Title: Colour blind
Author: Loz
E-Mail: loz06(at)yahoo(dot)com
Rating: K+
Category: Neil.Andrea
Series: Stand alone, not related to anything else I've done
Spoilers: So minor it shouldn't ruffle any feathers.
Archive (if applicable): www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net(slash)loz06
Feedback: The good, the bad and the very ugly it's all appreciated.
Summary: Neil reflects on newly discovered feelings for Andrea and makes a decision about who and what he wants for his life.
Authors' notes: Ah this is my 'getting back on the horse' story, so if it sucks deepest apologies. I haven't had much time or oddly inclination to write lately, so I'm trying to ease my way back with a stand alone rather than stuffing up my series.
Thanks and apologies: Apologies to anyone who's been waiting for a story from me, any story and I've taken so long to resurface. Thanks for your patience.
Disclaimers: I'm not blind, let alone colour blind. The Bill doesn't belong to me, neither does the song released by Darius.
Feelin' blue, when I'm trying to forget the feeling that I miss you
"Neil."
He's already through the door, sighing, it'd been a particularly arduous day but he's here now, where none of the day mattered, he could forget and leave it on the other side of the door, take comfort from where he is.
There's a light on in the kitchen, warm and welcoming, waiting for him and that's what he so looks forward to.
"Neil."
This time Philippa breaks through, he was miles away. It's not the living room and chair he wishes he was sitting in, not the home he was just imagining he was entering.
"What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking." Neil says still slightly preoccupied, he hasn't quite pulled himself away from Andrea's imminent welcome home in his mind.
"It's late, I'm going to bed." Philippa says giving up on obtaining Neil's full attention.
"I'll be there in a minute." He tells her, finally breaking away from Andrea, for a few seconds he watches Philippa head up the stairs.
Turning off the last light with the intention of following her, he doesn't make it. He remains in the wrong chair in the wrong living room, but he never manages to pick up where he left off in his mind.
Instead he stares into the darkness, sighing regretfully before taking himself upstairs.
She has her back to him, her hair pulled loosely on the nape of her neck, curls spraying untamed from the clip that secures it. She's stirring something over the cook top, she hears him and turns.
"Neil."
Philippa's soft voice snaps him back, back to where he's sitting up in bed next to her, pillows stacked behind him, his is the only light still on and it's disturbing her.
He looks across to Philippa on her side of the bed, now lying curled up on her side and facing away from him. He reaches for the lamp on his bedside table and turns it out; he's slow to slide down under the covers, settling his head against the pillows.
Philippa's too tough and independent to sleep close to him. Andrea likes to spoon, they share their day, their problems. They do things together.
He misses her.
Outside his dreams it's been a week since he's seen her alone.
Feelin' green, when the jealousy swells and it won't go away in dreams.
There are perfectly good tea and coffee making facilities in CID which Neil bypasses, he's not interested in the stimulants, he just needs a reason.
He can't intentionally accidentally run into Andrea in CID.
He hasn't stopped thinking about her, all last night; he's got to see her now.
He's careful about being casual as he pushes through the double swinging doors to the canteen, careful to appear focused, careful that his look is indecipherable.
Her laughter that is music to his ears, accompanies her smile which lights him up from the inside and draws his eyes to her for a moment.
He smiles.
He watches her talking and laughing at a table full of uniformed officers, it's better than last nights dreams, he catches her eye for a second, her smile growing and then Smithy leans in.
Neil's smile drops as the sergeant whispers something that has Andrea once again laughing, he drops further as she pats the top of Smithy's hand with her own.
Looking down at the change in his hand for the purchase he doesn't want, Neil looks back up and mumbles 'changed my mind' loud enough for the uniformed PC behind him to hear. He doesn't hurry out, maintaining his demeanour despite how he feels because of what he's seen.
Andrea's eyes meet his again and he pauses for a second, making no attempt to disguise to her his reaction to the scene that's just played out in front of him.
Her smile drops away and Neil walks out.
Nobody walks unannounced into his office, only Andrea. When she does later that afternoon Neil watches her casually enter and close the door.
She smiles when he finally tilts his head away from his work but he can't shift the memory of Smithy downstairs in the canteen, leaning in closer to her.
He knows what it means that he can't get Smithy's actions out of his mind. It frightens him he feels the way he does about Andrea after such a short amount of time.
What frightens him more are the implications of his feelings.
She sits herself down in the chair across from Neil, her smile changes, unable to understand why he's not smiling back.
"Did you want to talk to me earlier?" She asks lightly, unaware of his thoughts and feelings.
"Yeah but you were busy." Immediately he picks up his pen looking down at his work, trying to appear as if it's all of no consequence.
Neil looks across at Andrea wondering if she thinks about him. Does she feels the need to drop everything and seen him as he needed to see her today?
Does she know he's just this week coming to terms with how he feels about her? Can she see that the light affection and closeness between Smithy and herself has brought up an emotion in him he hasn't experienced for a long time?
He can't tell her until he knows she feels the same.
"It was just refs; we were sharing a joke, a laugh." Andrea shrugs off; giving the slightest indication she would have been glad for the interruption.
"Yeah, well." Neil almost mumbles and goes back to concentrating on the work in front of him again.
"Are you…?" Andrea starts, with the half question Neil looks up, he hears in her voice the fact she's just come to a realisation. Then she sees it on his face for the first time. "You're jealous."
Neil says nothing, it's true but he's not about to open his mouth and confirm it.
His pen goes down as Andrea stands up, pacing across the carpet to the door.
"That means two things…" She looks him straight in the eye. "You care for me."
"No." Neil shakes his head, the word and his near leap from his chair impulsive at best. "I love you." His voice drops back, soft and almost inaudible.
It was easier to say it than he had feared.
The surprise gradually erodes from Andrea's face.
"And you know there's a reason I might look elsewhere." Andrea's voice wobbles.
Neil looks down, she's exactly right.
She's brought up the very thing from his newly realised feelings for her that worries him.
His office door opens quietly and clicks closed while Neil is still looking down.
Feelin' yellow, I'm confused inside
A little hazy but mellow when I feel your eyes on me
It comes out of necessity because as much as he would like to have remained in his chair behind his closed door, with just his thoughts, he was starting to feels the effects of his mind being the only active part of him.
So he stands up and out of his chair, leaving the work he has tried to distract himself with for a length of time he hasn't counted.
Neil wanders slowly to the window; CID has hummed on without his direction a mixed hymn of phones, paper and conversation.
He really knows how to pick his time to reacquaint him with the outside world.
The first person he clamps his eyes on is Andrea.
She's standing with her hands on her hips, smirking down at Phil Hunter who's leaning back in his chair. When Phil's not looking her eyes roll in an action Neil has restrained himself from using many times.
He stands at the window, unable to look away.
He watches the slightest movement of her hair, her little finger that taps impatiently against her thigh, her eyes that move carefully around the room, absorbing what everyone else is doing.
Her eyes never pass Neil's office and he's glad about that because he doesn't know what to say to her right now, despite this his eyes never leave her through the slats of the open blinds.
He's not sure what to do right now.
There are so many elements and he's feeling confused.
It was just going to be a fling, some fun. It was meant to fill the gap of what he wasn't getting at home.
He wasn't meant to fall in love.
He loves Philippa he tells himself but immediately follows it up with the same statement phrased as a question. Philippa is the sole reason Andrea would look elsewhere.
It's all a mess now.
And then there's Jake.
He can see the brilliant smile on his son's face, the one that accompanies open arms when Neil comes through the door and home from work.
He can't bear the thought of that love going away.
Removed directly because of his actions or inaccessible because of the anger from the hurt he caused his mother.
Neil turns slowly and looks at the plaque on his desk. Detective Inspector Neil Manson he reads.
"Neil Manson." He says out loud, deliberately leaving off his title.
He looks around his office, he's had the occasional passing fancy of walking away from the MET and taking up one of the many dreams he had for his life in his late twenties, coupled with the fact he's recently found himself wondering and imagining what a life only with Andrea would be like, walking away from his job doesn't seem like the life changing decision it did years ago.
A part of him feels he could walk away from it all tomorrow and skip the gossip, scandal and the forced transfer, the years spent trying to regain credibility much less rank, all of which would come from revealing the true nature of his relationship with Andrea.
For the life he's indulged in imagining he could have with Andrea, it would be no sacrifice at all.
As he looks back into CID, seeing Andrea pointing to something on Phil's computer screen, Neil acknowledges that which holds him back from telling her everything.
Does she feel the same way?
Does she want what he now finds himself wanting, increasingly more and more?
Confusion swims through his thoughts with all the things to consider but mostly he's afraid to hold out his heart for her, in case she doesn't feel the same way.
And that alone will stop them from going forward, being together, stop him from leaving Philippa and will leave in place the reason for Andrea to look elsewhere.
Neil realises he's come the full circle, argued his way back around to why he should tell Andrea how he feels, more than just blurting words out spontaneously in his office like he did.
He looks up, back in her direction, she's watching him, no longer focused on work and he knew it, something about a slight warm feeling all over that comes from being caught in the path of her chocolate brown eyes. He holds her look and her eyes remain on his, their faces devoid of any expression though to only them it speaks volumes of the uncertain place they're in now. Neither can smile at one another, even if they wanted to. When she starts to walk away, smiling thanks to Phil, Neil heads back to his desk.
He can't erase her smile from his memory though.
Feelin' fine! Sublime!
When that smile of your creeps into my mind
Oh oh
Without so much as a passing thought Neil instructs the person on the other side of the door to 'come.' The possibility it's Andrea doesn't enter his consciousness, she's the only one who doesn't knock.
Just to throw him off balance even more it's Andrea who slips through the door and as she closes it almost silently behind her Neil tenses.
He feels his heart rate increase with the possibility it will be a conversation about their relationship, every nerve in his body suddenly jangles as well.
In the mere seconds before she says anything Neil fidgets with his hands under the desk and despite the fact there's no indication on her face this will be anything other than a professional conversation, Neil can't relax.
"You're not upset about before are you?" She asks sweetly though with some apprehension, perhaps under the impression he is from their shared look through the open blinds of his window.
Neil wonders if he has the correct meaning of before, does she mean the events in the canteen or that which came after.
He shakes his head slowly indicating he's not and he relaxes a tiny amount, though still in the back of his mind is the question of whether they're going to talk over his sudden announcement.
"Good." Andrea nods slowly, the faintest brush of a smile on her face. "So you're still coming over tonight?" It's as though she's checking or confirming, like she suspects the answer will be no, a reasonable suspicion to hold in Neil's opinion given what's gone on between them so far today.
Still there's an element in her voice that's almost hidden but indicates she wants him to come around still.
"Yes." Neil says softly, nodding just the once.
She breaks out into a brilliant smile.
It lifts Neil instantly like it always does, a wonderful, free, no consequences pick-me-up.
It banishes any doubts and apprehension he has.
He swears he falls a little more in love with her each time he sees it.
It stopped him the first time he saw it and that was after her beauty, without the smile, had stopped him in the middle of the corridor.
It unravels a bad day, banishes the complexities of his life and makes him forget those and the other things he's worried about.
It's just one of the things he loves about her.
One of many.
Her smile leaves an imprint on his brain like she has on his heart.
"I'll see you later then." Andrea seems to say still without confidence though this time she needs reassurance and confirmation.
"You will." Neil sits back into the depths of his chair, watching her intently and hoping for another smile.
He's not disappointed and despite trying to focus on work for the rest of the afternoon it keeps creeping back into his mind.
Nobody told me you'd feel so good
Nobody said you'd be so beautiful
Nobody warned me about your smile
You're the light, you're the light
When I close my eyes
I'm colour blind
You make me colour blind
Neil feels nervous but at the same time happy.
He always feels content at Andrea's and in her company.
The external security doors open almost before he lifts his finger from the buzzer. He smiles, she's expecting him, he looks up to her window but there's no one looking down.
He holds his hand up to the door, halfway to a knock and still smiling, he takes a deep breath, his nerves have increased in the short walk up the stairs.
"It's open." She calls out, almost as soon as he's started knocking.
Neil loosens his tie and slips off his jacket once he's through the door.
He feels comfortable here, at home, he no longer stands in the middle of the room feeling slightly out of place.
He knows where everything his and how she does and likes things.
He looks in the kitchen for her first, leaving his jacket, wallet and keys next to hers. He studies the inanimate objects, side by side, next to one another, together.
In the living room he finds her sitting on the sofa, there's a glass of wine on the table in front of her, there's one for him too.
She has her glasses on, reading the front page of the day's paper.
Her hair is loosely tied in the same way at the nape of her neck like he'd imagined.
She's beautiful.
Even doing the simplest most mundane things, it shines through.
And he can't look away.
He looses himself in the fantasy that this could be every night…just for a few seconds.
"You look tired." He smiles lethargically, drifting slowly from his dream.
Its little things like that he loves.
What alerted her to his presence and made her turn her head to look behind her or was it she just knew he was there somehow.
Still smiling Neil walks over and kisses her forehead over the top of the sofa. An affectionate hand caresses his cheek as she looks over his tired features with concern.
He takes her hand in his and holds it as he sits down next to her.
Andrea puts down the paper in front of her and rests her glasses on top of it. She passes him his glass of wine, sipping hers in silence with him.
Like this he still feels close to her, something he's never experienced with Philippa.
"I heard you busted a major drug dealer today despite Tony tripping over the guy as Zain was arresting him." Though Andrea smiles, Neil remains serious, staring ahead he leans slowly forward putting his wine glass back down.
"Neil?" She senses there's something wrong. He assumes she's thinking it's about today and in part it is.
He turns back to look at her, as if that might reassure her everything's fine, with the exception he's in love with her and the things that it brings up.
He's caught up in her face, unable to look away, intently focused.
It feels so good to be with her, nothing else matters.
How is it something that feels so right could be so wrong?
On impulse he leans in quickly, taking her by surprise, kissing her passionately, leaving them both breathless.
"Did you mean what you said today? Because I've wanted to say the same thing but I've been holding back." She's incredibly apprehensive, looking to him with soft, hopeful eyes.
Now Neil knows why they didn't talk about it right away.
She was scared, as is he, scared he might not mean it, scared to say it back. Mindful of all the things he is as well.
"Don't…say it." Neil says quietly.
"I love you Neil." Her voice is as soft as her look; she leans in for a sweet kiss.
He wonders how this can be so wrong.
With their legs tangled and his arms around her he listens to the rise ad fall of her breathing.
He kisses the nape of her neck.
She feels so right…and good.
Feelin' red, when you spend all your time with your friends and not me instead
"See you there in ten?" Honey asks one hand poised to push through the double swinging doors. The relief are headed to the pub, a social get together as opposed to a much needed lift after a bad day.
Honey doesn't wait for an answer, she's already through the doors her words more a statement of expectation than a question of Andrea's possible presence.
Andrea smiles in Honey's direction however it isn't for Honey, it's for Neil who's now heading towards her.
"Hi." She says gently, her smile now too familiar for the corridors of Sun Hill.
He smiles back, images of the last time they were together flashing by him.
"Can I see you tonight?" Neil asks being almost coy, he doesn't expect her to take his hand and lead him into an empty room.
She bites gently at her bottom lip; she can't hide anything from him, he's about to be told she can't. He's reminded that she almost always has to fit in around him and his constraints yet he feels a little annoyed now.
"I've said no to my friends the last three times they've asked me to go out for a drink…" He doesn't doubt the genuine apologetic tone or the look on her face.
"For me," He finishes, despite the disappointment he smile. "I understand."
"Call me later?" She's back to hesitant, having registered his annoyance. Neil just doesn't feel it's a conversation let alone an argument he can have, given his current situation. Any complaints about her spending time with her friends would rightfully have Philippa thrown back in his face.
Neil only nods in answer to her question, kissing her possessively before she goes.
"Bye." Andrea says softly, watching him for a change in reaction until the door closes after her.
Neil asks himself if he imagines the regret he hears in her voice.
He heads back upstairs to his desk, unable to face going home or anywhere else.
He needs time to allow his annoyance to slip away, the last thing he wants is to go home and intentionally or otherwise take it out on Philippa.
The last thing he wants is to go home full stop.
He flicks his office door with force, allowing his annoyance to have him stating that she can see her friends any day…and does.
He wants to see her, it's been days and their time together is hard to organise and frequently few and far between.
He knows he's not being rational, that he shouldn't be this way.
He's driven by how deeply he feels for her. It explains his reaction to Smithy's innocent actions.
She's not at his beck and call and he definitely can't be at hers.
It makes his current feelings unfair.
Having talked himself back to being rational he gathers up some work to take home.
He's back to missing her.
Feelin' black, when I think about all of the things I lack
As Neil descends the front stairs from CID he sinks lower.
He can't go with her to the pub, to share a laugh and good times with friends like she was with Smithy. Earlier in the canteen no longer makes him jealous, he's too deep in his own inadequacies.
She can't tell her friends about him, she has to hide him, shield him from her friends, sneak around, lie to them…because of him.
She has to share him and be all right with that, accept it, tolerate it, and pretend to be fine with it. But she knows full well she might get tired of it and look elsewhere for something less complex, Neil knows it too.
He has to put her second, though he aches when he has to and hates it. That's not the way he wants it to be…not anymore.
He can't always be there for her and he knows full well that if a situation were ever to arise at work he may not be able to conceal the true nature of their relationship.
Nor would he want to hide it, to stand back and remain stoic, focusing on getting the person or persons who inflicted the pain.
He would be no use to anyone; he'd be unable to focus on anyone or anything but her.
What good is being in love if you can't show it, share it, can't be with one another he reminds himself?
All because of him.
Feelin' jaded, when it's not going right
All the colours have faded, then I feel your eyes on me
He wants more, he's certain of that now and as he walks through the dark to his car he can feel a new level of confidence and determination, one he wishes he had when he first realised he felt as strongly as he does about her.
He has a desire to chase a life only with Andrea now, no matter what the cost. Including if she's unsure if it's what she wants.
Her laughter ringing out in the night quiet turns Neil around.
She's wearing her brilliant smile that blinds him as she steps with the group of uniformed officers from the front doors of the station.
He looks down to the house keys in his hand that open the door to his house with Philippa.
He feels down, jaded.
He's not about to go home to the woman he wants to.
And right now there's nothing he can do to change that.
He heads to his car; resigned to the fact no amount of wishing will change his situation right now.
But tomorrow…
He sighs heavily as he pushes the key into the ignition, looking back towards the station.
The rest of the group have gone on ahead, the girls laughing with their arms linked.
Andrea has stopped.
She's digging through her bag, looking for something. With a sideways glace she checks the rest of her group have rounded the corner and are out of sight.
Bag forgotten she looks over at him.
Neil relaxes back into the seat and a smile spreads over his face.
Feelin' fine! Sublime!
When that smile of your creeps into my mind
Mmm Mmm
A smile spreads across Andrea's face and the details of where he's about to head fade.
She's all he can concentrate on.
'Have a good night' he mouths, she understands adding a nod to her smile before hurrying to catch up with the group.
Neil starts his car and heads home, passing the group on his way down the street.
He feels happy despite where he's headed.
Unable to get her smile out of his mind.
"Neil."
He distributes the drinks around the table, leaving Andrea's until last.
He slides in next to her, her hand instantly searches for his, he brushes past it, curling his arm instead over her shoulders, her other hand rising to interlock fingers with his.
Across the table a joke is told among the mix of CID and uniformed officers, Neil takes no notice of the boisterous laughter, whispering instead in her ear.
"Neil."
This time he pulls away from the dream, Philippa has turned over, an irritated look on her face.
As usual her bedside light is off and she's sleeping with her back turned to Neil and like always he remains awake, imagining it's not Philippa he's about to go to sleep next to.
"Your phone is beeping." She sighs irritably and turns over again.
Neil reaches for his phone, winding his mind back to Andrea.
He smiles as he sees who the message is from.
I had to go tonight because I didn't want my friends to ask questions about why I haven't been going out with them. I want to tell them I've fallen in love with you.
For a moment he feels a little off balance, not being able to tell anyone and wanting to is exactly a reason she may look elsewhere.
He moves on from feeling down, it's not just she who wants to express feelings to others now and the fact he is the reason they can't has him slowly and sadly resting the phone in his hands on his lap.
He takes care with the reply he types, looking across to Philippa as if she'd be interested in what he's doing.
I'm coming over, now.
He waits body tense, for a reaction. He knows already he'll take it badly if she says don't come. The other part of him knows he'll be taking a risk.
A risk entirely worth it.
His phone announces a new message and next to him Philippa groans.
The message is short and opens quickly, a simple smiling face created using parts of the English punctuation text.
Philippa swallows his excuse about it being work that's calling him away, she's just happy to have the last light out and to be able to get to sleep.
In his mind Neil can picture Andrea's smile and he can't wait to be with her.
Nobody told me you'd feel so good
Nobody said you'd be so beautiful
Nobody warned me about your smile
You're the light, you're the light
When I close my eyes
I'm colour blind
You make me colour blind
"Why does this feel so right?" Neil sighs into the side of Andrea's head, holding her tenderly.
He'd taken the stairs to her flat two at a time, the door was open and he didn't need to look far to find her.
They threw themselves into each others arms.
For Neil there are almost tears in his eyes and Andrea holds him as though she's about to lose him.
"Because it is," She says with her voice cracked. It isn't long until Neil feels her tears on his cheek.
He kisses the side of her forehead and breathes a heavy sigh at their situation.
It's the early hours of the morning when he slides out of bed.
He should be able to go to sleep and usually can.
He usually drops right off to sleep holding her like he is now but tonight he's thinking.
He pulls the covers back up over Andrea and makes his way to the sofa.
It's not bad thinking.
It's about how good he feels when he's with her, how beautiful she is.
It's about how much he loves her, how much he wants to be with her, only her.
And it's about the fact he and he alone, his complex situation, his restraints, are the reason they can't be together in the open.
It's about how he wants that to change.
"I woke up and you weren't there, I thought you might have gone." She was obviously asleep, her voice laced with weariness. Neil doesn't turn, continuing to stare into the darkness, he knows what he wants to say and this time has the confidence to say it.
"I don't want to leave you ever." He says with a determined whisper.
"Neil." She says like she thinks he shouldn't have said the words he just has, like he's saying them because he's tired or for some other reason.
She steps in front of him and he can make out her every curve despite the darkness.
"You've become the absolute light of my life Andrea. I can't describe how I feel when I'm around you. I can't think about anyone else. I don't notice anyone or anything else; I'm blind to it all. I love you." His voice though quiet asks for her belief in her words.
"Neil you're tired, it's the middle of the night and you should be getting home." She sits down next to him, taking his hand, he hasn't convinced her yet.
"I want this to be my home."
When the surprise wears off he leans towards her engaging in a slow burning kiss.
She pulls him into her arms right there on the sofa.
Blinded by the light you shine, the colours fade completely
Blinded by you every time, I feel your smile defeat me
I'm colour blind
I just can't deny this feeling
"What about Jake?" Philippa asks slowly, like she's still absorbing and processing what Neil's just told her.
He wants to be with Andrea
He can't deny it.
He doesn't really notice Philippa and her reaction, he doesn't notice anything around him, he's focused on where he's going and who he's going to be with.
He's looking forward to her smile and holding her.
"I'll be back tomorrow to explain, we both should." Neil says not stopping as he packs his bag with a few essential things.
Like he said he'll be back to collect the rest.
And then it'll be moved into Andrea's.
He isn't happy here under this roof, in this partnership.
He knows the marriage isn't working and she knows it too.
He's fallen in love with someone else; he's in love with Andrea.
It's liberating to be able to say it. To think without panicking about all the reasons he can't and shouldn't feel the way he does.
"Neil."
He pulls himself back to Philippa.
"I can't deny how I feel." He says trying to avoid getting into a discussion or a situation where Philippa tries to change his mind.
"Neil."
"You don't love me anymore either, be honest." He jumps in, his mind slips back to Andrea but his eyes drift to Philippa.
He holds her look waiting for her to disagree.
"We couldn't go on like this and I…you should know I didn't mean to, I didn't go out looking for her." He's not lying and while he didn't go looking for anything he found something wonderful.
"I have to start being honest. I need someone who needs me and you don't need me, she does." And he needs her too.
"You're obviously happy Neil." And with that Philippa's gone, shortly after that Neil leaves the house, he smiles in the darkness of the car as it heads in Andrea's direction.
Nobody told me you'd feel so good
Nobody said you'd be so beautiful
Nobody warned me about your smile
You're the light, you're the light
When I close my eyes
I'm colour blind
Neil pushes his new key in the lock of Andrea's front door. He turns it but stops to think before opening the door.
He wishes someone could have told him being with Andrea would feel so good, that someone could have told him about her smile, that she was such a beautiful person, about the way she'd make him feel.
Because he would have done something about being with her before now.
He opens the door, bringing his few possessions with him.
Everything in the world he needs and wants stands right in front of him.
"Neil."
Standing in front of her he drops his bag of things.
"Nobody told me Andrea…I wasn't prepared…I wasn't warned…I didn't expect to love you as much as I do." His voice wobbles as does he.
"Welcome home." Andrea sobs, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I love you too."
He gathers her into his arms, sighing, this time contentedly. Andrea simply says…
"Neil."
Nobody told me you'd feel so good
Nobody said you'd be so beautiful
Nobody warned me about your smile
You're the light, you're the light
When I close my eyes
I'm colour blind
You make me colour blind
The End