Football Fever
Chapter 5: Love v Life

Okay, well this chapter has absolutley nothing to do with football but oh well! The next chapter will fill in and then there'll be an epilogue chapter after that, I think! Anyway, I'm going on holiday tomorrow and I'd be soo happy to come home to an inbox full of reviews! Thanks for all your reviews and to everyone who has helped me with ideas! Luv, Vikki xx.

When their shifts were over Smithy went looking for Kerry but he couldn't find her anywhere. Eventually he found out from Yvonne that she had already gone home. Smithy decided that he would go round to hers to try and explain things about Becky more clearly. He didn't get the chance though because as soon as he exited Sun Hill Police Station he saw that Becky had been waiting for him.

"Hiya hon." She smiled, walking over to him.

"Hey." He replied, giving her only a hint of a smile.

"You okay Dale?" She asked.

"I'm fine Bec, but what are you really doing here in Sun Hill?"

"I wanted to see you." Becky told him. "I thought that maybe there was a chance for us to get back together and then I met Kerry."

"Ah sorry, I didn't realise..."

"It's okay." She tried to sound convincing.

"Kerry and I haven't been together long but I really want things to work for us." Smithy said, his green eyes boring into Becky's.

"I understand." Becky replied, turning away from him slightly. "I just want you to know that I still love you Dale, I always will."

"Hey, come here." He hugged her, stroking her hair. "You'll find your perfect guy Becky, I know you will. Keep in touch though, yeah?"

After a last hug and swapping mobile numbers and email addresses Smithy quickly drove to Kerry's house.

Samantha woke up and realised that there seemed to be less room in the bed than there was normally. She rolled over and came face to face with Phil Hunter. She couldn't remember how that had happened but she surprised herself by actually being happy about it even though it wasn't long after her relationship with Stuart had failed. Sam got out of the warm bed and put on another one of Phil's shirts out, they were way too big for her but she liked the feeling of wearing them. In the kitchen she sang softly to herself while she waited for the kettle to boil.

'So here we are

And that's pretty far

When you think of where we've been' (You Found Me - Kelly Clarkson)

Phil smiled to himself as he walked into the room, he came up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

"Morning babe." He said, kissing her cheek. "Are you okay about last night?"

Sam nodded. "You don't know how long I've waited to do that."

Phil smiled. "I think I do." She turned to face him and he began undoing the buttons on the shirt she was wearing. They returned to his bedroom, the kettle left forgotten.

Taking a deep breath, Suzie got out of her car and made her way up the gravel drive to her parents house. She hadn't been here since Christmas and she felt butterflies in her stomach as she got closer to the front door. She pushed the bell and waited for an answer. Her mother came to the door a few moments later and Suzie tried to smile as genuinely as she could.

"Hi Mum." She said, Suzie's Mum gave her a hug and kissed her cheek before asking her why she was there. "Um...I was wondering if I could bring my...boyfriend round for dinner sometime soon...if that's okay?"

"Of course." She smiled. "I'm glad you finally found someone."

"His name is Zain Nadir, and we work together." Suzie told her.

"Zain Nadir? That sounds like an Asian name..." She mused.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Suzie snapped, knowing where this conversation was heading.

"Of course not. He'll be most welcome here." Suzie hugged her Mum before she left, she just hoped the next meeting with her parents went as well.

All of the next day Neil Manson tried non stop to get hold of Andrea, he tried her mobile as well as her home phone but he got no answer. Finally he decided that the only way he could speak to her was if he went to her flat and did it face to face. The thought scared him but he knew that he had to do it. Philippa had left for work early that morning and had left a note saying that she was taking Jake to his godmother's house. Neil sat in his car for ten minutes, drumming absent mindedly on the steering wheel and going over possible scenarios of what might happened when he talk to Andrea. That was if she even let him over the threshold which would be the first issue. He knocked on the door of Andrea's flat wishing he'd bought flowers or something with him but that had been the last thing on his mind.

Andrea dragged herself up from the sofa and walked slowly towards the door.

"Who is it?" She called out.

"It's me." Neil replied. Helpful, she thought, very helpful.

Andrea pulled the door open and stepped aside to let Neil in.

"Andrea..." He said, taking a step towards her after she had closed the door.

"Don't." She said, tears leaping to her eyes as she struggled with her words. "Just don't."

Neil pulled a confused face but he thought he knew what she meant.

"Andrea, I hate to ask you this but I need to know how you feel about me." He paused. "How you really feel."

Andrea sighed. "You can't just come here after your wife has found out about our affair and expect me to give you a straight answer when you ask me how I feel about you."

"I know and ordinarily I would never put you under this pressure but nothing about this is ordinary."

Andrea shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

Neil took her hands in his. "If things were different would you want to be with me...permenatley?"

Andrea nodded slowly. "You know I would...I...I love you Neil."

Neil smiled, pulling her into his arms. "Thank God for that."

Andrea broke out of his embrace. "Huh?"

"I've just come from my lawyer's office and I've just signed the divorce papers."

"That's great." Andrea stopped herself. "What about Jake?"

"Don't worry, I'll get access to him."

They smiled at each other, thankful that somehow they had made it out of the darkness together.

Kerry watched as Smithy's car drove passed her window but it wasn't until she heard the sound of a car door slamming outside that she realised he was coming to visit her. She wondered if he was here to break up with her now that his ex girlfriend was back in town. Kerry supposed that there was only one way to find out and she went to answer the door.

"Heya." He smiled, giving her a kiss on the lips.

"Hi." She smiled back. "What happened to Becky?"

"She's heading home."

"Oh...so..." Kerry said, trying to hide how pleased she really was.

"It's you I want Kerry."

Those were the words that Kerry needed to be told.

"Good." She grinned, leaning up to kiss him while kicking the door shut behind them.

Samantha knocked on the door of the house that she had lived in for nearly three months. She knew she had to do this but she still felt nervous and slightly nauseous.

"Sam?" Stuart asked, his eyes were bleary and he was unshaven.

"Let me in." Was all she said and Stuart decided not to fight it.

Sam pushed him aside and went to get her belongings.

"Moving back home?" Stuart asked, watching her pack but not making any effort to help her.

"No, actually." Sam replied.

"Oh, where are you going then?" He asked, pretending not to be interested.

"I'm living with Phil now." She said, concentrating on packing her clothes into bags.

Stuart scoffed at her. "And how long will that last?"

"Probably a whole lot longer than living with you did." Sam snapped, she was still hurt by the way that Stuart had treated her.

Stuart took a step back. "Fine. Oh and I thought you'd like to know that I've asked the DCI for a transfer, I'll be out of your hair soon."

"Oh okay, well good luck." Sam said, packing the last of her things up before leaving.

"I hope you are happy with Phil." Stuart said to her as she left but Sam had been a detective long enough to know when he was being lied to.

The following weekend, the day before England's match against Portugal, Zain drove the two of them to Suzie's parents house.

"If you don't want to do this then it's not too late to turn back." Suzie said to Zain as he pulled out onto the motorway.

"No I want to do this." He assured her.

"Okay." She nodded, convinced she was more nervous than Zain.

Her parents welcomed them at the door and were friendly to Zain throughout the meal. When they decided it was time to go Suzie hung back while Zain went to the car.

"So, what do you think of him?" Suzie asked, bracing herself for what they might say.

"He's very nice Suzie, you've done very well for yourself and at work as well. We're very proud of you."

Suzie smiled, hugging them both. "I love you two."

"We love you too Suzie." Her Mum replied before their daughter got into the car with Zain. Her parents waved them off and Suzie sighed, satisfied with how the day had gone.