After the discovery of Patrick Blake's illness, Nico took comfort in her friends being close by. After the argument with Leela and Cameron, Peri had moved into the Dog with Tom and their baby, and that was where the four friends spent most of the days.

Dylan kept a close watch on Peri, he could see she wasn't bonding much with Steph, but she did try. With a nudge from Nico he walked over to the young girl. "Peri?"

Peri looked up, half acknowledging he was there. "Yeah...?"

"What's wrong?" He sat beside her.

"I can't do it, Dylan... I thought I could..." Peri shook her head. "Does that make me selfish?"

Dylan looked at her and shook his head. "It's okay to say you're struggling."

"I'm not struggling! I don't want to be a mum."

He sighed heavily, not knowing what to say. "Have you...tried talking to Tom?"

"How? You've seen how he is with her... he didn't want me to give her up before she was born he's not gonna do it now."

"Well... What about your mum?"

"No."

"Why not? She was sort of in the same situation wasn't she?"

"And she lied about it for 14 years. She lied about Cameron killing my mum and dad." She pushed herself up from the chair and left the room.

Dylan groaned and threw himself back into the chair, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?"

He looked up, seeing Nico stood over him with a confused look on her face. "I walked myself into argument territory. She said she couldn't be a mum so I suggested talking to Leela."

Nico sighed softly and perched herself on his lap, leaning back against him. "Well... to be fair I would have said the same."

He nodded, his arms curling around her, keeping her close. "Anyway... Are you doing okay? With all the..." he trailed off.

She was silent for a few moments, contemplating her answer carefully. "It's... strange. I don't know how to explain it. It's almost like... Like he's giving up before it's even started."

He nodded against her shoulder, listening to her.

Nico was highly aware of the soft, rhythmic breathing on her skin and she shifted slightly. "I get that it's a terminal thing and the fight is over before it can happen. But he doesn't need to accept it so quickly... He's still alive. I can't lose anyone else."

He traced gentle circles on her arm. "Maybe he thinks there's nothing to live for." He looked, seeing her expression change. "I'm only trying to get inside his head. Doing that with your family is more than a minefield." He gave her a small smirk.

She elbowed him and smiled a little. "Well he does. He has me, mum, Maxine, Minnie."

He prodded her in the side and shrugged. "He's not gonna see it that way though. Think about it. He's a control freak of the highest degree. His sole aim in life is to make everyone as miserable as possible."

"Hey! That's my grandad you're talking about!" she giggled quietly.

"And he's a controlling miserable old git." He smirked.

"I dare you to say that to his face."

"No thank you. I've cheated death once. I want to live."

She laughed again.

"But seriously. With a mindset like that, he's gonna take back control."

Nico nodded. She knew where that sentence was leading, but she didn't want to voice it. At some point, they both knew that Patrick Blake would want to end his life.