Noah's lips were on mine before he could even pull the bedroom door closed behind us, the faint taste of wine that lingered on his mouth only intoxicating my senses further.

Running his hands down my waist, his strong arms suddenly scooped around my thighs, picking me up off the floor in one swift, easy motion. As I wrapped my legs around his hips, the short, black lace that had barely been covering me in the first place rode up, allowing his rough hands to knead the bare skin of my thighs as he pinned me against the door.

A sharp cough from across the room suddenly caused Noah to freeze. Pulling my head down gently into his neck with one hand, he turned us both around to look over my shoulder.

"Shit, Karen." As he blurted out the words, he dropped me back to the floor so fast I almost lost my balance.

Pushing one hand through his hair, he continued. "I didn't know you were coming, never mind that you were in my room."

He was flustered, no doubt about it. As I finally got a good look at the person leaning back casually in the chair at Noah's desk, she seemed familiar. Her brown, bobbed hair was immaculate and the black, skinny trouser suit she wore over a nude silk vest was clearly expensive. It was the red-soled shoes that finally clicked in my head; she was the woman I'd seen him with that day in the coffee shop.

Karen? Karen the band's manager? My confused brain tried to grapple with the small amount of knowledge I had about Noah's life.

"What have I told you about getting too involved, Noah?"

As she questioned him slowly, she ran her eyes up and down my body, instinctively causing me to tug the hem of my dress as far down as it would go.

"I had to hear about this from Sarah, you know?" she continued, her voice sharp and well pronounced. "I bumped into her downstairs as I came in and she told me you've gone and got yourself a 'girlfriend' now."

The air quotes she made with her perfectly manicured fingers around the word caused the blood to rise within me.

How dare she?

"This is different," Noah protested quietly, meeting my gaze as he spoke. "Abi's different. We met by chance, she's on the same course as me and the boys."

"Do you think this will go down well at the label?" she cut him off quickly. "You're supposed to be appealing to young girls' wet dreams, but instead we've got one of you having a shotgun wedding and another one busy making doe-eyes at some bimbo in a cheap dress."

"Excuse me?" I snapped, finally finding my voice again. "Who are you calling a bimbo?"

"Leave it, Abi," Noah hissed, instinctively taking a step in front of me as Karen rose up out the chair and began to move slowly across the room.

"Darling," she began, her smile sickly sweet and patronising. "People like Noah were put on this earth to destroy girls like you. You realise you'll just be another notch on his very well-worn belt in a few weeks, don't you?"

"I said this is different, Karen," Noah snarled, his voice threatening as he narrowed his eyes. "Abi's genuine. You can't control me. I told you, I'm done with that shit."

"You'll never be done," she laughed. "Once a lion cub gets the taste for blood he'll never become a vegetarian. This isn't you sweetheart, you're wasting one hell of a talent by tying yourself down to... her."

The way she looked sideways at me with distaste made me feel small and intimidated, and her words cut straight through any ability I had to stand up for myself as she fired her venom in my direction.

"What's the matter darling?" she smirked. "Leave you tongue tied did he? Well, that is his trademark. Tongue like a lizard this one."

"Please leave, Karen. Now." Noah growled, edging his face closer towards hers as his chest inflated and his nostrils flared. In the corner of my eye I noticed his fists clenching by his sides.

Noah would never hit a woman, would he?

Karen stepped back, returning to the desk to pick up her handbag. "I'm on my way out anyway," she said, with a self-satisfied smirk.

"I've got two lovely ladies from your new label waiting downstairs, ready to have a good time. Let's just hope James and Mikey haven't both found themselves a dumb young thing to get caught up in, too."

Swishing her perfect hair as she flounced out of the room, I could feel tears pricking my eyes as Noah let out a huge sigh and dragged both hands up and over his face.

Turning to face me, he was just in time to see the first tear roll down my cheek.

"Oh Abi, come here," he coaxed, as he wrapped his big arms tightly around my head, pulling me into his chest.

"Just ignore her. She's an absolute freak, that woman," he whispered, stroking my hair.

"What the actual fuck was that about?" I croaked, as I tried not to let my tears become full sobs.

"Come on, let's sit down," he whispered.

Reaching an arm around my back to lock the bedroom door, Noah led me across the room to sit on the bed.

Letting out a deep breath, his head hung low as he spoke. "Karen is our manager, along with Tom, her husband," he began.

"She was the one who put the band together in the first place. She wasn't with Tom back then, but she's always had a thing for control. She liked to be in charge in other ways, outside of the band. Me in particular."

I already knew the answer to my next question.

"Did you sleep with her?"

Noah simply nodded as his head bowed even lower. "Yeah," he whispered.

Letting out a sigh, I winced at the revelation I had already known in my heart. As he looked up through his thick eyelashes, Noah's face was etched with shame.

"I couldn't help it," he mumbled. "She just had this power over me, over all of us."

As he spoke, he ran a fingertip along the edge of my thumbnail. Back and forth.

"You have to remember I had nothing Abi. No home, family, money, no fucking hope. Karen treated me like nobody had before. She took me places I'd never been, bought me what I wanted, taught me things I'd never experienced."

"So it was more than a one-time thing?" I pushed, my voice becoming clearer as my tears stopped falling.

"Yeah, it went on for a while," he admitted. "Then, when Tom came on the scene she cooled things off. But, you have to understand, I'd gotten used to it by then."

"What do you mean?" I said, furrowing my brow.

"The way Karen treated me," Noah continued. "I was part of her inner circle. She introduced me to her friends and made me feel like I might belong in that world. Like I could become one of them someday."

Hi finger was still rubbing against my nail, unconsciously distracting him from the words he spoke.

Noah let out a sigh. "When she met Tom, she encouraged me to spend time with one of her closest friends. I guess stuff spiraled from there."

"Spiraled?" I replied. "Spiraled into what?"

"These women," he said, shaking his head. "They were all so bored with their lives and desperate to have some fun. It was almost too easy for. Sex on tap, material things, even just company."

"Go on," I whispered, my lips pressing into a tight line as Noah's confession continued.

"But Karen was always in the background, making sure she had one hand on the puppet strings. When Tom sorted us out with this house back in December, when things started to get serious with the band, I swore things would change. Then, when I met you, they did. It's been a rough few weeks but I'm breaking my ties to that life."

His hand left mine as he reached to push a strand of hair back behind my ear. As I looked into his eyes, glistening with painful memories, his soul seemed broken.

"I'm doing it for you, I swear." He spoke softly, blinking back the threat of tears.

Placing my hand softly over his as his palm rested on my cheek, I closed my eyes and sighed. "I don't blame you, Noah," I whispered. "I know what it's like to be controlled by someone."

"Your ex?"

"Yeah, George."

"You've never actually told me much about him," Noah said softly.

"There's not much to tell," I replied, pulling his hand down and holding it loosely in my lap. "I'd known him for years. Then, when my dad did what he did, George just, sort of, elbowed his way into my life. It was like he knew I was missing a male figure in my life. He charmed me into thinking he could be that person."

"But he wasn't?" Noah whispered.

"Not at all," I responded, as I physically winced at the memory of him. "He almost took on his own, fatherly role in a warped kind of way. He told me how I should and shouldn't dress, how to wear my hair, what to do, what to say, what to think for God's sake."

"I could fucking kill him." Noah gripped my hand tighter as his face snarled.

I shrugged one shoulder then let it fall. "I think the final straw was when it came to, you know, stuff?" I whispered.

"Sex?" Noah asked.

"Yeah," I smiled, suddenly embarrassed by the word alone. "I wanted to know what I was missing out on. It seemed like I was the only person my age not doing it, but George told me they were all sluts. He said if I did anything like that I'd be ruining myself."

"That's so warped, Abi. You know that now, right?" Noah pushed, his voice becoming urgent and frustrated.

"I know," I smiled. "He made me think it was okay to please him, but that I didn't deserve to know pleasure for myself."

"I swear to god, Abi," Noah muttered through a grimace. "If I ever meet this guy I'll break his fucking kneecaps."

"Well, I better make sure you don't meet him, then," I smiled. His anger was quite adorable in a strange way.

After a few seconds of silence, Noah shifted closer and pulled me into his arms.

"Guess we've both been fucked up by other people, then?" he muttered. Burying his mouth into my hair, he inhaled deeply.

"Yeah, guess so," I replied, before the silence made its return around us.

"Fancy getting another drink and some fresh air?" Noah whispered.

I nodded as he removed his chin from my head and looked down at me. "Sounds like a good plan."

Holding my hand as we headed downstairs, I was relieved to see no sign of Karen, Sarah, or any other crazy woman waiting to pounce on Noah for something he may or may not have done in a previous life.

After pouring another two glasses of wine, he led me towards the patio doors. Slinging his brown suede jacket over my shoulders, I leant back into the familiar security of his arm around me as we made our way into the garden.

In the faint light of the few stars that managed to shine through the air pollution permanently shrouding London, we took a seat on the bench at the end of the garden, outside a small summerhouse. Through the window, I could see that the new-looking wooden cabin seemed to contain all of The Ambition's instruments in a full rehearsal set-up, and a small blue sofa. Nothing else.

"I can't believe you've actually signed a record deal," I smiled, as I rested my head on Noah's shoulder and sipped my drink.

"Yeah, I know. It's mental," he chuckled.

I silently bit my lip before asking my next question. "Do you have a plan yet?"

"Not exactly," he replied. "The first thing we need to do is tie everything up at Uni. Pay off the rest of our term fees and stuff before leaving."

"You're leaving?" I gasped, sitting upright and glaring at him wide-eyed.

"Yeah, obviously," Noah replied, looking amused by my confusion. "We're hoping to be on tour with the first album by the summer, so we can't exactly be worrying about coursework and exams. Tom and Karen are going to sort out the final fees but, after Easter break, we're done."

"Oh," was the only noise I could muster.

"Don't worry," Noah smiled, gently massaging his fingers against my scalp as I placed my head back on his shoulder. "It was only ever a temporary thing, remember? We needed a back story?"

"Oh yeah, great back story," I snorted.

Putting on my best 'documentary voiceover' impression, I continued. "Rarely found in the wild, The Ambition was formed when all members of the pack attended the same music college. For about a week."

Noah's shoulders shook as he chuckled. "You know what I meant," he said softly. "Don't worry about us, you and me. I'm not running from you again. I promised you and I meant it."

I'm not sure how long we sat there for, silently drinking our wine on the tiny wooden bench. But, after a while, I noticed tiny goose bumps rising across the skin of Noah's forearm.

"Shall we go inside?" I asked. "Forget about earlier and just have a good time with the others?"

"Sounds good," Noah replied. Jumping up, he rubbed his arms vigorously before wrapping one around my shoulders and leading the way. He seemed to like walking that way, with me tucked under his arm. And, breathing him in as he wrapped me safely in his protection, it was becoming my new favourite way to walk, too.

As we got closer to the patio doors, the noise of music and people inside grew louder and I could sense Noah's body tensing up slightly next to me.

Pausing to look down at me, his green eyes glowed in the dim light of the kitchen spilling out onto the patio. "Will you stay with me tonight, Abi?" he asked.

I craned my neck to look up at him with a smile. "Sure."

"Good," he smiled back, his muscles instantly relaxing. "Thank you."

Neither of us needed to say any more. Whatever else was going to be thrown at us, it felt as though we were both ready for it. We were becoming a team, and we were ready to fight. Even if neither of us had any idea yet what it was we would need to fight against.