They arrived back at her flat, still smiling and enjoying a closeness that had been missing for months. She had found herself unable to break away from his grip on her shoulders, needing his touch, needing the reassurance of his warm body. She took off her jacket, opened her balcony door and stood looking out. It was a warm early autumn day, and the sun still shone warmly in the sky. Gilou came to stand next to her. She looked at him, smiling again.

"So, what will you do now you've left?"

"I need a rest first, but I have a job offer of security adviser to the UN; Roban put me in touch with someone," she replied.

"That's good. Will you stay here in Paris?"

"Yes, I'll be based here in Paris. I thought we could get that flat together finally." She reached for his hands, holding them and looking at him as he struggled with what to say.

"I love you, Laure. I've always loved you and I always will."

"I love you too Gilou. I always will, you must know that. I can't believe you were right under my nose for years and I couldn't see how lovely you were. I want to be with you until I die." Tears sprang to her eyes as she admitted out loud, the true depth of her feelings for him.

"Shall we get married?"

She smiled, still looking at him. "Okay. I'm sorry I hurt you when I left. It wasn't that I had stopped loving you, I hope you know that."

"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean it when I said I didn't want this. I thought I was protecting you from the sordid life I'd slid into. I did some things when I was with Cisco that I'm ashamed of. I got back on the drugs. I kissed a nightclub dancer. I let a prostitute suck me off. Nothing else, just that, but I'm telling you because I don't want us to keep anything from each other, ever again. Starting now."

She didn't release his hands, if anything, what he'd said made her want to hold them tighter. "Agreed." She thought of something he had told her long ago. "It hurts me to think of the five-year-old Gilou with no family. Do you still want to be part of Romy's life?"

"God, yes Laure. I've missed her too. I want us to be a family."

"So, you're ready to be a dad then?" she teased.

He grinned at her, not needing to answer. He took a cigarette from his pocket, putting it in his mouth ready to light, a new habit. She took it from him, with a smile.

"I need you to be in good health for the next fifty years Gilou. You don't need any more of this. If you want something to put in your mouth, I have something much more fun." Smiling, she leaned over and slowly kissed his lips, her tongue pushing its way in without any resistance. He responded eagerly, and they kissed at the window for a long while, the kiss of lovers who had missed each other immeasurably. She took his t-shirt off, and kissed his chest, her hands trailing across his back and shoulders. She located each new bruise and scar, and tenderly mapped them. He stroked her hair lovingly, before removing her t-shirt.

He touched her face and shoulders, smiling, but with a look that said he couldn't really believe it was real. That look of bewilderment on his face was a thrill for her.

"Make love to me," she implored, and they moved towards the bedroom, holding hands, still smiling. In that moment, nothing else mattered but their need for each other.