Back in his flat Robbie took his coat and scarf off. He could feel the chill of the air still on his coat but also he could smell the faint fragrance Laura's cologne on his scarf. Without thinking he lifted it to his nose and took a deeper sniff. Over on his bookshelf he glanced at the picture of Val he kept there. With a frown he put the scarf back down over his coat which was on the chair. He bent forward to the pocket of his coat and took out the box of hankies. Sighing he put them on the countertop. Then he put the kettle on before going to have a wash before bed.

Not long later he made himself a cup of tea and sat for a while and read the paper at the kitchen counter. It was late but he needed to wind down. After thumbing through the news and glancing at the headlines he put the paper down with a sigh. He looked at the box of handkerchiefs. He took one out. It was soft between his fingers. He ran his thumb over the silk monogram and brought the handkerchief to his cheek and felt its silken texture against his skin. He thought of Laura. How could she have known about the hankies? She'd been just as surprised as he had at the coincidence. His brow furrowed. He thought he might have felt worse at the situation, to be reminded so blatantly of a small but important part of Christmas past but oddly, he felt comforted. It was true what he had said to her, there wasn't a better gift he could have received from her. He felt the warm flush in his stomach again, and he knew now he couldn't ignore it. He wasn't exactly sure what would happen next but he was certain now that he couldn't deny his feelings anymore. He knew also that it would take a lot for him to act on the feelings.

Laura paid the taxi and then let herself into the house. It was cold and dark. She locked the door behind her and kicked her shoes off, shivering as she did so. In the winter, when she wasn't at home, she always kept the heating on low, just enough to take the edge off but not enough to make the house warm and certainly not cosy.

She sighed and, keeping her coat on, went into the kitchen and filled the kettle from the sink before clicking on the switch. She made a cup of chamomile tea and took it into the living room and sunk down into the sofa. It was a new sofa she'd bought in the summer. It was expensive and extremely comfortable but sitting there on her own, Laura wondered what the point was in anything nice or luxurious or comfy if you had no one to share it with. Did she have someone? She was supposedly seeing Malcolm but if she was being honest with herself, if she was given the choice, she wouldn't have wanted him there with her. She knew who she did want. More than anything the person she wanted next to her right now was Robbie. But that wasn't a possibility. It may never come to pass she thought. She stared into the gloom for a while, biting the pad of her thumb, an old habit that she always did when she was deep in emotional thought.

She took out her phone and tapped out a text.

Is the offer for Christmas still open?

She sighed and sent the text to Ellen. She would have to call Malcolm the next day and tell him in no uncertain terms that she didn't want to continue the relationship. He was nice enough and it would be a difficult conversation especially because of the plans they'd made for the holidays.

Laura knew, however, that she shouldn't let things go any further. Despite Malcolm's gallantry and pleasant personality, she had been aware of an arrogance in his demeanour. It wasn't a good sign that she had noticed this trait so readily. She shivered again and her thoughts turned again to Robbie. There wasn't a single arrogant bone in his body. Stubborn, certainly, and full of conviction for what he believed in, but always self-deprecating, often humble and always willing to admit when he was wrong about something, and to apologise unreservedly if he had acted out of turn. It was what she loved about him. Loved. She checked herself and sighed again. Her thoughts turned to the coming Christmas break. She knew the decision had already been made. She would be lonely but it wasn't worth prolonging the inevitable. It would be cruel to carry out plans with Malcolm and then, to put it bluntly she thought to herself, ditch him in the new year. Her phone buzzed and she looked at the reply

Sorry Darling, Sal and Ben are coming now - thought you'd made other plans?

With a groan Laura sunk her head into her hands. Maybe she should just take herself off somewhere, to a city she'd not been to before and get lost in the anonymity of lone travel. It was an option that increasingly felt the most appealing.

She looked into the cold empty stove.

Bloody thing she thought.

She'd tried lighting it numerous times since she'd moved into the house without success so she'd simply given up. It wasn't like her to give up. She had tried her best. Just like she'd had to give up on her recent relationships. What was wrong with her? Was she too picky? She knew she was, yet at the same time what she wanted and needed was simple. Was it really too much to ask for? For someone to love? To be loved? And for that person to be genuinely kind and loving, by default. To accept her flaws and appreciate her virtues like she was willing to do? She sighed deeply in the gloom. The darkness and cold seemed to wrap around her and plunge her deeper into her mood. She felt the dark cold chill of the time of year seep into her bones and chill her thoroughly.

Her thoughts turned back to Robbie. Still isolated and cold with his grief. As purely a friend she did what was possible. But she had so much she could give to him as more than a friend. But he still wasn't ready. The pain was still too much for him. She knew it was irrational but she felt she had failed as a friend. She felt torn between wanting things for her own life, love and happiness, and wanting him to have that too, with her. A shared life. She knew she was in love with him and she berated herself for the fact. How had it happened? God knows she had tried hard not to fall for him. The darkness continued to cloak her and in the gloom she stared at the empty cold stove and sighed deeply from her heart. She shivered.

Laura.

A voice called out to her in the cold darkness.

Laura?

She felt a warm hand on the nape of her neck. Suddenly the darkness blossomed into light and the chill was vanquished, she blinked and all was luminous and warm. In the stove a fire burned merrily and bright and in the corner of the room the tiny white lights on the Christmas tree seemed to shimmer like fireflies. Her feet were warm and sunk into the thick pile rug at her feet. She was in her front room, sitting on the sofa. But she wasn't cold anymore. She was warm and there was a glow about the place that superseded the lights, that seemed to warm and illuminate her very being.

She blinked again and looked up. Robbie was stood in front of her, smiling and with glass of wine in his hand.

"You alright love? Thought you'd like a top up" He put the wine down on the table next to the sofa. Laura blinked again, and pulled herself further out of her vision of the cold depths of the previous year.

Robbie watched her with a curious amusement "You ok? Looks like you drifted off there for a few minutes?"

"I did a bit" she said with a dreamy smile, looking up at him. "I was thinking of this time last year"

He sat down next to her, put his arm round her and pulled her in for a hug

"A lot's happened in a year eh?" He said softly with a smile and eyebrows raised

"Yes, it has." She smiled back at him, checking herself slightly at the stark contrast between her thoughts and the reality of what was before her right there and then. "I was actually thinking of the departmental Christmas dinner last year"

"Oh aye? Hey, I wonder if Hathaway took his superman knickers with him on his travels?" They both laughed at the thought and looked into the fire. A log shifted in the grate and a bunch of sparks blossomed brightly in the warm roll of the flames. For a while they were both caught by the mesmerising dance of the flames and their own thoughts.

"I remember that night, I wanted to kiss you" Robbie said.

"When!?" She turned in his arms to look at him, surprise in her voice and on her face.

"When we walked to the taxis and it was freezing cold. You looked so lovely and when you hugged me I just felt, well, warmed by you"

"God, I wish you had, you'd have saved me from a bloody miserable Christmas."

"Ah well, I got there in the end. You look just as lovely now, y'know?"

"Robbie, stop, I know you're only trying to make me blush"

"I wouldn't do that." He said and gave her a cheeky wink "Anyway it's true. You looked gorgeous even in the street light"

"Even in the street light!?"

She looked at him, her eyes sparkling and a laugh behind her smile.

"Come here, you little cracker" he said with a chuckle and he pulled her close and kissed her temple and gave her one of his I'm-the-luckiest-bloke-in-the-world looks before getting up off the sofa to check the stove.

Laura watched as Robbie opened up the wood burning stove door and put a log on the fire. It was good to see him so happy. He'd not long returned from a trip up to Manchester to visit his daughter and grandson. He was wearing a Christmas jumper that his grandson had picked out for him. He'd come home from Manchester wearing it. Despite poking fun at him, Laura had felt her heart melt when he'd kept it on after he got back. He'd called Lyn on his safe return and spoken to Jack and promised him he'd wear the jumper all Christmas. Laura thought of all the pompous and arrogant men she'd had encounters and relationships with and her thoughts turned briefly to the previous Christmas and whoever it had been she had ended up spending it with. She was glad it took a few seconds to recall his name and that there hadn't been a Christmas jumper in sight all through that particular festive season. Robbie's jumper had on it a big polar bear wearing a Father Christmas hat. Laura actually quite liked it.

"Are you going to wear that all Christmas?" She asked him, her eyebrows raised with cheeky derision.

"Yes, until I spill me Christmas dinner down it" he said and sat back down next to her on the sofa, his arm going round her shoulders again.

"Have you got a problem with that, Doctor Hobson?"

She laughed, her eyes sparkling with merriment at his words

"No" She said

He chuckled back at her

"Cheers" he said and they clinked glasses and watched the fire again for a few minutes while the log caught in the flames.

"I'm glad you had a nice time in Manchester, Robbie"

"Aye it was great. Jack's getting to that age where he's beside himself with excitement about getting presents and giving them."

"I bet he loved you visiting"

"Yeah I think so. I enjoyed it. It was good to give his mam a rest for a couple of hours. Not that she had much of a break, packing for their holiday."

Lyn, her partner and Jack were spending some of Christmas in Scotland with the other grandparents. Robbie didn't seem to mind this and Laura was glad. There had been talk of them coming to Oxford for Christmas but the festive holiday had been planned for a while and instead they made plans to visit in the new year. Robbie was happy with this arrangement. He'd had one of the best visits there in a long time. It had been the anniversary of Val's death while he'd been there and although at times it had been sad, Robbie and his daughter felt a certain peace that only came with time's passing. The focus had been on Jack and Lyn had also reassured Robbie about how happy she was for him and Laura. You deserve happiness Dad she had said and Robbie had felt, like a wintry snow shower on a cold sunny day, a strange mix of emotions, of which happiness had prevailed.

He looked at Laura, nestled in his arms and with a soft smile on her lips.

"You know one of the best things about visiting Lyn and Jack?" He said

"What?"

"Knowing I was coming home to you"

She looked at him, feeling a bit humbled by his words. He would often just say what was on his mind and sometimes the sentiment and his words seemed so pure and simple that she felt her breath taken away. This was one of those times and her hand went to its favourite place on his chest, over his heart and she simply smiled at him with that look in her eyes that he knew so well.

He tilted his head towards her as he continued to talk

"Y'know, I was thinking about cuddling with you on the sofa all the way from Birmingham" he said in a quiet low voice

"Only from Birmingham?" She said with her eyebrows raised in mock indignation.

He laughed. "Yeah, well the traffic was bad on the M6, I had to concentrate"

Laura laughed softly. "Actually I was thinking of it too. I missed you Robbie. It was a good feeling, knowing you were coming home."

They finished their drinks in a cosy knowing silence that also held a few unspoken words between them. Their relationship, although years in the making was solid even after a few months of living together, but there were still emotions between them that they had difficulty articulating with words. For Laura she knew it was best to let it unfold in its own time, the words needed to be spoken by Robbie. She could wait and it didn't worry her. She knew the love was there, but he was still shadowed by life's events. She knew the light was growing though, and that those shadows, although they would never disappear would become insignificant and peripheral like the shadows cast by the midsummer sun.

Outside the afternoon was turning into the night. They finished their drinks and Laura went to draw the curtains against the coming night. Robbie got up and followed her as she drew the set of curtains by the Christmas tree. He wrapped his arms round her from behind and pulled her close, kissing her cheek as he did so. Outside he could see the sky was darkening and thick with clouds. It was cold and there had been talk of wintery showers in the forecast.

"Do you think we'll get any snow?" he said, still holding her as she pulled the curtains

"I doubt it, not these days. I don't remember a white Christmas in Oxford for a very long time. One when I was at college I think, in the 80's."

"Oh, yeah I remember that one, we took the kids sledging." Robbie smiled, recalling the Christmas when it had snowed. He looked down as he felt Laura placing her hands over his hands that were softly resting on her midriff. She caressed them gently. He was aware that not for the first time he didn't feel sad in his recollection of the past. In the place of sadness there was just a feeling of being aware of moments, a peaceful awareness of images of happy times in his mind. He nuzzled his face into Laura's hair and sniffed, catching the scent of her skin and her cologne. He closed his eyes and kissed her neck. She turned and pulled him in for a big hug and a kiss

"Everyone was asking after you, by the way, at the departmental meal." She said to him, when they pulled apart and returned to the comfort of the sofa and the warmth of the fire.

"Really?" Robbie played it down but he secretly liked that he'd been missed at the meal, especially now that he'd retired. "Was there a secret Santa this year?"

"No, Jean's secretary was off sick so it didn't get organised"

"Shame. I like Secret Santa" and he winked at her. "Actually, on the subject of gifts, here's just a small something, for you." He reached down by the side of the sofa and retrieved something he'd obviously hidden earlier.

"Robbie I thought we weren't going to go mad on gifts?"

"What makes you think I've got you anything else?" He said, his voice rising in amusement. Laura smiled, pursing her lips at him and frowning at his tease as he handed her the present.

It was a small sized gift, obviously easily hidden and Laura could see it had been expertly wrapped. She pulled the ribbon on the gift and carefully removed the pretty paper to reveal a shallow box.

She knew what was inside before she even took the lid off.

The handkerchiefs were a very pale dusky pink. On each corner, in a cherry red silk was monogrammed LH

"It felt right to get them for you" Robbie said, watching her smile turn into a grin as she took one of the folded hankies out of the box.

"From your Secret Santa. Maybe you'll stop pinching mine now eh?"

"I don't pinch them!"

"Oh aye, what's this then!?" And he lunged towards Laura's cords pocket and, after a brief tussle pulled out a hankie, one of the ones she'd given him the year before.

"See?" he said, taking the opportunity to tickle her as his hands were near her ribs. She laughed and squirmed in protest. It was true, she did often take one of his handkerchiefs when she went to work.

"Robbie stop please! You'll make me pee"

Robbie chuckled and carried on tickling her for a second more before relenting

"Anyway, I thought you should have your own, you need them as much as I ever did, y'know when you're with relatives. In fact, you probably need them more."

"They're just lovely, Robbie"

He watched as she took one of the handkerchiefs out of the box and carefully unfolded one. They were smaller than the ones she'd bought him and just as luxurious and she smoothed her thumb over the cherry red sill in the corner of the pink square.

"Did you get them from the place on Little Clarendon street?" She asked

"Yeah, they were a special order, they don't usually make them in this colour, but I thought you'd like it"

"Thank you, I do. They're so soft."

He looked at the handkerchief he'd retrieved from Laura's pocket, his thumb feeling its texture. He lifted it to Laura's face and rubbed it gently against her cheek

"This one's still soft even after plenty of wear"

"You talking about you or the handkerchief?"

He gave her a reproachful smile, it was one he found himself using on a regular basis.

"Shut that cheeky gob for half a minute and come here"

His hand went to her face and he leant in to kiss her, a soft kiss on the lips that lingered and then carried them away a little. Laura sank back into the sofa and pulled Robbie in as she did so. She was warm and comfy and she couldn't think of anywhere else she wanted to be or who with.

"Did you close those curtains properly?" Robbie asked between kisses

"Mmm, why?"

"Well it wasn't just cuddling with you on the sofa I was thinking about as I drove home"

"Oh really?"

"Mmm"

"Well in that case. . ."

And she pulled him back to her and they kissed again.

In the fireplace the logs burned contentedly and outside, beyond the closed curtains, a few feathery snowflakes fell from the Oxford sky into the Christmas Eve night.

AN: Thanks for reading, folks. I did have bigger ambitions for this story involving unexpected visitors and an exploration into Laura's disastrous christmas but alas my time ran out and I just don't have the hours in the day to write due to Christmas and work commitments. Maybe I will add to it sometime in the future. Timewise I did factor in a bonus M chapter however. What with the cosy setting, the warmth of the fire and our heroes all loved-up I thought it would be a bit rude not to. So if you fancy a bit of Sexy Robson fluff, if time permits I'll be posting a short story / epilogue called "The fire is so delightful"