FreeFall
Boyd and Grace – He makes a mistake, and when Grace ends things between them Boyd can't cope and goes into freefall, she tells him to move on, he asks her to come back, who will get their wish.
Disclaimer – I own nothing, Enjoy
"I don't think anyone's home." A young looking uniformed police officer said to his female companion. "Does he have any keys on him?"
"No, just a wallet, the duty sergeant knows him, he said this is the correct address, he's a DSI Boyd apparently, head of the cold case unit, anyway, the Serge said this is his home address, but he has no keys on him."
"Well we can't just dump him here, not in his condition." The young male officer replied, whilst banging heavily on the front door again. They were about to leave when the door was opened from the other side, it opened slowly, a security chain still in place, well it was 3am.
"What do you want?" The voice from the other side asked.
"Hi, I'm PC Gibbs, this is my colleague PC Tanner, we're looking for Doctor Foley, Doctor Grace Foley."
"I'm Doctor Grace Foley, how can I help you?"
"We have DSI Boyd in the car ma'am, he's a little bit the worse for wear I'm afraid, our sergeant said it would be better if we brought him home rather than putting him in a cell for the night."
"Well I'm sorry but your sergeant has the wrong address, DSI Boyd no longer lives at this address."
"Do you have his current address ma'am?"
"No I'm sorry I don't, last I heard he was staying with a colleague, but I don't know who or where."
"Doctor Foley, if we can't take him home, then he'll have to be taken in and arrested, he'll be booked into custody and charged with being drunk and disorderly, it will go on his record ma'am."
"Well I'm sorry but I don't know where he's staying."
"Perhaps we could avoid that, if we could leave him with you to sober up ma'am, we'd carry him in for you, put him where ever you want us to."
Grace sighed loudly, before removing the chain from the front door, "you'd better bring him in and put him on the sofa for now."
"Thank you, I appreciate your help, and I'm sure DSI Boyd will too."
"Somehow I doubt it, but bring him in anyway."
The two police officers carried Boyd in as best they could; laying him on Grace's sofa and making sure she was okay before they left.
After they left she put a pillow under his head, removed his shoes and tie, and put a blanket over him, she left a bucket by his side and a glass of water and headache tablets on the table next to him, she stood and looked at him, and was about to leave, she looked down at him and gently stroked his hair, moving it off his face, she bent down and gently kissed his forehead. As she turned to walk away she felt him grab hold of her hand. She turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry Grace, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you, I love you so much, please forgive me?"
"Go to sleep Peter." She replied, completely ignoring his words, and leaving him alone.
It was about 6am when Boyd woke to find himself tucked up on the sofa of his former home, with absolutely no memory of how he got there, his head was pounding and his stomach churning like the inside of a washing machine, he sat up and felt his head pound harder than ever. He smiled at the sight in front of him, the bucket on the floor, the glass of water and box of paracetamol on the table; he knew instantly that these were the actions of his former lover. He took two tablets from the pack and downed them with the glass of water, before sitting back on the sofa and rubbing his forehead. The last few months had been a nightmare that he wished he could erase from his memory, permanently, and whilst he was at it, erase it all from her memory too. He had begged and pleaded with her over and over again, all to no avail.
He stood up and walked towards the fireplace of the home they had shared for the previous five years, more than five years, probably almost six years he thought to himself whilst Looking at the various pictures still adorning the fireplace, pictures of them together at various times, happier times. His favourite picture was of them at the christening of Grace's youngest grandson, Elijah, it was about three years ago now, but it was a terrific day, and the photo was of him standing behind her, whilst she was sat down holding the baby, the rest of her grandchildren sat or standing around them. She had five grandchildren from her three children, and they had all accepted him as part of the family, the grandchildren even called him Grandpa, and he loved it, when he lost her he lost all that too, and somehow he just couldn't get past it.
A noise from behind startled him; he turned to see Grace stood behind him.
"I thought you might have left by now, I came down to check the door was locked." She watched as his hand stroked her face on the picture, "you always did love that picture." She commented as he touched it.
"It's my favourite." He replied. "Us and the kids, first time I really felt part of the family." His voice was quiet, and soft, and she wasn't sure if it was still the alcohol or emotion causing it.
"I'll get it copied for you if you like."
"No point now, I'm not part of that family any more, it's all gone."
"Oh don't do this Boyd, it's over, done with, get up and move on."
"What if I don't want to get up and move on, what if I liked what we had, what if I want it back."
"You did this! You, not me, so get over it Peter, just like I had too."
"Take me back Grace, please?"
12 Weeks Earlier
Beep Beep Beep Beep, the sound of the alarm was like a high pitched shrill resonating around the room; Boyd stuck out his hand and slammed it down on the stop button, before sitting up on the edge of the bed.
"What time is it?" A sleepy, soft voice said behind him.
"Its 5am, go back to sleep."
"Okay you've convinced me." She replied and drifted back off to sleep. It was about an hour and half later when she felt the bed dip slightly next to her, she opened to see him sat on the edge of the bed next to her. "Are you off now?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I've made you a cup of tea." He replied nodding at the cup on the bedside table.
"Thanks, have you got everything you need?
"Yeah I think so."
"What time do you think you'll get there?"
"A couple of hours I guess, it starts at 10am, so I'll be in plenty of time, not that I want to go at all, I'd rather stay here with you."
"Only because I have a couple of days off, if I had to go to work you'd be off like a shot."
"True, it's not the conference that's the problem; it's the glorified piss up in the evenings, sat exchanging pleasantries with people who normally wouldn't give you the time of day, it so bloody hypocritical."
"I'm sure you'll find someone there that you actually like."
"Mm, I wouldn't be so sure; I've pissed off a lot of people in the past."
"You don't say." She mocked him.
"Listen, I should go, I'll phone you when I get there and again this evening when I'm bored and probably drunk."
"Deep joy, I'll look forward to it."
"I'm sure you will." He bent forward and kissed her on the lips, "Bye, love you."
"I love you too, take care, and drive carefully." She replied.
"Don't I always?"
"It's probably best if I don't answer that."
"Probably." He replied with a smile on his way out of the door.
She lay in bed a while longer and drunk her tea, finally getting up at 8am, she had the next two days to herself, no work, no man, bliss she thought to herself.
As most of the high ranking police officers where on this conference for the next two days, they had given the CCU team the two days off, well officially they were all working from home, otherwise known as having the two days off, unless anything urgent came up, Spence was on call, but as they weren't working on anything major at the moment, Boyd had decided to close the office for the two days.
The journey was straight forward and he arrived at his destination in good time, he checked into his room and unpacked before phoning Grace to let her know everything was okay, that was at about 9.30am, the conference reception was at 10.00am, so he made his way down to the function room as soon as the call ended. He could already see a few faces he knew, some he liked some he didn't and quite a few that probably didn't like him, he made no secret of the way he felt about people, and it had undoubtedly made him quite a few enemies over the years. He got himself an orange juice from the breakfast buffet that had been laid on for them and stood taking in his surroundings when he saw a face he recognised very well.
"Well well, Peter Boyd, maybe this won't be such a boring conference after all."
"Jess Worrall, how are you? I didn't realise you were coming along to this tedious event."
"DCI Worrall now Peter, gets me on the list for all the best Met events."
"I thought you quit?"
"You need to update your sources Peter; they asked me back, with a promotion into the bargain, so here I am."
"And looking very well too, if you don't mind me saying."
"Ha-ha, same old Peter, still flirting with anything in a skirt."
"Nah not me, I'm very happily attached these days."
"Really, my god, who has managed to put a ball and chain on you?"
"Grace Foley, she works in the CCU, you remember Grace?"
"Grace? Criminal profiler Grace?"
"The very same, we've been together for over five years."
"Bloody hell, wonders will never cease."
"What does that mean?"
"Well she's not your usual type is she; I mean not the kind of girl you used to go for."
"Maybe that's because she's a woman not a girl, as you put it."
"Point taken, so shall we sit together, or do you have someone else to annoy for the day?"
"Nope, I can sit and annoy you for the day, that's fine."
He spent the day with Jess, they ate lunch together, and then sat together in the afternoon, then in the evening they had dinner together and started drinking in the bar, all meals and accommodation was paid for, but they were responsible for their own bar bills, not that it bothered them. By 9.00pm they'd polished off two bottles of wine and had started on the scotch, they were paralytic, loud and rowdy, not just the two of them the entire delegation. The Met had as good as taken over the hotel, and most of them had congregated in the hotel bar for the evening, trying to drink it dry, Boyd and Jess were joined by some others, who sat with them for a while. But as one by one they all disappeared, it was back to just the two of them again, they continued to sit and drink, until they realised it was gone 2.00am, and they were the only two left in the bar.
They walked back to their rooms together; hers was before his so he stopped outside her door to see her in.
"Come in, have another drink with me Peter." She said slurring her words.
"I think we may have had one too many already."
"One more won't hurt then will it." As she said the words she looked deep into his eyes, in an instant she had lunged forward and kissed him, and he didn't hesitate to respond. They fell through her hotel room door, and onto the bed, undressing each other as they went, neither of them pausing for breath, neither of them thinking about anything except each other and what they were doing, they didn't talk they simply had sex and then fell asleep on her bed.
Boyd woke up in Jess Worrall's bed at around 5.00am, he looked at her and then his surroundings, and his heart sank, he remembered the previous night's events vaguely, flashes of memories, rolling in the bed with her, kissing her, threading his hands through hers as he climaxed. "Fuck!" He said quietly to himself as he sat and ran his hands through his hair. All of a sudden he felt a hand on his back.
"Come back to bed Peter." She said, her voice still sounding slurred from the alcohol.
"Don't be so fucking ridiculous." He shouted back angrily, shrugging her hand off his back.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What the hell do you think is wrong with me?"
"Oh I get it, feeling a little guilty are we?"
"Oh I'm feeling more than a little guilty, what a monumental fuck up."
"Well you didn't seem to be feeling guilty when you were fucking my brains out a couple of hours ago."
"I was too drunk to know what I was doing."
"Well come back to bed for a couple of hours, I won't tell anyone if you don't."
"Fuck off Jess, okay, just fuck off, I don't want you, I happen to be very much in love with the woman I live with, last night was a major fucking mistake, I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do about it."
"For fucks sake chill out Peter, god, you were never this bothered about your infidelities before."
"Yeah well I wasn't as happy then as I am now, I'm happier than I ever was with Mary, Grace is my soul mate and cheating on her is just about the worse thing I could ever do to her."
"She doesn't need to know, okay."
"Does loyalty mean nothing to you?"
"Not a lot, no, but then I learnt that from you."
"Oh go to hell Jess."
"You first Hun."
"Stay out of my sight for the rest of the conference."
"Whatever."
The rest of the conference was tedious and drawn out, all he wanted to do was go home, even though he didn't know what he was going to do when he did, he'd betrayed her, how could he live with that, they were so happy together, but he was sure she would end things between them if she knew the truth, but what if it came out at a later date, what if she found out from someone else, what if they'd been seen, and it got back to her, he couldn't bare that either.
He checked out of the hotel as soon as he could when the conference finished, he was booked in for another night, but decided he wanted to go home. The drive was a nightmare, rush hour traffic and a head full of crap going over and over in his mind. By the time he got home he was still unsure of what to do, he wanted to come clean, he didn't want to live with that guilt constantly. But he knew their relationship would be over if he told her the truth.
As he put the key in the lock of their front door he was sure his guilt would be written all over his face, "Grace?"
"I'm in here." She replied. She wasn't surprised to see him as he'd already phoned to say he was driving straight back.
He walked into the lounge where she was sat on the sofa, bending down and kissing her, "god I've missed you."
"You've only been away two days."
"I know, I've still missed you though." He replied, kissing her again. "I'm just going to go and empty my bag and then I'll be back, don't move a muscle."
"Whatever you say." She replied.
Within ten minutes he was back, having changed and brought with him a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Have you eaten?" He asked handing her a glass and topping it up with wine.
"No not yet, I was gonna just have a sandwich, but being as you're back I could rustle something up."
"Nah, we'll order a takeaway." He replied sitting back on the sofa next to her, he turned and kissed her, softly at first, but then more passionately, his mouth moving to her neck, as his hands rested on her waist.
"I'll send you away more often if you're going to pay me this much attention when you get back."
"I told you, I missed you." This time he whispered the words into her ear, gently sucking on her earlobe afterwards, "let's go to bed Grace?"
"What?"
"Let's go to bed, I want you, I want you like you wouldn't believe." He moved her hand over his groin area and rubbed it against his growing erection, "see how much I want you."
She squeezed him gently with her hand, "So take me to bed then big man."
He grabbed hold of her hand and almost pulled her up the stairs in his rush to get her into bed. He hurriedly undressed, and pushed her onto the bed, where his mouth began to devour her body, his lips kissing her skin over and over again. His movements were hard and fast, his body ridding itself of the guilt of Jess Worrall by screwing the woman he adored, cleansing himself, by surrounding himself with her love.
Afterwards he lie in her arms, and felt every emotion under the sun, he felt like crying, he wanted her forgiveness for something she knew nothing about, and he wasn't sure he could carry on without that forgiveness, not sure he could look at her and know that he'd betrayed her, been unfaithful, he detested himself.
Four Weeks Later
As the days and weeks rolled by he tried as best he could to put the conference behind him, behind them, he still struggled with the guilt; if anyone mentioned the conference he felt an acid in his stomach that burnt him to the core. But for most of the time, things were the same as they had been before, they'd even been discussing a holiday, although no plans had been made, as Grace was keen on a cruise along the Nile, and he wanted something on dry land, where she didn't drag him around historical artefacts at every given opportunity, which is what he knew would happen if they went along the Nile, she was always on about going to the pyramids.
It was late afternoon when he answered his office phone to a familiar sounding voice, Jess.
"Hello Peter, we um, we need to talk." She said.
"What about?"
"I think it's better if we do this face to face, meet me at our old place in half an hour."
He agreed and hung up the phone, he had one massive thought going through his mind, they had never discussed contraception, Oh god he thought to himself, please don't let her be pregnant.
He left the office quickly without saying where he was going, and sat on a bench by the Thames waiting for her; it was a place they used to meet up when they'd had their affair, when he was still unhappily married to Mary. It seemed like a lifetime ago, now he sat here on tenterhooks waiting to find out what she wanted to see him for, hoping that she wasn't about to tell him she was pregnant, the bile rose in his throat at the mere thought of it.
He saw her approaching and stood to meet her, "Jess, how are you?" He said not really wanting to exchange pleasantries but feeling he should.
"I've been better I suppose, how are you?"
"I'm worried sick about what you want; please tell me you're not pregnant."
"Pregnant! Ha, god no, oh you thought, ah I see, now I can understand why you look so pale, bloody hell Peter, I'm not that stupid, I'm on the pill."
"Then what's this about?" He said sitting back on the bench, relief etched all over his face, his hands nervously running through his hair.
"I have been diagnosed with an STI, and was advised to inform all my sexual partners from the last six months, not that there's been that many, but it's possible I could have infected you."
"Infected me with what?"
"Chlamydia, I'm sorry I had no idea, the symptoms take a long time to show, I would never have slept with you without protection otherwise."
"So if there's a possibility that you have infected me, then there's a possibility that I have infected Grace." He put his head in his hands, "How the fuck could you not have known?"
"As I just said the symptoms are very slight, it can go unnoticed for some time."
"Fucking great, this is it, my retribution for sleeping with you; I knew something would happen I knew it."
"A slight over reaction Boyd, you may not even have it."
"Damn you Jess, Damn you." He said as he walked back to his car; he got in and slammed the door, sitting for a while to think about what he should do next. He immediately grabbed his mobile and made a doctor's appointment, he needed to know for sure before he did anything else.
It took just three days to get the test results back, and his heart sank as he was told he had tested positive, and would need a course of treatment, he was also advised to tell any sexual partners he'd had in the last six months, as there was a very good chance they would have it too.
He sat at home on the sofa, waiting for Grace to come home, she had gone to visit her daughter, he would normally have gone with her but he had made an excuse to stay at home, actually, he had gone to get the results of the test. It was just after 6.00pm when she got back home, full of stories of the grandchildren and how well they were doing, he couldn't believe he was about to blow their relationship apart, everything they had worked for, their home, relationship, their lives together, she was his world, but he couldn't see anyway of her forgiving him for this so called indiscretion.
"Do you want a drink?" She asked as she walked through to the kitchen.
"Are we talking tea or something stronger?"
"Well I was thinking of tea, but if you want something stronger I'll open a bottle of wine."
"Okay, wine's good for me."
She was standing in the kitchen when she heard him walk in behind her; she was instantly drawn to the sullen look on his face. "Are you okay?" She asked with a concerned tone to her voice.
"No not really, I need to talk to you."
"What's wrong?"
"Come and sit down for a minute, please?"
"Has somebody been hurt, one of the kids?"
"No, everyone is fine, please Grace, could you sit down, there's something I need to tell you."
"Oh god, you're ill."
"No, please just sit down and listen will you." She sat at the table next to him, and he took her hand in his, "Grace I love you, and I have never been as happy as I am with you, you have given me everything without even trying, a home, a family, grandchildren, all the things I would never have had, and I am so happy."
"What's going on, because I'm beginning to get a little worried now?"
"I made a mistake Grace, not a little mistake, a great big huge fucking monster of a mistake, and I should have told you at the time, but I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, so I chose the coward's way and kept it quiet, I never lied to you, I just never told you what happened."
"Just get to the point Peter, are you leaving me?"
"What? No, never, I would never leave you, but I think you will probably want me to leave when I've finished telling you what I have to say."
"Okay, in that case could you just hurry up and tell me, because I am imagining allsorts at the moment."
"I cheated on you."
"What? When?"
"When I was away on the conference, I got drunk, more than drunk, paralytic."
"Well obviously not that paralytic, if you were still able to have sex, who was she?"
"Does it matter who she was?"
"Yes it matters, who was she?" She almost spat the words at him.
"Jess Worrall, she was at the conference, it wasn't planned Grace, it just happened, I would never have gone near her if I was sober, but she kissed me, and it just happened, I have never regretted anything so much in all my life, I never wanted to hurt you."
"Is she pregnant?"
"No she's not pregnant."
"So why the sudden attack of guilt, why tell me now, it's been what, four weeks now since the conference, why come clean now?"
"Because she contacted me the other day to say she has chlamydia, and there's a very big chance she has infected me, and in return…"
"Oh my god, are you telling me that I may have contracted a sexually transmitted infection from you?"
"Yes." He replied rather sheepishly.
"So as well as being betrayed and cheated on by my partner of almost six years, I have to go through the humiliation of being tested for chlamydia?"
"I am so sorry."
"Oh grow up Boyd, do you realise how pathetic you sound. I am in my sixties and I am going to have to go to the Doctors and ask to be tested for a sexually transmitted infection, do you have any idea how humiliating that will be?"
"We'll get it done privately; you won't have to go to our GP."
"Is that what you did, a quick private test?"
"No, I went to our GP and got it done."
"It's bad enough that you've cheated on me, but you didn't even have the decency to use a condom."
"It wasn't planned Grace, I don't carry condoms around with me, we don't need them."
"Well obviously she should be carrying them around with her."
"I'll come with you to the Doctors, I'll make sure they know it's down to me, I promise."
Realising that he was still holding her hand, she snatched hers away, "do you think I want you anywhere near me?"
"What?"
"It's finished Peter, over! I want you to leave find somewhere else to stay."
"Grace no, come on, we can get through this, we've been through tough times before, it doesn't have to mean it's over, please Grace, I love you."
"Would you have ever told me if this hadn't happened?"
"I don't know, not honestly."
"You know damn well you wouldn't have, you thought you were home and dry, got away with it, poor sad old Grace need never know."
"I knew how you would react."
"Oh really, and how was that?"
"Like this, throwing me out, ending what we have, and the truth is, I don't blame you, but I don't want to lose you, everything we have, it's too much to lose because of a stupid drunken mistake."
"You are absolutely right, that is how I am going to react, I want you out, this, us, it's over, you betrayed me, cheated on me, and I can't forgive you, now I'd appreciate it if you would leave."
"I have nowhere else to go, what am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know, and what's more, I don't care."
"It was just a drunken mistake Grace, just once, I want you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, please don't do this, I've never been so sorry about anything, please, forgive me?"
"At this present moment in time I just want you gone, I want you out of the house and out of my life, and as for the future, well I don't really think we have one, now I am going for a bath and I'd appreciate it if you weren't here when I came back down."
Grace took her glass of wine and, indeed, the bottle of wine to the bathroom with her, she sat in the bath, and soaked for what seemed like an eternity, only when she heard the closing of the front door did she finally give in to the tears that had been threatening to spill from her eyes since he'd told her. She sat and gently sobbed in the bath, the agony of the last couple of hours pouring out, she was devastated, she never suspected for a single minute that she would come home from a lazy Saturday afternoon in the company of her daughter and grandchildren, to be confronted by this, to be told by the man she loved with all her heart that he had betrayed her, cheated on her with his former lover.
She got out of the bath to find the house empty and silent, not something she thought she would ever have to get used to again, but she honestly didn't know if there was a way back from this, in her eyes, this kind of betrayal was the worst kind of betrayal, and she didn't know if she had it in her to forgive him, despite how much she loved him.
Boyd drove around in his car unsure of where he was going to go, he'd thought of calling Spence and asking if he could crash on his sofa, but then he'd have to explain, and that was something he didn't want to do, this was their business, and as far as humanly possible, he wanted it to remain that way. In the end he found himself pulling into the car park at the CCU, he grabbed the holdall from the boot of his car and headed into his office. He sat on the sofa, a bottle of scotch in front of him, a tumbler full of the warming liquid in his hand, the day's events going round and round in his head, his thoughts of one thing and one thing only, how could he have done this to the woman he loved more than anything in the world, she was his world, and he'd left her heartbroken, and in the process broken his own heart.
She dreaded Monday morning, she hadn't heard from him all weekend, and had no idea where he was, oh she had no doubt that he was safe and well somewhere, she just had no idea where. It was strange really, getting up and ready for work on her own, no pleas of, five more minutes Grace, coming from the other side of the bed, she sighed sadly as she put her solitary tea cup in the sink, and locked house to leave for work. She was in early, and made her way to her office, she wasn't sure how she was going to get through seeing him today, she knew she would, she had too, she just wasn't sure how. His car was parked in the office car park, so she was expecting to see him, but his office looked dark and quiet, he obviously wasn't in yet, she thought to herself, he must have left his car here; she shrugged and carried on into her office.
He woke to a noise, unsure of where it came from he stretched and sat up, his neck and back aching like hell, he was the wrong side of fifty to be sleeping on a two person sofa, one night was bad enough, but two nights in a row, he wouldn't have slept at all had it not been for the large quantity of Scotch he'd consumed, but as a result, not only did his back and neck ache, but his head was banging. He rose slowly from the small leather sofa, despite its lack of comfort it was still more comfortable than the floor, which is where he would have slept if he hadn't had a sofa in his office.
Grace jumped as she suddenly saw him appear in his office, she guessed he'd been asleep on the sofa which was why she hadn't seen him at first. He looked directly at her as he came out of his office, he walked past her office door, returning a few minutes later with two coffees, he knocked lightly on her door before walking into her office.
"I got you a coffee." He said.
"Thank you." Was the very simple reply, she took the drink and carried on working.
"How have you been?"
"Don't do this Boyd, I don't want to exchange pleasantries with you, to be honest if I could have got out of coming to work today I would have, but I had no choice, so I'm here, but the further apart we stay the better it will be for me."
"Fine!" He walked out slamming the door behind him.
As the rest of the team arrived for work, they all noticed the very tense atmosphere between the two matriarchs of the team; it was Eve who finally plucked up the courage to ask the question that was hanging in the air.
"Hi Grace, umm, is everything okay?"
"Hi Eve, yeah everything is fine, thanks, you okay?"
Eve stepped inside the office and closed the door behind her, "it's obvious that something isn't fine, to be honest. You and Boyd haven't said a word to each other all morning, his office smells like a distillery, and he looks like he's been sleeping in his clothes and as for you, you look like a woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders."
"Hmm, yeah I guess it's pretty obvious something isn't right."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really, no offence Eve, but it's a bit too personal, Boyd and I are splitting up, but I can't really say anything more than that."
"My god, you seem so happy together."
"Well, you know what they say about what goes on behind closed doors, it's never that straight forward."
"So he's sleeping in his office!"
"It would seem that way, yes."
"If it's okay with you, I could have a word with Spencer; he may be able to put him up for a while, I wouldn't want to speak out of turn though."
"Its fine Eve, really, I guess it will all be public knowledge before long, and he can't go on sleeping on his sofa."
"Okay, well I'll talk to Spence then, and um, if you need a friend, someone to talk to, you know where I am."
"Thanks Eve, I'll bear it in mind."
Grace managed to see a doctor and have the necessary test required to confirm or dismiss a diagnosis of Chlamydia, it was a simple urine test, and it came back positive, so she too needed treatment, it wasn't the inconvenience or the infection that bothered her, it was the sheer humiliation of having to ask for the test. The idea that a woman of her age, who'd had one sexual partner in the last ten years, probably longer if she thought about it long enough, should contract such an infection was downright bloody infuriating and embarrassing.
Eight Weeks Later
Boyd had declined Spencer's offer of his spare room, he thought it would create friction if people at work knew too much of what was going on between them, so he was now staying at a friend's flat, although it was a sleeping arrangement only.
Grace was of the impression that he was spending most of his time in his office; he was there when she left and when she returned in the morning. He looked an absolute mess; his normally neatly trimmed goatee had turned into a full face unshaven mess of a beard, and his usually deep, dark and soulful eyes were constantly glazed and bloodshot with dark circles around them. He was clearly drinking too much, owing from the number of empty scotch bottles in his office, that, along with the number of empty strips of headache tablets were a bit of a giveaway, she was just grateful he wasn't driving. He frequently left voicemail messages on her phone after he'd drunk too much, telling her he loved her and how sorry he was, and that he wanted her back, once or twice she could have sworn she heard him crying, something she'd never seen or heard before. She never mentioned it to him the next day and he only did it when he was drunk.
Sober, rare as it was, he would hold the phone in his hand with his thumb hovering over her number, desperate to talk to her, to try and patch things up with her, but he knew she'd either not answer or hang up on him, so he didn't bother. Instead he waited until they'd all left for the day, pour himself a large scotch and then sit in her office, it was the closest he could get to her, sitting in her office with the smell of her sweet perfume still hanging in the air, her scarf still hanging on the coat stand in the corner of the room, the feel of it soft against his face, her lipstick mark on her unwashed coffee cup, truth be told he felt sad, lonely and desperate, he'd never missed anyone as much as he missed her, he spent night after lonely night sleeping either on the sofa in his office, or on the single bed in his friends spare room, getting drunk, because it was the only way to block out the pain that was like a knife stabbing him through the heart constantly.
He wasn't sure why he decided to leave the office that evening; he'd had a skin full to drink, he should have just slept on the sofa as he had so many times recently, but no, he decided to leave the office and go to see her, thankfully he decided to walk rather than drive, it was however, a walk that would take him around an hour, if he was sober and walking at a reasonable pace. But he was drunk and staggering from one side of the pavement to the other, so it was no surprise when he was picked up for being D&D later that evening, still nowhere near the house, luckily they had seen his warrant card so they knew who he was, and when they took him to the station, the duty sergeant recognised him immediately, it took them a little longer to get his address out of him, but they managed it eventually. It took them longer still to get him into the back of a police car, and then on to his original destination, although he was not aware of any of it.
Back To The Start.
"No Peter, it's over, what we have is gone, the trust I had in you can't be regained, so the only way forward is to stay apart, I've been thinking about the house, we should get it on the market, that way we can both move on and find somewhere new."
"No, why can't you understand that I don't want you to sell the house, I don't want to move on and find somewhere new, I won't to go back to how things were, I made a fucking mistake, I am asking , no, begging for your forgiveness, I can't go on without you."
"Oh don't be so bloody melodramatic, relationships end every day, it happens, and you will get over it, we will both get over it."
He walked over to where she was standing and stood in front of her, "tell me you don't love me anymore, look me in the eye and say it, and mean it, and I'll walk out the door right now."
"You know damn well I still love you, just because I don't want to be with you anymore it doesn't mean I don't love you, I will always love you, but it's about more than that, it's about trust and betrayal."
"No you're wrong, love is all anyone needs, if we have love, we can overcome anything else." As he said the words he leant forward and kissed her.
"Don't you dare do this Peter, I am asking you to leave, and if you have any feelings for me you'll walk out the door and move on."
He placed his hand on her face and kissed her again, pushing her against the wall, kissing her hungrily, she didn't pull away, she didn't slap him or bring her knee up to meet sharply with his balls, no, she did something much worse than that, she kissed him back. She raised her hand to his neck and lightly ran her fingers over his skin, more of a tickle than a scratch, eventually moving her fingers to run them through his hair. His hand moved from her face to her waist and pulled her tightly to him, their bodies fitting tightly together, just as they always had. With relative ease he pulled her to the sofa and pushed her down on it, not that she resisted, the feel of him kissing and touching her was too much for her to resist.
He was right, she did love him, and she missed him in her life as much as he missed her, and the weight of his body pressing down on her, pinning her to the sofa as they continued to kiss, only reiterating that in her mind.
He sat up momentarily and removed his shirt, as he did so her hands were instantly drawn to his bare chest, her hands splayed against the smooth expanse of flesh, sliding up and over his shoulders as he lay down on top of her again. Neither of them had any doubts as to where this encounter was heading, and after two months apart it was a welcome release for both of them, they never even tried to make it to the bedroom, it wasn't the first time they'd done it on the sofa, whether it would be the last was yet to be seen.
Grace lay in his arms, the blanket she had delicately laid over him in the early hours of the morning, now covering both of them, they didn't speak, just laid in each other's arms, every now and again they would gaze into each other's eyes and lean forward and kiss, I guess they both knew they needed to talk, but they were putting it off for as long as possible.
The fact that they fell asleep on that sofa still covered with that blanket, was no surprise. It was grace who woke first, she felt warm safe and comfortable, and could quite happily stay there all day, her movements woke him up, and he stretched and yawned and pulled her closer to him, if that was at all possible.
"We need to talk Peter?" She said breaking the blissful silence that had filled the air.
"I know, I'm just not sure what to say, and I'm terrified you're going to say it was a mistake."
"Making love to you could never be a mistake." She replied.
"So what are you going to say?"
"Honestly? I don't know, being with you, it…..it completes me, you complete me, you make everything seem so right, but…."
"How did I know there would be a but?"
"To be fair, how could there not be a but? We've been apart for the last two months; a quick roll together on the sofa isn't going to make everything perfect again."
"I know, if only it were that simple."
"But it isn't, and I don't know where we go from here?"
"Marry me Grace?"
"What?"
"Marry me?"
"Yeah, I actually heard the question, I was just in shock. How the hell do you go from splitting up to getting married in one move?"
"I have no idea, but why not?"
"Peter, we're not even back together, not really."
"It will be a fresh start, the ultimate commitment, I don't want my life without you, and I want you to know that this is forever."
"I thought we made the ultimate commitment when we bought this house and moved in together, the joint mortgage and all that."
"Moving in together was a big commitment, but this is bigger, it's better, we could have Libby and Molly as bridesmaids, Henry, James and Elijah as pageboys, Scott can give you away, Spencer can be my best man, we'll have a big party, I'll even take you on that cruise on the Nile for our honeymoon."
"I think you're overlooking something."
"What?"
"How does this make everything okay between us?"
"Doctor Grace Foley, I love you with all my heart, and I made a stupid, stupid mistake that hurt you, a mistake I have regretted since the moment it happened, it will never happen again, I give you my word, you are all I want for the rest of my life, so, I'm asking for your forgiveness, for another chance, and your hand in marriage."
"I can't make this decision right now, I need time to think."
"Grace I'm sorry, for god's sake, can you not see how sorry I am?"
As she looked at him she could see the tears on his face, "I know you're sorry, and I know you love me, I just don't know if I could ever trust you again."
"I was drunk Grace, I had no idea what I was doing, please Grace, take me back, marry me and spend the rest of your life with me."
Six Months Later
In a small church in the Scottish highlands, Grace walked down the aisle on the arm of her only son Scott, behind her walked her Grandchildren, Libby, Molly, Henry, James and Elijah, all suitably dressed, although it took some severe bribery to get Henry and James in kilts, Elijah was too young to realise what he was doing, the girls were in little white dresses with tartan sashes across them. Grace looked beautiful in a two piece cream suit, and Boyd, well Boyd was in full highland dress, kilt included, no one was sure how she got him to agree to a highland wedding, but rumour has it that it was part of the terms of her saying yes to his proposal, but even she was shocked when he leant forward during their first dance and gently whispered in her ear.
"Did you know that a true Scotsman wears nothing beneath his Kilt?"
"Please tell me you are wearing underwear." She whispered back, unable to hide the grin on her face.
He winked at her, "You know me Grace, all or nothing."
"And in this case it really is nothing."
"Absolutely nothing!"
"But you're not even Scottish."
"It was you that wanted a traditional Scottish wedding, I didn't want to disappoint."
Grace buried her face into his shoulder and chuckled to herself as he twirled her around the dance floor, to everyone else they looked like a perfect just married couple happy, in love and enjoying that first special dance, little did they all know that she was desperately trying not to laugh at loud, whilst praying that he didn't twirl too much and cause his Kilt to flare up and reveal what was underneath, or rather, what wasn't underneath, she was pretty sure it was an eyeful they could all do without.
The End