****Willow's POV****
Surprisingly for me, Maeva and James invited Digby and I to join the group in a retreat up in Yorkshire. I was quite surprised she extended the invite to me but maybe this was the olive branch that we needed to have a conversation again so I was going to make the next move and see where we both wanted to go from here.
That first night however was spent getting quite drunk with my friends and Digby. Sadly Liv wasn't here as she'd fallen out with Inga and they were all staying in London, as was my brother, but maybe that was for the best. In their argument Inga had brought up how I was her new lap dog and that Liv had messed me round so many times that I'd become weak but she didn't know anything so her opinion had little effect to me.
"How are you liking the Yorkshire air?" Julius asked as we sat together with Digby and Verity.
"I can't say I've seen much of it to be fair" I replied. "But this place is nice, I can see why Maeva picked it."
"Yeah, what's been going on with you then?"
"Not much, I went out that night with everyone and came back finding out that two more people don't like me."
"Who?"
"Well one of them is Ruby so I guess I already knew that." I said. "But yeah apparently Inga doesn't like me now."
"Inga?" Verity asked. "That's not because of me is it?"
"No, something's gone on with her and Liv and I think she's just using me as a scapegoat for whatever issues she's got. I enjoyed being her friend but if that's the way she wants to speak about me then I won't cry any tears over her."
"You've got enough friends." Julius said. "So what did Ruby have to say to you?"
"I made a comment to Miles about how his current situation with Ruby wasn't going to help either of them and that she was in a way acting like a possessive ex, I don't think anyone would disagree with that. Then I heard she made those comments about Verity and I just don't like anyone being shamed for that sort of stuff so I said to her. Of course she wasn't happy but we were never going to agree on it."
"You stood up for what you thought that right." Digby backed me up. "She just wasn't going to back down either."
"Again I won't lose sleep over her."
"Hey!" We heard from behind us and turned around to find Sam Prince walking towards us. "How are you all?"
"Enjoying ourselves, getting drunk." Verity replied as he perched on the arm of the chair next to her. "What are you doing here?"
"Just thought I'd come and see you all."
"Are you sure Inga would be OK with that?" I couldn't help but ask him. "It's just I know she didn't like Liv hanging out with me."
"It's a good thing she's not here then isn't it." That is one of the reasons why Sam Prince seemed sly in my eyes, it's like he always had little secrets with everyone which left a reputation in everyone's minds.
"Should we go and get a drink?" Verity asked him, probably noticing the tension in the air. "I'll see you all later."
"See did anyone else not think that's just a sly move?" I asked once he was out of hearing range. "Like if you said that when I wasn't around then I wouldn't be happy."
"I think Princey is confused." Digby said. "He always tells me that he really likes Inga but the way he behaves doesn't necessarily reflect that. He's always had that almost rebellious side to him and I don't think that's gone away yet."
"I can see that."
****
The following night was a lot more formal, with everyone in black tie outfits. I had chosen a green silk dress with a cowl neckline.
I took a break from the rest of the group to go and grab a drink and found myself alone with Maeva in the kitchen.
"Hi," I said. "How are you?"
"I'm good." Though she said that I could see something was wrong by the way she was fidgeting and appeared distracted. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes, thank you for the invitation by the way. I hate to say I wasn't expecting it but I can't say I was."
"Well, I just felt like everyone's here and maybe we can look to be at least civil with each other. I spoke to Miles recently and it made me change the way I felt about the whole situation and I could see how I behaved wrongly. So I'm sorry for the way I behaved towards you and just how I handled the situation."
"That means a lot, especially coming from you. I know how much you hate apologising." I couldn't help but tease her.
"Don't, but this weekend is meant to be about happiness and celebrations. So I'm hoping we can come to some sort of agreement."
"You know I really did love being your friend Maeva, like truly having a friend like you is so valuable. But I know we probably can't get back to that stage. I'd just rather not have anymore animosity between us. We've both moved on and we're both happy now."
"For what it's worth I think you and Digby look great together now and I can see how happy you make each other."
"Thank you."
She then had something to go and sort out, but as I was sorting myself a glass of water my phone buzzed in my hand and I looked down to find Liv's contact picture staring up at me.
"Girl you are looking amazing." She said as I placed the phone on the counter so she could see the dress. "How is it?"
"Actually really nice and guess who just got an apology out of Maeva."
"Shut up, so are you friends now?"
"I wouldn't say friends but we can be a bit more than acquaintances."
"Hey it's better than being enemies with someone like Maeva."
"Exactly, but tell me what's been going on in London?"
"Well I went to have dinner with your brother but guess who he also invited. Inga."
"What happened?"
"Well I sat down, we had another argument and then I left. Honestly I saw it coming from Ollie and I guess I should have just trusted my instinct but I thought he would show some respect to the situation."
"How sis you leave it then?"
"Just that she thinks I was always a shit friend to her and that she's better off without me. Honestly I wasn't going to just sit there and pretend like we can be friends again, I think it's past saving right now."
"Are you sad about that?" Honestly gaining any hint of Liv's feelings was so hard as she was a master at just putting a brave face on.
"Honestly like I'm so over it, I know you're probably worried but there's nothing to be worried about. If she thinks she can control me and then just drop me like that, well I just have nothing left to say to the girl."
"I agree." I told her. "You're too strong to let her little comments take you down like that."
"So what's the place like then?"
"To be honest I've not been out that much, it's still so cold here and there's a perfectly good view from the bedroom." The smirk on my face told her all she needed to know.
"You little minx, what has Digby turned you into. Well I'll let you get off before he comes in and takes that dress off you."
"Liv!"
"Love you babe. I'll see you soon."
"Love you."
****
It was getting quite late on when the atmosphere turned and James walked in looking quite sombre, going over to the boys without Maeva anywhere to be seen.
I made eye contact with Digby across the room but he shrugged his shoulders at my questioning look.
"Are you all enjoying your night?" She said to everyone.
"Maeva stop."
"Are you all enjoying your night?"
"You guys should speak..." Tristan said noticing the sad look on James' face.
"Are you having fun? Is it amazing? It's amazing" She said, a furious look on her face. "You know what happened tonight guys?"
"I'm not fucking staying for this."
"Let me go." She said.
"Right I'm going then," James made his way out of the room, quickly followed by Digby and Tristan in tow.
"Followers."
"What's going on?" I heard Verity and Emma speculate behind me.
"Obviously this is typical James, I proposed to James and he said no. To me. To me. So yeah, OK. It's ok, I'm fine."
Watching her go off with tears in her eyes wasn't nice, but I felt like she needed that space to come to terms with what happened so there was no point in rushing after her.
But this weekend definitely got interesting.
****Author's Note****
I hope you like this chapter.
Sorry it's so short but the episode was mainly focused on Emma and Digby and then the proposal.
Please vote and comment any suggestions.
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