"So, I know you two have eaten, but we haven't, and I for one am absolutely starving," Heath began when Archie and Poppy opened the door to his suite.

MJ thought about their activities of the past hour, and Heath's words made her laugh, but her laughter died on her lips when she saw Heath's brother and sister.

Archie had an arm around his sister, who looked ghastly. Her color was terrible, her face a chalky white, except for two little spots of bright red on her cheeks. Her eyes were wide and blank, her lips bloodless and bluish.

"Oh my god, what's wrong?" MJ asked, reaching to put an arm around Poppy on the other side.

They led her to the sofa, where they sat her down.

Heath was already making her tea. He put some sugar in it, though Poppy didn't usually take sugar. MJ knew it was for shock, which Poppy had definitely had.

"He's here," Archie said. "That wanker, Carter."

"What?" Heath asked. He stood in front of Poppy, holding the tea, unsure of what to do. She didn't seem to have seen it. Nor did she seem inclined to take it from him.

MJ moved so Heath could sit next to her.

He gave her a grateful look and sat in her place, blowing on the tea.

"We were walking across the lobby and saw Meredith, surrounded by her simpering friends," Archie continued. "A fresh group seems to have flown in. And he was with them, bold as brass, just standing, there, laughing and talking with them." Archie leaned in and kissed Poppy's temple. "I thought poor Pops was going to keel over, right there in the middle of the room.

"Come on, Penelope," he said to his sister, his voice soft. "Have a bit of tea, hm? Look, Heath's made you a nice cuppa." He gestured toward the cup. "Take the cup, please, Heath's so clumsy he's likely to burn off half your face if he tries to hold it for you."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Poppy's face, and the brothers smiled at each other, dark blue eyes meeting.

Poppy's shaking hands rose and she took the cup and saucer from Heath. The took a sip, whispering, "Too much sugar, brother."

"It's for shock," Heath retorted, his voice soft as well. "You do have to complain about every little thing, don't you?" He leaned in and pressed her head against his in a little hug.

"You know that bitch is behind this," Archie continued, his voice getting louder. "She was still on the periphery of our lives when all that happened with him, wasn't she?"

Heath nodded.

"Carter probably reached out to her when he was looking for Poppy earlier. He must've seen online somewhere that she's with me now. And obviously Meredith thinks this is a good way to mess with us. God, Poppy, I'm so sorry."

"Carter was looking for me?" Poppy asked in surprise.

"When we were all at Tanglewood," Archie answered. "We didn't think you needed to know." He put his arm back around Poppy, careful not to jog the arm that held the tea.

"Quite right," Poppy agreed. Her voice was sounding stronger. "I do wonder what he wanted, though?"

MJ's heart sank when she heard the question. On its surface it was innocent enough, but it wasn't good that Poppy was thinking it at all.

"Heath?" MJ's voice was full of regret, which made Heath feel bad. "Does this mean that Meredith's going to try to, uh, 'mess with' all of you, because of me, because of the song and what we're doing?"

Heath looked at MJ. "No, MJ, no, don't you even think what I know you're thinking," he said, his voice stern. "This isn't your fault, it's not your fault that Meredith Renner is a class-A bitch for whom manipulating people is like breathing."

"But Heath, if she knew that seeing Carter and drawing him into Poppy's life would upset her and make things bad for her, and she did it because of me recording and releasing and performing the song, well, then it is my fault, isn't it?" MJ tried to keep her voice even and sounding reasonable, and not let it get all high-pitched and whiny.

"No." MJ was surprised that this time it was Poppy who spoke. Poppy drained her teacup, grimaced at the sugary taste, and set the cup down. "Listen to me, MJ. Seeing that knob in the lobby really threw me for a loop, not at least because I had no idea the bunger was looking for me, because apparently no one tells me anything around here." She looked back and forth between her brothers. "However, I am, to use the colloquial, so, fucking, over him, I don't even remember what it was like to ever be under him, you understand?" She raised an eyebrow and gave MJ a sly grin. "There wasn't much to him, anyway, if you get my meaning."

Heath and Archie made faces of disgust. "Oh god, Poppy, no, please, TMI, we don't want to be knowing these things, please!"

MJ smiled.

"My point is that I was equal parts horrified and disgusted to see him for sure, but I'm okay, honestly. I could probably be in the same room with him and be fine, except that I might possibly chunder all over him, which might actually be quite nice, don't you think?" Poppy smiled her brothers' smile at MJ, who smiled back, and nodded.

"I am not some delicate flower, all evidence to the contrary," she declared, clapping a hand on each brother's knee. "So, thanks for the horrible tea, and the sympathy, but I'm fine, honest." She kissed each brother on the mouth. "You are the best brothers in the world, and I love you both."

Heath's phone pinged with a text.

He pulled it out and read it, pulling a face as he did so. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

"What?" MJ was alarmed.

"Nothing." Heath attempted to put his phone away. "Let's just order some food, I'm fucking starving."

MJ grabbed his phone and proceeded to read the text.

"Hey! That's mine," Heath cried out in surprise. MJ had never done such a thing before. Even Poppy and Archie were watching in shocked admiration.

"Meadow Rain's coming out of her shell," Archie declared. "So? What does it say?"

"There's an impromptu Mexican Fiesta dancing singing thing happening in one of the private rooms downstairs, apparently," MJ said, speaking slowly. "Sally thinks it would be a good idea for us to go. She's 'a little concerned' about all of the tension on the tour lately, and she thinks this might be a good time to show the world that things are still civil between everyone." MJ sounded unsure of herself by the time she finished speaking.

"But we're not feeling all civil, are we?" she asked Heath. "I mean, it's all out war, isn't it?"

Heath nodded. "But that's just with her. We have no issue with anyone but her. And that bellend surfer idiot she's shagging." He looked at his brother and sister. "I don't particularly want to go, but I can, if you want to, that is. You understand that wanker Carter will probably be there as part of Meredith's current entourage?"

Poppy nodded. "I'm fine, honestly." She looked at MJ. "If you're okay, I guess we should go."

MJ took a shaky breath. "I guess we're going, then."

☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️

"Holy shit, MJ, where did you get that?"

MJ immediately stepped behind the open closet door so Heath couldn't see her. "Why?" she called, her voice muffled by the clothes hanging up.

"Hey, where did you go?" he called, laughing. He walked to the closet, wearing just jeans, and stepped behind the door himself, looking for her.

He stood next to her in the tiny closet, squashed in with the clothes. He put his arms around her and pulled her close.

"So, this is loads of fun," he said with another laugh. "Why are you in here, then?"

MJ shrugged. "I'm not very, uh, secure about this dress," she admitted. "Your sister convinced me to get it when we were shopping."

"Well, you look fucking amazing in it, so come on," Heath encouraged. "You can't spend all night standing in here, okay?"

MJ nodded, and Heath leaned in to kiss her, before taking her hand and leading her out of the closet.

He held both her hands away from her body so he could admire her. It was a plain black dress, with white accents in the pleats at the very bottom. It had a simple v-neck bodice that showed a demure inch or so of cleavage, and left the rest to the imagination.

"I think it needs something, though," Heath declared. "Looks a little bare about the neck, you know?"

"What? I don't have 'something,' though," MJ said, putting her hands to her neck.

"Wait right here," Heath said. He dashed to his suitcase, and unzipped a pouch, pulling out a black velvet bag.

"Now, don't get excited, okay?" He said as he handed her the bag. "It's nothing expensive, it's just something pretty that I thought you'd like."

MJ opened the pull string on the bag and slid the contents out into her palm.

It was a plain glass bead necklace, beautiful in its simplicity.

"I know you like things that are colorful," Heath said. "And that you don't have a lot of jewelry, so I saw it and I thought you'd like it?" His voice rose on the last word, so it sounded like a question.

"It's beautiful," MJ breathed. She picked it up on tented fingers. "I do, I love things with lots of colors," she said while nodding. "And I don't have any jewelry, we could never afford it." She blinked, hard, so she wouldn't cry, though Heath saw her, of course.

"So you think it would look nice with your black dress?" he asked.

"I do," she said, nodding again.

He took it from her and slipped it around her neck, where it glittered in colorful counterpoint to her black cocktail dress on her white skin.

"There," Heath said after he closed the clasp. He kissed her neck. "Beautiful, just like you."

"Where did you get it?" MJ asked, reaching up to touch the glass as she looked at her reflection.

"Prague," Heath answered as he smiled at her in the mirror.

"Prague? And you kept it all this time?"

Heath nodded. "Just waiting for the perfect time, you know?"

MJ nodded, and turned to face him, fingers still on the beads. "Thank you, Heath, I love it, it's gorgeous."

Heath nodded again. "I think so too," he agreed. He grabbed shirt off a hanger, pulled it on, and buttoned it. "Shall we go, then?"

MJ nodded.

☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️🇲🇽☀️

"Penelope, you sure you're okay?" Heath asked in the elevator.

"I'm fine," she replied. "I look okay?"

"You look outstanding," Archie assured her. She was wearing a dark blue A-line dress, strappy sandals, and silver earrings that hung down to her neck. "Please don't worry about me. I got that knobhead out of my system three years ago, truly." She nodded at Archie and smiled. "You are the best little brother in the world, you know that?"She looked at Heath. "And you are the best big brother as well."

The noise hit them like a solid thing, it was so loud.

"Would you mind to just stay close to me? I'd feel so much better," Heath asked MJ.

MJ had no desire to explore, and simply nodded. He headed straight for the food, which was what MJ wanted, anyway, to they filled their plates and sat down. They were immediately joined by fans of Heath's, which was a little weird for MJ, since they had no idea who she was. As they ate she listened to them come on to her boyfriend, trying every line they could. They also did her best to ignore her, which she didn't really mind, but which seemed to bother Heath a great deal.

As soon as they finished eating, they rose, shook off the groupies, and went in search of Archie and Poppy.

Sure enough, they had their own table of groupies, comprised of Meredith and her friends. Jason was there, as well, though he excused himself a few minutes after Heath and MJ arrived, probably to a quiet corner to engage in some sort of sexual congress with the two young ladies who left with him.

"There you are," Meredith called when Heath and MJ sat down. Heath pointedly ignored her. There were some Mexican music executives at the table, and Heath did introduce himself to them, of course, and MJ as well, though this embarrassed her.

"I believe you know Carter Holmes, right?" Meredith said, speaking to MJ, who couldn't bring herself to ignore her. "He used to date Heath's sister, I think." Meredith leaned in and gave Carter a very friendly, very intimate kiss, after first making sure Poppy was watching. "Carter's here with me tonight, aren't you, Carter?" she asked.

Carter, looking like he couldn't believe his good fortune, just nodded. Meredith shifted so she was sitting in his lap, slinging an arm around his neck. Her very micro mini skirt rode very high around her thighs, and she laughed as she attempted to pull it down.

There were photographers everywhere, and two or three flashes went off as she did this.

"Meredith?" Poppy raised her voice so it could be heard over the loud music. "Make sure you get tested for STIs when you finish with him, yeah? I mean, there's not much there, but you can still catch some nasty things from him, so be careful, okay?" She nodded for emphasis and smiled at the photographer, making sure he got all of it as well.

She sat back and pulled out her phone, dismissing everyone in front of her. MJ smiled and leaned in to see what Poppy was looking at as well, ignoring whatever was going on in front of her. She hated imagining Meredith sitting on Heath's lap like that, anyway.

Poppy was scrolling through her social media, and stopped on a photograph of Archie. It was obviously a few months old, because his hair was short, but the timestamp showed that it had just been posted a few hours ago, uploaded to one of Mexico City's gossip sites.

It was of Archie kissing a boy.

Oh my god.

Poppy looked up at MJ, then looked at Archie. He was laughing with a very pretty girl, who was sitting on his lap. She was obviously very drunk.

There were five or six photographs altogether, of Archie in various stages of kissing the same boy.

Archie saw his sister's face, and leaned over to see what she was looking at.

He saw the pictures, and only smiled, shaking his head. MJ could see him saying, "It's okay, no worries," to his sister, though she couldn't hear him.

But Poppy continued to look upset.

Finally Heath, who'd been talking to one of the music execs, saw the pics, and looked over at Archie, eyebrows raised high with shock. He smiled at his brother, in a "What the fuck?" way.

Eventually Archie rose, displacing the pretty girl, and shrugged at his brother, sister, and MJ. "Let's go," he shouted at them. "I guess we need to talk about this, yeah?"

Heath waved at Sally that they were leaving, and they all saw the small, uncertain smile of victory on Meredith's face.

"You guys, everything's fine," Archie said as soon as the elevators had slid closed.

"Archie, are you gay?" Poppy demanded. "I mean, not that we care, you know that, but Jesus, what a way to find out! Do mum and dad know? Does Harrow know?"

"Poppy, you do realize that Harrow is not a living, breathing, person, but rather is merely an institution of learning, a bunch of buildings, made of bricks and mortar--"

"Shut up, shut up, you idiot, you know what I mean," Poppy interrupted him as the elevator opened on their floor.

"I thought Harrow wasn't very forward thinking about this kind of stuff," MJ offered as she opened the door to their suite.

"Bro, are you, in fact, gay?" Heath asked as he poured drinks for everyone. "And, if so, why the fuck haven't you told me before this?"

"Okay, stop, stop, stop!" Archie shouted, laughing. He gratefully accepted the drink and took a huge gulp. "First of all, you do all remember that I'm only fifteen? I'm in the questioning age of life?"

"That's bollocks," Heath said, sitting down and crossing his legs. "I've known I like girls since I was, like five or something."

"Yeah, I know," Archie said, laughing, as he, too, sat down. "Anyway, to answer your question, no, I'm not gay."

"What about the photographs, then?" Poppy asked, plopping down between them.

MJ, too, sat down, so curious she could hardly contain herself.

Archie scrolled through his phone, found what he was looking for, and showed them to the rest.

In these photos, which were obviously a continuation of the ones they'd seen, Archie and the boy he was kissing were both kissing a girl, a very pretty girl with red hair, who was laughing and making faces at the camera. She was actually in the background of some of the other pictures, now that the observer knew what to look for.

"I was having what's known as a threesome, and things got a little sloppy," Archie explained. "If anything, that experience proved to me that I'm definitely not gay, though it would've been nice if I had been gay, don't you think? So much more choice, right?" He smiled.

He quickly uploaded the other photographs to his social media with the caption, "Not gay, unfortunately, just having a threesome!"

"So, is that the best that silly Meredith has for us?" Heath asked. "One small-penised ex-boyfriend and some pseudo-gay photographs?" He kissed MJ. "I say 'pish-posh' to her, then," he finished with a laugh.

"Oh my god, you're drunk," MJ said with a laugh. "You're going to puke later."

"And that will be fun, too," Heath said.