Paul was first of the pair to wake up, and lay for a while, watching her sleep. After five minutes he rolled over, and rubbed his hands over his pounding head. He moved one hand back over, and into Siobhan’s top once more. She didn’t move. He saw his chance and removed her top completely, before resting his head on her chest, and sighing. He started tapping her stomach like he had his beer bottle the night before, wishing she were awake so he could do what he’d meant to all night. Eventually, he felt her stir, and her hands started stroking his hair.
           “Where’d you put it?”
           “Put what?”
           “My top.”
           “Floor.”
           “Enjoying my boobs?”
           “Very much. Can I enjoy the rest of you?”
           She didn’t respond. He turned over and looked her in the eyes.
           “I mean it.” He ran his hand up and down her chest gently.
           “I know.” She whispered hoarsely.
           “So what do you say?” He whispered back.
           “I don’t know.”
           “Why not?”
           “I dunno, a couple of things.”
           “Mark.” Paul sighed. He rolled over again.
           “Well, that’s one thing, obviously.”
           He looked at her again.
           “What else?”
           “Paul, we’re not even together.”
           “We might as well be. I’d like us to be.”
           “I couldn’t tell.”
           “Then go out with me.” Paul pressed. She sighed, but nodded. “Is that all?”
           “No . . . I’m a virgin.”
           “That’s not a problem.” Paul grinned, and rolled over to kiss her. She kissed back gently, not expecting him to thrust his tongue in. He slipped his hands in her pyjama bottoms, and she pulled away.
           “Paul, I don’t-”
           “What? You’re of age, what’s the problem?”
           “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right in a hotel room. My mate Scott would go ballistic on me. Again I mean.”
           “Why the hell would he be mad that you slept with your boyfriend?”
           “He’s quite protective of me. I quite like it actually.”
           “Did he know about you and Mark?” She shook her head. “So what’s the problem?”
           “I’m going to talk to him about it.”
           “Why?”
           “Because he means a lot to me.”
           “And you mean a lot to me.” Paul wrapped her in his arms and kissed her again, going slowly this time. She hugged him back, and let him kiss her and roll on top of her.
           “Go slow.”
           “I will. I swear I’ll be gentle.” He promised, and slipped his hands back into her pyjama bottoms.

           “So?” Paul asked as he fiddled with her hair.
           “So what?”
           “So you’re not going to call me absolutely fantastic to this Scott?”
           “Oh . . . we don’t talk like that-we totally overanalyse everything. He’ll probably go into a list of every single reason you could have to even look at me.”
           “You’re weird, both of you.”
           “Cheers.”
           “So you’re mine now?”
           “Well, I’m with you now, aren’t I?”
           “You’ve got such a funny way of seeing things.”
           “I know.” She smiled at him. “You’ve got purdy eyes.”
           “Are you coming onto me?”
           “What, isn’t it obvious enough for you?”
           “Nope, Be more obvious.” They giggled, and she pulled him into another intense kiss. “Still not getting the message.” He grinned cheekily.
           “Well, I’d flash my boobs at you but you’ve seen those up close so what can I do?”
           Paul smiled, and wriggled closer to her.
           “Sweetheart?”
           “Yeah, Paul babe?”
           “You happy now?”
           “I guess.”
           “Hey, missus.” He tapped her nose. “Truth please.”
           “Happier, but not completely happy.”
           “Does that mean I get to fondle you again?”
           “That’s not why I’m happier.”
           “Why then?”
           “I dunno, I like spending time with you. Pity I have to go home in a couple of hours.”
           “Yeah. Oh, hey, that reminds me. A group of us are going on holiday at the end of this week, just to Devon, nowhere flash. Wanna come with us? It started off just Ben and me in this huge house but we just keep inviting people. I really want you to come, meet all my mates.”
           “I’ll have to ask my mum and get back to you.”
           “Okay, cool.” Paul kissed her again and climbed out of bed.
           “Right, breakfast.”
           “Naked?”
           “Oh, right . . . get dressed, then breakfast.” He leaned over, kissed her, and pulled her out of bed. She beat him into the bathroom and cheered as she did. He leant his forehead against the door after her, smiling.
           “Hey, Siobhan?” He called through it.
           “Yeah? She called back.
           “I’ll be in there while you’re getting dressed, so when you’re done, do you wanna go and grab us a breakfast table and I’ll join you as soon as I can?”
           “Yeah, fine. Want me to order for you?”
           “Nah, just get a drink or some cereal while you’re waiting.”
           “Okay. Paul?”
           “Yeah?”
           “I ain’t kissing you if you eat meat.”
           “Mean!”
           She laughed, and started the shower. He smiled, and crawled back into bed, and massaged his ebbing hangover again. After a short while he raised his head, and snuck over to her bag, and peeked through it. He found a copy of C. S. Lewis’s autobiography and peeked inside it, reading a paragraph. He frowned, and read it again, perplexed. It made no sense. How did she understand it? Her bookmark-a virgin megastores receipt for . . . steps was further along. Did she pretend to understand or did she have a brain? He found her CD player too, with an inscription. He read what she had carved into it. “I’m a shite CD player who can’t seem to comprehend the fact that when my start button is pressed I’m supposed to spin CD’s to get music out of them. If I can be bothered to start (hahaha) I can’t be arsed to stop.” He laughed, and pressed play. Nothing happened. He jammed his finger well into the button. It stuck, but still nothing played. He checked the battery compartment, and sure enough it was full of batteries. He laughed again, finally getting how poor quality it was. He looked at the CD inside. A copy of the AllSTARS album. He rose his eyebrow, surprised, then looked through her CD case. All of a1’s albums were in there, as well as the caught in the middle singles (both CD’s), make it good and same old brand new you . . . and summertime of our lives. He sighed, and flipped them over to see her entire collection of steps albums, including two copies of buzz, a monkees album and a copy of Darren Hayes ‘Strange relationship’. He shut the case, wondering what the hell kind of taste in music she had. He carried on rifling through, when he heard a cough behind him. He turned, trying to obliviate any trace of guilt from his face.
           “What were you doing?” She asked cautiously, as she tried to stop her towel from undoing. Paul stopped wishing the towel would win to answer.
           “Um, picking flowers?”
           “Paul!”
           “Okay, I was looking through your stuff. You’re into steps then?”
           “Very mu-wait, how’d you know?”
           “Um, your receipt in your book?”
           “Well, not my book. I took it from school. And I’m not giving it back.”
           “Oh, right. So you can begin to understand it?” She frowned. “I only read a paragraph, it makes no sense.”
           “Guess the chronicles of Narnia are simpler?” She smiled. “It does make sense, but you don’t absorb the words to understand it, you absorb the emotions as he writes to totally comprehend it. I let it fly over my head and read between the lines.”
           “Ah, right, ‘coz that’s easy to do.” He grinned.
           “You’re just jealous that I wanna marry him but he died twenty years before I was born.”
           “You’re getting weirder.”
           “Deal with it. When I was a little kid I wanted to be Lucy Pevensie after she walked through the wardrobe. Still do when I wanna escape this world.”
           “Argh, great, my girlfriend’s a freak.”
           “Mark never minded.”
           Paul pursed his lips together. Up until now they’d both talked about Mark normally, but to be honest Paul hated the fact she was still smitten by him. And it was wearing thin.
           “Yeah, ‘coz Mark’s just so wonderful.” He rolled his eyes. She looked at him curiously.
           “He’s your friend.”
           “So? Doesn’t mean you can pine over him.”
           “You never minded before.”
           “Well, maybe now we’re together I can get sick of comparisons to your ex.”
           “I thought you cared.” She whispered, the tears mounting in her eyes. He stood up, and hugged her.
           “I do. But don’t compare me to Mark, give me a chance.”
           “Lemme be weird.”
           “I will, I was just saying.”
           “So was I.”
           Paul sighed, and walked into the bathroom. She watched after him, and dressed quickly, before walking aimlessly to the dining area. She was ambling along slowly, thoughts reoccurring in her mind of the way Paul had been that morning, and gazing at the pictures hanging along the corridors, when she ran into someone who was standing and looking at the wall. She fell over from the impact, and looked up blinking. He turned, and smiled hopefully.
           “Siobhan.”
           “Hi, Mark. Um, how’ve you been?”
           “Not that great. I missed you.”
           “I um, I missed you too.”
           “Need help up?” He cocked his head and held out his hand. She took it, and let him haul her up, trying to ignore the electricity that had been created by their contact. She concentrated her mind onto Paul.
           “Um, thanks.”
           “No problem. Are you going to breakfast?” She nodded. “I’ll come with you then.” He took her arm in his and led her off. She followed, dazed by the attention, and his sudden change in attitude. “So what were you doing down this corridor? It’s supposed to be single rooms for couples, you know, so they don’t have to share with anyone? I got this theory that they’re only on the ground floor so no one can be underneath them to complain about the banging.” He thought for a second. “Oh . . . you and Paul, you were sharing down there, weren’t you?” She nodded quickly, looking away from him. He stopped walking.
           “So it’s true about you two then?” I didn’t want to believe it, I always hoped that-”
           “Look, I dunno quite what’s happening between him and me, okay? I just know that he’s right when he says that you can’t accuse me of trying to stab you in the back because you left me and he only made his move after.” She looked him in the eye to see his reaction. He looked back, not letting her know what he was thinking.
           “Well, whatever his move is,” Mark began tartly. “It won’t last long. I need you back, and I know you want me back, so the sooner you realise we belong together and he realises he’s nothing more than your friend, the better.”
           “He’s more than a friend Mark, at least, he is now.”
           “What do you mean by that? Has . . . has he done something to you?”
           “What?”
           Mark gazed into her eyes and found the answer he was looking for, the one he was dreading.
           “How could you?” He whispered, and carried on walking. She followed him.
           “I don’t know how I could, okay? It didn’t feel like me.”
           “What did it feel like? And don’t say amazing like every other girl does.”
           “It felt weird-what do you mean, every other girl?”
           Mark turned to face her, shivering in his thin shirt out in the car park where he’d been randomly leading her.
           “Paul’s a slapper. It’s just one shag after another with him. He means to break the cycle but he can’t. I don’t want you to be just another number . . . looks like I’m too late.”
           “Paul’s not like that, he-”
           “He is! He’ll use the lines on you, promising what he wants-but he can’t deliver. Get out before he lets you out.”
           “Why are you telling me this?”
           “I just want to look after you. At the end of the day, I still care about you.”
           “I still care about you too.”
           “You do?”
           “Yeah.”
           “Then come back to me! Paul’s gonna drop you sometime today, I don’t want to lose contact with you, and it feels like Paul’s my only connection to you right now.”
           “Mark, you hurt me you-”
           “So I let happen what Ben wanted to happen, so? Ben’s my best friend, I can’t lose him. He told me you’d talked last night, and said he was beginning to see my point. He also said you wanted me back, and he wanted it to happen. He’s finally accepting us! Can’t you accept us again?”
           He could see the pain on her face as she thought about it.
           “It’s not that easy now-”
           “Now you’ve slept with Paul?”
           “Basically.”
           “So our whole relationship relies on one quick shag with a nympho?”
           “It’s more than a quick shag! He’s asked me on holiday this weekend.”
           Something like recognition flashed inside Mark’s eyes.
           “Devon?”
           “Yeah, how’d you-”
           “I’m going. We all are. There are loads of rooms so we’ve invited tonnes of people. Don’t go with Paul, you’ll be uninvited by Wednesday. Come with me, if not as my girlfriend, then . . . as my friend.”
           She looked away.
           “I want to, I swear-”
           “Then do.”
           He stepped closer, and held her to him. At first she stood, wooden, but soon found herself holding him tightly back, smelling his aftershave and smiling.
           “What do you say?”
           “You know I want to say yes.”
           “Then do. I swear, it’s only going to be until midweek that you’ll have two offers. And I’m not going to be the one backing out.”
           “It’s not that easy.”
           “Sounds easy to me.”
           “But Paul’s been so nice to me.”
           “And it got you into bed. Don’t you get it? I mean, since it happened, has he been as nice?”
           “No.” She admitted.
           “See my point?”
           “Yeah.”
           “So come with me.”
           “Okay.”
           Mark smiled, and led her back to the hotel. They walked into the restaurant together and found a two seater table.
           “What do you want to eat then?” He asked, unfolding the menu and looking around for Christian and Ben. She shrugged.
           “What is there to eat?”
           He smiled again, and let her read the menu with him, before a waiter approached and took their orders. It was then she remembered.
           “Paul asked me to wait for him before I ate.”
           “Yeah, well, he can deal with it. And we can hang around each other while he eats.”
           She smiled, and started playing with his watch.
           “You’re so weird.” He said feverently, before taking her ring watch off and fiddling with it.
           “No fair, I didn’t take yours off.”
           “I don’t care, mine’s bigger.”
           “Size isn’t everything you know.”
           “You’ve been talking to Paul way too much if you believe that.”
           They grinned at each other, not aware that their food was put down in front of them. Mark leaned closer, and was about to kiss her when someone cheered in their ears. They turned to see Ben and Christian looking at them carefully.
           “Snog her, man!” Ben urged. She blushed, and Mark rolled his eyes.
           “I can’t now, can I?”
           “Hey, so are you back together?” Christian added, looking almost fit to burst with his excitement. Mark and Siobhan exchanged a look. Mark opened his mouth to answer.
           “No, they’re not.” Paul said from behind them. Ben turned to look at him, then turned back to Mark.
           “Hmm, could have sworn I just heard someone, must’ve been my imagination. Anyway, congratulations you two, I’m glad, seriously.”
           Ben stalked off. Christian smiled at the pair and walked off after Ben, almost completely ignoring Paul. He grabbed a seat and sat in between Mark and Siobhan.
           “What’s up with them?” He sighed. Mark looked at him oddly.
           “What do you think? Tim came to see us and said you were actually leaving. They’ve got a right to be upset at you.”
           “Whatever. And why were they acting like you’re together?”
           “Because we sat together?” Siobhan piped up. Pal looked at her oddly.
           “Sure. And hey, thanks for waiting for me.” He stood up and stalked out. It was then she realised that there were two plates of food in front of her.
           “So how mad at me is he?” She asked.
           “I dunno, but whatever happens, I’m here for you.” Mark squeezed her hand.
           “Thanks.” She leant forward and kissed his cheek gently before they started eating. As soon as she put her fork down, Mark led her outside.
           “Forget what I said-dump him, get back with me.”
           She looked at him, shocked.
           “I can’t do that.”
           “And I can’t sit there and just be your friend.”
           She nodded.
           “I know, and I want to just act like we did before but-”
           “Then do, come on, let’s tell Paul we’re back together.”
           “You make it sound so easy.”
           He smiled and kissed her gently, and it wasn’t long before she kissed him back. He drew away and smiled at her.
           “That was easy.”
           “Yeah, it was.” She smiled back, and tried to pull him into another kiss. He resisted.
           “Hey, no more until you let Paul know.”
           “Come with me, please?”
           He nodded, and led her back to her room, his arm resting gently across her shoulders. Paul was inside the bedroom, laying listlessly on the bed.
           “So this is how you plan to live now you’re not in the band?”
           “Shut up Mark.”
           “Nope, don’t think so. Siobhan and I have something to tell you.”
           “I don’t want to hear it.”
           “Okay, that means you already know what’s coming. So we’re going to hang around each other for the next couple of hours, and I’ll take her to the airport and you can carry on making mistakes. Is that your bag?” He directed this question at Siobhan, who nodded and grabbed it, before leaving the room with Mark.