Evelyn parked her car beside the many cars and got out of it. She glanced at the cars and recognised Nathan's Mercedes and Russell's Audi r8 while the rest were new to her. 

"Nice taste of cars," She said under her breath and smiled amusedly before strolling towards the entrance of the mansion. 

Evelyn made her way inside and looked around for her friends but she didn't see anyone. Then she heard voices coming out from a distance and chuckled softly before making her way towards it.

There, she found her friends enjoying the barbeque and happily chatting at each other. She leaned against the door and crossed her arms over and amusedly watched them, silently. Lucy was the first one to noticed her and immediately, her face lit up onto a wide smile.

"EVELYN!" Lucy shouted happily and ran towards her, grabbing all the attention on her.

"Lucy?" Evelyn said in an unsure tone and creased her brows yet smiled at her and curved down to lift Lucy up on her arms who came running towards her with wide arms open. "What are you doing here?" Evelyn asked softly.

"I came with my brother," Lucy answered cheerfully.

"Your brother?" Evelyn jerked an eyebrow and glances between the boys before her eyes landed on Easton who was already giving her a cheeky grin. "You're here too, Easton?" She said amusedly to which Easton Easton nodded at her animatedly.

"Evelyn, Lucy is our sister," Easton said darting his finger between him and Nathan. Evelyn looked at Nathan for a moment before turning to look at Lucy.

"You're Nathan's sister?" Evelyn asked in a soft whisper to which Lucy nodded at her happily.

"You took your time, lover girl," Eleanor jested and smiled at Evelyn.

"Sorry, Granny was reluctant to let go of me," Evelyn said amusedly as she strolled towards them. 

"What! You were at Eugenie's place?" Kevin said to which Evelyn nodded at her. "I arrived here just some minutes ago. If I had known that you were at your granny's place, I would have come and picked you up." He said and let out a sigh.

"You should be thankful that you were saved from the trouble of coming and picking me up," Evelyn jested and smiled at him.

"That's not a trouble, after all, we all are neighbours," Kevin said to which the boys smiled looking at Evelyn while Nathan looked to the other side and raked his hand through his hair.

"Are you all from the Promiseland Provision?" Evelyn asked in surprised.

"Yes, the nine of us grew up in that neighbourhood," Terrence answered amusedly. 

"Alright, forget about the neighbourhood and let's get back to the Abyss, shall we?" Nathan said. Everyone regarded him with amused looked before nodding and going back to their own business.

"Oh, Nathan, we forgot to arrange for the beers. Why don't you and Evelyn buy and bring some from Wikki?" William said wearing an uncanny smile. Nathan narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Alright," He said.

"I want to come too," Lucy said cheerfully to which Evelyn agreed readily and smiled at her. 

"Lu, it's late. You shouldn't be out now." Jeffrey said and took Lucy from Evelyn. Lucy pouted and became sulk.

"If she wants to tag along then let her," Evelyn glared at him and attempted to take Lucy from him. Jeffrey moved away from her and looked at her amusedly. Then he whispered something on Lucy's ear making her giggled cutely under her tiny hands.

"Evelyn, I won't go. I'll stay with Jeffrey," Lucy said under her giggle. 

Nathan sighed tiredly and shook his head. He knew what his friends were trying to do. Then he looked at Evelyn who was unaware of the motive behind and simply insisting on taking Lucy along with them. She can be bold and blatant but sometimes, she can be very naive. Nathan chuckled softly before strolling towards her.

"C'mon, Grumpy, let's go," Nathan said under his titled head.

"Lucy, let's go," Evelyn said and extended her hand towards her.

"No, Evelyn, you go and enjoy your time with my brother," Lucy said under her giggle. Evelyn gaped at her for a moment and understood what was going on. 

"Lucy, what did he whisper to you?" Evelyn asked curiously, sparing a glanced at Jeffrey.

"See you guys later," Jeffrey said quickly and walked away from them. Evelyn glared at his back before turning to her side and looked up at Nathan. 

"Guess it's you and me then," Evelyn teased under her cheeky smile. Nathan frowned and made a face at her before strolling away. Evelyn chuckled softly before following him behind with a huge grin.

*

Nathan Parked his car in front of the convenience store and they both got out of the car. Evelyn pouted and glared at his back when he didn't wait for her and simply walk ahead. She crossed her arms over her chest and quickly followed him behind.

"Hey, Wikki," Nathan greeted a middle-aged man who was seated by the counter. "Two sets of beer, please," He said to which Wikki nodded him in a smile before going to bring the beers.

"Do you want anything? You can go and check it out while we wait," Nathan said with his back leaned against the counter. Evelyn nodded at him before going towards the aisle to grab something to eat. 

Nathan stayed rooted at his position and stared at Evelyn's back until she made a turn and disappeared into the aisle. He straightened up from his position and turned back when he heard shuffling noise from behind. 

"Here's your beers, my boy," Wikki said cheerfully, placing the sets of beer on top of the counter. 

"Thanks, Wikki," Nathan said and reached for his wallet inside his back pocket.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Wikki asked casually when he didn't see Evelyn beside him.

"She's checking out around and- she is not my girlfriend," Nathan said quietly.

"Really? I thought she was, you both look perfect." Wikki said in a sincere smile. 

Nathan was about to comment on that but then he stopped midway as darkness took place. And the first thing that came in his mind was Evelyn. He quickly reached for his phone in his pocket and switched on the flash. He then made his way towards the aisle and searched for Evelyn. After searching from aisle to aisle, he finally found her standing in the middle of the aisle with her hands palmed over her face. He let out a relieved sigh before slowly making his way towards her.

"Evelyn," He called out softly but his voice only made her shudder violently in her position.

"Please don't touch me," Evelyn mumbled fearfully under her palms and took a step back.

"Grumpy, it's me, Nathan," He said softly and looked at her in a worried expression. Evelyn gradually stopped shuddering in her position and slowly removed her hands from her face. And the moment she saw Nathan standing in front of her with his phone flash on, she sighed in relief and ran towards him and embraced him tightly. She couldn't help but sniffle audibly under his chest.

"Shhh- I'm here now," Nathan said softly and wrapped his one arm around her. 

After some seconds of staying put in their position, the light was back and the store was back to its former brightness. Nathan switched his flash off and put his phone back inside his pocket.

"Evelyn, the light is back, you can relax now," Nathan said softly and looked down at her. 

Evelyn slowly pulled away from him and looked up, simply staring at him. Nathan softly smiled down at her and gently wiped her tears away. She involuntarily closed her eyes at his touch and let out a shaky breath.  

"You okay?" Nathan asked to which Evelyn nodded at him before opening her eyes. 

"Let's go back," She said quietly and walked past by him. 

Nathan creased his brows and turned around, looking at her back for a moment before following her behind. He reached the counter and took the sets of beer. He then exchanged his goodbyes to Wikki and walked out of the Convenience store. He strolled towards his car and saw Evelyn already seated on the passenger's seat with her eyes closed and her head leaned against the window glass.

Nathan opened the driver's seat and placed the sets at the back before sitting on the seat and closing the car door. 

"Grumpy," He said and turned to look at her. Evelyn lazily pulled her head away from the glass and turned to look at him. "Tell me what's going on inside your head. You seemed very bothered." He told.

Evelyn sadly stared at him for a moment before looking away from him and let out a deep sigh. "I'm just tired," She said trying to compose her emotion but her voice betrayed her and came out in a sniffle. She cursed under her breath and sniffled softly. "Can we just go?" She said quietly.

Nathan silently regarded her before hitting on the gas and drive off. The ride back to the Abyss was awkwardly silent. Evelyn didn't utter a word nor did she spare a glance at him. And the moment they reached, she quickly got out of the car and headed inside. Nathan let out a frustrated sigh and leaned his head against the seat. He heard a soft knock from his window and soon the door clicked opened.

"Are you planning to spend the night in your car?" William asked amusedly and leaned against his car. Nathan rolled his eyes over and reached back to take out the sets of beer. He passed it to William and got out of the car. 

"Did you shout at her again?" William asked as they made their way inside the house.

"No. I didn't." Nathan said quietly. "Why did you ask?"

"Just asking," William shrugged off. 

After placing the beers into the freezer, they went and joined their friends by the pool. Nathan frowned over when he didn't see Evelyn among them. 

"Nathan, you're already here, where's Evelyn?" Eleanor asked casually.

"I'm here," Evelyn said out loud from behind Nathan and William. She smiled widely and went towards her friends to join them. 

After spending an hour of eating, chatting and enjoying the moment, Evelyn called Lucy and took her to sleep. Lucy laid on her bed and Evelyn put the cover upon her.

"Evelyn, do you like Nathan?" Lucy asked softly. 

"What did Jeffrey tell you earlier?" Evelyn asked and fake narrowed her eyes at Lucy.

"He said that you and my brother like each other," Lucy said and giggled softly.

"Well, you shouldn't believe everything that people say, Lucy," Evelyn said under her chuckled and cupped her cheek gently.

"But I believe Jeffrey. He is right." Lucy said innocently and looked up at her. "I know my brother likes you. The way he was staring at you the whole time was so cute and loving." She told her in a sincere smile. Evelyn regarded her words for a moment before letting out a sad sigh and looked at her.

"You should sleep now, Lucy, it's getting too late," Evelyn said softly.

"Goodnight, Evelyn," Lucy said under her sweet smile.

"Goodnight, dear," Evelyn said and placed a soft kiss over her forehead. Then she silently stood up from the bed and strolled towards the door. She closed the door behind and lightly, leaned her back against it, letting out a soft sigh.

After some moments, she moved away from the door and leisurely strolled through the hallway, lost in her own thought. Nathan has been nothing but a good and caring friend to her. And she has been carelessly doing things on her own, not concerning about how he might actually be going through because of her. 

"Am I being too selfish?" She sighed sadly. Everybody thinks that Nathan likes her and she thinks too, but one can never know when the table turns in a flash. He has always reminded her that they were just good friends, and maybe Nathan truly doesn't have any feelings for her and that, he truly and only consider her as his close friend. And maybe he doesn't want to lose a friend just like how she doesn't want to lose Adrian as a friend. And maybe, because of their friendship's sake, he is tolerating all her teasing acts.

If Adrian had been persistent on winning her just like she was doing to Nathan, she might have ended up hating Adrian for that but Adrian was a very understanding and supportive friend unlike her. Regardless of how much he is going through, he has always been there for her and has been cheering on her. If she was in Adrian's shoe, she would probably break down knowing that the one you love has feeling for another.

"I'm so sorry, Adrian," She whispered softly under her closed eyes.

"You're forgiven," 

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HAPPY VIRUS,