Adam's outfit above.

My silk sheets smell different.

I lightly open my eyes and see them grey. I don't have grey sheets.

I moan lightly and lift my head from the pillow and look around. Shit!

I'm in Adam's room. In his bed.

"Yes. Thank you, Clark. No, she's still sleeping. Alright, I will. Thanks again."

I sit up and see Adam standing by the window, dressed in a navy double-breasted suit. He looks handsome, incredibly sexy with one hand holding his phone.

I've missed him so much so I smile. "Adam, what are you doing here? When did you get back from London?"

He looks at me. "A few hours ago. How are you feeling?"

"Good." I yawn lightly then run my fingers through my hair. "Do you know where my phone is?"

"No." He replies, watching me carefully. Someone knocks on the door and he asks them to come in his deep voice.

Nina comes in with a food tray. "Good morning, Mrs Black." She says then drops the tray by my side. "Bon appetite."

"Thanks." I smile at her then start eating my waffles.

I look at Adam. He is looking out the window, lost in a deep thought. As if he feels my gaze, he turns to me.

"Is something wrong?" I ask him.

"No."

"But-"

"Eat your food, Amelia. Now." He says then walks out of the room.

I frown. What's up his ass?

I finish eating then get off the bed, fixing my dress from last night.

Last night.

Oh my God.

Liam. He answered the phone!

Such an idiot!

I head to my bedroom and take a shower then dress into a colourful Pamela Roland dress.

I see my phone on the night stand so I take it then go downstairs. As I'm about to go out the entrance door, I hear Wesley call my name.

I turn around and smile at him. "Hey."

He smiles black gently. "I'm sorry to say this Mr Black gave direct orders to not let you out of the house."

I widen my eyes in disbelief and let out a humourless laugh. "What? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Who does he think he is?"

"He's worried about your safety. We flew in immediately after he got your phone call."

I ignore the tingling feeling in my heart and scoff then turn around and march to Adam's living room where he is stretched out, watching Vikings on the TV.

"Adam Black! What is wrong with you? What makes you think you have the right to stop me from going out?" I bark, folding my arms over my chest.

He gives me a bored look and answers simply, "The doctor said you should be on bed rest."

"Why?"

"I don't know. You tell me. What happened last night?"

"Last night?" I whisper, dumbly.

I don't want to talk about last night especially with him.

"Yes. You made a promise to me when I took you to the airport and you broke it. How can I trust you to take care of yourself?"

Promise? Oh my God!

"Wait. Is that why you're angry? Because I broke the promise?" I find myself smiling.

Wow. Dude actually cares about me.

"You've been exhausting yourself since you came back. I was told you didn't eat anything on the plane and Julian said you only had a few bites when you went to the restaurant." He points.

"Yes but-"

"So now, you are going to stay in this house because you need to rest, Amelia and Julian said he's coming over."

"But I need to speak with my friends."

"You can speak to them when you've rested."

"I don't like you bossing me around."

He sighs and run his fingers through his hair. "Amelia, I'm just trying to protect you and keep you healthy."

"Alright." I give in.

I walk out then take my phone and text my friends to meet me here. Nicole included.

This whole situation is very hard. I feel so helpless and I hate that. Like, do I be on her side and support her even when I know this might not be the best decision?

"Amelia, someone is here to see you." Talia tells me as I'm about to go upstairs.

I turn to face her. "Does that person have a name?"

Before she can answer, I hear footsteps and see him behind her. "Hi, little cousin." Julian grins.

"Julian? What are you doing here?"

He shrugs. "It seemed like you badly needed my help so I came to give it to you."

"But you said there's nothing you can do." I say skeptically.

I know Julian very well and from the look in his eyes, I can tell he is up to something. Literally, not less than twenty four hours ago he said that he can not convince Nicole to change her mind and now he's here?

"I can at least give it a try. After all, you flew all the way to LA to see me."

I nod. "Alright then. Thank you."

If he says so. Nicole is on her way here. We might as well get this over with.

"Don't mention it." He smiles then rubs his hands together. "Now, tell me where I can find her."

****

Nicole lets out a loud sigh. "My mother is giving me the hardest time, you guys. She won't talk or listen to me."

"I'm going to go find something to eat." Camilla stands up abruptly.

"Yeah, I will come with you, Cam." Jasmine also stands.

They both walk out of the room and I look at Chloe. Her eyes meet mine and she clears her throat. "You know what? I'm also really hungry so I'm going to go." She says then quickly leaves.

"We have a weird bunch of friends, don't we?" Nicole chuckles and I do too but mine is fake. "Yeah, we do."

Emily's phone starts ringing and she also quickly exists the room.

I look at Nicole who is a red slip dress over a white t-shirt and white snickers but my favorite part of her outfit is her necklace with my name on. "So when are we going to meet Prescott?"

"Soon."

Her answer causes me to roll my eyes. "You've been saying that for the past few weeks. When is soon?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. He has a very busy schedule."

"I think it's strange that you suddenly want to marry a guy that you just met, whom we, your friends have never even seen." I tell her.

"I thought you were supportive of my marriage." She frowns, touching the ends of her very long ponytail.

"I am but that doesn't mean I won't ask questions."

My phone dings and I see it's a message from Julian saying that he's by the door.

I stand up. "Cam needs my help. I'll be back."

"I will come with you. I kind of want a drink." She says, making a move to stand.

"No, no, I will get it for you. Don't you worry yourself." I give her a smile then stroll out.

I see Julian standing in the hallway so I grin at him. "Good luck."

I quickly head to the security room where Jas, Camilla, Emily and Chloe are.

We badly want to see what's going to happen so I asked the guards on duty to let us in so that we can spy on Nicole and Julian's conversation since there is cctv in that sitting room.

"Has he entered yet?" I ask them as I go in.

"What are you doing here?" I hear Nicole's voice from the monitor so I move forward to look at the screen.

"Let's drop the pretence, doll. You knew I was coming."

"No, I didn't."

"Then why are you getting married?"

"Because I want to."

Julian scoffs and takes a seat. "I felt really bad for Amelia when she came to see me in Los Angeles. She cares about you a lot and was really worried."

"You felt bad for her cause she cares about me?"

"No, it's because even though you've been friends for years, she doesn't really know you. None of your friends do. None of them know how much you love attention or how far you're willing to go just to get it."

"Jul-"

"I know you're not getting married. I know you've been pretending and lying."

"Oh my God." Emily whispers.

"That cannot be possible." Jasmine says with clear disbelief.

But from the look on Nicole's face, I know it is. Julian is saying the truth.

"So why, Nicole? Is it because you knew I was going to come like I did the last time?"

Nicole looks away from him. "No, it isn't."

"Enough with the lies already! You enjoyed our time in Paris so badly that you wanted me to come see you again. Is that right?"

She looks back at him. "You're such an ass. I hate you."

"No, you don't." He says smugly. "No matter how much you try to, you can't and I don't need to tell you the reason why."

She's still in love with him. How did I not see this coming? Is that why she never officially dated anyone else?

But- seriously, I don't even know what to think.

I knew when they were together they were really in love but I didn't that Nicole still holds on to that. With her, I never know what's going on. She is so unpredictable.

"So what would you have done if I didn't show up? Were you planning to go through with the marriage?" Julian keeps on talking.

"I don't know!" She outbursts. "It's just that during our winter break, I felt lonely. Amelia was off to London with her husband. Emily stayed here with her boyfriend while I was by myself in Paris. I just felt a little jealous that they all have men in their lives. I mean, it's all I ever wanted. To have someone who loves me."

"You can have any guy you want. Why didn't you get a boyfriend instead of a fake fiancé?" Julian shouts at her.

"Do you have to make me say it?" She shouts back angrily.

And ladies and gentlemen, that is Nicole and Julian. One minute they are sweet and in love and the next they are at each other's throats.

Tears start spilling out of her eyes. "Sometimes I feel like everyone forgets about me so yeah, I did it for the attention."

"Is it hard for you? Being best friends with my cousin since you know, she's always been in the spotlight."

I freeze when I hear that, my chest tightening. Nicole and I have been best friends forever. I don't know why she thinks that we forget about her. She is like the sunshine of our group with her gorgeous hair and beautiful smile.

If being friends with me is hard for her, I don't know what I'm going to do. I legit cannot live without my best friend.

I watch her wipe her tears. "No."

"Good because you're a hundred times more gorgeous than she is." Julian says.

I chuckle. "What an ass."

"No. Amelia is a beauty queen without even trying. She doesn't care about how popular or beautiful she is and I guess that it what makes her special."

"And you care about all that?"

She shrugs.

"You care about it so much that you're willing to make all your friends and family worry to death? Are you seriously that selfish?"

"No, I wasn't-"

"What you did was selfish, Nicole and for what? Attention? I'm disgusted, honestly!"

"I think that's enough. Julian is being a jerk."

"I'm sorry." She looks down, her voice breaking again.

"You should be." He says then walks out of the room.

"Woah." Jasmine breathes. "That was intense."

"Guys, we are the worst friends ever." I mumble.

Jasmine instantly starts shaking her index finger. "Oh, no, no. We're not going to blame ourselves for Nicole's actions."

Emily taps my shoulder. "Let's go and see how she's doing."

We enter the sitting room where Nicole is crying her eyes out.

"Hey." I whisper.

She looks up. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Emily tells her.

She shakes her head, crying harder. "No, it's not. I'm such a horrible person. You guys don't what I did. You're going to hate me."

"No, we're not. We um, we heard everything."

"You don't understand- wait, what?"

"We spied on you."

"Oh." She just says.

"Nicky, you have to tell us everything. How come you didn't tell anyone that you saw Julian in Paris?" Jasmine says.

"How about we play a game of truth or dare to make things more interesting and less intense? And besides, I'm sure Nicole is not the only one hiding something from us?" Camilla suggests.

I don't know why but I feel a pang of guilt when I she says.

****

When I enter his office, Adam is sitting behind his desk with his phone pressed against his ear.

He looks up at me then looks away. "You will be eighteen soon. Why can't you wait till then?" He says into the phone.

Shit! This is the worst dare ever.

Adam and I are friends now. On a normal day, I wouldn't freak out over seating on his lap but he's mad at me now. I don't know what his reaction is going to be.

I look down and nervously walk up to him and gently sit in his lap, avoiding his eyes.

Oh my God. This is so awkward.

"Of course I know your birthday, Asia..... I know, hold on a sec," I feel his fingers on my chin and he lifts my head up to look at him.

"What's wrong?" He asks softly, his eyes looking worried.

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"You sure?" He asks.

"Yeah." I smile softly.

He nods then goes back to his phone call. "This is something serious, Asia. It can't be decided through a phone call.......Why are you angry? This has nothing to do with that."

I decide to snuggle into him to feel more comfortable. He surprises me when he takes his arms and wraps it around me.

I sigh and start playing with my ring.

"So what are you really doing here?" Adam asks after he ends his phone call.

"Camilla dared me to."

"Hmm." He replies.

I lift my head from his chest. "Are you still mad about what happened?"

He looks at me. "Mad? I wasn't mad. I was just worried about you and disappointed that you broke your promise."

"I didn't break my promise. There's just a lot going on." I say softly.

"So when's the wedding?"

"There's no wedding. It turns out that Nicole has just been pretending just so she could get Julian's attention."

"Julian?"

"Yeah, they used to date."

"Seriously?" He asks genuinely shocked.

Julian mentioned earlier that he and Adam are good friends.

"Yes." I smile then wiggle. "Am I heavy?"

"No." He says putting his arms back. I take mine and wrap it around his waist and rest my head back on his chest.

"So what's going on with Asia? How is she?" I ask.

"She wants to come live here with us."

That's amazing! I mean I don't mind but Adam clearly does because from the way they were talking, I got that he was disapproving what ever it is she wanted.

"Why did you say no?"

He hesitates but then answers, "Her father's family don't like me very much. They are going to start causing problems if I agree."

"But it's what she wants." I point.

"I know. I just don't want anything to do with them." He says firmly.

"Are the Walkers Asia's biological parents?"

"Yes." He says not giving any more than that.

"Do you want her to come here?"

"Not really, no."

"Why? She loves you, Adam and she cares about you a lot."

"I care for her as well but I don't know what do with her if she comes."

"Spend time with her."

He shakes his head. "Sometimes it's just gets too much for me."

"What does?" I look up, my eyes meeting his smooth black scruff.

He looks down, our faces only inches apart. "How she feels." He whispers.

"Why?"

"Because she's the only one. I'm not used to it."

"What?"

Seriously, I could lick him. He smells so good and manly and freaking sexy.

He takes a deep breath. "The affection."

"You hate that she cares so much for you because you're not used to someone feeling that way about you?"

"I don't hate it. It just makes me feel uncomfortable and annoyed."

I frown. "But you grew up at the same house. Hasn't it always been like that?"

"I always distanced myself from her because she annoyed me. It was after she lost her parents that I began to acknowledge her." He explains.

"Liam told me that you used to hate him. It was after you grew older that you became close."

"I didn't hate him. I just didn't like him."

"You don't like anybody!" Or he pretends to. "Is it because you don't want to let them in? You don't want them to get close to you?"

He doesn't say anything. He just blinks at me blankly so I keep talking.

"But even though you push people away, they still find a way to get in because they see who you are and they know it'd be stupid to not get to know you and then you have no choice but to accept them." I analyse.

"You don't what you're talking about." He says darkly.

"Yes, I do. You are the best person I know, Adam. You are so generous and caring."

When you google 'Adam Black', what you see is businessman and philanthropist.

He does so many good things in this world. Over the last few weeks, I've represented him in his charity works but it was mostly for kids, new adults and elderly people.

Ned, who went with me to all those things said that that didn't even cover a quarter of what he does and what I saw was a lot, trust me.

He starts pushing me off his lap. "Go back to your friends."

I roll my eyes and get off him, hoping one day he will be able to believe me. It bothers me that he doesn't know how special and beautiful he is. I want to make him see that.

My phone starts ringing and I see that it's Julian.

"Hey, you left without saying goodbye."

"Yeah, things got heated up."

"Well, thank for being here, Julian and for your help. What you did for Nicole was amazing."

"I didn't it for, Amelia. I saw how worried you were when you came to see me."

Awwww.

"Thank you, Julian." I say sincerely. "So are you going to leave tomorrow?"

"No, I think I'm going to stay for a while. I've got plans."

Nicole?

"I bet you do." I smile.

****