Scott played with a long piece of grass he’d yanked out of the ground. He stared down at the sand from the top of the beach where he sat and beyond that, the sea. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. There were only a few people left on the beach now and he couldn’t hear anything but the gentle waves lapping the shore.

Despite the rapidly fading dim sunlight, Scott knew it was late. He was tired, he needed sleep. But he also knew that Dani would want to talk to Hayley undisturbed. He discarded his piece of grass and wondered if they’d finished talking. He knew Dani had to work out her feelings before they could try and make things write, he also knew what a great counselor Hayley was. She’d helped Scott work out how he was feeling.

He was still thinking. Only now he was not agonizing over his relationship disappearing slowly down the drain. He was still thinking of Dani but now he had a huge grin on his face. He could see now how selfish he’d been for not fully understanding what she was going through and vowed then to make it up to her.

He would do anything to get her back, whatever it took. Scott was feeling optimistic now, no longer wallowing in self-pity over what a failure he was as a boyfriend. He was determined things were going to be different. He would talk to Dani and everything would be fine.

So what was he doing sitting here?

He watched a couple leave the beach as they walked arm in arm up the bank. He smiled. That would be him and Dani again soon enough. Scott pushed himself to his feet and he too turned to leave. There was no one left on the sand now or in the water. Night had well and truly set in.

When he reached the Palace again 10 minutes later, he found Hayley cuddled up on the sofa in front of the TV. Alone. Scott sighed; he’d just have to wait until tomorrow to see Dani.

Hayley turned to see him chuck his keys down on the table and seemed to be able to read his mind. “She left about 20 minutes ago” Hayley said. Scott nodded. She switched off the TV and turned her full attention to him. “She does love you, you know.”

“I know” Scott said simply with a whimsical grin on his face. “I’ll do something about it tomorrow.” Hayley opened her mouth to argue but he stopped her before she could. “It’s ten thirty Hayls, it’s dark.” She gave him a look as if to say ‘yeah yeah, that’s what you say’. “I promise.”

She sighed and glared at him for a second, then went back to watching the TV. “Well you better.”

* * *

Dani awoke to find the morning sunshine streaming through a gap in the curtains, casting patterns on the ceiling of her otherwise darkened room. She caught site of the clock, it read 10:17 am. She wondered momentarily why her alarm hadn’t gone off then realised with a satisfied sigh that it was Saturday.

She could hear the sounds that filled the house every morning downstairs, coupled with the sound of familiar voices. Beth was on the phone talking to Robbie, Rhys was discussing work with anyone that was listening, Jade was taking breakfast orders, Kirsty was complaining that there wasn’t any milk.

“Max, give me the remote!” And Kit and Max were arguing over what to watch on TV.

Dani’s urge to go downstairs and join her family was far outweighed by her desire to enjoy this very rare lie-in. She sank back down into her pillow and closed her eyes, deciding to relax in the warmth of her bed.

That was until another voice joined the medley of sounds. This voice was more familiar and comforting than any of them.

Dani’s initial excitement of hearing that Scott was downstairs was replaced with anxiety and dread as soon as she started to remember the previous week’s events. What if Hayley was wrong? What if he didn’t want to work things out after all? What if she had messed things up for good?

Dani began to mentally talk to herself like she had been yesterday. ‘What’s the worst that could happen? He could tell me it’s over, that’s what.’

She realised what she was doing and stopped mid thought. She was going crazy, no sane person talks to themselves. ‘I am going crazy, without Scott.’

“Cheesy!” she muttered under her breath and flung the duvet to the floor. Dani was not going to learn the answers to any of her questions unless she got out of bed. The chances of working things out would be greatly improved if she actually went and talked to him.

* * *

“Robbie and the twins are arriving next week, we need to talk about sleeping arrangements.” Beth tipped a teaspoon of sugar into her black coffee and looked at Rhys.

“I’m not sleeping on the couch!” was Max’s reply. “I’d rather live in one of the vans.”

Jade swallowed her toast. “Now there’s an idea…”

“No one’s going anywhere” Beth continued. “You’ll all get on fine.”

“Mum, I wouldn’t go that far. Grudging acceptance maybe.”

The whole family were sitting at the table with Scott standing behind Kit’s chair, tossing his keys from one hand to the other. At her remark, he whacked his sister on the arm.

“Seriously Kit, what are they like?” Kirsty asked.

“Horrible.”

Scott opened his mouth and was about to say something when he looked up and saw Dani standing just outside the doorway, attempting to work up the courage to join in. She smiled shyly when their eyes met. It felt like she was back on the beach and they were looking at each other for the first time.

“Dani…”

She walked through the door. “Hey.”

“Hello love, do you want some breakfast?”

Dani shook her head at Beth’s question. “Maybe later.”

Beth looked from Dani to Scott and nodded, seeing the expressions on their faces.

“Dani, can we talk?”

“Of course.” She didn’t mean for it to sound quite so relieved and desperate. But she was relieved that they were talking again, and desperate for everything to go back to the way it was.

“Let’s take a walk.”

* * *

“Babe, we can make it work.” Scott took Dani’s hands in his and faced her, taking in every detail of her face bathed in sunlight and her beautiful emerald eyes. She returned his gaze for a beat, before looking down at the sand and turning away. He grabbed her arm, gently, but firmly enough no to let her go. He never wanted to let her go. “No. We can, we have to. Talk to me, nothing can every go right if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Dani opened her mouth but stopped before any sound escaped her lips. Was this all he wanted, to talk? She could tell by the glint in his eye and the smile on his face that he truly believed every word he was saying. ‘Talk to me, and we can work things out.’ It seemed too easy.

“I want to, I want to tell you everything. I just…” Dani tried to search for the words. “I don’t want to burden you. My problems, with Kane and my family. I don’t want them to get in the way of us.”

“Dani.” Scott moved his hands up to her face, pulling her closer to him. “Your problems are my problems. The same as mine are yours. This is what a relationship is, a partnership. We can work together through anything, we just have to connect.”

“But it’s so complicated…”

“Everyone has a past, I understand. Life isn’t meant to be simple.” He stopped and his serious expression was replaced by a slightly mischievous wink. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Dani smiled. He always made her smile. “Sometimes I find it hard. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just…” She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She once again met his eyes with her own. “I’ll make an effort, I promise.”

He kissed her on the forehead. She relished his lips on her skin and it made her happy. It was easy, she didn’t know what she had been worrying about for days. They had been talking for a while, 40 minutes maybe. She didn’t know the time, it didn’t seem important. It was the first time she had truly opened up to anyone for a long time, and it felt good. She had been wary about revealing her feelings to anyone, but Scott wasn’t anyone. He was the man she loved, why she had been so worried about talking to him she didn’t know.

She knew it wasn’t over She still had a lot to work through, they both did. Feelings of anger, anxiety, worry. But it would seem a lot easier if she wasn’t alone. They had to work on their relationship, she understood that. Maybe they needed things to get bad before they could get good again. This was a fresh start.

“I love you.”

Those were the three words that Dani treasured the most. She’d said them many times before, to guys in the past. And she had no doubt that Scott had said them before to another girl. But this time she could tell that he meant them. And when Dani replied, echoing the exact phrase, she had never meant anything more in her life.

Scott held out his arms and she stepped warily towards him. He nodded, sensing her apprehensiveness and that invitation was all she needed. “I love you too.” She felt his strong, protective arms surround her body and never wanted them to part from his embrace.

After what seemed like forever, he released her. “Lets go out tonight.”

“Where?”

“Leave it to me. This can be a new start for both of us. A second first date.” His serious manner then returned, but it wasn’t stern. It was calm and reassuring and Dani felt compelled to agree to whatever he was going to say. Anything to return to the way things should be. “But it won’t work if we’re not honest with each other. From now on no secrets. Deal?”

“Deal.”