Sorry it's been a while since the last update! Thanks for reviewing guys, I hope you all enjoy chapter twelve :)

I'm warm. A lot warmer than I usually feel when I wake up in bed on a Monday morning.

Then I realise why. It's because someone's arms are wrapped around me. Now there's something I haven't experienced in a long time...Mmm, I must say, it's very nice.

Then I open my own eyes to be met with a pair of gorgeous blue ones. Maybe I'm still dreaming...

I can hear chuckling. I know who it is, but I'm not ready to accept that this is real yet. "Gabi," the voice is saying through it's laughter. "What are you doing?"

I think he's referring to the fact that I'm scrunching up my eyes, then rubbing them to check that I'm not seeing things.

"Well, I'm probably dreaming knowing my luck, so..."

Troy has cut me off with a very real, long kiss.

"Oh. It wasn't a dream?"

"Definitely not," he replies, grinning at me.

"Oh good," I let out a sigh, which does not go unnoticed by him as he squints to study my face. I wish he wouldn't. I don't look particularly outstanding in the mornings.

"What are you like..." he says playfully, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Generally I'm a bit of an idiot," I reply even though it wasn't that sort of a question.

"No, you're not. I can think of a few other people who fit into that category, but you certainly don't."

"Troy..." He's being so lovely, but I know where this conversation is going, and it doesn't fit into my world. He's trying to say that Matt was an idiot for letting me go – or words to that effect.

But all I can think of now is that I'm glad I had to go through all that; because it got me to this moment.

It just took far too long for it to happen, that's all.

"Sorry," he says now. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's not that..."

"It's just that I mean it," he continues. "That guy is an idiot. And I've met him, so I can say that wholeheartedly."

Oh God. I completely forgot about that...

"What...what happened? You spoke to him...you spoke to Matt?" That's more than I did. First I ran off; and then returned to find him disappearing swiftly out of the pub. I never did find out what I missed.

Troy gives me a wry smile. "I did. Obviously I didn't know who he was at first, but I worked out that he must have been your ex. He was really arrogant – a nasty piece of work by all accounts. So I kept telling him to leave until he finally got the message."

"Oh," I say, a bit overwhelmed. "Thank you.."

He gives my hand a little squeeze. The next time he speaks, his eyes are more serious as he looks at me.

"You told me something that must have been really hard talk about, Gabi. Now there's something I want to tell you, too."

Well that was unexpected.

"I...when I was a kid, my sister passed away."

I don't know what to say.

"Her name was Lauren, and she had anorexia."

Oh my God. This is why he...

"That's why I came out with all those random comments," he finishes my silent musing for me. He looks worried when I don't answer, but it's only because I'm still lost for words.

"I meant them, Gabi – everything I said to you, I meant. I was just trying to explain why I blurt things out the way I do. It's because I used to listen to my sister talking about how much she hated her looks. She didn't realise everyone thought she was beautiful. Even I knew how popular she was in secondary school, and I was only ten at the time."

I need to say something. Anything. But I keep thinking about all the lovely things he said to me. The way his face looked when he said them. I knew he meant them; but I also knew there was something else...

And now I understand.

"I'm so sorry. To think you've been through something so..." I trail off, unable to think of an appropriate word. "I can't believe I did all that rambling last night," I add quietly to myself.

But he's heard me.

"What? No, don't be daft. What happened to me doesn't make what you've been through any less traumatic, Gabi."

It so does. I was such a mess yesterday – and even more so the night before. Troy's had to cope with much worse than what Matt did to me, and he's not making a fool of himself.

"How do you do it?" I can't stop myself from asking him.

"Do what?" Troy looks like he's wondering what he's missed in the conversation.

"Manage to be so..." Well that was clever of me. I started a topic that I can't finish, because yet again the right word won't come to me. "I mean, how do you cope so well?" I say instead.

He looks deep in thought for a minute. It's almost as though the memories of what happened to his sister have made him wonder exactly how he does cope. But then he just...smiles. A proper, relaxed smile that calms me right down.

"Trust me, I have bad days sometimes. But if Lauren's death – and her illness – taught me anything, it's that a positive outlook is important in keeping going. It's what would have helped her; but she couldn't get past the negative image she had of herself. I realised that when I was old enough to understand what she went through."

God, that's brilliant. Here I am going through life obsessing about my faults, and analysing them to death while I'm at it; when I could be much happier seeing the good points instead.

If only doing that would come as easily to me as it does to him.

"I just can't help wincing when I hear someone putting themselves down, though," Troy adds. "As I said, I heard Lauren talking about herself in that way so often, and it's stayed with me."

And instead of removing himself from a situation that reminds him of a painful memory, he decides to stick around and tell someone they're not as pathetic as they think they are.

In other words – me.

"Troy, you are one of a kind. Seriously," I tell him.

He looks surprised; like he hasn't even heard himself for the past few minutes. Then he grins at me.

"That was going to be my next line," he replies.

Oh no. I've just caught sight of the clock.

"Oh God!" I've jumped out of bed and am running around like an idiot, in full-on panic mode.

"What's wrong?" Troy sounds alarmed; but not as alarmed as I am right now.

"I'm going to miss my bus! I'll be late for work!"

He's just sitting there smiling at me.

"What?"

"Did you really think I'd make you run for the bus in the cold, when there's an available chauffeur right here, at your service?" And with that, he smiles his brilliant smile at me again.

And then I realise something. "You're not working on the buses today," I blurt out stupidly. I mean, obviously he isn't; otherwise he probably wouldn't still be here.

"No, it's just job number two today," he says, winking at me. "I don't have to be in until eleven, so I'll take you to work if you want?"

"Yes please! Looks like we've got time for breakfast then – fancy a coffee?" I ask as I wander out of the room.

"Great, thanks."

"Argh!"

I've just stepped on something hard and painful. And cold. Ouch.

"Gabi?" Troy's voice gets nearer and nearer. He must have leapt off the bed pretty sharpish.

"I'm fine, just stood on something. This is quite a standard Monday morning for me, actually."

He lets out a chuckle, and I roll my eyes, finally looking down to see which offending object has hurt my poor foot.

"Aha!"

"What's up?"

"Found my keys," I say rather smugly.

.HSM.

We had no customers this morning. None whatsoever. So there's been plenty of time for Dani to grill me about Friday night.

When she first asked me, I had to remind myself what she what talking about. The dinner party feels like an age away.

"Well, he seems to have passed the test," she's commenting now, as I trim her hair. We've got another gap before any other clients are due in, and it's a perk of the job to be able to get your hair done in between.

"What test?" I roll my eyes at Dani through the mirror in front of her.

"He survived your parents!" she exclaims dramatically. And again I roll my eyes.

"I can't believe that's the part you fixate on – after everything else I told you about the weekend!"

I've filled her in on my humiliating pub incident. All she had to say to that was, "hey, it could've been worse."

Exactly how could it have been any worse?

Now she's smiling knowingly at me. "So did Troy run straight off after what happened, then?"

I sigh. "If he had, I'd have started my story with that, wouldn't I?"

"Exactly. He didn't just give up on you. He knows all about your past and he still wants to be with you. I'd say you had a pretty successful weekend, Gabs."

Okay. That's shut me up.

"Well...I never said I didn't. It's just that I was such a pathetic mess; and he's so strong...even though he's been through so much."

"He has? What happened to him?"

Dani isn't just being nosey. I can tell she's genuinely interested, and it's obvious she approves of Troy, too. But I can't tell her about Troy's sister. That's his business.

"Let's just say he's got just as much to feel upset about as I have – if not more so."

She thinks this over for a minute, then shrugs at me. "So he's a man – men tend to be stronger than women. Gabi, you're just going to have to get over what happened in the pub. Troy doesn't care – and neither should you."

I know, I know. She's right.

Besides, if I haven't scared him off by now (without ever meaning to, of course); then there's a good chance that Dani's right. He actually wants to be with me.

Me. The girl who is always losing things and falling over herself.

Even after everything Troy's told me, I still can't quite believe it.

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