2 CHAPTER TWO

When Caspian woke up around an hour and a half after, he looked up to see Belle scrolling through her phone with one hand, and her other hand still unconsciously running through his hair. She looked down as she felt him move and smiled.

"Nice nap?"

"Absolutely." He sat up and stretched before dropping his head on her shoulder. She switched her phone off and leaned her head against his. "Were you just on your phone this whole time?"

"Yeah. Speaking off, I need a charger." She wiggled her phone. Caspian simply pointed at the desk in beside the window and Belle got up, plugging her phone into the charger. Then, she sat down on his spinning chair, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Hungry?"

"I could go for some junk. Maybe a beer." Belle winked, causing Caspian to laugh and get up, offering her his hand. She took it and he helped her up, both of them leaving the room to head down to the kitchen.

Belle had taken her shoes off and was running down the hallways in her socks with Caspian right on her heels. She climbed onto the banister and slid all the way down, dropping with a flourish at the end. "Thank you, thank you." She bowed.

"I see you haven't lost your touch." Caspian commented as he got down the stairs, before heading into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"Never." Belle headed for the freezer, pulling out two popsicles as Caspian grabbed two beers from the fridge and opened them.

They grabbed their junk food and Caspian opened the back door, letting them into the backyard. Belle slipped her socks off and sat down on the side of the pool, dropping her legs into the cool water. She passed Caspian his popsicle and he handed her the beer.

As they indulged in their cold treat, Caspian asked, "How was France?"

"The usual. Uptight, fancy. Reserved family members throwing Elias and I the dirtiest looks they could muster. Mama and Papa not even trying to stop them. Endless berates when we got back to our own apartment." She sighed, loving the lemony taste of her popsicle. "We snuck out a lot, as normal. Climbed through our windows onto the roof, jumped to other buildings."

"Sounds nice. The sneaking out part, I mean." Caspian finished his popsicle and took a sip of his beer.

"I'll take you with me someday. Maybe next summer, if you want. Willow can come too. Your parents gotta pay though. You know mine won't." Belle drank some of her own beer, relishing as the cold liquid trickled down her throat.

"Sounds good. I'm sure my parents will be completely fine with it. Willow might not want to come. I think she wants to spend more time with Mum and Dad."

"Her loss." Belle shrugged. "She doesn't see how bad they are. She's innocent, Cas. Can't blame her. In her case, ignorance is bliss."

"Cheers to that." He held out his bottle and she laughed, clinking hers with it before they both finished their drinks. Caspian's phone rang and he handed it to Belle, drinking his own beer. She rolled her eyes and accepted the call, holding the phone to her ear.

"Cas' phone, Belle speaking."

"Hey, Belle."

"Hey, Duke. What's up?"

"Just wanted to let you know we're all gonna be there soon, and why didn't Cas answer his phone?" Came the reply from the other side.

"Great. You know where the keys are. Just put them back when you're done. And Cas is too busy downing his beer to reply."

Duke laughed. "Sounds like him. See you in a bit."

"Bye!" Belle replied before hanging up and handing the phone back to Caspian. She stood and held a hand out for his empty beer. He handed it to her and she headed back inside with the popsicle wrappers and empty beer bottles to toss them in the bin.

But when she came back out, she was met with a spray of cold water and she gasped, closing her eyes and reaching up with her hands to wipe the water from her eyes. Then, she opened them and saw Caspian stood in front of her with the water hose in his hand and a mischievous look spread on his face.

"CASPIAN!"

"Whoops?" He grinned, before holding the hose up again. Belle's eyes widened and she quickly ducked out of the way. He chased her around the garden, never once turning the hose off and always having it pointed towards her.

Belle suddenly stopped. Why was she running away? Then, a smirk overcame her face and she walked slowly towards Caspian, who currently had his back to the pool. Then, she launched herself and pushed them both into the pool.

When they surfaced she splashed him. "Karma's a bitch, Caspian."

"Oh, haha. Very funny." He scowled, but he was still laughing. He swam over to the side and pulled himself out, watching Belle do the same. She looked down at her clothes and pouted.

"What the fuck happened to you two?" Jo's voice came from behind them. The pair turned around and saw everyone else stood there. All of them had confused yet amused looks on their faces except for Nicholas who just looked straight up confused.

���Caspian happened." Belle wrung out her hair, nudging Caspian with her elbow. His mouth dropped open.

"Uh- you retaliated!" He exclaimed in an indignant tone. "You pushed me into the pool!"

"You chased me around the garden with the hose on. What was I supposed to do? Sit there and accept it? No! I'm gonna retaliate. Vive la France!" Belle threw her hands up.

"Okay! You both are idiots! Settled." Luna patted them both on the shoulder before going back in the house.

"Are not!" They both yelled in sync.

"You totally are." Jo gave them a sympathetic look. "But if it makes you feel better, we kind of all are, with the exception of Lu, Duke and Nicholas, but that's only because I don't know you, new kid."

"Jo, you collectively insulted 6 people." Wren raised his eyebrows.

"Whatever. I need a drink. Go dry off, idiots. Don't want you to get sick." She walked past them into the house, followed by Wren, Atticus, Aurora and Nicholas; who still looked confused.

"I need to change out of these clothes." Belle gestured to herself.

"Yeah, come on." He lead her inside and back up to his room, opening the door to his closet. He headed over to where he kept his sweatpants and shirts and let Belle grab her own clothes. Considering Belle and Caspian spent a lot of time at each other's houses, they each had some clothes of their own at the other's house.

Belle grabbed what she needed and went into the bathroom, stripping her soaking wet clothes off and replacing them for some leggings and a loose white crop top. Then, she grabbed a towel and ran it through her hair quickly, removing most of the water before just tying her hair up into a messy bun and leaving it to air dry.

She tossed her clothes into Caspian's laundry basket, and then walked out of the bathroom. Caspian was already dressed and waiting for her. "Shall we?"

"We shall." She smiled in return. They headed down to the kitchen where everyone else was sat around the island, some with beers, some with sodas. "I see you guys have made yourselves at home."

"Amen to that." Atticus held up his beer. "I'm assuming you two already drank yours?"

"You assume right." Caspian grinned. He grabbed another two and tossed one to Belle. "Doesn't mean we can't have more though." He opened his and held it up to Belle. She opened hers and tapped it against his.

"Cheers." They both took long gulps.

"Alcoholics." Duke shook his head at them, a small smile playing on the edge of her lips.

"Like you can talk, Duke." Luna scoffed. "We're all alcoholics."

"Nu-uh."

"Duke, I've seen you with a keg. You can't fool us." Jo intervened and the pale boy blushed.

"Shut up. That was a dark moment of my past."

"That was last week."

"Aww, you had parties without me?" Belle pouted.

"We went to some. Well, most of us. Cas was pouting without you." Aurora teased and Caspian stuck his tongue out at her.

"I missed you too, Cas." Belle laughed and kissed his cheek, letting him wrap his arm around her shoulder. it wasn't too long until their beers were finished and it was almost time to leave. So, the girls headed to one of the spare bedrooms to get ready.

Belle grabbed her bag from the kitchen and followed everyone else into the guest bedroom, where she immediately went into the bathroom first. She got dressed and left the bathroom, leaving it open for the next person.

Soon enough, everyone was dressed. Aurora was in an iridescent white crop top that showed off her midriff and a tight pink mini skirt, paired with some white trainers. She pulled her blonde locks into a half up half down and got started on her makeup.

Jo was wearing some jean shorts and a red strapless top and a pair of red Nikes. Her hair was in a high ponytail. Luna was dressed in a blue off-the-shoulder dress with a tight top and a loose skirt. Her feet were clad in some matching blue trainers and her hair left in its curly state.

Belle plugged in her curling wand and curled her hair slightly before running her fingers through it and then ruffling her hair to make it look effortless. Then, she grabbed her makeup and sat in front of the vanity beside Aurora.

She brushed some concealer under her eyes and around her nose and anywhere else she could see redness, then quickly blended it in with her brush. After some contour, bronzer and blush, she was straight for the highlight, adding a blinding amount, but it looked good. Belle made everyone move away for a bit as she did her winged eyeliner, sighing in satisfaction when both sides came out identical.

Then, she grabbed a chocolate flavoured lip-balm and ran it over her lips, smacking them after. She quickly sprayed herself with some setting spray and then pulled her shoes on, tying her laces. "Ladies? Are we done?"

"I'm done."

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

They walked out, but Belle took a detour and dropped her duffel bag in Caspian's room, and grabbed her phone from the charger. She shut the door behind her, before sticking her phone inside a zip up pocket in her trousers. Then, she bounded downstairs, but as she walked down the stairs, she realised she forgot to bring her jacket with her from home.

"GODDAMMIT!"

A burst of laughter came from the kitchen at her exclamation, and she walked in to grins. "What now, Belle?" Wren asked.

"I forgot to bring my-"

"Jacket?" Caspian smirked, holding his own leather jacket up. "Here." He tossed it and she grabbed it, slipping it on.

"You are a lifesaver, Caspian Turner. I love you." She kissed his cheek.

"Love you too, Belle." Then, he turned to the alcohol cupboard which wasn't even locked because his parents, frankly, didn't give a damn. He pulled out a bottle of vodka while Atticus grabbed a bunch of shot glasses.

"Hey, Nicholas. You want one?"

"Hell yeah!" The boy grinned.

"That's the spirit!" Belle cheered as Caspian poured them all shots and handed them out. "To being reckless!"

"To being reckless!" They clinked the shot glasses and all tilted their heads back, downing the shots before slamming the glasses back onto the table.

"First of many drinks." Belle scrunched her face up, slipping Caspian's jacket on. "We should head out if we want to make it in time to be fashionably late and not just asshole late."

"We've all been asshole late before." Atticus comments.

"Yeah, probably you more than anyone else, Atticus." Belle retorts light-heartedly, causing everyone else to laugh and Atticus to scowl and pull her into a headlock. "My hair, asshole! Let go! I'll knock my head into your nose, I swear to god."

As soon as she says that, he lets her go and steps back. "I don't want a broken nose right before a party."

"I don't think you'd want a broken nose any time." Nicholas muttered, confused.

"Don't start fights right before a party. Or well, do that, just not with me." She held her fist out and he sighed before hitting his own with it. "Right, party time mes amis!"