Holly and Foaly were friends. Nobody disputed that, It was just that Foaly had always hoped for something more. From the first time she'd walked into Ops, he'd been captivated. Maybe it had been the way she'd smiled as she introduced herself. Not many people smiled at Foaly. Particularly not beautiful, smart and witty elves. But Holly had.

Every time he saw her, his heart began to beat just a little bit faster. He'd always wondered exactly why she seemed to like him. In the first few minutes they'd spent together, the two of them had bonded. But why? His paranoia and annoying attitude had combined with his nervousness at actually talking to a female, and had produced the same effect as eating the "Spud Surprise" from Spud's Spud Emporium. She, on the other hand, had been polite, friendly and cheerful.

Their friendship was a blessing that he'd barely dared to wish for. The moment she'd entered the room, it felt like the place was full of sunshine. He'd wanted her to come again, and never expected that she would. Yet she had. The angel that was Holly had deemed him worthy of her presence.

Perhaps that was why he'd never spoken about his true feelings. It was amazing that she even spoke to him at all. How could he ask for more when he didn't even deserve what he had?

And now, here she was, the girl he'd loved from afar, showing him her engagement ring and talking about her fiancé. Maybe he'd thought that he didn't have a chance, but now he couldn't even take that chance.

"It was unbelievable, Foaly. Suddenly he's handing me this box and asking me to marry him, and all of the fountains were going off in the background." Holly sighed happily. "So I said yes and he slipped the ring on my finger." She flexed all of the digits on her hand, the light flashing and dancing off the curves of the gold band and the hard edges and flat planes of the diamond set into it.

'He' was Captain Samuel Valerian. Foaly knew they'd been dating for a while now - about a year, maybe more. Samuel rarely visited Ops, but he was far more courteous than most. It was obvious that he cared a lot for Holly. But then, so did Foaly.

"That's really great, Holly." Foaly smiled, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He was happy for her but sad for himself. She and Samuel made a good couple. Foaly wished he wasn't always so paranoid, so cautious - then maybe it could have been his ring on her finger. "When's the wedding going to be?" he enquired.

"Well, we're thinking about next August, but we haven't fixed a date yet." She paused and smiled softly. "You're invited, of course."

Foaly laughed. "Let's just hope old Beetroot will give me the time off."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure he will." Holly had a cheeky, secretive look on her face. Foaly thought he could guess how she was going to get Root to agree; his was not the only head that Holly had turned. It was a generally accepted fact - despite Root having denied it on several occasions - that Julius Root had a bit of a thing for Miss Short.

Holly cast a nervous glance at the clock, then sighed. "Look, Foaly, I've got to go. I just wanted to come and tell you the good news in person, before you heard it from someone else. My coffee break is only ten minutes long, so I have to dash back now." She gave him a sympathetic smile, and turned to go.

This was it. Foaly knew he had to tell her this secret now, or he never would. She was halfway to the door. Maybe nothing wold come of it, but he still needed to get it out. She was in the doorway. "Holly, wait."

She spun on her heels. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to say..." Foally took a deep breath, and gabbled the rest of the sentence out. "I love you."

She nodded. "I know."

"You do?" Foaly raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't ever recall getting drunk and phoning her, but then he supposed that was the nature of such situations...

"Yes, I've always known." An amused light was dancing in her eyes. "Don't act so shocked - you wear your heart on your sleeve."

"But... I..."

"Foaly, I've known all along. You're a good friend, a very good friend, but you're not the one for me. Sam is. I don't want you to spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you'd told me sooner, because I already knew."

The two friends looked at each other for a moment. "Thank you, Holly."

"For what?" Foaly didn't reply, just shrugged and grinned. But as soon as she left the room to get back to work, he whispered the answer to himself.

"Thanks just for being you, Holly."