"Thank you so much for the wine Lola and thanks again for coming! We're so glad you could make it tonight. Take a seat anywhere, make yourself comfortable and help yourself to the appetisers." Jess repeated the mantra for the twentieth time that evening. Nearly every single guest had gifted her and Elijah a bottle of bubbly; she was sure they'd have just about enough alcohol to last until they were well into their fifties.

She couldn't help beaming at the mere thought. Her and Elijah sprawled out on the couch, ragged and wrinkled but their love for each other still being as youthful and pure as it was now.

"Elijah!" Jess called out for her fiancé over the roaring music.

The night was still young but the engagement party had been a success so far. The food was great, the company was great and most of all – it was all about them. Her and Elijah; swarms of people had been approaching her most of the evening, giving their well-wishes and blessings to the young couple.

"Elijah!" Jess called out for the second time. However, Elijah seemed to be completely lost in his own thoughts despite the bustle of people around him scurrying towards the buffet section. Him appearing dazed wasn't something new to Jess; she'd been noticing it more and more this passing week. "You okay, Elijah? Aren't you going to eat?"

'Yeah, in a bit. I'm not hungry yet." He flashed her one of his adorable half-smiles but it was more than obvious that his attention was elsewhere.

She followed his distracted gaze to where one of Elijah's closest friend' Abdul and Kylie sat, on a table towards the far end of the hall. The two seemed engrossed in a deep conversion; their chairs pulled up close together.

"Ohh! I see it makes sense now – you're worried that your friends going to get caught up in the claws of the 'wickedest bitch of the west', huh?" She joked, nudging his shoulder mockingly, quoting the exact words he'd used to describe Kylie when Jess had first decided she'd be moving in with them for the preparations for the wedding.

Elijah chuckled in remembrance, "yeah, yeah. You clearly know me too well, Jess." But then in a more serious tone, he asked, "do you think they like each other...like that?"

"I mean this is the first time they've met so it's hard to say. But so what if they do? Abdul's a great guy, he could be just what she needs." She said matter-of-factly, but noticing his worsening tense demeanour, she continued, "Look, I know you're worried about him but he's a big boy, he can take care of himself...but if you ask me I don't think anything will come of it – other than a one-night-stand most likely." She chortled absent-mindedly. Beside her, Elijah's face completely fell at her final statement.

"Elijah, it's our engagement party, you're supposed to be happy not worrying about your best mate's love life. Don't be like this, please? If you're honestly that worried, go talk to him but please don't be in a mood when it's time for the speeches." She pleaded with him.

"You're right. Sorry. I'll go speak to them." He responded, pecking her cheek lightly and sauntering towards the two who still had their heads burrowed, deeply intrigued by the conversation. Jess sighed unhappily as her fiancé rushed away, but she decided to bury her concerns as per usual.

"Hey man...What's up with you?" Abdul said in response to the obvious odd mood that was painted across his friends' face. His caramel flawless skin glowed under the heavy light supplied by the chandelier of the hall; the colour of his skin a result of his Mediterranean heritage.

"I just need a minute with Kylie."

"What for?" Kylie strained up at him from beneath her heavy false lashes, appearing nearly as baffled as Abdul.

"You know...about that thing, we're planning for Jess. Can we talk about it outside please?" He hauled her along gently by her arm, taking her outside into the garden of the Plaza Hotel, and pulling her behind a hefty bush.

"I should be inside helping Jess so make whatever you have to say quick. What's this about?" Kylie bit her lower lip half-hoping he'd actually called her out to plan something for Jess and half-hoping he would tell her he'd missed her the same way she'd missed him over the last couple of days.

"How've you been? You know, since you left ours?" He inquired, reaching his hand out to cup her cheek lightly.

"You brought me out to ask me how I am? You couldn't do that inside?" She responded but didn't take any steps to move his hand away from her face. The feeling was so strange. Whenever he was around her, the feeling was overwhelming and it almost frightened her. But what frightened her the most was that she knew he felt exactly the same.

"No. I called you out here to do this." His hand cupped the lower half of her face completely, drawing her completely towards him and pressing his lips desperately to hers. It was a sweet, soft, comforting kiss and they pulled apart almost immediately, although they remained draped in each others' embrace.

Shallow, rapid breaths emerged from both their mouths as though it took all the energy in the world for them to pull away from each other.

"I'm trying so hard...I'm trying so hard Elijah, to move on." Tears pricked the back of Kylie's eyes and she couldn't prevent one from slipping out but it was wiped away by Elijah's thumb, still situated at the hollow of her cheek.

"Don't. I don't want you to move on...with Abdul, with anyone. I want you to be mine and only mine." He whispered in return before pulling her into a fiery, yet tormenting kiss. As he hitched her legs up, wrapping them tightly around his hips, it was as though both of them were on fire, the warmth spreading from limb to limb, igniting something deep within them that neither of them had felt before.

And for the first time, Elijah questioned whether it was just lust. But he'd known for a while that for him it had become more. Maybe not love, but it had come pretty damn close.

Finally, Kylie tugged herself away from the treacherous kiss.

"Elijah, we can't. Not now. You're supposed to be getting married. In two weeks. If you don't want this, you should've ended it with her ages ago." She spoke in a fast-paced manner, her breath still catching from the intensity of the moment they'd just shared.

"I tried! I did, I tried to end things but...she wouldn't listen. She never listens." He retaliated in frustration; running his fingers through his hair.

"You have to make her listen then, Elijah. We can't do this anymore. It's not easy for me either, but while you're still with her, we can't do this." She replied but she knew she was already losing the battle as he leaned in towards her again. The kiss demolished every rational thought running through her mind as her hands made their hands down his white pressed shirt, unbuttoning it and nearly ripping it away from his body.

His kisses left trails of wet from her neck, to just above her breast where the dress's low neckline lay. His hand ran up her warm leg, crawling higher and higher – nearly reaching her site of moistness when they were suddenly startled by loud footsteps emerging from somewhere behind them.

Kylie and Elijah froze in shock and tried to stifle the sounds of their heavy breathing as they adjusted their clothing.

"You don't think anyone heard, do you?" Kylie panicked, pulling the hem of her dress back down where it lay, inches above her knees.

Elijah peered over the bush top, "I can't see anyone, maybe we just thought we heard something?" He whispered, buttoning his shirt back up but failing each time.

"I'll do it." Kylie's petite fingers made their way to the buttons; doing it for him. "What if someone heard everything...what if it was Jess?"

"There was nobody there. I've looked okay? Just forget about it. No one knows." He rambled quickly, trying to convince himself. "You go in first... and I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Okay."

----------------------------------------------------

Jax was helping himself to seconds from the buffet when he noticed a robotic-looking Seb emerging from outside; a shocked appearance plastered across his face.

"What happened, Seb?" Jax asked, forgetting the plate in front of him and instead, moving to cradle his boyfriends' head, concerned.

"I just went out for a quick fag and I saw..." He shook his head, trying to erase the memory from his mind. How could anyone stoop so low, he thought to himself.

"You saw what?" He grabbed Seb's face gently from his jaw, forcing him to look into his eyes, "what did you see?" He asked curiously.

"Kylie and Elijah."

"Oh." He said, his gaze falling to the ground.

"Oh?" Seb replied, raising his brows. "You know? You knew this was going on?" He accused, pushing Jax away from him.

"Not here Seb, we're not talking about this here." He peered over his shoulder making sure no one had heard them. He gestured towards the garden before strolling out of the door.

"They've been having an affair...and you knew?" Seb continued once they were out of sight.

"Yeah, but I thought it was over! I spoke to her this morning and she told it was over...I knew I shouldn't have believed her..."

"And that makes it okay? He cheated on Jess, he shouldn't be marrying her." Seb explained.

"I know that." Jax wiped his hands down his face in frustration, "But I just don't know what to do anymore."

"You need to tell Jess the truth now. This marriage will be a sham before it has even begun if you don't end it." Seb placed his hand on either of his boyfriends' cheeks as he spoke to him.

"I can't. Kylie's my sister, I have to protect her." He responded, looking straight at the ground.

"I know...but you can't protect her all the time. You can't constantly ignore every wrongdoing because of some misguided need to protect her." Seb said gently.

"You don't understand. She's my baby sister and I will protect her always. No matter what she does." He retaliated.

"I know how hard things were when you were younger but you've already proved that you're a great brother. You made one mistake when you were a child yourself but that doesn't mean you have to spend the rest of your life protecting her. All your doing is helping her make a mess of her life, Jax. Help her to get better, don't ignore the fact that she's unwell." Seb stroked his cheek gently.

Jax sighed, "I know she needs help, but..."

"No buts Jax. No excuses. There's no way this will end well, and you're going to end up caught in the crossfire if you don't put an end to this."

Jax sighed heavily, placing a gentle kiss on Seb's lips, "I know. You're right. I'll tell her. I'll tell her now." He rested his head against Seb's chest before taking a deep breath and making his way back into the hall. He scanned the room for Jess and found her laughing with a group of guests.

"Jess?" He cried out.

"Jax, what's up? You look like you've just seen a ghost." She laughed, moving away from the group and towards Jax.

"Can we go somewhere private, please? I have something I need to tell you."

"Uhh...yeah, sure. We can go out there?" She pointed towards the hallway outside the Plaza hall room.

"Look, there's really no easy way for me to say this...so I'm just going to come out say it."

"Okay...what is it?"

"Elijah's having an affair. He's been cheating on you for months." Jax blurted out.

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Authors Note:So the truths finally out...or is it?!

I hope you enjoyed the first part of the engagement party – the engagement party will span 4 chapters because the chapter would've been unbelievable long if I'd crammed all the events in one chapter. This chapter is already slightly long so I hope you'll enjoy the extra long chapter!

How did everyone find the chapter? And how do you think Jess will react? What else might happen at the engagement party? :P
Hope you enjoyed reading and please vote if you enjoyed :)