7.

With a last look at Jack, who had come to stand beside her at the door, Grace mounted the stairs, passing Neil at the top, smiling at him as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, surprised, and yet instinctively happy as she leant in and gave him a brief kiss before going into Jake's room.

Watching her, Neil smiled as she closed the door, his face an open indication of his feelings for her – feelings that he hid once he turned to look down the stairs at his boss. Running a hand through his hair, Neil slowly descended, but not before a last glance in his son and Grace's direction.

Jack turned and resumed his place on the sofa, absently eating another mouthful of pasta as he mentally turned over what he had learned that evening. Neil silently joined him, scooping a mouthful of pasta of his own.

"I love her."

The words broke the silence that had been building.

"I love her. Her and Jake, I – they are the most important people in the world to me, and I will do anything to keep it that way."

Jack looked up at his D.I. noting the defiantly resolute look on his face.

"Grace, she – she followed me to the hospital one night, she says she was worried about me, about how distracted I'd been, how distant I was, and so she followed me. I'd kept you all out of it, away from him but –but that night, that night she just appeared and I've never been more grateful for that. Jake had been so sick, but more than that, he was sick of being in hospital. Sick of being sick, and he was scared of it all. He was trying to be strong for me, and I was trying to be strong for him, both of us hiding and putting up a front. Grace, – "Neil smiled, his rambling – so similar to that of his son – stopped at the mention of her name.

"I've always cared about her, probably more than I should, and she – her being there, turning up like that, I – it was like she knew how much I needed someone, how much I needed her – especially her. Of all the people who could have - Grace, she – that was the night I realised that I love her. I'd been falling in love with her for a long time, but that night, as she made Jake laugh, as she teased me and made my son happy – that's when I realised what it was I'd been feeling about her, that's when it all fell into place. "

His entire speech, Neil had resolutely looked anywhere but at his boss. It was as if he spoke as Neil, rather than Detective Inspector Manson. He knew, the second he looked at his boss he'd be a copper again, as opposed to the man revealing his feelings for the woman he loved, and Neil knew that he had to get it out, had to let Jack know, because he had to find a way through this, Grace was way too important not to.

Finally though, finally he had to look at Jack Meadows, and as expected, Neil found himself falling back into his job. "Guv, I – "he swallowed tightly, running an anxious hand though his dark hair. "You do whatever you need to do, but you have to know that I'm not going to give her up. I love her and I need her and Jake does too. I – I'll transfer if need be, or retire or whatever, but I'm not letting her go."

Jack Meadows finally broke his silence. "You love her that much?"