It has been weeks now and the six men and Kevin seemed to get along pretty well. Both the girls did too. The group of nine would find themselves in conversation that'd last for hours before going to bed.
Ian and Evelyn often bicker over the littlest things and throw whatever's at hand's reach at each other, mostly turning the gaming room into a mess while Patrick just sits there in a corner and has a good time laughing at them.
"Player three must be a hacker! He frigging flew up that wall." Evelyn punched the pillow on her lap.
"Just admit you're not good enough at this." Ian mocked.
"Why you-" She threw the joystick at him, which he dodged.
"You gotta try better than that."
Evelyn turned to her side before quickly pouncing at the other, resulting in him falling on his stomach.
She straddled on his back and pulled him by the hair, "Who are you calling 'not good enough'?"
"Pat, help! I can't breathe..."
"Nah, I'm good here," Patrick said from across the room.
Lucas looked determined to go through all the books he'd find in the library and frequently got into squabbles with Amelia over opinions about novel endings.
The taller among the two smashed his fist on the couch "But it still isn't fair for Leslie!"
"She deserved it." Amelia lazily stated.
"Why are you not bothered about her ending when she is the protagonist?" Lucas huffed, "Oliver was a jackass for leaving her for power and political fame. Her revenge was a result of a broken heart."
"I think you should be happy for Dana here," Amelia spoke, "She ended up with Jeff and even adopted that kid."
"But Oliver gets to live the life he wanted? That's just simply not fair!"
"What's going on here?" Liam walked into the living room to find Amelia and Lucas on the couch, with a book between them on the coffee table.
"Lucas won't stop whining about this ending. It ain't so bad but he just has to complain."
"I'm not complaining! It's just not fair for the protagonist." he stared down at the book, "Not only did he write something with such a frustrating ending, but he's also dead now..."
"For the love of God, it's a happy ending."
"No, it's not! Leslie's whole career's ruined while Oliver walks away unharmed. That's disappointing." Lucas protested.
"At this point, I'm glad the author died."
Liam snickered at the two, "I don't wanna get involved in that so I'll get back to what I was here for." He started walking away when,
"Where do you think you're going?" Amelia questioned, to which Liam turned from his spot with an awkward smile.
Liam was banned from entering the kitchen by Amelia after he'd broken four plates in the same week.
"Y'know, thought I could grab a snack real quick." He said with a clumsy smile.
"No, you're not."
"I swear I'll be careful."
"That's what you said before you broke the last of my Medusa Gala." Amelia stood up from her seat and walked towards Liam. "Whatever you want, I'll get it for you but you ain't entering my kitchen." She pierced her gaze at his eyes.
"Just a snack, a-anything would be fine." Liam managed to say, and the other made her way to the kitchen.
"I'll get Nachos and Pretzels. Heard they'll be airing a football match soon."
Liam lazily sank himself down on the couch, looking at the ceiling, eyeing his friend from the side.
"Wonder what she'd do if she knows you use the kitchen when she's not around," Lucas spoke.
Liam sat upright in an instant. "Keep it down, will you?" he glanced towards the kitchen and then at his friend.
"Heard it," Amelia said out loud from the kitchen.
Lucas stood up and grabbed the book from the coffee table. "You're screwed."
A practice room was recently built for the men since it wasn't safe for them to travel much now that they're in the same situation as both the women. Vincent spent most of his time with James while practicing whenever he had the chance.
"You should go rest, it's getting late." James walked to the elder, who handed him a towel.
He wiped off the sweat on his forehead before sitting down beside Vincent.
"I'm fine, I get to work on my skills too, y'know. It's not like I sit here doing nothing." He gently smiled at the other, "You better not forget your promise."
"I won't. But I thought you'd play the piano for me before?"
"I would've, but it needs to be tuned. Looks like it hasn't been used in a while."
The blond-haired among the two agreed, "Looks like I'll be having to play a song for you first then." He took a sip from the water bottle beside him. "When do you want me to play it?"
"I'd ask you to do it now, but it's getting late so tomorrow would do."
The next morning, James made his way to Vincent's room with his guitar. He quietly knocked on the door before taking a peek inside.
"Vince? Are you up?" He saw the older in his bed in a deep slumber.
James went over beside him and kneeled down, taking a good look at the latter, who was fast asleep, hoping he'd wake up anytime soon. After a few minutes, he quit waiting and trudged back and shut the door behind. He stopped mid-way as he headed down the stairs and slumped down on one of the stairs, took the guitar out of its bag, and leaned onto the stair behind and the wall beside him. He played random tunes that came into his mind when a certain song clicked. He recalled the cords before he began, his silky voice echoing in the surroundings.
"There goes my heart beating
'Cause you are the reason
I'm losing my sleep
Please come back now
There goes my mind racing
And you are the reason
That I'm still breathing
I'm hopeless now
I'd climb every mountain
And swim every ocean
Just to be with you
And fix what I've broken
Oh, 'cause I need you to see~
That you are the reason…"
He tittered at himself when he played a cord wrong and rested his head on the wall.
"You've improved compared to last time." He heard a voice from behind, which made him flinch before turning towards the very familiar voice.
"You scared me. I thought you were asleep."
"Only if someone closed the door a lot more gently."
"Oops." The younger cracked a smile.
"There you are, you two." They looked up to see who it was. "Kevin and the others are waiting downstairs. Breakfast is ready," Evelyn spoke.
"Alright, we'll be there," James said as he packed the guitar.
Vincent clicked his tongue and grasped James' hand. "I could use some help back in my room. I can't find my earrings, help me look for them." He dragged the younger upstairs, not waiting for an answer.
"What's with him?" Evelyn said before shrugging it off, "Whatever."
On the way back down, Evelyn heard Amelia nagging Liam. She rolled her eyes, '𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨…'
She averted her eyes to the kitchen counter to see Kevin arranging the plates as he eyed Amelia going on at Liam, Lucas reading a novel for the fourth time, and Patrick watching it all happen.
"Evie! Over here!" Evelyn heard a voice from the dining area and looked in its direction to find Ian gesturing to her to have a seat. She walked to him and placed herself down on a chair beside him.
"What is it?"
"Here, I made PBJ." He inched a plate towards the latter.
"Thanks, I guess..." She tried to put a finger on why he's acting so nice all of a sudden, but it all made sense after taking a couple of bites out of it.
Evelyn's eyes widened and she dashed her way to the sink and spat out whatever was in her mouth, choking at the awful taste, while Ian laughed hysterically from his seat.
"Foul flavored jelly beans, seriously?" Evelyn raged at him as she rinsed her mouth. "Was that all you could come up with?"
"That's what you get for trying to choke me to death the other day." Ian got off of the chair and sprinted into the living room when Amelia and the others entered the kitchen-diner.
"Oh no, you don't." Evelyn charged towards him, chasing him until she got a hold of him.
"If you two aren't gonna get here now, I'm gonna eat your breakfast," Amelia called out.
"Coming!" Evelyn answered before shooting a glare at Ian, "I'll deal with you later." She hissed at him, to which he mocked her expression before she let go of him.
Kevin still received a cold shoulder from Amelia, but that didn't stop him from having fun with the rest of them in the house. Evelyn seemed to get on with Kevin just fine. She'd find him in the kitchen most of the time. It appeared that he enjoyed cleaning, something Evelyn found very weird since now he looked more like the housemaid around rather than a hired investigator.
"Thanks for helping me at the storeroom yesterday." Evelyn began as she stretched herself on the couch, "Bet it would've taken an entire day if it weren't for you."
"No problem."
"Where has the case reached? No offense but I never find you working on it." She asked, and the latter scoffed.
"It's obvious that it's Victor who's behind all of it. What can I do now, lock him up with an arrest warrant?"
"Then what are you here for?" The brunette chuckled.
"To look after these six as I was asked to."
"There's no need for that, I and Amy can handle them ourselves."
"Says the one who tried to choke Ian twice since the day I stepped foot into this house."
"It's good he's here," Amy added, "We're gonna get busy starting tomorrow so him being here to keep an eye on them would be helpful."
"Starting tomorrow?" Evelyn looked at her in question.
"Don't tell me you forgot..."
Kevin giggled. "You guys are supposed to attend your first day tomorrow, isn't it?"
"I thought I'd never make it in?" Evelyn cocked an eyebrow.
"Sometimes, we've got to make use of the money we've got." Amelia rested her arm on the side table beside Kevin as she scrolled through her phone. "Make sure to be up on time tomorrow, we'll be leaving early."