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It's day thirteen and the six of us sit together at the breakfast table. This is the last morning that it will be the six of us, after tonight, there will only be three.

My eyes meet Helene's and she scowls at me.

I wonder who Bain will pick.

He's talked to me like he's already picked me sometimes. Yet, he has always saves her. And let's not even get started on the whole coming-out-of-her-room thing.

No, I cannot say with 100% confidence that Bain will pick me tonight.

My stomach twists at the thought of leaving the castle, having to return England in two days, rejected and missing him.

It'll hurt like hell. It shouldn't hurt that much after only two weeks, but hey, here I am, all in my feels.

I look at Saffron and I know that she's in the same position. She'll be gutted to leave Spencer.

To be honest, all of us around the table will be disappointed to go home. Florie has her heart set on Ahmed, and Lula and Fidel have been inseparable from the beginning of this thing.

We've all formed relationships, some of us with each other. It'll be a shame to lose three of us tonight.

We're given the opportunity to contact home in the morning. I call my mum and amazingly, she answers her phone.

She got my voicemail, explaining where I was and what I was doing, but she didn't bother to reply to it.

'I knew you'd call again eventually, you always do. I thought we could talk about it then,' she says absentmindedly.

Lovely, isn't she?

We speak for no more than ten minutes, because apparently, she just has to get back to the yacht.

The day my father died was the day she gave up her responsibilities as my mother. She cares more about the damn yacht than about me.

I feel a bit down after our phone conversation. It went much the same as all of our others, but I really wanted her to be more excited about Bain. She couldn't have been more disinterested.

The good news comes at lunch, and that cheers me up.

We're meeting the bachelors at the ski resort and we're going cross-country skiing (langlaufing) this afternoon.

We change into our gear and just under an hour later, we meet the bachelors at the bottom of the slopes. We catch a gondola and instead of heading for the slopes, we break off, along a flat bit.

Cross-country skiing, in some ways, is so much harder than regular skiing. At least when you're going down the slope, you have gravity on your side.

Trying to drag yourself along a flat surface is difficult and tiring. A lot of us end up taking off our jackets and tying them around our waists after working up a sweat.

The sun beats down on us and I'm grateful for my goggles because the glare on the ice is incredible.

As a group, we trek around the mountain. The trail is supposed to take an hour, but it probably takes us slightly longer than that.

The guys are like powerhouses, I don't know how they do it. I know that stereotypically men have better stamina than women, but this is insane, they just don't appear to be tired in the slightest. Meanwhile, the six of us girls are quietly dying behind them.

I feel sorry for the guys, they have to keep stopping and waiting for us to catch up. They don't don't seem to mind too much, though.

They offer encouragement and, at one point, Bain places his hand on my bum and pushes me through a particularly deep patch of snow.

I think my back would have sufficed, but I'm not complaining about his hand on my butt. He gave it a squeeze before letting go and I'm grateful my helmet hides my blush.

We swap to the slopes later in the afternoon, going up and skiing back down until the sun starts to set. When it does, Spencer announces that he has something exciting planned for our final trip down the slope.

All of the floodlights have been turned on, mapping out the boundaries of the slopes. At the top of the red slope, a man is handing out flares.

We are ushered into a queue with lots of other people and we all stand in one huge line at the top of the slope.

Spencer explains that all we have to do is watch the first skiers and copy what they do. It makes me nervous and I anxiously wait for this to start.

Someone gives a signal and the first person takes the cap off the flare. He ignites it using the striking surface on the cap and the flare blasts to life.

Holding the red flare high above his head, the man drops down the side of the slope. The person behind him quickly follows his lead.

I watch, enraptured, as one by one, people light their flares and ski slalom down the mountain. They cut back and forth across the slope, bright red dots against the darkness.

It's stunning.

Nerves start building up as I'm handed a flare. I flick the cap off and get ready. The second Bain lights his flare and moves forward, I strike mine.

It bursts like a sparkler and then calms down. I hold it high above my head and struggle to move forwards with only one pole.

Breathing hard, I manage to push myself over the edge and down the slope. Gravity takes over from there. I just have to focus on staying upright.

I follow Bain closely, matching his movements. When he bends his knees, I bend mine. When he straightens up, I straighten up. I copy him exactly and I make it to the bottom without falling.

Our flares have burned out by the time we reach the flat surface. There's a pile forming on the snow where everyone has thrown their burnt-out flares.

I throw mine on it and ski over to the group. We wait for everyone to come down.

It's a bittersweet ending to our last day together as a six.

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Once we're back at the castle, we get changed and dressed up for drinks with the bachelors. We all get ready in separate rooms, none of us are in the mood to talk tonight.

It's a sad atmosphere when we are escorted to the large room. We all stick close to one another, the air weighing heavy with anticipation around us.

Finally, the doors open and the bachelors stride in. Bain's eyes meet mine and he gives me an almost imperceptible nod.

Relief pierces through me as he wordlessly tells me that I'm okay. But the feeling is fleeting.

What if I misinterpreted that nod?

What if I imagined it?

I can't be certain.

'Ladies, thank you again for choosing to join our bachelors on this crazy journey.' Spencer, as ever, is the perfect host. 'Our bachelors have been voting for who they want to save. Only this time, it's a bit different. This is the final vote, so the three ladies chosen are officially the winners of this competition.'

Why is he dragging this out? Just tell us, damn it!

'Instead of me reciting the names as usual, the bachelors would like to tell the ladies themselves, in person. They would prefer to say their goodbyes in a more personal way, seeing as you have spent so much time together.'

A few gasps sound from around me. We weren't expecting this.

Spencer takes a step back and the bachelors close the distance between us. Fidel pulls Saffron, Ahmed pulls Florie and Bain reaches for my hand.

Fuck.

My hand is warm in his cool one. Bain takes me out onto the balcony whilst Helene watches with a smug look on her face.

I sit down and wait anxiously to hear what he has to say.

'Amity,' he says my name that way that he always does.

Like it's something precious. Like he knows something that I don't.

It makes me press my thighs together.

'Yes?'

Bain's dark eyes meet mine and I feel like my heart is beating in my throat. I can feel it.

'I think we both knew from the first few times that we spoke, it was going to be you. Or at least, I hope you felt that way, too,' he says warmly. 'I tried not to make it too obvious, out of respect for the other women and this competition. But if I'm being honest, no one stood a chance against you.'

My inhale sharply and grip my hands together on my lap. Bain raises his hand and softly strokes my face.

'I choose you. You're the one I want to stay,' he murmurs.

I let out a shaky breath and smile at him. 'Thank God for that.'

Bain chuckles at my response.

'I've got to talk to Helene and tell her I'm sending her home, but after that, we're going to spend the evening together. Okay?'

I nod and smile at him.

'Good luck with Helene.'

Bain grimaces. 'Thanks. I'm gonna need it.'

I exit the balcony with a smile on my face. I've got what I wanted. I'm happy.

I go over to Helene and she raises an eyebrow in distaste.

'Bain wants to see you on the balcony.'

She studies my face, trying to gauge my reaction to the chat, I think. She smirks at me.

'Of course he does,' she says smugly.

I watch as she saunters out onto the balcony, her hips swaying side to side with all the seduction of Jessica Rabbit.

I'll be honest, I'm not going to miss her one bit.

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