A little extra scene from the end of the series! What a beautiful way to end. I only wish we got a few more minutes of Jakki to finish.

Their stomachs and hearts full, Nikki and Jack lounged across the sofa, empty pizza boxes scattered across the coffee table. Jack was slouched against the back and arm of the sofa with Nikki's head on his chest, casually lying across the sofa as though she already lived here. The thought brought a smile to Jack's face. Not that he'd been able to keep the smile off his face since the minute he'd walked into his living room hours earlier, to find Nikki Alexander curled up asleep, her head on one of the cushions Cara had persuaded him to buy to spruce up the place, and her hand firmly grasped around her phone, waiting for his call.

He was surprised she'd waited around so long. It had been several hours since they'd spoken, on his way to the care home to confront Beattie, and he'd assumed that she would have gone home. It had been a busy and exhausting couple of days, he knew she'd want to get some sleep. He had debated calling her on his way back, but decided not to, wondering if he should turn up at her house with a bunch of flowers instead. But in the end, she'd been the one to surprise him.

And here they were, together on his sofa like they'd been many times before, but this time they were cuddled up together like a couple. This time, he knew what her soft lips felt like against his, he knew what she tasted like. And, despite his atrocious behaviour in the last couple of days, she still hadn't abandoned him. He could hardly believe his luck.

'I'm sorry, Nikki...' he voiced his thoughts out loud, running his fingertips gently through her curls.

'What for?' She frowned, moving her head so she could look up at him.

He cringed, remembering how bad he'd felt when he saw the pained expression on her face, right after he said he hadn't known what he was doing when they kissed.

'What I said. It was a cheap shot. And it wasn't true, either. I knew exactly what I was doing.'

Nikki reached for his free hand and entwined her fingers with his. 'I know. It's alright. I'm sorry I hurt you, with Ollie...'

Jack felt his stomach twist at the very mention of him. He could quite happily wrap his hand around that lad's throat and squeeze until he had no breath left. He'd been lying then, too, when he told Ollie that he didn't care what he and Nikki got up to. He did care, he cared a lot. He cared so much it had driven him crazy.

'I had no right to be mad at you. I was with Liz the night before, I can hardly talk.'

Nikki squeezed his hand again. 'Fresh start?'

He nodded gently, enjoying the way her chestnut eyes explored his. 'Yeah. Fresh start.'

Nikki yawned, exhausted. But she made no move to leave. She was clearly just as comfortable as Jack was.

'You could stay?' Jack gently suggested, waiting to see how she'd respond. 'I mean I'm quite happy with the sofa... you can have my bed? Saves you getting a taxi and having to pick your car up again in the morning...'

'I've not brought anything with me...'

'I've got some spare toothbrushes in the bathroom... I can grab you a towel, if you want a shower? And I'll lend you a T-shirt.'

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. 'Ok. That would be nice.'

It suddenly struck Nikki that she'd never actually been inside Jack's bedroom. He'd shown her the room briefly when he first moved in and everything was still packed in boxes, but she'd not been upstairs since that night when they'd got back from boxing to find Connor battered and bleeding on the landing, and Jack's bedroom door had been shut then. She didn't know why, but suddenly she felt nervous. Almost like walking into Jack's bedroom was a big step into their relationship. She'd wanted this for ages - in fact, if she really thought about it, it had been brewing for years. But she was also terrified. Terrified because, in every other relationship, she knew she could rely on Jack to be there for her if things went wrong. But this time, she was with Jack - and if anything went wrong, she could lose him for good. The thought was almost too much to bear.

'Hey, you don't have to stay!' Jack's smile faded as he picked up on her apprehension. 'It was just a thought. I can call you a cab? Pick you up for work in the morning?'

She shook her head, butterflies in her stomach. 'No, I want to. I do. I'm just thinking, that's all.'

He stared at her, intrigued. 'About what?'

'Lots of things...'

'Dangerous,' he joked, then gently sat up. 'Come on. I'll get you those things.'

Fifteen minutes later she was sitting on the edge of Jack's bed wrapped in a towel, her hair damp and wild. She was in a world of her own, thinking about how terrified she'd been when she couldn't get hold of Jack and knew he was stuck at the care home with the killer. What if she'd lost him? She'd practically run up those stairs, desperate to see him, to make sure he was ok. And then when he wandered in, soaked through and on the verge of hypothermia, all she could think about was making everything ok for him. He looked so sad and vulnerable; she'd never seen him like that before. It had just confirmed to her what she already knew, but was trying to ignore - she was completely and utterly in love with Jack.

A clumsy knock on the door brought her out of her daydream and she turned with a tired smile as Jack walked in.

'Oh...' his eyes fell on the towel, and his untouched t-shirt still strewn across the bed where he'd left it. 'I'm sorry, I didn't realise..'

'It's fine, Jack.' Nikki stood up and reached for the t-shirt, and for one heart stopping moment Jack thought she was going to drop the towel. 'I was just going to get dressed.'

'Do you need anything else?' He asked, keeping his eyes on the floor as she pulled the t-shirt on and then hung the towel over the end of the bed.

'There is one thing...' she smiled playfully, pulling back the duvet and climbing in. As she snuggled down, she took a deep breath of Jack's comforting scent.

'What's that? You found the toothbrush, right?'

'I did. It's a bit cold in here.'

'Oh...' Jack pulled a face. 'Yeah, the heating's a bit hit and miss. The boiler's on its way out, there's not much I can do, I'm sorry.'

He couldn't keep his eyes off Nikki Alexander in his bed. Under his covers. Lying on his pillow.

'Aren't you going to be cold on the sofa?' She asked.

'Nah. Why'd you think I own so many jumpers?!'

Nikki sighed, enjoying his evasiveness even though she knew exactly what he wanted to do. He was being the perfect gentleman, not pushing her in any way. A guy needs clear signals to proceed, he'd told her once, a long time ago.

'Come join me?' She suggested.

He opened his mouth to respond but promptly shut it, as though he hadn't quite heard her right.

'Clear enough signal for you?' She grinned.

'Erm... yes...' he immediately fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, not wanting to miss out on another second with Nikki. After the first few he gave up, hastily pulling the shirt over his head instead.

Nikki grinned, watching his muscles flex as he pulled off his clothes and climbed into bed beside her in just his boxers. Once he'd turned the light out, she reached for him and pulled him close to her, then turned away from him so his body fit the back of hers like a glove, his hands clasped over hers and his chin tucked into her neck. The softness of his breath on her skin made her skin prickle and her hairs stand on end. Her heart swelled when she was close to him like this. She could happily lie like this with him for the rest of her life.

'I love you, Nikki,' he muttered into her hair, then instantly wondered whether he'd made a mistake to say those words out loud so soon.

'I love you too,' she replied to his delight. 'Night.'

'Night. Sleep well.'