‘Karen, I’m so sorry. I’m lost without you, without us. Please....come back to me.’
‘Shane, haven’t you heard anything I’ve told you? You hurt me so much.’
‘But you’re only going to hurt yourself more by splitting up with me.’ Karen looked into those deep brown eyes of his, and was instantly reminded of everything she loved about him. All those things that she’d been trying to keep out of her head for the past few days. All those things that had made her fall in love with him.....
‘Karen, please try. Surely I wasn’t worth so little to you that our relationship isn’t worth even trying to salvage? I thought I meant more to you than that.’
‘Shane, you did. I mean, you DO. Oh I don’t know what I mean. You’ve got me so confused.’
‘I know, I’m confused too, but the one thing I’m not confused about is the fact that every minute I spend away from you, a little piece more of my heart breaks off.’
‘Shane.....don’t make me feel so guilty. I love you still......’
‘Really? You mean it? Please tell me you mean it.’
‘I guess I do. I didn’t realise how much until I saw you again now....but suddenly, all the good things about you have come flooding back to me, and the bad things have vanished. I love you too much to hate you.’
‘Oh Kar, I love you too. So much.’ Shane fumbled in his pocket, his hands shaking slightly. He slid off the sofa and onto the floor. He looked up at Karen and said:
‘Karen...I wish I didn’t have to do this the second time, but I’m so glad to have got the chance, that it’s worth every bit of nerves.’ He pulled out the ring which she had given back to him.
‘Karen, will you marry me?’ A huge smile spread across her face, and Shane knew immediately that the answer was yes. He leapt up and hugged her tighter than he ever had done before. They kissed, and all the emotions of the past two days poured out of both of them, and when they finally pulled away from each other they saw tears welling in each other’s eyes. But unlike the other night, these were tears of joy.
‘Kar, I want to go public. Tomorrow, now, yesterday! I want everyone to know that I’m in love. I don’t care what the fans think.....I LOVE YOU!!! All the guys are going out for a meal later, with Ronan and Louis. Why don’t we go along and announce it then?’
‘Shae, do you mean it? You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to.’
‘But I do want to. Karen, I’m going to marry you, no matter how difficult people try and make it for us. I am going to marry you. We are going to get married.’ They kissed again, and then, whilst Karen went to get ready, Shane called Nicky to tell him what had happened.
‘Hello?’
‘Nicky, it’s Shane.’
‘Shane, is everything okay?’
‘Nick, things could not be better!! It’s all back on!! We’re back together, and we’re getting married!’
‘I’m so pleased for you Shane. Have you told Ro yet?’
‘No. I’m only telling you now cos I spoke to you the other day. We’re going to come to Ro’s meal thing this evening, and announce it then. And then I’m going to set up an interview to tell the fans that I am officially off the market!’
‘That’s great news. We’re meeting at 7, do you think you’ve got time to make it?’
‘We might be a couple of minutes late, but we’ll be there. I’m at Karen’s at the moment, so it shouldn’t take to long to get there. I’ll see you soon.’