Max
After weeks of work and dead ends we finally had a lead on the case. We had a witness that had come forward and was willing to talk and testify about the people she knew were involved, Samira Kadhir . Of course we asked her why she hadn't come forward before and she admitted that she was scared but she found her brother's dead body on a landfill site and knew enough was enough. Samira knew a couple of big players and I'm sure once we get them in and let them sweat it out and we will get the top dog, well that what I was hoping for. As this was such a big case with a lot of dangerous people she was immediately put into witness protection and she was going to be leaving London until everyone was caught, arrested and put away. I didn't want anything to happen to our star witness, she held a lot of information and I had no doubt in my mind that she would be killed if anyone found out.

I was in such a good mood with today's turn of events that I decided I would take CID out for a drink down the Seven Bells, where Millie had told me she was going, I did want to see her. I hated cancelling plans on her but she knew how big this case was and that we kept hitting a brick wall evidence wise so I am hoping she will understand and let me off on this one occasion for letting her down. Of course because it was Millie I was going to have some serious making up to do so I had to think of something, she sometimes wasn't he most forgiving of people so I knew it would take a little bit of effort. As it was Millie I didn't mind and I would do anything to make her happy.

When we walked into the Seven Bells I instantly spotted Millie. She was sitting at a table with Mel, Nate, Smithy, Sally, Ben and Callum. She looked like she was having a good time well to be honest she looked a little drunk but at least she was ok and I was here now, I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. I had never seen Millie drunk before so this was going to be a first, of course she had been a little merry after a couple glasses of wine but I had never seen her as she is now. She was taking shots like they were water and then washing it down with some sort of cocktail out of a jug she was sharing with Mel.

Once I brought the round in I went over to the table with Terry, Jo, Mickey and Will in tow. They made room for us and invited us to join them, Smithy had moved over leaving a gap between him and Millie which I took and she smiled at me as she saw it was me "You ok?" I asked her and she nodded with a big drunk smile on her face before taking another shot.

"She is so lucky that she is off tomorrow, she is going to be feeling a little tender" Smithy said to me.

"It's alright for some" I replied.

I watched Millie and saw how truly happy she was talking to her friends, drinking with them and getting involved in the gossip. She seemed different when she was around them and it was starting to make me think that she might be regretting the decision we made to keep things quiet, of course if she wanted to tell them she could. They were her friends and I wouldn't mind. Mel kept teasing Millie about the love bite I had left on her neck and Millie just kept telling Mel to keep her nose out and she wasn't giving any details about it.

Maybe tomorrow when she has sobered up and cured her hangover I can talk to her about maybe speaking to her friends about us. If that was what made her happy then that was ok, I don't want her keeping it secret because she thinks that's what I want… maybe keeping this a secret in the first place wasn't such a good idea "'Scuse me… I need to pee" She said and stood up but she was a little bit wobbly which made her laugh.

"C'mon Millie, I'll help you" Mel said and grabbed her hand and the two went off to the toilets.

"Millie is really knocking them back tonight, I haven't seen her like this… ever" Sally stated.

"Everyone needs to let of a bit of steam every now and again" Smithy replied.

As time went on and it got later and later people started calling it a night, Millie kept trying to persuade them to stay but they all had work in the morning so they left. Eventually it was just me, Mel and Millie. I could tell Mel wanted to go home, she kept looking at her watch and trying to hide her yawns but she didn't want to leave Millie behind "I'll make sure she gets home if you wanna head off" I told her as she looked at her watch for the millionth time "I'm gonna finish this one then go anyway, I won't leave her here on her own. I will walk her to her door if it will make you feel better" I said to her.

"Thanks Sarge… she doesn't normally get like this" She told me as she stood to leave.

"Do you want me to call a cab for you or anything?" I asked her.

"No I'm ok thanks. There's a woman's only cab firm I use so I'll be ok. Please make sure she makes it home, she'll kill me if she thinks I abandoned her" She said.

"Don't worry. You head off" I told her and she thanked me again before leaving. Millie laid her head down on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her to make her more comfortable "You are very drunk tonight miss Millie" I stated.

"It's not… like I had anything… better to do" She informed me through hiccups.

"I am sorry I cancelled on you tonight but I promise I will make it up to you… and for giving you the love bite when I shouldn't have" I told her.

"You better" She replied and she yawned.

Eventually I managed to get Millie back to my place, I had work in the morning and I didn't fancy leaving her on her own in case she fell over or something. I carried her into my room and laid her down on the bed, I took her shoes off, her clothes and put one of my t-shirts on her before getting myself ready for bed. As soon as I laid down Millie wiggled over to me and laid her head on my chest and curled into my side, I wrapped my arms around her and placed a kiss on the top of her head "Goodnight Millie, I love you" I said.

"Mmm love you too" She whispered and instantly fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning I realised I had beaten my alarm so I turned it off so it didn't wake Millie and snuck out of bed, grabbing my clothes for the day as I went. I had a quick shower and dried myself before getting dressed and brushing my teeth. I went into the kitchen and made myself some toast and then I thought about Millie, I grabbed some paracetamol and a glass of water and put it on the bedside cabinet for her. I placed a kiss on the top of her head before sneaking back out of the room and once back in the kitchen I left a note for Millie;

Millie
Gone to work. Hope you don't feel too bad.
Make yourself at home, I should be home by 7.

Love,
Max xx

As I was walking out the door my landline started ringing and I did debate answering it but knew if it was my mother or someone like that I wouldn't be able to get off the phone and I would be late. I ignored the call and left my apartment and made my way to work, thankfully there wasn't much traffic this morning but then again it was 7am… I made it to work pretty quickly and as soon as I walked into CID I was thrust into a hard days work.

Millie
I sat up in bed and instantly regretted it. It felt like there was an elephant dancing on top of my head and I groaned in annoyance, mainly at myself. How could I let myself get into that sort of state. I realised that I wasn't at home but I was at Max's so I'm guessing he took care of me last night but I also noticed that Max was missing from the bed. I looked at the clock and saw it was 10:30am. On the bedside cabinet Max had left some pain killers and water for which I was thankful. I took them then literally dragged myself out of bed to have a shower, maybe that would make me feel better… even a little bit and then I could have some breakfast or a coffee.

After my shower I realised that I didn't have any clothes to wear so I grabbed one of Max's t-shirts and a pair of his boxers to put on. It would have to do for now until I had the energy to put yesterdays clothes in the wash, I saw his note and then made myself some toast, I didn't eat much of it thought as it made me feel a little sick.

I got my phone and decided to give Max a ring "Morning" He said as he answered "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I feel a little rough" I replied "I didn't hear you leave, what time did you go?" I questioned.

"About 6:45" He replied.

"I cannot believe I got so drunk last night, thank you for taking care of me and bringing me back here. I'm also assuming you took my shoes off for me and put me into bed… again thank you" I said to him.

"You're welcome" He replied "Are you staying there until I get home?" He asked.

"Probably" I replied.

"Great. I will grab us something to eat on the way home" He told me.

"Sounds good" I said "Oh you have a message on your answer machine" I informed him.

"Can you write the message down for me and see if they left a name and number, I'll call them when I get in" He said and I agreed "Look I gotta go, love you" He said.

"I love you too" I replied and hung up.

After finding a piece of paper and a pen I went over to Max's answer machine and pressed the play button "You have one new message, message one" The machine lady said.

"Hey Max it's me Helena. I am really hoping that this is still your number. I spoke to your mum and she told me that you had a new girlfriend, I have to admit I am pretty gutted as I thought that me and you would be able to give it another go. You can't just forget and get over the love that we had, we were engaged and getting married for crying out loud. Surely you must feel something for me, if you do then please call me back… my number is the same"

Engaged?