A/N Alice just admitted to danny that she cheated, he was angry and upset and decided to wait outside for Dupe to come….

(X)

Danny had never been more relieved when he saw Dupe's truck rumble to a stop.

"So Trevanion have you and Alice worked stuff out yet?" Dupe grinned wickedly. "Or need I ask?"

Danny stomped towards the truck. "No!" a short curt answer.

Dupe frowned. "Well get yourself out of this truck until you do!"

"I want to go home Dupe." Danny said coldly barely holding on to his temper.

"What about….."

"NOW!" Danny ordered.

"Alice is here." Dupe reminded.

"I don't care, I want to be out of here!"

This time Dupe's look was confused. "What on earth has happened, you two were supposed to be working stuff out and if anything it has made it worse!"

Danny looked at him, his expression unreadable, Dupe had never seen him look like this before. "What happened was I found out some stuff that should have been clear to me years ago! Now all I want is to go home, is that too much to ask?"

"Not without your wife." Dupe told him simply.

Danny heard the word wife and flinched. He looked at Dupe darkly. "Fine! You wait here for her, I'll walk! See you at home!" and with that Danny climbed from the truck and began to head towards the road.

Dupe immediately called Leopards Den on the radio. "Leopards Den!"

The radio crackled then, "It's Rosie, have you found dad yet Dupe?" her voice clearly anxious.

"He's fine, walking home by the old Jackson hut, come and get him will you? I have things to do."

"Sure thing Dupe." and the radio died. He then climbed from the truck and walked towards the house. Saw Alice sat on the floor head cradled in her hands. He exhaled and headed for her.

"It went that bad huh?" he asked kneeling down on his haunches.

"We're over Dupe." she murmured. "For good this time, there is no fixing this, even if I knew how, which I don't!"

"C'mon Alice don't be like this, you two have been through bad spots before, remember Mara we all thought you and Danny were over for good and then a few weeks later you and Danny were back together more in love than before, I'm being serious it was sickly to watch!" he stood up straight and smiled at her trying to lighten the mood.

Alice couldn't bring herself to smile back. She stood up and looked Dupe right in the eye. "I cheated on him Dupe." she told him, zero emotion in her tone.

Dupes eyes bugged.

Alice meanwhile was already walking from the hut towards the vehicle.

Dupe stood thinking for a moment then followed her. He sat beside her in the truck, her head was hung low. It occurred to him this wasn't the first time he'd given her advice while sitting in a truck. They had been here once before, him trying to convince her to tell Danny how she felt, how times changed! "Ok so you cheated." he said.

A laugh escaped her though it held no humour. "You said that in such a cavalier fashion, like it's nothing. It isn't nothing, I destroyed his trust in me!" she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"So he knows then?" Dupe winced.

She nodded. "Wasn't the most enjoyable experience in the world, watching his heart break like that. I feel lower than dirt right now. He hates me, understandably. To be honest I don't like myself much either. How could I do that? I'm not a cheater!" her voice full of self directed derision.

"And what about you?" Dupe asked cautiously.

She looked at him confused.

"Well what's next with you? Did you love the guy who you….you know."

"I love Danny, this was all just a big mistake. I hurt him so badly Dupe and it's killing me! I just want to wake up and realise this is just a bad dream!"

Dupe exhaled. He knew and understood this kind of guilt. It was deep, intense and encompassing. It permeated your every waking moment.

"I just want everything to be back to normal! Like before and now…" she was breathing heavily. "His face Dupe…" he voice cracked and broke. "I've never seen him look so devastated before. I love him so much and I did that to him!"

Dupe knew that Danny wasn't the only one hurting. Danny no doubt had spat some nasty stuff, he was more than capable of it. When hurt Danny was best left alone. At times like this if pushed he hit out, mainly at the cause of the pain. He remembered clearly what he was like when Simon was here to be married and Danny had accused Sarah of flaunting herself in front of Simon, just because she refused to have a child with him. It had taken Danny shooting himself in the leg with a dart before he saw sense. Hopefully it wouldn't take something this drastic this time! Dupe put his arm around Alice's shoulders impulsively and hugged her close. She remained stationary in the hold.

"Try not…."

"Don't tell me not to worry Dupe, nothing I do or say is going to fix this. And on top of that there is Charlie and Robbie, what are we going to do about visitation? There is so much to figure out!"

"You can't just give up Alice."

She looked at him. "What other choice do I have?"

"Fight!"

"That's all we do." she replied dryly and covered her face.

"If you love him fight for him, fight for your relationship!"

Alice looked at Dupe. "He'll never trust me again, every time he'll look at me he'll be reminded of what I done, maybe even wondering if I've done it again or considered it. Even if he could live like that I couldn't."

"So what?" Dupe asked heatedly. "What now for Alice Collins? What about everything you have here, everything you have created?"

She didn't correct the use of her maiden name. "Danny's family is here, I'm only his wife I have…."

"Don't you dare say you have no family here!" he warned. "What am I exactly? Caroline, Nomsa…."

"You are my friends but HIS family!"

"You know Alice I always had an inkling that you were a bit brainless, especially after falling for Danny but with that comment right there you just proved it!" he started the truck. It roared to life and he drove away.

(X)

Rosie found her dad walking along slowly, until a rock came close to his foot and he kicked it hard into the bush.

"Hey what that rock do to you?" she called playfully.

He didn't reply, didn't even turn, simply thrust his hands in his pockets and carried on walking, shoulders hunched head down.

She beeped the horn and he finally looked back.

"Want a lift?"

Not really, he was hoping to just keep walking until he ran out of road, or until he chased away the memory of Alice's words and he forgot everything he'd been told. Fat chance!

He had waited too long to reply. "Dad?" Rosie asked concerned. "Are you ok?"

He opened his mouth the reply he was fine, "No." came from him, he frowned.

She turned the engine off, climbed out and walked over to him. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head.

"It's Alice isn't it?" she asked softly.

His face twisted instinctively and he scowled.

"Yes then." she murmured. "Is she going back to London?"

"Yes!" he hissed. "And I'm beyond caring where she goes, where she lives, who she does it with and whether she jumps off a bridge!" he kicked another rock forcefully his voice raised at the end.

Rosie eyes widened. "It really can't be that bad can it?" two divorces in less than a year in the same family? she wondered.

Meanwhile Danny began to walk faster, she chased him and grabbed his arm to halt him. "Whatever it is dad you two have to work it out. Charlie and Robbie need you both together as a team. That is how it's always been between you two!"

He pulled his arm away. "Alice and I aren't a team, the only ting I share with Alice is this ring….." he pulled it off, he wanted to throw it into the bush but couldn't bring himself to, instead he shoved it in his pocket "…and two kids. One of whom I keep getting reminded isn't mine!" he felt the rage burning once again.

"Dad?" Rosie whispered, her voice low. She had never seen him like this before, not even when they lost her mother and Sarah.

Danny looked at his daughters face and could see the fear written clear across her features. "Just leave me alone Rosie, please." he whispered.

"Let me take you home then you can disappear into your surgery. I'll make sure no one bothers you." she promised.

Rosie was looking at him with a 'there's no budging me' look in her eyes. He nodded and she exhaled with relief. They headed for the truck.

"You know you get that stubbornness from your mother." he told her dryly.

She snorted. "Yeah right!"

(X)

Dupe drove slowly back to the house. The closer they got the quieter Alice became.

"It might be best if I leave Dupe." she finally said.

"You can't do that." he replied instantly.

"Why?"

"Coz then you and Danny will never work this out and you need to!"

"I doubt Danny will agree." she retorted dryly.

"Danny doesn't know what he needs. You know how impulsive he can be when he's hurt, he needs time to calm down and think."

"I know that if me and Danny are anywhere near each other we'll argue, Charlie and Robbie can't be seeing that!" she rubbed her face. "God this is all such a mess, what am I gonna do?"

"Well we're gonna go home and your gonna spend some time with the kids, that always help you unwind." he smiled. "Little Robbie has the look of Danny."

Alice finally had a reason to smile. "Stubborn like his dad too. He's a mini Danny."

Dupe looked at her. "Give it time Alice, you and Danny will be fine."

Alice shrugged knowing it was pointless to argue, she knew the truth, and it was breaking her heart.

A/N sorry peeps but this chapter was necessary, next one isn't gonna be much better - sooner or later though will there be a turning point? and what will it be? stay tuned x

PS next chappie up (hopefully tonight) will be darkness falls - its kind of fluffy - kind of - you'll understand when you read it x