AN: Thanks everyone for continuing to read. This story is now coming to an end – but not quite yet, there's still a little left. I hope you are all still well and safe and I thank you for reading as it keeps me writing at this very odd time.

ML xx


It was a flawless late summer day as Robbie and Laura made their way down to the bay. The sky was cloudless, a perfect rich cerulean blue and the sun was bright and strong but not too overpowering. A very faint breeze from the sea made things even more pleasant. It was mid-afternoon and although there were lots of people walking along the beach, there was plenty of space for it to seem to Robbie and Laura that they had a wide area of the beach to themselves.

Holding hands, they walked along the long wide sands that made up Robin Hood's Bay. The air felt fresh and crystal clear and the sea was impeccably calm and it seemed unreal to them both that it was the same body of water from the day before. As they walked Robbie pointed out various seabirds to Laura; a cormorant flying over the surface of the water, sandpipers running together in small comical groups along the shoreline and oystercatchers with their striking orange beaks looking for food at the water's edge.

They walked slowly, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine and the feel of the wet sand, solid but shifting underfoot. The sea had started to go out and they walked down to the tideline as they walked up the long stretch of beach.

Robbie looked at Laura as they walked. She seemed a little tired but that was to be expected; after all, she'd spent most of the night looking after him.

He squeezed her hand "Are you alright?" He said softly as she looked up to him. "I mean, what with everything you told me earlier" His eyes were watchful as if trying to gauge her reaction before she spoke.

She raised a smile for him and to temper his concern

"I'm fine, Robbie." She said. She looked at him, and saw his eyes were searching hers to verify she was telling the truth.

"Obviously it's brought things back." She said. "But we're here now, not in the past."

She sighed "Anyway, people go through much worse. I got away relatively unscathed. Many women have similar stories, some worse, some not so worse, but we all have a story, whether we think we have or not. Seeing Rex made me realise I had that story, along with others, in my life"

Robbie alarmed at her admission started to speak but she cut him off, to reassure him.

"I mean, it's not just the obvious things, the big things, it can be the small things, the offhand comments, the gestures, the getting overlooked. All these things chip away at us. Women have had to deal with it for eons, for the most part I know how to handle it, to side step it, to toss it to one side; god knows I've had to put up with it in my career since the start. I'm Ok. It's Chrissy and Rose I'm thinking of now. But I'm ok, really. I promise" And she squeezed Robbie's hand to reassure him. He knew she was speaking from the heart and he smiled back at her and nodded in silent acknowledgement of her strength.

They strolled on, both in contemplative silence for a while, the gentle breeze tousling Laura's hair and Robbie looked at her as they walked and never had he felt so much love for her. She was right, they were here now, whatever had happened or hadn't happened in the past to either of them. Now was all they had, along with being together, and that was enough.

The storm had brought driftwood and a jumble of maritime rubbish onto the beach. Seaweed, cuttlefish bones, fishing nets and the odd forlorn stranded jellyfish lay scattered along the shoreline in an untidy but clear tide line. There was plenty of faded plastic and bottles amongst the shells and black drifts of heavier sand and pebbles. Hand in hand Robbie and Laura walked idly and slowly up the beach, following closely to the line of dark sand and debris that stretched ahead like an embroidered ribbon.

"Robbie look! Is that jet?" Laura exclaimed, letting go of Robbie's hand so she could stoop down to the sand.

"Looks like it might be, let's see"

Robbie took the small black lump in his hand. It was almost weightless and looked like a black piece of wood, a small part of the corner had sheared away to reveal a shiny mirror-like pure black.

"I reckon it is" he said with a grin.

"And what about this? It looks like a bit of sea glass, part of a brown beer bottle but it can't be, it's so light. She turned the scrap of material over in her palm. Do you think it could be amber?"

Laura handed Robbie another small piece of material from the tideline. He looked at it closely

"I think it could be. Hey that's quite a find y'know? Must be the storm that churned it all up, and now it's all settled, I think you've found some treasure there" He said and watched as Laura carefully put the two rough gemstones into a spare tissue and put them into her jacket pocket. She smiled at him and took his hand again and they continued to walk along the beach.

The mid-afternoon sun was glorious and under the warm blue sky Robbie and Laura came upon an old broken up boat that had been washed up on the beach. It was in half but it was enough to give them a comfortable back rest as they sat in the soft dry sand that had escaped the tide. Robbie sat down first and then Laura joined him and he pulled her up to him, his arms going around her in a comforting embrace. She settled back into his arms, being careful not to push too much against his ribs. He'd had more painkillers but she could tell the pain was beginning to lessen for him. His eye was still bruised however, a reminder to her of Rex and the events that precluded his near drowning.

She sighed. It would take a while to turn the volume down on that particular set of recollections. She felt him nuzzle his face into her hair and then felt a soft kiss on her cheek and she took his hand and lacing his fingers between hers, kissed it to return the affection.

"How are you feeling?" Laura asked, tilting her head back towards his. She was confident that Robbie was over the worst, he was certainly not in any danger anymore, but his bruises would be painful for a while and she worried about the impact of the rescue might have on his mind not just his body. Despite being well seasoned in dealing with close shaves, he wasn't immune and it was likely he might have flashbacks at some point.

"Actually, I feel ok, love" He said, his voice soft and close to her ear. He wasn't lying. The experience seemed to have made him feel aware of how precious things were, how glad he was to have Laura in his life. This thought brought back his guilt about New Zealand. Now the dust had settled a little, he needed to talk to her about it, and put the whole thing to rest, for both of them.

"It has made me think about a few things though" He said

"Oh?" Laura asked and there was a long pause from Robbie before he answered

"I need to know; Laura. New Zealand. . ."

"Robbie we've been through this before, we don't need to dwell on it again, it's not important now"

"Yes, it is, Laura." Robbie's voice was gentle but emphatic. "I need to know. How close I was . . .to losing you. I know I was. I need you to tell me"

Laura looked down at their intertwined hands. She didn't want to go over old ground, but he was right, he had nearly lost her. Maybe it was right to talk about it. Gently she unlaced their fingers and she turned in his arms so she could look at him.

Robbie looked back at her, holding her steady in his arms as well as his gaze. Her face was serious but she took his hand again, and her fingers suddenly felt small in his. They'd never really talked about it, not properly. At the time he had told her how sorry he was, that he would make it up to her and it had been a case of least said soonest mended. But he'd known, deep down how much he'd hurt her in that one instant of his own blind panic. He put his hand over hers, a silent encouragement for her to talk truthfully to him.

"I thought. . ." she took a deep breath, before she continued, and he heard the tightness in it that often precluded emotion.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to come back. From New Zealand. I don't do things by halves, Robbie, you know that. When you came to me in the in the lab that day, when I was having a last look round before going home, my whole career seemed to flash by me. I thought this has all been a waste of time, of my life, everything I'd done, everything I've not done, everything I'd accomplished in my career. None of it mattered. All I wanted was to spend time with you, just the two of us, finally away from work, after all those years of late nights, long shifts, all the difficult cases, all the stress, I just couldn't understand why you wanted the opposite. . ."

She didn't look at Robbie, she feared she would break down and cry if she did. In turn, Robbie looked down to the sands, a seemingly infinite number of grains, all different, that could never be counted and he felt his heart shrink with what she was telling him.

"I thought I wasn't enough for you." Laura continued, her voice quiet and distant. "I felt that perhaps if things hadn't worked out like they had, if you'd still had Val, or even someone else, if you'd been in another relationship or been married to someone would you have still not gone?"

Robbie felt his stomach flip at her confession. He was appalled at her notion

"No, of course not love." He said and Laura heard the anguish in his voice "Nothing could be further from the truth"

Despite the desperation of his defence she continued, her voice still conveying her upset

"It felt like the same pattern again. Getting so close to someone, loving them so much, thinking they were the one and only and then realising that actually, no, it is me. It's me. I'm the one that makes it all go wrong"

Robbie's face clouded again at her suggestion and he frowned.

"No, please, love, please don't ever think that; that could never, ever be true" He implored.

He felt awful that she would even think such a thing. "Listen" He said, lifting her face to his so he could see her eyes

"After Val died, work became the focus. And in a way I suppose work became a family to me in a roundabout way - you and Hathaway - you both had my back, but especially you. You were always there for me, you became part of my life, through work and then more so when we got together, and suddenly, when I felt that Moody was going to ditch me it all felt like everything was about to crumble apart, if I couldn't work then what else would I do?" He looked desperately at Laura, hoping he was conveying to her how he felt.

"At the time, in my head, it felt that you would understand. You're a workaholic like I am, you know what it's like, when you get consumed and driven by a case, by work. It was like I was talking to someone who would understand but I got it all wrong, love. I took you for granted. I didn't stop to think about you or how you might feel hurt at what I was saying, but you treated me with such kindness even after what I'd said and what it might mean for you and you forgave me, straight away, and I can never ever repay you enough for that"

At Robbie's explanation, Laura felt a relief. He had just been caught in the headlights, that day when he'd told her he wasn't going to go with her to New Zealand. And in the end he'd not stayed. He hadn't chosen work over her and hearing him finally talk about it, especially now, lifted a huge weight from her. She looked at him, there was a moisture in his eyes that she very rarely saw, a counter weight of emotion that matched how she felt. He suddenly grasped her hand in both of his.

"Listen, I need to say this. . ." He said. And he took a deep breath, his eyes still shining with an emotion that was clearly evident to how he was feeling.

Laura was taken aback by the force of his action

"I can't believe I never. . .that I don't. . ." Robbie continued, almost stuttering over his words "I. . . I never really. . . bloody hell! . . .even after going half the way the world. . ."

"What Robbie? You're scaring me"

He looked at her, a smile permeating the emotional anguish on his face "No" He seeked to assure her "No, its's nothing bad"

"What?" She frowned at him; her hand still grasped between his.

He looked at her, his eyes locking with hers as he spoke again, this time his voice was steady.

"I'm not very good at saying important thing sometimes. But I need you to know. . . Just how much I love you. Absolutely love you, so much. You mean the world to me, Laura and I never tell you enough."

Laura felt the pull of tears in her eyes and she smiled at him, trying hard not to let it tip her into a sob of emotion. There had been enough tears, good and bad in the last 24 hours. With teardrops threatening her composure she heard herself trying to staunch them with a small laugh of relief.

"Come here" She said, her arms reaching for him. "You know I feel the same, you big softie. I love you too, more than I could ever put into words" Now the tears did come. Verbalising how she felt pushed her over the edge and big teardrops tumbled happily down her cheeks. Smiling Robbie pulled her into his arms and against his chest he felt her sobbing. Tears shone in his eyes too. He held her for a few minutes while she regained her composure. She took a hankie out of her jacket pocket and dried her eyes and blew her nose. He looked down at her and kissed her, softly on the lips and then on her cheek which was still wet with more tears. He brushed a lock of hair from her eyes and smiled tenderly at her.

"Listen, if I died now, I'd be happy." He said, his voice soft and near "Getting dragged under those waves made me realise that. So anything else with you is a gift, a bonus. I thought I'd never see you or the kids again. I knew I'd never properly told you how much I do love you. I tell the kids all the time, how special they are to me in my life, after Val it became important to tell them all the time but I take you for granted sometimes, because you've always been there for me, unconditionally, it made it easy to take things for granted. I won't let that happen anymore, Laura. I want you to know and understand that. I don't want to ever be without you. I just want you to know that."

Although her tears had stopped Laura was still emotional and his continued words of devotion hit her, right in her heart. She dabbed at her eyes again, and found her composure returning a little. She smiled at him, her eyes still moist with emotion.

"You're not going to ask me to marry me you are you?" She said with a small dose of her usual cheek she often still managed to proffer to him at times like these.

He smiled, looking down at her, his eyes full of pure affection at her approach to the situation

"No" He chuckled gently "I've already got one black eye. I don't want another" She laughed back softly at his words but he thought he saw something else in her eyes, something he couldn't quite place.

"Anyway" He continued "you'd only say no" and despite the admission he smiled at her, his eyes and face full of yet more love and affection towards her.

"You sure about that?" She said, looking him in the eye. Through her trademark cheeky smile Robbie thought he saw something else there that made him question the playfulness of the exchange. Robbie's smile slipped slightly and he frowned a little in confusion.

"Maybe you should try it sometime" She said and her gaze locked on his and he felt a strange intensity from her, as if she was trying to instill something to him, from her heart. And she pulled herself back into his arms and he held her again for a while, feeling a little bemused at her words.

After a while she moved from their embrace and stood up.

"Come on" She said, standing up. "let go down to the sea". She gave him a long tender smile and then turned before walking slowly towards the sea. Robbie stood up and watched her as she went for a moment before catching her up, and hand in hand they both made their way towards the water.

Robbie was still a little baffled. Maybe you should try it sometime. What had she meant by that? He looked at her in puzzlement as they dodged debris, shallow puddles of seawater and lugworm casts as they picked their way down to where the sea met the rippled wet sands.

At the water's edge they both looked out to a clear horizon. There were a few fishing boats on the almost mirror flat surface of the water, terns and gulls flew above their heads and the waves lapped lazily up towards their shoes as they followed the water as it slowly went further out into the bay.

Coming to a stop at the tide's edge, Robbie pulled Laura into an embrace from behind and pressed a kiss into her hair and then another one behind her ear. It was one of his favourite places to kiss her and he knew she loved it when he did so. She grasped his arms and squeezed gently in response, enjoying the feel of him encompassing her.

They looked out to the horizon for a few minutes and then Laura felt Robbie kiss her again, then his voice, quiet in her ear.

"I wish I could make love to you, here on the beach" He said

"Robbie!" She exclaimed, laughing turning in his embrace "You never say things like that!"

He chuckled back at her reaction "I know. I told you. Getting half drowned does things to a man"

"Well, I think you've had enough notoriety in the past twenty-four hours without adding indecent exposure to the mix" She said and they laughed again, together. Laura looked at Robbie, an intense expression full of unabashed desire on her face, her hand on his chest

"You can't make love to me here but you can at the cottage. Let's go back soon." She said in a low voice

And she kissed him with an intensity that took his breath away and left him feeling a little stunned.

"We can go in the hot tub afterwards and drink that champagne" She added with just the slightest hint of a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Smiling back at her Robbie pulled her to him "I'm not going to argue with any of that" He said and they both laughed again, softly and still holding each other for a few minutes before Laura took Robbie's hand and led them both back towards the way they'd come

In the warm sunshine and under a still flawless heavenly blue sky they made their way back along the beach. Robbie squeezed Laura's hand gently. She looked up at him, sensing he was going to speak

"Anyway Miss-I'm-not-that-bothered-about-hot-tubs you've changed your tune." He said, and it was his turn to sport a cheeky smile.

"Well it's more for you and your sore muscles and bruising, Robbie."

"Alright, Doctor, whatever you say." And he gave her a wink.

They made their way back along the beach and as they walked close to the cliffs Robbie told Laura about the different sea birds they kept seeing and that there was a nature reserve down the coast that if they'd been staying a bit longer would have been worth a visit.

"You get seals and puffins there" He said and Laura smiled as he told her about the reserve and the cliffs where the seabirds nested.

"Maybe we can come again, Robbie and have another holiday here, without the drama we've had this time?" She said

"It's an idea, that's for sure" he said agreeing with her sentiment as they walked now to the sandy path that would take them though the little hamlet and back up to the holiday cottage.

"Did you know" Robbie continued "That puffins mate for life?"

"No" Said Laura, looking at him, her eyebrows raised in interest

"Yeah. They find a mate and they stay together for life. And if one of them dies, the one left finds another puffin who's either lost a mate or hasn't found a match yet"

Laura smiled. She looked at Robbie. He was gazing down at her as they walked.

"Sounds to me that puffins have got it all worked out" She said and she gazed back at him, and then together they climbed the steep path to the road before joining the track that took them back to the cottage.