I was woken up by someone beating me over the head with a pillow.

“Wake up Dave!” Shouted Bob. He hit me again with the pillow until I pulled my pillow out and started hitting him.

“Leave me alone, OK? I didn't get much sleep last night,” I told him, settling back into bed.

“Oh really? Long night with Natalia?” He asked me, grinning.

“No,” I said, rather firmly. “I couldn’t fall asleep,” I turned over towards the wall.

“Hey man,” He said in the voice he used when he got gossipy. “What’s been going on with you and Natalia anyway? I haven’t seen you two together.”

“Well, I don't know either. Things kind of died down. I miss her, but I would have thought by now she would have done something if she wanted to stay with me,” I told him.

“Oh. Do you want me to talk to her?” Bob asked me. God, I have great brothers.

“I don't care. If you want to,” I told him, closing the curtain on my bunk and trying to fall back asleep.

OLIVIA

“So, for the next few weeks, we will be staying at the Wyant House in London. We'll be there in fifteen minutes, so put your stuff together and get ready, ok?” Frank told us as we rounded the corner in downtown London.

“Ok, Dad,” Clint smiled as he helped me bring me bags to the front of the bus.

“Olivia, what do you want me to show you first? I mean, when we get settled in London?” Clint asked me. I put down a bag and sat down on the couch.

“I don’t know. What places do you think I would like?” I asked him.

“Oh, I have some places in mind,” Clint smiled devilishly. I wonder what he had in mind. I hope its romantic.

“Olivia, come help me over here,” Kate called to me. Grrr, why does she have to take me away from Clint?

“What do you want?” I asked her when I got to the master bedroom.

“I don’t know, I just wanted to talked to you. I’m bored,” Kate told me. I’m gonna snap her head like a twig.

“You called me away from Clint for that?” I shrieked and turned around to walk back.

“Hey! Come back!” Kate called to me. She’s gonna owe me.

“Shut the door. And you can’t tell anyone else, ok?” She told me. I wonder what she wants.

“What’s wrong? Why do you not want anyone else to know?” I asked her. This must be important.

"Well, you see Scott wants to show me around London," Kate started.

"Yeah so, big deal. Is this what you wanted? I thought it was something earth shattering," I said rolling my eyes at her.

"Well, what do I do, Liv? I mean, I'm dating Shane. I can't do anything with Scott," She whined. I hate it when she whines.

"I don't know, why are you asking me this stuff?" I asked her. She usually runs to Nati or Sara.

"Liv, you're my best friend why can't I come to you about stuff like this? Plus Nati and Sara are busy," She confessed.

"Oh, well Kate if you don't kiss Scott or anything its not cheating and you can still tour London. It's perfectly innocent," I told her.

"Yeah, but I don't trust myself with him, Liv. I still kinda have feelings for him, and I'm afraid something will happen because I'm positive Scott wants to get back together. You can't tell anyone I just said that," She pleaded.

"Don't worry I won't. I'm beginning to see the problem. Why don't you just tell Scott about Shane?" I asked. It seemed reasonable enough.

"Are you nuts? That would break his heart. I don't want to hurt Scott. Oh, Liv, I don't know what to do!" She cried.

"Well, I think you should just do what you think is right, whatever that is," I said. Hey, what am I supposed to say? I've never been in this kind of a jam.

Kate looked at me and rolled her eyes. "Well, thanks for the help anyway. Sorry for pulling you away from Clint," She said, opening the door again.

"Wait, so are you gonna go with Scott?" I asked her. I wanted to know so I had the story straight.

"I think so. But if I do, I think I should take someone with me, like to chaperone or something. I don't know. I'll figure something out," She said, walking to her bunk.

SARA

"Come on everyone! Time to get our rooms!" Frank called to us. I got up from where I was writing a story and called to Bob to get up too.

"I'm coming Sara, I'm coming. Sheesh," He said, smiling slyly as he helped me carry down my bags from the bus.

"What do you have in here Sara? Dead bodies?" He asked me. He was really starting to piss me off.

"No, but if you keep pissing me off, there can be dead bodies in them," I said sarcastically. He shut up.

"Me and Liv are sharing a room, we always do. Here just put the bags there," I instructed Bob, pointing to my bed. He put them down and kissed my head.

"I'm gonna go see who else needs help," He said. He left the room so I could unpack. A few minutes later Natalia came in.

"Hey Nati," I said. She flopped down on the other bed and sighed.

"What's the matter Nati?" I asked her. Nati wouldn't be so upset unless it was important.

"I've been thinking. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for me to come on this trip," She said all of a sudden.

"What are you talking about? You are confusing me," I said to her. I don't know what she is getting at.

"I don't know either. It's just, God, I wish Dave would just talk to me. I wouldn't care so much if he wasn't interested, but I just wish he would talk to me," She told me. She looked genuinely upset.

"Are you sure he's just not shy?" I asked her. It's true, Dave can be shy sometimes.

"Yeah, we haven't really talked in a while. But shy to the point that he can't even look at me? It just pisses me off. One moment he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, the next he can't even find the ambition to greet me when he sees me," Nati started to shout. I hope she doesn't get mad and throw things like before.

"Well, if he's all that trouble, maybe he's not worth it," I said. It's true, no one should have to try this hard.

"Sometimes I think that. That I don't really need him and I don't really care. But then I see him and I look in his eyes and I really think about it and I realize I need him more than anything," She told me. Wow, she is really taking this hard.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" I asked her. Hey, its the least I can do.

"I don't care. If you want to," She answered.

"Ok then. Why don't you go unpack? I think we're gonna go do something tonight," I told her. She left the room and went down the corridor to her room.

KATE

“It’s so beautiful here, isn’t it Kate? I love Medieval castles,” Scott said to me, taking my hand in his. It instantly felt clammy and cold.

“What is this place called again?” I asked, trying to sound interested. Why did I agree to this? I don’t want to give Scott the wrong impression and I’m afraid I am.

“Warwick Castle. It’s the finest medieval castle in England, at least, that’s what the brochure says,” Scott told me, laughing. At least he was enjoying it.

I guess he noticed my boredom because he took my hand and led me to another room.

“What’s over here?” I asked him, hoping he wasn't just taking me to try to romance me.

“Are you ready? Close your eyes,” He told me, putting a finger to my mouth. He was definitely getting my attention now.

He led me out a door and I guess we went outside because I could feel the sun heating my neck and shoulders.

“Ok, now,” I opened my eyes and looked around at the breathtaking view of the gardens. All around me were aromatic vibrantly coloured flowers, blooming straight to the sky. There were fountains spouting fresh sparkling water into the air and I just wanted to run and jump into them.

Scott took my hand and led me down one of the many paths in the gardens. “I want to show you something,” he told me. If it was anything like this surprise, I was willing to go.

He took me to a gate, with vines growing all over it. He took me inside and showed me the lily pond. It was beautiful, with iron benches to sit on and flowers everywhere still.

“Let’s go and sit down,” He motioned to one of the benches. I was still in awe of everything.

“You haven’t said a word since we got here,” He said. It’s true, I haven’t said anything.

“I’m in awe at the beauty here. Everything’s so perfect,” I said, staring at the flowers in the pond.

“That’s because you are here,” He said, smiling his beautiful smile. Oh, no, what have I gotten myself into? I have to tell him the truth.

“Scott, I have--” I began to say, but he interrupted me.

“It’s so peaceful here, I used to come here for hours and just write. Anything that came to my head, I’d write it down. I love this place. It’s my own little slice of heaven,” He said, looking around at the scenery. “What were you going to say?”

“Oh, um, I wish Olivia or Sara could have seen this. They would have loved it. Too bad they couldn’t come. We should be getting back anyway,” I said, starting to stand up.

“Oh,” he said. “Ok, yes we should go, it’s getting late,” He said, as we walked back through the gardens. The sun was starting to set and it was going to take about an hour to get back.

The bus ride back to London was silent, I wonder what Scott was thinking. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings by coming home so early. But I just couldn’t trust myself with him. I was so afraid I’d do something I’d regret.

The bus dropped us off in front of the hotel. “Scott,” I said, “I’m sorry for making us leave so early. I just needed to get back.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” He said, slipping and arm around my waist. “There’s other places to go to and they are even more fun,” He said. He went in to kiss me but I pulled away, his lips just grazing mine.

“Come on, let’s go in,” I said, and I went up the steps to the hotel into the lobby. Standing there in the hotel lobby was Shane. I dropped my coat and stared at him.

“Kate! I’m so glad to see you!” He came over to me and gave me a big kiss and a hug.

“What are you doing here Shane?” I managed to get out. What the FUCK is he doing here?

“Well hello to you too Kate. My aunt Gertrude has a house in Manchester. I knew you were going to be here so I decided to surprise you. I guess I did a good job,” He said, taking my arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just surprised to see you. I’m very happy to see you,” I gave him a kiss and smiled.

“What’s going on?” Scott came into the lobby. Oops. Forgot about him.

“Oh, Scott, this is Shane, my, um,” I couldn’t get the words out.

“I’m her boyfriend,” Shane said. Thanks a lot Shane.

Scott looked at me. He looked like he was either going to throw the lampshade next to him at us or burst out crying. I felt like shit.

“Oh. Sorry to interrupt you,” He said, composing himself. He walked past us and up the stairs to his room. I fought the urge to run after him.

“So where is everyone? I thought this was a joint tour,” He said, smiling radiantly. Oh, yeah. Them.

“Do you want to go see them? They’re upstairs in their rooms. Come on, I’ll introduce you to them,” I said, as perky as I could. I took him upstairs to the girls rooms.

“Hi Shane,” Natalia said, without thinking. She did a double take and laughed. “Shane! What are you doing here?”

“Visiting. I’ve got an aunt in Manchester. What’s up?” He said. Nati approved of my relationship with Shane, cause he had a cool band and would get her tickets to other bands.

“Not much, just sitting around. Hey, how long you gonna be here? I think we’re going out tonight,” Nati said, getting up from the couch to get a drink.

“Hey, Nati, I have to go check something with Frank, will you baby sit my baby for me,” I asked her.

“Oh sure. We’ll be fine,” Nati said. I left the room and ran down the hall to Scott’s room. I have to talk to him, explain things to him.

SCOTT

“Scott! Stop! Calm down!” Clint screamed at me. I didn’t want to calm down, I couldn’t calm down. I took out my picture of Kate. I couldn’t look at her. I smashed the picture with my fist.

“Stop! Stop it now!” Clint ran over to restrain me. Bob came in from next door and ran over to help him. They threw me on the bed and I laid there silent.

“Look at his eyes,” Bob whispered to Clint. “They look wild. I’ve never seen him flip out like this. What happened?”

Clint nodded. “I was sitting down and all of a sudden Scott burst through the door, slammed it and started flipping out. He was screaming something about Kate and some guy Shane. He took out his picture of Kate and smashed it with his hand. Then you came in and--oh my god, his hand, get a towel, it’s bleeding,” Bob ran to the bathroom, got a towel and put it on my hand. I sat in the chair by the window.

KNOCK KNOCK. “Who is it?” Clint asked. Don’t let it be her. Don’t let it be Kate.

“It’s me, Kate. I need to talk to Scott. Can I come in?” I hear her voice coming through the door. I shook my head to Clint. I can’t deal with her right now.

“Yeah, come on in Kate,” Clint said. He didn’t see me shake my head. God, I hate him.

Kate came in the room. Her eyes widened at the sight of my hand and the rubble around the room.

“Can I talk to Scott alone please?” She asked Clint and Bob. They left the room and she sat down on the bed.

“What did you come here for?” I asked her.

“Scott, you don’t understand what happened. While we were away I,” Her voice trailed off. “Met someone.”

“No shit,” I said. She looked at me, eyes filled with tears. I wonder if she actually feels bad.

“Scott, I tried to tell you! When we were out today, God I was so afraid that I’d let something happen. I want us to still be friends,” She said, near hysterics.

“So that’s why you would let me get near you,” I said. I should have seen it coming.

“Scott, please, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I feel so incredibly bad. I wish things were different. But I’m with Shane now,” She said, barely above a whisper. I can’t believe she was doing this to me. She came over to me and kissed my cheek. She turned around and walked towards the door.

“Everything I ever did, it was for you Kate,” I called after her. She looked back at me, a tear running down her face.

“I’m sorry Scott. It wasn’t meant to be,” She left the room and left me sitting there, pondering why I was so incredibly stupid to let my guard down so far. “Scott? Can we come in now?” Bob asked. Whatever, I don’t care. Bob and Clint came in the room.

“Everyone’s going out to the Hard Rock for dinner. You want to come?” Bob asked, getting his coat.

“No, I’m gonna stay here. I’ve got things to do,” I said. I have nothing to do. Kate’s gone.

“Are you sure? It might make you feel better,” Clint said. Nothing can make me feel better.

“No thanks,” I said, looking at my hand.

“Ok, Well, we’re leaving now. See you later. Try to get some rest,” Bob and Clint left the room. I was all alone again.

What am I going to do? Kate’s left me, I’ve got nothing to live for. My whole world was Kate, she made me laugh, she made me cry, she made me open my eyes and look at things I never even dreamt were there. She made me realize that there was more out there than just physical pleasure. She kept me from going to far into the black hole. And now that she’s gone, who’s there to keep me from falling?

I walked to my suitcase and pulled out clothes from the top until I reached the bottom. Laying there was my stash of liquor. I took out the vodka bottle and unscrewed the cap.

“Cheers, Kate,” I made my toast and drank as much as my mouth could hold.