"MI-JA," VINH SAID, A smile having appeared on his face as he stepped forward," I'm sorry about earlier, but I'm sure you understand."

Will was already by Mia's side before Vinh could say anything more, inspecting her for injuries, before letting out a relieved sigh once he saw she was fine. His hand reached for hers, but he stopped himself in time, fingers grazing before he pulled back.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worry coloring his voice.

Mia replied to him first, gaze flicking to his hand before she nodded, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"I am," she reassured him," I'm sorry for shouting and worrying you, I was just..." She breathed out, shaking her head. "Surprised."

"Mi-Ja," Vinh said, pushing past Will with his shoulder as he took her hands in his," I didn't mean to scare you, I just thought it the quickest way to get you away from these criminals."

"Manners, Vinh," Mia said, normally gentle voice tinged with a sharpness which made Vinh flinch," these are my friends."

Ella had expected him to protest or snarl, but instead he stared up at Mia with wide eyes, like he was waiting for her forgiveness. It was weird on him, the vulnerability, not suiting the pride that he was wearing underneath his designer clothes. She hesitated for just a second, before flashing him a smile which didn't seem to come from the heart at all.

"It's fine, by the way," she said," earlier, I mean. I'm sure you meant well, but I'd rather have you communicate with me next time. I thought I was being kidnapped for a moment."

Vinh's face brightened as he nodded, squeezing her hand. "I knew you would understand."

Will stared at her, but he didn't say anything, probably not feeling like it was his place to. Elisabeth however shook her head, voice clear.

"Hell no," she said, stepping in between," you're too sweet to him, Mia. At least insult him for a couple of minutes for scaring you."

"This is not your business," Vinh scowled at her," and I see you haven't changed at all, Elisabeth. I already pity the guy who ends up with you."

Mia parted her lips to say something, but Alex already had grabbed Vinh by the back of his hair, pulling back hard on it as he stood still beside him. He raised an eyebrow, his smile promising no good as Vinh stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Apologize to her right now," he said warmly.

"It's fine, Alex," Elisabeth reassured him, hands gently on his cheek as she beamed up at him," there's no need to become angry, I'm fine."

Ella had expected Alex to smash Vinh's head against the floor just for good measure, but surprisingly he did let him go. Elisabeth squeezed Alex' cheeks, laughing as he frowned at her in surprise, before smoothing out the crease caused by his frown with her thumb.

"You'll get wrinkles if you frown too much," she said.

"Jokes on you, I plan on dying young," Alex said matter-of-factly.

Levi absentmindedly touched his own constant frown then and Ella nodded solemnly at him.

"I can see you've been hanging with the wrong crowd, Elisabeth," Vinh sighed, shaking his head.

"Speaking of close friends," Elisabeth said, holding up her phone," I texted Reyan when I heard what had happened. He's on his way."

Vinh paled so quickly it looked like he was going to faint, taking a step back as Mia's face brightened immediately.

"Rei is coming?" she said fondly," I haven't seen him in a while."

"Who's Reyan?" Alex inquired.

Before Elisabeth could reply Vinh was already gesturing for Mia to come along, turning around to leave.

"Let's go, Mi-Ja," he said," Reyan may be nice to you, but he's -" He swallowed whatever insults he was going to say when he locked eyes with Mia. "Anyway, I'd rather not die today."

Though Ella had no idea who Reyan was, he must have been quite the guy to get this reaction out of Vinh. Even while threatened with broken bones, all he had done was stare in surprise or snarl, but now he was actively trying to escape as quickly as possible. Mia didn't follow him, looking at him almost sadly.

"Don't you want to get to know me better?" Vinh said," we can go take my jet and visit France for dinner by the ocean. Your mother has told me you always love to do that each summer."

"I do, Vinh," Mia said quietly," but I'm just not getting the best impression of you right now. I do appreciate you taking the time to get here to spend time with me, but -" She glanced at Will, for only a fraction of a second, before looking back at Vinh. "I am here with friends, right now. You can call me another time. Not my mother, me."

"What if I just suckerpunch Vinh?" Levi whispered to Ella," would that help Will's case or not?"

"It would definitely not," Ella whispered back, before adding," and I am glad that despite all the drama we had with our exes, you didn't have an actual fiancée."

"It wouldn't have mattered," Levi said," if you had had a fiancé, I would have taken care of it."

Ella stared up at him, eyebrows raised. "What do you mean you would take care of it?"

Levi simply nodded, like that was answer enough, and she laughed softly, pushing him teasingly.

"Why do you think I even call your mother?" Vinh said," I genuinely am interested in you, Mi-Ja, you are absolutely stunning, but I have no idea what you're thinking."

"Do you want to go outside?" Will asked Mia, completely ignoring Vinh.

"I'm only going to say this one time," Vinh scowled at him," keep yourself out of my conversations with my fiancée."

Will's gaze was uncharacteristically cold as he glanced over at Vinh, hand hovering around the small of Mia's back protectively.

"It's too crowded here," he said," can't you see she's uncomfortable?"

Mia hesitated for a second, nodding then, cheeks a bit flushed as they walked towards the entrance, Will careful to not let anyone bump into her as he cleared the way. Alex and Elisabeth followed, Ava glancing at them one time before she downed her whole glass. She seemed like she was ready to turn around and leave, but when she locked eyes with Ella, she stopped in place.

"Are you alright?" Ella mouthed at her.

"You know what, yes," Ava nodded, grabbing a bottle of wine from the counter as she followed her and Levi. "Bad bitches don't get sad."

"I don't get sad," Levi frowned.

"I stand behind my words," Ava said.

Levi stared out in front of him, muttering under his breath after, confused. "Am I... a bad bitch?"

Ella had to keep herself from kissing him right there and then for how cute he was being.

The frontyard was quite abandoned, most of the people having made the wise choice to leave the party when Will started getting angry, the others inside or spread out in the back. Elisabeth had grabbed a cup of water from inside before going out, sitting Alex down against his will on the steps to the door and giving it to him. Alex stared at her like she was something so ethereal he was afraid to touch her, like she would break by his presence alone, his lips parting like he wished to say something. Before he could though Elisabeth's phone went off and she fished it out of her pocket, looking happy to see who had texted.

"It's Reyan," she said.

"Are you and Reyan dating?" Alex said suddenly.

As soon as the words came out he seemed to regret them, drinking his water too quickly to cover up the embarassment and coughing when he choked on it.

"No," Elisabeth said, tilting her head to the right so she could catch his downturned gaze," we used to date, a really long time ago, but there's nothing between us now. Why?"

Alex lifted his eyes up again, but when he locked them with her, all the courage he usually carried seemed gone. The words that had been on the tip of his tongue were gone as he swallowed them, instead shaking his head.

"No reason," he said," it doesn't matter, we're just friends anyway."

Elisabeth blinked, a flash of hurt in her face, but she didn't walk away from him, instead getting to her feet, a hand on her neck as she blew her breath out.

"Yeah," she said," we're just friends."

Levi turned around to Ella, sighing.

"My friends are stupid," he said.

"Hey!" Ava said, a hand on her heart.

"I said what I said."

Vinh and Mia had been having a discussion still, Will standing silently in between, worried gaze on Mia. It was so clear he wanted to speak up, help her, but he didn't, instead being a quiet support by her side. Ella knew Mia appreciated that more than any words he could have said.

Right at that moment a car pulled up in front of the mansion, Vinh stopping in the middle of a sentence as he stared at it in horror, seeming to have forgotten the time while he had been busy trying to make his point clear. The door opened and a guy stepped out, with caramel-colored skin and pushed back black hair. His dark eyes were sharp, sweater and jeans pristine despite how simple they were. When he turned around to talk to the man in the car, the wind blew his hair out of the way, revealing a hint of a tattoo on his back from above.

"What in the mafia -" Alex whispered.

"No, you don't need to pay for parking here," he continued to say to the man inside, shaking his head," yes, I don't care if Mother will kill you for getting another ticket."

A couple of St Joseph students stumbled out of the house then, laughing loudly as they walked away, ready to go home. Right as they passed by the new guy, they seemed to catch some of his conversation, one of them snarling at him.

"Did you really bring your daddy to a party?" he taunted him," how old are you, fourteen?" He placed a hand on the guy's shoulder, leaning in to say something to the man in the car. "Why don't I say hello to -"

With how shocked he looked it seemed like he had seen a ghost inside the car, completely stopping with talking. Not like he had much chance to do so anyway, because without any hesitation Reyan grabbed his wrist and threw him on the floor. He brushed off his sweater, like he had been touched by something dirty, shaking his head.

"Don't touch me," he said, voice cold.

"Rei!" Mia called out for him.

"Mia," Reyan nodded at her, before extending his hand to Will," and you're her friend I presume?"

"Yes, hello," Will beamed at him," I'm William Tyler, but you can just call me Will."

The man in the car choked on something then as Reyan shook Will's hand.

"Reyan Clarkson," he said," nice to meet you."