It wasn't until the fourth or fifth time that Jack stayed over at Nikki's that he realised that she didn't sleep in the dark, and she didn't sleep in silence. He first realised that the radio at the side of her bed was on all night on a low sound when he woke halfway through the night to use the bathroom, came back and laid down and was conscious of music playing. He had glanced over at Nikki's bedside table on the side of the bed she was sleeping soundly on, and saw that it was indeed on, but very quiet. He assumed that she had forgotten to turn it off, and he had forgotten about it. It was a few days after that that he stayed over at hers again, and the same thing happened, this that time he had been aware suddenly that the room wasn't pitch black during the night. He had put that down before that to street lights outside, but it was in fact, when he lifted his head up far enough to look and for his eyes to adjust, a nightlight plugged into the socket next to the bed, casting a glow around part of the room so that it wasn't pitch black. He'd not even noticed it plugged into the wall before when he had been in Nikki's room during the day, but perhaps he just hadn't been looking so it hadn't caught his attention.

What did catch his attention the next morning was Nikki waking before him as she usually did ("Do you have to get up so early, Nikki?" "yes I do, I miss half the day otherwise" "how can you miss half the day spending an extra hour in bed?"), this time however he woke in time to see her unplugging the light and putting it in the bottom drawer of her bedside table, not seeing him looking as she turned and made her way into the bathroom. He watched her leave the room, before he rolled over and leaned over the side of the bed, opening the bottom drawer and feeling his heart sink when he saw the night-light in there in the shape of a cloud, a little part of him amused at her choice as his lips twitched and he quickly shut the drawer and moved back to lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. They'd not stayed a full nigh at his place since they got together, mainly because it was in the middle of a full redecoration starting with his bedroom and his bed was in fact in the living room while it was being done, but he remembered the first night that they had been laying in bed until late, Nikki had got up and opened the curtain a crack. He thought it had been to let in some air, but he wondered if it was to get a little bit of light through from the moon or the lights outside.

"Jack!"

He jumped when he heard Nikki's voice, turning his head on the pillow to look at her standing in the doorway dressed in just a gown, an amused look on her face.

"Where were you just then?" she teased, walking over to the bed to lean down and kiss his forehead "Far away it looked like"

"I was thinking"

"Ooh, be careful" Nikki smirked and Jack rolled his eyes, reaching up to push a stray piece of hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek with his thumb and smiling when his girlfriend leaned into his touch. "What about?"

"Did you leave the radio on last night?"

He saw Nikki's smile falter slightly before she looked over at it and shrugged, sitting up properly and running her fingers through her loose hair.

"I might have done accidentally. Did it keep you awake?"

"No, but I've noticed a few other nights I've been here that you have the radio on all night too"

"I just..I don't like it quiet when I sleep" Nikki shrugged, looking down at her fingers as she put them on her lap and swallowed heavily, her attention going straight back to Jack when he reached over and wrapped one of his hands around both of hers, squeezing them "Not since Mexico"

Jack nodded quickly, sitting up on the bed and moving to rest their foreheads together, closing his eyes for a few seconds and nuzzling his nose into the side of her head. He didn't want to ask about the night-light yet, he didn't want her to think that he was annoyed at her.

"Whatever you need to cope Nikki, and it didn't disturb me at all, I only noticed because I woke up to use the toilet" Jack assured her, bringing her hands up to his mouth and kissing her knuckles, smiling at her as she gave him a small grin "And if you need some noise during the night, I'm sure I can sing to you"

"God I hope not"

It wasn't until two weeks later that his bedroom was finished, all the new furniture made and put in, along with a nice new bed that Nikki had told him would need breaking in at some point. Or more accurately, had whispered in his ear as he sat on the edge of it while his dad was in there discussing the next room they were going to decorate. She had then sauntered out of the room leaving him to try and tune back into what his dad had been saying. Of course they had happily done that when Conor had left late in the afternoon to go across the road to play cards with some of the other residents in their street.

"You could stay tonight" Jack told Nikki as they lay in bed together afterwards, Nikki with her head on his shoulder and Jack with his arms around her, playing absent-mindedly with her hair. "If you want. You're not at work tomorrow, you can be a dirty stop-out just like my da, he has a better social life than I do"

Nikki laughed at that, propping herself up on her arm to look down at him, putting one hand on his chest to steady herself. They'd only been together a few weeks and she realised that this was how she was meant to feel about a partner, they were best friends and lovers, and she had never been so sure of being in love with someone as she was with this man.

"And, I have a present for you" Jack then told her, sitting up and sliding out of bed after pulling on his discarded boxers, walking around the bed and smirking when Nikki laid down again, the duvet pulled up to her chest and looking like an absolute angel in his bed. He opened the bag that was on the chair in the corner of the room, pulling out the box inside and walking back to the bed, handing it to his partner. "I..thought this might help you when you stay here" he murmured, suddenly nervous.

He watched Nikki's face as she read what was in the box, looking at him and then biting her lip.

"I'm sorry if I overstepped..."

Jack was cut off by Nikki throwing her arms around his shoulders, kissing him and then burying her face in his neck, feeling and hearing her sobbing as she dropped the box with the same cloud nightlight on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back and her arm and pulling the duvet over her again so she didn't get cold. He didn't know if they were happy tears, upset tears, or angry tears, but he held her against him and kissed her head and let her cry until she hiccuped and moved away, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, then her nose with the tissue Jack got from the box next to the bed.

"I love it Jack"

"You do?"

"Hmm" Nikki bit her lip and nodded quickly, wiping her nose again and sniffing, reaching over to pick up the box that she had dropped "This is..I have this one"

"I know"

"You've never mentioned the one at mine, I didn't think you'd seen. I don't like sleeping in the dark, or the silence, after..after Mexico even after all these years it's just...I can't do it"

"I didn't want to embarrass you by bringing it up" Jack shrugged, seeing her smile grow when he said that, wiping her eyes with her hand again and sniffling "But now you have one for here, and the radio too" he nodded to the radio that he happened to put on the bedside table on the side of his bed that he assumed would be Nikki's side if they took the same sides as they did in her bed "Don't worry about me, you know I sleep like a log"

"Logs don't snore" Nikki sniffled and laughed, wondering how she had managed to get Jack to love her so much that he would do this for her to make her feel happy and safe and loved.

"I do not snore!"

"You do" she giggled, kissing his cheek and resting their heads together, closing her eyes and sighing "You are the most...caring and amazing and loving man I've been with, Jack" she murmured, her voice breaking as she swallowed the lump in her throat "I love you"

Jack didn't know how low the bar was that somehow getting her a night-light and a radio to help her sleep better and happier at night was something to be praised for, but he wasn't going to question it that much at that time when she had just said that she loved him. They'd said that to each other before, they were friends of course they did, but this was so different and it felt it.

"I love you" he whispered back, his heart hammering so fast he was sure that she could hear it "I love you so much Nikki and I am going to make sure that you know just how much you deserve to be happy and safe and cared for by someone who loves you as much as I do"

Nikki smiled when she heard that, resting their heads together and sighing softly, absentmindedly rubbing her thumb against his shoulder as her other stayed buried in his hair, Jack pressing little kisses to her cheek and jawline. She wasn't ever going to let this man go.