I own nothing, of course!

As Rhys Ashworth sat there watching his girlfriend Sarah in the pool, he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He was so much happier now than he'd ever been in his whole life. He couldn't believe he'd almost passed up the chance of having Sarah as his girlfriend. Sod the age difference, she's the greatest girl I've ever met, he thought, his grin growing wider. As long as we keep it from her mother, we're gonna be fine...

"Someone looks like they're in a good mood," a female voice cut through Rhys's thoughts, a voice which filled his entire body with dread. Sarah's mother.

"Mrs Barnes!" Rhys stared in horror at the woman who had been constantly trying to make his life a misery for the past few weeks. "Actually, I was just leaving, things to do you see -"

"Not so fast!" Mrs Barnes said firmly. "I thought I made it clear that you weren't to go anywhere near my daughter in future?"

"You can't tell me what to do," Rhys said quietly, his insides burning with anger. "I care about Sarah, a lot, and if I want to continue seeing her as a friend, I will." He felt ashamed of the fact that he was actually scared of this woman, but who could blame him? If she said one word about what had occurred only a few weeks ago, he could lose Sarah, forever. He couldn't ever let that happen.

"Oh I think you'll find I can, and will, tell you what to do," Mrs Barnes glared at him, but allowing a little smirk to appear on her lips. "If you don't, then I might find myself telling Sarah about our little, shall we say, rendezvous, a few weeks ago."

Rhys stared at her in horror. "You can't do that! And besides," he paused for a second, a sudden realisation hitting him, "you have everything to lose! You've got your whole marriage at stake! You won't be telling anyone about what happened, I'm certain of that." He smiled smugly at the angry mother. 1-0 to Ashworth, he thought triumphantly.

"You just don't get it, do you Rhys?" Mrs Barnes was shaking her head. "I am prepared to do whatever it takes to keep you away from Sarah. However great the risk may be!" It was her turn to smile smugly at Rhys, who had now paled considerably.

"But..you wouldn't," he stammered, wishing he didn't sound so frightened. Get a grip Rhys! He told himself sternly. She's bluffing!

"Oh I would, and I will, if you continue to sniff around my daughter. Let this be your final warning! Goodbye Rhys," Mrs Barnes shot him one final glare before walking off, leaving behind a very angry and terrified Rhys.

He couldn't stay there any longer. I have to break up with Sarah, he thought. I can't let her find out what happened…

Later that day, Rhys sat at home, watching TV. Or at least, the TV was on. Rhys was just staring at it, not taking anything in. He had too much on his mind. So many times since that afternoon, he had come close to calling Sarah and telling her they needed to talk. Each time though, he had chickened out. He couldn't finish with her, not when he'd finally admitted his true feelings for her. No, he had to think of something…

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, making him jump almost out of his skin. He contemplated ignoring it, hoping they would just go away, but whoever it was definitely wasn't giving up. Slowly, he made his way to the door, scared out of his wits that it would be Mrs Barnes again. He was instantly calmed when he saw his girlfriend peeking through the letterbox at him, and he smiled in relief.

"Hey gorgeous," he grinned at her once he'd let her in. "Sorry about earlier, I had to leave…what's wrong?" He noticed that Sarah was staring at him without the slightest smile touching her lips. She was actually glaring at him. Rhys froze, feeling suddenly sick. She couldn't have found out about what he did…could she?

"I think you know what the problem is Rhys," she almost whispered, clearly fighting back the tears. "Is it true?"

Rhys tried to act like he had no idea what she was talking about, but he wasn't doing himself any favours as everytime he opened his mouth to say something, he closed it again. You dickhead! He thought to himself. Deny everything!

"Sarah…I, uh, really don't know what you're talking about," Rhys eventually managed to say, but unable to stop himself from going bright red. He had never been the world's best liar. "I don't know what you've heard, but –"

"Cut the crap!" Sarah yelled at him, now crying hard. "I know what you did! I know that you slept with my mother! How could you do that to me? I thought it was me that you wanted!"

Rhys felt even worse now. That bitch of a mother of hers! He thought angrily to himself. She actually told her! "It is you I want, honestly Sarah! I've never wanted anyone else since the day I laid eyes on you, I swear that's the truth!" he pleaded with her to believe him, but Sarah wasn't having any of it.

"Why don't you look me directly in the eyes before you tell me that you didn't do it," Sarah had calmed down slightly, but she looked as if she was ready to kill the guy standing in front of her. "Well?" she almost shouted at him again, "Did you or didn't you shag my mother?"

"Sarah…I didn't, well, I mean…she seduced me!" he finally blurted out, regretting it the instant it came out of his mouth. "I mean –"

"You bastard," said Sarah quietly. "You bastard!" She looked at him silently for a few seconds, then raised her hand and slapped Rhys hard, across the face. He stood there, not saying anything. He looked at the floor, close to tears but trying to hide the fact.

"Sarah, I never meant for this to happen," he slowly looked up at his girlfriend, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. "I swear, I never wanted her, she just –"

"Seduced you, yeah, you said," Sarah was walking towards the door now, clearly not wanting to hear any more of this. Before she opened it, she turned back to Rhys one last time. "Looks like I was wrong about you being special. The whole time, I thought you wanted me, and it turns out you just wanted to get close to me, to have your wicked way with my mother of all people! Hey, you know that I have a sister right, maybe you want to make a go of it with her too? You –"

"Oh don't be so daft, it's not like that!" Rhys interrupted her, determined to make Sarah believe him, that he was telling the truth. "I never, ever wanted your mother. I don't even like her, let alone fancy her! She didn't give me much of a chance that day…I mean…" he trailed off, realizing that he was making things worse.

"In other words, my mother started coming onto you, and you thought, "Oh, what's the point of refusing, I may as well take her up on her offer?" Well I'm not listening to anymore of your crap! We're over Rhys. Finished. For good." With that, Sarah left the house, slamming the front door behind her.

Rhys stood there for a few minutes, numb with shock. He felt the tears threatening to appear again and he blinked them away furiously. He couldn't believe that her mother had actually gone ahead and told Sarah about them. The bitch! He was livid with rage. He had just lost the most important person to him, because he hadn't been able to keep his hands off her mother…unable to stop himself any longer, he let the tears roll down his cheeks, knowing that he'd never get another chance with Sarah…he had lost her for good.