Beautiful Crime ※ DogNut

nine

Preparations for the party went on for some hours, making sure every small detail was perfect. Since this was the apocalypse and everything was scarce, they'd been planning this party for over four months – just to make sure they had everything and that the night would go perfectly for Esme, the birthday girl.

While most of the boys were preparing the library ready for the grand feast they would be having in Esme's honour, the girls were upstairs getting ready. This would be the first excuse to use the make-up and dresses they'd taken from shops nearby in months and they weren't going to waste an opportunity like this.

Adelaide stepped out of a small side room, dressed in a beautiful vintage two tone slip dress and a pair of black platform heels. Everyone's jaw dropped as they saw her. This would've been the first time Adelaide actually looked like a girly girl... they'd only ever seen her in jeans or her shorts and tights. She had minimal make-up on which only seemed to accentuate her beauty.

With a smile on her face, she twirled around once before she closed Hayley's jaw, giving her a wink. "You're all acting as if you've never seen me look like a girl!"

Brooke laughed, an arm wrapping around Adelaide's shoulder, giving her a slight hug. "In all the time I've known you, I've never seen you look this girly! It's kind of scaring me a little."

Adelaide laughed, too, giving Brooke a hug back. "You don't think it's too much?"

Brooke moved Adelaide to stand in front of a mirror, keeping an arm over her shoulders. "Are you kidding?! DogNut is going to go nuts when he sees you!"

Adelaide blushed a little before she made her way downstairs and towards the party, DogNut waiting for her at the bottom of the grand staircase. DogNut smiled widely once he saw her, taking Adelaide's hand and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of it, causing Adelaide to narrow her eyes a little at his gesture.

For a change, DogNut was in a suit and he looked clean. He could've been coated in dirt and blood and still worn his sweat and dirt covered clothes and Adelaide still would've thought he was handsome. But in a suit? Adelaide admittedly could only think about getting him out of it – even though the thought of it made her blush darker than a beetroot.

"What was that for?" She asked, not moving her hand out of his grasp.

DogNut gave her a look of fake heartbreak for a moment before smirking. "What? I'm not allowed to be a gentleman for one night?"

Adelaide sighed but eventually smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Okay, you have one night of being this gentlemanly then I want you back to your usual self tomorrow morning, deal?"

DogNut nodded his head. "Deal." He pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss before quickly ending it and the pair walked towards the library for the party to begin.

The party began with a few speeches from Justin – who was as awkward as ever – and from Adelaide – who tried her hardest not to get emotional – before the gifts were given to Esme. Out of all her gifts, Adelaide's was by far her favourite. Adelaide had somehow found a pair of promise rings and given one to Esme and wearing the other. Esme placed it on her finger the moment she was told what it was and gave Adelaide a huge hug, almost suffocating her from how tight it was.

After presents, Esme finally got to have her cake. The birthday cake was a small collection of various chocolates placed into a glass bowl with a candle on top of it. It was simple and wasn't really a cake but it was the best they could do without having electricity to make a real cake, and Esme loved it and spent the remainder of the evening giving out chocolate to everyone she saw and eating most of it.

That was when the real party began.

Somehow, the kids had got their hands on not just a record player but a large box of various vinyl records; they didn't use them often but when they did, it was always fun. The only downside was that there wasn't any music that had been popular before the infection and everyone was left with music their parents had listened to.

"What even is this music?" DogNut almost shouted into Adelaide's ear to be heard over the pounding music.

Adelaide laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "I have no idea! Jackson keeps finding vinyl's when we were out and demanded we keep them, you can blame her for the bad music."

After a few dance numbers, the song changed to a slow song. If Adelaide's song knowledge was correct, she was sure it was I Can't Help Falling In Love With You by Elvis Presley. She shot a glance towards Jackson who was sat beside the record player and was in charge of the music, Jackson just raised her shoulders a little as her answer.

Adelaide's arm draped across DogNut's shoulders while her hand was linked with his and his other arm wrapped around her waist as they slowly rocked back and forth. They didn't say a word to each other – no words needed to be said. In that moment they were happy, something that was rare in the world.

She felt like she was at prom – like the ones she saw in the movies she used to watch. The main girl and guy would slow dance together and admit that they've been in love with each other for years and they'd kiss, then that would be the end of the movie. Adelaide and DogNut did kiss – a lot – but they didn't say anything to each other.

Once the song was over and changed to an upbeat song obviously from the 1970's, Adelaide excused herself to get a drink, giving DogNut a kiss before leaving. Humming to herself a little, Adelaide slowly walked over to the refreshments table, debating what she should have to drink – slightly flat coke, what was left of the water or some of the alcohol someone had snuck into the party.

"That dress makes you look like a 90's stripper." Courtney's voice made Adelaide jump a little in surprise but she quickly composed herself. The look of pure disgust on Courtney's face was clear; if looks could kill, there would've been a murder right then and there.

Adelaide shrugged her shoulders, looking away from Courtney as she picked up a glass of flat coke. "Oh well, I feel good in it and that's all that matters."

"Well you certainly don't look good in it."

Adelaide clenched her saw together, glaring as she turned towards Courtney. "What the fuck is your problem, Courtney?"

"My problem is that you hooked up with girls and had a whole relationship here but as soon as DogNut came back, you're acting as if you're in love with him. It's making you look like a complete slut."

"You're just jealous that he likes me and doesn't like you, get the fuck over yourself."

Courtney snapped and punched Adelaide across the face, causing her to fall backwards a little, dropping her glass as she fell. Adelaide massaged her jaw as she walked back towards Courtney. "So, you want to play that game, huh? Game on, bitch." She muttered before lunging at Courtney, tackling her to the floor and sent punches and scratches her way.

The pair quickly turned into a screaming mess; throwing punches and insults to each other like there was no tomorrow. Quickly, kids around them realized that a full-blown fist fight was happening in front of them, causing them to crowd around the two girls and chant "fight! Fight! Fight!" as they watched the brawl unfold in front of them.

The brawl came to a halt when Adelaide had to be forced off Courtney by Jackson, still screaming in Courtney's direction and Courtney being held back by Brooke while DogNut stood between the two girls, trying to create some distance between the two.

"Have you both lost your fucking minds?!" DogNut shouted at them, looking between both girls.

Adelaide struggled against Jackson's grip, trying to get out of it but failing. "She started it! She punched me in the face and called me a slut!"

Courtney was standing still, but Brooke still kept an arm out in front of her in case something happened. "She deserved it!"

DogNut sighed, trying to calm himself down and stop himself from declaring full out war against both girls. "Both of you just go to bed – the party's over, everyone out."

Note

I wanted to write at least one chapter where they'd be able to be normal teenagers and actually be happy thus this chapter was created. I may or may not have been blasting You Gotta Fight for Your Right To Party by Beastie Boys while I wrote the fight tbh.

Sorry it's a little short, I wanted to get this chapter out the way so we can get back to the canon world and I've been working on a couple of one-shots to do with the story so keep an eye out for those!