Saturday arrived quite quickly.
Since at Bloomwood, students could go out during the weekend, we didn't have to take any special permission to leave the premises and attend the Woods' party. We just had to inform Mr Burns, the secretary of our Headmaster.
Archer had also gone ahead and invited Katie and Angie to his mum's party. His family knew them through me so it wasn't a big deal.
Needless to say, both Angie and Kate were too excited for their own good.
"Viv, we need to dress you in the best way possible! You have to look ravishing tonight, so that Archer can't take his eyes off you!"
I looked at them. "I don't understand, I thought we were attending a birthday party, not a Debutante Ball."
They rolled their eyes. "Oh, come on, don't you want him to look at you all evening?"
"No. We've looked at each other enough over the past few days and frankly it's given me nothing but conflict."
They both knew about my situation regarding Archer and our resurfacing feelings. They knew and they were all for us getting back together, but it wasn't so easy.
"Viv," Katie spoke, "I'm being serious now. You really should think about giving him a second chance. Yes, he made a terrible mistake. Yes he hurt you, but he's human! And so are we all. There's no guarantee that you two won't hurt each other in future, but if you don't give him a second chance, you'll always live with regret, with that lingering question of what if. What if you'd given him a chance, what if you'd been happy together a second time, what if it'd all worked out. You'll never know if you don't try. And he's made a mistake, but he's suffered for it too. Now if you give him a second chance and he messes up again, then you shouldn't give him a third one. But everyone deserves that one second chance, you know."
I mulled over what she said. I wouldn't admit it now, but she was right. And she knew me well enough to understand that I knew it too.
I didn't know what would happen with us. But as of now, all I knew was I couldn't think any more about this.
Angie thankfully saved the day. "As much as I agree with Katie, we're getting late for the party. It starts in three more hours and we're not even close to getting ready yet!"
We were all at my house, getting prepped together. Our family stylist had agreed to dress us all up, and she brought out the eveningwear we were supposed to don.
Kate was going to wear a baby blue chiffon dress, Angie was going with a salmon pink halter neck dress, and I was wearing a black jumpsuit.
We quickly slipped on our outfits and went to another room to get our hair and makeup done.
After two hours, we were all ready and so were my parents, who were accompanying us to the party.
"Wow, girls, you look gorgeous!" Mum exclaimed as Dad smiled at us. "Now come on, the car is waiting."
We all hopped into the car and sped off towards the Ritz.
°
The banquet hall looked beautiful, with lilies and peach pink roses adorning the walls and tables, and soft candlelight glowing through the chandeliers.
Mrs Woods looked genuinely happy and it showed on her face. Earlier, when I'd gone to visit her at the hospital, she'd been very weak and hadn't looked well. But now, wearing a pink dress and surrounded by friends and family, she looked so much better, any sign of fatigue and injury long gone.
Seeing her automatically put a smile on my face.
She spotted us coming and broke out into a large grin. "The Wentworths are here! Come here, all of you! Oh, and Kate and Angie are here as well; I'm seeing you two after so long!"
They both smiled and greeted Mrs Woods, who laughed and hugged them. Then she looked over at me.
"Viv, give me a hug!"
I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her as she whispered in my ear, "Archer told me what's going on with you two."
I stilled. Well, I wasn't expecting that.
She pulled away and smiled softly at me. "Viv, I won't tell you to get back together with him. He's made a mistake, and as his mum, I've made sure he knows he messed up. But I won't plead with you to go back to him, because it's entirely up to you. Of course, I'll be the happiest if you two become a couple again, but it's best to take your own decision here, sweetie. I'll fully understand if you decide not to go back."
I smiled. "Thank you, Mrs Woods. I didn't know Archer had told you everything, but I feel I need to think about everything and go with what my heart tells me. I need a bit more time to clear my head."
"Of course, darling, that's natural. And speaking of Archer, he shared everything with me one day at the hospital. He was looking miserable and so I demanded to know what was wrong. It was right after you both had kissed at the hospital."
Shite! He'd even told her that?
She smiled at my expression. "Yes, Viv, mums can tell, you know. Archer was trying to hide that fact but I got it out of him. And boy, he looked really miserable, Viv. He looked the worst I've seen him in a long time. I'll just say this: Archer has messed up, but he still loves you more than ever. But I know love isn't enough in a relationship, which is why I'll understand if you don't go back to him."
So far, this was the most sensible and level headed opinion I'd heard.
I nodded. "Thanks for understanding, Mrs Woods. But just know that whatever happens, you and Mr Woods will always be like my own family."
"Which is exactly why you need to stop calling us Mr and Mrs Woods! It's so formal! Call us Aunt Elaine and Uncle Greg for heaven's sake!"
We laughed together at my own stupid habit, until I saw Archer walking towards us.
He was clad in a midnight black shirt with the sleeves rolled upto his elbows, along with dark wash jeans and a silver watch on his left wrist. The soft candlelight cast a golden hue on his face.
He looked gorgeous. Ugh.
Mrs Woods looked over at him. "Oh, there he is! I just couldn't convince him to wear dress pants tonight, he had to wear jeans!" I chuckled weakly at that. Archer had never been good at sticking to the norm.
He strode over to us, and paused for a second when he saw me.
I saw his eyes brush over my outfit, and then land on my face. He looked a bit red.
"Um, hello," he said.
"Hi," I replied, a bit awkwardly. We were both acutely aware of Mrs Woods' presence beside us.
She suddenly seemed very interested in the guests who'd just arrived. "Oh, there's Roger and his family! I must go and welcome them."
She rushed over to the other side of the hall, leaving Archer and I alone. Kate and Angie had also drifted away to a table somewhere and I couldn't see them from here.
Great.
I shifted on my feet. Archer's lips tilted in a slight grin.
"You can sit down, you know. No one's punishing you."
I rolled my eyes at him and sat on one of the empty chairs. Archer chose to sit right next to me.
"So," I began. "This is a great party. You and your dad have really managed to make it amazing for Mrs Woods."
He smiled and looked down. "Thanks. Yeah, we wanted it to be as special as possible, since, you know...she deserves it after all she went through."
I nodded in agreement. "How's she doing now? Is the physiotherapy going well?"
"Yeah, she's much better. Her bones are healing and the internal injuries are also almost gone. In maybe two more weeks she'll be able to start running around and pick up a tennis racquet again."
I smiled. "That's great! I'm so glad she's recovering so fast."
He nodded. Just then, a waiter passed by carrying champagne flutes on a tray. Archer looked at me, mischief glinting in his eyes.
"Wanna drink a bit of alcohol without our parents noticing?"
My eyes widened, and so did my grin. Sometimes, you just had to say screw it and have some fun.
"Why not?"
He grinned and motioned for me to get up. We followed the waiter stealthily, and then, in a flash, Archer casually walked past him and picked up a glass from the tray. He beckoned for me to do the same.
I breathed in, and briskly walked by the waiter, picked up another glass without facing him, and continued walking in the other direction.
When I reached Archer, we burst out laughing at the same time.
"Oh my god!" he said in between laughs, "That was ridiculous! Why did we have to pretend to be bloody James Bond just to get a glass of champagne?!"
I laughed. "I dunno, you tell me. You started it."
We continued chuckling for a while, then he said, "Come on, let's go somewhere Mum and Dad can't see us."
He led me to the back of the hall, and through a small corridor. All this sneaking around reminded me of the good ol' days, when we'd sneak around in school after bedtime, and feast in the common room, or kiss in the garden.
I gave my head a little shake. No time to think of that now.
We reached a spacious balcony, which, surprisingly, was empty. It overlooked the beautiful lawns below, which were adorned with fairy lights.
We stood in the balcony, leaning against the railing and drinking from our flutes. The silence surrounding us now was comfortable.
After finishing our drinks, we were quiet for a while. The music coming from the hall was clearly audible here. Everyone must be dancing out there.
Archer turned towards me. "Do you want to go back in?"
I thought for a while. "No, I'm good here. You?"
He gave me the faintest of smiles for a moment. "I'm good here too."
I flushed under his gaze and looked away.
After a few more moments of silence, Archer again turned my way.
"I know what I want you to do."
I raised my eyebrows. "What?"
"I won the bet, remember? So I get to make you do anything I want, right?"
I gulped. Oh no.
"What-what are you planning?"
He smiled. "I want you to dance with me. Right here, right now."
Oh.
I internally sighed in relief. This was still better than any other scenarios I was fearing I'd have to face.
I nodded. "Alright."
He stepped closer, until we were just a few centimetres apart. He held my waist gently with one hand, and took my hand in the other.
The song playing in the hall was Perfect by Ed Sheeran.
The timing for such things always seemed to be ironic.
We swayed to the music, and I could sense how impossibly close we were to each other. My hand was resting on his shoulder, his hand around my waist, chests almost touching...this was not how I imagined I'd be spending the night.
But then again, it didn't feel bad either. In fact, I felt secretly happy about it, I dunno why. My cheeks were flaring, and I hoped to god he couldn't see them in the dark.
Maybe the few sips of alcohol I'd had were making me feel so good, so impossibly at peace while dancing with him. I knew I was by no means a lightweight, but I had to blame the alcohol. What else could I do?
We continued dancing, moving our feet with slow, languid fluidity, as if we had all the time in the world. Something made me lay my head against his chest, and I could feel his heartbeat there, oh-so-fast.
Maybe the dancing made me bold, maybe it was hearing his rapid heartbeat, or again, maybe the alcohol, but I suddenly found myself reaching up and whispering in his ears,
"Not that I'm complaining, but you just wasted your chance with the bet. You could've asked me something else, you know. Instead you asked me to dance, which I would've done anyway even without the condition of the bet."
His breath hitched as he looked down at me and whispered, "Did you want me to ask you anything else?"
I feigned nonchalance. "No, why would I?"
He grinned like a devil. "And yet, you say you would've danced with me anyway."
I gasped as he suddenly spun me around, when the song changed to a more upbeat, catchy number. I laughed, and let myself forget about everything else for a moment. This felt good. Dancing with him felt really good.
While we were dancing and stepping on each other's toes in the dark, laughing alone on the balcony with the fairy lights twinkling below us, I started to realise.
I'd never have this with anyone else, however hard I tried.
I didn't know if we'd have our own happy ending, but I did know, that we'd never quite find anybody else like each other again.
We'd never find something so heartbreakingly magical, ever again.
a/n: is this the longest chapter yet? i don't know anymore. I'm so hooked onto writing this story that I've lost track of how many words I'm writing. anyway, share your thoughts on this chapter and don't forget to vote! xx