Harry watched Nikki from the bar as she happily chatted and sipped her cocktail. She looked pretty this evening; she had curled her hair and had chosen a sparkly dress that fitted her just perfectly. She didn't need to dress up though, she was beautiful anyway, she just didn't realise it and Harry quite liked that fact. She carried with her an innocent and fresh beauty that was so unfamiliar to the world these days. She masked it with heels and a collection of designer clothes but it was still there under the surface. He saw it in the wetness of her eyes when they had a family member visit their deceased in the mortuary, when she'd stay up all night because a case really mattered, when she'd sit at her desk and chew her pen absent-mindedly and tuck her hair behind her ear. She wasn't like the other girls that knew they were beautiful, there was no conceitedness with Nikki. That was why, in spite of himself, he couldn't help but love her, even when she annoyed him.

He had liked Nikki from the moment he'd met her, she was full of surprises and such fun to be around. He learnt not to be quite so anal retentive, to smile a bit more, to relax. He'd been cautious of taking things any further but Leo seemed to agree so he'd decided to take things slowly, play it cool, to surprise her with a kiss…

Then his ex had turned up on the mortuary slab and everything had suddenly gone wrong. After that he had tried to get things back on track but he just didn't have the energy to deal with a relationship again, Penny's death had brought back a lot of bad memories and he didn't trust himself to get it right. He had wanted to look after Nikki still, care for her, but she had suddenly come into her own, she had grown and didn't seem to need him anymore. Yet when it went wrong he was always there for her to help pick up the pieces, good old dependable Harry. All he wanted in return was a bit of insight into her life but he never got that privilege. He didn't know why, friends were meant to share about who they were dating weren't they? All he got were flashes of men in the lab, the coy smile when she received text messages at work, the knowing looks.

He didn't like all these men she'd been seeing. It made him feel twisted inside. Some days he saw an independent woman expressing her freedom but on others he saw a lost girl trying to find her home. He hated seeing her whittle through nameless men but it was her choice, he couldn't stop that. He had decided that if he couldn't have her then it should be someone flipping decent who could. He had been pleased when he'd eventually met Ryan (of his own doing of course, Nikki would never introduce them) as he'd seemed like a decent guy, at first anyway. Harry had resolved to be happy for Nikki, to be a supportive like a friend should. Of course this had been tinged with a lot of jealously, coupled with a dull aching and sick feeling he'd carried around for days when he realised he'd lost her, but he though he'd carried off the 'supportive friend' role quite well.

Suddenly he felt Nikki at his side, "Are you intending to stand here all night being boring?" she asked, her voice already a little infused with alcohol.

"You looked like you were having a good time, I didn't want to interrupt," he replied "where's Leo anyway, I thought he was coming?"

"He cancelled didn't he?" Nikki replied, "Nigel's arriving soon. Why don't you come over? The girls would love to meet you!"

"Now that sounds like music to my ears." And with that Harry took Nikki's hand and followed her over, sitting beside her friend Rebecca and raising his glass in a toast to Nikki's birthday.