HAVING DEALT WITH THE SITUATION WITH GARED, LILITH MADE HER WAY TO HER ROOM. she ignored the glances she received from some of the members of her families mafia as she walked past- them all clearly having heard the chaos that just occurred in the sitting room. after she had thrown her knife at gared, uncle samuel told her to leave so he could "finish up", to which he did-

that consisting of a few screams being heard by gared before then a gunshot was heard- the noise having silenced the whole entire manor.

luckily for lilith, she did not see any of her friends standing around, them all having disappeared with either the three boys whom had been injured, or with tiana somewhere else in the home. sure lilith had dealt with backstabbers and people who have betrayed her in the past, but that did not mean it got any easier for the girl.

she may have not liked gared but she knew her father did. he was his best friend. or was supposed to be. as long as lilith could remember, gared at been apart of the family, almost acting as a second uncle to the girl and her siblings. this being the reason why she felt some sort of way towards her uncle, as after everything that happened with the death of lilith's parents and the whole family life and dynamics having to change- gared was the only thing that was seen as being consistent for uncle samuel.

he treated him like family.

but sometimes family and the people you trust most will betray you more than any stranger would.

and that was something the grey family knew all too well.

"lilith!" the sound of her name caused the girl to turn around, the walk to her room having been halted for a moment as she saw the person walking towards her, a smile appearing on her face.

"i thought you were on rest duty."

"and i thought you could use some of my abilities of being the bestest friend ever."

"don't push it lex."

the boy laughed, bringing lilith into his arms, the smile being prominent on both his and her face. considering how much has happened over the years, lilith was glad that she could call lex her best friend- sure they went through a time without talking to one another after her psychotic break, but she was glad that they had gotten back to how they were before,

as even though lilith would not like to admit it, if she didn't have lex- she would not be the person she was today, the girl most likely having ended up being a mass murder- well more than she already was.

"you know i love you right?" lilith spoke, pulling herself out of lex's arms momentarily to pull her hair that was stuck to his chain that he still wore around his wrist.

"is the lilith adelaide grey really being sappy with me right now?" lilith scoffed at lex's tease, the boy sticking his tongue out at the girl before bringing her back into his arms.

"if you tell anyone i just said that i won't hesitate to throw you down the stairs."

"and that's the lilith i remember." the two laughed, making their way through the grey manor, them both heading in the direction of lilith's bedroom- just so the two could relax, them both just wanting to simply enjoy one another's company, just like they did back at kings dominion.

"how are you feeling, after you know- after what just happened."

"it's bad that I'm used to it isn't it. whoops. family betray one another, it's normally the ones who you don't expect to betray you the most. personally I'm fine, but samuel? yeah it might take him awhile. it was his best friend after all." lex nodded, him giving lilith's shoulder a squeeze before opening the door of lilith's room, allowing the girl to walk in first.

it didn't take long for the two teenagers to jump onto lilith's bed once having walked into her bedroom, the two clearly tired and drained from the events of the last few days.

"have you spoken to marcus?" lex spoke up after a few moments of silence, lilith turning her head, meeting lex's eyes as they two had sprawled themselves out on the girls bed.

"where did that come from?" lex shrugged, a lazy smile on his face. he moved his hand to her face, lilith sending lex a glare as he proceeded to flick her forehead. "like of course i have spoke to him, dumbass."

lex laughed, shaking his head before turning his body on his side, allowing himself to look and listen to lilith more clearly.

"i know you've spoken to him, I'm not that stupid- don't look at me like that lilith. i know i am not stupid." lilith laughed, her looking away momentarily from her best friend, before looking back to see him now giving her a glare.

"i mean have you spoken to him about- you know, him and you?"

"what are you getting at lex?" lilith said, the girl watching a smile form on lex's face as his eyes scanned over her face. she awaited for lex to answer, leaving the two in silence, as lex had refused to answer lilith's question.

"lili love, i know the way you still look at him. you can deny it all you want, but me and billy both know you still have some sort of feeling towards him." lilith sighed, lex grabbed ahold of lilith's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"after all that's happened, maybe you two should try it again."

"since when have you been pro marcus?" lilith joked, the girl sticking her tongue out at lex- who quickly returned the action. the best friend duo were in sync, as they both sat up from the bed, instead moving themselves so they were leaning against lilith's headboard.

"I've been pro and anti marcus at times, but you know that." lex commented, lilith leaning her head on his shoulder, allowing lex to lean his on top of hers. he grabbed ahold of her hand again, giving it a squeeze.

"i think you two should chat- cause you never know, you two could both be feeling the same thin-"

"-am i interrupting?"

lilith and lex looked up to see marcus leaning against the bedroom door, his arms crossed. lilith sent him a smile, lex doing the same, to which marcus returned a much smaller smile.

"looking cozy i must say."

"you jealous marcus?" lilith elbowed lex's side as he teased the boy stood at the door, to which lex just laughed returned the elbow to the stomach to lilith. marcus shook his head, his eyes finding lilith's, the girl sending him a playful wink.

"I'm going to go check on billy and your brother." lex announced, pulling his hand from lilith's. he got up from the bed, placing a kiss on her forehead before excusing himself from her bedroom, him saying goodbye to marcus as walked through the door, disappearing into the hall.

"you could try and hide your jealousy marcus. that is my best friend." marcus scoffed, walking into lilith's room, closing the door behind him. she patted the space on her bed where lex was just sat.

"you two seem to have gotten closer though- you sure you are just best friends."

"the fact you just seriously asked me that marcus makes me want to hit you."

marcus laughed, falling onto the bed beside lilith, the girl taking the first chance she got to shove marcus for his stupid question he had just asked.

"why would it matter if we did?"

"what?" marcus blurted, his eyes meeting lilith's as the two sat on her bed, lilith holding back herself from laughing after seeing the look of being surprised displayed on marcus's face.

"why would it matter if me and lex did somehow- you know, be more than friends?" lilith asked, moving her face closer to marcus's, a slight smirk appearing on her face.

"you're such a pain in the ass you know that?" marcus whispered, lilith shrugged, the girl clearly not phased by marcus's words. they had kept their eye contact, the tension between the two thickening, so much so, that it was becoming overbearing.

lilith was ready to pull away, but marcus had other plans. he placed his right hand on the side of lilith's face, bringing their eyes to meet once again, commencing the eye contact to continue once more.

she watched his eyes glance down to her lips before meeting her eyes, the action making lilith raise her eyebrow at marcus, a smile appearing on his face.

not wanting to waste anymore time, lilith decided she would be the one to kiss marcus first instead of the other way round, her arms wrapping themselves around the back of his neck, bringing their faces closer together.

movements were made, lilith moving herself so she straddling marcus, him fixing his position on the bed so the two would be more comfortable during, well, their current make out session.

lilith pulled away, marcus giving lilith a smile, him clearly looking more than happy over her actions just now. his hand moved away from her face, instead now resting on her hips.

"you wouldn't get with lex."

"you sure?"

"lili- you just kissed me."

"so?"

lilith clamped her mouth shut from laughing at marcus, his eyes narrowing at the girl. he sat himself up, pulling lilith into his arms, giving a hug- but also telling lilith that he was not going to let her go from his hold anytime soon.

"i knew you still liked me."

"like? that's a strong word arguello."

"oh really grey? we really doing this again?" marcus commented, his head nuzzling into lilith's neck. it didn't take long for lilith to tilt her head, allowing marcus more access to her neck as he planted kisses.

"we have a lot to talk about you know." lilith spoke, the girl placing her hand in marcus's hand as his hum in response to her statement vibrated against her neck as he continued to plant kisses up and down her neck.

"don't you think I've been trying to talk about you and this for a while?" marcus whispered, pulling away from lilith's neck to look at the girl in the eyes once more. she smiled, planting a kiss on his lips before grabbing one of the hands that marcus had rested on her hip a squeeze.

"don't try and be a smart arse marcus."

"you love it though."

"you wish."

AUTHORS NOTE
hi lovelies!
so sorry it's been a while!
but luckily for you all- my marcus obsession is back
once more, so that will be mean more chapters will be coming & that also means more chapters of marcus and lilith together might reappear :)

hope you are all doing well & staying safe!
thank you for all the love on the book, ily all <3