"Hazza?" I asked, looking up from the magazine I was reading. He'd just sat down after having a shower. His hair was still damp and he smelt of soap. "I need to tell you something." He looked up with a worried expression on his face.
"What's up?"
"Well, um, you know we're all meant to be leaving for Europe on Saturday?... I can't go." I felt my heart drop as I said it. I was devastated, I'd been waiting months to go and it was so, so close.
He stood up. My heart sped up when I thought he was going to leave the room, instead he came and sat next to me. "How come, Babe?" His voice was soft but his face looked disappointed and confused.
"My pupillage starts in three weeks. I have to stay for it." I took his hand in mine as I spoke. Once I'd finished he squeezed it once.
"Babe" he smiled. "That's fine." I sighed with relief, he wasn't angry. "It's an amazing thing to happen for you and your career. I can't tell you to drop it just to follow me and my job. I'm so proud of you." He wiped away one of the tears of disappointment that fell from my eyes before pulling me into a tight hug.
"I really wanted to go." I mumbled into his chest. "I'm gutted."
"I know, I wanted you to come too, but there'll be millions of other tours you can come to and I promise you that when we're both old, grey and still madly in love I'll take you around Europe. Just the two of us." He spoke with his lips pressed to the top of my head, I could feel his breath warm against my skin.
I couldn't help but laugh at the image. "In our wheelchairs? That'll be great"
"Definitely. I'm sure Louis will have had a hyper active grand child by then, we can hire them to push us around." I felt his lips break into a smile, which caused me to smile too.
"It sounds perfect." I sighed. "How were rehearsals?" I asked, changing the topic to something different.
"Hilarious!" He pulled away to look at me as he spoke. "Louis fell off the stage, which was brilliant until he convinced us he'd broken a few ribs, got the paramedics in to check and then told us he was joking!"
"The boy's an idiot" I laughed.
"Tell me about it…I noticed you've been shopping. Are they new clothes for work by any chance?"
I grinned. "Yep. You wanna see?"
"Definitely. Go and get them on! I want a private catwalk." He pushed me up, off the sofa and nudged me towards the bedroom.
"Okay okay" I laughed. "But don't laugh at me! Not all of us can wear casual clothes to work. Some people have to look sophisticated." I winked.
"I promise!" He called as I shut the bedroom door behind me.
I looked at the pile of bags on my bed and thought: "Oh dear. Where do I start?"
