"There's the thorn in my side!" My insomnia-inducing thorn in my side, I think only to myself. I'm so tired, but seeing Clara is giving me back my energy this morning. She looks good. Maybe a little tired, but beautiful nevertheless. I don't know what it is about this girl, but she makes me feel light and foolish in her company. That's why I like being around her. With Clara, I feel me.

There's no fame.

No fans.

No mom.

No Maci.

No press.

It's just me and her for brief and lighthearted moments. "Were you being a naughty girl last night?" I don't even know why I've just said that, I always feel like I want to fool around with her, in more ways than one.

"No I was not! I'm just—"

"Knackered!" I quickly hijack her sentence, knowing exactly what she was just about to say.

"Yes, I am." She blinks hard, looking jaded and vulnerable.

Clara really does look tired, but instead of resisting the urge to cuddle her, I go right on ahead and do just that. "Don't worry, we'll all look after you today. I'll ply you with coffee if I have to." Bringing her in closer against me, my smile is now almost ten miles wide of smugness.

"Thank you." She looks relieved and surprisingly accepting of my arm being warmly wrapped around her neck and shoulder.

"You're welcome." I smile some more, smug as hell for Cameron's benefit. "Anyway, I need you to get that adrenaline going, as I'd like you to come to the wrap party tonight."

"You do?" Clara's voice has a higher than normal pitch, a slightly surprised pitch.

Squeezing her sexy little shoulders, I smile just for her. Not for myself. Not for Cam. Only, for her. "Of course I do." It's here that I also want to tell her that I really want her there because being with her just picks me up and puts me in a better place. I'm heading back to LA soon, heading back to all the shit that continually blights my life, so I want to squeeze out every single fun moment with Clara Thorn.

"But I haven't brought a change of clothes with me?" She tries to throw me an excuse, a weak reason for not being able to come as she briefly stares down at her sexy little trouser suit that she's wearing this morning. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that cute little suit. In fact, there's everything right with it – the jacket is flatteringly fitted around her arms, shoulders and back, and the sleek little pants taper down to her appealing ankles and accentuate her squeezable ass cheeks, and don't even get me started on her silk shirt that sits so snugly against her breasts and stomach – yeah, that suit is totally working for me!

So I spread some more of my Rhys Ryan charm all over the sassy Clara Thorn. "I'd really like it if you'd come, Clara. When I go present shopping, you can buy something then." Hell, this girl could wear nothing but a damn tutu...I just want her at my wrap party!

Needing a moment just to think it over, I give her that moment until she eventually says. "Okay, I'd love to come."

I honestly want to high five someone, obviously someone other than Clara herself. Agreeing to come, she has just kicked aside all of my tiredness and made my morning already a great one. I have a feeling that I have a buzzing day and night ahead of me. First, I am doing a photo shoot for some other celebrity magazine, then I have a studio session booked, a vlog to record, signing a load of merchandise for the show tonight and too many calls to make. Most days, I like to check in on my mom, just to see how she and Maci are doing. Mace is in yet another rehab, I couldn't actually tell you how many times she has been in one, because I have honestly lost count. This worldwide tour has been my saving grace. It has kept me occupied and sane. Because just before the tour, my sister nearly died of an overdose. She nearly died, and didn't give a shit that she nearly did. Too many drugs and not enough cares, that's my sisters problem. But her problems are my problems, because it hurts my mom so bad. So I protect them both. Time after time, we put Maci in yet another rehab, because that is what my mom wants. But I don't want to be thinking about all of that now, I just can't. I have a shoot and some studio time to get on with, plus all of the other things that need to get done as well, and I have all of that to do before finally going shopping. You see, I always like to get a little something for my mom. It's just something I always seem to do whenever I'm away on tour. It is probably one of the only normal things that I do for her, because it's just something that is happening between only us. There's no Maci, no Don the dick of a stepdad—it's just me, giving my mom a present.

No drama.

No tears.

No shit.

It's just a loving son giving his loving mom a gift.

So yeah, the present is important. It's also important that Clara feels comfortable at the wrap party, so if that means she wants to buy herself something new to wear for the party while in Harrods, then get that gal a new damn dress!

Letting Clara know just how pleased I am about her coming, I cheerily say. "Good!" As I give her shoulder one final and grateful squeeze, before reluctantly removing my hand from where it was perfectly happy to be. "Right, we had better make a move. Busy day and all that. Cam, is the driver good to go?" He has been keeping himself overly busy with keeping up to speed with the arrangements for the day, all the while keeping a very close eye on both Clara and myself. He is certainly not as sulky today, just jovially more observant. I check with Will and Jules that we have all that we need before leaving The Hyde Hotel, and then tell Clara that we will cover more of her interview questions when we're in the car. Again, I have a very valid reason to have her close by my side, just maybe not the reason that she thinks it is.

Once outside of The Hyde, there are paps and some fans waiting. I'm not even drawn to their presence. Instead, I head straight for the waiting car. But Clara, she seems a little shocked by the piercing squeals of one particular fan, which eventually led us onto the conversation about how I cope with fame. So I tell Clara the truth. I have good and bad days with it. Some days I am happy to do the pop star thing, on other days I just want to be left alone. Being who I am, it can be both a blessing and a curse. I tell Clara all about my guilt for wanting to be selfish with my time, and how I try to remember to be grateful for all that I have. Fame, it can swallow you up if you let it.

It can make you forget who you really are, which is why I like having Will around. He is a constant reminder of who I was before all of this. We've been friends since tenth grade. While all our friends used to enjoy baseball and soccer at high school, we preferred to hang out in the music department. That was where we met, where we discovered that we had such a lot in common. He has been with me from the very start of my music career, and although I probably don't tell him nearly enough times, I am really glad to have him by my side.

Clara seems fascinated by the whole fame thing, which is why I think she likes to talk about it with me. "You must have had a moment when you realised that you had hit the big time. A moment when you said to yourself 'I am famous'. Do you remember it?"

What Clara asks, is a moment I will never ever forget. It's one of those life defining moments that will never be wiped from my memory – like my first kiss, my lost virginity and learning to drive – things that can never be forgotten. So with a nostalgic smile, I share with Clara the crazy moment when I thought I was well on my way in the music business. "I remember it like yesterday. I had just returned home after doing a promotional tour for my debut single. Things were just kinda taking off but my mom and stepdad still weren't sure about the path I was taking. I had dropped out of college to pursue my musical career and although mom supported me to a certain degree, Don, my stepdad, didn't. Anyway, I came home. Mom was whining about the amount of laundry I had. Don was just about to kick off about it when my debut record suddenly came on the radio in the kitchen. I swear, it was like a sign or something. I remember us all just staring at each other, not really knowing what to say or do...it was just a crazy and surreal moment, if you know what I mean. Then my sister came in and was crying and hugging me. It was then that I thought 'I'm famous'." It's nice remembering that moment. It was a time full of so much hope and wonderful unknowns. Back then, I didn't know how tough fame would be, and I didn't know then that the sister who adored me, would one day be the person to hurt me the most in this world.

"Your sister is older than you, right?" Clara wants to touch base with a subject that I prefer to run from, and the pretty journalist picks up on that. "I bet your stepdad is eating his words now, isn't he?" She completely sidelines the subject of my sister, which makes me just want to kiss her. In such a short amount of time, I feel like Clara Thorn totally gets me. She is already understanding me.

"Not at all! I think he would have been much happier if I had become an architect just like him." An asshole of an architect, is what I actually want to say, but think better of it.

Clara seems surprised. "Really?"

I look back at her, thinking about the strained relationship with my stepfather. Don met my mom when I was nine and Maci was twelve. As much as he loved my mother, he just wasn't good with kids. Sure, he provided for us. He clothed, fed and put a secure roof over our heads, but he was pretty shit at being caring, supportive and loving. He was only capable of giving that to my mom. At times, he still tries to treat me like the inconvenient child that I used to be to him, instead of treating me like the twenty four year old man that I am now. It annoys the shit out of me, it really does. He still thinks he has the right to tell me how to live my life, but he doesn't. I respect the guy for loving my mom, but I will never like him for how he treated me and Maci. He always treated us like we were in the way. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a cruel man. He was just a man who couldn't love another mans children. Knowing that I'm slightly getting lost amongst my many memories, I become aware of Clara still waiting for more from me, so I quietly give her a little more about my stepfather. "Don is a simple guy. He doesn't understand why I chose music over college. He thinks my fame hasn't given me a life, he thinks it has taken it away. He can't stand all the fame. He doesn't understand why I would choose to actually live the way that I am." I'm giving more to Clara than I actually intended to, but the way that she sympathetically nods and smiles, makes me feel okay talking about Don in the way that I am. The truth is, I don't think that Don is unable to understand why I do what I do...I just think he has never understood me. He never understood Maci, either. And these days, I totally get that, because I no longer understand her either. Even as a teenager, she always seemed to attract trouble. She has always drank and maybe dabbled a little with drugs, but about four years ago, the dabbling turned into a full on addiction. Over the years, I no longer know my sister. And just like Don, I no longer understand her.

"Surely he's proud of your music, though?" Clara now asks, frowning slightly as she pulls me back into more of the conversation about Don.

"Yeah, he kinda digs that." For as much as Don doesn't understand Maci or me, he can't deny that my music is good. On a number of occasions, he has even managed to praise a few of them.

Once again, Clara seems to pick up on my sad indifference that slightly marinades some of my words. "Shall we keep this part of the interview 'off the record'?" She nudges my shoulder, smiling that beautiful smile of hers that I just can't seem to get enough of as she switches off her dictaphone.

I find myself wanting to touch her, needing to touch her. So, I nervously do by resting my warm hand upon the back of her warmer one. "If you don't mind, I'd like that very much."

For just a second, that something that I felt before with her, makes itself known and felt again.

It's here.

Now.

Sizzling in the small space between us.

I feel it.

Clara feels it.

Neither one of us no longer seems wary of what is happening. If anything, we are just letting the something naturally happen.
And that, gives me a total buzz.