~Author's Note~

Oh hello there, whoever is still reading this story T.T I know I suck and haven't update in eons as well as my latest updates truly suck... like this one. I actually really hate this chapter but like w/e it doesn't matter anymore. The only bit I like is the Gerbil part haha. But I actually really don't like this chapter that's why it took me ages to update but I forced myself to publish it because then this story would be left like it was for a few more months... sorry! Well, hope you all like it, in any case, tell me what you think! Hopefully you won't think it sucks much! Enjoy? Maybe? Maybe not?

Sincerely, or sadly,

~Ms. AtomicBomb

Diarmuid unlocked the door and pushed it open before running a hand through his hair. The loud music hit his ears like a wave to shore. He could hear the faint voice of his brother singing along. The older male looked back at his students and gave an apologetic smile before turning back to the house, "Wait here while I make sure he's decent and not dancing in a pair of clover boxers."

After Arturia and Jeanne fell behind, Diarmuid proceeded, loud music making his body feel the bass and his heart joining the beat. Welcome to my house, "It's my house." He chuckled as he saw his brother in exactly what he expected, vibrant green shamrocks showered the young male's boxers as his long blue hair was let loose because it was damp still. Diarmuid watched as his younger brother was vacuuming the carpet and shaking his booty to the music. Clearing his throat loudly proved no effect as the boy was still tuned only to the music. "Cú Chulainn, get dressed!" Diarmuid called and watched as the male jumped in the air.

The bass still shook the walls and Diarmuid noticed the smell of something sweet, "Are you baking something?" He asked, thinking back to a sort of tart that his older sister always made when she was happy.

"Why yes, brother dear," Cú smirked, "I'm making Bailey's cake. I know sis makes it with whisky but I literally could only find Bailey's and let me just say I have no problem with that." The boy leaned back, turning off the vacuum and diminishing the noise greatly, then he picked up his phone from the table, stretching over the Dyson and balancing on one foot.

Diarmuid felt and heard the music lower and soon become very low that he could barely hear it, almost like a distant whisper, "You didn't take a shot of it, right? It cost sixty-four dollars."

Cú Chulainn twerked a little just to make Diarmuid uncomfortable and nodded, "Uh, 'course I did. That shit is decadent and fine as fuck."

The older male rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "Alright, now go get dressed."

"Why?" The red-eyed boy lifted an eyebrow, "Are you feeling uncomfortable because I'm too sexy."

"Cú, please… We have guests," Amber eyes glared at the young man, "So hurry up and change into something presentable."

Cú's eyes widened and he almost gasped, "No way, big bro, who prides himself in chivalry and modesty and even celibacy after what happened with that train wreck is now bringing obedient but feisty gerbil Arturia Pendragon home. I thought you had more self control than this bro, just wow."

Diarmuid turned beet red, even his ears were on fire as he was basically cutting his brother down in his mind, "I-It's nothing like that! Now shut up and change! It's not just Arturia here."

Cú Chulainn groaned and walked towards the stairs, "I call half the cake, I made it!" He called and then soon the door to his room was shut with a moderate bang.

Deeming it time to allow the females to come past the foyer, he marched over to them and gave them a confident nod, still embarrassed because he knew that Arturia had heard what his younger brother had said. It seemed that Jeanne and Arturia had been fighting about it because Jeanne was supressing a giggle and Arturia looked pissed off.

"Your brother really has it coming," Arturia huffed as she passed Diarmuid, confirming his suspicions with her tone of voice. Jeanne followed with short giggles that made the Chemistry teacher relieved to see she was getting over what had happened in the park.

It wasn't long before Cú Chulainn descended the stairs and right upon reaching the group, who were seated at the living room he frowned and looked down at his outfit, if his brother had told him that it was Jeanne that had come to visit than he would not have been wearing black sweatpants and the first shirt he could find, which was one of a stupid pun.

"Is the cake ready?" Diarmuid asked, causing the females to turn their heads to Cú Chulainn in a second.

Arturia stared at her friend's crush with anger while the Frenchwoman had a small smile on her peach lips. Cú Chulainn returned the smile to Jeanne and lingered his gaze on her face a little too long before he rounded the couch and sat down, "It'll be done in a minute or two."

Jeanne shifted in the leather seat next to him, causing their side of the couch to sink in deeper and growl under her as leather usually did, "I didn't know that you knew how to bake," he could hear the smile in her voice and he wanted to catch it, so he turned to her and nodded.

"My sister taught me when I was younger, but I only know how to do a few; the whisky cake and the Baileys cheesecake because they are great." He returned the smile as he leaned back on the couch, hair still loose, "Though, I did not want to make cheese cake because it takes years and Diarmuid had no whisky so I settled for Baileys cake."

Arturia made her way towards the blue-haired male and stood in front of him, "Since when did I become a feisty gerbil?"

Cú choked a little and then cleared his throat, "Oh, you heard that…" he mumbled and heard the sweet giggle of Jeanne next to him. The female before him was indeed starting to look more like a feisty gerbil, with her tone of voice and the look on her face, "I thought you weren't in the suite then."

Arturia opened her mouth to argue with him but the oven had decided to beep instead and the blue-haired boy stood from the seat and made his way straight to the cake.

Upon opening the oven, the sweet smell of vanilla and Irish cream filled his lungs, making his heart sink and his stomach churn. Slipping his hand into the cotton glove, he felt the warmth of the oven through the thick fabric and softly kissing his face. After poking the cake and deeming it to be ready, he placed the cake on the stove and quickly placed it on a platter, "We gotta wait for it to cool so I'm going to step out for the time being." He turned around and gave the others a short nod before heading off to the patio.

To Jeanne, it seemed that Diarmuid had become a little upset when the other male excused himself and it took a while for her to understand why. She stood up from the couch and followed after Cú, she did not even bother explaining herself before she walked out of the living room and into the patio of the suite. The cool winter breeze stung her face and she regretted haven taken off her coat earlier. The snow below her feet crunched with every step making her both feel and hear the action.

The young woman's violet eyes set themselves on the boy at the end of the patio, leaning onto the railing and looking over the beautiful nightline before him, "Hey," she spoke up a little and watched just as his head turned and his very own red eyes locked on hers.

"Oh, hey," he gave a short smile as he dusted off his cigarette, "what brings a lass like you so far out?" his chuckle made her smile but her gut twist.

It took a while for her to reach the uninvited smell but even as the wall of smoke hit her, she just shrugged it off and refrained from coughing, "Thought you'd be a bit lonely…" Upon reaching him, she too leaned on the railing.

"Aren't you freezing?" He would rather comment on her lack of attire than hide his faint blush.

Jeanne laughed a little, "Ha, yes, I am, but this sweater is thick enough so all is well." She gave a short shrug and smiled at him. There was silence for a while until she decided it best to say something, "Ever thought of quitting?" The smell was bothering her quite a bit now, and it was the only thing that came to her head.

Cú Chulainn breathed out another puff of smoke and with that, he leaned over towards an ash tray that he had already set up outside and smothered the cigarette, "Actually, I promised my father that I would quit when I arrived here." His voice was a little hoarse, now that she paid attention to it.

She really did not want to nag him because she knew how sensitive the topic was. Cracking a smile, she gave a short laugh, "Do you plan to keep that promise, even if it's a little bit late?"

"Mmm," The boy tilted his head and shot her a smirk, "Maybe."

"Cú…" Jeanne decided to gather up her strength and push away the anxiousness in her gut, "could I please ask you something?"

The Irishman had contemplated teasing her with the usual 'You already did', but he noted the serious tone she held and instead he nodded, "Anything you want to know lass, I promise to answer it."

She licked her lips, and then ran her teeth over her bottom peach coloured lip, "Why did you, um," she was still unsure if she should be asking, "start smoking?" What was the worst that could happen? He'd say that that subject was off limits… actually the worst case scenario was him pushing her over the ledge and off the building but that was highly unlikely.

"Well…" He took a sharp and harsh breath as he leaned a little closer to the railing and looked down at the moving cars; hundreds of meters below, "You sure you want to hear the story? It's quite long."

"When did Cú start his rebellious phase?" Arturia questioned, leaning back on the sofa after Jeanne had left, "Or has he always been like that?"

Diarmuid was obviously uncomfortable with the question, he did not want to answer the question and so he changed the subject, or rather the person of discussion, "And when did you start being so straightforward? Or were you always like that?"

Arturia let out a chuckle as she noticed he was just teasing her, "I've always been like this, don't worry."

"May I sit?" The man was standing in front of her now, a smile on his lips for he wanted to seem as friendly as possible.

The young lady almost rolled her eyes at the absurd question but she gave him a nod, "Knock yourself out, Dia." After he sat next to her, she immediately—not wasting even a second—rested her head on his shoulder, "Are we going to watch a movie?" She asked as she felt him tense under her touch.

"Uh, um, if you want," he stumbled over his words, she was close—so very close—and this was bad, "what would you like to watch?" He tried his best not to sound nervous or unsettled.

She turned her head a little to look up at him, catching his amber eyes before he turned and his cheeks lit up a bright pink colour, "What's wrong?" She asked, trying to sound as innocent as she could.

"N-no thing," he stuttered letting his eyes stay fixed on the blank television.

"If you don't want me touching you, you can just say so, you know? Or are you just being shy? You don't have to be so shy…" She stared at the television in front of them, somehow actually thinking he would push her away, yet her tone being a little playful.

He took, what sounded like, an unpleased breath, "Arturia, you already know that it's not like that…Now, what movie do you want to watch?"

Arturia lifted her head off his shoulder for a second and then she quickly kissed his jaw. She was aiming for his cheek, initially, but she couldn't stretch all that way for she was still quite short. His jaw was the highest she could get—and they were definitely not on the stage of neck kisses because for sure that would freak to poor young man out, "You look cute when you blush," she smirked, still looking up at him.

"I am not blushing…" He denied, his head still turned the other way, not even daring to look at the female beside him.

She decided to tease him a little more and then brought his face towards her so that he could finally face her, she stared him down, hand remaining on his cheek and a sweet and slightly seductive smile on her lips, "You are too gentlemanly sometimes, remember, I am your girlfriend." She then dropped her hand from his cheek and slid it over his shoulder before standing up, "I'm going to get some water, is that alright?"

He took a hold of her wrist before she left and pulled her towards him, not meaning to fling her so hard to the couch. She landed with an 'oof' and confusion written all over her face. She hadn't noticed when, but he was quite close to her, his amber eyes searching hers for an excuse of some sort. Her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest, that she even felt in her throat. His eyes lingered on her lips for what felt like hours and he was actually approaching her even more… he was going to kiss her.

So, Arturia was not exactly ready for that because it had been so sudden, but she gathered all her courage to accept it; this was possibly never going to happen again so she had to let him kiss her. Slowly letting her eyelids close, she took a steady breath to prepare herself.

"Don't tease me again, please," his voice and warm breath hit her just as his arms wrapped around her in a tight hug, keeping her in place, "Just be a little patient with me." He soon slid his arms off of her and gave her an embarrassed smile.

She was blushing, well…they both were, but she was the one that kept silent, "I will proceed to getting water now," She sounded robotic and very out of it that Diarmuid fell back on the couch upon her entrance to the kitchen.

"It all started when I met this girl. Yeah, it's one of those stories, haha. So, there was this girl and man was she perfect—okay perfect's probably not the word…" The blue-haired boy bit his lower lip, "Point is she was hot, like real hot, and everyone wanted her; including me, of course. Basically, I was infatuated with her and like any hormonal teenaged boy, I followed her like a lost puppy. Thing is, she only liked 'bad boys' and sure I got into trouble and stuff but nothing that she wanted. So," he breathed, "That's what I became to get her attention and it worked. She offered me a smoke one time and I took it. We had basically been dating for a while and she wasn't the best influence for me."

Jeanne was not exactly sure what to say at this point, it seemed as if he was trying so hard to explain the situation to her, "You don't actually have to tell me…" She found herself mumbling under her breath.

"Actually," Cú Chulainn turned towards her, "I want to tell you; it's better that way." It was better for Jeanne to know the entire truth, if she still wanted to be his friend afterwards; then he would truly like her… and thus he continued, "Okay, I'm a party kind of guy, I admit. Parties are my thing, but that also means I only like certain types of parties. Dancing, music—which I enjoy—and logical 'fun'… Her types of parties were much different; drugs, no dancing but some crap music and overall debauchery—that was not my thing. But when people are very persuasive you find yourself in a place you never thought you'd be."

"Did you get into drugs?" Jeanne questioned, gulping and hoping she didn't sound so intrusive.

"Mhm, only small ones, like weed and stuff, but with every passing month I was starting to go deeper into that world that I didn't like," Cú's facial expression was neutral. He didn't seem mad or annoyed, just completely and utterly neutral, "I came home high or drunk and did not even talk to my father while I was at home because I didn't want him finding out. I always made sure that he was either not at home or sleeping when I arrived and since Dia and Scáthach lived elsewhere they never knew anything. I guess that is the good thing about rich families, they aren't so much of a family sometimes… that's why I basically went through all this shit, though I'm not saying my family is at fault because I know it's all on me."

The female bit her lower lip, she didn't want him to be talking all the time because she felt that maybe it wasn't the time for him to pour out his entire heart to her, she was afraid that maybe she couldn't hold it, "So how did you get out of all that?"

"The good thing about our relationship was that I soon found out she had actually been with someone else. But I kept silent because, after all, I still liked her." She was charming in some way or form that Cú Chulainn was—you could say—infatuated with her to a certain extent, "I didn't leave her until Diarmuid found out that I was doing drugs and I had started to realize that I was caught up in a load of bullshit. I rarely ever fought with Dia before I met the chic, but after that, we were in constant fights. I even punched him once and it was very unlike me to land a hand on my brother—I had never done that on purpose. I also caught her in the act with someone else and that had been the last straw."

"I-I'm very sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," he laughed, lightening up the mood, "Father knew I was smoking, nothing about the drugs though and I finally started regaining my senses with Diarmuid's help. This all happened last year while Diarmuid was going back and forth between schooling here and Ireland, but during the summer everything started to get better and since Diarmuid landed a temporary job here, he convinced my father that I should live with him since he knew he had better control over me."

"Well, I think the cake is ready now, don't you agree?" He asked, a smile on his lips, trying to sort of pretend that they had not been talking about his problematic life.

Jeanne nodded as she pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, "Yes," she answered and followed him as he headed back into the suite.

"My father gave me three rules for coming here; No excessive drinking, no smoking, no girls— but I'm already breaking all three." He sighed before pulling the balcony door open and meeting his brother in the living room.