Hello people, ta-da am back!! Lol. Am now on chapter 18 of this, and in a bit of NBY writing frenzy (let’s hope it lasts!) at the moment, so I think I’m just gonna update every week-ish to get all these chapters out the way coz am bored of them now! Ooooh, this is evil chapter 13 – hate hate hate this chapter, was such a strain to write, so argh @ it. But feel free to enjoy it anyway! Sorry Chlo, I know you’ve already read this one, but is the price u pay am afraid!

Chapter Thirteen

Ben woke up with a start.

What time was it?

What day was it?

What was he late for this time?

Hang on a minute, wasn’t it…?

Was it?

It was!

Oh thank god.

Very pleased that not only had he not overslept, but he also didn’t have to work today, Ben allowed himself to relax against the pillows. Seeing as he has a day off, he could go back to sleep until…

Oh no wait, there was something he was meant to do today. Now what might that be? Oh no, what if it was something really important? Knowing Ben’s luck it probably would be. He was trying really hard to remember, but however hard he tried, he just could not envisage what he might possibly have planned for his day off apart from sleeping all day.

Chloe stirred beside him and Ben looked over to see if she was awake. She still had her eyes closed so he guessed not, which was weird actually coz she was usually up way before him. She normally woke up naturally at about 8, something Ben had always marvelled at. How could anyone voluntarily wake up that early?! He had problems waking up that early when he had to, let alone when he didn’t. But anyway, it was nearly half 10 now so why was Chloe still asleep? Ben didn’t mind, everyone deserved a lie-in, he was just wondering why she hadn’t woken up early like she normally did. She must be really tired for some reason; Ben hoped that she wasn’t getting ill because he knew that if she was, all he’d want to do would be stay at home and look after her.

Thoughts of Chloe refreshed Ben’s memory and he finally remembered what he’d planned to do that day. Because it was his first full day off for ages and he was going to be really busy with the band over the next couple of weeks, he’d decided to take Chloe out somewhere nice so they could spend the whole day together. He’d been trying to think of somewhere to take her that wouldn’t be too heavily populated and also somewhere they hadn’t been before. His original plan, that had struck him as a stroke of genius, was to go to a castle with gardens and a big moat around it, take a picnic and spend the day there. He’d been really pleased with himself, thought it’d be really romantic, until he realised that it was the middle of January and, not only was it freezing outside, but the castle didn’t even open until February.

Ben had been very annoyed that his lovely plan had been foiled, but he’d re-thought it and now they were going to go and see the current hit musical that was showing at the Drury Lane theatre (Ben couldn’t remember the name of it but he had the tickets all booked and ready), followed by a romantic meal at The Rainforest Café, which Ben knew was Chloe’s absolute favourite place to eat out at in the whole of London.

Ever since he’d taken her there for their six month anniversary, whenever he offered to take her out and asked her where she’d like to go, she always wanted to go to the same place. They must have been about five times now; they were fast becoming regulars! Chloe loved it though, she never got bored of it and whenever they’d gone anywhere else Ben knew that Chloe hadn’t enjoyed it quite as much as she did when they ate at The Rainforest Café. She wasn’t really one for posh restaurants where you had to get all dressed up and eat with the proper knifes and forks and stuff, and nor was Ben to be honest, so it was the perfect place for them to go.

But first, they had to go shopping. Not the number one usual romantic pursuit, granted, but it wasn’t just a normal shopping trip for clothes or CDs. No, Chloe and Ben would be coming home with paint and wallpaper and other interior decoration stuff from Homebase. Ever since Chloe had said she’d move in with him, Ben had been getting up in the middle of the night and secretly working for a couple of hours to clear the spare room of all the junk that he’d been keeping in there for want of a better place to put it. He’d finished it on Saturday night and so hadn’t had to get up last night, which had been nice because Ben wasn’t even good at getting up in the morning, let alone in the middle of the night!

But anyway, the reason he’d been doing it was to make Chloe feel really at home when she moved in. He was going to give the room to her to do what she wanted with it. She could put her stuff in there and decorate it however she wanted to. They could do it together, it’d be fun! All proper and couply. So that’s why Ben was taking Chloe shopping to get paint and stuff like that. He didn’t have the time at the moment to started decorating immediately, but if they had everything they needed ready, as soon as he had a spare second they could start.

Ben sometimes worried that he was sort of… putting Chloe’s life on hold by being with her. He never seemed to have the rime to do all the things he wanted with her, and it sometimes felt like he was slowing her down, holding her back. There’d been so many times he’d had to postpone something and promise to do it later, he felt like he was making Chloe wait for him to have time. He was always full of apology and she said she didn’t mind, but Ben sometimes wondered. He seemed to spend half his time making it up to her.

However having said that, making it up to her was often the most fun part!

Smiling and getting out of bed, Ben wandered down the corridor towards the dinging room. He had to find out where the nearest Homebase was, and he was sure he had a copy of the Yellow Pages around somewhere. Everyone had a copy of the Yellow Pages somewhere. Ben’s trouble was that he spent so much of his time being told what to do, where and when, he wasn’t all that experienced in thinking for himself. He knew that you got DIY stuff from Homebase, and he figured that there had to be one in London somewhere, he just wasn’t sure how to find out where. The Yellow Pages seemed like a good starting point though. That had shops in, right?

Ben looked around the stylish dining room he hardly ever had time to eat in. His eyes settled on a big thick yellow book that was on one of the shelves almost hidden underneath a pile of magazines and books stacked precariously on top of it. Ben tried to coax the yellow pages out of the pile without knocking everything over, but as the first few items started to fall onto the floor, he gave up and just pulled the big book out from underneath everything in one sudden swift gesture. He put it on the wooden dining table and started to look through it as everything that had been on the shelf spread itself over the floor. It didn’t matter, he could clean it up later. Or next week, or sometime… He would do it.

Ben flicked through the thin pages and had just got to the DIY section when the phone rang. He ran to it so the ringing didn’t wake Chloe up, but as he picked up the receiver he heard the sound of the shower running. She must be up then. Ben wondered why she hadn’t come to say good morning…

“Hello?” he said distractedly into the handset.

“Ben, it’s Del. I’ve got a bit of bad news for you I’m afraid.”

“What is it?” Ben asked.

It couldn’t be all that bad because Del didn’t sound too distressed about whatever he was about to tell Ben. Then again, he only ever seemed to be distressed about the non-distressing things in life. Funny guy.

“Day off’s been cancelled.” Del said bluntly.

Before Ben had a chance to react with a surprised and angry “WHAT?!”, Del started his next sentence.

“Smash Hits Radio want you to do an interview about your chart position for the Sunday broadcast.” He said.

Oh great, just what Ben wanted to hear. Not only did he have to forfeit all his carefully laid plans with Chloe and, once again, have to postpone their day together, but he had to go and pretend to some stupid uninformed radio DJ that he was pleased with ‘Caught In The Middle’s’ chart position of number two and didn’t care about the fact that Enrique Iglesias had beaten them to the top spot.

Of course Ben wasn’t pleased. What did everyone expect him to do? Jump around for joy?! He was gutted about it. He’d really thought they were going to get to number one, and being so close just made it worse. ‘Caught In The Middle’ had been getting praise from influential music figures all over the industry, it had been played on all the radio stations across the country, it had even made it onto the b-list on the Radio One playlist, and they still couldn’t beat a song that only just scraped onto the c-list with the remix. The fact that he’d co-written the song just made it even more of a sore subject. He obviously just wasn’t good enough.

So needless to say, it wasn’t at the top of his list of things he wanted to talk about. Or was even willing to talk about in fact.

“But I’ve got plans!” Ben said.

“Cancel them.”

“I don’t want to!”

“There’s no point arguing Ben, and certainly not with me. It’s on order of Tim. Who by the way, is not exactly thrilled with your chart position yesterday.”

“That’s hardly our fault!” Ben protested.

Now that really wasn’t fair. All they did was make the records and promote them; that was all they could do! They could hardly force people to buy the songs, could they? Could they…?

“Tim knows it’s not your fault. All he’s saying is that it might be a good idea to go about getting the band a bit more publicity before the next single. Increase your profile a bit.” Del said diplomatically, obviously well practised in handling Ben’s tantrums.

“Is there any way I could get away with not being there?” Ben asked hopefully.

He knew it was a stupid question and there was no way he’d be allowed to “skive off”, but he had nothing to lose.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“But it’s a radio interview, no-one will know if I’m not there!”

“Ben, no.” Del said firmly.

Oh well, at least he’d tried.

“What time is it?” Ben asked, sulkily giving in to the fact that work was work and there was nothing he could do about it.

“2 ‘til 4.”

Oh, that was okay! The show didn’t start until 5; him and Chloe go could still go!

Ben was pleased. That meant that the only thing he wouldn’t be able to do today was spend so long shopping with Chloe. Not too bad considering what he had planned for the evening. Still, it was a pain. Especially as he had something to give her.

Ben smiled as he remembered his little surprise. He’d bought it a couple of weeks ago and, whereas he supposed he could give it to her over dinner tonight, he really couldn’t wait any longer! Maybe there’d be a good moment in Homebase…

Oooh, Homebase, that was what he was doing before he answered the phone. What Del was keeping him from in fact.

“Look Del, I’ve gotta go, I’m a bit busy.” Ben said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” Del said.

Ben put the phone down and went back over to his telephone directory. He’d almost found what he was looking for when he felt two wet hands on his back. Turning around, he saw Chloe standing behind him wearing only a towel, her wet hair dripping down her arms and back.

“Morning.” She said, pulling Ben closer and sliding her hands up his bare chest.

“Sleep well?” he asked, putting his arms around her damp body and giving her a kiss.

She smiled. “Yeah, not too bad.”

“Good. Fancy some breakfast?”

“Depends what kinda breakfast you’re talking about.” Chloe said, grinning.

“I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but the food kind.” Ben said. “We’ve got things to do today.”

Dammit, he knew his plans should have involved staying in bed all day.

“We do?” Chloe asked as the two of them walked to the kitchen. “What were you looking for in the Yellow Pages?”

“Homebase.”

“Hate to break it to you babe, but I don’t think you’ll find it in there.”

“Why not?” Ben asked, getting two plates out of a cupboard.

Chloe grinned. “Coz it’s made out of bricks.”

“Oh very funny. I wasn’t looking for the actual store.”

“Why were you looking for the non-actual one?”

“Coz we’re going there today.” Ben told her, putting two slices of bread in the toaster and getting the butter out of the fridge.

“Ben, you spoil me.” Chloe said, getting a knife out of a drawer.

“Well as it happens, I’ve got something to show you.”

“Can I see it now?” Chloe asked.

“If you like. Come with me.” Ben said, leaving the breakfast preparations and going out of the kitchen.

“Is it a surprise?” Chloe asked, following him as he walked up the corridor leading to the bedroom.

“Yep. It’s in here,” Ben gestured towards the spare room door.

“Can I go in?”

“Yeah.”

Chloe cautiously turned the handle and opened the door. She stepped into the completely empty room, the wooden floorboards cold against her bare feet.

“Well either it’s escaped or I need glasses because I don’t see a surprise.”

“Don’t you?” Ben asked, a smile creeping onto his lips.

Chloe looked at him. “No. There’s nothing in here.”

“I know.” Ben said.

“Actually, where has all the stuff gone? Didn’t there use to be a load of junk in here?”

“Yeah, I moved it.”

“Where to?”

Ben shrugged. “Places.”

“Why did you move it?”

“So I could surprise you.”

“The non-mess is the surprise?” Chloe asked.

“Sort of.”

Chloe looked a bit disappointed. “Oh. Well it’s… great.”

Ben smiled. “It’s yours.”

“What?”

“The room.”

Chloe still looked a bit confused. “You’re giving me a room?” she asked slowly.

“For when you more in. You can put stuff in it so you feel at home. It’s yours to do whatever you want with it.

Ben saw a sudden light in Chloe’s eyes as it finally clicked.

“Really? Anything?” she asked.

“Uh-huh. You can make it into a water park if you want to. As of now, creative rein is handed over to you absolutely and completely. Surprise!”

“Oh my god! When did you do all this?” Chloe asked.

“When you were asleep.”

“Aww Ben, it must have taken you ages! I can’t believe you’re giving me a whole room!”

“Well I wanted you to feel like it’s your house as well as mine.” Ben explained. “I’ve got five whole rooms full of my stuff, the least I could do is let you have somewhere to clutter with yours.”

“Why are we going to Homebase though?” Chloe asked.

“So we can get paint and stuff.”

Chloe gasped. “I get to decorate it?!”

“Yeah! It’s your room!”

“Oh wow! This is just like the best present ever!” Chloe exclaimed.

“Well I’ve actually got something else for you that I’m hoping you’ll like a little more than this.” Ben revealed. “But I’ll give it to you later.”

“What is it?” Chloe asked.

“I’m not telling you.”

“Is it something big?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Is it really cool?” Chloe persisted.

“I am not telling you!” Ben exclaimed.

“Ow. When are we going to Homebase?”

“After breakfast?”

“Let’s skip breakfast and go now!”

“Right now?”

“Yeah!”

“I don’t think that would be a very good idea.” Ben said.

“Why not?”

“Coz you’ve only got a towel on.”

An hour later, Chloe and Ben were walking up and down the aisles of Homebase, pushing a trolley with a few items already in the bottom. Well, Chloe was pushing the trolley. She’d said that it was only right she got to do it seeing as they were buying stuff for her room. Ben had argued that seeing as he was paying for everything, he should get trolley rights, but in the end Chloe had won.

Chloe always won.

“Oooh, can I have shelves?” she asked as they passed a display of different shelves.

She was having such a good day! Shopping was very high on Chloe’s list of favourite pass times, and strangely, DIY shopping came nearly top under that sub-heading. She didn’t know why, but she just loved all the home improvement stuff. Little pots full of things, stencil things, sticky on things – it was just great! And wow, a whole room of her own. And one that’s main function didn’t have to be a bedroom. Now that was exciting! Just think of the possibilities!

Her mind had been awash with ideas ever since Ben had surprised her that morning and as they shopped, the picture in her mind became clearer and clearer.

“You can have shelves if you want.” Ben said. “If they’ll fit your top secret specification.”

Chloe had decided not to tell Ben her decoration ideas. She was going to do it all herself as a counter-surprise. Plus, Ben would only do it wrong if he helped. He should have learnt the rules of living with a perfectionist by now!

“Don’t make me tell you, it’s a surprise for you!” Chloe said.

“But I wanted to help you decorate!”

“You won’t have time.” Chloe said. “It’ll give me something to do when you’re busy being a pop star.”

“Fine.” Ben said, a little sulkily. “What kind of shelves do you want?”

“Um…” Chloe left the trolley and started to walk up and down the row, studying the different types and sizes of shelving. “Oooh, these ones, definitely.” She said, picking up a box containing two stylish metal squiggly shelves and putting them in the trolley.

“Those are shelves?” Ben asked, looking at them.

“Yeah! They’re really cool!”

“If you say so.”

“Is it for your room or mine?” Chloe asked.

“Yours.”

“That’s right. So don’t question my supreme interior designer-ship.” Chloe said.

“Oh that’s what it is, is it?”

“Yep.” Chloe said as they strolled leisurely towards the next section. “You know, I really love this shop.”

“Do you? I don’t think I’ve ever been here before.” Ben confessed.

“That’s because you had servants to do those kind of menial tasks.” Chloe teased.

“Still do.” Ben said, grinning as Chloe shoved him in the side.

“I can remember coming here with mum when I was little.” Chloe said. “Me and my brother used to play in the display bathrooms. The kitchens were better though really coz there was all the fake bread and fruit, but there was always an attendant guy patrolling all ready to give you a disapproving look. Oh, and the lights section! That’s really cool. Do I get to choose lights for my room?” Chloe asked, eyes shining as she looked up at Ben.

She was way too excited about this DIY thing, wasn’t she? Oh but it was just so fun! She had a whole empty un-decorated room to let her no-expense spared imagination run wild in. She didn’t have to be sensible, it didn’t have to be functional, it could just be cool. And that was exactly what it was going to be.

“You get to choose everything!”

“Okay, cool! Oh! Can I have my other surprise yet?” Chloe asked.

She’d been thinking about that since Ben told her. She hated when people said they had a surprise for you and then wouldn’t tell you what it was. It was like saying you had a secret and then saying you couldn’t tell.

Very annoying.

She’d been trying to guess what it could be, but so far she’d drawn a blank. She knew Ben had whatever it was with him right now, so it must be pretty small. Chloe had tried to feel in Ben’s pockets when she hugged him, but he’d soon cottoned onto her frankly ingenious plan when, having failed to feel anything through the material of his jeans, she tried to subtly put her hands in his front jeans pockets. Honesty, he was such a spoilsport!

“Do you want it now?” Ben asked.

“Yes!”

“Okay.” Ben said, stopping walking and turning to Chloe. “Hold out your left hand and shut your eyes.”

Chloe did so expectantly. She felt Ben take hold of her outstretched hand with one of his and slide something which felt suspiciously like a ring onto her wedding finger.

Oh my god, hang on just one minute…

A RING ON HER WEDDING FINGER?!!