I'm tucked up in bed, reliving the blissful memories of last night. Surely it wasn't just a dream. My phone buzzes on the oak bedside cabinet. I sit up, my hair a ruffled mess, my lips numb. Confirmation that last night wasn't my over-active imagination acting up.

I smack my lips together, trying to get the feeling back in them. I pick up my phone and look at the text. The sender is 'Rhys'. When did I get his number? Probably last night. I wasn't paying attention to much else apart from him. I scan the text.

Hey. Will u meet me at StarBucks? I will be waiting inside 4 u. The booth by the window. Rhys. x

He added a kiss! I stand up on the bed and jump up and down for joy and then realise how weird I must look. A girl with a ragged nest of hair, wearing shorts and a -- way too loose -- vest top, bouncing on her bed. How normal, my sarcastic side snaps at me inwardly. I walk over to my wardrobe and for once, actually look at my clothes carefully before putting them on. I chose a Joy Division embroidered top and some Deisel jeans with my favourite Converse.

I leave Dad a note and then leave the house, shrugging my jacket on to my shoulders and practically running down the street. I arrive at Starbucks out of breath and run my fingers nervously through my hair before going in. I see him straight away.

He's wearing a red and white checked shirt and a leather jacket, dark jeans and his usual sneakers. His hair is tousled more than usual, his eyes are shimmering and there is colour in his normally pale cheeks. His beauty takes my breath, just as it always does. Is it fair for one person to be so beautiful?

"Hey." Rhys says, his voice husky, "Look, about yesterday. I'm sorry about piling it all on you."

"It's okay." I let myself relax, "I understand. Why did you call me here?"

"Well, I just wanted to see you, I guess." Rhys says, looking more than a little sheepish, "I have been thinking. If we do this thing properly -- you and me -- then we should spend some more time together."

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't really have much experience in this." I wriggle in my seat uncomfortably.

Rhys gives me a sweet smile, "I'll get you a latte."

"How did you know I like lattes?" I ask, a smile working it's way on to my face.

Rhys shrugs, "I saw it when you were with Avril the other day." He leaves to the queue and I sit back, relishing in the momentary lone-ness. Has it only been a few days since I decided to avoid Rhys? Look where that got me! I shake my head at myself and then look up out of the window. I freeze. Auburn hair and intense blue eyes stare back at me accusingly. Rhys sits down and then goes, "Oops." He puts my latte on the table. I look at him, alarmed. "We're in trouble." He mutters as Avril disappears from the window, only toreappear in front of our booth.

She puts her hands on her hips, "Donna. May I speak to you for a moment?"

I look at Rhys questioningly but Avril grabs my forearm forcefully and drags me out of Starbucks anyway. Talk about over-dramatic. "What are you doing here? With him?" She asks, looking a little upset. I try to form an answer, but I seem to be incapable of talking. Avril's eyes widen, "You're on a date, aren't you?" When I don't reply, she has her answer, "You never even told me! I'm ashamed of you. I could have done your hair and your make-up..."

"What?" I frown, "Wait. I thought you didn't like Rhys, you thought he was weird and freaky."

"So did you." Avril points out, "But I only said it to make you happy, so there you go. I am upset because you never told me that you are dating Rhys and we tell each other everything! At least, we're supposed to!"

"I'm sorry, Avril." I apologise, "It just happened so quickly that I didn't get a chance. Has it ever happened that I kept a secret from my best friend on purpose?"

Avril looks up at me through her thick lashes and then throws her arms around me, "No. You go in there and you show him who Donna really is! I want full deets. See ya!" She skips away, an extra bounce in her step. Sighing fondly, I return to the booth.

"Sorry about that." It seems I have to apologise a little more than usual today, "Avril is just... She's big on telling each other every detail of our life." I run a hand through my hair.

Rhys gives me a knowing grin, "Best friends. What can you do, huh?" I raise my eyebrows in agreement.

We spend the entire day together, roaming the streets of residential LA hand in hand. It feels so natural, so right. As if this is the world I had been ignoring for so long. It's a weird thing, is this crushing feeling of liking someone. It can make the world look brighter, more alive than it ever seemed before. It can make even the worst of people good, it can turn a beggar into an emperor. If only everyone was blessed with this feeling, the world would be a much happier place, despite all our troubles.

When Rhys drops me off at home, he makes me promise to come and see him at the tower.

That Night...

"So, how did she die?" I ask Rhys tentatively. We're looking at the picture of Eliza again.

"Er... accident. She took an overdose of some medicine. She didn't mean to, Eliza was the happiest girl on Earth." Rhys sighs and puts his head in his hands, "I can't stop feeling that if I'd been there, I could have stopped it somehow."

"You couldn't have." I say to him, clutching his wrists and trying to pull them away from his face, "There's nothing you could have done, Rhys. It was inevitable."

Rhys looks up at me through his fingers, "Yes, but I let it happen. I didn't try to save her. I could have done a lot..."

"No you couldn't." I place the painting on the table and settle myself on his lap, "It was her time to go, Rhys, and there's nothing you could do to stop it. You couldn't have done a lot, you didn't even know what was happening."

"But, if I was there. If I didn't go out, she would still be alive today. I wouldn't be facing the guilt, knowing I'm partially responsible for her death." Rhys' jaw clenches and unclenches.

"Rhys." I mutter, "If you stopped her from dying, if you were there, you wouldn't have met me. Is that so bad?"

Rhys snorts, a bitter-sweet smile playing at his cupid-bow mouth, "It is, if you must know."

I look at him, my face drained of colour. Dread runs through me and I unwrap my arms from around my waist, standing up, "Maybe I should go then." I feel ashamed of myself. So much happened and I just let myself go. I let myself fall for him.

Rhys looks at me and gives me a confused grin, his eyebrows drawing together in disbelief, "Did you take me seriously?"

I look down at him, confusion consuming the shame, "Well, you... you love her, not me. You don't even know me."

Rhys looks hurt and then pulls me back down into his lap, placing my arms around his neck. He sighs before saying in a warm, caring tone, "I think I do know you. I watch you every minute of your waking life." He pushes a strand of my blonde hair back.

I take a breath to try and steady my over-active heart, "That's kind of freaky. But you said you loved her."

"I said I loved her." Rhys repeats with emphasis, "But she's not in my life anymore. You are."

I still feel a little uneasy. "What about when I go? When the next girl comes? Are you going to tell her the same thing?" I say, tears pooling in my eyes.

"That's just it, Donna. I don't think there is going to be another girl, not after you." Rhys says, looking deep into my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I ask, not understanding what he's trying to say. My heart thuds behind my ribcage, anticipating his next words.

"I want to be with you. What I feel for you..." Rhys leans his forehead against mine, "I've never felt that for anyone. Not even Eliza. That's all I know." I blink, trying to absorb his words. I struggle for any words to try and say what he has said to me. That I have the same feelings for him. But my voice has abandoned me. It won't let me say anything.

Rhys leans in and joins his lips with mine, pulling me closer. The electricity slams through me, introducing a new heat inside of me that I have never felt before. My hands weave into the hair at the back of his head, pulling his face closer to mine. He crushes my lips against his passionately, his hands smoothing the goosebumps on my arms, his lips moving smoothly against mine. He pulls me closer, although there's no way we can possibly be more entwined than we are at that moment. Maybe there's some things that don't need to be said, they can just be shown.

I pull away, finally, when there's no oxygen left in my lungs. My breaths are too laboured, but I don't break the connection that joins our foreheads together. I want to leave some part of us touching, even if it's just our foreheads. Rhys eventually opens his eyes, but they don't meet mine, they linger where my lips are.

"How do you explain that feeling?" Rhys says to me calmly, "When I saw you, I knew. But I was afraid. I was afraid of my feelings. I was afraid that if I got involved with you, I would lose you. And I didn't want to feel that pain again. I never want to feel that pain. I wouldn't even wish it on my enemy."

"Rhys." I plead. I don't want him to continue. I don't want him to continue to hurt himself. It breaks me. I can't see him hurt. When he's hurt, I'm hurt. I can't take it. I hate it.

"That didn't get me anywhere. Trying to stay away from you. We did finally get together, after all." Rhys says, ignoring me, still not meeting my eyes.

"Rhys." I say, "The tower. When we met, why did you want me to stay away? Why did you warn me about it so much?"

"Donna--"

"Rhys." I cut in, "Do you trust me?" My fingers are still weaved in the back of his hair.

Rhys nods, "With my life, I do."

"Tell me. If you trust me, then tell me." I insist, watching him carefully. I don't want to make him angry, I just want him to tell me. I want to know why he's so secretive about his identity, what the tower has to do with him.

"Fine, Donna." He says, to my surprise, "Whatever you want. I'll tell you. But I'll only tell you some of it, a part of it. I don't want you to be overwhelmed and then run away."

"I would never do that." I tell him, shaking my head firmly.

Rhys nods and just sighs, "Better safe than sorry. I just don't want to go through that pain again."

I stand up, getting the impression that he wants to stand. He does. Rhys leads me to the back wall and nudges the panelling with his hands in around nine random places. I'm just wondering what he's doing, banging on the panelling like that when... The wall slides back, revealing a stone staircase that lights up as the wall stops parting. My eyes fly wide open in astonishment and stupefaction.

Rhys turns his head to look at me, smiling a little too coyly, "You weren't expecting that, were you?" I shake my head, still a little dazed. Rhys leads me up the stone staircase and we turn right to a square landing. We walk over to the door in the left corner and Rhys turns the knob.

The room is amazing. It has blood-red wallpaper, a smaller chandelier than the one downstairs, a huge four poster bed, a floor-to-ceiling window, an oak wardrobe and mahogany furniture. It's beautiful, almost too beautiful. Like something out of a palace. My Converse sink into deep, furry carpet. I feel common here, like a homeless person in a mansion. I have the strange urge to remove my shoes.

Rhys glides over to the bed and sits down, motioning to the place next to him. I follow in his steps and sit beside him. Rhys sits so he faces me, taking my hands in his big masculine ones, "Do you remember when I asked you if you believed in fallen angels?" I nod silently, my heart thudding against my ribcage, imploring to allow me to let it out.

"Well..." Rhys takes a deep breath, "I asked you because, because..."

"Go on." I urge him, "Tell me. It's okay, tell me."

Rhys meets my eye. His eyes are steely, guarded. You know how people say the eyes are the doors to the heart? Well, if that's true, then Rhys has set up a barricade over that door, because I can't see any of the things he's feeling now.

"I am a fallen angel." Rhys says after a long silence.