"Welcome to Sligo!" Shane said when we got off the train. I stopped and took a deep breath off the fresh countryside air. "What do you think?" he asked curiously. "It's... beautiful!" I really meant it. I had spent half of my childhood on the countryside and it was good to be back in a place like that again. It was very different from the busy streets of Dublin...

We parted with Mark and Lorraine for a while, whilst Mark went to his house with their bags, and decided to meet up at Carlton Cafe, the cafe owned by Shane's parents, in an hours time. Shane and me went over to his house, which apparently was situated on top of the cafe. The minute we got in the door, Shane was greeted by his mother. I just stood at the side while she gave him a big hug. "Mum, there's someone I'd like you to meet" Shane began, "this is Veronica." he turned around to me, "Nikki, this is my mum, Mae." I took a deep breath, I'd never had a date who introduced me to his parents on the first date before, but the outcome was good. "Welcome, how do you like Sligo!?" she asked with a smile. "It's wonderful" I said.

We didn't get to talk any longer, as Shane's mother, or Mae rather, had to go down to the cafe again. Shane promised we'd come down as soon as he was finished unpacking, and led me over to his room. "Sit down", he said, pointing towards a chair, "I'm just gonna unpack this stuff." An awkward silence followed, and he was clearly just as nervous as I was. None of us said a word, but Shane finally broke the silence. "So, you like Sligo then?" "Yeah, I've always wanted to go here, it's lovely." "I might be able to take you down to see the horses later, if you'd like to...?" I just looked at him, what did he just say? I had imagined so many times that he'd take me to see his horses, and was it finally going to happen? I was quiet for so long Shane looked up from his bags for a moment, with a questioning look on his face. "Yes, I'd love to" I said. "Well, I'll see what I can do then." and he continued with his task. I looked out the window, Sligo really was beautiful, but what was I really doing here? Oh, no, don't even get me started, yet again...

Luckily Shane had unpacked the bags by this time, and came and sat down beside me. "You're very quiet" he stated "maybe I shouldn't have brought you up here..." I looked at him. "It's not that," I said, "it's just that I've been dreaming about this for so long, and now it's suddenly happening." I waited for his reaction with fear. That sounded so bad, but I didn't want to lie to him, couldn't lie to him. He just looked deeply into my eyes, "Believe me, I know exactly how you feel... let's go down to the cafe now." I followed him down, and I was very nervous. Shane met all those people he knew, and I don't know how many people I was introduced to, or who they were for that matter, I just couldn't separate them.

After a while Mark and Lorraine arrived, and, with a picnic basket that was kindly provided by Mae we set out. I didn't really know just where we were going, I was just informed that we were having a picnic cos the weather was lovely. We all packed into Shane's car, I guess we could have walked, but they wanted to save time to be able to take me to as many places as possible.

The minute I jumped out of the car I was stunned by the beauty around me. I thought I recognised the place, and Mark confirmed it by saying, "This is Hazelwoods..." There was no need for anyone to ask hat I thought about it, "Wow, this place IS beautiful" I exclaimed. Shane came up and placed his arm around me, nothing was said, and nothing needed to be said.

"Come on, let's go down to the beach" Shane said, after a while, and we took the picnic basket between us and walked down through the woods. When we arrived at the beach we curled up together eating the food. The minute we opened the basked, me and Lorraine shouted "How many people are going to come?!" in unison. Shane looked at us in surprise, "I thought the two of you eat much, so I told my mum to pack a bit extra...?" he said, with a cheeky glow in his eyes. I smiled at him, while Lorraine stated that she hoped that there was something chocolately in there. She needn't have feared, there was about 4 different chocolate cakes. "Well," I said, "I suppose there's at least one good point about your dates parents having a restaurant..." Shane quickly catched me and pulled me down in his lap, "You're so cheeky, do you know that?!" He leant over to kiss me on the cheek, but I quickly turned away. "Oi, you've cream around your mouth!" We all burst out laughing, and I felt myself relax and start to enjoy the company. They might be in my fave band, but neither Shane or Mark craved something of me. I'd always found myself trying to impress on my dates before, but this time I impressed just by being myself...