Chapter 1: Dependin' On You

Harry looked at his reflection in the mirror on his wardrobe door, and decided that the blue t-shirt would go better under his navy jumper than the white one. He quickly changed, then looked in the mirror once more. No, it was definitely the white one that looked best. He put it back on and then the jumper over the top of that. Now, jeans. Not black, that's for sure. Too much like his work clothes. Eventually he settled for his dark blue pair.

After taking another look in the mirror, Harry smiled at his reflection and left his bedroom. He walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea. This date was making him nervous. It was only the first date, which was probably why. Harry liked to know the person first, know what makes them tick. But he'd never met – was it Sarah? – before. A mutual friend had introduced them the previous weekend. Harry had liked her; she was pretty, bubbly and obviously intelligent. However, he did feel like he'd been forced slightly into this date by the aforementioned friend. But what harm could it do him? Who knows, he might get lucky.

Harry laughed at himself and realised how much cooler that would have sounded ten years ago when he was in his twenties. Now it just made him sound desperate. The doorbell rang, pulling Harry out of his pit of self-loathing. Pouring the luke-warm contents of his mug down the sink, he walked down the hall and towards the front door of his apartment.

Nikki was stood in the corridor outside, a bottle of wine in one hand and a DVD in the other. She smiled at him, but Harry knew her well enough to know that it was forced.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, stepping back to let her in.

"It's nice to see you too," Nikki tutted. "I just thought we could watch a DVD. You're not busy, are you?"

Hmm, there was a question. What was Harry going to say? Nikki was obviously upset about something, and as his position as best friend he should say no and stay in with her. But then there was the matter of standing someone up, and if Nikki realised what he'd done she'd think that Harry was pitying her. Plus, he'd been quite looking forward to that date really. Eventually he said, "No, I'm not busy."

Nikki smiled at him again and walked straight into his lounge. With a small sigh he shut the door and followed Nikki.

"I'll get us some glasses, shall I?" he asked rhetorically, going into his kitchen. Once there he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Sarah saying he was sorry but he wouldn't be able to make their dinner reservation. Not entirely surprisingly he didn't get one back.

When Harry emerged into the lounge again, Nikki was bent over by his television, no doubt putting the DVD on. Oh, how he hoped that it wasn't a chick-flick. He cleared his throat to make his presence known and Nikki straightened up. That was when he saw the case in her hand.

"Top Gun?" he asked, surprised. Nikki saw what he was looking at and smiled.

"Well, I thought seeing as I was probably ruining your evening, the least I could do is bring a film that you like as well," she told him.

"You're not ruining my evening," Harry replied, sitting down and uncorking the wine bottle. Nikki sat next to him on the sofa, kicking off her shoes and pulling her legs up underneath her. She released a long sigh, but Harry decided that if she wanted to tell him what was going on then she would do it in her own time. The film started to play, but Harry couldn't concentrate on it properly. He would have been at the restaurant about now, probably kissing Sarah on the cheek and telling her how lovely she looked. But there was nothing he could do about that now. He wasn't there at the restaurant, was he? He was here with Nikki. Mind you, he was pretty intoxicated when he had first met Sarah. Perhaps he was imagining her to be better looking than she actually was. Maybe she hadn't been that clever either. In fact, thinking about it now, Harry had had to explain to her what the term 'pathologist' actually meant. He realised that his evening could be much worse than spending it with Nikki. Feeling decidedly better, Harry settled back into the sofa and quickly became absorbed in the film.

About three quarters of the way through, a small snuffly sound distracted Harry from the TV screen. He frowned and looked around, and then he realised it was coming from Nikki. She was silently crying, tears were trickling down her cheeks, which she was hastily wiping away with her sleeve. Harry sat a bit closer to her and said, "Hey, it's okay, he gets the girl in the end." Then he realised that she was actually properly upset, and he paused the DVD.

"Nikki? What is it?" he asked softly, tugging a tissue from the box on the coffee table and passing it to her.

"Oh nothing, I'm fine," she sniffed, gratefully accepting the tissue from him.

"Well you're obviously not," Harry persisted. "And you know that I'm not going to let you leave this apartment until you tell me why."

Nikki shook her head and leant forward, placing her elbows on her knees. "Well I probably shouldn't tell you then, because at least I'd have a roof over my head."

"What are you talking about?" Harry frowned.

"My landlord called earlier today. He wants me out of my apartment in two weeks. Something about selling it instead of letting it."

"Can he do that?" Harry asked. "Surely you're entitled to more notice?"

"Evidently not," she muttered miserably. "So now I have to find another apartment that's close to the lab, but not too far from everything else, in the middle of a credit crunch. Plus we have to live in the most expensive city in the entire world, so trying to get a decent flat in the centre of London that's actually in my price range could be a bit difficult."

Nikki had become a bit hysterical, so Harry decided to let her clear lack of economical knowledge about London slide for now.

"And that's what's making you so upset?" he asked gently.

"It's not just that," she sighed. "I was... You know what, I'm being stupid, it doesn't matter."

"Nikki, don't clam up on me. You know I'll get it out of you eventually anyway."

She gave him a reluctant smile and said, "Fine. I've been seeing this guy – Paul – only to find out tonight that he's actually seeing someone else at the same time."

This piece of information momentarily stunned Harry. He had no idea that Nikki had been seeing someone, let alone that it had been quite serious. And now, as usual in Nikki's case, that guy had let her down and she had come to the only man in her life who she could depend on: Harry.

"Can I ask how you found out about this other woman?"

"I phoned him this afternoon and she answered, all giggly and stupid, and I could hear Paul in the background telling her to forget the phone so that they could pick up where they left off," Nikki explained.

"Oh Nikki," Harry sighed, shuffling sideways and putting his arm around her. She let her head flop onto his shoulder.

"Why don't I have any luck with men?" she muttered.

"You do attract some stinkers," Harry said, causing Nikki to chuckle.

"I should make a vow of celibacy."

Harry snorted. "I wonder how long that will last."

Nikki sat up and raised her eyebrows at him. "You don't think I can do it?" she asked indignantly.

"No, I don't," Harry said honestly. Nikki flopped back against the sofa and sighed.

"You're right, it would never last."

Harry laughed and leant back next to her. "You'll find someone one day. Someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with," he told her seriously. Nikki turned her head ninety degrees and smiled at him.

"Thank you Harry," she said softly. Harry laced his fingers through hers.

"You're welcome."

"You know, if that someone could come with a killer apartment, that would be really handy," she said. Harry laughed again and pulled Nikki into him, putting his arm around her shoulders as he pressed play on the remote.

*

Harry could tell that Nikki's mood hadn't improved by the next morning when she marched into the lab thirty minutes late, slammed her takeaway coffee cup onto her desk, and practically tore off her scarf. Harry looked up from his computer and shared a glance with Leo, who had just left his office to see what all the commotion was about.

"Are you okay, Nikki?" their boss asked.

"She has apartment troubles," Harry said casually.

"Why, what's happened to her apartment?" Leo asked Harry.

"Hello! I am stood right here!" Nikki exclaimed and Harry stifled a grin. Leo went back into his office and Nikki sunk down into her chair and put her head in her hands.

"So why are you so late?" Harry probed.

"I've spent most of the morning on the phone to a million different estate agents. It's useless, Harry. I'm never going to find somewhere," she said wearily.

"You could always move in with me," Harry suggested, surprising himself just as much as Nikki, who's head snapped up. He had no idea where that had come from. The idea had briefly crossed his mind the previous evening, but he'd dismissed it as stupid. What had made him blurt it out like that then he didn't know. He supposed it was just that he couldn't stand seeing Nikki so defeated and down.

"What?" she asked him, her eyes wide in shock.

"Well, it makes sense. I have a spare room going in a very nice apartment, which is in the ideal location for you. I wouldn't charge you anywhere near as much rent as someone else would for an apartment the same size. And you'd be my room mate, which would be really fun. Plus, I could do with a hand towards the bills."

Nikki just stared at him for a moment, and it was a while before she actually said something.

"Harry... I can't. I mean, thank you so much for the offer, it's really sweet of you, but... it would be strange."

"Why would it be strange?" he asked.

"I don't know... it just – it just would be. We work together, don't you think twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week would be too much? Plus, it's me and you. It would be a little weird."

Harry pulled a face. "Hmm... it would be a little weird. But on the other hand I would be able to tease you endlessly."

"Which is exactly why I don't want to live with you," Nikki grinned.

"Okay," Harry said, slightly disappointed. "But if you change your mind, you know where I am."

Nikki smiled at him before reaching down to her bag and pulling out a newspaper and opening it up. Harry frowned at her.

"First you walk in half an hour late, and then you sit and read the paper. Are you planning on getting any work done today?"

"I'm flat hunting," she said, chewing on the end of her pen. "Shouldn't you be working instead of pestering me?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Harry grinned, causing Nikki to roll her eyes at him. However, he knew that there was a body just waiting to be cut open down in the morgue, so after flashing Nikki his trademark smile, he left her to flat hunt without him 'pestering' her.


Okay, first chapter, what do you think? I honestly think I could have written it better, to be honest, but I wanted to get started seeing as I had so many lovely reviews for 'The Accident'. Anyway, I hope this is satisfactory! The title doesn't quite fit in with my normal way either, but I've decided to be a bit different this time!
Oh, another thing, the chapter titles (and main title) are all going to be song titles. I did get the idea from Grey's Anatomy (who do it also) but obviously mine will be different!
Review for me?
xxxx