When Leo returned to his house that evening he found Erin still awake, pouring over prospectuses in the living room

"Hey" she greeted him with a smile as he leant down and kissed her gently on the to of her head

"Where are Nikki and Harry?" Leo said glancing around the room

"They came round to tell me that you were going out and they offered to keep me company but I wasn't feeling very well and so I told them that I'd be ok on my own and that I wouldn't be good company"

"And were you ok on your own?" Leo said noticing the remains of the tear tracks on Erin's face

"Yes" she nodded "I looked through these" she gathered up the prospectuses as Leo took of his coat and sat down next to her

"And have you decided?" He said as Erin curled up next to him

"I like the look of this one" she said handing it to him

"That's not too far from here, probably a twenty minute walk; it's got a good reputation too. Well if you're sure…"

"…I am" she said cutting him off

"I'll phone them up and see about getting you a place there"

"Thank you" she smiled

"It's very mature of you choosing by yourself" Leo praised and Erin beamed

"And how was your evening?" she said looking up at Leo

"It was very nice…"

"Is Janet your girlfriend?" Erin asked bluntly

"Erin!" Leo said poking her in the stomach to make her squeal, eventually when Erin had calmed down he gave her an answer "No she's not, she's my…she's an acquaintance who happens to be female"

"Do you want her to be your girlfriend?"

Leo sighed "Erin you ask far too many questions, look it's late and I've got work tomorrow and you're coming with me. I don't want to eave you here on your own again"

"You didn't answer my question" Erin whined

"It's late" Leo said standing up as he uncurled himself from Erin

"But…."

"Bed now!" he said with a smile on his face as Erin skipped out of the room

"That girl is a law unto herself" he said under his breath as he started to lock the house up for the night


The next morning Leo and Erin arrived early at the lab which was deserted, Erin had been probing Leo with more questions but to no avail. He chose to keep changing the subject and get her interested in other things. An hour later Nikki and Harry stumbled into the lab giggling as they taunted and flirted with each other

"You're late" Leo said coming out of his office

"Traffic…" Harry said quite clearly lying "…Couldn't get out of the duvet….I mean the slip road" he flushed at his slip

Nikki giggled "And your excuse would be?" Leo said turning on her with a grin on his face

"I…was helping Harry out of his duvet" she said and then laughed as she realised how that sounded

"To work, both of you!" Leo said pointing them in the direction of their desk just as his phone rang "Dalton?" he said picking it up "Yes…Yes that's fine, I'll be there as soon as I can" he scribbled a note down on a scrap of paper and turned to Erin "I've got a case, I'll be as quick as I can, will you be alright here?"

"Yeah" Erin said watching him make his way out of the lab

"Keep an eye on Nikki and Harry for me" he said winking at Erin as she stifled a laugh


Leo had been gone about half an hour when Erin wandered over to Nikki's desk in search of some company

"Nikki" Erin said perching on the corner of the woman's desk

"Yes?" Nikki said looking up from the report she was just finishing

"Is Janet, Leo's girlfriend?" Erin asked innocently and Nikki laughed

"Why don't you ask him that?"

"I did and he said that she's just his female acquaintance"

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Harry said as he walked past Nikki's desk over hearing the last part of their conversation

Nikki smiled and turned back to Erin and couldn't help but laugh when she saw the look of utter bewilderment on the young girl's face

"I don't understand…" Erin said looking from Nikki to Harry and back again

"Erin" Nikki said pulling up a stool for Erin to sit on "Adult relationships are very complex…"

"Ooh are you going to give her 'the talk'?" Harry grinned as he called from across the room

"Shut up!" Nikki said throwing a scrunched up bit of paper at him "Right Erin where were we?"

"You were telling me how weird adults are"

Nikki laughed "Yes. Well…it's hard to explain…"

Erin started to fiddle with the book she had in her hands and Nikki suddenly noticed the title. She gently took it out of Erin hands and smiled as she thought of a way to explain things

"It's like in Pride and Prejudice" she said motioning to the book "There are lots of complex relationships and not all of them are the same…"

"So Janet and Leo…"

"…Are like Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet. They're both quite shy about their feelings for each other but they match up pretty well"

"And you and Harry?" Erin questioned and Nikki spluttered

"Sorry?"

"I think you and Harry are like Darcy and Elizabeth. Sometimes you argue and tease one another but you both balance out one another. They've overcome a lot to be together even if people try to come between them"

"Erin…" Nikki gasped "That is sweet" she gave the young girl a hug and glanced across at Harry who she could see had reddened at Erin's depiction of their relationship

"I think I understand now…what you're trying to say is that their are different types of love and relationships"

"Exactly" Nikki beamed at the young girl

"What's Janet like then?"

"Well…" Nikki began "I don't know her that well, but she's very smart and she's kind and caring"

"Leo likes her a lot doesn't he?"

"Yes he does Erin but that doesn't mean he's going to stop caring about you" Nikki said sensing the underlying issue

"I don't…"

"Erin there are different types of love like you said. Leo loves you and I think he loves Janet but not in the same way. He loves you like a father loves his daughter and he loves Janet because he finds her pretty"

"So Leo doesn't think I'm pretty?" Erin said looking even more confused than before

"No, that's not what I meant, Erin it is possible for a person to love more than one person. I love you because we're very close companions and I love Harry because…."

"He's your Darcy" Erin finished and Nikki smiled

"So it's like Elizabeth…she likes Wickham and Darcy but in different ways"

"Yes" Nikki said finally relieved that the girl had grasped it

"What about my Mum?" she said and Nikki froze knowing it was a dangerous subject

"What about her?"

"I don't think she loved my dad or me" Erin said quietly

"No…" Nikki said

"It doesn't matter though because I don't love her either"

"I see…"

"Is that wrong?" Erin said

"No Erin that's perfectly understandable. She did a lot of bad things to you"

"I didn't cry when she died"

"I know" Nikki said gently

"But she's gone now and that's an end to it" Erin said bravely "And now I have you and Leo and Harry…"

"And Janet…" Nikki added

"She doesn't know me" Erin scowled "And I don't know her"

Nikki was about to ask Erin something when Leo came back through the doors, Erin bounded up to him and gave him a hug. Nikki looked across at the family scene and smiled but she couldn't help but worry about what Erin had said to her


"Nikki are you alright?" Harry said to Nikki as they worked together on a corpse

"I was thinking about what Erin said earlier"

Harry sighed "Nikki, she grew up in a place full of hate, when she came to us she finally found herself surrounded by people who loved and cared for one another as well as herself, she's bound to find it confusing"

"I know but she seemed cold when Janet was mentioned"

"She probably feels threatened by another woman's presence and a little frightened too"

"She's not like that around me"

"She learnt to trust you Nikki and I think in time she'll learn how to trust Janet too"

"I hope you're right" Nikki sighed

I'm always right" Harry grinned

"Except when you're wrong" Nikki teased

"When have I ever been wrong?"

"That last case we had"

"I wasn't wrong I was misinformed"

"Of course you were" Nikki said in a patronising tone

Their gentle teasing continued for a while longer until Leo stuck his head round the cutting room door and called Nikki into his office

"I'll deal with you later" Nikki said to Harry snapping off her rubber gloves as she made her way out of the cutting room

"I look forward to it" he grinned as he watched Nikki saunter out of the room


"Nikki I have to go out this afternoon for a couple of hours and I'm leaving you in charge" Leo said when she had made her way into his office

"Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Erin to see her appointment with her psychologist"

"I see" Nikki nodded "How are things going on that front?"

"I think they're ok…she seems to like him and he helps her deal with things especially the nightmares and bad dreams"

"Good" Nikki smiled "Leo can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course…."

"Erin was asking me about love today, she seemed a little confused"

"Ah" Leo smiled "I had a feeling this might come up. She's been asking me a lot about Janet"

Nikki nodded "She couldn't quite grasp how you could love her and love Janet at the same time" Leo nodded deep in thought "I tried to clear things up and I think she grasped the concept but she seemed a little cold when I mentioned Janet"

Leo grimaced "I thought she would be, I'm wary of introducing Erin to another woman so soon but…"

"Leo you have to live your life too" Nikki protested

"I know…" Leo sighed "Look are you and Harry busy tomorrow evening?"

"We've got nothing planned"

"Would you and Harry like to come round for dinner? I'm inviting Janet too so it might make introductions a little easier and I'd love to spend some quality time with you and Harry"

"Likewise" Nikki smiled sweetly "That's fine Leo and it would be lovely"

She smiled at him as she left his office; Leo glanced at the clock and called to Erin who entered his office a couple of seconds later

"Are you ready to go?" he said grabbing his coat

Erin nodded and the two of them left the lab, as they walked out into the car park Erin slipped her small hand into Leo's bigger one. Leo felt his heart swell with joy as she tightened her grasp. The two of the were building a strong relationship and Leo felt it could withstand anything


"Leo's invited us round for dinner tomorrow" Nikki said as she returned to the cutting room as Harry was cleaning the cutting tables

"Trying to poison us with his cooking again?" Harry grinned "Still it will make a change from your…well I was going to saying cooking but I thin k that's a little too generous"

"What is wrong with my cooking?" Nikki demanded

"Nikki you're a terrible cook, you can burn water!" Harry winced as she hit him on the arm

"You can't speak, you can only cook pasta and that's on a good day"

"In several thousand different ways"

"It's still only pasta" Nikki said sulking slightly

"Well then Leo's cooking will make a nice change from burnt water and bland pasta" Harry said wrapping his arms around Nikki and kissing her neck

"Leo's gone for the afternoon" Nikki murmured as she leant into Harry

"Has he?" Harry raised his eyebrows and grinned "That means we have the place to ourselves"

"What about the lab technicians?" Nikki said as she cottoned on to what Harry was suggesting

"Dam!" Harry swore as a technician just walked into the room, the two of the broke apart "its ok Nigel" he said to the technician "Doctor Alexander and myself have got things covered; you can take a break for…" he glanced across at Nikki "Ten minutes?"

"Twenty" Nikki murmured

"Twenty minutes" Harry called and Nigel nodded and made his way out of the cutting room

"Twenty minutes?" Harry said turning to Nikki

"Twenty minutes and counting" She said grinning at Harry

Author's note: Phew long chapter! If you haven't noticed already I've given names to the chapters, adds a little variety and I was bored. Sorry about the wait for updates, as you know my arm is still sore and this chapter took me a while to type up (one handed as usual). Casts are not fun especially when you have it for the whole summer :( Roll on autumn!