Right then, I’ve decided to continue this, I know it’s a while since I posted the first bit, but it’s on my site if you haven’t read it/have forgotten what on earth it was about hehe!

This is set after the end of Oepedius Wrecks – after Jess has cut up Ric’s credit cards. Ric’s mad at Jess, and Diane is still out on-call.

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Ric waited until Jess was closeted in her room, listening to loud angry music, and Lisa was shut in the bathroom, singing to herself. When at last he was sure that no one would hear him, he silently slipped out of the door, leaving his key on the worktop. It wasn’t as though Jess would miss him. Nor would Lisa. They only let him stay out of politeness, but, when it came down to it, he was a hassle, and they much preferred to have the flat to themselves, so they didn’t always have to worry about keeping their music turned down, and keeping their boyfriends out of the way.

He was halfway down the stairs before he realised that it was dark, cold, and he didn’t have a car. By the time he was outside, he’d realised that it was raining.

“Great,” he muttered to himself. “That’s just fantastic.” He sighed to himself, and folded the collar of his jacket up so that it covered some of his neck – it didn’t help much, but it did make him feel as though he was doing something to protect himself from the rain.

By the time he’d walked half a mile down the road, and been soaked by the spray from a car driven by someone who looked a lot like Helen Grant, he realised that he had nowhere to go. Zubin lived miles away, much too far away to walk. Kath had offered him a place to stay and he’d turned her down – he couldn’t turn back on that. And that left his last close friend. Diane. She’d told him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want to live with him, but he hadn’t been desperate then. Now, he needed her more than ever. Surely she wouldn’t turn him down now?

He was halfway to her place before he’d even realised it. Then it hit him suddenly… she was on call. She wouldn’t be there. But at least he could shelter in her doorway or something until she arrived. And when she saw him, she wouldn’t be able to turn him down. Of course she wouldn’t.

Sitting on her doorstep, feeling trickles of water meander down his neck, he almost began to fall asleep. Or at least, that was what it felt like. It wasn’t sleep, not really. He was just losing track of time, most of his brain shutting down until all he was aware of was how cold the stone step was, how icy the water was, how chilling the wind was… And how long Diane was taking to come home.

But at least it gave him time to think. About… Diane. Who else did he ever need time to think about? She was never too far from his mind… he could think about her for hours and still not understand her. He could obsess over a single word that she said, turning it round in his mind, looking for hidden meanings, looking for a chance that she might have forgiven him, might have wanted him back… and if a simple word could confuse him so much, then it was no wonder that the kiss they had shared had catapulted him into a world of confusion.

What had she meant by it? Had she really just meant it as a bit of fun? Would she do that? Surely Diane would avoid opening that door again? She always skirted around any mention of their relationship, she’d mentioned it once or twice recently, but other than that, she avoided it like the plague. Maybe she was getting over it. Maybe she was falling in love with him. Maybe she loved him. Maybe he loved her.

Maybe? Oh no, there were no maybes in Ric’s mind. He definitely loved her. He knew how he felt; it seemed as though he always had. And he was certain that she knew about his feelings. She just didn’t want to broach the subject. Although, recently… he was getting more and more confused. He was starting to think that maybe they were at a stalemate. He thought that perhaps Zubin had more chance of getting anywhere with Diane than he did. Or Tom. He didn’t want to see her with Tom again. Lately, he’d also been thinking that maybe it was time to move on… to find someone else. He didn’t know who. He just thought that he’d spent too long waiting for Diane. But however much he told himself that he should move on, something stopped him.

He was at this point in his thoughts when he heard a car pull up, and Diane appeared, looking slightly confused to find Ric sitting on her doorstep. “Ric…” She didn’t seem sure what to say. She stared at him for a moment, before realising that he was soaked with the rain. “What are you doing here? You’re all wet, where have you been?” She took his arm and practically dragged him into her flat. “What the hell have you been doing?” she demanded, as she unlocked the door.

“I had an argument with Jess,” he replied feebly, chuckling to make it seem less important than it was.

“So you thought you’d try and catch pneumonia?” She looked anxious as she disappeared into the bathroom for a moment to fetch him a towel. She returned a minute later and threw it at him, half-angry at how he had worried her. “God Ric, how could you be so irresponsible?” She began to take his jacket off him, all the while scolding him. “Do you realise how much you scared me when I saw you sitting there?”

“I’m sorry…”

“I thought you were a burglar or something! I thought you were going to attack me!” Her face was paler than usual, although her eyes shone with anger and belated fear.

“I’d never hurt you…”

“I know you wouldn’t, but I didn’t know it was you!” She glared at him and threw his jacket down on a chair. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, and she was still trying not to shake with the delayed reaction to the shock. She didn’t even bother to mention how scared she had been when she had realised it was Ric. It had been the expression on his face that had scared her the most. He had looked… as though he had given up entirely. And that wasn’t something that she was used to seeing on Ric’s face.

“I just didn’t know where to go… I couldn’t stay at Jess and Lisa’s.” He looked confused; he hadn’t expected scoldings from Diane. He had expected sympathy, or he had hoped for it at least. He had fooled himself into believing that she would welcome him with open arms and tell him that it would all be alright. But that was something that even she couldn’t do.

“Why not?” Diane snatched the towel off Ric and began to fold it up.

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, I apparently have all night.” She threw herself into a chair and motioned that Ric do the same. He sat down slowly, conscious of the fact that he was dripping wet.

“It’s not that big a deal…” He tried to play it down.

Diane folded her arms. “Oh, so that’s why you trekked over to mine and nearly caught your death by sitting in the rain for however many hours?” She shot him a stern look. She wished that if he were going to invade her flat, then he would at least let her in. She’d wanted him to let her in for a long time. She just wished it hadn’t got so far before he did.

“I just wondered if I could spend the night with you…” He trailed off as he saw her blushes. “No… I didn’t mean… no…” He shook his head. “I meant that… I can’t face staying at Jess’s tonight. Can I stay with you, please?” There was a plaintive note in that last word that won Diane over instantly.

She looked away. “I… I don’t…” She sighed. “Yes. Of course you can.”