When I wake up on Saturday morning, having spent the night tossing and turning, Lewis isn't in bed, and that realisation is very unsettling. It seems I'm already used to him being there when I open my eyes, lying beside me all rumpled and sleepy-eyed and adorable. The empty half of the bed taunts me coldly, asking me once again whether I need to worry about the comment I overheard on the phone last night.

Whatever it is can't be that bad really, I decide as I slip out of bed. After all, it was his mum he was talking to. If it was something truly terrible, surely she wouldn't be in on it?

I try not to consider how many mothers possibly help to cover up crimes for their offspring: I don't feel like Joanna would be the type to do that!

I find Lewis outside, sprawled on the oversized lounger with his book, and all prepared to entice me without even trying. The sun is shining directly on him like his own personal spotlight, and he looks like a nerdy-hot surfer hanging around waiting for a perfect wave, ready to fling his glasses off and throw himself into the water as soon as the conditions are optimal.

Alexa, play "Wet Dream" by Wet Leg. Because this dude sure as hell could star in one.

"Morning," I croak. Not sexy, Ruby. Although I think Lewis disagrees based on the slow smile that spreads across his face as he looks up and takes me in. "How long have you been awake?"

"A couple of hours," he shrugs, dropping the book on the ground and shifting slightly to the side so I can snuggle in beside him. "I couldn't get back to sleep, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I figured I'd read for a while instead."

"Any particular reason why you couldn't sleep?" I ask lightly, raising my head to look at him. Guilty conscience, maybe? He removes his glasses, rubbing at his eyes.

"Intrusive thoughts mostly," he admits. "I tend to get them a lot during the night. Although this was the worst case I've had in a while."

"I suffer from those too," I nod understandingly. "I actually watched a TikTok a few weeks ago where some medical professional said playing word association games in your head can help you sleep - I guess it's meant to tire your brain out, and stop your mind dwelling on other things. I did give it a go, but I just found it boring, and it somehow made me more awake!"

He chuckles. "I actually used to find counting sheep pretty successful . . . But then the sheep started criticising me, and I realised that technique was no longer working!"

"So what kind of thoughts are stopping you sleep now?"

He sighs. "Back-to-work anxiety. Worrying that my mum is okay." A brief hesitation. "Wondering if I'll ever really be good enough for you."

I squeeze at his arm. Mmm - nice bicep. "If anything, that last worry should be the other way around," I tell him. "I'm not sure I even deserve you after I was a mean girl to you for so long."

He smiles sadly. "I know you said you want this to continue when we get home . . . But I'm still low-key terrified that you might change your mind once reality hits."

Those words hammer sharp nails into my heart. "I can't see that happening now," I reassure him. "Honestly, Lewis. I'm all in. So that's one less bad thought to have, okay?" He nods, relief etched into his face as he pulls me closer.

"I can't believe we're going home tomorrow," he groans a moment later. "I'm not ready for that at all!"

"I know." My eyes flutter closed. "We'll need to start packing soon." The very idea exhausts me and makes me feel unbearably sad. Shutting that suitcase with all my holiday belongings inside means leaving this little paradise we've found, and I'm not quite prepared for that either.

"And we have our 'Boozy Goodbye Dinner' later," he reminds me with a laugh. "Incidentally, why must they add 'boozy' to the beginning of every meal name?"

"It's definitely Maria's work, that's for sure!" I giggle. We haven't had any enforced fun activities since Matala, and I'm actually looking forward to dinner. Quite the change in attitude from the start of the holiday, eh?

Tonight seems like the ideal occasion to debut the white dress I bought in Rethymno.  It's midi-length and off-the-shoulder, with a split dominating one side of the skirt, and I have to admit it looks excellent with my newly golden skin. All I need is a few silver accessories - and, of course, my turquoise bracelet - and some simple make-up, and I'm good to go.

"You look beautiful," Lewis says quietly when he sees the finished effect. His eyes glow bright as he scans me from top to toe. He looks ruefully down at his shirt, which is also white. "Although I think we might be asking to be spilt on."

"Let's try and avoid any food fights!" I joke, taking the hand he offers me as we leave the suite for our last Cretan supper.

Our "Boozy Goodbye Dinner" has actually been set up in the pool bar, much to my surprise. "There is entertainment on later tonight - a band, maybe even some karaoke if anyone wants to humiliate themselves," Maria explains as she fusses around us, making sure we're both settled comfortably. "We wanted to ensure you had the best seats  in the house as our honoured guests."

Lewis and I exchange the briefest of guilty glances, then Maria winks, and I remember she's in on it. There's no need for us to feel bad - especially since we're actually ending the holiday as a couple after all.

The meal is delicious: a selection of different types of Greek meze. Well, I'm calling it a "meal", but it is, of course, more like a feast! We help ourselves to cheese saganaki, vine leaves stuffed with rice and courgette fritters, and wonder desperately where we're going to put the rest of the food - we're already so stuffed. "We could take it home with us?" Lewis jokes as he swirls a small slice of bread in some oil and balsamic. "We could probably feed ourselves and our families for a few days with all of this!"

"Maybe we could offer some to the other people here," I suggest, looking around and catching the eye of a familiar face a few tables away - a pretty auburn-haired female who subtly waves at me. "Look, it's that couple we met on the pub crawl in Malia the other night!" I point out to Lewis, recognising the dark-haired guy she's sitting with too. They'd been the only other Scottish couple in the group, and we'd ended up having a good laugh with them. "I didn't think they were staying here?"

Lewis grins. "I'm pretty sure they aren't," he says knowingly, watching them approach.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask the couple  as they hover above us. 

The girl - Abby - makes a face and jolts an accusing finger in her other half's direction. "Ric wanted to see how the other half lives, so we snuck in." She shudders. "I'm not okay with breaking and entering, for the record!"

"Oh, relax," Ric says, rolling his eyes at her in affectionate exasperation. "I don't think anyone will care as long as we aren't up to no good."

"Says the guy with the hip flask full of Metaxa in his pocket," Abby tuts, eyeing his bulging jeans pocket. "Trust me, folks, he's not just pleased to see you."

Ric winks at us. "I do hang a little to the left though," he adds, and Abby huffs in mock-disgust.

I can't help but laugh. Their dynamic very much reminds me of Lewis and me and gives me further hope that we can actually make this relationship work. "Do you want some of our food?" I ask. 

"Please?" Lewis adds, as they're clearly about to refuse out of sheer politeness, "We have way too much, and we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not eating everything."

"Great, now it feels like we're actually stealing from the hotel," Abby sighs, even as she tips a few mini pieces of spanakopita into a spare napkin. "I'm so bloody hungry, though."

After helping us solve our food wastage problem and promising to catch up for a quick drink later, our new friends return to their original seats, and Lewis grins at me, squeezing my leg under the table. The band Maria mentioned is warming up on stage, checking their sound, and honestly, in this moment, all just seems right with the world. 

Famous last words?

"I'm so glad we ended up here," I tell Lewis. "Honestly, when I first found out what Lauren and Drew had done, I was so angry - it just seemed like such a horrible situation to put us in. I mean, who does that to their friends? But I'm happy it all worked out in the end." 

I can't help but notice Lewis' smile flickers ever so slightly at my words. It's the tiniest of twitches, one I could have easily missed . . . But I see it. Maybe it's because I've been searching so hard for even the tiniest of flaws all along? "What is it?" I ask. 

Lewis' hand tightens ever so briefly on my thigh before he sits back. "Ruby. I - um, I know you've been blaming our friends for this whole situation, but I think you need to know the truth." He swallows hard and then looks directly at me, guilt flashing in his eyes. "It's really my fault we're here."

And with that, our formerly perfect little paradise bursts wide open, fracturing like a toppling Jenga tower as reality does indeed finally hit.

"What?" It feels like my jaw has dropped so far it's hit the table. "You did this?"

"Let me explain," Lewis says urgently. "It's not what you think . . ."

But I'm already seeing red: Ruby red.

It was one thing to reluctantly go on holiday with Lewis, believing we were both innocent parties thrown into this weird scenario thanks to our friends. And even to eventually forgive them for putting me in this setting in the first place.

But Lewis being the mastermind behind it? Letting our friends take the fall for it? That's a step too far. 

"I'm not sure there really is anything to explain, Lewis." Frantically, my brain flips itself back through recent memories - Lauren and Drew both seeming cagey on so many occasions when the prize was brought up in conversation. Lewis' uneasiness the day I questioned our friends' motives in the car en route to Rethymno. That snippet of conversation I'd overheard last night.

If this was all on Lewis . . . Then I'm not actually sure if I can forgive him. 

It's all about to get so much worse, though.

Because, at this precise moment, while I'm questioning if I actually ever really knew Lewis - the man I was almost completely sure I was falling in love with - at all, Milos comes storming into the bar. He's being closely tailed by an anxious looking Maria, and he's so furious there's practically steam coming out of his ears. And he's headed straight for us, like a guided missile, apparently uncaring that he's already making a scene.

"What the hell is this?" he thunders, throwing his phone down on the table. And with one swift glance at the image on the screen, I know he's definitely on to us now.

Shit.

Looks like it's all about to kick off! 🤦‍♀️ Hopefully, Lewis gets a chance to explain himself, and it's not what Ruby thinks . . . But Milos might be a more immediate problem right now. 🤔

And I couldn't resist throwing in a little cameo from my Practice Makes Perfect babies Abby and Ric . . . Aren't you glad to know they're still happily winding each other up? ❤️