'Hannah', I said, as she fell into my arms, 'It's okay, it will be fine.'
'HOW?!', Hannah suddenly exclaimed, 'I cheated on my fiancée with my ex Jules! I feel so dirty. How could I do it?!'
'You were drunk Han', I said.
'That's no excuse', she replied, standing up and looking back at me, 'How come whenever Robbie Williams comes into my life he totally fucks everything up?! He's dumped me TWICE before, and yet I still fall back into his arms! God, I'm such a fool!'
'Hannah', I sighed, getting to my feet and wrapping my arms around her as she began to cry, 'It's okay.'
'Please Jules', Hannah sniffed, 'Please don't tell anyone, especially Mark.'
'I promise', I whispered, giving her a tissue to dry her eyes.
'Okay', Hannah nodded, breaking away from me, 'Now, I need to pack. You get back to Mark, he'll be looking for you.'
'Are you sure?', I asked, unsure.
'Yeah', Hannah nodded, sniffing, 'Go.'
'Okay', I said, walking towards the door, 'I'll see you later.'
With that I walked out of the room, but instead of looking for Mark, I just went back to our room.
I really didn't want to run into Robbie, because I was sure that if I did I would tear him apart. He had taken advantage of Hannah once again. He knew that she had a loving fiancée and child at home, but he still slept with her.
Okay, she was drunk and shouldn't have done it, but he wasn't drinking and knew full well of his actions.
Just when he had gotten back into my good books, he had jumped out of them again in no time.
'Hey babe', I heard Mark say as he walked into the room, breaking me out of my thoughts.
'Oh', I replied, looking up at him from where I sat on the bed, 'Hi.'
'How's Hannah?', he asked, sitting down beside me.
'Uh, she's okay', I nodded, 'Her hang-over is gone.'
'Well that's good', Mark said, 'Robbie told me that he really enjoyed last night with us. It was just like old times.'
'Hmm, it was alright', I mumbled, 'Did he say anything about Han?'
'Just that he was glad to see her so happy', Mark smiled.
'Oh, right', I said.
'Is that the time?', Mark asked, looking down at his watch, 'We'd better get going. Our train leaves in an hour. Do you want to say goodbye to Rob?'
'Nah it's okay', I replied, standing up and getting my bag, 'He'll understand we're running late.'
'You're right', Mark said, grabbing our suitcases, 'Let's go.'
An hour later, Mark, Hannah and I sat in our carriage on the train back to Manchester.
I knew that Mark had noticed how unusually quiet Hannah was being, but had not commented on it. He would probably ask me about it later.
Eventually, we reached Manchester, and we parted ways with my best friend.
'Okay', Mark said, when we were on our way back to the Lake District, 'What's happened?'
'What do you mean?', I asked, turning around in my seat to face him as he drove.
'Come on Jules, Mark replied, 'I'm not that foolish. There's obviously something up. Hannah and you hardly said two words on the train. Usually there's no shutting you two up.'
'Thanks Mark!', I laughed, before growing serious, 'But I promised not to tell anyone.'
'Is it that she slept with Rob?', Mark asked, taking me totally by surprise.
'He told you?!', I said, crossing my arms, 'Is he proud of what he's done? Taking advantage of her and making her cheat on her fiancée?'
'Actually he felt really guilty', Mark replied, 'Hannah isn't a total victim in this Jules. According to Rob she was throwing herself at him. He tried to sober her up, but she was having none of it. It was as much her fault as his.'
'Hmm', I mumbled, 'I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.'
'Fine', Mark nodded, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
The two of us spent most of the rest of the journey in silence, both sticking up for our best friends.
Weeks past as Mark and I began to make our adoption plans.
Even though Mark was officially dropped from his record label (His appearance on stage with Robbie hadn't done him any favours), he was too excited about starting a family with me to really care that much.
'I can always release another album by setting up my own record company', he shrugged, as we trawled our way through what seemed like hundreds of forms at the kitchen table, 'It's not the end of the world.'
'Are you serious?', I asked, looking over at him, 'I thought you would be devastated to admit defeat.'
'Jules', he replied, taking my hand and smiling at me, 'Since we started researching about the adoption I've realised that my career really doesn't matter. We have enough money to live off of for the rest of our lives, so if things don't go right for me, who cares? As long as I have my beautiful girlfriend beside me and hopefully soon our little one, I'm happy.'
'I love you so much', I beamed, feeling tears come into my eyes, as I reached over the table to kiss him.
Things were just getting more heated when my mobile phone began to ring.
'Shit', I said, pulling away and looking at the caller-ID, 'It's Hannah, I'd better get this.'
'I'll be waiting here', Mark replied, smiling as I made my way out of the room.
Since Robbie's gig, Hannah and I hadn't been in contact as much as usual. She was being unusually subdued, and quiet. It was very strange for her.
So when I saw that she was calling me, I knew something was wrong.
'Hey Han', I answered, when I had reached the living room.
'Oh Julie!', I heard her weep.
'Hannah what's wrong?', I asked, getting into a panic as I heard her burst out crying, 'Are you okay?'
'No', she replied, still crying, 'Jules, I'm pregnant.'
'Really?', I gasped, relaxing, 'Han that's great news! Why are you so upset?'
'Because', Hannah started, before she broke down crying again, 'Because I don't know if it's Jeremy's or Rob's.'
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hey guys,
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Poor Hannah!
So I went to see the boys in concert last Saturday, and they were AMAZING!
Howard waved at me, and Mark and Gary smiled at me.
I don't think I've screamed so much in my life to be honest.
Anyway, thank you for reading.
The concert gave me inspiration for a brand new Take That story (Obviously about Mark), so I'm writing that at the moment too.
It won't be released for a while though, but I'll keep you posted about it.
Love,
Lauren
xxxxx
