Hiya everyone! Am updating again, lol, but you all seem to be in favour so will carry on! Just wanted to say that you don’t know how happy you have made me by all saying how much you love Colin, coz he is without a doubt, the star of LTD as far as me and Rose are concerned! So is fantastic that you all think he’s great too coz that is what I was aiming for – nationwide love for Colin Read! Haha! After this would probably be a bit disappointing to meet him; you’d be like, well go on then, say something funny! I know I’m going on, but I’m just loving writing this fic so so much at the moment, and I can’t wait for you all to read the new stuff I’ve been writing! Not long now until Chapter 54, haha! Oh, also want to say – have never been to CD:UK, no idea what it looks like or how it all works, so just excuse my vivid imagination! Chloe xxx

Chapter Twenty-Three

“We don’t have to, you know.” Ben said to Chloe as they walked hand in hand down the road.

“I know, but I honestly don’t mind. Plus, it’s quicker and cheaper isn’t it?”

“Yeah but…”

“So we’ll go on the tube. I’ll be fine!”

“Are you sure? Coz we can just as easily get a cab.”

“I’m sure. Honestly. It won’t be as busy this morning anyway, will it?” Chloe asked.

“No. Probably not.”

“Well then it won’t be so claustrophobic. Anyway, I was alright last time, wasn’t I?”

“You weren’t exactly happy.”

“No but I didn’t die or anything. I’ll be okay if you’re there.”

Ben looked at Chloe. “I just don’t like seeing you like that.”

“I’ll be fine this time.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah. Going on the tube’s fun, just not with that many people.”

“Okay, well if you change your mind, we can get a cab back okay?” Ben said uncertainly.

He still wasn’t sure that Chloe was okay with going on the tube.

“I’ll be absolutely completely fine. It was just that many people freaked me out a bit. I’m okay usually. Stop worrying!”

“Well I do worry about you. I’m supposed to. I’m meant to be looking after you this weekend.”

“And you’re doing a great job but you don’t need to worry so much! I can look after myself you know.” Chloe reminded him.

Ben squeezed her hand. “I know you can. I just have to keep making sure you’re okay. It’s part of the package when you’re in love I’m afraid.”

“I don’t mind. It’s nice that someone cares.”

After a short walk, Chloe and Ben arrived at the entrance to the tube station. They walked down the steps to the platform and looked at the board that told them how long they had to wait until the next tube came.

“We must have just missed one.” Ben said, reading what the neon lights said.

“It’s only 7 minutes to wait. Not that long.”

“Yeah. I wish there were some seats down here though.”

“You’re so lazy! Standing up for a while won’t kill you.”

“I like sitting down. And I need to save all my energy for CD:UK.”

Chloe laughed. “Tell me what’s happening today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well it may have escaped your notice but I’m not a pop star so I’ve never been to CD:UK before. What happens when we get there?”

“Oh right. Okay, well we arrive and sign in and stuff and then we go to the canteen where most of the celebs hang out before they have to go on stage. Paul, Mark, Rose and Chris’ll probably be there as well so we’ll meet up with them. I’ll introduce you to Paul and Chris and then we’ll probably just sit around until we have to go into make-up. Oh, before that we’ll find out the running order of the acts and what time we have to go and sound-check and go into make-up. They usually put us on after a break so we can sound-check in the adverts.”

“How long does that take?” Chloe asked.

“Sound-checking? Um, not too long, about 10 minutes. The equipment will all be set up beforehand and we just have to check that the levels are right and stuff. If we’re the first act on, we’ll need to go into make-up about half an hour before we need to sound-check, just to make sure we have enough time to do everything.”

“So what are me and Rose going to when you’re doing that?”

“Whatever you want to really. You can just hang around backstage in the canteen or the dressing rooms and wait for us to come off stage, or you can go in the audience and watch us perform.”

Chloe’s face lit up. “Can we go in the audience? I’ve always wanted to do that!”

Ben smiled. “Yeah sure. Just make sure you scream really loudly for me though.”

“You don’t need me to scream at you, you get enough screams from the other fans. I think I should scream really loudly for Paul or Chris. They don’t get half as many screams as you and Mark.”

“No! That’s not fair! I want you to scream for me! Everyone else can scream for Paul and Chris. I bet Rose will scream for Mark.”

“Well I don’t need to scream at you coz I’m going out with you. I don’t need to scream and wave madly to get your attention.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t scream and wave madly.”

“Okay, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll scream when you start to sing if you wave at me.”

“Deal.” Ben said, extending his hand for Chloe to shake. “I would have done anyway though.”

“And I would have screamed at you anyway too. I don’t think I’ll be able to help myself to tell the truth. You’re just so damn sexy.”

Ben grinned. “You’re not so bad yourself.” He said, putting his arm around Chloe’s waist and kissing her.

At that moment the tube came speeding down the tunnel and drew up at the platform. The doors opened and people got out.

“We should probably be getting on that tube then.” Chloe said.

“We probably should.” Ben agreed, taking her hand and getting onto the tube.

This time it wasn’t so full and there were two seats empty, so Ben and Chloe sat down.

“You haven’t got a mobile phone, have you?” Ben asked Chloe.

“That’s a very random question.” Chloe said. “No, I haven’t.”

“Do you want one?”

“Um, I guess.” Chloe shrugged. “I can’t really afford one though. It would be useful to have one I suppose. Why?”

Ben grinned.

“What?” Chloe asked.

“I’m gonna buy you one.” He said.

“What?! Ben, you can’t!” Chloe protested.

“Why not?”

“Coz they’re really expensive!”

“So?”

“So you’re not allowed to spend that much money on me.”

“Can’t stop me.”

“But I’d feel really bad.”

“Why? I want to buy you one. It’s for my own benefit really, anyway. So I can text you and stuff.”

“But you’ve already bought me something. And you paid for my train ticket down here. You don’t have to keep spending money on me.”

“I want to though. I’ve got no-one else to spend my money on. I don’t want to spend it on me.”

Chloe frowned.

“You do want one though, don’t you?” Ben asked.

“I’d love one, but you don’t have to buy me one. I can’t have everything I want.”

“You can. You can have anything you want.”

“No, I can’t! And you’re not allowed to spend lots of money on me!”

“Why not?!”

“Because if you keep buying me things then it’ll look like I’m only going out with you for your money.”

“Look like that to who?”

“To me, to you! Everyone!”

“But I know you’re not going out with me because of my money. I just think that while I’ve got the money, I might as well spend it on someone I care about.”

“And it’s a really lovely thought but I’d still love you if you couldn’t even afford to pay for my tube ticket.” Chloe said.

Ben smiled. “Please let me buy you one.” He said.

Chloe sighed. “Am I going to be able to change your mind?”

“Not really.”

She grinned. “Fine, if I can’t stop you, go ahead, waste all your hard-earned money on me!”

“It’s not a waste!” Ben said. “I’d spend every last penny I had on you just to see the look on your face. That’s why I love buying things for you because I’ve never seen anyone appreciate even the smallest thing as much as you do. It’s the best feeling in the world, seeing you absolutely overjoyed with something I’ve given you. Makes it all worth while.”

“Aw, thank you.” Chloe said and gave Ben a hug.

The next stop was announced over the tannoy system.

“Ooh, that’s our stop.” Ben said.

“Oh, cool. See, I told you I’d be okay didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“And you didn’t believe me did you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You’re really going to have to learn the Chloe is always right rule.”

Ben laughed. “Well that’s funny, because there’s also a Ben is always right rule.”

“Oh what a coincidence, I would never have expected that.” Chloe said sarcastically.

“You know, I think we’re going to have to join our two rules together to make a Ben and Chloe are always right rule.”

“Chloe and Ben are always right rule.” Chloe corrected him.

“Why not Ben and Chloe?”

“Coz it doesn’t sound right.”

“No, Chloe and Ben doesn’t sound right. Anyway, I’m the oldest, my name should go first.”

“But in board games, it’s always the youngest who goes first.” Chloe pointed out.

“Are we playing a board game?” Ben asked.

“Well no, but I hardly think that’s the point.” Chloe said, standing up with Ben as the tube slowed down as it approached the next station.

“I think it is.”

“It has to be Chloe and Ben though. Otherwise I’ll get confused coz it’s always been Chloe and Ben.”

Ben looked puzzled. “Why?” he asked as they got off the tube and started to climb the stairs out of the station.

“My little brother’s called Ben.”

“Is he?”

“You knew that!”

“Did I? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“I don’t think so.”

“How rude of me. I’m sorry. Well my little brother’s called Ben. And that’s why it’s always been Chloe and Ben coz I came first.” Chloe explained.

“Oh well you win then. Because you actually have a proper reason why your name should come first whereas my only reason is just because. Doesn’t make a very convincing argument really.”

“Not really.”

Chloe and Ben emerged from the station in the middle of a busy street.

“Where are we going now then?”

“We just walk along there,” Ben pointed left. “And then down another street and we’re basically there.”

Mark drove the car up to the gates and leaned out the window to swipe his pass card through the sensor that opened the gates. It did and he drove through into the car park and parked in an empty space.

“Lots of people here today.” he said to Rose.

“Celebrity people?”

Mark smiled. “Yep, definitely celebrity people. And probably some non-celebrity people too. TV show type people, that kind of thing.”

They got out of the car and Mark locked it.

“Do you think Chloe and Ben will be there already?” Rose asked.

“Doubt it. Ben’s not exactly the most punctual person in the world.”

“Ah well that could be interesting then, coz Chloe’s nearly always early.”

“Well they might just make it on time then. Mind you, Chloe doesn’t know how long it takes to get here so chances are Ben will have planned what time to leave and stuff.”

“Oh yeah. Well they’ll probably be late then. That’ll drive Chloe mad. She hates being late.”

“She’ll have fun with Ben then.” Mark said as they walked toward the building. “Are you looking forward to meeting Chris and Paul?”

“Yeah! It’s gonna be so cool. I hope they like me.”

“Of course they will, it’s impossible not to! You know Paul’s a bit weird sometimes, though. He’s either weird or grumpy.” Mark warned Rose. “But he’s a great guy. So is Chris actually, they’re both really nice.”

“They look really cool.”

Mark laughed. “They’re not as cool as me.” he said.

“Well obviously. Coz of course you are just the coolest person ever.”

“You’re being sarcastic aren’t you?” Mark asked suspiciously.

“Me? No!” Rose said, suppressing a grin.

“You are! Do you think Paul’s cooler than me?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Well he is quite cool.” Rose said in her defence.

“I guess that’s true. Still not happy about this though.” Mark said.

Rose smiled and took his hand.

“It’s no good trying to redeem yourself like that.”

“Is.”

Mark grinned and put his arm around her waist. “Well okay it is.”

“Do other celebrities bring unfamous people with them?” Rose asked.

“Um, sometimes.”

“So it won’t be just me who’s not meant to be there then?”

“No, but you are meant to be there!”

“But I’m not famous.”

“You’re still meant to be there though. I want you to be there and I am famous so you’re allowed coz I say so. You’ll be with Chloe anyway.”

“If she ever gets here.”

“They’ll be here, just late. But you never know, Ben might surprise us all. He might actually have got out of bed on time. Mind you, with Chloe there, he has even more incentive not to.”

“Yeah.”

As Mark and Rose walked up the corridor, Rose was all the time looking around her, taking in her new surroundings. It was so cool. Here she was, in the building where a TV show was filmed with her boyfriend who just so happened to be Mark from a1. A girl with short blond hair walked past them smiling at Mark as she did so. When she’d passed, Rose looked up at Mark in amazement. He grinned at her.

“That was…”

“Yep. That was Claire from Steps.”

“Oh my god.”

“She’s always been really nice to us. I’ll introduce you properly later on, you can have a chat with her.”

“Nooooo! I wouldn’t know what to say!” Rose said in horror.

“Well okay, I’ll chat and you can watch.”

“I don’t even know if I’ll be able to manage that! Oh my god, I can’t wait to tell Chloe!”

“Are you going to be able to talk to Paul and Chris?” Mark asked.

“No! I’ll probably just stand there staring at them or something. Oh no, I’ll look like such an idiot!”

“No you won’t! They’ll just think you’re shy.”

“And all star-struck and stupid.”

“They won’t even notice. We get stupid star-struck people coming up to us every day. They’ll be very nice to you.”

“I hope so.”

“Would it be better if they weren’t both there to start with?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Well I didn’t see Paul’s car in the car-park so he’s probably not here yet.” Mark told Rose.

“Was Chris’s there?” she asked.

“Yeah. He’s always early.”

“Just like Chloe then.”

“Yeah, they’d make a great couple!”

“Don’t tell Ben that, or Chloe actually. You’d probably get beaten up!”

“Well I wasn’t planning on mentioning it. Oh, we’re here.” Mark said as they approached a door leading to the CD:UK cafeteria.

“Where?”

“The canteen. It’s where we always meet up before going off to our dressing rooms and stuff. Most of the less high-and-mighty celebs hang out here before the show.”

“So are there going to be lots of famous people in there?” Rose asked.

Mark looked at his watch. “Um, it depends how many are doing SM:TV, how many acts are performing on CD:UK, how many are on in the first part of the show, y’know, stuff like that. But there’s usually quite a few.”

“Ow, it’s so obvious I’m not a celebrity isn’t it” Rose asked worriedly.

“No it’s not! Nobody’ll be paying attention anyway. And it doesn’t matter coz you’re with me. You’ll be fine.” He said, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Rose smiled at him. “Okay.” She said.