Following a full day of classes, I was exhausted by the time the day was over. After almost falling asleep and missing my stop on the bus journey home, I practically crawled up the stairs to the flat and buried myself deep in my bed, still fully clothed.

When Charlotte's gentle knocking on the bedroom door woke me up, it was dark outside and I had absolutely no idea what the time was.

"Abs, Alex just called. Can I come in?" she called through a small crack in the door.

"Yeah, sure," I groaned, stretching out to release my muscles from the tight, fetal position I had fallen asleep in.

"It's good news, Abs," she beamed as she rushed in. "The meeting went so well, they've signed already."

Her words made no sense in my foggy, half-asleep state.

"Huh?" I replied.

"The band," she grinned. "The Ambition. They've just signed a record contract. It's really happening!"

As she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly as I lay in bed, my brain finally caught up with the warp speed at which she had been talking.

"Oh my god!" I gasped. "That's amazing! I need to call Noah. Oh, wait..."

"What?" she replied, still laying across me with her arms around my neck.

"I, umm... I don't have his number," I replied.

"Are you taking the piss?" Charlotte smirked.

"Nope," I sighed, pressing my lips into a tight line. "We just... we haven't had the chance to swap numbers yet."

Charlotte threw her head back as she laughed. "Abi, the guy was practically naked in your bed yesterday morning. You both admitted to being a couple, but now you're saying you haven't even swapped numbers?"

I couldn't keep a straight face, she was right. I joined in with her laughter, covering my face with my palms as she finally released her grip and sat up.

"Well, luckily I do have my man's number." Charlotte teased, poking me in the ribs. "I just spoke to him to find out how we're celebrating. Come on. Get up and get glam, the party starts in an hour."

"Party?" I spluttered, "I've just woken up, Char. And it's a Monday for God's sake."

"Rock n' Roll lifestyle baby," she chuckled as she rolled off the bed and made her way to the door. "Better get used to it."

I lay there for another couple of minutes before dragging myself up and into the shower. After drying and straightening my hair, I began to rifle through my wardrobe, getting more frustrated by the second at my lack of nice clothes.

"Char," I said gently as I knocked on her bedroom door. "Can I borrow an outfit please?"

"I was waiting for you to ask," she called back. "Come in, it's already hanging up."

As I entered her room, I couldn't help smiling to myself at the sight of Charlotte at her dressing table, putting the finishing touches to her hair and make-up. She had seemed a lot less concerned with dressing up recently. As beautiful as she was naturally, seeing her paint on her smoky eyes and curl her blonde locks brought back a glimpse of the Charlotte I had always known. Fun, flirty Charlotte. The Charlotte she was before that monster did what he did on the night of Ben's funeral.

Looking towards her wardrobe, my mouth dropped as I saw the dress she'd picked out for me hanging on the door; short, black and lacy, with delicate long lace sleeves. Nothing at all like the any of the outfits I had in my collection.

"I can't wear that!" I said, shaking my head. "It looks so... tight."

"No shit, Sherlock," Charlotte chuckled as she stepped up to my side. "It's not like you haven't got the figure for it, Abs. Trust me, you'll look amazing."

While I stood silently staring at the dress, still wrapped in only my towel, she snuck an arm around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder.

"I promise, Abi bear," she whispered. "This dress was made for you. At least try it on?"

Cautiously, I took the dress down off the hanger and headed back to my room. As I slipped into it and assessed my reflection, I had to agree Charlotte was right. The tight black lace hugged every single curve on my body perfectly. The long lacy sleeves and high, round neck meant it looked classy, not trashy, even though the material ended a couple of inches above my knees. And, most importantly, my scar was fully covered.

Slipping on a pair of nude heels, I took one last look at myself. Maybe it was the newfound confidence Noah was filling me with, but I just seemed more... womanly, than ever before. And I liked how it felt.

Heading back out to show Charlotte, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"I knew it!" she shrieked as she stood packing her small handbag. "You look ridiculous, Abs. Noah's going to think twice about going on tour when he sees you like that."

Her comment dropped into my heart like a lead balloon.

I'd forgotten he had mentioned touring with the band plenty of times previously. If The Ambition now had a record deal, a record would be coming soon. And that would mean a tour. I brushed the thought from my mind. Tonight was about celebrating their success, not stressing about what the future might hold.

"You look incredible, too," I smiled as I grabbed my jacket off the rail. And it was the truth. Charlotte's hair and make-up was as immaculate as it had ever been, and the shimmering green wraparound dress she'd chosen was the perfect blend of classy yet sexy.

"Let's go then, Rock n' Roll wifey," she joked, linking her arm through mine as we headed out of the door to meet the Uber driver.

As the car pulled up outside the boys' house, I hadn't expected there to be quite so many people milling around.

Scanning the faces heading into the house but not recognising a single one of them, I leant across the back seat to whisper to Charlotte.

"I thought this was just going to be a close friends kind of thing?"

"Mikey tweeted about it earlier, the dickhead," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Alex is fuming about the fact they're going to get another telling off from their management after this."

"I'm not surprised," I replied. "There must be at least fifty people in the driveway alone."

"Good job we're on the VIP list then," she winked, stepping out of the car.

It didn't take long to spot Alex once we got into the house; his natural charm as a host meant people in the kitchen gravitated towards him as he handed out shots.

Catching sight of us, he made a beeline through the bodies in our direction before scooping Charlotte off the floor and spinning her around.

"You are a green goddess, Charlotte Spencer," he laughed, placing a tender kiss on her lips.

Waving at him over her shoulder, I headed off into the living room to see if I could find Noah. The lights were dimmed and the room was heaving with people, but my eyes were instantly drawn to his tall figure, his messy blonde hair making him stand out even more.

I didn't recognise the girl talking to him, though. I headed over and placed my hand on the small of his back, causing him to jump slightly as he turned around.

"Abi, hey," he smiled, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. Up close, I could see that the girl was definitely more of a woman. Probably in her early thirties if I were to guess.

"Are you not going to introduce me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, sorry," Noah began. "Abi, this is Sarah, we used to... work together. Sarah, this is Abi."

"His girlfriend," I smiled, offering my hand out to her as I ignored the horrified look that flashed across Noah's face.

"Ah, so you're the lucky girl who's taken him off the market?" Sarah laughed. "There's a lot of pissed off women across London, now you're no longer available," she continued, chuckling at Noah.

"Whatever," he snapped quite bluntly. "Anyway, it was nice to see you again, Sarah. Come on Abi, let's get you a drink."

"What was that about?" I asked as Noah wrapped his fingers around mine and led me through to the kitchen.

"Nothing. I used to do a bit of work for her and she had a crush on me, I guess."

"What does she mean about the other women though?" I continued.

"It just comes with what I do, Abi," he sighed, pouring two large glasses of wine from a box on the counter and handing me one. "You pick up admirers. Most women think they can change you. Make you fall madly in love with them then tame you to be their pet project."

"Is that what you think I'm trying to do?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"No," he replied, as a small smile crept across the corner of his mouth. "For a start, I chased you, remember?"

"Stalked me, more like." I smirked back at him.

"Whatever you call it, it worked didn't it?" Noah whispered.

Wrapping one arm around my waist, he pulled me in close to his body. "By the way, this dress..."

"This dress, what?" I replied, cocking my head.

He leant forward to nibble my earlobe gently. "This dress looks amazing. But it needs to come off. Now."

Slapping him playfully on the chest, I pulled away. "Not yet, pervert," I laughed, taking a gulp of the cheap, strong white wine. "I believe we've got some celebrating to do first?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," he smiled. "Awesome news isn't it?"

I clinked my glass against his. "It's amazing," I smiled. "I can't believe I'm going out with an actual rock star."

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," he laughed. "It's going to be a mad couple of months before we even get a single out. But then, who knows?"

"I know," I smiled, as I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck. "You guys are going to be huge."

Rising onto my tiptoes, I brushed my mouth lightly across his before gently teasing the corner of his mouth with my tongue.

"I'm going to be huge 'down there' in a minute if you keep pressing that body against me," he murmured, resting his forehead against mine.

"Maybe we could celebrate quickly on our own first then, after all?" I whispered.

The words had barely even left my mouth before Noah's hand was firmly gripping mine, and he was practically dragging me up the stairs to his room.