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FLASHBACK: SPRING 2005. CORA, AGE 16.

"You like it?" Shiv said, glancing over her shoulder. She had just finished pinning up a banner across the top of the foyer, a gaudy greeting in bright pink bubbly font that read 'Cordelia's Sweet 16th'. Cora snorted as she looked at it, shrugging her shoulders.

"Like is a word." Cora replied. "I do appreciate your handiwork though."

The banner was not either of the girl's doing, rather it had been courtesy of the party planner that Frank had hired. It had been part of his gift, the other being the gift of his lack of presence in the house (and a Cartier bracelet). Of course Reagan Vernon was nowhere to be seen, her last known location being Venice, which she'd included photos of in her last email to Cora. Cora had promptly deleted the email and hadn't reported her mother's whereabouts to Frank like Reagan had prompted her to do. If her mother wanted someone to play a game of telephone, she'd have to do it with someone else.

The lack of supervision had been conditional of course. Kendall had been assigned as their official guardian, but Shiv had more than assured Cora that he would keep his nose out of their business.

"I said he had to lock himself in one of the guest bedrooms and only come out if the fire department or the police get called." Shiv chirped over the phone just days prior to the event. Cora had been lying on her back in bed, fiddling with the curly plastic cord that was currently stretched across from her bedside table. On the other end of the line, she could hear Shiv giving herself a manicure, the familiar sound of the clippers piercing through the receiver.

"And he's not gonna be lame if we're drinking?"

"Trust. Kendall's a massive ... stoner anyway so Roman and I blackmailed him. If he interferes in any way, we're going to dad." From the sound of her voice, Shiv was grinning. Cora mirrored her smile, playing with the fringe of her cotton tank top. "So who's confirmed anyway?"

"Well, obviously the gang."

"Obviously."

"And some other Exeter kids who live in New York. Some people from my primary school in the city, from summer camps and stuff. Um ... I think Frank said Naomi is coming too."

Shiv made a noise of disgust. "That girl is such a fucking drip." She snorted. "Why do you even hang out with her?"

"Because Frank said I have to." Cora replied, shrugging. "I dunno. Apparently she has, like, no friends."

"Yeah because she's somehow too obnoxious for even the mega rich." Shiv replied. "Violet said there was a rumour from her old school. That she makes herself throw up. Super passé."

Cora felt herself bristle, growing flushed. She must have gone completely silent, because moments later, Shiv was prompting her response.

"Hello? You ok?"

"Uh yeah, sorry I got distracted by something on my computer." Cora muttered. "Yeah I heard she got, uh, kicked out of a bunch of places."

"I don't understand how someone can be both a burnout and a snob." Shiv continued. "It's a real achievement."

"She'll have to put it on her college resume."

Now Shiv hopped down from the chair, joining Cora in admiring the banner. She strung an arm around Cora's shoulders, hugging her close. The sudden proximity shocked Cora, it was rare for physical affection from the other girl, but she didn't hesitate as she hugged her back. As they looked up at it, the sound of Roman descending the stairs caught their attention.

"I tossed a couple of bagel bits into a room and you should've seen Kendall. He dove right after them, didn't even notice me lock the door."

Shiv snorted. "Still salty about the dog pound thing, huh?"

"Dog pound thing?" Cora said, frowning.

"No idea what you're talking about Siobhan." Roman replied, turning his attention to Cora. He smirked, reached into the back pocket of his jeans, pulling out an envelope and handing it to her. "From him."

Cora untangled herself and slid her nail along the top of the letter to open it. Glancing inside, she frowned, squinting at the contents.

"What?" Roman said.

"Why's he given her like, a grand in cash?" Shiv muttered, looking inside the wallet.

"Oh, because it was meant for his dealer." Roman replied, nodding. "He didn't actually get you anything so I stole it. Pretty badass of me, huh?"

"I can't take this." Cora replied, blushing.

"No you can. Believe me, the worst thing he'd can do is talk to you about the government or gas prices. Which is horrifying, yes, but it's still money with very little consequences."

"Where's your present, Roman?" Shiv said, cocking an eyebrow.

Roman shrugged. "I think that it's actually in another room out of earshot, Siobhan. Do you wanna go look for it?"

"Subtle." Shiv moved to swat her brother on the side of the head, which he managed to dodge with a duck of his head. She rolled her eyes as she backed out of the foyer, shooting Cora a mischievous look. "He's embarrassed."

Roman turned his back to his sister. "Dad really should've just called it at three kids."

Cora snorted, rolling her eyes. "Don't blame her for you being a pussy."

"Uh huh, sure." He replied. As he spoke, he reached into the pocket of his windbreaker, a sheepishness washing over him as he moved to pull his hand from it. "Ok, so before I do this, I just wanna say that I tried to hire a stripper but Shiv didn't see the dramatic irony in it so here we are."

"Ew, Rome." Cora snorted, blushing as she eyed his pocket. "Why the disclaimer?"

"I dunno. No reason. Whatever, here." He shoved a thin, wrapped package towards her as he averted his gaze. Cora took it, running her fingers against the glossy paper. Curiously, she flipped it over and slid her finger to push the tape off the present, reaching inside the space she'd created to pull out a CD case. "It's nothing special. It's just a couple songs I've heard you play, and some suggestions from Shiv ... And some tracks I like too."

The cover was a photo of Cora, one she had forgotten he'd taken during Christmas. The flash had blown out some of the features of her face, her eyes had been turned red by the light, and she wore a blank look, having been taken off guard when he'd decided to shove the camera in her face. Without thinking, Cora smirked, flicking the case open to show a plain disc scribbled with black marker, the words 'Cora's Musical Odyssey' scrawled on the front.

"You made me a mixtape?" Cora said, laughing.

"Ah, yeah." He replied, running a hand through his hair. "It's ... Yeah, it's kind of stupid, I know."

"No ... No it's cool." Cora replied, shaking her head. She felt oddly touched. "It's probably the best present I've ever gotten."

"Have a listen to it before you make any grand declarations." Roman replied. When Cora looked up, she noticed that he was blushing. "Better than the boyfriend's gift?"

Cora bit her lip. "I dunno. I guess I better listen to it to figure that one out."

"He's coming tonight, isn't he?"

"Of course."

"Guess I'll stay out of his way then." Roman said with a wry chuckle. "Bro sent me a sternly worded MySpace message because I commented on that photo you posted. You know, the one that had me in it."

She inhaled sharply, quickly covering the sound with a small cough. "Oh, uh, that was a ... Misunderstanding."

"Yeah. Sounded like it," Roman said. "Does he do that to Ansel as well?"

"Ansel's his friend." Cora replied without thinking.

"True."

From behind them, the sound of the doorbell ringing filled the foyer. Cora felt a sudden nervous energy filling her, pushing aside the tension that the turn in the conversation had began to to build. From down the hall, the sound of Shiv's voice bounced off of the walls, echoing through the foyer.

"They're here!"

She'd never thrown a proper party of her own, much less one where she'd have a boyfriend in attendance. Over the summer, what had started off as a flirtation with Arthur had flourished into Cora's first real relationship. While the relationship was mainly contained to the grounds of Exeter, it had given Cora a decided boost in ego.

She had to admit that a lot of it had come simply from the fact that she finally had something in life that Shiv didn't. While their friendship was strong as ever, the competitive streak of both girls had started to heat up with the threat of college looming in the distant horizon. If Cora picked up an extracurricular, Shiv mirrored her. After Cora had made field hockey captain, Shiv had taken up netball and led the team to a state championship. It wasn't all Shiv playing copycat though, Cora had begged Frank to hire her a tutor in order to keep up with Shiv's academic record. But a boyfriend had been a gamechanger, and she couldn't ignore the fact that it had garnered her slightly more attention than her best friend.

Quickly guests began to arrive, filtering through the tiled limestone foyer, down past the gallery and into the grand reception area. To say the East 64th Street property was eye catching or a spectacle would be an understatement. The mansion, which from the outside looked like a small apartment building, had been previously curated Gianni Versace in the mid nineties and had been sold semi-recently at private auction. Her mother had vied for the property for ages, and had managed to stay in New York long enough to seal the deal.

It was stereotypically Reagan in its gaudiness, a mixture of baroque and Italian neoclassical design and filled with furnishing inspired by Versace himself. Including the garden and the roof, it was seven floors in total, containing 7 bedrooms, various studies and a jacuzzi on the fourth floor.

Despite how eager Reagan had been for the house, she'd barely spent any time in it, and Cora despised the mansion. Regardless of how many people were in the home at any given time, it felt hellishly lonely, and she was half-convinced that the sixth floor was haunted.

For once though, as her friends entered into the home, she wasn't resentful. All of them appeared impressed as they took in the spectacle of the grand reception area as they placed presents on the designated table. The room's lighting had been altered through a light installation, firelights lining the ceiling above as the rest of the room rested in a comfortable darkness. From a speaker, pop music underscored conversation that was as intellectually stimulating as one would expect to hear from a bunch of tipsy teenagers; a mixture of gossip, poorly delivered jokes and contagious bouts of laughter. Cora nursed rum and coke in a red solo cup, Arthur's arm strung around her waist as she screamed the chorus of Pon de Replay with Shiv and Violet.

She felt a tap on the shoulder, pulling away from her boyfriend to see the twins Arabella and Ansel. Cora let out a squeal, hugging them both in turn.

"I didn't think you guys would be coming!"

"Yeah, well we wanted it to be a surprise." Ansel replied, smirking. The redhead quickly glanced to his side, quickly exchanging a sly look with her.

"Speaking of surprises!" Arabella chirped, grabbing Cora's freehand. "We have something for you. But we can only show you on the roof."

Cora snorted. "A surprise? What kind?"

"Don't be a killjoy, Vernon." Ansel replied, snorting. "Just come with us."

"Fine, fine." Cora smirked, quickly turning back to Arthur. "Is it cool if I go with them?"

"Of course babe," Arthur replied. "I can keep myself entertained."

As Cora led the twins towards the stairwell in the foyer, the front door pulled open to reveal Naomi Pierce. Cora quickly took a swig of her drink, rushing to meet Naomi with a hug as Roman closed the door behind her. Roman had been resigned to door duty for the beginning of the night, a role he'd imposed on himself. He'd insisted it was because he wanted to make things run as smooth as possible, but deep down she knew it was because their friends had never made Roman feel particularly welcome. Cora shot him a grateful look over Naomi's shoulder, before pulling away from the other girl.

"Oh my god, hello!" Cora giggled, aware of how loud she was being now that they were away from the music. "So good you're here!"

"Totally." Naomi gushed, her eyes flickering up and down Cora's outfit. She smirked softly. "Love the dress."

"Thanks." Cora replied. Her outfit had been a gift from Marcia Roy, a long sleeved black mini dress. "It's Valentino. Anyway, just head towards the music. We're just going upstairs to do something."

"Uh huh." Naomi said, her eyes already fixed ahead. "See you soon then."

As Cora led the twins up to the roof, she wondered if she was reading a little too much into the look Naomi had given her. As they climbed the stairs, Ansel and Arabella explained their present to her.

"So we didn't want to do it in front of the others," Ansel began.

"Yeah, because then they'd want some, and there really wasn't enough to go around," Arabella continued.

"Wish we could've grabbed Shiv, but she's kind of attached at the hip to Roman."

"They're really close, like for siblings." Cora replied, stumbling over her words a little in her attempt to defend them. They had reached the top and she was slightly out of breath, the alcohol making her limbs feel leaden. "And it's ... Like, totally safe, right?"

"Of course." Ansel replied.

"Our brother smokes it all the time." Arabella said.

"Ok, cool." Cora was beginning to feel nervous energy building in her stomach. She'd always stayed away from drugs, but tonight felt special. What could be the harm? Apparently Kendall did it all the time. Ansel placed the joint between his lips, sparking the lighter and breathing inwards. The smell of the smoke reminded Cora of basil and cigarettes.

"So just inhale, but not too quickly." Ansel explained as Arabella took a hit. "And try to keep it in your lungs, but also try not to cough because it really fucks with your throat if you do."

"This sounds way more complicated than I thought it would be." Cora muttered.

"You'll be fine." Arabella replied, her words releasing a cloud of smoke. She passed the joint to Cora, who took it tentatively, placing it between her lips.

Cora was nervous. She'd smoked a cigarette once and had hated the entire experience. She and Shiv had stolen one from Kendall's pack and had smoked it on the green where they couldn't be easily spied from the windows. It had stung, and she'd almost coughed up a lung, the nicotine making her head spin. Shiv had been more reserved, and Cora suspected it wasn't her friend's first time. As she breathed in, she wondered if Shiv had smoked weed before. Sometimes it felt like Shiv withheld information about herself to look better than Cora.

The warmth of the spoke filled her lungs as she pulled the joint from her mouth, passing it to Ansel. Holding her breath, she felt an itch at the back of her throat, but she managed to resist the urge to cough. When she couldn't handle the feeling anymore, she exhaled, the smoke suddenly gushing out of her nose and billowing in front of her face. Cora coughed as it stung at her eyes, waving it away, her free hand thumping at her chest.

Ansel and Arabella cheered, laughing as she straightened up.

"You did way better than he did his first time." Arabella said, patting Cora on the shoulder. "Seriously, he almost threw up."

The door to the roof burst open behind them and Cora whirled around to see Shiv beelining towards them with Roman in tow. Roman grabbed at his sister's arm, hissing something to her under his breath, shaking his head, but Shiv shook herself from his grasp. She huffed, shaking her long fiery hair against the bluster of the wind, stopping sharply in front of Cora.

"Shiv, c'mo-"

"Roman, seriously." Shiv said as she whipped her head around to shoot him a look. Cora opened her mouth to speak, but stopped short as Shiv continued. Her bright blue eyes locked with Cora's, Shiv took in a shaky breath. "You would want me to tell you the truth, right? Even if it sucked to hear?"

"What are you talking about right now?" Cora let out a giggle, but far from being influenced by the weed, it was one with a nervous edge to it.

"Answer the question."

"Yeah. Fuck. Yeah, of course Shiv. What's going on? You're freaking me out."

"Naomi Pierce started flirting with Arthur." Shiv said. "Hardcore."

"Wait, what?" Cora froze. Despite the buzz of alcohol in her system and the warmth that smoking the joint had brought to her throat, she felt her entire body growing cold, numbing over. She opened her mouth, her bottom lip quivering. "Are ... Is this a joke?"

"Fucking hell Shiv." Roman muttered.

"It's important, Roman." Shiv said throughout clenched teeth. She shot her brother another glare, before turning back to Cora. Suddenly, she enveloped her in a hug, squeezing her tightly. Cora felt herself tense at the sudden constriction around her body, left to blink in shock as whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"I ... " Cora muttered as her best friend pulled away. She was beginning to feel sick, her stomach turning, the taste of bile and acid and fire at the back of her throat. "What ... "

"God she's so desperate." Arabella said, the sound of her voice growing muffled. Cora swallowed as Shiv pulled away, the sudden loss of support causing her to stumble. There were noises of concern as Cora steadied herself, pushing away hands that attempted to help her. She could hear their yelling from a distance as she clutched a hand to her mouth, the other batting for the handle of the door, pushing back into the house.

She managed to stumble into one of the sixth floor bathrooms before she threw up, burying her head into the toilet as she collapsed on the tiled floor. She shuddered as her stomach voided itself, nausea gripping her. She cushioned her forehead against the crook of her arm, propped across the back of the toilet seat, breathing hard as she felt another wave overcome her.

She felt a wave of humiliation as she finally felt her stomach no longer seizing, blindly groping for the roll of toilet paper as she began to cry.

From outside, muffled by the closed door, she heard the sounds of shouting. Two voices, an argument, undecipherable but she could still recognise the higher voice as her best friend. She grimaced, propping her cheek against the toilet lid, willing her heartbeat to stop thundering in her ears. After a minute or so, silence descended, and she heard the sound of footsteps moving away.

Moments later there was a knock at the door. Cora felt her annoyance flare suddenly, a scowl marking her lips.

"Go away, Shiv!" She croaked.

There was a pause. "It's me."

Cora inhaled sharply, quickly scrambling upwards and almost inducing another wave of sickness. She quickly jammed down the flusher, the water of the toilet churning away her sick as she moved to the sink, opening it and running the water. Hurriedly she pushed up the long sleeves of her dress as she rushed to wash her hands, before dipping her head to rinse out her mouth.

"Um, yeah, come in." Cora called out after she'd taken a swig of a nearby mouthwash bottle, the bright blue liquid now circling the drain. She gripped the edge of the sink as she heard the door open and then close behind her.

"Are you alright?"

Cora scoffed, not turning to look at him. "Do you even need to ask?"

"Well, it's what friends do."

"Uh huh."

Silence settled in the bathroom. Slowly Cora straightened upwards from the sink, sighing as she brushed her hair over her shoulder.

"You can go back to the party. I don't need comforting."

Roman cleared his throat. "No it's ok, I'm liking the quiet."

"So you're not enjoying yourself?"

"Cora ... "

"Am I throwing a bad party, Rome? Was it so boring that someone figured the best way to spice things up was to flirt with my boyfriend?"

She spun around to face him. Roman opened his mouth, making a noise as if he meant to begin speaking. A moment later and he was shaking his head.

"What?" Cora demanded.

"I'm not ... I'm not trying to piss you off, Cor." He said. "I just ... Had something to tell you, but whatever. It can wait."

"No, seriously Roman, if you're going to interrupt my birthday meltdown then at least say whatever the fuck you were going to say." She said sharply, throwing her hands in the air. "If it's even half as good as what Shiv had to say then you'll really be putting the cherry on top."

Roman didn't reply, instead his eyes had suddenly fallen to her hands, to her wrists.

"Hey, not to be super fucking lame right now, but what's that all about?" Roman frowned, pointing.

Cora looked to where he had pointed. She hadn't realised in the rush to clean herself up that she'd neglect to fix them, revealing blotchy skin, a mix of yellow and green bruises that were still on the end. She turned herself away as she made sure they were no longer visible, pushing her sleeve beneath the bracelet on her wrist.

"It's nothing." She muttered, growing flushed. "Just ... forget you saw that."

She could sense him wanting to speak but Cora dreaded the idea of the conversation continuing. No matter how close she was to the Roy siblings, she couldn't shake the feeling that vulnerability in their eyes would be looked on unkindly. She knew the kind of household they'd been raised in, how unforgiving their father could be. Most of all, she wanted to bury all her feelings deep and wash them down with wine coolers, vodka sodas and margarita mix. She didn't want to talk about, or cry about, the fact she felt fundamentally unlovable. Arthur had been a chance for her to feel wanted in a way that Shiv and Roman and her mother all had not given her, yet here she was, the common denominator. Something had to be wrong with her, and so she hadn't seen the issue when he had started to hurt her. After all, wasn't that what she deserved?

"I feel like I shouldn't just forget." Roman said, his voice surprisingly low. "That looked serious."

"It's not." Cora replied. "It's just a game I play with him sometimes."

"Do you want to play that game?"

Cora felt a flush of goosebumps form on her back. She bit down on her bottom lip, chuckling nervously. She jumped as Roman placed a hand on her shoulder, clenching her hands into fists.

"Why would you care?" She said, surprised at the callousness of her tone.

"Because you're my friend?" Roman replied, throwing his hands up in the air. "What, am I not allowed to care about my friends?"

Cora blushed. She bit down on her bottom lip, scowling at him. "You just care because you hate him."

"I'm not president of his fucking fan club so that means I can't give a fuck he's hurting you?" Roman said, scoffing. "What is your problem with me, Cora? You said last summer that you're lay off me but it feels like you could care less about me or anything I have to say."

"You think I have a problem with you, so you go after my boyfriend, is that it?" Cora spat. "You didn't even deny hating him."

"Wow, you got me Cora. I hate him! I hate him because he's an asshole, and everyone but you sees it. And you know what? He didn't just flirt with Naomi, he hooked up with her." Roman blurted out. "Shiv made it sound way better than it was but that's the truth. I came here to tell you. Because you matter to me and I thought I mattered to you, but it sounds like I was mistaken."

Cora stared at him, open mouthed, unsure of how to react. Her body seemed to make up her mind for her. As she took a shaky breath in, she felt tears welling in her eyes once more, but she pushed them down, blinking hard to stave them off.

"You're seriously going to tell me this on my birthday? You couldn't have held off? Waited a day? Are you being for real right now, Roman?"

Roman blinked rapidly, a shocked expression crossing his features.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm used to being the problem." Roman replied with a scornful chuckle. "I just didn't think ... Yeah, whatever. Never mind. I'm just gonna go fuck off now."

"Why do you even care, Roman?" She had meant for her voice to not falter as she spoke, but it came out less of a forceful question and more a tentative whisper. She folded her arms across her chest as she looked at him, struck with an overwhelming feeling of vulnerability. "Just tell me why you care."

She knew the answer she wanted from him, and for a moment as she watched him take a deep breath inwards, she wondered if she was going to hear it. She could feel the steady hammer of her heart through her chest, the weight of yearning pulling at her emotions as she waited for his reply.

She realised as she looked at him that he could say the word and she would drop any pretence of a relationship with Arthur, for anyone in the world. Yes, she knew it was a foolish thought, fuelled by a crush she had nursed for several summers. She knew that everyone thought Roman was weird, that Shiv would kill her if she knew the extent of Cora's feelings, that it would turn her world upside down but that didn't matter. What mattered was the simple fact that she would do anything for him. It scared her, terrified her even, yet she would gladly have accepted that fate if it just meant being wanted by him.

"Please, Roman," Cora breathed. She realised too late that she was crying. "Just tell me."

Roman opened his mouth, his brow creasing. He seemed at a loss as to what to say, eyes flickering down to the bathroom tiles as if the answer were written on them. Cora moved forwards. She wasn't sure what force compelled her then, whether it was her feelings or frustration, reaching forward to tilt his chin upwards to meet her eyes. When they met hers, she could see fear flickering in the darkness of his pupils. Regret washed over her and she quickly pulled her hand away.

"I'm so-"

Cora stopped short as Roman's hand suddenly moved to her cheek. Tenderly he wiped the side of his index finger to catch her tears. She was so close that she could hear the tightness of his breathing, shallow and sharp. He bit down on his bottom lip.

A knock at the door and both of them jumped backwards. Moments later, Shiv poked her head through the opened crack, frowning as she looked from Cora to Roman. The two had managed to part a considerable distance in a short amount of time, Cora turned back towards the sink, Roman rubbing the back of his neck as he met Shiv's eye. After a beat, she pushed the door open and entered.

"Why does it smell weird in here?"

"I was sick." Cora muttered.

"Oh, yeah. Ok." Shiv replied, looking sheepish. She ran a hand through her long red tresses, sucking on her bottom lip. "So, uh, what're we gonna do?"

"About what?" Cora replied. She'd all but forgotten about the reason she'd retreated to the bathroom in the first place.

"About Naomi, duh." Shiv replied. "She can't just get away with slutting it up at your birthday party with no consequences."

"Geez, I don't know." Cora said with a sigh. "I honestly don't even know how I'm gonna go downstairs again."

"No! No. You can't let her ruin your birthday." Shiv replied, shaking her head. She shot a look at Roman suddenly, seemingly perturbed by his silence. "Can she, Rome?"

"Yeah, I guess not." Roman replied, shrugging. Cora bit down on her bottom lip, letting her eyes wander anywhere but him.

"At the very least, she has to leave. Like, now." Shiv said, nodding enthusiastically. Roman let out a sigh that sounded almost bored, but Cora swore she could hear an edge to it.

"I'll deal with it. I have an idea."

The trio made their way back downstairs, Cora trailing behind with Roman in the lead. Shiv glanced over her shoulder every so often until they reached the bottom, brows lowered in concern. When they reached the bottom, she offered her hand for Cora to take, squeezing it as they followed after Roman. Back at the party, all eyes snapped to them as they entered the dark room. Cora noted that Kendall had emerged from the guest bedroom to help himself to the snacks table, and gave him a half-heartedly wave as he called out over the music. Shiv made a sound of disgust.

"He's being so fucking lame right no- What're you doing with that?"

The pair stopped in their tracks. Roman had picked up an empty red solo cup and had proceeded to fill it to the brim with a milky liqueur. Underneath the lights display, the creamy colour took on a greenish tint, and looked closer to the slime on Nickelodeon.

"Dealing with it." Roman replied. Cora watched in vague disbelief as Roman suddenly crossed the room towards Naomi, who was standing in a group of some of Cora's friends from summer camp. He tapped her on her shoulder, and slowly the blonde turned. Cora watched as Roman mouthed something unintelligible through the volume of the music. A look of confusion passed over Naomi's face, quickly replaced by horror as Roman upended the cup directly over her head.

A yelp sounded through the room as Naomi threw her hands upwards. Suddenly their conversation became very audible.

"What the fuck, Roman Roy?!"

Roman threw extended his hands in an exaggerated shrug. "Dunno what came over me!"

"Fuck you! Fucking freak! This is why no one likes you!" She screamed in his face, batting away the empty solo cup from his hand. With a glance towards Cora and Shiv, she made a face of disgust, before storming out of the room.

"Ding dong." Shiv chirped into Cora's ear. "The witch is dead."

Cora nodded, her lips pulled into a tight line. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she felt a tap on her shoulder, looking to her side to see Arthur, his face pulled into a confused expression. Without a second thought, she turned to him, reaching upwards to pull him down into a kiss.

"What was that about?" Arthur muttered after she had moved away.

Cora didn't reply. Instead her gaze had fallen back to the mess on the floor where Naomi had been standing, finding that Roman too had left the room.