"Hey, can you send an email around to a supervisor from each department to say I'm calling a meeting at 3." Sophie asked as she paused at her assistant, Naomi's desk. "Oh and can you get Todd on Skype too. He should be at the London offices, if he actually showed up today."

After her phone call with Aaron, she had tried to push all of her frustrations off and throw herself straight back into work. However, in the back of her mind it was all she could think about and no matter how much she tried to forget it, his tone of voice and immediate distaste was still very prominent.

"Sure! Any particular reason you want me to note?" Naomi glimpsed up from the laptop screen with a smile on her face. 

"Um, yeah. I want to see what they think about expanding the offices and studio here." 

"Expanding?"

Hovering by her office door, Sophie couldn't help but smile as she knew she wouldn't have got away with the questions. Naomi had become a very close friend and that meant she always liked to be kept up to date on everything.

There was very little she didn't know when it came to Sophie's business, even the things that were not really in her job description to be aware of.

"Yeah... I'm just thinking about packing up in London and just doing everything here." Sophie explained and watched as Naomi's face lit up.

"Wait, so that means..." She began before she was immediately cut off.

"It doesn't mean anything yet, Naomi. It's just an idea." Sophie sang before heading into her office before she could ask anymore questions.

When taking a seat at her desk, Sophie let her eyes wander around a room that had been the initial home to so many ideas. This office, alongside this whole building had been something she had put so much time and effort into planning exactly how she wanted it to be.

When building this business, she knew this would be a home for so many people during the working hours of the day and she wanted to give it the right feel. She wanted it to allow creativity and passion. She wanted it to allow her employees so feel comfortable and as though they were a team and she had succeeded at that. It was beautiful.

"Soph." The voice of Felix was heard as he poked his head around the door.

Looking over at him slightly startled, Sophie flashed him a questioning look while she waited for him to continue.

"Your new collection just arrived. You're going to want to see this."

"Are you kidding? But it's early!" Sophie immediately jumped to her feet before charging out of her office doors.

Felix began jogging just to catch up with her fast speed and couldn't help but smile as he watched her genuine excitement. He knew how much she was loving being back here, fully involved in the atmosphere of her work. 

"Oh my Gosh, oh my Gosh, let me see!" She charged for the boxes that were currently being piled up by the delivery men.

Not wasting anytime in grabbing the first one, she laid it out on the table before ripping it open. Felix leaned over her shoulder as she pulled out the first item and her eyes lit up at the dress hanging delicately from a black suede hanger.

No words left Sophie's lips for a moment while she just took in the shimmering glittered material before her. This particular dress had been one she had designed months ago and spent the whole of her short maternity leave tweaking with until it was perfect. Therefore, to finally see it in real life sent a wash of emotions through her.

"It's stunning Soph." Felix admired as he reached out to touch it and watched as a huge grin appeared across Sophie's face, proving she was happy.

Everything single design she brought to life always sparked so much pride and excitement within her, no matter how many times she did it.

"I love it. So so so much!" She beamed before passing it over to Felix and digging in her pocket for her phone. "Hold it up for me. I need to send a photo to Phoebe."

Doing as Sophie said, Felix made sure to hold it out at arms length to refrain from being in the photo himself. 

"She's going to want one for sure!"

Snapping the photo, Sophie looked to her friend with a proud grin across her face which expressed so much genuine happiness.

"And she's definitely going to get one!"


**

"So she wants you to move out there... for good?" Zaiden clarified as Aaron leaned back against one of the cars he had previously been working on.

"Yeah, we're having this same argument all over again."

"Well shit, man. What about the kids, would they go?"

"I don't know. Phoebe, would agree but I don't know about the boys." Aaron began with a sigh. "Even if they did agree, we'd be making them pack up school here and start fresh in some place they don't even know."

Although Aaron knew that getting an agreement out of the kids would be a much easier task than himself, he still didn't see this whole situation as right. They were all fully settled and used to life here so making them start fresh would be a huge change.

"It just pisses me off as she makes it seem so easy, when it's not." Aaron continued to argue his point, as though his friends were going to disagree with him. "She has everything out there, she has lived in that city for 5 years before but I know fuck all about it. I doubt it's the kind of place I could get a job like this and I don't want to get dragged into her kind of lifestyle out there, it isn't me."

"I'm not taking sides..." Nate began, knowing right now was a bad time to be going against Aaron's views on this. "...but surely you knew this all was a possibility when you got with Soph and got back with her too."

"Well yeah but I thought we had come to some kind of agreement when she moved back here. We had another baby together!"

"Yeah she moved back here but she never seems to be all that happy about it."

Although Aaron knew that Nate was right, he had been trying his hardest to pretend he hadn't seen it for a long time. He always knew that New York was where Sophie wanted to be. If it hadn't been for the kids and him she would have stayed out there.

He also knew that if it hadn't have been for him reaching out to her during that last year of her living in New York, things between them would have never rekindled. Sophie was happy out there, she had created a whole life for herself while Aaron had been holding onto something here in Brighton that they previously held together.

Things had ended up working out for them in the end with her moving back here to create their 'happily ever after' but realistically that never really happened. 

Although they were happily back together with a brand new baby, Sophie didn't feel like she had done in New York. She felt like she had taken 10 steps back from where she wanted to be and as though she was sinking into a life that wasn't for her.

She felt as though she was losing everything she had worked so hard for and losing touch with the woman her mum had brought her up to be.

Deep down Aaron knew that. He had watched her put on a brave face as though everything was fine and as much as he wanted to mad at her for making everything about her business again, he knew he couldn't be.

He didn't want her to be unhappy. He didn't want to be the one to hold her back, as he had always promised he wouldn't do that.

He realised now that New York was always going to be home to Sophie. She had a whole life out there for her and Brighton didn't hold the same warmth that it used to. No matter how much she tried to make it work and get back to how it used to feel in England, Sophie could no longer accept it as her forever home.

Professionally she was on a whole different level and somewhere like Brighton couldn't keep up with her anymore. London didn't even feel like enough and that meant she was crying out for the one city that had taken her heart since she had made that visit one Christmas.

the second part to the un-edited Jess/Jack chapter!
....

"No, you don't need to reply." Jack sighed, lifting his hand and running it over his face in aggravation. "You're making a fuss over nothing."

"She's implying you've brought her drinks before, so you must have been out together. When was it?" Jess bit, not prepared to back down.

She knew Jack and she didn't believe for a second he would ever intentionally do something to hurt her. However, right now she was managing to fill her mind with so many crazy thoughts.

The moment she had fallen sick and gone through the treatment and operation in hospital, Jess had felt like a completely different person. At the time she had lost some of her independence and to her, that was losing the strong woman she had always been.

As a result, she had experienced extreme insecurities like never before. It was exhausting not only for her but Jack too however, something like this was really not helping with the way she was still feeling.

"I haven't been out with her." Jack fort back as his foot pressed down on the accelerator that little bit more, making the car speed up. "I saw her when I went to the pub with the guys a few weeks ago but that was it."

"And you brought her a drink."

"Well yeah but it wasn't anything like you're thinking. I saw her at the bar, so I just did it then."

"Right." Jess muttered before turning to look out the window, feeling exhausted even though she knew it wouldn't have been nothing.

It wouldn't matter to her how much Jack insisted it wasn't a big deal, she couldn't help but feel like it was. If roles were reversed and she had brought some guy a drink at the bar, he would have been absolutely fuming however, he couldn't seem to understand it when it was him.


"You can't be mad about that, Jess! It's not a big deal." Jack exasperated as he took a sharp bend a little faster than he should have done, causing them both to shift with the car.

"Oh, can't I? I'm sorry, I totally forgot you controlled what I could and couldn't be mad about." Jess retorted sarcastically.

The attitude in her voice was obvious at this point but she had a very tactful way of keeping herself composed while doing so.

"Is this the only message there is then? If I scrolled back there would be nothing there to make me believe you'd been fucking around behind my back?"

Not even giving Jack chance to answer her question, Jess did just that. Usually, she never would have even dreamed of going through his phone as that was just something that screamed a lack of trust in a relationship. 

She trusted him with her life, she always had from the moment they said 'I do' but for some reason she couldn't shake this feeling off.

Previously she would have viewed his late nights and long days working as exactly that, him overworking himself but her mindset had completely changed. 

Due to Jess' sickness, so much had changed in their relationship. She had spent so many nights in hospital and had suddenly become so much more dependent than she ever wanted to be. Therefore, Jess' biggest fear had been that he would lose interest in her the way he had held previously. She feared that his love wouldn't be the same and he would no longer look at her the same way, so this incident was just confirming every one of those thoughts.

"Amalie; hey Jack, are you coming out tonight?" Jess read out the first message and Jack didn't respond as his eyes remained on the road ahead of him.

"No answer from you but again, Amalie; It was good to catch up today! It had been way too long!" Jess read out the next one, making sure to add sarcastic emphasis to cover up how she was truly feeling inside.

"Jack; it was. Where have you been?"

"Amalie; I went back home to visit family for a few months. I bet you missed my face at that garage of yours!"

Jess felt physically sick as she read those words. Her stomach churned at the flirtatious tone behind them and how they were directed right at her husband.

"Jack; Nope. And I didn't miss that shitty cars of yours, that's for sure."

"Amalie: you know you did! don't even try and lie to yourself. Your eyes lit up."

As Jess continued to read the back and forth conversation for a little longer, Jack's grip on the steering wheel just got tighter. As the seconds passed and more words left Jess' lips his body was boiling with so much anger that he couldn't even explain.

While sending these texts to Amalie it had crossed his mind that they were going a step too far but at the same time, he managed to convince himself otherwise.

Jack had managed to divert every flirtatious remark she had made with something a lot more innocent easing his guilt that little bit more.

While his messages had turned to something car based or involving the guys, the whole conversation had still occurred in a way that made Jess feel completely and utterly sick.

 "Amalie; thanks for the drink last night, you..." Jess continued to read before she was suddenly cut off by Jack's sharp voice.

"Just fucking stop!" He yelled, the tone in his voice causing Jess to jump as her head turned to look at him.

It was at this point she noticed not only the guilt consuming him but also the unexpected anger. His chest was rising and falling with so much force as his eyes remained on the road. He didn't once turn to look at Jess and instead continued to drive further down the road until he reached a lay-by where he was able to pull over into.

Slamming his foot on the break, the car came to an immediate halt causing both of their bodies to follow the movement. Jess just watched as Jack turned off the ignition before leaning back into his seat while not saying a word.

They both remained silent as the only sound that surrounded them was the roar of the cars passing by. While Jess gripped onto Jack's phone with her eyes back on the messages before her, Jack still refused to look her way, only frustrating her more.

"You can't even make up a shitty excuse for it, can you?" Jess bit, trying to keep her voice composed as she refused to show any signs of hurt or vulnerability.

She was fuming and she wanted him to know it.

"I was polite to that girl today. I listened to her shitty small talk as she told me how fucking amazing you were and little did I know you've been texting her for months!"

As Jess threw Jack's phone across the dashboard, he didn't attempt to reach for it or even comment at the now cracked screen. Instead, he let out a long sigh before speaking up for the first time since they had come to a stop.

"It hasn't been months." He mumbled under his breath. "It's not what you think."

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, Jack! I've just read those sick texts with my own damn eyes. You can't feed me some shitty story so don't even try to."

"I know it was wrong. I  know I should have just ignored them or told her to stop." Jack continued, even though Jess had already insisted she didn't want to hear his excuses. "But I never said anything I shouldn't have done to her. I made it about the cars, I talked about stuff she probably didn't give two shits about. I just..." Jack paused for a moment as he tried to co-ordinate what he was thinking with what was leaving his lips. "...I was just soaking up the attention."

It was Jess' turn to remain silent this time as she didn't know what to say to him. She wanted to scream, shout and make sure Jack realised what he had actually done but she felt too numb to do so.

She had seen the dates on these messages and knew exactly when they happened. She knew this was when she had been at home recovering from what had been the most traumatic period in her life. She knew that this had been when she had been lying in bed, barely able to do anything and that's what made it hurt even more.

"Things between us were rough. You wouldn't let me do anything to help you..." Jack began to say before Jess immediately cut him off.

"So you think texting some other girl behind my back is okay, yeah? Because I was laying in bed unable to do anything, you thought it would be fun to get your ego stroked by one of your customers!"

"No. It wasn't like that. I didn't want her attention in that way. I didn't give a fuck whether she was flirting or not." Jack began shaking his head. "It was just..., I guess it just felt good to act as though everything was fine. It felt good to have messages from someone who wasn't sending their condolences as though I was fucking losing you. The 'I'm sorry's', the 'I hope she gets better soon' and 'I'm here if you need me' as though you weren't going to get through it. I couldn't fucking stand it."


to be continued....

 So here is another extra chapter! This time it's Sophie and Aaron and it's sticking to the theme of rocky relationships! This one has made me question which side I think is right... whether Sophie is being selfish or if it's Aaron!

"What was that text all about, Soph?" Aaron sighed as he made his way out of the garage with his phone pressed to his ear.

As soon as he had received this particular message from Sophie, he knew he had to speak to her. However, he needed to do it without the guys all trying to listen in on their roller coaster of a relationship.

Sophie was currently back in New York checking up on her business and making sure it was all running smoothly. Although she had insisted she was going to take the full maternity leave and stay home with Amiya, she had only lasted a full 2 months before she wanted to get back to work. Therefore, she had taken their daughter with her and they had both been out there for the past week.

"I just wanted to talk about it." She muttered on the other end yet he wasn't sure he had her full attention.

Aaron could hear so much commotion going on in the background and he knew she must have been at work. There were people calling out her name, others chatting among themselves and just to add to it, loud music blaring too. It wasn't the best set up for what he classed as a serious conversation.

"Just tell me you're fucking around babe and then we can both get back to work."

"No, I'm not." Sophie quipped before patiently waiting for what she knew was about to follow.

"Please don't start this again, Sophie." Aaron stressed as all hopes of this being a joke were suddenly lost. He should have realised he was being way too hopeful but he truly thought they were past it. "We've just got back on track and you want to ruin it?"

After this following week in her favourite city alongside many conversations with her employees, Sophie had been lured back into the mindset of her life out here in New York. She had thrown herself straight back into her work and realised how much more passion and love she was able to put into it while being here. While in Brighton she was stuck in a rut, trying to control everything from the discomfort of her home or London yet none of that felt enough anymore.

Therefore, after much persuasion and pep talk from her employees and friends out here she had sent a quick text to Aaron. She knew he wouldn't take it well to begin with so she had just subtly hinted at the idea of them all packing up and moving out here however, it hadn't seem to go down very well at all.

"Calm down. I'm not telling you to pack a suitcase right now!" Sophie raised her own voice in response to Aaron's. "I was just seeing what you thought of the idea."

"But we've been through this so many times. It ended our relationship before, so why are you trying to do that again?"

Aaron couldn't help but feel exhausted as he felt as though they were going around in circles. Just as they had finally settled back into family life in Brighton with a new baby, Sophie wanted to change it up again.

"I'm not trying to ruin it, Aaron! I'm just not happy in Brighton and it took coming back here for me to realise that." Sophie countered, feeling frustrated that he was jumping to conclusions without giving her chance to explain. "I want to be successful; I want to be doing something with my life. I don't just want to be sitting at home being a mum every single day."

"You are successful, Soph. I don't know what you are talking about." Aaron exasperated, running his hand over his face as he paced back and forth outside. He could see the guys now watching him as he raised his voice yet he made a conscious effort to ignore them. "You have your own damn business there and in London."

"Yeah and I'm running them both from Brighton. It doesn't make any sense. I could be doing so much more if I was out here."

"Right, so you want to pack up and move the kids away from their home for the sake of your business, yeah?"

"Don't do that." Sophie bit, aggravated that he had jumped straight to that tactic. "Stop acting like I'm not thinking of the kids. If they didn't want to leave then obviously I wouldn't make them."

"But we've been through this before." Aaron added, not understanding why she couldn't see that.

He thought they were finally past Sophie's ideas of living out of Brighton. He thought that had finally come to some kind of agreement in terms of what was right for their family. However, that didn't seem like the case anymore.

Instead, since going back to New York, Sophie was prepared to pack up and move away again.

"Okay, just forget I even said anything, you're not going to listen anyway. I have to go." Sophie seethed as she ended the call before Aaron even got the chance to respond. She didn't have any energy left to argue with him anymore so instead, made the most of the current situation where she could just easily end a conversation by the click of a button.


While Aaron was left frustrated that Sophie was taking them right back to all of their previous problems, she was angry that he wasn't prepared to listen. 

She had expected him to say no to the idea straight away however, she hoped that he would have at least let her say her bit.

"I'm guessing that didn't go down well then." Felix looked at Sophie in question as she slammed her phone down onto the table and continued to look through the designs the pair had been drawing out all day.

"He doesn't listen! He jumps to his own conclusions before letting me explain!" She stressed as she continued to flick through the pages yet at this point, not really taking any notice of them.

"He really hates it out here then?"

"He doesn't want to leave Brighton, ever... and he uses the excuse that it's the kids. He makes it seem like I'm being a shitty mum for dragging them somewhere they don't want to be. But that's not even it. They would come out here, I know it!"

"So it's Aaron who wouldn't? Nothing would change his mind?" Felix questioned yet he could already easily guess the answer, otherwise they wouldn't have been arguing over this for years.

"Exactly, but I always look like the selfish one for suggesting he do it." Sophie sighed as she finally took a seat on the chair and titled her head back in frustration. 

She knew she should have waited to call him when she was back at the hotel, as now she had just ruined what previously was a really good day.

"I've spent the whole of our relationship doing things for him. I wanted to move to London yet he didn't want to, so I commuted for years. Then when I moved out here, I was the one who packed it all up to go back to Brighton. He always claimed he wouldn't do what Elliot did and try to hold me back but he's just been selfish instead."

Although there definitely could be two sides to this whole thing, Sophie couldn't help but feel angry that Aaron would never co-operate with her. She felt like she was going through the exact same thing she had done with Elliot and it felt awful to experience it all again.

She knew Aaron wouldn't be willing to move for her sake, even if the kids were in agreement. He was set in Brighton and it appeared as though he would be too stubborn to ever change his mind.

"Even though Elliot hated me working a lot, he would have sacrificed his comfort bubble at home to move out here. Aaron's just too selfish. He makes me throw every fucking thing away so he can stay in Brighton working the same damn job he has for the past 20 years."

Here is another unedited extra chapter that never made the book! It is bringing back major bad desire vibes and I'm loving it!!!!!

ps. i am trying to persuade lucie to post it in the book as an extra one on there so i'm hoping for that haha!

....

"There you are!" A girl with brunette hair aimed her call at Jack the moment he caught sight of her. "The guys just told me you wouldn't be back for a week."

"Ah yeah I was just stopping by. You alright?" Jack asked as he made his way over and urged her into a hug.

"I was hoping to catch you so you could look at my car. I want some work done. Are you free?"

Jack looked back to Jess cautiously as he knew he had promised they would just stop by. They were supposed to be heading off for a drive to spend a well deserved day together yet coming to the garage seemed like the worst decision. 

Jess had hoped he wouldn't get caught up in anything however, she knew it had been wishful thinking and that was exactly what was happening. When it came to his work or anything car related, Jack had a difficult time saying no.

"Yeah I've got a minute. What are you wanting done?" He replied when Jess hadn't said anything in response to his cautious expression however, it wasn't exactly like she could without looking rude.

"I was hoping to get the inside of my car redone."

"You want a whole new interior?" Jack clarified and she nodded.

"It's all looking a bit worn out. I didn't know if it was worth redoing or if I should just think about getting a new car?"

Jack couldn't help but smile at this girls logic as it was one extreme he definitely held himself. While many would not even consider getting a whole new car in this situation, this girl understood the importance of perfection.

As Jack persisted to the car to take a look inside, the brunette stood back and took a spot next to Jess. 

"Sorry to pause whatever plans you both had." The girl spoke in a friendly tone as she flashed Jess a genuine smile. "You know when you get comfortable with a particular person? I would be too nervous to let anyone else work on my car now."

"Yeah, of course." Jess laughed yet deep down, she'd much rather be off for a drive or walking along the beach with her husband right now instead of being here.

Jack practically lived at the garage during most of the week so a Sunday was when she'd treasure getting him all to herself without any distractions.

"Are you his wife? We've never met. I'm Amalie."  The girl continued and held her hand out with that beaming grin across her face.

Jess responded by shaking her hand and she knew she was just being petty due to the circumstances, but meeting Jack's keen customers was not how she wanted to be spending her day. 

"Yeah, I'm Jess."

"It's great to meet you! Jack's been working on my car for the last 5 years or so. But your son, Harvey has been doing some general maintenance on it this summer. He's got a talent too. It must run in the genes."

"He really does. He's picked it all up very quickly." Jess continued to make polite conversation. 

"He learned from the best. I've never seen anyone do a better job than Jack." Amalie's eyes flashed over to him as she spoke.

It was in that moment that Jess was hit with something she desperately did not want to feel. She had always been used to this kind of behaviour of girls around Jack however, over the years just never took any notice. 

There was something about the current situation that made it ten times worse though and she couldn't help but want this girl out of here. Amalie's comment was meant with no harm but it was enough to make Jess want to leave the garage and take Jack with her. 

There were so many thoughts running through her mind and they were ones that wouldn't be going away anytime soon. With so much change happening in her life and her body, she couldn't help but feel incredibly insecure and on edge, more than she had ever felt before.

"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Jack was suddenly heard as he held up a box to which the brunette instantly looked guilty.

"Shut up." She laughed before watching him pull out the remainder of the McDonald's hash brown and put it into his mouth. "Oh my god! You are disgusting!"

"What?" Jack just laughed.  

"You don't know how long that's been there for!"

"It was still warm."

"That's just wrong." Amalie remarked as Jack made his way back over to them with a grin over his face.

Even though she knew it was petty, the moment Jack reached Jess' side and brushed his hand against hers, she immediately interlocked them. Jess knew it was stupid but her she felt as though she really needed to make a point.

Jack didn't seem fazed by her protective behaviour and instead lifted their hands so he could place a kiss to the back of hers, before continuing to talk.

"The interior is definitely worth redoing. We just need to map up some plans of what you want and then I can get you booked in with someone." Jack explained and both him and Jess watched as her face slightly dropped.

"When are you free to do it?" She asked. "Not that I have anything against someone else."

Jack just laughed as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.

"Depends how long you are willing to wait." He began, skimming through his calendar. "I can get you in with one of the guys in about 2 weeks but I probably won't be able to do it for a month or two."

"What really?!" Amalie stressed, clearly not expecting that wait.

Jack somehow always managed to stack himself up a rather long list of people waiting for him to do a job. That was a huge contributor to him being in work so much and although he knew it would be easier to just employ new staff, Jack still felt the need to do it himself.

"You're all booked up until then?"

"Yeah and we're off on holiday soon as well..." Jack began as his eyes skimmed over to Jess however, when he turned to face Amalie, he noticed the disappointment across her face and felt the need to fix it. "... I mean, I might be able to squeeze you in somewhere. Let me figure it out and then I'll call you. Yeah?"

That look of disappointment was very quickly replaced with a massive grin that proved Amalie was pleased to have finally won him over. She was persistent that he was going to the job on her car and nothing was going to get in the way of that.

"Sorry, it's not that I think the guys will do a bad job..." she began with a look of innocence before Jack interrupted her.

"Yeah, yeah. You think they're shit compared to me, it'll be our secret." He teased causing Amalie to laugh but as he turned his attention to Jess once again, he noticed the slight discomfort on her face.

She was stood there feeling a little out of place as there was nothing about this situation she could contribute to. Then to add to that, she couldn't help but feel gutted at the arrangement Jack was suggesting he could make.

The pair of them were supposed to be going on holiday next week,  and it had been incredibly long since they had been able to do that completely alone without the kids. However she was no longer as enthusiastic that it would be able to go ahead if Jack continued to pile on his workload like this.

As much as she knew he loved his job, sometimes she felt like he loved it a bit too much and she didn't ever want it to get in the way of their relationship.

"Well I should get going then. But thank you Jack Lawrence, you're amazing!" Amalie sang as she got into her car ready to head off.

"No problem." Jack gave her a small wave as Jess expressed a smile that probably wasn't even taken notice of.

Once Amalie had pulled out of the garage, Jack's attention was back on Jess before anything else could drag him away. In this place, he was so easily distracted so it took a look of mental power to prevent it from happening.

"Sorry baby, we can go now." He muttered before trying to urge them back over to his car.

"Are you sure?" Jess asked and instead of allowing him to guide her off, she pulled her hand from his and didn't move from where they were stood.

Turning to look at her with concern over his face, it didn't take long for Jack to realise where this was going.

"Yeah, I'm done. Sorry, I know I said we wouldn't be here long."

"You said you had to pick something up, so you'd be like a minute to be exact." Jess mocked as she tried to force a teasing smile on her face but it failed.

"It's been like 10. I'm not far off." He grinned back before looking down to his phone, yet they both knew that was a lie.

When they had first arrived, he had managed to grab whatever it was he needed before being stopped by most of the employees about one thing or another. Then just as they were about to finally leave, Amalie had showed up.

"But we can go now."

...

Once they were back in Jack's car and on the road, Jess was struggling to keep up her previous excitement for this day they had planned. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to exactly what she knew was going to end up happening over the coming weeks or even months and it sucked.

"Are you alright?" Jack had clearly caught on with her change in mood as he reached out to place his hand on her leg. "You've gone quiet."

"I'm fine." Jess gave that typical answer that was never easy to believe. It seemed to be a general understanding now that 'fine' really didn't mean 'fine' in a woman's language and there was always so much more hidden behind it.

"No you're not. What's up?"

Glimpsing over at her, Jack's hand then lifted up to cup her chin as he tried to urge Jess to look at him. 

"Jack! Look at the road!" She stressed, not giving in to his attempts of getting an explanation.

"I am." He replied simply yet was spending too much time flicking between the road and herself. "Just tell me what's up."

"It's nothing, really."

"Yeah it is."

Letting out an aggravated sigh, Jess was more concerned about them getting into a crash at this point. Jack seemed completely unfazed but she couldn't help but fear that something would jump out in front of them and he wouldn't be looking to even notice.

"Will you keep your eyes on the road if I just tell you?" She stressed, knowing that would be the only way to get through to him.

"They already are but okay." Jack agreed, turning back to look ahead of him.

"It just kinda sucks how busy you are with work. I didn't realise how much you had jammed in..." Jess trailed off, frustrated that after all these years they were still unable to cooperate on this. "We have that holiday planned but if you're this busy, how do you expect to still go?"

"It's not going to mess with our holiday babe. I'm working around it." Jack replied simply but it didn't seem that easy to Jess.

"Really? So you haven't booked anything in for next week?"

"No because we booked our holiday."

"I don't believe you." Jess crossed her arms over her chest. She had been married to this man for 14 years and was well accustomed to his tactics at trying to keep the peace.

She knew he likely had booked many work things in for next week, while completely forgetting they had even booked the holiday. It would have been her reminding him that caused the 'oh shit' moment when he realised what he had done.

"Check my phone then." Jack replied cockily yet Jess still wasn't convinced.

"Where is it?"

"In my pocket."

Reaching over and digging into his pocket, Jess pulled out his phone. Then just as she was about to pull up his calendar, she couldn't ignore the text message that was present across the screen.

"Well, am I right or am I right?" Jack questioned as he glanced over at her yet Jess was now distracted by the message.

Amalie Bennett - it was good to finally see you again today! It had been way too long. Anyway, thank you so much for trying to get me booked in earlier as I know you're busy. I owe you, so maybe the drinks should be on me this time! xo

"Babe." Jack urged when he got no response from Jess and it finally caused her to look up at him, yet only momentarily.

"When did you go for drinks with Amalie?" She came right out and asked the question she knew would likely cause arguments. However, right now she couldn't help it. Everything about this situation was making Jess feel uncomfortable and she had to act on it.

"What?" Jack questioned with a frown over his face, confused at where that had suddenly come from.

"She text you."

"To say what?"

Jess read out the text message word by word before looking at Jack and awaiting some kind of explanation.

"I never went for drinks with her."

"Well, it looks like you must have done because she's offering to buy them this time." Jess remarked and although she was speaking calmly, the pair of them knew there was something else etched into her tone of voice.

From her many years spent in the gang, Jess had learned a very useful skill of remaining calm even when she was in her most angered state.

"Should I text her back for you and arrange a date and time? I'm sure you can make room for her in your busy schedule."

"Jess, what the fuck?" Jack sighed, clear aggravation filling his body as he gripped onto the steering wheel a little bit tighter. "I'm not going for a drink with her. She's obviously just grateful about the car thing. You need to chill out."

"I need to chill out? Really?" Jess chuckled as she couldn't quite believe what was leaving his lips right now.

She didn't understand how he could still be shrugging this off as though it was nothing when she had read the message right in front of her. 

"Yeah you do. You're acting so shitty with me for no reason."

"I'd say by the looks of this text there is a pretty good reason. Should I reply for you then? Because you can't really while you're driving."

....

to be continued!

I have the rest of this chapter but it was really long so I thought I would leave you on suspense!

Okay, so if you read the last chapter of BIAL, you'll know that Lucie passed some chapters onto me that were extras. They were pre-written ones (some unfinished) and said I could post them on here! So here is one of them and I LOVE it because it's James and Ellie :)

Enjoy!

The chiming of her phone immediately caught Ellie's attention and her reaction to it immediately caught James'. 

"What is it?" He asked in reaction to her aggravated sigh.

"Nothing." She just shook her head before deciding to continue anyway. "...well this guy I used to talk keeps texting and just won't drop it. I told him I wasn't interested but he just keeps trying."

"Is he trying to ask you out?"

"Yeah, for the 100th time. I would have gone but he's been nothing but an idiot. I can't have a real conversation with him without it somehow relating to mine or his bed. It's disgusting!" Ellie bit with clear distaste over her face.

It was so frustrating to her as looks-wise this guy was everything she would have gone for. Unfortunately, his social skills were not quite up to scratch though and he had been nothing but disappointment so far.

This wasn't anything unusual for Ellie though and it was getting incredibly exhausting. It seemed as though every guy she had a momentary interest in would give her reason to feel disappointed.

"Just block his number. He should eventually give up then." James suggested with ease, as the last thing he wanted was to see Ellie with some other guy anyway.

"I'm starting to think either I have zero luck or I'm just fussy." Ellie laughed as she tucked her phone away in her pocket and placed her attention back on James. "My friends keep trying to set me up with people... which is kind of annoying but to be honest, I can never be bothered with any of them."

"You're not impressed by their choices?" James asked with a grin on his face, already knowing her answer.

"Not really." 

Pulling a face, Ellie wasn't afraid to admit that she wasn't easy to please. Everyone around her had come to terms with that and hadn't expected anything less.

It wasn't even a bad thing either as this girl knew exactly what she wanted and didn't really care how long it took. Until that 'Mr Right' came along, she was just getting on with her own life and doing things for her, instead of focusing her whole life around obsessing over boys that she didn't even like that much anyway.

"...and I know I'm not easy to please."

"I'd say that's good though." James immediately added. "What is it that you're looking for... well not looking, but hoping for?"

His quick rephrase in question made Ellie smile as she knew why he had done it. He was worried she'd get defensive over the term 'looking' when she always liked to insist she was never 'looking' or waiting around. 

"I don't know... I guess I look up to my dad so much and the way he treats my mum. I think that's why I think I'm so picky." Ellie began as she turned to face James. "I've always wanted that kind of treatment from a guy but I could never seem to find it. Every guy this age ends up being a complete idiot, and don't get me wrong, I bet my dad was too but my mum still talks about how amazing and loved he made her feel."

James had always known that there was something stopping Ellie from getting to know the many guys that tried their luck and now it was all so much clearer. She was picky but for good reason as she knew exactly what she wanted. She wasn't willing to let her guard down for just anyone, her parents relationship was something she looked up to. They set that benchmark.

She watched her dad and knew exactly what she deserved. She wasn't prepared to take any less and because of that she was willing to wait as long as it took to meet that one person who ticked every box.

"and you haven't yet found a guy whose like that? At all?" James clarified and instead of shaking her head like he expected, Ellie surprised him with the complete opposite.

"I see that in you, so I know it exists regardless of age." She spoke so confidently without a glimpse of embarrassment over her face. "You're so caring without expecting anything back. You're so selfless even when people don't appreciate it."

James' face flushed slightly as he had not expected those words to leave her lips. He was taken back at her confidence to just say them out loud yet it also filled him with so much excitement he needed to contain. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions on what she was implying but he knew this was definitely in the right direction.

"You think so?" Was all he managed to say and Ellie nodded her head.

As James felt the tension between them suddenly increasing, he felt the need to jump in and save it. He didn't want to do or say anything that would make him look like a fool so instead tried to lighten it all a little before throwing himself straight in.

"I mean, I don't know if I could fully live up to your dad's standards but it's definitely something I aim for."

"Don't worry, no one could." Ellie teased while nudging his side playfully. "But no seriously, the fact that you're actually listening to me blab on right now is clear evidence that you're one of the good ones! Guys usually don't care about this stuff."

"I'm just glad you see that in me of all people..." James trailed off nervously, immediately worrying that he was saying the wrong thing.

For some reason, talking to a girl you liked about this kind of stuff had the ability to heighten every chance of doing something incredibly idiotic.

"Why me?" Ellie asked with pure confidence and even though she could so easily guess what he was implying, James knew why she was doing it.

She wasn't experiencing the awkwardness and instead she was always straight to the point. Therefore, she wanted to give James the confidence to come right out and say exactly what he was feeling too.

"Well, er..." James muttered as he was instantly stunned at her forwardness. "...because I want you to see me for who I am and know that I would never treat you badly."

As a smile reached Ellie's lips, it gave James all of the confidence to continue.

"I liked you when I was just a kid... and I never stopped. It's crazy how those emotions don't just go away."

Looking down to the ground and then back up at James, Ellie paused as her gaze drifted from his eyes and down to his lips.

"I'm going to try something, okay?" She breathed and James just watched on as nerves began to fill his body.

Then, within a instant, Ellie ran her hand around James' neck before urging him that little bit closer so she could close the gap between them. The kiss was brief, and over before James' had chance to fully process it but it was enough to confirm every feeling they both had been experiencing.

Okay, so during bad desire: new beginnings I wrote a blog post titled 'where will the characters be in 5 years' and I thought it would be fun to see which of the things I said came true!

I have linked the post here: http://badnewsseries.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/where-i-see-characters-being-in-5-years.html


---> but I have also listed them below...

1. Sophie and Aaron will be together. - Yes! This happened and for a much longer time than I expected.

2. Jess possibly engaged to Wyatt? He seems the type of guy to want the whole marriage thing! - omg, definitely did not happen! He ended up being the biggest waste of space!

3. Jack with Kaia will be together... maybe have a child? - I am SO glad I was wrong here and that did not last long.

4. Juliet and Dylan split up - I don't know why but I don't see this relationship lasting. - I am actually kinda sad that I got this right. As much as I love Juliet + Matt I do miss her Dylan. He was fiery and the only one who really stuck up for her during the Sophie drama. Matt never seems to do that and now we know why haha

5. Jay dealing with some tough gang related things - we know Jay dies at the age of 34 and in 5 years from now he will be 32. That means it's very likely some bad things will begin to happen around this time. - this definitely happened! He went through a lot leading up to his near death.

6. Matt & Abbie - I have two extreme ideas for them... I feel as though they will either be engaged or split up because Matt got too focused on the gang. I'm not sure which I think is more likely. - they 100% split! and I am glad as she was always a troublemaker in the end

7. Jess and Wyatt will be living together. - I was wrong thank goodness!!!

8. Sophie had further promotions in her job and maybe her and Aaron have moved to London? - The first part was right! She is now KILLING IT with her business! She did end up moving to London and New York but Aaron wasn't quite as willing to go.

9. Something big may happen with Jack's business? Maybe he'll expand. - yes yes he did this!

10. MAYBE Sophie and Aaron split up? It was mentioned in the character profile that Sophie doesn't plan on having children whereas in Aaron's it says he wants a big family. This could be an issue? - I was right again! But it wasn't to do with the children part and instead was because of her job which isn't really surprising.

11. Corey - finally has a girlfriend and settles down. - oh how wrong was I. Instead he knocked Kaia up and left her to deal with the baby alone. BUT he did have a girlfriend but I don't think that would have lasted.

12. Jess has a job that doesn't involve the gang. - she does and that makes me SO HAPPY!

13. Maybe Juliet has another baby? Unsure who would be the dad. - she did - Ava and it was Matt Russle!

14. Maybe the gang have moved back to Brighton? - they did! Apart from Jay who ended up in Ireland with his new family.

Okay so if you read the recent chapter, you'll know that I wanted it to go on wattpad because I think Ellie+James cuteness deserved full recognition!!!!

So in appreciation of that chapter, I wanted to do a post on my opinions of the whole situation and what I think is likely to happen.

So first, it's confirmed that James does still like Ellie!!!! Although they have been apart for a long time and don't see each other as much, those feelings are still there and that's so cute!!!!

I thought it was so cute that James seems to like Ellie so much because of her confidence - a personality aspect. Obviously he thinks she pretty etc... but the main thing he focuses on is her confidence and most guys aren't like that anymore so it's SO cute to see him to be so in awe at a part of her personality.

Do I think Ellie likes James back?

This is more difficult. I think she cares about him a lot! There is no doubt in that but I don't know if she likes him that deeply.

I don't think that's anything too personal to James though. I feel like Ellie is in a place where boys and dating really aren't on her mind. She seems very focused on just doing her and trying to figure out who she is/what she wants before she is even bothered about relationships.

I think she would shrug many guys off because of that and therefore, it's not just because she doesn't like James.

Do I think there is a chance of Ellie+James happening?

Possibly! But if it does happen, it'll be in the future.

I think if Ellie starts the new degree at the uni near home, that will be her focus for the 3 years. I don't think she will even consider boys etc... and even after uni, she'll keep working hard until she gets into the west end.

After that though, once she has her life figured out I think that's when she'll open her heart up a bit more for a relationship and if this does happen and James happens to be around, it could possibly happen.

Although they are quite different I think Ellie brings out the best in James and I think she can fully trust him.

This is just my opinion but I think although Ellie may naturally go for a guy who could be a bit more risky, at the end of it all, she probably wants something like her mum and dad have.

She seems very family focused and maternal so not matter how many idiots she ends up dating, I think she might settle for a guy like James in the end.

She will want someone she can trust and someone willing to settle down. 

Therefore, in conclusion I think there is a chance of Ellie+James but when will it happen? Idk!

I just had to show that chapter some serious appreciation!!