Ben awoke the morning after feeling terrible. His mouth felt furry from not brushing his teeth and his eyes were puffy from crying himself to sleep. His back ached from sleeping on the sofa in his clothes. He groaned and closed his eyes again. He just wanted to stay in bed forever.
Memories from the previous day came flooding back, his heart sank. He looked across the room at the shattered china on the carpet from the vase Heather had thrown. He was devastated over her leaving.
Ben rolled off the sofa and stumbled towards the bathroom. He trod on a piece of broken vase which cut his foot.
"Damn!" Ben yelled, jumping onto the sofa and rubbing his foot. "What a start to the day!" he muttered.
He got up and went into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He felt a little better then but still his heart ached. "Why did she leave?" he asked his reflection. He still didn't know why.
After dressing in an old T shirt and some baggy trousers, Ben opened the bathroom cabinet. Inside was Heather's make up. Ben sighed, he wished she was there with him. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He looked a state- he had bags under his eyes and messy hair. "No wonder she left me!" he muttered.
Ben the ventured downstairs to fix something to eat. He didn't feel like eating, but his stomach growled. After all, he hadn't eaten since lunchtime the day before. He looked in the fridge for something to eat.
Inside he spotted some cold pizza. He took it out and put it on a plate. That would do for breakfast.
He sat on the sofa and switched on the TV. He started watching highlights of a football game from the night before. He munched away at his pizza and watched the game, this took his mind off things for a while.
But not for long. Ben gazed out of the window sadly, feeling lonely. He missed having Heather to talk to. He didn't like being all alone. Out in the street he spotted a young couple walking, hand in hand. They looked so in love. Ben couldn't help wishing it was him out there on a date with Heather.
Ben was disturbed by the phone ringing. "Maybe it's her!" he exclaimed as he reached for the phone.
But it wasn't Heather. It was Paul. "Hi Ben! I'm bored. Fancy doing something today?".
"I don't feel like it, mate," Ben sighed. "I'm sorry,".
"Is something the matter?" Paul quizzed, he could sense something was up.
"She left me," Ben blurted out.
"Oh no!" Paul gasped. "Why? What happened?".
"We had a silly argument over nothing," Ben explained. "She just got up and walked out, I haven't seen her since,".
"Do you know where she went?".
"No- I've phoned all her friends but none of them have seen her. And she left her mobile here so she hadn't got that with her,".
"Awww, I'm really sorry Ben," Paul said, knowing what Ben must be going through. "I'll let you know if I hear anything about where she is. If you need some company I can come over,".
"Thanks, but I'd rather be alone,".
After hanging up, he gazed at the photograph on the mantelpiece. It showed him and Heather in New York hugging each other tightly. He picked it up and held it close to his heart.
"Come back to me Heather!" he cried, despite the fact that she couldn't hear him. "Come back to me!".
Four days later, Heather was sitting watching TV, feeling down in the dumps. She had been staying at Lucy and Nick's house since walking out on Ben and had made Lucy and Nick promise they wouldn't tell Ben she was there.
"We're going shopping in the sales, want to come Heather?" Lucy asked as she and Nick appeared in the doorway.
"No thanks," Heather said, attempting a smile. "See you later,".
Lucy and Nick left, leaving Heather alone. She tried to concentrate on the TV but she kept thinking about Ben.
Heather felt so guilty about what she had done. She realised now that Ben hadn't really done anything wrong. She had been moody that day and taken it out on him. Now everything was a mess. "I doubt he'll want to talk to me again after what I did," she said to herself sadly.
She flicked through the TV channels to find something worth watching. "Oh no," she said when she saw a1 come on the screen. It was a re-run of when they had been on sm:tv.
Heather watched as Ben announced he was going out with her and said he loved her. "I'm sorry Ben," she whispered at the TV, blinking away a few tears.
Later on, Lucy and Nick returned. "We got you these to cheer you up," Nick said, handing Heather a carrier bag.
"Thanks," Heather said gratefully. Inside she found some pick & mix sweets, a CD she really wanted and some magazines.
"You've got to talk to him," Lucy said as she sat next to Heather on the sofa. "I bet he's as upset as you are,".
"I can't," Heather said, looking down at the ground. "He must hate me now,".
"But you still love him?".
"Well, yeah..." Heather trailed off. "But I've ruined everything now,".
Lucy went into the kitchen, where Nick was washing up. "I'm going to see Ben," she whispered. "But don't tell Heather,".
"OK," Nick agreed. "Want me to come?".
"No, I'll be OK," Lucy told him. "Stay here and try to cheer Heather up,". She kissed him goodbye and slipped out of the house.
Mark and Sarah were having a great Christmas time. They had gone to Paris for a few days and were enjoying every minute of it.
"What a view!" Sarah said as she and Mark stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower. "I can see for miles,". She took some photos while Mark looked through some binoculars at the view.
"Yeah, Paris looks beautiful from up here," Mark agreed. "I'm thirsty, how about a drink in that cafe over there?".
They went and found a table. The cafe was very classy. A cute French waiter came to their table and took their orders. "Oooh, they do meals here too," Mark exclaimed. "The menu looks great. We should come here for New Years Eve,".
"Yeah, OK," Sarah agreed. She didn't care where they ate on New Years Eve, as long as she was with Mark!
"I got a text message from Naomi earlier," Sarah said, grinning.
"Oh yeah," Mark replied. "She and Chris went to the USA over Christmas didn't they,".
"Yeah, they got back today. You'll never guess what they did,".
"What?" Mark asked.
"They got hitched!".
"What?!" Mark exclaimed. "They got married?".
"Yep! Apparently, it was a spur of the moment thing on Christmas day while they were in Las Vegas,".
"Sounds cool," Mark said with a laugh. "So where are we having our wedding?".
"Our wedding?" Sarah squeaked in shock.
"Yeah, I want us to settle down one day. There's no rush...".
Sarah smiled at him. "Oh, I want a big traditional wedding with all our friends and family,".
"Sounds good to me," Mark agreed.
"Come here," Sarah said, leaning over. They kissed for a long time, not caring that everyone in the busy cafe were watching.
Lucy sighed when she saw Ben answer the door. He looked bad.
"Come in," Ben invited. "Is this to do with Heather?".
"Yes," Lucy answered, sitting herself on an armchair. "I thought I would come and talk to you, see if I can help you sort things out,".
"Do you know where she is?" Ben asked excitedly. "I've been worried sick about her,".
"Yeah, she's at my house," Lucy told him. "She's safe, don't worry,".
"That's a relief," Ben said with a small smile.
"So what happened?" Lucy asked. "Heather just told me you two had a row,".
"Yeah," Ben nodded. "It was really stupid. She accused me of fancying the girl in one of our videos and walked out. I don't know what I did wrong,".
"You've got to understand that she's going to be moody over the next few months, it's the effects of the pregnancy," Lucy explained. "She doesn't mean it. She's been down in the dumps ever since she arrived at my place, she misses you,".
"She does?" Ben said, feeling hope for the first time.
"Yes," Lucy laughed. "She misses you like mad!".
"So why doesn't she come back to me? Or at least phone me?".
"She thinks you hate her after what she did,".
"But I don't! I love her,".
"I know," Lucy said, patting Ben's shoulder. "You need to talk to her. Tomorrow is New Years Eve. Nick and I are having a cozy night in to watch a film, why don't you come round? We can make it a kind of double date,".
"But will she speak to me?" Ben asked nervously.
"I think she will," Lucy said with a reassuring smile. "Buy her something nice and dress nicely," she looked at what he was wearing- an old T shirt, crumpled jeans and a baseball cap. "Something better than what you're wearing now,".
"OK," Ben agreed. "What time shall I come?".
"Make it about seven," Lucy suggested. "I won't tell her anything, it'll be a surprise. She told me not to talk to you, but I couldn't stop myself. I hate seeing her pining away for you, i had to take action,".
"I'm really grateful, Luce," Ben said, giving Lucy a friendly hug. "She means the world to me, I can't let her slip away from me over something so pointless,".
"I'll see you tomorrow," Lucy said as Ben saw her out.
Heather sat in front of the TV the following evening with a frown on her face.
"Aren't you going to put something a bit nicer on?" Lucy asked, seeing Heather was wearing old jeans and a baggy jumper. Ben was due over any minute.
"No, I'm comfy like this," she said. "Anyway, does it matter? Nobody's going to see me!".
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Nick said, going to open the door. Like he expected, it was Ben.
"Heather, someone's here to see you," Nick called to her, as Ben walked down the corridor to the living room.
Heather stared at him in shock, totally caught off guard. "What are you doing here?" she asked in disbelief.
"I've come to see you," Ben said, handing her a huge bouquet of flowers and a piece of paper.
Heather looked at the paper. She gave him a small smile. "That's nice," she said, looking at the drawing he had done of her.
"Glad you like it," Ben said nervously. He glanced at Lucy, who gave him an encouraging nod.
"I didn't expect to see you," Heather said. "I thought you'd never want to see me again after what happened,".
"Of course not," Ben said, holding her hand. "I was devastated when you left. The last few days have been hell for me,".
"I'm sorry," Heather said quietly, looking into his eyes. "I didn't mean what I said,".
"Don't worry, let's forget it even happened," Ben said with a smile. "So, are we back together? The three of us?".
"Yes," Heather said, before giving him a big hug. "What do you mean by 'the three of us?'".
"Our baby," Ben said, placing his hand on Heather's stomach. "Only four months to go now,".
"Yeah," Heather smiled. "At first I didn't really want it, but now I'm really excited. I can't wait, we'll be a proper family,".
Nick and Lucy came in and they sat around the TV. "What shall we watch?" Lucy asked. "I thought we could watch something romantic to bring in the new year with,".
"How about 'Titanic?'" Heather suggested.
"OK then," Lucy agreed, putting the video in the video recorder.
As they watched the film, Ben snuggled up to Heather. "I missed you so much, I'm glad we're back together," he whispered in her ear.
"So am I," Heather whispered back. "I love you Ben,".
.