I think I’ll just say that the next one’s a million
times better, and leave it at that!! xxx
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I can’t believe we’re living the dream, we’re digging that scene, we
finally made it through the fire. Something ‘bout you blows me away, like night
over day, we’re kissing the loneliness goodbye.”
Chloe lay on her sofa, listening to one of her favourite a1 songs,
‘Living The Dream’. Had that weekend just happened? It did seem ever so slightly
insane. She checked her phone – Ben’s number was on there. She looked up at the
opposite wall where she’d replaced a framed photo of her cat Paprika with one
of her, Ben, Rose and Mark at the charity concert, proof if ever there was any.
So she really had spent the weekend at Ben from a1’s house and had hung out
with Mark, Paul and Chris. That really was very cool.
Chloe smiled. She was going out with Ben. It was finally Chloe and Ben
after over a year of Rose telling her what a great couple they’d make. Well now
she finally had a chance to find out. And Rose was right, they were perfect for
each other. Chloe thought so anyway. There was just something about Ben that
made her feel alive and like she could do anything, but totally calm and at
ease at the same time. It was weird, but Chloe really did feel like she’d known
Ben forever. Was it strange to be so close to someone so quickly? They were in
love after having been together for only a week. Ben had fallen in love with
her after spending 38 hours with her. That was her dream and it'd come true,
but Chloe found it a bit hard to accept. She didn’t doubt Ben for a second; she
could see how much he loved her just by looking in his eyes, but it was all a
bit too simple. Chloe was used to things going wrong, being complicated, but
this seemed to have been pretty straightforward so far. There’d been no
disappointments, no knock-backs, just happiness!
And to think, all this had started when Chloe and Rose had written to
Byrne Blood more or less demanding to meet a1. They’d been cheeky in the letter
and it’d just been a joke, something to do when Chloe was round Rose’s house
last, they never thought anything would come out of it, but then out of the
blue came a phone call inviting them out to dinner with Mark and Ben. So they’d
gone down to London, not expecting to get anything else but a good time with
two of their favourite people in the world, but they’d all got on really well
and had sort of naturally split into two pairs; Rose and Mark, and Chloe and
Ben. After dinner, they’d gone back to the hotel and found that an expensive
suite had been booked for them, complete with champagne and chocolates. Hardly
believing their luck so far, Chloe and Rose had expected to get to the hotel
and go straight to bed but no, they’d been entertained further by Mark and Ben
who seemed to be having as good a time as the girls, much to their surprise!
Chloe remembered the first time she began to think she might actually
have a chance with Ben. The four of them were sat on the sofa watching a film,
and half way through Ben had put his arm around her. As she snuggled up closer
to him he squeezed her shoulder and kissed her head lightly, as if it was the
most natural thing in the world to do. Chloe wasn’t one to get her hopes up over
anything less than certain, but as her stomach flipped over and she tried
desperately not to die, she had a feeling that this was going to go further.
When Ben had kissed her properly later that night, she knew for sure that she
was close to getting what she’d always wanted – Ben as hers. They were both a
bit drunk, but Chloe knew that hadn’t affected the way Ben felt towards her. He
wanted to be with her and he’d made sure she knew that. It shouldn’t have been
a surprise, because after all that was how it was supposed to go, just like in
the dream world in Chloe’s head, but still she couldn’t help feeling that it
was going to turn out to be one of the really mean dreams where you woke up and
realised that it wasn’t been real after all.
They’d talked for hours that night; they couldn’t stop! They got on so
well and had so much in common, it was like one of those never-ending
conversations where you tell someone your entire life story up until that point
and they don’t fall asleep once. Chloe talked, and Ben talked, and both of them
listened, and it was just fantastic! From the second they met they just
clicked, like each person had been waiting for the other to come and slot into
their jigsaw of life.
Chloe had never been in love before, and she wanted Ben to be the only
person she was ever in love with, but she knew that might be a bit of an
unrealistic hope. It wasn’t that she was expecting things not to work out, she
was just aware that there were two people in the relationship and if Ben
decided he didn’t want to be with her any more, there was pretty much nothing
she could do about it. It wasn’t an issue of her not wanting to be with Ben,
though. Like she’d ever dump him! She wasn’t mad. After finding the person
she’d been waiting to meet her entire life, she wasn’t going to let him go
without a fight. But luckily she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to have to
fight very hard to keep him. Mark had said that he’d never seen Ben so
obviously in love with anyone before, and that the way Chloe and Ben acted
around each other was as if they’d been together for years.
Ben had told Chloe things not even his mum knew; things that were hard
for him to talk about, things that might, under any other circumstances, have
put a relationship in jeopardy. That showed that he not only trusted her, but
also felt that she wouldn’t judge him, whatever he told her. That made Chloe
feel so special. She thought that maybe in time Ben might become one of the few
people in the world that totally understood her and why she did the things she
did. Which would be great; she could do with a few more of those around!
Chloe looked at her watch and smiled. Time to talk to Rose online. She
got up, plugged in the Internet extension to the phone socket and switched on
her computer. Once it had booted up, she clicked the BtInternet icon and
clicked ‘Connect’. AOL Instant Messenger started up automatically
and almost as soon as the Internet browser window opened up, a message appeared
on her screen.
internetmuffin: hiya!!!!!!
a14eva2002uk: hi!!!!!!!!!!!
internetmuffin: how are you??
a14eva2002uk: fine! u?
internetmuffin: me too!! isn’t it great?
a14eva2002uk: it really is. still going out
with Mark?!!!!
internetmuffin: lol, as far as I know! how
cool?!!!
a14eva2002uk: very cool!
internetmuffin: still with Ben?
a14eva2002uk: better be. or I’ll have to have
serious words with him!
internetmuffin: lol
a14eva2002uk: when did you get home?
internetmuffin: ages ago. um… oh I dunno, hours
ago
a14eva2002uk: lucky u! I only got back at half
6!!
internetmuffin: y?
a14eva2002uk: that’s when my bus got in
internetmuffin: hahahahahahahhahahahahaha you
had to go home on the train!!!!!!
hahahaha
a14eva2002uk: yeah thanks Rose, very funny.
just coz your boyfriend can drive
internetmuffin: oh more hilarity!
hahahahahahahahahahaha. Ben can’t drive!!!!!!
a14eva2002uk: leave him alone!! you’re so mean
internetmuffin: I’m not!!!
a14eva2002uk: you are!!!! it’s not his fault.
internetmuffin: it’s not mine
a14eva2002uk: well that’s true.
a14eva2002uk: but don’t laugh at him
a14eva2002uk: you’re so not
internetmuffin: am!!
a14eva2002uk: you’re not!! you’re just cruel.
internetmuffin: I’m not L
a14eva2002uk: well don’t laugh at Ben then
internetmuffin: I’ve stopped now
a14eva2002uk: good. so what have you been
doing since you got home?
a14eva2002uk: ooooooh!!! have you told your
parents yet?
internetmuffin: ah
a14eva2002uk: ah??
internetmuffin: well Jamie was here when me and
Mark got back and he kinda saw us
snogging.
a14eva2002uk: OMG!!!!!!!
a14eva2002uk: omg omg omg
internetmuffin: I know! so I thought that if I
told him to keep it a secret, he’d tell mum
and dad straight away and if I didn’t tell him it was
a secret then he’d either tell them anyway or let it slip accidentally.
a14eva2002uk: yeah. soooooooooo…………
internetmuffin: well I didn’t really know who’d
freak less and I thought that if I wasn’t
in trouble for going out with someone who’s 7 years
older then me, I’d be in trouble for going to London for the weekend without
telling them, so I decided to do a… what’s the word? when you say I have a
friend who has a problem when you’re really talking about you?
a14eva2002uk: hypothetical?
internetmuffin: yeah. so I did a hypothetical
thing where I asked them what their
reaction would be if I suddenly announced I was going
out with mark from a1.
a14eva2002uk: yeah…
internetmuffin: and they asked how old he was
and I was like, I’ve told you a million
times
before, when do I ever talk about anything but Mark?!!
a14eva2002uk: lol, yeah, that’s true.
internetmuffin: I told them mark was 22 and
they both kinda said it was okay. So I
thought,
great!
a14eva2002uk: they said it was okay?!!! this
is your parents we’re talking about
here?!!
internetmuffin: lol yeah, more or less they said
it would be okay, but obviously they
weren’t being totally serous coz then I thought it’d
be okay to tell them so I kinda did…
a14eva2002uk: omg… what did they say?
internetmuffin: it was weird, I
don’t think they actually believed me to start with. But
when it sunk in that I was telling the truth, they
went all quiet and did that exchanging glances thing.
a14eva2002uk: the one only parents can do
internetmuffin: yeah. so then they fired a lot
of questions at me about how I met him
and stuff and I told them more or
less the truth…
a14eva2002uk: more or less the truth?
internetmuffin: well, more lies, less the truth…
a14eva2002uk: lol. so what did you tell them?
internetmuffin: well I said that you’d won a
competition to spend the day with a1 etc
and oh how convenient, it just so happened to be the
weekend I was staying with you. so I said we went down to London for the day
and Mark asked me out.
a14eva2002uk: hmmm, good plan. did you tell
them about me and Ben?
internetmuffin: no
a14eva2002uk: oh. carry on
internetmuffin: okay, well I left out the part
about staying at Mark’s house for the
weekend and said that we just went out again on
Saturday night. like a date. and they were like oh how did it go, what did you
do blah blah blah 20 questions type thing. and I was like, yeah it was great,
we had a meal and went to the cinema, normal date stuff.
a14eva2002uk: and they were okay with that?!!
omg, excuse me while I fall off my
chair!!!
internetmuffin: lol. well they were a bit
suspicious, you know what my rents are like
a14eva2002uk: yeah
internetmuffin: they asked when I
was seeing him again and I said I didn’t know coz
he was quite busy with a1 over the next couple of
weeks and they were like yeah being a pop star and everything haha they’re
soooooo funny, not. but I was just like yeah… and omg guess what they said?!!!
a14eva2002uk: WHAT????!!!!!! is it bad?
internetmuffin: no, not bad, just kinda argh!!!
a14eva2002uk: go on…
internetmuffin: they said that I should invite
him round for dinner or something. Talk
about stereotypical!!
a14eva2002uk: lol yeah, but OMG!!!!!
internetmuffin: I know!
a14eva2002uk: what did you say?
internetmuffin: um…………… for a very long time
a14eva2002uk: haha, I can imagine that
internetmuffin: yeah, well then I said that I’d
ask him but he’d probably be really busy
a14eva2002uk: are you really going to ask him?
internetmuffin: I dunno. I might and then say
that I don’t want to expose him to my
parents.
a14eva2002uk: probably a good idea. but he
might really want to come. get to know
your parents kinda thing
internetmuffin: haha, not a laughing matter
internetmuffin: thanks. I’m still not sure the
rents totally believe me though. the invite
him round thing might be a trick
a14eva2002uk: would they do that?
a14eva2002uk: well actually yes, probably. but
no, they would believe you wouldn’t
they?
internetmuffin: if they don’t they’ll be in for
a shock when I do finally bring him round!
maybe I should invite him for dinner. that’d be
sooooooo funny if they think I’m making all this up!!!
a14eva2002uk: yeah!! oh do that, it’d be
hilarious!!!!
internetmuffin: have you told your mum?
a14eva2002uk: yeah, when she got home. I
showed her the photos
internetmuffin: what did she say?
a14eva2002uk: she laughed!!!! she thought it
was really funny. I asked her if she was
proud and she said yes, lol
internetmuffin: cool. she didn’t mind you
spending the weekend in London then?
a14eva2002uk: no not at all!! you know my mum,
she wouldn’t have minded if I’d
moved to Spain while she was gone. *sob* she doesn’t
care about me…
internetmuffin: lol. no that’s cool. no talk of
inviting Ben round to dinner? haha
a14eva2002uk: there was minimum
talk about the whole thing. so no, no chance for
dinner invitations thank god. I wouldn’t mind
actually, it’s not like we actually ‘have dinner’ at my house. it’s strictly
separate rooms in front of the tv!!
internetmuffin: you’re lucky, I have to sit at
the table. and I’m not allowed to watch tv
a14eva2002uk: that’s social ppl for ya!! lol.
internetmuffin: yeah. did you tell her you slept
with him?
a14eva2002uk: NO!!!!! God, no!!!!!
a14eva2002uk: that’s a very stupid question
even by your standards Rose
internetmuffin: oh haha. leave me alone…
a14eva2002uk: well would you tell your mum if
you’d slept with Mark?
internetmuffin: I didn’t even tell her I’d been
to his house, so no, I don’t think the
subject of sex would crop up in
the conversation
a14eva2002uk: can you imagine if it did
though?
internetmuffin: omg, my life would be over. i’d
not only be dead, I’d have died of
embarrassment
a14eva2002uk: lol
internetmuffin: omg my brother is
soooooooo immature, I was in my room after dinner
just doodling nothing in particular and he came in,
shouted Rose loves Mark, laughed and ran off!!!
a14eva2002uk: haha, I told my
brother and he was like ‘really?!!’ and I was like, all
cool, uhuh. lol it was so funny! then he kinda
followed me out of his room asking all these questions and I just shut my
bedroom door on him!!!
internetmuffin: at least your brother has a bit
of maturity
a14eva2002uk: well there is that
a14eva2002uk: I wonder what Ben and Mark are
doing right now. do you think they’re
thinking about us?
“Verdict on Rose then?” Colin asked Pam and Keith as
they sat in the sitting room.
“She’s a lovely girl, isn’t she Keith?” Pam said.
“She’s very nice. Very polite.”
“Yes, she’s got good manners. Been brought up well.”
“She’s cool. I like her.” Colin said.
“I’m still not sure about this age gap between her and
Mark.” Keith said.
“Oh Keith, don’t interfere.” Pam said disapprovingly.
“She’s a very pleasant girl and she obviously makes Mark very happy so I think
we should just be pleased for him.”
“Well said mum.”
“As long as he knows what he’s doing.”
“Mark is a very sensible boy, you know that. Now why
don’t you just give him a chance? If it doesn’t work out, there’s no harm done.
At least he’s not afraid to try things.”
“I just don’t want him to get hurt that’s all.”
“He’s not going to get hurt! If anyone should be
worried here it’s Rose’s parents, not us! And even they have nothing to worry
about.”
“Hmmm.”
“Don’t you hmmm me, Keith Read. You won’t give Mark a
hard time about Rose, will you?”
“I’ll let him make his own mistakes.”
“Oh you really are infuriating sometimes.” Pam said
crossly.
“Hi.” Mark said, coming into the room and sitting
down.
“You okay?” Colin asked.
Mark smiled. “Yeah. What you doing?” he asked his
family.
“Mum and dad are arguing over your girlfriend.” Colin
said.
Pam looked at him. “You take after your father.” She
said.
Colin just laughed.
“You were arguing about Rose?” Mark asked.
“We were not arguing, we were discussing.” Pam
corrected him.
“Oh really? Come to any interesting conclusions?” Mark
asked, slightly amused, slightly annoyed.
“Have you met Rose’s parents?” Colin asked Mark.
“No, they were out when me and Rose got to her house.”
“Relieved?”
“Sort of.” Mark admitted.
“Don’t you want to meet her parents?” Pam asked.
“I’m not sure. Rose kinda implied that they wouldn’t
be very pleased about us dating.”
“Old fashioned, are they?” Pam asked, looking straight
at Keith.
He ignored her.
Mark looked at them confused. “Not old fashioned
exactly, just… I dunno, I guess it’s understandable that they’d be a bit
disapproving. Rose said that they might try and stop her from seeing me. That
got me a little bit worried. I couldn’t tell whether she was joking or not.”
“I’m sure she was joking, love.” Pam said. “They’ll be
fine once they’ve met you anyway. You’re very agreeable, I’m sure you’ll win
them over.”
Mark smiled. “Thanks mum. Rose said she was going to
try and bring up the subject tonight, so I’ll ring her tomorrow morning, see
how she got on.”
“What if they went mad and won’t let her come to the
phone or leave the house ever again?” Colin said.
“Colin, don’t wind your brother up. It’ll all be fine
I’m sure.”
“What if they really don’t approve though?” Mark asked
worriedly. “I don’t want to cause problems between her and her family, but I
don’t want to have to stop seeing her.”
“I’m
sure it won’t come to that. And if they don’t approve, you’ll just have to go
round there and prove them wrong.”