No one was coming after me, but I hadn't planned very far ahead. There I was, dressed as an un-showered angel standing in the valet area in front of the hotel. "Daisy!" Elaine exclaimed, bursting through the double doors. I looked over her shoulder to make sure no one had followed. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but it sure seemed like you didn't want anyone to find out who you were," she said, puffing, hunched over, hands resting against her knees. "Man, I need to work out more," she wheezed.

"Ok, so I'm kind of in a mess right now," I said.

"Odds that this involves Holden and Parker somehow?"

"High. But first, we need to get out of here because if someone else finds out who I was, I'm in trouble," I said, turning to try and flag a cab.

"Who knows?"

"Logan."

"Crap," she groaned, squeezing her temples. "He's bad news."

My heart nearly stopped when the double doors open again, but I was relieved to see it was just Parker. Although, he looked a little more like a unicorn than the devil with the flecks of sparkly confetti covering him. His face was stuck in a permanent scowl as he picked the little pieces off and tossed them away in disgust.

"How about we get out of here before the rest of the party joins us?" I suggested.

"I could really eat something. Let's go to Marco's," Elaine replied.

"Are you serious? I spend four out of seven of my weekly nights there."

"Best diner around here," Parker said.

"Exactly!" Elaine exclaimed. "It's the only decent joint for anyone under the age of forty around here."

Parker stepped a little further out onto the curb and stuck his arm out as a cab came down the street. He peered into the passenger seat before sitting in the back. Elaine followed and I squeezed in after her. There were bags stacked on the passenger seat.

The cab's seats were starting to peel and the smell of melted cheese seemed permanently woven into the fabric. Elaine was being crushed by our two sets of wings, but she didn't seem too bothered, seeing as how she was focused on a wrapper containing unidentified mush. Parker wasn't doing much better, obviously trying to keep any areas of exposed skin away from furnishings or handles.

We finally got to Marco's and Elaine paid the driver before taking in a deep breath of fresh air. "Reminds me of why I don't catch cabs," Parker remarked.

The bell at the door gave off a merry jingle as we entered. The tables were mostly empty, given it was so late. The restaurant was a dimly lit neon pink, casting a shade of pink across the usually red seats.

We sat down and my coworker, Ben, came by to give us our menus. "Hey Daisy," he greeted.

"Working a double shift again?" I asked.

"Yep. But I need the cash, so..." he replied. "Do you guys need some more time to order?"

I turned back to look at them. "Were we thinking a pizza, maybe some fries?" They nodded. "Which pizza?" I asked, flipping through the menu. Despite having worked there for some time, I hadn't actually had a look at the entire menu; there seemed to be some consistent favourites.

"All star five meats," they said simultaneously.

I looked up, turning my head slowly from one to the other. "O-kay. Freaky," I laughed, shutting the menu.

"So that was an all-star five meats and fries to share?" Ben confirmed.

"Yep," I replied.

Ben tuned around to go drop off the order slip in the kitchen just as I would have if I had taken an order.

"Do you want to explain why you Houdini-ed out of the hotel before?" Elaine asked. Parker and I exchanged glances, both unsure of what the other had come up with as an excuse.

"Not convincing," Elaine remarked.

"Me and Holden are sort of having a fight right now," I lied, looking at the table.

"So that's why you guys weren't together tonight?" Elaine replied. I nodded, feeling more foolish because we weren't even actually having a fight. "Well still, what kind of a douche goes and talks to his ex the moment he has a fight with his girlfriend?" She exclaimed.

"I just didn't want people to find out and it'd be hell weird to come up on stage with his best friend anyway," I added.

We fell silent as Ben brought out the food. He set the pizza down on a silver pizza stand and left the basket of fries next to it. Marco's was pretty empty, probably because it was late, but mostly because the patronage was mostly from the people who were all at the dance at that moment.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," he replied. "Is there anything else you guys were after?"

"No, we're good." He nodded and left.

"Who needs guys when you have food?" I grinned, shoving some fries into my mouth.

"Amen," Elaine grinned, tearing away a slice of pizza.

Not a peep came out of Parker as he chowed down the food. "Have you been starving for a week?" I joked.

"Might as well have been. Holden's been feeding me chicken tenders. I don't know the guy eats them for practically every meal." I laughed.

"You're staying with Holden?" Elaine asked. He went silent momentarily, not realizing that no one else knew.

"Well, I'm sure you know my household is a little chaotic at the moment."

She nodded. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," she said.

A few booths away from us, there was another group and they broke out in laughter. One girl got up and put a few coins into the jukebox, playing I Love You Baby by Frank Sinatra. She sat down and kissed a guy whom I assumed was her boyfriend.

I glanced at the clock. "It's eleven past eleven," I said, pointing at the digital clock fastened the wall, after swallowing a mouthful of fries.

"Make a wish!" Elaine exclaimed.

"What the hell?" Parker replied.

"Shut up and make a wish," she said. We went silent to supposedly make our wishes. After having a taste of their life, I just wanted to go back to my uncomplicated, simple one.

The minute passed and I shoved the next bunch of fries into my mouth.

"Now, we are bonded," I said sarcastically. "The wishing squad!"

Elaine laughed, spluttering while she struggled to keep mashed up pizza inside the confines of her mouth.

"I always thought 11:11 was something about having spirits in contact, or angels or something," Parker contemplated.

"Well whatever, my friends and I used to call it the wishing hour, even though it was technically a minute," Elaine said with a smile, before that smile quickly faded. She cleared her throat and grabbed another slice of pizza.

Within a few minutes, we were all slouched back against the red leather booth seats, patting our stomachs. Were my boots getting tight? Did I need to loosen the laces? "We should probably call it a night," Elaine said, pulling out her phone. "Whereabouts do you guys live?"

"I'm staying with Holden in the Werther Estate area," Parker replied.

"Summerton St," I replied.

"I know where Werther is, but I'm not too sure where Summerton is," Elaine said. She tapped something into her phone. "I'm in the Golden Acre Estate, so I'm on the opposite side to you guys. Summerton's about fifteen minutes from Werther but half an hour from Golden Acre." Parker and I just looked at her, unsure of where she was going with this analysis. She made a quick call for two drivers before hanging up.

"One of my drivers will take you guys home," she said. Within the next few minutes, the cars were waiting outside. Elaine took off first and Parker and I got into the second car.

"So...you were watching Holden all evening?" Parker teased.

"Shut up. Unlike some of us, I thought it'd be important to put up a convincing act." There was an uncomfortable silence and I shifted in my seat, the leather squeaking. "How's your family doing? And how are you doing, with the whole case thing?"

"We're fine. We've been through worse," he replied, staring out the window.

The car stopped and I realised we were outside my house. "My stop. See you tomorrow," I said. Just as I was getting out, Parker grabbed one side of my wing. "What?" I exclaimed.

"I lied. Things are not okay."

---

Not such a good chapter because I've had writer's block haha

But a huge thankyou to xxoluomzxx for the cover at the top! Might be using it when I need a cover refresh xD

Thanks for reading & as always, please drop a vote if you enjoyed x