"Alice," Candice called as Alice walked off into a separate room to calm down, wanting to control her rage so that she didn't act out. "Alice wait, what was all that about?" Candice asked as Alice exhaled heavily and ran her hands through her hair to push it out of her face.

They'd walked into a bathroom on the ground floor, that was unnecessarily big for a room that had no bath or shower inside. "Ugh, she just hates me." Alice replied, not wanting to spill the beans but Candice already looked suspicious. "Of course she knows how to piss me off, mentioning my dog and Veronica before." Alice said as Fei hurried into the bathroom looking worried.

"Are you okay?" Fei asked quickly as Alice folded her arms and tried to ignore the burning of anger in her chest.

"Yeah I'm fine," Alice replied, "I'm just cooling off for a sec," she added, reaching up to rub her temple.

"She's such a bitch," Candice mumbled, "Maybe she's just jealous of you guys."

"I don't know about that... she's just super protective over keeping Veronica's legacy alive," Alice scoffed, her tone causing Candice to worry slightly.

"... so it's true, Veronica is dead?" Fei said, causing both Alice and Candice to freeze suddenly, realising what they had done. Fei hadn't known before a few minutes ago that Veronica was dead until Juniper got angry and spilt the secret by accident. Alice's heart began to thump heavily, but her mouth began moving before her mind could catch up.

"I mean... isn't it obvious?" She asked, "like the others that went missing, what is the possibility that she'll turn up alive? Kinda small."

"Exactly. We might as well start accepting she's dead." Candice continued, looking over at Fei and then shrugging sadly as Fei looked between them.

"I guess you're right." Fei said, "God, if I went missing I hope no one would just give up on me. I hope they'd keep looking." She continued, causing Alice and Candice to shift slightly awkwardly on their feet. "I don't mean that badly I just meant like... I just hope no one would assume I was... like dead, um,"

"It's okay, we understand what you meant." Alice mumbled, "I mean we never know, she could turn up in a few days and just say she's been in Europe shopping or something."

"She is just that extra," Candice agreed and they both began to quietly chuckle. Fei smiled, and laughed with them as she stepped further into the room.

"So, are you sure you're okay?" Fei asked, changing the subject which caused Alice to calm down from the near miss. She nodded and smiled warmly, glancing at Candice discreetly who looked still fairly worried...

* * *

"I like your lipstick," Candice said airily as she watched Alice smear a nice warm red onto her lips and then rub them together. They were all gathered together, getting ready for the up and coming party that was happening in less than an hour...

"This is the same one I wear all the time," Alice laughed lightly, looking at Candice in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. The room Candice and Fei shared was spacious and yet cosy at the same time, with warm colours and fluffy fur rugs surrounding the large bed... she liked it a little more than the room her and Magnus were sharing, but kept that to herself.

"Oh," Candice replied, dusting a deep brown eyeshadow under her eyes to frame them. Fei stood up from where she had been perched on the bathroom counter putting on her false lashes and left the room after she'd heard her phone ringing, giving Alice the opportunity to address the elephant in the room that had been taunting her for the past hour or so.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked, turning to look at Candice fully as she clicked the lid back on her favourite red lip stick.

"Nothing," Candice replied lightly, smiling back at Alice then looking away and back at her eyeshadow pallets. In the moments pause they could hear Fei speaking Japanese.

"Candice." Alice mumbled, showing her that she didn't want to beat around the bush waiting for her friend to tell her what was wrong.

"Look, I didn't wanna say anything-" Candice began to explain, causing Alice to look worried for a moment. "-because I didn't want to make it a big deal. But earlier I didn't ask Magnus what he wanted for dinner, he told my brother, who then took a shot at me and said shit like I needed to respect Magnus and think about the consequences and grow up, basically."

"He told you that you needed to respect Magnus?" Alice asked and Candice nodded.

"Yeah, He was basically implying that me not asking him what he wanted for dinner was me disrespecting him. I mean, it was, but... I didn't I'd be forced into having to treat him like some kind of mafia king."

Alice's jaw clenched as the irritation suddenly flared and burned inside her chest. She turned away and looked back at her reflection, flicking her hair out of her face since some of her baby hairs had curled beside her eyes. "Are you mad?" Candice asked, looking suddenly sheepish as she walked closer to Alice and looked at the profile of her face. "Because I know it was petty of me to ignore him I just didn't think."

"Candice you can be petty if you want to, you don't have to like the guy I'm seeing or whatever he is." Alice snapped quietly and quickly as she pulled out her favourite false lashes and debated putting them on. There were soft and flirty, and complimented her eyes hugely when she wore them. Which was rarely since they were far too expensive to wear them so often. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the fact you were ordered to respect him."

The edge of Candice's twitched with a smile as she suddenly saw the best friend she knew begin to shine through. "Behave how you want to, Candice. If you don't like him then whatever, he shouldn't order people to come and tell you how to act because it pissed him off, he pissed you off and he doesn't see you sending me to tell him how to behave. He has to earn respect, not take it." Alice spat then exhaled heavily. "God, that really pissed me off." She breathed, then decided she wanted to wear her lashes.

"Sorry," Candice apologised, trying to fight the happy glow in her chest knowing Alice hadn't been completely brain washed by Magnus Johnson. "And um... thanks for not telling me that Trey was right." She added in a softer voice, watching as Alice applied her lashes carefully then fanned her face a little so they stayed in place.

"You're your own person Candice," Alice replied after a few moments, "If you don't like someone then whatever, it's not a big deal. You shouldn't have to be forced to respect them." She added, looking at the final product of her face and smiling a little. Her make up was subtle, exuding the red lip, her hair was left almost natural with a few forced waves and it lay calmly across her shoulders and either side of her face since she'd just untucked it from behind her ears. She looked good, and she knew it, and smiled to herself even more before applied perfume to her wrists and neck whilst still stood in a bathroom robe.

At the same moment just outside the room there was a strong but gentle knock that sounded through the bedroom. Fei got up from the bed where she was sat and walked over to the door, still talking on the phone with her parents who were asking about the trip. "Just one second mom," Fei said as she opened the door, only to see Magnus there looking expectant but calm. He'd changed from his sweatshirt and jeans into a loose fitting olive green button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to show his tattoos and part of it tucked messily into black jeans. His hair was pushed back and he'd shaved the stubble away so he looked a little younger than before. But that only seemed to make him look innocently terrifying whilst being simultaneously still very handsome. "Oh- hi Magnus," Fei said quickly and quietly, nerves suddenly pooling in her stomach. "Alice is in the bathroom," she mumbled and stood to one side to let him in.

"Thanks." He replied bluntly and walked past her, lifting the drink Fei hadn't seen in his hand and taking a long sip. He could hear two girls talking and assumed it was Alice and Candice, and knocked loudly on the bathroom door that was open. The two girls looked up at the sudden noise, and Alice turned around to see Magnus stood at the door way.

"Hey," she breathed, looking over his appearance and feeling her knees going slightly weak and her skin warm at his presence. "I'm almost ready," she said as Candice stood quietly, her expression now filtering down into a blunt one.

"That's not why I'm here," he said, his eyes on Alice until he glanced at Candice. Neither of them said anything, but Alice could suddenly feel the hostility as if they'd just shouted at each other.

"I'll be outside," Candice said, grabbing some of her make up and leaving the bathroom as Alice ran her hand through her hair and watched her leave quietly.

"Close the door behind you," Magnus said, not bothering to look at her. Candice scoffed and pulled the door closed as she left, and Alice's irritation suddenly returned.

"Magnus." She scolded, her perfectly shaped eyebrows now furrowing as she folded her arms.

"What?" He asked, his expression softening as he sipped his drink again whilst he moved closer to her then put the round glass down on the counter beside her. "You look nice," he complimented with a smirk and Alice pursed her lips.

"Don't," she mumbled, "That was rude of you to talk to Candice like that," she continued, deciding to turn around and look at herself in the mirror instead of into Magnus's eyes. She fluffed her hair a little bit as he inhaled deeply then sighed, evidently not caring about if he was rude or not. "What do you want, anyway?" She asked, her snappy tone catching his attention and causing a smile to appear.

"I need you to cover this up," he said, moving to stand next to her so he could look at his own reflection whilst also looking at hers. He motioned to his black eye that Alice had almost forgotten was there, she'd grown so used to it so quickly that it shocked her when she acknowledged it again.

"Oh god," she winced, turning to look at him properly, seeing it turning a horrible purpley-yellow. It was blotchy too, like the real impact had been just under his eye but the shock waves have travelled up towards his eyebrow and over his nose. "Why?" She asked, already reaching for her make up bag.

"I have some people coming. I don't want them to see me with it." He explained truthfully which caused Alice's curiosity to spike.

"Is there a, um..." she began, but then stopped herself as she took out her colour correcting pallet and bit her lip as she thought of a way to reword her sentence as Magnus stared at her face blankly. "Are they important?"

"In a way." Magnus replied, watching her hands now as she dabbed a beauty blender into the colour green and reached up it dab it around his eye. "Ow." He growled in a low voice after she'd pressed to hard.

"Sorry," she giggled, but nerves swarmed in her stomach at the idea of someone important to Magnus coming. She knew she was overthinking immediately, but she couldn't stop the insecure thoughts whispering in her ear. Magnus continued to watch her face, seeing the various emotions drifting across her eyes as she covered up his bruise.

She'd moved on to evaluating his skin tone, and since he was a little darker than her she couldn't use her foundation. "What?" Magnus asked, glancing at himself in the reflection and seeing the green colour surrounding his eye.

"I'm just trying to figure out what shade you are," Alice mumbled, lifting her foundation up to his skin just to be sure it wasn't the same then hummed. "I might have to use Candice's..." she said, mainly to herself as Magnus sighed heavily, showing his impatience.

"Will she mind?" He asked, his tone a little snappy which caused Alice to furrow her eyebrows.

"Probably," she replied, reaching for the little glass bottle of Candice's expensive foundation and put a little on her finger to test it on his skin. She raised her eyebrows, surprised that it blended so well into his usual skin tone.

"Why?" Magnus asked, his curiosity rising.

"She doesn't like you very much," Alice replied honestly, "and I mean, can you blame her." She added, seeing Magnus's jaw tense.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked as Alice added more foundation onto her beauty blender and continued to dab it on his skin.

"Did you really tell Trey to tell her to respect you?" Alice asked, stopping her actions and looking at him expectantly. On the other side of the door Candice slowly looked up from her phone as Fei widened her eyes. They'd heard them talking, but the volume of Alice's voice had raised just a little so that they could hear her clearer.

Magnus stared at Alice for a moment before he decided to answer. "No... I asked him to check on her." He replied, "You can see the text if you'd like." He added, his steady gaze causing Alice to narrow her eyes briefly.

"I get that you like having control over your group of friends but don't try and control mine." Alice said in a blunt voice, "Candice, Fei, any one of my friends don't have to respect you, they don't have to like you, they don't have to do anything for you."

Magnus's head tilted slightly as he stared into her eyes, seeing her steadily staring back at him... on the other side of the door Candice and Fei exchanged glances of shock. Magnus chuckled quietly and licked his lips, "Fine." Magnus agreed bluntly, causing Alice to smile sweetly and carry on covering up his bruise. But little did Alice know that she'd just shown Magnus a challenge, she'd shown him a line she didn't want him to cross, and that was pushing her friends around.

"Okay. Done." Alice smiled, proud of herself since she'd successfully covered up Magnus's bruise. He turned to check it in the mirror and raised his eyebrows slightly. He had to admit to himself that he was impressed with her work, and now understood why she looked so good herself.

"Thanks." He muttered, then tended as Alice sprayed something all over his face. It was cold against his skin and seemed to make it seem stiff for a few seconds before the feeling vanished. "What-"

"It's to set it," she explained, then sprayed her own face and fanned it as Magnus watched her. She ignored his gaze and reached for his drink and took a sip, then cringed heavily. "Ugh, What is this?"

"Whiskey." Magnus replied, watching her lips now as she rubbed them together and took another sip. "It's ninety four thousand dollars." He added, causing her to spit it out violently in shock.

"Oh my god." Alice gasped, handing the glass back to Magnus as he smirked, his eyes now dropping down to the slither of skin that had been revealed from where her robe had slipped around her chest. He cleared his throat, seeing that she wasn't wearing a bra and inhaled slowly and silently as he thought about how he'd slept with her earlier.

"Can I get you another drink?" He asked, wanting to sweeten her up.

"Oh, sure." She smiled, "Would you mind grabbing something for the others too?" She asked, looking at him through her lashes and smiling. He watched her carefully for a few moments, glancing at her lips then her eyes, his gaze scanning over her skin as he remembered how she wasn't so afraid to stand up to him a few moments ago... his eyes narrowed slightly as his chest warmed at the thought, but he lent in, pressing his lips against hers spontaneously. Alice's heart jumped and her eyes closed, surprise radiating from her moments before her lips puckered against his as she felt her body relax...

She hadn't expected him to kiss her, her hands mow cupping his cheeks as he pulled away a little then kissed her again gently. He tasted her lipstick, silently liking the flavour of it as he pulled away looked her over again with a calm expression "Wine?" Magnus asked as Alice opened her eyes and felt her knees going weak again. She adored his lips, and bit her own as she gazed at them for a moment.

"Yeah," she agreed softly, her hands still on his cheeks as she gazed at him. "Just in a second though," she purred, leaning up on her toes to kiss him again. Magnus's hands found her waist and held her gently as their lips pressed together, she didn't want to kiss him sexually, even though the desire was there she had an urge to feel him touch her just like this...

Their kiss was gentle, their lips moving together as the energy simmered warmly between them. They'd gone quiet, and on the other side of the door, Candice got fairly nervous... "do you think she's alright?" She asked out loud by accident from where she was sat cross legged on the bed, her make up surrounding her, not aware of what she'd implied just yet.

"...Yeah," Fei replied as if it was strange to think otherwise, "Why wouldn't she be?" She laughed as she applied her own false lashes and examined her face in the mirror from where she was sat on the floor by the window. She had an agenda in mind for that evening, and had put a little more effort into her appearance than she usually did. An image of Trey danced across her mind and she smiled to herself, feeling her chest warming at the thought of him.

"What?" Candice asked, looking back towards Fei then realising what she said. She hesitated for a few seconds and found nothing to say, but as if on cue, Alice opened the door and stepped out, Magnus's drink in her hand as she took another sip then handed it to him whilst he stepped out behind her.

"I'll see you in a minute," she murmured gently and he nodded, throwing back the rest of his drink as he walked past the others and left without saying anything more. Fei turned to look at Alice and grinned, "What?" She asked, walking over to the bed where she'd put her dress out and then took off her robe and threw it to one side. Candice barely flinched, seeing Alice half naked was something she was now used to now since they'd gotten ready together so often. However, Fei blushed heavily, but continued to grin.

"You guys are cute," she said, standing up from where she was sat on the floor as she watched Alice pull on the tight and yet tasteful leopard print dress that was a little low cut with thin spaghetti straps. The material looked like silk, and hugged Alice's body so carefully that it didn't look how either of them expected when they saw her put it down before.

"Cute isn't the way I'd describe us," Alice smirked, putting a black belt on around her waist and tightening it. Fei chuckled and the three girls talked quietly about the up and coming party... and at one point Magnus had returned with three bottles of red wine and wine glasses for them, then vanished again soon after since the loud, heavy bass music had started downstairs.

"It's so weird to see him act like this." Candice mumbled, pouring wine into her glass then smelling it. It was thick, and smelt of dark chocolate and raspberries, which made her lick her lips in approval. "Like bringing you wine and asking you to help with stuff..." she added.

"Mm." Alice hummed as she sipped the wine and raised her eyebrows happily. She checked the bottle, seeing that it was in fact very old, foreign, and probably very expensive.