Dedicated to the bitches that stay and would still be around after this and to the bitches I had to cut off, I don't miss any of you whores.

HEATHERS P.O.V.

The darkness was blinding, and the smell of blood was nerve-wracking. I dusted my blue velvet gown before answering the knock at my door.

"Yes, come in!" I said in a sing-song voice.

My little sister popped her head through the door, flashing me a smile with some missing teeth before walking into the room and closing the door with both hands.

"Hello, Angel!" I held out my hands to my sister, who ran into my embrace, giggling. "You look very pretty today." I smiled at her.

"Thank you, Heather." Angel blushed, hiding her face in my torso.

I pulled her up, sitting her in my lap and adjusting her dress to perfection like my mother would.

"So, what are you doing in my room?" I asked Angel, patting down the fraying strands of hair on her head.

"Mother said it is time to meet the guests." Angel said, playing with the flower on her dress.

I pulled her hand from the flower, and she smiled mischievously. "I'll be down in a minute." Angel's head dropped in sadness.

“But, but, but, I want to walk down with you! That's why I came!" Angel pouted, crossing her arms in anger.

"Well, I still need to put on my lip gloss. Would you help me with that?" I asked, raising a brow to my little sister.

Her face glowed with excitement. "Can I have some lip gloss too?!" Angel smiled so wide I was afraid she would tear her mouth.

"I don't see why not."

“Yay!" Angel exclaimed, jumping out of my lap in excitement. "Where is the lip gloss?” She demanded, stretching her palm out.

“It's right here." I swiped the gloss from the mannequin's hand, handing it over to Angel.

“Ducky lips!" Angel squealed, unscrewing the cap of the gloss tube, ready to apply my gloss.

“Remember, just a little, then spread it." I said, bending low enough for Angel to apply my gloss. We were in the middle of applying my gloss when my door was flung open.

"Mother is cross!" Eugene said he was in a black tux with his bow tie hung loosely around his neck. He looked around my room with a weird look on his face. He was taking in the entire room like he hadn't been in here before.

"We would be down in a minute; I'm doing Heather's lippy gloss!" Angel whined.

“Why you call it lippy gloss, I would never understand.” Eugene said, walking into my room, sitting on my bed, and trying to knot his bowtie.

“Let me do it; we don't want to keep Mother waiting." I snatched the gloss from Angel.

“You sure as hell don't want to. April said she's running out of ways to stall for us." Eugene finished up his bowtie and dusted the invisible dirt from his outfit.

I sighed in frustration, turning to my mirror and applying my lip gloss. "Your turn, Angel, ducky lips." I turned to my sister, applying the gloss to her little, pouted lips.

“Alright, let's run." I checked Eugene to be sure he was perfect, checked myself in the mirror, and checked Angel one more time. We were perfect.

The buzz of the party, the smell of wine and fresh meat, and the expensive cuisine hit me harder when I walked out of my room.

“Trust Mother to go all out for a simple get-together." Eugene rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Just get all the attitude out of you before we have to meet the guests." I said, trying to adjust my corset without destroying its perfection.

We met Felix and April at the top of the stairs. April looked very relieved to see us, and Felix, well, Felix looked clean.

“Thank the gods! I was thinking I would need to make up some life-threatening situation to stall for more time!" April whispered, staring at Angel's lips and then looking at me.

I shook my head gently. "Just ignore it." I whispered to April, and she shrugged it off and stood still, waiting for us to be called down. We stood there, the perfect children, the Nowaks.

“We better hurry this up; I've got a game soon, and my hair itches." Felix grumbled.

“Well, if you would wash it and comb it out, I wouldn't need to use so much hairspray." April said, clenching her teeth in anger.

“Hey! Stop your bickering! It's time." I pinched April and jabbed Felix in the side.

The doors opened and heads turned. Everyone was staring at us as we walked down the stairs. They were all looking for one thing: imperfection. I held Angel close and kept an eye on Felix, making sure they stayed in line.

April and Eugene waved at everyone, starting the meet-and-greet process. We parted ways once we reached the end of the stairs; April went with Eugene, Felix went alone, and I went with Angel. We walked around the dimly lit hall, smiling and waving to everyone and stopping to make small talk with those we needed to, and we all converged behind Mother and Father once we had greeted every guest.

“You're late!" Mother spat through clenched teeth.

"We had a little bit of a wardrobe malfunction." I said, keeping my smile.

“And is that lip gloss on Angel's lips?" Mother question.

"I put it there. Her lips looked dry."

“Better hope no one notices it."

Three hours of acting like a robot and the party was over. Angel had been put to bed an hour ago, and the rest of us waited till all the guests had left before we left the hall for the cleaners to do their job.

I walked down the dim hallway with my siblings. April had her wig in her hand, and her dress was gone. She had worn a pair of shorts and a tee under that dress!

Felix had ruffled his hair and tossed his tux and tie away, and he once again looked like a homeless gamer with addiction issues. Eugene wasn't wearing any clothes, well, apart from his purple briefs, but I doubt that counted as decent clothing.

“How are you still in that dress? Even your lip gloss is still fresh!" April asked, holding onto the wall with one hand and taking off her heels with the other.

"I just appreciate the beauty of a good dress." I said.

Felix glanced at me, and I gave him an 'I'm fine' nod, and he didn't push it.

“Goodnight, Robots!" Eugene said, giving a salute as we all retired to our different rooms.

“Good night."
“Good night."
“Good night."

BENSON'S P.O.V.

Ace walked solemnly up the stairs; it was like all of a sudden, all the confidence had been sucked out of him, and he was now in mourning.

“Ace, buddy, I know we are both tired, but you're going to have to move your legs a bit faster if you want us to reach the bathroom anytime this year." I said, pushing Ace with my hands on his waist, and the boy flinched so fast, I thought I had hurt him.

"I'll move; just don't push; I'm too tired for games." Ace said his face was still fixated on the floor.

I raised a brow at his back. “You didn't seem so tired when you were straddling me on the couch, did you, young man?" I asked.

Ace turned round like a gust of wind, covering my mouth with one hand and using the other hand to hold my back and stop me from falling to my death on the stairs.

"Please, Benson, can we just go have a shower in silence?"

I struggled a bit, muffled some very bad cuss words at my best friend, then looked in his eyes. This wasn't the Ace I knew; this Ace was scared. I could tell by the way his eyes avoided me and the light shimmer in them that Ace was on the verge of crying.

I regained my balance, placing one hand on the balustrade and prying his hand from my mouth with the other hand.

"I don't know what is up with you, Ace, but I'm your best friend, and if that doesn't mean anything to you, well, it means the world to me, and that means I would never hurt you on purpose, and I would not see you die in silence." I whispered, looking Ace right in the eyes. "Do you understand that?" There was silence.

“Answer me, Ace Wright!" I spoke a bit louder, and Ace fidgeted a bit before mumbling a soft yes. "Good. Now, let's go shower." I pushed past Ace and marched up the stairs to his bedroom.

We took our showers in silence, and Ace made an extra effort not to look at me or expose any part of his body to me; it felt like it did all those years ago when he was planning to come out to me. The cool Ace was gone, and I was stuck with this closet case.

I didn't push him; I couldn't figure out what had changed within such a short time to turn him back into that person. I just decided to let him breathe, if anything was up, he would tell me in his own time.

Dinner wasn't particularly interesting either. Mrs. Wright and I were the ones keeping the small talk going while Ace just sat there giving one-word replies to whatever was thrown at him. He didn't smile, he didn't laugh, nothing; he just sat there in silence eating his meal.

I tried to reach for his hand under the table to reassure him that I was there, but the moment he felt my touch, he retracted and kept his hands in his lap. Mr. Wright came home an hour after dinner, and Ace was still the same; even when his siblings came to annoy him, he didn't budge or say a word.

It was like we had a shell of Ace while his real body had gone off on some quest or something. Mrs. Wright didn't seem so bothered; I doubt she even noticed there was a massive change in her son's behavior. Mr. Wright was way too tired to deal with Ace's one-word replies, so he just said his goodnights and went to bed.

Ace washed up after his father and made sure everything was good downstairs before we retired to bed. Ace slept on the far right of the bed, and ask me, and I felt like he was almost falling off the bed. I didn't question; I didn't complain; I just left enough space for him to sleep on when he decided that he was tired of sleeping on the edge of the bed.

"Goodnight, Ace." I whispered to his back because the idiot wouldn't face me.

“Goodnight, B." Came his flat reply.

I sat there in the bed, looking at Ace's back and contemplating if I should yank him towards me and scream some sense into him or if I should just let him be. I reached out to touch him but stopped midway; I heard gentle sobs. Ace Wright was crying.

I grabbed him and held him tightly. He struggled in silence, trying to pry himself free from my hands, but I held on tight. The sound of crumpling sheets filled the room, and a few minutes later, it fell silent, and all that could be heard were the gentle sobs from Ace as he eased into my embrace.

“I'm here for you; let it all out. It's alright."

Ace screamed into his pillow, smashing his hands into the innocent thing. He screamed and wept for a good hour, and I just held him. I didn't know how to console him; I never really did, so I held him to remind him that I was present and that I saw him.

Ace calmed down, no more screaming, just the gentle sobs as he held onto me for dear life.

"Until Whenever?" Ace whispered.

"And always forever." I whispered back.