Dedicated to Defend because even though she's already had a dedication, she is ridiculously in love with Collette (for some strange reason) and she might kill me if this wasn't dedicated to her. Stay calm, Mariam. Don't do yourself an injury reading this.

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"Have any of you seen my parents?"

Reluctantly, I dragged my attention away from the foursome they'd been fixated on for the past hour, refocusing it on the tall blonde who'd just strode over. In fact, for the first time since we'd met, the sight of Beth standing before me was actually a minor improvement its preceding scenery. Then again, it was what had been torturing me all evening: seeing Daniel, paired with the girl who seemed to have been permanently stitched to his side.

It was enough to make my stomach twist into an unpleasantly intricate knot.

I had no idea why he and Collette had turned into conjoined twins overnight, but it wasn't as if I'd got the chance to ask him. The moment she'd hooked her arm through his, he'd barely spared in a glance in our direction, let alone made an attempt to come over and say hi. I guessed it had something to do with the fact he was sort of preoccupied, listening intently to the end of the conversation Collette was holding up as the pair stood opposite her parents.

My heart lurched uncomfortably each time, but I just couldn't stop my eyes from wandering back over there every few seconds. These were classic symptoms of jealousy, I knew, but didn't I have a right to feel that way? I thought last night had meant something to Daniel - something bigger than unnecessary physical contact and false, simpering laughter. Maybe I was wrong.

Swallowing my distaste, I forced myself to tune into Collette's older sister. Wearing stilettos I was sure could function as stilts, Beth towered over most of us; her height was only matched by a gangly Scott. Tagging behind, and looking like he was under the influence of some kind of hypnotic charm, was a slightly greasy-looking guy with long, dark hair and a half-buttoned shirt. A fleeting thought had me wondering if he was just a hardcore admirer of Beth's, but her lack of concern with his proximity suggested it was something more than that.

Jay's awe was badly concealed; he'd taken to staring almost open-mouthed at her, and I didn't fully trust him not to start drooling. "Hi," he breathed, smiling giddily.

Beth threw him a look of what could only be described as utter disgust, before averting her precious attention to the group as a whole. "So, are any of you actually going to answer my question?"

Since Jay didn't appear to be in a position to speak coherently, let alone provide her with a rational answer, Erin stepped in. However, with her arms folded defensively over her chest, a frown creasing her brow, she didn't exactly look happy to oblige. "They're over there," she said, nodding across the garden. "Just past the marquee."

"Right. Come on, Angelo."

Without bothering to offer so much as a thanks in return, she pivoted on her sharp heel and stalked off in the opposite direction, 'Angelo' at her heels like a lost puppy. Whoever he was, she clearly had him wrapped around her little finger, willing to obey any command that slipped from her pouty lips. Then again, this seemed the case for almost every male on the planet when it came to Collette's sister.

Sure, she was attractive, but did that really overshadow the fact she had the worst attitude I'd ever had the displeasure to deal with? Stuck up, conceited and completely self-absorbed, I couldn't help but feel a brief pang of sympathy for Collette; she had to suffer being related to her, after all. I tried to imagine how I would've coped over the last three years with someone like Beth instead of Nora, but the concept was unthinkable.

I couldn't imagine getting through it with anyone but my own sister.

The momentary compassion soon vanished once my eyes trailed back to their original position. Collette was still hanging from Daniel like a limpet, her free hand pushing back a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his face. Just watching made me feel nauseous with jealousy, not to mention stinging irritation, but I wasn't going to give either the satisfaction of seeing me flee. I'd let it happen too many times before, and I was determined to stay strong. This time, I wasn't going to let my emotions get the better of me.

Instead, I did my best to stifle them, hoping my facial expression didn't betray me. I didn't want the others to know how close I was to bursting into tears.

They'd noticed what was going on, though. That much I could work out from their shifty expressions and reluctance to meet my gaze. Even Erin, usually as bold and outspoken as the colour of her hair, had been reduced to an odd quietness. It was her silence that added perhaps the most tangible awkwardness of all.

By now, Beth had located her mum and dad, her air suddenly transforming from one of utter moodiness to false smiles and laughter as she caught her mother in a hug. Collette's eyes narrowed for a split second, annoyance temporarily exhibited, before her slightly strained smile reappeared.

Then, without warning, her gaze darted in our direction. Flickering evenly across the three others, it hesitated only when she got to me. I held my breath, preparing myself, though for what I wasn't sure. Just before my lungs began to ache in protest, she animatedly beckoned us over.

"Is she...?"

"Yeah," Erin concluded.

"Brilliant," Jay muttered. "Looks like it's meet the parents time."

I'd briefly encountered Collette's mother at the door, so at least she vaguely recognised my face once the round of greetings started up. She was a remarkably skinny woman, her collarbones protruding above the neckline of her dress, her slight frame seeming hardly substantial to hold her up. She had an antique aura of beauty about her: one that suggested she was as beautiful as her daughters in her younger years. Her husband, on the other hand, stood tall and broad, even more intimidating in his tightly pressed suit. His loud, booming voice made it seem as if he was stuck permanently at the head of a business meeting, and just being put under the spotlight of his scrutinizing gaze made me want to shrink to half my size.

"I don't believe we've met," he said. "You are?"

"That's Flo," Collette interrupted, as if I was incapable of answering for myself. "She's new to Walden. She moved here a few weeks ago."

"Isn't that wonderful." He stuck out a hand, his shake too firm and commanding to allow any room for comfort. "I hope you're enjoying yourself. It's even more wonderful, of course, to have such a success in the family to call for this sort of celebration."

He looked over at his eldest daughter, who giggled coyly. "Dad."

"But it is," her mother interjected. "An opportunity like this at your age! I would've killed to get a contract abroad when I was in your position, you know. And in Italy! You know, Beth's worked so hard for this. She deserves every bit of success she gets."

"Italy?" Erin echoed.

"Yeah." Beth smirked. "See, Angelo managed to get me a casting with this super cool agency in Italy, and they loved my portfolio. Signed me straight away." She looked over at the guy beside her, silently commanding his input.

"She is very beautiful," he told us, the words difficult to make out underneath a thick Italian accent. He said it as if the living proof didn't stand right before us, looking on smugly as if he were a dog she'd trained herself. "Everybody loves her."

"Oh, stop," she simpered. "God, you guys really know how to embarrass me, don't you?"

It might well have been my imagination, but Collette's grip on Daniel's arm seemed to tighten. The fire behind her eyes burned visibly as she glared with absolute loathing at her sister. "Actually," she interrupted, her sharp voice effectively cutting off Beth's next statement, "I kind of have something I want to announce. Well, we do." A pointed look at Daniel left him nodding in agreement.

"Oh?" I could see her parents' attention visibly swivel back to her.

"Well, we've kind of been keeping it a secret," she continued, "but I think now's the time to announce it. Daniel and I... well, we're back together."

From the corner of my eye I saw Erin open her mouth, about to say something along the lines of "What?!", but something stopped her. She closed her mouth abruptly, watching as Collette's parents' faces were lit up by smiles. About the same time, my heart suddenly turned to lead, falling to the pit of my stomach with what I was sure must've been an audible thump.

I tried desperately to meet Daniel's gaze, to question him wordlessly about what was unfolding before us. All I got from him, however, was a tiny shake of the head. I assumed it was supposed to mean something, but what, I didn't have a clue.

"Oh!" Collette's mother's smile lifted her prominent cheekbones as she looked between what was apparently the happy couple. "You are? How lovely!"

It was the first time I'd seen her genuinely pleased with her youngest daughter, and the same went for her father, who nodded curtly at Daniel with a contented smile. Impressively, the news seemed to have twisted the spotlight of her parents' affection from somewhere other than Beth for over ten seconds.

Said girl, however, seemed far from happy with the new arrangement. With her parents gushing over Collette and her apparent new boyfriend, Beth grew visibly bored within seconds. She nudged Angelo, silently communicating something through her heavily outlined eyes, and made her next action snatching the nearest piece of silverware from a passing waiter's tray to clink against her glass.

"Excuse me, everyone," she simpered, her voice projected to the guests milling around on the lawn. "If I could have your attention for just a minute."

The chatter quickly dulled to a low murmur, just as Beth flashed a toothy grin towards her onlookers. "Now, you know how much I hate to steal you away from the wonderful party my parents have thrown, so I'll keep this short. Oh, and speaking of that, I'm sure you'll join me in thanking my mum and dad for organising this whole thing and, of course, for being exceptional hosts." She raised her glass, smiling sweetly, a 'perfect daughter' mask expertly concealing the evil underneath. "Love you guys."

Widespread agreement ripped through the crowd, and Beth glanced back at us, though her eyes lingered on Collette slightly longer than they needed to. "So, anyway," she continued, "back to the point. Some of you might know my boyfriend, Angelo." She paused, placing a hand to her heart and looking off into the distance in a sickeningly exaggerated manner. "Fate brought us together about six months ago when it paired us for a swimwear photo shoot. It was love at first sight. Since then, the last few months have been... well, the best of my life. In a way, I feel like we were meant to meet each other. He's the most amazing person, so supportive, and I honestly couldn't imagine being without him."

Collette stuck a finger in her mouth, making silent vomiting motions, but sobered up pretty quickly the moment her parents' eyes flickered in her direction.

"And, well, there's a reason why I'm telling you this." Beth looked over at Angelo with an expression that only made Collette's actions more understandable. "We have something to announce."

Under her breath, Erin muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Oh, shit."

"We're engaged."

Collette's mother gasped in surprise, while a couple of others dotted across the lawn followed suit. Smiling smugly, Beth took Angelo by the shirt and pulled his lips to hers for a sloppy, drawn-out kiss. A smattering of polite applause started in one corner, sweeping the rest of the party until Beth was grinning coyly and basking in the spotlight, her arms snaked around her fiancé's waist.

Swallowing, I dared to let my gaze drift back to Collette, whose dark irises were burning so intensely I was kind of scared to make eye contact. Her hand had tightened around Daniel's arm, squeezing the muscle until I was sure it must've been painful. And then, just like that, she seemed to snap. Yanking back her arm, she marched towards her sister until they stood a foot away, pure loathing scrawled all over her face.

"Are you fucking joking?" she screeched, the pitch and volume of her voice causing a hush to fall over everybody within a ten-metre radius.

Beth raised her arched eyebrows, placing one hand on her hip in a stance that seemed to ooze confidence. "Excuse me?"

"Don't you dare act like you don't know what I'm talking about," Collette hissed.

Beth smirked. "Actually, honey, I haven't got a clue."

"You do this every time. You can't stand the attention not being on you for one second, can you? I have one bit of news, and you can't even let me have that? You have to go and announce that you're fucking engaged?!" Collette was fuming. Her face was rapidly turning an unnatural shade of red, fists clenched, visible fury consuming her entire being.

"Oh, for Christ's sake." Beth rolled her eyes. "You're really going to make a scene? Grow up, Collette. No one cares about your petty little boyfriend dramas."

"Fuck off!"

Before I could even realise what was going on, it happened. Collette reached up and landed a stinging slap on Beth's face, the noise resonating throughout the entire party. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, leaving us all rendered motionless, every other sound drying up to leave a painfully loud silence that was swathed in tension.

It only lasted for a moment. Beth's shock was the only thing that stopped her from reacting immediately, and when it wore off, all hell broke loose.

She launched right at her, slamming into her younger sister with so much force they were both knocked off their feet and fell, scrambling, to the grass. In a matter of seconds they'd become a single mass of flailing limbs, clawing nails and angry screaming. Beth looked dangerously close to landing a punch on Collette's face; the next moment, her fist was blocked, and Collette had regained control by rolling over and pinning her to the ground.

The initial shock was beginning to wear off, the realisation of what was occurring before my eyes finally sinking in. A couple of people rushed forward to prise the brawling girls apart; a flash of violet hair confirmed Erin was among them. Stumbling forward to assist, I approached the fight just as she and Jay each grabbed one of Beth's arms, yanking her away from her opponent.

Thoughts were racing across my mind too fast to comprehend, but I noticed Collette looked as if she was about to go in for a second - more vicious - attack, and I had to stop her. Making a desperate grab in her direction, I felt my palm encircle her upper arm and pulled towards me, preventing her from any forward motion.

"Let me go!" she screamed, fiercely battling against my hold. "Let me go right now! I swear, I'll fucking kill her!"

"Stop it!" I yelled, my voice reaching a volume loud enough to rival her own. "Come on."

Maintaining a tight grip on both arms, I steered her away from the scene, across the patio and in the direction of the house that loomed over the garden. Though she was still struggling, her resistance weakened as we moved further away from the action, evidently accepting the fact that the fight was over. Once I'd successfully ushered her through the back door and into the empty kitchen, she wriggled out of my clutch without making any attempt to escape.

"Look, let's go upstairs," I suggested quietly. "You can calm down and get yourself cleaned up, okay?"

I expected her to put up a fight, but instead she silently obliged, letting me lead her up the carpeted steps and towards the upstairs landing without so much as a word. Head hung low, her messy brown hair shielded her face from view as shaky steps led her towards the bedroom.

I didn't even notice - at least not until we'd slipped inside the room and she collapsed, defeated, onto the bed - that her shoulders were shaking, the first stray tears rolling down her cheeks.

An involuntary shot of panic sent my heart lurching, unnerved by the prospect of seeing Collette in such a state. A part of me wanted to flee, leaving her to deal with the personal aftermath in private, but there was something about the way her face was crumbling, the sobs increasing exponentially, that stopped me. This was a type of crying that radiated hopelessness, of breaking down and shattering into a thousand pieces. So, as much as my head opposed the idea, I stepped closer.

"Hey," I said softly, sinking onto the bed. Slowly, I stretched an arm around her, beginning to rub her back in slow, circular motions, hoping it was at least slightly soothing. I didn't know whether to take the fact she didn't push me away as a good or bad sign. "What's the matter?"

"Everything," she said, her voice broken by sobs. "God, just everything."

"Is this about Beth?" I asked. "Because if it is-"

"It's always about Beth, isn't it?" she interjected, burying her head in her hands, sniffling. "That's just the thing. It always has been. That's why I end up doing things like... that. God, I'm so stupid."

"What happened down there wasn't all you, Collette."

"I just... snapped. I don't know what came over me, but all I knew was I couldn't take it anymore and..." She trailed off, taking a deep breath that just ended with a fresh round of tears. "My parents are just going to hate me even more now for ruining their precious party."

"Don't say that. Your parents don't hate you."

"No, you're right. They don't hate me. But it'd be nice if they sometimes acknowledged the fact that I exist."

"Oh," I said quietly, my hand freezing on her back. "Is that what this is about?"

"That's what it's always about." As she slowly lifted her head from her hands, I got a look at her face - hopeless, smudged with make-up and crumpled like a piece of paper - staring back at me. I'd never seen Collette like this before: weak and vulnerable to an extent that she no longer intimidated me. Underneath her tough exterior, there was a horde of insecurities she never let anybody see. "Beth's always been the favourite. Her A-levels, getting into uni, all this modelling she's doing... it's all they see. It's all they care about."

"That's not true," I whispered. "It can't be true."

"Except it is." She looked over at me, her chocolate eyes glassy. "The only thing I have that gets my mum and dad to even look in my direction is Daniel. They love him. When we were going out, everything was fine. But once he broke up with me..." The tears started welling again, and she looked up to the ceiling, as if willing them to stay back. "It was almost like I was a failure. It all went downhill from there."

I didn't know what to say. The tension had set in now, and I shifted uncomfortably on the bed, feeling the awkwardness become almost tangible. I felt suddenly so awful, even if I had no real reason to. Collette had been waiting desperately for a year for the time Daniel would come back to her, and instead I'd waltzed in and interrupted everything. Now look where she'd ended up.

"I knew he'd moved on, really. Even before you showed up here. You're just so goddamn perfect for each other, you know? If only you could see how happy you've made him. I've never been able to do that."

"I..." My throat felt suddenly tight; the words couldn't get through.

"I know about what happened last night," she told me, blinking through teary eyes. "With you two. And yet I still went ahead and got him to do that in front of my parents, knowing you'd be there... God, I'm such an awful person."

"You're not awful," I assured her, shuffling closer. "You just did what any normal person would've done."

"I loved him, you know?" She took a deep, sniffling breath and blinked rapidly to keep the new tears at bay. "It just... I didn't know it would hurt so much to see him begin to love you the same way."

"Shh," I said soothingly, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "Look, just because things didn't work out with Daniel doesn't mean it won't with anybody else. I mean, have you seen yourself? You get guys dropping at your feet wherever you go. And Jesus, do you know how many girls would kill to look like you? Me included."

"What does that matter?" she mumbled. "I'm a bitch."

"No, you're not," I said firmly. "Don't say that. You're just a person who's hurting a lot right now. And you did what you thought would make you feel better. You're wonderful and beautiful and any sane guy would kill to have you. In fact... I can think of one who's downstairs right now."

Her head snapped upwards; her curiosity was evident even through a glaze of tears. "What?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, nodding. "Can't you see Scott's completely head over heels for you?"

She seemed to sit up a little straighter, reaching up to dab at her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. "What are you talking about?"

"Everyone can see it, you know. Most of the time he can barely keep his eyes off you. And all those times he tries to make you laugh? He's got it bad."

"Scott doesn't fancy me," she said, though her voice was wavering, and I could tell she was toying with the idea. "Of course he doesn't. Why would he?"

"Just take a look, okay?" I told her, smiling. "You'll see what I mean."

It took a while, but the smile that eventually graced her own features was worth the wait. Though her eyeliner had smudged into semi-circles beneath her eyes, and her nose was an unflattering shade of pink, the joy of her smile radiated through. "Thank you," she breathed. "Seriously... I didn't deserve all that, but you stuck around here anyway. Thank you."

"It's fine, honestly. What are friends for?"

She looked at me then, studying my face closely as if trying to work out some kind of deeper meaning that lay beneath my features. "Daniel's lucky to have found you," she said. Her voice was suddenly so level and sincere that it startled me. "We all are."

And as I pulled her into a hug - this time, one infinitely less awkward - I could feel the unspoken bond clicking into place, a loose end being tied up, and I knew that Collette and I were finally at peace.

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There you go. I wonder how many opinions of Collette have been changed now? Let me know because I'm intrigued, haha. There was actually a deeper reason to why she was so offish towards Flo. She's not just a bitch.

For the first time since starting this story, I haven't yet finished the next chapter. Combine that with the fact exam season is now starting, and I'm about to spend the next 10 weeks doing hardcore revision so I can actually get into university with these grades, writing is going to have to take a back seat. However, I'm still going to write. Just be warned it might take a little longer than usual. I love you guys!