Siobhan dragged herself out of bed the next morning, and spent half an hour staring in the mirror at the huge bruise which now consumed half her face. How could he? How dare he? He was the one snogging Paul behind her back. She burst into a fresh set of tears. He’d lied. He’d lied and said he didn’t have anyone else, yet she had been sent the photographic evidence that he did. They always told each other the truth. Well, she always told him the truth. Who was he to get agitated when she expressed her concerns? She really needed a shoulder to cry on, but whom? She only knew two people other than Sammie that she’d want to confide in, but she couldn’t call them, they’d assume she was calling for Mark. There’s always a downside to getting along with your boyfriends brothers. Why couldn’t they be in Japan already, then it would be safe to call them. She’d prefer to speak to Colin. He was older and treated her more like a sister. Gary was great for a laugh and always cheered her up when she was hung over, but she didn’t think it wise to tell Gary for some reason. Colin was less likely to lose his head about it anyway. She knew she’d have to go into work late, and phone him from the flat, hoping that Mark was busy all morning. She was praying Colin had the morning off, to come around and chat. She would have hated to tell him over the phone. But Mark . . . where would he be? Her heart ached as she even thought his name. Mark. She really thought they’d been in love. But how could they be if he’d hit her? And over reacted. It only really confirmed that something was going on with him and Paul. She felt so stupid for having taken the photos and telling the paparazzi to get lost, that it was a scam and a bad editing job too. She’d covered for him again, and all he’d done was show how little he appreciated her.
      She grabbed the phone and pressed speed dial two. The Read house.
      “Hello, you’ve reached the Read’s. Gary speaking”
      “Hi Gary, it’s Siobhan” she said, hoping her voice was steady.
      “Oh, sorry honey, Mark’s out. He has been all night. We thought he was with you. Are you okay?”
      “Oh yeah, sure, but I wasn’t calling for Mark, I actually wanted to speak to Colin”
      “Col? Are you sure? What’s Mark gone and done?”
      “Gary, please, I just wanna talk to Colin”
      “Okay” She heard him have a little discussion with Colin and Pam. “I don’t know what she wants Col, she sounds pretty down . . . no, she doesn’t . . . well, you find out!”
      “Siobhan?” Colin asked down the phone. She couldn’t contain the tears any longer. “Shit, are you okay?”
      “Col, please, get over here, now!”
      “What’s Mark done?”
      “I’ll tell you when you get here. Please, don’t bring anyone else”
      “Okay, but Eliza’s going to have to know I came over”
      “Hey, she’s your wife, I expect you to tell her, but please, come, and please come alone”
      “I’ll be right there” He slammed the phone down, and Siobhan got dressed. She looked out of her bedroom window and saw Mark’s car still there, and him sitting, staring into the rear view mirror. She felt a cold shiver down her spine. Even from where she stood, she could tell you that those eyes had changed. They looked dead, angry, hateful yet empty. They weren’t the eyes she loved, the sparkling ones, the friendly ones, the ones that crinkled when he smiled. And that stare, that frosty stare he was giving himself. It was creepy. He didn’t seem to be moving, the only sign of life was the hate flowing from his eyes. Hate for himself or hate for her?

 

      ‘You bastard. You evil, evil bastard. I love her and you hurt her. Not just her face, but her soul too. How am I ever going to propose now? How am I ever to have kids with her? Why hurt her? Why hurt anyone? Why are you destroying my life and the people in it’ There was a cold silence. ‘Don’t you care? Do you not consider anyone’s feelings? You can hurt anyone you like, I don’t give a damn, but you don’t hurt her’
      ‘Oh, please Mark; your nobility is boring me. She deserved it, finding out about Paul and us like that. Next time I’ll be more careful. But the little wench better have learnt that if she still wants a chance with you she’ll trust you through everything, even when the evidence suggests otherwise’
      ‘She does trust me, or did until you came along. Stop hurting her, please’
      ‘I don’t think I will. It destroys you to see her so upset, and I want your pansy personality out of me as soon as possible. Frankly Mark, your attachment to her bores me. What exactly does she have? Nothing, not in comparison to Ben. Or Paul. Or Christian. Hmmm, Christian, I wonder what he’d be like. Shall we go and see? Oh, look Mark, she’s in her window, looking at us. So much contempt, there’s so much of it flowing out of her for you right now. Yet you’re still under the delusion that she wants you back’
      ‘How dare you? The only contempt she feels is aimed at what you did. She does still love me. I just need to prove to her that I’m sorry for your mistake and-’
      ‘See Mark, it wasn’t a mistake. She deserved it. In fact, she deserved more than what she got, so pipe down before I do something you regret’
      ‘You’ve already done so much that I regret. I hate you’
      ‘That’s good Mark, that’s very good. I survive better with your hate. I can use it to my advantage’ It started the car up, and spun off to the television studios they were supposed to be in, Mark wishing he were dead so he could forget the look of pain on Siobhan’s face.

 

      Ben woke up and turned to see Sammie next to him in his hotel bed. He grinned. Despite what he still felt for Mark, he was glad that they’d been able to patch things up yesterday. He leaned over and kissed her cheek lightly, then leant against the headboard, playing with her hair. It felt so good to be back in her good books, and he decided that he’d prefer to remain there, rather then get into a whole sticky mess with Mark. His phone beeped, and he checked the message. Paul.

 

                    ‘BEN! Its so weird. Mark & me got 2gethr. Can u believe he split up with mini Hitler? I’m so :D’

      Ben froze as he read the message. He reread it. Paul and Mark? He smirked as he reread the words mini Hitler. That was Mark’s choice phrase for Siobhan when they had first met. But the smirk soon disappeared. Didn’t she phone yesterday? Wanting a chat? And he and Sammie were . . . oh god, the poor thing! He searched his phone book and found her number. The mobile was off. The house phone was off the hook. Why hadn’t they acted before? He knew he’d have to wake Sammie up. He gave her a firm kiss on the mouth.
      “Morning sexy” she smiled as he pulled away.
      “Sammie, honey, I’m worried about Siobhan”
      “Um, okay, whatever”
      “No, look” he showed her the text.
      “They broke up?” she asked, shocked.
      “She’s not answering either of her phones, I don’t think the house phone’s even on the hook”

      Sammie sat bolt upright.
      “I’m calling Tim”

 

      Colin stormed down the path to Siobhan’s house, and banged the door. She checked through the side window, and then opened the door. He immediately noticed the bruise.
      “Where is he?”
      “I don’t know”
      “Did he do that?”
      She didn’t reply.
      “DID HE DO THAT?”
      “Yes he did, okay?”
      She dissolved into tears again, and Colin pulled her into a hug.
      “Shhh, it’s okay” he closed the door behind them. “What happened?”
      “I was given this set of pictures of him and Paul kissing, and I asked him about it. He said it was a fix and I said I believed him but I’d been worried anyway. He said something about me never trusting him, totally lost it and hit me”
      “Has he hit you before?”
      “No, and you know it’s unlike him to do it”
      Colin lead her to the living room and sat her down and lifted the phone receiver off the cradle so they wouldn’t be disturbed, before heading to the kitchen to fix her a cup of tea. Something she had said was playing on his mind as he brewed the drink, and he brought it as he re-entered the room.
      “Did you say Mark and Ben?”
      “No, Mark and Paul. Ben’s on holiday with Sammie”
      “Oh”
      “What do you mean, ‘oh’?”
      “It was just . . . . Mark said something about Ben, not Paul. Can I see the pictures?”
      “Take them, keep them, burn them, do what you want with them, I don’t want them any more. I’ve got them all burnt in my head anyway”
      She passed him the small stack of Polaroid’s. He took his time flipping through, his brow increasingly screwed as he went.
      “He’s been taking liberties for far too long. I don’t know why you put up with him for so long. This is just taking the piss now” Colin muttered to himself.
      “What did he say about Ben?” Siobhan asked, trying to ignore Colin’s comments.
      “I don’t think you want to hear”
      “Please Col, don’t do what Mark does, don’t lie and hide things from me”
      Colin sighed and closed his eyes as he spoke, not wanting to meet her eyes.
      “He called Sammie stupid, said Ben was his” He half opened one eye and saw her staring at the floor in shock. “Siobhan?”
      “I can’t believe he’s lied so much to me. I thought I meant something to him?”
      “You still might”
      “Not according to this bruise. This bruise shows he hates me”
      “No, he doesn’t, we all know he cares about you, in some weird, twisted way. But lately, I don’t know. I get the feeling he’s gay”
      Her head snapped up. She met his eyes and searched them quickly.
      “He’s not gay Col” she said quietly, her voice surprisingly steady.
      “But he’s snogged Paul and possibly Ben and-”
      “He’s NOT gay Colin!”
      “Sweetheart, you can’t live in denial”
      She looked away.
      “I’m not”
      Colin sighed.
      “Do you know something I don’t?”
      “He made me promise not to tell”
      “He breaks his promises to you all the time! You can break this one for me” Silence. “I swear I’ll keep it to myself. Scouts honour”
      She made eye contact with him again.
      “Mark’s not gay, he’s bi”

 

      “Thanks so much Tim, honestly” Ben gushed down the phone. He said goodbye quickly, then rejoined a sobbing Sammie on the bed.
      “Hey, it’ll be okay. Tim’s going to phone her, and if she doesn’t answer then he’s going to check at the Read’s then go around to her house if things are that bad, and he’ll phone us back in half an hour”
      “I feel so stupid though, why else would she phone, unless something was wrong? She’d give us space to sort things out, not annoy us every five minutes asking how things are going”
      “Hey, you weren’t to know, and she said she was okay, right?”
      “Yeah, but she also told me that she couldn’t live without Mark. She’s without Mark so-”
      “NO! Don’t say it, she wouldn’t kill herself, she’s stronger than that. She can do fine without him, remember?”
      “Please Ben, she only says that to reassure herself that she isn’t as dependent as she really is. She doesn’t know what to do without him now, honestly”
      Ben couldn’t answer for once, or give Sammie the support she needed, this new information had scared him as much as it seemed to be upsetting Sammie. He pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead and praying that Tim would call back soon, saying that Siobhan was all right . . . or at least alive . . .

 

      “Mark, there you are! Paul was looking for you earlier. He seemed desperate to tell you something” Christian smiled at Mark. Mark stared at him.
      “I don’t know what happened yesterday at lunch, but he’s really happy about something. Do you think he met someone?”
      “I don’t know Christian, I’m not Paul,” the voice answered. Mark could hear its plan to get Christian. The voice was getting stronger and stronger, and Mark was able to experience its thoughts now. He hated this. Christian might not understand what the voice was trying to do to him.
     “Geez, sorry Mark. What’s up? Have they decided never to make Mickey Mouse things again?”
     “Actually, I just split up with Siobhan. For good” Hearing his ‘voice’ say this was too much, and Mark had the overwhelming desire to break down in tears. The voice seemed to think this would work on Christian, so Mark was given control of his eyes again. Hot tears flowed from them, as the sparkle that had been lost started to return. The loss of his girlfriend was stopping it from being as bright as it normally would though. Christian immediately rushed forward and hugged him.

      “Come on Mark, I’m sure it’s not for good. I know what you two are like, give it a few days and you’ll be in bed for hours on end. Like last time”
      “But it’s not like last time” Mark replied, crying harder, and gripping Christian close to him. He realised that the words he’d wanted to say had left his mouth, and he was making his arms squeeze Christian. He almost kissed Christian in adulation. He was back! If only he could get to a phone and call Siobhan before the voice took over again, then it really would be like their first spat.
      “Don’t think like that Mark. What happened?”
      “We had a fight over something stupid-”
      “Sounds like you two”
      “Chris, I think I hit her”
      Christian pulled away, shocked.
      “You what?”
      “I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately Chris, but something inside of me . . . it snapped and . . . and I hit her”
      Christian looked dumbstruck, and Paul came running up grinning.
      “Hey Mark! Whoa, who died?” He looked between Mark and Christian.
      “I’ve got to go” Mark called as he ran off.
      “Mark, what’s going on?”
      “Yeah man, what about the show?”

 

      “Col, that hurt!” Siobhan sniffed as he put some foundation on her bruise, in an attempt to make her look more presentable.
      “Sorry Hun, this is really difficult, especially when you have a bruise”
      “I know . . . Col?”
      “Yeah?”
      “I think Mark has been with Ben too”
      “What makes you say that?”
      “Well, if he talks in his sleep, it’s about Ben, and Ben and Sammie had a fight on holiday. They’re perfect together-”
      “I know they are”
      “And well, night before last Mark was talking about Paul for once, not Ben”
      Colin stopped dabbing her face with the sponge, and looked in her eyes.
      “Are you okay knowing this?”
      “I’ll be fine, I’m sure. I’ve known for a while about him being bi, but he always promised nothing would happen. Col?”
      “Yeah?”
      “You won’t tell anyone will you? Or let Mark know I told you”
      “Of course not!”
      “Thanks. I wish you were my brother instead of his”
      “Sometimes I wish that too” Colin smiled, and kissed her nose carefully.

 

      The phone rang.
      “Please be Tim” Sammie whispered as she picked up.
      “Ben?”
      “No, it’s Sammie”
      “Okay, it’s Tim. I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but I couldn’t get through to either of her phones either. I called the office, and she hasn’t gone in, so Vicky’s covering. But I called Pam and Keith, they said she called earlier and asked to speak to Colin”
      “Why Colin?”
      “I don’t know, maybe he knows something about why they broke up. He’ll take care of her though, and stop her doing anything stupid. I’m on my way to the show right now, I’ll ask Mark all about it when I get there, okay?”
      “Okay, thanks Tim”
      “It’s okay. I hope you and Ben are enjoying yourselves”
      “Yeah, we are”
      “Good. Bye”
      “Bye Tim”
      “Is it good news?” Ben asked as soon as Sammie hung up. She walked over to him and put her arms around him, trying not to worry him any more than he already was.
      “She’s talking to Colin right now”
      “Colin? Why?”
      “I don’t know. But Tim sounds sure she’ll be alright after talking to him”
      “Then she will be” Ben smiled, relief flooding through his voice. He hugged Sammie back hard.
      “I guess we can’t do anything else about it. I hope she’s okay”
      “She will be, Colin loves her like a sister. He’s always on about her getting married to Mark just so that comes true. Come on, lets make the most out of this holiday, don’t want to waste our time in the hotel room do we?” Ben asked, putting a brave face on. Sammie smiled, kissed him and nodded, and let him lead her out of the door.