It was 11pm on the Thursday night, Martin and Zoe left the restaurant an hour before the band, Missing Martha, was due to leave.
When they had finished a song, Martin quickly ran up to them,
"Hey guys you're doing great, me and Miss Flynn are gonna go back up to the hotel. Do you guys know the way?"
"Yeah just up the street, right?"
"Yeah. And it's got the van outside. Here's my number if anything happens." Martin put down a napkin with the messy handwriting of his phone number. "Make sure you come into my room when you come back." Said Martin, before taking out the keys of the van, "and when you put your instruments back.. don't let Ryan take the keys." he laughed, handing the keys to Ollie who put them in his pocket.
"Right. See you guys." Said Martin, smiling,
"You two be good!" Called Ollie,
"As good as you five!" He called back, laughing as he walked out of the restaurant, meeting Zoe by the entrance.

Zoe smiled at Martin, nudging up against him and walking out into the night with a million street lights illuminating the sky.
Martin put one arm around her as they walked towards the hotel, he kept smiling, even though they spoke very little, and though he was very far from his house, he had never felt so at home in his life.
"So- where are we going now?" Asked Zoë, looking up at Martin and putting her arm around his back.
"Might get the kids some food for when they come back." He said, "then go back to the hotel and... who knows.." he chuckled,
"School trip, Martin." Reminded Zoe,
"School trip." Repeated Martin, laughing as Zoë put her arm around his waist as they walked through the city.

When the band had finished their final song they took a big bow, smiling at each other as their audience clapped.
Cloda helped everyone to pack up, unplugging the amps, she was greeted by a French man. Cloda couldn't quite figure out how old he was. He was cleanly shaven, his hair was light and he had few wrinkles.
"Eh- excuse me, Madame." Said the man, his voice seemed teenager-like,
"Oh- yes?" Replied Cloda, smiling politely at the man. He was tall and thin with dark hair, he wore a black shirt, something about him was almost familiar.
He handed her an envelope in which Cloda opened subtly, to reveal a number of €20 notes.
"Oh- oh my god thank you so much!" She Exclaimed, far too shocked to be polite.
"My pleasure, mademoiselle." He replied, taking her hand and kissing it.
Cloda blushed in surprise and smiled back at him while everyone was packing up.
"Thank you." She repeated sincerely.
"I hope you do well, Madame, you have the most beautiful voice." He told her, inspired,
"Well you have the most beautiful restaurant." She replied, flattered.
"It is my fathers, it will be mine when I am older- will you visit it? When you are famous?" He asked,
Cloda smiled at him, "I'll never be famous, but I promise you I'll come back." She said with honesty,
"What is your name?" He asked her, taking her hand,
"Cloda. What's yours?" She replied,
"Louis." He told her.
Cloda hadn't expected something like this to happen,
"Come on Cloda we've got to go." Called Ollie, opening the back door.
"Wait-" she called back, holding Louis' hands,
"Will I see you again?" Asked Louis to Cloda,
"Of course: of course you will." She promised him, for some reason, she was completely charmed by him.
"Goodbye Cloda.." said Louis, kissing her cheek, but just as he went to kiss the other Cloda moved her head and kissed him on the lips.
The others, who hadn't quite left yet, now had their jaws dropped with utter shock.
Louis pulled away first, seeing everyone, he looked into Cloda's eyes, "I have to go.." he told her, kissing her quickly again before running back towards the kitchen.
Cloda stood transfixed, her back to the rest of the band.
"What. Just. Happened.?" Said Ollie, breaking the shocked silence.
Cloda broke into a smile. She was in love. She could feel the thrill through her, the excitement bursting through her chest.
"Come on then." She said, pretending that nothing happened but caught with the smile on her face. She turned around and walked out the side door as the others slowly looked at each other in confusion.
"Cloda- Cloda?! What?!" Exclaimed Lucy, fitting in a couple laughs of shock as she ran after her.
"Did you know him? What did he say? W-was he your first kiss? What happened? Clodes!"
Cloda was too lost to speak as walked with her head high back towards the hotel, it was after midnight and the others were exhausted, but Cloda had never felt so alive.

When they reached the hotel, the five of them got their keys and walked over to their teacher's room, knocking on his door before opening the door cautiously.
Martin and Zoe sat by the table drinking red wine,
"Hey guys!" Greeted Martin,
"Hey.." Replied Ollie with a mere laugh as he sat down on the sofa.
Martin pointed to the oven, "got you some stuff." He told them.
Ryan opened the oven, lifting out the cardboard boxes of chips and pizza,
"Oh you legend!" Said Ryan, brining the boxes over to the table. "Thanks!"
"No problem- how was your first gig?"
"Good! -for some of us... it was very good." Said Ollie, signalling Cloda who was sitting on the sofa looking out the window at the sky.
"Why- what happened to Cloda?" Asked Zoë, taking a sip of wine, but Cloda still didn't move.
"Cloda?" Repeated Zoë,
"Y-Yeah?" Replied Cloda, trying to come back to reality.
"What happened?" Asked Zoë,
"W-we got paid." She said, taking out the envelope.
"What?!" Exclaimed Martin, taking the envelope and looking inside, counting the money.
"You've just been given a hundred quid.. and a letter.."
Cloda's eyes widened at the mention of the letter.
"Read it!" Shouted Jemma, knowing it must be addressed to Cloda.
"Dear Mademoiselle, you are.. the most beautiful lady I have ever laid my eyes on, y-you have the voice of an angel . I hope I see you again one day... Louis.." read Martin, genuinely shocked.
Martin looked around at the band, in surprise, putting down the letter, "Okay who got off with the French bloke?" He asked,
"-Ryan." Joked Ollie,
"-Ollie." Blamed Ryan.
Martin looked over to Cloda, he knew it was her.
"You're not gonna be able to see him a lot, y'know." He told her, with sympathy.
Cloda nodded, "I know."
Martin looked over at Zoe and smiled at her, "aint that sweet." He said, taking a sip of wine and staring her right in those glimmering green eyes.
Zoe grinned back at him, watching his glass as it was placed back down on the glass table before concentrating on his lips.
Ollie looked over to Jemma, raising an eyebrow which made her giggle. Before Ryan's sudden question of,
"Did he use tongue?"
"Oh my god Ryan!" Laughed Lucy,
"Course he did he's French." Chuckled Martin,
"Wait- you kissed?!"shrieked Zoë,
"They spoke for about thirty seconds before they were licking the faces off each other." Laughed Ollie,
"Oh jesus Ollie!" Giggled Cloda, focusing back on the group conversation.
"Bloody teenagers." Muttered Martin chuckling,
"Oh really? Who was the first person you kissed sir?" Asked Ryan, eating a chip,
"That'd be my ex-wife." He told him,
"And how old were you?"
"I'm not sure if this is required- pupil information." Laughed Martin, leaning back,
"Ah go on. We've given you 'non-teacher required information'."
"...I think I was six?"
"Six?!" Shrieked Zoë, turning immediately,
"Like- a proper kiss?" Asked Jemma, intrigued,
"-with instructions.." he admitted, "one of my parents techniques of making sure we got together in the future."
"Jesus Christ- sorry I don't want to offend your parents but.." Ryan began,
"It's alright, the bastards are dead now.. I'm free!" He laughed with a hint of sadness.
"Who was your first kiss, Miss?" Asked Lucy, taking a slice of pizza.
Zoe looked down, "you wouldn't know him." She said, smiling.
"What age were you?" Asked Ryan.
Zoe took a breath, smiling and looking up at Martin, "twenty-one."
"Piss off." Laughed Martin, "piss off no I wasn't!"
"Oh my god how did you not get kissed before me?!" He asked,
"Just.. didn't go out." She Replied,
"But you're bloody gorgeous! Surely at least someone tried to-" Martin stopped himself before he said too much.
"I was your first kiss.."
Zoe's mouth dropped slightly as she smiled at him, touched, "I was waiting for the one."
"Oh shit.." laughed Martin, scratching his neck.
"Do you want us to leave?" Asked Ryan, chuckling slightly.
"Nah. It's a school trip." Said Martin, his eyes fixed on Zoe. Yes, he wanted them to leave, yes, he wanted to kiss her again. But he couldn't. He couldn't break the rules.
"I think it's time we all went to bed it's almost 2am." Said Zoe, standing up, feeling the same as Martin.
"Yeah.. night guys." Said Cloda, laughing.
"Set your alarms for 10am. I've got a surprise for you guys tomorrow."
"Alright then!" Giggled Jemma.
Martin stood up as Zoe left the table. Everyone filed through the door except Zoe.
"I hate all these boundaries." Said Martin, putting a hand on her waist before Ollie opened the door again,
"Oh my god I always almost catch you off guard!" He laughed. Martin let go of Zoe's waist as she began to walk out,
"What do you want, Ollie?" He chuckled,
"Here's your keys." He said, throwing them to him.
"Thanks, mate." Replied Martin, wiping his brow with tiredness.
"G'night." Replied Ollie, walking out.
"I had a really good day today, Martin." Said Zoe, poking her head from behind the door,
"so did I." He told her, smiling at her.
"Night." She said as she closed the door,
"Sleep well." He Responded, sitting down as the door closed and imagining it opening up again and seeing her walk back towards him.
But sometimes, dreams are just dreams.