Alex

"Is it too late to call her?" Zack asked me, glancing from me to his phone and then back to me again.

"Well yeah," I said, gesturing to our surroundings. "We are eating." I said, taking a big bite of my burger to strengthen my point.

"That's true." Zack said, looking down at his food sadly.

"Oh c'mon Ryder! If you wanna call her just do it, you can always take her somewhere else, you don't have to take her to dinner!" I said taking another bite out of my burger.

I wish he'd stop moaning, at least he managed to get her number!

He started to scroll through his contacts and soon his phone was pressed against his ear. I rolled my eyes and continued my way through my burger.

His face suddenly lit up.

"Hi Becky! It's me, Zack. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. So any way I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me tonight. You would? Well that's great! Yeah, I'll come by your room in…" he glanced at me and I shrugged. "Half an hour. Ok, 315 got it. See you then! Bye!"

He hung up and grinned at me. "She wants to go out with me!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Well I guess I better get going then huh?" I said, finishing my burger and picking up its packaging.

"No!" he cried and I frowned at him.

"Dude, it's your first date with her, me being there will only make it more awkward for the pair of you." I stood up and put my rubbish in one of the bins.

"Yeah, but I'd feel better if you were there man, I mean you both get along, we get along… It would really help me out if you were there!"

I sighed. Sure I wanted to see Becky again, but while she was on a date with one of my friends?

"C'mon man, just this one time, I promise."

"Ok, but it better be the first and last time." I said, meeting his eyes. He nodded at me and smiled.

"Thanks man! You're a good friend."

"I wish I wasn't." I muttered and Ryder cocked his head having not heard me properly.

"What's that?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Nothing man, nothing."

Half an hour later I found myself standing outside room 315.

Zack went up to the door and took a deep breath.

"Just knock already!" I said we'd been standing here for at least two minutes without him knocking; I just wanted to get it over with.

I knew Becky wouldn't be too happy to see me I just wanted to get her reaction out of the way.

The door opened and Eve stood in front of us. She frowned at me before turning away.

"Becky your date and his buddy are here!" she called before heading back inside.

I heard Becky shout something back at her sister and then she was at the door.

"Alex! What are you doing here?" she asked and I took a step back, she was stunning.

She still had her hair down and she was wearing a dark blue mini dress. It looked amazing on her.

Ryder nudged me and I moved my eyes to the wall. "Zack invited me." I said shrugging.

I saw Becky glance at Ryder who nodded; she sighed and stepped out of the hotel room, clutching her purse to her chest.

"So where are you taking me?" she asked, more to Ryder than me.

"You'll see." He said, winking at her. I shook my head and headed after them.

Becky

"I'm gonna go get a drink!" I yelled over the thumping bass of the latest song the club was playing.

Opposite me Zack grinned. "Don't be too long, I'm a great dancer!" he yelled back, attempting to do the moonwalk but instead found himself bashing into people.

He gave me a shy grin before I turned and headed for the bar.

I caught sight of Alex almost immediately; he'd been sulking over there ever since we got here. He hadn't wanted to dance, not even after Zack and I persisted.

I was about to yell at him when he stood up as if to leave. I picked up the pace but soon lost him in the crowd.

I sighed and pushed through the crowd, I didn't know why I was bothering I mean it was meant to be just me and Zack but I wanted to know what Alex's problem was.

I saw him leaving the club and I headed after him. I grabbed him just as he was turning onto the street.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked and he turned, grinning slightly when he saw me, but then as quickly as it appeared the grin went.

"To the hotel." He said, nodding towards the street.

"Why?" I asked and he shook me off and sighed.

"Because," he said shrugging.

"That's not the greatest of answers Alex." I said and that got me a small smile.

"Well, this is a date, correct?"

"I guess." I said shrugging.

"And the first date between two people should you know, be private, if I stay I'll be ruining it!"

"You ruined it by sitting there sulking at the bar!" I said poking him in the chest.

"Well whatever, I think it would be best for you and Zack if I left. The first date is where you get to know each other; it's where the 'magic' starts. If I were Zack I wouldn't want one of my friends to be here, I'd just want it to be me and her, somewhere private, like dinner."

"That sounds nice, I'd like that." It certainly seemed better than going out to a club.

"Maybe I'll remember that next time I-" suddenly the talk of food brought back my hunger from earlier this evening and my stomach rumbled, cutting Alex off.

"We better get you that dinner soon huh?" Alex said between laughs.

I felt my face flush and I hit him. "It's not funny!" I said aware of how spoilt I sounded.

"Um I think it's funny, hilarious in fact!" he said chuckling, I glared at him. "Jeez, sorry!" he said, raising his hands in surrender.

"Why do I get the feeling that apology is a little forced?" I asked and Alex smiled.

"Because it is forced, now c'mon," he said putting an arm round me and leading me down the street. "Let's get that bad boy some food!"

"What about Zack?" I asked, glancing back at the club.

"We won't be too long, unless of course you're a picky eater." I bit my lip nervously. "C'mon we'll be there and back before you know it!"

I glanced at the meat pile before me. "You eat this slop?" I asked, prodding at it with a fork.

"Hey!" Alex said, stealing a few of the fries. "I thought you said you weren't fussy!"

"I'm not," I said looking back down at the food. "This just doesn't look very appetising."

"I'm sure you'll love it if you try it! C'mon, I said we'd be quick and that food stand was part of the quickness so hurry up and do your end of the bargain!"

I looked at the food again and sighed, Alex was right if I took any longer Zack would worry about me.

I stabbed a piece of the meat with my fork and very cautiously lifted it too my lips. It was greasy, very greasy but it tasted nice.

"What's the face for?" Alex asked as I continued to slowly nibble at the pieces of meat. "Scared you're gonna put on thousands of calories?"

"No!" I said, forgetting the mouth full of food I had. I felt myself blushing again.

"You're my type of girl," he said. "Not afraid to talk with your mouth full and possibly attack people with bits of chewed up food."

I tried to hold my laughter back but I couldn't. I ended up almost choking.

"Hey!" Alex said, grabbing me. "Careful!" He put an arm round me, the warmth of his hands on my bare skin sent shivers down my spine.

"Jesus!" he exclaimed pulling away. "You're freezing!" He pulled his denim jacket off and wrapped it around me. I tried to protest but he persisted.

"You didn't have to do that." I said, pulling the edges closer to me.

"I wanted to." He said smiling in a way I'd never seen him smile before. It was almost shy but friendly at the same time. Something told me it was a special smile, one only used in certain situations.

He wrapped his arm around me again and picked at my fries.

"Hey!" I said, waving my fork at him threateningly.

"Oh! How scary, a plastic fork!" We both laughed.

I continued to pick my way through the meal until I couldn't eat anymore; we stood up from the bench, put the rubbish in the trash can and headed back to the club.

Alex

We re-entered the club and I couldn't help feeling a little bit sad about it, we'd had fun out there, but now it was back to the real world. Back to the date.

Almost immediately we headed to the bar, I glanced at the dance floor to see Zack dancing by himself.

"Somebody had fun while we were gone." Becky said, sitting on a stool. I pulled myself onto the one next to her and nodded.

I watched as Ryder danced ridiculously by himself and I felt a little sorry for him.

"I think you should go join him." I said nudging Becky lightly, she glanced at me and even though I could hardly see her face because of the poor lighting I knew she was frowning.

"Not if he's gonna dance like that!" she said looking over at him.

As if he could feel her eyes on him Ryder turned, he caught sight of us and smiled. He started to walk over.

I turned round to order a drink, partly to give them privacy and partly because I knew Becky's attention would be on Ryder again.

"Hi guys!" he said and I turned to nod at him, he grinned at me and then went back to Becky.

"Wait a minute!" he said. "You're wearing his jacket!" Becky nudged me and I almost dropped my drink.

"What?" I said turning back round to face Ryder.

"Why is she wearing your jacket?" he asked looking and sounding really hurt.

"She was feeling sick and said she needed some fresh air," I started, trying to think it through before I started blabbing. "I said I'd go with her cause there's all sorts of creeps on the street and well it was cold, so I gave her my jacket."

Ryder turned to Becky who nodded; a small smile was on her face, like she was impressed with my lying ability.

"Well, if you're sick why don't we call it a night?" Ryder asked. Becky shrugged.

"I think I could manage a couple more songs," she said. "Coming Alex?"

"What the hell." I said, draining the rest of my drink and following them onto the dance floor.

Becky

"That was fun, I had a good time!" I said, and Zack smiled at me.

"Yeah, I hope you feel better soon."

"Thank you!" I said smiling at him, I reached into my purse and pulled out the spare key Eve gave me earlier. I placed it into the lock and twisted it.

"Bye boys!" I called, Zack waved and Alex gave me a small grin and a nod. Smiling to myself I let myself into our room.

I heard some shuffling and Eve appeared, her hair slightly ruffled and wearing her pyjamas.

"I told you not to wait up!" I said, folding my arms and staring at her.

"Well I did." She said shrugging and heading towards the couch, I followed her and sat next to her.

"So how did your 'date' go?" she asked and I smiled, thinking of the time I had with Alex outside of the club.

"It went well." I said smiling at the memory of his big, strong arm wrapped around me.

"Even with Riley there?"

"Even with Riley there." I said stopping myself from saying he was the whole reason I had a good time.

"Why was he there any way, I thought it was a date between you and Zack… You don't think he wanted to sabotage it do you?" she asked and I frowned at her.

"Why would he want to do that?" I asked and Eve bit her lip. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No."

"Then why do you think Alex was trying to sabotage our date?"

"I don't know," she said shrugging. "Maybe he doesn't want to lose his only friend to a girl."

"That's harsh!" I said prodding her and she smiled.

"C'mon you know I love him really, he's a nice guy, but we just get along better when we insult each other!" she wrapped an arm round me and gave me a mini hug.

"It's getting late." Eve said, releasing me and standing up. "We should get some sleep.

"Yeah." I said sighing and heading into my room to get changed.