If there was a bar Abby could charm her way into, make friends with the staff and drink without consequence, she would find it. 

Which is how we ended up in The POP. Pierre's Own Palace. 

As the name suggests, Pierre owns the joint. It's packed, the lights are low, the walls, floor and ceiling are black, color is inserted with strobe lights on the ceiling.

It's like a small night club. Pierre was a former model. Apparently he'd worked with some big names. That was how he and Abby met. He was mentoring a shoot she was on and of course, the 'silver fox' in his mid forties was smitten with her charisma. 

Abby, Flynn, Lucas, Milly, Marnie and I stood around a tall round table with a drink each. Marnie had been reluctant to come along. She wanted to have a Game of Thrones marathon but when I told her my siblings were in town, I suggested she join us for a drink.

"How's the creative writing going?" Abby shouted to Milly.

Lucas had been staring at Abby all night with his brows furrowed and some sort of mild frustration. I could feel confusion coursing through our veins. 

When I met his stare, he pointed at our sister in her cropped tank top and black high waist jeans and mouthed, "thin as fuck."

She'd been thin for as long as we could remember. Trust him to find something to argue about with her.

She was a model. But she wasn't unhealthy at all.

"It's going well," Milly said, cradling her vodka and orange juice. "The course is brilliant. I'm doing a creative writing project at the moment. The professor chooses someone to feature in Cosmopolitan."

"That would be so perfect," Abby squealed. "A feature for me and a feature for you! I'm so proud."

"It hasn't happened yet," Milly said and sipped her drink.

Lucas nudged her and leaned down, giving her a quick kiss on the head. "It will. It's a fucking good story."

"I always wished I could write," Marnie added with her expressionless tone. "Like, I had ideas. But I can't write for shit. I wrote an entire chapter once and read it back. The fucking worst thing I've ever looked at. And I look at myself in the mirror every morning."

Abby met my eyes across the table and recoiled. Marnie is a bit odd. But that didn't bother me.

"You should keep practicing. Just write the idea. You could always have someone edit it," Milly suggested.

"No time," Marine pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Well, what was the idea?" I asked.

"It was about a woman who was in a controlling marriage with a man who didn't believe in women expressing themselves. So she joins campaigns. Ya know, free the nipple. She advocates for and loves masturbation because men are disappointing anyway. And then a climax of course - pun intended - her husband would snap, attempt to shut her up but she kills him and lives happily ever."

The entire group stared at her.

"There would be a lot more to it," she added, unconcerned at the response. "That's just a verbal blurb."

It was still silent, apart from the thudding music and drunken slur of the other club goers. Our gazes continued to dart around and meet with utter shock. Well, I wasn't quite as shocked as the rest of them. That was Marnie.

Milly broke the silence. "That sounds bloody brilliant," she laughed. "How would she kill the husband?"

Marnie narrowed her eyes behind her glasses while she thought about it. "Originally she would have pushed him into the river with a concrete slab around his ankles. But I reconsidered that idea after a while. I'm not sure."

"She should shove a dildo down his throat until he chokes."

Lucas recoiled and stared at Mills with concern.

"Abby," Flynn said. "Can we go and dance. Or get a drink. Or go to the toilet. Something. Please."

Abby laughed and took his hand. The two of them disappeared into the crowd. Poor Flynn. He was a gentle giant. It often surprised me that he and Lucas were so close. Although, to give credit where it's due, Lucas has never talked about choking someone with a dildo.

"Oops," Marnie watched where the couple had disappeared. She threw back the rest of her drink and picked up her phone from the table in front of her. "I'm going to leave. It smells like B.O, cigarettes and desperation in here."

She said nothing more before she turned around and pushed through the crowd towards the door. Milly laughed. "She's a riot. I would love sitting across from that girl every day."

Marnie was definitely an interesting individual.

I watched Lucas wrap his arm around Mills and murmur something into her ear. She melted into his side while she chewed on the straw in her drink. And then I realized that I was thinking about Amalia. 

It was unexpected but I did want to talk to Lucas.

"Luc," I tapped his shoulder and he straightened up, putting an end to his assault on Milly's neck. I wondered if he was still celibate. It would surprise me. It surprised me that he'd made it this long. He raised his brows for me to continue. "Um, did you— did you ever sleep with Amalia?"

He and Mills both looked surprised. The two beers I'd had must have been kicking in because I wasn't as embarrassed as I should have been.

"No," Lucas said. "We didn't go further than a bit of a pash and a feel. How come?"

"Well um— she and I are going on a date. Sort of? I'm not sure. But it feels like a date. I want it to be a date. I wasn't sure how you would feel about that?"

"Dude, go for it," he slapped my shoulder with encouragement. "She's a great girl. And she's gorgeous. Don't hesitate bro."

His encouragement was great. I thought it would be all I needed. I still felt a small niggling of guilt. I knew it was Kyla. I tried to ignore it. That made me feel worse though.

Lucas glanced down at Mills who was sipping on her drink and letting her gaze wander over the club. He nudged her. "Got anything to say about that?"

"About what?"

"I just called another girl gorgeous."

"So bloody what?" She stared at him as though he'd grown two heads.

He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. "This is the problem. You don't fucking care. It drives me insane."

"You're such a little attention whore," she waved him off. "What would I care for? We're not official? You're not my boyfriend."

"I've told you I love you! We've been dating for fucking ages."

"Sure," she said. "But you refuse to take it further because of some advice your cousin gave you."

"The point is," he shouted. "I want you to care. Show me you care. Get jealous. Make a fuss. Just fucking show me."

This escalated quickly.

"Why would I act like a jealous girlfriend if I'm not a girlfriend?" She arched a brow. "I'm not sitting around like a twit while you figure out whether you've grown enough or not. If a handsome man sweeps me off my feet and wants to make me his world without pissing around, I'll be off because I'm not attached as of the moment."

Lucas growled and turned around, storming off in a fit. Milly swallowed but smiled when she realized I was watching her. "So dramatic."

"What's that about?"

She toyed with the strap of her playsuit. "I get that he wanted to grow up. But he has. And he's proven himself. And I love him. I just wish he'd like, claim me? I don't know if that makes sense. I know what he means about me showing him that I care. But it kind of feels like he doesn't. Like he's trying to stay unattached incase he screws up. I've just always been a stubborn bitch. I guess both of us have shit to admit."

"Well," I sighed. "I don't know your dynamic. But I do know that he loves you. A lot."

"Right," she smiled. "He's probably off snogging some bird in a dark corner."

"Don't do that," I said. "He's not doing that. He'll be sulking but he's not like that anymore."

"I know. I shouldn't have said that."

Before I could suggest we order another drink and wait for him to come back with his tail between his legs, some dude had approached Mills and was leaning into her. She was shaking her head and waving him off. But he didn't leave. 

He was saying something to her and she stared straight ahead, attempting to ignore him.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

Milly gave the dude another shove. He was wasted and had pale pink hair under his beanie. "He's just being a typical bloody douche bag. I'm fine. He'll piss off when he gets bored."

But he didn't seem interested in leaving. He stumbled and his gaze was unfocused but he smiled and started pushing Milly's hair behind her shoulder. 

"Don't do that man," I gave his shoulder a light shove but he swatted my hand off as if I was a pestering insect and kept his focus on Mills. 

He came around behind her and grabbed her hips but it was a split second before he was pulled backwards.

Lucas spun him around and punched him so hard that blood showered the front of his shirt. But he didn't stop, Lucas kept his hand wrapped around his throat and drew him in close. "Don't fucking touch my girl," he shouted. 

He shoved the guy back and landed another punch on his jaw as he stumbled ass over.

At this point, a crowd had gathered and someone who must have been friends with the predator went in on Lucas, swinging but just grazing his jaw. That was when Milly went in. She stepped between Lucas and the second guy who had a pierced lip, and slapped him sharp across the face.

Which made me wince because slapping him wasn't enough to stop him. Pierced lip shoved her in the chest and she fell back into Lucas who seemed so enraged that he'd touched her, it scared me. 

He quickly swapped their position so Mills was behind him and once again started punching the dude in the face.

Pierced lip didn't go down as fast as the first one who was still sitting on the floor, clutching his nose with watered eyes. 

It probably seemed useless that I stood there and watched it all unfold. But that was the thing with Lucas. Unless he was outnumbered, there was no point getting involved. He knew how to fight. And it pissed him off if I did step in. He was too protective.

Milly tried to get around him again so she could join in, but Lucas pushed her back again. Pierced lip swung at Lucas and he ducked before kicking the guy in the stomach so hard that he curled over and fell on the floor.

The bouncers finally pushed through the crowd and shouted at Lucas who was breathing harsh, splattered with blood against his white t shirt. He remained in front of Mills but reached back and grabbed her hand as the bouncer gripped Lucas and started dragging him out of the club. He didn't resist.

I checked our table in case we'd left anything behind. But there was nothing but empty glasses. I followed the bouncer who was guiding Lucas towards the door. We passed Flynn and Abby who were damp with sweat from dancing. They watched us with shock and I gestured for them to follow me.

Out on the street, the bouncer told them not to come back in tonight. He seemed rather unconcerned. As if it was a common occurrence. People in the line watched with amusement as we piled out on to the footpath. 

Lucas was cradling Mills face with both hands, asking if she was alright. His hair was a mess and his shirt was ruined but he seemed concerned about nothing but the girl in his grasp.

"Lucas," Abby shouted as she came to a stop beside them. Lucas kissed Milly and moved her so she was tucked into his side. "Can't you just go out and not end up in a fist fight? I can't take you anywhere."

"Relax," he said. "Pedro won't care. Brawls are great publicity for bars."

"First of all, it's Pierre. Second, where the hell did you hear that? It would be terrible publicity for him. We're all underage."

"That's his fault," Lucas said and turned around with Mills under his arm. The two of them started walking up the road. 

Abby was about to call after him. "Let them be," I said. "They have some shit to talk about."

"He has my room key for the hotel." 

I winced. "I'd consider not going back there tonight."

She threw her arms up. "Great."

Flynn wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. "It'll be fine. We'll crash with Max. If he doesn't mind?"

"Not at all."

We started wandering down the road after collectively deciding that we'd look for something to eat. 

There was a lot going on. It was never quiet in this city. No matter the hour, the streets were flourishing with tourists, shoppers, people drinking and eating. Food vendors on the pavements never closed. It was never dark. Not properly dark. 

I sort of loved New York at night. It was magical. I needed to go out more.

We ended up stopping at a food truck. Abby was recounting the details of her photoshoot. The drama. The lows but the highs that made it all worth while. 

Flynn and I ordered a burger and soda while Abby settled on a vitamin water. We kept on walking while we ate. Which was a little awkward but Abby volunteered to hold our drinks for us.

"You heard about Ingrid right?" She said, rolling from one piece of gossip straight into the next. Flynn didn't look fazed so I suppose he had heard about Ingrid.

"What about her?"

"She's in a. . . relationship," she said the last word with scandal in her tone.

"Really?" That did surprise me. 

"He's twenty nine."

"What?!" I stared at her with disbelief. "She's nineteen."

"I know. But in his defense, the relationship started on the misinformation that she was twenty five. She was using a fake ID in a bar - that's where they met - and he's a bouncer. Anyway, they hit it off and she didn't correct him. They went home together. She said that it was the best sex of her life. He is super good looking for his age—" she stared up at Flynn — "No disrespect babe."

"You're alright."

"Yeah so anyway. He ended up sleeping at her place for almost an entire week and when she realized things were getting serious - for Ingrid anyway - she told him the truth. He flipped. Didn't talk to her for about a month but then he turned up at her place one afternoon and told her he forgave her and wanted to give it a shot."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that information," I said. "But it does make me a bit uncomfortable. She's legal  but like. . . just."

"I mean, it's not like he's a weirdo. He did think she was twenty five. And she does look it when she wears the right clothes and make up. She's always wanted an older man."

"True," I said.

"But the biggest twist," she said. "He has a daughter. She's two."

"Oh. Wow. Ingrid, as a step mother. That's . . . something."

"Craziest part is that she's loving it," Abby stated, handing Flynn his soda as he swallowed the last of his burger. "She's super sweet apparently. I don't think the mother is too thrilled about it though. She's not stopping Jackson - that's Ingrid's boyfriend - from seeing their daughter. But she's making it clear that she's pissed about the fact he's dating 'an infant' that's what she called Ingrid."

"She's just worried about her little girl," I offered the last of my burger to Abby but she shook her head, so I chucked it in the trash. "How would you feel if you had a child with Flynn and he started dating a girl that much younger."

"She wouldn't even have to be younger," Abby admitted. "I'd hate it."

"But it's part of divorce. You can't expect your ex to stay single forever."

"No but she doesn't have to rush it either. Ingrid just needs to give her time and prove that she's trustworthy. That's also a part of divorce. You've got to earn the trust of the baby momma."

She sighed and rested her head on Flynn when he wrapped his arm around her. "Let's never split up. Let's have babies and get married and be in love forever and ever."

He smiled down at her, no hesitation, no cowering. "Of course," he said and he meant it. I was glad those two had sorted themselves out. It seemed like everyone was getting the happiness that they deserved.