Elizabeth's POV

The dinner with Luca's family didn't go as I thought it would. I was happy to meet the wonderful woman in Luca's life. Stephanie was kind, she had a soft heart and I could tell that she loved her family wholeheartedly. Charlotte was powerful yet nurturing. With one look she rendered her family member's silent.

I pushed myself off from leaning against the door. "You home," A voice said, and I jumped.

"Beckett!" I shrieked, holding a hand to my racing heart.

The house had been illuminated in warm yellow light due to all the mini candles that were placed around it. "How was dinner with the crew of Downtown Abbey?" He asked while he leaned against the staircase with his arms folded.

I sighed. "It was fine. Where is everyone?" I asked and he looked over his shoulder.

"They in the kitchen playing cards as usual," he said, and as if on cue, Callum soon came out of the kitchen with Blaire, by his side.

"Hey, Liz. So you and my pal Luca, huh," Callum said in amusement. "I wouldn't have thought, but Luca was always a hard person to figure out."

"No we just friends," I said and Callum chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Beckett asked  Callum in a stern tone of voice. When I looked at Beckett his jaw was clenched.

"Just that Luca doesn't usually have girls as friends that's all," Callum replied.

Beckett ran a hand through his hair and turned to look at me. A stressful expression on his face. "Well he has a girlfriend," I reminded Callum, only to hear him scoff at my remark as if it was something pointless.

"Like that would stop him. It hasn't stopped him before," Callum retorted.

My eyes widened at that statement. Was Luca the type of boy I've been avoiding since Tyler. Was he just another disgusting unfaithful pig. I had to wonder.

I wouldn't allow Luca to get too close to me. I knew what it felt like to feel cheated and I was not going to come between him and his girlfriend.

Beckett let out a disgruntled sigh and ran a hand down his face. "I'll see you tomorrow Lizzy," he said snaking a hand around my waist. He pulled me to him and placed a gentle kiss on my temple. The sudden act of affection surprised me as well as Callum because he raised an eyebrow at his brother's bold actions. Blaire remained silent but the broad smile on her face spoke volumes. Beckett was unpredictable at times.

The wind outside picked up and the rumbling of thunder could be heard.
"Well, that's my cue. Good night ladies," Callum said, following Beckett to the door. Both men exited the house, closing the door behind them and I turned around to find Blaire staring at me with wide expectant eyes. "So how was dinner?" She asked, bouncing on her heels.

"You do know that I'm playing pretend right?" I said and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh that's how it always starts," she said with a dismissal wave of her hand. "First it's pretending and then it becomes so much more," she furthered.

"Well, there won't be a chance for it to become so much more because he has a girlfriend. Not to mention that Hendricks is the most intolerable man on the planet."

"Most intolerable man, "Himari repeated in a voice of amusement as she walked into the lounge with her pet bunny in her arms. "Is he that bad?" She asked plopping herself on the sofa and Blaire and I moved to sit next to her.

"You just in time Himi. I was about to get the dirty deets from her but like usual she is putting up a fight," Blaire said.

I scoffed. "There are no dirty details. We, not even friends..." I tried to object but cut myself off when I remembered the agreement of friendship we made. "I mean we don't even know each other and we are not interested in each other romantically."

"Why is there someone else you have your eye on?" Blaire nudged me with her shoulder.

"Like who?" I asked and she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Beckett. I saw the way he held you and kissed you," she exaggerated.

"Is that so?" Himari asked with a suggestive smirk.

I was about to argue and say Blaire was exaggerating, but the storm outside intensified causing us to go silent. The wind began to howl as the rain began falling more furiously. A loud crackle of thunder made the windows vibrate and a bright flash of lightning shone brightly through the curtained windows, illuminating the once dimly lit lounge and causing me to close my eyes.

"I don't like storms," Blaire shivered from beside me.

"Blaire...." Himari tried to say but she was interrupted by the sound of knocking coming from the kitchen.

We went silent again as we craned our necks over the couch and stared in the direction of where the sound was coming from. It went silent again and we began looking at each other with cautious eyes. Then the knocks came again and Himari moved to stand up.

"You guys expecting anyone?" Himari calmly asked and Blaire and I shook our heads.

Himari turned to go into the direction of the kitchen. "Hey wait what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going to see who's at the door," she shrugged.

"UH-UH Himi," Blaire said, shaking her head. "If horror movies taught us anything it's never to open the door for anyone during creepy thunderstorms."

"Blaire you being ridiculous," Himari said shrugging off her concerns and moving to go into the kitchen. I stood up to go with Himari because I didn't want her to go alone.

"You coming courage the cowardly?" Himari called out to Blaire.

Blaire rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. "I'm not scared," she said and another flash of lightning followed by thunder caused her to shriek and jump up from the couch. She grabbed onto me from behind almost pulling me down to the ground.

"Yeah, the heart of a lion," Himari chuckled and turned on her heel to go into the kitchen. I followed behind her with Blaire stuck to my back. It felt like I was being attacked by a boa constrictor with how tight she was holding onto me.

Once in the kitchen, Himari grabbed a flashlight from one of the puller drawers. She switched it on and faced it to the glass sliding door. A flash of lightning illuminated a man as we stared at him standing in the pouring rain with matted hair on his forehead.

"Wait a minute," Blaire said from cowering behind me. "Is that Trent?" She asked.

Himari moved to the sliding door and unlocked it. She pulled it open and let Trent into the house. "Trent, what on earth are you doing here?" She asked.

"Sorry to scare you ladies but my car broke down. You girls are the only ones to answer your door from the doors I've knocked on. My phone died and it's pitch black outside."

"Let me get you a towel," Blaire said leaving my side.

"Would you like to use my phone to call someone?" Himari offered. Trent let out a small sniffle and sneeze having being stuck in the rain.

"Yes please," he said and Himari handed him her phone.

"I'll make you some coffee," I said and he nodded in appreciation.

"Thank you Elizabeth," he smiled and I nodded. I moved to the tap to fill water in a small pot to boil on the gas stove. Blaire walked into the kitchen and handed Trent a towel to dry off.

He dialed on Himari's phone and put the phone to his ear. His face soon fell and he removed the phone from his ear. "My father isn't picking up. He is probably working late shifts at the hospital again," he said.

After the water began boiling I put in sugar, coffee, cream, and milk before pouring it into a mug and taking it over to Trent. "Thank you," he said looking up at me with a smile and I nodded. "You girls wouldn't mind if I crashed on your couch for the night. Just until I could call someone to tow my car in the morning," he said and Himari looked to Blaire and me. I shrugged. I had no problem with Trent sleeping on the couch for the night.

Blaire nodded and Himari sighed. "Sure," Himari said to him and he smiled warmly up at the three of us.

"The couch is in here," Blaire said gesturing for him to follow us.

The three of us walked into the lounge area with Trent following closely behind us. "Thank you ladies so much. I'll be out of your hair in the morning," he said, walking over to the couch.

I needed to sleep and I also needed a shower. The day had been eventful and I just wanted to crawl into my covers and sleep for twelve hours. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Good night," I said and moved to go up to my room. They all chimed in response a good night as I snailed my way up the stairs.

I walked into my room and got my pajamas so that I could take a shower. My eyes were already closing but I knew I would sleep better after I had a good relaxing shower.

I took off the wedges I had been wearing for the night. My feet felt weird as I stood up and walked barefoot to the bathroom.

Why do women wear heels again?

My mom says it's because heels make a statement as well as pick up any outfit you wear. I never tried to understand what that meant. Maybe it's because I'm naturally tall and felt like a falling skyscraper in them.

I always used to wonder why Barbie's feet were pointed and never flat. I used to think that if I had to wear heels constantly my feet would end up like Barbie's. Her feet just looked uncomfortable. It would be like constantly walking on your toes.

Once in the bathroom, I put my hair up and took off all my clothes. There were three candles lit in the bathroom one sat on the top of the medicine cabinet, one was on the toilet and the other on the side of the shower. I started the shower and got in.

I spent a few minutes scrubbing myself with a bar of lavender-scented soap. The shower relaxed me and I found myself letting out contentment filled sighs. I rinsed off all remaining soap and shut off the water when I felt myself getting drowsy. I stepped out of the shower and dried myself with a towel and put on my pajamas.

Two of the candles had already burned out with how long I had been in the shower. The storm outside was getting worse. A flash of lightning followed by the sound of crackling thunder made a chill run down my spine and my own shadow that fell on the bathroom wall almost spooked me. Reaching for the bathroom door handle. I pulled open the door to go to my room.  I jumped when I saw someone leaning against the door frame.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry," Trent said, putting his hands up. "I was just looking for a bathroom," he said with a smile.

"Well you found it," I chuckled half-heartedly and moved to sidestep him. He placed a hand on my arm stopping me and I looked up at him. "I was wondering," he started and the thunder outside ensued. "If you'd like to grab dinner sometime?" He asked and began to stroke my face with the back of his hand. He looked into my eyes and I visibly gulped. I was uncomfortable with how close he was suddenly standing.

I stared at him confused "Urm..." I trailed not knowing how to say no. I didn't want to hurt his feelings but at the same time, I wasn't interested in having dinner with him. By the looks of things, he didn't understand boundaries.

"You know what Angel," he said caressing my cheek and I took a step back halting his movements. "Why don't you think about it. Maybe you'll give me good news in the morning." He gave me a wink before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door after him. I stared at the closed bathroom door in utter bewilderment.

Here I thought Hendrick's was cocky. I wonder who put Trent on his high horse.

"I'm going to have nightmares now," Himari said and I jumped for the third time. My heart couldn't take anyone sneaking up on me anymore. I'd surely have a heart attack if I didn't go to bed soon.

"You seem to be a magnet for bad boys," she said humorously.

"Please don't tease me Himi," I whined and moved to go into my bedroom.

"I'm just stating the facts," she said teasingly.

"Good night," I said with a playful roll of my eyes.

"Sleep tight," she smiled and walked over to her room door. I went into my room, shut the door, and got under the covers. It felt like the best thing in the world. Why did I ever leave my bed when it was so good to me. The storm outside continued and I stared up at the ceiling as I held Mr. Grobbles close to my heart.

In just a few weeks I would get to see my favorite places again. I would get to take a walk down memory lane and I could only hope I'd feel my father's presence with me again as I gazed upon the things we both shared a love for. It wasn't fair that I got to spend such little time with him but I'm happy that I at least got to know my father.

Luca's confession of never knowing his father broke my heart. I never thought his father was deceased. I thought that his parents were divorced. There was so much more to Luca. He barely spoke and when he did speak he was either teasing or insulting me. Sometimes annoying me by calling me princess.

That moment in the car when Luca told me about his father and said that if I wanted him to open up to me. I also needed to open up to him. At that moment I felt as if I was looking in a mirror.

A knock came on my door and I groaned.

"It better be important," I shouted.

"It's me Lizzy can I come in please," Blaire asked and I sighed. I didn't have the energy for a gossip session.

"Come in," I said nonetheless, and a few seconds later my door opened.

Blaire walked over to my bed and stood awkwardly in front of me. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and I stared at her waiting for her to tell me what happened.

"Are you okay," I asked, watching her fiddle with her fingers and she shook her head frantically.

A flash of lightning-caused her to turn her head away. Her hands closed into fists as the thunder followed after the lightning. Blaire didn't have to say anything. I knew why she was in my room.

"Come on you big baby," I said pushing the covers back for her to get in the bed.

"Thank you, Lizzy," she said sweetly. Blaire was sometimes so innocent like a child. She was older than me yet I felt elder sometimes. She got under the covers with me and I moved to give her some space. She laid in the same position as I did just staring up at the ceiling as the storm outside continued.

"This reminds me of back home with my brothers," she chuckled. "I would always call one of them to stay with me whenever there was a storm."

"Do you miss home?" I asked softly while trying to glimpse at her from the corner of my eye.

"A lot. I'll be going home for winter break though," she sighed. I guess I wasn't the only one that was homesick.

"I'll most probably be in England," I sighed, running a hand down my face and she nodded.

Blaire and I chatted until I drifted off to sleep. The last thing I could remember her talk about is spending new year's day at the campus housing if Himari and I also agreed to stay back.

I began tossing and turning in my sleep. I woke up and stared at my window. The storm outside was still going on and I began to watch the flashes of purple and white light. Mr. Grobbles was out of sight and I turned on my side to look for him. I found him near Blaire. She was holding onto his leg and I didn't want to move him if he brought her comfort. She probably needed him more than I did. I looked up in the darkness when a flash of lightning illuminated my room. A chill ran down my spine when I realized that my bedroom door was open.

Thinking that maybe Blaire didn't close my door properly. I got out of bed slowly and cautiously. I walked over to the door and popped my head into the hallway. Himari's room door was closed and so was Blaire's. I shut the door and turned around but I paused for a second feeling uneasy. I turned back around to face the door and locked it this time. I walked back to the bed and got under the covers again. Sleep took me almost immediately.

****
Bang!

The sound of something falling hard woke me up from a deep sleep. I struggled to pry my eyes open. Blaire was already out of bed. So I turned around and tried to fall asleep again thinking that maybe it was Blaire or Himari that dropped something.

The sound of my room door hitting the wall had me sitting up in shock. Blaire rushed over to my bedside. 
"Liz, Liz you have to wake up," Blaire said, in a sound of panic.

"What happened," I asked, sleepily and then I could hear the shouts of an angry Englishman."I will fucking end your life right where you stand shit bag!" Luca's voice boomed, chasing away my plan of a peaceful morning.

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A/N

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