It was May 1st and Elizabeth had only just arrived at the estate days before. She'd left school early with the school's blessing (after all her grades were good enough she didn't really need to attend the last... rather boring days of school). It was early morning and Elizabeth was still snoozing in her bed. If it weren't for the years spent with her grandparents, Elizabeth probably would have been a night owl, but as it stands, her plants needed tending and her body wouldn't let her sleep much longer. The clock hit 6 am and Elizabeth rolled over in bed like clockwork, now facing the window. One of the maids, her personal favorite, was opening the blinds for her as she woke.

"Morning, Mary." Elizabeth greeted her sleepily as she pushed herself upright onto the bed.

"Good morning, ma'am. Shall I bring in your breakfast?" Mary responded, already heading towards the door to do so.

"Nah." Elizabeth began, pausing to stretch her arms upwards, "I'll head down to the kitchen myself and then go tend to my garden. Where's Alfred?" She asked, getting up now to get dressed.

"I think he's already there pulling weeds, ma'am." Mary replied, standing at the door, waiting to be dismissed now.

"Darn it! I told him to wait for me! You go ahead, I'll get dressed real quick and be down before you can say, 'Breakfast's ready!'" Elizabeth shouted, grinning.

"But-" Mary began, having already almost said those exact words... or at least implied them but she thought better of it. "Yes ma'am. I'll be there when you arrive." She finished before leaving the room. As soon as she was gone, Elizabeth raced for her closet and nearly ripped her night gown trying to take it off.

A few minutes later and she was in a woren pale green t-shirt, well-fitted grass stained jeans, and boots. She brushed her hair quickly and pulled it into a tight pony tail before racing down the halls, down the stairs, and into the kitchen where Mary was waiting with a plate of toast and a glass of OJ. Elizabeth grinned at the short haired, brunette and grabbed the plate quickly.

"Thanks Mary!" She called out as she ran out the back door and towards the garden, skirting past the pool, her OJ sloshing around with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth.

As she rounded the corner into the garden, Alfred straightened from his bent position over the flowers to greet her, "Good morning, young miss. You know... the plants aren't going anywhere."

"I know Althed, buth Gwanmpa..." She swallowed what was in her mouth before continuing, "Grandpa always said that the plants'll feel neglected if you make them wait too long!" She told him, cheerfully.

"Even so, young miss, you'll get a stomach ache if you eat too quickly." Alfred warned her before returning to his work.

"Oh, alright. I'll sit over here and finish eating. How are they looking today?" She asked while she climbed up the fence and sat down with her food.

"Just fine, ma'am. I think the squash are coming in very nicely." He responded, still bent over working. Alfred was getting pretty old, but he still worked in the garden with her every morning. He felt... sort of like a father figure to her now. He hadn't been working for the family for very long but... definitely long enough for Elizabeth to grow attached to him. Although that didn't take much for the extroverted teen.

"Have you checked on the bug problem with the tomatoes?" She asked.

"Not yet, I was working my way towards that." He responded, finally straighten up again to look at her. "If you're done eating, why don't you go get the pest control solution and spray them down."

"Alright." Elizabeth replied, hoping down and placing the plate and glass on a nearby post. She'd just have to remember to grab them on the way back up to the house.

A few hours later, Elizabeth was back in the house, nursing a bottle of water while sitting in front of the TV. Her friends were due to arrive any minute. She'd told them to arrive anytime after 11 and those who arrived before 2 would be provided lunch at the estate.

This was enough! Loki had told Rose to get up out of bed for the last time. He stomped upstairs and knocked on her door."Rose! You'd better be up!"
There was a muffled groan from the other side of the door. "You didn't forget about going to Elizabeth's, did you? It's already eleven twenty-three!"
There was silence, a curse word was spit out, and then the sound of rushed feet and water in the bathroom.
"I'll be right there!"
Loki chuckled under his breath. Even though it was believed by many that Rose never slept, she was quite the sleeper and not a morning person. It was often hard to drag her out of bed, and it was strange to see her without her energy.
"We're leaving in half an hour, ya hear me?!" There was a scream of panic, and the sound of the bathroom door closing.
Loki headed downstairs and turned on the tv, playing some video games whilst he waited for his younger sibling.

Rose, after taking a quick shower, opened up her closet. As it was the first day of summer, it was warmer which meant more dresses! After a moment of standing there in her towel she choose one of the many dresses hanging on the rack, just waiting to be chosen. She found her navy polkadot Toms to match the dress, and quickly got dressed. Then, she hurried into the bathroom to dry and brush her hair and apply some makeup. She didn't need to put on much today, because today was all about hanging out with her friends.

She grabbed her phone and practically skipped downstairs; her usual energy was back. She stood in the entrance of the family room with a smile on her face as she watched her brother play. His tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth from his concentration on the game. Rose focused on what her brother had chosen to wear today.

Today, he had worn a short sleeved denim shirt as well as some cargo shorts and a pair black converse. She knew that underneath the shirt he was wearing his binder; he always did.

"I'm ready!" she chirped, and Loki looked up from his video game. He turned it off, and smiled at her.
"You look nice today, sis," he commented as he stood, grabbing his keys. She gave a smile in response.
The two walked out the front door and to the car. Rose gave directions to the estate as Loki drove, and the ride consisted of singing and of "no wait turn here!"'s from Rose.

Finally, the pair arrived, and Rose seemed thrilled at the sight of the place. Well, she always seemed happy. As the car stopped, she jumped out and skipped around. They walked up to the front door, and Loki politely knocked as Rose looked as if she might explode any second.

Callum had been buzzed about spending the summer with his friends at Elizabeth's place, pretty much since it had first been mentioned. He was in such a good mood he was convinced nothing could change it, even Alyx. He'd remembered agreeing to pick her up on the way over to Elizabeth's which was a plus. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to warn her, he was running late. When he did finally pull up outside her house, he had his music whacked up unnecessarily high and rushed her into the car, well he tried to. Whether it worked or not was entirely up to Alyx, it was painfully obvious that the longer it took for her to settle into the car the more agitated Callum became. As soon as he heard the click of her seatbelt, he was off down the road.

The actual drive to the estate was a bit of a blur, Callum's eagerness to get them there had warped his opinion on speed limits just a little, so the journey wasn't as long as it should have been. It had still given Alyx plenty of time to take control of the radio and shoot insults at him, all of which he'd reacted to. By the time they'd reached the estate, he was struggling to think up decent come backs or insults of his own.

"Ha! We made it and in record time too" He announced as the old jeep pulled into the driveway(?). Now that they were here, he did have the sense to ease up on the throttle and drove slowly down to the house. "Now what do you think of my driving skills?" He asked with a smirk, not bothering to hide the fact that he was clearly impressed with himself even if Alyx wasn't. Parking up next to Loki's car, he released his seatbelt and pulled himself up between the roof bars so he could get a better view of the house and shout out a greeting to the two siblings by the door "Yo, Loki! Rose!"

Post moved to bottom

---

---

As always, Alyx had made sure she was exactly on time. The alarm had rang at precisely eight o'clock in the morning, and she took a moment, waiting to hear her Aunt groan and get up in the bedroom across the hall, before hitting the snooze button. Like always, she did this three times, dozing until half past eight.

"Alyx? I'm going now." The voice shouting from downstairs took a moment to listen to the girl's answering growl and chuckled.

"Well, then. I want you up in twenty minutes. Love you, bye!" The rushed manner of the words brought a smile to Alyx's face. Her Aunt was always in a rush, what with her job and everything, yet she was so forgetful. There was no doubt that she would come home tonight expecting Alyx to be there. Thats what notes are for.

The process of getting ready was a laborious one. It consisted of washing in the shower (using her favourite strawberry soap, of course), painting her nails for the third time that week (this time a summery yellow colour), throwing her pre-picked outfit on, and attacking the mess that was her hair. The faint scent of burning was apparent as Alyx put down the straightener, although she soon masked it with a few sprays of her vanilla body mist.

Once she had the room smelling like a bakery, she hoisted the duffel bag she had crammed in next to her door onto her shoulder and took it downstairs. The clock read ten o'clock, so she still had a little bit of time to double-check everything she had packed. Clothes, yes. Makeup bag, yes. Red Twizzlers, yes. There was a particularly odd-looking lump in one of the pockets of her bag, so she opened it up to investigate.

"What the-..." Alyx held up what seemed to be a small strip of material in her two fingers and, after about thirty seconds of analysing it, came to the conclusion that her Aunt had supplied her with a large variety of thongs for the summer. A grin pulled up the corners of her lips as she shoved the brightly coloured monstrosities back into a corner of her bag.

Now that she was completely ready and had checked everything twice, she could sit back and wait for her ride. Her ride being Callum, of course. After ten minutes of sitting in the one place, glancing at the clock every five seconds, she abruptly jumped up and stormed up to her room. Well, if he was running so late then she may as well do something with her time. Sitting down at her table, she rummaged through her drawers, pulling out the odd piece.

Her work was at last interrupted by the faint sound of music coming from outside. Cursing, she jammed the flower crown she had just made onto her head. It seemed to be sturdy enough, not falling off as she tossed her hair and shook her head.

Slamming the front door behind her having written a note explaining where she was to her Aunt and grabbing her bag, she greeted Callum with a scowl. As always, she felt a light fluttering in her stomach when she saw him, but these butterflies were soon burned away with her anger.

"The one day, Callum. The one day I ask you to be on time and, big surprise, you're late!" She was shouting as she stormed down her drive towards his car. He probably couldn't even hear her for the ridiculously loud music playing in his car, which only made her more angry. She muttered cursed as he impatiently ushered her into his car, and, not wanting to be any more late, swiftly sat down and clipped on her seatbelt.

The two spent the majority of the journey exchanging insults, but a reluctant smile tugged at her lips when she saw the genuine concern on his face that they were going to be late. That didn't make the speeding any easier to handle, though, and she still managed to obtain bruises in places that bruises shouldn't be.

"Ha! We made it and in record time too!" It was a relief to finally pull up at the familiar, excessively wealthy house. And Alyx rolled her eyes at his words. She barely had time to register his next question when, much to her horror, he then proceeded to stand up inside the Jeep and shout out of the roof bars at the two siblings already standing at the door. Seeing her chance, she jammed her fingers into his unprotected ribs mercilessly. It was something the pair often did when the other was least expecting it, often resulting in an actual physical fight breaking out between the two of them (?).

Before he could react, Alyx jumped out of the car, giggling mischievously. She grabbed her bag before he could do anything to it and, adjusting her flower crown, advanced up the driveway, not bothering to wait for Callum.

"You won't believe the journey we've had." She sighed at the pair standing outside of the door. "Anyway, it's lovely to see you both, as always." She dimpled uncharacteristicly, sticking to her manners and trying to ignore the heaviness of the bag on her shoulder. Surely, there wasn't that much in it. Maybe it's the thongs?

~Snipped~

The strong sunlight shined through the open blinds into Sophie's room, reflecting a little off the TV that was idly left on Netflix the night before. The lamp was off so the natural lighting was the best light source for the room at that moment. Silence was in the room for awhile, or rather the whole house really, until Sophie finally woke up. "How long did I stay up this time huh?" Sophie spoke to herself through her drowsy yawn as she stretched her arms simultaneously. She adjusted the dark grey hat on her head as she sat up on the bed.

"Hm?" She rubbed her eyes as she looked around the bed that was mostly crowded with papers consisted of previously written brainstorm ideas that seem to be shuffled around, her usual small notepad, and her Mac that had Microsoft Word open with a lot written on it already. "Oh yea, Randy was...he was uh...doing...something..." She was still a little half asleep as she pulled the laptop to her lap, implying that she was up late the night before with her story writing which would explain the 'Randy'. She rummaged her bed for the remote to turn off the TV before her sleepy eyes dozed off into her laptop screen.

It took a minute or two for Sophie to fully wake up; her face brightened up with eagerness and grinned as she realized what day it was. She swiftly rubbed her eyes one last time before she took out her phone to look at the time, "Alright I should have enough time befo-OHHHH god no I don't!" And with that she rolled off the side of her bed onto the floor before getting right back up to rush to the bathroom, for the time was 11:34am.

After brushing her teeth and doing a quick hair brushing--showering was taken care of the night before so that was one less thing to worry about--Sophie hurried back to her room to change into some jean shorts and a flannel shirt mixed with light blue and white. Basically, just slapping on whatever she saw.

"Hey dad!" Sophie called out hopping out of the room while putting on a sock before running out into the hall, approaching the railing by the stairs by sliding on the wood floor with her socks. Not seeing anyone downstairs, and not hearing a response, she rose an eyebrow. She called out for him one more time, but still no answer. Sophie thought for a bit; her mom was at another business trip, she knew that. But where could the other human being be that was supposed to be in this household?

And then she remembered. Her dad probably did say something about heading out of state to visit relatives or something. "Awwww shoot..." Sophie gave herself a slow facepalm; her dad was supposed to be her ride to the estate. That is, when she would ask him before he took off. This was also a problem considering that since both parents were out, both cars were. "Note to self, plan rides beforehand always," She told herself before slamming her fist on top of her palm in determination. It was a good idea to improvise now.

Coming right back in her room and making a plan in her head, she went to her suitcase sitting on the floor thinking the packing was completed the night before. However, after staring at it for a few seconds, it was evidently half-packed. Sophie slightly paced before she gave a short glance to the blue stuffed alpaca plush that was leaning against the suitcase, and then back at the suitcase directly, "Well I guess AL-PACK-A bag then!" She chuckled at her own pun as she started stuffing the bag with haste. Once that was done, she quickly packed a backpack consisting of her laptop, chargers, books, movies and et cetera.

After double checking for her usual small notepad and pencil in her back pocket, she was out the door and jogging down the street; her plan was if she could catch the bus coming soon she could get off at the stop closest to the manor and then take it on foot from there. One of the wheels to her suitcase was acting wacky, so when feeling the thrill of the rush she picked it up and literally held it over her head like some weirdo. Was it heavier than expected? Of course it was. She lost her balance a few times but on she went with determination and gusto, panting and sweating and whatnot. Getting in the bus practically triggered some intermission music in Sophie's head as she used the time to catch her breath. One bus ride later and she was at it again.

She had a block or two to go before the estate came into sight, and so her pace finally slowed down to a walk. "Fancy looking place...check... Four familiar faces at the front door...check... Alriiiight!" Sophie spoke to herself at a personal volume. She walked up to the driveway, "I'm heeere!" she said out loud before setting her suitcase down, which she was holding over her head again for...some reason, and then took a seat on it which was a few feet besides Callum's car, "Hold on give me a second," she started giggling to herself as she was catching her breath, again, and slinged her backpack off her shoulders to hold it in front of her. "I swear this has gotta remind me of some book or movie..." She pondered out loud in a mumble, chuckling again as she wiped a little sweat off her forehead.

---

Aiden sincerely didn't know why he agreed to this meetup. Not because of his friends, they were fine. It's just that Elizabeth's house is waaay to daunting. Too grandeur and large for his taste, he preferred smaller quarters, but here he is. Taking steps into her, what basically is, her 'land'. He partially agreed, because after this summer, most of them will go their seperate ways. He dread the end of summer, was he really gonna lose touch with his closest friends? He heard that long distance friendships don't rlast.

He was dropped off by his parents as he couldn't bother getting a license, he might get one in the future, but now, he doesn't. His parents dropped him off a further ways away so as 'not to embarass him' but honestly Aiden didn't care for that type of superficial thinking but agreed to it anyway. The distance was quite a ways away, so Aiden took to his music addiction and pulled out his black and neon orange headphones. He smiled ever so slightly as the music silently rung in his ears, ignoring the slight nnoyance of him having to pull his luggage.

The estate came into his view, and as always, it was was grandeur and large. Aiden shuddered just a bit, thinking of spending 100 days here. Well, it would be worth it. He saw familiar figures in the distance and made his way. It was all his closest friends visages,
"Hey guys." Aiden simply and silently called out, leeting go of his luggage by a wall, whilst simultaenously leaning against said wall.

Loki turned as he heard the sound of a car, but Rose kept on bouncing around. He watched as Callum stood up in his jeep and yelled a greeting to them. Immediately, his heart began to pound. He was such an idiot, of course Callum was gonna be here. He was a part of the group after all. Was his binder showing? Had he remembered to brush his teeth this morning? Brush his hair? He gave a little wave back to him.

"Hi Callum!" Rose yelled over to the other two, and she looked up at the older sibling and gave a little giggle. "You okay bro?" she chuckled, as she watched Alyx poke the dirty blonde haired boy and then walk up to them.

Rose smiled at the girl, while Loki kinda just started over at Callum. Rose nudged Loki, and he was brought back to reality.
"Oh, uh hey Alyx."
"Hi!" Rose enthusiastically said, still bouncing with joy. "Really? We almost got lost on the way here, but I directed Loki the right way! How was your guys' ride?!"

It was then that Rose saw Sophie run up to the estate, and it was her turn for her heart to pound. 100 days of summer with her crush?! Yes please! Without waiting for a response from Alyx, she skipped over to Sophie. "H-hi Sophie!" she stammered. "How was your ride?" Rose tried to start a conversation between the two. I mean, uh, how did you get here? I don't see a car that could be yours," she continued, looking around.

Callum's smile grew as Rose greeted him enthusiastically, he'd just lowered his arm when Alyx jabbed him in the ribs. With a yelp he tried to arch away from her and bring his arm down to protect his side, unfortunately as he did so he rammed his elbow against one of the roof bars. "Arrr, funny bone!" He exclaimed clutching his aching elbow and glaring after Alyx as she sauntered away from the car with her bag "Yeah, you better run" He muttered watching her join the two siblings by the door. Though he fully intended on getting his own back, Alyx's hasty escape prevented things from getting out of hand, rib jabbing would often be the starting point for a physical exchange.

With a grumble Callum rubbed his abused ribs and dropped back down into his seat. Taking the keys out of the ignition, he quickly pocketed them and glanced over at Sophie. "Hey Sophie!" He called out before he lifted himself up and swung out of the window...because using the door was clearly too much effort.

Landing with a crunch, Callum took a moment to take his sunglasses off and hang them on the front of his tank top before striding over to Sophie. He overheard her mumble about the books or movie but before reaching her Rose overtook him with two hearty skips. Callum stopped just next to two girls and looked over his shoulder at the house, silently amazed at the speed Rose had moved. Unfortunately he'd thought up something intelligent -Callum's version of intelligent- to say in response to Sophie's mumble and there was no chance in hell that he was going to be able to hold it in.

"On the movie side, this is almost perfect for a meet cute" He chimed in with a playful wink before signalling Sophie's bags and asking "Want some help with those?". Callum's chivalry was often reserved for the girls of the group, though he wasn't one to pass up an opportunity to show off. In this instance he saw a chance to help out a friend, as well as a chance to show off his 'guns'. Something he was happy to do whenever possible.

---

---

Alyx's cool gaze focused on Loki as he didn't seem to hear her greeting. Her brow twitched, but more out of amusement than anything else, her excitement for this summer could almost match Rose's, yet she was far more subtle about it. Her smile widened as Loki finally seemed to acknowledge her presence, yet a part of her wondered why he was so...distracted. Her thoughts were set aside as Rose asked about the pair's journey, which caused her to roll her eyes exasperatedly.

"Well, Callum decided to turn up ridiculously late, no surprise there. So then we had to-" The beginning of her story was interrupted by Rose flouncing off. This time, her brow arched with a slight air of frustration, only to increase as she realised who it was Rose had ditched her for. Sophie, of course. A stab of jealousy pierced her as she watched Callum clearly gesturing to the girl's bags, obviously offering to carry them for her. Wait. Why was she jealous? It was only Callum.

Forcing herself to divert her attention elsewhere, Alyx returned her gaze to Loki and opened her mouth to speak, only to be yet again interrupted by someone else. "Hey guys."

A look of annoyance now spread across her features she turned around, only to let the irritation slip away as she realised the voice had belonged to Aiden. "Hey there, Justin Bieber." She smirked, gliding over and ruffling his hair. Personal space, clearly, was not a big issue for her.

Despite her happiness to see Aiden, Alyx would glance every so often to where the others were standing, primarily to Callum. Yet that did not stop the subdued smile hinting at her lips; one that was not just out of polite welcome, but genuine relief that Aiden was here.

After getting bored watching TV, Elizabeth wandered over to the kitchen to check on the food and was promptly shooed out by the cook when caught sticking her fingers in the cookie dough. She was licking her fingers when she passed by the front door and heard voices.

She, rather excitedly, poked her head out the door and grinned happily at the group formed at her door. "Hi guys!" She greeted them, her voice hyper, but somehow also subdued. As she opened the door, Frodo snuck his way through and began sniffing Callum up and down. "Oh, crap. Frodo! Get down!" She shouted as the rather large lab jumped up on Callum.

Though, she half thought as she did so that Callum probably wouldn't care anyway. As she was pulling Frodo off of Callum, she grinned at Rose and Loki. "How was the drive, guys?" She asked them as Frodo decided he wanted to now go for Alyx, who Elizabeth knew almost certainly, wouldn't appreciate the dirty paws.

Theo tiredly wiped his eyes with the back of his, and brushed his loose hair back as he blinked rapidly. Leaning against the counter, a small smile of contentment appeared on his face. He had been up since four making food for his friends, and the mingling smells of baking bread, tomato sauce, and melting cheese filled the kitchen with a myriad of scents that clashed and melded with the sharp, artificial tang of cleaning product, creating a pleasant and eclectic sensation. The kitchen was sightly cramped and had two stove ovens, a few fryers, a couple rice cookers, multiple freezers, a flat top grill, and a large stone oven with a roaring fire. Theo had just finished cleaning the space, a task that was as labor intensive as the cooking.

"Least I can do something properly." Theo said softly as he a timer began beeping, signalling that Elizabeth's pizza was done. Grabbing a pair of oven mitts and a paddle, Theo stood in front of the open oven letting a blast of warm air blow over him. Gingerly lifting the pizza pan out of the oven, he placed the pie onto a cutting board on the counter with a soft clank. Opening a drawer, Theo began rummaging for a pizza cutter, finger carelessly running over the variety of sharp implements before finding it. Bringing the circular blade up, he efficiently sliced the pizza into sixteen slices

Turning back around, Theo shut off the oven. As he finished that task, another timer began ringing. Turning around quickly, Theo faced one of the stoves, which had a large pot situate on top of it. Turning off the stove, Theo and lifted the lid on the boiling pot and checked on the thick brown substance of beans, meats and vegetables. As the lid came off, the pungent smell of spices diffused into the air, hints of pepper, cumin, and cayenne tickling Theo's sinuses. Letting the chili con carne cool, Theo inhaled the strong smell before turning his attention away from the stove to the the second oven as the its timer began ringing.

Having kept the mitts on, he opened the stove revealing a sheet of a dozen fist sized disks dotted with multi colored specks. The golden cookies added another dynamic into the atmospere of the kitchen, spikes of warm sweetness counteracting the pungency of the chile and complementing the smokiness of the pizza.

"Three down, two to go." Theo mused as as he walked over to a fridge and pulled out a medium sized chocolate cake and the bag of frosting next to it. Closing the door with his foot, Theo placed the plated cake on the cutting board and began frosting the dark cake with an even darker chocolate frosting.

"Loki better damn like this, might be the last one for a while." Theo thought with a snort. Opening another drawer, Theo pulled out a rubber spatula and began smoothing out the frosting, spreading the dark brown substance over the cake. "It's kinda sad how I'm so so used to spreading frosting over cakes," Theo mused, "Had to make a lot of apologies in the beginning."

Grinning sadly, Theo brought the cake container over and carefully transferred the cake over into it. Checking the his watch, Theo noted that it was nearly 11:00 PM, giving him plenty of time to get ready and drive over to the estate.

Going back the fridge, Theo pulled out a large mason jar of kimchi and placed it on the counter, his gift to Aiden. He then pulled a portable freezer and placed the sushi and the kimchi into it. Next came a thermos pot which was filled with the chili, which Theo doled efficiently.

Placing all the cooking tools into the large sink, Theo ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs into the second floor living space over the restaurant. He had already showered and brushed his teeth when he woke up, leaving changing the only remaining task. Stopping in his room, Theo began rummaging through his dresser for an outfit. Pulling out a black t-shirt proudly emblazoned with Iron Maiden and the image of a skeletal soldier carrying a Union Jack. The shirt hung loosely off his frame and was slightly weathered and splattered with specks of paint. Next was his pair of skinny jeans bound with a plain, brown, leather belt. Pulling on his socks, Theo stopped by the doorway to the stairwell that would lead back to the kitchen and grabbed his pair of ratty converses.

Shoes slung over his shoulders, Theo ran out of the store to his car, a red Jeep Wrangler and got in. Driving the car closer to the door, Theo once more gout out and began the process of transferring the dishes into his car. A pizza box, a large thermos pot, a small freezer, a cake container, and another platter but with cookies. Along with the food was Theo's suitcase, a large black box that was packed to near bursting. In the passenger seat was his backpack, a large black and grey bag that seemed to be packed fully.

Checking over his supplies a second time, Theo got back into the car and began the trip.

---

Theo pulled up to the large manor house a few hours later, having been caught in a bad traffic jam on the way over. Looking at the house, he remembered how his friend's wealth had been a sore point in the early days of their friendship. The flaunting of wealth still irked him some what, but he quickly quashed the feeling as he came to a stop.

Theo noted that he was seemingly the last one to arrive. Getting out of the Jeep, Theo began unloading his cargo. Struggling to carry his goods, he staggered up the the stairs and bumped into the doorbell with his back.

Callum's ears pricked up as he heard Elizabeth's voice, he turned to greet her in return but found himself distracted by the retriever sniffing around his legs. "Hey boy" He greeted him, offering Frodo his hand to sniff as well, only to be leapt at a second later. Callum didn't seem to mind one bit as the blonde lump jumped up at him and licked at the air just below his chin, laughing as he tried to avoid the slobbery attack he rubbed Frodo's sides before giving his head a rough stroke.

"Don't worry about it, he's cool" He told Elizabeth as she hauled Frodo off of him, giving the dog another stroke before he changed targets. Rubbing the dusty paw prints off of his top, Callum watched Frodo head towards Alyx "Careful buddy...she bites" He warned the canine, unable to resist an opportunity to take a dig at Alyx regardless of how small it was.

With a smug smile on his face, Callum turned his attention back to Elizabeth, Loki and Rose. "Fast...and furious thanks to my driving buddy" He cut in before the siblings had a chance to. Which was pretty typical of him really "This place is huge!" Was the next thing out of his mouth as he dodged around Elizabeth, coming between her and Frodo as the retriever headed towards Alyx before hopping up and through the front door. It had always been huge and Callum nearly always made the same comment...it was almost like trained behavior now.

Hovering just inside the front door Callum curiously peered around the foyer(?) "And still fancy as" He decided, running his fingers through his hair and leaning back out of the door. Having hopefully given Rose and Loki a chance to speak, he reached over and gently poked Elizabeth's side "Hey Lizzie" he asked stepping back down to stand next to Loki, his eyes restlessly bouncing between all of his friends as he forcibly kept himself still "What are we doing first?"

Loki continued to look at Callum through the corner of his eyes. He watched him swing out of the car's window, walking over to Rose and Sophie. As he gestured towards the bags that belonged to Sophie, he too felt some emotion rising within his stomach. He quickly dismissed it though, or tried to. "Hey Aiden," he spoke in return to the voice that had said hello to him and Alyx.

Meanwhile, Rose had rolled her eyes at Callum's comment. "Oh hardy har har!" she pretended to laugh, though still obviously very peppy. She stood there as he asked if he could take Sophie's bags. Like her brother, a feeling of jealousy overcame her. "It's okay! I can help!" she piped up.

The brother of the twin's head turned as he heard the door open, and the familiar voice of Elizabeth. Just as he was about to say a hello, was then that the lab went trotting over to Callum and began to jump on him. Rose awed at the pup, and before she got the chance to pet him Elizabeth had taken him off of Callum and another friend had been chosen. Loki let out a small chuckle. As he was about to speak, his crush Callum interrupted him. He didn't really mind though. As Cal peeked inside the door, Loki spoke. "The ride was actually quite nice. I'm sure Rose enjoyed it, as she always does." His heart began to beat a little more as Callum stood next to him. "Yeah! It was so much fun! I got to direct him, and I sung most of the way!" she chimed in after her brother.

---

---

A familiar face peeked around the front door, causing a rare grin to spread across Alyx's features. She promptly decided to ignore her previous annoyance at Callum and Sophie, focusing her attention on Elizabeth. Twisting the end of her hair around her fingers, she began to relax a great deal more as the group clustered together again, offering greetings and smiles and jokes. Staying oddly quiet for once, her eyes followed the golden retriever as it went for Callum, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. A part of her wanted to roll her eyes at the dirty pawprints left on his top, but another part was impressed by how at ease he was around the canine. Of course, he would feel at home with all of the similarities he and Frodo possessed. Alyx was tempted to voice this opinion, opening her mouth to comment on their matching IQ's, but was stopped as a big blonde ball of fur attacked her.

Luckily, she had some experience when it came to overenthusiastic dogs. Her Aunt had spontaneously bought a Great Dane a while ago, it had been huge with the personality of a puppy, but it was soon given to a friend as the feeding bills went through the roof. One had to acquire a certain technique when it came to handling such slobbering savages. Alyx, with a look of barely-concealed disgust spread across her features, scratched Frodo behind the ears before he could leave pawprints on her outfit and gradually moved down to rubbing the retriever's tummy, resulting in him rolling over to reveal it to her. The sight softened her features for a moment and she found a giggle bubbling up inside of her, but she pushed it down as she straightened up again.

As Callum made some comment about her biting, she arched a brow and snapped her teeth together in a biting motion. "Oh honey, you have no idea." She whispered the last word, her voice could be heard as both suggestive and challenging, which was how she liked it.

She let the others talk about their journeys as she craned her neck to admire the huge place. Callum managed to voice her thoughts as he praised the house, and she hoisted her bag up once more in hopes that they'd be invited in soon. Her eyes picked up the touch between Elizabeth and Callum, and her body moved of its own accord, weaving between them to 'get a better look inside'. "I, for one, would be grateful to be able to put this stupid bag down somewhere. Do we have rooms? Is mine close to yours, Lizzie?" Her stream of questions didn't require an answer, clearly, as she kept on talking. "I have so much to tell you. Remember Andy from Sydney? Blue eyes, black hair? Well..." She winked and adjusted her flower crown with her free hand, smiling innocently.

Elizabeth chuckled at both responses, Callum and Alyx's. She'd never pegged Alyx as an animal person when she'd met her, but Alyx had a lot of little details about her that always kept springing up unexpectedly.

"What are we doing next?" She asked, raising a brow at Callum. "Well, if you haven't eaten already, I'm sure you're starved, so why not get settled in to your rooms and then we can eat and chat for a bit before we begin any activities." She explained, smiling softly.

At Alyx's mention of that boy, Elizabeth's face lit up. She'd always loved talking to Alyx about her ventures, though Elizabeth never went on them herself. "Actually, if you don't mind, I was thinking you could room in with me, Alyx. There are a total of six guest bedrooms at the estate, each of which can house two people comfortably. My room is actually the first guest room on the right. So... you guys can decide among yourselves who would like to sleep where but I imagine through most of the night we'll be hanging out together anyway. I think there are enough rooms for most everyone to have a room of their own anyway." She explained and as she did so motioned for them to follow her. She led them through the lobby and to the stairs. She stopped at her room and smiled warmly, as the ever warm individual was want to do.

Callum was disappointed by how easily Alyx managed to deter Frodo and save her clothes....though the barely concealed disgust lightened the blow. All things considered, i.e Callum's complete lack of perception, he did witness the tender moment she shared with Frodo as he rolled over to reveal his belly...he even refrained from making a comment on it.

He chuckled at her quick response to his jab and just before heading into the house, he turned back towards Alyx to give her a come-at-me gesture which consisted off him pinching at the top of his shirt before spreading his arms out in front of him, coupling it with possibly the most arrogant smirk he'd ever worn.

Even if it was a little unclear to her, his reaction had been pretty quick...for him anyway. Judging by the complete lack of words though, he'd actually failed to think up a good comeback. Luckily he was able to disappear into the house and change the subject pretty quickly.

"What were you singing too?" Callum asked Rose, giving her a small window to respond before he was distracted by Elizabeth's answer to his question. His face lit up at the mention of eating "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse" he commented, patting his stomach. Callum didn't budge as Alyx moved between him and Elizabeth, just to be as awkward as possible and without the faintest clue of her reasoning for doing so. Turning to look at Loki as Alyx started talking he lifted up one of his hands and started tapping his fingers together whilst mouthing 'blah, blah, blah'. Mentioning Andy from Sydney seemed to make him stop though, dropping his hand, he rolled his eyes and turned away from the group.



"...she talked him to death" He finished for her, hopping back up into the lobby. He still listened to Elizabeth as she explained the situation and dutifully followed after her. Looking around curiously at everything as they crossed the lobby and climbed the stairs. It was a completely innocent thing to do...even if the reasoning behind it was less so.

"Settled, now?" Callum wrinkled his nose but followed after Elizabeth without any further encouragement. Looking around curiously at everything as they crossed the lobby and climbed the stairs. It was a completely innocent thing to do...even if the reasoning behind it was less so. Moving past Elizabeth's door, Callum went to the next door along and attempted to open it, assuming that he was successful he wandered in for a nose around.

"Bagsy this one" He called back, popping his head back round the door to look at the others. "Hey, Loki? There's another bed in here if you want it" He added with a shrug of his shoulders before disappearing again. Sharing with Callum was a well known risk, if the fact that he was practically nocturnal wasn't enough to put people off, the inevitable pranking usually sealed the deal...the constant rejection didn't stop him from trying though.

"Or maybe Theo'll want it...where is he anyway?" Callum continued on, walking back out into the hallway. He was genuinely curious as to where the last member of their group could be...but also thinking of the delicacies that Theo would sometimes surprise them with.

@Filthy Mudblood @Bourgeoisie
@Teddiplier @HylianRose

---

---

The mention of food brought caused a very unladylike growl to come from Alyx's stomach, and she shifted uncomfortably, rustling her bag in an attempt to disguise the sound. As per usual, she had skipped breakfast, opting against consuming any of her Aunt's lose-weight rabbit food.

"...she talked him to death."

Now distracted from her empty stomach, she shot Calum a questioning look, quickly replaced with a haughty smile. "Oh, no, I definitely didn't talk him to death." It took a lot of her willpower to refrain from making a joke about going 'down under', but thankfully her attention was diverted to Elizabeth as she suggested the pair sharing a room. Alyx took a moment to think, letting a gleeful smile spread across her features as her mind wandered to what sharing a room with Elizabeth may actually be like. A series of cliché scenarios played in her head; including pillow fights, midnight talks about boys, and hair braiding. However, all she said was, "sounds like fun."

She rolled her eyes at Calum's protest towards getting settled in and fell into step beside Loki and Rose, "you guys excited?" She questioned, attempting to start a conversation. She had never felt quite as comfortable around them as she had with Calum and Elizabeth, but being with them never failed to put a smile on her face. "You'll never guess what I found in my bag this morning." She offered them a devilish grin and slightly angled herself to reveal a flash of the lacy fabric of the thongs her Aunt had left her with in the corner of her bag. Alyx's eyes darted across them to take in their reactions and hastily zipped the bag up once more. She opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped herself as she peered into her and Elizabeth's room. Perfect.

The satisfied smile slid from her features, however, as Calum announced that he wanted the room next door to hers. She felt her stomach twist strangely, and although there was the familiar annoyance that he would be so close by, she felt an odd apprehension at the thought. Maybe she could talk about it with Elizabeth later? She'd know how to get rid of it.

"Great." She murmured, for once she hoped that he hadn't heard her dig. "Stuck with him for 100 days and nights."

Dropping her bag just inside their room, hearing a worrying clang of metal, she shrugged apologetically."Remind me not to pack my makeup bag and straighteners in the same bag ever again." Alyx groaned and flexed her aching arm, rejoining the others and offering Elizabeth a wink.