DISCLAIMER: I don't own House of Anubis.
Alfie's face popped up on Piper's laptop screen when she hit accept, and the girl smiled fondly at him before beckoning Nina, Joy, Patricia, and Mara over. Joy, Mara, and Nina had never met the boyfriend Piper constantly talked about, and Piper figured this would be a good time. Alfie himself had Jerome, Eddie, Fabian, and Amber crowded around him- Amber made everything slightly awkward, but it was alright, Alfie was over her, and it shouldn't matter because Amber didn't even like him like that anymore.
"Hey, honey!" Alfie greeted, blowing her a cheesy kiss through the screen. She laughed and reciprocated the gesture, ignoring Patricia, Eddie, and Jerome's eye rolls. Joy and Mara simply found it cute, while Nina and Fabian just smiled at the affection. Jealousy poured from Amber as she crossed her arms and frowned, tugging at the bracelet on her wrist as if it was some kind of stress reliever.
"Mara! Joy!" Amber asked, pinching into her skin and gritting her teeth as she asked her next question. "You know her?" Amber raised an eyebrow- two of her best friends knew the girl that was going out with Amber's ex and didn't bother to tell her? However, Amber had played off her relationship with Alfie as 'no big deal', and Mara and Joy knew she didn't like to talk about it, that might've been why they never brought Piper up.
"Um, yeah," Joy said, a questioning tone coloring her voice. Why did it matter if she knew Piper? To her knowledge, Amber was over Alfie- rightfully so too, Amber had broken up with Alfie in the first place. "And Nina, this is Amber Millington."
"I've heard of you," Nina nodded. "Marvelous Millington right? You're a great fashion designer!"
Amber beamed, sour mood temporarily forgotten as she latched onto Fabian's arm in happiness, "SHE KNOWS MY WORK!"
"Nina," Fabian smiled, and Nina almost blinked in surprise. What was Fabian doing there? "I see you met Piper."
"You two know each other as well?" Jerome sighed. "This is getting too complicated."
"So, you're the girl Fabian's been talking about non-stop," Eddie smirked, glancing at Fabian, who was blushing hard. Nina got extremely shy as well, turning into a tomato as well, and Eddie muttered something resembling "they're perfect together."
"Fabian!" Amber gasped. "How could you not tell me you had a crush on someone? I could've helped!" At this point, poor socially-awkward turtle Fabian had turned beet red, excusing himself.
"So, why'd you video call?" Piper asked.
"I just wanted to see your face," he said dreamily, and Amber frowned deeply while Patricia muttered a 'spare me.'
"What's the real reason?" Piper laughed.
"Eddie's here to talk with Patricia," Amber informed, effectively cutting the playful banter, and Eddie shot her a pointed look. They hadn't agreed to be that direct about it, maybe dance around the topic of the date and finally settle a time.
"Um, okay," Piper said, surprised with Amber's boldness, looking to Patricia. "Come on, guys, let's go." Mara and Nina obliged, sending Patricia a suggestive wink, but Joy pouted, demanding to stay for 'moral support.' Patricia rolled her eyes, muttering a 'one minute' to Eddie, who had somehow cleared Amber, Jerome, and Alfie away.
Patricia stood up and went towards the television, flicking it on and pausing a moment before letting out a high pitched scream. "JOY! It's Twilight! And Robert Pattinson just took off his shirt!" Joy went bug eyed and pushed Patricia out of the way, settling down on the couch. Patricia laughed and went back to the laptop.
"Hey," she greeted Eddie, who gave her an easy smile.
"So, I was just wondering if you wanted to come by my studio tomorrow like we talked about," Eddie said, and Patricia bit her lip to suppress a grin. Tomorrow, Monday.
"Is 1:00 fine? That's my lunch break," Patricia shrugged, and Eddie nodded.
"Well, bye," Eddie said awkwardly after a few silent moments, going to end the call. Patricia paused her internal debate.
"Wait, Eddie," she stopped him, and he looked at her curiously, if not a tad hopefully. "Let me give you my number. Just so we don't have to, you know, talk like this."
And as they exchanged numbers, Patricia kept trying to convince herself that the only reason she gave Eddie her mobile number was so they wouldn't have to have a laptop to chat. That was the only reason.
But the little part of her that demanded on being a lovesick teenager just laughed and muttered, that is not the only reason over and over again.
"Nice going man!" Alfie hi-fived his friend while Jerome patted his back in congratulations. Fabian offered him a genuine smile while Amber just squealed.
"My plan worked!" she said, hugging Eddie in happiness. He gently pried her off when his circulation started cutting off, giving Amber a pointed look. It hadn't been her idea, Amber's idea was to stomp over to Patricia's and Piper's apartment with roses. Then Jerome had cleverly pointed out it 'wasn't a marriage proposal' and Alfie had set up a video chat instead.
"It wasn't your plan," Eddie muttered, but he couldn't stay that upset, especially when he looked down at his phone and saw Patricia Williamson in the contacts list. He looked up at Amber, who was wistfully looking up at Alfie, oh-so-oblivious Alfie. Eddie took a chance, stepping closer to Amber and offering her a word of advice. "Go talk to him about it," he whispered.
She didn't even turn around to face him, didn't flinch, her voice taking on a bitter tone, contradicting the features that had once been so happy, "He doesn't care for me anymore."
"You both need closure," Eddie said, remembering the marriage counseling his parents had gone to. Amber turned to look at him, and Eddie studied her features, the ones any girl would die to have, the ones etched with a melancholy he hadn't noticed before. It dawned on him though, Amber had matured, Amber was more than she used to be.
"Thanks for trying," she said gently, a faint smile lighting her lips, and he just shook his head, unable to believe he was having this conversation. "But I better be getting back. See you later."
Amber bit her lip to bite back the inevitable tears, slipping into her Lamborghini and driving back home. She was wonderfully rich, she should be happy.
But parking into her garage and resting her head on the steering wheel as her body shook with sobs, Amber realized her heart ached in ways she never imagined it could. She loved Alfie Lewis.
Loved him so hard it hurt.