Elide was watching Lysandra desperately trying to get Aelin away from the bar.

She and Nehemiah had sidelined with Lorcan when the songs had become too slow for them to keep on going and now couples on couples were swinging like a herd of dying cows.

Elide laughed at her own thought, only slightly drunk. Lorcan looked at her confusedly, arching an eyebrow, "What are you laughing at?" he asked her by putting his arm around her hips and pulling her to his side. Nehemiah looked at them with affection and Elide winked at her, smiling slyly.

She turned towards her boyfriend, taking his nose between two fingers. Lorcan moved until he was free from her grip, and squeezed her wrists to hold her still while she giggled. Elide knew full well how much Lorcan loved the drunk her.

"Nothing, I like that you and I are not cows." the boy burst out laughing, asking her what he was babbling about, but Elide was no longer watching him. Her attention was once again captured by Aelin and Lysandra.

Nehemiah squeezed in her shoulders next to Elide, "I feel so sorry for her." she murmured as Alein struggled to stand on those heels, then her expression got sour, "And I'd really like to talk to him about what an asshole he is."

Elide's gaze shifted to the center of the improvised dance floor in Dorian's house, where an equal slightly drunk Rowan was dancing with a girl they all knew very well.

Lyria Ballard had been with Rowan for more than four years. They had met at the end of high school and had been together all through college, making everyone believe that once they were out of school they would live together in one of those mansions you see on TV, with a perfect, large, happy family. No one would have expected that once back from summer vacation they would announce their breakup.

It hadn't been difficult to keep the group together, Lyria had moved to another state shortly afterwards and Rowan had met other people, including Aelin.

The blonde girl had been a thunderbolt for the boy and a burst of life for the whole group. She had brought so many new people into their small circle that sometimes Elide forgot how many they really were.

"Maybe I should go talk to him, this story is getting too complicated," said Lorcan interrupting her thoughts.

She shook her head, "Ae asked us not to say anything and we will do so. Rowan will realize the mistake he is making on his own."

In front of Lorcan's upset but determined face, Nehemiah added, "We mean it Lor, Aelin says that if he doesn't realize it himself, it's not worth it. If he really has any feelings beyond friendship for her, he should act of his own, not because a friend of his has pointed it out."

Lorcan turned to her at that point, "So should we just stand here and watch while those two destroy each other?"

Elide was inclined to support his point of view, but she took his hand squeezing it, "Aelin asked us not to interfere and we won't."

Nehemiah sighed next to her and then they fell silent again, watching Rowan laughing at something the girl in his arms had just told him.

When Lyria had returned it had been embarrassing to say the least.

Aelin and Rowan had never been together and there had been a long period, at the beginning of their friendship, when they couldn't stand each other for more than two minutes before one of them lashed out and started to insult the other badly, but once they got over that cliff, they started acting like an old married couple.

Elide still remembered when Fenrys had gone to her completely euphoric and gave her a speech about how he had never seen Rowan so happy with anyone, not even Lyria.

So when she had come back from Hybern only a few months later with the intention of staying in Adarlan forever and Rowan had proposed to Aelin that she pretend to be his girlfriend on some occasion to make Lyria jealous, the few who knew about it were shocked.

And they were even more shocked when Aelin had accepted the deal, saying that she, too, could use this to make one of the guys in her class, Sam Cortland, jealous.

Elide had read enough books to know where the bullshit was going.

Manon approached the trio with a clever smile on her face and patted Elide on the shoulder before asking, "What are you looking at? You guys all look like creeps."

When no one answered, she frowned, following the gaze of her friends to the massive figure of Rowan, "Ah, yeah." she whispered, taking a sip of her water. Manon was the designated driver that night, " Would anyone care to tell me what Galathynius' boyfriend is doing, or?"

Lorcan snorted, "They're not really together M, they were just fake dating."

Manon's head snapped in Elide's direction, looking for confirmation, "Fake dating? You're joking."

Nehemiah shook her head, "I'd rather."

"Rowan really got everybody. Aelin especially," added Elide, sitting on one of the chairs against the wall.

Manon laughed, "No guys, mine wasn't a question. You're joking, period." she said. Elide looked at her with a confused grimace, "What do you mean?"

"That they're not fake dating," Manon pointed out, taking her seat next to her.

Aelin, from across the room, burst into tears, and although Elide could not hear her, she knew it must have been a desperate cry, because all the people around her turned around and looked at her worryingly. She was about to get up and go to her, but Lysandra was already escorting her out of the room.

Elide turned again towards Manon, "Yes, they are."

"No, they're not."

"Yes, they really are." Nehemiah meddled.

"Are you trying to tell me that every time we went out and Lyria wasn't there or that Sam wasn't nearby, those two were making eyes at each other for fun?" asked the white-haired girl, "Or that every holy football game we've seen in the last few weeks when Aelin ran out onto the field to hug Rowan and kissed him in front of everyone, it was just practice?" Manon puffed, irritated, pointing to the dance floor where an upset Lyria was standing motionless in front of Rowan. Rowan, who was looking around alarmed.

"I have known Rowan since we were children. We grew up together and in the last few months he has done nothing but talk about Aelin." she started, "Aelin this, Aelin that." she huffed a laugh. "Yeah, it's true. They think they're faking it, but that-" she pointed a finger back at Rowan, who was now talking to a not-little-irritated Aedion, "Well, that's not faking it." she took a sip of water, "And believe me when I tell you I haven't heard Rowan say Lyria's name half a time in the last ten days."

Fenrys approached the two boys, an equally pissed off expression on his face. Elide managed to pick up the words "Lyria" and "piece of shit" from his speech. Rowan looked like a clubbed dog desperately trying to hide his tail between his legs.

"No one looks at anyone else the way he looks at her unless they promised eternal love to each other." Manon concluded, crossing her legs. "Those two are not faking dating. They just don't know it."

Rowan ran his hand over his face and Elide almost snapped when he turned around and walked towards Lyria. He took her by the hand and pulled her off the dance floor.

Lorcan did not seem to be in a more controlled condition than she was and Elide was amazed to see such outrage on his face. After all, Rowan was his best friend, but she was happy to find out that if Rowan did something stupid he wouldn't just blindly support him.

"They should have known that fake dating never goes according to plan." Nehemiah murmured, she sighed and walking away shortly afterwards towards the bar where Fenrys and Aedion were still talking.

Lyria was nodding disoriented, but she smiled at the end when Rowan seemed to apologize and put her hand on his arm. He smiled apologetically and she stood up tiptoeing, leaving a kiss on his cheek and pushing him towards the exit.

Manon got up at that point, looking at the couple sitting next to her. "Trust me guys, he truly loves her and if I know Rowan even a little bit, we can all trust that tomorrow morning Aelin will be the happiest person in the world," she smiled like one who knows what they're talking about and walked away.

Rowan was nodding, looking more scared than anything else, and ran towards the door of the house, towards Aelin.

Perhaps Manon was right. Maybe the next day Aelin would finally be happy.

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When Rowan managed to climb the last flight of stairs without staggering or closing both eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief leaning against the wall.

As he moved one step forward, always looking for support in everything in his path, he thought about when he would get into his home and take off these stupid loafers and when he would take off his pants, so tight that his thighs hurt.

He was not used to getting dressed up and the suit he was wearing was years old. Normally, after one of these evenings, he would get in the shower and Aelin would listen to him complain sitting on the toilet, probably with a glass of wine to go with it, but tonight Rowan would go straight to bed. And he would sink into those blankets that scented Aelin and loved so much.

So soft.

He was so tired that he didn't realize he had arrived at the door of his apartment. He slipped the keys into the patch and took a turn before he pushed forward and found the door locked. He wrinkled his eyebrows, his eyes struggling to stay open, and put the key back in, turning it again. The door opened, but the man's fireman instinct had already kicked in. He stood at attention, praying to every god in existence that his wife was safe and sound, and that the double fire was just a precaution.

Much more awake than a few seconds earlier, he took a deep breath and slipped into the apartment. All the lights were on and the table was still set from the dinner Aelin and Elide had shared.

The house, however, was too quiet.

Leaving the keys on the entrance cabinet and taking off his bulky jacket with a quick movement, he entered the living room. There was no one there, but the cartoon stopped at one hour and twenty minutes was a sign that they were still in the house.

Then how come he didn't hear them talking?

"Aelin?"

He tried to call out loud, receiving no answer. "Elide?

He moved into the hallway, going straight to their bedroom. It was all too strange and too tidy for nothing to have happened. He was used to the chaos that was Aelin, but leaving everything on in the house just to go out for some air was not in the style of the two girls.

Before he could reach the room he heard a sob coming from the bathroom. He stopped suddenly, knocking slowly on the door, "Aelin? Are you in there?"

Another sob. Rowan's heart tightened in his chest.

He ran his hand through his hair, "Ace, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked trying to understand if she was hurt or shaken by anything else. He looked around, looking for signs of Elide. Where on earth was the black-haired girl?

He tried to open the door, finding it unlocked.

He prepared himself for everything, ready to go into action in case she had fallen and hit her head somewhere, but what appeared before him was not an injured Aelin. Or a distraught Aelin.

It wasn't Aelin either.

Elide, sitting on the mat on the floor, was resting her back against the extravagant tub that Aelin had chosen when they moved in. The tiny body, which seemed even smaller at the time, was repeatedly shaken by loud sobs. She looked up at Rowan when he entered the bathroom and her face contorted before she burst into even more desperate crying and covered her face with both hands.

Rowan blinked a couple of times, shocked to see her friend in such conditions.

"Ellie, what...?" he recovered when Elide's black eyes met his green eyes.

He knelt down next to her, placing his hand on her shoulder, but she sobbed louder, so he dropped his hand and came a little closer, being careful not to touch her. He could not understand what might have caused such a reaction in the girl.

After all, he was used to these situations. Being a firefighter, people who could not speak because of the shock were his daily bread, but there was nothing to suggest why Elide was in such a condition.

Gathering his last strength he was able to ask her, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

Elide looked at him in sorrow and in an instant, all the worst situations Rowan could think of poured over him. Opening his eyes wide and in a harder tone than he had to, he leaned forward on the tiny figure, "Elide, where is Aelin?

Something in the man's voice must have surprised Elide, because she too opened her eyes wide and put her hands forward and said, "Oh God Rowan no, Aelin is fine. She went to call Lorcan."

Rowan released a breath that he didn't know he was holding, closing his eyes, but he made a confused expression immediately afterwards, still not understanding why Elide was on the floor of his bathroom crying after past one o'clock in the morning. He sat down more comfortably, placing an elbow on the edge of the bathtub and resting his head on his hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She, taking an example from her friend, turned towards him and put her head on the bathtub, grimacing. At least she had stopped crying and was breathing normally.

Only then did Rowan notice something at the girl's feet.

He bent his head to the side trying to figure out what that little pink and oblong object was and when Elide noticed Rowan's look she cursed under her breath, trying to grab the thing before the man could realize what it was.

Looking up at Rowan's face, Elide realized that all her attempts had been in vain. Rowan's eyes shone and his mouth was slightly open. Well, at least he wasn't yelling at her about how inconsiderate it was to have a child at this age.

He looked her in the eye and a choked laugh got out of control, "I can' t believe it."

Elide tightened her lips in a thin line before whispering, "Believe it."

"Is it Lorcan's?"

Elide made a shocked face, before hitting him as hard as she could on the shoulder. Rowan chuckled completely unfazed.

"Yes, idiot, it's Lorcan's," she replied, lowering the volume of her voice when she said the name of her fiancé.

Rowan smiled uncertainly, "I guess a 'congratulations' is in order."

Elide looked him straight in the eye and her eyes were filled with tears again. Rowan wrinkled his forehead, taking her hand and holding it gently, "What is it?" he asked her calmly. Now that he knew what this was all about, he could have tried to calm her down.

The girl closed her eyes and sighed, running her hand over her face, "I don't even know." And then she giggled, "Can I already start blaming the hormones or is it too soon?"

"I think you can do whatever you want," he told her with a lopsided smile. He looked at her more carefully, imagining her with a big belly. Imagining how his best friend would react when he found out. He imagined Lorcan with a baby in his arms, a mini version of the man he had become. And then he imagined a little girl with such black, straight hair and the eyes of her mother. They would make a wonderful family.

After a few more moments of silence, Elide spoke. "I am afraid."

Rowan settled better on the floor, clutching his legs to his chest with his arms. "You know, I really think that every person in your situation would be afraid." he sighed, "Hell, I would be terrified. Even just the idea of having to push something out of my body like that. Nah ha." he ended it all shivering.

Elide looked at him very badly, her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly open. "Are you an idiot?" she asked him in a shrill voice, "How can you even think of saying something like that at this moment?

Rowan shrugged and kept looking forward. Elide shook her head puffing, "I'm not afraid of childbirth - or rather, I'm fucking afraid of childbirth, but that's not my biggest concern right now."

Her friend gave her a questioning look, urging her to speak with a nudge on her arm.

She looked down, embarrassed by what she was supposed to say. "It's just a stupid thing."

"If it was really stupid, I wouldn't have found you on the floor of my apartment in the middle of the night in the middle of a hysterical attack," Ellie gave him another little push. She looked up at one of her oldest friends. Rowan smiled at her again.

He had been with her every horrible moment of her life. He had helped her when the rest of the world seemed to have forgotten about her. She could trust him. But she also trusted Aelin blindly, and yet she could not tell her what had shaken her so much.

They remained silent a little longer and then Rowan settled better on the carpet, so that he was completely lying on the floor and only his head was resting on her thigh. "Is this about Lorcan?"

Elide stilled. Obviously Rowan would have understood. He always understood. "No."

"All right."

He remained silent for a few moments, letting her decide whether to tell the truth or not. When after a minute she didn't say anything, Rowan said, "Do you want me to tell you how my terrible evening went while we wait for the others?" the girl grunted, "I don't think so, your evenings are so boring and full of gruff old men." Rowan laughed, making her leg shake.

He was about to answer her in  tone when they heard the front door slam against the wall and Lorcan call her name out loud. Rowan stood up slowly and Elide saw him smile when they heard Aelin's voice warning her boyfriend that she had left her in the bathroom.

Rowan was just in time to stand up and Elide took the pregnancy test and slipped it into her pocket, that the terrified figure of Lorcan appeared in the bathroom door.

Without even aknowledging Rowan, Lorcan threw himself on his knees in front of her, taking her hands in his. Eyes full of fear running fast over her body. When he saw that she was not physically hurt he visibly relaxed and then suddenly she found herself in Lorcan's strong arms and the cry that she had managed to stop came back to the surface like a wave after a dam collapsed.

Lorcan sat down on the ground, taking Rowan's place and carrying Elide on his legs, holding her tight while she cried. Her body was shaken by so many sobbing that Lorcan's heart tightened in his chest and the worry that had faded as he saw her almost relaxed beside Rowan had returned, stronger than before. Aelin had not wanted to specify what had happened and when she rushed into the club so alarmed and alone he immediately thought the worst, cursing himself for not bringing his phone to work that night. She explained to him that Elide was not well and that she was so upset that she could not get her off the bathroom floor.

Now, with Rowan giving him an almost amused smile as he closed the bathroom door, he could not understand what could have triggered that reaction in his fiancée.

"Elide." he whispered in her ear. Whatever she heard in his tone only made her state worse. Her hand squeezed around his arm and he could feel how much emotion there really was in that gesture. "I'm here, I'm not leaving". Elide pushed herself further against his chest, sobbing, "I'm not leaving," he repeated in a lower voice, stroking her hair and leaving a kiss on her forehead.

The bathroom door opened, and Aelin's blonde hair appeared shortly afterwards. Unlike Rowan, Aelin looked just as worried and held a glass of water in her hand. She entered the large bathroom, placed it on the edge of the sink, then turned to him, "You can stay here as long as you like, Rowan and I are going to bed, but if you need anything, come and call me".

Lorcan nodded, whispering a weak thank you and trembling when a hiccup sob than the others shook Elide's body. Aelin made a sad grimace, going out of the bathroom and leaving them privacy.

They remained on the floor, close to each other, hoping that whatever was shocking the girl so much would soon be over.

After a few minutes Lorcan decided to speak again, "Baby, what happened?"

Elide had stopped crying, but she was still breathing rather irregularly. She pulled herself away from Lorcan slightly and wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt. She hadn't looked at his face yet and it was driving the man crazy.

"Has something happened to Manon?" he asked her worried, thinking only now that the problem might not be about her. Elide shook her head closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she leaned back against him, carrying her arm around his neck.

"El you are making me really worried, please talk to me." his voice broke at the end of the sentence. Elide took another trembling breath and then croaked something incomprehensible. Lorcan shook his head slightly, "I don't understand, love."

"Before I tell you this, you must promise me that you will stay." She whispered in a loud enough tone so that he could hear her. Lorcan frowned. Elide finally detached herself from him, positioning herself in the middle of his legs and squeezing her knees to his chest. She was looking at him with red eyes and swollen with tears. "You must promise me."

Lorcan was so confused. He could not understand what could make Elide ask him to do such a thing. He didn't think she had cheated on him, Elide would never have done him such a wrong, and even if she had, he would have forgiven her. Maybe not right away, but he would come back to her every time. She knew it, he had shown her so many times.

"I don't understand..." he shook his head, trying to take her hand, but Elide turned towards the door, pulling back. The motion was like a stab wound to the chest for him. He retracted his hand and it was the hardest thing he had ever done in his entire life.

"Promise me."

"El I promise I will stay, whatever is going on, but please, please tell me what you need." he said to her in a desperate tone. She did not answer immediately and Lorcan began to feel his patience slipping from his hands. " Elide-"

"I'm pregnant."

The world stopped.

"What?"

"I am pregnant."

They had already had this conversation, almost six years before, when both were still too young. Elide had gone to Lorcan's house with the test, torn between emotion and despair. She was only eighteen years old at the time, Lorcan twenty-one.

The discussion had gone down more rather quickly. Lorcan did not want children at that time and Elide was willing to keep them, stop studying and raise their child, resuming their studies after the child had turned two years of age. That day they had shouted at each other without restraint, not caring how much the words said would hurt the other. There were no winners or losers, however. The discussion had ended in desperate tears and a break-up that both had thought final. They had not spoken for two weeks and neither of them had told their friends what the reason for the break-up was. To this day, none of their group knew why. When after three long weeks Lorcan showed up at her house, crying and asking for forgiveness, she told him that it had been a false alarm, that there had never been a baby and that the problem would never be raised again. Lorcan had had the courage to thank the gods for this and Elide had seen red. After that day they did not see each other for two whole months. Those long weeks without him had been heartbreaking. Friends said that Lorcan looked like a ghost, that he wasn't as grumpy as before, but rather he didn't seem to feel emotions anymore. Not that Elide was any better off. Her friends had tried to help her, to introduce her to other people in the vain intent to get her over her relationship with Lorcan, but nothing and no one was having the same effect on her that she had even just looking in the boy's direction. No one touch made her stomach twist like when Lorcan was touching her. No kiss made her fly as high as he did.

After all that time, she still couldn't get over it, to forget the emotions that only he could make her feel. That night she got dressed so quickly that she almost killed herself a dozen times and when she opened the door with the intention of running to his apartment, Lorcan was in front of her crying. Once more.

They had spoken again, this time in much calmer tones and after a long reflection and a few dates to start off on the right foot, they were back together, without ever leaving each other again.

This, until now.

"Please say something," muttered Elide.

Lorcan was staring at her with an indecipherable expression on his face. He had not spoken a word since Elide had released the bomb and now the air was so thick that she could have cut it with a knife. He lowered his head, running his hands over his face. Elide felt her eyes fill with tears again. She forced herself to swallow the knot that had formed in her throat.

No, she said to herself. She would not cry again. She would have faced it differently from the first time. She would have done it as an adult.

"I know that-" she stopped, taking a deep breath, "I know that the first time that... when we thought I got pregnant, it didn't go well and you didn't want kids six years ago, but-" she couldn't form a sentence that made sense. Lorcan still hadn't looked up at her.

"I am not alone in this. I didn't get pregnant by myself. I'm not in the financial condition to raise a child alone, so if you don't want to have this baby with me, I'll understand, but the blame-" uttering those words was like getting punched in the gut. There was no blame, this baby, no matter how small it was, was a miracle for Elide. "the fault is not only mine. There are two of us in this situation. Whatever you decide to do - cancel the marriage, leave me, go to another country - you will have to help me maintain the child." she concluded by getting on her knees.

Lorcan remained motionless for a while longer, and then a sob broke that glass barrier that had been created around him. He looked up and when Elide noticed the bright smile on his lips she almost fainted with relief. He had probably not heard a word she had just said to him, because his next words were, "I'm going to be a daddy". Elide nodded vehemently, her lower lip beginning to tremble. "We are going to have a little girl," he whispered.

Elide choked with laughter, shaking her head, "We still don't know if it's a boy or a girl. "

"How many weeks?" asked Lorcan as tears ran down his cheeks. He brought a hand to his mouth, murmuring a soft daddy. Her heart exploded in Elide's chest, "Eight weeks."

Lorcan burst into tears as he laughed and threw himself at her, taking her in his arms and standing up, spinning her around in the air as much as the bathroom space allowed him.

"We are going to have a baby!" he cried excitedly in tears.

Elide nodded, laughing as she held herself close to his shoulders.

When they stopped, Elide slipped over his body, and once at the height of his face, she placed her hands on his face, looking straight into his eyes, which now shone with emotion, "We are going to be parents.