Hello, thank you all for the response to the last chapter and thank you for being honest. This one... its happier. For once :P I'd like to apologise for how short it is though, inspiration would just not come to me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and... BBC, If you are reading, don't make this happen!

For Poppy – No tissue warning this chapter... I promised some happiness for you, I'll start writing chapter 5 immediately :P

Darkness – Part 4

You awoke. Sleeping in a warm bed, a warm body pressed tightly behind yours. Your first thought. Nikki. It had all been a dream. You open your eyes. This wasn't your bed, it was Nikki's either. But you recognised the room. You were in Leo's house. What were you doing here? How had you got here? The last you remember was being in the bar, getting in to a fight.

You looked behind you. Leo. Why were you in bed with Leo? Why were you just wearing your boxers? And what you presumed to be Leo's t-shirt? Shit. What had happened? Shit.

It was all a blur in your head but you could vividly remember sitting on the pavement, soaking wet, crying your eyes out. You remember Leo, a very sleepy Leo, cleaning you up, pulling the glass out of your neck, making it better. You remember his lips, his tongue, his hands. Oh god. What had you done? Nikki. You'd betrayed her. But you couldn't help think how good it felt. So good to be in someone's arms, to feel loved, to feel wanted. He was still clothed. You were clothed. You can't have gone further than kissing but you had ended up in his bed.

Leo began to stir behind you, you could feel him pull you closer, cuddling up to you. He whispered your name, asking if you were awake. You turned to look over your shoulder, rolling over to face him. His eyes were questioning you, asking you whether you remembered. You nodded slightly, making eye contact at him before staring off in to the distance. Trying not to think about what had just happened.

You ignored the awkwardness as he held you tight, comforting you, telling you that it would all be okay. His arms were comforting, they were warm. You wanted him to keep you safe. You didn't have Nikki, but you had him. He was your best friend, apart from her. He was the man you had first confessed your love for her to. He had told you to go for it. That had been years ago. He'd been so happy when you got together, he was always your biggest supporter, helping you through everything. You'd had arguments in the past. Up until now you'd never realised how much you truly cared for him.

You got up. Got dressed. Both of you, it was slightly awkward; you could feel the tension between you. You could cut the air with a knife. You needed to talk. Not just about last night, but about everything. About Nikki, about moving on. Leo had experience of this. You didn't. You didn't know how to cope. Were you using him? Probably.

You talked to him. Told him how scared you were. Told him how lost you were. How you needed someone to guide you, show you the way. Lead you from this hell you were in. You just wanted to crawl in to a hole and die. That'd make it all so much better.

Leo took you by the hand. Forcing you to follow him. You didn't put up much resistance. You knew he was only trying to help. You were in the park. Hyde Park. It was where you went with Nikki. Where you had first confessed your love to her. Leo knew that, Leo was trying to help. You really didn't want to be here. But Leo did help. He comforted you.

You actually felt quite happy, for the first time since you got that horrible phone call. You could be happy with Leo. He could hold you together. It was better. You smiled at him. The sky was dark and stormy. Threatening to rain at any moment. London look beautiful like this. You'd think the city would look best in perfect sunshine, but the stormy weather, it was perfect. Kind of reflected how you were feeling. On the verge of breaking down like a thunder storm, but occasionally you'd see a ray of sunshine escape through the clouds, the hope you felt, a future, something that would lead to better days.

Sober now and in the harsh light of day, you looked at Leo. And he looked right back at you. Staring in to your soul. He knew you, like no one else. Almost as well as Nikki knew you. He had been there, through the ups and the downs. You hesitated. Your eyes darted to look at his lips. He looked at you. Urging you to do what you wanted, not pressuring you at all. You leaned forward, just millimetres away from his face. Paused. And then you found your lips against his. A brief, closed mouth kiss. But then you did it again. It felt nice, not like Nikki's hot, passionate kisses. But this was warm, friendly, it felt very open.

This was London, no one even batted an eye lid at the pair of you kissing so openly. His arm was around you, holding you close. He whispered in your ear, asking you whether it was okay for him to carry on kissing you. You replied by kissing him back. He tasted of spearmint and coffee. Nikki had always tasted of coffee. Oh god. Could you really do this?

You pulled away. Leo could see how torn you were. He could see it wasn't easy for you.

"Can we just walk and talk?" you asked, shyly. You'd never been shy around Leo before, but you'd just, completely sober, kissed your boss in the middle of Hyde Park!

You walked around, just aimlessly following paths. Not really caring where you ended up. It was nice. You felt at ease. Like it could all get better. You felt hope. You almost felt loved. You were definitely cared for.

And there was something else. Something you hadn't felt since that day. Something that almost didn't register what it was for a while. You felt alive.

Thank you for reading, please review, always makes my day :)

Lizzi
xxx