The Party is here ! This chapter is entirely Julia-centric, but don't worry, the other wharacters will all have a chaoter dedicated to them, each describing how to pary went for them.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please R&R.

The Party: Part 1: Julia.

Tom, Eileen and Julia arrived at the party. There were already many people there. Eileen looked nervous, but she took a deep breath and already she looked better.

"I'm going to go and get drinks. Who wants some?" Julia asked.

"Me." Tom said. Eileen shook her head.

"Okay, I'll be back in a sec." Julia said, as she rushed off to the bar.

She got to the bar and saw Derek there. He already had two empty glasses in front of him and was drinking a third one.

"Hey." she said, as she sat on the stool next to him.

"Hey." he grumbled.

"You okay?" Julia asked.

"Great!" Derek lied. Julia looked at him sympathetically.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked.

"It's nothing! I'm fine."

Julia hesitated. She knew Derek long enough to tell he wasn't fine, but she also knew him long enough to know that when Derek was unhappy it was best to give him a chance to fix it on him own.

"Okay," she said. "But can you recommend a drink?" she asked. Derek smiled a bit.

"The scotch is great!" he said.

Julia ordered two glasses of scotch. "Thanks!" she said when she got them. She kissed her friend on the cheek before going off to see Tom.

She looked for him everywhere. She was about to give up when she saw him.

He and Eileen were talking to Jerry. Julia decided not to bother them.

"Mom!" she heard her son call.

"Leo!" she hugged him.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Leo asked.

"Umm, nothing… Oh, look! There's a chocolate fountain over there! I remember, you used to love chocolate fountains! Hey, why don't you go over to it!" Julia said. Leo looked confused.

"Umm… Okay?" he said, as he directed himself towards it.

Julia sighed as she leant against the wall. She was terrible at keeping things from her son. Last time she did… well, it wasn't long until he found out about it.

Julia checked the time. She had only been there for half an hour, but it felt like two hours. She loved parties, but they just weren't fun when you were stressing out during the whole thing.

Julia looked across the room, where she saw something that would only add to her stress.

"Michael?" she said. What on Earth was he doing here?

She walked over to him.

"Hey, come with me!" she whispered. He looked confused, but followed. She headed into the bathroom, and Michael eagerly followed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked once they were inside. Michael seemed almost amused by her question.

"Well, when a hottie asks me to follow her inside the bathroom, I generally do." he said, moving closer to her.

"Michael, be serious!" she said, moving back. Michael frowned, all his amusement running away from his face, and his eyes widened.

"Wait… did you just call me "Michael"?" he asked.

"Yes!" Julia said, not understanding why her boyfriend was acting so strange. "Now, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Suddenly, Michael let out a big laugh. "Lady, you got me confused with someone else. I'm not Michael, he's my—" he started.

"Michael! This isn't funny. I am very very stressed tonight and you showing up after you promised you wouldn't really isn't helping!" Julia said.

"But I'm not Mich—"

"Michael, just go home, I have something I need to do—well, avoid doing, actually!" Julia said, walking out of the bathroom before Michael could protest.

1 and a half hours later:

After the incident with Michael, the evening went quite well. She managed to postpone telling Leo about her and Michael—she was very grateful for that chocolate fountain—so far. She had a very pleasant conversation with Eileen, who said everything was going well with Jerry, and he didn't suspect a thing. Julia then had a very pleasant surprise: she didn't know Patrick Dillon was at this party! She couldn't wait to tell Tom. Next, she had listened to Karen sing a lovely song: 'our day will come'.

Julia sat down on the couch and checked her phone. She always forgot to check for any texts when it was on silent, and she had just now remembered. She raised an eyebrow when she saw a missed call from Michael. She decided to call him back.

The phone rang for a few seconds before Michael picked up. "Hello."

"Finally decided to apologize for earlier on, huh?" Julia asked.

"Apologize?… Wait, what did Steve do?" Michael asked. Julia frowned.

"Who's Steve?"

"…Wait, he didn't explain?"

"Explain what?"

"Steve is my twin brother from L.A."

Julia's eyes widened. "You have a… twin brother? Why didn't you tell me?" she close to shouted into the phone.

She didn't hear Michael's answer, because Leo walked over to his mom and sat down next to her. "Hey, who has a twin brother?" he asked casually, the little mustache of chocolate above his lip making look adorable.

"Umm… a friend. You don't know him!" she said.

"Julia? Are you listening to me?" Michael asked at the other end of the line.

"Like, a boyfriend?" Leo asked teasingly.

"No. Noooooo. Not a boyfriend. Why would I have a boyfriend?" Julia asked, nervously laughing.

"Something tells me you're not talking to me right now." Michael guessed.

Leo shrugged. "I don't know. You're a grown woman, you're allowed. Come on, just tell me, who is it?" Leo asked.

Julia felt her heart beating faster, just as it always did when in this kind of situation. "Ummm…" she mumbled. "I'll be right back." she told Leo, as she got up and walked away.

"Ummm… yeah, Michael… I'm going to have to call you back!" she said, as she hung up. She turned around, and bumped into none other than the twin of her boyfriend: Steve.

"You again." she rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessing you spoke to my brother. I think I deserve an apology." he smirked. Julia had been annoyed before, and that little comment didn't help.

"I think you don't." she said, as she turned around, sticking her nose in the air. The turning around part didn't do any good, though, because she just found herself facing her son.

"Michael? That's the guy?" he asked aggressively.

"No, I'm not—I mean—I— Ugh!" she looked back at Steve, who was just standing there, confused, and gave him the best death stare she could before returning her attention to Leo.

"Honey, I think we should talk outside for a minute." she said in a soothing voice, trying to calm the raging teenager in front of her.

"Forget that! I'm out of here!" he said. He walked past Julia, punched Steve in the face, before walking past Julia again and running towards the door.

Julia hesitated. She moved towards Steve to help him, but then realized her priority was her son, and she rushed off after him, accidentally bumping into Ana, who had a few tears in her eyes. She continued running.

On her way to the door, she passed by Tom, Eileen, Jerry and Patrick Dillon. Eileen was giving out to a soaked Jerry, who seemed to find it hilarious. Tom tried to calm the pair, and Patrick was just standing there, slightly dazed.

Julia would have rushed over to help with whatever the problem was, but she didn't have time to.

She arrived just as the elevator doors were closing. She sprinted to get to them in time, but arrived just a mili second too late. She banged the doors, and took a second to breath, before heading to the emergency staircase. She kicked off her heels, because they really weren't practical, and started running down the stairs. When she got there, she caught a glimpse of Leo walking out of the building. She ran out.

The cold evening air was a shock to her bare arms, but she didn't pay attention to that. She looked around, and saw her son hailing a cab.

She grabbed him by the arm.

"Leo…" she said breathlessly. "Just, please, let me explain." she begged.

"There's nothing to explain, mom!" he said, as the taxi pulled over. "You cheated on dad with him, and with all that talk about how it was a mistake, you still decide to date him. Obviously it just shows how much you care."

"Leo, you know I love you more than anything!" she said.

"I know, mom. You never stop reminding me. But obviously, despite me and dad, you love that jerk too. And, if you love someone to sacrifice your family for him, then congrats, mom. I'm happy for you." he said. Julia suddenly didn't feel very well. Leo opened the car door, stepped inside, and looked up at his mom. "Actually, no. I'm not happy for you." he said coldly, before slamming the door.

The taxi drove off, leaving Julia in a state of devastation. She didn't move from that spot until Tom burst out of Jerry's building.

"Come on, Julia. We're leaving!" he said angrily as he grabbed her by the arm. Julia didn't move.

"Julia? You okay? Come on, let's go." he said, slightly concerned.

Julia felt the world start to spin around her, and saw all the lights go out. She crumbled into her best friend's arms.