This is my take on the spoilers for the upcoming episodes where Iain is said to wonder if he's 'in too deep' with Rita. Just a short chapter to begin with and I think there'll be one or two more chapters after this one.

"You coming to the pub?" Rita asked Iain with a smile as she walked out of the department after a long shift.

"Nah, got 5 a side tonight, can I come round to yours after though? I think we need to talk" he asked, his hands firmly in his pockets, giving the impression he didn't want any physical contact from Rita.

Rita nodded slowly, "sounds ominous, should I stop off at the offy, buy myself a bottle of vodka?"

Iain didn't answer as he began walking away, still facing Rita, "be about 8, 8.30 yeah?" he told her before turning and heading off without another word.

"Pub?" Rita jumped, she hadn't heard Zoe walk up behind her, too busy watching Iain walk into the distance.

"Nah, think I'm gonna give it a miss, it's been a long day, I could do with an early night."

"No Iain?" Zoe asked and Rita's heart sank.

"No, not tonight, he's got a footy match on."

"You do right" Zoe nodded as she lit up a cigarette, "get yourself home, nice soak in the bath, feet up watching crap TV, sounds like heaven to me."

"Yeah" Rita forced a smile, a sinking feeling in her chest telling her that probably wasn't how her evening was going to plan out, "I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Yeah" Zoe smiled, "enjoy your night."

Rita walked home slowly, she knew this was it, that Iain was going to break up with her tonight so she tried to convince herself she didn't care, tried to convince herself it was just some fling, just some bit of fun and she'd be fine without him. That was all it was meant to be anyway, just friends with benefits and now she'd screwed that up by telling Iain she loved him. He was the first man she'd allowed to be intimate with her since she'd left Mark, she should have known from the start that it wouldn't end well, that she always brought out the worst in people.

She showered once she was home, pulling on an old hoody and her favourite pyjama bottoms, if she was going to have her heart broken then she might as well be comfortable. She'd somehow managed to resist the temptation of the off license on her way home so curled up on her sofa with a mug of strong black coffee, desperately trying not to let her tears fall. There was no way she was going to cry in front of Iain, no way at all.

She tried to avoid it but eventually gave into watching the clock, it was 8.27 when Iain knocked on her door after sitting in his car for almost 15 minutes, trying to work out what he was going to say. She greeted him but he didn't kiss her like he usually did, and, once again his hands were stuffed into his pockets, her arms curling around her chest.

"Look, I'm just going to get straight down to it" Iain said as Rita lead him into the living room, "this, this thing we've had…" Rita noticed his use of past tense, "I don't think it's going to work out between us, we both want different things. It was just meant to be a bit of fun and it has been but I think it's time to call it a day." Rita didn't say anything as Iain continued to ramble, "sooner or later we'd realise that you, you want stability, you want someone to settle down with and I…" Iain's voice caught in his throat, "I don't want that. It's better that we end it now, we'll only be dragging it out if we don't."

"Right" Rita nodded, unable to say anything else for fear of breaking down.

"We can still be mates yeah?"

Rita nodded, knowing that Iain would probably leave faster if she simply agreed, "yeah" she whispered.

"You alright."

Rita nodded again, "you're right, it was just meant to be a bit of fun" she said, struggling to keep herself together, she'd told him she'd loved him, she'd been so stupid. She'd promised herself that after Mark she'd never let anyone in again, never give anyone the opportunity to hurt her, to break her heart. She'd thought Iain was different. She should have listened to herself.

"And it was while it lasted" Iain gave Rita what he thought was a compliment.

"Yeah" Rita said again before looking up at Iain, hoping he wouldn't notice the tears gathering in her eyes, "if that's all you have to say could you leave now please?"

Iain nodded, he wasn't surprised she didn't want him to stay, "I'll see you at work yeah?"

Rita nodded, "yeah" she closed the door behind Iain before sliding down the wood, curling herself into a ball on the floor and beginning to sob.

Iain stood on Rita's doorstep, sighing as his head fell back against the wood, he could hear Rita sobbing and it broke his heart, his own eyes filling with tears at the sound, at the knowledge that he was the one that had broken her. He wanted nothing more than to open the door, to kiss her, wipe away her tears and tell her he was sorry, that he loved her but he couldn't. He simply took a deep breath to compose himself before walking back to his car and heading home.

Rita cried until she could barely breathe, she'd been so stupid letting Iain in, stupid to believe things would ever be different, that anyone could ever love her. Maybe Mark was right, she was stupid, useless, she wasn't even surprised that Iain didn't want to be with her any more. She could have kept him had she not been so stupid, he was right, they'd agreed, 'friends with benefits'. What on earth had possessed her to tell him that she loved him? She'd known, the slight pause before his vague response told her she'd messed up. "You're an idiot" she told herself, "it's no wonder nobody wants to be with you."