Back in the living room of the apartment, Charlie sat on the sofa, with his legs on the coffee table. Steph lay next to him, with his arm around her shoulders. She sighed softly.

"You ok, babe?" Charlie whispered into her ear.

She smiled.

"Never better" She leaned up and kissed him.

* * * * * *

"Hide it in a hiding place, where no-one ever goes�" James stood at the front of the bar, and sang into the microphone. "Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes�."

At the back of the room, Matt and Casey sat talking.

"You're right� this is fantastic�" She giggled. "He's brilliant�"

Matt smiled.

"He is� He's a badass on the guitar as well� Well. Not as good as me, of course" He winked.

Casey sighed.

"So you haven't got a girlfriend, then?"

Matt sipped his drink.

"Nope. My last girlfriend was a bit of a bitch� And since then I've been too busy with the band."

She looked away.

"Oh. Right"

Matt realised what he'd said, and quickly corrected himself.

"I don't mean I don't want a girlfriend now, though.. I mean, if I met the right girl�" He grinned at her, and lent towards her. He twisted a strand of her hair round his finger, and gently stroked her face. He closed is eyes, and leaned into her, kissing her gently.

At the front of the room, James carried on singing.

"And here's to you, Mrs Robinson, heaven holds a place for those who pray�Hey hey, hey."

* * * * * * * * *

"Charlie?" Steph sat up on the sofa.

"Yeah?" He kissed her again, and pulled her close. She pulled away.

"Y'know that photo by the phone in the hall?"

He sat up.

"Yeah�"

She sighed.

"Who is she?"

* * * * * * * * *

James bowed to the crowd- well, if fifteen people can be regarded as a crowd- who were cheering loudly. He was a hit. He smiled, and walked towards the edge of the 'stage'. He jumped off, and handed the microphone to the girl who was going on next.

"You were great" She smiled. "I'm Danni, by the way."

"Thanks," He grinned. "I'm James B-"

She giggled.

"Bourne, I know.. I've seen you at the Finchley Arms."

James went red, and laughed.

"Oh, right. I thought you looked familiar." He smiled at her. "Hadn't you better get on stage, Danni?"

"Oh, god, yeah� I almost forgot." She said softly.

"Come and join us when you're done, if you want� Me and Matt and some girl are at the back, if you want, I mean�" He mumbled.

"Yeah." She smiled. "That'd be nice."

* * * * * * * * *

Matt smiled.

"So. What does this mean?" He looked into her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She smiled softly. Her hair fell over her face, and Matt brushed it away.

"Do you want to come back to ours for a bit? We could just� Well. We can do whatever you want�" He smiled again. She smiled back.

"Alright then.. .but isn't James gonna be a bit annoyed� I mean, you came out for a lads night and you're leaving him for me�"

Matt pointed across the room.

"I think he's a bit busy himself�" He pointed at James, talking to a pretty blonde girl who had just done the karaoke.

He stood up, and gathered his things.

"Shall we go?!"

* * * * * * * * *

Charlie stood in the kitchen, and flicked the switch on the kettle. He took two mugs out of the cupboard, and put them on the worktop. He added a little bit of coffee into each mug, before taking the milk out of the fridge, and pouring a little bit into each mug. He slammed the milk bottle onto the table and sighed, resting both arms onto the table. Steph walked in, and stood in the doorway, watching him in silence.

He hit the edge of the table hard with his hands and sighed again.

"So are you going to tell me who she is, or�" Steph walked towards him and put her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her softly.

"Yeah," He said. "But it's a long story�" He pulled away as the kettle boiled, and poured the water into the two mugs. He handed one to her, and she smiled.

"I've got all night� If that's all right with you"

He smiled softly, and stared into his mug.

"Yeah, that's fine."

The two of them headed back to the living room. Steph sat on the floor next to the fireplace, and lit a match. She held it to the pilot light, and the fire burst into life. She stared at it for a few seconds, and watched the flames dance up and down. When she looked back up, Charlie was sitting on the sofa, leaning forward over his cup of coffee. She stood up, and sat down next to him.

"So�?"

He sighed again.

"OK. " He put his mug on the table and turned to face her. "Her name's Annabelle. I grew up with her. We'd been mates since we were, like, seven."

Steph sipped her coffee and stared into his eyes.

"And then, when she was nine, her dad got a new job, so they moved up to Manchester, and I didn't see her for years" She sighed again. "And then one day, after I'd moved to London, I was playing pool with Matt in town, and I saw her. At first, I didn't recognise her, I mean, it'd been eight years, so she'd changed a lot, but it was still her�."

Steph smiled softly.

"Yeah, I get what you mean� Carry on�"

He nodded.