I'm not sure what I had expected to be different. But, as I lay in bed on Saturday morning, staring at the ceiling, everything felt exactly the same.

What if Noah hadn't meant any of what he'd said? He didn't exactly have a solid track record when it came to being dependable, after all. What if he'd only been going along with the idea of giving things a go to keep me happy? What if the heightened emotion of Ben's funeral had caused him to feel sorry for me?

As the doubts started to grow stronger in my mind, I decided to stop dwelling, get up, and get on with my day. Slouching into the kitchen in my pyjama shorts and a baggy T-shirt, Charlotte was already up and making porridge.

"Want some?" she called gently over her shoulder.

"No thanks, I'm good," I replied. "I just need a coffee."

"Pot's already on," she responded, keeping her full attention on stirring the pan on the stove.

As I poured myself a mug and took a seat at the kitchen table, the atmosphere was unusually quiet. And awkward. In the six months we'd been living together, there had never been an awkward moment between us. But for some reason now it felt weird. Really weird.

I bent one leg up onto the wooden chair and hugged it as I rested my chin on my knee. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, fine, you?" She replied without turning her head.

"Mm-hmm."

As Charlotte carried on stirring in silence, I racked my brain for what I could have done to annoy or upset her. What had happened at the funeral the day before wasn't my fault. She'd seemed pretty embarrassed by the whole thing, but it wasn't like I had tried to cause a scene or make her leave with me. I hadn't even seen her after the funeral, so it wasn't like I could have done anything then. I'd just assumed she'd gone back to Alex's, so I'd had a bath and an early night.

"Char," I began, "Have I done something wrong?"

"No, nothing."

"Then... why do I feel like we're not friends right now?"

Turning the gas heat off and placing the wooden spoon down on the counter, she turned to face me slowly. Her eyes were red raw and her face was almost grey.

As I struggled to find the words quick enough to ask what had happened, she let out a huge sigh.

"It's me and Alex," she whispered, her voice already starting to crack.

"Oh Char, what's happened?" I replied. But, no sooner had the question left my lips than she began sobbing.

I moved across the room to wrap my good arm around her, while she soaked my shoulder with her tears. Whatever he had done to make her this upset, it must have been bad.

What is it with these new boys creating drama with everyone they meet? I thought to myself. I didn't know a lot about the other two members of The Ambition yet, but I would have bet my last pound that they'd been leaving a trail of destruction and broken hearts all across London, too.

Charlotte's gentle murmuring against my shoulder pulled me back from my train of thought, but I had barely heard what she said.

"I cheated on him, Abs," she repeated, louder this time and in no way uncertain.

"Charlotte, why?" I gasped. "I thought you really liked him? He definitely seems super keen on you, what the hell happened?"

Her choked sobs grew louder as she struggled to catch a breath.

"Hey, come on," I soothed, stroking her hair with one hand. "Tell me the full story and then we can figure out how to fix things."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, digging her fingers in hard as she kept her arms wrapped around my waist.

"You don't have to be sorry," I laughed. "I know what you're like already. Please don't think you have to apologise to me for whatever you choose to do in your life."

"No, I'm sorry Abi," she repeated, her voice almost crying out in pain. "I'm really, really sorry. I don't think you'll be able to forgive me."

A jolt shot through me like lightning.

"What would I need to forgive you for?" I asked, my voice trembling.

The unwanted taste of sick threatened the back of my throat. My jaw had clenched tight and my palm grew clammy and hot against Charlotte's hair.

"Please don't hate me," she sobbed. "I know you really like Noah but... it just happened and I didn't mean it to."

Letting my hand drop, she continued to hug me tightly.

"What are you trying to say, Charlotte?" I whispered.

"I'm not even attracted to Noah, really. I don't know why I did it. I'm so sorry Abs, please-"

"Don't," I snapped, pushing her away. "Stop crying now and tell me this some sick joke, or you can get the fuck out of this flat and sleep on the street for all I care."

Charlotte continued to cry even harder, burying her face in her hands.

"Are you deaf or just completely stupid?" I hissed. "I want to know what the hell you're talking about. You've got thirty seconds to explain."

Walking slowly back to sit at the kitchen table and take a sip of my coffee, I felt considerably controlled - almost zombie-like - given what she had just said.

Maybe it was just the shock, or maybe it was the fact that Noah had always said he was a bad person who couldn't be trusted. Perhaps I'd always known something like this was coming sooner or later, I just wasn't expecting it to be the day after we decided to make a go of things.

Scraping out the chair opposite and sitting down, Charlotte's limbs were trembling. Unable to look in my eyes, she began to explain, her voice quiet and cracking with the threat of more tears every few seconds.

"A bunch of people went back to the boys' house yesterday after Ben's wake," she began.

I sat silently staring at her, nursing my drink with no expression.

She continued. "We were 'celebrating' Ben's life, so there was a shitload of alcohol and coke flying around."

Staring at her, I shook my head. I knew she was a self-proclaimed 'wild child', but I hadn't really had Charlotte down as the type to shove chemicals up her nose in order to have a good time.

"Everyone got completely wasted and Alex and I ended having a massive fight, I can't even remember what it was about now," she carried on. "I stormed off, but I was too far gone to get myself home so I snuck back in and went to hide in Noah's bedroom. I knew he wasn't home, and that people in that house stay away from his room."

Why wasn't Noah there? I'd never actually asked what he planned on doing after he'd dropped me home from the cafe. Maybe if I'd invited him in, none of this would have happened.

Don't be so stupid, Abi, my subconscious snarled. He warned you he'd break your heart.

"You're not attracted to him, but you just accidentally found yourself in his room?" I said, the nausea rising within me once again.

"It wasn't like that, Abi," Charlotte pleaded. "He wasn't there, and I knew that he wasn't there. I just wanted to hide and sleep it off. I didn't go there with the intention of doing anything."

I slapped the palm of my hand down hard onto the table, causing Charlotte to jump. "So how the fuck did you end up shagging him instead?"

"I was wasted, really wasted. I could barely move. I remember being in his bed sleeping, and then I just felt him getting in next to me in the night. Before I knew it he was on top of me, kissing me, and I couldn't stop it from happening."

I finally saw red.

"So you just couldn't help yourself?" I screamed. "Jesus Christ, Charlotte. Everyone knows you like to fuck anything that breathes, but did you not stop to think about the fact your best friend might be falling for the guy you were opening your legs for?"

Her tears were streaming again as she shook her head from side to side, her body shaking furiously with each sob.

"No. Not this time. I couldn't," she cried. "He just started kissing me, and I couldn't stop it. I didn't even realise it was Noah at first; it was so dark. But once I realised it was him I kind of just went with it. I don't know why."

Still struggling to talk through her sobs, Charlotte kept her eyes fixed firmly on the skin around her nails as she tore at it with her fingers.

"When I woke up this morning he was gone," she whispered, "But his boots and jacket were on the floor next to the bed."

My breaths left my body in short, heavy bursts as I glared at her. If what she was describing was true, then Noah was right all along - he was a bad person. A fucking terrible person.

But, if she was just playing up the amateur dramatics to try and excuse the fact she and Noah had sex the previous night, then... well, that would still make him a fucking terrible person.

I don't know how long the silence had been between us, but a knock at the door caused us both to glance up.

"Ignore it," I said flatly.

Knocking again, a little louder, I kept my glare fixed on Charlotte as I refused to answer it. When the third knock came just seconds later, I jumped up in annoyance and headed for the door.

"Don't move, we're not done here," I whispered to Charlotte.

As I agitatedly pulled the door open, I'm surprised I didn't immediately punch Noah square in his jaw as he stood there smiling up through his eyelashes.

Holding up a paper bag from the bakery down the street, he grinned as he began, "Thought you might fancy break-"

Realising the look on my face, his expression dropped.

"Abi, what's going on? What's happened?" he said as he reached an arm towards me.

Jerking my body away, I made sure my voice was loud enough for Charlotte to hear in the kitchen.

"Congratulations, Noah, perfect timing!" I yelled, throwing the door open for him to enter.

Slamming it shut behind him, I barged past him in the hallway to head back towards the kitchen. "Just in time to help Charlotte explain how you two ended up fucking last night."

As he stepped into the room and saw Charlotte crying uncontrollably at the table, Noah looked blankly between the two of us. Still holding the bag of croissants in one hand, he pushed the other through the front of his hair.

"Abi, I..." he began, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Throwing my head back, I couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Bravo, Noah," I said, clapping slowly. "Literally couldn't keep it in your pants for one night. One measly night."

"No, really, I didn't fuck anyone last night. Not your friend here, not anybody. I am so confused right now."

"So if you didn't, then how come she was in your bed last night, having sex with someone who she claims was you?"

"Of course it wasn't me," Noah protested.

"Oh, of course it wasn't," I retorted. "So it wasn't you creeping into your own room, into your own bed, in the middle of the night?"

"No," he snapped, the frown lines on his forehead becoming deeper.

"Oh yeah? Well I guess it must have been your evil twin, then?" I snapped back.

"It wasn't me, Abi," he yelled. Turning to Charlotte, he lowered his voice slightly. "Look, I'm sorry if you cheated on Alex last night. I won't tell him. But please don't blame it on me."

Seeing him address her directly made my blood boil. "Noah, don't lie anymore," I screamed. "You can't worm your way out of this one. You may have both been drunk or whatever, but..."

Cutting me off mid-sentence, Noah's face was flushed red and his green eyes were blazing.

"I didn't fuck her, Abi, I swear," he shouted. "How could I have done anything with her, when I didn't even go home last night?"

The room fell deathly silent. The only sound was the muffled noise of Charlotte still quietly sobbing. Slowly, the rage I had felt turned into a different realisation altogether.

Charlotte hadn't cheated on Alex, she hadn't even known who it was. Somebody had raped my best friend. Some sick bastard had forced Charlotte into having sex while she lay passed out in Noah's bed.

And it wasn't Noah.

It wasn't Noah, because he'd not even been there. According to what he'd just said, he'd spent the night with someone else altogether.