"I WANT TO go home." No one protested. After what had just happened, no one could blame Brie if she wanted to go. Livia had half a mind to do so herself, but if she did and Pamela didn't go with her, their parents would have questions. And despite what she just told Arron, she didn't actually want to get parents involved in this. It was just embarrassing.

"I'll drive you," Zeth offered.

"Will you come back later?" Amphion asked his twin.

Zeth was silent for a moment, and then he shrugged. "We'll see." He wanted to be alone with Brie. Maybe he was going to do it. Or maybe he was going to do his usual thing, comforting her and making sure she was okay the way he did with everyone.

Either way, it was in his hands.

"I'm staying," Lila hissed. "I want to drink myself into a drunken stupor."

"It's the rage," Amphion said sympathetically. "I know what that does to you. Come on, drink all you want. We can take you home."

"I'm going to take you up on the offer," Lila sighed. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have punched him." The adrenaline of the moment was running off now, and it was time for them to contemplate over every single word they'd just said and regret all of it. Livia was already internally cringing over the way she'd threatened Arron. Those words were not ones that would usually leave her mouth.

"As much as I think he deserves it," Amphion muttered, "yeah, it probably wasn't a good choice. Where's Sarah gone, by the way?"

"If she comes," Livia warned, "I'm gone."

Amphion shot her a glare. "You do you, Wong."

Livia might have gotten mad, but she didn't. Instead she rolled her eyes, watching as Zeth led Brie out of the house. Brie's house wasn't that far away, so she expected to see him in less than an hour again. What happens within that timespan, though, she had no idea.

He might take her advice.

As they watched the two walk away, though, Sarah Hepburn's familiar red hair and petite figure appeared in view. She strolled towards the two, brows furrowed in clear confusion. There were a few words shared, and Livia was too far away to hear anything. Lila took a step forward. "What's up with that?"

Livia let out a breath. "I'll explain later." She doubted Lila would appreciate the idea of them shipping Brie off with another boy interested in her heart, albeit this one was more interested in protecting than breaking.

Sometimes, though, those two things only had a thin line in between them. Livia hoped, for both of their sake, that they managed to keep on the good side.

"You better," Lila muttered. "Or Sarah Hepburn might just do it for you."

Sarah had already marched over to them. "Livia. The fuck did you do?"

"I love, love, love how you automatically think it's me."

"Considering you were the one who suggested the blasted idea, I don't think you can blame me."

"I didn't do anything. Brie wants to go back, so Zeth is driving her."

"Why Zeth?"

It was Lila's turn to frown. "What's wrong with Zeth?"

Sarah sent Lila a glance. "Have you actually not realised?"

"Realised what?"

Sarah turned to Livia. "You never told her?"

There was no need to hide it now. Sarah would tell Lila one way or another. Amphion had wisely chosen to dissolve into the background, to be a spectator rather than an active participant. He had no place in this conversation and he knew it.

"It was always his privacy," Livia said with a shrug. "But I doubt it's going to be much of a secret after tonight."

"What?" Lila demanded, flicking her hazel-coloured hair back. "The fuck are you two talking about?"

Sarah tilted her head in Lila's direction. "Zeth has a crush on Brie. A massive one. Been a few years, I think. Livia suggested that it might be a good idea to let the cat out of the bag tonight."

Livia blew a lock of stray hair out of her face. "I didn't account for Mark Arron in the equation. I have to admit, I don't think it's the best choice right now either. But Zeth is a smart guy, he'll know what to do, one way or another."

"It was never a good choice at all," Sarah scowled. "He should just continue keeping it a secret, honestly. Letting it out, especially with Brie having no romantic feelings for him, is just idiotic."

Instead of responding, Livia fixed her eyes on Lila, who looked like she was going through the five stages of grief all within the span of a minute. "Zeth?" she finally demanded. "Seriously?"

"It was quite obvious," Sarah pointed out. "He's always staring at her."

"I thought it was platonic."

"It wasn't," Livia sighed. "I always suspected, but he only confirmed it a while ago. Don't worry. Zeth knows what to do. Come on, have some faith in him."

"No one ever told me?" Lila groaned. "Really?"

"Well, as Livia said," Sarah muttered, which was probably the first time the pale-skinned girl had agreed with her about anything for a long time, "it was his privacy. And like, everyone else kind of saw it."

"And I didn't."

"I'm sorry, Lila. But I genuinely thought you'd have suspected by now," Livia murmured.

"Fucking hell," Lila muttered, burying her face in her hands. Sarah leaned slightly backwards, silent, contemplating the situation before her.

"Now what?" Livia asked.

"If Brie and Zeth end up hating each other," Sarah declared, "I completely blame you."

"Shut the fuck up, Sarah."

"The friend group is falling apart as it is. It really did not require your assistance, Livia."

"I'm a part of this friend group too."

"Well, then start fucking caring for it!"

"When have I not cared for it?"

"All you've ever done is try to break it apart, Livia. It's all you ever do. Every big argument we've ever had all originates from you."

"Okay, I'm not doing this right now." Livia raised both hands. "Go away, Sarah. Stop it. We're at a party. I'm not in the mood for this right now." She glanced around. Amphion was standing at the perimeter of their little area, looking ready to interfere if things went too far. She shot him a look, and he gave a nonchalant shrug in return.

Sarah noticed. "Really?" she demanded, staring at Amphion. "You're just going to let her life back in again, just like that? So easily?"

Amphion hesitantly took a step forward. "Sarah..."

"The hell has that got to do with you?"

"He's my friend," Sarah snapped, jabbing her finger in Amphion's direction. "And so is Zeth. And Brie. And you're hurting them."

"I hardly doubt I'm the cause of half their problems."

"You're always hurting them."

"Sarah, claims need to be backed up by evidence and fact."

"I really wish you weren't one of us sometimes," Sarah seethed. "You ruin everything, Livia."

"I don't think I should be here," Lila said, taking a step back. "Give me a shout if you need me. I'll be around the corner." Then, she left.

Both girls turned to face Amphion, who edged backwards as well. "I guess that's you saying you don't want me here either. Have a little heart-to-heart, it might be helpful. I do wish you two weren't at each other's throat all the time."

Sarah offered a tight smile. "We just need to have a little talk."

"Right. A little talk."

And then Amphion was gone too.

When Sarah was facing Livia again, there was hatred boiling in her eyes and her fists were tightly clenched by her side. Her face, instead of its usual pale shade, was turning redder by the second. "We need to talk, Livia Wong."

"More than happy to indulge," Livia growled. "Let's settle this tonight, once and for all."

Sarah let out a splutter of a laugh, shaking her head. "We both know it won't work that way. There will be a hundred more battles to come, but at least get the terms done tonight, yeah?"

"Whatever you say, Hepburn. I don't get your reasons for disliking me. At all."

"Because you don't think there's anything wrong with you."

"On the contrary," Livia retorted, "I'm more than willing to admit my mistakes when there is evidence offered. You have given none. Absolutely none."

"You really think having Zeth tell Brie that he's had a crush on her for ages is a good idea? When her heart's been dug out today already? She's heartbroken right now, Livia."

"I don't think it's the best idea right now," Livia replied earnestly. "I told him to do it before expecting this would all happen. But at the same time, yes. I think Zeth should be honest with her sooner or later. Brie's not the only one hurt by this, Zeth is too."

"Stop acting like you care for him. Or any of us! Stop doing that!"

"Stop doing what?" Livia snapped. "I don't understand you, Sarah. I know we don't get along, but it doesn't mean you can launch baseless accusations about me and my character and the way I treat my friends. It has nothing to do with you."

"By that logic," Sarah snarled, "you shouldn't have jackshit to do with the way Mark Arron treats Brie. I get it. It's painful watching her go through that cycle again and again, but if she's not going to listen, then stop trying. She's an adult, she can handle her own problems."

"I'm not just going to give up. Even if it doesn't work, I'm still going to at least try."

"What you're doing," Sarah growled, "is hurting them. You think you're helping them, but you're not. Everything was just fine when you kept your bloody distance, Livia, why did you have to come back and ruin everything all again?"

"I don't think this is about Brie," Livia huffed. "I think this is about the twins. You've always been possessive over them."

"Me? The possessive one?" Sarah let out a loud laugh. "I'm not the one who's possessive over them, Livia. That's you. That has always been you. Livia and her boys, the boys and Livia. I can't be possessive over them because they've never been mine in the first place. That's always been you."

And then, they got to the very core of it: the twins. The twins who they'd been fighting over since the dawn of their group. Brie had Lila, Lila had Brie. Livia and Sarah didn't get along, and the twins were naturally a unit. Someone had to be in that trio.

For most of their life, that third person had been Livia. She was neighbours with the twins, they had more in common, and for most of the earliest years Sarah had another group of friends she spent a lot of time with. It was only after they moved away she started hanging out with them more.

"I'm not possessive over them," Livia argued. "If I was, this entire fiasco wouldn't have happened in the first place. And they're not me, Sarah, they're independent people."

"I'm glad you know that. They're individual people. So stop trying to control everything they do!"

"I've never done that!" At least not this year, since she'd barely spoken to any of them for the first month and barely spent the last few weeks on speaking terms with Amphion. "I've never tried to control them!"

"Zeth?" Sarah laughed. "You're literally trying to tell Zeth what to do right now. At this very moment. Why are you so fucking controlling? You think you know what's best for everyone but you don't. Stop giving your shitty advice to us and trying to tell us what to do!"

"You're your own person," Livia retorted, "and so are they. If they think it's bad advice, they can easily reject it."

"But they won't. Because they completely trust you, wholly. Because they don't realise how you never know what you're doing, what you're talking about. You keep trying to impose your own values onto the rest of us, to make yourself seem different and more unique. You've always done this ever since we were kids!"

Livia took a step back. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sarah pushed her hair back, looking as annoyed as ever. "Of course you don't. Remember when we were kids? The way you'd always stick to the twins like glue? You'd never hang out with me."

"Because we always disliked each other!"

"You wouldn't hang out with Brie either," Sarah pointed out, raising her chin. "You always liked her."

"I was always better friends with the twins than Brie. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Except for the fact that while you were hanging out with the twins, you'd consistently put down me and Brie, and actually, the rest of the entire female population while you were at it."

"I never..."

But she did.

Once upon a time, Livia was that girl. That girl who constantly looked down upon other girls, who considered them annoying and problematic. Who'd stick to the boys, act like she was one of them and made sure everyone knew it too.

That was so long ago.

Sarah saw it click in Livia's eyes. "Yeah. That's part of why I've always hated you so much."

Livia shook her head in disbelief. "That was years ago. I've never done it since I was like, twelve. I was a kid back then, Sarah."

"Every fucking time the few of us hung out back then, all you'd ever do is talk to Amphion and Zeth. You'd say two words to Brie and treat her like a pet half the time. You'd barely ever spare a glance for me."

"I was a kid."

"You just didn't want to be like other girls. You know, so annoying, liking pink and dresses and everything like that."

"I was an idiot."

"At first it was that," Sarah said, raising her chin. She was more sure of herself now, knowing that one of her points had hit home. Knowing that Livia had admitted to it. But Livia still didn't understand. That was so long ago, and she'd never done it since. "But you'd purposefully keep them away from us. It was always just the three of you hanging out, and the rest of us were just accessories hanging out. It constantly felt like we were your little pets. Not your friends."

"I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way. But I disliked you. Ardently."

"So you told that to the twins, so they started to ignore me too."

"They never did that!"

"You might not have noticed," Sarah replied, "but I certainly did. There was a long time when they'd always keep their distance with me, not talk to me and ignore me when you were around. It was only around when we were sixteen or seventeen that it started getting better again."

"I've never told them to do that."

"No, but you did actively tell them you disliked me. I asked Amphion about it this summer, he told me a lot of what happened. The things I just wasn't aware of. You shittalked me a lot behind my back, didn't you?"

Livia scoffed. "Like you never did the same."

"Funny thing is," Sarah let out a choked laugh, "I never did. Who would I shittalk you to? All my friends were yours, and they were always by your side until, well, until this year. Whenever I was home I was either trying to avoid my parents or take care of Brian. When I was out, you'd always be there. Especially since after my friends moved away... I was fucking miserable, Livia, and you caused that."

"Never in my life have I ever told the twins or anyone else to not talk to you. I always made it clear my grievances were personal."

"When a person shittalks someone long enough in front of her friends, whether or not that friend knows the other person well or not, it's going to have an effect." Sarah shook her head, blinking back tears. "You made me miserable for years, Livia."

"I never—"

"Your intent does not matter. It's the consequences that do. You did it to Brie too, though she cared far less. You'd always try to mention topics only you three knew about in front of us. Gaming, your superheroes, every time I tried to bring up something I liked you'd shut it down because it was too girly or lame. You wouldn't even let Brie discuss football, because you didn't know anything about the topic."

"That was..."

"Yes. It was years ago. But are you going to deny it?"

"No," Livia said quietly. "I'm not."

"When we were younger you'd always push us away from the twins. It always felt like you were the only person who could be their friend. And then we became more sure of the fact we both hated each other, so you began shittalking me all the time. And they started keeping distance from me too. Whether it was because they believed whatever you said, or because they didn't want to piss you off... I don't know."

"I never meant for it to happen. I know I still hurt you, but I want you to know it was never what I wanted."

"But it happened anyway."

Sarah didn't sound angry anymore. She sounded tired.

Exhausted.

And suddenly Livia understood.

"You're jealous of me, aren't you?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Sarah replied, a sad smile stretching on her face. "You had all the friends in the world. Everyone always sided by you, saw you as a god, almost. You had everything in the world and if you asked for it you would always gain more. It felt like it was always just me who saw more to you, who saw that darkness lurking within. Your manipulative streak, the way you were so possessive over the people you considered were yours that you'd push everyone else away."

"I changed a long time ago."

"Just a bit." Sarah shrugged. "You don't do that thing where you consistently demean girls anymore, I give you that. I think that was just a phase. I know some other people who had that. But you can still be very controlling. And you're stubborn as all hell, arrogant alongside it too. You always think you know better than everyone else, especially me."

"I know I can assume things a lot. But I'm trying to change."

She let out a laugh. "Change faster, then. Because the world isn't just going to wait for you to alter. Though I suppose everyone always forgives you for everything you do anyways. Did you ever consider just listening to Amphion and Zeth for once in their lives? It would have avoided the whole situation, you know."

"They were talking shit behind my back."

"Oh, so you know that hurts. Wonder why you still did it to me, then." Sarah shrugged nonchalantly. "Double standards, I guess."

A flush of red hot shame went through Livia's body. Of course she knew she'd been wrong to do it. But she did dislike Sarah. Heavily. And she wanted to release her emotions. "I'm more than willing to apologise for it."

"It's far too late for that now, Livia. Far, far, far too late."

"Even if it's too late... I am sorry I hurt you. But I don't think all your accusations towards me are founded in truth either. You're clearly biassed towards me."

"I wonder why that is?"

"You could have talked to me about what you thought I was doing wrong a long time ago. But you didn't. Instead you chose to go against everything I ever said or did, even when all it would do is hurt the friendship group you claim I am destroying. There's more than just one person in this friendship, Sarah. You can't just push all the blame on me and act like you're innocent."

"The fuck have I ever done except go against you?" Sarah's laugh was harsh. "If I'm the only one willing to do it, so be it."

"I think," Livia said quietly, well aware of the party still ongoing right around the corner, "that we both got carried away by our rivalry."

"Everything I did, I did in response to you."

"Instead of telling me. In person. Properly. What your problem with me was. We could have had this conversation a long time ago."

"You wouldn't have listened." Sarah raised her chin. "You're stubborn. You're always acting like it's such a great trait to have, but I'm telling you that it's not. You're never willing to admit your mistakes. You're never willing to lower your head and admit that you were wrong about anything. When we were younger, Amphion would always take the blame for everything even when you were just as complicit. You should have stayed away from them."

"We've been friends for almost eighteen years," Livia growled. "It's not just all going to disappear just like that."

"The moment you're back, I'm an outsider again."

"That's not just my problem, though."

"It's almost like Mark and Brie, you and them. The way they're always willing to forgive you for anything you do, no matter how bad it is."

"We're friends, Sarah."

"I've been telling them to just cut their losses. To stay away. That you're bad news, and that you're just going to ruin everything again. You know the only reason we were a friend group past the age of twelve?"

"Sarah, don't."

"Melody. She's the only reason."

"We all loved her," Livia said quietly.

"Sometimes, I wonder if we're all friends because we genuinely enjoy each other's company, or if it's just because we all feel guilty for what happened to Melody, and are painstakingly trying to keep up her memory this way."

"It can be a mixture of both, Sarah."

She shook her head. "These days, I think it's wholly the latter." A moment's pause. "Her anniversary is coming up soon. Are you going?"

"I always go. I've never missed it. Not a single time."

"She'd hate it if she saw us like this."

"I always thought," Livia murmured, "that part of why Zeth tries so hard is because he wanted to fill in her role after she was gone. The glue keeping us all together."

"Sometimes when you got really insufferable and life was difficult, I'd go to her," Sarah admitted. "She always knew how to make things better."

"She told me to make peace with you. A lot. I never listened."

"I don't think she ever expected you to when she tried." Sarah buried her face in her hands, and Livia couldn't tell for a moment if she was crying or laughing. A bit after, Sarah looked back up. "You made me miserable, Livia."

"I'm not going to deny it. But at the same time, I never realised because you didn't tell me."

"I think you always knew a bit," Sarah whispered. "I think you just didn't care because you didn't like me. You never care about the feelings of people you don't love. You're loyal to a fault with people you consider your own, but everyone else is just cannon fodder for you."

"I have never—"

"Stop trying to deny it. You might not realise it, though I think some of those choices were always made consciously, but it happened, Livia. Nothing can change it now." Her eyelids fluttered shut. "I'm going now. Make what you will of this conversation."

"I think it's better if we stop seeing each other so much."

"I'm not going to stop hanging out with the twins," Sarah said sharply. "I'm not going to sacrifice my best friends just because of you, Livia Wong."

"We can both be friends with them and not have to constantly see each other at the same time," Livia replied. "It is a fully possible thing, you know."

"Yeah," Sarah mumbled. "Let's try and do that."

:( i always liked writing sarah. i had plans to do a whole short story sequel for her back in the day but it never came into fruition.