The universe was out to mess with me, that much I was sure of. I was starting to think that maybe it was plotting with Perrie. I could feel myself staring at Tom and Sebastian while they grinned over at Perrie and me. Tom was already sitting on the side railing of their balcony, his feet resting on the side of our balcony.

"Perrie Bryers is in the house!" Tom said, reaching over a high fiving Perrie. It was a miracle that he didn't slip and fall. Watching the interaction made my feel nervous but I knew I couldn't say anything. Perrie would make a joke and hint towards the bet.

"Damn, now I can't lounge on my balcony butt naked." Perrie joked as Sebastian and Tom chuckled.

"You still can Perrie B." Tom said with a wink.

"Please don't encourage her." I said, speaking for the first time. Tom gave me a mocking salute and while Sebastian was taking in the view in front of us. On the street below, locals and tourists mingled as they walked up the narrow cobbled street. The smell of freshly baking pastries lingered in the air and made my stomach growl loudly. Sebastian gave me a knowing smile as if he almost knew that I was contemplating going down there and buying some petit fours.

"Coffee can only keep you going for so long Riley Quin." Sebastian said knowingly. "I forgot that when we were requesting rooms I asked if you and I could have rooms next to each other. Miss Kelly was cool about it at the time."

"It's fine..." I muttered. Sebastian gave me a look as if to say he knew I was lying. "Ok, it's not fine but I'm not going to bitch about it. There's no point."

"Look... do you think we could have a chance to talk?" Sebastian asked me.

"I... I don't know..."

"You're smart Ri, you should know if you can talk to someone." Sebastian said with a smirk.

While I tried to think of a witty comeback, my phone buzzed. Perrie pretended to look affronted over the fact that someone other than her was messaging me.

Jessie: Me and Charlie are outside, thought we'd re-con your room before we go down.

With a smile, I went to the door and let the two of them in.

"Bloody hell, you have a balcony!" Jessie said as she and Charlie came into our room. "Our room overlooks the bins." She added with a wrinkle of her nose.

"I'll swap with you, Perrie is already planning on lounging naked." I said with a chuckle as we walked out into the balcony.

"We're not complaining at all." Tom intoned, still sat on the railing.

"You are so going to fall." Charlie said as she looked over at Tom. Sebastian was now also sat on the railing. "Both of you are." She added.

"Will you catch us if we fall?" Sebastian asked, a playful smirk spreading across his face. God, he really couldn't help himself. Just as I was starting to think he could go five minutes without flirting with someone.

"I suppose so, we can't have you dying on the very first day." Charlie said with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh yeah, save plummeting to their deaths for the second week." I said. "Come on, Miss Kelly will want us downstairs soon. Our first stop is the Eiffel Tower." I added, failing to hide the excitement in my voice.

"Pop quiz time!" Jessie said excitedly and I quickly grinned over at her.

"Wow, you're all nerds." Perrie said.

"Shut up Perrie." Jessie said playfully. "When was the tower built?"

"Construction started in January 1887 and was completed in March 1889." I said quickly.

"And who designed it?" Jessie asked.

"Maurice Koechlin, Émile Nouguier and Charles Léon Stephen Sauvestre." It wasn't Charlie or me who spoke. It was Sebastian. I turned and looked at him with a surprised expression. Once again, that smirking smile was back. "What? Didn't you know that?" He asked.

"I did, I just didn't expect you to know that." I said.

"Fun fact about Riley Quin. Not only does she not pee in public bathrooms, she also talks in her sleep. Mainly about history but it's always educational." Sebastian said, looking smug while still sat on the railing.

"Whispering sweet nothings about old buildings and dead guys? Sexy." Tom said with a snort. Perrie whacked him on the arm, not hard enough for him to lose his balence though.

"I've got a question. How tall is the tower?" Sebastian then said.

"Easy." Jessie and I said in unison. "1,063 ft."

"Nerds." Perrie and Tom both said at the same time.

***

After nearly half an hour, we were all on our way towards the tower. Perrie was talking at a million miles an hour as we all walked down the narrow streets. She took a steady stream of photos, even dragging me into a few selfies. Miss Kelly called out for us all to stick together but I could already tell that she was slowly losing our attention.

After several people complaining loudly, me being one of them, we stopped at a small bakery to grab some food. The smell of freshly baked bread hit me square in the face. Once again my stomach growled loudly. While I stood, my nose practically pressed against the brass and glass case, I felt someone standing close to me. I wasn't remotely surprised to see it was Sebastian.

If he wasn't careful, I was going take a restraining order out on him.

"It's a tough choice isn't it Riley Quin?" He said while I was trying to choose between various flavours of croissants.

"Do you keep saying my full name to prove that you know it?" I asked. "Because I still remember the days when you called me 'Perrie's Friend'." I added.

"You always looked pissed when I did that and you won't let me call you Ri so I guess we're sticking with Riley Quin."

"Well despite what you probably thought back then, 'Perrie's Friend' is not the name on my birth certificate." I said completely deadpan. Sebastian actually snorted at that.

"You never answered me, you know." Sebastian said nodding at the case in front of us. "Tough choice isn't it?" A playful smile danced across his face. To be honest, he had a point. I was so hungry but had no idea what to actually get.

"Hurry up everyone, we need to get going in five minutes!" Miss Kelly called.

"Personally I'd go for the savoury palmier." Sebastian said. Annoyingly enough, that's what I'd been thinking. Without saying a word to Sebastian, I ordered a large savoury palmier. "Good choice Riley Quin." He added smugly.

"Shut up Sebastian Quaid." I said before I took a large bite of the palmier I'd just paid for. God damn, it was good. I actually had to resist the urge to let out a moan.

"Do you and the pastry need a moment alone?" Sebastian asked as I practically devoured my palmier.

"Did you just come in here to annoy me or are you getting food?" I asked.

"Oh yeah! Mate, can I get two large black coffees please?" He called to the young guy behind the counter. "Perrie just chucked some euros at me and demanded coffee. She spotted a hat shop." Sebastian added while he paid for his coffee.

"Oh Christ." I muttered as Sebastian picked up the coffees and we headed outside into the sunny street. Sure enough, Perrie was now proudly wearing a bright beret that clashed awfully with her hair. Annoyingly, she still looked amazing.

"What do you think?" She asked as she twirled around. "Only €10." She added proudly.

"Looking good there Perrie B. Here's your coffee." Sebastian said while I just shook my head at her.

"I'm thinking of starting a hat collection." Perrie said between sips of her coffee. "Then I'll look super cool when I rock up to uni in September."

"Of course you will." I said supportively. "Of course you will." Perrie just snorted and looped her free hand through my arm as we slowly made our way towards the Eiffel Tower. For a moment I glanced back to see if Sebastian was behind us. He was stood there, a smile on his face as he watched Perrie and I walk away. When he noticed me looking, his smile widened.

"He's still in love with you." Perrie whispered to me. "Don't tell him that I told you."

"Oh really? And you know this how?"

"Duh, it's obvious." Perrie said with a roll of her eyes. "Homeboy still loves your super smart ass and... well... it never happened. That thing... it didn't happen the way you thought it happened."

"Perrie, don't." I said sternly. "Don't talk about this right now, it'll ruin Paris for me."

"Ok, but soon enough you're going to talk about it with Seb." Perrie said before she broke out into a dazzling smile. "Come on Riley Q, lets show these Parisians my fancy hat and your big ass brain."

It was a beautifully sunny day as we walked towards Champs de Mars. Tourists and Parisians sat on blankets, soaking in the sun. Both Perrie and I were smiling brightly as we ambled across the grass, the tower directly in front of us.

I could barely contain my excitement. The only reason I wasn't racing towards the tower was because we had Miss Kelly barking at us all to stay together. She was clearly paranoid about losing one of us.

The whole group met up at the bottom of the tour, the grand structure standing proudly in front of us. Perrie wasn't listening to a word that Miss Kelly was saying. She was too busy taking countless photos. It was a good thing I'd reminded her to bring extra memory cards with her.

"We have a good climb ahead of us. We'll be walking up to the second level and then taking the elevator to the top." Miss Kelly said. "Let's get going."

"I should not have worn these shoes." Jessie, who had joined Perrie and me, said with a groan. I looked down at her flimsy sandals.

"Size 6?" I asked. Jessie's feet looked about the same size as mine. Jessie nodded her head. Moments later I pulled out the spare pair of pumps and clean socks I had been carrying in my bag.

"You are a lifesaver!" Jessie cried as she put the shoes on and stored her own shoes in her bag. "Wait, why do you have spare shoes?" She asked. I nodded over a Perrie. "Good point."

"I'm offended. I'm wearing sensible shoes today." Perrie said, sticking out her foot.

"They your shoes?" Jessie asked me. I nodded. "She is going to crash and burn without you."

We slowly started our climb, stopping every now and then to listen to Miss Kelly. Occasionally someone would whine about the climb. I heard Gemma and Kirsty complaining several times.

Finally, we joined the queue for the elevator. Miss Kelly showed our passes that allowed us to go to the top of the tower. My heart was beating frantically and it wasn't just from the climb. From a young age, I had always dreamed of coming to the tower and seeing all of Paris.

After a short wait, the first group walked into the elevator. Perrie, Jessie, Charlie and I all walked in. Moments later we were joined by Tom, Sebastian and a few of their friends. I was too excited to be annoyed by Sebastian's presence.

The elevator whooshed upwards and, after what felt like no time, the doors opened to reveal the view. I let out an audible gasp as we all walked out into the deck of the tower. Paris sprawled our below us with the sunlight glinting off the river. I had never seen anything so amazing in my entire life.

My crazy bet with Perrie, my annoyance at Sebastian for being... well Sebastian and my nerves over exam results melted away. The only thing that mattered right now was the incredible view in front of me.

"Pretty dope view." Of course he'd be right beside me. I glanced to my left and sure enough, Sebastian was there with a smile on his lips.

"Ah yes, when they built this tower they dreamed that one day an asshole in skinny jeans would call the view 'dope'." I said dryly.

"Harsh Ri, harsh." Sebastian said. "Look, before you tell me to fuck off or say anything else crushing, Jessie was talking about going out tomorrow night. A big group of us. She's got passes to an art thing so she can swing it with Kelly and Clayton. There's a load of cool clubs nearby and we're all in need of a night out."

"And?"

"And according to Perrie you can't say no." Sebastian said with a smirk. Dammit Perrie. Had she told him about the bet?

"Ok... but why are you telling me?" I asked.

"Because maybe you'll let me but you a drink without throwing it in my face?" Sebastian said with a shrug. Accepting a drink from someone I hated with a burning passion (and definitely still didn't care about... not at all) would count as a crazy thing. Well, I hoped Perrie would see it that way.

"Fine, what could go wrong?" I said. Famous last words.