Chapter Six

Chloe, Ben, Rose and Mark were walking through Legoland debating what ride to go on next.

“Well I want to go on everything!” Chloe said excitedly, her hand in Ben’s.

“Yeah, me too!!!” agreed Rose.

“Let’s just work our way around the park then shall we?” suggested Mark.

“Okay!”

The four of them started walking down a path leading into the heart of the theme park, chatting and laughing.

“Ooh! I want to see that!” Chloe cried out, pointing to the replica of London built entirely out of Lego bricks that was situated to the side of the path they were walking down.

“Wow!” Rose exclaimed, looking to where Chloe was gesturing. “That’s so lush!”

Chloe dropped Ben’s hand and rushed off towards the model just like a little child who’d seen a sweet shop. Rose followed her just as enthusiastically. Ben and Mark looked on and laughed as the two girls started to walk around the Lego structures.

“God, this must have taken ages to do, it’s so cool!” Chloe said, obviously very impressed.

Ben and Mark caught them up and immediately Ben started doing his best Godzilla impression by stomping around the mini city and roaring.

“Ahhhh!! It’s a monster, run for your lives!” he said in a squeaky voice before turning to news reporter mode. “This is Ben Adams reporting for London News where a giant person is terrorizing the innocent citizens of London. At the moment, he appears to be heading straight for Big Ben, intent on crushing it to a million tiny Lego bricks in revenge for stealing half of his name. But wait a minute, he’s spotted something. It’s a rather ravishing female.” Ben said with a smirk, turning round and heading towards where Chloe was standing watching in amusement. “It looks like… oh my goodness, it appears we have a monster chase on our hands!”

Ben roared again and ran towards Chloe, who squealed and ran away from him.

“The female seems to think she can escape Benzilla but she is mistaken and will inevitably be caught and hugged to death at the hands of this ruthless monster.”

Ben continued reporting as he got nearer to Chloe who was trying her best to keep out of his reach whilst staying within mini London. Ben reached out and grabbed Chloe’s hand, stopping her from running any further away from him, and pulled her back to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, so she could barely breathe, let alone move! He held her there for a few moments before loosening his grip on her slightly.

“I could stay like this all day.” He said, kissing her head.

“So could I, except I’d probably die coz I can’t actually breathe.” Chloe said with a smile.

Ben looked at her in a really strange way, not a nasty way, it was a nice look but it wasn’t clear what it symbolised. He didn’t say anything though, just held Chloe close to him.

Rose and Mark however, had begun to wander off on their own, fed up of waiting for Ben and Chloe. Hand in hand, they casually strolled towards the next closest ride, which was ‘Fairytale Brook’, a slow boat trip through fairy tales made of Lego.

“Fancy going on this?” Mark asked Rose. “Just us two.” He added.

Rose nodded, her heart skipping a beat at the thought of being totally alone with Mark. “Okay.”

Luckily, there was a boat just about to go so Rose and Mark quickly got into it before it set off around the watery track.

As they went into the covered bit, Mark hesitantly put his arm around Rose. He was relieved when she leant against him and put her head on his shoulder.

“It’s very romantic in here don’t you think?” he asked her.

Rose looked up at him and smiled. “You have a really naughty glint in your eye. What are you thinking?” She asked warily.

Mark grinned. “I just think that seeing as Ben and Chloe don’t seem to be interested in spending time with anyone who isn’t either of them, maybe we should team up and give them a taste of their own medicine. After all, you were saying earlier that it wouldn’t be so bad if you had someone to be coupley with. Maybe I feel the same way.”

“Maybe?” Rose asked, trying not to smile too much.

“Think I’m warming to the idea.” Mark said, leaning closer to Rose and kissing her.

He pulled back slightly to see her reaction and smiled as Rose slid her hands up and round his neck, pulling him back towards her.

As the little boat moved through the magical tunnel of myths, Rose and Mark completely missed all the scenery and little Lego figures depicting scenes from different children’s books. They were too engrossed in the new discovery of being “together” to notice anything that was going on around them.

Meanwhile, outside, Chloe and Ben were wondering where Rose and Mark had gone.

“Someone should have been watching them, they could get lost.” Chloe joked, obviously not too opposed to the possibility of having to spend the rest of the day alone with Ben.

“Yeah, who forgot to tie them up so they couldn’t run off?” Ben said, looking round for culprits. “Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to go round on our own, what a shame. I have to be alone with you. Oh god, this is going to be a fun day.” He said sarcastically.

“Shut up!” Chloe laughed, punching him playfully on the arm. “I’m sure we’ll bump into them somewhere anyway.”

“I hope we don’t.” Ben said mischievously, squeezing Chloe around the waist. “Lets go and find a quiet corner somewhere…”

Chloe smiled at him. “Ben!”

“Sorry, I’m only joking, do you want to go and find them?” he asked.

“Ah! No need. There they are.” Chloe said, spotting Mark and Rose coming out of the exit of the ‘Fairytale Brook’ ride looking considerably more couply than they were before they went in.

“Oi you two!!! Where did you go?!” Chloe shouted over to them.

They both looked up and Rose smiled as she saw Chloe and Ben walking towards them.

“We went on the boat thing.” Rose said gesturing behind her.

“You could have told us. We were worried sick.” Chloe said dramatically.

“Well you looked kinda busy.” Mark said with a smirk. “We didn’t want to interrupt you.”

Chloe grinned at Ben. “So what’s it like then?”

“What?”

“The ride.”

Rose looked at Mark. “Oh, um, I don’t actually know…” she said, trying to suppress a smile.

“How do you not know what it’s like? You were just in there.”

“Yeah, well we, uh…” Rose stuttered, struggling for a good excuse.

Mark jumped in to help her. “We were um, we got distracted.”

“Ooookay.” Chloe said, clearly puzzled but at the same time, not entirely sure she wanted to know what they were distracted by. “So where are we going next then?”

“Just carry on walking I guess.” Said Mark.

The group carried on walking down the path passing all the little kiddie rides and discussing vague lunch plans. Suddenly Chloe let out a scream and grabbed Ben’s arm, hiding her eyes against it. Everyone stopped to look at her.

“What?” Ben asked.

Chloe didn’t reply.

“Ohhhhh.” Rose said, seeing the circus tent and understanding why Chloe wasn’t looking.

“What?” Ben asked again.

“It’s okay, just keep walking.” Rose said.

“What’s wrong with Chloe?” Ben asked, looking down at the girl attached to his arm in amusement.

“She can’t look at the circus tent.” Rose told him. “I’ll tell you when it’s gone Clo.” She said to Chloe.

“Why?” Ben was really confused.

“She’s scared of clowns.” Rose said with a smile.

Ben and Mark both burst into laughter.

“It’s not funny!” Chloe shouted at them from the safety of Ben’s arm.

“Clo, how are you scared of clowns? They’re just people wearing funny clothes.” Ben said.

“No, they’re evil!! They freak me out, urgh!!” Chloe replied, shuddering at the thought.

“It’s alright, I’ll save you from the evil clowns.” Ben said, putting his arm around her protectively.

“You’re not taking this seriously.” Chloe said indignantly.

“No I am, completely seriously.”

“Is it just clowns then?” Mark asked curiously. “Or is it all circus stuff?”

“Everything. Especially those horrible Punch and Judy shows. I hate them.”

“You hate Punch and Judy?” Ben asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I dunno, it’s just horrible!”

“Oh I’m trying so hard not to laugh.” Ben said to Mark and Rose.

“You are so mean.” Chloe said.

“I’m sorry darlin’, it’s just a little bit odd that’s all. I’ve never met anyone who’s scared of clowns before.” Ben said.

“It’s not just me is it Rose?” Chloe asked, looking for backup.

“No, there’s a whole website dedicated to hatred of clowns. It’s called I hate clowns dot com. It’s great!”

“Really?” Mark asked with surprise.

“Yeah. Loads of people hate clowns.” Rose informed him.

“Never ever take your child to see a clown. They are not nice, they are not funny, they are evil and they will mentally scar you for life. Children do not like them, they do not make them happy or laugh, they are scared of them.” Chloe advised Mark, Ben and Rose with feeling.

Mark and Ben looked very amused at Chloe’s little outburst.

“Okay, it’s gone, you can look now.” Rose told Chloe.

Chloe opened her eyes and immediately pulled away from Ben and started walking on the other side of Rose.

“Where are you going?” Ben asked.

“I’m going to walk next to someone who doesn’t laugh at my very serious phobias.” Chloe replied.

“Ow Clo, I didn’t mean it.”

“Nope, you think I’m stupid.”

“I don’t.”

“Why did you laugh at me then?” Chloe asked.

“Because I’m immature and unkind and I’m very very sorry.” Ben said.

Chloe looked unsure.

“Come and walk next to me again. Please? I’ll cry.”

“Serves you right.” Chloe said.

Ben looked down sadly. “Well I might as well go home then.” He said.

“Why?” Chloe asked.

“Coz it’ll be no fun if you’re cross with me. I’ll have no-one to talk to.” Ben said sulkily, dragging his feet along the ground like a small child and doing his best to look utterly miserable.

“How does he do that?” Chloe asked Rose and Mark wonderingly. “How can he make me feel bad when he’s the one in the wrong in the first place?”

“You’ll get used to it. He always does it to get out of trouble.” Mark told her.

Chloe sighed. “Why do I put up with you?” she asked Ben.

“Because I’m rich and famous?” Ben suggested.

Chloe walked back over to him. “You know that’s not the reason.” She said.

Ben nodded and squeezed her hand. “I know.”

The group walked under a sign saying ‘Wild Woods’ and looming in front of them they saw a huge log flume coming out of the side of a cliff.

“Wow! Let’s go on that!!” Rose said.

“We’ll get really really wet.” Mark warned her.

“Who cares? Come on, who’s coming with me?”

“Yeah, I will! I like getting wet!” Chloe said.

“You like getting wet?” Mark asked.

“Yep!”

“Right, we’re going to throw Chloe in that lake over there.” Mark said, gesturing behind him. “Who’s gonna help me?”

“What? No!” Chloe exclaimed.

“I thought you liked getting wet?”

“I don’t wanna be thrown in a lake with all my clothes on though!”

“Great! Let’s take them off!” Ben enthused.

Chloe grinned at him. “You’re still in my bad books for laughing at my clown phobia, I’d keep your mouth shut if I were you.” She warned.

“So, um, it’s a nice day!” Ben said, changing the subject.

“Come on! Log flume!” Rose urged. “Are you two coming with us or not?” she asked Ben and Mark.

“Yeah, I’m only going on if you two do as well. I don’t want you staying all dry and laughing at us.” Chloe said.

“I’m coming, I don’t mind getting wet. What about you Mark?” Ben asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.” Rose informed him. “Come on!” She shouted, grabbing his hand and heading towards the entrance.

There was quite a big queue for this ride seeing as it was one of the most popular in the park so Ben, Mark, Chloe and Rose joined the end of it and waited patiently for their turn.

“Who’s going with who this time?” Ben asked, looking at Chloe.

“Um, it’s me and Rose and you and Mark this time.” She told him.

“Ha! That means you’ll get more wet coz there’ll be more weight in your log.” Rose laughed triumphantly. “So you’ll be getting soooo much wetter than we will!!”

“Oh no, how is that fair? I want to go with Chloe, I said this rota thing was a bad idea!” Ben complained.

“Shut up Ben. I thought you didn’t mind getting wet?” Chloe said.

“I thought you didn’t, but you still wouldn’t let us throw you in the lake!” Ben said.

“Am I suggesting throwing you in a lake?” Chloe asked.

“No, but…” Ben didn’t have a good comeback to that so he just did as he was told.

About 15 minutes later, they were at the front, waiting for a two pairs of wet people to float round so they could get into their logs.

“Oh my god, they’re really really wet!” Chloe whispered to Rose as a log came round the corner.

“We’re gonna get a wet bum just from sitting down.” Rose pointed out.

“Oh well, too late to chicken out now, let’s get in!” Chloe said to Rose as the ride attendant held the log boat in place long enough for Chloe and Rose to step in and sit down.

“I love these things! Although it’s really scary when you go down the huge drop.”

“We’ve gotta scream really loudly.” Rose said.

“Yeah.”

The two girls turned round to see Ben and Mark getting in the boat behind them. They waved to them.

“Hope you’re looking forward to getting really wet!” Chloe shouted.

“Don’t forget to smile for the photo thing.” Rose called back to Ben and Mark.

“Oh yeah, I always do that in the wrong place and then when it really takes the photo I look stupid.” Chloe told Rose.

“Yeah, me too, they put them in such dumb places.”

“This is great isn’t it?” Chloe said, grinning at Rose happily.

“What, the ride?”

“No! Being here with Ben and Mark!”

“Well duh!”

“I know, but I just can’t quite believe it, it seems too unreal, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I mean, we’re at a theme park with Ben and Mark from a1!! Never thought I’d get to say that!” Rose said.

“And, if Mark gets really really wet, he might just have to take his top off…” Chloe said.

“Chloe! You can’t say things like that, you’re going out with Ben!”

“There’s no law against admiring someone else’s stomach.”

“Yeah there is when it’s my boyfriend’s stomach you’d be admiring.”

Chloe smiled. “He’s your boyfriend is he?”

“No, I didn’t mean that!” Rose said.

“Ah well you’ve said it now. It’s obviously what you really think.”

“No, it isn’t!”

“Does Mark know about this?”

“No! Clo, don’t say anything!”

“Well don’t you think you should let him know if you two are going out?” Chloe teased.

“We’re not going out, shut up!”

“But you said…”

“But I didn’t mean to! It just slipped out!” Rose said, a pained expression on her face. “Don’t tell Mark, please?”

“I dunno…”

“Fine, well I shall just tell Ben that… you like Mark more than him!” Rose said triumphantly.

“I don’t like Mark more than Ben.”

“You so do.”

“I don’t! Shut up!”

“Well you shut up and I might too.”

“Fine.” Chloe said crossly.

“Good.”

“Good.”

The girls sat in silence until Chloe broke it a moment later by saying,

“Getting possessive over Mark already, it’s not a good sign.”

Rose gasped. “You just don’t know when to stop do you?!”

“Not really.” Chloe said with a grin. “Anyway, I’ll try not to drool too much if he does take his top off.”

“Yeah, you better. Just think how Ben would feel if he knew you thought Mark was more gorgeous than him.” Rose laid on the guilt as her revenge.

“I don’t!” Chloe protested. “And don’t say that, Ben wouldn’t mind.” She added uncertainly.

“Yeah, okay, he’d be fine about it. He’d probably only go and kill himself or something.” Rose said casually.

“Rose!!!!” Chloe exclaimed in horror.

“Well how would you feel if he said he thought I was more gorgeous than you?” Rose asked.

“I’d probably cry.” Chloe admitted.

“Well then. Keep you eyes to yourself.”

Mark was sitting in his and Ben’s log boat staring at Rose and paying absolutely no attention to what Ben was saying.

“…so I thought that maybe we could get to the top of this thing and then jump to our death. What do you think? I mean, it would definitely make the front pages and it’d give a1 some good publicity. Well, Paul and Chris anyway. Coz we’d obviously be dead.”

“Yeah, mmmm, sounds good.” Mark said, eyes still on Rose.

“What sounds good Mark?” Ben asked, smiling.

“Yeah.”

“MARK!!!!!!!!” Ben shouted.

Mark turned to look at him. “What?”

“You’re not listening to me! Not even a little bit. For all you know, I could be telling you the meaning of life, and you’d have just missed it.”

“Oh, sorry, I was just…”

“Staring at Rose like a crazed psycho killer who’s just seen his next victim?” Ben finished helpfully.

Mark turned to look at Ben as if he’d just proposed they blow up the world. “No. I was just…”

“Thinking how much you want to…”

“Ben!! Will you stop finishing my sentences?! Apart from anything else, you’re not even close and it’s very annoying.”

“Sorry. So what were you thinking then?” Ben asked.

“Just about… well nothing, really…”

“What’s holding you back?” Ben asked. He knew exactly what the “nothing” Mark was thinking about really was. “Is it the age thing?”

Mark nodded slowly. “God, it’s so annoying! Rose is just such an amazing, lovely person, and I know she likes me, and I like her too, and I think we’d have a lot of fun together, and I might be missing out on all that just coz I’m so stupid I can’t even get over a little age gap.” He said crossly, glancing back to Rose who was chatting happily away to Chloe.

“Is it really that much of an issue with you?”

“I dunno. I didn’t think about it much to start with coz I was enjoying myself so much, and when we were talking and stuff we were getting on so well and I started to really like her, and I thought that I’d just be able to go for it but… I’ve just begun to wonder whether I should really be even thinking about dating someone who’s seven years younger than me.” Mark confessed.

“But why?”

Mark shrugged. “I don’t want to, but I can’t help thinking that it would make everyone’s lives a lot easier. Rose’s included.”

“Yeah, and it’d make two people’s lives a lot more miserable.” Ben pointed out.

Mark sighed. “But seriously, if the papers get hold of this, I’m as good as dead aren’t I? They’re not gonna leave me, or her, alone and there’ll be about five thousand irate parents after my blood for setting a bad example and taking advantage of my celebrity.”

“Do you think you’re setting a bad example and taking advantage of your celebrity?” Ben asked Mark.

“That’s the thing. Am I? I don’t know. I mean, personally I don’t think there’s really anything wrong with us going out, it’s not like she’s 12…”

“Exactly. She’s 16 years old, that’s old enough to get married.” Ben pointed out.

“But what about the celebrity thing? It is true that she’s a fan and that we wouldn’t have met if I wasn’t famous and she didn’t like a1.”

“But she doesn’t like you because you’re in a1. If you’d met on a blind date, things would have happened exactly the same. It’s only the circumstance that’s any different.”

“But we wouldn’t have met on a blind date considering the age gap between us.”

“Mark, it’s the 20^th century, no-one’s funny about things like that any more.” Ben said, trying hard to convince Mark that he shouldn’t worry about stupid things that don’t matter.

“Yeah, but…”

“And how do you know that you’re the only person in the world who thinks it’s not a bad idea?” Ben asked.

“How do you know that I’m not?”

“Well listen. Do you think you’d be happy?”

“With Rose?” Mark asked.

“Yeah.”

Mark nodded. “I really do. She’s so great.”

“Would she be happy?”

“She keeps saying that she is today, so I guess, yeah.”

“Well there you go, two very happy people. You’re the people that count in this situation. Not the fans or their parents or the record company or Tim and Vicky or the press, you and Rose. And if you’re happy, happier than you would be without her, then surely it’s worth it? Who cares what everyone else thinks? And if it’s an issue with Tim, I’ll back you up. You’re doing nothing wrong Mark. You know your problem? You care too much about what other people think. Try putting yourself first for a change coz if you’re not happy, then what’s the point?”

Mark looked at Ben in amazement. “How do you give such good advice?” he asked, smiling.

Ben shrugged. “Dunno. Natural gift.”

Mark laughed. “That’s one way to describe it I guess.”

“Wait, I have more!”

“Go on then.”

“Try everything that you believe will make you happy.” Ben said. “I got that off a website.” He added proudly.

“Very good, I’ll bear it in mind.”

“Seriously though Mark, don’t waste this opportunity because of other people. They’re not the people who’ll have to live with your decision. You’ll only regret it if you don’t give it a go.”

Mark nodded thoughtfully. “Okay. Thanks Ben.”

“No problem.”

“Oh my god, we’re going up again! We must have gone up like five times already, it’s gonna be really high isn’t it?”

Chloe and Rose had decided that suddenly this didn’t seem like such a good idea.

Rose nodded. “Yep. We’re gonna die. Oh but don’t forget to smile at the camera.”

The two girls burst into laughter.

“No, it isn’t funny, we’re…AHHHH!!”

Chloe screamed as the log her and Rose were in not only entered a very very dark tunnel, but also plunged down what seemed like 8000 metres of steep slope. Rose grabbed Chloe’s arm and moved closer to her on the small seat they were sharing.

“This is not fun anymore.” She said.

“I want Ben.”

“I want Mark.”

“BEN!!!!!!!!!”

“MARK!!!!!!!”

“What?” Came the reply from somewhere behind them.

“Are you in here?” Chloe shouted.

“Yeah, we’re just behind you.” Ben shouted back.

“We’re really scared now.” Rose called.

“You two are such wimps, it’s not sc… AAAAAAHH!!”

“What the hell was that?”

Chloe and Rose could hear Ben and Mark discussing what had just happened to their boat. What had happened was that they’d just gone down the same drop Rose and Chloe had moments earlier.

“Who’s scared now?” asked Rose.

“Yeah, I see your point.” Said Mark. “It’s not quite as fun in the dark.”

“Do you think there’ll be any more drops?” Rose asked him.

“I should think they’ll be saving it up for…” Mark didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as Chloe interrupted him with,

“Oh. My. God.”

“What?”

Ben and Mark obviously couldn’t see what she could.

“Ohhhhh, I don’t wanna do it anymore, can we get off?” Rose asked as she saw the full extent of the drop they were just about to speed down.

“What are you talking ab… okay, that’s quite high.”

There was a silence as the two logs edged slowly closer to the start of the slope. Within minutes, Chloe and Rose were right at the top, about to be plunged to their death, or so they thought.

“It was nice knowing you Ben.” Chloe said.

“Yeah, see ya Mark. Really sorry I had to go and die.” Were Rose’s final words.

And that was it, the front of the log boat tipped over the edge and started to slide down the very long, very steep, very very high slope, taking Chloe and Rose with it and gathering speed as it went along.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”