Outside the sky had begun to darken, bruising at it's edges a deep purple-grey that crept into the corners of the black sky, pin-prick stars just peeping out among the clouds.

Zoe leant back against the wall of the hotel, looking out to the gardens beyond, her eyes blurring.

She blinked. She'd left Max inside with various elderly relatives who seemed unwilling to let him go. Instead of staying she had feigned needing the toilet and had retreated to the open air. The sky felt less intimidating, the air about her less thick and easier to breath, the thin trace of cigarette smoke from somewhere nearby causing her to inhale deeply before it dispersed.

She watched a group of people she didn't recognise, pressing herself further into the shadows to remain anonymous. They must have all been in their twenties, or younger. Some smoking, some drinking, others held both a cigarette and a bottle of beer in the practised fingers of one hand.

She looked up at the sky again, a thin blanket of sky, the flicker of a passing aeroplane and the dull drone of a distant motorbike.

Inhaling she thought how much she would like to be smoking now, to relax into it, feel the warmth hit the back of her throat and the heady rush of It ease the tension at the corners of her eyes...

"Escaping?"

A voice near her made her jump, she instinctively pushed away from the cool brick wall, her heels slipping into the mud. She felt an arm catch her and steady her. Looking up she saw Max's mothers face in the light that stretched from one of the glazed double doors leading out onto the gardens.

"No...I..."

"I don't blame you."

Jenny smiled a soft smile, the blue of her eyes catching in the light. She let go of Zoe's arm.

"I just needed a bit of space..."

Zoe felt the twitch of nerves at the corner of her lips as she spoke. Jenny smiled again and shook her head slightly.

"It's horrible. Meeting a partners family for the first time."

Jenny stretched an arm into the air, fiddling about with the clasp that held her hair in place at the back of her head, her bangles jangled, slipping down to her elbow.

"So..."

Jenny let her arm fall back down, folding them haphazardly across her body.

"How did you meet..?"

She tilted her head, one large earring swinging from her earlobe, tapping against her neck. Zoe glanced at it, feeling her body begin to tense again.

"I'm not really sure...really. We saw each other most days. It just sort of happened?"

She smiled apologetically, sensing Jenny was after some sort of romantic story.

"He's like that."

Was all she said, a waft of a hand, her gaze moving to the window. Zoe followed her glance, looking in through the glass she could see Max to one side of the room. His smile danced, his hands gestured in that same flamboyant way that his mother had. He looked unintentionally beautiful right then.

Zoe realised she was smiling. glancing back at Jenny who was watching her thoughtfully.

"One often feels exalted, expanded, in his presence."

She paused again, Zoe frowned slightly, unsure of what she was referring to.

"He is not one of those egotists who miniaturize others, never has been. He is the opposite kind of egotist, driven by grandiosity rather than greed, and if he insists on a version of you that is funnier, stranger, more eccentric and profound than you suspect yourself to be. Capable of doing more good and more harm in the world than you've ever imagined...then it is all but impossible not to believe."

She hesitated, her lips partially open. Zoe remained silent, just watching her.

"...at least in his presence and for a while after you've left him you realise that he alone sees through to your essence, weighs your true qualities (not all of which are necessarily flattering-a certain clumsy, childish rudeness is part of his style), and appreciates you more fully than anyone else ever has."

She stopped abruptly, still her head tilted, her voice the voice of a thousand bed time stories.

"I'm not sure I understand..."

Zoe's voice sounded gravelly as she spoke and she cleared her throat.

"That's what he does. He can't help it. The thing about Max is that when he focuses on you, you feel like you're the only one that exists. It's his gift..."

She smiled slowly before continuing.

"I've never seen it reciprocated before..."

She glanced back at Max through the window. The group he was with were talking amongst themselves, his eyes scanning the room looking for Zoe, his lips tense, his jaw flexing.

"I've never seen him in love. Not really. Not until today."

She looked back at Zoe, reaching out and touching her arm.

"I'm silly I know."

She sighed, and let her eyes linger a little too long on Zoe's stomach.

"You'll know what it feels like to be a silly overprotective mother soon enough."

She said quietly.

More tomorrow! Hope everyone is enjoying Strictly :) reviews greatly welcomed! Encouragement needed to get through the trying bed time routine with aforementioned 3 year old! ;) xxx