❝ She's fire, but she won't burn you...

Because she knows all to well, how it feels to live with ashes ❞

Dim rays of sunshine sneaked in through the small gape of sleek curtains naughtily, lightening the room with a soft warm golden lustre.

Quiet humming of mine swayed in the peaceful air as I brushed my hair gently. Settling down the hair brush, I tied those wavy locks in a ponytail, only leaving a few small strands beside, adorning my face.

Opening my eyes a little more, I covered my eyelashes with mascara, coating them with the black wet substance.

Satisfied by my little effort and appearance, I twirled a little and checked out my reflection in the mirror.

Perfect I thought to myself, glancing at the mirror one last time.

I woke up that morning extremely thankful, for not getting any nightmares and for a peaceful slumber. I was feeling relaxed and so much calm that I felt like floating in bliss.

Plugging out my phone from the charger, I turned the switch off and put my phone in the pocket of my black jeans, walked towards the bedroom door.

After millisecond of my opening the door, another door unlocked and opened ajar just in front of my bedroom.

Realization tumbled my way as I saw the devil coming out of the room, in his all messy hair glory. Thrilled hazel eyes gave me an once-over as a lazy smile tucked on his luscious lips.

"Good morning!" Greeting him, I closed the door behind me and walked towards the stairs.

"Someone's in a good mood today" His smooth raspy voice chimed, ringing in the empty hallway, behind me.

"Guess so, but don't you dare try to ruin it" I warned, glancing at him over my shoulder and made my way downstairs.

"I never do such a thing" He claimed innocently, his footsteps following me closely behind.

"Sureee" I trailed off.

Frank chitter-patter can be heard clearly from far as the air carried the noises out. Stepping inside, I saw everyone sitting on the table.

"Morning!" Me and Ethan spoke up at the same time as he entered brushing past me, I squirmed moving aside and glared at him.

Everyone's head turned towards us and a low string of 'good mornings' and greetings swam in the air.

"Hey," Alex looked at me, titling his head and smirked. Now what happened to him?

"Hi" Rolling my eyes, I excused myself from there and went to the kitchen, where Margaret was busy making breakfast.

The sweet smell of whipped cream,berries and pancakes, the spicy smell of bacon and eggs, the sugary smell of chocolate waffles and that fresh strong smell of coffee, hovered over me just as I entered the kitchen.

I felt suddenly awake and fully alive as the different smells of different types of food mixed together, to create a heavenly scent and tickled my nostrils.

"Good morning" I wished.

Margaret turned around and gave me a big warm smile, like a hug "Good morning Winter! Slept well?" She asked

I hummed in agreement, walking towards her and offered politely "Do you need some help?"

Not a lot of people knew about this, but I loved cooking.

"Well everything is almost ready, but if you don't mind can you make a cup of tea?" She asked, flipping the pancake with a spatula, her back facing me.

"Of course!" I said and grabbed the aqua colored tea kettle from the counter, beside her.

Who would prefer tea over coffee? like why? I asked myself, filling the kettle with water.

I heard Margaret quietly laugh "Apparently my son does, he seems to possess a hatred towards coffee" She explained sighing in contentment .

Awkwardly chuckling to myself, I put the kettle on the stove to boil the water.

After making tea and breakfast, we set the table, where everyone was eagerly waiting for it to satisfy their hunger.

"Damn! I love coffee" Nate let out taking a long sip from the mug.

"How can you not?" Ethan asked, rolling his eyes and reached towards the cup of tea, I had carried from the kitchen after pouring the hot liquid.

"he seems to possess a hatred towards Coffee"

I suddenly felt warm and serene inside. It's like a part of me was happy to know something about him, even if it was just a small thing and that was twistedly weird on an entirely different level.

A frown made its way on my face as I took a sip of coffee, looking towards Ethan sitting across me, the bitter sweet taste reaching my soul.

"Did you talk to her, is she coming?" Emma asked, turning towards Ethan.

"Not really. She's in Dubai right now, so no she's not coming" He shook his head, sipping the tea.

I released a breath, I didn't know I was holding, when he didn't say anything after gulping down the drink. Those pink irresistible lips looked a little wet, covered in tea before he darted out his tongue licking it away.

"Is something wrong Winter?" Alex's voice ranged from the end of the table, snapping me out of my daze.

"Huh? No, nothing" I muttered meeting his dark eyes, which were speaking a lot of things. But sadly I didn't speak or understand eye language, if that makes sense.

Finn who was sitting beside him shot me a sly smirk, which made me scowl at him.

"So what's your plans today kids?" Margaret asked cheerfully.

"Probably eats lots of chocolates waffles made by you and only you" Nate let out, mouth full of waffle, making her chuckle.

"Laze around" Theo beamed as if it was the most amazing and productive thing, he was doing in the world.

Munching on my pancake lazily, I glanced at Ethan drinking his tea peacefully, sip by delicious sip, relishing every moment.

He looked like an artist thinking about what he's going to paint next, taking a soothing moment before going on war to conquer the world.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked, smirking, clearly enjoying the fact that he caught me staring at him. Way to go.

"Yeah. You have some bullshit on your mouth" I stated coldly, gritting my teeth, suddenly feeling angry at myself.

The air filled with his deep pearls of laughter as he looked at me with those bright eyes, shining with victory.

~~~

"What the hell are you doing?" I burst out as I entered Evan's room and saw Maria and Nate sitting comfortably with a PS4 controller in both of their hands and the rest of boys were splayed on the bed.

"Hey Winter!" Nate acknowledged, eyes still on the big screen in front of him.

"Playing 'Star Wars - battlefront III' and let me tell you, it's absolute- fucking-ly perfect" Maria cheered furiously pressing the buttons of the controller.

The loud noise of crashing, tearing, collisions filled the room as Maria and Nate cursed along.

"But aren't you supposed to go shopping with everyone?" I asked her, plopping down on the red bean bag.

"No one's going shopping. Something urgent and important will come up. I can stay here because nobody is going nowhere" She chanted those words, still focusing on the game. Like casting a spell.

"Sounds like wishful thinking" I remarked glancing around the room, blue painted decorated with lots of harry potter posters and a CD rack filled with numerous varieties of music just above the bed.

"It's called Hope"

"What the fuck are doing? Pay attention Mar!"

I rolled my eyes at them and turned to look at the boys. Theo was laying on bed flat on his stomach, face crushing the pillow. Beside him was Finn and Alex cuddling with each other as they slept peacefully.

And lastly there was Ethan, sitting on the edge of the bed, typing god knows what as he stared down at his phone.

"What do you plan to do?" I asked in a casual tone, turning towards Theo.

"I wasn't lying when I said laze around" He mumbled lazily to his pillow.

"Are you serious?"

"No, actually I am hungry" Theo retorted smartly and closed his eyes, covering almost his whole face with a pillow.

Emma barged into the room like a storm, yelling "Are you guys coming?" startling Ethan as he accidentally dropped his phone.

He cursed under his breath, picking his phone and gave me a blank face, when I let out a chuckle.

"Learn to knock or at least try to walk in like a civil person" Ethan grumbled.

"I am being perfectly fucking civil" She snorted putting her hand on her swollen tummy and in that moment I liked her a little more than before.

"So, we are going shopping? You guys coming?" She asked looking back and forth between me and Maria, who was engrossed in the game.

"Ask Winter, I am out" She announced and let out curse words slapping Nate's shoulder.

Emma looked at me expectantly, eyes glowing brightly. "What can I say? I am not really a shopping person" I shrugged.

"Ohh.. Well guess then I'll see you later" She chimed giving me a smile and walked out of the room.

~~~

Taking out the long sleeve black dress, I had brought, I gingerly put it on the bed.

The girls were going crazy trying to find matching earrings, rings and discussing the hairstyles, but all those chaos were behind the door.

As soon as they started arguing about hot red and blood red colored lipstick, I sneaked out of there and came to my room, to get ready.

Don't mind me, I loved my best friends, they meant the world to me, just not while they are dressing up. Just no.

A soft knock on my door interrupted me as I examined the dress laying on the bed.

"Come in"

The door slowly creaked open as Emma stepped inside with a big paper bag in her hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked quietly, walking towards me.

"Nothing much was about to go and change" I explained gesturing towards the dress. Her face lit up as she gave me a big smile, pushing the paper bag towards me.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I want you to wear this" She started grabbing my hand and handed me the bag.

"Wait wait wait wait wait what?" I spoke up, confusion packed my voice.

"Go on, open it. You'll look great in this" She urged with a calm smile. There was something in her eyes that gleamed so brightly.

"But I alrea-" I began to argue

"I know and I don't care. I bought this for you, please wear this to the party. It'll make me really happy"

Giving me a playfully stern look, she walked out of the room, leaving me there confused. Okay?

Shaking my head, I looked down at the paper bag in my hand and opening it, I took out the dress.

Speechless, I stood there surprised and in awe after seeing the beautiful dress in my hand. It was a vintage pink colored dress with a bow tied on the side waist like a belt, with white lace decorating it.

It was stunning and so elegant, that I fell in love with it at first sight. Feeling giddy I hugged the dress to my chest and then quickly went to the bathroom to change.

I mentally reminded myself to thank Emma properly and give her a birthday present.

After changing into the beautiful pink fabric, I did my make up and put on my black pumps. Stroking my lips one last time with shiny peach lip gloss, I checked myself in the mirror.

I looked really different, my soft brown locks were curled, hanging loosely on my shoulder. My cheeks rosy and my blue eyes had a spark in them as my lips looked soft and plumpy.

I let out a sigh as I heard the loud noises from downstairs and straightening my dress, I exited my room.

Careful of my steps, I walked down the stairs following the noise, which were fading and fading.

I was about to let out a breath, but suddenly caught that breath in my throat, when my eyes landed on Ethan standing there in blank jeans and a plain white shirt. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to elbows, showing his tanned skin.

Those silky dark hair were little tamed now, giving him a slight slick look and boy, did it suited him.

As if he sensed my eyes at him for too long, when he turned towards me. His hazel eyes visibly widened, but quickly gaining his composure, he stood there looking me up and down.

Squirming under his heated gaze, I walked towards him, hiding away my sudden nervousness.

"You cleaned up pretty well," I remarked in a cold tone, standing just a little far from him.

He cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair and murmured "I was supposed to say that first"

I lifted my eyebrow at him, asking "Why?"

"Because I am the ma-" He abruptly stopped in between, when I threw him a harsh glare.

"Anyway you look absolutely stunning Snow, just not as much as me, cause you know I've got the charm" He smirked at me, taking a small step closer.

"You are as charming as a hobo dressed in a clown suit" I retorted, causing his face to fall.

"You are so mean" He crossed his arms over his chest and those sultry lips turned into an adorable pout.

"I am not, mean girls are" I snorted

The air around us danced with his mellifluous laughter as the universe cheered at the sound. He looked so majestic, there's no doubt that he was going to steal the spotlight.

"Where's everyone?" I asked, tilting my head, looking around.

"Outside. You all ready to go?" He replied leaning in subtly, his eyes searching for the answer in mine.

"Is it too early to say that I want to go back?"

He shook his head looking down, then slowly looked up at me with a cute grin touching his lips "Yeah. Come one, everyone must be waiting"

"Whatever" I muttered walking past him. Trying to kill the weird sensation in the pit of my stomach.

A soft smile tucked on his lips, that ridiculously perfect and endearing annoying smile as he opened the front door for me.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped outside and saw everyone standing there in a group taking pictures and laughing

"You look stunning!" Kate was the first person to notice me as she gushed, running towards me like a fangirl.

In her navy blue cocktail dress, she looked ready to slay the red carpet. Her blond hair was tied in a messy low side bun with a soft side. Of the exact same color of her dress, blue stud earrings glittered in her ears.

"Not more than you"

"Guys were are getting lat-" Finn called out, but stopped in the middle, looking at me and quickly added "Winter? Is this really you?" He asked mouth agape.

Giving him a bored expression, I deadpanned "ha ha, no."

I heard a deep throaty chuckle from behind me, the hair stood up on the back of my neck as the sound rang in my ear.

For fuck's sake, take a grip!

"Come now, we should get going" Alex's commanding voice boomed, making us all huddled in different cars to reach our destination. That was going to be one hell of a night.

So here's the thing guys, if anyone find some motivation laying on the ground, don't forget to give it back, It's mine! I can't live without it, although I seem to do just fine.. but, still.

Two days left before my exams and here I am eating chocolate and jamming to my favorite songs lol I swear, I'll study now.

Vote and comment to bring a smile on ya girl's face! And don't ask me about next update, I myself do not know. Told ya exam and shiz...

Bye, take care. Stay safe cookies. Smile, and let the world wonder why :)

Love, Zee...