A/N: My authorial notes are becoming less inventive due to lack of sleep. Just read it, review it and sod off. (Now THERE'S a Gene Hunt-style request!) Enjoy :D Xx

It was beautiful. For several minutes, Alex simply sat and stared at it. Set into the white gold band was one simple stone. A modest, yet beautiful diamond winked up at her, twinkling gently as it reflected the lamplight. So far, she had not been able to bring herself to touch it, irrationally imagining that it would melt away if she did so. Having gaped at it for some time, however, Alex finally convinced herself that it was, in fact, a real, solid and tangible object.

Reaching out a tentative hand, she touched the stone gently with a trembling forefinger, letting it rest there for a moment before finally picking it up. She held it delicately between her thumb and index finger, rolling them around the smooth metal. Dare she? It had been intended for her…surely there was no harm…

It fit perfectly. Slipping it on, a smile crept onto Alex's face, no adjustments would be needed, it was as if it had been made for her. It felt as weightless as if it were not there, but the reassuring slight pressure told her that it was.

Having been so over-awed with the ring itself, Alex had almost forgotten the circumstances in which it had come to be in her possession. With a jolt in the pit of her stomach, she was forcibly reminded. The argument of only ten or so minutes ago seemed stupid now, an insignificant blot in the far distant past. Years worth of things seemed to have happened since then.

Alex raised a hand, slapping herself in the forehead in sheer frustration. Why had she been so stupid? She'd cancelled dinner in the first place, and how the hell had she expected him to know that she wasn't really serious? Men didn't get stuff like this at the best of times, and here she'd been downright cryptic.

Suddenly, it hit her. He had been planning to propose that night, at the restaurant. Now she'd blown it, totally blown it.

Half an hour later, Alex entered CID. Surely, if he were to go anywhere in one of these moods, it would have been the office. She was surprised, therefore, not to find him sitting grumpily at his desk; the room was deserted. After a few second's thought, she decided that he must have stopped over at Ray's or something, dejectedly making her way back home. Perhaps it was best leaving it until the morning anyway, give him a bit of time to calm down.

Gene let out a sigh of relief as her shoes clicked away. He didn't like having to resort to hiding behind his desk, but he didn't think he could stand another half hour of shouting. He knew that she'd be wanting rid of him, would slam that ring back into his hand the next time they met, so, irrationally, he felt that by putting off the meeting until at least tomorrow, he could have at least a few more hours in which he and Alex were officially a couple.

Again sighing audibly, he returned to the Scotch bottle clasped in his hand.

Confused for a second about waking alone, Alex remembered, with the force of being hit by a speeding bus, the events of the previous evening. Turning over, she studied the ring box on the bedside table, thinking about what it contained and the man who had given it to her.

She had been right in assuming that he would not be back that morning, and the empty space next to her seemed to radiate a deathly chill, as if mocking her, a physical reminder of her foolishness. She had to find him, had to talk to him…but what to say? How could she say what she felt? Everything she thought of sounded stupid, cliché…

Pointless thoughts zoomed around her usually so organised mind. She needed help…but where from? 'Where from? Where from?' she mentally chastised herself. Where else had she turned over these past few years? Who else had been there, regardless?

"Millie?" said Alex, her voice slightly raised, stepping back from the door and craning her neck up towards the bedroom window. She had knocked about two minutes ago, and nobody had come. Knocking again, Alex waited anxiously on the doorstep, fingering the little box in her jacket pocket.

When finally Millie came, Alex's words were taken away by her appearance. The bags under her eyes had become, deeper, more defined since the last time thy had seen each other only a few days ago. Millie looked…there was only one way to describe it: Millie looked ill.

Alex opened her mouth to speak again, to enquire if everything was alright, but Millie beat her to it, breaking into a broad grin and ushering her in, talking excitedly.

"Ooh, so he's done it then? Oh, I bet you're so excited-" sitting down on the squashy sofa, Alex waited until Millie paused for breath before breaking the bad news.

"Er, well he's not exactly done it." she pulled the box out of her pocket, as if by way of proof. Millie sat, intrigued and shocked as Alex told her the story of the previous night's events. She told her how she didn't see any way Gene would accept her apology now, how she'd utterly humiliated him without meaning to. "I honestly don't know why I did it Millie…I just didn't think he was planning to propose or anything…we were just having an argument, and the next thing I know, he pulls this out of his pocket," she raised the box in the air slightly, "God Millie, what do I do? I've got no bloody idea where he is." Millie sat very still for some time, studying her wrinkled hands. Flicking her eyes back the Alex's face, she gave her sound and well experienced advice, the ghost of a smile playing about her thin lips.

"Look Alex, If I know Gene, then I couldn't imagine him getting down on one knee, could you? I couldn't imagine him reciting a sonnet or owt, that's just not him, is it? And I tell you what I know for sure about him Alex, I know that he's got one hell of a soft spot for you, he has. He'd forgive anything of you. Like you say love, it was just one of your usual scraps, this one just so happened to involve an engagement ring." Alex smiled at this as Millie continued, "Perhaps it's better it happened like this. That way there's no overly romanticised proposals. You know he wants you to marry him now, don't you? All you need to do is tell him you feel the same."

"But what if he doesn't want to anymore, after last ni-"

"Oh, speak sense girl," said Millie, rolling her eyes, "you know as well as I do that he's nuts about you. You want your heads banging together." Alex smiled again. Millie had an amazing proficiency in making others feel more confident about any situation, no matter how dire it may be.

"Now then," said Millie, patting Alex's knee as she stood up, "stop feeling sorry for yourself, and I'll stick the kettle on. Tea's what we need at this moment in time." She shuffled from the room.

As the kettle clicked on, a rapping came from the front door.

"Alex love, will you just pop and get that for me? Think it's the window cleaner. There's a few bob on the shelf if he's asking."

Moving obediently to admit the window cleaner, Alex opened the door, not to the window cleaner, but instead to…

"Gene."

"Oh." He stood, framed in the doorway, hands in pockets and the familiar pout fixed upon his face. He turned as if to leave, but found his exit impeded by the hand gripping onto his sleeve.

"Stay."

He looked round at her, looking into her eyes for a second, before shrugging slightly, and stepping past her into Millie's front room. They stood in awkward silence for a moment, until Millie herself entered from the kitchen carrying two cups of tea. Taking in the scene instantaneously, she placed the cups on the table and spoke.

"Great timing Gene. Now, I'm going upstairs for a bit, and I want all this sorted out before I come down. Got it? And don't think you're leaving until you do." and with that, she stepped smartly past them and up the stairs, leaving the two remaining parties stuttering slightly. When she had vanished onto the first floor, Gene turned to Alex, tentatively.

"Well you heard the lady: let's talk."

Upstairs, Millie sat on her bed. It had been about a quarter of an hour. There was no shouting, (surely a good sign,) and the only sounds she had heard were the gentle rumble of voices. She had not been listening in on the conversation, just trying to sense when it was safe for her to go down. Some conversations needed to be private. Sometimes, two people needed to discuss things without distraction or interruption. This was between them and nobody else, and by no means did she want to interfere. When the sounds subsided slightly, Millie decided that it was now or never. Exiting the room, she made her way slowly downstairs, nervous as to what she might find.

She found Gene, and she found Alex. The latter was wearing the most beautiful ring on the second finger of her left hand.