It was just the two of them on the road, Shane and Danielle. She was happy that a nurse was found to take care of Siobhan for that week and Danielle made the nurse promise to call the minute there was any problem. Siobhan was as weak as ever and she needed a close watch. At one point Danielle was prepared to forget about the Lakes and just stay with Siobhan but even she didn’t want to hear that Danielle was staying home because of her, and after a long talk between them Danielle was satisfied that Siobhan would be in good hands and that she’ll phone her if needs be.
Shane had planned the whole holiday for the both of them. They arrived at the inn they were going to stay at in a village in the middle of nowhere and took their bags upstairs. It was smallish but just what Shane wanted it to be. The delight in Danielle’s eyes made it certain to Shane that he had made the right choice in their accommodations. They each had a room to themselves, though they were identical. There was a four poster bed in the middle of the room with a bedside table. There was a bathroom with a bath but no shower and a small basin. The window was overlooking a lake that looked peaceful and relaxing and Danielle wished she could be just as relaxed still thinking of Siobhan. Then she shook all thoughts of Siobhan away. This was her holiday and she was going to enjoy it. The room was small but cozy but Danielle loved it. Shane was just as equally happy of the look of his room.
Danielle loved every moment of the holiday. If it was walking through a stately home or if it was enjoying the hills and valleys surrounding them or if it was just going out at night to some pub and enjoying the whole atmosphere of the local people. Shane was just as pleased as the days rolled by lazily in his mind. He was waiting, waiting for the right moment to be alone with Danielle. It was only the two of them but wherever they went Danielle made everything that surrounded them a part of their time together and so Shane felt that somehow they weren’t really alone.
The days passed too quickly in Danielle’s eyes and too slow in Shane’s but still tomorrow was their last day and then they had to go back to the every day lives. Shane woke up early that day. He washed and dressed then went down to the dining room and ordered breakfast. He knew Danielle would just be waking up now and took his double order of breakfast on a tray and walked up the flight of stairs leading to her room.
Danielle was washing her face as she heard the knock on her door. She assumed it was Shane. He came by every morning so they could go down to breakfast together but it was too early for him to come now. She dried her face and straightened out her nightgown and opened the door to Shane who was standing there with the tray smiling broadly down at her.
“Good morning.” He said cheerfully. “I thought you might like some breakfast in bed as a treat before we go home tomorrow.”
“Oh Shane,” She giggled. “A wonderful idea. Why don’t you come in then?” She said opening the door wider and stepping aside as Shane walked into the room.
“This is no good.” He said frowning as he looked from Danielle to the bed and back to Danielle again.
“Why? What’s the matter?”
“It’s quite simple really,” Shane turned to face her still holding the tray. “You see, this here,” He looked down at the tray. “Is breakfast in bed and you are not in bed so how can I let you have it?” He grinned and Danielle laughed.
“That’s really too bad. ‘Cause I’m not having breakfast without you.” She said thinking clearly he already had his downstairs.
“That’s just fine then.” He said still grinning. “I haven’t had my breakfast yet.”
”In that case…” Danielle jumped on the bed and pulled the covers over her. “Ok, I’m ready.” Shane put the tray down on the bed and frowned. “What’s wrong now?” She asked confused.
”It’s breakfast in bed, right?” Danielle nodded. “I’m not in the bed, how am I supposed to have my breakfast?” He asked faking his anger and putting his hands on his waist. Danielle grinned and pulled the covers up and patted the empty side of her bed.
”Well hop in then. I’m starving.” Shane eagerly took up the offer and got into the bed next to Danielle.
They finished their breakfast and put the tray aside but they stayed in bed laughing and giggling at stupid jokes and making fun of one another. Danielle took note of the time and all of a sudden she stopped laughing.
“What’s wrong?” Shane asked.
”Look at the time! It’s nine in the morning we are usually out and about by this time.” She answered and pulled the covers away and eased out of bed.
”Not so fast.” Shane said pulling her back and she fell onto the bed and Shane leaned over her grinning.
“Shane! Honestly! We got things to do, places to go and we haven’t seen everything yet.” Danielle protested as he still held her arm.
“Those things can wait.” He whispered. “There’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now and had to wait for it till now.” Danielle looked at him, puzzled. He leaned down and kissed her softly. Danielle’s shock melted away in seconds and she responded to his kiss. He let go of her arm and brushed her hair with his fingers as she slipped her arms over his neck pulling him closer to her. Shane hadn’t realized how much he longed to kiss her until now and knew just how much he loved her. They stopped kissing for a while and looked into each other’s eyes.
”I love you, Danielle.” Shane stated.
”I know.” She answered in a whisper and pulled him down to her to feel those lips on hers again. They were both lost in the moment.

Chapter 38
It took a while till Danielle realized what she and Shane had done. Standing in the shower letting the hot water pour onto her she tried to clear things out. Shane is in the room lying in the bed waiting for me to come out of the shower. Only ten minutes ago we made love for an hour. Her thoughts stopped there. She couldn’t think anymore. I just made love to Shane. Why did I do that? Danielle turned the tap on full blast and let the hot water sting her body. She loved Shane that’s about the only thing she could cope with because she always loved him but what about Siobhan? Danielle’s head began pounding like in a hangover. She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower grabbing a bathrobe and going back into the room where Shane was obviously still waiting for her.
“What took you so long? I missed you.” Shane smiled getting up and walked towards Danielle then slipped his arms round her waist and nipped her lips. Danielle closed her eyes and let him kiss her feeling the banging in her head grow stronger. She pulled away and sat on the bed. “You ok, sweetie?” He asked concerned and sat beside her.
“A sudden headache.” Danielle replied not looking at Shane.
“You want aspirin?” She shook her head.
“No, I’ll be fine in a moment. It’s probably because I got out of bed quickly, it’ll pass soon.”
“Ok, then.” Shane said. “I’m going to hit the shower too, then we can go out like we planned. We’re already two hours late!” He mimicked Danielle and she giggled.
“Well that’s your own fault, you should know better than to keep me here against my will.” She retorted with a grin. He laughed and kissed her quickly then got up and closed the bathroom door behind him.

Danielle didn’t say anything to Shane, she didn’t know how. Every now and then he’d come up behind her and kiss her on the neck holding her close to him and she didn’t protest. She couldn’t and she wanted to wait for the right moment but the right time never seemed to come. Shane spent their last night of their holiday in her room and Danielle made the most of it, savoring his kisses, the feeling of his touch and hearing him talk sweet nothings into her ear, she knew she’ll never be with Shane again after this night. Danielle didn’t stop tears forming in her eyes and she tried blinking them away before Shane saw them but he had noticed.
“What’s wrong, love?” He asked tenderly looking in her eyes and caressing her black hair.
“I love you, Shane and…” Danielle said but couldn’t say the rest of what was on her mind.
“I love you too, Danielle.” He said and kissed her softly on her lips to make her feel at ease. Danielle kissed him back like a hungry child and she kept on kissing him till she thought it’d be enough to stay in her memory. Shane pulled away and smiled lovingly down at her. “Feeling better now, love?” He asked drying the tear that was hanging in the corner of her eye. Danielle nodded and smiled loving him.

Shane wanted to take Danielle all the way back to Siobhan’s apartment but Danielle refused agreeing only to let him take her as far as the airport where Shane had to catch a flight to Ireland for a TV appearance in a local television program.
Shane took Danielle with him as far as he could through the airport terminal before he had to go through security and leave her to catch his flight. He was oblivious to the people and the noise about him as he held Danielle close to him loving her, as he knew she loved him. Danielle looked up at him and stared into his hazel-green eyes.
“Shane I…” She said almost inaudible.
“What?” He asked softly frowning slightly.
“We can’t be together.” She whispered sadly.
“Why not?” He asked puzzled.
“We just can’t ok?” Danielle said frustrated and Shane saw the tears in her eyes. He knew she loved him.
“But I love you, and you love me. It’s that simple.” He stated.
“Damn it! It’s not that simple, Shane.” She said and pulled away from his embrace. “Just accept it ok?”
“No. Why should I?” He asked annoyed.
“Because of Siobhan. I can’t do this to her. You can’t do this to her. I know deep inside you still love her.” Shane turned away in anger and confusion. Yes he still loved Siobhan but it was over between them, he has nothing to do with her now, she cheated on him and it ended. It took him a while till he turned to face Danielle again.
“That reason is not good enough for me, darling.” He said tenderly. “We love each other. This shouldn’t be in our way.” Danielle shook her head letting the tears flow down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry Shane.” She said and he heard the pain in her voice. Shane was hurt badly he loved Danielle but he loved her so much that he was prepared to let her go, knowing she would be in bigger pain if they stayed together and it pained him to know that she spoke the truth. He nodded his head slowly and put his arms around her neck and kissed her passionately Danielle responded with an equal force of passion. They stood there for two minutes loving each other until the loud speaker announced Shane’s flight was about to leave in ten minutes.
“I love you Shane.” Danielle said as he drew away smiling lovingly at her then turned away heading towards the airplane to take him to Ireland.

Chapter 39
Shane went back to work. He met the other lads in Dublin the next day in the TV studio they were recording in and they were sitting in the dressing rooms waiting to go on air in five minutes time. Shane was sitting on a chair deep in thought about what happened last week and wondered if that was a part of reality. He had Danielle for two days and it’s gone. Damn Siobhan! He thought bitterly. Why did she have to ruin his chances with Danielle? Up to this moment Shane was angry with Siobhan for cheating on him but now he hated her. Because of her he couldn’t be with Danielle. Because of her he lost the two most important people in the world that he loved.
“What’s up Shane?” Nicky asked as he pulled up a chair and sat beside him.
“What did ya say?” Shane asked vaguely as if he was just woken up.
“Ah, never mind, clearly you are in no state to talk.” Nicky chuckled. “Probably thinking of that girl he spent a week with up in the Lake District.” Nicky said to himself more to anyone in the room. Nicky got up but Shane called to him.
“Yeah, I was thinking of that actually,” Shane stated sadly.
“Thought as much. How was it?” He asked grinning, obviously he hadn’t heard Shane’s tone of voice.
“It was grand, mate. Everything I always wanted. I had the place, the atmosphere and I even had the girl.” He smiled sadly then sighed and Nicky frowned.
“So? Why you sad? What went wrong? Did she ditch ya already?” He asked jokingly.
“You could say that, Nicky.” Shane glanced at him then looked down to his hands. “We had a marvelous week and it ended splendidly.” Shane remembered the last two days he had with Danielle and sighed happily. “But she dumped me.” He said.
“Are you that bad in bed?” Nicky laughed at his own joke then saw the hard expression on Shane’s face and cleared his throat. “Sorry mate. So why did she ditch ya?”
“Because of Siobhan.”
“Siobhan? Wha- I mean how does-?”
“She’s our mutual friend, Nicky.” Shane cut him off.
“That explains a lot, mate. Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you.” A woman entered the dressing room and told the lads that they had to go on air at that moment. Nicky and Shane got up and followed her through the corridor to the set.
“Yeah, well, whatever. I guess I’m just not cut out to deserve everlasting love.” Shane said as they all sat down on a sofa facing the presenter of the show.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s Westlife for you.” The presenter boomed out into the microphone and the audience erupted in a loud cheer for the five Irish lads.

Danielle didn’t get the chance to talk to Siobhan till the next day after she returned because she got home late at night and Siobhan had already gone to bed and Danielle got up early in the morning to go back to work and catch up on the things she missed for the past week.
Danielle entered the flat after she finished working that day and Siobhan was there to greet her.
”Danielle! It’s so good to see you!” She said trying to get up off the sofa. It was very hard for her with all the extra weight she was carrying with her.
“No, no. Don’t get up for me.” Danielle said and rushed to the sofa and eased Siobhan back into the seat and hugged her.
”Come sit here and tell me all about it. I want to know everything.” Siobhan said excitedly.
“I just got back from work, I need to eat something.” Danielle tried to avoid looking at her friend as she got up and walked into the kitchen.
“That’s not fair. You’ve been home for just under twenty four hours and I haven’t heard a single word from you about your holiday.”
“Yeah, well that’s because you were asleep.” Danielle answered and the both giggled.
“Well if you’re gonna eat in the kitchen I have no choice but to follow you there and hear your story there.” Siobhan said and started getting up.
“No! Don’t do that. You should rest.” Danielle said protesting and stood in the kitchen doorway.
“It’s not as if I’m some sort of invalid.” Siobhan said as she finally managed to stand on her feet without losing her balance. She entered the kitchen and sat there. “I’ll just wait till you’re sitting here before me and then you can tell me how it was. Ok?” Siobhan smiled. Clearly Danielle had no choice anymore and fixed herself a sandwich then sat down and faced Siobhan. Danielle told Siobhan everything from what the room in the inn was like to the small tiny details of the scenery that surrounded the two of them on their trip. The only thing she left concealed was Shane. She couldn’t face her friend and tell her she betrayed her. Luckily Siobhan hadn’t suspected a thing and was pleased to hear that Danielle had a good holiday.
“Oh. Guess what? I was so eager to see what the pictures came out like that I developed them already.” Danielle said excitedly.
“Ooooh. I want to see!” Siobhan said delightedly. Danielle walked into the lounge and picked up her handbag and took out the pictures and started walking back into the kitchen when Siobhan was making her way slowly to where Danielle was.
“Stop walking about so much.” Danielle said disapprovingly at Siobhan.
“As long as you stop treating me like a wounded animal.” Siobhan retorted stubbornly. Danielle agreed and they both sat down on the sofa and went through the pictures. “Oh. I love this one.” Siobhan said as she looked at one picture of Shane and Danielle standing together in an open area with a beautiful lake behind them. “I’m going to enlarge this one.” Siobhan stated.
“Yeah, I like that one too.” Danielle said remembering that, that morning was the morning they had made love. She shivered inwardly and she hoped that Siobhan didn’t see it.

Danielle came home later than usual that day. She had lots to do and was busy all day long. Siobhan wasn’t home yet, she left her a message saying she went for a doctor’s appointment and she’ll return later in the evening because she wanted to buy a few more maternity dresses. Danielle knew what Siobhan was like shopping she could take all night, especially in her condition because she walked like a snail.
Siobhan came home about an hour later and saw Danielle spark out on the sofa she put the picture she enlarged on the coffee table and left the lounge not wanting to disturb her friend sleeping. Danielle woke up hearing Siobhan’s door shutting loudly on the second floor. She stretched and sat up slowly. She looked at the enlarged picture and smiled then she saw a newspaper and blinked a few times before she realized what she saw. It read “Filan is soaring with Love” and she glanced at the picture and saw it was Shane and her kissing in the airport. She groaned and after a few seconds of recognition she gasped as she realized that Siobhan now knows.