~~~~~*~~~~~

"Do you realise we've been sitting here for two hours?" Clare asked JC as she happened to glance at her wrist watch and noticed how much time had passed. Their food had long since been consumed and their plates cleared away, but JC and Clare had been so absorbed in their conversation they hadn't noticed the time passing.

"Really?" JC said as he pulled his cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and glanced at the digital display. "Jeez, you're right."

"Should we go?" Clare asked as she glanced sheepishly around the room to find it completely deserted. She was surprised the staff hadn't kicked them out ages ago. Or maybe they’d tried, but they just hadn’t noticed.

"What's the rush?" JC asked as she half lifted herself out of her seat and waited for him to follow suit. He didn't.

"Well, we can't stay here all day. Haven't you got things to do?"

"Not today. We don't have the sound check 'til three. Everyone else is off doing their own thing this morning."

"Oh," Clare replied as she lowered herself back into her chair.

"We could go do something if you'd like?" JC asked her and Clare smiled at the innocent look that appeared on his face. She had a feeling he was up to something. He had that kind of glint in his eye that usually tipped her off.

"We just had breakfast…” she mumbled. “Isn't that enough?"

"Come on, Clare. Neither of us likes hanging around hotel rooms for ages. Why don't you show me around your home town?"

Clare pulled a face but said nothing. She did like the idea of getting out of the hotel for a few hours. Unlike Libby she’d been more prepared for life on the road and had expected to spend most of her time sitting in the hotel room killing time. She’d bought her laptop with her for that very reason so at least she had something to do with her spare time.

"Can you do that? Is it a good idea?" Clare asked after a minute of consideration. She didn't want to sound too enthusiastic about spending time one-on-one with him. It was still such early days in their new friendship. Could she spend so much time with him without getting herself hurt again? He seemed genuinely interested in repairing the damage that had been done, but Clare couldn't help but feel she needed to take care.

"I don't see why not. Justin was talking about going shopping with Libby and I'm pretty sure that Chris and Jamie have gone out for lunch. I can always go back to the room and get a cap if you're worried?"

"I'm not worried,” she said. “I just thought you might be."

"Nah, I think I'm pretty safe. If the others are risking it then it must be okay."

~~~~~*~~~~~

Libby smiled as Justin reached out his hand for her to take as they prepared to cross the busy street. They'd spent a few hours shopping in the city centre of Birmingham and were now heading to a restaurant to get something to eat.

Although she still felt sleepy and slightly foggy thanks to all the pain medication that she’d taken, Libby was enjoying spending time alone with Justin. It was probably one of only a few times they’d spent together since she’d come out of the hospital.

Other than attending the outpatient appointments at the hospital with her, they’d only gone out for a few quick walks on the beach and gone to see a movie, which was about all that she’d managed to do at the time. The hospital had been right to suggest she keep her activity to a minimum as she'd found herself exhausted by the very minimum of effort.

Now her strength was returning, she was looking forward to being able to do more things together. She didn't want Justin to get fed up with her lack of stamina, particularly since he was such a live wire and rarely stayed still. He was a bundle of energy even on no sleep.

Libby glanced down at their conjoined hands and smiled fondly. How long she’d hoped for the time they might finally be a couple, and now here they were. She couldn’t believe it’d taken her so long to admit her feelings, and she wondered why it’d taken such an extreme wake up call to admit that she loved him.

At the time she’d thought she knew practically everything that there was to know about him, but each day he revealed new sides to himself that she had never seen before. She liked getting to know the real Justin–the one he kept to himself and only let a few selective people know. She felt lucky to be one of the people he let in.

"It's busy," Justin said as they reached the entrance of the restaurant they’d chosen to eat at. As she looked through the large floor to ceiling windows and noticed the crowds inside, Libby realised he was right. It was packed inside, and it wasn’t long before she noticed a long line of customers waiting in the doorway to be seated.

Libby couldn’t face waiting ages for food, or the inevitable noise inside. Since her accident she seemed even more sensitive to noise than usual, and she found even the slightest increase in volume when people spoke went straight through her. She knew Justin wouldn't want to be in the middle of a crowd either. Although he wasn't as famous in the UK as he was back home in the States, he was still likely to be recognised if he wasn't careful about where he went. The last thing he’d want would be to be followed around for the rest of the morning.

"Shall we go back to the hotel?" Libby asked as she glanced up at his face. He was wearing his baby blue baseball cap pulled low over his brow to try to hide his face, but Libby knew deep down that it wouldn't prevent the fans from recognising him if there were any around. Not many men in Birmingham were Tarheels fans.

"We could go somewhere else?" he suggested, lifting his head to scan the street for signs of less crowded restaurants. "You hungry?"

"Not really," Libby answered, "I'm not sure I could handle the crowds to be honest."

"How about the movies? We could get some snacks and hide in there for a bit?"

“That sounds like a great idea,” she said, grinning up at him. "Have you got time?"

Justin checked his watch. "Yeah, couple of hours. I’ve got till around three before I have to be at the sound check."

"Great," Libby said with another smile. "I know just what I want to see."

~~~~~*~~~~~

"So how about dinner?" JC asked as he and Clare made their way back to the lobby of the hotel. They made a beeline for the elevators, but JC was dragging his feet, trying to delay their inevitable separation.

"Are you serious?” Clare asked, turning to him and raising an eyebrow. The glint was back in his eyes and her suspicions rose once again. “Dinner? We've just had breakfast! Then we spent hours wandering around Birmingham city centre, and now you want to get some dinner together? Haven't you had enough?"

"Nope," JC said, flashing her a grin.

"You really probably should have had enough," Clare told him with a chuckle as she pressed the button on the wall that called the elevator cab down to their floor.

"Well, I haven't. So, dinner?"

Clare sucked in a breath as her heart began to pound. It sounded such an innocent suggestion, but she knew better. Already this afternoon they’d fallen back into the old ways of their friendship, teasing and poking fun of each other in a playful, affectionate way. It was so easy and relaxed, but Clare knew the minute the sun set and the evening descended, things would be different. Everything was always heightened at night time.

"I guess…" Clare said hesitantly, biding her time, "before the show?"

"Yeah, it'll be too late to go somewhere afterwards."

“Why don’t we get some dinner here? I'm pretty sure they serve food downstairs until around eleven thirty. Or if not, there's always room service?"

"No,” JC said firmly.

"No? Just no?"

"I want to go out somewhere."

"Okay… why?"

"Come on, Clare. We haven't gone out for dinner together in ages."

"We've never gone out for dinner together," Clare chuckled as she eyed him suspiciously. He was definitely up to something. "We've gone out as a group but never just us two."

"Then it's long overdue. I'll handle the plans, you just be ready. I've got the sound check till around half four, so I'll come by and pick you up from five? Sound good?"

Clare smirked at the enthusiasm in his voice. "Yeah, sounds good."

~~~~~*~~~~~

"So, what's going on, Josh?" Clare asked as she glanced up from the menu she was holding to look at him. It hadn’t been lost on her that he’d dressed up, and she smiled at the effort he was putting in to show her he was sorry.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently as thumbed through the menu, avoiding meeting her eyes but keeping a knowing smirk on his lips.

"Well, first breakfast… and then shopping, which I know you hate. And now early dinner? Not to mention the fact you’re wearing a tie. What's that about?"

JC self-consciously smoothed his tie down with his hand and looked up at her, his cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment. "You don't like it?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"You're wearing a tie. It's weird."

"Why is it weird?” he asked. “You've seen me dressed up before."

"Yes, but for award ceremonies not for dinner with a friend. Which brings me back to my main question-what's going on?"

"You're so suspicious. Perhaps I just felt like dressing up?" he teased, his eyes sparkling at her.

"So you're telling me after spending two hours doing a sound check, you decided to come back here and dress up all fancy, even though you have a show in about…" she glanced at her watch, "…two hours? Come on, Josh. I know you. If you aren't wearing a t-shirt and jeans, or even sweatpants, something is wrong."

"I resent that comment. I have a very colourful wardrobe."

"Of t-shirts and sweatpants, yeah,” Clare teased, her eyes crinkling around the edges.

He paused, clearly gathering his thoughts before speaking. “What can I say? I'm trying to make an effort.”

"I can see that,” Clare said. “I just don't understand why. You don't have to dress up for me, JC..."

"I want to. You're worth it, Clare."

Clare lowered her menu and regarded him carefully. "Is this about last night? Look, I know you took to heart what happened on my date, but it’s not something you have to compensate for. I'm okay about it.” She maintained eye contact, ensuring he understood that her words came from the heart. “Honestly."

"Don't think about it like that,” he said. “This is just having dinner with a friend. A good friend. A friend who knows exactly—"

"Yeah, okay. I get it,” Clare laughed. “It's totally about last night. Look it's very sweet of you to arrange this dinner and to dress up as though it’s a proper date, but I thought I made it clear last night that I didn't want to rush into anything."

"See, this is where we differ. I don't think of this as rushing into anything. You want things to go back to the way they were, well, I think we were always verging on the edge of going out on a date. I'm just nudging us in the right direction.

“That’s not nudging,” she chuckled, “that’s full on shoving.”

JC laughed good-naturedly. "Fine, perhaps I'm being a bit pushy, but can you honestly say that you mind? Wouldn't you have told me if you didn't want to come out tonight?"

Clare considered for a moment. He was probably right. "Yes," she replied honesty, "I suppose I would have."

"So can we call it a date?" JC asked with a winning grin on his face.

"Calm down, Casanova. Let's just see how it goes, shall we?"

~~~~~*~~~~~