine replied softly, neither of them in any hurry to release the other. When they finally parted, he looked down at her, feeling a little embarrassed, seeing a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. Both of them aware that yet again they were stepping back from the brink, away from the line that they never crossed.
"Come on." Richard smiled, offering her his arm. "I'm buying."
She grinned back up at him, linking her arm through his, as together they turned towards the doors.
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