In retrospect, asking Chris what to buy Alex to say sorry hadn't been the smartest idea in the world. He'd never cared enough to buy any girl a gift to apologize before and he wasn't sure how to play it. He was sorry; he should have told her what the Guv had asked him to do straight away. Then again, he *did* care about her, he didn't just do it for the Guv and he had to make her see that, make things right with her. No-one had seen her since she'd run out and the Guv was sulking in a corner of Luigi's alone so she definitely wasn't with him.

Ray just prayed no-one would see him carrying his gift up to Alex's flat. He felt like such a poof. What if he did all this and she still hated him? Blocking out those thoughts, he took a deep breath and knocked on her door.

"Go away!" He heard her snap from the other side.

He knocked again.

"I said go away!"

"Alex, come on, it's me," he said through the door.

"I don't want to see you right now, Ray."

"Please, open up; give me two minutes... come on, 'Lex, I'm sorry." There. He'd said it.

She angrily swung the door open... and burst out laughing.

"I know, alright?" he told her, embarrassed. "So... do you want it? I am sorry, Alex." He held out the four-foot tall stuffed bear towards her.

She actually smiled as she took it from him.

Ray shuffled awkwardly on the spot. "Okay... so..."

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

"Just for a minute, then." Ray followed her inside and she sat the oversized animal in the chair. For lack of anywhere else to sit, he perched uncomfortably on the sofa beside her.

"Is that supposed to be a peace offering?" she asked, gesturing to the bear.

Ray nodded and again he said, "I'm sorry, Alex."

"I know," Alex assured him. She looked at him and gently placed her hand over his. He flinched in surprise, causing her to wince a little. "Do you want to be friends?"

"What?"

"I can't promise anything... I need some space, I need to be by myself for a while, so, do you want to be friends... for now?" She gave his hand a little squeeze.

He actually smiled, for once; she actually made sense to him. She was still fragile, healing. Neither of them knew how it was going to work out, the Guv being back, them both being DI's again. He realised she was looking at him with expectant eyes, seeming just a little fearful of rejection. Being friends for now made perfect sense.

"Course I do!" He tried to shrug off the tension between them. "You think I give just any girl a four-foot bear?"

Alex looked at the present he'd given her and smiled.

"Here, does this mean we still get to see E.T. tomorrow night?" Ray asked.

Alex laughed. "It definitely does," she told him, giving him a grateful hug. "It definitely does."