I know I said I was going to start the sequel to Triangle, but this story is in slightly better shape. I'm not sure when I will start to the Triangle sequel as I already have two stories (including this one) about Ethan having a girlfriend and I don't want it to get confusing/repetitive, but I suppose I'll worry about that once it's ready to be posted!

This story is set some time in the future, though if Ethan or Honey is about to be killed off in the explosions (if they are, please don't tell me), then obviously it's an alternative universe.

There were only actually three people in the queue, but it had never seemed so long. All Honey wanted was to put her head down on the counter and sleep, but she knew that even if this had been a possibility, sleep wouldn't have come. She smiled at the customer, handed him his change and moved onto the next person with a bright smile and a cheerful voice.

Once the two remaining customers had finally gone, Honey closed her eyes in relief and leaned against the counter for a moment. Another dizzy spell had assaulted her when she'd served the second customer, but Honey was reasonably sure she'd managed to hide it. After all, the person she'd just served was a nurse and she'd almost certainly have picked up on Honey's indisposition if she hadn't hidden it well.

"Anytime soon would be good!"

Honey opened her eyes and found herself looking into the face of another nurse: this one far less friendly. Honey wanted to give some sort of banter in response, but her stomach was hurting and it just seemed like too much. So she muttered an apology instead and got on with her work, only to pause for a moment as she realised her hands were shaking again. She knew she needed to watch that. She'd already spilled one person's drink today.

When another customer entered the shop, all Honey wanted to do was groan out loud, but she couldn't. Firstly because it was unprofessional; secondly because the person who'd just entered was her boyfriend.

Ethan gave her a sweet smile, mouthed the word 'hello' and gave her a little wave. Honey gave him as convincing a smile as she could and turned back to her customer. She wasn't ignoring him, she told herself. She was doing her job. She was usually perfectly capable of talking to one customer whilst serving another, but that didn't mean she had to do that every time. In fact, some people might say it was rude.

"There you are: have a nice day," said Honey as she finally got rid of her customer. She felt another pain in her stomach and her hand went to it automatically, but she managed to smile at Ethan. "Hey, gorgeous. Why aren't you working then?"

"I'm on my break," said Ethan. His whole face was lit up with happiness as he looked at her. He'd already confessed, on numerous occasions, that he could hardly believe Honey was really going out with him, and Honey usually found it really sweet. But right now, she did rather wish he'd get over it. They'd been together for ages now.

"Would you like some coffee?" said Honey.

Ethan looked a bit awkward. "No. Um, well, yes. Please. But that's not actually why I came."

"Why did you come then?" said Honey, an edge of impatience creeping into her voice. She just wanted him to go. The pain in her stomach was back with a vengeance and she was starting to feel queasy and for once in her life, she just wished Ethan would get to the point.

"To ask you to have dinner with me tonight," said Ethan.

"Have you checked with my dad?" said Honey. It was a joke, of course: her way of teasing Ethan for being so adorably old-fashioned as to ask Noel's permission to ask her out.

But Honey was feeling moody and tired and decidedly ill, and the words came out a lot more sharply than she'd intended.

Ethan looked taken-aback. The happy smile slipped from his face, to be replaced by concern. He reached for one of the small hands resting on top of the counter. "Honey, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I…" Honey stopped. The nausea intensified. "I'm sorry, Ethan, but I'm absolutely desperate for the loo."

She raced off as quickly as she could, but only just made it in time. Too exhausted to stand up, Honey rested her clammy face against the loo seat. She knew she had to go back to Ethan or he'd worry, but she felt dreadful. She'd been feeling like this for a while now, but today was definitely the worst.

Tears filled Honey's eyes, but she managed to blink them away. She couldn't let Ethan see she was upset or he would worry about her and she knew that there were many people in the hospital who felt a lot worse than she did. At least Honey was able to work.

She finally hauled herself to her feet and went to look at herself in the mirror. She looked tired and ill. Her eyes were dull and felt gritty; her hair lacked its usual shine and there was sweat on her brow. Honey washed her hands, rinsed her mouth and carefully splashed cold water on her face. It didn't help. She still looked terrible and she didn't know how Ethan hadn't noticed.

She looked at her watch. Two more hours until her shift ended; two more hours before she could finally go home and even then it wouldn't be easy because she'd have to spend the whole time trying to convince Noel and Big Mac that she was fine. On the positive side, they were both men so noticing things tended not to be one of their talents, but Honey wasn't sure how much longer she could conceal the nausea, stomach cramps and dizziness. Big Mac used to be a paramedic and Noel had worked as a hospital receptionist long enough to know when someone was feeling poorly.

Just for a moment, Honey thought about telling someone she was ill and going home. There was no real reason why she shouldn't. She was perfectly entitled to go home if she wasn't well enough to work.

But it wasn't so easy when your dad and your boyfriend worked in the same place as you and came over for a coffee and a chat several times a day. It wouldn't take Noel or Ethan any time at all to realise she was gone.

Speaking of Ethan, he was probably still standing in the shop, waiting for her. Honey sighed and pushed her hands through her hair, but she knew she had to go back. The longer she waited, the more concerned Ethan was likely to be. After another glance in the mirror, which did nothing to reassure her, Honey returned to the shop.