disclaimer: the theme for this party is heavenly bodies!! it will be different from the theme in the movie (for now hahaha)

alexandra headed downstairs to see oliver and felix burst through the doors. oliver quickly walked past her clearly upset about something. she didn't even get a chance to talk to him.

felix muttered, "fucking hell." alexandra walked up to him with a confused look plastered onto her face, felix had no other choice but to look at her. "did something happen?" felix wasn't ready to talk to alexandra but at the same time, this wasn't about their issues. it was about oliver

there was some type of tension between the two of them but felix decided to let her know what happened, "oliver had left his phone in bathroom last week..." felix started causing alex to nod so he could continue the story.

"he hadn't been answering his mum's phone calls, so i answered it.." alex turned her head and widened her eyes with a sigh, "felix."

"so i told her that we would be coming by on his birthday. i didn't tell him until we were about to pull into the driveway. but then he had a fucking panic attack!" felix cried out in stress, alex just looked at him with disbelief

"felix i get you were trying to help but you shouldn't have done that." she said with obviousness making him smack his palm onto his forehead, he felt like an idiot

he shook his head, "i know. i feel horrible now."

"look.." she grabbed his wrist, "i'll go talk to him. just go get ready for the party." she said as the two of them began to head upstairs. felix went straight to his room while alexandra went and knocked on oliver's door

"oliver it's me! can i come in?" she asked. "sure." she heard him faintly say. she slowly opened the door seeing him sit at the edge of his bed tugging at his hair. he looked upset and that made alexandra sad. it is his day, his birthday and he shouldn't be upset.

she heard him sniffling trying his best to stop crying, "oh ollie..." alex sighed before bending down, she placed her hands onto his knees while looking at him. her thumbs began to caress him.

"i'm sorry about felix. he just wanted to surprise you... the execution was clearly poor in the attempt." she explained. alexandra removed his hands from his face to see tears still escaping from his eyes

he licked his lips tasting the salty tears, "i'm just not ready to face my mother yet." he admitted sounding like he was scared.

"and that is fine, you don't have to go and see her until you are fully ready. nobody should make that decision for you." she said rubbing his knees. she quickly leaned forward laying her chin down on one of his knees making sure to look into his eyes

a cute chuckle escaped from his mouth making alex happy, "there it is. that's what i've been wanting to see." alexandra still couldn't get over how gorgeous his eyes were. they quite literally were the bluest eyes she has ever seen in her life. they looked even bluer when he cried

alexandra quickly wiped his tears away making him smile, "God you're such a gem." he breathed making her blush and smile, "so are you." she quickly spoke making him shake his head no

"i'm serious!! you're literally one of the nicest people i have ever came across." she assured him

"i could say the same about you." alexandra frowned. it really broke her heart to hear that. she hates seeing how people treat oliver like he is a peasant who doesn't even exist. this whole summer nobody has really paid attention to oliver like that except for alexandra, felix and elsbeth from time to time

it felt as if he was being treated like pamela. if everyone got to talk to him and personally get to know him, then they would get to realize oliver is such a sweet guy.

alexandra hasn't got to peel the layers back too much with him this summer due to felix and everyone else wanting her attention but hopefully they can get deeper into conversations soon before she leaves and they go back to oxford.

alexandra stood up to go sit closely beside him, "you know some people are just assholes." she said making him look at her

"some people just don't know how nice of a person you are and...." alex shrugged slightly, "that's their loss" she slowly began to smile making him chuckle. alexandra then leaned in to kiss his cheek which caused him to feel flustered

felix suddenly spoke scaring the shit out of alexandra, "alex, can you come here?" they both turned to see felix standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. she already knew it was about to be an argument, "no. i'll talk to you later tonight. i'm going to go start getting ready." she announced before looking back over at oliver with a smile, "i hope you're feeling better." she said patting his leg twice before getting up and leaving the room. she confidently walked past felix angering him even more but he decided not to go after her

"felix, you alright?" oliver asked trying to change the subject. he playfully rolled his eyes and nodded, "yeah. i'm going to go... somewhere." he said before shutting his door.

a few hours later, it was time for oliver's party. there were over two hundred people at saltburn. it was busy with every corner that you turned at, alexandra was still upstairs getting ready. she had just got finished doing her makeup and sighed as she looked into the mirror. nothing too crazy just a natural, minimal makeup look

alex then headed downstairs hearing music blasting throughout the vicinity of the house with people spawned everywhere. she headed to the party room assuming that is where everyone would be. elsbeth gasped upon seeing alexandra, she walked up to her. "oh my darling, you look extravagant!!"

alex quickly shot her a smile, "i could say the same about you!!" she complimented seeing that she was wearing a gold sequin versace dress. alex came to the conclusion that elsbeth is a vampire of some sort because she genuinely just doesn't age at all

farleigh quickly peeped that she walked in the room. all eyes were glued onto her, she was like a magnet. her presence was enough to be felt within any room she entered. oliver was shocked that farleigh was back. he just walked up to oliver and began talking to him

"there's no way they're okay with you being back." he stated in a low tone.

farleigh laughed hard, "they're happy, i'm back. thanks to alexandra, they had no problem inviting me back here." alexandra was talking to many people then her eyes met with farleigh

"hope you enjoyed your summer here. you definitely won't be back." he smirked before running over to alexandra. they both hugged each other for what felt like an eternity to oliver. he felt sick to his stomach knowing that farleigh was back into the picture

farleigh kissed her forehead making her smile, his chin the rested on the top of her head. "i love you." alexandra rubbed his back making him squeeze her even tighter

"i love you too." she said as they broke away from the hug. they both smiled at each other then started chatting. venetia then came up and hugged him happy to see that he was back. as they were talking, farleigh quickly mumbled under his breath, "oh shit." he let out an awkward cough making the two girls turn their heads. grant and hannah were heading towards them.

venetia was so happy to see grant. alexandra flashed a huge smile seeing them as oliver peeped from afar. grant happily greeted venetia then turned his attention to alex who he studied for a few seconds, "you look absolutely gorgeous." he stated with a smile

she quickly hugged him, "thank you!! what are you doing here?" she asked then greeted hannah happily

"well elsbeth invited us, plus i heard you were still here and i wanted to see you." he fully admitted making farleigh nod his head impressed

"well she is all yours." he said playfully pushing her closer to him. he, venetia, and hannah then quickly scurried off over to felix who looked shocked to see hannah. he quickly acted as if he wasn't just talking to some other girl.

typical felix catton. the two of them looked at each other and chuckled, "some things never change huh?" grant asked making alexandra scoff.

"so when do you go home?" he asked quickly changing the subject. alexandra crossed her arms.

"in a couple of weeks." she answered. "did you maybe want to go into town, maybe see a movie? we have a ton of catching up to do." grant said making her smile again

alexandra licked her lips, "i'd like that."

grant and alexandra also grew up together and stay in touch frequently. he has always been a true gentleman and was raised by some amazing people. his parents absolutely adore alexandra.

it is no surprise that alexandra and her aunt donatella are also close with the armani family considering the fact that grant's grandfather is the infamous giorgio armani.

him and donatella are like two peas in a pod. same goes for elsbeth. put all three of them together, they are a powerful badass trio.

somebody suddenly cough, making them both turn their bodies to see felix. hannah was by his side, "why are you here grant?" he asked bluntly

"i invited him darling." elsbeth suddenly said standing beside her son. he quickly rolled his eyes as elsbeth hugged grant. him and hannah immediately walked off

"don't mind him darling. he will be fine, you two enjoy yourselves." she said before walking over to tell duncan something

grant quickly asked, "who's birthday party is this? elsbeth didn't have the chance to tell me."

she looked up at him, "it's for oliver."

grant quickly laughed, "he is a strange little dude." no hesitation came from that sentence

"no, he is really nice and charming. just super shy." alexandra said immediately coming to his defense making grant smile at her. he loved how she saw the good in everyone

he nodded, "i'll take your word for it."

duncan had motioned for her to come into the kitchen. she grabbed his arm really quickly making him lean down, "i'll be right back." he nodded staying in that exact spot. as soon as alexandra was gone, grant was swarmed by a bunch of girls. felix rolled his eyes before continuing to chat with hannah

there was nobody in the kitchen. she quickly sighed, "what's wrong?" she asked duncan

"it seems nobody wants to bring out the cake for oliver, i was wondering if you wanted too?" he asked quietly. alexandra smiled and nodded, "of course!!"

duncan nodded before opening the door for her. alexandra quickly got a firm grip onto the cake. she then walked out getting cheers from everyone. she carefully placed the cake onto the huge table that only had two gifts on it.. one from her

she quickly sat in down then looked for oliver in the crowd. when she found him she went over to grab his wrist taking him near the cake. the music suddenly got turned down making everyone turn their attention to the front of the room.

"alright everyone!!" she yelled aloud shushing them who were still talking. immediate silence entered the room, "let's wish this amazing boy a happy birthday!!" she yelled aloud

she started singing and everyone quickly followed her lead singing him happy birthday. suddenly someone yelled aloud, "what's his name?!!" everyone began to laugh

"oliver!!" alexandra snapped making everyone correct themselves and sing him happy birthday with his name attached to it. after they were done singing, alexandra convinced oliver to open his gifts

he opened the first one. farleigh was about to run up to get alexandra out of the way but it was too late. there were gasps heard around the room as oliver and alexandra ducked down shutting their eyes tightly.

grant dropped his jaw out of shock while venetia and her mother covered her mouth. sir james and duncan looked at each other then back at oliver and alexandra while farleigh looked with instant regret

there was a paint bomb placed inthe gift. alexandra gasped as she opened her eyes then squinted. when she fully opened them she looked down at herself to see she was fully covered in red. oliver and her wiped their eyes.

felix, duncan, elsbeth, sir james, and venetia all simultaneously looked at farleigh with angry faces. he stayed quiet and whistled away making sure not to look any of them in their eyes. alexandra quickly kissed her teeth, "farleigh can you please come here?" she asked nicely.

"i think i'm good over here." he said pointing to the ground, he sounded scared for once. "just come here for a quick second." she whispered with an evil laugh trying to play it off.

he eventually came to the front. she quickly wrapped her arm around him not caring about getting the paint onto his tuxedo. he leaned down to see what she was going to say but instead, alexandra grabbed a handful of his hair slamming his face into the cake earning a ton of gasps from everyone

grant just smiled, proud of her for thinking quickly on her feet. but this is alexandra we're talking about. "hell yes!! alexandra is a badass!!" a random guy yelled making everyone quickly cheer

farleigh quickly stood up wiping the cake from his eyes. alexandra paid him no mind as she grabbed oliver quickly removing them from the room. elsbeth and duncan quickly followed in behind them.

"dear God.." elsbeth uttered not believing what just happened. duncan just sighed, "alex are you okay?" he asked as if oliver wasn't standing right there

"i think we're fine, thank you duncan."

elsbeth ordered for duncan to go grab some trash bags making him run off. "here take your shoes off then go upstairs and shower." she stated making them both do as said

she quickly dumped their shoes into the trash bag duncan just handed her. elsbeth then handed them separate trash bags, the two then headed in the opposite direction

alexandra didn't even hesitate to strip the minute she shut her door. she quickly ran into the shower and watched as the red paint sunk down into the drain. after forty minutes, she got all the paint off her and washed her hair feeling way better. she didn't even feel like dressing up again after that fiasco, alex immediately threw on some baggy sweatpants and a random t-shirt

she heard soft knocking coming from her door, "come in!" she yelled. it was oliver. he looked like himself again after showering.

"that was something." oliver said making them both sigh at the exact same time, "i'm so sorry that happened to you." alex said

"nevermind me, are you alright?" oliver said just immediately dismissing himself making alex upset. "stop doing that!" she yelled

oliver frowned, "erm what?" she quickly sighed, "making this situation about me. this is about you. i'm upset that your birthday is ruined." alex let out a loud frustrating groan

oliver walked over to her quickly towering over her, "it's not ruined." he said lowly making her look into his blue eyes

"how is it not ruined?" she asked curiously. oliver looked down at her cupping her face, "because out of all of this, at least there is someone who cares about me." he said referring to her causing her to faintly smile

"this entire summer, you have made me feel like i'm important. like i fucking matter." he said gazing into her eyes

"it's because you do matter." alexandra said reminding him causing him to grin. suddenly there was knocking at the door causing oliver to sigh. he rested his head onto her forehead shutting his eyes due to frustration.

"alexandra dear, are you coming back downstairs?" she heard sir james ask

"yes sir, i'll be down in a few minutes!!" she yelled, she then heard his footsteps walking away. she looked up at oliver with fast paced heartbeats beating from her chest

"let's go end this night." oliver said walking out of the room with her following in behind him

alexandra didn't hesitate to go and find felix who was exactly where she expected him to be which was with hannah. they were dancing the night away. she maneuvered her way through the dancing party goers making her way over to him. "felix!!" she yelled making him turn to look at her with softened eyes

she gently grabbed hannah's arm then leaned over to her ear,  "can i steal him for just a second?" she asked making hannah immediately nod then smile, "of course!!" alex gave her a quick smile before grabbing his hand

they escaped from the huge crowd going somewhere more private which was the green room. they both sat down beside each other in silence. felix was nervously rubbing his hands together while alexandra bit her lip looking at him. "i've been thinking a lot these past couple of weeks about us." she brought up making him look at her with glistening eyes. he seemed excited to hear what she about to say

"we just need to stay friends." she spat out as nice as possible. felix immediately got angry, clenching his jaw turning away from her

"felix, i love you." she said making him sigh. "i love you too." he said refusing to turn around and look at her

"can you look at me, please?" she begged. he eventually looked her in the eyes but it was hard to do so after what she just said

"i don't want our friendship to end. i don't want to end up resenting you. i hate when we fight, it doesn't make me feel good when we ignore each other." she admitted

felix nodded, "i feel the same way." he said as his voice cracked. "i just think we are on different paths right now, that's all." he stayed quiet not knowing what to say

"i think if we are meant to be together then the universe will make it happen... just not right now." alex confirmed. felix still was silent making alexandra worried

"whatever decision you make i'm okay with it."

felix placed his hand onto her thigh, "i don't want to lose you." he said with a smile but it was obvious he was hurting. felix quickly kissed her forehead. "are we good?" alex asked

felix nodded, "we're good."

alexandra smiled, "good. now get back to hannah. she seems like a great girl" she said making him frown, "are you sure? i don't want to leave you here alone."

"felix, go before i strangle you." she warned making him laugh. he quickly kissed her cheek before leaving her in the room by herself. she sighed sure that she made the right choice

17K reads... you guys are INSANE. thank you. i really cannot say that enough. i love you all so much it hurts. seeing your comments really make my entire day. without you all, there would be no books for me to write. you guys motivate me. thank you so much 🤍