I WILL finish this story. It might take me a 'while' but it will be completed. That said, I'm sorry for the long absence of any updates. I can't promise that another update will follow quickly, but rest assured it will be finished - eventually.

Thanks to messy_scrawl321, Kabagirl, , mywaywithwords, JeneyaStorm and UbiquityEssence for the reviews!

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11:51. 12:03. 12:12. 12:27. Every time Scarlett looked back at the clock it seemed to have moved much faster than it normally did. She dashed round her room searching for something suitable to wear, making her even more late while she did. Waking up an hour later than she had planned had definitely not been a good start to her day.

Scarlett had stumbled into her room at about one am, having lost Taylor when she had gone back inside the club. It was only when Taylor texted her to say she was fine and she would make sure to call her in the morning, later in the morning, that she had called it a night and headed home.

Sleep hadn't come easy, as the nights events went round and round in her head. She had slept uneasy, tossing and turning and waking up several times before falling back asleep as the cycle continued.

Things had gotten even worse when she had woken up properly and glanced at the time, jumping out of bed at seeing the late hour. She was supposed to be at a meeting about Miami in, she glanced at the clock again, 30 minutes and she was nowhere near ready.

Spotting a discarded pair of jeans obscured beneath her bed, she hastily pulled them on and grabbed her keys off her desk.

She rushed towards the door and flung it open only to stop dead again.

"I was just about to knock." Deacon said, looking just as bewildered at her sudden appearance as she was. He was dressed in dark jeans, a white t-shirt and a trucker cap sat on top of his head, covering his no doubt dishevelled hair.

The first thought that occurred to her was how much of a mess she must have looked, with her hair haphazardly thrown into an awkward pony tail and her face clear of make-up. He didn't seem to notice though, or if he had he didn't show it, as he began to smile at her in the same way he had the previous night.

"Hi." She said, finally regaining her composure, the sight of seeing him completely throwing her off guard.

"I was just checking you got home okay last night." The grin on his face spread wider.

For a moment her brain froze, "Oh yeah, I did – thanks."

"Are you going somewhere?" Deacon gestured to her mess of a room where there was a suitcase open with overflowing clothes; she had started to pack early just to make sure she didn't forget anything.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be going abroad."

"Anywhere nice?"

Scarlett looked up from where she had been busying herself brushing her hair to see a look of anxious anticipation on Deacon's face.

"America."

Deacon looked taken aback, "You're going to America? How come?"

"The Uni have offered me a placement for a couple months of study out there, maybe more."

Scarlett couldn't help but notice a note of shock to Deacon's voice, but she played it off as something more irrelevant.

"Wow, that's....great." The way he said it didn't sound so great.

"Yeah, I'm going out in a few weeks to see what it's like. Well, I will be if I can ever finish packing, I never realised how much stuff I actually have." She grinned at her own joke but when she looked back at him, he wasn't smiling.

Several minutes of awkward silence followed suit, which was then mercifully broken by a ringing from Deacon's jean pocket.

He jumped at the sound and shoved his hand into his pocket to retrieve his phone. Scarlett thought she caught the briefest look of annoyance before Deacon pressed reject and put his phone away again.

"Not in the mood for talking?" she inquired curiously.

"It's Jodie" A slight embarrassed colour rose to his cheeks.

"Oh. Want to talk about it?" She cringed even as she said it, talking your ex-boyfriend about his new girlfriend was never a good conversation route.

Thankfully he laughed, "Jodie is no more."

Scarlett raised her eyebrows questioningly,

"We're not together anymore. Actually, we were never really together in the first place."

"Well that was quick turnaround, I only saw you together last night" She meant it to be said with humour but it came out more like she was chastising him.

"Yeah well, after I went back inside the club after talking to you, I looked at her and just decided that it wasn't working."

"So Jodie's gone." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Sort of, she keeps calling and texting me every 10 minutes, the message hasn't quite gotten through to her yet."

"Ahhh so the 'Deacon Spencer effect' rears its ugly head again." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Scarlett found herself grinning and laughing as she looked at his bemused expression.

"The what?"

"The 'Deacon Spencer effect', the one where women fall helplessly at your feet, begging you to choose them." She laughed again.

"I'm still confused."

"Please Deacon! You must have noticed that you're like kryptonite to women! Its quite an amazing sight to witness actually."

"You're going to have to give me a bit more than that."
Scarlett sighed exasperatedly, "It used to drive me mad the way girls used to fawn over you. They used to give me looks that could kill."

"Fawn over me?!" he cried in disbelief.

"I actually had a tally going once as to how many times girls would ask if you were single, when I was standing right next to you – holding your hand! I think it was 8."

"I had no idea I was such a stud." He pulled his jacket collar up around his neck and smiled, attempting a dashing look.

"You must have noticed!"

"Can't say as I did." He was grinning now too.

"Well, being blissfully oblivious obviously works for you. Those girls must have thought you were just playing hard to get."

"You know, I really should have paid more attention when my English teacher told me I needed to focus on feminine works more." He laughed and she followed. "Didn't it bother you?" he asked.

"Actually, I found it kind of funny. They tried so hard to get your attention and you were so unaware if was unreal."

"Well, its not like you were short of admirers. It used to drive me mad when men gawped at you."

"Oh yeah, like who?" She teased him.

"Alex for a start." Deacon replied, referring to her old friend at Holystone.

At this, Scarlett burst into laughter.

"Care to share?" Deacon, again confused.

"Alex is gay."

Deacon's jaw hit the floor. "Gay?! Please tell me you mean 'happy'."

"Nope, the other meaning."

"God, I was such a dick to him." He flopped down on the edge of her bed and looked at the floor.

"Yep."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"He asked me not too, I think he'd only just admitted it to himself never mind everyone else."

"I feel awful." Deacon groaned, still staring at the floor.

"I wouldn't worry about it, he seemed to find it quite funny as well."

"So, basically, I acted like a dick and you two thought it was hysterical."

"Exactly." She grinned at him when he finally lifted his head back up, though he held his head in his hand.

Scarlett caught sight of the clock and gasped at the time. She was most definitely going to be late.

"I am so late, I have to get across campus in 10 minutes and I never was very good at running." She found herself feeling sad at this.

"You're walking? I seem to recall someone giving you a brand new Mini Cooper for your birthday last year, why aren't you using that?" Deacon narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"I have to get petrol." Q uick thinking Scarlett replied. He nodded, though she could tell he didn't quite believe her.

"Well, I guess it would be the chivalrous thing to give you a lift then."

"You'd be a life saver" Scarlett admitted.

"Come on then." He stood from the bed and waited for her to collect her things before they headed downstairs and out into the fresh air. On the way, a girl walked past and did a double take, almost walking into a lamppost in the process. Scarlett smirked and nudged Deacon, who adopted that dashing posture again making her laugh even more.

He led her over to a white car she didn't recognise.

"It's an Audi R8, in case you were wondering." This time it was him who smirked as he unlocked the car and they both climbed in.

"Well, its very...white."

"Ouch, a £90,000 car and its only compliment is that it's very 'white'. Be careful Scarlett or you'll hurt her feelings."

Starting up the engine, a deafening roar sounded and this time it was every male within listening vicinity that turned to stare, and it wasn't at her.

He reversed the car out of its parking space and accelerated towards the exit and towards where she needed to be.

"I meant to ask you, what is going on with Sam and Taylor?" Keeping his eyes on the road, he turned to look at her briefly as he approached a set of red traffic lights.

"Who knows, but I would pay good money to see the look of realisation on Taylor's face when she realises she hasn't got a sex friend, what she's actually ended up with is a boyfriend. She'll die of shock."

"That would be worth £90,000 to see."

A few minutes of silence between them followed, broken only by the sound of the engine.

"How is the family?" she enquired politely, though she did want to know.

"Fine, I think. Mum and dad are fine. Connor and Megan are fine, and Elle, well Elle is Elle."

"And in English that means?"

"It means Elle's a bitch." This statement seemed to open the floodgates as he started to speak very quickly. "I just get the feeling that she thinks she's better than us, like we've held her back. None of us have spoken to her for months, let alone see her and its killing Mum."

"I'm sure she'll come round." Scarlett said reassuringly.

"I'm not so sure."

Within minutes of setting off they had arrived at their destination and Deacon pulled up outside the building. She undid her seatbelt and twisted in her seat to look at him.

"Today has been...nice." She couldn't decide on the right word.

"And by 'nice' what you really mean is 'not as awkward as I thought'"

She nodded and grinned at him. Thanking him for giving her a lift, she made a move to get out of the car but his hand came out and grabbed her wrist.

"Today has been...very nice." He smiled at her and released her wrist, letting her climb out finally.

With one more smile at her through the car's tinted window he pulled away with as much speed as he had before and was out of sight before she knew it.

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