Authors Note: Sorry it has been so long. I have been way too busy - but I'm already in the process of writing Chapter 5.

Ariadne walked into their house open mouthed. It was such a beautiful house. Arthur probably didn't pick up on this, however she was the architect. There was a grand staircase that led to the two upper levels, there were many doorways no doubt leading to lots of 'drawing rooms' and any other type of living room that you can give a fancy name to.

Lily guided her through the furthest door away that opened into a huge kitchen, equipped with every appliance you could imagine, which they probably didn't even use. Ariadne now understood why the guys always loved to come and visit this house, not just because of the company. She had always missed the opportunity to visit because she was normally visiting her friends or her own family.

She gestured for Ariadne to sit down at one of the bar stools and Lily began to make the hot chocolate drink. Arthur soon followed and sat down next to her. She couldn't help but notice how much like a couple they looked when he put his hand on the back of her chair and whispered to her: "You do realise that she will probably make you stay here for a week because you will turn out to be like another daughter to her."

All she could do was laugh. To be honest, she didn't think that she'd mind.

Lily placed her drink in front of her and gave one to Arthur. She drank one herself. "Thank you."

"No problem." She smiled. She turned to Arthur. "Now, Arthur don't lie to me, like you do already." He gave her a surprised look and she continued, ignoring it. "Do you really think I believe that you work at a bank? You're too impatient for that Arthur! But what happened? I think you woke up everyone in a radius of five miles when you shouted down that phone."

He murmured a quick apology and she carried on. "I looked out the window and there you were running to your car like there was no tomorrow."

Arthur glanced at Ariadne then back at his mother. "Well..." He didn't exactly know what to say. He could tell his mother everything, but it wasn't exactly his story to tell. Ariadne picked up on this and finished his sentence. God, it was like they were in sync.

"I was walking back from... where we both work and this man started following me." The expression Lily wore was horror. "I've seen the guy before as well; he tried to ask me out at a bar. If Arthur hadn't had shown up..."

She actually didn't know what she would have done if Arthur hadn't had shown up, either times. Ariadne couldn't help but think she'd be raped and murdered and anything else bad that could potentially happen to her. Her mind was often way too dramatic. Ariadne knew now that she would always be able to rely on Arthur no matter what situation she was in and wherever she was.

Lily looked approvingly at her son and he just stared into his mug. Ariadne almost couldn't continue the sentence, because realistically she didn't know what would have happened to her. "He started talking to me and trying to make me go out with him. Even when I told him I was meeting someone, he didn't care and just kept pestering me."

Ariadne's hands had begun shaking again which Lily soon noticed. "Come on dear, you must be freezing. We'll get you into some warm clothes and then you can get some sleep. You're probably exhausted."

She smiled gratefully at Lily and followed her once again into the hallway. The three of them walked into a room that was no doubt Arthur's sisters. Arthur had told Ariadne about her and she sounded great. But she was obviously not so keen on the fact that she was being woken up by Lily.

She stirred as Lily walked in and began rifling through the girls' wardrobe. She looked around confused, wondering who on earth was making that much noise. She saw her mother standing in front of her wardrobe and was obviously about to tell her off when she noticed Ariadne standing next to her brother. The girl looked back at her mother. "Can you please tell me what you are doing?"

"I am finding some clothes for Ariadne, and before you say anything Laura, she hasn't exactly had the best night whilst you've been doing nothing all evening." Lily replied. Ariadne could see the cogs turning in Laura's mind and the realisation as to who she was clicking a moment later. Her expression immediately softened and she sent an apologetic smile in Ariadne's direction. Ariadne didn't mind though, she would have probably done the same thing if she were in a similar situation. Although Ariadne probably would have thrown a heavy object at the person disturbing her.

When Lily finally found some clothing she approved of for Ariadne, sweat pants and a t-shirt, she shut the wardrobe doors and them over to her. Lily looked at her and said: "Is there anything else you need dear?"

"No, no this is great thank you." She smiled warmly.

"I shall see you in the morning then, and I hope you are okay." She turned to Arthur. "Show Ariadne to the guest room and if she needs anything else then you will get it for her."

If Eames was here he would have loved this conversation because it consisted of Arthur following his mothers' orders. "Yes Mother." He sighed. "I would have done that anyway."

"Yes I know but I'm just making sure you do." How anyone could possibly think that Arthur wouldn't be a gentleman was beyond Ariadne. But nonetheless it was funny that Arthur was being told to, he obviously learned his manners from his mother.

She followed Arthur out of Laura's room, after saying a quick apology to her for disturbing her. They walked along the corridor and he opened a door into a magnificent bedroom. The room didn't look like any guest room she'd ever stayed in. There was a king sized bed in the centre of the room, a flat screen television opposite, a deep red love seat sat at the end of the bed, and there were doors, that were slightly hidden by curtains, that were more than likely to lead to a balcony. There were two doors either side of the TV, one to a closet and one to an en suite. The room was painted a natural colour which was the same as the bed linen and the soft carpet, although there were red cushions and decorations everywhere.

She immediately shut her mouth when she realised that she was gawking. Arthur bid her good night after multiple attempts of checking that she was okay. He didn't seem to take 'yes' for an answer. Arthur told her that if anything was to happen then she had to shout for him, although Ariadne didn't think much would exactly happen in his guest room.

Ariadne got changed and cleaned herself up from her disastrous night. She sat down on the bed and finally took the time to look back properly on what had happened. And then there was the other weird thing to think about. She was staying at Arthur's parents' house. Yes, his parents' house. If someone had told her that morning that she would be staying with his family she would have laughed in their face and told them they were stupid and should be referred to a mental clinic. But there she was...

Just as she was drifting off to a deep sleep, all she could think about was what Christmas and Thanksgiving would be like at this house. Her and Arthur together with a family celebrating the holidays. It was a nice thought, but her imagination could be cruel. Because Ariadne didn't think that such a thing would ever happen. She wasn't exactly the luckiest person in the world that was for sure.

Ariadne woke up to the bright morning sun beaming through the windows and the distant sound of talking somewhere else in the house. She sat up in bed and took everything in. She could get used to this.

She slowly got up and after one quick look at her appearance, checking that she didn't look like a lion that had been dragged through a bush; she went downstairs to wherever the talking was coming from.

As she got closer to the kitchen, she could hear Arthurs voice sounding annoyed and strained. "Laura, why would you do that?"

"Because it is funny and I hate the girl!" She laughed back.

Hoping it wasn't her they were talking about; she walked hesitantly into the kitchen.

"So do I but I wouldn't tell her something like that. She will probably come round now just to see, and it will be your entire fault." He tried not to laugh but couldn't contain it. So they were not talking about her because she hadn't exactly spoken that much to Laura since her late arrival the night before. "Oh hey!" He said cheerfully when he spotted her walking in.

"Hey..." Ariadne didn't know what to say to him, she hadn't thought that far ahead. Damn.

"I was just about to come up and see if you were awake." He was leaning on the breakfast bar whilst Laura was sat in the chair that she had vacated the previous night. "Can I get you a coffee?"

"Yes, please." She smiled. She walked over to where Laura was and sat down on the chair next to her.

"Arthur why don't you tell Ariadne what we were just talking about?" Laura persisted. He gave her a stern look as if to say 'drop the subject' and handed Ariadne the coffee. Ariadne was now intrigued as to who and what they were talking about. "Fine I will." He went to interrupt but she carried on anyway. "I hope you don't mind Ariadne but I told Arthur's ex-girlfriend that he had a new girlfriend; you. And she spoke to me earlier this morning, unfortunately, and so I said you had even come to visit. I don't think she believed me you see. By the way, I absolutely hate her."

All Ariadne could do was laugh nervously. She didn't really know what to make of the situation. She just hoped Arthur hated his ex just as much as his sister did. But if she were to come round like they had said before she had walked in on their conversation, it wouldn't be that bad pretending to be Arthur's girlfriend. She was certain of that.

Arthur looked embarrassed, which made a change. He started to shake his head. "Why do you hate her?" Ariadne was intrigued to find this out, mainly because she didn't want to make the same mistakes, but that was beside the point.

"Well..." Laura said jokingly.

"Here we go..." Arthur murmured under his breath, but still loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"She has to be the most annoying person on the planet. After Arthur had dumped her he went on like a blind date thing, and she found out and turned up. She grabbed the girl by her hair and told her to stop hitting on her boyfriend and all this other crap. She was horrible!"

"Poor girl..." Ariadne joined in, it was funny to see Arthur's reaction.

"Why Arthur ever went out with her, I will never know." He nodded in agreement. "She is so fake, and has the brain size of a peanut. And the worst part; she walks around like she is all high and mighty. I just want to push her over."

As Ariadne and Arthur burst out laughing simultaneously, his mother walked in and looked at the three of them, completely baffled. "What are you talking about now?"

"Guess..." Laura demanded.

"You're talking about Mandy again?" Lily sounded exasperated. This encouraged more laughter and Lily continued. "That was hardly a relationship Laura; it only lasted for about three weeks."

"Three weeks too long..." Arthur said dryly.

"Yeah but she acted like they were a married couple. She would start telling him what they were doing and when, even if he was working. She would come in and start messing with his clothes and stuff. It was really creepy." Laura was enjoying this.

"I think she got too attached." Lily said to Ariadne. She was laughing at Arthur's uncomfortable expression more than anything now.

Once everyone had calmed down after the conversation, Lily looked between Arthur and Ariadne. "So what are you two doing today?"

"Well I thought Ari would stay here for a while because we don't know if that guy will have found her apartment. We don't exactly know how long he has been following her for. I will call the guys and see what we're going to do about it." Arthur answered for the two of them. He had filled Laura in on what had happened that morning after much persuasion from her.

"Well Ariadne, you can stay here as long as it takes." Lily said sweetly.

"Thank you so much." She responded.

"Cool, Ariadne you need to see the Dordogne." Laura declared. "You may call me your personal tour guide." She winked.