25th April 1998,
Nottingham
"May I cut in?" Matt asks with a smile as he and Natalie stop by Ruth and Harry on the dance floor.
Harry glares at him for a moment before he grudgingly agrees and switches partners with him. Ruth smiles at his discomfort and presses a kiss to his cheek before she allows Matt to take her in his arms and they begin to dance.
"Rather possessive, isn't he?" Matt teases gently.
"Sometimes," she agrees. "I hate to think what he'd be like if I was a field officer. Anyway, it's only because you interrupted our dance. If you'd asked while we were sitting down, he wouldn't have minded."
"Ah," he grins, "but then it wouldn't have been as much fun."
She laughs at that and says, "You really are terrible, Matt."
"Well, I had to get my own back," he frowns. "I'm still miffed that you got married first, Ms Evershed-Pearce."
"Ah, that," she grins. "It wasn't deliberate, I assure you. We just found the perfect venue for our small wedding and it was either available last week, or in a month's time. Harry didn't want to wait. I think he was scared I'd change my mind."
"As if," he murmurs.
"Anyway," she smiles, "your wedding's so much more beautiful and elegant. The service was lovely and the reception's amazing. It must have taken you ages to organize all this, but it's well worth the effort. I'm a little jealous."
"This took us months to organize, Ruth, as you well know," he replies. "There's no way you could have done it in less than a month."
"I know," she sighs. "And in any case, we didn't want a traditional wedding. What with my father and Harry's best friend and brother not being with us any longer, we decided that we wanted something low key and intimate. I'm truly happy with what we had. It was lovely and we've got some wonderful pictures. Mum was a little critical, but she's always like that. I'm surprised to be honest that she didn't find more faults with it all." Matt grins and wiggles his eyebrows at her, making her exclaim, "It was you! I should have known. What did you tell her?... No. On second thought, I don't want to know." She smiles up at him and kisses his cheek. "Thank you, Matt," she murmurs.
"Part of my wedding present," he shrugs. "If she gets too much at any time, let me know. I seem to have found a way of getting through to her. You've had such a hard time of it since your dad passed away."
"I'm lucky to have you," she replies with a soft smile.
"I'd like my wife back now," Harry interrupts just then, giving Matt one of his steely glares.
"No problem, Harry," he grins. "I'd quite like my wife back too."
They swap partners again and continue to dance. Ruth smiles happily to be back in Harry's arms and presses her body against him, turning her face sideways, nestling her nose under his chin, and sighing in contentment. She knows he's jealous, and she knows he knows it's irrational, so she doesn't say anything, merely enjoys being near him, wrapped in his arms. After a few moments, she feels him relax a little, so she murmurs, "Matt just told me that he had a chat with my mum about her tendency to criticise me and my decisions. It was very sweet of him. Apparently, that's why she was so well behaved at our wedding."
He nods and she feels him tense a little, pulling her closer to his chest. A few moments pass before he speaks and then he asks, "You never told me, Ruth. Did you and he ever...?" He tails off, knowing that he shouldn't be asking this and feeling guilty and embarrassed that he has.
"I had a crush on him when I was thirteen," she confides after a momentary hesitation. "We kissed a couple of times, I think, but with time my feelings, and his, changed. Now I love him like a brother. He's the only real family I have apart from you. And even if I'd never met you and fallen head-over-heels in love with you, I'd never have considered sleeping with him, Harry." She lifts her head from his shoulder and their gazes meet. "I love you and I want you. No one else."
He nods and smiles softly as he murmurs, "I'm sorry, Ruth. I shouldn't-"
But she interrupts him saying, "It's fine, Harry. I quite like that you're jealous sometimes. You're not overly possessive, so it just makes me feel wanted."
"You're the only one I want, Ruth," he murmurs huskily. "No other woman can hold a candle to you." He leans toward her and presses his lips against hers in a fierce kiss. When he pulls back, his eyes are dark with passion and he growls, "Do you think they'd notice if we slipped upstairs to our room?"
"I doubt it," she smiles. "Besides, Matt's already read your intentions and is wiggling his eyebrows at me right now."
Harry turns to look over his shoulder and spots Matt and Natalie grinning smugly as they watch them. "Brothers," he sighs in exasperation, and taking Ruth by the hand, he leads her over to them, saying, "We're calling it a night. Congratulations again. I'm sure you'll both be very happy."
"Thank you, Harry," Natalie smiles.
Matt, however, gives him a cheeky grin and says, "Did something come up, Harry?"
"I expect a lot of things will come up tonight, Matt," Harry replies deadpan.
Natalie bursts out laughing at his retort and the others can't help but join in. Then they shake hands, hug, and kiss good night before Harry leads Ruth by the hand out of the room to the lifts, and Matt murmurs to his wife, "They have the right idea, Nat. Can we set off on our honeymoon now?"
"Let's," she smiles up at him and kisses his lips softly before they move off the dance floor to make the necessary arrangements.