Owwwww, I feel a Kate moment coming on! Right, er, this chappy is um… *hides under bed* put it this way – when I was having my big LTD sort out (this version is actually more commonly known as LTD revisited, lol) ages and ages ago after I decided that I hated this fic and WOULD NOT be doing any more (I did that twice actually, but this is the first time I had a LTD lapse, lol), I edited practically this whole chapter out. Well, part of it anyway… *ahem* And now have put it back in (blame Kate!) and is nothing wrong with it, just makes me cringe! But *sigh* I SUPPOSE it’s necessary… *can’t look* Oh, and also, you have to remember that this was written in 2001, so all topics of conversation were up-to-date then!! xxx

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“We’re never ever going to eat all this!” Rose said, looking at the huge glass sundae bowl in between her and Mark. They’d had the main course and had ordered a chocolate sundae to share for pudding. It had arrived quite a lot bigger than Rose and Mark had expected, and contained layers of chocolate fudge cake, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, fudge pieces and chocolate and toffee sauce and was topped with whipped cream and chocolate pieces.

“Well we could be here for quite a while.” Mark said, taking one of the spoons and handing one to Rose. “You try it first.”

“Okay…” Rose said, taking a spoonful of the sundae and eating it.

“Is it nice?”

“Mmmm, it’s lovely!” Rose said, taking some more. “So what were you saying before?”

“Oh um, about tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah.”

“It’s gonna be quite busy. I’ve got pretty much the whole day booked up until about 6.”

“What are you doing?” Rose asked.

“I totally forgot about this but Chris has booked the studio for a couple of hours tomorrow so we can work on this song we wrote together and so I’m gonna need to leave at about 8 tomorrow. I’m really sorry, I did think we were gonna be able to spend the time together.” Mark said.

“It’s okay! I don’t mind!”

“Are you sure? I would change it but we really need to get this done…”

“It’s fine, really. I know that a1 has to come first. It’s not like you can put it on hold is it?”

Mark smiled. “Not really. But I mean, you can come with me if you want, or see what Chloe’s doing. Whatever you wanna do. I won’t be too long, it should be fairly straight forward to get this track down. I’ll be back by half 11 at the latest I should imagine.”

“Yeah okay, I’ll ring Chloe at some point then if that’s okay, find out what she’s got planned.”

“Yeah that’s fine! I think Paul’s going round to Ben’s tomorrow to work on a few songs so Chloe’ll probably be at a loose end as well.”

“Yeah. We can go shopping or something. Or browse with our empty purses!”

“I feel really bad about this, I’d much rather spend the time with you.”

“Mark it’s fine, I understand. It’ll be fun to meet up with Chloe anyway. I’ll ring her tomorrow morning. Is it that charity concert thing in the afternoon?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It doesn’t start till 2 I think, but we have to get there at half 12 to rehearse our set. We can go after we’ve done that though, we’re not due on stage until half way through the concert, there’s no point hanging around, unless you want to watch it.”

“I’d rather be with you.” Rose said.

“Tell you what, if it’s a nice day tomorrow afternoon, we can take a picnic tea to this place I know. It’s not far from here and it’s really quiet and beautiful. There’s this hill that overlooks the whole town and there’s hardly anyone up there.”

“It sounds lush.”

“It is. It’s very romantic.” Mark added, looking into Rose’s eyes. “Do you wanna go?”

“Yeah! Definitely! Beats watching Sunday night telly!”

“Anything beats watching Sunday afternoon TV.” Mark said.

“I know! There is nothing good on at all.”

“What’s your favourite TV programme?”

“Um…have you heard of Bad Girls?” Rose asked.

“I think so…”

“It’s set in a women’s prison.”

“Oh yeah! I think I saw that once or twice when Colin was watching it. He’s a total TV junkie.”

Rose smiled. “It’s really good. Chloe watches it too. What’s your favourite TV show?”

“I dunno, I don’t really get that much time to sit down and watch TV. I like Buffy the Vampire Slayer though.”

“I love that!”

“Who’s your favourite character?”

“Oooh, that’s a difficult one. Spike I think, but Xander and Willow are cool too. Who’s yours?”

“I did like Cordelia but she’s left now hasn’t she?”

“Yeah. Do you watch it on Sky or normal TV?” Rose asked.

“Box sets.” Mark said with a grin.

“Oh. Have you got them all?”

“Think so.”

“Wow!” Rose said. “Very impressed.”

“Well, I like to flaunt my money.” Mark said, smiling.

“Who’s your least favourite character?” Rose asked.

“Um, I dunno. Who’s yours?”

“Coz you gave that so much thought before passing the question back to me.”

“Well I don’t know! I didn’t really need to think very long to know that I didn’t know. Who is your least favourite character?”

“Dawn’s a bit odd, she seems a bit unrealistic sometimes. And that blond one who’s looking for the key at the moment...”

“Glory?”

“Yeah, her. I don’t like her at all, not just because she’s evil, she annoys me.”

“I think I can agree with that.” Mark said. “What other TV programmes do you watch?”

“Eastenders, Coronation Street I’m afraid to admit, Holby City, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, things like that. What about you?”

“I’m more of a film person, as you know. I don’t get much time to watch a lot of TV, although recently we’ve had more time off than usual so I’ve caught a few shows. But nothing regularly.” Mark looked down at the half empty glass in front of him. “I don’t think I can eat any more of this.”

“Me neither.” Rose agreed, putting her spoon down. “It was very nice though and we have actually eaten quite a lot of it, for the size.”

“Making us look like complete pigs in fact.”

“No, just very hungry people who appreciate good ice cream.”

Mark laughed. “Are you sure you’ve had enough to eat?”

“Yes, absolutely. I couldn’t eat anything else.”

“Shall we go back to mine then?”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll just go to the loo. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Okay.”

Mark watched Rose walk across the restaurant and hailed a waiter.

“Can I have the bill please?” he asked.

“Certainly sir, I’ll just go and get it for you.”

Moments later, the waiter brought back a slip of paper on a silver tray and Mark took a look at it and handed over his credit card.

“Thank you sir. I’ll go and process your payment.”

“I’m just paying the bill and then we can go.” Mark told Rose as she came back to the table.

“Okay, how much was it?” she asked.

“I’m not telling you that!”

“Was it a lot?”

“No, not really.” Mark said as the waiter brought his card and the receipt back to their table.

Rose picked up the receipt before Mark could and read what it said.

“Oh my God! Mark are you sure that’s okay?”

Mark took the receipt off Rose and put it in his pocket.

“Of course it’s okay! It doesn’t matter how much it cost as long as you had a good time.”

“Well I did. It was wonderful.”

Rose and Mark stood up, Mark got his jacket and they left the restaurant.

“Paul’s coming round tomorrow morning to work on a few songs with me, is that okay?” Ben asked, as Chloe got into bed next to him.

“Course it is, it’s your house! I’ll stay out of your way.”

“You don’t have to do that. I want you very much in my way.”

“You won’t get anything done if I’m hanging around you. It’s fine, I’m sure I can find plenty of ways to amuse myself.”

“Well if you get bored, you can always come and watch. Although it’s not very interesting, just me and Paul messing around with my equipment in the studio.”

“Oh I dunno, watching a masterpiece in the making could be quite exciting.”

“I’d hardly call my songs masterpieces.” Ben said modestly.

“Well it’s just as well that I would then isn’t it?” Chloe said.

“You’re so amazing Clo.”

“Glad someone thinks so.”

“Do you know how much I love you?”

Chloe grinned. “No, how much?”

“This much.” Ben said, kissing her.

As they kissed, Ben slid his hand under Chloe’s pyjama top and ran it over her bare back, sending shivers up and down her spine. They broke apart for a second and just looked at each other and without saying a word, that look said everything they needed to. As Ben pulled Chloe closer to him, he reached out to the bedside table and turned off the light.

“I wonder what Chloe and Ben are doing now?” Rose said as she concentrated on pressing the right buttons on Mark’s Playstation controller.

Mark looked at his watch. “I dunno. Watching TV?” he suggested.

“Do you ever think that?”

“What?”

“Wonder what people are doing.”

“Sometimes, like when I’m away from home I wonder what mum and dad are doing.”

“I do, all the time. Especially with you.”

“Really? Aw. Ha! Beating you!” Mark exclaimed, grinning triumphantly as he manoeuvred his car in front of Rose’s on the TV screen.”

“No that’s not fair!” Rose said, taking her eyes away from the screen long enough to grab Mark’s controller from him and throw it on the floor.

“That’s not fair!” Mark said.

“You weren’t giving me a chance, what am I expected to do?”

“Not cheat would be a start.” Mark said, picking the controller up off the floor. “I’ll still win anyway.”

“You so won’t. I’m great at this.”

“I’m better. It’s my game.”

“That has nothing to do with it, I’m naturally skilled.” Rose said, promptly crashing her car into a wall.

“You were saying?” Mark said, expertly steering his car past Rose’s.

“Oh shut up. You know we were talking about Big Brother earlier?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I think you and the rest of a1 should do celebrity Big Brother.”

“Really?” Mark said sceptically.

“Yeah! It’d be great!”

“Even if we did have time to do that, I don’t think I could cope with the no pens and paper rule. How would we write songs?”

“Well you wouldn’t, but it’d only be for a week. And it’d mean that I could watch you on TV every day.”

“Hmm, not sure about that idea.”

“What? Me watching you on TV every day?”

“No, I wouldn’t mind that. I just don’t think that the whole Big Brother thing is really me. I’d probably go mad.”

Mark and Rose sat in tense silence as on the screen their cars raced neck and neck to the finish line.

“YES!!!! I told you I’d win!!” Rose shouted. “Ha ha ha ha! Two out of three, I win!!” she taunted.

Mark raised an eyebrow at her. “You seem to be taking it way too seriously babe.” He said with a smile.

“Do I get a prize?” Rose asked, ignoring him.

“No. Actually on second thoughts, yes.”

“What is it?”

“This.” Mark said, kissing her.

“That’s a very good prize, can we play again?”

“No coz you’ll just beat me at a game I’ve had for ages that you’ve never played before in your life. And plus, I’m still not satisfied that I know everything there is to know about you.” Mark said, putting the controllers neatly by his Playstation.

“You know my favourite colour.”

“Yes, blue.”

“That’s right.”

Mark laughed. “I hardly think knowing your favourite colour constitutes knowing everything there is to know about you.”

“But it’s better than knowing nothing.”

“That’s very true, but it’s still not quite as good as knowing everything.”

“You’re so patronising.” Rose said, grinning.

“I am not!”

“You so are.”

“If you want to sleep in the spare room, you should have just said!” Mark joked.

Rose looked sad. “I don’t.”

“Well then it’s lucky for you that I don’t want you to either isn’t it?”

“It is quite. Phew!” Rose said sardonically.

“You’re so patronising.” Mark said with a grin. “Come on, let’s go and get something to eat.”

Rose followed him out of the room.

“So,” Mark said as they walked downstairs. “What about future plans? What do you want to when you’ve left school?”

“I’m not exactly sure but I want to do something to do with graphical design.”

“Really? Cool. You’re into art and stuff then?”

“Yeah, and photography. I love photography.”

“What kind of photography?”

“Well, photography in general but I’d really love to go around the world with a really good camera and take hundreds of films worth of photos of wildlife and stuff.”

“Backpacking?”

“Yeah, I think that’d be so much fun. You’ve been more or less around the world haven’t you?”

“Well, I haven’t been everywhere. I’ve been to a lot of places, seen a lot of cool things, but I haven’t been everywhere.”

“Where’s been your favourite place?”

“I was thinking about this the other day actually, coz I thought I really should have a favourite place that I’ve visited, but it’s so difficult to choose. Everywhere I’ve been has been nice in different ways.”

“Yeah.”

“I loved where we filmed the video for Be The First To Believe though. That was lovely. And then afterwards, I got to go to Disneyland in America with my family so that was really cool.”

“The one in Florida?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been there! When I lived in America. I was only very little so I can’t really remember but it was very fun.”

“I love it. Where’s yours?”

“I was so not prepared for all these hard questions you know.” Rose said. “I really think you should have fore-warned me coz I’m gonna start sounding really dumb soon if I keep saying I don’t know.”

“You could never sound dumb. You’re very intelligent.”

“Do you think so?” Rose asked, surprised.

“Yeah!”

“I don’t feel very intelligent sometimes.”

Mark laughed. “Join the club.”

“You’re intelligent!”

“I’m not. Not at maths and stuff like that.”

“Well that makes two of us them. You’re very talented though. Very talented.”

“It means a lot that you think that.”

“It’s not just me, everyone thinks you are!”

“Everyone in the whole world?”

“They would if they knew you. And Chloe worships the ground you walk on.” Rose said.

Seconds later she realised that she was very much dead as soon as Chloe found out she’d said that.

Mark turned to Rose. “What?”

“Um, no nothing.” Rose said, trying to cover up her little slip but failing miserably.

“Why does Chloe worship the ground I walk on?” Mark asked.

“Oww no, she’ll kill me for telling you, I can’t.”

“Oh but I’m intrigued, you have to tell me. And if not, well, that offer of the spare room still stands.”

“That’s bribery.” Rose said.

“And what a great thing it is. Tell me about Chloe.”

“No I can’t!” Rose said, sitting down on a chair in the kitchen.

“Yes you can.” Mark tried to convince her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Chloe will never know. Go on, tell me.”

“Well she just thinks you’re really great and kinda like… God.” Rose said defeatedly.

Mark looked halfway between very surprised, very confused and very amused. “Kinda like God?” he repeated.

“Yeah, um, kinda just really amazing and stuff. You’re like her idol.”

“Wow, that’s… really?”

“Yeah but you absolutely can’t tell anyone, especially not Ben. Chloe doesn’t want him thinking that she likes you more than him.”

“Does she?”

“No! Not… really. No, she loves Ben. She just thinks you’re… oh I don’t know! I shouldn’t have even told you this, I feel really bad now.” Rose said.

“Aw babe, don’t feel bad. I think it’s really sweet that Chloe thinks so much of me. And I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Mark said, putting his arms round her from where he was standing behind her chair. “I’m sure she won’t really mind that much.”

“She will. I’ll be so dead. In fact, I’d better start organising my funeral.”

Mark kissed her on the cheek. “You worry too much.” He said, going over a cupboard and opening it. “She’ll never find out that I know anyway. What do you want to eat?”

“Um… what have you got?”

“Snacky crispy stuff.”

“That’ll do.”

“Good, we seem to have lots of that. Any preferences?”

“Nope, anything. For my last meal…”

Mark smiled. “Bowls are in that cupboard.” He said.

Rose got up and went over to the cupboard Mark had pointed to.

“At the back.” He said

“Oh yeah, I see them. How many do we need?” Rose asked, reaching into the cupboard.

“Two or three?”

“Okay.”

Rose brought out three small bowls and Mark grabbed some packs of crispy snacky things and they took them back upstairs.

“Are you alright?” Ben asked Chloe, stroking her hair as she lay with her head resting on his bare chest.

She looked up at him happily. “I’m fine. It’s just… weird.”

Ben smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.” He said. “I felt weird after my first time too. Sort of grown up.”

“Yep, that’s exactly it. And relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Yeah. Coz it’s a scary thing if you haven’t done it before.”

“But it wasn’t scary?” Ben asked.

“No, it was fine. I mean, it was more than fine, it was… I dunno, how do you describe something like that? Interesting.” Chloe grinned at Ben. “Plus, you know I trust you. I wouldn’t be lying in bed with you completely naked if I didn’t.”

“Which I must say I’m enjoying immensely.” Ben said, moving his hand down to Chloe’s waist.

They lay in contented silence for a while, just enjoying the moment until Ben started to think about what had happened too much.

“Do you think we rushed into things?” he asked Chloe.

She looked at him with surprise. “No… Do you?”

“No, I don’t think so, it’s just…”

“Mark said…” Chloe interrupted him mockingly with a grin.

“How did you know I was going to say that?”

“Because you’ve said it before. Ben, do what you want to do, Mark’s not… he doesn’t know everything. And I’m sure he’s no angel.” Chloe said, unable to bring herself to say that Mark wasn’t God.

“I know but it’s meant to be special.”

“It was special, it was with you.”

Ben smiled and hugged Chloe closer to him. “So you don’t think we should have waited?”

“No, not unless you wanted to wait?”

“I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about you!”

“But you don’t need to. I’ve told you before that I don’t do things I don’t want to do. There’s no way you could have made me sleep with you if I didn’t want to. What happened happened because we both wanted it to. You did, didn’t you?” Chloe asked uncertainly.

“Yes, I did. Of course I did, I’m only human. I just have to check you’re okay with things, you know that I can’t help worrying about you.”

Chloe smiled at Ben. “I know, and I think you’re so sweet because of it.” She said.

“You mean the world to me Chloe, I just don’t want to do anything wrong that’s gonna mean I lose you.”

“You could never do anything wrong Ben. And you won’t lose me, ever. I love you too much to live without you. But please, you have to stop worrying about everything. Otherwise I’ll be blamed for turning you into a paranoid wreck!”

“Well as long as you’re happy than so am I.”

“I am happy. I’ve never been so happy in my life. And it’s all because of you.”

“All of it?”

“All of it.”

“Sometimes I can’t believe I’m actually with you.” Ben said. “You’re like one of those people who everyone dreams of finding and no-one ever does. Like the most perfect person in the whole world. I don’t think I even have enough words to express how much I love you or what I think about you. There isn’t a single word that I could use to describe you that does you justice. And every second that I spend with you, even if we’re not doing anything but watching TV, I love you even more. I can honestly say that I have never felt like this about anyone before in my whole life. Being in love with you is the most incredible feeling in the world.”

Chloe was silent as she took in what Ben had just said.

“I don’t know what to say when you say things like that. No-one ever says anything that lovely to me.” she said finally.

“Well they should do. Because you deserve the world. And I really wish I could give it to you.”

“I don’t need the world. What you give me already is more than enough.”

“You have to tell me though, if things are going too fast. Coz sometimes it’s like there are two different parts of me. There’s sensible, level-headed Ben who is calm and always thinks before he does and says things and then there’s madly in love Ben who wants you so badly that he can’t control himself sometimes.”

“I think I prefer madly in love Ben. He says nice things to me.” Chloe said with a smile, cuddling closer to her boyfriend.

“Salamanders.” Rose said as her and Mark sat under the covers of his bed, eating crisps and listening to one of Mark’s numerous Beatles CDs. “Definitely. The best animals.”

“Why?”

“Just coz they’re lush.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever wanted a salamander.”

“Oh I have! For like, ever!”

“Why don’t you get one?” Mark asked.

“I’m not allowed. My cat’d probably eat it. It’s very sad.”

“That is very sad. And you’ve always wanted one?”

“Yep. Ever since I saw one on Animal Hospital. I think they’re so cool. When I leave home I’m gonna get one.”

“Well I’ve always wanted to have a dog but I’m allergic to them.”

“Aren’t you allergic to cats as well?” Rose asked.

“Yeah but I love them so I don’t mind the odd sneeze.”

“I used to have a dog but we had to get rid of him when we moved.”

“What was your dog called?” Mark asked.

“Copper. Coz of his colouring. He was a golden cocker spaniel, he was so lovely. When I still lived near Chloe, she’d just got her dog and we used to walk them together.”

“I like Chloe’s dog, she’s very cute. What’s she called?”

“Ellie.”

“She’s very friendly.”

“And very bouncy.” Rose added.

“Yeah, cats aren’t quite so energetic.”

“Did you see Chloe’s cat?” Rose asked.

“No, I don’t thinkso.”
“Awwww, she’s just the cutest thing ever. She’s tiny and she’s really fluffy and she’s bright orange. Aw, I love her! Every time I go round, I want to take her home with me but Chloe won’t let me. But she’s just so adorable!”

“Have you just got a cat now?” Mark asked.

“Yeah. He’s also very cute but just slightly less cute than Papi, Chloe’s cat. He’s called Podge.”

“Podge?”

“Well his real name’s Roger but we call him Podge coz he was podgy for a kitten and he never ever exercises. He’s very much a couch cat hence he's a bit of a podge.”

“Is he like a pedigree one?”

“Yeah. He’s a Birman.” Rose said with a yawn.

“Tired?”

“A little bit.”

“Bed time?”

“What’s the time?”

“It’s about half 12.”

“Yeah, I think that’d be a good idea. Seeing as we have to get up early tomorrow.”

“Well you don’t have to.”

“Do you think I’m gonna let you just leave me asleep? I want to say goodbye to you before you go!” Rose said.

Mark smiled. “Okay, I’ll wake you up when I get up. But you’ll be seeing me at lunch time.”

“Doesn’t mean I’ll miss you any less than if you were gone for a whole week. I need to you tell me Ben’s phone number anyway.”

Mark shook his head. “Always an ulterior motive.”

Rose grinned. “I’ll just go and brush my teeth.” She said, forcing herself to get out of Mark’s bed, even though it was so warm and comfy and had Mark in it.

As she walked across the landing to the bathroom, she tried once more to comprehend the fact that she was going out with Mark. It hadn’t quite sunk in yet but whatever she could understand of it at the moment, she knew it was pretty good. And all the snogging! Now that was definitely a good thing as far as she was concerned. The hugs didn’t go amiss either. Brushing her teeth, Rose found herself thinking about Chloe and Ben. She really had to stop doing that, it was becoming an obsession! She hoped Chloe was happy and having a good time though. Even though she was having a great time with Mark, Rose couldn’t help missing Chloe a bit, but they’d hopefully get to spend some time together tomorrow so they could have a good chat and catch-up then. Rose certainly had a lot to tell her!

To tell the truth, Rose was ever so slightly envious of Chloe and Ben’s relationship. They were so in love and what they had seemed so uncomplicated, not like her and Mark’s relationship. Rose wasn’t sure whether she should tell Chloe about Sam and the baby. It didn’t really seem like her business and although she knew that Chloe wouldn’t tell anyone if Rose did tell her and it’d be good to have someone to talk it through with, she’d feel a bit like she was talking behind Mark’s back. Maybe she should wait a while and see what happened. It was still a little bit too much to get her head around, the fact that Mark was going to be a dad, the fact that he was going to be a dad essentially without her. She’d only just found him and now already someone was trying to take him away from her. Even though she hadn’t said so to Mark, Rose thought that Sam sounded really horrible, evil in fact. She confessed that she might be the tiniest bit biased on the subject, being the one who wasn’t having his baby and all but still, the stuff Mark told her that Sam had said to him, recently and when they were going out, they were not the kind of things you said to someone like Mark who’d never intentionally hurt anyone in his life. In fact, Rose thought she might like to fatally injure Sam in the really dead sense, but maybe it was best Mark didn’t know that.

Putting her toothbrush back in her wash bag, Rose washed her face and went back into Mark’s room.

“Alright?” Mark asked casually as she came through the door.

“I’m fine.” Rose said.

“I’ll just go do my teeth. I won’t be a minute, you get into bed.”

“Okay.”

Mark gave Rose a quick kiss and left the room.

I love this room. Rose thought as she got into Mark’s bed. I really really love this room.

It wasn’t just the room though. She loved the house, she loved Mark’s family, she loved the fact that she was lying in Mark’s bed, she loved the fact she was going out with Mark, she loved… wow, Mark really did have a very nice stomach.

As he got into bed next to her, Rose’s stomach fluttered as Mark put his arms around her.

“You’re beautiful babe.” He said.

Rose smiled as he kissed her. She wished she could tell him that she loved him but she knew that she couldn’t. She didn’t want to say it unless she was certain he was going to say it back, and much as it pained her to admit it, she knew that he wouldn’t if she told him now.

“Sleep well.” Mark said as Rose cuddled up closer to him and put an arm across his stomach.

There’s no doubt about that. Rose thought, contentedly closing her eyes.