Are you ready for this?

Honestly, I think part of me has convinced myself that this isn't going to be as bad as Count On Me but I have basically just split a 99-104 chapter story over 5 different stories... I hope you are ready for something that is going to take me the end of June to finish posting. Not that I think anyone is going to complain about that... except for me maybe...

Anyway, I have been teasing you with the story for a long time now (I apparently finished writing this early September and had it planned in July... So god knows when I started hinting that it was an idea that I had), so hopefully, I haven't hyped it up too much and this isn't what you guys were expecting...

Shall we get on with it then? Start the next rollercoaster?

Lawson

19th February 1990

"Down in one. Down in one. Down in one."

Eddie struggled to do as his friends were chanting as he attempted to down the pint that they had put in front of him moments before they started chanting. The more that he drank of it, the more he was convinced that it wasn't just lager but there wasn't much that he could do about it as he finished off the drink and placed the empty glass down. He placed his fist over his mouth in hope that he was only going to burp up the last little bit of drink.

"That was not just beer." He said.

"There might have been a shot of tequila in there," Jack said.

"And maybe a shot of rum," Dave said.

Now that they said it, he could taste the tequila and it was leaving an awful taste in the back of his throat.

"That was disgusting," Eddie said as he pointed at the glass.

"Well, it isn't every day that you are 21," Steve said as he put an arm around Eddie's shoulders. "And I think that there is only one thing you are going to be doing tonight."

"Not this again."

"Mate, you have only been with one girl. I had been with four girls before I was 16. You need to get out there. I mean, all that talk of rum, I think that you need to get Between The Sheets with a girl tonight."

"And that isn't what tonight was about. I am not looking for a hookup or something like that. I have come to Manchester with my best mates to get slaughtered on my 21st birthday. And it's a Monday. I bet there is hardly anyone out."

"I know a number," Jack said.

"No. You are not calling a prostitute for me. I am not going to sleep with a prostitute."

"Your loss mate."

Eddie just rolled his eyes, unable to find the energy to have the same argument with his friends. He knew that he had his reasons as to why he didn't sleep about like they did and he knew that they wouldn't understand. Just he knew that he was going to try his hardest not to end up in bed with some stranger because they wanted him to. If he was going to let go of his own morals for a night, then it was going to be his decision. And he certainly wasn't going to be sleeping with a prostitute.

Eddie wished that his friends hadn't been idiots and added the two shots to his pint earlier that night. He hadn't felt right since and he wished that he had felt better after throwing up, but he didn't. It was why he was stood at the bar, away from his friends for a few moments, sipping on a coke to help sober himself up and to settle his stomach. Although he felt like the bubbles weren't really helping at all.

He looked over at his friends and wondered how much time he would have left on his own before one of them came over to see what he was drinking and he was wondering whether he could convince them that it was a rum and coke or something like that.

Eddie felt that if he was still turned at the bar, he would have missed her but he didn't as one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen walked into the bar, looking around. He knew that he had said to his friends that he wasn't looking for a hookup but she had captivated him so much that he only realised that he was staring at her when she started walking towards him. He forced himself to look at anything else but her, but he couldn't and he didn't miss the smirk that rose on her face.

"Like what you see?" She asked when she reached him.

Eddie wished that he could have acted more gentlemanly as he looked her up and down as he cleared his throat. There was every chance that she wasn't here on her own but he didn't mind trying his luck.

"Maybe." He said.

She smiled as she shook her head. "I'm more hassle than I am worth."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"You are obviously not from around here."

"No, originally from Stoke-on-Trent but at university in Birmingham. You?"

"Manchester, born and bred. What are you doing this far north?"

"It's my birthday and we decided that a change of scenery was best."

"Happy birthday."

"Thank you." He paused for a moment. "What are you drinking?"

She tilted her head at him. "You are definitely not from around here."

"Why?"

"As I've already told you, I am more hassle than I am worth."

"And maybe it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me if I didn't buy a girl a drink after talking to her for a bit. Unless you are waiting for someone. Then you can tell me to piss off."

There is a part of him that thought that she might take the last opinion but he was sure that she wouldn't have entertained him for so long just to tell him to piss off now. She seemed to be weighing up her options before she spoke.

"Vodka and cranberry."

Eddie gave her a smile before he tried to grab the attention of the bartender. He ordered her drink while ordering himself a pint, not missing the dirty look that the bartender shot the woman that he was with. He quickly downed the coke that he had ordered earlier but he noticed how the woman next to him was. There was a part of him that felt like she was nervous. He made sure that she could see her drink as it was placed down on the bar and he picked it up from the bottom to show that he wasn't going to put anything in her drink. It was something that he felt like she appreciated. That was the reason he gave for her next sentence.

"Maybe I am not used to a gentleman." She said.

"A beautiful woman like you?"

"I don't think everyone will agree with you there."

"Then they are pricks and don't deserve to be in your company."

"Now I think you are trying too hard."

"Too hard?"

"To be a gentleman. Men only want one thing."

"Do they?"

"Well, you should know. You are a man after all."

"Maybe I've just been brought up better than the other men you have met. I mean, you are glad that you are talking to me rather than one of my mates. Because they would be here giving you a list of reasons why you should leave here with them tonight."

"And you aren't."

"Maybe I can talk to a beautiful woman and not feel the need to jump straight into bed with them."

"Straight into bed?"

"Maybe not at all. I suppose at some point I should ask for your name."

"Now that is a dangerous thing."

"Why?"

He could sense her hesitation and he wondered whether it had something to do with the look the bartender gave. But it did make him want to know it more. He knew that it seemed like he was playing with fire but he was just intrigued about this girl that could have told him to do one by now but hadn't.

"Because it is." She said.

It made him change his tact. Which is why he held his hand out to her.

"Lawson." He said.

"Sorry?"

"My surname is Lawson."

He watched her look at his hand for a moment before she took it.

"Fenshaw."

"Now, Fenshaw, can I assume that you are here on your own as you didn't tell me to piss off earlier."

"Who is the bird?" Steve said as he sat down with Eddie.

"Can you go?"

"I thought you weren't looking for a hookup."

"Don't start."

"Mate, you do realise that we are only here for tonight and tomorrow morning. So either you are looking for a hookup or you are seriously leading the girl on."

"Just piss off before she gets back."

"Fuck me mate, are you in love?"

"Go on."

Eddie didn't miss the shake of Steve's head but there was a part of him that knew that Steve was right. He wasn't a 'fuck them and dump them' kinda person, but they were literally in Manchester only for the night. It might be the first time that he would go against everything that he thought about sex and just have one night with Fenshaw.

It seemed weird to call a girl by their surname. He had become used to being Lawson because that was just how guys were. But he had never called any of his female friends by their surname before and it just didn't feel right with him.

But he felt like he couldn't ask again for her name, because he was certain that he wasn't going to get it. And what did it matter if they only had this night. They could never see each other again.

"Sorry," Fenshaw said as she sat back down.

"It's not a problem."

"You… are a funny man."

"In a good way?"

"Maybe. I feel like I haven't quite worked you out yet."

"Do you usually work people out?"

"Sort of." She turned to the table where his friends were. "Like I know that your friends over there are definitely on the pull and they are going to punch well above their weight. They are going to hope if a girl lets them buy them a couple of drinks, then they are at least going to get sucked off or let them be taken back to their hotel room." She paused as she turned back to him. "But you… I'm not sure what you want."

"I worry that you have only been surrounded by men that want to use you that you can't tell when a genuine gentleman is in front of you."

"Is that what you are?"

"It is what I try to be."

"Then that is it then."

"What is?"

"You have a heart of gold and that is why I can't work you out."

Eddie was sure that he blushed at her comment. "My mum would call me a pain in the backside."

They smiled at each other and Eddie didn't know what to think of her. He had never been told that he had a heart of gold before and he was sure that it would be a comment that he would remember forever.

"So, Lawson, you said that you were at university. Doing what?" She said.

"Maths."

"Really?"

"Not one for Maths."

"My weakest subject at school."

"An English girl then."

"I definitely love a good story. Makes up for when you have a bad one."

Eddie was sure she realised what she had said when his brow creased. He wanted to ask more but he felt like he would get the same silence that he got when he was asking for her name.

"I'm actually doing Maths so that I can become a teacher," Eddie said.

"Really?"

"I wasn't set to do very well at school until this new maths teacher started at the school. It was just one of his lessons that everything just clicked for me and I managed to get my head down in time to get the results that I needed. I want to be that for a student. I want to be the person that somehow inspires them to do better."

"Is this where I say that I was a bit of a swot?"

"Really?"

"Constantly studying. My sister used to joke about whether I actually had a social life and friends. I… I just knew where I didn't want to be and I thought that getting myself good grades would get me out of there."

"Did they?"

"I'm still working on it." She gave a short laugh. "I actually want to be a teacher as well."

"English?"

"I would like to think so."

"You can't be that much younger than me."

"Why? How old are you today?"

"21."

"I'm just under a year and a half younger than you. I'll be 20 in July."

"So you are in second year at uni then?"

"Not quite. I… have deferred my place for the last two years. Personal… things."

"But it is still the plan?"

"It is still the plan."

He noticed the way that she was looking at him and he did wonder why she moved a little closer to him in the booth until she spoke.

"Are you too much of a gentleman to kiss me?" She whispered, her lips millimetres away from his.

"Do you want me to kiss you then?"

"If we have this night, why don't we make the most of it?"

Eddie couldn't stop himself from cupping her neck as he closed the distance between them, tilting his head to the side a little. His other hand made it to her waist, bringing her that little bit closer. She turned her body, with her legs coming to rest over his. One of her hands was rested on his chest while the other one was mirroring what he was doing and cupping his neck.

She was the one to place their foreheads together when they parted.

"Do you want to get out of here?" She asked.

"My hotel isn't far."

"Good."

Eddie couldn't really believe his luck when she said that, nor when she took his hand to pull him out of the booth. He could tell what his friends were thinking when they passed them and he knew that he would just have to put up with their teasing. It would be worth it for the one night that he got with Fenshaw.

Eddie was sure that they had taken the lift rather than the stairs, just so that they could get some more kissing time in. If his room wasn't so far down the hall, he probably would have picked her up at that point and carried her there. The problem was he also loved the feel of her hand in his but his mind went straight back to the task in hand as the door to his hotel room closed and they were truly alone (with Eddie grateful that they didn't go with the original idea of sharing rooms).

He couldn't stop himself from completing his earlier thought as they started to kiss again, with him using the wall to help support Fenshaw as she wrapped her legs around him. He knew that it was cliche to think it, but there was just something in the way that she was kissing him that made him think that this meant as much to her as it did to him. He had this feeling like she wanted to tell him something all night but he had taken it as a good sign that they had got this far.

He started to trail kisses down her neck and focused on one place on her neck after she had moaned when he had kissed there. Her hands went to his hair and to begin with, it felt like she was trying to encourage him but he allowed his head to go with it as she pulled his head back.

"Are you trying to get me into trouble?" She said.

"And I thought you weren't waiting for someone."

"You could still get a girl in trouble for something like that."

"Really?"

He almost went back to what he was doing but he remembered her line about liking a good story because it makes for a bad one. He had no idea what life she was living. It was why he changed their position, carrying her to the bed. If she was living a bad life, then he wanted to give her one night where she could forget about it all.

As she still had her legs wrapped around him, he sat down on the edge of the bed before he started kissing her again, slowly so that she could savour it. He didn't really notice that she was undressing him or the way that she was slipping off his lap to kneel between his legs. If anything, it was her undoing his belt that made him realise what she was planning on doing and he knew that he wasn't going to allow her to do that as he finally came to his senses when her lips had left his for too long.

He placed a finger underneath her chin to bring her back up to his level before he gave her a short kiss.

"You aren't doing that." He said.

"Why not? Men like it."

"I personally don't see the appeal of it."

Eddie knew that he had stunned her by how simple it was to change their places, with him laying her down in the middle of the bed. Because of her comment, he knew that she must have been with guys that only focused on themselves. Which meant that he was going to completely focus on her. Which is why he started by pulling his own t-shirt off and throwing it to where she had discarded his shirt before he sat her up slightly to take off hers. It was why he trailed down her body with kisses, making sure that he paid attention to the areas that caused her breathing to increase or for her to moan, making sure he didn't leave a mark.

He was making sure that he was undressing himself at the same rate that he was undressing her. He knew where he was heading as he started to bring his hands up her thighs as he continued past her belly button. But so had Fenshaw and she caught his chin to bring him up to her face.

"Well if you aren't going to allow me, why should I allow you?" She said.

He couldn't stop the groan from leaving his lips and he put her smile at the top of his list of the most beautiful things in the world. He wasn't sure that love happened this fast and he was sure that it didn't take one night to fall in love with someone. But Eddie had this feeling that he was never going to meet someone like Fenshaw again.

Eddie was slightly disappointed when he woke up the next morning to find the other side of the bed empty. If anything, he would have wanted to show her how much he had fallen in love with her that night. But he couldn't and he only had the memory and her surname.

As he lied there, trying to find the energy to go and find his friends and get the teasing over and done with, that the romantic side of him came out. He believed that the night they had was fate and that this wasn't going to be the end for them. After all, they both wanted to be teachers and he knew that England was a big place, but there was every chance that they could bump into each other again. And he knew that would be the time where he could get to know her properly.

It was the thought that put a smile on his face and got him out of bed and down to breakfast. It wasn't hard to find his friends as they were the noisiest people in the breakfast area. He walked over to them and as soon as they saw him, he knew it was going to start.

"So how did Lameo Lawson here get the only hook up of the night?" Steve said.

"I've told you guys. Don't go in with the expectation that they are going to jump in bed with you." Eddie said as he sat down.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So you did fuck her then?" Jack said.

"I wouldn't put it like that."

"But you did get Between The Sheets with her?" Dave asked.

"What is this all about?" Eddie said.

"What was her name?"

Eddie opened his mouth to answer but he felt like there was more going on than them being interested in his sex life.

"Is someone going to tell me what is going on?"

"How much did she charge you?" Steve said.

"Hey?"

"Oh, you aren't that bad that she felt sorry for you and didn't charge you," Dave said.

"What are you talking about?"

"For someone who was adamant that they didn't want me to call them a hooker, you only went and picked one up," Jack said.

Eddie wanted to shake his head and tell them that Fenshaw wasn't a hooker or prostitute. But then so many things made sense if they were right. It would have been why she told him that she was more hassle than she was worth or why she wouldn't tell him her name or why he could have got her in trouble if he left a love bite on her.

Eddie leant back in his seat, crushed by the reality of what happened and his earlier thought that he would see Fenshaw again turned into a thought that he never wanted to see her again.

10 years later
25th November 2000

"Woah, I am so sorry," Eddie said after he bumped into the woman, causing her to spill her drink all over herself. "Let me try and help."

He managed to push his way through the crowd at the bar to pick up a couple of napkins before he handed them to her. He took her drink off her as she tried to wipe it off her but Eddie knew that there was very little that could be done at this point. He sniffed the drink, noting that it was a cocktail with tequila in it (with the tequila causing way too many flashbacks for him). He felt there was more to the drink and he felt like it might have been a Long Island Iced Tea, which he knew had coke in it, meaning that this woman was going to be sticky for the rest of the night.

"I am so sorry." He repeated.

"It's not your fault. It is quite busy in here."

"Let me buy you a drink as an apology. I have split half of yours over you."

"It's fine."

"No. I insist. You are the one now wearing half a cocktail. Let me buy you another one."

The woman smiled at him. "Okay then."

Eddie nodded his head as they joined the queue at the bar where they introduced themselves properly and started chatting.

"So Alison, what do you do?"

"I'm an estate agent. Actually, I am looking at my first management role. What do you do?"

"Maths teacher."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I give the same story that I wasn't going to do well at school until this one teacher inspired me and I want to be that for a student. I mean, some days it is awful. The blank stares some of the kids give me are just awful. But when you see that a kid is looking at a question, with a quizzed look on their face and there is just a moment when they think about it a little harder before the realisation comes that they can work it out. That makes all the blank looks worth it."

"I wouldn't have the patience."

"I wouldn't be able to teach anyone younger than 11."

"So you are one of the gifted then?"

"Maybe."

Eddie enjoyed the way that Alison was smiling at him. It reminded him of a night he had ten years ago. With a woman that he only knew as Fenshaw. He shook his head to rid himself of Fenshaw. He had Alison in front of him now. He should be focusing on her.

"So are you out with friends then?"

"Did you make sure this time?" Jack said when they met up the next afternoon to watch the football.

"Oh for Christ sakes. Not this again." Eddie said.

"Well after last time…"

"Alison isn't like that. Actually, we are going on a date next weekend."

"He is back in the game," Steve said.

"Can you not mention Fenshaw this time? I think that is what destroyed everything with Chloe."

"We can't promise anything," Dave said.

Eddie huffed as Jack started whistling Pretty Woman. He really hoped that his friends could keep it to themselves. Because he had a good feeling about Alison and he really hoped that he could keep Fenshaw away from her. Because everyone ran a mile when they found out that he had spent a night with a prostitute. Fenshaw wasn't going to get in between him and Alison, he hoped.

4 years later
22nd September 2004

Eddie couldn't believe how much has changed in four months. Four months ago, he was celebrating the fact that his twin sons had arrived safely and his beautiful, strong wife had gone through all that hardship to bring those lives into the world.

But that was all gone now and Eddie looked around at the small flat with his stuff all boxed up. Alison had at least had the courtesy to do that for him when she threw him out.

Because the month before, Eddie had helped her put their sons to bed and he had woken in the middle of the night to Michael crying and Stephen silent. It was the first warning alarm that something wasn't right but it wasn't until Eddie had got his three-month-old son out of his cot that he had realised what had happened and why Michael was so distressed.

He had wanted to hide Alison from the pain and panic that he was feeling but there was no way that he could hide it as the ambulance pulled up outside the house and the paramedics ran into to try and help a baby that couldn't be saved.

Alison blamed him for it and he didn't blame her.

They became so wrapped up in their own personal grief that they didn't realise that their marriage was breaking down until Alison told him that she couldn't do it anymore and she didn't want him anywhere near Michael.

It was how he found himself in a one-bed flat, on his own, after a mate said that he could use it as he wasn't renting out, until he found himself back on his feet, which Eddie was grateful for.

Eddie found himself moving towards the window and looking out over the part of Manchester that could be seen from the third floor flat.

He didn't quite think that he would find himself back in Manchester and his thoughts turned from the breakdown of his marriage and death of one of his twin sons to the night he had over 14 and a half years ago.

He knew that Fenshaw entered his thoughts from time to time and he had never been so angry at his friends than when he found out that they had told Alison about that night on their wedding day, of all days. She had been furious that he hadn't mentioned it but he never knew how to tell her.

How do you tell someone that you think that you slept with a prostitute but she didn't charge you?

Eddie constantly changed between the thought that he would see her again or that they only had that night.

That was definitely a night where he believed that he would see her again and part of him wondered what she was doing at that moment.