Sorry this is late, I've been at work all day so didn't have chance to post it.

This chapter is a bit less eventful that the rest, mostly because I couldn't figure out where to split it with the next chapter, which is now an absolute mammoth since there was nowhere else I could reasonably split it up, so look forward to that! ;)

Enjoy

Attempting to hide my bruised neck from my parents was an absolute nightmare, leading me to feign having the flu so that I could stay in bed with the duvet almost completely covering me without raising too much suspicion. If they suspected a hangover, they didn't mention it and I made sure to be up and out of the house the next morning before they could question my choice of clothing for the day.

Unfortunately, my peers were not so easily avoided, including Bernie herself, who seemed to be having the time of her life winding me up from across the biology lab.

"Serena, are you okay?" asked our biology teacher, Miss Trent, a mix of concern and irritation in her voice. "You look a bit peaky. What's with the scarf? It's about twenty degrees in here."

"I was just thinking the same thing, Miss," Bernie piped up, and I shot her an incredulous look. She grinned at me, before continuing. "I feel hot just looking at you, you must be roasting!"

"I'm quite alright, thank you," I replied firmly, avoiding her eyes. I could never resist that grin, and feared I would lose myself to laughter if I looked at her again, so ridiculous was my situation. "I'm just recovering from a rather nasty ear infection so getting a bit of a chill, but I'm fine, really."

The teacher eyed me sceptically. "If it's that bad, then you really shouldn't be here..." She began.

"It's fine," I interrupted. "I'd just like to get on with my studies, if that's okay with you?"

"Temper, temper," Bernie called across the room, amusement lacing her every word. I ground my teeth, getting an uncontrollable urge to throw something at her.

"That's enough, Berenice," Miss Trent warned, before clearing her throat. "Right, back to work everybody."

With the attention finally away from me, I risked a glance towards my friend, only to find her staring at me with the most irritating smirk I have ever seen. Pettily, I screwed up my face at her, sticking my tongue out, leading her to clap her hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide her laughter and failing miserably.

"Is something the matter, Berenice?" The teacher turned around from where she was writing on the blackboard, raising an eyebrow at her in suspicion.

"Nothing, Miss," she coughed. "Just something in my throat."

I chuckled inwardly to myself, enjoying seeing her get a slight taste of her own medicine and vowing to get a proper revenge at some point, before returning to my notes.

::

Period four that day I went to my usual spot in the library to do some studying and, though I wouldn't admit it to myself at the time, to watch Bernie playing sports on the field. It thrilled me to get those little glances from her; it was all I could do not to blush furiously each time, and in all truthfulness I rarely got any work done.

Today, however, I was tired, still feeling the aftereffects of our heavy night and soon found my eyelids drooping, and before the team had even appeared on the field I had laid my head on my forearms, and drifted off to sleep.

I woke to a tickling sensation at the side of my neck - the side so embarrassingly covered in love bites from the other night - though shrugged it off as my scarf rubbing at the side of my neck, grunting slightly before deciding to go back to sleep, not really much aware of where I was in my semi-conscious state. But then I felt the unmistakable brushing of fingers, and cool air hitting my skin as the scarf was pulled back.

My eyes flew open, my heart skipping a beat, and I sat up quickly, ready to fight whoever was who was intruding so boldly into my privacy, only to be faced with her sat next to me, grinning happily.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" I asked, incredulous. I wrapped my scarf around myself more tightly, self-conscious.

"Just admiring my handiwork," she replied smugly, lifting her hand up to pull down my scarf again to get another look. I quickly swatted her hand away, shooting her a warning look.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," I said despairingly. "You do realise that I am going to have to avoid my parents until these have healed? And you said I gave as good as I got! There's nothing on you!" She was wearing her usual school sports hoodie and polo-neck t-shirt, with absolutely nothing to evidence what had gone on between us. She didn't even look as though she had lost any sleep.

She shook her head at me, looking behind her before pulling across the neck of her shirt to reveal a large, swollen blotch on her shoulder and then pulling it downwards to show one to match just above her left breast. "You were just a bit more discreet than I," she said softly, so that no one could hear. "Don't know how they'll go down in the changing rooms, mind you. They bloody hurt as well."

"Good," I said pointedly, giving her a stern look. "Anyway, why aren't you at practice? Is it because of the shoulder?"

"No," she chuckled lightly. "Though that might caused a couple of problems. It was Dukes' 18th on Saturday, and, as most of them are in an even worse state than you are, I cancelled practice for today. So I thought I would come and see how you are instead."

"Come and wind me up more like," I said cynically, but couldn't help a smile. "Were you not invited?"

"Yes, but I gave it a miss," she replied quickly, and was that a hint of shyness in her voice? I froze. We were out on Saturday night.

"How come?" I asked, attempting to sound nonchalant when in reality my heart was pounding.

"I…" She said slowly, looking down at the table. "I just… decided I'd rather have gone out with you, that's all."

My breath caught in my throat, and I felt somehow slightly emotional. "Got more than you bargained for there," I managed to choke out, feigning indifference in order to mask what I was truly feeling, to mask the fact that this meant more than the world to me, to mask the fact that I cared too much.

She let out a brazen, hearty laugh. "Yes, I suppose I did," she replied, a genuine, illuminating smile on her lips. "I still wouldn't have changed places, though."

I held my breath, unable to comprehend her words, to formulate a coherent response. For some reason, I didn't want to believe that I meant as much to her as she did to me. That seemed like crossing a boundary, some unknown threshold that couldn't be returned from, and I wasn't ready for that. Not in the slightest.

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled eventually, desperately attempting to hide behind my words. "You're not the one having to dress up as an Eskimo when it's fifteen degrees outside."

She stared at me penetratingly, before chuckling slightly. "Yes," she said quietly. "I suppose you're right."

We were silent for a few moments then, me twiddling with my pen and her gazing down at her fingernails contemplatively, her hair falling into her face in a way which made me desperate to tuck it behind her ear. Could I see a slight tinge of pink in her cheeks? I was quickly distracted as she spoke again.

"Oh, I meant to ask," she said, almost shyly. "Jonty is having his eighteenth next month, the twenty-third. It's in some big casino in Bristol; his parents are pretty well-off. But it's a Saturday night so I asked if you could come with, if you like? As a plus one, sort of thing. It's a free bar all night, and they're paying for all transport there and back, so it wouldn't cost you anything. What do you think?"

"Yeah," I choked out, a little surprised by just how far she seemed willing to go to spend time with me, but quickly putting the thought out of my mind. "Of course. If you're sure that's okay?"

"Definitely," she smiled, seemingly relieved. "He owes me anyway. But, you know, it saves us a bit of money with the free bar and all that." She grinned at me.

"Don't pretend you won't spend it all on the roulette table," I glanced downwards, hiding my fond smirk.

She nudged me with her elbow. "Oh, don't act so bloody righteous. You know you'll be right there next to me, egging me on."

I raised an eyebrow at her playfully. "How much are you willing to bet on it?" I joked.

She chuckled lightly. "We'll see," she said, smirking at me. Our eyes met, then, and I found myself unable to look away from her warm, soft eyes, butterflies swarming in my stomach as I smiled back at her, a strange feeling of nervousness mixed with complete elation filling my chest and making my heart flutter. The afternoon sun highlighted her every feature, making her hair glow golden like a halo and her eyes gleam in the light. She was so, so, unimaginably beautiful that it almost took the breath out of me. I wanted to hold her, kiss her cheeks, kiss her lips. I wanted to love her; I just didn't recognise it yet. She was my best friend, and that only.

Suddenly, the bell for final period broke our eye contact. I had no idea how long we had sat there like that, gazing into one another's eyes; I was late for physics and didn't have time to dwell on the matter. It was too long though, and mystics have felt full and churning as I rushed off to the other side of the school, the image of her like an angel filling my mind, and my heart.

::

I clicked the cassette player off at that point, unable to listen further. My heart was aching and twisting, my eyes stinging with emotion and my hands trembling as I lifted my glass to my lips. Remembering her like that, in all her youthful radiance, and seeing the contrast to now, and wishing with each fibre of my being that I had been there to witness the transition, was playing with my feelings more than I could allow, more than I could detach myself from. She was married, I was with Robbie, and that was the end of it. Nothing more. It ends here.

I poured myself another glass of Shiraz and flicked on the television, watching hazily and trying with all my will to slow my racing heart.