A/N: I'd just like to thank those who reviewed and wanted more chapters! It's great to know that you enjoyed reading it! This idea came from listening to Matt Cardle's 'When we Collide', I have no idea why though! Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

A couple of years later, Gwen sat on the sofa playing with her phone and staring at the clock. It was half past midnight and Owen still hadn't returned. He'd told her that Jack had sent him out to do some important work but when she'd called Jack an hour ago, he knew nothing about it.

This pattern had been going on for weeks. Owen would say he needed to go out to work and he wouldn't come back until early hours of the morning or sometimes not at all but Jack knew nothing about his disappearances.

She sighed and got up, heading upstairs. Peeking into Luke's room, she saw the twelve year old sprawled across his bed, his mouth slightly open as he slept. Smiling fondly, she exited the room and went to check on Lucy, now six. She was curled up in a ball with her thumb in her mouth. Her dark brown hair spread across her pillow. Now she was growing up, she looked a lot more like a mini Gwen.

Gwen heard the front door open and quickly went downstairs. Owen was hanging his jacket on the pegs when she appeared.

"Where have you been?" She asked, smiling nervously at him.

He turned towards her and stared for a few seconds.

"I told you, Jack sent me out to take a look at something." He answered.

She knew it was a lie but she decided not to call him up on it yet. Maybe he had a good reason for lying.

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot." She smiled.

He nodded and walked past her and up to their room. She followed and started to get ready for bed.

"How come you're still up?" Owen asked.

"I just wanted to be awake when you got back. We don't get to have much time to be alone." She replied.

They climbed into bed and kissed each other goodnight. Gwen wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself into him. Looking up at him, she raised her eyebrow and smirked. As she went to kiss him again, he pulled away and untangled her arms from around him.

"Gwen…not tonight. I'm really tired and we've got an early start tomorrow." He told her and rolled over.

She stared at his back before turning off her bedside lamp and laying with her back to him.

The next few days ended in a similar way. She sensed a gap growing between them and it was rapidly becoming bigger as the weeks went on. Owen hardly spoke to her any more.

One night, she woke up to find that Owen wasn't in bed. Thinking he was in the bathroom, she went downstairs to get a glass of water.

As she walked past the living room, she heard gentle breathing coming from inside. Walking over to the sofa, she saw Owen lying asleep with a blanket over him. She hovered at the back of the sofa debating whether to wake him and ask him why he was there or to just leave it until morning. Deciding to leave it, she carried on with what she'd come down for and went back to bed. That night, Gwen cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, as Luke ate his toast he noticed the awkwardness and tension between his parents. Though small for his age, his knowledge and understanding was way above average and he came top in almost all of his lessons. There were tear stains on his mother's cheeks. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, he glanced at his father who obviously wasn't bothered.

When Owen left the room, Luke put down his toast and watched Gwen. She turned and smiled at him when she caught him staring.

"Have you finished your toast?" She asked.

"Erm…yes." He nodded and got up to put it in the bin and the plate in the dishwasher. As he turned to lean against it, he went back to watching her. "Mum, is there something wrong?"

"No, no there's nothing wrong." She answered quickly as she glanced at Lucy munching on her own jam and toast. Gwen grabbed a cloth and went over to wipe away the jam smeared all over her face. "Why would you say that?"

"You just look upset. Have you and dad been fighting again?" He asked.

Lucy glanced up curiously at Gwen as she stared between them both.

"Lucy, if you've finished, go and make sure you've got all your things packed for school." Gwen told her.

Lucy jumped down from her chair and ran out of the room.

"School, school, I'm going to school." She sang.

Gwen laughed and turned back to Luke. Walking over to him, she pulled him into a hug and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He came just below her chest.

"There's nothing to worry about sweetheart. We haven't been fighting, we're just…going through a stage that all mummies and daddies go through. Things will be back to normal in a few days." She told him, trying to reassure both him and herself.

"But you've been crying." He pointed out.

"Oh…I'm just not feeling too well at the moment." She lied. Kissing the top of his head, she stepped back and rested her hands on his shoulders. "Don't you worry about anything ok." Luke nodded and smiled slightly. "Go finish getting ready."

"Ok." He nodded.

As he left the room, a fresh tear rolled down her cheek. She hated lying to Luke and she was saddened that Luke could sense these things. Children his age shouldn't have to worry about things going on between their parents.

The car journey to Luke and Lucy's school was a quiet one. Owen was driving and stared out the front window while Gwen gazed out of her side window, her arm on the arm rest and her chin resting on her hand.

Gwen waited until the children had climbed out of the car before she turned to Owen.

"Why did you sleep on the sofa last night?" She asked quietly.

"I was…I got too hot in bed last night so I went downstairs to cool down. I just fell asleep on the sofa that's all." He answered, not looking at her.

Another lie, Gwen noted. Why was he lying to her all the time?

"Why don't you talk to me any more? I don't just mean generally, you don't seem to talk to me about how you're feeling or anything. You're always going out to do jobs for Jack and coming home late. We never get any time together any more. Don't you like spending time with me?" She asked, placing her hand over his on the gear lever.

His jaw clenched and he swallowed nervously. Pulling his hand away from hers, he placed it on the steering wheel.

"It's not that, it's just…you know how our job can be." He shrugged.

"I do but you know Jack will let us take time off if we asked him but you never do. Even when he lets us have the day off or sends us home early, you stay back and say you've got paperwork or an autopsy to do. Why don't you ever want to come home and spend time with me or the kids? When was the last time you kicked a ball around with Luke or read a book with Lucy?" She sighed.

"What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?" Owen snapped. He sighed and glanced at Gwen. "Fine. If it makes you feel better, I'll get Jack to give us the weekend off. Does that sound ok with you?" She shook her head in disgust at him and turned to look back out of her window. "What do you want from me?"

"I just want you to show a little more interest in our kids and for you to stop choosing your job over your own family." She argued. "I'm sick of us playing second best to you."

When she glanced at him, she saw his face had crumpled and he was trying to hold back tears.

"Is that really how you feel?" He whispered.

"Well wouldn't you if I started choosing to do more work than to be with you? You don't even kiss me any more, or the kids. I haven't seen you give them a hug for ages. Sometimes I just feel…like you don't love us like you used to." She explained.

Owen was silent for the rest of the journey to the Hub. He swallowed back tears and found it hard to see the road through his tear filled eyes.

When they pulled into the Hub's car park, Owen jumped out and ran to Gwen's side of the car. As she closed her door, he pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear I didn't." He pressed his lips onto hers in a fiery kiss. "I love you so much and I swear I'll do whatever it takes to spend as much time as I can with you and the kids."

"Owen I love you too and it means a lot to me that you're going to try…" She told him.

She thought about bringing up the question she'd had in her head for weeks but she didn't want to spoil the moment. It bugged her though and she knew she'd have to ask it soon.

"But…" Owen said seeing her hesitation.

"But nothing. It doesn't matter, it's just silly." Gwen replied, shaking her head.

"No go on." He insisted.

"It doesn't matter honestly." She repeated.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes. Come on, Jack will be waiting." She said and pulled him towards the entrance. As they entered arm in arm, Gwen glanced up at Owen. "Why have you been lying to me?" She asked sadly in her head.

Owen kept his word until that weekend when everything went wrong again.

Saturday afternoon, they were sat on the sofa watching a film with Luke and Lucy cuddled up between them. Owen's phone started to ring and when he glanced at the display, he got up quickly and disappeared into the kitchen to answer it.

Gwen frowned and tried to concentrate on the film but she couldn't. She fidgeted restlessly and sighed a lot.

"Mummy can I have a drink please?" Lucy asked.

"Yes of course sweetheart. What would you like?" She smiled.

"Apple juice please." She answered.

"Ok. Luke would you like some?" Gwen asked.

"No thanks." He said.

Gwen got up to make Lucy's drink.

As she stood outside the kitchen door, she heard Owen's voice on the other side.

"I told you not to call me when I'm at home…I can't this weekend…it's complicated…look, I don't think I can do this any more…because I love my family too much to see them get hurt…yes I like you too…oh really…that sounds interesting…fine, I'm on my way." She heard him whispering.

Gwen stood frozen outside the kitchen door, not believing what she'd just heard. She walked into the kitchen and looked at Owen. He was putting his phone in his pocket and reaching for his car keys on the kitchen table. She started to make Lucy's drink and tried to act as calm as she could.

"Who was that?" She asked, hoping he couldn't hear the wobble in her voice. "Was it Jack again?"

"No it was…my mum." He answered. "She's thinking of moving to Cardiff so she wants me to go down and help her with the arrangements. I'll be back later tonight. She just wants me to go down there to talk about it tonight."

"Oh that'd be wonderful. She'll be able to see her grandchildren more often then." She said.

"Yeah…I'd better be going. I'll see you later." He nodded.

She turned to give him a kiss but he dodged out of the way and walked out.

When she heard the front door slam, she bowed her head and let the tears flow. Owen was having an affair. Her Owen. The man she adored and thought loved her back.

She left the kitchen quietly and stood in the living room doorway and watched her children sitting together, staring at the television screen. How could Owen do this to them? How could he hurt them like this?

Well she wasn't going to let him do it any longer. She ran up the stairs and grabbed a suitcase from the top of the wardrobe. Grabbing Owen's things, she shoved them into the case.

She was holding one of his shirts and staring down at it when Luke entered the room.

"Mum?" He called. She turned and looked at him, giving him a sad smile. "I was wondering where you'd gone." Noticing his dad's things inside the suitcase, he walked over to her. "I made Lucy's drink for her." Gwen stayed silent and continued to stare down at the shirt in her hands. "You're throwing him out aren't you."

Her head snapped up and her eyes widened. She tried to compose herself before she spoke to him.

"Luke, go back downstairs. Go watch the film." She told him.

Turning her back on him, she presumed packing Owen's things in the suitcase.

"Why are you packing his stuff?" He asked, staying put.

"Luke, please just go downstairs." She said firmly.

"Has he done something wrong?" Luke persisted.

She sighed in frustration and ignored him. Luke wasn't going anywhere until he got the answers he wanted.

Looking around the room, he spotted his parents CD player. He pressed play after making sure there was a CD inside.

Gwen heard the first few bars of Matt Cardle's 'When We Collide' and stood still. She'd fallen in love with Matt as soon as he appeared on XFactor. When he'd won, Owen went out and bought her his new CD for their anniversary. It was so romantic and she'd loved it so much.

"Turn that off now." She snapped, quickly wiping the tear from her cheek.

Luke turned the music off quickly and stared wide-eyed at his mother.

"I'm sorry. I just – I was -" He said quickly.

Gwen looked at him and immediately felt guilty.

"Come here." She sighed. He walked towards her slowly and she put her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

Sitting down on her bed, she pulled him onto her lap. He placed his head on her shoulder and she could feel it becoming damp as he cried.

"You said everything would be ok soon." He sobbed.

"I know I did sweetheart but sometimes things can go wrong that we can't control." Gwen explained.

"My friend Daniel's parents aren't together any more and he doesn't see his dad any more. Daniel said his dad doesn't love him. Does dad still love us?" Luke asked.

"Of course he does. Your dad loves you both so much and you can see him as often as you want. I'm not going to stop you seeing your dad." She told him. "I'd never do that to you."

"Does he love you?" Luke mumbled.

"I don't know." She admitted. They sat in silence for a few moments, just clinging to each other. "You go and choose another film to watch and I'll be down in a minute ok? Or you can choose a game to play, anything you want."

"Ok mum." He nodded.

She kissed his cheek and smiled at him.

"I love you." She said as he climbed down from her knee.

"Love you too." He smiled.

She waited until he'd gone downstairs before finishing off with Owen's things.

After she'd stacked the bags in a pile near the door, she joined Luke and Lucy on the sofa.

By the time she'd put the children to bed, Owen still hadn't returned. She tried to ring his mobile but it was turned off. She thought about leaving a message on his voice mail but rang off instead.

Sighing, she made her way upstairs. She went into Luke's room and shook him gently.

"Luke wake up." She whispered. Luke's eyes fluttered open and he squinted up at her. "Come into my room tonight. Your dad's not back yet and I think we need to talk." Luke got up and stumbled sleepily into his parents' room. "I'll just go and get Lucy."

Gwen carried her sleepy little girl into her room and placed her on the bed.

She sat between her two children and pulled the duvet over them all as Luke and Lucy snuggled up to her.

"Where's daddy?" Lucy yawned.

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about. Daddy's not going to live with us any more. He loves you both very much and he'll come and see you as often as he can." She explained.

"But what about you? Doesn't daddy want to come and see you?" Lucy asked innocently.

"No. Daddy loves another lady now." Gwen answered sadly.

"He's having an affair." Luke mumbled.

Gwen looked shocked. She had no idea he knew about things like that.

"Yes. He's…having an affair." She nodded.

Luke squeezed her hand gently.

As she watched them sleeping, Gwen tried Owen's phone again. It had been turned on since the last time she tried. The phone rang three times before it was answered.

"Gwen? I was just about to call." Owen's voice said. "Listen, I can't get home tonight. We didn't realise what time it was, you know how my mum is. It's too late to travel now so I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"I'm surprised you're even bothering to come home at all." She spat as she heard a feminine giggle in the background.

"What? Gwen what are you -"

She ended the call, not wanting to hear any more. Turning the phone off, she lay down and tried her hardest to get to sleep.

The next morning, Tosh took Luke and Lucy for the day so Gwen could have some time to herself and so they weren't there when Owen finally showed up. She didn't want them to see their parents fighting.

"I just can't believe Owen would do something like this." Tosh sighed as she herded the kids out of the door.

"Me neither." Gwen mumbled.

"Listen, I'm here if you need anything and I'm sure Jack and Ianto will help out too." Tosh told her.

"Thanks Tosh." She smiled.

She closed the door and went to sit at the bottom of the stairs, where Owen's bags now were, and waited for him.

An hour later, she heard his car pull up outside. She stood up, straightened herself and took a deep breath. He spotted her as he entered.

"Hey. What was all that about last night? Why did you say…" His voice trailed off as he saw the bags. "Are you going somewhere?"

She picked them up and shoved them into his hands.

"No. You are. Leave. Now." She said coldly.

"What?" he asked.

"I am sick of you lying to us. All those times you said you were working late, you weren't were you? I know you weren't, I've asked Jack. Last night, you said you were at your mum's but I know you didn't go anywhere near there." She told him.

"What are you talking about?" He laughed.

"I heard you talking on the phone last night so don't even bother trying to lie your way out of this one. I can't see our kids get hurt by your selfishness. I know you're having an affair." Her voice broke as she said the last sentence.

She crumpled back into her position on the stairs and held her head in her hands as she sobbed.

Owen couldn't think of anything to say. If he denied it, he would be lying and that would hurt her even more. If he admitted it, she'd still get hurt. The one thing he knew was that he still loved her so much. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

"Gwen I -" She shrugged his arm off her and turned her back to him, her face still in her hands. "Gwen I love you. I swear I never meant for this to happen, I don't even know how…" His voice trailed off and Gwen felt him stiffen next to her.

She couldn't help but look around at him. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes were clouded over and had seemed to have turned grey.

"Owen?" She whispered.

His eyes swivelled to look at her, the same vacant expression in them.

"I love her. She's amazing. I don't want to be with you any more." He said, his voice monotonous and not his own.

He stood up and walked out, picking up his bags on the way.

As he stood on the front step, the door closed behind him, he shook his head and frowned. Looking down at the bags in his hands, he realised what had happened. He wanted to go back in and tell Gwen that what he'd said wasn't true but some force was pulling him away.

Gwen knew something was wrong. The look in his eyes had scared her and the odd colour they had changed to wasn't natural. She grabbed her phone and car keys and dialled Jack's number as she raced to the Hub.