Never in his wildest dreams had Heath imagined he would be so relieved to see another bloke fucking his wife. But that was what he'd just walked into his flat to find and the relief flooding through him was undeniable. Finally, it was over. And the fact that Bianca had done the wrong thing too went a long way to dissipating Heath's own guilt, which lightened his mood considerably. Though, the sight of Zac's bare ass was something he could have lived without.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here," he called to them, "I'll come back later." Both their heads snapped round towards him at the sound of his voice. Heath shot them a grin before he headed back out the door. C'mon, the looks on their faces were pretty funny.

xxx

All Bianca's late nights made sense now. He had wondered what she could possibly have to do at school night after night. Heath sat on the beach pondering where to go from here. The obvious thing to do was annul their marriage. That would work for Bianca, and it was one less complication for Heath, but it wouldn't solve his problems like it would Bianca's. Without a word Bianca sat down beside him on the sand. It was a good thing that she'd come after him, they needed to have this conversation.

"Heath, I'm sorry."

"It's alright Bianca," she gave him a skeptical look. "Really," he told her sincerely, "it's a relief more than anything." She looked shocked for a moment before pulling herself together. "This has been going on for a while hasn't it?" She didn't deny it and there was his answer.

"You were never home..." she said softly. Heath knew it was true.

"I'm not blaming you, I'm glad it's over. I think we both knew it was coming, this marriage hasn't been working for a while now."

"I guess not," Bianca admitted, "it never really did, did it?" Heath shook his head in agreement.

"We never should've gone through with it. You were already falling for Maguire and I did the dirty on you with that cheap hooker..." It really was ridiculous that they'd followed through with it.

"The signs were there, weren't they?"

"Yeah." Heath couldn't help the smile that curled his lips, "and you knocking me out cold at our first wedding was another pretty big hint." She smiled a sad smile too and they fell into silence. Heath thought about the reason they had gone through with it, and he knew it had been for someone else's sake, not their own, that they'd tried to salvage their relationship. "I think we both felt we owed it to Rocco to try, but just because it didn't work, it doesn't mean we'll forget him, or that we loved him any less." A tear rolled down her cheek, he hadn't meant to make her cry, but maybe she should, this was goodbye after all. He slid his arm around her and pulled her against him, they could both do with the comfort.

"Heath...I really am sorry." Bianca rested her head on his shoulder and it was nice to be close to her this one last time.

"I know...so am I." It was the closest he would come to apologising to her for sins she'd never know about. They sat like that for a while watching the ocean and letting the knowledge that this was the end fill them. Eventually they stood up, ready to go their separate ways.

"Heath, I'll always love you, it's just different now." She gave him a peaceful smile and he was so glad that they could part as friends. It felt right after their shared heartache.

"Same goes for me babe," he told her before pressing his lips to her forehead. And then he watched her go, a weight lifted now that he didn't have to pretend with her anymore. He was so much more content now and he wanted her to be too. He didn't want her to carry any guilt over how her relationship with Zac had started, life was too short for that kind of bullshit.

"Hey Bianca," Heath called and she turned back to him, "tell Maguire he better do right by you or I'll bash him." He finished with a grin, one which she returned.

xxx

Heath dumped his duffle bag on the floor.

"I'm moving back here," he announced to Casey, Kyle and Ricky, who were sitting around the table eating dinner. They all looked at him questioningly. "Me and Bianca have called it quits."

"What happened?" Ricky asked, clearly shocked by Heath's statement.

"Mutual decision," Heath shrugged, brushing it aside. He didn't wanna talk about it and it was up to Bianca if she told people about her and Zac.

"We've only got three bedrooms here," Kyle pointed out.

"So I'll chuck a swag on Casey's floor. It's just until Bianca finds another place."

Ricky got up and left, presumably to check on Bianca.

"Are you asking or telling?" Casey enquired.

"Telling. Now what's for dinner?" Heath sat down in Ricky's seat next to Casey and reached over to pluck some food off his brother's plate, Ricky'd already eaten all hers. Kyle looked offended, and Casey pretended to, but underneath the act Heath could see how pleased he was. That made two of them.

xxx

As Heath had said he would he set up his swag on Casey's bedroom floor.

"Is that necessary?" Casey asked.

"If you don't wanna answer awkward questions."

"So you're not gonna use it?"

"I hope not..."

"No," Casey sighed, "of course you're not, now come here." Casey patted the empty space on the bed beside him. Heath accepted the invitation and sat down next to Casey.

"What really happened with Bianca?"

"I caught her with Zac, and I saw my chance so I took it..." Heath didn't go into the details of their conversation, Casey didn't have kids, he didn't know what it was to lose a child. That child was a little piece of you and when it died, a piece of you died too. Heath and Bianca had that in common, and they would always wonder what their little boy might have been.

"Heath?" Casey said with concern, "are you alright?" Heath pulled his thoughts from Rocco's short struggle with life, determined to focus on the here and now. No one knew how long they had and right now Heath was exactly where he wanted to be, he would savour it.

"I will be." Casey leaned in then and kissed him, slowly yet determinedly, and it was perfect.

AN: Thanks for your reviews Cy23, glad you're enjoying the story. This will be the last update for a little while, I'm waiting for the UK to catch up on a certain plot point. But stay tuned, there's plenty more to come :)