Kayleigh waited patiently in the pristine waiting room, the soft music doing very little to calm her nerves. Her fingers were rubbed raw and her lower lip was broken from biting on it so hard. 

She stood up and looked through the window over the busy street below. Dr Marcus Barrow's clinic was just a few blocks down the street from KHF, so the view was fairly familiar. And yet, from this angle, it was strangely new, as though seeing a well-known painting in different colours.

The door to the treatment room finally opened and a beautiful brunette with shoulder-length, straight hair and large sunglasses that covered most of her slightly swollen face walked out. A bulky man in a black suit met her at the door that led to the reception and followed her closely out of the clinic. Kayleigh stared slack-jawed, eyes wide, heart hammering.

It couldn't be...

"Kay Kay?"

Marcus was leaning against the doorway wearing his white lab coat and a curious expression. 

"Was that..." she started feebly, losing her words mid-sentence.

"Yes."

"Can you-"

"No."

"Why not?" Kayleigh whined looking longingly at the empty hallway.

"Because she's my client and asking for autographs for my friends is unprofessional," Marcus the dentist said firmly.

"But Marcus, you know how much I love her!" she cried turning back to him.

Marcus studied Kayleigh as though she were a particularly complicated math problem. She could see the laughter teasing his lips and it made Kayleigh feel like a silly, little girl. Finally, he released a slow breath and sighed, "Come in."

He disappeared into his treatment room and Kayleigh followed after him with drooping shoulders and a frown.

The room was large, bright and super clean but the stench of acrylic hanging in the air brought back a flood of tearful memories. Kayleigh hated the dentist and not even the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Oxford Street and the fact that she wasn't there for treatment could distract her. The walls closed in on her and her breaths became laboured.

Just when her vision was blurring, she felt Marcus approach her slowly. Instinctively, she focused her attention on him. He was holding an A4 poster which was very familiar to her. In fact, an identical one hung on the inside of her wardrobe back in Southwold for over ten years.

"Are you okay?" Marcus asked lifting a concerned brow.

Kayleigh nodded with a nervous smile. 

"You're not still afraid of the dentist, are you?"

"No... of course not!"

But her nervous scoff betrayed her, and Marcus shook his head at her. "Even me?"

"Especially you, Marcus Burrows! What's that?" she asked pointing at the poster between his fingers.

He shifted his weight uncomfortably before answering. "This is for you."

Kayleigh took it from him and inspected it carefully. Then she saw it. In intricate, black, hand-writing, on the bottom-right corner of the photo, read the words:

To Kayleigh,
Keep Shining.
With Love,
Lily x

Kayleigh felt her heart turn to butter and bubble up to her throat. Tears tickled the back of her eyes as her fingers caressed the writing. "Is this..." She stopped to breathe so that she wouldn't faint. "How do you have this?"

Marcus cleared his throat and inspected his clean and neat nails. "I know how much you love her."

Kayleigh felt her lips stretch into a wide grin. "I thought it was unprofessional to ask your clients for autographs."

"It is," he replied rolling his eyes. "But she's an old client and this was before my reputation preceded me. I could get away with it."

"What? How long have you had this?" Marcus didn't move, but Kayleigh noticed something in his stance change causing her to confirm her suspicion. 

A muscle across the left of Marcus's face twitched. 

The action was sweet. It should have sent Kayleigh to cloud nine. But for some reason, a special burst of anger that seemed to be specifically reserved for him was threatening to surface again.

"So, you did think of me. Gosh, Marcus, when was this? Why didn't you call? And why didn't you give this to me before?"

"I don't know, alright!" His eyes found hers and she was surprised to see they were blazing again. "Jesus, do you really think six years went by without you crossing my mind?"

"I don't know," she yelled. "You never contacted me. What was I supposed to think?"

"You never contacted me either," Marcus fired back matching her vexation.

"And you thought that was because I forgot about you?"

"No, actually I thought you hated me! I thought I was doing you a favour by not showing my face ever again. And quite frankly, I wouldn't blame you if that was the case. You have no idea how much I regret that night, Kay Kay."

Kayleigh's heart stopped. It was one thing to be furious but it was another to be wounded. And in that moment she was both. 

She knew. Of course, she knew how much he regretted it. He never said so, of course, because Marcus Burrows never said anything. But her sixteen-year-old self saw the disappointment in his eyes. It was the last thing she saw because he never looked at her again. Not directly, at least. He avoided her at all costs and when he couldn't, when he had to endure her company so as not to raise suspicion, it was short and brief and he didn't speak unless he had to. 

So, yes, she had a pretty accurate idea of how much he regretted the best night of her life. And she was just about to tell him so when Marcus dragged his left hand down his face and his new engagement ring caught her attention. It reflected the sunlight proudly, staking her and grounding her at the same time.

She suppressed the urge to grab him by the stupid collar, of his stupid, designer shirt and choke him with it until he felt how she was feeling in that moment.

"I know you're still angry," he went on, his voice broken. "I don't blame you for hating me. I was supposed to protect you and I hurt you instead."

Kayleigh dropped her gaze. She couldn't bear to look at him. It was too inappropriate and too late to be having this conversation. "I didn't hate you. Not back then. I really missed you."

She didn't miss his sharp inhale. "And now?" 

Kay's lips trembled as she fought to keep the emotion out of her voice. "I don't know. I just want to make things right, but we keep messing up even more. I guess I'm tired."

There was that muscle again.

Twitch. Twitch.

She looked at the poster in her hands, not sure she was happy about it after all.

"Why are you here, Kay?" Marcus asked after a tense pause.

Kayleigh observed him, her heart trying to regain its strength and rhythm. They couldn't seem to go through one interaction without wedging themselves further apart.

"Right," she said softly. "We have a situation."

#

It was just a weekend. Just one weekend. Two days and that was it. 

Kayleigh repeated the words to herself over and over as she waited for her brother's train to roll in. She and Marcus had planned the next two days to the minute. They were going to crowded, jam-packed places with many distractions and few opportunities to ask questions. If there were any slip-ups they would surely go unnoticed. 

But there wouldn't be any. Why would there be? 

All Kayleigh had to do was stay away from Marcus Burrows and he would stay away from her. Keep their eyes off each other, keep their breaths even and their mouths shut. Nobody needed to remember anyone's likes and dislikes, or watch out for any allergies. If need be, Kayleigh would swell to the size of a pumpkin and go to the hospital. Anything was better than their secret getting out.

Kayleigh had nothing to be nervous about. Nothing. Everything was going to be fine.

"Breathe, Kay Kay," a familiar, deep voice said from behind her. "Security is going to get suspicious if you keep looking around anxiously like that."

A shiver ran down her spine despite the man's friendly tone. "What are you doing here?"

Marcus raised an affronted brow. "Greeting my best friend and best man at the station like I would have done even if I hadn't slept with his baby sister."

Kayleigh gasped at his audacity, then she his lazy smile and his rolled-up sleeves. His ridiculous shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, giving her a glimpse of his toned body. So different, and yet the same. Like a well-known painting with different colours, she thought. "Have you been drinking, Marcus?"

His bloodshot eyes locked with hers. "Relax, Kay Kay. King Leon is coming. It's going to be a fun weekend and I will be on my best behaviour, I promise."

Kayleigh gave him a look that let him know exactly how little she trusted him.

"I promise!" he repeated holding out his pinkie.

"Good," she stated, slapping his hand away. Secretly, she was happy he was there. Her own thoughts were driving her crazy. "Because we don't have time for games this weekend. Or war! So be nice to Jack. My brother can't know what happened and you know how sharp he is."

Marcus's expression morphed into a sad frown. "I already told you, I'm not playing. I'm not at war with you either. I get it. What happened happened, and we're pretending it didn't. Just like you wanted."

He had definitely been drinking, Kayleigh thought.

"It's not just what I want. You agreed, it's for the best," she said pointedly.

"I did."

"You have a fiancée."

"I do."

"And I have Jack."

Kayleigh turned tentatively to meet Marcus's stormy gaze when he didn't say anything.

"What?" she challenged.

"If he hurts you in any way, he will need a new set of teeth and a new dentist to do it for him. Is that clear?" he stated, clearly annunciating every syllable. "You can complain all you want but you know your brother and father will have my back, so there is nothing you can do about it."

But Kayleigh didn't complain. Instead, she nodded with a shy smile. His words infuriated her and made her feel safe at the same time. More than anything, for the first time, she felt her old friend was in her corner again and she liked that.

"He won't hurt me," she assured him. "He's a good guy."

"Come here," Marcus sighed, giving her a one-armed bug and placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. Kayleigh allowed herself to sink into him, taking in his cool, spicy scent.

"You smell different," she hummed into his chest.

"Good different?"

"I don't know. But you don't smell like Southwold anymore. You smell like London."

Marcus laughed heartily and Kayleigh's smile widened at the sound. "That can't be good."

"No, it's nice. It's just... you used to smell like the sea and the sun. Now, you smell all clean and successful. And, at the moment, drunk."

Much too soon, Marcus let go of her, and thank God he did because right at that moment, Leon's and Rosemary's faces appeared.

👜👒👗