There will be no new chapter next week I'm headed out of province to my best friend's wedding so I will see you again the week after! In the mean time, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter content warnings: underage drinking; infidelity; swearing; semi sexual explicit content

Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!

~TLL~

"Ugh, this one makes my boobs look so good but this one makes my ass look so good," Marcia whined.

"Go for boobs, always," Rose advised.

"Unless you're going to be throwing down at the club," Trixie said, starting to dance on her own in the middle of Marcia's bedroom until all of the girls were snorting with laughter.

Well, not all the girls, Rose noticed, her gaze falling on Lily. Lily had barely moved from the plush ottoman in the corner of Marcia's room, even as Courtney and Trixie arrived. They'd been blasting music, drinking vodka lemonades, and trying on clothes, all while Lily just sat there. It didn't even make Rose feel better when Trixie leant in and scornfully said that Lily was always a mood killer like that. Instead, Rose just heard Jake's voice in her head, telling her not to be such a bitch.

"What about you, Lily?" Rose called, deciding to throw her a bone. "Tits or ass"

"Oh, um," Lily said, immediately going red. "Both, I guess."

"You can't have both," Marcia said. "That's just slutty."

"Lily's so innocent the Virgin Mary scandalizes her," Trixie said. "Hey, someone come help me with these falsies."

"Really?" Courtney said, stepping up to help Trixie. "Haven't you and Jake been together forever?"

"Only a year," Lily mumbled defensively. She cleared her throat and then a little louder said, "Rose, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Rose said, because saying no would be too bitchy.

Rose put down the curling iron to follow Lily into Marcia's en suite bathroom. Rose hopped up onto the counter and watched Lily pace before she stopped and stared down at her ragged boots.

"I want your help. Please."

"With?" Rose asked suspiciously.

"Tonight, I don't want Trixie to talk about me like that. I want to do my hair and make-up and dress like you do. I just don't know how."

"Are you asking me to give you a makeover?" Rose clarified, about to laugh.

Lily was nodding so eagerly that it was pathetic. "Just for tonight. And, it might be fun. We can talk and stuff."

Rose sighed. "Okay but on one condition."

"Anything," Lily promised.

"Chill out," Rose instructed. "We might be blood related and have the same face and all that but we are strangers. I'm not even sure I like you."

"Oh." Lily made no effort to hide her wounded expression. "I get it. Your whole life is different now. Jake said if the situations were reversed, I wouldn't like it either, and I should try to understand. So, I'll try to understand that everything you had is gone now and there's just our family, the real family, which wasn't what you thought it was going to be. If you ever decided to look for it."

"I never wondered about my biological family, like I told you. I want to be the bigger person and say the circumstances aren't something I expected so I want to act differently and be more accepting but … I don't want to. Not yet."

"I understand," Lily said. "Does that mean you don't want me here?"

"No," Rose said with a sigh, even though she was only half convinced that it was true. She couldn't go back to a life without Lily now, no matter what, so she might as well adjust to her presence, and that was what she said. "I might as well get used to you and figure out if I even can like you."

Lily had that wounded puppy look back on her face but it just made Rose annoyed, rather than sympathetic. Rose tried to push all of it away and focus on the task at hand. Makeovers. Marcia was much more accomplished at all of it than Rose was but she tried to put Marcia's energy into it. Rose leapt from the counter and slowly walking around Lily, trying to formulate a plan for hair and make-up and clothes. The nails were beyond help for tonight.

"Do you want to look like me or a more made up version of you?" Rose asked, completing her circle and stopping in front of Lily.

Lily's face twitched and Rose rolled her eyes, hearing in her head what Lily was fighting not to say aloud.

"I want to look like you and your friends."

Begrudgingly, Rose gave Lily some credit for not saying it. Rose still pursed her lips, though, trying to imagine an outfit that would actually look good on Lily but that wouldn't make them look like, well, twins. Finally, she snapped her fingers.

"I think I've got it," Rose announced. "If you're ready."

Lily stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment and then squared her shoulders. With a decisive nod, she said, "I'm ready."

Rose got to work.

(-.-)

Jake smacked Spud's arm as Spud started humming. Again. The were entering a neighbourhood that dripped money but that didn't mean that he wanted to hear Spud's nasally rendition of 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' another time.

"Stop it! They're not celebrities."

"They could be. I looked it up. Rose's school, I mean. Do you have any idea how exclusive it is? They educate diplomat's kids there. Someone here could be the next leader of a small foreign nation!"

"A small foreign nation?" Jake asked only half listening as he checked the address on his phone.

"A small foreign nation! I could be a first lady or a royal consort! My whole future could be decided because Lily had a secret! Lily!"

Jake decided to keep his mouth shut as Spud kept freaking out. They were high school seniors, not leaders of small foreign nations and no one was going to make Spud the duke of anything. But, Jake wasn't going to pop Spud's bubble, like Trixie would have, because Jake was convinced of one simple truth: none of it was going to matter if it turned out that Stacey Wintergrin wanted to kiss Spud again.

"Trixie just texted," Spud said, switching lanes, "she wants to know where we are because there's something we're not going to believe."

"Us? Not believing something?" Jake snorted. His friends had, at this point, seen it all. "Like what?"

The answers were endless. For a second, Jake teased himself with visions of hot girls surrounding a heated infinity pool, wagyu steaks, and a hologram performance from Biggie Smalls. If he had money, that's how he'd party. Screw it, he'd even throw in a tiger or something for decoration, because he could.

Anticlimactically, Spud shrugged. "She didn't say."

"Well, we're here."

They climbed the stone steps together and Spud knocked. They could hear the loud music and the roar of voices and, so, Jake pushed the front door open though no one came for them. He was hit with a wall of warmth as they stepped inside, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dim accent lighting. Once they did, Jake was both surprised that it didn't look any different than a public school party and not surprised at all. Marcia's house opened right into a large living room where a circle of people were loudly playing 'Never Have I Ever'. Jake didn't see a sign of anyone he recognized. With Spud on his heels, Jake headed toward the sound of music. No matter what, he knew he'd find Trixie dancing. They didn't get much further though, when Spud stopped.

"Whoa," Spud exclaimed. "Rose looks even better tonight."

Jake glanced across the kitchen quickly, following Spud's gaze. He would only look for a second, because he didn't want Lily to see him looking. But, then, he felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

"That's not Rose," Jake said, his voice near a growl.

"Oh shit!" Spud exclaimed. "That's got to be what Trixie was talking about. Lily's got boobs."

Jake socked Spud in the arm, putting enough dragon strength behind it that Spud stopped laughing. Jake left Spud whining and rubbing his arm and made his way across the kitchen, where Lily was standing by the keg with Courtney, a half-full red solo cup in her hand. Jake approached slowly, looking at the outfit that was so unlike Lily and trying to figure out how he felt about it. Jake knew he should like it. What seventeen-year-old boy didn't want to see his girlfriend a skirt that showed off her legs and a top that showed off her chest, with her eyes painted to be smokey and lingering, her lips red and inviting? Even Spud was reacting positively to the look, no matter what he thought of who had it on, and Jake could tell that there were others in the room who agreed with Spud, people who had never looked at Lily before, no matter how many times they'd been in the same room. Jake knew he should be as supportive of Lily's journey of self-discovery as he'd promised this afternoon but he hadn't even thought that a makeover like this was going to be part of it.

Lily grinned when she caught sight of him, bringing some of her old softness back to her face. She preened as she approached him, tossing her perfectly straight hair over her shoulder. It was a move Jake had seen Tracey do a hundred times but Lily lacked the practiced ease that made the move look so flirty coming from other girls. And all the hair that made it attractive in the first place.

"What do you think?" Lily squealed in a way that made Jake think she'd already been drinking.

Anyone else and he would have expected a little pre-gaming for a party. Anyone that wasn't Lily. At least, not the Lily he knew. Thought he knew. Jake knew he had to answer her but, honestly, he didn't know what he could say or even wanted to say. The things that had made her Lily to him had apparently vanished in overnight, lost in a cloud of perfume.

"Jake," Lily prodded, "do you like it?"

A lot of glee had gone out of her voice. Jake forced a smile onto his face. If this was who she needed to be right now, it was Jake's job to support her. He opened his mouth but it was two seconds too late. Lily burst into loud tears.

"Oh my god! You think I'm ugly!" she screeched before fleeing.

"Lily, no!"

Jake reached out for her but she was outside of his grasp. He turned to chase Lily through the crowd but Courtney grabbed his arm.

"Let me go," she said "You're not going to help anything now."

"But, I –"

Courtney was already gone into the thick of the crowd. Jake stood for a long moment, feeling pathetic. Like, he had failed as a boyfriend. All he'd had to do was tell Lily she was beautiful and mean it. He'd said it hundreds of times over the past year and meant it every time.

"You're beautiful," Jake said. There. It wasn't hard. So, why hadn't he been able to say it to her face?

"Thank you."

Jake jumped, turning to find Rose standing behind him, a big bottle of tequila in her hand.

"How are you that sneaky?" Jake asked.

Rose grinned, mischief in her expression. "I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you."

"Well, now I know who to go to if I ever want to off myself," Jake muttered under his breath.

Rose didn't laugh. Instead she said, "I saw Lily crying. Who's being a bitch now?"

Jake groaned and wondered where all of his friends had gone. He didn't really want to talk to Rose about Lily. Actually, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk to anyone about Lily, except Lily herself. Wherever she'd disappeared to.

"I was trying to do as you asked," Rose continued as if Jake had answered. "She wanted a makeover; I gave her one. We even had a bit of a chat. Then, there you go, ruining her eyeliner without a word."

Jake eyed Rose warily. She didn't sound annoyed like a friend would be or irate like a sister would be. She sounded like she was discussing the weather and Jake wondered again if Rose was even capable of feelings.

"I should go check on Lily," Jake said. Something in his instincts was telling him that staying here, standing with Rose, would put him in a dangerous situation.

Rose took the top off the tequila bottle. "Courtney sent me to tell you to stay away for a while. She, Danika, and Lily are having girl time in Marcia's bathroom. She doesn't want to see you."

Jake could only blink. Lily now had friends close enough to shut him out? Jake had always hoped that Lily would find more people to hang out with – mostly so he could stop hearing Spud and Trixie complain that Lily never let him do anything because he was her only friend. But, since the moment they'd met, Jake had been her confidant, her best friend, and her boyfriend, and he had striven to be perfect in each role. It didn't seem right that Lily could just shut a door between them like that. Temporary or not.

Jake took the bottle from Rose's hand and tilted a shot's worth into his mouth. Jake liked to have fun but he always made himself stop when he hit tipsy, unlike Spud and Trixie who took turns going blackout when the opportunity arose. If Lily wanted to be different tonight, he could be different too. Maybe he'd wake up and find it was Saturday morning all over again and that this had all been some sort of strange dream.

"So, it's going to be that kind of night, is it?" Rose asked.

Jake could still feel the tequila burning. "Fuck it. Why not?"

Rose laughed. "Fuck it! Why not?" She agreed and took the bottle from him.

Rose took a shot from the bottle too, her lip gloss leaving a faint trace of glitter along the rim. Jake took the bottle from her hand, staring at Rose's familiar but foreign features. She stared right back at him and Jake took another drink from the bottle even though the last burn hadn't faded yet.

"Identical," Jake said, "but you don't actually look alike at all."

That seemed to please Rose and she reached out, this time taking Jake's hand, rather than the tequila bottle.

"Come on, let's go dance!"

Jake followed her, powerless to stop himself.

(-.-)

Lily had no idea how she'd ended up this way. Two parties in her whole life that weren't children's birthday parties and she'd ended up crying like a loser at both of them. Courtney and Danika had come to check on her but Danika didn't seem overly concerned about Lily and Courtney had seemed too concerned. Lily had sent them both back to the party so that she could just sit alone and feel sorry for herself. It was something that she was good at.

What had she been thinking, asking Rose to give her a makeover? When Lily had looked at herself in the mirror for the first time, she had felt beautiful. And it wasn't, really, about the hair or the make up. For the first time, Lily had felt like she had chosen what to look like. She hadn't defaulted to easy and comfortable and safe. She had launched herself out of comfort zone and that had been the beautiful part.

Up until Jake made it clear that she looked like a clown.

There was a knock at the door and Lily rubbed at her eyes, feeling bad that she was ruining all of Rose's handiwork.

"Go away!" Lily shouted. "I'm fine!"

The door opened anyway.

"It's my bathroom," Marcia said, striding in and shutting the door behind her. "You can't tell me to fuck off."

"Oh." Lily could feel her cheeks going hot. "I'm sorry!"

"You're fine," Marcia said, reaching over Lily to grab lip gloss. "Or not? Are you crying in my bathroom?"

"Um, yes," Lily admitted, feeling intimidated as Marcia stood over her. "I guess, yeah."

To Lily's surprise, Marcia sank to the floor next to her in a surprisingly graceful move given her high heels and short dress. Marcia had said that she'd picked an 'ass' dress for tonight but from where Lily was sitting, it looked more like a 'boobs' dress. The bright red fabric glittered slightly, making it hard for Lily to look away from Marcia's light brown skin. Still, Lily didn't realize she'd been staring until Marcia spoke.

"Why are you crying on my bathroom floor?"

"Jake didn't like my outfit," Lily mumbled.

"Um, so?"

"So, he's my boyfriend."

"So?"

"So, I wanted him to like it. This isn't how I normally dress."

"I saw the frumpy yesterday."

"I wanted him to say I was, like, hot or something," Lily confessed.

Jake had never called her hot. Lily knew she wasn't a hot girl and instead had focused on how he called her beautiful and gorgeous. They were more sophisticated, more meaningful words and Lily had clung to that fact instead. Up until she'd felt like a hot girl and Jake had let her down.

"Did you need him to tell you?"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked. This whole conversation with Marcia was starting to feel surreal.

"Well, like, did you want his approval because how he sees you is important you or did you need to hear it because you had to validated yourself through him?"

"What?"

Marcia shrugged. "Did you look at yourself and think I'm hot or think I hope he thinks I'm hot?"

"I thought I was hot," Lily admitted, feeling like she was finally grasping what Marcia was trying to say. "I wasn't even thinking about what he thinks."

"So then why the hell are you up here crying about what he thinks instead of being down there showing yourself off and doing hot girl shit?"

Because Lily didn't have a clue how to be that person. Because, even if she wanted to try, she'd already cried off all of her make-up. Because there was no way Rose would help her twice in one night.

Marcia's hand grasped Lily's bare thigh and Lily sucked in a breath. How were Marcia's hands that warm? Lily felt like she was getting electric jolts, all the way into her core. It made her feel dizzy and half sick but all in a good way. And that, more than anything else tonight, Lily couldn't understand.

"Say you're hot shit," Marcia instructed.

"I'm hot shit?"

"Like you mean it!"

"I am hot shit!"

"LOUDER!"

Lily screamed. "I am hot shit!"

"Good," Marcia said. "Now, come on. Up."

"Up?"

Fear clenched Lily all over again. She couldn't get up and go downstairs. Not now, not ever. Two nights in a row, in front some of the same people, she'd absolutely humiliated herself. Who knew what they were saying about her? All terrible jokes, likely at her expense, Lily was sure. She could never face any of them again. She should probably make it easy on herself and retreat into a sweater cocoon and leave this life to actual hot girls like Marcia and Rose who were accepted into it.

"Yes," Marcia said, impatience in her tone. "Get up."

When Marcia stood up, Lily knew she wasn't going to be given a choice. She pulled herself up using the counter; her knees felt like jelly. Marcia patted a spot on the counter and Lily plopped herself into the space, knowing she was going to end up there anyway. Marcia was clearly not the type of person who took no for an answer. Lily stayed still as Marcia cleaned the remains of make-up from Lily's face.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Lily asked.

"Contrary to what you probably believe, Rose and I aren't actually that bitchy. She's just super guarded and, as her best friend, it's my job to follow her lead while she's figuring you out."

"So, if she decided to hate me forever, you would too?"

Marcia just laughed. Then, she brushed a piece of Lily's hair out of the way, leaning her body close to Lily's to put eyeliner on her. It was much closer than Rose had gotten during Lily's first makeover. Her stomach was feeling those little jolts again. Except, they were getting bigger every time Marcia touched her. Never had she felt anything like this. Not when Jake kissed her. Not even at night, deep in her own fantasies. Marcia slid between Lily's legs and angled the mascara wand while Lily let out a gasp that Marcia must have heard. The thought made Lily blush again. What was happening to her? The bathroom felt like it was getting smaller and hotter.

"Look down," Marcia instructed.

Lily did and there was Marcia's cleavage. As Marcia moved, Lily could swear that she saw the top of a dark nipple. Lily stared, transfixed, as a vision of pulling down Marcia's dress in order to see, touch, even kiss those dark nipples played out in Lily's head. The thought excited her, more than any thought she'd ever tried to have of Jake. Lily wanted to slap herself, rid the vision of Marcia from her mind. Jake was the perfect boyfriend. Her perfect boyfriend. And she was mentally cheating on him! With a girl!

"There," Marcia said, "you're almost ready for hot girl shit."

Was Lily imagining it or did Marcia sound more sensual?

Marcia leant back and Lily wanted to grab onto her, pull her back to where Lily could feel her body heat again.

"What colour lipstick do you want?"

"I like your lips," Lily stammered, feeling breathless. Was she flirting? Was that flirting? Who was she? Lily didn't know how to flirt! Especially not with women who weren't her boyfriend!

Boyfriend, Lily, you have a boyfriend! Lily scolded herself desperately, but then Marcia spoke again and Lily lost her train of thought. You like boys!

"Oh yeah?" Marcia leant in and Lily swallowed hard. Marcia was definitely flirting. "Do you want to see how the colour looks on you?"

Desire surged through Lily and seized onto every part of her. This was everything that she had always tried to make herself feel for Jake but had never been able to make happen. It would be so wrong of her to keep going but Lily knew that was exactly what she was going to do. She didn't want to stop. What if she never got to feel this way again? Lily was going to chase this high until it left her.

"Show me," Lily said, need making her bossier than she'd ever been in her life.

Marcia gripped Lily's hips and pulled her in, hot and fast. Lily had never been kissed like this. Marcia's hands seemed to be everywhere at once, touching, stroking, even guiding Lily's hands to places Lily wouldn't have had the confidence to touch her otherwise. And that was nothing of the kiss itself. Marcia's lips left imprints all over as she sucked and lightly nibbled on Lily's lips before kissing her deeply. Lily swooned back against the mirror, her head spinning.

"What do you think?" Marcia asked.

Lily didn't know if she was capable of thought anymore.

"About the lip gloss?" Marcia prompted, leaning in.

There was a predatory gleam in her eyes that just made Lily feel hot all over.

"I don't think you put enough on," Lily whispered.

Marcia grinned and then she leant in for another kiss, Lily already reaching for her.