Xahria sighed, picking up the non-alcoholic mocktail. Standing beside her was Aubree, who was going through her phone. "What are you doing?" Aubree looked up from her phone and at Kreo.

"What do you mean?"

"You were busy staring at your phone. While we are waiting for you to speak."

"What am I going to speak?" Xahria chuckled, looking at the guests. "They have been asking you who is who."

"Huh― Right. . . Look, Xahria knew all the girls. I'm in between in a serious chat. Do not disturb." Aubree said before walking over to the other side.

Kreo rolled his eyes at his sister. "What's the problem with her? Why is she cranky?"

"Her date didn't show up. He kept telling her he was on the way, and now he ghosted her," Kenric answered. "She worries that he might've been in trouble or bad."

"What?" Kreo was shocked hearing that. "You guys decided to bring dates?" he asked Xahria.

"Yeah, weren't you planning on bringing anyone? Look, even Ezarah invited a boy." Kreo's eyes widened, and he looked at where Xahria was pointing.

"Nikolai brought a date, and Elwen also has a accompany," Kenric spoke.

"Wow. . . You guys didn't mention about this." Xahria looked at Kreo. "What's there to mention? It's a party, and you could always invite a date."

"My bad."

Aubree sighed, stepping out of the hall. She tried calling Jasper. She was excited, knowing she would bring her first-ever date from college to meet her parents.

For some reason, Jasper wasn't showing up. She met him in the fraternity house a few weeks ago. He was sweet and shy, just the way she liked. They had a few drinks and spoke on the deck for hours before sharing each other's numbers.

She invited him for a coffee date. They hit it off. She loved spending her time with him. When she knew he was comfortable with her, she asked if he wanted to be her date for a party.

He instantly agreed. She shared the invitation, dress code, and address, but no sign of him. "Wassup?" Startled, Aubree turned around to see Kai.

"What the fuck, Kai! How many times have I told you not to scare me." Aubree placed her hand on her beating heart. Kai smirked. "It's not my mistake that you easily get scared."

"What are you doing here?" Aubree asked. Kai flashed his phone. "I had to answer a call. You?" Aubree showed her cell phone. Kai took steps towards Aubree. "Wanna have a seat in the garden?" Kai's gaze went to the party. "I need a break and company."

"Sure." They walked towards the garden. Aubree was careful with her dress before sitting beside Kai. They sat in silence. Kai, Nikolai, and Rowen returned home last night.

"Are you speaking with Angel?" Aubree asked, breaking the silence. Kai didn't answer, and Aubree sighed. "You know, she was expecting a call from you, and an apology will solve everything."

"It wasn't my mistake to apologize. And for now, it's better if we aren't in contact."

"Kai. . . Angel is sensitive, and it hurts her more if it's from you. She wasn't here because she knew you would be here."

Kai sighed. "Aubree, she's obsessed with me. I don't want her to be obsessed; she must focus on her art school. And I need to focus on my track. This is the reason why I'm against dating her. I don't want things to take bad turns in the family."

Aubree shook her head. "She isn't obsessed. She's in love―Since ages." Kai scoffed. "That's an obsession. I already told her that's ain't gonna work between us. She needs to focus on her career. I don't want to be the reason for her failure."

"You are not going to be the reason for her failure, nor will she fail." Kai didn't answer, and silence fell upon them. They were in Knights's mansion, celebrating Nikolai's success party as his overseas startup had been a hit.

"Anyway, have you seen Rowen?" Kai asked. Aubree glanced at the small pond. "Wasn't he with Nikolai and Uncle Lorenzo?"

"I haven't seen him."

"Don't tell him that you fought with Angel. He will snap at you in seconds." Kai shrugged his shoulders. "He might already know― Angel's isn't here when everyone's here. He got the memo."

Aubree sighed, getting up from the seat. "See you inside." Kai gave a nod. Aubree walked inside when her phone pinged.

Jasper

Hmm. . . I was nervous and couldn't walk past the doors. I couldn't meet anyone at the party without becoming a nervous clown.

Aubree

Jasper, you could've told me. No worries; I would never force you to come here if you weren't comfortable. I called you several times because I was scared you were stuck somewhere.

Aubree waited for the message, but she didn't get any. She looked at the phone and didn't notice Rowen approaching her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned closer to peek at her phone.

Aubree was stunned. She looked at her side and saw Rowen. "Rowen! Are you snooping at my phone?"

"Yeah. . . What are you hiding there? You weren't looking at anything besides your phone for the past two hours."

"I was looking at everyone."

"Oh, then why haven't I seen you?" Rowen asked. Aubree looked away at where others stood. "You were busy when we walked in."

"Busy?"

"You were talking with others, and I had stuff to do." Aubree pushed his arm away from her shoulders and walked towards Xahria and Ezarah.

Rowen immediately caught up with her steps and threw his arm around her shoulders again. "Why are you always running away from me."

"Why would I run away from you?"

"Like now. I was having a conversation, and you are running."

"That's not running. I answered you, and it was the end of the conversation." Aubree's gaze met Xahria's, who gave her a knowing smile. "And from when have you become this touchy?"

"Since I understood that you want to make distance between us." Aubree opened and closed her mouth before looking at him. "I wasn't. You live far away from here, and I got college. We hardly got time to meet."

"See― One way or the other way, you agree that there's distance."

"Come on, Rowen."

Rowen checked her dress. She's wearing a baby blue dress. "Is this the dress I gifted you for Christmas two years ago?" He held the fabric in his hand. Aubree's cheeks turned pink.

"Yes, this is the same dress. Wow, it still fits you and is in perfect condition." Aubree slapped his hand. "I take good care of my clothes."

"Favorite clothes, you mean," Xahria said.

"This is your favourite dress?" Rowen asked, amused. Aubree rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to everything she says." Rowen felt happy hearing that.

"Don't listen to everything she says. . ." Xahria parroted. Rowen chuckled, and others joined.

"What happened to your date? Isn't he here yet?" Kreo asked, popping a cherry into his mouth. Rowen looked at Aubree in surprise. "You are dating someone?"

"Ugh― Kreo, can you shut up." Aubree glanced at Rowen. "No, I'm not dating, but I plan on dating someone."

Kreo cracked up. "As if someone would stick for more than a week. You would scare the shit out of them on the first week itself."

"No, I don't."

"Really?" Kreo looked at Xahria. "What was that baseball player's name? That tall dude she went on dates with and was sure she would be dating."

Aubree punched Kreo in the stomach. "Shut up. Why do you always make fun of me?"

"I'm not making fun of you." Aubree glared at Kreo. "Okay. . . Okay. . . Calm down, Princess. He's your brother, and he is pulling your leg." Rowen patted Aubree's head.

Aubree gave Rowen a weird look. "I'm not Zeus." Zeus is Rowen's dog. "Ofcourse, you're not. You're Princess."

"Ugh, I hate you guys!" Aubree pointed her finger at Kreo. "And the baseball player ran away because of you. You threatened him with Ryder's name."

"Why did you use Ryder's name to threaten, bro?" Kenric asked. Kreo shrugged his shoulder as he sipped his wine. "He was too jolly with us, and the only person he was scared of was Ryder. So, I used Ryder's name to see if he would run away, and he did." Kreo looked at Aubree. "I didn't do anything. I was pulling his leg."

"Whatever." Aubree pushed her hair back and watched Ezarah dance with her date. "Anyway, did Ezarah bring her date over to introduce us?"

Xahria chuckled. "Babe is hiding her date away from us. She doesn't want Kreo or Kenric to scare him away."

"Awe, isn't she cute in that red frock? She is enjoying her time."

Kenric laughed. "She says she loves the guy." Everyone looked at him. "Really?"

"Oh, she even wrote a crush song on him. We were honoured to hear it, by the way."

"Why didn't you record it and send it to us?" Kreo asked. "Yeah, why didn't you do it? I heard she has been improving and even writing good lyrics," Xahria said.

"What's going on here," Elwen said, joining the group.

"Ezarah wrote a song, and we didn't hear it."

"Is it another Christmas song? She sent me a couple of Christmas songs she has written. They are pretty cool," Elwen said. Now, everyone's gaze went to Elwen.

"She shared songs with you, and you didn't tell us?" Kreo asked. Rowen watched them in amusement. "I thought she had shared it with you guys. Didn't she?"

"Huh― This clearly says who her favourite in the group is," Aubree said. She patted Kreo on the shoulder. "I think you lost the favourite candidate seat to Elwen, brother. How does losing the status feel?"

Kreo dramatically wiped his fake tears off his face. "It hurts more than a breakup. But we will raise back in the next season." Xahria clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

"Tsk. . . Tsk. . ."

"Let's sit down before my legs give out," Kenric said. Everyone agreed and moved towards the sitting area in the back. Everyone who wants to dance has already moved towards the dance floor.

Kai was on a call in the garden. Nikolai is speaking with his friends, whom he misses dearly. Rowen sat beside Aubree, and their arms brushed, but neither moved.

The conversation flowed. Rowen listened to them with his arm wrapped around Aubree's. Aubree sighed and got comfortable as Rowen played with her hair strands.

"You are not planning on getting a haircut?" Rowen whispered.

"No, I plan to grow and maintain long hair," Rowen hummed. "It's long enough, and it's good." Xahria clicked a picture as Rowen and Aubree whispered.