Title: Insane Commitment

Pairing: Boyd/Grace

Rating: K+

Spoilers: Nothing specific but up to the including series six to be safe

Summary: Can we just leave it

Disclaimers: The characters all belong to the BBC, and although I get to play I can take no credit for them

Feedback: Commitment

Part One - The Ending

It was late and they were still there, which was not that unusual. The fact that they were the only two members of the team still working was. The main office was in darkness, Stella and Spencer having packed up and left hours before. The only illumination came from the desk lamp on Boyd's desk and it cast an eerie glow into the outer office.

Rather than heading home Boyd had chosen to work late. It wasn't so much that he had a lot to do, but more of an avoidance tactic. It hadn't worked.

Grace had appeared as she did most times, unannounced, and dropped onto his couch.

Boyd had continued to read through the notes on his desk, adding little to the conversation. When he did response his tone was less than inviting. He would never tell her to go but he really didn't want to hear her take on things. Eventually and predictably the conversation had progressed the way so many had of late to the point that they were arguing.

"Can we just leave it."

"That's exactly what we should do," she mumbled quietly. Grace rubbed her temples with her fingertips, finally accepting what her head had been telling her with days, looking up at him. "I can't do this anymore, Boyd."

Boyd stared at the wall above her head, avoiding making eye contact with her and seeing the sadness in her eyes, knowing what was coming before she even said it.

"All we do is fight. We can't seem to talk about anything anymore, and I miss that. As much as we've tried, we just can't cling to something that isn't there," Grace said, her voice laced with conviction. She had fully expected him to end it weeks ago but they had continued to work at it, neither wanting to put into words what they both felt. It didn't make it any easier that he had left her to do it.

"I'm not arguing with you," he said softly, leaning forward in his chair and placing his hands on his lap. The year old coffee stain on his carpet suddenly became fascinating.

"Which makes a nice change."

Normally he would have thrown back a retort, or baited her into arguing further with him. Sometimes it was because making up with her was fun, sometimes because it was how they communicated best. This time it seemed unnecessary. "It was actually predictable it would end this way," Boyd announced wistfully.

"And yet you did it anyway." Grace couldn't seem to help herself. She wanted to provoke a reaction in him, if only to know he was hurting as much as she was.

"Grace!" Her name came out wearily. The constant fighting had been going on for days and he had known the second they had taken the fight home that he had to end it. But it hadn't been so easy so he had chosen avoidance.

"What happens now?" she asked, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy going back to being just colleagues. It would be harder than going from friends to lovers. Of course there was always the possibility they couldn't salvage the friendship amidst the anger, and that was a prospect that saddened her.

Boyd looked up and for the first time since she had walked into his office he made eye contact. "You're not going to quit on me, are you?" The prospect actually frightened him. She had no reason to stay with the unit and if she left he wasn't entirely sure the unit would survive. He also didn't want her to leave his life completely. She had been a part of it for so long that he wasn't entirely sure he could survive without her in it.

She sighed, her hands nervously playing in her lap. In truth it wasn't the first time she had thought about leaving but this time she would be running away. "I don't know." She really didn't know what she would do after she left his office, other than she needed to leave soon.

"I want you to stay."

She smiled, bemused that a man who yelled endlessly and usually used a stream of words when one would suffice could convey so much with five little words. "I'll think about it." She pushed herself up off of the couch and moved towards the door. "Goodnight, Boyd. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night, Grace." He swivelled in his chair to watch her walk along the corridor. She was leaving him, the only person who had ever really understand him was walking out the door. It had been hard to take at times that she could read him so well or that the emotional connection they shared affected the way he worked, and then to acknowledge that she could care for him despite the emotional baggage he came with. Which is why he suspected he had pushed her away. She had gotten to close and he had began to feel something that had been missing for a long time. He hadn't been ready and he certainly couldn't define it. So he had decided to test her. It just hadn't gone the way he expected. But it had been good there for a while.

He leaned back in his seat, running his fingers through his hair, no longer so eager to be in his office.

"Shit." Grace leaned against her car and began to cry, giving into her feminine side. She was too old for this but then until she had taken Boyd to bed that first time she had thought she was past many things. As it turned out she was older and wiser and it was so much better and he had managed to teach her a few things. She slammed her hand against the car, angry at him, and herself for making the one stupid mistake - you don't get involved with colleagues. They had both made the mistake before, and clearly neither had learnt anything from it.

Grace heard a noise behind her and not wanting to be seen, she unlocked the car and started the engine. Within seconds she was driving away, her cheeks damp with tears, her fingers poking the radio as she searched for anything that wasn't sad and depressing.