A/N – Thanks to everyone who's stuck by me thus far :) I still consider this to be the 'beginning' of the story, but I think one or two more chapters and we can start getting right to the heart of things. Reviews are always welcome and help me update faster!

After Reimi had pinned her Lloyd posters around their block, the four of them left the flat and walked the ten minutes up the hill to the train station.

Lloyd was a little edgy about leaving the portal area but the posters made him feel more assured and besides he was bored of being cooped up in the flat.

Amy immediately took the place by his side both walking to the station and on the train; laughing at his enthusiasm to everything new and reddening as their knees brushed together sitting on the crampt seats of the train. Reimi tried to ignore this and sat with Elsa opposite, pointing out the different London landmarks to Lloyd whilst the train journeyed passed bustling central stations. Elsa had her arms folded and simply stared out the window at the beginning of the journey but Reimi gratefully noticed her begin to lighten up as they reached the capital, and knew it was because it was the place she had lived during her childhood.

As the got off the train and deposited their tickets into the barrier ("cool!" declared Lloyd) they began working their way through the vast hubbub of people.

Amy grabbed Lloyd by the arm and pulled him first in one direction then the other as they went from shop to shop in search of ideal clothes. Reimi and Elsa followed behind until eventually Amy came across one she was happy with.

Lloyd sat down on one of the stools tiredly as Amy started pulling out some shirt and trouser combos for him to try on.

"How much longer will this take?" Lloyd asked exhaustedly.

"She's just getting started," Elsa groaned, placing both hands on her hips as she watched her housemate stagger under a small mountain of clothes.

Reimi gave Lloyd a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, she'll wear herself out before too long, hang in there,"

Just then Amy returned, having piled all the clothes into a basket. "Ready to try some outfits on, Lloyd?"

"Uh… o-okay then?" he said, slightly fazed by her enthusiasm.

Amy started by picking up clothes and holding them against Lloyd to see which colours suited him best. After a couple of minutes of this, Reimi and Elsa started to yawn and began talking to themselves.

"So… I noticed they opened a new Gamestation nearby," Reimi said to Elsa. "Think we can visit it later?"

"Oh!" Amy overheard and responded before Elsa could open her mouth, "Well if you guys like, why not browse there for awhile - I can help Lloyd by myself," and although warm, the tone of voice Amy used indicated to Reimi and Elsa that they should go to give her some alone time with Lloyd.

"… alright," Reimi's voice went quiet.

"I want to com-" Lloyd began but Amy cut across him.

"Alright so meet back again in half an hour? See you guys later," Amy waved and dragged Lloyd further into the store towards the changing rooms.

Elsa muttered "Very subtle Amy," then walked out with Reimi. "Come on Rem, let's go check out this game shop then,"

Twenty minutes later Reimi had just left the shop with her new purchase and decided to kill some time with Elsa in another store when her phone rang.

The number flashing on the screen read Amy. Raising her eyebrows in surprise, she showed Elsa who shrugged then hit 'answer'.

"Hey is Lloyd there with you?"

"No... why?"

"He's gone!"

"WHAT!?"

"One minute he was next to me, then I went to try something on in the changing room and when I came out he was gone!"

"Oh no… Hang on, we'll be right there,"

Reimi hung up and started walking back, updating Elsa at the same time. After meeting with a panic-stricken Amy, they searched around the entrance and inside of the shop for Lloyd but to no avail.

"He can't have gone far," Elsa said comfortingly. "Let's split up and search for him nearby,"

'I knew this would happen,' Reimi thought unhappily but realized there were more important things to be getting on with then having arguments, so she remained silent as they split up and checked the neighboring shops one at a time. After several shops proved Lloyd-less, Reimi reached the Trocadero arcade complex. The entrance alone was crammed full of kids and teenagers out enjoying their weekend.

After hesitating that Lloyd would be here for a moment, she sidled past a big group standing in the way of the entrance and began searching inside.

There were people everywhere she looked. Reimi cursed to herself as she realized how serious the situation was. An image of him in the road flashed through her minds eye and she had a sudden urge to leave and check that he wasn't wandering around in the road again. However as she passed a group of girls near the DDR machines she caught sight of him. His back was turned to her but she was pretty sure…

"Lloyd!" she called out, but he didn't turn around. There was too much noise for him to hear her clearly. Instead she pushed past a group of tourists, determined not to lose sight of him and desperately reached for his hand to gain his attention.

"Reimi!" he spun around relieved when he found out who had grabbed him.

"Outside!" she mouthed and the two of them worked their way back to the high street.

When they back on the main street and could hear each other again she turned to him heatedly. "Lloyd, why did you run off? We were so worried about you!"

"Amy said she was done and I wanted to go and see the game shop with you," he answered guiltily, "I thought this was it so I went in. I'm sorry,"

Reimi flushed but shook her head. "Just say next time, we can't contact you if you get lost… I was really scared,"

Lloyd looked downwards. "Sorry,"

Reimi exhaled in relief, then realized they were still holding hands. She hurriedly let go, avoiding his eyes and bent over her phone to hide the color still on her cheeks. "I better tell Amy not to worry anymore,"

Punching one of the speed dials on her phone, Reimi arranged to rejoin Amy and Elsa outside the Troc.

"What's in the bag?" Lloyd asked curiously when the call ended.

"Oh… It's a new game that's just come out that I thought we could play. It's up to four players so we can all try it together," she handed it to him to read the back synopsis.

"Hmmm… Looks good," he nodded with approval, then "Wah!" Amy crashed into him.

"WHERE. WERE. YOU!?" she punctuated every word with a fist to the back.

"Oww! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Lloyd said, throwing his hands over his head.

Amy was about to spit something back but thought better of it and folded her arms, multiple shopping bags swaying in unison disagreement.

"You really should be more grateful Lloyd, that's at least a day's wages worth of clothes," Elsa sighed, already bored of the drama.

"But I am grateful," Lloyd glanced at Elsa then Amy. "And I really am sorry but it was taking so long and I thought since I'll be going home soon there's no need to buy a whole bunch. We can take some back?"

Amy ignored Lloyd. "I hate London sometimes, it's way too crowded. Let's go home,"

Lloyd continued to apologize profusely but Amy was short with him most of the way home until she became bored and started talking about their purchases.

Even then, once they were back, Reimi decided against suggesting starting their new game in case it brought up renewed conflict. Instead she watched as Amy forced Lloyd into different variations of the outfits she had bought that day, feeling oddly detached for reasons she couldn't quite pinpoint.