You're the Reason I'm Here

On waking up, I hardly opened my eyelids before the sun flooded through splits in the curtains covering the window. I let out a loud groan and my hand shot to my eyes. I kicked the quilt off of my half-naked body and slid out of the king-sized bed, standing up slowly. I yawned and made my way out of the bedroom, towards the spacious black island-style kitchen of the three-bedroomed house I shared with my Robin Hood cast mates Jonas Armstrong, and Richard Armitage. Pushing the door open, I noticed Jonas was already sitting at the table, spooning cereal into his mouth while he read the morning paper. He looked up and smiled at me as I passed him, heading for the cereal cupboard.

"Morning," he greeted in a strong Irish accent.

"Morning," I replied, retrieving the milk from the spotless white fridge. I poured the remainder of the carton - hardly more than a shot glassful of white frothy liquid - into the bowl, drowning the frosted flakes. "What scenes are filming today?" I asked him, opening the cutlery drawer, and removing a spoon. I sat down at the island table.

"The capture," he said, not looking up. "Then Allan's betrayal." Ah, I thought. I'd been looking forward to filming this episode.

"That's right." I gradually finished my breakfast, having shovelled small spoonfuls of food at a time. A grin spread across Jonas's face and he got up, running out of the kitchen. Crazy man, I thought to myself. When I heard a scream and doors slamming, and footsteps thudding back towards the kitchen, I set the bowl in the sink to be washed quickly, then ran out of the back door of the kitchen, closing it quietly - very quietly - as the front kitchen door opened sharply and shut again.

"Jonas!" I heard Richard's voice yell, emphasising the 's' on the name, before he crashed into the kitchen. I didn't stay to eavesdrop more; instead fleeing silently across the house towards the bathroom. I switched the shower on, locked the door, slipped my pyjama trousers off and hopped into the shower. I must have been in it a good while, before a thump on the door brought me out of my sleep-like experience - the warm, warm water had numbed the cold and all my senses had faded to an extent. I startled, basically throwing myself out of the walk-in shower and wrapped a soft, dark red towel around my lower body.

"What?" I called out, drying off my hair. I picked up my washing and opened the door. Richard was there, holding a tight hand around the back of our room-mate's neck. Jonas squirmed at the grip.

"Oh, nothing. Jonas here just has something to tell you," Richard smiled darkly. I looked over at Jonas, confused.

"I, erm, I thought you should know that I stole your car keys and accidentally locked them in the car...and...smashed the window to get them out again..."

My mouth dropped. "W-what?!" I choked, my eyes widening substantially. "Y-you broke my car?!" I could still see a slight smirk on Richard's lips, then turned on him.

"And how did you know about this?" I glared at both of them. How could he do such a stupid thing? He couldn't even drive!

Richard rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well, I kind of told him to fix it no matter what... And he came back and told me what he'd done..."

I exhaled deeply.

"You're lucky I have money to pay for the repairs," I stated sharply before turning and stalking off into my bedroom. I shut the door, and dropped the towel into the laundry basket, pulled on a pair of black boxer shorts. I then proceeded to slide into a pair of jeans and a white shirt, before going back into the kitchen.

"But you two are paying for taxis until I can get a new window." Jonas nodded slightly, looking down guiltily.

"Now, let's go." I started towards the door, looking relatively forward to filming today - despite the events of the last thirty-or-so minutes.

Richard called for a taxi this time, and we waited for perhaps ten minutes. When it arrived, I got into the front passenger seat and they both climbed into the back of the rusting red vehicle. The driver pushed forward and drove out of the empty space in the drive towards the filming location - presumably Richard had given the address when he phoned for one. The driver, with tangled brown hair, a squarer-shaped face and wild, dangerous-looking eyes and tight red lips, kept to himself all the journey time, until he pulled up in the car park outside the castle, halting the car very abruptly. So he was a reckless driver too...

I unbuckled my belt and stepped out of the car as fast as I could, not wishing to remain any longer in the apparent madman's company. Jonas followed me into the building, his face pale with anxiety and probably shock of the sudden stop too, and Richard paid the man before entering. The first person I saw was Sam; I smiled at him and joined him where he sat. There was a younger redhead with him. I smiled at her as well, coming to a quick conclusion that they were an item.

"Joe," Sam said to me, glancing up at me. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine actually. Having some car troubles - Jonas thought it would be amusing to lock my keys in my car and then break the window in order to get them back out again." I pointed over at Jonas who was talking to the director.

Sam laughed. "Trust him to do that. What was he even doing with the keys in the first place?"

I shrugged. "I didn't actually ask him that." I sighed a little, before looking at the girl who was listening to us intently, but at the same time keeping to herself, appearing a little shy. "So, Troughton, who's the pretty lady?" I grinned, nudging him. They looked up in unison, shock and some disgust etched over their expressions. I had to frown.

"Oh, God, no Joe! This isn't - my date!" Sam practically choked the words out. "This is Sheri! My sister!"

My mouth dropped at that statement.

"Oh, erm...oops..." I mumbled, looking down at the ground. "Well - what is she doing here?"

"She's auditioning," Sam replied bluntly.

I frowned again; what could she possibly be auditioning for? What role was up for grabs?

"For the next season. A part in the next season, Joe." I nodded slightly.

"I didn't know they were holding casting calls."

Sam shook his head. "They're not yet. I just managed to secure her something because I work here. That, and the fact that she's insistent she gets a job to pay her part of the bills, which I've told her I don't know how many times is not necessary."

Sheri glanced up at Sam.

"I have to though. I just got back from university and I don't want to go back to Mum and Dad," she whispered. Sam shook his head again, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

"You wouldn't have to. I've told you that already as well. You don't have to go back to Mum and Dad, and you don't have to go and live with our cricket expert of a brother. You don't have to go anywhere other than my place, okay?" I could see how much he doted on his sister. I'd never seen such a strong bond in all my life. I almost - very nearly - envied her, him, both of them. I wished I could have a relationship with my siblings like that.

"Right! Come on! Time to start filming!" the director's voice boomed, startling us all.

"Will you be alright sitting here?" Sam asked his sister.

She nodded firmly. "Of course I will."

Sam and I left her there to go and change into our costumes.

"We need Richard and Joe first!" Jack - the director - informed us. He sat down behind the cameras with Sheri, and I soon resurfaced wearing my assigned boots and the trousers, but no t-shirt. The stage manager told me where I was meant to be, they tied me to the post in the centre of the room - designed to look like a torture chamber, I became Allan and Richard became Sir Guy, and we began acting.