A/N: The third kiss prompt, which took me a while to finish (although I've been working on other things as well, to be posted in the somewhat near future!) ozzlover asked for "to shut them up". It took me a while to decide on the direction to go with this! Many thanks to sasstermasters-quarter for working out what I wanted to write and finding some coherence in my thoughts

"You stupid, stupid idiot," Serena berates herself. She's messed it up, made a fool of herself in front of the whole ward, and she's pushed Bernie away. To Ukraine.

"You should have known. It scares her, all talk of feelings. You've scared her," she sighs, wipes the tears. She might as well stay and get started on the mountain of paperwork, sorely neglected after the topsy turvy day they'd had.

The night shift will be starting any moment, and she needs to stay, handover just in case there's any aftermath from the events of the day. At least, that's what she tells herself. In reality, she's making excuses, to not go back to an empty house and several full bottles of Shiraz.

She doesn't start on the paperwork, it sits in a pile, the plain blue folders taunting her. The day plays through her mind; every moment where she pushed too far, where Bernie took a step back, until she was literally running out of the door.

A light tap brings her back to he senses. "Come in," she can hear the weariness in her voice. Morven pokes her head round the door, cautious.

"Sorry to disturb, I wasn't expecting you to still be here."

Serena gestures vaguely at the files on her desk, not caring that they are clearly unopened.

"Did you want something in particular?"

"Oh, yes well, it's no problem if you haven't, it's not due for a couple of weeks but have you managed to sign off my portfolio yet? No rush, but I would like to look over it before I have to hand it in…"

Serena rummages through her draws, finds the required forms and hands them back with a tight smile.

Morven takes them and thanks her, then lingers as if she's not sure what to say next.

"Is everything alright, Ms. Campbell?"

"Hmmm?"

"It's just, I walked past Ms. Wolfe on the way in. She was….uh…banging her head against the steering wheel. Muttering something about 'stupid coward' before driving off. And you seem a little…tense."

Serena snaps her head up at the mention of Bernie and Morven is already looking sheepish, as if she knows she's said the wrong thing. She does her best to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"Long day, feeling a bit drained that's all. I'd better be off," she slams the drawer closed and Morven backs out of the office, wishing her a good night. She barely registers it. All she can think about is that Bernie might be regretting things as much as she is.

She sweeps off the ward, ignoring anyone and knows people are jumping out of her way as she strides through hospital corridors. Her mind is made up and she's determined that Bernie will see it.

She knows the route well, even from the hospital. They've given each other lifts, shared taxis from Albie's that drop Bernie off first. The roads are quiet and before she's had chance to work out what she'll say she's pulling up onto her road.

She parks out of view of the small semi-detached, gathering her thoughts. She checks herself in the rear view mirror, wipes away the mascara that tears carried down her cheeks. Now or never.

She checks herself at the door, smooths down her coat and hopes her knock doesn't betray her nerves.

Time seems to stretch out, engulfing her and allowing her brain to run through every worst case scenario. Bernie immediately shutting the door in her face, or admitting that she doesn't feel the same about Serena once she's poured out her heart, never seeing her again.

"You can keep the change."

She hadn't registered the door opening, and suddenly Bernie is in front of her, holding out a twenty pound note. She stares at Serena, dumbstruck and she worries maybe this was the wrong thing to do.

"You don't have pizza," Bernie states, and she can tell there's a thousand questions, things she wants to say but can't express. She clears her throat, desperate to say something but she doesn't know where to start.

"I'd have thought you'd be fed up with Italian after last night," she leads, bringing a humourless chuckle from Bernie.

"Look, Bernie, you don't have to say anything, but Morven said you looked upset and I sort of thought, well, hoped, that you might be feeling the same as me. I want you to stay. I want to see where this might lead. If you're going to Kiev for yourself, to work out what you want then fine. I know I went too fast, but please don't make a decision for me."

She sighs, Bernie hasn't moved, shows no sign of how she's feeling, what she might do next. She wrings her hands together and takes a deep breath.

"I took the secondment because I didn't want to pressure you, Serena. I know this is new for you but it's new for me too. I'm not sure if, well, I mean I don't want to lose you of course but I don't know if I can be right, for you. You've scared me too, and I thought Kiev might…"

Serena's heart drops to her stomach. This is why Bernie hasn't invited her in, she's breaking it off, giving them a few months apart.

"Help you get over me?"

She bites her lip, avoids making eye contact with Bernie because this is the second time she's made a fool of herself today.

"No, no I'm not explaining myself properly. When you said about falling in love, I don't know what happened but it terrified me so I did the only thing I know, I ran. And I regret it, and now you're here in front of me and…"

She never finishes the sentence, before Serena realises what is happening Bernie lunges forwards. Their lips meet and she is stunned for a moment, she was so convinced Bernie was about to finish everything for good that she can't compute this turn of events.

Somehow her instincts kick in, as Bernie starts to pull back she melts into her, hands lifting to tangle in her curls and deepens the kiss. It's so different to their other two kisses, still filled with emotion but no consciousness of their surroundings, just the two of them.

There's a polite cough from behind her and they jump apart, to find a sheepish looking delivery driver holding out a large cardboard box. Bernie blushes and holds out the note, muttering to keep the change. She looks at Serena through her fringe, a shy smile on her face.

"Sorry, I…I knew I wasn't making sense. I realised I was rambling and I need to shut myself up, so I…" she trails off and looks around, as if it was only just dawning on her that they were still stood on the porch.

"Would you like to come in? I can't offer an extensive wine list," the smile returns and Serena beams.

"I'd love to."