Ned's head bounced off the wall so hard he ricocheted into Chiara's body, and both of them went down. Chiara went in a potted plant, getting a dark smear of soil on her pretty skirt. Ned landed in Chiara's lap, knocking a few leaves off the plant and knocking it sideways.

Ned rose with a roar, landing a punch on Drew's jaw a second later, laying Drew out flat.

"Oh my god, Drew, what the fuck, you wanker!" Chiara's voice rang out, loud and clear, bringing the party to a skidding halt around them.

Security, who were near the doors and in the kitchen, stood, stolid and tall, watching for phones or other recording devices, as Drew, Chiara and Ned got themselves sorted out and rose, shaking heads, fists, and brushing off their clothes.

And suddenly, Luke Adesso, the guitar player, was in their midst, hands raised, saying, "Okay, everyone, show's over, as you were," and laughing, encouraging those in the room to go back to their carousing. Next to him his fiancée, Mara Davies, was laughing, arm around his waist, acting like it was all in good fun, pretending to be a little tipsy, flipping her blonde hair back as she giggled.

As soon as no one was looking, however, Luke had Drew in a vise-like grip, steely glare boring into him. "Not a word, you! Ned, and Chiara, is it? Follow me, please." And he turned and walked away, showing his sunny countenance to the room once more. Mara, also, helped Chiara with her skirt, but once again giggled as she faced the partiers and made a point of staggering a little as they exited the suite.

"Luke--" Drew began as they walked down the hall.

"Shut your fucking gob," was all Luke said as he hauled Drew into the next suite.

"You okay, love?" Mara asked, sitting Chiara down on the bed.

Chiara nodded in the affirmative.

"Look at Ned, though, please, look at his face."

"Don't worry," Mara soothed. "We've got someone coming to take care of Neddy right now."

Ned was in the bathroom, and they could hear the water running. "I canceled that, I'm okay," he called.

Next to them, Luke roughly threw Drew down on the bed, making Chiara bounce a little. "Now, what the bloody hell was going on back there?" he demanded. "I mean, what the fuck, Andrew?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Adesso," Drew muttered, working his jaw and wincing as he felt the swelling.

"You'd better start, right now, or I'm going to hit you myself," Luke retorted. "When you pull something like this, especially the day of a show on the fucking BBC, you affect all of us, and you fucking know it!"

Ned came out of the bathroom, holding some ice on the side of his face, next to his eye. "He saw me kiss her, out on the terrace, and he didn't like it, that's all."

Now Luke and Mara were both looking at Chiara, sitting on the bed in her soil-smeared skirt, color high on her cheeks.

She looked down at her lap, feeling ashamed, knowing it wasn't her fault, but unable to help it.

Drew saw this and felt terrible.

"Chiara, is that right?" Mara's voice was gentle as she knelt before Chiara and put her hand on Chiara's knee.

"I don't know if that's why he did it, but yeah, Ned and I kissed out on the terrace, and then we walked in, and the next thing I know Drew hauls off and punches Ned and knocks both of us over. Then Ned punched Drew, knocking him over, then you two were there, and here we are."

"So something happened before all this kissing and punching, I take it?" Luke asked shrewdly.

Chiara sighed, and again, Drew heard it and felt awful, so guilty.

"Nothing important. I came up to London on an invitation from Drew's mum, and we thought it would be a fun surprise for Drew. So after the show, Ned brought me to the party to surprise him. And I really did surprise him, as well as his, um, date, I suppose you could call her."

Luke was already shaking his head.

"God, Drew, you knob."

Mara, too, was giving Drew a scathing look. "You pathetic, walking piece of shite," she murmured, patting Chiara's leg.

"No, you guys have got the wrong end of the stick," Chiara was saying. "We weren't involved, we aren't. We just had a mutual little flirtation or whatever, not a big deal, honestly. I should at the very least have told him I was coming."

She smiled. "I know how Drew feels about these things; I've heard him say it often enough, you know? Don't fuck around with the help."

Her powers of mimicry were considerable. Everyone in the room could hear Drew in her words, not to mention Gary, in the cadence, the the pronunciation, the accent.

Chiara shrugged. "Not a big deal, honest. I just don't want Ellie to know we've been arguing, let alone hitting each other over all this, you know, you guys?" She looked around at everyone. "She likes me, and she probably hoped something would develop between Drew and me."

She shook her head. "I don't think she shares his low opinion of 'the help,'" she said, looking directly at Drew for the first time, making him feel very small. "So, if only for her sake, I hope we could keep all of this behavior from her?"

Mara looked at her, surprised. "You don't want her to know the truth? You know Ellie, right? She wouldn't blame you. She would rightly place the blame on Drew, where it belongs."

"I know, I know, but I think it would make her sad, and I like her so much, I don't want her to suffer. I don't want her good opinion of her son to suffer. It's one of the few things she really treasures, I think," Chiara said.

"Thank you," Drew said, placing his hand on Chiara's other knee. "Thank you so fucking much--"

Chiara just looked at his hand until he removed it. "Like I said, Andrew, it's for Ellie, not you." She looked into his eyes, and he nearly flinched from the coldness he saw in them. "I like your mum, very much, and I'll not be a party to hurting her unnecessarily, that's all."

Ned removed the ice from his face and looked at his reflection through the open door in the bathroom mirror. "I'm okay with that," he agreed, nodding. "We just need to agree on a story that explains our faces, yeah?"

"I don't think Drew's face will need much explaining," Luke offered. He examined his friend's jaw in the light of the lamp. "The swelling is already going down, I reckon."

"I should've hit you harder," Ned said with venom.

"Ned, don't," Chiara said. "Please don't let him make you feel those ugly things."

"Anyway," Luke interjected, trying to get the conversation back on track, "Neddy, are you staying with them whilst they're in London?"

"I'm supposed to be, yeah," Ned replied, putting the ice back on his face. "Chiara, Noah and Mum have a suite, and tosser over there and I are sharing a suite on another floor."

"That going to be a problem for you two? With things as they are now?" Luke asked, looking between the two boys.

They looked at each other, but slowly shook their heads.

"Okay, then, Neddy, just say you were really pissed at the party and ran into a door, yeah? Can you do that?" Luke pressed.

"Yeah, I can do that," Ned finally answered, nodding.

Mara rose and sat on the bed next to Chiara, and Chiara noticed for the first time how really, really pretty she was.

"You really going to be okay?" she asked.

Chiara nodded. "I'm fine, and this dirt will come out of my skirt, no problem," she assured the girl.

"I can pay to have your dress cleaned," Drew added, overhearing their exchanged.

"That won't be necessary," Chiara told him, her voice cold. "We grubbers of the dirt are well-versed in how to get it out of our clothes. Comes with the territory, you know? No worries."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm knackered," Luke said. "I'm ready for my own bed, and some cuddle time with my girl. God I've never been so glad to be in my home town, only miles from my home." He smiled at Mara. "Let's get ourselves there, yeah?"

Mara nodded.

"You call me if you need anything," she said to Chiara, who nodded her thanks.

Once the three young people were alone, Ned spoke. "I'm pretty tired as well. You two want to share a car back to the hotel?"

Chiara and Andrew nodded.

Ned sent a quick text, and told them the car would be outside the kitchen in five minutes. They rode the elevator down in silence, and Chiara let the boys lead the way through the labyrinth of the bowels of the hotel.

They got themselves settled in the luxurious stillness of the car, and sat back for the ride to the hotel. Even with the late hour, the roads were still crowded, and Chiara was fighting sleep within minutes. She was in the middle, and was careful to lean on Ned when she could no longer hold herself upright.

And even though she told herself it was the height of stupidity to do so, she couldn't help thinking about Drew in bed with that other girl, about how eagerly he'd reached for her, how he'd buried his face in her body, the words he'd spoken when he hadn't known that she, Chiara, was right behind him, listening to every word he said.

She had to blink back tears. She tried to sniff quietly, but she'd never been good at that, and of course both boys recognized the sound of crying when they heard it.

"Chiara, I'm so fucking sorry, you have to believe me, so, so sorry--" Drew began, his voice low with regret, with sorrow.

"Don't even talk to her, you," Ned said. "I mean it, just shut your vile, traitorous mouth."

Drew was shocked at how vituperative his friend's voice sounded in the quiet of the back of the car.

Chiara was too overcome to even intercede, and for long moments, the sounds of her crying were the only sounds to be heard.

Ned put a protective arm around her shoulders, and Chiara leaned gratefully into his warmth, taking what he had to offer.

Drew felt sick, seeing this, knowing he deserved it, knowing Chiara deserved Ned's comfort as well.

Drew knew he'd earned every bad thing he was feeling.

Fuck and bugger.

When they got to the hotel, both boys walked Chiara to her room and walked into the suite with her.

Ellie was sleeping on the sofa in the lounge, the small lamp burning next to her. She sat up, fingers smoothing her hair back as they entered.

"Oh, Ellie, you didn't have to wait up," Chiara exclaimed, touched.

"No, it was no problem, I just wanted to see how things went, and say goodnight to the boys."

"We had a grand time, mum, honest." Ned said, his voice sunny.

"Yeah," Drew echoed. "We're fair knackered, we're going back to our suite to go to sleep, though, so we'll be fresh for tomorrow, yeah?"

"Goodnight, then," Ellie agreed, kissing each boy on the cheek. "Come here for breakfast, okay? Around half-nine?"

"Sounds good," Ned agreed. "See you then."

Chiara, too, kissed Ellie good night and went to her room, changing her clothes and falling into bed without even brushing her teeth.

Perhaps because she'd had a good cry in the car, she was asleep within minutes, thankfully.