Time After Time

Woke up in New York City, in a funky cheap hotel



And as she tugged at his waistband murmuring "Now... these don't have to go far..." he gasped just as she had done at the cold water licking at his sensitive skin.
She took my heart and she took my money

She must have slipped me a sleeping pill!
Sharon rolled the bottle across his back, smiling affectionately as he gasped again, his lips set so innocently Her other hand now around the slender neck, she lifted the bottle over her shoulder, staring hard at him as she glugged at the sweet bubbles. As she lowered it again, he scanned her face, and chose to capture her lips, kissing her desperately to lift the taste from her mouth.
She never drinks the water - makes you order French champagne

Once you've had a taste of her, you'll never be the same

(Yes, she'll make you go insane!)
She giggled, in that beautiful girly way - which probably only existed because she was so drunk - and she leant back against his arms, bending her back and watching the stars leap back as her hair slipped back into the water.
Upside, inside out - she's living la vida loca

She'll push and pull you down - living la vida loca
When she straightened up again, she was harder against Dennis' chest than she had been before, her nipples hardening instinctively thanks to the friction so being so close. The water held her up as she pressed against his shoulders, lifting herself up and wrapping her legs around his waist. She could feel his hardening length between her thighs as his hands fell around her buttocks, looking quickly over his shoulder to check that Tony & Faye were a safe distance away, because he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself.
Her lips are devil red and her skin's the colour mocha

She will wear you out - living the vida loca

She's living the vida loca (She's living the vida loca)



"Hmmm, you know, you're gonna have to tell Tony about this..."
"Oh, am I?"



She'll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain

She'll make you live her crazy life but she'll take away your pain

Like a bullet to your brain!



"Yeah.... he'll be so proud... sheeeex in the seeeea!"

Murmuring, Sharon rolled over onto her side, jolting awake as she realised her arm was stretched out a soft, deep pillow. Her surroundings sort of swam into focus, her head instantly pounding. OK... she was in a bed, a very large bed with a canopy. But Christ, why was everything so white? She groaned, not appreciating the rush of blood to her head as she struggled up, pushing the sleep from her eyes.
"Hey, you."
"Urgh."
Dennis was leant against the wardrobe, his arms looped lazily across his chest, grinning as he watched her.
"Feeling it too huh?"
"What the hell did we do last night?"
He raised his eyebrows, faking a pout. "Don't tell me you don't remember?"
"I seem to remember saying "f*ck" a lot..."
"Oh... you weren't just saying it honey."
"Oh God..." She groaned, not being able to stop herself smirking as she met his eye. She remembered that bit... graphically.... hadn't been a dream then.... how brilliant was that? And she suspected the dangerous amounts of vodka weren't a figment of her imagination either. She shook away the rhythm pounding away in her head - thud-thud...tap-tap... oh God, she'd been hearing it all night without knowing why - and swung her legs to the floor.
It was only as Dennis leant forward expectantly, his eyes glittering that she realised she was in fact, naked. She felt herself blush, shooting him a look as she pulled the duvet up around her breasts.
"What time is it?"
"Twelve."
"Urgh. What time did we rock up here?"
"About three."
Ah, yes, she remembered that too, having a rather sickly argument (and when she said argument, she meant simpering at Dennis' while she took every chance to cover his mouth with hers) as he'd tried to hand over his credit card to pay for the two rooms. She'd pulled his hand back, putting down her own card with a click.
"Nuh uh darlin', this is on me - you have a ring to buy after all."
"Mmmm, I do, don't I?"
She could tell that the receptionist didn't believe that either card would cover the £800 bill (two suites, two nights) - after all, all four of them were off their faces and were covered in sand, they didn't look like the sort of people who would blow nearly a thousand pounds on a hotel! Unless of course, they were planning something... untoward...
Nausea rose up from the floor of her stomach at the idea, but she shook that away too, pushing her hair back from her face.
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"Because I had to sort our clothes, you know, seeing as neither of us thought to bring anymore with us... and besides, you look cute when you're asleep... you don't sound it though, bloody hell..."
She didn't let him finish, picking up the pillow from behind her and throwing it at him. Laughing, he turned to his side to fend it off, and it bounced off his shoulder. She scowled in response to the triumphant way he looked at her as he stooped to pick it up and toss it back on the bed.
"So..." he began slowly, sinking down onto the bed a little way off from her, leaning in to capture her lips for a moment. "...up to much today?"
"I don't know... maybe you'll have to surprise me!"
"Hmmm, maybe I will..."
And he got up again, meandering across the room and pushing open the door on the far wall.
"Where are you going?"



"Bath... it's huge you know..." He slid into the room, poking his head round the door as he drew it shut, grinning at her cheekily before pulling back completely and making sure she heard the msost definite click of the handle. She took that as her cue, kicking back the duvet and stealing across the room, pushing down the handle, hoping that maybe he wouldn't hear her over the gush of the water...

Dennis hadn't been wrong. The bath truly was huge, more of swimming pool proportions, she was sure- there were steps up into it for Chrsit's sake. But then her judgement had been somewhat altered by God knows how much vodka. She swore, she was never drinking again. The steamy clouds rising from the bath as the gushing water encouraged more and more bubbles to form was making her feel hazy. Hell, she could probably have slept for a couple of days, but then, this wasn't gonna harm was it? If she was ever likely to drown, she'd have done it earlier that morning, God knows how far out to sea.
He hadn't heard her come in. She smirked as she pondered all that advantages this presented. Perving on her own fiancé, while she stood naked three foor behind him, whatever next? He leant over and shut off the taps, and Sharon sucked in a sharp breath of appreciation for the way his trousers strained over his arse. He straightened up and pulled his belt free from the loops, dropping it to the floor, unzipping his trousers letting them pool at his feet, stepping over them. Next went the shirt, but Sharon could tell in the movement of his elbows that he was teasing them open excrutiatingly slowly. And she wondered for a moment if perhaps he could see her, if he knew she was there.
But then, she didn't care, grinning as she realised he had in fact gone commando, how could she miss the delicious exposure of such a gorgeous arse? She loved it in its own right.
As he slipped underneath the hot foam, Sharon allowed herself to breathe, but it came out more as a moan, a loud moan he was bound to hear. She waited for desperate splashing to signal that he was turning round in alarm, but it didn't come. All she heard was an amused chuckle as he swished his hand gently round in the water.
"Come on then Sharon."
"H-How did you know I was here?"
"Honey, you're about as subtle as a brick." he teased, pulling against the edge of the bath so he could face her, drinking in her nakedness with glittering eyes and a smirk that said he was going to enjoy whatever was to come... oh damn, such bad choice of words, and yet so good, so apt.
"Hello," she breathed huskily, pushing the side as found her way over to him, the temperature, the scent of the water embracing her skin.
"I wondered how long it would take you." he murmured as her mouth crashed against his, giving him ample oppurtunity to suck gently on her lower lip.
"Mmm, well..." she shot back, climbing steadily across his lap and snaking her feet around his hips, loving the way he was reduced to whimpering as she rested against his rather obvious arousal. "...you shouldn't be so damn irrestible then should you?"
"I do try."
"Try harder."
He raised his eyebrow at her, challenging her suggestion. "You know, I'm beginning to think Faye was right about the blokes you've had... poor neglected Sharon..."
"Aren't I just? But you promised you'd sort that..."
"Oh, so you remember that!"
"Like you didn't want me to." And with a perfect innocent smile, she lowered herself onto him, the resistance of the water making the whole process a lot slower, and a lot more frustrating for Dennis, which was brilliant as far as Sharon was concerned, biting down on her lip to suppress a moan as he filled her.
His hands rested just underneath her buttocks, she let him aid her in rising a little way from him a little to establish a rhythm, though little was the key. The resistance of the water was teasing them both, causing a friction that they could not escape. Their movement was ruled by it, and they were resigned to the fact that this was going a long and drawn out ascent to the most incredible climax.
They never once broke eye contact as they moved, every sensation meaning something so amazing to them both. But as Sharon reached her peak, she abandoned her movement, Dennis deep inside her and rendered helpless as she clenched around him instinctively with the force of her orgasm. His gasps became distinct cries as she moaned his name. But it seemed as though this alone could not satisfy her, that her lover was not close enough. She edged forwards, causing an unintentional thrust that made him gasp again as she pressed herself hard against his, forcing her kiss onto his lips. She couldn't even be irritated that he answered her with an untold desperation; his mouth did not fit hers as it usually did. It was all because his facial muscles were paralyzed as he let go, and to Sharon.... that was beautiful.



Despite her pleas and her most imaginative attempts to dissuade him, Dennis announced he would never again make love to Sharon Watts. So she clambered out of the bath and covered herself with one of the huge fluffy bath towels from the radiator and promised that given half-hour or so, she'd be ready to accompany him to the registery office to sort the authorisation of their marriage.
Dennis himself was ready in fifteen, and promising Sharon he really was only giving her another fifteen; he did after all "want to marry her before he was forty", he pulled all the documentation out of her bag. Passports... birth certificates... and the gas bill. He laughed, shaking his head disbelievingly. Well, just how romantic was that? And as for his credit card bill, well that brought more tears to his eyes than any wedding could have - including his own.
The last piece was probably the worst. It tore at him a little bit. It was Sharon's decree absolute. He knew she needed it, of course he did, but even looking at it made him shake with jealousy. Jealousy, God, how pathetic was that? But the point was, Sharon had loved another man (Grant Mitchell no less, but Dennis had to ignore that fact or he was gonna go nothing short of crazy) enough to marry him, to at least believe she was gonna be with him forever; even if the whole thing, as this piece of paper proved, had lasted less than four years. And that was just on paper, Dennis knew it had all been over long before then, it was just that this MItchell bloke hadn't known as much!
But still, the point was, that while this thing proved she was free to become Dennis' wife, what if one day, he found himself seeing his own name next to Sharon's on something like this? Oh God, he hadn't even made their bloody engagement official enough to get her a ring yet and he was already making his way to the divorce courts.
Assured now that they had all they required, (he wouldn't allow himself to look at Sharon's adoption certificate) he busied himself with putting it safely back in Sharon's bag. He looked nervously at the clock, and just knew he couldn't give her the remaining eight minutes he had promised her, leaping up and knocking nervously on the door to the bathroom.
"Sharon?"
"Bloody hell, you're keen! I'll be out in a sec."
He stepped back and waited, surprised to find that she was true to her word, the handle going down after about twenty seconds. She stepped into the room, stretching up a little on her toes to kiss him.
"I really must love you, you know.... going out like this." She grimaced as she gestured to her face with a wave of her hand. Dennis didn't say anything for a moment, he didn't exactly know what he was meant to see in her that was so worth criticizing. In fact, hers was probably the most beautiful hangover he'd ever seen, and he'd seen thousands.
"What?"
"What d'you mean "what?" No make up, that's what!" She shuddered, exactly as though she had just said a dirty word. "This is like... indecent exposure... like going out there naked!"
"You can if you want..."
She nudged him with her shoulder. "Do you want to marry me today or what?"
"What."
Showing that she didn't appreciate his mocking, Sharon scowled at him for a moment, catching his hand as she moved past and leading him from the room, stopping only to retrive their bag and jacket respectively.
"Well, c'mon then!"

All the bits of paper spread out in front of them as the registrar looked over them, Dennis barely managed to let Sharon grip his hand. He was just waiting for that inevitable moment, working himself up on the defensive.
"OK, so, Dennis... 28th August '74..." She pushed his certificate back and reached out for Sharon's. "Sharon Ann... 20th October '69... and you're both currently at No. 5, Albert Square, Walford?"
"Yeah, we are."
"Right, brilliant... decree absolute... that's great..." Her face fell as she scanned it. "Sharon Watts? Hmm, I sure your... yes, Sharon Hanley... am I missing something here or...?"
"Er..." Sharon laughed nervously as she had to physically tug the adoption certificate from underneath Dennis' hand. "...this might explain a few things..."
"Ah!" she smiled as she took it. "Right, yes, that helps! Angela and Dennis..." Looking up fleetingly to Dennis for a moment and flinching as she saw the sullenness in his face, she sifted through the paper, and he knew it was here. "Sorry, is this just a coincidence or... Dennis... Paula Rickman... Dennis Watts... I was sure I'd seen the name before..."
"No... no..." Sharon told her, trying to smile as sweetly as possible at her, squeezing Dennis' hand tighter. "No coincidence. My adoptive dad is Dennis' biological father..."
"Oh! Right, well, OK... that's the paperwork done..." And she pushed it all back with a smile, drumming her hands against the table. Dennis' tensed shoulders dropped a little. That was it? No weird looks, no nothing?
Sharon leant over, whispering into his ear, "Relax will you darlin', you're making me nervous!"
"Sorry." he mumbled, watching as the woman lifted a large leather book off the floor, flipping through the pages, her pen poised.
"Bought the appointments book in through from the office for you, sort out the date. When were you looking at?"
"As soon as possible really."
She sucked in a breath as she nodded, studying the pages. "How soon?"
"How soon can you do?"
"Well, actually... immediately. We have a window at four this afternoon. No, no, don't be ridiculous Jennifer... I expect you haven't planned a thing-"
"We'll take it."
Jennifer looked up in alarm, but when she saw that even Dennis had managed a smile. Gazing between them both, she realised that these weren't two people with a plan that encompassed anything except the marriage. They'd eloped. Oh God, she was such a sucker for romance, this was definitely her kind of job. Beaming over at Sharon, she'd bowed her head and scratched in their names.
"Alright fine. Guess, I'll be seeing you both at four then. Oh and before I forget, any personal touches you need me to clear?"
"No." Sharon replied brightly, and her fiancé snapped his head round immediately, staring at her with his mouth hanging agape like she'd lost it.
"Sharon... baby, are you sure? I mean, this is your wedding..."
"I know... and I'm marrying you... maybe that's all that matters eh? We can do all the showy stuff for Dot and for Pauline... the whole bloody lot of them when we go back home... but right now, all that matters is you and me. So shut up with the questions and say you'll marry me already!"
They thanked Jennifer and Dennis had pulled Sharon from the little room by the hand, onto the street, pulling her close and kissing her fiercely.
"That's not an answer." she said warmly, falling back on her heels and dropping away from his lips.
"Well!" he shot back, his gaze falling to his hands clasping hers, his thumbs working comforting paths along her fingers. "How can I say I'll marry you when you're not so much as engaged to me yet?"
She smiled. Now he mentioned it, her finger didn't half seem naked. And as he pulled her into a jewellers ten minutes off, back on the sea front, excited butterflies flittered up from the floor of her stomach. She studied each case carefully, eyed every tray, took in every ring, blushing each time she was robbed of breath by a beautiful band here, a gorgeous diamond there; and he laughed behind her, his arms around her waist, nestling into her shoulder.
"Darlin', this is stupid... you're marrying me in less than three hours... I want a wedding ring, not an engagement ring..."
"Oh right... so you don't want a massive diamond ring then?"
"N-No."
He chuckled into her ear. He knew she was lying, but he was happy to humour her, steering her away and instead admiring the rings they could see through the glass of the counters.

A gentleman is a burgundy waistcoat, with a gold pin that announced him to be "John", sidled over to them, wordlessly joining them in scanning the merchandise from his own side of the counter. But then Dennis caught his eye and his wrinkled lips lifted into a polite smile.
"Can I assist Sir... Madam in any way?"
"If you have a spare decade mate, then maybe."
"Dennis!" Sharon murmured, looking over at the man apologetically. "We're getting married."
"Oh, congratulations Madam... Sir. So, you'll be looking for an engagement ring then?"
"Er, no. Wedding rings."
"Oh. Well, yes of course." But they both saw his gaze drop questioningly to Sharon's bare wedding finger. "Has this been a... long engagement?"
"About fifteen hours."
Sharon couldn't stop herself giggling. John gave her a strange look but remained polite and lifted a jangling bunch of metal rings from a drawer far underneath the counter. He reached for Sharon's hand, pushing hoop after hoop over her third finger until one was snug, repeating the process of Dennis', until he was satisfied he had found a fit.
In about ten minutes, they had decided on plain platinum bands. John set them both down proudly down on the counter for them, nestled into the blue velvet cusion of the presentation box. The one that he announced as "Sir", Sharon snatched away, clicking it shut.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm buying my husband his wedding ring, what's it look like?"
"Sharon, you don't have to-"
But she ignored him, turning to John with a smile. "D'you engrave?"
"Yes madam, we do, at a cost of ten pounds per item."
"How long's it take?"
"If you leave it with me, they'll be ready before three."
Grinning as she took in Dennis' bewildered look, she leant across and whispered her request into John's ear.
"Lovely, madam."
Handing over her card to pay for Dennis' ring and the engraving, Sharon rushed outside, having caught sight of Faye & Tony on the street. When Faye caught sight of her, she leapt up and down, squealing and throwing her arms around her.
"Will you keep it down please? My head's killing me."
"Oh sod off Tone - she's getting married today! How are you feeling babe?"
"Well, I'm worse for wear an' all, but oh my God, Faye, I'm so excited!"
"I know, so am I! And... oh, that hotel room, it's so gorgeous, I swear, it's bigger than our bloody house!"



"Alright?" Dennis called, sauntering out of the shop and joining them, slipping his arm around Sharon.
"Here he is, the condemned man!"
"Not me mate... not sure about my credit card though."
Sharon was immediately suspicious. "Why? What have you done... what took you so long?"
But he ignored her, looking pointedly at Tony and Faye as he spoke. "What are you two up to later?"
They looked back at him, eyes narrowed faces a picture of confusion. "We were hoping you'd tell us that."
He grinned. "Four o'clock. We're getting married at four."
The pair of them exploded, Tony threw his arms around Dennis, and neither of them seemed bothered at their current lack of masculinity. "Well done mate!"
Faye leapt across at Sharon, hugging her tight and rocking her side to side as she clung on, laughing happily. "Oh, I'm so happy for you. This is brilliant!" And then she moved over to Dennis, and he just grinned at her. "And you... oh God, c'mere you!" she choked, stretching up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tight.
Tony seemed to have forgotten his misgivings with Sharon and she relaxed immediately as she saw how wide the smile on his face was, and how brightly his eyes were shimmering. He pulled her close, and managed to lift her clear of the floor, spinning her round without realising. She clung on, her laughter mingling with his.
As soon as she met the floor again, Faye was pulling her away - there was only one thing girls could do at a time like this - shop!

Despite Faye's pleas to go into every bridal boutique they passed, Sharon always shook her head with a gentle laugh and pulled her into the first deliciously expensive looking department store. They were like a pair of ten year olds as they chased each up the escalators, practically falling over each other. Racing across the department floor, giggling as their heels clacked desperately across the floor, earnt them a lot of strange looks from other shoppers, but what did Sharon care, she was only ever gonna do this shopping trip once!
They were like kids in a sweet shop, gasping in awe at the dresses smoothed out over the mannequins, their fingers dancing nervously over the smooth material hungrily drinking in every detail.
"Oh God..."
"What?" Faye asked, stepping forward, concerned at the way Sharon's voice was quivering.
She turned quick on her heel to face her friend, her face seemingly full of fear before she was grinning. "He wants to marry me. He actually wants to marry me."
"Well, of course he does you daft cow!" she replied, drawing her into a hug. "Why wouldn't he?"
"Ha! The sixty four million dollar question!" Sharon cried bitterly, grimacing at a pale green dress. "My track record with men sucks!"
"Well, at least you've been with more than one! I've been with Tony since I was sixteen!"
"Did you get married young?"
"Twenty-two." Faye shrugged, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
"Me too. I thought I was ready for all this when I married Grant y'know... lasted a year and then I was shagging Phil. How pathetic is that? Couldn't even be bothered to work at my own marriage."
"Hey. These are the Mitchell brothers right? Tone's told me about them... you don't need to justify it, not now. You're marrying Dennis, none of it matters. And..." she added cheekily, just wanting to bring a smile to Sharon's face. "...he doesn't have any brothers!"
Sharon smiled weakly. "But that's because he's mine."
"You know you don't mean that."
"No... No, I don't. It's just weird y'know, I can't believe this is actually happening."
"Well it is - in two and a half hours to be exact, so stop panicking and start shopping!"
"I don't know where to start!" Sharon cried, fighting her way past and throwing herself down on one of the footstools around a column mounted with long mirrors. "C'mon Faye, it's pretty obvious I don't have a clue!"
"Darlin', why are you panicking so much? If there's one thing Dennis has told me about you... it's that you know how to put your credit card where your mouth is! You're a red blooded woman Sharon, splurging on the plastic is like... your destiny."
She couldn't help but bow her head, laughing in spite of herself. "Is it?"
"OK..." Faye sighed gently, sitting down next to her and resting against the column. "So, this is a big thing. You want it to be perfect right?"
"Something like that. I want him to think I'm perfect."
"You telling me he don't?"
"I don't know..." Sharon admitted awkwardly, feeling herself blush as she realised what she obviously meant was "Well, he certainly makes me feel that way!"
But Faye gave her her moment, pulling on her hand and guiding her away from the overwhelming gorgeousness of all the gowns towards a woman's best friend. Shoes. She could tell by the way Sharon's eyes glittered as she took in the rows and rows of tall, exquisite heels that she'd chosen the right distraction. She steered Sharon towards the new gathering of footstools, pressing her hands against her shoulders and forcing her to sit.
"Right, c'mon then Cinderella, what size are ya?"
"Five."
"Ahh, me too. Off with the sandals darlin'... I'm thinking.... height... gorgeousness... girlyness..."
"Girlyness?" Sharon echoed, raising her eyebrow doubtfully as she reached down, loosening the straps of her shoes to shake them off her tired feet. "Faye, I'm thirty-four, not fourteen!"
Faye gasped, putting her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, but are you or are you not getting married this afternoon?"
"Am."
"And as effortless as it is for you Sharon, you have no choice but to look gorgeous alright, so girlyness it is! Ivory... cream?"
"I'm not doing the bride thing!" Sharon cried, looking up in horror. "Wear white? Me? I'm hardly an innocent virgin am I?"
"Oh I think Dennis knows that!"
"Well he should given what we did in the-" But she trailed up, looking away as a grin captured her lips rather tellingly.
"Oh no, c'mon... spill!" Faye pressed eagerly.
Grimacing as she contemplated her words, butterflies stirring in her stomach, Sharon blushed. "Er... just a pre-marital... in the bath..."
She gasped. "You lucky bitch! The bath?"
"Mmmm!"
"Brilliant Sharon, that's it, get the ring on his finger girl! Don't let that go!" Sharon assured her through her soft laughter that she wouldn't and Faye moved off, muttering something about being "so jealous" before she gasped crying "Oh my God - they're adorable!"
And she came rushing back, throwing herself at Sharon's feet, slipping shoes onto her feet so fast she barely had time to realise what they looked like. But then as Faye moved back, grinning at her and encouraging her to admire her feet. And Sharon had to agree, they were adorable. They were silver and strappy and the heel was high. There were charms dangling down from the ankle strap, tickling her feet as she took in the beautiful diamante decoration that went all down the front and across her arches.
"If you don't wear them Sharon, I will."
"Not so fast!" she laughed, standing up. Her toes shifted that little further forward and beaming at Faye, she moved across the floor back towards the formal wear. Pressing her hand against a mannequin, she turned back, looking over her shoulder for Faye's reaction. She was beside herself, shaking her head in awe, both thumbs up before she pulled herself to her own not so gorgeously adorned feet.
"So, you want me to find the perfect dress too?"


Amazingly, Faye managed it - and in less than an hour too. They drew the box the shoes had nestled in closer to them, because Sharon refused to take the shoes off as she moved in and out of the chaging room trying on dresses. She was completely in love with them. They made her feel like an utter princess and that was of course important on a day like today. But she needed a dress to make her feel the same way, and that began to feel like an impossibility - unless of course she was willing to marry in a LBD, which, strangely enough - she wasn't!
Blue was too... it was trying to be stark while only making Sharon feel like she was fading away. Lilac, although beautiful was too pale. Green was not to be considered, and Faye snaffled the champagne gown, telling Sharon she needed to make a bolder statement than that! So they arrived at the natural conclusion of red. Sharon liked that idea, it was romantic, and after trying on just one dress, even though it wasn't the right one, Faye told her that red really suited her. It bought out the colour of her shimmering lips and made her hair brighter and even more irritatingly gorgeous.
So she went in and out of the changing room, bashing the bolt across with an even stronger sense of frustration each time. Sometimes she would laugh when she couldn't get the straps to sit right on her shoulders, and sometimes she cursed when she couldn't master the zips. She felt foolish each time she had to call Faye in to help her. Each time, it was simply a case of the zip sticking, or Sharon shaking too much to exert the right pressure, but even so, none of these dresses were right. There were too long, too unflattering.
Sharon could feel it getting harder and harder to breathe as her frustration built. Hot tears still prickled in her eyes, regardless of how hard she was fighting to keep them back. But Faye realised, wrapping her into a tight hug and rocking her gently.
"Oh Sharon! Darlin', it's alright! C'mon, dry your eyes eh?"
"No it's not - it's hopeless!"
"Shhh! If Dennis knew you were talking like that... tell me babe, what would he say?"
Sharon drew back, pushing her tears away, laughing softly. "He'd tell me not to be so over-bloody-emotional!"
Faye rolled her eyes, but reasoned "Yeah alright, so he probably would, the bastard - but he'd also tell ya that it wouldn't matter what you were wearing... you'd still be the most beautiful woman in all the world... he'd say all he wants to do is marry you. Wouldn't he?"
"Yeah." Sharon agreed weakly, slipping down onto the bench, seeminglu lost in reminiscing. "He kept on earlier... teasing me... told some woman on the pier we were newlyweds... kept saying that maybe he was just gonna ask me... and I... in the end I had to ask him cos I thought I mighta scared him off... but yeah... he wants to marry me alright."
"Exactly. So give me a sec yeah?"
And though Sharon didn't understand, she nodded and watched as Faye carried the latest dress carefully out to the floor. She came back a few minutes later, although it had felt like an eternity to Sharon, left alone with her own miserable reflection. She forced herself to smile as Faye slipped in again. She was being ridiculous anyway, she knew.
"OK, so I saw this... and I think it'd look incredible on you... I just didn't know if it was your thing..."
Gently, she pulled her arm from underneath the folds of the skirt of the dress, letting the whole thing drop vertically to recommend itself to Sharon - who gasped in awe as she took it in.
The dress was a deep red, much like the glass of wine she seriously felt like right now. The straps were thin, offering all the attention to the deep plunge of the neck line.
"Yeah?" Faye asked as Sharon wordlessly took it from her. She didn't necessarily require an answer - she'd seen the look on her face as she'd noticed it and that was enough for her, so she backed out again, leaving Sharon to try it on.
And on, Sharon just knew why it had held her attention so much. She couldn't help but see it as she registered her reflection. The folds were clever; they hid all that should have been hidden and otherwise just fell down her body, bringing in her waist, making her appear slender and her legs deliciously longer. The hemline swished part way between her knees and her ankles, not wanting to overshadow the shoes. The beautiful, beautiful shoes. She took in every detail again as her eyes travelled up the length of the mirror and she noticed the way the bodice ruched, accentuating her bust.
Drawing in a breath, she turned and pushed open the door of the booth, the way the hinges creaked annoucing her arrival onto the main floorspace and Faye leapt up as she caught sight of her, ramming the lid back on the box of the most fabulously strappy champagne heels.
"I... I think this is the one..." Sharon managed nervously, smiling in spite of herself as she waited for her friend's reaction.
"I knew it." Faye told her faintly, covering her nose and mouth with the screen on her hands as very obvious tears crept thickly into the words she spoke. "You look... ah..." She lifted her hands away from her face and wiped her eyes before letting her arms to fall to her sides, her hands slapping her thighs. "Sharon, you look... sensational..."

They headed back to the hotel. Sharon was a lot happier; one because she'd bought the dress and two because they'd stopped off at the Clinque counter and blown a small fortune, which meant that she'd dived into the toilets and emerged with her faithful mask of make-up. Thankfully, her card hadn't quite given up on her after paying for everything, although it was definitely having trouble breathing! Faye had had her own plastic in hand before Sharon had even turned round at the till, flatly refusing to let her pay for her dress as well!
They were each carrying three massive bags, and the ropeyness of the handles cut into their hands, but they just didn't care. Faye was laughing and joking and Sharon... Sharon was pretty much walking on air, however pathetic that sounded. They rushed into the foyer, quickly realising that the nearest lift in relation to their suites anyway, was just outside the bar, so they moved through, weaving past the tables. Luckily, there weren't many people around, but Faye did manage to catch someone over the head with the bag which unfortunately had contained the shoes.
"Ow!"
She gasped, spinning round in horror. "Oh God, I'm so- Tone!"
He laughed, rubbing his head with his hand before pushing himself up and kissing her, leaning over all the bags. "Hey baby. Have fun?"
"Mmm-hmm!" she nodded gently. "We're all ready."
"You? But you've only been gone an hour... are you ill or something?"
"Very funny! How did you and Dennis do?"
"All done." he grinned, looking over at Sharon, whose facial muscles immediately relaxed, allowing her to reciprocate the smile.
"Where is he?"
"Toilets... want me to drag him out?"
"No." she shook her head, chuckling. "Let him zip his trousers up eh, just this once? We'll go dump these and see you in a sec yeah?"



"Alright then Sharon."
Divvying up the bags, Sharon & Faye hung up their dresses in their wardrobes and kicked the shoeboxes underneath the bed, dancing round excitedly as they met again in the corridor, arms outstretched, swinging each other round in a loose hug before they staggered back towards the lift, moving back into the bar. Catching sight of Dennis propped up against the wall, Sharon stopped, momentarily robbed of breath, as she always was when she saw him. He was so beautiful and he was hers.
He looked gently round, his eyes glittering as he saw her stood there. She relaxed her stance, weakened as their eyes locked. Straightening his back, he meandered towards her. She met him halfway, desperate to be close to him again. Their lips met before anything else.
"Bloody hell Rickman," Sharon murmured, amused at the way he was studying her face. "You must be something special if I can miss you from across the room..."

Deciding they should all spend an hour or so together before they'd have to get ready for the ceremony, the four of them somehow found themselves on the pier. Sharon stopped off to grab an ice cream, even though nobody else wanted one. That didn't matter, because she didn't either. Dennis moved up behind her, wrapping his arms round her waist. She tried to pay no attention as he kissed the base of her neck, more preoccupied with wiggling the flake out and drinking away the ice cream melting into the ridges of the chocolate. She caught the way he was looking at her and elbowed him lightly in the chest, biting the flake purposefully, and loving the way he smirked at her, his beautiful eyes widening suggestively.
She extended the ice cream towards him. "Did you wan' a lick honey?" And she promptly creased up laughing at the sickness hidden in her words, but she forced herself to straighten her back and move closer to him; but with a grin, he was moving back, shaking his head.
"No!"
"Awww, Dennis, come back here!"
And he hit the sea wall, which gave Sharon ample oppurtunity to rush forward, the chocolate resting between her teeth, and swirl her finger deep in the whirl of ice cream, drawing it out and wiping across Dennis' lips before he even knew what she'd done. He cried out "What the f*ck?" before pushing himself forward. Sharon saw the danger in his eyes, and giggling, turned and ran up the pier, knowing that he was following her, yelling her name.
"What the hell did she do?" Faye laughed, snuggling into a bemused Tony as they wandered up the boardwalk too. But as he dodged the abandoned ice cream, splattered all over the ground, he suggested, "Could that have anything to do with it?"
"Probably!"
By the time they drew near, Sharon had kicked off her shoes and clambered up onto the benches running the whole length of the jetty, sitting against the backrest and giving in as Dennis stepped up beside her, kissing away the residue of the ice cream and nestling into his arms, with a contented sigh. But the sound had barely left her lips when she flinched as music poured from a speaker hidden in the corner of the awning. Shaking away her embarrassment, she got up, and Dennis followed suit, intrigued if nothing else, empowered as Sharon stood against him, circling her hips, and clicking her fingers.