Kit paused as he realised she'd seen him, her blue eyes watching him. He stretched his lips out in a fleeting smile before continuing the rest of the way down the stairs. In an unusual twist of circumstance he found himself stunned silent. Crossing the floor towards the sofa he tried to find something to say to her in his mind, turning combinations of words over and over but not finding the ability to speak them. He noticed that she'd spotted the bag he'd thrown over his shoulder and traced its journey from his shoulder to the floor as he put it down before sitting on the sofa. He'd deliberately sat on the middle cushion, not sitting as close as he would have done in the past but also not sitting not too far from her. She made no sign that she wished him to come closer and so far her painfully expressive face had remained emotionless.

He continued trying to work out what to say; only managing to break the silence between them with a feeble, "Hi."

"Hi," Was the slightly stronger response.

"How are you? How are you doing?"

Straight to the point, Robyn replied, "You didn't come here for small talk."

"No, no I didn't." He wasn't fazed by her directness, "Doc Cole came to give Mayor Meanswell his check up, I hitched a ride to pick up some things that got left behind. I'm surprised you didn't pick me up until you saw me."

A faint smile tinged Robyn's lips as her long eyelashes sheltered her eyes, "I haven't sensed anyone for a while. I'm trying not to. I don't really want to know what's going on in Robbie's head at the moment."

Now Kit was taken aback, hearing Robyn say Robbie's name for only the second time since he'd met her. She didn't miss his look of surprise that shrunk into a concerned frown. Suddenly uncomfortable Kit wondered if this was simply an after affect of her brain injury, that she would return more to her normal self given time but he wondered just how much of her normal self still survived.

Fighting down his urge to push her for information about why she had suddenly started calling Robbie by his proper name instead of her affectionate 'daddy', he gave voice to another concern and the source of her coldness towards him. "You were there weren't you? After I lumped Boris in his hospital room, I came out and I saw you then it was like I blinked and you disappeared. I wasn't hallucinating was I?"

"You always have to fight someone. You always have to let your anger get the better of you. It got in the way of our relationship twice and now you've started attacking people in hospital. Where will it end Kit? When are you going to let it go?"

"But I was defending you!" Kit exclaimed, still keeping his voice level, "He had a go at you for no reason, he blamed you for something that wasn't your fault-"

"And I could have handled it myself!" Robyn snapped loudly before looking away from him.

Robbie's head quickly appeared round the side of the kitchen doorway, evidently alerted by the volume Robyn and Kit's discussion had reached and the danger that it could boil over. "Kit, maybe you should go now. I think you've said enough."

"Can I just have two more minutes," Kit asked, not wanting to leave things this way, "Please?"

It wasn't an easy decision for him to make, but Robbie agreed reluctantly, only reassured by Robyn's subtle nod giving him the indication she was alright to continue. "Ok, two minutes. Then you're out."

Buoyed by Robbie's agreement, Kit smiled a little wider and a little longer this time as Robbie conspicuously looked at the clock on the wall and noted the time before disappearing back into the kitchen. Throwing away his caution, Kit breached the gap between him and Robyn, sitting on the edge of the sofa nearest her and clasping one of her hands. She had yet to look at him but he took a small measure of hope from the fact that she hadn't made any motion to remove her hand from his and spoke anyway.

"I know I've pretty much destroyed any semblance of a chance that we'll ever get back together but I wanted you to know that I meant it when I said I still love you and you'll always have a place in my heart no matter what. I know that you're still mad at me about what I did to Boris and probably for breaking your heart too and it's a lot to ask but..." He paused as he prepared himself to take a leap of faith, "Can we try and be friends?"

He waited for as long as he could stand but no response was afforded to him, still she looked away from him and her hand remained limply in his. From his position on the sofa he couldn't see the silent deliberations running across her face, her eyes heavy with tears and the lips tight set against them. Crushed by her stillness he slowly drew his hand away as though pulling it away too quickly would shatter her into a thousand pieces and stood up. He moved to bend down and pick up his bag but stopped when he felt a hand grab his. Holding his breath he looked down at his hand, following the arm that the hand holding his was connected to with his eyes and slowly lifted them to meet Robyn's. He couldn't contain his happiness and for the first time his face broke out into his signature smile.

Shifting his hand in Robyn's he moved towards her, carefully kissing her on the temple and losing himself for the moment in the perfume of her hair. Noticing that his time was undoubtedly up and reaching the realisation that Doctor Cole would be all but done with the Mayor's check up, he forced himself to release Robyn's hand and leave her. Picking his bag up he gave her another smile before winking at her and heading out the door, waving at Robbie as he walked by the kitchen window and back towards the Doctor's car.

Bessie busied herself in the kitchen as she started to get everything she needed ready for a day of cake baking. In amongst the pauses of clattering baking trays and pulling open and closing drawers she could hear the muffled voices of the Doctor and the Mayor as Doctor Cole carried out his annual check up drifting from the lounge area. It was a good distraction for her to keep her mind off of snooping on them and eavesdropping but she found herself still curious about what was going on. Focussing herself on the task ahead she was determined not to let her busybody nature get the better of her.

"Well that all checks out." Doctor Cole confirmed as he finished making his notes, "You're in good health, Mr Mayor." Carefully estimating Bessie's distance away from them and the acuity of her hearing he added in a whisper with a pat of the Mayor's belly, "With the exception of Bessie's exuberant cooking and affinity for sweet treats."

Mayor Meanswell barely concealed the smile in his voice as he replied, "Ah yes, that's true!" Then at normal volume, "Thank you Doctor, it's good to know that I'm in good enough health to run for at least another year as Mayor."

"You are indeed but just remember that you're no spring chicken!" Doctor Cole warned light heartedly as he started packing his things away and placing the Mayor's paperwork in his briefcase, "Anyway, I'd better be off. I have a few more calls to do on the way back to Greentown then I'm due for a short shift at the hospital."

"Thank you very much Doctor, I appreciate you coming out for this."

Doctor Cole smiled as he stood up and followed the Mayor as he went to show him out, "It's no trouble, Mr Mayor." He turned as they passed through the kitchen and gave a wave and a quick, "Bye Bessie!" Before exiting the house.