A/N and here it is - the final chapter - will everyone live happily ever after tho - we shall see x

(X)

Rosie left, Danny watched Alice trying to stuff some papers in her case.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Pictures." she admitted.

"Let me see," he walked towards her arm outstretched and took them. Flicked through them and smiled. "I wondered where these were. That one of the two of us on the veranda was one of my favourites. I still remember that being taken. You complained of being cold even though it was a boiling day. Then you pounced on me!"

She looked at him. "Excuse me I did not pounce on you!"

"Yes you did. One minute you were stood then you were crushing the hell out of my ribs."

"Didn't hear you complaining."

He grinned. "I didn't dare! When you wanted a hug I gave you one." he was silent. "Wasn't like I minded anyway."

They looked at the picture. The younger versions of themselves smiling and happy. Both of those people had been so sure that nothing could come between them.

Alice cleared her throat. "Um, that was favourite picture too. I took them because I wanted a little piece of you. I didn't know just how much of you I was taking with me." she looked at the picture of Rosie and Charlotte that stood on her bedside table.

He nodded, once again silence fell. He couldn't hold it no longer. "How could you be so reckless with your own life?" he asked feeling his blood growing hotter. "Dos it not occur to you what might happen?"

"Of course it does but my daughter needed me!"

Danny shook his head, tossed the pictures in the bed. "You can't change it Alice!"

"Change what?"

"That for seven years you weren't here when she needed you!"

Alice face changed from neutral to angry in 2 seconds flat. "I know that!" she spat.

"Being reckless now means you might leave her and where will she be? Alone again along with Charlotte!"

"I'm not gonna leave her again. I promised her that, I promised both of them!"

"If you die you won't have a choice."

"Just shut up Danny, I don't wanna hear this!"

"Of course you don't but your going to, I don't want you to take risks like that!"

"Why? I'm nothing to you!"

"You're everything to me, EVERYTHING! You have no idea how much you mean to me, how much I love you! How much it kills me to see you taking a needless risk that could take you away from me again!" his face was unsure and scared, his breathing laboured.

Alice's mouth was agape as she stared at him.

He closed his eyes, exhaled and looked at her. "That all came out rather quick and garbled."

"Kinda." she squeaked.

"But I meant it. I've tried to say the words so many times and failed. I don't know why. I just know that I love you. I'm not perfect and I wish I hadn't treated you the way I have or said the words that hurt you - but I did and nothing can change that. I was going to say I'm going to change for you but to be honest I already have. I'm sorry I hurt you, it haunts me, truly I wish I could take it away but I promise from now on I'll be here for you, and I'll never hurt you again." God he had never felt so scared in his entire life.

"Danny…" Alice began softly. "You shouldn't be saying this yet, there is so much unfinished business between us."

Alice watched as his face became shuttered. She was in front of him in seconds placing her hand on his cheek looked in his eyes. "I'm not saying that I don't feel the same I'm just saying with all the water under the bridge between us is this is too early. We need to get stuff out in the open or it'll always be there just eating away at us, one of us will bring it up in an argument and I don't want that, I want us to last forever. How are we gonna know what needs fixed if we don't tell each other?"

He nodded. Even though he was over it all, losing her and Rosie put everything in perspective. "Your right. Now?"

She sat down and patted the bed beside her. "I guess we better start at the beginning. When I left, the root of everything."

"What can be said?" he asked sitting down. "You left."

"And if we are going to work then we need to address the underlying reasons why I left."

He frowned confused.

"Look the reasons I gave you for leaving still stand and are completely valid, but they aren't the only reason I ran. This one I wasn't even aware of myself until I came back."

"What was it?" he asked suspiciously.

"I wasn't ready us, for the intensity of us, for how overwhelming that type of love was, you were all I could think about." she exhaled.

"Not ready? In what way?"

"I dunno, I was just young and…..this isn't coming our right."

"Alice I'm not liking where this is going, are you saying that I rushed you?"

"No."

"Then what?" she could hear the anger brewing in his tone.

"Danny I'm not blaming you."

"Well it sounds like you are!" he blasted.

"That's the point Danny! You don't get it! This was about me not you. I was a kid trying to be an adult. Yeah I was an adult in terms of age but there was so much more stuff going on that I just wasn't dealing with very well, so much rubbish that cluttered up my life. Then you came along and turned me upside down, we both knew full well we couldn't be together. Didn't stop us flirting like hell did it? How many times did we almost fall short? I had the rubbish at my old University, my new one, feelings for you. I had no support or family around me. I was trying so hard to prove to everyone that all the slurs weren't true. Trying so hard to prove that I was worth something! An adult wouldn't be doing that! An adult would have asked for help if they needed it. An adult wouldn't have ran away! I still had so much growing up to do." she exhaled. "And I haven't even mentioned my father yet!"

"What happened?" Danny asked softly understanding what she meant.

"I went home. I was heavily pregnant by the time I spoke to him. He demanded to know who the father was….he found out that Charlotte was the product of an affair with a married man."

"But my wife was dead." Danny told her. "It wasn't an affair, I loved you and you loved me. This was a committed relationship."

"Try telling him that!" she wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold. "Again he did the 'I'm so ashamed of you spiel. Thing was I didn't even get in touch with them, Rowan found out I was in Glasgow."

"I'm sorry Alice I should have been there for you."

"No Danny, you shouldn't have. I had big hang ups about my dad and had to sort him by myself."

He nodded.

"I also realised that I fell for someone who was a lot like my dad, not in the sense that you'd belittle people or condemn them just your very I dunno like stubborn in a way. Thing was I picked up on it and like twisted it, I started trying to prove to you that I was worth loving." she swallowed, finally at the heart of the matter.

"Alice." Danny stood up and took her hands. "You didn't have to do that. I loved you, all of you. Nothing you said or done would have changed that."

"I know that, understand that now but then I was just too young, emotions wise. If I stayed I don't know what would have happened. I don't think I'd be as strong as I am now. I don't even know if we'd still be together! It was best I left. I wasn't cut out to be a wife or mother. In the first year after I left I changed a lot, I had to. I'm a better person for it." she looked at the floor then him and finally said the words that she was afraid to say. "Sometimes when I'm with you I feel that way again."

"What?"

"Like I have to prove myself to you. Why do you think I accepted your marriage proposal?" she frowned as the pieces in her head began to connect. "God I didn't even realise that until now." she murmured to herself. She exhaled and shook her head. Looked at him. "We can't be together. I'm not going back to feeling like that!"

Danny was lost as to her meaning, until she pulled her hands from his, walked from the room and towards the exit of the house.

"NO!" Danny ran from the bedroom towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Your not going!"

She pulled. "Let me go!"

"Talk to me Alice!" he said stubbornly holding her tightly.

"I can't do it Danny!"

"Do what I don't get this!" He replied in turmoil.

"Go back to living like that, like I'm not as good as everyone else!" she jerked trying to free herself.

"It's only you who thinks that!"

"Danny!" she yelled.

He took a deep calming breath then put his mouth close to her ear. "Just stop thinking." he whispered. "Stop thinking and feel." he spun her and returned to holding her close to him. Lifted her hand and placed it on his chest. Pressed his on top of it. "Feel that? My heart is pounding so much because i'm scared that I'm gonna lose you!"

"Lose me again?" she spat. Trying to regain her hold on her resolve to leave.

"No." he told her simply. "I didn't lose you then. You were mine then and your still mine now. You'll always be mine coz deep down we're meant to be together. I never so much as looked at another woman when we apart known why?" he lowered his voice more. "How could I top you? I know we can get through the hard bits. I won't let you walk away from me. I can get passed everything. Can you? Will you let yourself?"

Danny saw her wavering, it was in her eyes.

He lowered his voice so it was almost inaudible, let his feelings show for her in his eyes. "Let yourself fall." he released her. "I'll catch you."

As soon as Danny wasn't holding her anymore Alice took a step back.

Danny inhaled shakily. He had done all he could, everything now was down to Alice. Alice who just stood there staring him. She took another step back.

Danny felt his stomach drop.

Alice's eyes turned cloudy.

Danny couldn't believe this.

She spun and started towards the door.

Danny panicked. A song popped in his mind and he started to sing without thinking.

"She's like cold coffee in the morning."

Alice stopped walking.

"I'm drunk off last nights whiskey and coke."

Danny saw her head cock to the side slightly.

"She makes me shiver without warning, and makes me laugh like I'm in on the joke. You can stay with me forever."

He paused a beat walked towards her slowly.

"Or you can stay with me for now."

He stopped behind her, continued singing even though she wasn't looking at him.

"Tell me if I'm wrong. Tell me if I'm right. Tell me if you need a loving hand to help you fall asleep tonight."

God he wished he knew if this was working!

"Tell me if I know, tell me if I do. Tell me how to fall in love the way you want me to."

Alice was all choked up. "You know Danny." she told him breathing heavily. "The first line of that song isn't very flattering." she tried to force the lump in her throat away. "Cold coffee is awful!"

"It had to be a line that would get your attention. I already I told you I loved you so….."

She turned to face him, he immediately saw a tear and wiped it away.

"And what's this about whiskey and coke? You know your not supposed to be drinking with your meds!"

He shrugged. "What can I say?"

"I suppose I'll have to stay - make sure I do all the things you said." she took his hand. "Who else will hold me hand and help me sleep huh? And who is else is big enough to tell you when your wrong?"

"Knew I should have censored that line!" he breathed.

"And I also get to tell you how to love me, what more could a woman want?"

"How would you feel about us getting married? Is that the way you wanna be loved?"

"Definitely!" she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Is that a yes?" Rosie yelled.

Danny and Alice looked towards the door. Rosie's head appeared followed by Caroline's above it and Charlie's below. Danny and Alice began to laugh. "It's a yes!" they chorused.

Woops and cheers erupted from the veranda. Danny and Alice didn't hear them. They were wrapped up in each other. Sharing their first love filled kiss in seven years.

A/N awww me loves a happy ending. this is now finished. :) and i will be reviewin all your stories sometime tomorrow AND i will have a chapter of opposites attract up too :) still got another week of uni and an assignment to write but decided i wanted a weekend off so thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed my story x

(PS) if i can think of a way to carry this story on i will if i can't then i'll probs start writing out of the blue (Part 2 to Undeterred :D)