Grace lay curled up on the sofa in her office, encapsulated by Boyd's strong masculine arms. They had been content to just sit there after everyone had left, revelling in their companionable silence, happy just to be in each others company. Grace had been thinking for quite a long time and had a question to ask of Boyd but she wasn't sure whether he was actually asleep or just lying there but she thought she'd risk it. Her hand started to draw small circles on the back of one of Peter's hands as she talked to him,
"Darling?"
"Yes hun?" Boyd lifted his head from his doze and kissed Grace's soft fragrant hair,
"I was wondering, do you think that we should tell the team what's going on between us?" The problem had been worrying her ever since they had started to acknowledge their feelings for each other. Grace never liked keeping unnecessary secrets. Boyd in his jovial humour however wasn't going to take it seriously, the mood he was in now seemed like the perfect time for jokes,
"What you mean everything, every tiny little explicit detail?" Grace pinched his forearm lightly,
"Of course not! Don't be disgusting! The 'young ones' don't want to hear about the two 'wrinklys' getting it on!" Grace changed her tack slightly and continued "I meant tell them that we're 'going out'" to this Boyd just laughed,
"I thought that it was me who was meant to underestimate the team, why would we need to tell them? They already know!" Grace's face fell at his flippancy but Boyd didn't see that so she vocalised her disappointment,
"But they don't know officially!" Peter noted the tone of Grace's voice and sat up to look at her face. Searching Grace's features Boyd saw deep into her soul, at her fears and hopes and understood her perfectly, if only for that small fraction of time,
"You really want to tell them don't you?" Grace's eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to break their not inconsiderable news to the other members of the team. She knew they all suspected something was happening between them but she wanted to tell them that they had always been right and that finally she and Boyd were happy after dancing around each other for years
"Yeah, well it's exciting." Was all Grace could bring herself to say. Boyd was more understanding of her female sentimentality than she had anticipated and intrinsically knew how important this was for her,
"Well we'll tell them tomorrow."
"Do you promise?" The weight lifted from Grace's mind was making her feel playful,
"I promise."
"Yes…I know you promise," Grace started to trace large circles on Boyd's strong chest as she contemplated the rest of her sentence, "but do I believe you?"
"Believe this, if you don't stop talking I might have to make you"
"Really? I bet you won't"
"Is that a challenge?" Boyd lived for a challenge, it made everything more fun, with a lot less responsibility attached.
"I think it might be, if you're up for it, it's all right if you're not though, if you're not man enough."
"Well that is it!" Boyd put two hands on either side of Grace's face and he kissed her. It was passionate but caring, intense but not overwhelming and it shut Grace up a treat. As the kiss came to it's natural conclusion Grace whisked her feet up on to the couch again and curled back up into Boyd's arms, she felt safe, secure and most of all loved and she knew that nothing could happen between them to make a difference to how she felt about Peter right now.
The next morning after spending an all but comfortable night on the sofa Grace and Boyd slipped out early to have a shower and get some clean clothes. After getting ready they both got into Boyd's car and drove to the cold case offices. On the way they talked about how they would tell everyone about 'them' and how everyone would react. When they entered the offices they entered separately as not to give the game away to early and as soon as Stella, Spencer and Eve were all in the room they grabbed their chance. Standing by the evidence board Grace and Peter looked out at the three expectant faces before Grace started to speak
"As you've probably guessed, we have got something to tell you and if I'm honest you've probably guessed what we want to tell you as well." Grace spoke hurriedly as she tired to tell the team exactly what she needed to say, "The thing is me and Peter have been seeing each other more recently…and I…we just thought that you guys should be the first to officially know." To the three observers for whom this slightly strange statement was in aid of, Grace's smile afterwards was the most 'illuminating' thing, it spoke wonders about how happy they were together. Stella was the first to get up and give the pair a hug followed by Eve and Spence. After being released from Boyd's manly hug Spencer looked at the pair and said simply,
"It's about bloody time!"
The day was spent as happily as it could have been spent with Spencer and Stella occasionally looking between Grace and Peter's offices before laughing quietly to themselves. Without knowing it Grace and Boyd had changed, sitting in their separate offices their body language was different, they both sat turned towards each other and they both took turns in looking up from their work and just staring through the window before realising they had to work.