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CIARA WOKE UP TO A rush of cold air. She blinked, adjusting to the sunlight filling the room. She turned to glance at the door just in time to see Liam walk out and close the door behind him.
She listened to his footsteps, heading to the bathroom. After a brief silence, he turned the shower on.
Then she got up. She changed into a pair of joggers and a tank top, deciding she would dress up for the party later.
It was past noon, meaning Ciara and Liam had slept in. It didn’t surprise her after the previous night. She still wasn’t over what had happened, and even thinking about it drained her energy.
Feeling hungry, Ciara tried to cook something. The only food she had previously had luck with was scrambled eggs, so that’s what she tried again.
Just as she finished and moved the pan off the stove, Liam walked into view, stopping in the kitchen doorway. “You can cook?”
He only had a towel wrapped around his waist, revealing his muscled chest and abs. Ciara’s eyes wandered down to where his towel was covering him before she realised she was checking him out. Blushing, she blinked and looked back up into his eyes.
“I even surprised myself,” she admitted with a chuckle. “Do you want to try it?”
“Of course.” Liam flashed a smile. “Just let me get dressed first.”
“I’ll get the plates ready.”
“Thanks,” Liam said and left for his room.
Ciara set the table with plates and cutlery. She grabbed two glasses and juice and set them on the table. She put down a pot stand and placed the pan on it.
“You sure you didn’t poison it accidentally?” Liam teased.
Ciara turned to see him walk into the kitchen. He was wearing a white top with joggers, no longer shirtless.
“Hope not.”
Ciara and Liam sat down at the table. Ciara tried her scrambled eggs first, surprised by the taste.
She turned to look at Liam, watching him take a bite.
His eyes settled on her, noticing the nervous face she was making. He swallowed the mouthful and smiled at her. “It’s great.”
Ciara bit her lip. “You sure?”
“Of course,” he said and continued to eat.
Ciara smiled. She had never understood why people became so happy from others complimenting their food, but it slowly began to make sense.
“Are you sure you haven’t just been trying to trick everyone into believing you can’t be allowed in the kitchen?” Liam asked, grinning.
“Oh, trust me, this is like the third time I didn’t have to put out a fire while cooking something.”
Liam smiled. But there was a hint of pain in his eyes, probably left from the previous night.
Ciara didn’t want to talk about it, so she asked, “What is your costume going to be?”
Liam smiled. “You’ll see.”
Ciara raised an eyebrow, intrigued to find out what Liam’s costume might be. “Are you going all out?”
“Not really.” He shook his head. “It’s a fairly simple costume.” He looked up, meeting her gaze. “What about yours?”
“You’ll see,” she said, copying Liam.
Liam chuckled. “Of course.”
“How did I even agree to this party?” Ciara wondered out loud, leaning back in her chair and looking around.
The flat was decorated. There were warning signs with changing texts scattered around the walls. They had enchanted plastic spiders to move like real ones, and they were crawling on the ceiling. Fake spiderwebs adorned the corners. There were floating witch hats and floating candles scattered around, not yet lit. They had also enchanted fake skeletons, fake bones, and some pumpkins to float in the air. The decorations were magical in every sense of the word.
“It’ll be fun.” Liam smiled at Ciara. “Besides, you don’t have to worry about much more than your costume. Not even the baking. Although, I’m beginning to think you could have handled that surprisingly well.”
Ciara shook her head. “I’d burn the flat down if I tried to bake something.”
Finishing a mouthful of scrambled eggs, Liam said, “Have a little faith.”
“In my cooking skills, yes, a little. In my baking skills, nope.”
Liam chuckled. “So when is Jenna coming over?”
“I don’t know the exact time. I suppose she’ll be rather early than late,” Ciara said and ate a forkful of eggs.
“Well, at least someone is making sure Henry won’t be late.”
Ciara grinned. “Oh, he’ll never be late with Jenna around.”
The two finished their breakfast. Ciara was about to clean the table and wash up, but Liam insisted on cleaning up, because Ciara had made the breakfast.
Ciara was about to disagree when the doorbell rang.
“That’s probably Jenna and Henry.” Ciara headed to the door and opened it.
Her guess had been correct.
Jenna and Henry were carrying endless amounts of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, and such. Thanks to magic, they could carry everything in tall piles without accidents.
“Hi.” Jenna grinned. “Time to get ready.”
“How did you get Henry up already?” Liam asked Jenna from the kitchen, placing dishes in the dishwasher.
“Hi, Liam.” Jenna smiled and walked to the kitchen, floating most of the baked goodies behind her while dodging the floating decorations. “As you probably can tell, it wasn’t an effortless task.”
“I bet.”
Henry rolled his eyes. “Isn’t my girlfriend supposed to be on my side?” he whispered to Ciara, leaning closer.
Ciara chuckled and patted Henry on his shoulder. “Come on. Get those last cakes on the table, will you?”
“At your command,” Henry said theatrically, walking to the kitchen.
Ciara closed the flat door and followed.
“Has anyone declined the invitation?” Jenna asked Ciara, while filling the table with the cakes and other baked goods. The ones that needed to be kept in cool temperature had cooling enchantments on them.
Ciara shook her head. “No, no one.”
“Wonderful! It’ll be a full house then!”
Ciara nodded. “Mia will have a friend or two tagging along.”
“It’s good we have plenty of cake then,” Jenna said and smiled.
“Did you make most of this yourself?” Ciara asked, gesturing to what Jenna had brought.
“Mum did a few things, but Jenna made most of the baked goods,” Henry said.
“So, what do I owe you?” Ciara asked Jenna.
“Nothing,” Jenna assured, smiling. “This was my idea, and I wanted to do the baking.”
“You sure?”
Jenna nodded. “Yes. Just enjoy the party and it’s fine.”
“If you’re sure—”
“I am.”
“Alright.”
Jenna finished with setting everything on the table. “But now, we need to go get ready.” She wrapped an arm around Ciara. “So, boys, make sure you’re ready on time, too.”
***
CIARA’S COSTUME WAS a fortune-teller. She had a midi-length skirt with a white shirt and a dark corset, and she wore sandals. Jenna did her hair to match the costume’s vibe. The entire costume had been Jenna’s idea, and she had even bought Ciara the rings and bracelets and a tiara-like headpiece for it.
Jenna’s costume was a rock star, inspired by the eighties. She wore a black top and black boots with electric blue leather trousers and a matching leather jacket. She had even replaced her eyeglasses with contacts.
“So will Henry’s costume match yours?” Ciara asked as Jenna was finishing Ciara’s makeup.
“Sort of. He has more black and more denim, but he’s supposed to be an eighties rock star, too.”
Ciara grinned. “Cute.”
“But so are you and Liam.”
Ciara raised an eyebrow. “Me and Liam?”
“Yes, matching with your joggers and everything. I’m surprised you’re not together yet.”
Ciara rolled her eyes at Jenna. “He’s my ex.”
“Who you share your flat with.”
“He’s looking for a new flat. Iris still hasn’t agreed to sell their old one.”
“Still, I can see you stealing glances at him.” A smile appeared on Jenna’s lips. She finished with Ciara’s makeup and turned to finish her own eyeliner.
“It’s one-sided.”
Jenna frowned, pausing, and turned to face Ciara. “What makes you think that?”
Ciara sat down on her bed. “He just broke up with Iris. Not that long ago. And they were supposed to get married soon. Besides, he fell for Iris when he was still dating me. I doubt it will work the other way around.”
“He and Iris were dating when you and him were dating?” Jenna asked, gaping. “What the...I seriously want to curse him right now!”
Ciara shushed Jenna. “It was years ago. Besides, I was the one to break up with him.”
“That doesn’t make it any better,” Jenna hissed. “He was cheating on y—”
“On an emotional level. I don’t think he ever acted on his feelings. Not until I told him we were done. He didn’t even know I knew about all this until last summer.”
“Clearly he chose the wrong girl.”
“See? The point is that he already chose her over me. I don’t stand a chance.”
Jenna’s eyes widened, anger written all over her face. “I didn’t know he was such a—”
“Calm down.” Ciara smiled at Jenna. “It was ages ago.”
“But—”
A knock interrupted them.
“Come in,” Ciara said.
Henry opened the door and peeked in. “It’s almost seven.”
“And we’re done!” Jenna said, finishing her makeup.
The two women cleared the makeup bags from the bed and then joined the two brothers in the living room.
Henry matched with Jenna’s costume. They looked great, standing together with their arms wrapped around one another.
Liam’s costume was a pirate. He wore a pair of black trousers and a half-unbuttoned white shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his forearms. He looked good as a pirate.
Ciara couldn’t keep her eyes off him. She tried not to make it too obvious, only checking him out subtly.
“So who do you think will be the first to arrive?” Jenna asked.
“It could be anyone but Mia.”
Jenna laughed. “True.”
Ciara’s eyes widened, realising she had forgotten the drinks. “Wait, the drinks aren’t—”
“In the fridge, and the rest are in an ice bucket on the table.” Liam smiled at Ciara. “So no worries.”
Ciara sighed. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“You are such a worrier.” Henry said, shaking his head. “Haven’t you ever had a housewarming party?”
“Not on my own.” Ciara’s voice drifted off, and memories of Theo and their housewarming party plagued her mind.
Luckily, the doorbell rang.