**** I'm so sorry to leave you guys hanging all the time. I'm having a much harder time with this than I thought, and I know it's taking forever but I don't have a good excuse for you, it's my fault and I don't have a good reason to give you guys for it. I love this book as much as always, but I'm just having a really hard time continuing it. Anyways, get on with it then, sorry ****

*Ryker*

It had been a few weeks now, since I had reached an agreement with Ronnie.

It had been surprisingly easy to hide it from everyone. They didn't suspect anything, so it was nothing really, they didn't ask and they had no reason to think something was up.

We saw each other a few times a week, Ronnie and I, and I found myself feeling dissatisfied. What was between us, it didn't feel the same. It was stiff, lacking.

That beauty in the chaos we had, it was gone now. There was no chaos. Nothing was solved, but the problem had stopped.

But without the chaos, there was nothing. Besides our activities behind closed doors, we didn't talk. We didn't really smile at each other. Actually, we hardly looked at each other, not in the face.

And I didn't want to be ungrateful, because I was eternally grateful to be close to him again, but it felt too forced.

I didn't know what to do about it, so I just ignored it. I never imagined it would come to this. Every night I wished to be able to be close to Ronnie again, and now I was complaining about it.

But I couldn't help it. I longed for the feeling of affection, love, even if it wasn't as intense as before. I longed for something other than the insensitive emptiness of him and me together.

I tried not to pay attention to it though, because Leah and Luna were beside me, and Esha was driving us to some big party at her parents place. She had warned us that it was going to be extravagant, but nothing could have prepared me for this.

The house was higher than my self esteem, seemingly reaching the clouds with its excessive tiers, pointed roofs and stone clearer than my future. And my skin for that matter.

I lifted my hand to my chin to make sure that it wasn't falling off, and turned my eyes away from the magnificent house in front of us.

Esha sent us a guarded look before turning the car off and exiting without a word. I hastily followed, putting my head down to avoid staring at the mansion.

I followed Esha's feet and soon we were standing in front of the perfectly dyed oak door, complete with stained glass windows lining the top half.

Esha's hand was slow to move, and eventually I stepped beside her and rapped my knuckles against the smooth door. Why do I get the feeling Esha didn't want to be here? It was making me uneasy. Why had she brought us?

Her sleek hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her nose was wrinkled up a little, as if she regretted coming.

She rolled her eyes over to meet mine, and I couldn't tell if she was thanking me or reprimanding me.

Then the door was opened and an elderly woman was staring us down. I stuck my hand out to greet her, but Esha quickly stepped past her, a scowl on her face.

The woman glared at all of us before stepping aside to let us in. Looking at her clothes, I realized that she must work here, as she was wearing a maids outfit that resembled the ancient times of lords and servants in movies.

I nodded my head to her in an attempt to be kind, but she just looked down at me over her enormously contemptful nose and turned away without a word.

I walked across the polished marble floor, trying not to strain my neck staring up at the magnificent chandelier hanging 2 stories above us.

When I reached Esha once again, I stared in awe, suddenly thankful for my decision to wear a formal red dress rather than my tight latex.

This place was crazy, it was like entering a movie, there were paid workers everywhere, and even the smallest items, such as the miniscule vase on the table, cost more than my entire collection of belongings.

And right in the center of this magnificence, was 4 incredibly tall, incredibly attractive, incredibly dressed people.

They were all graceful, their clothes impeccable and pristine. 2 women looking like near replicas, both with elegant dresses and perfect makeup. 2 men, also near identical, wearing perfectly tailored suits with their hair perfectly smoothed back.

I did not belong here.

Esha didn't belong here either. Everything was too clean, too put together, too extravagant. There was no disorder, but no creativity either. Esha, with her often disheveled appearance, the cost of working on articles all night, did not fit in with these people.

Esha was all about creative chaos and beautiful disorder. She wasn't about faking perfection and distasteful entitlement, and from the looks of it, these people weren't happy about it.

"You came" the shorter man said, and I took him to be Esha's brother.

"I said I would" she responded curtly, her hand slipping to hold my arm in a painfully tight grip.

"And you've brought....friends" her sister let her eyes pour over us, analysing our clothes, cheap in comparison to the gown clinging to her perfectly shaped form. "How, quaint."

I clenched my fists. These people were the most entitled, judgemental people I had ever met, and I hadn't even spoken a word to them.

"We've missed you" the taller woman, her mother I take it, spoke, her perfectly manicured hands folding together in a forced earnestness.

"I'm sure you did" Esha snorted, walking past them and to the door.

Once we had passed these cold dolls of people, the atmosphere changed. It was still pristine, but there was crowds of people out here, and it was easy to get lost in them and avoid anymore unpleasant meetings.

However, maybe I was wrong, because across the garden I spotted dark hair and a tattooed chest peeking out from beneath a suit.

Ronnie.