The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a bed way too comfortable, it was bright out, and I felt as groggy as one possibly could.

My throat was dry, my head heavy, and my mind was running overtime despite the fact I had woken up no more than thirty seconds ago.

Eyes flickering around the room, noticing the time displayed on the opposite wall read ten past ten, and remembering that the room I slept in wasn't mine at all, all the while not remembering ever entering it before.

I stretched, then, a low groan slipping past my lips as my limbs moved for the first time in hours. My eyes were still squinted slightly from the bright light coming from outside. Though, despite my limited field of vision, I still noticed the large cup on the bedside table to my right.

Hoping it was coffee, I reached for it and immediately thought I should've known it was tea. I took a sip anyway — the liquid still surprisingly warm — right as a head poked through the doorway that made me almost choke on the drink.

The worried frown on his face turned into mild surprise when he realised I was awake, stepping fully into the doorway and leaning against the doorframe afterwards. He crossed his arms in front of his chest; an eyebrow quirked in interest.

"Did you know you snore?" He asked in amusement, eyes flickering over towards the large window stretched across the entire wall to my right.

My eyes widening slightly, I opened my mouth in playful disbelieve before hurrying to place the cup in my hands back on the bedside table. "I do not!" I argued, quickly reaching for the second pillow beside me to throw it at him.

I was surprised by the velocity in which the pillow hurled his way, though before it managed to hit his head the way I planned for it to, he grabbed it mid-air, and therefore kept it far enough from his face to ever harm him — not that it would've, anyway.

My cheeks were already tinted a slight pink when a low laugh rattled through his chest, and he waved me off before throwing the pillow back onto the bed. "You might," He teased as his lips twitched into a smile. "But I wouldn't know," He clarified then, eyes flickering over to the other side of the bed that looked pretty much untouched.

I followed his gaze, giving him a small, rather awkward smile as I did so. "Anyway," He quickly cut through the silence. "It's brunch your friends and family are coming for. So, you have about an hour and twenty minutes until they get here."

"And you didn't think of waking me earlier?" I huffed, already half-way out of bed to realise I've slept in my clothes from yesterday. My nose scrunched up in mild disgust at the thought.

"Well, I was tempted to wake you at five in the morning."

Everything that followed after was so hectic; I didn't even have a moment to think about our conversation yesterday. It seemed too detached from everything else. It almost felt like nothing more than a bad dream.

So, I treated it as such as I hurried over to my own apartment to freshen up and change. I treated it as such on my way back, and I treated it as such until the doorbell rang ten minutes early.

I forgot about Esmond's sister coming until she stood in front of me; casual attire, her long hair in a ponytail and her sleeve barely covering the bandage around her wrist.

The usual attitude was sprawled across her face, and she pushed past me without another word, muttering something to her brother in the living room I couldn't understand.

When I opened the door a second time, it was far more pleasant faces I was greeted with; embracing first my mother and then Eniola and Aiden in a quick hug before stepping out of the doorway.

"Where's Aude?" Was the first thing I asked after pleasantries had been exchanged, and I waited for them to shrug off their shoes in the entrance.

My mother waved the question off casually, eyes already taking in the apartment in awe. "She overslept again," She explained with an amused eye-roll. "So, I left her to teach her a lesson. She'll catch up with us here. Another twenty minutes, maybe?"

I hummed in recognition as I made my way through the corridor and into the living room, knowing that my sister really did have a problem with oversleeping.

Still slightly taken aback by the sheer size of the room and the blatant display of obvious wealth, I tried my best to hide the fact that this was only my second time actually in here. After all, I was supposed to be moving here soon — at least that's what they all thought.

The large dining table was filled with all sorts of foods, more than what had been on it when I last looked at it. I threw a glance at it just before I left; nothing more than a few paper bags from Wallflour's laying on it then.

Now, though, the table was set. Fruit and vegetables cut clean and served on multiple platters, spreads and jams set around the giant mountain of pancakes and waffles in the middle of the room, while the bread from Wallflour's was sitting in a little basket; the syrup right next to it.

Five out of the seven glasses on the tables were wine glasses, each of them filled up half-way with rosé.

The only person already sat at the table was Esmond's sister, her entire attention on her phone, texting away without ever glancing at any of us.

While my mother and both Eniola and Aiden were already going on about the beautifully set table — I had to agree with them on that front — my brows furrowed slightly at the sight.

Debating whether it was a good idea, I asked, "Where's Esmond?" to grab her attention away from the screen in her hand. Her head lifted slowly, the usual frown on her face as her eyes travelled up and down my body once.

Then, they flickered over the rest of the group, the latter too busy to notice her judgemental look before it fell back on me.

It seemed as if she was going to say something, her mouth already opening before she closed it again, clearly deciding against it as her eyes fell back on the screen without a single sound leaving her lips.

I suppressed the urge to groan in annoyance, as well as the urge to roll my eyes and instead turned around to walk over to the kitchen and check for him myself.

Though, lucky for me, as soon as I turned around, my eyes fell on him, a cheesy apron hanging from his neck that made me snort humorously.

I didn't know it then, but that wouldn't be the strangest sight I'd lay my eyes on today.

"Before we begin, we'd like to say something." Eniola's voice made us still in our own little conversations, eyes falling on her before flickering back and forth between her and Aiden, both awfully wide grins on their faces.

She eyed the glass of wine that she had raised cautiously, my brows rising in interest at what they had to say. "Originally, we wanted to wait for Audelle to be here, too— but everyone knows I wouldn't turn down a single drop of alcohol if the opportunity presented itself—"

"—She'll have to from now on, though," Aiden burst out, and my eyes widened at the prospect of my assumption as my eyes darted down to my best friend's belly.

Eyes still wide, before another word left their mouths, I stood up, a smile just as wide as theirs now as I watched them carefully.

"En—!" I beamed, mild surprise lacing my words as I rounded the table as quickly as I could to stand behind the two. "Please tell me you're telling us what I think you're telling us!"

She just nodded, hands cupping her stomach lightly and tears brimming in her eyes as she stood up to throw her hands around me. My mother cheered, delighted by the news as she herself hurried over to us.

Even Esmond's lips graced a small smile as he gave Aiden a short hug paired with a pat on the shoulder. He swooped in to take Eniola's glass out of her hand, then, before hurrying over to the kitchen.

I watched him empty, clean and refill it with water before strolling back towards us, his eyes on his sister, who hadn't even bothered lowering her phone, ignoring the commotion around her with ease.

Though, it didn't seem like Aiden, or Eniola noticed, so I didn't bother, either.

Audelle arrived mere minutes after the announcement, the poor girl taken aback by the apartment first and then shocked by an unexpected pregnancy announcement after.

She sat down next to Esmond's sister, and the girl's exchanged nothing but a quick look; the first time Ellis even bothered looking up from the screen, and the first time the ghost of a smile played on her lips.

She pocketed her phone, then, and as I sat back at the table, I wondered whether it was because we started eating or because she arrived.

—————

"Your sister is an absolute prat to everyone," I huffed, my voice low as Esmond and I cleared the table, carrying plates, glasses and cutlery back to the kitchen.

He only huffed in amusement, shrugging as the words, "That's why she's here," slipped past his lips in a similarly low voice. Rolling my eyes, I shook my head in annoyance.

"You're forgetting that this was not my idea—" The area of the kitchen we were in was rather secluded from the rest of the group in the living room, and my voice raised as soon as we were out of ear-shot for them to hear us. "This wasn't my idea, and somehow you're still punishing me for it."

Placing the dishes on the kitchen counter, I leaned against it, pinching the bridge of my nose as I sighed in exhaustion, eyes batting back open to see him much closer to me than I had anticipated.

He leaned over me to place the cutlery in his hands on top of the dishes behind me with a clinking sound. My breath hitched at the close proximity, my own face right by his chest before he took a single step back, still standing closer than he probably should've.

His head tilted slightly, a cruel smile on his lips as his eyes flickered through the kitchen once before landing on me again. "I thought we figured that I like to see you suffer," He shrugged casually.

It took everything within me not to yell at him loud enough for the rest of the group to hear. Though, my voice wasn't as low as it was before anymore. And even with his face as close to mine as it was, and the citrusy scent that always surrounded him creeping up my nose, almost clouding my judgement completely, I seethed;

"You're such a fucking—" My sentence was cut off by his lips on mine.

Just like that, and without a word of warning.

And his lips felt soft — softer than they looked, even — against mine, while the skin of his hand on my cheek felt rougher than it seemed. And even though it took me a moment to adjust to a feeling so foreign yet so familiar – so right –my lips moved against his slowly.

It was that that made him pull away slowly but with as much purpose as he went in with, in the first place. His eyes searched mine, though I wasn't quite sure for what.

Both of our breaths heavier, my eyes darting down to his lips just in time to see him flick his tongue over them, his head turning to throw a glance over his shoulder just before they landed on mine once more;

Rougher, this time, more longingly, as if he's been waiting to do that for as long as I just realised I've been wanting to. My skin tingled where he touched me, and the kitchen counter digging into my lower back wasn't more than a minor inconvenience in the big picture.

I didn't think even a knife against my throat would get me to let go, though a mildly surprised "Oh—" did.

Eyes wide as they opened again, they flickered over Esmond — cheeks slightly flushed and his brown hair messily hanging into his face — before darting behind him to fall on my best friend, a wide grin on her face.

The both of us shot apart instinctively, Esmond busying himself with filling the dishwasher while I kind of just stood there, waiting for Eniola to say what she came here to say. She seemed to have picked up on that.

"Just came to check up on you," She shrugged, smile still on her lips. "It sounded like you were arguing, but clearly— that wasn't the case." She gave me a playful wink before turning around and leaving again without letting me get a word in.

"You're welcome," Esmond hummed from behind me, then, and I turned around with my brows knitted together tightly.

"What?"

"You didn't want anyone suspecting anything, did you?" He questioned sarcastically, turning around now to lean against the same kitchen counter he had me pressed against less than two minutes ago. "You heard her; she thought we were arguing. Soulmates don't argue, do they?"

I opened my mouth to say something, though wasn't quite sure what to reply. My mouth shut again, and the motion seemed to please him.

"There you go," He scoffed playfully. "You're welcome." 

- 

Very nice. I approve. <3 Only took them 30 chapters jfc

Also wow look at the length of that chapter. :) 

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! <3