Please, please, Gia, just let it go. He urged her in his head to forget it. He prayed that she would just accept the second excuse, his heart pumping faster with nerves. This wasn't good. It was all going to be ruined already.

"No, it's something more than that. I know it. It has nothing to do with business. I mean honestly, if its that bad you could tell me now and I'd be okay but just dont," in the pause he thought of more he could say to throw her off. There were more business related matters weren't there? And then she said, "Don't lie to me. That's one of the worse things you could do to me." It wasn't that which got to him. It was the sigh and the way she looked into his eyes. He felt his heart melt and his stomach lurch. Fuck. This girl meant so much to him....what should he do? Both options fought their corner vociferously in his head, as he felt his heart get even faster. He had to speak.

"What is it an ex or something? I don't care if it is." She dangled her own phone in front of him, but he didn't want to see it. He trusted her 100%. Why this? Why now? It had all been going so well.

He bowed his head. "No. It's business." Even he didn't buy it this time.

He sat with his head still bowed. He couldn't bear to look up...in case...in case she saw his eyes. Unbelievably, tears had started to well up in his eyes. Everything was ruined. It was all going so perfect with her. Why did something always have to ruin a perfect night, or a perfect situation? He could feel her eyes burning through the top of his head. He knew that she knew he was lying. There was no escaping that now. He remained silent as she threw more questions at him, but he sat silently, until he felt the sofa move...Gia stood up.

"Trust me when I say this, If I walk out of here, I'm not coming back Scott." no...he didn't want that to happen. But what would be worse? If she saw the phone she would only want to go anyway. Should he try to stop her, or just let her go? He could try to calm her another day. Maybe if she left now it would all blow over.

All he had wanted was to lie there in his bunk, holding his new girlfriend close to him, in his arms all night. This was real.

"Gia," he said as he looked up, tears in his eyes. "Please...please don't go."

As Gia stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him, Scott felt a sudden urge to just spill everything, to tell her the lot. Her eyes were just so pleading, and innocent. Literally all Gia wanted was the truth, and here he sat, able to give her that truth in a second...if he wanted to.

"So you'll show me the messages?" her voice was different. This wasn't the tough Gia who had given him the run around for weeks. This Gia sounded miserable and vulnerable. He wanted so badly to make it right. He wanted to tell her and then spend the night comforting her if need be. But these things didn't work like that. If he told her, she'd leave. He knew it.

"Honestly Gia, Gods honest truth, I haven't cheated on you or anything like that. And like I said, it's not an ex...can't we leave it at that. I'm telling the truth."

He watched her intently, sure as anything that she'd not accept his answer. That she'd leave right there and then. But what she said next surprised him,

"I'm tired Scott, and I don't wanna argue," he was glad she didn't want to argue. Did this mean that he meant something to her now? The Gia of days gone by would have happily torn him a new one or left by now. He watched Gia. She closed her eyes and stood silent for a minute. It was as if she was going to cry and had to fight it off. Without opening them, Gia spoke again, "Let's just go to bed. Please."

He was relieved. He obviously meant something to her that she was willing to stay even in the face of this. He nodded, with his head bowed, and walked forward, ushering Gia to the sleeping area. Once he got there, he removed his jacket, and climbed into the bed otherwise fully clothed. He put his arm round Gia and closed his eyes.

There was no way sleep would visit him tonight. He knew this wasn't finished.

Scott H had lain awake on his bunk all night. He knew before he even went to bed that there was no way he'd sleep. But he didn't know it would have been as hellish as it was. Every time Gia fell asleep she'd snuggle herself into him, or rest her head on his chest, and then he'd hear her stir, and she'd turn away from him quickly, cursing herself for getting so close. It hurt him that he had clearly upset his new girlfriend to this extent. He pretended to be asleep every time of course. He didn't want to argue with her , especially not in bed. There was no escape in there.

He had gotten up early in the morning, careful to ensure that he didn't wake Gia when he lifted her head off his chest, after she had cuddled up for the 15th time. He lifted her head and gently rested it on the pillow, before going to the kitchen, getting dressed, and leaving the bus a short while later. I just can't sit there. The silence is deafening.

It was now about 6 hours later. His phone beeped. The bastard cause of all this trouble. How their almost perfect night...a night which had almost left him jumping for joy, had been left in complete turmoil by a phone was...ridiculous. He looked at the phone eventually. It was a Tweet...from Gia. His heart skipped a beat, and he hesitated over opening it. Two or three times his anxious finger hovered over the "read" button on his phone, before he finally bit the bullet and pressed it.

"Where did you go?" it said. He thought about it for a minute, before quickly typing a response.

"I just went to the other bus to give you space. Do you want me to come back?" This itself was not strictly true. He had gone to the other bus because he felt sure that with it no longer being the middle of the night, and her not being constricted by "nowhere else to go", that Gia would leave as soon as she woke up. That he couldn't bear to watch. He couldn't watch her walk out of his life, so he hid here, on the other bus. But now...now he had to go back.

He didn't wait for an answer. Scott H pulled his jacket on and stormed off the spare bus, arriving at his own bus door just a few seconds later.

Now really was a time for his shades. Better hide his eyes. He bet himself that the tears last night did not help his cause. Putting them on, he opened the door and walked up the stairs. Without looking, he knew Gia was there. Walking past her, he sat on a sofa and waited...

As he sat down, he kept his head bowed so that he wasn't looking at her. He didn't want to look at her. It would hurt too much if...when she left. He allowed himself a slight glance upwards, and saw Gia standing there. Yeah, all the happiness and smiling from last night had quickly evaporated. She stood there, looking exasperated in front of him. Even though he knew what was coming, he willed her speak. The silence was awful, and the tension was almost choking him.

"So, did you have enough time to think up a better lie or are you still sticking with the 'Label business' crap?" Yeah...he knew it. It really was not over with. He tried to look up at her, and found that he couldn't. So he lifted his head, keeping his eyes, obscured from her by the shades, tightly closed. He felt himself start to tear up again, but he didn't want her to see that, and squeezing his eyelids so hard it was as if he was trying to compress graphite into diamonds. He found he could fight them back. And then finally, he spoke.

"I....Gia, please, I just want to say...please don't leave me..." And then he couldn't hold it. The tears started, and he bowed his head again to hide it, resting his head in his hands.

He was acutely aware of how pathetic the tears looked, but he genuinely couldn't help it. Here was this woman who he genuinely Lo....really liked, standing in front of him demanding the truth, or she'd leave. He knew that when she knew the truth, she'd also leave, so what did it matter? She paced in front of him and all he could do was sit there, like an idiot and try to stifle the tears.

"I traveled like a gazillion miles to see you and for some crazy reason, I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't show me a message because I'm on a different label? You know I don't steal artists or anything like that. You know what kind of person I am. You know, so don't use that on me. Why can't you just tell me and stop screwing with my mind?" That was not what he was trying to do. The last thing he wanted to do was screw with her mind at all. One half of his conscience told him to let her see the phone. Whilst the other half laughed at the stupidity of even thinking about letting her see it. He knew she'd leave. Surely it would blow over eventually? right? She just said, after all, that she didn't want to leave.

"You have 2 options Scott. You either tell me or I leave, I swear it this time, and if I leave don't ever talk to me, look at me, don't even breathe my way! Do you really want that?" He shook his head as soon as she finished the sentence. Of course he didn't want her to leave. He stood up all of a sudden and looked her in the eyes at last. He removed his shades and wiped tears from his face with the back of his hand. He had no options left.

Stepping towards Gia, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the mobile phone. He tossed it around in the palm of his hand for a few seconds and then shook his head. Inhaling sharply, he walked over and placed the phone on the table in front of Gia. He left it there, and then he walked away. As he started towards the door, he stopped next to Gia. Reaching out, he put his hand softly on her chin and turned her head towards him. Without a word, he placed a lingering kiss on her lips and left the bus. Gia hated him smoking....but it was a good excuse to leave the bus...he didn't want to watch what was going to happen.

He slammed the bus door behind him as he stepped onto the Tarmac. Scott knew that this was it. She'd read the message and she'd come storming out in a minute...then she'd be gone. Never to be seen again. He flicked the lighter out of habit and rolled the unlit cigarette between his lips nervously. Why was he even nervous? He knew she was going to leave, it was pointless even worrying. He started to cry again at the thought of her leaving.

At last, Scott lit his cigarette and took a puff, leaning back against the bus. He held the cigarette in his lips and put both hands behind his head. All he could do was wait.

He had only smoked about half his cigarette when he heard the bus door click, and waited for it to open. He took the cigarette from his mouth, pinching it between his index finger and thumb. Turning his head away from the door, he waited for the fireworks. But they never came.

"Scott.....come back inside. Please?" What was that tone in her voice? He had never heard it before. It confused him. But he was just thankful that she wasn't mad, screaming at him and leaving. Wait! Why wasn't she mad? He was confused. He took another long drag from his cigarette, holding the smoke in his lungs for a long time, before he exhaled and threw the cig down onto the road, stubbing it out with his shoe.

He took another deep breath and stepped onto the bus. He slowly closed the door behind him and waked up the stairs, where he sat on a sofa, as far from Gia as he could.

He sat there and looked up at Gia. His relief at the fact that she hadn't sounded mad didn't last. He saw it in her eyes now. A raging, burning hatred for him. He just sat there and looked at her. It was all he good do as she ranted and raved at him.

She had thrown his phone at him and hit him clean in the temple. It hurt, but he didn't even care. He looked down at his phone, and it was cracked. But he didn't even care. She was asking him questions..."Are you kidding?", "you never once thought this would be important", but somehow he knew that these just weren't questions he was supposed to answer. He wanted so badly to tell her that he really did like her. He even thought about grabbing her and hugging her and telling her that it would be ok.....that it could be ok. But no.

He rubbed the lump now rising on his temple and pulled his hand down, looking at it he saw blood, blood from the wound in his head where the phone had caught him. He didn't care. It served him right. He waited...it was the right thing to do. He had to just wait for his chance to explain, then she'd see the truth. She'd see that everything was ok. His head swirled as he tried to figure out what to tell her. What would make it right? He just had to find some truth....something that would show her it was ok.

And then his chance was gone. Before he could interject, Gia was gone. "Screw you" she had yelled, exiting the bus and slamming the door in one fell swoop. Did she mean it? He watched her go, but he knew he couldn't stop it. He heard her pound her fist on the side of the bus as she let her rage burst out, and he just stared...at the nothingness. She was gone....

He lifted his cracked phone. The screen was still on, but it was hard to read what was on it. If he squinted he could make out most words though. In a move filled with the faintest hope, he tweeted Gia, asking her to come back. Eventually, after an eternity, he got his reply.

"Fine Explain! Get out here and tell me to my face the explanation". This was his one chance. His one and only chance. He threw the phone to the floor and bolted for the door. Throwing it open he stepped onto the tarmac and saw Gia standing there...

"Let me explain Gia. I didn't tell you at first, because it didn't seem like the time. I mean, how do you tell someone that on a first date, huh? I just couldn't. And then when you came this time...it was so wonderful. Like, I can't believe how strongly I feel for you....look how mad you are, you must feel something too to feel that bad about this, right? I didn't want to waste what was an amazing feeling by telling you what the message said. Not yet. I swear....swear, I would have told you. It's not like she's even important, it was a stupid "surrogate" thing. I don't even want anything to do with her." He looked straight at her and put his arms by his side, pleading with Gia once more,

"Please Gia, I just want you...I...I.."