OK guys, final chapter. So this has been fun to write. I have tried to recall a few significant events that may explain Lofty's and Dylan's relationship. If I have anything muddled, please tell me. I have had to rely a lot on what I could find on the internet as I wasn't so deeply involved in casualty at that point.

Thanks Guys,

Please read and review. Xx

It was a few weeks later when Dom and Lofty sat down at Dom's. They had decided to give it ago, tired of ignoring the pull between them. However Dom had insecurities about a certain ginger haired doctor. Lofty didn't much talk about his friends from ED, but Dom had witnessed him embracing Dylan that day, who had seemed upset about something. Dom knew Lofty was hugger. Dylan had stood stiff for a moment, before slowly and reluctantly returning the hug. Dom had seen Lofty's look of surprise and his beaming face, as he pulled Dylan closer to him. Now Dom had seen Lofty hug people and he was always affectionate but this seemed to make Lofty too happy. When Dylan let go, Lofty held on a few seconds longer before letting go. Dylan looked around quickly before disappearing and Lofty was practically skipping with a huge smile on his face. A smile Dom had thought was reserved for him and him only. Now they were sat at Dom's chilling with a drink and Lofty was still smiling.

"You seem happy today" Dom commented

"I am spending my evening with you, and we had an uneventful shift. What's not to be grateful about" Lofty said cheerily

"Look Lofty, I..I saw you earlier with Dr. Keogh" Dom decided to go straight in.

"Oh My god, Dom don't tell anyone...what did you see anyway?" Lofty quickly covered

"Why not tell anyone?" Dom asked curiously

"His a really private person. What happened today….well it's..." lofty seemed to struggle to find the words

"It's..." Dom pressed

"Look what I am going to tell you, it has to stay between us. I...this is really important Dom."

"Hey, OK it will be kept quiet" Dom said slightly alarmed at Lofty's pleading expression. Whatever had happened earlier had got Lofty worked up.

"He...I have hugged him so many times, and he never...well his never returned the hug" Lofty finished quietly

"That's it?" Dom said surprised "why is that so private?"

"Because it goes against everything he believes. It's complicated." Lofty finished

"So your happy because he hugged you?" Dom asked still trying to work it out in his head "But I hug you all the time? You like hugs? You give them all the time"

"For whatever reason I don't pretend to understand his not an affectionate person, but sometimes I think he needs a hug, so I gave him one. According to Robyn, no one else ever does or he won't let them but I...well I crossed that boundary lines like I often do" Lofty said with a smile "and well today was the first time he returned it. But he really needed it. His had such a time recently"

"Why?" Dom asked To be honest he hardly heard anything from ED.

"I may be a bit in love with you Dom, and while I trust you...what I know about Dylan I can't discuss it with you" Lofty said "I'm sorry, his such a private person, I would be breaking a very delicate bound of trust between us"

"Wow. You really, really respect him" Do m finished

"Of course I do, I mean I can tell you about what we have done together but I can't tell you about him"

"OK I just..." Dom looked at his hands "I didn't know how to read it"

"Dom after all I have been through to be with you, I would never do anything with another person. Its just he needs a friend...and well there's only a few of us that get him"

"Really? I'm sorry. I am working on it, I mean the trust thing, I do trust you, I just...well sometimes jump to conclusions" Dom apologised

"That's OK, I guess I have looked very happy today, but that hug, well it means a lot to me I won't lie" Lofty finished

"How did...well how did your relationship start? I mean you are completely opposites from each other, from what I gathered" Dom asked trying to get a bit of back story

"They say opposites attract, I don't know, maybe when he met me, he refused to call me Lofty. He called me Ben. His never budged from that, I think in that moment I knew he was someone I had to get to know" Lofty said with a smile

"OK so tell me...what else?" Dom asked

"We didn't work well with each other at first, but then, well a patient came in who was having a really hard time, he really missed his dog and was being very difficult for Dylan to treat, I managed to persuade someone that it would be OK to bring the dog in, I carried this dog, and we got the dog in. The patient was co-operative afterwards. See Dylan had been a stickler for the rules, while me, well I have been known to bend them if it will benefit a patient. He was brutal with me afterwards. Said I was clumsy, I didn't think before I spoke but that I had the ability to connect to people, a skill he needed to work on. So we kinda made a good team"

"Like us, sometimes" Dom finished

"Yeah I guess, but then little things happened and it developed from there" Lofty continued

"Does he have some kind of...condition?" Dom asked

"Sorry Dom, Dylan is Dylan and that's something I wouldn't want to change nor discuss" Lofty remined Dom

"So what else can you tell me?" Dom asked eager to learn something new

"We spent Christmas together on his boat...well Christmas eve in his boat" Said Lofty

"Rewind, you spent Christmas with him, on his boat? I mean that something you do with, well someone really important"

"Yeah, We both had a late shift Christmas eve, then were working Christmas day, so we spent the night watching a Christmas Carol and just talking, he um didn't want to watch the end of the Christmas carol, I don't think he liked to see Scrooge redeem himself"

"Oh wow! I didn't know it went that far" Dom said

"Yeah one of my favourite Christmas memories, I mean the next day was tough and I didn't even want to be working, but..."

"The rota decided?" Dom finished full aware of the work rota interfering with public holidays.

"No I decided, Jacob was willing to trade shifts at Christmas with myself and Robyn, we did a coin toss and well she got it off"

"No she didn't I know you, you would have set her up to win. You are far to nice" Dom said with a smile

"But I got to spend some more time with Dylan, so it wasn't all that bad" Lofty said

"So your relationship with Dylan..." Dom pressed

"Kinda like you and Zosia without the I love you's and hugs" Lofty said with a smile "even then"

"OK I have a question for you, I heard from a nurse, who heard it from another nurse from ED that you were in charge at some point" Dom said "Staff Nurse"

"Yeah, I uh was" Lofty said looking down at his hands

"I just, I don't know, I mean not that you wouldn't be good, I mean your good, great even, it's just..."

"I know, I felt the same" Lofty said with a smile

"Then why do it? I mean, you love spending time with patients. A role like that can take you away from patients"

"Dylan and Robyn ironically encouraged me" Lofty said

"Wait Dylan persuaded you to go into a leadership role? Wow, I mean does he not know you at all?" Dom said confused

"He thinks I am capable of doing more than I am doing, he did then, I think he still thinks it now"

"Well I mean, yeah, you already do a lot" Dom said awkwardly

"He thinks I could do more, I mean, its nice you know someone having that faith in you, belief. No one ever really had" Lofty finished quietly

"I'm sorry, look I have faith in you, and if you ever went for promotion I would support you 100% but you would have to be doing for you, not to please someone else" Dom finished gently holding Lofty's hand

"I know, the thing is I was good at it for a while, I mean it was hard telling people who were my equal previously what to do, but I did it. Dylan really gave me a pep talk about talking to others, reminding me that I was their boss"

"Look, I don't, I don't really know Dylan, and while, he..he pushed you to achieve great things, I just...maybe you weren't ready. I just wonder why he was so insistent and you went along"

"Like I said it was a long time since someone had that kind of faith in me, and I really needed it" Lofty answered "and it was his way of showing he cared. Never settle. Give everything 100%"

"So you had a few things..." Dom queried

"He lived with us for a while, him and his dog. She's lovely. I really love dogs. Then when he had to move out, I looked after the dog, I mean it drove Robyn and Max mad but I just, couldn't have her in a shelter and I think it helped Dylan, you know, knowing she was safe. Dylan loves that pup more than anything in the world"

"Oh wow." Dom commented

"Yeah his um been through a lot recently"

"And you just want to help" Dom said tenderly leaning in to kiss Lofty "I hope its one thing that never changes about you."

"So we're OK?" Lofty asked

"Yeah, sorry over reaction. I mean I guess I can see now why you are friends with him. He believes in you. There's nothing wrong with that. I am sorry. I am seriously working on the trust thing, it was just, well I am trying. I mean I trust you" Dom continued

"Hey we're get there. I am sorry I didn't tell you, I guess I kinda forget you haven't known me that long to know things like that about me"

"He lives on a boat?" Dom said with a smile

"Yeah really nice too, small and cosy" Lofty replied

"I am surprised you don't live like that sometimes" Dom said

"Well a tree house would be more my thing"

"Or a loft" Said Dom cheekily

Lofty smiled before hitting him with the small cushion.

"That makes so much sense now" Said Dom

"What does?" Lofty asked

"The day after he did the shift on Keller, he sat down with me and I think he gave me a warning, about well not hurting you "

"No!" said Lofty "Really?"

"Yeah, and with what you said it makes sense now" Dom said

"Oh come on tell me!" Lofty demanded

"Well it basically came down to 'Don't play with his feelings' and I am sure there was a threat somewhere...or maybe I just read it that way"

"Well I am surprised"

"Oh please don't tell him I told you, not sure I was meant to" Dom said as an after thought

"OhI don't know about that" Lofty pretended to give it some thought and Dom used the opportunity to roll Lofty onto his back straddling him gently

"Oo is this how you plan to keep me quiet" Lofty said gazing up at Dom

"Well I have my ways..." Dom said leaning down to kiss him

Things had calmed. Dom realised that evening, that he had nothing to fear with regards to Dylan. Dylan was someone who Lofty admired, someone who believed in Lofty. In one moment he vowed to believe in Lofty as much as Dylan did, maybe they weren't so different after all?