[ 7 ] 1963 

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"I always hated you. I was always mean to you. You just never noticed because you're stupid."

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The party was at an outdoor venue with a view of the beach, for the guests to enjoy the warm weather. In the distance was a house like structure that served as an indoor venue, but was only being used for the toilets on this ocassion. At the very end was a white canopy with silk curtains that enclosed the table where the young couple and their wedding court were sitting at.

Anne-Sophie was sitting at the center of the table, with Ashton sitting a couple of seats down. The newlywed turned to her husband's bestfriend and smiled at him. "Are you liking the party Ashton?"

He nodded politely, flashing her a smile. "Its a real gas, Annie. I'm sure everyone's having a blast." Remembering she was from France and didn't understand english language slang when he saw the confused expression on her face, he added, correcting himself. "I mean its a great party. I'm sure everyone's having a nice time."

In the middle of everything, between the guest tables and the wedding court was the dance floor, with a small stage on the left where a band was playing old-fashioned music as well as a couple of modern songs.

The singer on stage paused the song when Anne's father walked up to him and whispered something into his ear. With a smile, the man announced, "They tell me its time for the newly weds to share their first dance together. So can we have Anne-Sophie and Conrad please come onto the stage?" Immediately, all eyes were on Anne who was sitting there by herself.

Anne smiled awkwardly at everyone. No one knew where Con was. 

Ashton suggested, "Maybe he's inside. I can go find him."

He thought maybe he would also find out where Claire was, since she had left to the toilets a while ago and he worried for her. But the bride got up from her chair, shaking her head. "That is not necessary. Will you please tell them to give me a few minutes? I'm going to find Con."

The curly haired boy nodded. "Sure. See if you can find Claire too."

.

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The young girl wearing the wedding dress wandered the halls of the large mansion by the beach. The place seemed empty, except for the kitchen on the first floor where food was being prepared. Waiters rushed in and out of the kitchen with trays of snacks that were taken to the guests before dinner later in the day.

She found the stairs that led up to the second floor. Con didn't like to be surrounded by a lot of people. He was the type of person who preferred to be alone.

Anne assumed he had probably snuck away from the party so he wouldn't have to deal with everyone. Once she reached the end of the stairs, she took a right onto a long hallway with a couple of doors.

She opened the nearest one to her and it was where she found her husband. He wasn't alone in the room. With him was the girl who had been his friend since they were children. Anne's eyes filled with tears when she saw them embrazing each other, with his lips on hers. They pulled away from each other when the door opened, but they hadn't been fast enough.

"Con?" Anne's bottom lip quivered as she tried to bite back a sob.

"Oh...Anne." He said, his voice sounding as though he didn't care he got caught. "What are you doing here?" 

From beside him, Claire only smirked. Anne took a deep breath to steel herself and swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew she needed to put her foot down if she didn't want to be trampled down in her marriage. "Con, I will not let you do this to me, especially on our wedding day." She told him. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Not for betraying me, but for betraying Ashton. He's your friend, Con. And Claire, he's your boyfriend. You're getting married soon. You're a whore, Claire. I can't believe you fooled me for so long."

Claire scoffed. "You say I'm a whore, but you're the one who already slept with Con. Don't think I don't know you got married because you're pregnant."

"He was my boyfriend and we were going to get married anyway." Said the girl with the French accent. "If you wanted to be with Con, there was no reason to lead Ashton on. There was no reason to pretend to be my friend."

"Oh please. Get with it, Anne-Sophie." Claire laughed. "I always hated you. I was always mean to you. You just never noticed because you're stupid."

Con, who had been quiet the entire time, took a step forward, reaching to take Anne's hand. But she flinched away from him. "Anne," He began, waving a hand in front of her face to mind control her. "Be a good little pet and return to the party. I'll be there in a couple of minutes. You never saw Claire and I together. Now go." He ordered.

"Wait." Claire called at the French girl turned to leave. When Anne stopped in her stride, Claire continued, "Before she forgets everything, I want her to know that...Her dress is absolutely grotty and it makes her look fat."

Laughing at Claires comment, Con dismissed his wife with a wave.

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Ashton saw Anne walk back towards the party with a blank expression on her face. He stood up as she approached the table and stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, "Annie, did you find them?"

She shook her hand absently. "No."

It wasn't five minutes later when Con returned and a couple more minutes until Claire returned. Anne's smile flashed across her lips at the sight of her husband. By now, her memories of her husband cheating on her were long forgotten. She took his hand in hers and led him to the dance floor where they shared their first dance together.

The band played 'Sleepwalk' by Santo and Johnny. Ashton loved the song and found himself humming along.

Claire sat by her boyfriend's side, but her eyes were trained on the newlyweds. She was seething with jealousy at the sight of them. 

After the young couple danced their first song together as a married couple, the band continued playing music for the guests to dance to. Claire stood up and pulled Ashton up to standing as well. She grinned at him, "Dance with me, Ashton."

The best man of the wedding nodded at his girlfriend with a wide smile. "Alright, kitten."

During the rest of the wedding party, Con and Claire disappeared once more. It happened just before he was to leave with Anne-Sophie for France, where they would spend two weeks in Paris for their honeymoon. Anne's father wanted Con to immediately learn how to work the family business since he had no male heirs and didn't want to leave the company in Anne's hands.

That time, neither Ashton or Anne found it suspicious that the two were always disappearing together.

-

sorry for the filler chapter.

just thought an update was in order. the next one will go back to 2013 though, i promise. so stay tuned for that one. 

i want to thank you all for getting this story to 41K reads. 

it means a lot.

and here is a quick song of the day: sleepwalk -- santo and johnny. let me tell you guys, i love writing the flashback chapters cause my favorite music is from the fifties and sixties. and i can really sneak in some of my favorite songs. lol.

anyway, i should probably go to sleep cause its midnight and im tired af.

goodnight my little shifters.

i love you.

-clary xx