"Come on, my room." 

☆

"What did I do...?" 

Blake looks at Tamesh as he takes in the question. 
"Nothing Tam. You did nothing. It was me." 

"Are you just trying to be nice because I can take it." Tamesh  now steps closer to Blake. His voice was almost desperate in tone. 

Blake now extinguishes his cigarette. He looks at Tamesh with conviction. "I promise you Tam, It really is me." 

Tamesh lets a slight look of relief spread across his face. But it still didn't answer why Blake got up and left. 

"Look..." Blake begins. "Do you want a drink? I think I need one."  He begins to walk past Tamesh, making his way back inside. 

"Sure, I have a beer in there somewhere already." Tamesh responds, following behind Blake. 

As they make their way to the drinks, Tamesh notices his beer has gone and also Alfie! He briefly looks around and soon realises that he knows no one. He can't even see Dale or Henry. No one apart from Blake! He now feels the overwhelming urge to stick to him like a limpet. 

Blake just focuses on pulling two beers from the table and offering one to Tamesh. He downs his beer in one before grabbing a pack of four from the table. "Come on, my room." He looks at Tamesh as his head nods in the direction of his bedroom. 

Tamesh just nods hurriedly and follows Blake through the bodies of people to a small corridor, then to a door, with which Blake's bedroom was situated behind. 

He places the cans on the nightstand and closes the door behind the pair. Blake then begins to smooth over a patch of his duvet for Tamesh to sit on. "Have a seat." He says before grabbing another beer and sitting next to him.

Blake looked across at Tamesh who seemed nervous as he kept on tapping the side of his can with his fingers. He raises his hand and places it on Tamesh's restless hand, making his finger tapping still. "Why are you nervous?" He asks. 

Tamesh, who still was struggling to look up from the hand now resting on his, swallowed hard. "I..I'm not, I'm just, I don't know, confused maybe?" 

Blake furrows his brow. "What about?"

Tamesh finally looks at the man. "You Blake. You confuse me!' 

"I confuse you?" Blake removes his hand and leans in a little closer to Tamesh. He is curious as to why he has this effect on the artist. "How so?" 

"Where do I start?" Tamesh chuckles.

"At the beginning." Blake smiles, causing Tamesh to eye roll. 

"I don't know why you left that day, I mean I know I'm a little awkward around people but I thought I was doing good." Tamesh lets his shoulders slump. 

'Tam, I already told you, that was me.'' Blake now sits back a little defensively "I don't know why, but you make me wanna tell you stuff. You're making me face my past and I don't know if it's because you're the artist of that god damn painting or whether it's because I literally have nothing to hide behind when I'm in front of you, but it frightened me!...it frightens me." 

Tamesh just looks at Blake's pained face. "Blake... will you tell me now?" He edges closer to the model on the bed, their legs nearly touching. He tries to capture Blake's forward stare. 

Blake screws his eyes closed before blurting out the next sentence. "I almost ruined her life..."

..."Another beer?"  Blake rummages in the carrier bag, searching for a couple of full cans amongst the empties. 

"Blake, are you trying to get me drunk?" Hannah replies, but in truth she had already thrown caution to the wind. She was even surprised how out of character she was behaving. Maybe it was because she was leaving St Ives, reminiscing about these precious moments with Blake before she set off on her career to success. 

Blake pops open the can and passes it to Hannah. "Too late for that!" He grins, as he gets his own drink ready for sipping. He looks to his left, gazing at his friend, sipping her beer as she gazes out to sea. "I'm really gonna miss you." He utters, causing Hannah to look at him. 

"I'm gonna miss you too Blake." She raises a hand to cup his cheek, causing Blake to close his eyes. He places his hand over hers, savouring the touch of her soft skin against his.  

A tear escapes from Blake's eye, causing Hannah to place her beer down onto the soft sand. She also takes Blake's drink from his grasp, placing it next to hers. She now gets on her knees, cupping his face with both of her palms. "Please don't cry." She presses her forehead against his, innocently kissing him on the cheek. 

Blake can't help it. The close proximity, the feel of her lips on his skin, he moves his head, too fast for Hannah to comprehend what he is doing. He catches her lips.  The kiss chaste and quickly cut short by Hannah.  "B..Blake...don't!" 

"Please!" Blake begs. His hands now cupping her face. His looks desperate, needy. 

"I...." Hannah cannot even respond, when Blake leans in to kiss her again. She cannot resist anymore. Her resilience is lost as she slowly gives in. 

Blake begins to take control, letting his weight guide them both to the blanket on the sand. He slowly deepens the kiss, his hands begin to roam the contours of her body, still covered in her summer dress. 

He lifts his head momentarily looking into Hannah's deep brown eyes. That moment of doubt, in which his sober mind would have pulled back, so small and to the back of his thoughts. Hannah looks up at him. That similar look of questioning. What were they doing? What were they about to do? 

Blake smiles down at the girl he had loved for the longest time. She smiles back and he leans down once more, catching her soft lips...

Tamesh sits up slightly, taking in the tale of the night. He looks at Blake who had his head in his hands as if he had committed the worst of crimes. "Blake I don't understand?" Tamesh begins.  "You both consented right? Why are you beating yourself up over this?" 

"You don't get it Tam! She wouldn't have gone there in her right mind. She had a future, a promising career and I almost messed it up...we messed it up." Blake now sits up, running his hands over his face.

He was right. Tamesh didn't get it. "Did she not go to America?" He questions. 

Blake nods. "Yes. She did,  but she had to make a choice. I put her in the worst position. A choice no one should have to make." Blake now looks at Tamesh. His eyes glazed over. 

"Tam! I have a son!"