Searching for Estelle.

After filling ourselves to the brim at breakfast (I decided on waffles), Dani and I set out to see the city.

We spent the morning visiting various tourist locations; which included Dani dragging me through the ABBA and singing 'Fernando' to me in its entirety as we waited in the queue for entrance. It was a long line, and with everyone staring at us it felt even longer.

It was nice to spend time with her again, my time in Finland was probably the longest we'd been apart since high school and despite my distractions, I'd missed her dearly. The whole time we wandered through the city she chatted about France, Jean-Claude, how she missed Australia and wishes I wasn't moving to London.

She did not attempt to question me again about my trip to Finland and, while I was grateful for that, I felt a little guilty about keeping so much from her. I couldn't bring myself to volunteer the information, however, because I was incredibly embarrassed by the fact I'd managed to be sucked in by the guys.

Post-tourism, Dani decided to indulge what she had taken to referring to as my 'late-blooming interest in fashion' by checking out what the shops in Stockholm had to offer.

We weaved through groups of people; tourists and locals, in the centre of the city.

“I think we should go out tonight,” Dani declared as she stopped and eyed a window full of dresses.

I bit my lip and shook my head. “I don't know, Dan... I'm still exhausted from Finland,” trailed off thinking 'And you always try and get me to find a boyfriend...'.

“Promise I won't play matchmaker and I'll let you have a nanna nap before we go,” she said, smiling hopefully at me.

I sighed. “Fine.”

She grinned. “Now we really need to shop.”

“I have a dress already,” I said, frowning.

Dani snorted and shook her head. “Stell, normal women own more than one dress.”

“I only need one!”

“Don't argue. You're getting a new dress and I get to pick it out. Deal?”

“No,” I replied stubbornly, just to disagree really.

Dani turned to me and stamped her foot like a three year old. “Steeellaaaaa,” she whined, before pouting at me.

I giggled and shoved her playfully. “Fine, you sook.”

Her pout instantly became a wide grin as she grabbed my hand and dragged me into the store.

The sales assistant screwed her nose up a little as we walked into the shop, eying our jeans and jumpers and my faded converse.

Dani ignored her completely in true Dani fashion and began flicking through the racks of dresses. She began throwing things over her arm and I just wandered behind her. She picked up an orange number and turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

My mouth dropped open in shock and I shook my head ferociously.

“Put it down, Dan.”

She laughed and hung it back up. I shook my head and began searching through the racks myself, worried about her choices. My fingers brushed over a soft fabric and I paused, holding the dress out.

It was black, mid thigh length and made of a beautiful, delicate fabric. It had a halter neck, which consisted of thin pieces of fabric connected by little gold metal links, as well as normal straps.

Dani saw me looking at it and gasped. “You're getting that one.”

“I haven't even tried it on,” I argued.

“Well, go on then,” she said before turning away from me to continue looking. I rolled my eyes and headed for the dressing room, Dani following not long behind me.

Once I'd put the dress on, I smiled a little. It fit perfectly and didn't look so bad either. I took it back off and hung it up.

“Stell, how does it look?” Dani called out from behind her curtain.

“Good,” I replied “But I've already taken it off.”

Dani let out a sigh of frustration. “You better be buying it.”

“I will,” I replied.

“Good,” she opened the curtain and twirled, showing me the vivid purple dress she was wearing. I smiled. It was pure Dani- bright, with a flared skirt and a bow at the waist.

I grinned. “I like it.”

She smiled back. “Me too!”

The curtain shut once more and I wandered back into the store, looking at the accessories while I waited.

Dani came out and handed over the dresses she'd decided against before scanning the remainder of the stores' content quickly.

“Stella, let's go grab a coffee,” she suggested, throwing a woollen beanie back on to the neat pile from which she'd grabbed it, earning a death glare from the lady who was running the shop.

She grabbed my dress from me and waltzed up to the counter, placing both dresses on it which made the sales assistant's eyes light up.

I realised that I hadn't actually checked the price tag at all. I frowned and went to argue but Dani shushed me and handed over a credit card, which I realised belonged to her father.

I shook my head. Dani came from a fairly wealthy family, but rarely let it show. She liked to pay her own way but sometimes whipped out the card for 'special occasions'. I frowned, trying to figure out what this occasion was.

Once paid, wrapped and bagged up, Dani turned to me with a wide grin.

“Time to refuel,” she declared before grabbing my hand and leaving the store.

We found another cafe and ordered, Dani insisting we sit outside. The minute we were sitting down her was out of her purse and she was texting furiously, shooting me furtive glances every now and again.

I eyed her curiously, unable to shake the feeling that she was up to something.

“Who are you texting?” I asked, resisting the urge to turn my own phone back on and read the text messages I knew were on there.

“No one,” she said quickly, putting her phone back in her bag and smiling cheerfully at me.

I frowned and decided to let her be, because she wouldn't tell anyway.

The waitress came over, placing our coffees in front of us and I gratefully began drinking mine, noticing that Dani's phone had gone off and she was texting once again.

I let out a frustrated sigh and frowned at her. “You've got something up your sleeve, don't you?”

She looked up. “Yes.”

I was shocked she'd admitted to it so quickly. “And?” I wheedled, hoping she would continue to spill.

She grinned. “You'll find out soon enough.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, except for the sound of Dani texting. I was trying to figure out what her secret was when I felt a hand on my shoulder which made me jump.

Dani's mouth dropped open and, startled, I looked at the hand on my shoulder, noting that it was tattooed with the word “worm” spelled out across the knuckles.

I frowned and turned, meeting the blue eyes of Bam Margera who smirked at me.

“You're not all that hard to find, little one.”
I frowned. “Don't call me that. And why were you looking for me?” I noticed Novak standing next to him, looking tired and bored. “And why is he here?”

“Because he's a dick,” Bam said bluntly.

Novak looked mildly offended, but didn't speak.

Instead, Dani did. “Okay, That's Bam Margera. So, Stella you better catch me the fuck up immediately. Jyrki left him out of the explanation.”

I turned to her wide-eyed. “You spoke to Jyrki?”

She frowned. “That's unimportant. Is your boyfriend famous too?” she asked, nodding towards Bam.

“No!” I said, blushing “I don't have a boyfriend,” I finished quietly.

Bam snorted. “Well, you would if Novak wasn't such an ass. And yes,” he said, turning to Dani “He's very famous and pretty much the best person in the world.”

I rolled my eyes at Bam's gushing.

Dani glared at Novak. “So, it was you that scared her off.”

I looked at Dani, incredulous. “What the fuck, Dan! Who did you speak to and when?”

“Jyrki and this morning,” she said, still giving Novak a brutal look.

I groaned. “You answered my phone while I was in the shower.”

She nodded. “And spoke to a guy with a hot voice who told me everything.”

“His name is Jyrki,” I replied, shaking my head “And I wouldn't believe anything he told you.”

“I think Bam can probably shed some light on all that, hon,” Dani said gently with a small smile.

“Novak's a fucking lying bum,” he declared “Want me to kick him in the nuts for you?”

I frowned. “No! Why would I want you to do that?” I asked, confused; nothing had really sunk in yet.

“You haven't heard the explanation yet,” Dani said wryly “I'm tempted to kick him in the nuts myself.”

I barely stifled a giggle and shook my head. “Okay, explain then.”

Bam launched in to the real story of what had happened, including Novak nearly being murdered and the five guys getting the first flight to Sweden, as well as calling every hotel in Stockholm and having absolutely no luck because they didn't know Dani's surname.

I sat there, wide-eyed with a pink flush to my cheeks. I had no idea whether to believe what I was hearing or not.

Bam sensed that and sighed. “Read the texts on your phone and make your mind up.”

“I deleted some of them.”

“Well, read the ones you've got. Ville doesn't know we found you, so make your own mind up and come meet us tonight if you decide to believe it,” he said, putting his sunglasses back on.

I turned to Novak. “Did you really lie to me?”

“Yeah, well... it was only half a lie,” he said, shrugging.

I frowned and looked at Bam.

“Jussi and Jyrki bet that you and Ville would get together, that's all,” he said earnestly.

I sighed.

“Like I said, we'll see you tonight,” he said before turning to walk away.

“I haven't made up my mind yet!” I argued.

He turned and smirked at me. “You'll be there. And the offer will still be standing for me to kick Novak in the balls!”

I watched him walk off and then turned to Dani, who gave me a cheeky grin.

“Oh, don't even...” I began “You are not off the hook.”

She laughed and nodded her head towards my bag. “Get your phone out now, woman.”