"Sir please" Matt pleads, turning his body to hurry after Mr Gore who strolls down the corridor.

"No Matt, my decision is final" Mr Gore snaps, huffing in annoyance as he reaches the elevator and presses the down button.

"But I don't want to share a room with Daniel Foster" he exclaims, throwing his hands into the air, the elevator pings and Mr Gore turns tiredly to Matt.

"As I said Mr Lloyd, my decision is final" he steps into the elevator and holds his finger on a button so he can continue to talk to us. "I will see you both at breakfast in an hour and an half. I strongly suggest you go and get dressed Matthew, bear in mind, I'm letting you explore the city today, nothing scheduled, just be back by 7 sharp"

Matt groans as the doors close and his eyes flicker to the red numbers on the black panel that slowly descend down to zero.

"I can't believe I have to share a room with Dan" he shakes his head, then his eyes brighten and he looks at me with hopeful eyes "I could sleep in your bathtub!"

"No Matt" I sigh, hating the current situation and awkwardness between Matt and Dan. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Alright, didn't like listening to Josh and Dan whisper about me this morning though. But, as soon as Dan went to shower Josh sparked up a conversation, we've spoken before at parties you see, so we laughed over some old memories. And of course I know Ollie anyway because of you girls"

I nod, looking up at him as he waits to finish his sentence, he chooses his words carefully but they still hit me like a truck.

"It's just Dan" he says, resting his back against the wall of the hotel corridor, he shakes his head. "I just...can't like him, and I don't know why"

I nod again, trying to hide my disappointment from him, I know he is protective, I know he doesn't like what happened and how quickly everything seemed to stitch back together again and I know how Matt can be with new people. But I really hoped there was a way he could try.

"I'm sorry Hazel" he looks up at me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder, I smile at him in reassurance and shake my head.

"Don't be, it's fine Matt. I shouldn't force you to get on with someone"

"It's not fine though is it?" He nearly hisses at me, I take a step back to let him gain self-control, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Sorry" he says, pinching the bridge of his nose and inhaling deeply.

"Do you want some water?"

"No thanks" he breathes and looks at me again. "As I was saying, I don't like the guy, because of everything you went through with him"

"Yeah I gathered that" I roll my eyes "you've only said it about a thousand times"

"Let me finish!" He snaps, I move away and I walk towards the water fountain next to the elevators where we are still standing. "But I should try to get on with him, because I know how much he means to you. You love him don't you?"

I stop, the cup held tight in my hand, my throat goes dry, my stomach drops, my eyes widen and I stay rooted to the spot. I don't respond, but I hear Matt's footsteps approach, he rounds the area around the water tank so that he stands opposite me, with the gurgling water between us as it refills the water I have taken out.

He smiles at me slyly and folds his arms over his black t-shirt, which today bears the letters in simple black print ACDC. Some old band that I have never listened to. I look up from his shirt to his eyes, almost twinkling with the mischief forming in his brain.

"Perhaps" I finally conclude, I smile at his shock and I thrust the cup into his hand. "I'll see you at breakfast Matt, have fun with Dan while you change" I wink and smirk at him before slipping back to the hotel room.

***

"Oh! Take a picture of us in front of Big Ben!" Kirsty exclaims, she pulls Emma and I over with her and we stand in front of the tower and bell that is clearly seen in the distance. We group together and smile as Ollie raises the camera and takes our picture.

"Cute" he says, smiling at the display image, Matt waits patiently by the side, resting against a red telephone box. He scrolls through his phone again.

"Stop being so moody and lighten up!" I complain to him.

"It's cold and windy one minute, then the sun comes out the next?!" he groans, looking confused, I laugh and shake my head.

"Welcome to London"

I guide them onto many trains and also onto the underground, which they seem absolutely fascinated by, which is hilarious. Kirsty seems so confused by the speed of it and her head keeps moving back and forth as she watches every poster in the tunnel speeding past. Emma seems intrigued to paint all the different lights and not only takes touristy-type pictures with us, but also takes loads for her art class. Ollie looks through a map and Dan looks from his shoulder, Josh watched Kirsty's confusion with a small smile on his face.

"Guys, we're here" I say as the tube slows, they follow me down the dimly lit tunnel and up some stairs into another station and up more stairs onto the street. The streets are full of people, a lot of them wearing suits and looking worried or hasty to get to work on time. We join the crowd on our way towards the huge white wheel which is the London Eye.

"I bet the view is spectacular" comments Emma as they all look up, astonished by it, I laugh at them and walk ahead towards the huge queue.

I gasp as I'm hit hard in the side and I'm thrown to the pavement, I instinctively throw my hands out to weaken the fall as I land, I watch a kid on a skateboard look back sceptically.

Dan and Matt both start towards the kid who has got off his skateboard and is staring at me, holding the green and black board to his chest and pulling his snapback further down his face. Dan and Matt both look angry as they look at the kid; then I watch anxiously as they glance at each other.

The hold eye contact for roughly five seconds, everyone in the group watches, worried like me. They stand stiff and uncomfortable, waiting for the other to back away.

"I can handle this Foster" Matt says sternly, Dan opens his mouth to protest but Matt interrupts again "No seriously mate" he smiles slightly and his eyes soften at Dan's concern for me, he places a hand on his shoulder and Dan's expression goes blank, unable to form an emotion for Matt suddenly being nice "I'll handle it, go see if Hazel is okay".

Matt doesn't let Dan answer as he walks over to the kid, Dan turns towards the group watching and says: "Mate?!"

Josh laughs and Ollie smiles, Emma and Kirsty still continue to watch Matt, who thankful just seems to be talking sternly to the kid, who has a smile spread on his face. Good sign.

"Hazel?" I move my head up to see Dan towering over me, clearly fretful for my well-being. He kneels down in front of me and looks into my eyes carefully. "Are you alright?"

I just stare at his mint-shade eyes, wondering how on earth I can get so transfixed by someone's eyes every time I look at them. He takes my hand into his and I swear every hair on my body stand on end.

"Hazel?!"

"Huh...oh right, yeah I'm fine, just a few scratches I think" he smiles and glazes his hand over the red grazed area on my palm, my eyes flutter momentarily as I try to keep eye contact.

"Does that hurt?"

"Not really"

"Does anything ache, burn or sting?"

"My hands and knees sting a bit, nothing a bit of anti-septic spray from Mr Gore's first aid kit can't handle"

He smiles and taps my hand, helping me to my feet. We both look to Matt who walks over, also looking worried.

The way these two area acting you'd think I'd just broken an arm or something.

"How is she?" Matt surprisingly looks at Dan instead of me, Dan also seems shocked at Matt speaking pleasantly to him and he simply nods, my thinking is that he has forgotten how to speak.

"So London Eye yeah?" Ollie butts in awkwardly, I thank him with a smile and a turn of my head and he nods with a grin.

***

"What a view" Kirsty mumbles dreamily, pressing her hands against the cool glass, her blue eyes flicker back and forth over the city.

A clicking noise catches my attention, I see Emma clicking her camera from a variety of different angles. I smile at her and then my eyes catch to where Dan stands with Josh, then over to Matt.

My trainers squeak on the floor as I turn yet again, I walk over to his side, he smiles slightly at my presence, but doesn't turn to acknowledge it. I stare out at the view myself, to see Big Ben, The houses of Parliament, The Shard, tiny buses, taxis and cars on Westminster Bridge and lots of work buildings and other parts of London that are less central in the distance. The sky above the scene is blue, dotted with clouds and sunny even if it is slightly chilly out.

"Enjoying it?"

"Yeah" he nods "it's remarkable, great idea of yours" I shrug my shoulders, feeling a little smug.

"Fancy going shopping with us all after this?"

"Yeah, sure...just none of that girly talk about 'how good Dan's hair looks today' I know I'm your mate and your support System and also your 'shoulder to cry on' but I frankly don't care about how hot you think he is"

I feel the warmth flush over my face and he laughs at my embarrassment.

***

After doing a lot of shopping and making Matt carry most of it for me as we head back to the hotel and dump it into my room, we head down to dinner, we talk with Mr Gore about the day we had and he hands me the antiseptic spray to use on my scratches later, we tell him about the London eye and he seems pleased that we did some proper sight-seeing.

Matt and I walk back to the room, behind Dan, Josh, Ollie, Emma and Kirsty, we stop slightly behind them to say our goodnights.

"Thanks for today Hazel"

"No problem, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll sleep well tonight"

"Nah, I have something to sort out" he smiles and brushes some loose hair from my cheek and out of my eyes.

"What?"

He laughs and shakes his head "Nothing to worry your pretty little head about" he then pulls me into a tight hug, which I return, holding onto him carefully.

"Night Haze" he waves, walking over to the room.

"Night Matt"

I let sleep take me quickly as my body hits the mattress, truly exhausted from the long day that we had.

***

Daniel POV

I'm awoken by two firm hands shaking me, pressed hard on my shoulders, my eyes snap open and I sit upright, about to ask Josh what the hell his problem is.

I rub my eyes and I blink; I'm startled to find Matt standing at the side of my bed, still dressed but with a black hoodie on, the hood over his head, I open my mouth to speak but he puts a finger to his lips.

He points at my suitcase and then gestures to his outfit, so I assume he wants me to get dressed, I comply, worried what he could do if I don't follow his instructions.

I dress in the bathroom and when I retreat I find him leaning against the door, he opens the door and nods to the landing, I nod and follow him out, my heart beating fast.

He closes the door and locks it, we now stand alone in the hallway.

"What the hell Matt?" I try to sound angry with him, when really I'm half tired, half petrified.

"Sorry for waking you, but I thought it was time that we talked"

"It's half ten at night, the reason we all went to bed early was because we have to be up early tomorrow!" I hiss at him, folding my arms to show my annoyance.

"Please Dan, we can hit the streets, talk somewhere more private...for Hazel's sake"

"Alright fine" I give in "What do you have in mind?"

"Before I take you there...have we ever actually formerly...met?"

I stare at him, then I laugh faintly.

"I'm Dan" I hold out a hand for him to shake, he stares down at it then smiles at me.

"Matt" he chuckles, grasping my hand and shaking it, we both shake our heads and continue down the stairs.

He leads me down the stone steps of the fire escape, I grab the hand rail to steady myself on each of the steep steps, my footsteps echoing through the deserted atmosphere around where we are.

Matt meets me at the bottom and I run to catch up with him as he strolls ahead, we walk down a dark alley and I really pick up my pace, but he seems perfectly calm. We cross the road and to my surprise we're at a small park. He opens the gate with a squeak and leaves it open for me to sleep through. He leads me through the grass to a picnic table with no picnic, he sits at the bench and I still across the table opposite from him.

"So" he breathes, almost nervously, he fumbles in his pocket for something and pulls out a blue and white box of cigarettes. He tilts the box to me, I shake my head, he lights one up with a bright red lighter, takes a drag and then blows out smoke into the air above us.

"I didn't know you were a smoker"

"I'm not really, I smoke when I'm stressed. Because the discussion we are about to have has been on my mind for a while"

"Hit me with it"

"Okay...so Hazel mentioned to me the other day that she really wants the two of us to get along. So I thought I'd clear some things up with you Dan. When I first met Hazel; it was at the Halloween party, there was something about her that I liked, not in the way you assumed, but put it this way Dan. I haven't had the best life, I've seen things that will haunt me forever, but when Hazel looked absolutely devastated at something, I knew I had to help which isn't something I was used to doing. I took her out and she told me about you, about everything, she cried so much, she blamed herself for everything, she couldn't turn to Kirsty because Kirsty hated you for being on Josh's side so I became her support, we grew incredibly close, and she started to feel like another little sister to me. She loved you, she loved you so much, but she knew how much she had hurt you and she knew she had to try and get you to let her go. So you want to know the reason why I didn't really like you? Sure, she ranted to me about you, but I hated the state you had put her in Dan"

I nod slowly, letting everything seep in slowly, I grip my seat tight.

"But it wasn't your fault, you were both at your faults, and I knew that too. But she means so much to me. I was and still slightly am a dickhead Dan" he pauses, dragging from his cigarette and then continues: "I have slept with girls I didn't know the names off, I used to party to try and forget everything that had happened and all the bad things I have ever done...but then Hazel came along and she...she changed me. I don't know why it happened, but I wanted to do the right thing when I saw how upset she was and in the process she made me a better person. A person who plans to date people in the future because I want to love them and not have sex with them, a person who my mum is proud to call her son and my little brother and sister are proud to call their big brother. Yeah I get girls attention, but you don't see me dating any of them, because I can't do something like that without commitment anymore. Hazel helped me to realise that when I realised everything she had lost by not only loosing you as a boyfriend but also as a friend"

I stare at him, his eyes seem to be watering, but a couple of blinks of his eyelashes and they disappear, I still remain hooked on every single word.

"But at Jack's party, I saw how nice you were to the girl who fell over, today in the park I saw how much you cared for Hazel, you showed as much protection for her as I feel. It's dawned on me that you are not a bad bloke Dan, you are in fact a really decent guy. And I am so sorry for everything that I have ever done to hurt you"

He stops, taking numerous puffs from the stick, I simply run a hand through my hair, then I smile at him and he smiles back weakly.

"I only do these sort of speeches with Hazel, so you should count yourself lucky"

I laugh dryly.

"Matt, I'm in the wrong too, I judged you because I was jealous of how close you two got, I just love her so much and my life literally fell apart when she broke up with me. I wanted to move on, I really did, Josh tried to avoid talking about Kirsty, but when I found out it was obvious that he would kiss that girl. I should've believed her, trust was a very important part of our relationship because she trusted me with everything to do with her ex-boyfriend Harvey. I just missed every minute with her"

"You know something Dan?" he says, leaning forward onto his hands with the cigarette between two of his fingers. I meet his eyes and say: "what?"

"I've learnt something, just by looking at the two of you"

"Which is?"

"Sometimes, two people need to fall apart, to realise how much they need to fall back together"

I stare at him again. My mouth drops, his laughs at my face and pats my shoulder. I then smile at him too. That was the most inspirational and touching thing that I've heard in a while.

"Thanks"

"So um...mates yeah?"

"Yeah sure" I smile and shake his hand for the second time tonight.

"Good, because I could do with a friend like you and I already get on with Josh and Ollie, Let's put it all behind us"

"Agreed. It can only go up from here I suppose"

"That's the way to think. You love Hazel yeah?"

"Of course"

"Then yes" he smiles, a knowing smile, like he knows something that I clearly don't, and I wonder if he is planning something in his head because his eyes light up. "Things can only go up from here"