Jack sighed heavily after hanging his coat up and half dragged his feet to the living room. It had been a long day that almost ended with him being arrested for murder. He needed to sort things out with Nikki. They were talking again at least, but he needed to see her – to hold her. He had been devastated to hear Ollie's voice on the message she had previously left and realise that she had spent the night with him, especially after they had just given in to their feelings for each other. The kiss had been real, but now Jack wondered if he really knew her at all. She had slept with a student – and upon hearing the message, he had come to the realisation that she had cheated on Matt, first with Ollie, then by kissing him – two things he hadn't thought her capable of.

Jack had been hurt. He had confronted Nikki about Ollie and had told her in no uncertain terms that the only thing he cared about was if she lost her job. Nikki had insisted she had drunk too much, but Jack had retaliated by telling her that their kiss had meant nothing to him and it had happened purely because he was unwell and didn't know what he was doing.

Jack had half expected Nikki to argue back, but she didn't. She appeared to accept that she had blown whatever chance she had with him and just miserably walked away. He had taken things into his own hands when he found Ollie waiting for her and threatened the student if he dared to jepordise Nikki's job. He had been hurt again to find out that Nikki had split up with Matt and not told him, particularly when she had told the Ollie. He would have quite happily have hit the student if Steve hadn't arrived.

Jack softened slightly after his altercation, armed with the knowledge that she hadn't cheated on Matt and she had already said she had been drunk at the party. Maybe she was the woman he knew after all., but he was still upset that she hadn't told him about Matt though, so he remained cold towards her when Nikki came into the office later that day.

"Jack?" She shuffled nervously shifting from one foot to the other, whilst Jack's gaze remained firmly on his paperwork.

"I know you don't care." She started "but I told Ollie it was all a big mistake. It was unethical and nothing else is ever going to happen. I went to the party because I was asked to judge the costumes. I was drunk. It wouldn't have happened otherwise."

"I don't-" Jack muttered.

"I know – you don't care!" she snapped shrilly, before he could finish his sentence. She threw a pen at his desk and rushed out the room. He hadn't seen her again after that.

Jack was shocked by the pen hitting the table – she had never done that before and he hadn't even realised she'd been holding it when she came in. The pen was a sign of just how distressed she was and he had the urge to run after her and pull her into a hug. He had been glad that Simone had not been around.

Nikki tried to call him later, after discovering that Steve not only wanted him off the case but also suspected him of murder. Jack had found himself cancelling her call on his hands free phone. He was driving and didn't want to talk to her. Then his Dad had rung immediately after – with hindsight, that should have been a sign that Nikki was at his house

"Dad?"

"Hi Jack...I'm with Nikki, she really wants to talk to you."

After not being there when his Dad had fallen, he couldn't hang up, so he allowed a gap for Nikki to speak, though he met her with a stony silence at first.

"Jack? Jack. Do you know what happened before Derek Galton died?...Please talk to me, Jack. Please let me help you...We get through everything together. You know I'll always be there for you."

That had brought a lump to his throat. His Dad had been there during that conversation, leaving both Connor and himself in no doubt over how Nikki and Jack really felt about each other. That coupled with the thought of how upset she had been when he said he didn't care, meant Jack couldn't bring himself not to answer her and let her help him.

"Nikki?"

In the conversation that followed, he explained what had happened in the care home, what he'd found on CCTV, who the killer was and why he was going back to the care home. As he approached his destination, Jack had relaxed. He and Nikki were talking again. She did love him, anyone could tell that and it occurred to him that perhaps Nikki had thought he had known about Matt. After all, they did not usually need words to communicate. They'd had a chat about making serious changes to their lives, and then Nikki had sung 'Angels' at Karaoke, clearly aiming the word at him not Matt. The signs were there, but he'd missed them.

Standing just metres away from his living room, Jack sighed again, remembering the old lady at the care home. Beattie had told him to 'Seize the day', and that's exactly what he intended to do. He needed to sit down and send Nikki a text or ring her and invite her over.

However, when he got to doorway of the living room, he was stopped by both surprise and delight, upon seeing Nikki fast asleep on his sofa in the darkened room. She had never left after their phone call, and her phone was still tightly clutched in one hand.

Jack was unable to stop himself from smiling. She looked so beautiful, the hall light shining on her face. She was there for him and his heart skipped a beat. He slowly moved over to the sofa and crouched down next to her, taking her empty hand in his. His other arm leaned on the sofa and his hand gently stroked forehead as she slowly came to. She returned his loving grip on her hand and smiled at him, neither of them needing to speak for a while.

Eventually, Nikki sat up, allowing Jack room to sit next to her. She snuggled into him.

"You ok?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah I'm alright."

"Beattie?" Nikki questioned.

"Yeah she's ok." Jack agreed. "She didn't want them to suffer any longer – and she said she didn't mean to suffocate them. She couldn't bear to see their faces – and she didn't mean to make everyone suspect me."

"Not everyone did." Nikki muttered.

"No," Jack replied, kissing her head. "Not everyone."

"I made you some onion soup" Nikki commented softly after a few minutes. "Your dad said you love it – and I thought you might be cold – and your fridge was full of onions."

"Was it?!" Jack exclaimed in astonishment.

Nikki looked up at him with a grin "You didn't know?"

"I-no." Jack stammered "Who-?"

Nikki shrugged "Your Dad?" Connor was the only other person in the house.

Jack rubbed his face. "But why? I mean...why?!"

Connor appeared at the door having just come down the stairs. "They were in the grocery delivery. You wrote on the list '3 bags of onions', so I ordered 3 bags of onions."

"Did I?!" Jack answered his strong Irish accent coming out an octave higher than usual.

Nikki gave him a hug despite being almost in hysterics. "Oh Jack!"

Connor went in the kitchen and returned with the shopping list. As he said '3 bags of onions' was scrawled on about halfway down the list.

"Well it's your handwriting" Nikki giggled.

Jack patted her knee, a slight boyish delight entering his features. "You know my hand writing?"

"I've known you a while" She pointed out squeezing his hand.

"Honestly son!" Connor shook his head in disbelief "You should have some of Nikki's soup though – it's lovely."

"I didn't know you could cook" Jack whispered, as they stood up to go to the kitchen, hands still clasped.

Nikki leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Mmm I'm full of surprises! I'll cook for you any time"