Chapter 7 – The Sleepover Party.
Caramel and Sapphire were dragging the last few items of Sapphire's belongings to Caramel's house. Caramel had decided to close the Molly Moo early today so she could help Sapphire unpacking, it was almost going to be evening anyway. ''I never knew you had so much 'important stuff''' Caramel complained. ''Couldn't you hire a moving agency or something?'' She sighed. ''I couldn't. I don't have any money left''. Sapphire put the stuff she was holding down on the floor of Caramel's bedroom. Martino came look around the corner. ''Hey Sapph, are you staying over?'' Sapphire gave a cheerful nod as response. ''Vikus took her villa'' Caramel explained. ''Oh, and just act like you're at home'' she told Sapphire while she also put the stuff she was carrying down on the floor. It would've been better if she hadn't said that. ''Yay! I'll go make some chocolate milk!'' Sapphire yelled cheerfully and already made her way downstairs, to the kitchen of the Molly Moo. Caramel sighed. ''I'll go after her, before she'll let everything explode. Or worse, turn the house into a chocolate one. Could you get the spare mattress from the attic?'' Caramel already ran after Sapphire before Martino could even answer her. He sighed. ''And of course I'll have to do the heavy work again'' he grumbled to himself.
Once downstairs, Caramel found Sapphire in the kitchen. She was searching every nook and cranny to find the chocolate milk. ''Caramel, I can't find any'' she said, feeling disappointed, once she saw Caramel. Caramel let out a relieved sigh. At least the kitchen was still the same as it was before. ''Just sit down, I'll make some for you'' she said, and Sapphire sat down at the kitchen table. Sapphire was just staring in the distance a bit absently while Caramel was making it. ''What's wrong? You're almost never this silent''. Caramel noted. Sapphire sighed deeply. ''It's… nothing'' she said, but Caramel wasn't planning on giving up this easily. ''Let me guess, it's about Floxy, isn't it?'' she guessed, but Sapphire shook her head. ''No… but I did notice something'' she suddenly said, upon thinking back at that morning. ''Floxy was acting weird, and Rex kept giving me creepy stares the whole time''. ''Maybe they're just stressed about the situation with Vikus and all?'' Caramel wasn't really sure about it, but what other explanation was there? ''Boys… we'll never understand them'' she added, upon which Sapphire started to grin. ''Et voila, one chocolate milk!'' Caramel put the cup with chocolate milk which she had just made down in front of Sapphire. ''Maybe this will make you feel a little better''. Sapphire nodded thankfully, and took a sip from the cup. Once she had finished it, the two girls made their way back to Caramel's room again, to organize Sapphire's stuff.
A few hours later they were finally done with organizing everything. Sapphire fell down on the mattress she was sleeping on, feeling drained. ''I'm exhausted'' she complained to Caramel. ''It's your own fault for owning so much stuff'' Caramel replied. Sapphire only gave her an annoyed glance. Caramel started laughing. ''Do you remember the first time you slept over? It's been a really long time''. Sapphire nodded. ''Yeah! I remember baking a cake together… which didn't work out that well unfortunately''. A grin slowly started to appear on her face. ''It wasn't my fault!'' Caramel looked at Sapphire. ''You weren't following the recipe and just added random amounts of everything!'' Upon hearing that, Sapphire pretended to feel offended. ''At least it was edible!'' ''Yeah, but after taking one piece of that cake, I couldn't see or taste cake anymore for the rest of the evening!'' Both of them began to laugh. ''Soo…'' Sapphire began once they had finally calmed theirselves down. ''Did you know that Morfo is still sending me love notes in which he writes my name as 'Seffire' because he thinks that's the correct way to write it?'' ''No way! You're kidding!'' Caramel yelled. Sapphire nodded enthusiastically. ''It's true! Floxy found one sometime ago. He ripped it apart, but he couldn't help but laugh at the way Morfo wrote my name down''. Caramel laughed. ''I've got a great idea! Let's hold a sleepover party!'' Sapphire suddenly said. ''Just like we did in the past. We should keep eachother updated, along with a whole lot of food!'' Caramel rolled her eyes. ''You and your food. But you're right, it's a good idea… Then I can tell you about my dream wedding! And about Rex!'' She sounded rather dreamy just by thinking about it. ''If you're going to talk about Rex the whole time then I'm just going to sleep''. Sapphire pretended to be tired just from only hearing his name. Caramel laughed. ''Hey, shall we ask Martino if he wants to join us?'' ''Sure. It'll be… Vits!'' Sapphire quickly grabbed one of her bags from the corner of the room. ''Vits?'' Caramel just stared at her, not understanding what she'd meant. ''So here he was! I already thought I was hearing a strange noise…'' Out of her bag, Sapphire took a fat, black pet rat, who was chewing loudly on some candy. ''Apparently he has been eating my secret sweet supply all this time! He's always hungry…'' ''Just like you'' Caramel added. Sapphire put the rat down on her mattress and ignored what Caramel just said. ''No more sweets for you!'' she tried punishing her pet, yet he either didn't understand or didn't care as he just kept on eating. Caramel grabbed Sapphire by her arm and dragged her away from the poor rat. ''Let's go downstairs, to get some food and to see if Martino's there''. They both went downstairs. ''He should've been around here somewhere…'' Caramel suddenly quit talking. In the middle of the kitchen she saw her brother. He was comforting a crying Cherie.
Caramel quickly hid behind the kitchen door, dragging Sapphire with her. ''But my food…!'' Sapphire complained. ''Ssh!'' Caramel hissed towards her. ''I want to hear what they're saying…'' She turned to face the kitchen again so she could hear the conversation, but it wasn't really working. ''Caramel, I'm hungry'' Sapphire complained again, and tried to squeeze her way through to the kitchen. ''Sapph, no!'' Caramel tried to pull Sapphire back, but it was already too late. Martino had noticed them. Surprised, but also angry, he stared at the two girls. ''What are you two doing here?'' he asked, sounding really angry. ''Where you listening in on our conversation?'' Cherie had stopped crying due to the surprise. ''I… erm, Sapphire was hungry!'' Caramel answered. Martino turned to Sapphire. ''And what about you?'' ''Caramel blocked the way'' she said, whilst trying to hold in her laugh by the sight of Martino's angry face. ''What are YOU actually doing here?'' Caramel asked Cherie. Cherie stared down at the ground. ''I followed your advice and took a pregnancy test. I actually came for you, but once I saw Martino I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I told him everything, about how hard it is for me''. She sighed. ''So it was…?'' Cherie nodded at Caramel's question. ''Yes, positive. I already thought so''. Martino put his hand on Cherie's shoulder. ''You should've told me earlier'' he said, which resulted in Caramel giving him an angry stare. She didn't want him to make it any harder for Cherie. ''But that doesn't mean I won't support her'' he quickly told Caramel. ''Of course it's difficult for me, especially after we broke up, but if Cherie decides to keep the baby then I will be there for her''. He pulled Cherie close to him and hugged her. Caramel smiled. He had made the right choice. ''I don't want to ruin your pleasant reunion, but I thought we we're having a sleepover party?'' Sapphire looked at Caramel. ''Oh, yeah!'' Caramel only started to realize what they had came for again now. ''We wanted to invite you for our sleepover party. Cherie, you can come too if you want to''. She smiled. Martino looked at Cherie. If she was fine with it, he would be too. Cherie shrugged. ''Fine'' she said. What did she got to lose? Maybe it could distract her a little.
The four of them were sitting in Caramel's bedroom. There was an awkward silence, with the exception of Sapphire who was loudly eating the food Caramel had brought upstairs for their sleepover. Caramel looked at the others. ''Doesn't anyone want to say something?'' Martino shrugged. ''I dunno. What do girls even talk about when they have a sleepover?'' Sapphire let her hand rest on his shoulder, while shaking her head, showing she was disappointed in him. ''I'm disappointed in you'' she said, in a very serious tone. ''But I'll give you a hint. Gossip'' she assured him. ''Gossip? That's all? Isn't that boring?'' Martino didn't seem to understand. ''Oh, I know something!'' Cherie said. Everyone stared at her. ''To start with…'' she pointed at Sapphire. ''I'm sure Sapphire's lying about her weight! No one can weigh that light while eating so much!'' Sapphire was quiet for a moment, surprised that it was about her, but regained her compose quickly. ''What?! That's against the rules! You're not allowed to gossip about someone who's in the same room!'' she snapped. ''And I'm not lying about my weight!'' she added afterwards. ''Prove it!'' Cherie provoked. ''I dare you to step onto the scales right here and now!'' Caramel tried to get between the two girls, to stop them from getting into a fight. ''What does it matter how much someone weighs? Let's just have a good time together'' she tried. ''I won't be able to have a good time with Cherie around'' Sapphire said. ''At least my friends don't go around saying behind my back that I'm a lazy, spoiled brat!'' Cherie nagged. Sapphire jumped up. ''You'll take that back!'' ''No way!'' Caramel sighed. There was no way to stop these two. Martino slowly picked up the bowl with crisps in it from the ground. ''This is going to be fun'' he said, while taking out a handful of crisps. ''Who do you think will win when they're going to fight?'' ''MARTINO!'' Caramel started yelling. ''Cherie's pregnant! Fightning won't be good for her and the baby!'' ''Oh… yeah''. Martino instantly dropped the bowl and ran up to Cherie, trying to restrain her from fighting. Caramel did the same with Sapphire. ''Let me go!'' Sapphire snapped at Caramel, whereafter she pulled herself loose. She gave Cherie an angry stare, yet held herself back. ''It's all her fault! She started it!'' she yelled while pointing at Cherie, then added: ''I feel bad for the kid that will have you as a parent!'' ''At least I have the chance of having a kid now. With your moods, eating habits, and all of the fights you and Floxy had lately, I'm surprised he hasn't left you yet, or cheated on you!'' Cherie snapped back at her. Sapphire got quiet for a moment. ''What?'' ''Hasn't he been treating you different lately?'' Cherie asked. It was clear that she was just trying to get Sapphire back for what she said, but it didn't seem to become clear enough for Sapphire to understand. All she could do was think back upon what happened in the morning, when Floxy had been acting strangely around her. Was he really tired of her? ''You're… you're lying! Floxy would never do something like that!'' Sapphire said, yet didn't sound very sure about it. ''Oh really? Are you sure?'' Cherie continued asking. Sapphire just stared down at the floor. Tears were forming in her eyes. ''It's not fair! You have everything I don't have!'' she said in tears. Caramel tried to comfort her, but Sapphire wouldn't allow her. ''Leave me alone! You're just as worse! At least you have your wedding, while I have nothing! Not even my own house!"' She grabbed her bag from the floor. ''I'd rather become homeless if my only choice is staying here!'' She sprinted towards the doors. ''Sapph, wait…!'' Caramel tried, but she was already too late and Sapphire had left. ''Did you really have to say that?'' she turned to Cherie, feeling frustrated. ''She asked for it''. Cherie answered, although she also knew she had gone a bit too far. Caramel walked up to the window and stared out of it, hoping she would see Sapphire somewhere, but there was no sign of her. ''I hope she'll come back soon…''
Rex and Floxy were sitting on the couch in their house. Floxy was watching a comedy movie on the tv, although it bored him, while Rex stood up and began walking back-and-forth through the living room. ''These jokes aren't even funny'' Floxy said, while he raised one of his eyebrows. He turned to face Rex. ''You're making me nervous. Just sit down already''. Rex fell down on the couch and sighed deeply. ''I want to surprise Caramel, but I don't know how''. He looked up at Floxy. ''If you were a girl, what would you want to get as a present?'' Floxy shrugged. ''I dunno. Cake?'' Rex threw his slipper towards Floxy's head out of annoyance. Floxy easily dodged it. ''I said GIRLS, not yourself''. ''Okay, okay…'' Floxy thought about it again. ''I think it doesn't really matter what you'll give, she'll appreciate it as long as you gave it to her''. Rex thought about it for a moment. ''…I'll just give her flowers'' he decided. ''Where are you going to get those?'' Floxy noted. ''All the flower shops are closed at this hour''. Rex shrugged. ''I'll just steal something, like usually''. He threw his bathrobe which he was wearing over the couch and walked up to the door to put on his shoes. ''Good luck'' Floxy just said, afterwards he focused on watching the movie again.
Not much later, Sapphire showed up at the front door of Rex and Floxy's house. She rang the bell while shaking. Floxy opened the door. ''Sapph! What are you doing here?'' he asked, sounding surprised to see her. Once he saw her eyes were full of tears, he dragged her inside with him. ''What's wrong?'' he asked, once they were sitting on the couch together. He tried hugging Sapphire, but she just pushed him away. ''You don't want me anymore, now do you?'' she asked, tears streaming down her face. ''What? Why do you think that?'' Floxy responded. ''That's not true at all''. Sapphire stared down at the ground. ''Cherie said it''. Floxy once again tried to hug her. She let him do it this time. ''You shouldn't believe everything Cherie says. She's just jealous of our relationship''. Sapphire shook her head. ''No, I'm the one who's jealous. Caramel's going to get married, Cherie's pregnant… and all we do is fight, and now I don't even have a home anymore''. Sapphire wiped her tears away. Floxy took her hand. ''But you have me'' he said. He stood up from the couch. ''Wait here. I have something to give to you''. Sapphire was completely distracted for a moment, and looked at him curiously. ''What is it?!'' She clapped her hands together. ''Is it a child?!'' Upon hearing that, Floxy immediately stopped walking. He turned to face Sapphire for a moment. ''Er… no''. He walked up to one of the cupboards in the house and took something out one of the drawers. ''I mean, I can give you one, but we're a bit too young to have kids yet'' he said upon walking back to her. Sapphire looked away rather disappointed. Floxy took Sapphire's hand again, and held it. Then he put the thing he was holding in hers. Sapphire stared at it. It was a silver bracelet with their initials engraved on it. ''I actually wanted to give it on the exact same day we got into our relationship, but it's more important now. I worked for it. When Rex took a job to save money for his dinner I also took on one''. Sapphire was still looking at the bracelet. ''Don't you like it?'' he asked, nervously. ''If you don't like it, I can still chang—'' Sapphire shook her head. ''I love it!'' She hugged him and gave him a kiss. Floxy took the bracelet from her and put it on her wrist. He looked at her. ''And from now on never think that way again. You're special to me'' he said. Sapphire nodded happily. At that moment they heard a noise coming from the front door. ''That must be Rex…'' Floxy stood up and dragged Sapphire with him. ''I don't think he should see you here right now…'' He didn't even let Sapphire speak, and pushed her towards the closet. ''Be quiet!'' he said to her, as he pushed her into it and closed the door behind him. Rex went into the living room. He looked very angry. ''Hey Rex, how did your surprise for Caramel go?'' Floxy asked, acting as normal as possible. Rex didn't answer him and walked straight toward him. ''Move, Floxy'' he snapped as he tried to get to the closet. Floxy wasn't going to go anywhere. ''You can't go in there! That's where my secret cake storage is!'' He quickly made up. Rex was just looking at him strangely, yet tried to force his way against him once again. Floxy's determination made him stronger than him, and he pushed Rex aside. ''You really can't go in there!"' Rex growled, but decided it was too much of a hassle to try again. He threw his jacket and shoes down on the ground, and went upstairs to his room. Floxy waited until he was sure Rex was in his room before he opened the door of the closet again. ''You really have to go now'' he told Sapphire once she was out. ''But where should I go?'' ''Go back to Caramel''. ''But Cherie…'' ''You really can't stay here'' Floxy determined. Sapphire sighed. It left her with no other choice than going back to Caramel's house.
-Flashback-
Rex was on his way to Caramel. He stole some flowers out of a rich gnome's garden, but what did it matter? The person wasn't going to notice it anyway, as Vikus' took the home of every rich person out there. Once he had arrived at the Molly Moo he looked around. The window of Caramel's bedroom was pretty high… He at least needed a ladder. Out of the little shed behind their house he took one, and placed it under Caramel's window. Just as he was about to step onto the ladder, he heard a voice behind him. ''Rex? What are you doing here?'' Being surprised, Rex turned around. It was Martino. ''Be quiet!'' Rex hissed to him. ''I want to surprise Caramel''. Martino's gaze fell upon the roses Rex was holding. ''Oh… you don't know it yet? Caramel doesn't want to see you anymore''. ''What? That's not true! You're lying!'' Rex didn't want to believe it. ''She didn't want to see you anymore, but she wanted me to give you this'' Martino said, as he was holding out something. Rex took it. It was a handwritten note. No doubt it was Caramel's handwriting. Slowly his expression changed, from sorrow to angryness. ''If that's how she thinks about me, then fine!"' he snapped, throwing the flowers on the ground. After that he pushed Martino out of his way so he could go home. Martino stayed behind, and started to grin once Rex was gone. ''I can't believe he fell for that so easily…'' A big cloud of magic started to form around Martino, after which his appearance changed. The person looked up at Caramel's window. ''Told you I wasn't done with you''. He grinned.