I rewatched this episode recently and this idea popped into my head! Hope you enjoy :)

Nikki watched as the blonde woman walked away from her. Her husband pulled her into his side. She could feel herself letting out a sigh. She would give anything to be in that position right now. In love, married and with a child on the way. She knew deep down that despite Matt saying he wasn't opposed to the idea of having a baby, he didn't really want one. He already had kids. He'd already gone through that part of his life. It was probably half the reason why he disappeared back to America from time to time.

She knew their time was up but she couldn't quite get round to actually admitting it just yet. Matt, ashamedly, had been her longest relationship. They never usually made it this far, they either turned out to be not good enough for her or she just got scared and walked away from them. Matt had been different in that respect. She supposed she loved him at some point. But with what had happened a couple of weeks ago, with the plane crash. He had been different. Distant somehow. Like there was something he wasn't quite telling her.

He hadn't been with her for much of the time. The last time she saw him was about two weeks ago. He had said that he needed to go out there for his job but Nikki knew he was lying. He had managed to make a deal with his boss which meant he could stay in the UK so really there was no need for him to go back unless it was absolutely necessary. But given that he didn't provide that much of an explanation, Nikki knew that there was something else on his mind.

All she wanted was a family. She had that small chance with Matt but now that he was gone - just not physically yet, the ideas of having a family were also out of the window. She glanced over at the entrance of the church. Jack, Clarissa and Thomas were slowly emerging. She always had the team at the Lyell of course. She could rely on them just as much as any normal family would. They were her family, or they were the closest thing she had to a family at least.

She could feel the tears filling up in her eyes, blurring the figures in front of her. She'd never really thought about starting her own family until she had that scare with Matt last year. She just never thought that opportunity would be offered to her. And when it did, she couldn't get it out of her head. She wiped away at her cheek before heading towards the three people who right now were probably the most important people in her life.

"Everything alright?" Jack asked as she reached them, noticing the slight redness to her eyes.

Nikki just nodded slowly in response, not quite trusting her voice.

Luckily Thomas didn't allow the silence to hang for too long as he announced, "I think we could all do with a drink. I'm sure I've got a bottle of something back at the office."

They had soon made their way back to the Lyell and were now sat in Thomas' office, each holding a glass in their hands. Nikki had sat next to Jack on the sofa as her colleagues talked amongst themselves. She didn't take part in much of the conversation, finding herself more intrigued by the ornaments that lay on the small table in front of her.

She knew Jack had been looking at her the whole time. She could feel his eyes boring into her. He knew something was up and to be quite frank, she was doing an awful job at hiding it. She could tell he was itching to ask her if she was okay or if she wanted to talk about it but he didn't want to raise any attention to the fact that she had zoned out. He knew that she didn't like to be the centre of attention and if she was going to tell him what was on her mind, it wouldn't be in front of everyone here.

Nikki could feel herself welling up once again and not wanting the questions to be thrown in her direction, she placed her glass on the table and headed out of the room. All three of them watched as she left, confusion on their faces. Jack glanced over to Clarissa and Thomas who just simply nodded, encouraging him to go after her. After all, he was probably the one she trusted the most out of everyone there.

And with that he was following behind her. She was heading towards the locker room. The same place he always went to if he needed to clear his head. As he walked in she had already sat down on the bench in the middle of the room. She was breathing in and out slowly, almost as if she was trying to stop herself from having a panic attack.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know that he was standing there. She could feel his presence in the room. She couldn't help but feel relieved that he had followed her, she didn't want to be on her own, especially not at times like these. She could get too far into her head sometimes and she'd end up feeling low for the next couple of days. At least now that Jack was here she could get some of it off her chest and off her mind.

"What's going on Nikki?" Jack spoke softly, coming down to sit next to her.

Nikki shrugged, "Where do I start?" She attempted to joke, hoping that it would lighten the mood somewhat.

"How about the fact that you were jealous of Clare starting a new family and how you wished that you were in that position?" Jack offered, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Is it that obvious?" Nikki scoffed.

"Not to just anyone no. But me," Jack started. "That and the fact that I've been watching you for this whole case and I could see that it was getting to you. Then I saw you looking at her as she walked away earlier and I just put two and two together."

She could feel the warm tears falling freely down her cheeks now, "I just don't know what to do Jack."

"Have you spoken to Matt about it?"

Nikki shook her head, "I haven't seen him for two weeks. He doesn't speak to me anymore, there is something that he's hiding from me I know there is. But he just won't tell me and it's breaking us. It's just not the same as it used to be. I can feel him slipping away from me and I don't know what to do."

Jack sighed, so he hadn't told her, he thought to himself. He knew that as soon as Matt told him he was going to be the one to have to break it to Nikki. He knew what Matt had been going through. He had felt a sense of it after Leo had died. And right now, he was probably trying to hide away from the world and shut out the people closest to him. But that doesn't mean to say it wasn't fair on Nikki, she was suffering now as well.

"Nikki," he began. Nikki flicked her head up to look at him, the tone in his voice worrying her. "There is something that Matt isn't telling you. And I didn't want to be the one to tell you because it's not my place and he should've been the one. But I can see that it's hurting you so I have to. The other week, Matt told me that he was meant to be on the plane."

"What?" Fell from her mouth, feeling her heart sink. That pang of sadness quickly turned to anger as she realised just what was going on. "Why did he tell you that and not me?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Maybe he wanted to tell someone that wasn't you because he didn't know how you would react. I told him to tell you and I thought he would've but clearly not."

"Now I really don't know what to do," Nikki breathed, the lump in her throat growing bigger. "How could he keep something like this from me? I have a right to know, don't I?" She stood up now, feeling the adrenaline pumping around her body.

"It explains why he's been so off with me, I suppose," she continued. "But why couldn't he just talk to me? He knows that I'd be the last person to judge him for how he's feeling or disregard him completely. I don't understand."

"Who knows," he let out. "Why don't you try and ring him later. Talk to him about how you're feeling."

Nikki rolled her eyes, almost laughing at that, "Why should I have to be the one to encourage him to talk? He should trust me enough by now. We've been together for at least a year and we've been through so much already. Why couldn't he just talk to me?"

The tears were falling again and Jack was soon standing up, embracing her in his arms. Holding her tight against him as the sobs wracked her body. Nikki hid her face in his chest, gripping on the white lapels of his shirt as her cries subsided. She breathed in, feeling herself calm at the smell of his aftershave. The feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her, aiding that.

It wasn't often that they hugged but when they did she couldn't help but feel safe. Protected somewhat. It was strange how someone could just feel like home. And when they weren't there, like Jack had been for those couple of months, things just didn't feel the same. Incomplete. She'd never questioned the possibility of her having feelings for Jack until that very moment and everything seemed to slot into place. Like they had been waiting for her to make the discovery and come round to her senses.

Maybe it wasn't solely Matt's fault for the breakdown of this relationship. But maybe it was her distancing herself just as much as he had her. The only time she truly felt happy these days was when she was in work, with Jack. Maybe that was the key.

She pulled away from him as the tears on her cheek dried. She chuckled as she spotted the marks she had left behind on his shirt. She pointed at the mark before looking up at him, his eyes catching hers.

"Sorry," her lips twitched.

"It's alright," Jack whispered. He found himself being unable to tear his eyes away from her. He drank in her features. He was still having to get used to the brown hair but it suited her. Made him realise how dark her eyes really were. He couldn't stop himself as his eyes flitted between her own and her lips. Perhaps it was out of habit, he'd always done it when he looked at her. Like it was something he couldn't control. And if she was his, there would be no chance of letting her go like Matt was letting her slip out of his fingers.

She was the most selfless person he knew and she had the biggest heart. She would do absolutely anything for anyone, no matter what. She was incredibly intelligent and insanely attractive. He just wished that he had taken that opportunity to ask her out when he had the chance to.

Nikki, on the other hand, could feel her heart starting to race. She didn't miss the way his eyes travelled across her face. It made the goosebumps that had already erupted over her skin even more prominent. Before she knew what she was doing she was leaning towards him, bringing their faces closer together. Her lips were soon capturing his. Her heart dropped at the moment their lips connected. She knew this was wrong. She was still with Matt. But there was something telling her, deep down, that this was right. And that's what scared her the most.

Coming to her senses and realising that this wasn't how she wanted this to happen she pushed himself away from him. Quickly missing that feeling of him being pressed against her.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," she made to leave but Jack had grabbed hold of her hand, stopping her. She closed her eyes, gathering herself and trying not to be distracted by his hand burning her skin. "Jack I can't."

Jack didn't know what had come over him. He had only ever done this once before and it ended up in tears but he couldn't help himself, "You don't love him Nikki."

Nikki bowed her head, she knew it and he knew it. It was just a matter of admitting it and she was not about to let Jack be right. Jack edged closer to her, bringing his hands up to rest on her cheeks. Nikki held on to his arms, debating on whether to encourage him or push him away. Her head said to push him away but her heart was screaming for his lips to be on hers again, to let his hands roam every inch of her body. And Nikki always ruled with her heart so she stayed there. Letting him make the first move. At least then she could be sure that she wasn't just reading the situation wrong.

Before long Jack's lips were crashing into hers again. But unlike before where they were testing the waters, not quite sure of one another. Now they were a little more heated. Passionate. More willing to commit to this act. Jack's hands had moved from cupping her face and down her body. He snaked his arms around her waist as he picked her up. Nikki's legs wrapped around his torso as he backed her up against the lockers.

The thud of her back hitting the metal echoed throughout the room. Jack's lips were now roaming her neck, nipping at the flesh. Nikki dragged her hands through his hair and couldn't help the moan that escaped from the base of her throat as he bit down that little bit too hard. Although it wasn't out of pain, quite the opposite in fact. She knew that she was enjoying this way too much.

That's when her head kicked in, this was wrong. And as much as revelled in the feeling him pushing himself against her, she was not about to cheat on Matt. She needed to sort out whatever was going on between them first. Before she even thought about going ahead with this. Jack hadn't been wrong, of course he hadn't. She didn't love Matt, at least she didn't love him anymore. What was going on right now showed that.

"Jack," she let out. "Jack, stop."

He quickly pulled his head from her neck, his hands still under her thighs supporting her weight. Nikki's arms fell to wrap around his neck.

"I can't do this," she whispered, her eyes filling up. Jack slowly let her down to the ground but Nikki's hands didn't leave his neck, coming to rest on his cheek. "I'm sorry."

And then she walked away, straightening her dress as she went. She ignored Jack as he called after her. She needed to get away before she made a mistake that she would most likely regret. Not wanting to let her slip away that easily Jack chased after her. He grabbed hold of her arm and was pulling her towards him as they reached the offices.

"I'm not leaving it like this Nikki," Jack kept his voice low, knowing that Thomas' office door was still open.

"Jack I can't," Nikki sighed. "You know that. What happened in there, it shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry if I've given you mixed signals. I'm with Matt and yes, we are going through a rough patch right now but we'll get through it."

Jack dropped her arm, backing off, "Keep telling yourself that," he retorted.

Nikki tried to reach out to him but he had put too much distance between them, "I don't want to let this ruin us. You are the closest person I've got right now, I can't lose you too."

Jack opened his mouth to speak but they were quickly interrupted by the sound of knocking on the glass door of the entrance. Nikki snapped her head in the direction of the sound, feeling her stomach drop. She made her way towards the entrance, clicking the button to open the door.

"Matt," fell from her mouth, not sure of what else she could say right now. She could feel herself panicking as the silence grew. Only now realising that he had a bunch of flowers in his hands. "W-What are you doing here?" She stuttered, feeling Jack's eyes on her back.

"I wanted to apologise for how I've been acting for the past couple of weeks, I've been unfair to you and I wanted to know if you'd join me for dinner tonight," he grinned. "There's a few things I need to talk to you about."

Nikki swallowed the lump in her throat, "Uh, yes, of course."

She jumped as Matt stepped forward with the intention of kissing her but she quickly turned her head so he could only kiss her on the cheek. She didn't even want to imagine Jack's face right now. She knew that it wasn't positive as Matt looked over to him.

"Jack," Matt smiled. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah," was Jack's only response.

Thankfully Thomas and Clarissa had emerged from the office, probably wondering where the extra voice was coming from.

"Hope you guys don't mind if I steal her away from you for tonight," he joked, wrapping his arm around Nikki's waist. She couldn't help but shiver from his touch when not five minutes ago Jack's arm had been in the same place. But unlike how she urged for Jack's hands to be all over her, she wanted nothing more than to be five metres away from Matt right now.

"Go ahead, she could probably do with the distraction," Thomas smiled, not picking up on the growing tension in the room. Unlike Clarissa whose head had been flicking between Jack and Nikki. She had quickly noticed that Nikki hadn't taken her eyes off Jack the whole time they had been in the room and Jack was doing the same. Something had happened in that room and she was now determined to get it out of him.

They watched as Nikki and Matt left, seemingly happy. Clarissa's eyes travelled to Jack's hand that was now clenched into a fist.

"What's happened?" She questioned but he ignored her as he headed out of the door. She knew it was pointless but she still felt as though she had to ask it. "Where are you going?"

He just disappeared, leaving her to wonder just what in the world had happened back there. But, if she was being honest, it wouldn't take a genius to work it out. She knew the look Jack had on his face, she had seen it way too many times. But she was happy to reserve her judgement until Jack could confirm her suspicions.