“Kian, are you even paying attention?” Mark snapped his fingers in front of his band mate’s face, rolling his eyes. “KIAN!”

The shorter blonde jumped in his seat and turned towards his mates, “WHAT? WHAT!”

Mark pulled back and relaxed against the back of his seat, “You’re not paying attention.”

“Maybe he’s tired,” Mark’s girlfriend, Liv, suggested; Mark put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple.

Kian groaned, “I wish you wouldn’t talk about me like I’m not sitting RIGHT HERE.”

“Sorry,” they both replied together, and then began laughing.

Rolling his eyes, Kian got up from the table, “I’m going to go get another drink. I won’t be too badly upset if you’re not here when I get back.” He made to walk away in a huff, but Mark grabbed his wrist.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing’s the matter with me. What’s the matter with YOU?”

Mark let go of his wrist and scowled, “I don’t know what your problem is. You’re in your bloody element right here, in this bloody pub, and you’re having a go at me for--God only knows why!”

“This isn’t my element. It hasn’t been for awhile and if you bothered with me, you’d know that!”

“SHUT THE FOOK UP, KIAN!” Mark retorted, his eyes flashing angrily. “Is this because you haven’t got a girlfriend to take out your frustrations on?”

“What are you implying, Feehily? You wanna take this outside?”

“I’m not going to fooking fight you,” Mark growled. “Go cool off. OUTSIDE.”

Kian blew out a long breath and then strutted off, looking livid.

Liv gingerly took a sip of her drink, brushing her blonde bangs out of her face, “What’s wrong with him, do you suppose?”

“He’s been like this since Nix got married---”

Liv’s eyes widened, “He’s not interested in Nicky, is he?”

“No,” Mark shook his head, “No, he just wants that, and he’s pissed ‘cause he can’t find it. So he’s taking it out on me, which I can handle…but God. He doesn’t have be so pissy ALL the time. There are a ton of birds he could get with right here, in this pub.”

Liv laughed, “Maybe they’re not good enough for him?”

“HA. Right. He doesn’t have standards, Liv. At all.”

“People change.”

Mark‘s voice became very serious, “Not people like him.”

Standing against the cold brick of the pub, with the wind blowing through his freshly cut hair and his black t-shirt not being much warmth, did not make Kian any happier, but it did, in essence, cool him off.

Giggling couples clinging to each other walked past him and entered the dimly lit pub; each time someone opened the door, the music and laughter drifted out and enveloped Kian, as well as the smell of stale beer, which almost made him choke.

He wanted to go back inside and sit at the bar and drink until he blacked out and he didn’t feel anymore, but for some reason his feet wouldn’t move. He urged them silently in his head, but they didn’t listen to him; they stayed firmly stuck to the pavement as if there was no better place to be.

A cab pulled up the curb and a brunette jumped out of the backseat and handed the driver a couple of bills. She shut the door and turned towards Kian; their eyes met, and Kian felt his heart stop. Somewhere off in the distance, bells rang.

“Oh, blast!” She hollered, running past him into the pub as she checked her watch. He checked his own watch and realized the bells had been the clock tower striking eleven.

When he realized she’d gone inside, he followed; he stood in the doorway and let his eyes travel throughout the bustling pub, but could not spot her. He vaguely remembered her face, her dark flowing hair and her jean skirt, white shirt and black jacket. No one with that combination entered his vision, so he heaved a sigh and trudged back to his booth at the very back of the pub.

“Oy! Kian!” Mark waved him over, a small smile on his lips. Apparently, bygones were bygones and no grudges would be kept tonight.

Kian nodded and slid into the booth, “Hullo.”

“Cold out?” Liv asked, smiling a little.

“Freezing,” Kian muttered; his hair was all over the place, his face was red from the crisp wind and he was shivering very slightly.

“Your face is really flushed,” Mark commented, cocking his head to the side.

Kian reached for his pint and guzzled most of it down in one gulp, more for the parchedness in his throat than anything else. “Thirsty,” he grunted, wiping his mouth on his arm. Over his arm, he saw the brunette girl glancing around the room as she exited from the bathroom. She smiled at a friend and said something, then the friend made her way towards the bar. Kian jumped up, “Er…I have to pee.”

Mark and Liv looked a bit surprised at his sudden outburst, but Mark waved him off, with a peculiar look on his face.

“What’s he up to?” Liv asked, craning her neck around to watch him cross the room. “Oh! Look there’s my friend from university!” Liv began waving frantically across the room.

As Kian was just about to reach the girl and say a cheery hello, she walked straight past him, seemingly without noticing him standing there.

Considering Kian had never been treated as if he were invisible, this unnerved him; he swerved towards the bar and ordered a pint, while wondering if perhaps he had lost his mojo.

“LIV!” She screeched, holding her arms out; Liv scrambled over Mark and hugged the brunette.

“Mark!” Liv shouted, smiling, “This is Kiera!”

Mark stood up and smiled while he held his hand out to her, “Hullo, nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Kiera replied, grinning. “I’ve heard lots about you.”

“Why don’t you join us?” Liv asked, motioning towards the booth. “Mark’s band mate is round here somewhere, but I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”

“No, I don’t want to intrude,” Kiera answered. “Plus, I’m supposed to be meeting some date here that my friend, Liz, has set up for me.“ Kiera rolled her eyes and sighed. “I would much rather bail, but--she’s already seen me.” She and Liv both laughed and hugged again, “It was so good to see you!”

“You too; ring me next week and we’ll do something.” Liv got a bit of a gleam in her eye, that Mark spotted and immediately got worried about, “Or better yet, just come back to our booth if the date’s a bust!”

“Okay, will do.” Kiera waved and unwove her scarf from around her neck as she crossed the pub to sit with an extremely tall red haired woman and a guy, whose glasses were obstructing Liv from getting a good look at him.

After drinking a good amount of his pint, he decided to walk back to Mark and Liv; in passing he noticed that the brunette was sitting with another girl and a guy, and though he hoped the latter were a couple, he had a feeling his hopes wouldn’t be realized.

He was not in the best of moods when he plunked down across from Mark and glared at him over the rim of his pint.

“What have I done now?” Mark asked begrudgingly, but with a smirk on his face.

“You haven’t done anything,” Kian answered hotly, “I was about to try and get myself a girlfriend, but she’s already spoken for. Apparently.”

“When did this happen?” Liv asked, glancing around them in confusion.

“When I was in the bathroom.” Kian tore a paper napkin from the dispenser and began ripping it into little shreds.

Mark‘s eyebrows knitted in confusion, “What was some bird doing in the men’s toilets?”

Kian sighed as if he thought he was surrounded by idiots, "She wasn't IN the men's toilets, Mark. She was coming out of the women's."

"Oh, want me to go in there and speak with her for you?" Liv suggested lightly.

"Yes, Liv, I would. Go in there and peek under the stalls and yell for the hot brunette and then when she comes out, ask her if she'll date your really desperate, hot friend, Kian Egan of Westlife."

"It was a nice thought," Mark said, half laughing.

"I'm sorry," Kian stated, sighing again. "I just...well. We had a connection."

"What's her name?" Liv asked, sipping her drink.

"Well, I don't know. I haven't spoken to her."

Liv chuckled, "How do you know you've got a connection if you haven't spoken?"

"Didn't you think you and Mark had a connection before he tripped over your foot and fell on his face?"

"No, I thought he had a nice...smile," Liv responded, smiling.

"Which woudl have stayed nice, had you not TRIPPED me."

"I didn't trip you. You fell. I was merely in the vacinity at the time."

"I was there," Kian said, "And Mark tripped because your beauty caused him to black-out and loose his footing as he fell to the ground in an unconscious heap." Liv thought this was hysterical, but Mark didn't seem to share her thoughts on the matter; he turned a rather lovely shade of red.

"All right," Liv said suddenly, "Point this mystery girl out and I'll go talk some sense into her."

"What sense? You'll tell her to stay the bloody hell away form me? Or run for her life if she sees me coming?"

"No, I will tell her that a very attractive pop star, who is both charming and witty, and also a little bastardly at times, fancies the pants off her."

Kian's lips cracked into a smile and he began to laugh, "I didn't know you loved me, Liv."

"I don't," Liv replied, "But I can lie to her if it gets you laid, can't I?"

His face fell, "That's nice."

Liv shrugged, a huge grin on her lips. "She only speaks the truth, Ki," Mark joked.

"Well," Kian said, standing up. "At least you think I'm attractive, too. It can hardly be denied."

Mark snorted and then covered it up by coughing, when Kian glared daggers at him, "I mean, yes, yes. Of course you're....very studly."

"That's the girl," Kian said, bending down to Liv and inconspicuously pointing across the room.

Liv and Mark exchanged glances before Liv stood up and began walking across the room; Kian, his mouth open in shock, watched her go, unable to speak.

"Have a drink, Ki," Mark said, sliding the pint across the table. "You'll need it."

Lift me up in your arms
If you told me that is what heaven is
Well you’d be right
Hold me close to your heart
I would go with you to the ends of the earth
And we’ll fly
I’ve been waiting forever for this
This is the night

"Hey," Kiera smiled warmly at Liv and motioned for her to sit down beside her. "Have a seat. Liz was just telling me how she was setting me up on a blind date, but ended up deciding it'd be best if SHE dated my blind date." Kiera turned to the couple across from them, a fake smile on her lips.

Liz has the decency to blush and outstretch her hand, "Hi, I'm the worst friend in the world. Ever."

Bland, was the response, "I'm just Liv." She turned to Keira, "I've got a lad sitting with me who has the hots for you."

Kiera's eyes widened, "Oh, really?"

Nodding, Liv turned back towards Mark and Kian, who still looked completely shocked; Mark waved cheerily. "He doesn't know you're my mate, so pretend you don't know me." Kiera laughed, and Liv continued, "What'dya think?"

In response, Kiera turned to Liz and the unnamed guy, gave them a small smile and got up from the table; Liv followed, smiling and saying sweetly, "Lovely to meet you."

The two of them were laughing when they made their way back to the booth; Liv looked rather pleased with herself, Mark looked impressed and Kian just looked sick.

"Kian, this is Kiera," Liv said, motioning for Kian to stand up, which he did.

"Hi, I think I saw you outside," Kiera said, smiling and holding her hand out to him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Er, yeah. You too." Mark pushed him, which caused Kian to slide his hand into Kiera's.

"You can calm down," Liv said, sliding into the booth beside Mark. "She's a mate from university. I didn't go up to a random bird and tell her you fancied her."

Kian stared at her, "You know her? And you didn't tell me?"

"I'm standing right here," Kiera laughed.

Mark cleared his throat, "Why don't you sit down. Kian? Wanna get the lady a drink?"

Liv half snorted, half laughed, "I'm sorry. Have we catapulted back to 1943?"

Keira threw her scarf and jacket into the booth and then slid in beside them. Kian remained standing, staring down at the three of them.

"Kian's a bit on the shy side," Mark stated, by way of explantion.

"He is not," Liv chuckled. "He's just stupid."

Keira's eyebrows rose before she began laughing, "He doesn't seem stupid. Quiet, maybe."

Liv shrugged, "Why don't you tell Kian who that bloke was you were sitting with. Perhaps he's afraid you're betrothed."

"That was Liam," Kiera said, looking at Kian. "My mate set me up with him and them kept him for herself. Which is all fine and dandy with me. He wasn't very interesting. And even quieter than you."

Kian coughed and sat down. Mark patted his hand, "There, good boy." He retracted his hand rather quickly when he saw Kian sneering at him in a scary manner.

"I think I'm ready to get out of here," Kian muttered; he turned to Kiera and said sweetly, "Would you like to accompany me?"

Liv snorted, "We really have gone back to 1943."

Ignoring her, Kiera nodded and smiled, "Sure."

This is the night where we capture forever
And all the tomorrows begin
After tonight we will never be lonely again
Lift me up in your arms
If you told me that is what heaven is
Well you’d be right

"Have you ever just wanted to beat the crap out of your mate?" Kian asked as he and Keira walked along the street, heading away from the pub.

"Well, I don't know as if I could take any of my mates...but yeah. I've wanted to pull some hair out from time to time. Like tonight. If Liv hadn't come up to me then, there may have been blood shed."

Kian laughed, "You fancied that bloke, then?"

"Good God, no. It's just that she's been complaining for weeks about how I don't go out, and when I finally do, she decides she won't share. I never liked her anyway. She keeps her knickers hanging on the bathroom door and it annoys me."

"You share a flat?"

"Not anymore," Kiera laughed, "We used to." She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, shievered, and shoved her gloved hands back into her pockets.

"It's cold. I think it's going to snow." Kian stated and suddenly it did begin to snow; soft, white flakes drifted from the sky and began landing all around them. "I don't mean to talk about the weather. That's pretty daft."

"Nah. Better that than the stock market."

"Yeah, you're right." He cleared his throat and began to feel the chill of the evening air blowing through his jacket. "I'm freezing. Do you want to go to my flat? I only live just round the corner." Kiera didn't answer right away, but seemed to be weighing her options quite heavily. "There were no implied scenarios in that, by the way."

She chuckled, "Yeah, I've heard that one before." She turned towards him, smiling. "But I don't care. I'd like to. I'm freezing anyway, and I live in the next town over...and getting a taxi will be like finding a Westlife fan at a Guns 'N Roses concert."

Kian burst out laughing, "Apparently my identity isn't concealed."

"No, but only because Liv talks about Mark constantly, and also mentioned that you were his bandmate. So, putting two and two together..."

"You're not a fan?" Kian asked, nudging her playfully.

"I didn't say that."

"So, you ARE a fan?"

"Is your ego always this large?"

"I'm not called Ego Egan for nothing."

Kiera giggled, "No, apparently not."

"That's me, right there," Kian said, as he stopped walking to point across the street.

"What?" She followed his gaze, "Oh. I didn't realize we'd walked so far."

"Time flies, I guess," he laughed and shrugged, "So do you want me to get my car and drive you home, or would you like to come up first?"

"I'll come up," Kiera said after a moment. "It's not everyday I meet an Irish popstar who has the, quote, 'hots for me' as Liv said."

"Liv SAID that?" Kian groaned, "I'm going to kill her."

Kiera laughed and took a step towards him, "Don't bother."

"Why's that?" Kian asked, his voice hoarse.

"Because, then you'd go to jail."

"And?"

"And, I wouldn't be able to do this." She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. When she pulled away, she made a face, "I'm so bloody cold."

"You should wear more clothing," Kian joked, taking her hand and pulling her across the street. "Like Mark. He pads himself."

"That's the extra bulk, then?"

"Yup."

"I was wondering."

"I could tell." He smiled at her and kissed her quickly. Looking up, he said, "It's a bit messy."

Kiera laughed slightly, "I won't notice. I promise."

"I'll have to keep you busy, then," he said, unlocking the door and pushing it open for her to enter.

She grinned, "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Hold me close to your heart
I would go with you to the ends of the earth
And we’ll fly
I’ve been waiting forever for this
This is the night