Kylie scuttled into the female toilets' after her horrific yet bizarre encounter with Pattie only minutes before. She apprehensively rushed through the swarms of guests in the hall, struggling to contain her emotions. Through her peripheral vision, she noticed Elijah making his way towards her but she immediately quickened her pace, and continued rushing towards the opposite direction. The thoughts of what they'd been up to only half an hour ago suddenly seemed abhorrent to her and she felt dirty as the memories washed over her.

She entered the tiny bathroom and was welcomed by a sallow looking Jess gazing at herself in the mirror. Jess gyrated her body towards her friend as soon as she heard the door open.

"Oh my god, what happened to your hair?" Jess gasped, hands flying towards her mouth in response to Kylie's messy mane. Kylie was forced to remember the impact on her skull as the strands of hair had been forcefully wrenched out by the turbulent force that had been Pattie.

"Nothing." Kylie gulped slowly as she took in the view of herself in the mirror. It could've been a lot worse but it was an understatement to say that she probably needed a haircut.

"You didn't get into a fight with one of the guests, did you?" Jess quizzed her best-friend. She recalled how only a few months ago, her biggest and only true concern about getting married was Kylie getting into a fight with one of her wedding guests and now look at her, she was doubting whether she even knew the man she was going to marry. "It was Lola, wasn't it?"

"No... I fell." She responded unconvincingly. "Anyway, leave that. I have something I need to tell you, Jess." She exhaled heavily before turning to face the red-headed girl, ready to give her some home truths about her mother.

"Is it about Elijah?" Jess's spoke, her voice barely louder than a whisper. If even Kylie believed that Elijah was being unfaithful and that's what she wanted to tell her, then surely Jax may be correct and maybe she was justified in having such doubts.

"No...why would it be?" Kylie replied. It was only then that she noticed the unusual sheen behind Jess's eyes. The kind that tells you that your friend is moments away from breaking down. "You're crying," Kylie murmured softly, cupping her friends' face gently between her hands.

"No, I'm not." She replied but the little water droplets had already started streaming down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying, Jess? What's wrong?"

"Jax told me he thinks Elijah's having an affair. He's been cheating on me for months, he said. And the worst part is...I think I believe him." She sobbed silently, leaning against Kylie as she did so.

"What? That can't be true." Kylie replied, pretending to be shocked and hating herself all over again.

The guilt was gnawing at her every day and as much as she told herself, never again – every time Elijah came near, she felt the urge to kiss him, to melt into his arms again. He was her poison as much as she was his and it eventually it would destroy her from inside if she didn't put an end to it. But something about him, about being with him even if only sexually ignited something from within her and made her feel as though she wasn't defined by her past, by what the loan sharks had done to her, or the neglect that her parents had subjugated her to. But here in this moment, with Jess crying on Kylie's shoulder, she realised she was no longer the victim, but the perpetrator of her own story.

"I don't know what to do Kylie. Seven years we've been together and now it feels like it's the end. Like I never really knew him." Jess continued to cry.

"That's not true. You know him better than anyone else does." Kylie replied, grabbing a tissue and dabbing it against her friends' damp face.

"We don't even talk anymore. It's like there's nothing left to say anymore."

"Every relationship has its ups and downs though, right? It's normal to be going through a rough patch. It doesn't mean he's cheating on you." Kylie clamped her teeth harshly down on her lower lip, welcoming the taste of metal entering her entire mouth as she said the last few words. "Did Jax say...did he say who she was?"

"He said it was some blonde girl, they were arguing or something."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. I told him I didn't believe it, any of it. But I can't bear the thought of going back into that hall, pretending to be okay and smiling at everyone when inside, everything just feels like a complete sham!" Jess explained, the tears still covering her rouged cheeks.

"He's not cheating on you. There's not a girl out there who is worth even half of you. You're amazing Jess, and I know Elijah thinks so too." It wasn't all lies, Kylie thought to herself. Jess was amazing, that's where Kylie's jealousy had stemmed from when they'd been younger and even to this very day. Growing up, she'd aspired to be just like her best friend, have her life, have a family as loving as hers. But Pattie was wrong, she'd never tried to steal anything from her. It had just happened. Her and Elijah, it had just happened she convinced herself. But now she had to stop it from happening again and again and again for the sake of her friend.

"Do you still love him? Even now after everything?" Kylie asked her friend, half wishing she'd say yes, but a selfish part of her hoping she'd say no.

Without hesitation, Jess nodded her head quickly, "I love him so much, Kylie. But if he's been cheating on me, then I don't think I could ever forgive him."

"If you love him, then nothing else matters, okay? He wouldn't cheat on you, so stop overthinking what Jax said." She explained sternly, placing a gentle kiss on her best friends' cheek. "Shall we go back in now?"

Jess nodded in response, using her fingertips to wipe away the puddles of tears forming at the base of her eyes, "Thank you, Kylie...for everything."

Kylie closed her eyes tightly and whispered almost silently, "don't thank me."

The two walked back into the hall arm-in-arm and Jess plastered a smile back on her face as she moved away to mingle with some of the guests again.

Kylie took a deep breath as she snuck out of the hall room. All she wanted was a drink to ease her nerves and she found that she didn't have to walk for too long before she came across a bar within the Plaza Hotel. To her dismay though, she noticed Leon was the primary bartender. She sighed, she'd almost forgotten that he worked here.

"Double gin and tonic, please." She mumbled to Leon. He flashed her a smile revealing his perfectly-aligned teeth as he did so. His ebony skin remained as unscathed as always and he appeared even more flawless with the contrasting crisp white shirt he was wearing as part of the hotel uniform.

"Hard day, huh?" He responded, wiping down a beer glass with a cloth as he spoke.

"Hard life, more like." She sighed, lifting up body up onto the barstool.

"Hmm, not enjoying the engagement party, huh?" He asked, giving her a flight flirtatious wink but before she had a chance to reply, he continued, "how about me and you go for a quick ride? For old times' sake." He removed his car-keys from his pocket and placed it on the bar surface once he finished speaking.

"Aren't you supposed to be working right now?"

"My granddad owns this hotel. I think I can escape for a bit." He responded coyly.

"I've already had my fair share of drama for once day so as tempting as that sounds, I think I'll give it a miss." She responded tactfully before slurping her beverage through a straw.

"I have something to show you that might change your mind." He slipped his hand into the pocket of his t-shirt, grabbing his phone, tapping his fingers on the screen a few times before sliding it across the bar towards Kylie.

She rolled her eyes slowly if he thought one of his nudes was going to be enough to get her into bed, he had another thing coming. But as she glanced down at the picture, she struggled to stifle a scream and the drink nearly slipped from the grasp of her hand.

A crystal clear photo of her and Elijah met her eyes. Elijah's arms wrapped around Kylie's waist just mere inches away from her ass. They were both leaning towards each other, quite obviously moments away from kissing. Even though the picture wasn't explicit, it would be clear to anybody that this was a far from a normal situation to be in with your best-friends' boyfriend.

"Where did you get this?" She whispered, clearly still in shock.

"I work here Kylie. You could've had a little decency to not bring your new toy to your exes work-place especially when I brought you here for our first date. And by the way, I have more than one copy of that picture, so there's no point in even thinking about deleting it." Leon leaned over the bar counter as he whispered the words maliciously. "Now, how about that ride?"

"Do I have any choice?" She replied, her voice shaky with fear at what would await her next as she stood up and followed him out of the building.

"No."

Once in the car with seatbelts secured over their bodies, Leon began driving in silence.

"You know, I never dated anyone properly after we broke up." He said, his eyes peeled on the road.

"Are you saying that it's my fault that you chose not to?" Kylie replied sceptically, glancing out of her window, avoiding having to look at him. Was this her punishment, she thought to herself, had her judgement day come early?

"Partly yes. I thought me and you were the real thing. I thought you'd come back, I waited for you to come back..."

"I did come back, Leon. But we never had a future, not really. You've known that for ages so why are we even talking about this now?"

"We did have a future, Kylie. I guess things are different now because you want him." He gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles paling in comparison to the remainder of his hands.

"Me and Elijah are nothing. I don't want him." She lied.

"That picture sure didn't look like it was nothing."

"It was a mistake, a huge mistake. But it's over." She explained slowly. She only had herself to blame, she'd been smitten and that had led to her stupidity. She should have known better than to have made their affair so public.

"Really? So we have a chance?" Leon peered over at her in the passenger seat trying to decipher her reaction.

"No. We don't Leon, there's nothing left for us. You decided that the moment you behaved the way you did that night."

"I made a mistake too. But I loved you, Kylie, I only acted like that because I was so in love with you. I couldn't control how I felt so I lashed out but I still love you now, if you'll just take me back."

She bit down on her lip, "no. I'm sorry."

"It's because of him, isn't it?" He hit his foot against the accelerator foot pedal harshly, forcing the car to speed up again. Night had nearly fallen so Kylie couldn't see the expression on his face but it was clear that his tone had changed.

"Leon, slow down a bit, please?" She pleaded after feeling her body jerk in response to the sudden speeding car. She felt a sudden sense of fear engulf her, she'd already felt Leon's wrath as a teenager and she certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of it for the second time.

"What does he have that I don't, huh? Tell me." Leon's voice became louder. More intimidating; the speed of the car increasing with each passing second.

"Nothing! This has nothing to do with Elijah, Leon. We were over long before any of that even started!" She yelled back in return. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest as she became frightened for her own life as well as Leon. He was no killer but he wasn't thinking straight, and she didn't know what he was capable of in this state.

Previously, he'd been driving around in circles but now he had returned, near the Plaza Hotel again. She squinted and could make out the hotel's logo and a couple of people standing outside.

"Leon, please just stop. I want to get out." She said softly, placing her hand on his toned upper arm, appealing to his kinder nature.

"No." He replied, his foot hitting the accelerator pedal one last time, both of their heads hitting the back of the car seats with the impact of the manoeuvre.

Kylie groaned slightly in pain and grabbed the steering wheel in an attempt to stop Leon but the car swerved – out of control, heading towards the Hotel Plaza.

"Stop the car, Leon!" She screamed in panic, but it was too late.

They both knew that it was too late.

Jess and Elijah had chosen a theme that meant that the closest male family and friends of the bride and groom-to-be would be dressed identically to Elijah, with the same suede black suit and the stained crimson handkerchief folded with precision into the tiny pocket.

It could've been any of them – Elijah, Jaxon, Cody or Abdul. All dressed in the same clothing.

But as the car zoomed towards the Plaza, the black-suited person jumped slightly in shock, turning their head slightly, the tiny wisps of curled chocolate hair came into view. And both Kylie and Leon only had one word on their lips as his body was flung over the car hood.

Elijah. Elijah. Elijah.

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AN: Authors' Note: I hope this chapter flowed well, I didn't have quite so much time to write it so I feel the writing is slightly poor in comparison to other chapters but that's okay.

Hope you all enjoyed and please please please show your support via comments and votes, remember I will only continue the story if I know you guys are enjoying it! Thank you for reading :)