away from Archer as quickly as possible, but made it seem subtle that I wanted to high-tail it as far from his as possible. Hopefully.

I just couldn't quite think straight when he was near me, whether that be five feet or a few inches. God, what is happening to me? A nagging voice in the back of my mind was yelling at me for distancing myself, the other laughing her rear end off. This bitch knew I wouldn't be able to keep to one of the standard, viral agreements: no feelings.

I used to chastise other girls for being so easily swept away by someone, yet here I was, in about the same predicament. No, I haven't fallen yet. There's time to stop my inevitable demise.

I'd gone over and over and over in my head last things, so much so they were like my own personal mantra. Now, in the morning, being sat beside him, I found it difficult to remember my own name. Pull yourself together, woman.

I get up from the table. A little too abruptly it would seem, as Autumn visibly jumped. I had yet to ask her where she'd disappeared off to, and although I was a nosey cow, I was in desperate need for some space... especially when I'd be spending the next week with him.

When I'd just reached for the door handle, I heard the door to my left creek open.

"Miles—" I went to say, face brightening as I thought about us going back to how we were, chatting colourfully about my trip. He'd probably aid more than anyone in calming my nerves, too.

He turned to me, face impassive. "It's not all just going to go away this time, Jolie. Words mean nothing when your actions say otherwise."

I went to say something more, but another voice had me turning away from him. He'd looked over my shoulder at the person.

"Jolie," Michelle said again, coming closer.

Miles has a strange look on his face, still pretty impassive with an undertone of something more. He switched his gaze to me again, almost as if anticipating what I was going to do.

I turned to her. "Michelle I really have to—" but Miles was already gone.

"It'll only take a minute anyway," Michelle said, the sly smile usually resting on her face dimmed almost completely. She looked to where Miles had been, but paid him little more mind than that. "I wanted to apologise, for last night. I got carried away and I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."

"It was nothing," I smiled. "More amusing than anything, to be honest."

She rubbed her head. "God, yeah, Archer mentioned something about me stripping."

"In the middle of the ballroom?"

Her mouth gaped then and her expertly hidden blood shot eyes widened comically. "I didn't... did I?" She brought her pale hand to her lips and muttered a quiet, "Shitze, not again."

"I'm joking. You only stripped when you were in the bedroom."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"Michelle?" I asked, after a short lapse. She looked up at me, overly defined cheekbones catching the light making her already ghostly skin look almost translucent. "There was no way you could've been so drunk after two glasses of wine."

"I'm not a big drinker," she said, shortly. Dismissive. "I guess I don't have much of an alcohol tolerance."

There was something else. Something ebbing just below the surface. I'd spent enough time around her these past few weeks to know biting her finger nails wasn't in her usual ultra calm, stoic personality checklist.

"I know you don't particularly like me," I told her, straight. "But I'm not going to judge you, Michelle. You can tell me."

She glances at me, momentarily, and I catch the inner conflict behind those emerald eyes. She goes to open her mouth, but hesitates. It's the pause she needed to change her mind. "I'm not about to tell you my life story," she says, voice curt. And we're back to the regular Michelle Wolff. "Now if you'll excuse me."

I watch her go, still a little shaky in her six inch heels.

***

Mum's house looks exactly the same as usual. I don't know why I'm surprised it hasn't changed all that much in the while I haven't come back to visit. It's not like she's going to be up to paint it anytime soon.

"Darling," she says as soon as the door's open to welcome Archer and I in. "I've missed you so much." She tackled me in a hug, squeezing with all her might. It might as well have been a child clinging onto me. I bit my lip to not make a comment about her weight loss or the discolouration beneath her eyes.

"Mrs Dubois," Archer says, ever so polite. He's wearing a shirt and jeans, yet still manages to look as posh and well-put together as usual. His hand is outstretched and he doesn't make a comment or even show any indication to feeling the scaly texture of her skin as my mum met his hand. "I've heard so much about you."

"I should think so," she says, winking not so discreetly at me. "A real charmer, you got there," she says, appreciative of Archer's compliments on her neatly arranged books. She leads him to them, running her fingers along a row, before pulling one out. They talk between each other about whichever book she's show him as I set about making tea.

She always said her books were what kept her sane and as I imagined myself out of breath with any minor movements and sick almost every day, I realised how true that must be.

I hear her gripping onto the walls and practically dragging herself along, head scarf slipping by the time she reaches me. "He really is a charmer," she say quietly, but I'm sure Archer is listening. He might be an expert at masking his expressions, but we weren't all that far away, and my mother's voice did tend to carry. "Just remember, Jolie, a man with charm is a very dangerous thing, indeed."

I looked over at him, his eyes scanning the words strewn across the page, side profile ever so perfect. Like he was a statue that had been so glorious someone had felt in desperate need to steal him and place him in my mother's front room.

"Indeed," I whispered.

a/n:

hey guys! as always, thank you so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear your thoughts! X

as much as I love thanking you guys, I actually what I wanted to talk about or, more suitably, bring your attention to something that's recently happened to my dear friend, ash (wildestyouth ) as you probably already know, ash has a phenomenal book called 'golden boys' (definitely recommended if you haven't read it already!!) and it seems her talent hasn't gone unnoticed, but not in a good way. a user on here has taken it upon themselves to, word for word, plagiarise this book on quotev. they've been deleting comments calling them out but I would really appreciate if we could all join forces to get the book taken down. she's got a chapter up explaining this all and how we can help. thank you so much for your help & support!

love, rosie x