I didn't talk to Tess the whole way to Sulani, a 2 hour car ride of just staring out the window, I was still furious with what she had said to Angus, it wasn't her business what we were doing and she had no right to yell at him or myself. Ive never gotten in the middle of her and Declan, even when they've had their fights I've never taken sides or attacked Declan, telling him that it was his fault and I feel so betrayed that she broke my trust and used it against me. We'd never gone this long without making up, even as kids we'd be best friends again by morning but this time was different, she'd gone too far and was over stepping.
When we arrived at the holiday home we walked in and looked around, it is a beautiful island style house, two stories, kitchen and living downstairs, bathroom and four bedrooms upstairs. I picked the room right at the end of the hall, it was the smallest but has a great view of the beach, Cassie and Sam were in the room next to me and Tess and Declan are across the hall from them, leaving the other end bedroom free. I unpack my suitcase and decided that I needed time alone on the beach, I had the forethought to pack a bucket and spade because I love to make sandcastles. I change into my swimwear, slather myself in sunscreen, grab my beach towel and make my way to the sand.
I remember Angus telling us that the property also has a private beach so I'm grateful that I don't have to deal with crowds of tourists and beach goers, I can just sit in silence and create a masterpiece. I'd been out there for an hour when I feel someone is standing behind me, watching, I turn around and see that it's Tess, she has a nervous look on her face like she's scared to approach me.
"I've been looking for you" She tells me in small voice
"I've been sitting here for an hour so clearly you didn't look hard enough" I snap at her
"Zoey I hate when we fight and it's going to make for a horrible holiday if my best friend won't even speak to me" She says, coming down to sit beside me on my towel
"I hate when we fight too Tess but you shouldn't of gotten involved, I would never of done that with you and Declan and you know it" I reason with her and she hangs her head
"I know, I just don't like seeing you get strung along. I like Angus, don't get me wrong, he's my friend too but he's not being fair on you, he has you in this holding pattern, waiting for him to decide when he's going to take you back and he keep acting like he's still your boyfriend but without actually being your boyfriend, he's stopping you from moving on and he knows it." She explains and I know she's right, I just haven't been able to admit it to myself, I kept thinking if I played along then eventually he would want me back but I secretly hate just being friends with him.
"I don't know what to do Tess, I want him back, to how it was and he doesn't want that but I don't want to not have him in my life because that makes me miserable. I love him and I'm not allowed to love him" I cry
"You can love him Zo, he still loves you too but you have to accept that he can't go back and you need to move on or it will destroy you and I don't want to see you be that girl who couldn't move on from the boy who broke her heart" She says, putting her arm around my shoulders
"Well what do you suggest I do?" I ask her
"Stay friends with him if you think you can handle just being friends but set some boundaries that you're comfortable with, like no flirting because that's just messing with your head." She advises, "If Angus woke up to himself and realised he should be with you then I'd support you both completely because I know you'd be happy and I know he's a good guy, he made one mistake and he is punishing himself and you for it but if he moved past that and came back I wouldn't say a word, neither would the others either, we just want to see you happy, with Angus or not" She promises
"You need to call him Tess, you two need to work this out because you're friends and what you said really hurt him, even if you are right." I urge her
"I'll call him now and sort it, it will be all good sis" She says hugging me.
I leave her on the beach to make the call and go back up to the house where the others are planing where to go out tonight.
"The Sandbar is good" I suggest and they agree that we will go there. I walk off to the shower to wash the sand off myself and start getting ready for our first night out on the island. I pick out an outfit to wear, the climate here is very tropical, you walk outside and instantly start sweating, I pull out my red mini skirt and a white singlet. I keep my make up at a bare minimum because I know it will just sweat off once I walk outside anyway and pull my hair up into a messy bun because the tropical weather is making it frizz like crazy. I walk back downstairs as Tess comes into the house.
"We sorted it out" She says smiling at me and I hug her.
"Fantastic, go get ready, we are going to The Sandbar for dinner, drinks and dancing" I order her
"That's so weird, Angus just suggested we go there tonight too" Tess laughs
We walk to The Sandbar, it's not too far from our house and it gives us a chance to take in the amazing sunset over the island water, the smell of hibiscus flowers fills the air.
"I could live here forever" I announce to the group, the girls both walking hand in hand with their partners and I'm walking behind them, dancing along the path.
"It's a great place to visit but I couldn't live here" Cassie tells me, "I want to live that apartment city life, to be amongst the business of a city that never sleeps" .
We arrive at the bar after a 15 minute walk, it's not too busy tonight but we see other school leavers who are celebrating the end of high school. We order drinks and enough food to feed a small army and sit at the lounges out the front.
"Do you think we will stay in touch now that we're out of School" Sam asks the group
"I think we will" Cassie assures him but none of us know what next year will bring.
As the night gets later the bar becomes busier, filled with a mixture of school leavers and people on uni break for the year. In the crowd I see the face of someone who I recognise but I can't quite pinpoint where I know him from and then it hits me, that's Charlie, the guy who got my number at The Rattlesnake bar a few weeks ago but never contacted me and I guess with all the Angus drama I kind of forgot all about it. He must be staying on the island for uni break. I point him out to Tess and she suggests I should go say hello to him
"What could it hurt?" Tess points out and I agree.
Charlie is sitting with a group of 4 boys drinking beers and talking loudly and I get a flutter of butterflies as I approach his table.
"Hey Charlie" I greet him and he turns to face me and smiles brightly.
"Hey, I remember you, Zoey right?" He asks
"Yeah, that's right, we met at The Rattlesnake about a month ago" I remind him
"Oh yeah, I got your number and I totally meant to call and ask you out but I've just been so crazy busy. You look amazing babe, love that skirt on you" He says, putting his hand on my back and I feel a tingling sensation go down my spine
"Thanks and that's all good about not calling, I've been really busy too" I assure him
"How long are you staying on the island for?" He asks
"A week, we just arrived this afternoon." I reply, "What about you?"
"We leave tomorrow afternoon, been here since Tuesday, an impromptu trip for Uni break" He explains as he finishes his beer, "Lets get a drink Zoey" He suggests and we walk together to the now crowded bar, we squeeze in and try to get the mixologist's attention but we are having no luck. I feel someone squeeze in beside me and they start clicking their fingers to get the mixologist to come over.
"What can I get you sir?" She asks him
"They we're here before me" I hear him tell the mixologist, I turn to thank him and am shocked to see Angus standing beside me.
"Why are you here? You're meant to be at your cousin's house having dinner" I exclaim
"She'll have a vodka soda and I'll have a rum and coke thanks" He tells the waiting bar staff while ignoring Charlie, "I got home and Immie and Justin were at it again, in the kitchen this time and I couldn't get to my room so I called up Steph and Annabelle and asked if they wanted to come away for a few days, hope that's ok?" He explains to me
"It's your house" I remind him and I feel Charlie's arm around my waist, for a moment I forgot that he was next to me.
"Lets go find a table babe" Charlie says to me
"You'll be hard up finding one in here now, I think we got the last one" Angus says to Charlie, pointing to where Annabelle and Steph are sitting, "Come sit with us" He urges me with a big smile on his face, I turn to Charlie and he nods in agreement.
Steph jumps up from the table when she sees me coming
"Zoey, sweetie, you look amazing, I love that skirt, it's hot" she greets me, hugging me tightly
"Hey Zo, sorry to ambush your holiday" Annabelle apologises
"It's all good" I tell her, it's awkward but it's great to see them here.
"Who's your friend?" Steph asks as we take our seats, Charlie on one side of me, Angus on the other
"This is Charlie, we met a few weeks ago at The Rattlesnake" I introduce him to the group, "And this is Annabelle, Steph and Angus" I tell Charlie
"How do you all know each other" Charlie asks suspiciously, I was hoping that question wouldn't come up
"Well Annabelle is my girlfriend" Steph explains, which is also news to me, I knew they were best friends but I didn't realise they were in a relationship, "And Angus is my ex boyfriend, we all went to school together and Angus is.."
"Zoey's personal trainer" Angus interrupts Steph, giving her a look, Steph rolls her eyes at him.
"What do you do Charlie?" Annabelle asks, breaking the tension between Steph and Angus
"I just completed my first year at Uni, communication degree" Charlie replies
"Oh a Uni boy, you must see your fair share of frat parties" Steph muses
"Yeah, things get pretty wild, I was just saying that to Zoey, I got her number that night at The Rattlesnake and I just completely forgot to call her because of all the end of year parties" Charlie laughs, "You know how it gets"
"Not really, I've never forgotten to call a girl I'm into and I run my own business so I'm guessing I'd be busier than you would ever dream of" Angus tells him smiling.
"Well I just go with the flow, it's meant to happen it will, like Zoey being here tonight, it was meant to be" Charlie says, smiling at me and I see Steph laughing.
"I bet you have a lot of those meant to be encounters often hey Charlie? An attractive man such as yourself, I'm sure you have no troubles getting laid" Steph asks in her flirtatious tone
"I do alright, helps that I'm highly skilled" Charlie says, winking at me
"I remember when we were at uni and we had this theory about the guys who tell you they're good in bed" Steph laughs
"What was your theory?" Charlie asks curious
"Well if a guy has to do his own adverting it usually means he's going to be shit and were going to have to fake it. Girls talk, if it's good or bad" Steph explains to Charlie, "Like take Angus here, it's been almost 3 years since we last slept together but he was highly skilled, as you phrased it, yet I've never heard him boast to anyone about how good he is" She says, smiling brightly at Angus and I realise it's true as confident as he is he never boasted about being good at sex.
"Thanks Steph" Angus clinks his glass against hers
"So how does your girlfriend here feel about hearing you talk up your ex like this?" Charlie asks smugly
"I'm all good with it, I'm not insecure in my relationship, Steph and I know all about each others past experiences" Annabelle chimes in, smiling at Steph, she takes Steph's hand and gives it a kiss.
"I've got plenty of stories of bad sexual encounters too. All girl's have at least one guy they've slept with who was shit in bed" Steph laughs and Angus looks directly at me, I know exactly he's thinking too.
"I don't have one" I confess to the group and I see the relief come over Angus' face, Steph clinks her glass against his, a silent congratulations.
"Yeah but how many people have you slept with Zoey?" Charlie enquires, I wasn't expecting a follow up question.
"Just one but he was amazing, he always put me first and made sure I was comfortable and taken care of" I tell Charlie
"So you've got nothing to really compare it to then, it could be shit and you would have not idea because it was your only sexual partner ad I'm guessing it was a high school boy too" Charlie laughs to himself, "You should come back to my hotel room and I'll give you something to compare mr perfect to" Charlie suggests, smug smile spread across his stupid face.
"Actually it wasn't a high school boy and I'm not going anywhere with you, I'm sure that would only end in disappointment and disgust" I scold him and the group bursts out laughing
"Are you serious babe? You can't wear a skirt like that and then play miss innocent" He says, putting his hand high on my thigh and sliding it up under my skirt, he leans over and forces his lips onto mine, stabbing his tongue into my mouth, I feel completely violated and I manage to pull away from him and look at Angus, his fists are clenched and he's being held back by Steph Ive never seen him look so angry, I look back at Charlie who is grinning like he won a prize.
"Told you I was better than Mr Perfect" Charlie exclaims and I've had enough, without even thinking I punch his creepy face and walk away from the table. My hand feels like it's on fire as I storm through the bar searching for Tess, I find her sitting on the lounges out the front, she sees me coming and jumps up
"What did he do?" She yells, she can see I'm crying
"He put his hand up my skirt and then forced a kiss on me so I punched him in his smug face" I tell her as Charlie comes storming out of the bar with Angus hot on his heels.
"Fucking slut" Charlie screams at me and Angus grabs him and shoves him against a wall.
"Angus let him go, he's not worth it" I yell and he backs off, Charlie runs off up the street.
"Are you ok?" Tess asks after the drama has settled down and the onlookers have disappeared.
"My hand is sore but good, he was just vile" I tell her, rubbing my hand which still feels like its in a world of pain
"I'll walk you home" She offers but I don't want to ruin her night
"I'm fine to go alone Tess, it turns out I can throw a mean punch if I need to" I laugh
"Well you know who you have to thank for that" She says pointing at Angus who is standing with Steph and Annabelle by the door.
"Did you know he was coming here?" I ask her, knowing she spoke to him this afternoon
"No but we did have a good talk this afternoon and cleared a lot of things up, lets just say I got a few things wrong" She tells me, I hug her and start walking toward home.
"Zoey wait up" I hear Angus call out after me and I turn around, he says goodbye to the group and runs up to where I am, "I'll walk with you"
"You really don't have to, I'm fine, I'm just going back to put some ice on my hand" I say smiling at him.
"I have a surprise for you, the girls helped me do it and I kind of want to be there when you see it" He tells me, he takes my good hand and starts walking
"So Annabelle and Steph are together?" I ask him
"Yeah, I only found out a few months ago, they're happy and I'm happy for them" He says smiling down at me, "Can I hold your good hand?" he asks and I hold out my left hand for him.
"Who knew those boxercise classes would one day pay off?"I laugh
"You got him really good too, the little fucker didn't see it coming" He tells me
"Well I knew if I didn't hit him you were going to"I exclaim
"I wanted to hit him when he put his hands on you while we were standing at the bar" He admits and I shake my head.
"I'm never talking to another boy in a bar ever again, what a creeper" I laugh
"Not all men are like that though Zo, don't cast them all off because of one bad apple" Angus reminds me.
We reach the house and Angus grabs an ice pack from the freezer, wraps a towel around it and puts it on my hand.
"So I believe there was mention of a surprise for Zoey?" I ask, getting excited, Angus' surprises never disappoint.
"Come with me" Me says taking my good hand and walking me up the stairs to the end bedroom that I'm staying in, he stops outside the door, nervous look on his face, I look at him confused
"Everything ok?" I probe, I don't know why we are just standing at the closed door, surely the door isn't my surprise.
"Yeah I'm just thinking that maybe this is just bad timing and you'll think I'm only doing it because of that douche canoe tonight but I want you to know I did this before I saw you at the bar and it's OK if you don't want to do it" He rambles on
"Angus when did you become the over thinker and I become the confident one who goes around punching boys?" I laugh at him and reach for the door knob and open the door, inside he has spread rose petals all over the bed and theres a bunch of roses on the bedside table, the room smells divine and looks amazing.
"You did this for me?" I cry
"Annabelle and Steph helped, Tess too" He says
"Tess helped? How?" I ask him confused
"By going off at me last night, she was right Zoey, everything she said was right, I'd been angry at you for leaving but it was me that made you want to leave by lying and I only caused us to break up, you had every right to leave me and I'm so grateful you came back" He says
"Why did you do this though?" I ask confused by what it means.
"I wanted to ask you if you'd be my girlfriend again? Like I said the timing seems bad because of what happened at the bar and I'll understand if you say no" He asks in a nervous tone and I stand there, looking around the room, taking in what he's asking of me.
"Angus, for future reference and I'm kind of hoping it never happens again after tonight but if you see me in a bar with some random guy and you know that you've done this big romantic gesture for me to ask me to be your girlfriend then just kiss me you damn fool" I laugh at him and he relaxes.
"I didn't want to step on the kids toes although he let another man buy you a drink so that should of been the red flag that he maybe wasn't going to have the best of intentions for my Princess." He smiles widely at me, "You still haven't answered my question though" He reminds me
"I love you Angus Theodore McKenzie and I would love to be your girlfriend but only under two conditions" I announce to him.
"And what are those conditions?" He asks, taking me into his arms.
"One, that our friendship rules still remain in place, all of them" I tell him
"Deal and the other condition?" He questions me
"You take off your pants and show me your tattoo" I smile wickedly at him
"Can I kiss you first? Ive been dying to kiss you for so long now, you have no idea how many times I almost did" He asks coming in close to my face but I pull away and he looks at me oddly
"I'm going to go brush my teeth and wash my mouth out because that fucker forced the most disgusting kiss on me" I explain and I leave him in the room so I can go detox of Charlie. I brush my teeth, twice and swish mouth wash around my mouth until I can't stand the burning sensation anymore. On my way back to the bedroom I hear the others walk in the door, I stand at the top of the steps to try and catch Steph's attention, she sees me and sneaks away from the others.
"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" She asks concerned
"Really good, thank you for helping him with the decorating of the room, I loved it and I just wanna say I'm happy for you too, that you found love with Annabelle because she's an absolute sweetheart of a person and so are you" I say as I throw my arms around her
"It was no trouble Z, Angus did most of the work anyway, he called the florist and picked up the roses, all Annabelle and I did was keep watch and make sure you didn't come home early." She spills, "Did you say yes though? That's what I'm dying to know"
"Yeah I did which is kind of why I wanted to talk to you, I know it's weird the girlfriend coming to the ex girlfriend but we're friends and you're my most, experienced friend, please don't take that the wrong way either" I say nervously
"Of course we are friends honey, you held me when my dog died even though you thought I'd stollen your boyfriend, you're a gem Zoey, what do you need? I haven't got condoms, I'm kind of not in the need for them anymore" She laughs
"No, I don't need protection, I have that covered for when we do, you know but I want to make it special, I need you to come to a lingerie store with me if that's not too much to ask" I say fumbling my words, I don't know why I'm nervous, we've both had sex with him before at some point in our lives.
"Do you wanna go tomorrow, theres a store on the mainland, along Magnolia Promenade, we will go there tomorrow and find you something to take his breath away" She whispers to me, "By the way, you know he's standing down the hall watching us like the dirty perv he is" She says loud enough for him to hear
"She said she was going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and she never came back, I'm still waiting on a kiss" He explains to Steph
"I need to borrow Zoey for something special tomorrow" Steph tells him and he looks at us like we are up to something
"Rule number 3 Zoey, no keeping secrets" He reminds me
"Not a secret, a surprise for you and you'll love it" I promise him
"You can borrow my car" He says to Steph. Tess and Cassie come running up the stairs to see whats going on.
"Angus and I are back together" I announce to them and they drag me into Cassie's room to get all of the details of the night, from Charlie sticking his hand up my skirt and forcing a kiss on me, which led to me punching him and now to the rose petal covered bed I came home to tonight, my hand still hurts but having Angus back eases the pain a little.
"Im happy for you Zoey" Tess says with a big wide smile on her face and I know she means it too, I hug them both. Theres a knock on the door and it opens, Angus comes in and hugs Tess
"Thank you for the wake up call, I needed it" He tells her
"I didn't feel good about going off at you and I know I've been overstepping so I promise from this point on I'll mind my own business and if Zoey tells me anything I won't use it against you" Tess swears to him and I know she will keep her word.
"Would you ladies mind if I took my girlfriend to her bedroom because I haven't kissed her yet and she's requested to see my full tattoo so I need to keep my lady happy and satisfy her" He says winking at me.
Back in our bedroom he closes the door and takes me into his arms and kisses me softly and slowly, I feel like I'm going to melt, this is how a kiss is meant to go, not forced upon you by some sleazebag who is just trying to get laid.
"My princess, I've missed kissing you baby" He tells me sweetly
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had a deal, get your pants off Theodore" I demand laughing at him
"You're so bossy, it's such a turn on" He says as he takes off his pants and slides his boxers down to the floor and for the first time I get full view of how I am represented on him, It's a giant tattoo of a fish that is made up of smaller pieces, it wraps around his thigh and ends on his left butt cheek.
"I love it baby, I really do" I say kissing him
"Zoey you've never called me baby before, you've only ever called me by my name, or Theodore, never by a cute pet name" He says surprised.
"I didn't feel comfortable doing it, I wanted to but I thought I'd sound silly but now I'm completely comfortable with you, you're my boy." I explain to him and he kisses me on the forehead.
"Yes I am Princess and I'm going to do this right this time which means we are going on dates, actual dates, not just to the food stalls, I'm talking you get dressed up and I take you fancy places where they make you eat with cutlery" He laughs, "And then I bring you home and make love to you" He promises
"Unless Imogen and Justin are already at it somewhere in the apartment" I joke with him and he buries his head in my neck.
"Don't remind me, I couldn't even pack to come here because they were at it like rabbits in the kitchen and they're so fucking loud too, I'm surprised down stairs hasn't come banging on our door with a noise complaint." He groans, "I just need to buy my own house"
"Not apartment? Is Angus Mckenzie going to be slumming it in the suburbs like us peasants?" I ask poking fun at him and he laughs
"You're not a peasant, you're a Princess and yes, I have been thinking about buying a house, I've been asking Don for some advice on Brindleton Bay, I want to get a yard so we can have a puppy" He says, sharing his plans with me
"I'll be living in this house too will I?" I question him, I know we talked about living together next year but that was before the break up so I thought he may not want to anymore.
"Of course baby, it will be our house" He tells me as we clear the bed of rose petals and he puts his boxers back on.
We climb into bed, it's been such a long, exhausting day but I'm so glad to be ending it with Angus.
"I haven't got protection" He whispers to me in the dark, it's like he can read my mind, knowing I want to resume all aspects of our relationship
"I'm not on the pill anymore, I need a new prescription and I didn't see the point considering I wasn't having sex" I explain
"I thought that might be the case, I'll get some tomorrow" He promises and he kisses me softly, "I love you Princess"
"I love you too baby, thank you for my roses and for making my bad night good again" I tell him, I'm so glad he's mine again
When we arrived at the holiday home we walked in and looked around, it is a beautiful island style house, two stories, kitchen and living downstairs, bathroom and four bedrooms upstairs. I picked the room right at the end of the hall, it was the smallest but has a great view of the beach, Cassie and Sam were in the room next to me and Tess and Declan are across the hall from them, leaving the other end bedroom free. I unpack my suitcase and decided that I needed time alone on the beach, I had the forethought to pack a bucket and spade because I love to make sandcastles. I change into my swimwear, slather myself in sunscreen, grab my beach towel and make my way to the sand.
I remember Angus telling us that the property also has a private beach so I'm grateful that I don't have to deal with crowds of tourists and beach goers, I can just sit in silence and create a masterpiece. I'd been out there for an hour when I feel someone is standing behind me, watching, I turn around and see that it's Tess, she has a nervous look on her face like she's scared to approach me.
"I've been looking for you" She tells me in small voice
"I've been sitting here for an hour so clearly you didn't look hard enough" I snap at her
"Zoey I hate when we fight and it's going to make for a horrible holiday if my best friend won't even speak to me" She says, coming down to sit beside me on my towel
"I hate when we fight too Tess but you shouldn't of gotten involved, I would never of done that with you and Declan and you know it" I reason with her and she hangs her head
"I know, I just don't like seeing you get strung along. I like Angus, don't get me wrong, he's my friend too but he's not being fair on you, he has you in this holding pattern, waiting for him to decide when he's going to take you back and he keep acting like he's still your boyfriend but without actually being your boyfriend, he's stopping you from moving on and he knows it." She explains and I know she's right, I just haven't been able to admit it to myself, I kept thinking if I played along then eventually he would want me back but I secretly hate just being friends with him.
"I don't know what to do Tess, I want him back, to how it was and he doesn't want that but I don't want to not have him in my life because that makes me miserable. I love him and I'm not allowed to love him" I cry
"You can love him Zo, he still loves you too but you have to accept that he can't go back and you need to move on or it will destroy you and I don't want to see you be that girl who couldn't move on from the boy who broke her heart" She says, putting her arm around my shoulders
"Well what do you suggest I do?" I ask her
"Stay friends with him if you think you can handle just being friends but set some boundaries that you're comfortable with, like no flirting because that's just messing with your head." She advises, "If Angus woke up to himself and realised he should be with you then I'd support you both completely because I know you'd be happy and I know he's a good guy, he made one mistake and he is punishing himself and you for it but if he moved past that and came back I wouldn't say a word, neither would the others either, we just want to see you happy, with Angus or not" She promises
"You need to call him Tess, you two need to work this out because you're friends and what you said really hurt him, even if you are right." I urge her
"I'll call him now and sort it, it will be all good sis" She says hugging me.
I leave her on the beach to make the call and go back up to the house where the others are planing where to go out tonight.
"The Sandbar is good" I suggest and they agree that we will go there. I walk off to the shower to wash the sand off myself and start getting ready for our first night out on the island. I pick out an outfit to wear, the climate here is very tropical, you walk outside and instantly start sweating, I pull out my red mini skirt and a white singlet. I keep my make up at a bare minimum because I know it will just sweat off once I walk outside anyway and pull my hair up into a messy bun because the tropical weather is making it frizz like crazy. I walk back downstairs as Tess comes into the house.
"We sorted it out" She says smiling at me and I hug her.
"Fantastic, go get ready, we are going to The Sandbar for dinner, drinks and dancing" I order her
"That's so weird, Angus just suggested we go there tonight too" Tess laughs
We walk to The Sandbar, it's not too far from our house and it gives us a chance to take in the amazing sunset over the island water, the smell of hibiscus flowers fills the air.
"I could live here forever" I announce to the group, the girls both walking hand in hand with their partners and I'm walking behind them, dancing along the path.
"It's a great place to visit but I couldn't live here" Cassie tells me, "I want to live that apartment city life, to be amongst the business of a city that never sleeps" .
We arrive at the bar after a 15 minute walk, it's not too busy tonight but we see other school leavers who are celebrating the end of high school. We order drinks and enough food to feed a small army and sit at the lounges out the front.
"Do you think we will stay in touch now that we're out of School" Sam asks the group
"I think we will" Cassie assures him but none of us know what next year will bring.
As the night gets later the bar becomes busier, filled with a mixture of school leavers and people on uni break for the year. In the crowd I see the face of someone who I recognise but I can't quite pinpoint where I know him from and then it hits me, that's Charlie, the guy who got my number at The Rattlesnake bar a few weeks ago but never contacted me and I guess with all the Angus drama I kind of forgot all about it. He must be staying on the island for uni break. I point him out to Tess and she suggests I should go say hello to him
"What could it hurt?" Tess points out and I agree.
Charlie is sitting with a group of 4 boys drinking beers and talking loudly and I get a flutter of butterflies as I approach his table.
"Hey Charlie" I greet him and he turns to face me and smiles brightly.
"Hey, I remember you, Zoey right?" He asks
"Yeah, that's right, we met at The Rattlesnake about a month ago" I remind him
"Oh yeah, I got your number and I totally meant to call and ask you out but I've just been so crazy busy. You look amazing babe, love that skirt on you" He says, putting his hand on my back and I feel a tingling sensation go down my spine
"Thanks and that's all good about not calling, I've been really busy too" I assure him
"How long are you staying on the island for?" He asks
"A week, we just arrived this afternoon." I reply, "What about you?"
"We leave tomorrow afternoon, been here since Tuesday, an impromptu trip for Uni break" He explains as he finishes his beer, "Lets get a drink Zoey" He suggests and we walk together to the now crowded bar, we squeeze in and try to get the mixologist's attention but we are having no luck. I feel someone squeeze in beside me and they start clicking their fingers to get the mixologist to come over.
"What can I get you sir?" She asks him
"They we're here before me" I hear him tell the mixologist, I turn to thank him and am shocked to see Angus standing beside me.
"Why are you here? You're meant to be at your cousin's house having dinner" I exclaim
"She'll have a vodka soda and I'll have a rum and coke thanks" He tells the waiting bar staff while ignoring Charlie, "I got home and Immie and Justin were at it again, in the kitchen this time and I couldn't get to my room so I called up Steph and Annabelle and asked if they wanted to come away for a few days, hope that's ok?" He explains to me
"It's your house" I remind him and I feel Charlie's arm around my waist, for a moment I forgot that he was next to me.
"Lets go find a table babe" Charlie says to me
"You'll be hard up finding one in here now, I think we got the last one" Angus says to Charlie, pointing to where Annabelle and Steph are sitting, "Come sit with us" He urges me with a big smile on his face, I turn to Charlie and he nods in agreement.
Steph jumps up from the table when she sees me coming
"Zoey, sweetie, you look amazing, I love that skirt, it's hot" she greets me, hugging me tightly
"Hey Zo, sorry to ambush your holiday" Annabelle apologises
"It's all good" I tell her, it's awkward but it's great to see them here.
"Who's your friend?" Steph asks as we take our seats, Charlie on one side of me, Angus on the other
"This is Charlie, we met a few weeks ago at The Rattlesnake" I introduce him to the group, "And this is Annabelle, Steph and Angus" I tell Charlie
"How do you all know each other" Charlie asks suspiciously, I was hoping that question wouldn't come up
"Well Annabelle is my girlfriend" Steph explains, which is also news to me, I knew they were best friends but I didn't realise they were in a relationship, "And Angus is my ex boyfriend, we all went to school together and Angus is.."
"Zoey's personal trainer" Angus interrupts Steph, giving her a look, Steph rolls her eyes at him.
"What do you do Charlie?" Annabelle asks, breaking the tension between Steph and Angus
"I just completed my first year at Uni, communication degree" Charlie replies
"Oh a Uni boy, you must see your fair share of frat parties" Steph muses
"Yeah, things get pretty wild, I was just saying that to Zoey, I got her number that night at The Rattlesnake and I just completely forgot to call her because of all the end of year parties" Charlie laughs, "You know how it gets"
"Not really, I've never forgotten to call a girl I'm into and I run my own business so I'm guessing I'd be busier than you would ever dream of" Angus tells him smiling.
"Well I just go with the flow, it's meant to happen it will, like Zoey being here tonight, it was meant to be" Charlie says, smiling at me and I see Steph laughing.
"I bet you have a lot of those meant to be encounters often hey Charlie? An attractive man such as yourself, I'm sure you have no troubles getting laid" Steph asks in her flirtatious tone
"I do alright, helps that I'm highly skilled" Charlie says, winking at me
"I remember when we were at uni and we had this theory about the guys who tell you they're good in bed" Steph laughs
"What was your theory?" Charlie asks curious
"Well if a guy has to do his own adverting it usually means he's going to be shit and were going to have to fake it. Girls talk, if it's good or bad" Steph explains to Charlie, "Like take Angus here, it's been almost 3 years since we last slept together but he was highly skilled, as you phrased it, yet I've never heard him boast to anyone about how good he is" She says, smiling brightly at Angus and I realise it's true as confident as he is he never boasted about being good at sex.
"Thanks Steph" Angus clinks his glass against hers
"So how does your girlfriend here feel about hearing you talk up your ex like this?" Charlie asks smugly
"I'm all good with it, I'm not insecure in my relationship, Steph and I know all about each others past experiences" Annabelle chimes in, smiling at Steph, she takes Steph's hand and gives it a kiss.
"I've got plenty of stories of bad sexual encounters too. All girl's have at least one guy they've slept with who was shit in bed" Steph laughs and Angus looks directly at me, I know exactly he's thinking too.
"I don't have one" I confess to the group and I see the relief come over Angus' face, Steph clinks her glass against his, a silent congratulations.
"Yeah but how many people have you slept with Zoey?" Charlie enquires, I wasn't expecting a follow up question.
"Just one but he was amazing, he always put me first and made sure I was comfortable and taken care of" I tell Charlie
"So you've got nothing to really compare it to then, it could be shit and you would have not idea because it was your only sexual partner ad I'm guessing it was a high school boy too" Charlie laughs to himself, "You should come back to my hotel room and I'll give you something to compare mr perfect to" Charlie suggests, smug smile spread across his stupid face.
"Actually it wasn't a high school boy and I'm not going anywhere with you, I'm sure that would only end in disappointment and disgust" I scold him and the group bursts out laughing
"Are you serious babe? You can't wear a skirt like that and then play miss innocent" He says, putting his hand high on my thigh and sliding it up under my skirt, he leans over and forces his lips onto mine, stabbing his tongue into my mouth, I feel completely violated and I manage to pull away from him and look at Angus, his fists are clenched and he's being held back by Steph Ive never seen him look so angry, I look back at Charlie who is grinning like he won a prize.
"Told you I was better than Mr Perfect" Charlie exclaims and I've had enough, without even thinking I punch his creepy face and walk away from the table. My hand feels like it's on fire as I storm through the bar searching for Tess, I find her sitting on the lounges out the front, she sees me coming and jumps up
"What did he do?" She yells, she can see I'm crying
"He put his hand up my skirt and then forced a kiss on me so I punched him in his smug face" I tell her as Charlie comes storming out of the bar with Angus hot on his heels.
"Fucking slut" Charlie screams at me and Angus grabs him and shoves him against a wall.
"Angus let him go, he's not worth it" I yell and he backs off, Charlie runs off up the street.
"Are you ok?" Tess asks after the drama has settled down and the onlookers have disappeared.
"My hand is sore but good, he was just vile" I tell her, rubbing my hand which still feels like its in a world of pain
"I'll walk you home" She offers but I don't want to ruin her night
"I'm fine to go alone Tess, it turns out I can throw a mean punch if I need to" I laugh
"Well you know who you have to thank for that" She says pointing at Angus who is standing with Steph and Annabelle by the door.
"Did you know he was coming here?" I ask her, knowing she spoke to him this afternoon
"No but we did have a good talk this afternoon and cleared a lot of things up, lets just say I got a few things wrong" She tells me, I hug her and start walking toward home.
"Zoey wait up" I hear Angus call out after me and I turn around, he says goodbye to the group and runs up to where I am, "I'll walk with you"
"You really don't have to, I'm fine, I'm just going back to put some ice on my hand" I say smiling at him.
"I have a surprise for you, the girls helped me do it and I kind of want to be there when you see it" He tells me, he takes my good hand and starts walking
"So Annabelle and Steph are together?" I ask him
"Yeah, I only found out a few months ago, they're happy and I'm happy for them" He says smiling down at me, "Can I hold your good hand?" he asks and I hold out my left hand for him.
"Who knew those boxercise classes would one day pay off?"I laugh
"You got him really good too, the little fucker didn't see it coming" He tells me
"Well I knew if I didn't hit him you were going to"I exclaim
"I wanted to hit him when he put his hands on you while we were standing at the bar" He admits and I shake my head.
"I'm never talking to another boy in a bar ever again, what a creeper" I laugh
"Not all men are like that though Zo, don't cast them all off because of one bad apple" Angus reminds me.
We reach the house and Angus grabs an ice pack from the freezer, wraps a towel around it and puts it on my hand.
"So I believe there was mention of a surprise for Zoey?" I ask, getting excited, Angus' surprises never disappoint.
"Come with me" Me says taking my good hand and walking me up the stairs to the end bedroom that I'm staying in, he stops outside the door, nervous look on his face, I look at him confused
"Everything ok?" I probe, I don't know why we are just standing at the closed door, surely the door isn't my surprise.
"Yeah I'm just thinking that maybe this is just bad timing and you'll think I'm only doing it because of that douche canoe tonight but I want you to know I did this before I saw you at the bar and it's OK if you don't want to do it" He rambles on
"Angus when did you become the over thinker and I become the confident one who goes around punching boys?" I laugh at him and reach for the door knob and open the door, inside he has spread rose petals all over the bed and theres a bunch of roses on the bedside table, the room smells divine and looks amazing.
"You did this for me?" I cry
"Annabelle and Steph helped, Tess too" He says
"Tess helped? How?" I ask him confused
"By going off at me last night, she was right Zoey, everything she said was right, I'd been angry at you for leaving but it was me that made you want to leave by lying and I only caused us to break up, you had every right to leave me and I'm so grateful you came back" He says
"Why did you do this though?" I ask confused by what it means.
"I wanted to ask you if you'd be my girlfriend again? Like I said the timing seems bad because of what happened at the bar and I'll understand if you say no" He asks in a nervous tone and I stand there, looking around the room, taking in what he's asking of me.
"Angus, for future reference and I'm kind of hoping it never happens again after tonight but if you see me in a bar with some random guy and you know that you've done this big romantic gesture for me to ask me to be your girlfriend then just kiss me you damn fool" I laugh at him and he relaxes.
"I didn't want to step on the kids toes although he let another man buy you a drink so that should of been the red flag that he maybe wasn't going to have the best of intentions for my Princess." He smiles widely at me, "You still haven't answered my question though" He reminds me
"I love you Angus Theodore McKenzie and I would love to be your girlfriend but only under two conditions" I announce to him.
"And what are those conditions?" He asks, taking me into his arms.
"One, that our friendship rules still remain in place, all of them" I tell him
"Deal and the other condition?" He questions me
"You take off your pants and show me your tattoo" I smile wickedly at him
"Can I kiss you first? Ive been dying to kiss you for so long now, you have no idea how many times I almost did" He asks coming in close to my face but I pull away and he looks at me oddly
"I'm going to go brush my teeth and wash my mouth out because that fucker forced the most disgusting kiss on me" I explain and I leave him in the room so I can go detox of Charlie. I brush my teeth, twice and swish mouth wash around my mouth until I can't stand the burning sensation anymore. On my way back to the bedroom I hear the others walk in the door, I stand at the top of the steps to try and catch Steph's attention, she sees me and sneaks away from the others.
"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" She asks concerned
"Really good, thank you for helping him with the decorating of the room, I loved it and I just wanna say I'm happy for you too, that you found love with Annabelle because she's an absolute sweetheart of a person and so are you" I say as I throw my arms around her
"It was no trouble Z, Angus did most of the work anyway, he called the florist and picked up the roses, all Annabelle and I did was keep watch and make sure you didn't come home early." She spills, "Did you say yes though? That's what I'm dying to know"
"Yeah I did which is kind of why I wanted to talk to you, I know it's weird the girlfriend coming to the ex girlfriend but we're friends and you're my most, experienced friend, please don't take that the wrong way either" I say nervously
"Of course we are friends honey, you held me when my dog died even though you thought I'd stollen your boyfriend, you're a gem Zoey, what do you need? I haven't got condoms, I'm kind of not in the need for them anymore" She laughs
"No, I don't need protection, I have that covered for when we do, you know but I want to make it special, I need you to come to a lingerie store with me if that's not too much to ask" I say fumbling my words, I don't know why I'm nervous, we've both had sex with him before at some point in our lives.
"Do you wanna go tomorrow, theres a store on the mainland, along Magnolia Promenade, we will go there tomorrow and find you something to take his breath away" She whispers to me, "By the way, you know he's standing down the hall watching us like the dirty perv he is" She says loud enough for him to hear
"She said she was going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and she never came back, I'm still waiting on a kiss" He explains to Steph
"I need to borrow Zoey for something special tomorrow" Steph tells him and he looks at us like we are up to something
"Rule number 3 Zoey, no keeping secrets" He reminds me
"Not a secret, a surprise for you and you'll love it" I promise him
"You can borrow my car" He says to Steph. Tess and Cassie come running up the stairs to see whats going on.
"Angus and I are back together" I announce to them and they drag me into Cassie's room to get all of the details of the night, from Charlie sticking his hand up my skirt and forcing a kiss on me, which led to me punching him and now to the rose petal covered bed I came home to tonight, my hand still hurts but having Angus back eases the pain a little.
"Im happy for you Zoey" Tess says with a big wide smile on her face and I know she means it too, I hug them both. Theres a knock on the door and it opens, Angus comes in and hugs Tess
"Thank you for the wake up call, I needed it" He tells her
"I didn't feel good about going off at you and I know I've been overstepping so I promise from this point on I'll mind my own business and if Zoey tells me anything I won't use it against you" Tess swears to him and I know she will keep her word.
"Would you ladies mind if I took my girlfriend to her bedroom because I haven't kissed her yet and she's requested to see my full tattoo so I need to keep my lady happy and satisfy her" He says winking at me.
Back in our bedroom he closes the door and takes me into his arms and kisses me softly and slowly, I feel like I'm going to melt, this is how a kiss is meant to go, not forced upon you by some sleazebag who is just trying to get laid.
"My princess, I've missed kissing you baby" He tells me sweetly
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had a deal, get your pants off Theodore" I demand laughing at him
"You're so bossy, it's such a turn on" He says as he takes off his pants and slides his boxers down to the floor and for the first time I get full view of how I am represented on him, It's a giant tattoo of a fish that is made up of smaller pieces, it wraps around his thigh and ends on his left butt cheek.
"I love it baby, I really do" I say kissing him
"Zoey you've never called me baby before, you've only ever called me by my name, or Theodore, never by a cute pet name" He says surprised.
"I didn't feel comfortable doing it, I wanted to but I thought I'd sound silly but now I'm completely comfortable with you, you're my boy." I explain to him and he kisses me on the forehead.
"Yes I am Princess and I'm going to do this right this time which means we are going on dates, actual dates, not just to the food stalls, I'm talking you get dressed up and I take you fancy places where they make you eat with cutlery" He laughs, "And then I bring you home and make love to you" He promises
"Unless Imogen and Justin are already at it somewhere in the apartment" I joke with him and he buries his head in my neck.
"Don't remind me, I couldn't even pack to come here because they were at it like rabbits in the kitchen and they're so fucking loud too, I'm surprised down stairs hasn't come banging on our door with a noise complaint." He groans, "I just need to buy my own house"
"Not apartment? Is Angus Mckenzie going to be slumming it in the suburbs like us peasants?" I ask poking fun at him and he laughs
"You're not a peasant, you're a Princess and yes, I have been thinking about buying a house, I've been asking Don for some advice on Brindleton Bay, I want to get a yard so we can have a puppy" He says, sharing his plans with me
"I'll be living in this house too will I?" I question him, I know we talked about living together next year but that was before the break up so I thought he may not want to anymore.
"Of course baby, it will be our house" He tells me as we clear the bed of rose petals and he puts his boxers back on.
We climb into bed, it's been such a long, exhausting day but I'm so glad to be ending it with Angus.
"I haven't got protection" He whispers to me in the dark, it's like he can read my mind, knowing I want to resume all aspects of our relationship
"I'm not on the pill anymore, I need a new prescription and I didn't see the point considering I wasn't having sex" I explain
"I thought that might be the case, I'll get some tomorrow" He promises and he kisses me softly, "I love you Princess"
"I love you too baby, thank you for my roses and for making my bad night good again" I tell him, I'm so glad he's mine again
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