Finding Lydia Beaufort took a fraction more effort than Ava would care to admit. Sure, they had texted times and meet ups before. Enough that it probably looked like they were drug runners if you glanced through their text chain. But if Lydia had told James then Ava was pissed. She was not in the mood to deal with the older, arrogant, male counterpart to Lydia.

And she certainly wasn't going to give either Beaufort the chance to get their bearings.

Especially when she knew how cruel James could be. She had seen his pranks. His setups. She'd also seen Lydia tear apart a girls' reputation in a single text. The two of them practically controlled Maxton Hall's social sphere. That's the virtue of being one of the legacies.

But Lydia played the long game, she was content to handle her business amiably. James liked to handle things with a bang.

Which is how Ava found herself walking through the forest again. Partly because it was soothing. A physical way for her to escape the constraints of Maxton hall. And the other part was because Lydia was here. Or at least she should be.

Turns out Lydia was one of those girls whose mothers believed it was better to be out riding than doing the physical education class. More dignified than getting sweaty playing dodge-ball and running drills. Lydia, it seemed, shared Ava's appreciation for the forest. Often choosing to ride alone instead of with a group. She tended to pick lesser known trails.

Something she had to carefully weasel out of Lydia's little posse and then refine the details via her riding group. It was easy enough to ask the stable hand when Lydia had set off, even better when a little flirting got her the path she took.

Thankfully all the trails were loops so Ava started walking down from the opposite end of the track. It had taken longer than expected by she used the time to steady her thoughts. To try and quell that fear driven rage.

Eventually the sound of hoofbeats echoed in the forest around her, and since Ava was in no mood to deal with a spooked horse she stayed in the centre of the track, allowing Lydia to see her straight away.

At first it was as though Lydia hadn't seen her, but Ava saw the exact moment she did. The way her back straightened and how her horse slowed. She waited in place. Allowing both rider and horse to take her in at their steady pace. It took longer than Ava would have liked but she had grown used to Lydia's battles of patience over the last year.

"This is for riders only." Lydia called when she got close enough. Even with the distance Ava could see the way her brows raised and lips twisted in displeasure. "Unless of course you lost control and got thrown."

An apt analogy.

"I thought we agreed to keep James out of this?" Ava drawlled, her voice sound tense and angry. Lydia seemed surprised by her tone and she silently cursed herself for revealing so much.

"Oh?" She brought the horse to a stop beside her, close enough that Ava could see the sweat sliding down its black coat. "You sound rather put out by that."

Ava grits her teeth, glaring up at the woman who towered over her.

"We both know how your brother's tastes run," Lydia sighed, nodding her head in concession at Ava's words. "And I don't particularly fancy dealing with his bullshit and games."

"You know how he gets bored–"

"And I don't wish to be his next toy."

Lydia snorted, amusement showing clear on her face.

"There's many girls here that would kill for such a title." That humour dropped into something more mocking as dragged her gaze across Ava, head to toe. "You always struck me as the type of person would appreciate the advantage that dating him would bring."

She'd watched her mother learn that lesson the hard way. She wasn't about to make this bullshit a generational curse.

"Is that all you aspire to be Lydia?" She countered, smirking up at the Beaufort. "A trophy wife."

Her expression flickers.

No. That wasn't at all what Lydia wanted to be.

"James doesn't know." Lydia scoffed, turning away from Ava with what she recognised as barely contained self-loathing. "Despite all of this... I agree that the last thing we need is him fucking this all up."

Ava grinned. She couldn't help it. There was always something so liberating and freeing when Lydia got flippant like this. When she revealed her true colours.

"I wasn't expecting you to be so practical about this."

Lydia rolled her eyes, a small grin adorning her face.

"James is..."

"A dick?"

"-dramatic." She narrowed her eyes at Ava, who only raised her hands in mock surrender. "He's not skilled at being diplomatic. Well... outside of our father's business that is."

Ava hesitated, wondering if this would count as taking their little moments too far.

"How is the Young Beaufort initiative going?"

Lydia blinked in surprise but couldn't hide the insiticntively proud look that spread across her face.

"Well, really well." She nodded, grinning to herself. "Father has arranged for a meeting with the investment board. Soon it will have wings."

Ava grinned, inexplicitly pleased for the girl.

Until of course her smile dropped.

"I won't be heading up the brand." Lydia confessed, the horse shifted beneath here, stepping side to side and forcing Lydia to focus on balancing for a second. Ava waited for her to continue, watching as Lydia fussed with the reins. "Father has given the position of Young Beaufort's CEO to James."

Fucking patriarchy.

Every goddamn time that stupid construct got in the way.

It was Lydia's turn to look at Ava with curiosity.

"What made you think James knew?" She could hear the hesitance in Lydia's tone, that subtle fear that her big brother was about to swoop in and take another aspect of Lydia's life away. Once again proving to both Lydia and her parents that she was incapable of having responsibilities.

Ava paused, mouth opening but– but nothing. Of all the people in the world who she behaved most like herself with, it was Lydia. Which was fucking ridiculous.

"The bill was paid. For the full year."

Lydia's eyes widened, "Who did they contact?"

Ava's eyes fluttered shut as she raised a hand to her head. She was well on her way to getting a headache at this point.

"I don't know."

"Really," Lydia all but demanded, that glare returning to her face. "I see how you act with those friends of yours. You don't think I know when someone is playing pretend? The way you play dress up with the uniform and follow their lead."

"Your point?" Ava sighed, ignoring the way her stomach churned at being blatantly called out for how she treated her friends.

"My point is I know when you're lying."

Ava held Lydia's challenge gaze.

"One of the investors– for Young Beaufort..." Lydia started and it was the first time Ava had ever heard her speak with caution. Sure, hesitance was one thing. Wonder what to reveal and what not to reveal. But this? This worry for how the other might react. "The name Sinclair came up."

Ava stiffened. Logically she knew that her father, as an Earl, travelled in the same circles as the Beauforts and the parents of every rich brat at Maxton Hall. Although... technically speaking... she's probably one of those rich brats as well.

"I never asked why your father wasn't the one–"

"Lillian isn't his child." Ava interrupted, uninteresting in hearing Lydia's questions. "My mother remarried."

"Yet you're here on a scholarship."

Ava stilled, no longer sure why they were having this conversation. It seemed Lydia had hesitated as well because she too paused. For a moment they stared at each other. No longer bound by their ridiculous agreement.

"Fathers are such dicks aren't they?"

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･

"Did I see you walking with Lydia Beaufort?" Ruby sounded incredulous, even in a sharp whisper she managed to pack plenty of judgement as she grabbed Ava's elbow to drag her through the hallways to their next class.

"I was out in the forest–" Ava began but cut herself off at Ruby's confused expression.

"What on earth is going on with you?" Her friend demanded. "I know that–" Ruby cut herself off, realising that her voice had risen. In a quieter tone she continued, "I know that your father has you... on edge. But that's no reason to start skipping classes and– and frollicking in the wood."

"Frolicking?" Ava fought down her grin, trying to his it as Ruby scowled at her.

"I'm being serious."

"As am I," Ava continued, raising her brows in challenge. "I went out for a walk to clear my head and ran into Lydia on the way back."

"Well the rumours claim that you were chatting."

"Rumours?"

"Ooooh are we talking about–" Lin trailed off, pointing at Ava with an excited expression as she joined the pair on their way to English. "Finally, I've been wanting to talk about it for ages."

"It happened 30 minutes ago." Ava murmured but was distracted by the way pupils had started watching her curiously. Ruby seemed to cower at her side. Hiding away from all those prying eyes. "Why the hell does everyone care?"

"They want to know who Lydia's new mysterious friend is." Lin wiggled her eyebrows at her, finding far too much excitement in Ava's misfortune. "Current bets are that you're a princess or a charity case."

"Lin." Ruby gasped, hitting her friend's arm with little damage.

"What?" The girl demanded, clearly not seeing an issue with her love for drama. Even when they were apparently the drama. "I'm just asking."

"This is bad." Ruby muttered, "Really bad."

"Why?" Lin looked at Ruby as if she'd grown two heads. "This is brilliant, Ava can finally have her moment."

"My... moment?" Ava echoed, praying for them to reach the classroom faster.

"Yeah, you know, you're time in the limelight."

"And when has that ever gone well for anybody?" Ruby demanded.

The classroom was in sight, thank god. Ava had thought it was bad when they were consumed with talking about the Reception, or Oxford, or school work. She'd forgotten how irritating it was when it was about her. Because drama – other people's drama – was juicy as hell. She just didn't want people making a mountain out of molehill.

One conversation. She had one public conversation with the Beaufort girl.

And Lydia had wondered why she didn't want to deal with James.

A/N: Nobody panic, James is getting involved soon. The background set up is just taking longer than expected.