Oooooh, I love this chapter! Well, just the Monopoly bit! Haha, actually this is where I sorta really vaguely talk about LTD in LTD, which could be confusing! Am very sorry I cruelly stopped updating, but was being sick all over Christmas (pleasant, lol) and didn’t really feel like coming online! But am back now, with twice weekly updates from now on just to get you all slowly up to the most recent stuff. So carry on enjoying, and carry on with lovely reviews coz they’re really wonderful! Chloe xxx

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Tell me stuff.” Ben said, as him and Chloe sat in his front room playing Monopoly.

“Like what?” Chloe asked, rolling the dice and moving her piece. “Two hundred pounds please.”

Ben handed her the money. “Stuff about you. Mark said that when him and Rose went out to dinner, they had a really long conversation and he knows loads about Rose now, and I don’t know anything about you.”

“You do know things. Ah-ha! That’ll be sixteen pounds please.”

“So unfair.” Ben said, giving her sixteen pounds of Monopoly money. “Well I don’t know very much.”

“You know lots.”

“Well I wanna know more. I wanna know everything! I want to buy a house.”

“You don’t have all the cards.”

“I do! How do you know?”

“Coz I’ve got one of them! Don’t try and cheat. Just coz you know I’m gonna win.” Chloe said.

“You are not going to win. I’m the Monopoly king!”

“Well prepare to be dethroned then.”

Ben reached over and tried to grab one of the houses.

“You can’t just take a house! I’m the estate agent. And you can’t have one anyway, even if you did ask.”

“You’re such a mean person to play with.” Ben said sulkily.

“I’m not being mean, I’m just not cheating. You’re a nightmare to play with. Every time I go out of the room, you do something you shouldn’t do. Like steal my money.”

“I’ve never stolen your money!” Ben said indignantly.

“You’re such a liar! You took a hundred pounds when I went to the loo. Don’t think I didn’t notice! I want it back by the way.”

Ben looked down at his pathetically small pile of money. “I don’t have a hundred pounds.”

“You’ll have to owe it to me then. I must warn you that my interest rates are quite high…”

“How high?” Ben asked suspiciously.

“Ten percent for every five minutes you have my money. So you owe me… a hundred and twenty pounds and counting.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Is taking my money fair?”

“Yes.”

“How is that fair?” Chloe asked.

“It’s my game.”

“I must say I admire your logic.”

Ben grinned. “Can I trade you something instead of paying you back the money?”

“Like…?”

“How about a kiss?”

“No.”

“I’m very hurt. Why don’t you want a kiss?”

Chloe grinned. “I do want a kiss, but I’m pretty confident that I’ll get one whether I let you off the money or not.”

“Pretty confident huh?” Ben asked, moving round the Monopoly board closer to her. “How confident?”

“Ninety percent.”

Ben put his arms around her. “Please let me off the money.”

“I can’t do that.”

Ben kissed her.

“How about now?”

“I’ll halve the debt, that’s the best I can do I’m afraid.”

Ben smiled. “That’s good enough.” He said, kissing her again.

“You still have to pay interest on the half though.”

“I don’t know why I bother.” Ben said.

“Coz you love me.”

“Well I suppose that’s quite a good reason.”

Chloe smiled at him. “On with the game! Back to your place. And… STOP IT!!” she exclaimed, slapping Ben’s hand away from her money pile.

“I wasn’t doing anything!”

“You were! Go and sit over there.” Chloe said, pointing to Ben’s original place.

“Spoilsport.”

“Fine, okay.” Chloe said, reaching over and grabbing all of Ben’s money.

“Hey!”

“What?”

“You just took all my money.”

“And?”

Ben just looked at her incredulously.

“Debt collector.” Chloe said simply.

“You just said you’d halve it.”

“Changed my mind.”

“No, give it back.” Ben moaned.

Chloe grinned. “Only if you stop cheating.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Chloe handed Ben back his money. “It’s your go.” She said.

Ben rolled the dice. “So you didn’t tell me anything about you.”

“You make it sound like we’ve only just met.”

“Well we have sort of.”

“Okay, um, stuff about me…” Chloe thought.

“What kind of things do you like doing when you’re at home?” Ben asked.

“Well… I like writing.”

“Writing what?”

Chloe shrugged. “Anything! I like writing stories. I’ve got loads of a1 stories.”

“Have you?” Ben asked interestedly.

“Yeah. None of them are finished or anything. I usually get bored after the first few pages and move onto a new idea.”

“What are they about?”

“Different things. They usually involve boy meets girl type storylines, though.”

“Am I in them?”

“You’re the boy.”

“Am I?”

“Yep. Main character in most of my stories.”

“Cool. Who’s the girl?”

“Me. Obviously. What’s the point of writing a story with you in it if I’m not in it?”

“None whatsoever. Can I read them?”

“My stories?”

“Yeah.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Coz you can’t! They’re private.”

“Please?”

“No!”

“Ow whyyyyyyyyyy?”

“Because you can’t!”

“Meany. I’d let you read my stories.”

“Good for you. You can’t read mine. They’re not even finished, or good, or anything, anyway.”

“Bet they’re great.” Ben said.

“They’re so not.”

Ben smiled. “You’re not gonna tell me anything about them, are you?”

“No! No-one reads my stories! No-one knows about my stories!”

“Why not?”

“Coz they’re rubbish!”

“You are so self-deprecating!”

“It’s called being honest and realistic.”

“Well I wish you’d let me read them. What do you think I’m gonna do, laugh?” Ben asked.

“Yes.” Chloe said, laughing as Ben chucked the monopoly dice at her.

“That was so close!” Rose said. “Try again!”

Mark threw another strawberry at Rose and she tried to catch it in her mouth.

“Okay, that was nowhere near.” She said, laughing. “And we were doing so well.”

Rose and Mark were on the final stages of the picnic. They were sitting against a tree, watching the sun go down. It had almost set and had created a beautiful spread of yellows, oranges, reds and pinks. It was getting cold so they’d decided to sit on the ground and drape the rug over their shoulders.

“I’ve had the best day.” Rose said as she leant against Mark, his arm around her.

Mark looked down at her. “Really?”

“Really. It’s been fab.”

“I’ve had the best weekend. I wish you didn’t have to go home.” Mark said.

“Me too. But I think my parents want me home and you’ve got stuff to do, I’d only get in the way.”

“No, you could never be in the way. You make everything a million times better just by being around.”

“So do you.” Rose said, sighing contentedly. “I could stay here forever with you, it’s so beautiful here.”

“It is.” Mark agreed, except he wasn’t looking at the sunset, he was looking at Rose. “I’m so glad…” he paused.

“What?” Rose asked, looking at him.

“I’m so glad that we got together. I wish we had earlier, like Chloe and Ben. It’s my fault for being so… shy I guess.”

Rose shook her head. “I wouldn’t change anything.” She said. “Everything happened like it was meant to. It’s all been prefect.”

Mark and Rose stayed up on the hill for hours, talking and gradually finishing off the picnic. When it started to get really cold, they decided to call it a night and head back home.

“That was a really lovely place.” Rose said as they drove.

“I know, I love it. I’ve written so many songs up there. Well the lyrics anyway. Kinda hard to set my keyboard up without a power supply.”

Rose laughed.

“I go up there a lot though. When I’ve got time. It’s a good place to think, de-stress.”

“Yeah. I could do with a place like that near me. Somewhere quiet and people-less.”

“Well you can share my place if you like. It can be our secret spot.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah! I can’t think of anyone I’d rather share my hill with.” Mark said, taking his eyes off the road for a second to smile at Rose.

“Wow, I’ve always wanted a secret place. Like in books.”

“Yeah. When I was younger I wanted somewhere that no-one else knew about, and a couple of years ago I sort of stumbled on that spot. Obviously other people go there but I’ve never seen anyone else up there when I’ve been there.” Mark said.

“Do you get much time to just chill out?” Rose asked.

“No, not as much as I’d like. But it’s all part of the job. And I love the job so I can put up with not having much free time.”

“It must be hard though, not getting to do stuff.”

“Like what?” Mark asked.

“Oh I dunno, it’s just that being in a1 is pretty much a 24 hour job isn’t it?”

“Yeah it is. I’m kinda used to it now though. This is how my life has been for about three years now. And it’s been mad, it’s been really mad! But it’s cool, I wouldn’t do anything else.”

“I really couldn’t imagine you working in an office or something.” Rose said.

“God no, me neither!”

“Or in a shop.”

“Nah, I think if I wasn’t in a1, I’d have to be doing something like it. I’d find another band, or go solo or something.”

“Yeah, you could do that.”

“What? Go solo?”

“Yeah! If you weren’t in a1, I think you’d be great as a solo artist!”

“I like being in a band though. It’s nice to have three other people with you all the time.”

“Don’t you ever get fed up with them?”

“Ben can get a bit annoying occasionally, but we can tell when to give each other space. Chris is the most chilled out. He very rarely gets stressed.”

“Who gets the most stressed?”

“Ben probably! He just worries abut everything! Especially when we go away to a different country.”

“Yeah I read about that. He gets panic attacks and stuff doesn’t he?”

Yeah, it’s tough on him. And the rest of us, to be honest. But he can’t help it.”

“What about you? Do you mind the travelling?”

“I don’t like it when we’re away for a long time but I love visiting new places. It’s a shame that we don’t get much time off when we’re over there to really make the most of where we are. We’ve been to some amazing places.” Mark said, as they approached his house.

He parked the car in the drive and turned off the engine.

“Shall we go inside then?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Rose said, getting out of the car and closing the door behind her.

Her and Mark walked hand in hand to the house.

“Do you want a drink or anything?” Mark asked as they entered the house.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay, well I’ll just go and dump this in the kitchen, you can go on upstairs if you want.”

“Are you sure you don’t want any help?”

“No, I’ll clear it all away in the morning.”

“Okay.” Rose said.

She started the climb the stairs up to Mark’s room. The last time she’d be doing that for what she guessed would be a long time. That made her feel a little sad. She got her mobile out her pocket to check for any messages. She didn’t have any, but it wasn’t like she was expecting any so she wasn’t exactly disappointed. The first thing she did when she got into Mark’s room was go and sit on his bed. It was, without a doubt, the comfiest bed in the whole world. She’d take it home with her if she could, it was that nice! Mark might object to that though.

Waiting for him, Rose found herself wondering what Chloe was doing right now. When she looked at the clock and saw it was quite late, she quickly forced herself to stop thinking that, as she was pretty sure she knew exactly what Chloe was doing right now. Let’s just say it involved Ben and hopefully, a bed. Although after what Chloe had told her today, Rose couldn’t be sure of that fact. Apparently, they’d had sex on the sofa this morning! Can you believe that?! Rose was so so glad that Chloe wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the details. She did not want to know. Ew. Only coz it was Ben though. Now her and Mark… that was a totally different matter!! Rose still couldn’t see what Chloe saw in Ben, but as long as she was happy, and it was pretty obvious that she was, then Rose was too.

“I just looked at my watch.” Mark said, coming into the room and closing the door behind him. “I didn’t know it was so late!”

“It’s coz it’s the summer so the sun doesn’t set till like 10.”

“Yeah I know! It’s so misleading, I only thought it was about 8!”

“Time’s going quickly.” Rose said quietly.

Mark sat down next to her on the bed. “You okay?” he asked, putting an arm around her.

“Mmm.” Rose said, resting her head against Mark. “Just a bit sad.”

“Coz you’re going home tomorrow?”

Rose nodded.

“Aww. Don’t be sad.” Mark said, fiddling with Rose’s hair.

“I’ll try not to be. But I’ll miss you. Lots and lots.”

“I know. Me too. I could get used to you being around.”

“Could you?” Rose asked, looking up at Mark and smiling.

“Easily.” Mark said, leaning in to Rose and kissing her. “What do you wanna do this evening?” he asked.

“Anything. Sit here with you.”

“Just sit here with me?”

“I don’t care, I just love being with you.” Rose said, still smiling.

“Shall I put some music on?”

“Yeah, if you want.”

Mark got up and turned his CD player on, pressed play and then went back and sat down next to Rose.

“What time are we leaving tomorrow?” she asked.

“After lunch? Is that okay?”

“That’s fine.” Suddenly Rose gasped. “Oh my God!”

“What?”

“I need to phone my parents! They think they’re picking me up tomorrow. They think I’m at Chloe’s house! They’ve probably been trying to call.”

“Is it too late to call them now?” Mark asked.

Rose looked at the clock on Mark’s bedside table. “Probably. Damn. Oh! I could text my mum though. That’ll save me having to explain everything as well.”

“What will your parents think about you going out with me?” Mark asked with slight trepidation.

“I have no idea. Very difficult to predict how they’ll react. Depends what kind of mood they’re in.”

“Sounds ominous.” Mark said.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine about it.”

“What if they don’t approve though? Would they stop you seeing me?”

“Probably.” Rose said.

“They’d do that?”

“They’d probably try.” She looked at Mark’s worried face. “But they can’t make me stop seeing you. It might just be a little difficult, that’s all.”

“I don’t want to make things bad between you and your parents.”

“I really don’t care.”

“But…”

“Mark, really, no-one is going to come between us. I’ll sneak out if I have to. They can hardly lock me in my room can they? Well actually, they probably would, but I can climb out the window.”

Mark didn’t look too happy about that.

“But it won’t come to that, coz they’ll be fine about it. I might just lie and say you’re 20 or something.” Rose added casually.

“Would the age gap be a problem for them?”

“Maybe. But your parents don’t have a problem with it, do they?”

“No! Well, my dad was a bit unsure at first, but now he’s met you, it’s fine. Is the age gap a problem for you?” Mark asked.

“Is it a problem for you?” Rose asked, not wanting to answer until she knew Mark’s feelings on the subject.

When Mark didn’t answer straight away, she started to get a bit worried.

“It is, isn’t it?”

“It was at first.” Mark said quietly.

“And now?”

“And now I wish that I didn’t care so much about what other people who aren’t even important think.”

“But you do.”

“I can’t help it. I just worry.”

“Would you… prefer it if we weren’t together?” Rose asked, swallowing hard to stop herself from bursting into tears. “Would it be easier for you?”

Mark looked at Rose. He looked right into her eyes, deep into her eyes. It was such an intense look that it took Rose’s breath away.

“If we weren’t together…” he started.

Rose realised she was holding her breath.

“…then getting up every morning would be so much harder.” Mark finished. “No, I don’t have a problem with the age gap. And if I did to start with, then I regret every second that I ever doubted you and me could work. I hadn’t even given us a chance. I didn’t know how fantastic you could make me feel, I didn’t know what it was like to feel so secure, like everything’s gonna be okay, no matter what happens.”

There was a silence while Rose took in what Mark had just said.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Mark said. “Do you have a problem with the age gap?”

“Mark, I wouldn’t care if you were 50, I’d still be sat here with you.” Rose said, hugging him closer to her.

She wanted to say that his age didn’t matter because if you found love, it was still love regardless of who it was with, but she knew she couldn’t say that. She wanted so much to tell him that she loved him, she thought about it every time he was close to her, but she had to stop herself from blurting it out. It wasn’t the right time and he didn’t feel the same. So instead she said,

“Babe, I know you’re worried about what other people think, but if you’re happy, and I’m happy, then it doesn’t matter if the whole rest of the world is unhappy because even if there’s only one person on the same side as you, with them you can cope with whatever those other people throw at you.”

Mark smiled at Rose. “How are you always right?” he asked.

Rose smiled back. “I’m not.”

“Well then I must be the only person who listens to what you say, because every single piece of advice you give me makes more sense than anything anyone else has ever told me in my life.”

“What can I say? I’m just an advice machine!”

“You’re so much more than that.” Mark said, pulling her close to him and kissing her.

Ben looked down at Chloe and smiled. She’d fallen asleep ages ago after being adamant that she was going to stay awake all night to make the most of her time with him. She could sleep when they weren’t together, she’d said. They hadn’t felt the need to talk much that night. The little cuddles and murmured thoughts between kisses said more than a full on conversation ever could. Ben knew he probably wouldn’t be able to get to sleep for hours yet, but he didn’t mind. He was perfectly content with staying awake forever if Chloe was asleep next to him. He loved it; the feeling of her next to him, the fact that she loved him and that wasn’t something that was just going to disappear overnight. He could go to sleep safe in the knowledge that it’d still be there when he woke up, even if Chloe wasn’t.

Ben rolled over onto his back and thought about that. He’d done a lot of thinking since he’d been with Chloe; there was a lot to think about. The main point for contemplation was the fact that he was in love, at a point in his life where he was seriously beginning to doubt he’d ever be in love again. And this was proper love; not just flimsy only say it coz it sounds good love, real drive you crazy love. Ben was well aware that being with Chloe was going to make him go insane. Not coz she was a nightmare to be with, or because she was going to give him loads of hassle, but because he loved her so so much. In fact, already it was driving him mad because he didn’t have the words to say what he really thought about Chloe. He was finding it really hard to express exactly how he felt. And he wanted to tell her, he wanted her to know, he needed her to know.

Chloe stirred in her sleep. She rolled over and a small smile played on her lips. She was obviously dreaming about something nice. Ben hoped it was him, but something caused him to doubt that. He thought back to the conversation he’d had with Mark, Paul and Chris today about getting married. What he’d been thinking then was still in his mind, and he knew it was true. Chloe didn’t love him as much as he loved her. She was his everything but he knew that she could survive fine without him. Which was sad, but it wasn’t like she didn’t love him at all. Ben had never once thought that she was lying when she told him she loved him. He knew it was true. It was just the amount of love she had for him which was lacking. But he wasn’t complaining; being with her at all, in love or not, was so much more than he could have hoped for. And Ben was confident that things would only get better.