Mal examined the black gown that she had managed to put on for the evening. Uma has arrived to prepare for the dinner Carlos and Jay are hosting for their engagement, which is expected to be attended by a small group of people they know. That includes Evie.

Mal didn't really want to go, she wanted to spend her free time watching movies, curled up in her bed until the unholy hours of the night, but every time she attempted to do so - she could see Evie in her bed, sipping wine and laughing at the TV. Every night when Mal went to bed, she would want to tear apart every single item that had come into contact with Evie's skin as she glanced at her bed linens. But that would leave her without any bedwear so she would rip them off her bed and wash them again and again until the colors came off completely. That's how she felt - colorless.

But then Uma came in telling her that she didn't want to go alone since Audrey was not going and apparently, Mal had become a fill-in without her consent. Part of her, oh that part of her that hoped that she would see Evie there, she would talk to her; Evie would tell her every truth she needed to hear, and maybe, just maybe they would get home together, forgetting all about this nonsense. And maybe, just maybe, Evie would tell her she loved her, despite that night when all meaning of love meant nothing to her. And maybe, maybe things would end up good for once. What a foolish thought.

The other part of her knew she could feel it in her bones, that nothing would come out of this, and giving up on that false hope would be best. The sooner it died, the sooner Mal would move on forgetting all about this nonsense.

Mal didn't want to dwell on these thoughts for so long, but a week passed and she did not feel any different. So when she put on the black dress and actually did her make-up, she decided that she was doing this for Carlos and Jay, to celebrate and support their love for each other. Yes, exactly that, there would be no Evie tonight, just for tonight. Maybe Mal can avoid it all, and maybe if she believed that enough - it would actually happen.

Maybe.

But it didn't happen.

Mal was the first to notice him. She and Uma were enthralled with the room's exquisite design for a good few minutes after they entered, with its tall walls and hanging candelabra around the ornate ceiling. But then her eyes fell and all the admiration disappeared from her, as her eyes were drawn to him. To her.

Mal couldn't remember his name but she knew - that was the guy; his suit embraced his body to the same extent as his perfectly styled blonde hair. And then his hand was on Evie's waist holding her closer to his body. And she looked magnificent in her white dress; with her lips painted red and a few strands of hair loosely tied behind the back.

Mal couldn't breathe. She didn't know from what; from her beauty or the pain this picture was causing her.

Uma stood next to her complaining about the heaviness of the present they had gotten for Carlos and Jay but stopped talking as soon as she realized Mal wasn't listening to her. She followed her gaze and sighed loudly. "Go talk to her,"

"What?" Mal replied, shifting her attention to Uma.

"I told you to go talk to her," Uma responded, nodding her head in Evie's direction.

"Oh, no, no, no. You promised me that you would respect my decision not doing that tonight,"

"Yes, but I also understand that there are things you two haven't talked about, and you need to get past this in order to move on."

"Yeah.. I don't think so. We're here for Los and Jay, so tonight there won't be any Evie, got it?" Mal repeated her statement as she moved deeper into the space and around other people. Uma huffed trying to keep up with her.

"You are impossible," Uma said when they stopped. "Here, hold this for me, it will clear your head," she added, handing Mal the wrapped painting they got as a present.

Mal stared at Uma blankly but before she could respond, Carlos showed up beside them, with Jay in tow.

"You made it!" he smiled and hugged Mal tightly.

As Carlos was hugging Uma, Mal grinned back and said, "Of course, thank you for the invitation; we are so happy to be here."

"We are happy to have you," Jay let out a small smile and adjusted the tie on his suit.

"Oh look at that!" Uma laughed, "Jay in a suit! I can't believe my eyes!" With a bashful smile in return, Jay pumped up his chest and struck a "model" pose.

"I know right," Carlos said, looking adoringly at his fiancee."I can't believe it either, look at this perfection,"

"You both look great," Mal complimented them. Carlos looked down at his white suit and smiled.

"Yeah, thank God that Evie.." Jay started and looked at Mal's reaction before swiftly finishing, "Made them for us. They fit perfectly."

"Guys, don't worry. I'm good, I respect that Evie is your friend. In fact, I appreciate your concern even though we do not know each other for long. I just want to thank you for everything," Mal said, smiling as honestly as she could, trying to convince herself that this statement was true. It wasn't.

"Oh, we also got this for you," Uma jumped straight in before the boys could react.

"Girls, you didn't have to," Carlos said, taking the wrapped present from Uma's hands.

"Oh but we did, it's nothing special really," Uma smiled, hugging the boys again.

"What is it?" Jay asked, eyes sparkling looking at the wrapped present, taking it from Carlos's struggling hands.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out," Uma winked at them.

"Mysterious," mumbled Carlos, "I love it, thank you again."

"Don't mention it,"

"So, the cocktail table is right there," Carlos pointed at a table at the other end of the room, while Jay was still looking curiously at the covered present in his hands. "There are some appetizers a little bit to the left of the table if you are feeling hungry," the smaller boy added, "And in about 30 minutes we will give out a small speech on the podium right there so make sure not to miss it."

"Noted, " Uma replied for both of them.

Mal and Uma were ready to hit one of the tables but Carlos caught Mal's hand and pulled her a little further away from Uma and Jay.

"Mal, actually, I need your help with something," 'Los said in a hushed tone, making sure that only she could hear him.

"What is it?" asked the taller girl looking into his eyes for any indication of what was happening. Carlos looked uneasy but continued.

"I'm sorry to pull you away, but would you mind coming to the bathrooms with me? My suit needs some fixing and I can't do it on my own." Carlos explained looking sheepish.

"Of course, lead the way," Mal exhaled shakily, relaxing a little after Carlos' explanation. She didn't know why her mind decided it would have been something Evie-related.

The white-haired boy went to tell something to Jay, who only nodded at Mal's direction and then he dragged her out of the hall into a spacious hallway.

"So what is it?" she asked, walking behind Carlos and looking at the back of his suit for something out of place.

"Hmm, what?" he said and kept moving ahead of her without turning around.

"What's wrong with your suit?" Mal asked once more.

"Oh," he stopped and looked to the right, "You will see, let's get into the bathroom," he pointed to the door on the right and walked right in, Mal following in his tracks.

"Uhm, is this the guys or girls bathroom?" Mal inquired after looking for any indication signs on the door and around the sinks. There was no one here.

"Uh, not sure but can you take a look at the back of my shirt, I think I might have ripped it a little," the boy said, walking closer to the mirror lights and taking off his blazer. Mal walked closer, her hills echoing in the small bathroom. She bent a little to take a closer look at the white shirt's back but she couldn't see any issue with it.

"Carlos, I can't see any rips, there is only a small patch of sweat and that's it-" she was interrupted by the door to the bathroom opening. Mal looked in that direction waiting to see if a man or a woman would walk in and what would they think of the sight of Carlos and Mal.

Jay appeared around the stall and looked briefly at them, Mal wanted to ask him if everything was okay but her words died at her throat and Evie appeared only a second later. Mal felt her heart dropping in her stomach.

"Guys, what is going-"

"Mal, can we talk?" Evie interrupted her, eyes pleading.

Mal looked at Carlos and Jay for an explanation, but both boys were avoiding her eyes.

"So this was a set-up?" Mal asked then, crossing her hands in front of her chest looking annoyed at the boys.

"Mal, we are sorry, but you-" Carlos mumbled and walked to Jay, grabbing his hand.

"I asked them to do this," Evie cut in.

Mal huffed and looked at Evie again, feeling all the emotions bubbling in her throat. Calm down, she told herself and decided that there was no escaping this now, but still she tried.

"I don't have anything to say to you anymore." green eyes met brown and Mal could see Evie's surprise and disappointment flash on her face for an instant.

"I understand," Evie mumbled, hugging her torso, trying to appear as small as she could, "Just listen to what I have to say then," she said and waited for Mal's reaction.

"Okay," Mal breathed out and leaned against the sink.

"We will uh, see ourselves out," Jay said and dragged Carlos by the hand, "Don't remember our speech is starting in about 20 minutes," Carlos reminded before disappearing out of sight.

There were a few minutes of silence and shy-rage-filled glances between the two women. Mal's anxiety was growing stronger with each passing second that Evie had not spoken up. But on top of that, she could feel her anger bubbling up to. In a minute or so she may even start shaking from its power.

"So.." Mal broke the silence cringing at how loud the sound sounded after the long quiet. Evie exhaled loudly before speaking.

"Look, Mal, I know there is nothing I can say or do to make this better but I want you to know that I am genuinely sorry about everything-"

"Sorry won't fix anything, Evie, you could have told me that this would happen and this bullshit could've been avoided." Mal interrupted her, unable to contain the rise in her voice.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Evie replied, raising her voice to match Mal's. "I wanted to tell you, Mal, I really did, but I didn't want you to think less of me or treat me differently-"

"That is not a valid explanation, E, I wouldn't have done that."

"How am I supposed to know?" Evie huffed. "You could've gone cold any moment and I didn't want to lose you,"

"Yeah, and now you didn't, right?"

"Mal, please," Evie begged, walking closer to the shorter woman, dropping her hands. "Just hear me out for a second, and then you can walk out of here and forget all about me."

"Alright." Mal huffed and decided to keep quiet while listening to what the other woman had to say.

"I don't know what the guys have told you but, this marriage has been arranged for a long long time and I can't do anything to stop it now. I'm just fulfilling my part of the deal now," Evie walked closer until Mal was at hand reach of her. "I was engaged the first time we met, I was engaged the first time we spoke and I was engaged the first time we kissed."

Mal was not sure where Evie was going with this, except maybe to make her cry, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued listening.

"I didn't want to ever hurt you. Trust me on this. I know that I could have prevented this, but I just.. couldn't do it. I didn't want to, because it felt... Different." Evie's voice has evened out. "I know that this is not going to fix anything, but I just want you to understand-"

"What?!" Mal interrupted quickly. Evie's eyes found hers startled. "How could this possibly make me understand? Is this some sick joke? Because this thing with your mother, this deal, or whatever is fucking stupid. How could you let someone use you like that?"

"Look, you don't know her. There was this ultimatum she put in and this was the only logical way to get out of it."

"You think it's so logical to give up your whole life to a woman who only controls you? Why are you doing this? She can't force you to marry someone out of obligation. She gets the satisfaction out of all this - not you."

"Mal, I was sixteen. It was this or conversion therapy again." Mal's breath caught on her throat upon hearing how defeated Evie sounded. She just couldn't understand why she didn't fight for herself, so she decided to shut up and listen. "The first time I went, I was only twelve. I remember how scared I was. She sent me in the middle of nowhere to a prison made of stone. They gave me all kinds of pills trying to brainwash me. It was a nightmare.. I don't remember much but, when I got back I made sure to never get back there. Thanks to Carlos and Jay I managed to recover from this, to put it behind me. Now I look at it and I believe that it has happened to someone else. They helped me fight for what I believe and for a time it worked." Evie smiled sadly. "But it was about to happen all over again when I was sixteen so I made this deal because I had nowhere to run away to and be my own person. This was the only way out. I got 12 years of freedom and she didn't do anything to stop me. Now I'm fulfilling my part."

Mal dragged the silence after that trying to process this information. Somehow she knew that whatever she was about to say wasn't going to change anything, but she had to try anyway.

"Why do you have to fulfill it? You have created something yourself, something you worked so hard for. Why can't this be your escape? The one you longed for but never got?"

Evie smiled sadly at her words. "I can't escape her. I'm tired of fighting with her and spending the rest of my life running from all this doesn't feel so mature now."

"You are really going to get married? What would you do now?"

"Yes, I will marry and keep doing what I love - design."

Mal sighed loudly and closed her eyes running a hand through her hair. How did she get so deep in this mess? She couldn't comprehend how a person could live like that. Every person has his own problems but this? This was something she didn't see coming. Mal remembers the first time she met Evie. She had all brown eyes, red smiles, and dark hair. She was so polite and so charming at the same time. It was all so fresh, moving out with Harry back then. Meeting new people and creating new memories.

It feels bitter now.

Mal looked at Evie's eyes swarmed with thoughts. As if she was thinking the same thing as her just now. She felt an uneasy quietness in herself now. All the anger and hard emotions just vanished. Is this what closer feels like? Sadness mixed with the promise of contentment of leaving all this behind? It didn't feel right. "Thank you for being honest with me now."

"I'm sorry it took me so long, you deserve to know this from the start." Evie nodded.

A faint sound of applause could be heard from down the hall. Carlos and Jay's speech must be starting. This whole encounter was about to end. She sighed and caught Evie's stare again and there was a pained expression on her face.

Something clicked in Mal suddenly, a surge of emotion she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, overflowed her body. Maybe it was the fact that this was the last time she was going to talk to her. "Evie, I love-" Before she could finish her sentence someone barged into the room. Bathrooms weren't the best option for heartfelt conversations.

"There you are, I promised the boys to go find you once their speech is starting," the blondish man walked in with cocky steps. Evie didn't look in his direction, it was like he wasn't even there. Her eyes stayed locked on Mal the whole time.

Mal looked at Evie once more after she had calmed down from her surprise at the man walking in. Evie's brown eyes were filled with tears that Mal almost wanted to reach out. She felt her own eyes starting to sting.

"What is going on here? Are you alright?" Evie's soon-to-be husband asked, looking at them with concern.

Mal swallowed the lump in her throat. And maybe she loved Evie and maybe even Evie loved her. But it didn't matter at all now. The blond woman decided to ignore him and said:

"And it's so gut-wrenching, falling in the wrong direction."

Evie exhaled unevenly and Mal could see the tears dropping down from her eyes as she walked towards the exit. Not looking back even though it was all her heart wanted to do.