Entangled Again || With Sebastian Sallow

Ch 23: The Birthday Party

The rooftop party kicked off in style, with a swarm of Sebastian's and Anne's friends from school in attendance, to party and celebrate their birthday. Lucan was set up as the DJ, one of his many talents. There was an abundance of food and alcohol, which Ominis had provided as a gift to the twins. There were games of Butterbeer pong, dancing, and people making out. It was going to be a fun night for all!

Juliet had done an incredible job completing the decorations – there was a huge colourful balloon display, a living flower wall, floating candles, and twinkling fairy lights strung all around. There were plush cushions and floor couches, and patterned rugs to make it cosy and chic. Juliet was most gifted at conjuration spells, and she had really gone above and beyond to make the space look and feel magical... especially to calm Ominis down. And maybe also to impress Sebastian... a little. She'd learnt a trick or two from Deek about setting the perfect ambience.

Sebastian's mood had clearly shifted, once the party was in full swing. He seemed to be having a great time, laughing and drinking and enjoying being the centre of attention.

Poppy had turned up a little late, arm-in-arm with Andrew Larson. Juliet smiled when she saw them together, happy that Andrew had found a good one – he deserved it, and so did Poppy.

Anne and Ominis were inseparable, she sat on his lap pretty much the whole night, and they were seen making out at any opportunity they could get. Sebastian was in such a good mood, he didn't even make a scene the first time he busted them. Instead, he accepted the situation gracefully.

Juliet spent most of her evening with Grace and Violet, but she was having a hard time paying attention to anything the girls were jabbering on about. All she could think about was her steamy encounter with Sebastian earlier... her thoughts were consumed by him. For some reason, she didn't feel that guilty about it. She felt... exhilarated. It was like their little secret, heightened every time Sebastian caught her eye that evening, giving her a little smile or a nod each time.

She watched him, as pretty girls flirted with him and tried to get his attention. It's not like he was rudely ignoring them, but he was clearly keeping a respectful demeanor around them, not talking to any of them for too long, not laughing too much at their jokes, and pulling away subtly any time one of them touched him. It was certainly a shift from his usual flirtatious nature.

"I wonder if he's doing that out of respect for you?" Violet asked as if reading her thoughts, nodding toward Sebastian who was across the deck from them. He was pulling his arm politely away from Adelaide, who was brazenly squeezing his biceps. "He's dodged every girl here tonight like a bullet, you know."

"Doubtful," Juliet scoffed. "He's barely said a word to me all night."

That wasn't entirely true... but since everyone arrived, it did seem like he was keeping his distance from her.

"Hey Jules..." Poppy tapped on Juliet's shoulder. "Can I borrow you for a minute?"

Juliet nodded, and followed her to a quiet corner of the patio, taking a seat on a floor cushion each.

"What's on your mind, Pops?" Juliet smiled affectionately.

"Well... I'm sure you saw me arrive tonight with Andrew," she giggled. "I'm sure it's fine but I wanted to ask you officially... you're ok with it, right? With me... seeing him? I know he had a bit of a 'thing' for you previously, but I don't think you ever returned the feeling, right? When he asked me out, I figured you had enough on your plate right now with the whole Sebastian and Garreth thing anyway..."

"Poppy, I assure you, nothing ever happened with Andrew and I," Juliet reached across to squeeze her hand. "But it was so thoughtful of you to ask me, thank you. Andrew is a wonderful guy, I was so thrilled to see you two walk in together!"