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I can't keep the smile off of my face when Bain leads me outside.

I haven't seen him all day and it feels like a lifetime has passed without him. I realise, with worrying clarity, that I've grown very comfortable with seeing him almost every day.

If I were to go home now, it would be horrible. I would miss him.

Our relationship (if you could even call it that?) is in such the early stages, that if it were ended now, it would really upset me. This is the fun part, the part where we get to see where things go and everything we do is a first for us together.

Bain runs his hands through my hair as we cuddle.

'I missed you today,' he murmurs against my hair.

'I missed you, too,' I confess to him.

I sit up as I think of something.

'What do you guys do all day when we're in the spa and stuff?' I ask him curiously.

Bain smirks. 'We have jobs. Most of the time, we catch up on work. Remotely, of course.'

I don't know what I expected them to do, but it sounds sad that they're working whilst we live it up at the spa.

Bain laughs at my frown. 'What? Were you expecting us to be sat around, missing you ladies and waiting for the time to see you again?'

I smile at his teasing and lean back into his touch.

'Well, maybe a little. Do you talk about us? To each other, I mean.'

Bain's chest rumbles as he chuckles. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, over the blanket.

'Yes, we do.' He kisses the top of my head. 'I imagine you girls can't stop talking about us.'

I snort in mockery, but it's true.

'You might be mentioned...occasionally.'

'Only occasionally? Here I was, hoping you'd be smitten with me by now.'

I can't stop the giggle that escapes my lips.

'Did you really just say smitten?'

Bain frowns down at me. 'What's so funny about me saying smitten?'

'It's just funny. Seeing a big guy like you saying the word.'

Bain shakes his head, as if he doesn't understand me.

'You're something else,' he mumbles.

We get almost half an hour together, before Helene steals him.

I don't mind. Our conversation reassured me. Every time we talk, we strengthen our relationship a little more. I love it.

I find Saff and sit with her. She's quiet without Winnie, and I try to talk about what we're going to do when we all go home next week.

It's sad, thinking about leaving Bain and this beautiful castle, but we'll have to eventually.

I talk to Ahmed when he gets a free moment. I try to casually ask about Binah and Florie, but I think he's realised that I'm close with Florie and he gives nothing away. Florie thanks me for trying anyway.

I get to speak with Bain one more time, before the evening draws to an end.

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It's weird in the morning, getting up and ready without Winnie with us. It's day 8 and I'm a best friend down.

The long table that once seated ten of us, now has three seats empty. It's noticeably quieter over breakfast.

Spencer stops by to tell us that we're leaving for the market in an hour, and we need to dress warmly.

I wrap up in my puffer coat, bobble hat and fluffy scarf. I'm toasty and resembling a more glamorous version of the Michelin Man (google him, you will not be disappointed).

We all pile into the minibus, which takes us down the mountain and through the picturesque towns.

We're taken to the centre of a city and Spencer leads us down some streets, obviously knowing his way around.

I gasp in awe as we round a corner and the market is revealed.

It's absolutely perfect.

And even better, we've been given permission to bring our phones tonight.

We have no internet or 4G access, and no phone signal, so we can't contact anyone, but we're allowed to take photos.

I quickly retrieve my phone from my pocket and take a snap. Most of the other girls do the same. This is definitely an Insta-worthy picture. It's just a shame we can't post it.

My heart beats a little faster as my eyes land on the bachelors, stood beneath the Ferris wheel. More specifically, it beats for Bain.

Helene rushes over to him. She launches her body at him and throws her arms around his neck. He catches her and stumbles back a step.

I look away, not wanting to watch that shit.

Saffron slides her gloved hand into mine and gives it a squeeze.

'Ladies, you have the rest of the day here. I have money for you, feel free to buy anything you like and I recommend that you get some lunch here, as dinner won't be served until the usual time of seven o'clock. Meet back at the Ferris wheel at 2pm exactly.'

Binah and Florie each take one of Ahmed's hands and they go off to the left. Fidel strolls away with Lula and Niki.

Saffron tugs on my hand, making me follow the lovebirds Bain and Helene in front of us. Spencer comes up on her other side, making me smile.

The five of us wander around the market. Helene walks close to Bain, but he continually glances at me over his shoulder.

Helene spots a shooting stall and pulls Bain over. She bats her eyelashes at him and pouts prettily.

'Win me something? Please?' She requests.

Bain hesitates a moment, but nods. He gives the vender some money and picks up the gun.

We all stop, watching him shoot and aim. He hits the targets easily without taking a breath. Each one drops down in turn and the vender's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

'Wow, well done,' he compliments with a thick accent. 'What prize do you want?'

Bain puts the gun down and takes a step back. Helene puts a huge teddy bear hanging up at the back.

As soon as the vender hands it to her, she hugs it to her chest.

'Thank you so much, Bain,' she gushes happily.

She catches my eye and sends a smug smirk. She slips her hand into Bains, holding the bear with the other.

'Want to go somewhere else?' Saff whispers in my ear.

I turn and give her a deadpan look.

'Anywhere. Else. Literally,' I reply dryly.

Saffron, Spencer and I turn off down a different row. I can feel Bain's eyes on me, but I think he's got his hands full at the moment.

We buy some sweets and chocolate at the food stalls, I fill my backpack with goodies. I offer to get the loved up pair some hot chocolate whilst they go on one of the rides together. It was subtle way of giving them some alone time.

When they get off the ride, grinning and holding hands, I'm ready and waiting with hot chocolate.

Saff takes her cup from me and sighs happily.

'Have I ever told you how much I love you?' She asks and I shake my head.

'I've not heard it enough. Tell me again,' I reply dramatically.

Saff kisses my cheek. 'I love you, you're the best. Thank you.'

I walk behind the two lovebirds, content with being the third wheel. Third-wheeling Saffron and Spencer is much better than Helene and Bain. At least with this couple, I'll be able to keep my hot chocolate down.

I'm looking at stall full of beautiful wreaths, when someone pokes a stuffed, plushie chicken over my shoulder. I jump back and see Bain looking sheepish.

He holds out the soft-toy chicken.

'I won it for you,' he says sweetly.

I take the white fur-ball from his hands and assess it. It's damn cute, I'll admit.

'Thank you,' I respond quietly.

When I look up at him, he's smiling happily.

'You told me that your favourite animal is a chicken, because your dad used to keep them,' he explains and my heart flutters a little.

As much as I don't like him spending time with Helene, I understand that this is a competition, and the whole point is for him to date us and see who he likes.

Bain makes an effort with me and treats me well. That's all I need to focus on, my relationship with him. Helene will not ruin it.

'Well, thank you. That's really sweet.'

I tuck the chicken under my arm and we continue walking together. Bain reaches for my hand and holds it.

He catches me looking at a games stall. One where you throw a ball at some stacked bottles. I'm good at those.

'Want to try?' He offers.

I shake my head. 'Nah, it's okay.'

'Come on, let's do it. Or are you scared I'm going to beat you?'

The playful glint in his eye makes me agree. Bain pays for us both to have three balls.

I let him take the first shot. He hits the bottles with such force, all of them fall off bar one. He turns to me with a smirk.

Bring it on.

I aim the ball at the lower left bottle. I hit it dead-on, disrupting the balanced bottles. They all fall to the floor except two.

Bain turns back to his stack and hits the final one off, winning a prize. I turn back to mine and with the last two balls, hit the last two bottles precisely. My aim is good.

'What would you like?' The vender asks.

Bain looks at me, giving me the choice. I look around at the available soft toys. There are loads of monsters; aliens, werewolves, zombies. I consider choosing a mummy, it's so cute with its bandages.

My eyes land on a vampire and I smile.

Might as well stay on theme, right?

I chose vampires in the library competition and it worked out for me. Maybe this soft-toy vampire will bring me luck for the rest of the competition.

I point to the soft-toy. It has a cape, pointed collar and two little white, pointy teeth poking from its mouth. It's adorable.

Bain tenses up as the vender hands me the toy vampire.

Does he not like vampires or something?

'I'm going to call him Bain,' I tell him proudly and he widens his eyes in surprise.

'What made you choose that one?' he asks as we walk away.

I shrug. 'I've always liked vampires, they're so cute.'

Bain frowns. 'I wouldn't describe them as cute.'

'Oh, really? What would you describe them as?'

He smirks down at me. 'Sexy, handsome, charming, that kind of thing.'

I raise an eyebrow at him. 'Know that for a fact, do you? Met many vampires in your life?' I ask playfully and nudge him.

Bain gives me a secretive smile. 'A few.'

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When we return to the castle, I put my new chicken and Bain the vampire on my bed.

Saffron and I decide to look at our itinerary and see what is coming up.

Tomorrow, we have another group date pencilled in, but this is specified as Ice Skating, with competition written underneath. I grimace at that. I'm not a great skater.

The day after, we're going shopping!

Dinner isn't going to be for another few hours, so the girls decide to watch a movie. It's a horror, so that's a straight-up no from me.

I decide to go exploring again. Last time, I stuck to inside the castle.

The sun hasn't set yet and the weather is relatively mild compared to how chilly it was at the market.

After some trying, I manage to find a way outside. I re-discover the garden we sat in on our first day.

I follow the box hedges down a path and step into a herb garden, it smells amazing. I keep wandering, following the pebble pathway.

I glance over my shoulder and see I've strayed quite far from the castle. I don't want to get lost and then have the sun set.

I decide to look through one more garden, and then return to the castle.

To my surprise, the next walled garden is attached to a cottage. Kira steps out of it. She's dressed in outdoor clothing and has her hands shoved into her pockets.

'Kira!' I call out to her and she turns towards my directions.

I walk over and smile.

'Hey, how are you?' I greet her.

She frowns and looks me up and down.

'Sorry, do I know you?'

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