A/N Once again thanks to FrogQueenLaurel for her quick beta skills, I'm so grateful for your help! Also thanks to my good friend Kay Cannon for always being there to brainstorm with me, I appreciate your help tremendously.

TheTwilightTwenty-Five
Prompt: Collide
Penname:juliebutterfly
Pairing:Alice
Rating: T

London was everything I had expected it to be. Busy, exciting and also a bit overwhelming. I spent the next 3½ days trying to consume as much I possibly could of the city. I was exhausted when I got back to the hostel at night, but I was only here for a few days and I didn't want to miss out on anything. However, trying to see everything in less than 4 days quickly made me realize I couldn't keep up that pace for the 3 months the trip would last. I had to slow down a bit, otherwise I would quickly be too tired to enjoy anything.

I had booked a train to Amsterdam departing from London in the evening. It was a 6 hour trip and I had planned to use the time on the train to relax and maybe even catch up on some sleep. My body was still adjusting to the time difference and with all the new impressions I had of London I was starting to feel like a tired old lady already.

I had to switch trains in Brussels and according to my schedule I had 10 minutes to do so. I figured it would be enough, not really taking into consideration just how big the train station in Brussels actually was. Plus, all the signs were in Dutch and French which only added to the confusion. When I finally located the right track, I only had three minutes left and running upstairs with a very heavy backpack in heels is not as easy as it may sound. I got on the train with about 30 seconds to spare and quickly went looking for my seat. I located the correct compartment and tried to maneuver myself, and my enormous backpack, in there without knocking the other people over. I was trying to place my backpack on the baggage shelf, but I was too short to reach it and the backpack being as heavy as it was, I failed miserably. I stepped onto the seat, trying to gain some extra height so I could push the backpack up, but just as I tried to get the backpack up there, the train did an unexpected movement and I got knocked off balance. Before I fell flat on my ass, I felt an arm wrap around my waist to help me regain balance. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an arm catch my backpack just before it would have landed on someones head. I was pressed up against a stranger's body and when I turned my head to see who it was, I was met by a friendly pair of green eyes. I wanted to say something but before the words escaped from my mouth he beat me to it:

"Looks like you need a little help." His Scottish accent made my knees go soft and I was close to losing my balance again. It was like having Ewan McGregor talking directly in my ears.

"Are you okay?" He asked and I realized I hadn't said anything but rather just kept staring into his eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." I regained composure and he released me from his grip.

"You need any help with this?" He nodded towards my backpack which he was still holding on to.

"That would be great, thank you. Even with heels on I'm too short to reach the shelf. Plus, it's really heavy."

"Who backpacks in heels?" He laughed and in an swift movement my backpack was placed on the baggage shelf.

"Uhm.. short people I guess." I sat down in my seat and he returned to his, directly opposite mine, giving me a much better chance to really look at him.

"Have you been backpacking long?" He asked.

"No, this is my fourth day."

"Figured," he chuckled. "It's a rookie mistake to backpack in heels."

"What are you – some kind of backpacking expert?" I asked a little defensively. I couldn't remember the last time I had worn flats and it wasn't like I was walking around in 10 inches stilettos. These were 2 inches, tops. He let out a small snort before he answered.

"Well, I would hardly call myself an expert, but I am an avid traveler, and I'm willing to bet you'll be buying sneakers soon. How long are you traveling for?"

"3 months. Are you traveling too?"

"Well yes, sort of, I work for a traveling magazine. Right now I'm working on an article about traveling on an Interrail ticket so I'll get to do this for a few months and I even get paid while doing it." He shot me a smile while he ran his fingers through his hair before he continued

"I've been traveling a lot myself over the years on an Interrail ticket, so it's a fun task for me to do, looking at it from a writers perspective."

"So do you decide where you want to go yourself?" I asked.

"No, they send me to different cities, I'm headed to Haag right now. Where are you off to?"

"Amsterdam and then Berlin next. That's all I've planned ahead so far."

"Going to Amsterdam to check out the coffee shops?" He asked with a smile on his lips.

"No, for the art mainly. I majored in Art in college and Amsterdam has some great museums. So I've been told at least." I wasn't really sure why he was smiling at the whole coffee shop part, it looked like he was sharing some sort of private joke.

"Well Amsterdam is a lot of fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. They also have a lot of shoe shops so you'll have no trouble locating a place to get some sneakers once your feet get sore." He nodded towards me shoes and gave me a wink.

"You have a real problems with my shoes, but I assure you I'll be fine. I never wear sneakers and I doubt I suddenly will just because I'm carrying a backpack." I huffed.

"I think your shoes are hot. I'm just saying that after a few days of travel you'll probably need something without heels." He glanced down at his watch and got out of his seat. "It's my stop next, do you want me to take down the backpack for you? Amsterdam is only like 20 minutes away?"

"Sure that would be great," I said, grateful for not having to struggle with getting the backpack down myself.

"It was nice meeting you Alice. Enjoy your trip." He grabbed his stuff and gave me a wink before he got out of the compartment. I stared after him completely puzzled as to how he knew my name because I was positive I hadn't told him. It wasn't until I stared down at my backpack and saw the name tag "Alice Brandon" attached to it I realized he must had seen that. I stared out the window trying to catch one last glimpse of him, feeling a little annoyed with myself that now I would never know his name.

A/N: Reviews are like meeting handsome Scottish strangers on a train – extremely awesome!

If you're not familiar with Amsterdam I should probably mention that coffee shops in Amsterdam means something a little different than it does in the rest of the world, you can always google it. It'll be helpful to know in the next chapter. And there really is a lot of shoe shops there.

I set up my LJ page with some visual inspiration for this story, I expect to post pictures there for each chapter. www(dot)juliebutterfly(dot)livejournal(dot)org

Also, the lovely MsKathy is organizing a fundraiser for Haiti, donate at least $5 for the charity of your choice and receive a compilation with stories written by more than 200 fanfic authors, me includded. Check www(dot)mskathyff(dot)blogspot(dot)com to read more.