"What are you three up to?"
The formidable voice of Mrs Kim was enough for the twins and Eliza to cease their steps and comply with her directive. Mrs Kim was indeed an example of the quintessential Asian parent; the one who desired knowledge of the whereabouts of her kids at all times possible. With Eliza's dad handing her responsibility over to Mrs Kim, she treated her no different. The constant fondness and affection was a positive side effect of the persistent chivvy.
"Nothing." Mia chuckled, her shoulders slumped into an untimely shrug. Max and Eliza exchanged frantic glances before plastering a comical expression on their faces. It was unsatisfactory that the twins had thrown Eliza a birthday party with people she didn't know, but she didn't need Mrs Kim to make her feel abominable about a party she had no desire to attend in the first place.
"You were all remarkably well behaved tonight. Do you want something or did you do something?" She folded her arms across her chest, her dark brown eyes surveying her three kids.
"Min Ju." Kim WooBin slid his arm around his wife who'd been patrolling them the entire benefit gala- making sure they weren't sneaking off with any boys.
"They're going home. Aren't you, kids?" Mr Kim's eyes settled on them.
"Of course." Eliza chuckled, nervously. "Straight to bed."
"We'll call you when we get home." Max flashed her mother a toothy grin. It rarely seemed to work as everyone was aware of Max's rebellious nature and her disgust for constant smiles and hugs.
"We'll be home late." Mr Kim addressed as he had to practically haul Kim Min Ju off their asses. She grunted but was soon pulled into a conversation with one of the socialites.
"I have the limousine ready outside. We need to rush to the airport. The pilot is waiting." Max whispered making sure everyone knew the main objective to avoid any loopholes in their plan.
Stealthily they began to approach the exit. The horde of guests thinned by the time they reached the last quarter of the humongous hall. Max clenched the handle of the doorknob as they held their breaths.
To their dismay, they were interjected by none other than the host.
"Max and Mia." Evelyn smiled, the corner of her lips tugging farther than necessary. She somehow seemed excited, almost merry.
"Evelyn." Max chirped, an ancient unpleasantness settling on her lips.
"And you must be Eliza." She forwarded her perfectly manicured hand.
Eliza took it, shaking for mere seconds before letting go. "Yes."
"I hope Darius is doing alright" The way she shifted her body weight from one foot to other portrayed her restlessness. This conversation was a formality so as to avoid any brusqueness. Evelyn couldn't wait to end it as much as the trio.
"Of course. Dad's been quite busy." Eliza's conventional excuse on her father's behalf worked every time he pushed her for a gala or a monotonous birthday party of a socialite.
"Good to know." She smiled. Eliza took that paltry second to notice how well her teeth sat in her gums. Her face was structured to perfection, no one would believe that she had a daughter their age; at least that's what Max and Mia claimed who seemed to despise Kimberly.
"We were just leaving." Mia finally spoke, taking a step towards the door.
"So soon?"
"Mum's orders." Max shrugged. It wasn't a lie as technically Mrs. Kim did order them to go straight home and in bed. It was their ploy to disobey and sneak out for a soirée.
"I hope you can stay for a little while longer. I have an announcement." She chirped. That explained her merriment and the joviality in her body language.
"Our limo's waiting." Mia fake-pouted, an expression which worked on almost every human being. No one could resist those puppy eyes.
"Perhaps you'll read it in the newspaper tomorrow." Evelyn's eyes crinkled at the edges as she squeezed Eliza's shoulder before making her way into the horde of her guests.
"Why would we read it in the newspaper?" Mia whispered with an expression of bewilderment as they made their way into the front yard.
Eliza's gaze followed Evelyn Hexington's feet as she dispersed into the crowd. She tried heeling on her toes to see where Evelyn went. Perhaps Eliza was more piqued by the announcement than she should've been or it was the sheer reflex of not wanting to spend a night filled with alcohol and dancing with utter strangers.
Eliza just wasn't feeling up to socialising tonight.
She lost Evelyn among the sea of guests, all she could see were well-dressed humans. The seething mass of humanity dressed in smart-casuals jostled, their conversations spilling over the soft music.
In the soft blink of an eye, she spotted a very familiar man standing near the enormous fountain amid the entrance hall. His side faced to Eliza as he seemed to be engrossed in a rather intriguing conversation.
"Liz, come on." Mia pulled on Eliza's sleeve.
"I'll be there in a second." She gestured the twins to wait before making her way over to the amicable face.
"Don't take too long," Max yelled, her voice fading over the loud chattering.
"Walter." Eliza addressed to her half-sister's baby daddy.
"I didn't know you were coming." Walter turned to face Eliza, his eyes widening as he gasped in a fake shock before enveloping her into a bear hug. She smiled beneath the fabric of his tux before pulling apart.
"What are you doing here?" Eliza pulled him at an arms-length, his hand still lingering on her waist. "Isn't there a Mets game today? I figured you'd be there."
"Yeah, well I can catch the highlights on SportsCentre, my dad wanted me to be here." He shrugged, his shoulder slumping just a tiny bit almost indistinguishably.
"Still being the obedient son, I see." Eliza reached out to pat Walter's shoulder with her free hand as he chuckled, nervously.
"Until I officially start at Brixton-Gould, I have to play nice." He spat bitterly, rolling his eyes as if it was the dumbest thing he'd had to do.
"Three hours at this gala and I'm only seeing you now." Eliza scolded, playfully.
"Cons of a humongous mansion, I suppose." Walter raked his hand through his dark hair, shifting his weight to his right leg. "You look quite frustrated for someone who's turning twenty-two tomorrow. Shouldn't you be more excited?"
"You know how Max and Mia are. Besides Mrs Kim paraded me through the entire gala introducing me to irrelevant socialites." Eliza shook her head with a chuckle, focusing on nothing in particular.
"Mrs Kim is quite a social animal." Thrusting his hands into his pockets, Walter leaned back. "You're graduating in a few months, what are your internship plans?"
"I have applied to quite a few places, fingers crossed." She pouted with a shrug, eyes glancing back to him, his chocolatey brown eyes sparkled with mirth.
"I'm sure you'll get in. If you need anything don't hold back." Walter ruffled the top of Eliza's hair, ruining her hairstyle. She smacked his hand away as he chuckled with triumph.
While it may seem traitorous to her sister, Eliza couldn't help but have a soft spot for Walter. Agreed, he'd made quite a few mistakes and he's always been overshadowed by his father's influence but he was trying. Although Jade found him - not manly enough to stand up to his own father - Eliza respected him a lot.
Quitting his father's firm which could foil Eric's reputation just so Walter could gain financial independence was quite a huge step. He had been taking baby steps until now, but as he promised once he officially started at Brixton-Gould, he could finally undertake the responsibility of Jade and their unborn child.
That is if she'd let him.
"Here's to my future architect." Raising his glass for a toast, he poured champagne into another one for Eliza.
"Here's to you. For finally standing up to your father." Eliza whispered the last part, afraid that someone might overhear. Eric hadn't known of his son's resignation. With the element of surprise and with a few legal documents - which Eliza had no knowledge of - Walter could finally free himself.
He could finally release a press statement stating the arrival of his unborn child. And all the hushed whispers, sneaking around with Eliza just to get his message delivered to Jade, lurking around Eliza's university and his law firm to talk about Jade could stop. He could finally hold Jade in his arms in front of everyone without the fear of getting caught.
"How's-um-how's .." For some reason, Eliza felt his eyes drifting downward, suddenly aware of just how anticipated he was.
"Jade?" She filled into his aid.
"Let's go outside. It's not safe here." Walter flung his arm around Eliza's shoulder leading her away from the crowd and into the front yard. He scanned the hall one more time - his eyes momentarily landing on Kimberly's - before shutting the door to check if anyone was following them.
He hated doing that to Kimberly, she was a good kid and she'd been patient with him more than he deserved. But his heart just couldn't love her, even the thought of holding another girl made him feel guilty. He felt like he was cheating on Jade, hence he always kept Kimberly at an arms-length, not letting her fall for him, always distant so that she could get frustrated and break up with him. But she never did, she never did anything that could potentially hurt him, it was him who had broken her heart and he felt horrible about it. If he could, he would go back in time and make the right decision.
But it was too late now. Kimberly had fallen in love with him and he had broken her heart. Walter would always live with that guilt. No amount of apologies could make her forgive him so he never tried. Walter could only push this behind him and pretend like none of that ever happened.
"Finally!" Max groaned hopping out of the limousine and into the mowed grass.
"Come on, we're getting late." She clutched the edge of Eliza's arm, yanking her over to the limousine.
"Just a second." Eliza halted her, her eyes giving Max a look which indicated that now was not the time for whining.
"Jade's doing alright." Eliza walked closer to Walter, his eyes focused onto the grass, particularly on nothing.
"Is she ready to finally talk to me?" He murmured.
"I'm afraid, not." She rubbed his arm in consolation. Eliza knew how hard he was trying and the amount of effort and time he invested into finding a legal way to resign out of his three-year contract with Wheeler&Wheeler law firm was respectable and courageous.
Eric was an intimidating man yet Walter was ready to go against him just for Jade.
Jade was aware too but the Knight sisters had abandonment issues, their mother really fucked it up for them. So when Walter left Jade when she told him she was pregnant, she couldn't forgive him for that.
"Great." Walter sighed, sarcastically, running a hand down his face.
"She isn't ready to quit her job at her law firm in Washington DC." Eliza sighed, dragging her fingers through her thick hair.
Walter found himself pausing as he took in a familiar look, but he stopped before he could say anything and just sighed in defeat instead.
"She's in town." She bit her lip hoping that Walter would want to meet her.
"Really?" His brown eyes shot as a lock of hair plopped onto his forehead. The amount of exhilaration in his voice was adorable.
"And the baby started kicking."
"Really?" Although he sounded exhilarated, he was still grim. He was missing out on all the firsts and he felt grievous about it. "Is the baby healthy?"
"Safe and sound."
Walter breathed out, relaxing slightly now that he was assured of his child's safety.
"We'll find the sex of the baby in about two weeks."
"Whether Jade likes it or not, I'm going to be there." Floored by the sudden surge of responsibility, Walter looked at Eliza, brow knitted. An indication that this was a message she had to pass on, so she nodded with a lopsided grin.
"She'd like that."
"I want to meet her." Walter grinned and crossed his arms against his chest, the moonlight casting shadows over his deviously handsome face. "So where is Jade now?"
"There's a party for my birthday, in our summer home, back in the Hamptons. She'll be there and with the number of people outstretched over the entire mansion, she can't really run away from you." Eliza chuckled, patting his back.
"I just have to wrap up a few things inside. I'll make it there in an hour." He purred with delirium before reaching over to tweak Eliza's cheeks with his thumb and forefinger.
"Meet you there." She smiled, dragging her feet over to the limousine where an indignant Max and a stultified Mia sat with their legs crossed awaiting their friend's arrival.
Eliza waved at him one last time before watching him open the mansion door and walk inside.
Please don't bail on her again, she thought. Her heart crossed into a tight knot as she hoped for everyone's sake that he wouldn't run away. Again.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Eliza's lips parted slightly in awe as she took in the sight of their renovated mansion, the architecture was mind-blowing.
The place was absolutely packed. Eliza didn't know ninety per cent of the people who RSVP-ed, yes, and it was quite amusing how people would show up to a stranger's party. Most people were pressed up against each other on the dance floor and there was hardly any room for people to stand on the sidelines. Almost every seat at the large open bar off to the left was taken and as far as Eliza could tell the lounge area to the right was filled to capacity as well. Mia had to be pretty damn popular to invite that many people.
Eliza glanced up briefly to the staircase that led to the second floor which was host to a lot of couples making out. Though she could barely see beyond their pressed up bodies, she assumed the renovations were done quite well up there too. Weirdly the crush of people made her relax since that made the chances of her panicking or thinking about Walter about a thousand to one.
Eliza looked to her left to say something to Mia but to her surprise, neither her nor her sister was anywhere to be found. Eliza looked to her right as well but it presented a similar situation.
They weren't there.
Eliza began searching for them growing more and more frantic by the minute but she couldn't seem to find the dark-haired Asian barbie dolls anywhere. After ten minutes of weaving her way through the packed living room, she gave up her search and plopped down at the bar. If she hadn't found them by now, she probably wasn't going to see them for the rest of the night.
"Gin and tonic," Eliza shouted to the bartender. Within an hour she would probably be drunk enough to get trashed.
Her drink came almost immediately as her eyes drifted onto the bartender who had barely any clothes on and who looked more like a stripper than a bartender. Mia had apparently done something right for once.
Eliza downed her first within a few minutes and ordered her next as soon as she could snag the bartender's attention again. She sipped this one a little slower but soon the process was repeating itself. Eliza wasn't exactly known for being able to hold her liquor but damn it that didn't matter tonight because she was turning twenty-two. So as she grabbed another glass of liquid courage she turned away from the bar and began surveying the crowd for a suitable dance partner.
"I figured I'd find you here." An uncannily familiar voice called out from her left. Eliza spun her bar stool in the direction of the proclaiming person.
"Jade!" She squealed throwing her arms and most of her weight onto her sister as Jade caught her with a giggle.
"Liz, you're squeezing the baby into my bladder." Jade's voice tightened and Eliza immediately let her go.
"One soda." Jade's eyes flicked momentarily to the bartender, scrutinising him from top to bottom as she smirked before they landed back on her sister.
"You made it." Bringing the glass closer to her lips, Eliza looked into her ocean blue eyes.
"Of course, I did." Jade engulfed her sister into yet another hug but this time into a much-loosened grip.
"I assume the gala is over?" The bartender swiped Jade her drink as she crossed her leg, one over the other.
The music was so loud that it made their skin tingle and their lungs felt like mush. The bass thumped in time with their heartbeat as though they were one, filling them from head to toe with the melody.
Eliza nodded in acceptance, her eyes constantly gripping the foyer into the hold. Every time the door swung open, her heart stopped hoping for it to be Walter.
"You're waiting for someone?" Jade brought the soda to her lips as her tantalising eyes held Eliza's.
"Yeah." Eliza avoided her sister's gaze as a precaution to shelter herself from Jade's burning wrath which was confirmed to fume the moment Walter walks in.
"Who are you waiting for? Please tell me it's your boyfriend." Jade gulped down her soda before questioning, the pitch of her voice louder than the thumping music.
"It's-"
"Will you stop." A slight shove from Eliza's behind was enough to push her off the stool.
She glanced back only to find max and Mia, fighting. Again.
"Where the hell have you both been?" Eliza walked next to Jade, bringing a stool from her left closer to Jade's.
"Riding a llama in Neverland." Max rolled her eyes. Even with the intense intoxication, she hadn't lost her sarcasm or rather her incivility and her sharp tongue. "Where do you think?"
Eliza narrowed her eyes with a slight frown to which Max groaned and put the glass away from her hand before throwing her sister a stinky look.
"Mia tried to set me up with a guy who sold meth." Max shoved her sister as Mia retaliated immediately.
"What?" Mia whined, innocently. "I was just trying to get you laid."
"You have got to stop trying to get people laid." Eliza smacked her temple as Jade chuckled. "And why is there a meth seller at my party?"
The sisters avoided her question as they continued bickering.
"Stop drinking, you have to drive." Mia pulled the glass of rum and whiskey from Max's hand before gulping it down herself.
"You did not just do that." Max took a threatening step towards her twin.
"Stop." Eliza plopped down and before they knew it, she walled herself between the twins or they would've ripped each other to shreds.
Their sibling rivalry was endearing when they were sober but the drunken Kim-twins were laborious to handle as they were spitefully malevolent and despicable to each other.
"You have to drive," Mia yelled over Eliza's shoulder to her twin.
"Why should I? I'm not going to be the only one who's sober!"
"According to the pact, it's my turn to pull a selfish." Mia attempted to thrust her sister but Eliza caught her wrists before she could do anything further which would lead to a bloodbath.
"The pact?" Jade raised an eyebrow. Her oceanic blue eyes filled with mirth. She was clearly enjoying the show, now she would understand what kept Eliza busy enough to forget calling Jade back.
"They have this stupid pact which allows them to pull a selfish." Eliza rolled her eyes, lip curling into a disdainful frown.
The twins made this pact when all three of them were 8 years old - two years before Eliza relocated to Australia. She wasn't aware that the Kim twins still respected it.
"And what's Pull a selfish?" Jade grinned, enjoying her drink and the drama.
The twins had calmed down, one busy flirting with the bartender as the other looked immensely sick. Like she'd puke any moment.
Huffing with exhaustion, Eliza resumed her place back onto the barstool keeping an eye on both of them. "The pact is basically a free pass to act selfishly. The turns rotate every time any one of them uses it."
Jaded chuckled, her head bobbing back and forth. She took a quick sip before she continued, "Wait a second. I thought you all took Kim's jet to the Hamptons? Then why do you have to drive back?"
"We had to send the jet back." Eliza shrugged, gulping down the last of her drink before ordering another one. "Mrs Kim thinks we're fast asleep and we could only bribe the pilot for a one-way trip. So we'll have to drive back to New York in the morning."
"Oh alright." Jade nodded.
"I'll drive. I'm not that drunk." Eliza clapped her hands gaining the twins' undivided attention.
"No, it's your birthday. If anyone should be driving, it's Max but she's busy being a bitch." Mia threw a stinky glare, trying to guilt-trip her sister.
"You're not my favourite person today." Max purred in ire mixed with alcoholic intoxication.
"I'm not your favourite person on any day."
"Although I hate to agree with knucklehead over here, she's right. This is your party." Max sighed but more before throwing another stinky glare at her sister. She waved the bartender to bugger off before making her way over to us.
"You should have fun. I'll go get a coffee, it'll sober me up."
"Carpe diem, bitch." Mia slung her arm around Eliza's shoulder in joy, her words sloppier than the rest.
"Hello?" Jade thumped her hand onto the bar desk. "I can drive?"
They all exchanged uncertain glances, a silent disagreement between the three friends. Driving with Jade was immensely torturous. She drove under the limit which would transform a two hour trip to a four-hour trip. And none of them was sober or patient enough to sit through that.
Besides she was pregnant and they couldn't possibly make her drive. Although she couldn't drink and would be sober for the rest of the night, it seemed wrong to ask a pregnant lady to babysit three drunk twenty-two-year-old girls who'd be hungover to death tomorrow.
Eliza's eyes drifted to the foyer momentarily as she spotted Walter walk in through the front doors with his tux still on. His gaze immediately held hers, like he'd expected her to be at the bar.
Am I that obvious? She thought but rolled her eyes mentally at that thought.
Max and Mia threw Eliza confused glances as their final gaze settled on Jade. Pushing Eliza to make Jade aware of Walter's presence, they scurried off into the horde of people.
"Where did they go?" Jade's eyes followed the twins but her lips curled into a frown as her attempt failed to track them down.
"What took you so long?" Eliza walked away from Jade and towards Walter, placing her hands on her hips, looking at him for answers.
"There was a...a complication back at the gala. I'll tell you all about it later." His lips thinned into a straight line, heaving a breath before approaching his girlfriend or baby-mamma.
"Jade." A small tap and the low pitch of the uncertain voice was enough to freeze Jade. She tightened her grip onto her glass of soda before her venomous eyes settled onto her sister. She mouthed an indecipherable word but whatever it was, wasn't a good word.
"Walter." Jade merely nodded in his presence.
Jade Knight did not wear heartbreak well. She dressed it in tight fabrics and too much eyeliner but it was undeniably there, swirling just under the surface and threatening to break free. It was an ugly thing that demanded to be prettied up but she would be damned if she let it show it's true form.
So instead she wore her confidence and walked like there was nothing wrong even though deep in her heart she knew how much she craved for Walter.
A large part of her was still bitter but Eliza suspected that an even bigger part knew how this was supposed to end.
With them being a family, Jade wanted him to work for it a little bit as a punishment for abandoning her after hearing the news of her pregnancy.
Not once during the early years of their friendship during law school had Jade considered dating him. To be honest, she had always complained about how big of a goof he was - despite his lascivious glances and enticing comments. In fact, that was part of the reason why Jade liked him since there were only a few who could keep up with her own sharp wit and love for banter.
Darius was fond of Walter as well, which probably had to do more with the fact that Walter had basically started living with them during their law school years back in Australia.
Even Eric's mother - before her untimely death, a year ago - had been fond of Jade. The girl was a born charmer, great with kids and parents alike and the late Mrs Wheeler had basically considered her one of her own.
It was the one year after the completion of law school in Australia - that they had to study at Harvard to pass the American bar exam so that they could practise law in America - that she realised she had a crush on him. Before that she'd been too preoccupied with partying her nights away and studying the days away.
By then she anticipated he felt the same way but it was a shame that he didn't want her anymore.
She realised that he'd been dating another girl during their time in America. At that moment, Jade saw nothing but red. If there was one thing Jade was used to, it was getting her way. This was especially true when it came to boys and it hadn't taken her long to realise that with just the bat of her lashes or flirty laughter that she could have them on their knees; begging for more.
So, to want Walter and not be able to have him, it wasn't a situation she was accustomed to. And she certainly wasn't fond of it.
Thankfully Walter's relationship didn't last long so Jade did something that she'd never done before: she asked a guy out, that guy being Walter.
And all he could say was that she should've asked him sooner as he felt the same way.
From then on started their honeymoon phase, two people everyone thought would go on to marry and live happily ever after...well except Eric Wheeler. For a while, he threatened Walter with taking away his inheritance and pushing him out of his will but soon stopped meddling as
Eric saw that there was no breaking the couple apart. He would have to wait until their love naturally dissolved in hatred. Eric was sure it would happen and Walter vowed to prove his father wrong.
But Walter ended up knocking Jade only for him to abandon her for a whole month as he ran away to a country unknown. He needed time to think at least that's what he stated. Jade had made it clear that she was keeping the baby and Walter or Darius had no say in it. Only when Walter realised how big of an asshole he'd been to abandon her, he returned but this time she didn't want him.
Darius wasn't much of help, taunting and yapping about how careless she'd been. The two men she trusted more than anyone had broken her heart, leaving her to fend for herself and she'd taken upon herself to prove them just how independent she could be.
Eric would immediately cut his son off the moment he realised that Walter had knocked someone up, that girl being Jade - the girlfriend Eric been least fond of amid the sea of women Walter dated. So Walter hid it from his father and the entire media as they'd have a field day crusading Walter- Eric Wheeler, the most successful defence attorney's son - having a child out of wedlock.
And the rest is history.
"I'll go find the twins." Eliza rubbed the back of her neck, calling over the music to her sister and her baby daddy.
"Sit." Although Jade's voice was soft, her eyes clearly conveyed the said message.
Eliza shrugged ungracefully, taking a seat beside Walter unknown to the reason why her presence was required.
"What do you want?" Jade crossed her arms across her chest, resting them over her small belly. She was twelve weeks pregnant and getting bigger every day.
"Jade." Walter reached to touch her cheek and Eliza almost expected Jade to brush him off but to Eliza's surprise, she didn't.
"I'm sorry. I know I've said this before but I really mean it." His voice was soft and almost in a whisper but jade heard him, loud and clear.
"I love you, Jade. And I'm doing everything I can to be a part of your future-our future. If you'd just let me help, it's my child too, you know." Walter's hands caressed the back of Jade's cheek and Eliza noticed how her sister had let her guard down momentarily.
"If I'm not required-" Eliza began traipsing into the horde of people thinking she would rather enjoy the unfavourably questionable party with drunkards than sit there any longer being the third wheel. But to her dismay, Jade had other plans.
"You're not going anywhere." Jade shrugged Walter's hand off her face, putting her guard back up. "You're responsible for him being here and I want you as well as you-" Jade's sharp gaze switched between her ex-boyfriend and her sister before settling back on him. "to listen to what I have to say. I-"
"Before you say anything-" Walter cut in, reaching over to take Jade's glass away and placing it onto the bar counter before he took her hands in his larger ones. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry for abandoning you when you needed me the most. That was a dick move and I know that now. I didn't mean to disregard your feelings. And I'm ready to comply with any and every condition you have, I just want to be a part of our kid's life, your life."
Jade pulled her hands away from his, wrapping them around herself seeming far more conflicted than Eliza had seen her sister in weeks. "God, Walter, I'm still-I'm still so mad at you. But I know you're trying and I just-I'm so confused. I don't know how to trust you. Every time I even think about taking you back a little seed of doubt plants itself in the back of my head."
Jade sighed and sat up straight. "What if one day you feel like you're not cut out to be a father and leave me in the middle of the night? How am I supposed to recover from that? And what am I supposed to tell my child? What am I supposed to do?"
Walter blew out a breath, not quite sure how to respond to that but her unfriendly claim over their unborn child had definitely stung him. "You have to tell me how I can fix things between us."
She gave him a sad, helpless smile. "I-I don't know. Maybe we should start from the beginning, build the broken trust over again- take one step at a time."
"I'd like that." He took a breath and gently pulled her into his bear hug.
"Let's go get dinner?" Walter pulled apart, his hands still holding onto Jade's shoulder. She nodded before her gaze fell upon Eliza, soon realising the reason they were all here-the birthday party.
"Oh my god, we can't." Jade bit her lip. "We can't leave Liz."
"You should come with us. I'm sure you haven't had dinner yet." Walter suggested, his hand dropping to Jade's waist as he smiled, a genuinely real smile.
"No, thanks. I'm having champagne for dinner." She chuckled.
Jade tried to convince her sister as she said, "But-"
"Oh don't worry about me." Eliza waved her hand in the air, shaking her concern away. "I have a lot of unknown people to mingle with..." her gaze fell upon the population of people in her house equivalent to the Vatican City. "...and besides my official birthday is tomorrow so you don't have to feel bad about leaving me on my birthday."
"Alright. We'll come to pick you guys up around noon." Jade pulled her sister in a hug before distancing Eliza at an arm's length. "Have fun. It's your birthday. You don't turn twenty-two twice. You might want to enjoy that stunning figure while you still have it, who knows when you'll lose it." Glancing down at her body, Jade sighed. Walter smiled as he touched his girlfriend's belly.
And Eliza nodded with a giggle.
"Let's go?" Jade looked at Walter, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.
"The corvette is just outside the front gate, I'll be there in a second."
"Alright, don't take too long." Sheltering her little baby bump, Jade traipsed across the wall of people surrounding the dance floor.
Walter looked at his girlfriend longingly for what seemed like minutes before he cracked a leer.
"Thank you, Liz." Engulfing her into a bone-crushing hug, Walter whispered. "If not for you, she wouldn't have talked to me at all."
"Don't mention it." Eliza flashed him a lopsided grin, grateful for playing a part in their reconciliation. It would be weird to see Jade with a family of her own but Eliza was jovial that her sister had finally found her happy ending.
Pulling her at an arms-length, Walter looked at her with glassy eyes.
"Are you crying?" Eliza giggled.
"It just started sinking in that I'm gonna be a father." Walter's voice was marinated in merriment, a single tear wheeling its way down to his chin.
"Oh, come here you big goof." Chuckling she pulled him back into a hug.
They stayed there for a little while before she pulled apart. Walter wiped the tiny tear that managed to escape his eye as he sniffled.
"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?" Walter had always been like a big brother to Eliza, always looked out for her and he'd played his role a little too well - often cock blocking Eliza during high school if he didn't approve of the guy she was dating. And to Eliza's dismay, Jade often supported his judgement.
"Of course, I should go find the twins." Placing a kiss on his cheek, Eliza wandered into the crowd trailing the twins.
Having found them minutes later, they indulged into shimmying their shoulders and swaying their hips on the rock music.
No-one could see the dance floor, it was wall to wall people dancing to the club music. There was no room for any more but somehow when the twins and Eliza hit it, the space magically cleared. The music was hip and they were dancing like it was jive, twisting, turning, holding hands as they changed sides. They were all grins, they look like idiots but they didn't care. Inside they were just happy, happy and more alive than they can ever be. Eliza felt a little part of her that was really her come out to play, to feel the vibe of the music and let her body go free.
One moment, one brilliant feeling of togetherness suspended in time. In ten years they will still remember this night. Although Eliza loved the quiet life, she relished the crazy fun times too. Music, friends, good times, dance, that was all tonight about anyways. Then she could focus in class tomorrow, learn the facts, be the good girl she always had been.
Not tonight though.
The trio was partying like it was their last night on Earth, but that's just the way their mind avoided thinking about the hangover to come. The music moved them like they were puppets on strings, their head mashing so hard that their brain was in shutting down mode. There was so much sweat on their skin and not all of it was their own. The strobe masked so many of their movements, every clap of their hands like it was on pause at different moments. Tomorrow there be hell to pay but tonight the alcohol kept on flowing in like it was on an IV drip.
"You must be the birthday girl." A few steps towards the bar brought a blue-eyed stranger with dark hair behind Eliza as he settled a hand on her waist, letting the other drift down to her hips.
She glanced over her shoulder, offering him a slow unsurprised smile that was sure to make his stomach twist into knots.
"Can't say we know each other." Eliza teased, her head falling back on his shoulder.
The blue-eyed boy pulled her closer as the heavy bass line resounded in his chest before he murmured.
"I'd like to change that."