Ben and Sammie walked around backstage in silence, until they reached the canteen, where Mark and Christian sat talking.
“Do you want something to eat?” Ben asked, almost shyly.
“Um, sure. Do you know what they serve?” Sammie asked, determined to shake this awkward feeling.
“No, not really. I was thinking more of taking you out to eat” Ben said, keeping his eyes locked onto her.
“Oh, okay, that’ll be nice! Got any ideas where to go?”
Ben shrugged. “A couple of places. They want us to stick around for a while first though, for their extra show and to get cameras and tickets and stuff”
Mark saw them standing around and signalled for them to join him and Christian. They obliged.
“We got a coffee for you Ben, and picked Sammie up a hot chocolate if she’s alright with that” Sammie nodded and thanked Mark, while Ben held a chair out for her to sit on, before sitting next to her. She was overwhelmed by how polite they were being, and she didn’t feel like she could say much, which seemed to add to the awkward atmosphere. Luckily, Kaz walked over before anyone could feel too awkward. Mark looked at Kaz and Sammie curiously.
“Um, this is Kaz, you guys. Kaz, you know this is a1.” She said. Mark stood up and gave Kaz a peck on the cheek and let her sit in his seat while he went to find another chair. She smiled at him and thanked him, then turned to Sammie, a wicked glint in her eye.
“You knew it was him, didn’t you? You knew there was a Ben look alike, bet you didn’t count on the real thing” she said, smiling angelically. Sammie shot her a Look, and turned to Ben, who was watching her smiling. Sammie smiled back apologetically, and told him to ignore what Kaz was saying, then turned back to Kaz.
“Not at first, when Christian came over I realised who was left, it was just a coincidence that I picked Ben” She tried to argue. Kaz’s face showed that she didn’t believe a word Sammie was saying. Christian, thinking something could go wrong from Kaz’s teasing, started talking to her, leaving Mark, Ben and Sammie looking awkwardly at each other.
“Errrrrrrm, I’m gonna phone Paul” Mark said after a few uncomfortable moments, and left with his mobile.
“Paul?” Sammie asked Ben, unsure Mark meant their old band mate.
“Yeah, Paul. As in Marazzi, our old band mate” Ben said, looking even more uncomfortable. Sammie was a fan; he knew what was coming up next. He hated being asked why Paul left, it was Paul’s reason, not his.
“Wow, you still talk to him?”
“Yeah, loads, I do everyday and Chris and Mark phone him almost as much”
“That’s nice, that you haven’t forgotten him. Then again, he seems to be the type that’s hard to forget, none of the fans have forgotten him” Ben looked back at her, surprised.
“Aren’t you going to ask why he left?” He blurted out.
“If I did, would you tell me?” Ben shook his head “I thought so, and it’s not really your choice to tell me, it’s his, and as we’ve never met, I guess I can’t ask” Sammie said simply. She realised mentioning Paul had gotten them talking a little more easily, and if she was careful about it, she could keep him talking.
“I guess so,” Ben said, sighing. He was still feeling a little dumbstruck, which ordinarily would never happen to him.
“If he was still in the band, would he have gone on the show?” Sammie asked, trying to keep Ben talking. She never found out though, as a camera crew descended on them, trying to interview them for the extra show.

“And here are your tickets, boarding passes, hotel keys and passports” said a member of the blind date team who was travelling to the Maldives with Sammie and Ben, handing the last of the things they needed over, then walking away, waving goodbye. Sammie looked at Ben, who was once again staring at her, a weird expression on his face.
“You keep doing that,” she said. Ben, coming out of his daydream, obviously didn’t understand.
“I keep doing what?” he said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.
“Looking at me, every time I even glance at you, you’re always looking right back”
“Sorry. I’m just trying to remember your face”
“Oh, okay. Why?”
“So I don’t kiss hello the wrong girl in the morning, or worse, Christian. If I had my contacts in I probably wouldn’t be staring as much”
Sammie nodded to show that she understood.
“So, um, you wanna dump the stuff in the hotel rooms and go eat? Our flight leaves tomorrow so we can do whatever tonight” Ben said, trying to find something to do.
“Yeah, okay, I’ll need to get ready though”
“No, don’t bother, you look great as you are”
“How would you know, you don’t have your contacts in” Ben smiled and blushed.
“Good point, but I really don’t think you need to bother changing” he said and helped her carry everything to their hotel rooms.

Ben knocked on Sammie’s hotel door about five minutes after he had left. She opened the door, a hairbrush wedged in her mouth. She let him walk in.
“I did tell you that you didn’t have to change” he said, trying to stop himself laughing. “You’ll run out of clothes before we get on the plane”
“Very funny Adams, I just felt like changing”
“You haven’t yet though” he said, picking up the outfit she had laid out and putting it back into her case “So just finish what you’re doing with your hair and we can go”
Sammie threw a pillow at him, and pulled a hairband around her plait.
“You ready yet? You’re taking forever, you’re such a girl” Ben said in a mock whiney voice, jigging his legs like an impatient six year old. Sammie laughed and pulled on a jacket. Deciding to play around with Ben a bit more, she went over to the dresser.
“Almost done, just gotta put my make up on”
“Oh, yeah, wanna at least try to look like a girl” Sammie had just loaded a brush with blusher. She turned around, holding it up.
“You wouldn’t dare”
“Take it back”
“Okay, even with make up you couldn’t pull it off” Sammie threw the brush, and a large pink cloud covered his top.
“You actually did it”
“You were being annoying”
Ben sat next to her, and stared in the mirror.
“Oh, my god, my lipstick wore off, do you have cherry surprise? I’ll need some mascara too” Ben said, trying to keep a straight face. Sammie cracked up, and leant into him, laughing. He quietly breathed in the smell of her shampoo, then picked up a lipstick from her make up bag, undid the lid and drew straight down her face.
“Ben! You evil . . .” Sammie trailed off as Ben fell on the floor from laughing too hard. She grabbed the lipstick and attacked his face with it. He grabbed the small stick, shoved the lid on, threw it aside and started trying to wrestle with her. She wriggled free of his grasp. They made eye contact, and for a few moments, neither of them did or said anything. Sammie was the first to break contact, and she marched into the bathroom, to wipe off the lipstick smudge that trailed down her cheek. Ben joined her and started splashing her.
“Are we actually going to eat somewhere then?” He asked, as he leaned over to give her a small peck on the cheek. She looked at him and nodded. He kissed her other cheek and wiped it dry with the towel, before starting on his own face. He took her hand gently, and led her out of the room, and out of the hotel.

Ben stopped her outside of a restaurant.
“Wanna eat here?” He asked. She looked up at the TGI Fridays sign, then at him.
“Sure, why not?” She said, shrugging. She’d never been inside before, and didn’t know what it was like.
“Cool, you can try and oreo milkshake”
“Never heard of it”
“You haven’t? It’s the best non alcoholic drink there is!” He exclaimed, and pushed her in. She glanced around. The walls were covered in memorabilia that any Americans who went inside would understand, like a giant mars bar, far bigger than the pair of scissors next to it, and a picture of Marilyn Monroe near both of them. Either this was a really cool place to eat, or really tacky. Ben seemed to like it, so it could easily be either, but Sammie chose to go with the cool option. A waiter in a red and white shirt, navy visor and navy trousers approached them. Ben stepped forward.
“Hi, can we have a table for two?” He asked. The waiter led them to a small table, and advised them to go to the bar in the middle of the restaurant to get drinks while they waited to be served. Ben made her sit still, and went to get the milkshakes. He returned with two glasses, full of a white liquid with loads of brown dots floating inside.
“Ben?”
“Yeah?”
“What the hell is an oreo?”
“A chocolate biscuit with cream inside” Sammie put on her most revolted face, and watched Ben take a huge mouthful through his straw. He looked up and saw her expression.
“Hey, don’t prejudge, try a bit first” he said as he chewed what he couldn’t swallow straight away. Sammie nervously bent over her straw and sucked, then spluttered.
“Oh, oh man that’s gross!” she yelped, and Ben sat laughing.
“Come on, we have to order, my dear” he said, propping up her menu. She glanced over it quickly.
“I’ll just have a burger” She said shrugging.
“Ah, a girl who’s not afraid to get some meat on her bones” Ben said smiling. Inside, it was making him think something else, something he’d rather keep secret. The waiter came over then and took their orders.
“Okay, this gorgeous thing here wants the big lardy burger, and I’ll have the ribs”
The waiter walked away, and Sammie started teasing him.
“Hmm, ribs, who’s the pig? Ben’s the pig” She smiled and he stuck out his tongue at her.
“I’m a gwowing boy and I should eat my fill” He said, making sure he didn’t say his ‘r’s’ right, and putting on a child like voice. Sammie shook her head, laughing. Ben was obviously intent on winding her up tonight. Which was fine, she could play about too. The waiter delivered the food, and once he disappeared, Sammie started whispering ‘oink’ every now and again. Ben stuck his tongue out again, and said

“lard butt, eat your lard burger” then reached under the table and grabbed her leg. “Hmmm, speaking of porky” She slapped his hand away, blushing.

There was a long silence as Ben ate and Sammie sat. Ben realised and looked up at Sammie, who was staring at her burger. He was overcome with guilt.
“You aren’t really fat you know”
Sammie shrugged.
“I don’t really care about things like that anyway”
“So why aren’t you eating? I’m not paying for you to look at your food. I’m paying for you to enjoy it and for you to enjoy your time with me”
“I was just thinking”
“What about?”
“Well, what are the rest of the guys going to do while you’re with me?”
“Oh, we were all given a holiday, we didn’t know who would win. So one of us gets to sun it and the others spend time with their families. I’m getting a raw deal here”
“Do you miss your mum then?”
Ben nodded
“And Lucy and Jeremy and Rupert. I was half hoping I’d lose actually, Rupert’s playing in the final for the county football tournament, I wanted to go see it, but I have to make do with a video”
“If you want, you can phone one of them on holiday and listen over the phone, then you can psych him up before the game and talk to him after”
Ben smiled, and nodded rapidly. Sammie smiled back, and finally tucked into her food.

They had finally finished in the restaurant, and were walking around quietly.
“Wanna do anything else?” Ben asked softly.
Sammie shook her head.
“Nah, best not, I’m pretty tired and we have a flight to catch tomorrow. And I’m not the best at getting up in the mornings”
“Nor am I” Ben admitted, and led them down the road the hotel was on. They carried on in silence until they were back outside Sammies door.
“Well, good night then” she said, wondering if she should hug him.
“Yeah, good night” he said, and looked back. Sammie opened her door and turned to look at him again. He was still looking at her, that odd expression back on his face. She walked in and shut the door, and listened as his footsteps floated down the hall.