Something About Alice Murphy:...

By siennaisa

85.4K 5.1K 16.5K

"She craved no other." _________ { the third book in the SAAM series} It's been just under two years since M... More

S U M M A R Y & C H A R A C T E R S
D I S C L A I M E R
I N T R O D U C T I O N
P A R T - O N E
P A R T - T H R E E
P A R T - F O U R
P A R T - F I V E
P A R T - S I X
P A R T - S E V E N
P A R T - E I G H T
P A R T - N I N E
P A R T - T E N
P A R T - E L E V E N
P A R T - T W E L V E
P A R T - T H I R T E E N
P A R T - F O U R T E E N
P A R T - F I F T E E N
P A R T - S I X T E E N
P A R T - S E V E N T E E N
P A R T - E I G H T E E N
P A R T - N I N E T E E N
P A R T - T W E N T Y
P A R T - T W E N T Y - O N E
P A R T - T W E N T Y - T W O
P A R T - T W E N T Y - T H R E E
P A R T - T W E N T Y - F O U R
P A R T - T W E N T Y - F I V E
P A R T - T W E N T Y - S I X
P A R T - T W E N T Y - S E V E N

P A R T - T W O

2.5K 212 804
By siennaisa

Chapter two: The Surprise
______________________________
Saturday, 18th September

"Okay, yeah- he is not going to like this." Charlie said, folding his arms as he looked at the way Meredith and her friends had decorated his house for that coming evening.

"What?" Meredith asked, "What do you mean?" She asked, looking at the line of his friends she'd been chasing around the whole day to get their opinion.  Jae was quiet had a blank expression, and Otto had a hopeful but confused face as he looked at the streamers and disco ball hanging in the living room. For anyone else, the decor and the theme would've been spot on, but for Magnus... it didn't seem to fit and all his friends knew that.

"How many people did you say were coming?" Otto asked as Charlie licked his lips and tried to hide the grin behind his hand. He knew Magnus was going to hate this, since he'd said several times he didn't want to celebrate his birthday, and unlike Meredith apparently, Charlie knew when Magnus was being serious.

"I invited sixty or so people with plus twos and they all said they're coming and bringing people." Meredith replied, looking concerned but determined to throw her party for her boyfriend that she'd been planning for over a month. "-and I already had the cake made that I have to go pick up in a minute." 

"Wow." Jae murmured, rubbing the back of his head. "Is there booze?" He asked.

"I got champagne." Meredith replied and there were a round of collective sighs. "What?" She asked, growing a little frustrated as a pair of her friends wandered past the living room door with more helium balloons in their hands to tie up around the place.

"Are we old? We need spirits, beer, jello shots. He's twenty one, Meredith- not fuckin' fifty." Charlie shot back at her, his snappy tone playful... but she still took offence even though the others laughed.

"I like champagne!" She snapped, "I'm sorry if all you boys drink are drinks made for fifteen year olds who like to believe they're older than they are." She blurted out in a blur of frustration. "Magnus and I like a little sophistication. That's why I got champagne!"

"Sure." Charlie muttered, rolling his eyes back into his head for a brief second. "I'll do a run the store. Do you guys want anything? Vodka? Rum? Beer?"

"I think I'm gonna stick to beer tonight." Jae replied, "Spirits makes me crazy, I gotta stop drinking that shit, man." He continued as Otto agreed with him.

"Alright I just get a bunch of shit because I need options." Charlie replied, patting himself down for his wallet, which he found in his right pocket, before saying his goodbye's to leave. Meredith scoffed after she heard the front door close, and reached up to fix her hair as the other two boys stood quietly for a moment.

"Well if he's going to hate it I'm just gonna cancel it." She muttered, folding her arms and silently waiting for Otto and Jae to disagree. She had put a lot of effort in and she was proud of it, that much was evident in the small details... but she wanted his friends approval, they'd all been joined at the hip since the start of university and their opinion mattered to her... but evidently, their current opinion right now wasn't the right one.

"Nah... he'll like it. I'm sure of it." Otto said, and discreetly side glanced Jae who voiced his agreement seconds later.

"But Charlie has known him the longest, if he-"

"People change, Meredith." Jae replied whilst interrupting her and shrugging a little. "Anyway, I gotta go plan what I'm gonna wear," he grinned, rubbing his hands together as Otto laughed then stopped suddenly.

"Shit, I don't know what I'm going to wear either. Let me see your ideas." He said quickly, making a subtle excuse to leave as both boys turned and walked off, talking quickly and excitedly about who had what in their wardrobes the other could borrow.

Meredith sighed heavily, turning around as they left to look over the decorations one more time... feeling a wave of nerves and anticipation for that evening. She wanted desperately for Magnus to like it, hoping that this gesture would somehow smooth over the rough patch that they'd been going through and put them on the right track. She could feel herself falling for him even more, and disliked how she only began to realise this as they potentially neared a break up... but she put those thoughts to one side and went to get her car keys, letting her friends know she was leaving to get the birthday cake and go home to eat and get ready for that evening of celebrations that was steady approaching...

* * *

Later that evening, Alice and Amara were standing in the kitchen, dressed in comfy lounge wear with their hair in rollers to prepare for the party, picking different wines to take with them as a gift for Meredith's boyfriend and a 'thank you' to Meredith for being invited. "I hate how my mom raised me so polite, now I can't do shit without feeling guilty or rude." Amara muttered, sliding a bottle of red she didn't like over to the gift pile. "Do you know how many people will just roll up and not even think about this."

"It will probably be just us." Alice giggled. "Wait not the Pinot Noir. I like that one."

"Ugh." Amara scoffed, putting it back into the keep category. "Which ones do you not like so we can do this quickly, you're making me do all the damn work."

"Just give them anything recent." Alice said, "Julia gifted us the oldies as a house warming present, I want to save those." She continued and Amara sorted through the wines and presented four to be given away. "Yup," Alice approved, "This is good. They can have the cheap ones."

"Girl... the way you said that," Amara laughed, "they can have the cheap ones." She mimicked Alice in her accent, "You're such a snob sometimes."

"And what about it?" Alice mused with a smirk, reaching for a bottle of champagne and began to open it. "And you say that as if you have a list of stores you won't walk thirty feet next to in case you catch... what was it? What was the phrase you used?"

"I told you that in confidence." Amara shot back and laughed, "Look at you telling the whole room."

"There is no one here." Alice laughed and the two girls continued to joke around as the champagne cork was popped and drinks were poured. At the same moment Lucas parked Alice's car in the garage, reaching to the passenger seat to get the food in a large white plastic bag he'd brought home for them all to eat before heading out. He could hear them laughing from the open window and smiled to himself, hearing a low electronic hum a few seconds later.

"Welcome home, Lucas." M's voice sounded. "Would you like me to unlock the side door for easier access to the property?"

"Yeah, thank you." He replied, getting out of the white convertible and locking it as the garage door closed. He could hear the side door unlocking and walked towards it, opening it with ease and walking inside where the girls voice's got a little louder and clearer to hear as he entered through the laundry room. The door locked behind him, and Alice and Amara looked up as they saw the door from the kitchen to the laundry room open. "What are you giggling about?"

"Our snobbery," Alice smiled, following Lucas with her eyes and he walked towards her and glanced down at her fluffy white short shorts.

"This is cute." He teased in a low voice, pulling at the hem before she swatted him off. "And Snobbery?"

"Alice wants to give Meredith and her boyfriend the cheap wine." Amara smirked and Alice gasped softly at how she'd just been exposed. Lucas chuckled, placing the bag of food on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Sounds like a good plan, no?" He smirked, opening the bag as it crinkled and let the smell of delicious food wafted out into the kitchen.

"Oh my god." Amara murmured, both girls seemed to lean up to peer into the bag as Lucas stood there with a smirk.

"Is that Chinese?" Alice asked quietly, leaning her forearms on the counter to lean forward. "Did you get-"

"Spring rolls?" Lucas replied, reaching in and pulling out a tub. "For you? Of course..." He teased, sliding the tub over to Alice who grinned happily and thanked him.

"And did you get some-" Amara began but Lucas already had slid a tub over to her with a knowing smirk. "Ugh, you're such a king." She complimented, already smelling her favourite dish.

"Honestly." Alice agreed, peeling the tub over and digging in. Lucas smiled, retrieving his own from the bag before glancing between the girls, feeling a warm sensation of friendly affectionate feelings towards them grow inside his chest... however, his eyes lingered on Alice for just a moment longer before he looked away and dug in...

Once the food was finished Alice and Amara retreated upstairs to get ready for that evening, taking a bottle of champagne with them to sip on whilst they each showered, brushed their teeth, did their hair, and make up before choosing their outfits. They listened to nineties classics whilst they got dressed, with Lucas joining them half way through to offer to take pictures or videos for their social media's of them dancing to the music.

Alice was dressed in a baby pink slip, mini dress with pink platform heels that had a buckle around her ankle to match and fluffy fur over her toes. She had braided two thin plaits either side of her face, held out of her face with flowery clips and left the majority of her hair un-styled. Her lips were lined with soft pink colours, and only wore mascara with some lashes and her usual foundation and blusher. She posed playfully for pictures Lucas took as Amara finished up her look, singing along to Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison whilst applying a deep brown lip liner to her full, oval shaped lips, dressed in two piece black set, dressed up with flashy accessories and her hair in big pig tails with large flower clips. "You guys look great," Lucas complimented, now lounging on Alice's bed, dressed in rolled up faded jeans to reveal his ankles, a baggy, colourful sweatshirt accessorised with a chain and some old tennis shoes.

Amara turned to look at him, and stared at him in silence. "That.. that is the best you could do?" She asked, sounding unamused as Alice giggled and sipped the last of her wine and put on a diamond choker. Lucas grinned and stood up, giving her a slow spin.

"You don't think it's authentic?" He asked, reaching up to move some of his curls out of his eyes as he grinned. He knew he looked good with little effort, and he chuckled as Amara continued to look unamused.

"If-" she began but turned back around to finish her make up, deciding her threat was going to fall on deaf ears since she almost saw Lucas's ego double. He dusted his chest off subconsciously, glancing over towards Alice who was looking down at her phone, turning off her notifications once she'd posted a photo of herself and Amara dressed up on her socials. She didn't notice Lucas move over to her until he was right next to her, the sudden soft smell of his cologne invading her nose suddenly.

"I like this one." He said quietly, motioning to the photo she'd posted that had comments and likes rolling in immediately.

"Mm." Alice hummed, her gaze looking over his face gradually, the movement of her eyes slightly unsubtle since he was stood quite close to her. "You smell nice,"  she complimented softly, lifting her wine glass to her lips and taking a sip of the scarce liquid.

"Come a little closer, I'll smell better." He murmured with a flirtatious smirk and Alice released a breath of amused air out of her nose.

"Go away." She smirked, rolling her eyes then looking at him through her lashes. He smiled and moved around her, pouring himself a drink after taking her glass out of her hands to use it before going to sit back down on her bed and lounge against her pillows, listening to the music as Alice used Amara's glass to pour another drink for herself and dance a little on her own...

* * *

It was just passing eight thirty when the trio had made their way across Oxford parks and towards the address Meredith had sent Alice the night before. "I feel like we're late." Amara murmured, seeing as that there was no music as they walked up to the house. "When were we meant to be here?"

"Eight thirty." Alice replied, feeling a little bit beyond tipsy. "Maybe. I think." She added, holding Amara's hand as they walked across the gravel in their heels and Lucas walked carefully behind them, side glancing the shadows and then looking up at the tall town house a little suspiciously. He had a strange feeling in his chest, and hummed quietly to himself as Alice knocked on the front door and made a weird noise.

"What?" Lucas asked,

"What if it's like formal... like... really friend-friend everyone knows each other type thing and we're just stood off to the side being quiet." Alice replied, looking back at him as he stood on the step below her and yet, still managed to be taller. Even when she was in heels.

"Don't say that. I fucking hate shit like- hey!" Amara began but stopped to beam suddenly as the door opened and Meredith hurried them inside before shutting it quickly. She was dressed in a simple black dress and had a large velvet headband holding her hair back with some pearls around her neck, Alice tried to get the reference but struggled to see it before Meredith hugged her.

"Thank you so much for coming, Oh my god! We're all having drinks in the kitchen just faffing around waiting for the birthday boy to get here which should be like any minute." She blurted in a hurry, ushering them inside the kitchen through a closed door on the left of the foyer...

There was music softly playing, and it was almost too quiet to be heard over the sounds of people talking and enjoying the bottles of champagne that had been laid out on the island in ten centre of the kitchen. "Help yourselves to any drinks," Meredith beamed, "I would introduce you to everyone but I'm on cake duty."

"Oh," Alice replied lightly, watching as Meredith hurried off and into a room behind a door in the kitchen. The three were left standing where they'd come in, glancing around the room of people in tight knit talking groups and realising this was what Alice has predicted outside. "Great." She whispered as Amara inhaled deeply and Lucas stood quietly, earning some glances already.

"I thought this was going to be a house party." Lucas said quietly, leaning down a little to speak closer to Alice's ear as they moved further into the room and poured themselves a drink.

"I'm way too tipsy to be stood here quietly." Amara mumbled, wondering if she should drink any more or wait till her buzz had worn off. Alice swallowed and licked her lips, placing her purse on the counter top and evaluating if they should just leave.

"At least we didn't get the theme wrong." Lucas then said, chuckling quietly as he caught the eye of a couple of girls stood across the counter dressed in similar outfits to Meredith. Lucas smiled politely, causing one of them to look interested before excusing herself to come over. "Oops." He murmured, edging closer to his friends as the girl approached...

"Hi," she smiled, her well spoken British accent catching both Amara and Alice's attention as they turned to see who had approached. "I'm Emma, I haven't seen any of you around before..." she began, trailing off and looking expectant. "I saw Meredith brought you in." She promoted.

"Oh, yeah I'm her mentee from our course." Alice replied as Lucas looked at her for her to take the reigns. "She invited us last week." She added just to clarify they didn't wander in off the street.

"Right." Emma mused, looking at Lucas again.

"I'm Amara. This is Alice and Lucas." Amara introduced, smiling politely as she felt her buzz wearing off faster than she hoped it would.

"Nice to meet you." Emma replied, "You don't mind if I don't shake your hands, do you? PTSD and all that." She added and the trio nodded and hummed in understanding. "Well. Enjoy the party." She then said and walked away, but not without looking over and up at Lucas again who simple stared back.

"Party?" Amara asked rhetorically in a whisper and widened her eyes.

"Hopefully it livens up once her boyfriend gets here or we can just leave after the cake." Alice replied, sipping her drink as the trio seemed to huddle together and talk amongst themselves whilst gradually moving towards the back of the kitchen as a few others arrived over the next half hour...

The event itself had almost slipped into a state of limbo as everyone waited for the guest of honour to arrive... but suddenly, someone burst into the kitchen, and told everyone to be quiet because he was here. Alice recognised him as the guy she'd seen in the library, and hummed to herself as she sipped her drink and heard a round of shushes and shut ups as they all heard a front door close and some voices.

"Why am I nervous?" Amara whispered and Alice stifled a giggle and shushed her. She was nestled between Lucas and Amara, with her back against the counter, across the kitchen from the door, off at an angle so she wasn't directly facing it but she could see it clearly... the voices talking grew a little clearer as the room finally became very quiet and Alice watched the door open...

"SURPRISE!" The room shouted, and Alice only managed half the word before she felt her body freeze and the air in her lungs skid to a stop. She dropped to the floor suddenly, hiding behind the counter as Magnus glanced around the room, not feeling surprised since Meredith had been hinting that he had a party coming all week. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Magnus... happy birthday to you...!" The room sang as Meredith walked out of the room behind the kitchen with a cake with all its twenty one candles lit.

"Oh my god." Amara murmured, unable to stop the surprised laughter as Lucas just stared with his eyes wide and a disbelieving smile. Both of them knew exactly who Magnus was and what he looked like, and couldn't believe all this time... this had been the boyfriend. "Oh no." Amara then murmured as the real reality seeped in and she glanced down at Alice who was crouched on the floor looking like she'd seen the grim reaper himself. She looked pale and in shock, and quickly drank the rest of her drink as there was a pause in the room as Magnus blew out the candles.

"... Uh... Thank you." He then said, and his deep voice sent chills down Alice's spine and she felt like she couldn't breathe. He was right there... a few metres or so away from her. She'd pictured seeing him again for so long but now that he was right there she couldn't bare to look.

"So cute. A man of few words." Meredith smiled, and there was some laughter and little patters of applause from who Alice now figured where all his friends. She was crossing a line, or at least she felt like she was even if she hadn't meant to. Her heart raced and her mind overlapped with several thoughts at once, all of them ranting about each fact she was now aware of. Magnus was here, still, but he was in an almost long term relationship with her mentor. All those things Meredith had told her about her boyfriend had been about Magnus, and all that advice she'd given had been for their relationship. She felt sick and dizzy and strangely calm all at once and gasped as Lucas crouched down next to her.

"Would you like to leave?" He asked, his calm voice seeming to soothe her nerves. She nodded, afraid to stand back up and considered crawling out the room through the back door, which she was about to do until Lucas took her bicep and brought her to stand back up. "He left to go change." He informed Alice, who had zoned out through the whole extremely short thank you speech he'd given and Meredith's gushing about his birthday actually being tomorrow but she wanted to celebrate today so everyone could recover from their hangovers on a Sunday.

"Let's go, quickly." She breathed, feeling as if she wanted to cry and laugh all at the same time. Amara was about to lead the way, but it was blocked by Meredith walking over to them.

"I-... Are you okay?" She asked, looking concerned as if she was about to talk about something else but then saw the look on Alice's face. Alice stared at her for a moment as her friends hovered behind for a moment.

"I'm fine, just- got some mascara in my eye. Is there a bathroom I could use?" Alice asked, her quick excuse causing Meredith to exhale,

"Yeah just in the foyer next to the stairs." she replied, smiling as Alice thanked her and moved past. She wanted Alice to see who her boyfriend was, and was expecting some sort of response but hadn't gotten one when she had come over, her sightly annoyed smile lingered on her lips as Lucas furrowed his eyebrows for a second and hummed, wondering to himself if Amara had noticed too. They hesitated fora moment before deciding to move past Meredith also, heading after Alice who had made her way out of the kitchen and hurried across the foyer towards the front door...

Just as she was about to open it to leave, she suddenly heard familiar voices descending down the stairs and felt herself gasp and turned, panicking for a moment for where to hide before hurrying towards the door beside the stairs and slipping inside, unable to close it so that it didn't bring attention to her. "She just wants to show off, I already said I didn't want a party now I have to deal with all these people in my fuckin' house." Magnus spat, evidently irritated as Alice pressed her back up against the door.

"I said that, but she didn't want to listen to me." Charlie's voice murmured and Alice exhaled, feeling tense and out of place as she listened to them hesitate on the stairs that were directly above her head. "Listen... she's just obsessed with you man, she wants to please you and doesn't get it. Take it as a compliment... enjoy the night. A party is a party, I can organise for some other people to come if you think this isn't enough." Charlie reasoned and there was a silence.

"Yeah, do that." Magnus murmured, his voice a little muffled even though he was standing directly above where Alice was hiding in the bathroom under the stairs. She yearned to peer out to see his face but refrained from moving so that she didn't make any noise because she was sure he would hear it. "Who are you?" he then asked, and Alice felt herself tense up suddenly.

"I'm sorry?" Lucas's voice replied and Alice wanted to simply vanish.

"This is a private party, man." Charlie said sounding defensive and Alice heard a few footsteps travel down more steps.

"Yeah I know, Meredith Th-something invited us." Lucas replied in a calm voice. He wasn't phased by much, and Alice had learnt over the years that it took a lot to really spike Lucas's temper.

"So she's just been inviting fucking anybody." Magnus spat, his heavy footsteps descending further down the stairs so that he wasn't stood above where Alice was. "No offence." Magnus added as he passed Lucas, the slight sneer in his tone caused Lucas to smile politely.

"None taken. Happy birthday." He replied and Magnus hummed in a low tone before walking back into the kitchen... Charlie lingered in the foyer, looking over Lucas and Amara with suspicion in his eyes... he'd seen them somewhere before and couldn't quite pin point it in the time that it took him to walk from the bottom of the stairs to the kitchen door... he hummed too, giving them one last look before disappearing out of sight.

When it had closed Amara seemed to exhale heavily. "I almost peed." She whispered and Lucas chuckled, "He's actually scary, oh my god."

"He's not that bad." Lucas replied,

"You say that because you didn't have to look up." Amara spat quietly just as Alice appeared from where she was hiding and released a heavy breath. "I kinda get it..." She murmured as Alice beckoned them over. "I'd act like a maid too." she said seriously then laughed loudly, before gasping as Alice yanked her into the bathroom and Lucas followed, closing the door behind them.

"So are we just going to hide out in here till the party finishes or should we run now?" Lucas asked, amusement in his tone.

"I think we should run." Alice breathed, patting her hair down nervously. "Ugh, my anxiety right now."

"Just breathe." Lucas murmured, "And I don't see why you should leave, you were invited and you didn't know it was his party." he continued, "Stay, have a few drinks, why not. It's Saturday."

"I had a few drinks and look at me now." Alice hissed and lifted her hand to show that it was trembling. Lucas took both her hands and squeezed them gently as Amara smiled sympathetically,

"Let's just chill in here for a minute." Amara breathed, deciding to lean against the sink. Lucas was more of the physically affectionate friend, whereas Alice and Amara weren't the type to hug, cuddle or comfort each other in the same way like Lucas did with both of them.

"I'm being pathetic right now, I don't know why I'm freaking out like... I wanted to see him, didn't I? I asked the universe for this and of course she throws it in my face." Alice vented, taking a deep breath to calm herself down as she continued to hold Lucas's hands tightly.

"She really fucking... smacked you with it." Amara laughed quietly and Alice smiled. "Like right on the nose to make it really hurt, like here bitch stop bugging me."

"It feels exactly like that." Alice giggled, feeling her heart rate slowing as she talked with her friends for a few more minutes. "Did they say they were inviting more people?" she then asked as Lucas moved around her to sit down on the toilet, he murmured for her to sit down and she did, taking his hand again since the sensation was comforting.

"Um, the one with the shaggy hair did. Not Magnus." Amara replied.

"That was Charlie," Alice informed her, "He's from back home, I mean- Summerland, too."

"What do you think they'll say when they see you?" Lucas asked, having known everything about Alice's past when she'd shared with him last summer. It didn't seem to surprise him like it did with Amara and she'd put a mental pin in that for later but seemed to never get round to asking him why.

"I don't know." Alice mumbled, "I think Magnus will be fucked off because literally the last thing he called me was a bitch and I haven't seen him since I doubt he knows I heard. On top of the fact we work with his mom who he hasn't spoken to in nearly two years... and well... you guys remember what happened that involved Charlie." she explained, and then heavily sighed again. "Yeah, I shouldn't be here." she then said, going to get up but stopped. "But then... He's right there."

"It's up to you, haricot." Lucas replied, shrugging a little as Alice bit her lip. The nickname meant bean in french and Alice smiled a little.

"Okay you know what? I'm going to stay, if I leave I will just obsess about how I didn't stay." Alice breathed, glancing between her friends to see if she could see what they were thinking, but both gave her an encouraging smile. "Is it alright if we stay?"

"Oh my god, yes. I love drama, you know that." Amara replied and Alice laughed softly, then looked towards Lucas.

"Whatever you need me to do." He smiled, now looking towards the door as the party seemed to be livening up on the other side as they were speaking. It sounded like more people were arriving, and Alice breathed another and hopefully final sigh of relief at how it would be easier for her to hide until she was ready. They lingered for a few more minutes as Lucas produced a flask from his pocket and passed it between them, throwing back the spirit until the music outside was starting to get progressively louder and the sound of voices talking all blurring together wafted in underneath the door.

On the other side Meredith looked around a little confused, unable to find Magnus in the sea of people that had started to arrive at the sound of a party being thrown, considering throughout the city and students resided nearly everywhere, word had spread fast about the event. No one seemed to care that it was a birthday party that they had evidently not been invited to, for the main festivities were over with, the cake had been cut, and Charlie had taken over Meredith's careful event planning and thrown it to one side.

A friend of Jae's had arrived and unplugged Meredith's playlist and instead plugged in her portable DJ decks that was about the size of a pizza box along with some software on her phone and began to play a mix of songs from the 90s and 2000s. The sound of Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake began to flow throughout the house, and not long after it felt safe enough for the trio to leave the safety of the bathroom.

The lights had been dimmed or turned off altogether so that it now wasn't so easy to see who was who. In the living room most of the furniture had been quickly pushed out of the way to make space for a dance floor, and already people had gathered to enjoy the music. "Drinks?" Lucas called to Alice and Amara over the music and the two of them nodded. "Wait here." He then said, placing his hand out before heading towards the kitchen.

Alice felt exposed again, and folded her arms as she breathed carefully, glancing around her as she imagined where Magnus would be in that moment whilst Lucas entered the kitchen where the music was a little muffled and saw Magnus and Charlie pouring some shots with two more of his friends he didn't recognise. He didn't say anything as he grabbed some paper cups and helped himself to the drink selection...

He had caught Magnus's eye, and was now being watched by him... Lucas glanced up, meeting his gaze and stared back for a moment. "So how do you now Meredith?" Magnus asked, his tone blunt as Charlie looked up and over also, subconsciously mirroring Magnus's slightly hostile, blank expression.

"I don't." Lucas replied, screwing the lid back on the vodka bottle. "She invited my housemate, and my housemate brought me."

"Who is your housemate?" Magnus asked and Lucas parted his lips and hesitated for a moment. He was confused at why Magnus was being so defensive about who was invited into his house, but in a way he understood it.

"She's Meredith's Mentee..." Lucas began, "Alice." He then said, licking his lips and placing his palms on the counter, wondering if Magnus would make a connection and know that he meant Alice, but then again, why would he? He didn't know Alice was here, he assumed.

"What did you say her name was?" Magnus asked and Charlie began to choke on a shot he'd just turned away to take. Otto furrowed his eyebrows and lent forward to slap Charlie's back...

"Uh... Alice?" Lucas replied and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Alice?" Magnus asked again and Lucas simply stared at him, putting forward the impression that he was confused as to why Magnus was cross questioning him.

"Wait I know where I've seen you," Jae said randomly, who had been staring at Lucas intently since he'd walked in. "You're that French politicians son, the one that has been in the news lately about the weapons budgets." He continued and Lucas shifted on his feet. "And your mom is that actress, right?"

"She's a model actually," Lucas corrected. He was met with a collective silence and inhaled deeply. His father was problematic, and was usually in the news for things he'd said or done that people found disgraceful... that backlash always seemed to rub off on Lucas and had been rubbing off on Lucas since he'd been reluctantly thrown into the public eye when he had just turned into a teenager. But Julia somehow saw Lucas's father as useful, and had put him and his family into her pocket ever since Alice mentioned that they were friends. But he didn't mind, he believed in the cause and would stand by that if questioned but so far not many people, who weren't supposed to, knew about Julia's greater plan that was just getting started...

"I should get back." He murmured, picking up the three paper cups effortlessly with one hand and turned away to leave, feeling their eyes on his back as he left. Magnus continued to stare at the door, wondering why he got the feeling that something was off.

"Who did you say that guy was?"

"That french politicians son. The one whose obsessed with France spending more money on war preparations." Jae replied, "You know, the guy who has the super hot wife who Donald Trump tried to kiss on the lips at that summit in Paris."

"Yeah, okay." Magnus's replied, remembering seeing the news headlines and the videos online. "What the fuck is he doing here then?"

"Don't know." Jae shrugged, "So are we going to do these shots then?" He asked, clapping his hands together and rubbing them. "Meredith spilled that she brought some girl here to meet me so I gotta be on top of my game." He grinned as Otto laughed and offered to do the shots with him as Charlie stared into space quietly.

The mention of Alice's name seemed to trigger him in more ways than one, and he had flashbacks to watching his friends be murdered in front of him because Noah had been under Alice's influence. She got in my head, she got in my head! Suddenly was all Charlie could hear before Magnus's hand on his shoulder broke him out it. "What?" He asked and glanced around him, seeing the rest of the boys looking at him.

"On three," Otto said again, holding up his shot glass filled with a clear liquid.

"Right." Charlie murmured, reaching for a shot glass in front of him as Magnus watched him for a moment, knowing something was up just by the way Charlie had pushed forward a smile...

~
11:14 PM

It was well into the evening by now, and the sky was clear of clouds so that the stars in the sky were on show. The party could be heard from down the street, even as groups of students walked excitedly from all directions to join the fun. The house was already packed, with bodies nearly pressed against the windows as they danced to the sound of Informer by Snow that pulsed from the speakers.

Alice and Amara were in and amongst the crowd in the living room, singing along enthusiastically as they danced, both of their senses muffled from their level of intoxication that seemed to match everyone's around them. She'd almost forgotten about what she had been worried about earlier, even though she had managed to avoid being spotted by the necessary parties by periodically covering her face when she thought they had gotten near, only for it to be someone else.

So far, neither Magnus or Charlie has stepped foot in the living room to dance to the music like his other friends were. They were lingering outside, a cloud of smoke seeming to waft up around them as they smoked thick white roll ups. "You smoke a lot." Meredith murmured, having had a few drinks herself and could feel her head buzzing as she glanced around, seeing the amount of people surrounding them, even though there were less outside than inside.

"Shut up." Magnus's muttered, catching Meredith's attention.

"What?" She asked, having not heard him.

"I said, so what?" He replied, turning his head to look at her with an intense stare. Charlie glanced between them and stayed quiet. "Where are your friends?" He then asked.

"Inside, I think." Meredith replied, sitting next to Magnus closely as they sat together on the outside chairs that were positioned around a table with a closed umbrella. "Can I try it?" She asked, looking at the spliff between Magnus's fingers.

He passed it to her, and watched as she took a long toke and tried to hold in the cough before she handing it back. Charlie stifled a laugh as he smoked his own, taking a deep toke then exhaling the smoke through his nose. They watched the party unfold around them, seeing some come outside to smoke, others gathering in shadowed corners to fool around, some taking a break to get some fresh air. "Do you think it'll be shut down by police?" Charlie asked, aware of how loud the party was.

"Probably." Magnus murmured before blowing rings. Meredith watched him, her gaze a mixture between adoration and disappointed. She wanted to go inside and dance like her other friends were doing with their prospective dates, and she would head off on her own if she felt confident that Magnus wouldn't wander off to pay attention to some of the girls he'd been glancing over whilst sat with her. She wondered if he noticed he was doing it, and tried not to take offence since it was only natural to find other people than your partner attractive. Her mind drifted to Lucas, and the reaction her body had when she'd first seen him. She felt herself blush then a wave of guilt suddenly follow and hummed quietly... moments before she started laughing.

Both Charlie and Magnus glanced towards her, seeing the uncontrollable giggles begin, which was one of the side effects that could possibly happen when smoking. Neither of them said anything as Meredith apologised for her giggles, although Magnus offered her more of his own spliff to see what would happen. She took it and took a toke enthusiastically, before laughing again.

In the background the sound of Crazy In Love had groups of people hurrying back inside, and Charlie began to dance in his chair as his spliff hung on the edge of his lips. Magnus chuckled, reaching for his drink to take a sip before glancing back around at the scene around him...

... At the same time, Amara and Alice shouted the lyrics along with everyone else in the room, dancing with a new level of energy as the song boomed from the speakers. Lucas made his way back into the living room, saying excuse me's as loud as he could whilst he nudged dancers out the way to find where he'd left his friends. He held the drinks he'd gotten them high above people's heads to avoid spilling them, and caught sight of Alice's blonde hair after a few minutes and made his way over.

He placed his hand on her hip, squeezing gently to catch her attention and she turned, looking angry for a second only to realise it was him. "Here," he said, passing her the drink even though she couldn't really hear him. She danced as she drank, not noticing Lucas struggling to get Amara's attention as she began dancing with a guy who seemed to sneak up to dance with her.

Jae watched as Otto began to spin a girl around, his seamless advance to dance with her catching her by happy surprise. His gaze landed on a girl with long blonde hair and felt a sense of recognition wash over him. He threw the rest of his drink back and reached forward to touch her back, causing her to turn around with surprise. "Hey, you're the girl from the library right?" he smiled and Alice smiled too but lifted her hand to her ear to motion that she couldn't hear him. "Do you recognise me? In the library." He said loudly, speaking over the music and leaning closer to her so she could hear him.

Lucas was stood close behind Alice, and heard the question and smirked to himself thinking it was a brave thing to ask considering Alice was intoxicated and might not have. Lucas saw her hesitate, and kept his hand on her hip, still stood behind her, as he sipped his drink...

Alice leant back to look at Jae properly in the low lighting, her blurred vision not helping her memory as she suddenly realised how drunk she was. "Uh-" Alice murmured. "Yes! I remember," she lied, hoping it would come back to her soon.

"Can I get you a drink?" He offered, leaning down to speak to her again as Alice listened as carefully as she could.

"Sure!" She replied, already knowing she'd give her drink to someone else since she'd past her usual limit a while ago. Jae motioned for her to follow, and Alice did but not before turning to motion for Lucas to follow her. He stuck close, giving her a brief nod that he'd stay with her as Alice followed Jae outside and towards a make-shift bar that had been set up with bottles and paper cups covering the surface...

As Jae talked with Alice, getting to know her as best he could in the situation they were in with light questions and playful jokes, Lucas lingered at her side, glancing around for a few seconds before he dug into his pocket and pulled out a packet of french cigarettes that were thin, long and white. He lit it and nudged Alice, offering her the packet as she paused mid-answer for a question about her course. "Thank you, and it's a lot like we have so much work to do already because it's so scientific. You know?" She replied, speaking smoothly even though her body language made it obvious she was drunk.

"You don't look like a scientist." Jae replied with a smirk and Alice smiled but tilted her head,

"I left my glasses and lab coat at home actually," she joked and Jae laughed, aware he'd said something that could be taken offensively but it appeared Alice decided not to think much of it. She put the drink she'd barely touched down and placed a cigarette between her lips and lit it after Lucas offered her the lighter.

"So you smoke?" Jae asked as Alice inhaled then exhaled, and shook her head. "No?" He laughed, glancing at Lucas who was watching him then smiled. He hadn't said anything or tried to join in on the conversation, and Jae began to quietly wonder if they were a thing or not.

"Only socially," Alice replied, "How 'bout you?" She asked.

"Oh, no." Jae shrugged, "At least I don't smoke those cancer sticks," he continued and Lucas raised his eyebrows and laughed quietly. "What?"

"Nothing." Lucas replied with a smirk, and hesitated as he blew out some smoke. "I've just never heard someone say it out loud like that before." He added as Alice giggled softly...

From across the outside area Magnus had just sat back  down after getting some snacks from the kitchen. Charlie was digging in to his own from across the table, and Meredith had wandered off to find her friends. They were a few more shots in, and Magnus could feel his head spinning just a little as the alcohol crept through his blood stream. His gaze scanned the party outside, seeing the little cliques huddling together to smoke or just simply talk or laugh loudly... after a few moments his eyes landed on the back of Jae's face, seeing him talking with a girl with a certain look on his face. "Is that the girl Meredith brought to meet Jae?" Magnus asked, seeing the long blonde hair and the short baby pink dress. His eyes scanned over her legs and the heels she was wearing and raised his eyebrows a little in approval.

The barriers he put up when entirely sober had broken down slightly, and the sensation of seeing someone of his actual type evoked a warm feeling across his body as he continued to stare. Charlie glanced over and followed his gaze after seeing the look on Magnus's face... "Jesus... will you look at those legs?" Charlie blurted without thinking.

"I've been looking." Magnus murmured, before deciding to dust his hands off and stand up.

"Where are you going?" Charlie asked, seeing movement and looking over.

"To introduce myself." Magnus smirked,

"Hey wait a minute," Charlie rushed, "Your girlfriend is literally on the same property as you." He added in an amused tone and Magnus chuckled darkly.

"What is she going to do, break up with me?" He replied and smoothed his hand across his hair and down his white t-shirt... at the same moment Lucas's gaze focussed on Magnus just by chance, and he felt his eyes widen slightly.

"Uh, Alice? You've got to go," he murmured as Jae turned away to throw his beer can into a designated bin.

"What?" She asked, her cigarette still poised between her index and middle finger as she folded her other arm across her body.

"I'm dead serious. Magnus is walking over here right now. Unless you want to talk to him in the next ten... nine... eight..." he began, whispering Magnus's name loud enough for Alice to hear. He was getting closer and closer as Alice hesitated for only a second to realise Lucas wasn't joking with his count down. She wasn't ready to speak to Magnus let alone look him in the eyes, and she could almost feel the hairs on her neck beginning to stand on end as if they knew he was getting close... She didn't turn around, but instead dropped her cigarette, stepped on it then walked off, heading back into the house with her heart just starting to race only moments before Magnus walked up...

"Hm." He hummed, feeling a sudden sensation of nostalgia as he smelt a familiar scent of perfume almost left behind in Alice's wake. "Where'd your friend run off to?" He asked looking in the direction she'd just gone before turning his gaze to Lucas whilst Jae turned back around. He'd closed in from behind so he hadn't seen the face of the blonde who had caught his attention, but maybe if he had been sober he would've put the pieces together in that moment...

"To pee, I guess." Lucas replied quietly, inhaling on his cigarette and holding the eye contact. Jae looked confused and looked around himself, wondering where Alice had vanished to so quickly...

"Where'd she go?" He asked, feeling disappointed since they'd been getting along so well.

"To pee... apparently." Magnus replied, looking back at Lucas and glancing him over, his top lip raising just a little at the top. He wasn't sure why he didn't like him, but there was something about the energy he radiated that caused the void growl in that back of his mind...

Inside the house Alice found Amara again, who had been dancing with this same guy the whole time and hadn't noticed the others had left. "Oh my god, my love, let me introduce you-" Amara beamed as Alice glanced towards the door and then looked at Amara and smiled. "Bean, this is Otto, Otto this Alice."

"Bean?" Otto laughed, uninterested in meeting Amara's friends but he thought the nickname was strange.

"We all call each other bean." Alice replied, smiling politely at him before she glanced around herself again. The music was still thumping around her loudly, and they'd only just heard what the other said in a momentary pause between songs. The sound of Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship began and there was a round of cheers as Amara suddenly stopped dancing and stared vacantly. Otto laughed, about to ask her if she wanted a drink but Amara spoke instead.

"Time to pee." She decided abruptly, grabbing Alice's hand and walking off, pushing her way through the crowd all enthusiastically singing song to the music. They made their way up the stairs this time, wanting to use a bathroom where it was a little quieter. "That guy is so cute." Amara sighed as they tried the handle on a door and checked inside, seeing the bathroom was in fact empty.

"He is very cute." Alice agreed, "he looked like he liked you." She teased as she glanced out the door and then shut it, turning the lock after.

"Meh." Amara shrugged as she hitched up her skirt and sat down. "Boy's bathrooms are so interesting." She continued, looking at the toiletries in the shower.

"How do you know it's a boys bathroom?" Alice asked, walking further in and sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Her ears were ringing and she began to realise how much she had drunk in that moment and hummed quietly.

"Otto shares this house with his friends. There's like four of them? I think. I was reading his lips because I could barely hear him. We need to get some speakers like that." Amara replied and Alice agreed with another hum. "Do you need to pee before I flush?"

"Yeah." Alice mumbled, and Amara got up to wash her hands as Alice sat down. "I saw Magnus outside. Well, he saw me, kind of, actually. He was literally walking over and Lucas was like he's gonna get here in ten... nine... eight..."

"Wait, he saw you kind of? What does that mean?" Amara asked as she checked her make up when pouted in the mirror and admired her face.

"He saw me from behind and was coming over... I think." Alice replied simply and finished up before flushing the toilet. She washed her hands as Amara laughed. "What?"

"Those thighs still caught his attention I see." Amara smirked, and Alice laughed softly.

"I doubt it." She smiled and dried her hands... "Can we just sit down for a second before we go back I'm feeling lightheaded as fuck." Alice breathed and sat down on the edge of the bathtub again.

"Oh my god, me too, but I didn't wanna say anything and seem like a lightweight," Amara laughed and Alice smiled happily, patting the space next to her before Amara sat down.

... At the same time downstairs Magnus made his way into the living room from outdoors, seeing the clock on the wall adjacent to the door just striking midnight. He stared at it for a moment, taking a deep breath. The DJ announced that she was changing the genre of music to classic dance songs and there were a round of cheers as Right Here, Right Now by Fatboy Slim began to pulse through the house.

He spotted his friends close to the edge of the room and edged through the crowd of dancing drunk people to get to them, only to be stopped as a girl through her arms around his neck. He stopped with surprise although he didn't show it on his face, looking down to see Meredith looking flustered and drunk. "It's midnight! Happy birthday!" She cooed, leaning up on her toes to kiss him. He let her, and moved his lips with hers for a second or two before pulling away, placing his hands on her body to push her back just a little. "I need- I want to talk to you about something. I need to tell you something." She slurred, grasping at his t-shirt then smoothing down the creases she'd just made.

"What is it?" He asked, seeing his friends glancing over then turning their heads away slightly since they were amused by Meredith's drunk behaviour. They'd been watching her dance and shake her short hair around, evidently having done a collection of shots with her friends who seemed to be watching her with amused shock too.

"Can... can we go somewhere quieter?" She asked, smoothing her fringe down and looking up at him. He nodded, and they made their way out of the living room and into the foyer, moving across it and up the stairs. They made it to Magnus's room, which only took a minute or so since they'd left the living room... they'd passed the bathroom Alice and Amara were currently talking in, having heard their voices but with the music still blaring on the lower floor couldn't hear what exactly was being said.

"What did you want to say?" Magnus asked, leaving the bedroom door open as Meredith walked further in and then turned to look at him, realising he wasn't following her inside and walked the few steps back. She lent up to kiss him again, cupping his cheeks as the affection poured from her mouth and wanted to enter his but seemed to hit a barrier. He put his hands on her arms and took her hands off his face and lent his head back. "Meredith." He murmured.

"Why don't you want to kiss me?" She asked, her voice quiet.

"You wanted to tell me something or did you lie just now?" Magnus replied, still holding her wrists. She looked at each of his eyes and felt her body warm with affection just by looking at his face. She wanted to melt, as if his looks were enough to make her trip over her heels and fall.

"I love you." She breathed and Magnus stared at her blankly. "I love you... I love you so much, it's like I can't even breathe." She whispered and exhaled a little shakily. "I want us to work, I want us to be great together, I think we could be so great together if you would just let your walls down."

"My walls?" Magnus asked, holding the blank stare.

"Your walls. Otto let it slip once that some girl back home broke your heart. I'm not that girl... I won't hurt you like she did. I want to love you, I do love you, but I want you to love me. Like truly love me too but you need to let yourself do that." Meredith said, pulling her wrists from his grip and placing her palms on his chest. She hadn't seen that Magnus's face had turned to stone now, and that his lip had twitched at the thought that his past relationship had been spoken about without his permission. He'd kept it quiet for a reason, he wanted to forget but at the same time he was protective over those memories, and now those thoughts of Alice he'd been pushing to one side came flooding right back. "Magnus? Did you hear what I said?" Meredith asked, reaching up to touch his face again.

"Get off me." He snapped, jerking his head away and walking around her and further into the room and breathing carefully and deeply. Meredith stared where he had just been for a second before turning around to look at the back of his head.

"I just told you that I loved you," she said quietly, sharing in disbelief.

"Why were you talking about me with Otto?" He demanded, turning around to look at her and trying to keep his expression neutral. Meredith looked a little lost for words for a second as the look in his eyes screamed anger.

"Are you angry with me?" She asked.

"Answer the fucking question, Meredith." Magnus snapped,

"I don't know, I can't remember!" She gasped, having never seen him so agitated and had dropped her arms to her sides. "Why does it bother you so much?"

"My past relationships are none of your fucking business, do you understand that?" Magnus spat, taking a step towards her. "Stop talking about me with my friends, get a god damn hobby and quit following me around!" He shouted, pointing his finger at her face. "You have your own friends don't you? Why don't you go fucking talk to them!"

"Magnus?!" Meredith gasped, feeling her eyes watering. "God, you're such a bastard!" She shouted, her intoxication allowing her mouth to move without her thinking too much about it. "If you're so upset about me asking about your ex girlfriend, why don't you just run back to her and let her walk all over you again, because you know what?! Maybe you fucking deserve it!"

She walked off before Magnus could even react, slamming the door after her as he released a quick unamused laugh and sat down on his bed, releasing a sharp and heavy sigh. At the same moment as Meredith hurried down the stairs fighting off her tears, Charlie and Otto climbed them looking surprised as they watched her speed past. "The hell happened?" Otto asked, furrowing his eyebrows as Charlie sighed.

"Watch her be back apologising for something tomorrow." He muttered with a short laugh, wondering what had happened or what had been said whilst hearing a door open as they stepped up onto the second floor landing whilst the sound of Yeah Yeah by Bodyrox echoed loudly from downstairs...

"I love this song-" Alice began, her voice catching Charlie's attention as they both turned around. Their eyes met, and Alice freezes as Charlie stared is disbelief. He blinked, wondering if the alcohol and pill he'd taken earlier during the party were tripping him out or Alice Murphy was actually stood in front of him. "Fuck." Alice hissed quietly as Amara stood behind her, seeing this guy just staring in complete disbelief.

"Hey, you're that girl from the advert." Otto said, seeing Alice in proper light now. "That's sick," he chuckled with a smile, not noticing how Charlie face seemed to harden and anger. He hadn't seen her for a long time, even after the whole ordeal with his friends, and the sight of her face triggered an onslaught of emotions he'd been burying beneath his usual playful exterior. "Good morning Alice-" Otto began to mimic the sound of M's artificial voice from her commercial seconds before Charlie launched himself across the landing, moving so fast Alice didn't react in time before he'd slammed her in the wall.

All he saw was red, and the sound of Noah's voice crying that she'd gotten into his head. His mind replayed the sound the knife made when it had slit Juniper's throat and sliced through Lucy's stomach, and the way it felt when Noah's body had turned limp under his grip. "Ah-!" Alice cried out, scratching at his hands as her face turned purple whilst Charlie squeezed her throat, the drug he'd taken now seeming to distort her face slightly and make her seem like she was the devil herself.

"CHARLIE!" Otto shouted, bursting forward to pull him off her but he was stronger than he looked. Alice struggled immensely, but was caught at such an angle she couldn't move her body much, her eyes focussed on Charlie and he looked like he wasn't even seeing her. His eyes were glazed over with fury, and she tried to speak but the intensity of his grip had cut off any sounds from being emitted. He slammed her back into the wall again, and she managed to release her arms slightly and scratch his face, causing him to lose focus for only a second so that Otto was able to pull him off her. "What the FUCK, man!" He shouted, throwing Charlie down onto the floor as Amara hurried to Alice's side, completely shocked and unable to speak since it had only been a matter of seconds.

Alice's legs shook but she stayed upright as the blood rushed back to her head, and her breaths were ragged and sharp. "Fucking prick," She spat, her voice a little rasped now.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what the fuck happened to him," Otto replied as realisation began to seep into Charlie's expression as he stayed sitting on the floor. "He sometimes takes shit that trips him out, I don't know." 

"What the fuck." Alice breathed angrily, touching her throat that felt a little tender already whilst her other fist clenched.

"Let's go." Amara said, her heart racing inside her chest as she held Alice's bicep since she looked like she was ready to fight back. "Let's just go." She continued, tugging Alice's arm and pulling her away.

"You've got some real nerve being here," Charlie spoke up, causing Alice to look back at him. He looked regretful, but the anger hadn't subsided in his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and Alice said nothing before Amara tugged her away again and descended down the stairs...

Magnus had heard the shouting and had come out of his room, walking down the stairs gradually to see Charlie sitting up properly and putting his head between his knees. "The fuck is wrong with you man?" Otto snapped quietly. "You need to stop taking shit people just hand you, what if she calls the police man? What the fuck is wrong with you."

"What happened?" Magnus asked as he stepped off the last step, his voice causing Charlie to look up.

"He just attacked this girl." Otto said, "That girl from the fucking commercial, the semi-famous one, too. Her friend saw the whole thing. He just fucking lost it." Otto ranted, his heart thudding before he sighed and tried to calm down whilst he walked a few steps away and rubbed the back of his head.

"What?" Magnus asked, feeling a strange sensation crawl over his body. "What girl?"

"Alice." Charlie murmured, carefully standing up as Magnus to came to a stop and stared at him. There was a knowing pause from Charlie as they exchanged eye contact and began to feel like the whole world had slowly come to a halt and had stopped stare at him eerily... he felt his skin turn a mixture of hot and cold and somehow already knew. He wasn't surprised,  he knew she'd come find him eventually. But the fact she's been moving through his house freely, unnoticed, quiet like some kind of poltergeist just waiting for the perfect moment to cause chaos.

Charlie hadn't slipped up once in just under two years...  until now. And by the look on his face he already knew that. Magnus said nothing, but moved with a careful quickness and brushed past them and down the stairs, making his way to the front door and yanking it open. He jogged down the drive, needing to see her with his own eyes because he almost didn't want to believe it... he couldn't believe it. He didn't know how to feel just knowing the possibility that she had been so close to him but hadn't said a word.

He stepped out into the deserted road and looked up and down, his calculated gaze searching for any sign... but the road was quiet, if you ignored the sound of the party still raging inside the house. He exhaled heavily after a few moments, unable to see her... but he could almost feel her presence and knew that he had been this whole time...

________________________
A U T H O R ' S   N O T E S:

AND ITS HEERREEEEEE THE SECOND OFFICIAL CHAPTER OMGGG. I was so excited for you guys to read this so I've been writing all week sksksk.

I'm not sure what else to say apart from just jumping to the questions I have for y'all;

1) what did you think of the opening scene?
2) what did you think of the beginning of the party scene?
3) various characters relationships? 👀
4) arguments?
5) the party scene overall?
6) the scene with Charlie and Alice?
7) the final scene?

LET ME KNOWWWW WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN THINKING, FEELING, PROCESSING, HOPING ECT ....... 💋

And also, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and have been trying to keep yourselves busy with such lockdowns and quarantines and stress. It seems mad wild that this is happening in the world rn like who would've thought this is how 2020 would start. *stares*

Anyway, please be safe, stay hygienic, wash your whole body properly, especially your hands before and after touching things, eat your vegetables if you can, drink lots of water, eat anything that has vitamin c and that is good for your immune system:

Do your star jumps, stretch, keep active even if that means jumping up and down for 15 minutes four times a day (= an hour of cardio).

We're in this together guys, please be safe and smart and helpful to not only yourself but others too.❤️

See you in the next episode:~
Lots of love sienna, xoxo
_______________________

💋Twitter: siennaisa_
🌿Instagram: siennaisa_

________________________
C O N T E X T:
There is a playlist for Magnus's bday party: ( https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5IRMf0sqtAzU6KVJepOeVu?si=APS9botZRnOv1csyIYkxRw )

It can be found on Spotify if you type in this:

Alice's outfit vibes

Amara's outfit vibes

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