- CHAPTER THREE -

- IN WHICH SHE PREPARES

. . .

"GOOD MORNING!"

Still in her pyjamas, Rory irritably jumped into the kitchen, where Amor was already making her some pancakes while the coffee in her mug was slowly turning cold. Amor James was far from being a great cook, but her pancakes were heavenly. She worked on them highly concentrated, so when Rory peered over her shoulder, the pancake slipped from her spatula and landed back in the pan, breaking in two halves.

"God, sorry, I forgot that cooking is sort of an academical sport to you," She said, smirking as she sat down in the kitchen chair, grabbing her best friend's mug, emptying what was tasting like milky, iced coffee.

"Don't worry, there's still plenty of batter." Amor replied mockingly with a smile, and Rory stuck her tongue out in response. "Have you packed?"

"Of course not," Rory shook her head, arms crossing over the middle of her body after the mug had been placed back on the table. "I'm trying to hold it off for as long as possible."

"You shouldn't," Amor used her spatula to lift the pancake onto a warm plate, adding to the large mountain that was already there. "Billy will drag you down to Small Heath kicking and screaming if he has to, whether your clothes go with you or not."

"Thank you for the support," Pushing her chair back in order to place the empty mug in the sink, Rory pursed her lips. "I'm almost twenty-one, you would've thought I'd be able to make my own decisions. But no, that can't happen independence means nothing to these people."

Amor rolled her eyes – a habit Rory had picked up on – and sighed. "Look the house will be quiet with out you. But this could be good, from what I saw, I'd let any of the Shelby men near me. And you can come back, surely Billy won't let this continue for too long."

Rory grumbled silently to herself. For the past few days, all the two had talked about was life without one another. Mainly on the Miller girl's half who would be moving away without knowledge of a single person in her new neighbourhood, whilst Amor would probably end up having far too many men in the house and going out to fabulous parties with their friends.

"Hurry now, Billy said he was coming for you at around one and I'm going out at three, but I need to leave earlier to get a headdress." Amor said and this time Rory did her best not to roll her eyes.

She knew perfectly well the James girl was just doing her part as a supportive friend to make the move much easier, but it really did feel like she was being pushed out of her own home and forgotten about. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for her best friend, but sometimes Amor just got slightly too wrapped up in her own world to even put herself in other's shoes.

And it was quite upsetting for the young Miller. 

Fredrick White, Amor's latest boyfriend, was about to get her full attention during the upcoming months, and Rory really was aware of how pathetic this was, but she couldn't avoid the jealousy she felt towards this woman. That she lived a freeing life where she could do whatever she wanted and whenever she pleased. Because Rory would still work for the Birmingham Boys if she was offered the chance, but she certainly wouldn't let Billy Kimber walk all over her if he wasn't family.

"Give me ten minutes." She said, sliding down her chair, while Amor threw her a doubtful and humorous glance. "Okay, maybe half an hour."

Entering her room, she pulled a large bag out from under her bed, opening the top of it and then balancing it on her bed so that she could get to work.

First, she extracted all of the clothes and shoes she wanted to take, tucking them into her bag besides a couple pairs of shoes. Socks and underwear were packed into the loose spaces and toiletries sealed up in little plastic bags.

Before she begun to pack any books away, she attempted to find some of her smarter clothes so that she could wear them in cases of emergencies. Then she pulled a fair selection of books off her bookshelf and stuck them in the bag, various wall decorations and other knick-knacks quickly following.

Her only issue had been where she would be staying, but there seemed to be a tiny attic room above The Garrison which she had noticed when her cousin visited the Shelbys the first time round. She assumed the man who worked at the bar was also the owner of the pub, so she figured she'd be able to figure something out in return for the room.

And then if she was staying there for a while, she would try and find a nice house to live in. Though she figured that would be rather difficult judging by the size of the village.

"Don't suppose you know where Sadie is, do you?" Rory called down the stairs, hands clutching on the banister and body leaning dangerously over it as she peered down to where she could just about see the head of Amor as she attempted to rummage through their shoe cupboard.

"Dunno," The James girl replied, tucking her wildly frizzy hair behind her ear, leaving the hallway to stand on the bottom step of the staircase. "Probably on the pavement, the dopey creature does seem to like the sun."

Rory nodded, rushing down the stairs, dark gaze glancing over to the clock hanging on the hallway wall as she pulled open the front door. Amor had been correct; the fluffy white cat had made herself comfortable at the end of their front garden and right in a patch of warm sun.

"Come on, Sades, we have to go." She sighed, hands gently wrapping around the cat's middle as she lifted her up and headed back into the house.

The next few months really were going to go horribly slowly.

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