The phone started ringing in Sammie’s ear although to her it sounded as though it was a jackhammer going. She hid her head under the covers to muffle the sound, but the ringing continued, pounding through her skull. She wriggled free of her duvet and was met by a bright blazing light. She finally picked up the phone.
“Yeah, what?” she asked moodily.
“Morning gorgeous!” Ben’s voice floated down the phone. He’d said it quietly and cheerfully, but to her it was so much louder and sounded as if he was jeering at her.
“Ow, my head!”
“Welcome to hangover land. Can I come over?”
“Sure, I guess”
“Cool, see you in five” Ben hung up, and Sammie dived under her pillow.

* * *

It felt like Sammie had just put the phone down and Ben was already knocking at her door. She crawled out of bed to let him in.
“Morning gorgeous” He said smiling, his hand on her shoulder to stop her getting back into bed. “Nice to see you’re dressed for today” he added cheekily, remembering the first night they had together.
“Shut up, my head is SO sore!” she whined. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ve got something you’ll love me for” he whispered as quietly as possible, and presented her with a box of paracetamol. She looked at him, amazed. “Paul packed them for me, saying if I was anything like him I’d be in need. I think you need them more though”
She took them gratefully, then took a top and pair of shorts into the bathroom. Ben heard the shower go, then sat on Sammie’s bed and relit the fondue set. He looked at the fruit. Half of it had spoiled. He sighed and threw the rotten half away. The mobile on Sammie’s bedside table went off, and Ben automatically picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi . . . you’re not Sammie are you?”
“No, I’m Ben, Sammie’s date. Who’s this?”
“Kaz, her best friend. Can you get her to call me back?”
“Okay . . . can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, I may not answer though”
“Have you really moved in with Chris?”
“Who told you a thing like that?”
“Paul, I think Mark told him, and Mark heard form Chris, but Mark has a notoriously bad memory so he may have changed something accidentally.”
“Oh, right. Well, he must’ve. I’m only staying with Chris until Sammie comes back from her date in paradise with you”
“I’d better set Paul straight on that one then. So are you going out?”
“Who?”
“You and Chris. You’re round his house for a week and you’ve already slept together-“
“Who told you THAT?”
“Sammie. I think she was so shocked that it just kind of came out. So are you going out with him?”
“Sort of. And don’t worry, I won’t do anything to Sammie for her telling you”
“Cool, but I would’ve loved to try the knight in shining armour routine”
“I’ll bet. Bye”
“See you” They both hung up. Ben smiled, and dipped one of the remaining cherries in the chocolate. Sammie finally emerged as he swallowed. His mouth dropped open in awe of her appearance, but he quickly caught himself and smiled.
“You look amazing honey” he said, reminding himself to breathe.
“Thanks. I do feel better now. Not accepting any more champagne off of you though” she said, going up to him and punching him lightly on the shoulder. He took her hand, got up, and kissed her gently. She let him do so for a few minutes, then pulled away.
“Were you on the phone to someone? I could hear talking”
“Yeah, your friend Kaz called, she wants you to call her back.”
“I’ll do that in a while”
“Yeah, but first you want to kiss me” Ben argued, pulling her close again. She resisted this time.
“So what were you talking about?”
“Her and Christian. Paul said she’d moved in with him but it’s only for a week and you were stressed about them sleeping together. She doesn’t seem as bad as you make out”
“She’s great . . . I make her out to be like what?”
“I don’t know, like she complicates things”
“Like her making me go on the show?” Ben nodded “ no, that’s-okay, you misunderstood this time. She’s just very helpful, and sometimes it backfires. I thought it was happening again, but we’re pretty good right now and she’s happy right now so I guess I got it wrong” She noticed the confused expression on his face “what?”
“We’re pretty good right now?” He repeated, checking her eyes for a hidden meaning.
“Yeah, we’re getting along really well now. I thought anyway. I mean, yesterday was a little confusing, but last night we made up. Or is that the hangover talking?”
“No, we’re great” Ben said deflatedly.
“What’s up?”
“Sorry, I just . . . . Look, you know how I feel, I told you at dinner last night. How do you feel about me?”
“Wait, how do you feel about me?”
“You don’t remember?” She shook her head “I told you I never gave my number out unless a girl was special, and then I gave it to you.”
“You did?”
Ben nodded sadly.
“And later on you said you could see why girls fancy me and I asked if you did and you avoided the question and fell asleep”
He bit his lip to stop himself from crying.
“Oh”
“You don’t fancy me, do you?”
“Well, yeah I do, I’m not stupid. But I’m only going to be around you for this week so what’s the point in me even admitting it?”
Ben moved over to Sammie’s CD walkman, slipped a CD in and looked at her needily.
“Listen to this and you’ll see” He said, handing her the earphones and skipping through the tracks until he found the song he was looking for. Sammie heard a few piano notes and guitar chords and then:

‘I feel vulnerable, I’m scared
I hand on every word like
There’s a hidden meaning
It caught me unprepared
Now I’m climbing up the wall
That stands between us

I keep hoping it’s my imagination

Playing tricks with my heart on this occasion
But I’ve just got this sinking feeling

So who’s gonna drown
Now the dam’s about to break
Tell me if it’s me
I gotta know
I’m strong enough to tell you

That it’s more than I can take
I’m just hanging by a thread

Got a feeling I’m in over my head
Can’t wait until tomorrow

Gotta know tonight’

Sammie stopped the CD and pulled out the earphones.
“So?” Ben asked, as wide as they would go.
“It’s a good song. Is it one of yours?”
“No, it’s Darius, but that’s not the point. I feel that way Sammie darling, so, please, do you feel something back?”
Sammie picked her mobile up.
“I should really call Kaz back”
“Why do you keep avoiding me when I ask you how you feel about me?”
“I’m not, I just really have to call Kaz back. She left a message on my phone yesterday too”
“Why can’t you fall for me too?” Ben asked quietly.
“Because, like you proved last night, there’s a lot of women in your life, and most of them are to pass time between the last one and the next”
Ben was becoming increasingly confused.
“You do remember last night?”
“Bits of it”
“Sammie, I told you, those girls meant nothing, you do” Sammie rolled her eyes “why won’t you believe me when I say how I feel?”
“Because I’m SCARED, okay?” she yelled, and realised what she’d done. Her hands clasped around her mouth. Ben edged closer.
“Scared? What, that I might meet another girl and do the phone number thing to you, or because I might turn out to be another Tom?”
She lowered her hands, her eyes as wide as Bens could get.
“I told you about Tom?” Ben nodded, watching her “I guess it’s both” she admitted.
Ben stood right next to her, and wrapped his arms around her.
“Please give me the benefit of the doubt. I just want a chance to be with you. I shouldn’t have to beg. If it helps, I’m scared too. I’m scared of being in a long term relationship, how stupid does that sound?”
“It doesn’t sound stupid. In a way, it’s what I’m scared of”
“Okay, so can we hold each others hands through it and see if we can make it?” Ben was whispering now. Sammie pulled away slightly and stared deep into his eyes. For the first time, she could see how much he really cared, and how much more this was hurting him. She took a deep breath and held out her hand.
“YES!!!”