Ten minutes later, and Neil found himself sat on the floor, trying to get the courage to talk through a closed door to a weeping Grace, who hadn't uttered a word since she had shut herself in there.
Neil knew full well that the door wasn't locked, and so he could just walk in there if he wanted to, and as much as he was desperate to do just that, there was a part of him, the part of him that was still hopeful that he could fix this, that wouldn't let him open that door.
So, he thought to himself, maybe it's time to try opening the door with words alone.
"Grace?" Neil asked quietly, and from inside the room Grace looked up towards the door, eyes puffy, the occasional tear still leaking out.
"Grace, I'm so sorry," he continued, "But I didn't mean for it to come out like that. The truth is that I've been wanting to kiss you, or at least take you out somewhere for a few months now, but I haven't been able to find the courage. Today, it just felt, well, right. I know that it probably wasn't the right decision at all, but I wanted to show you how much you mean to me, how much I care. And yes, I wanted to make you feel better, but that wasn't the sole reason that I did it, today I just found the courage to kiss you, something I have been wanting to do, as I said, for a few months now."
Neil paused, waiting to see what would happen.
Grace slowly stood up, opened the door and sat on the floor next to him, when she tentatively slid her hand into his, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I over-reacted. I've wanted to kiss you for ages too, but I think I just felt guilty that I was feeling happy about something so soon after Annie dying. It feels like I shouldn't be feeling happy yet."
She looked up at him, to gauge his reaction, and Neil leant down and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"You're allowed to feel happy Grace. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but things will get better, and you shouldn't feel guilty that you have something to feel happy about. Okay?"
Grace nodded, and slid her free hand up around the back of his neck, pulling him close for a searing kiss that set all of their senses alight.
Maybe things could be okay after all.
A/N: I have to admit I wasn't completely satisfied with the way I wrote this chapter or the previous one, but no matter how much I edited it, I just couldn't improve it. But hopefully the next chapters will be a bit better!