CHAPTER 1

I push my front door open, drop all my bags in the hallway and head straight for my lounge kicking off my shoes along the way, I throw myself on the sofa getting comfortable and lying on my back "thank god I'm finally home" I mutter to myself, I lay my head back against a cushion and feel my eye grow heavy and don't fight it as sleep overcomes me.

An annoying noise wakes me up I angrily grab my phone, I wish people would just let my sleep, I blindly press answer "What?" my grumpy greeting is cut off by a very excited squeal that I instantly recognise and it causes me to smile and say "Hey beautiful" I receive a small giggle and then "OH MY GOD Ash I so happy that your home I've missed you so much, sorry I couldn't meet you at the airport but you were silly and booked a Sunday flight home and you know how my mum is with me missing church" I sense this could turn into a classic Spencer Carlin ramble so I cut her off "Spence I told you its ok, you've been a part of my life long enough to know not to mess with Paula Carlin and church" we both laugh and she says "you have no idea how much I've missed your face Ash" "Dork" she giggles at my response which causes me to let out a giggle in return which rarely happens and only when I'm with her or talking to her so I know what it coming next, I hear her fake gasp and then "OH MY GOD did THE Ashley Davies actually just giggle, someone alert the press badass Ashley Davies has giggled" "only for your ears darling" "aww Ash" I can particularly feel her blush through the phone and it amazes me that even after all these years I still have this effect on her, she can be so innocent sometimes, we sit in peaceful silence for a few minutes and then she speaks again "your still coming around this afternoon right?" "of course I wouldn't miss it for the world" "good, well hurry up and get your butt over here" "ok, ok bossy" "see you soon love you" "yeah yeah love you too", I put my phone down and go to get ready for the traditional Sunday afternoon at the Carlin's. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't missed the little things like chilled out Sunday afternoons in Spencer's parents back garden.

My name is Ashley Davies, I'm 23 and I am what the world likes to call a 'Rockstar', whatever I just love writing music and then preforming it but apparently when you're as talented as I am fame is a part of your life, I have just finished a 8 month world tour and I haven't seen Spencer in 3 months, I flew her to London to watch one of my shows I don't think I could have managed the whole 8 months with just phone calls and the occasional facetime anyway the sooner I get ready the sooner I can see her.

I pull up outside the Carlin household and it gives me a homely feeling straight away like it always does, it's been like that since I was 13 years old, somethings will never change.

Butterflies start up in my stomach as I walk up the steps towards the front door, I can't be nervous, why would I be nervous? this is home I'm just excited I tell myself, Ashley Davies doesn't get nervous, I let myself in the front door like always and jokingly call out "Honey I'm home" before I can even take another step I am tackled by a squealing blonde, her arms circle my neck and her legs wrap around my waist, I stumble a little but catch myself and wrap my arms around her waist and bury my face into her neck breathing in her scent that is another thing that hasn't changed over the last 10 years, I suddenly realise that she is what feels like home and that the only time I ever feel this peaceful and calm is when I am with her, it's not the house it's the person the house holds, my mind start to spin at the realisation and I'm so caught up in my own thoughts that I don't hear Spencer talking to me but I do feel her pull back from me, my arms are still tightly around her waist and to my delight her legs are still wrapped around me "Ash?" "mmmm…" her laugh snaps me back to reality "what?" I ask and she laughs again and places her legs back down on the floor, I release her from my hold and I instantly miss her touch, what is going on with me? I'm sure it's just because I've missed her, she laughs again and I look up at her and raise a challenging eyebrow at her "what's so funny?" "you completely zoned out I was talking to you and you were off in your own world" "oh sorry I must be jetlagged" I lamely reply, yeah that's it I'm just tired and I missed her so nothing out of the ordinary I'll be completely back to normal once I've had some sleep.

"Come on everyone's out the back and dying to see you" she grabs my hand and sparks shoot up my arm and it makes my head spin again and before I'm even really aware of what's happening we are outside and everyone is rushing over to me and asking me questions that I'm not really catching and barely managing to answering, I'm used to attention I can't go anywhere without getting it but my heads so dizzy right now that I'm struggling to keep up with what's going on around me, however I can't help but notice that Spencer's hand is still in mine our fingers intertwined she squeezes it and whispers in my ear "are you ok? You seem a bit out of it" I manage to shake off some of the dizziness and respond "yeah, yeah I'm fine just taking in being back" I slip my hand out of hers so that I can think straight, what the hell is wrong with me? sort it out Davies.

I finally take a proper look around the garden to see who is here, it's the normal group Spencer's Mum Paula and Dad Arthur, her brother Glen and his very pregnant wife Maddison, her other brother Clay, his wife Chelsea and their 4 year old son Mason, then there is my sister Kyla and her husband Aiden who is also my guy best friend, I smile as I realise how much I've missed them all even Maddison, we all take a seat and Maddison quickly pipes up "Hey Slut" "getting fat Maddy" I reply everyone laughs as we share a secret smile, we don't really hate each other.

The afternoon is turning into evening and conversation is flowing, I have managed to catch up with everything that's going on in everyone's lives but I feel like I've barely spoken to Spencer, I look around and notice she is no longer outside, she is probably helping Paula with something in the kitchen, so I excuse myself from the table grabbing my empty glass as I stand and head towards the kitchen I can hear Paula and Spencer talking "So dear how come you didn't invite Patrick tonight?" I frown to myself and stop walking, whose Patrick and why would he be invited to Sunday afternoon it's a family thing, Spencer's response catches me off guard "It's Ashley's homecoming and I didn't want to take any attention away from her" my frown deepens why would this Patrick guy take attention away from me? "Spence please tell me you've told her about him?" Paula's using her disapproving voice but I have no idea why "Mum there just hasn't been a right moment but I will soon ok but please just let me tell her ok?" "you have to tell her soon honey, you were going to tell her in London and you didn't" tell me what in London that was 3 months ago, what has Spencer been keeping from me for all that time "I will mum ok" "you and Patrick have been together for 5 months now and you are moving in together she is going to find out sooner or later" and that's it that's what my best friend of 10 years has been hiding from me, my stomach drops and I hear my heart break, I slightly feel the glass slip from my hand and I hear the glass smash around my feet but I am frozen in place unable to move, I can't believe she didn't tell me, we tell each other everything we always have, why wouldn't she tell me something this important? "Ash?... Ashley are you ok?" "umm yeah I've got to go, bye" and with that I turn and leave the house I can hear her calling after me but I ignore her and get in my car and speed off, I touch my face and feel tears that I wasn't even aware I had let fall.

What the hell just happened?