Queen of Spades (House of Car...

A/N: There is a 'spicy' scene almost right off for this one, so I will be putting up the adult version as soon as I finish typing this. It might be a little bit more sensical to go read that one then this one. My friend has thus dubbed my adult chapters 'the rapture files' LOL.

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Even knowing that Malcolm and West were planning something for her birthday, Alice was not able to figure out even a hint of what it was. They were too secretive and careful about whatever it was, so Alice shrugged and used the week leading up to her birthday to get to Maddison Avery better, wanting to know more about her best friend's girlfriend.

Maddison was delicately Irish, her father's British nationality giving her a faint accent held over from her youth. Maddie was five four with reddish blonde hair that looked almost pink in the sunlight. She had luminous green eyes and a sweetly shy disposition. But when she danced, it was amazing. She became the character wholly, making them real. It was a quality Alice could only hope to achieve one day and she realized that it was part natural skill and part amazing teachers. Maddison's relationship with West had blossomed after she'd agreed to tutor him in math, which he was failing again and would likely need summer school to graduate.

Friday February 13th dawned dreary and gray, cold and with a wail in hte wind that chilled the soul. Alice woke up in Malcolm's arms and to his kiss. Alice decided right away that she liked that kind of birthday good morning, but started to worry over the time when she stopped the make out session to see it was 15 minutes to class. Malcolm chuckled at her concern.

"I had Salali call in sick for you." Malcolm whispered into her ear. "And I've taken the day off due to migraine." he added in, weaving their fingers together. "Happy birthday mi corazon. You're officially a legal woman." he kissed her cheek.

"Congratulations, you're no longer a pervert." Alice teased, eyebrow raised as he kept her pinned.

"You love me that way." Malcolm purred at her, running his hand down the front of her body and she arched like a cat. He groaned as her movement pressed their bodies together. "You keep that up and I'll never get to your birthday surprise." he warned. Alice smirked at him, thinking that was a great plan. "Alice..." his voice warned as she kissed him. She shifter her hips, settling him closer to her, wanting him to break first. He resisted the temptation and rose up a little, putting some space between them as he looked down at her. "I really do have something planned." he stated. "It's on a set schedule too." he explained.

{A/N: ADULT CHAPTER POSTED IN CORRELATION TO THIS SCENE}

 Alice sat astride Malcolm, body echoing waves of fading pleasure. Her body shook slightly, shivering in after glow and she blushed a brilliant rose, a little ashamed at how strongly she reacted to Malcolm's words. "We're definitly late for your birthday surprise." Malcolm panted and Alice laughed at him.

"Totally worth it." Alice huffed and he chuckled, hands gently rubbing her thighs.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask if you wanted to move in with me. I wanted to wait until after you graduated but then saw an opportunity to keep you safe..." he blurted out.

Alice blinked down at him, a little stunned. "You mean you want me to move in with you?" she asked. She'd really thought he hadn't wanted her there, but felt obliged to. He was self-sacrificing like that.

"Alice," Malcolm's hand rested over her heart beat, "I love having you live with me. Would you, Alice Spade, like to move in with me?" Malcolm asked, as if they hadn't already moved in together.

"You're stuck with me now, you know that right?" Alice asked instead, smiling brilliantly down at him.

Malcolm grinned back, eyes happy and satisfied. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Now if we hurry, we might still catch the surprise." he added and Alice went to get ready with a laugh. He wanted her here. Holy flaming blue penguin h***, Alice thought, he wants me. She followed his suggestion and dressed in something comfortable, a pair of black trousers that looked professional but were super comfy, and a red turtle neck made of soft cotton.

"You are so weird sometimes." she scoffed at him but hurried to feed Monster. The puppy just wagged his tail at her, and she realized that Malcolm had walked hte dog before waking her up.

They dove into his Jeep and headed out. He held her hand in the Jeep and would look at her, making her blush hotly when he mouthed the word 'mine'. It embarassed her that she responded so strongly to the concept of being his, but thinking about belonging to him made her feel all glowy. THen again, he was hers too, and that was a part of it.

"So what is this surprise?" Alice asked as Malcolm pulled the Jeep into the parking lot of a shopping strip.

Malcolm smiled at her. "Well, West and I have contrived something. So you and I had an appointment that started ten minutes ago." he said, voice slightly chiding.

"And what is this something you two evil geninuses have put together?" Ace asked, playfully mocking.

Malcolm gave an evil laugh, "Muahahaha" and added the hands rubbing together for added effect. "We've set it up so that I'll go to your prom as DJ Mask, and you'll be my date." Malcolm stated. Alice just stared at him, speechless. "The appointment is with a specialist to find hte perfect dress for you. Because you'd never expect such a thing." he explained with a bright smile. Alice felt like an idiot, not able to say anything and Malcolm laughed at her expression. "You're welcome, now come on!" he pulled her along. The professional fitter was pissed that they were late, but agreed to help them with a huff.

The first step was to choose a general style. Short cocktail or long evening gown? Alice liked the classiness of long dresses. Simple style or elegant flair? Alice liked the more simple dresses that had an attention getting detail instead of the more flamboyant choices presented.

The next step was to limit down the colour palette. The first colours off the list were white and black. One would be too bridal and the other too funerial. Next they dropped any pastel colour, they just looked sallow next to her skin tone. Alice slowly discovered that she looked better in shades of collur instead of primary or jewel tones. Jade looked brassy and amethyst looked gray, but they stumbled across some metallic dresses that did well.

There was a sky blue dress that looked perfect on the hanger, but when Alice tried it on, the material was clingy and stretchy, looking painted on and she felt far too exposed. Reluctantly she passed on the dress, it had made her darker colours smolder. There was a strapless pink and black dress that looked adorable as she pulled it on, but with her proportions made her look odd and a little pregnant. The more girly of hte formal wear looked like she was a doll or for rent, depending on how it was cut. Surprisingly Malcolm was a good eye to have along for this kind of thing. He was honest in his assessment of her features. She was round in hip and bottom, a very Brazilian shape, and could look a little wide if in the wrong style. Finally they found the perfect dress. Alice wore it and just stared at her reflection, wondering how a simple dress could make her look so different?

The gown was metallic gold, but not bright. There were gold sequins covering the bust, and a diamond design under the bust and at the shoulders. With Alice's naturally bronze tone and dark hair, the dress glowed against her and she felt amazingly sultry. {A/N: BIG thank you to everyone who gave suggestions or links to go hunting. I felt so girly, but this dress just stole the center stage! Thank you whatsthe온라인카지노게임10!}

There weren't mamy alterations needed to make it fit taylor perfect. She had a pair of shoes already that would work with the gown and the accessories were simple. Malcolm paid for the lot and Alice felt guilty, but he laughed it off. "I cannot believe you got me girl clothes for my birthday." Alice laughed. "Thank you." Malcolm pulled her to him and kissed her. They were no longer illegal but their relationship was still not right with society. Thankfully no one who knew them witnessed the affectionate display.

"The next part of your surprise is at seven o'clock abd requires a nice outfit. We're gonig on a date." Malcolm smiled and Aace felt deliriously girly. She never would have claimed to be romantic by nature, but his gestures were leaving her touched and dazed.

Malcolm took them home after eating a light, late lunch and Alice let him have the bathroom first. She played with Monster and gave him a good run around hte block while Malcolm did his thing. After his quick preparations, shower and shave, Alice comandeered the bathroom. She was re-using her clay red halter dress, the one she'd worn when Malcolm had made out with her that first time. This time however, she went all out on her hair. She used hot curlers to tighten the natural waves and used discreet bobby pins to keep it held away from her face. Her knock off Leboutins finished the look. Malcolm was wearing his dark gray trousers with a dark green cashmere sweater. He looked edible and Alice said as much to him. He grinned and kissed her in response. Alice cuddled to him when they drove towards the restaurant.

"Are you having a happy birthday Alice?" Malcolm asked, fingers of one hand toying with her hair while the other one held the wheel.

"Yes. It has been amazing, thank you." Alice gushed and kissed him on the cheek.

"You look beautiful, by the way. Absolute knock-out." he complimented and Alice grinned. She'd tied the top differently, so it looked more modest, but she knew the tattoos against the dress made most people stared. Malcolm didn't seem to care though, and she didn't either so the people staring could look their fill.

They walked into the restaurant and the maitre d took them to a romantic little nook in an out of the way corner. Malcolm ordered wine for the table and Alice tried not to flush at the memory of the last time they drank wine. She ordered a surf and turf combo while Malcolm went with a seafood pasta. They laughed and relaxed, acting like a real couple and no one thought anything of it. Alice looked old enough to be his woman, and they were in the next city over where no one knew them. It ended up being the last reprieve from chaos Alice would get for a while.

Salali reported that someone tried to break into her apartment and all the authorities were convinced it was Stuart looking for Alice. The police wanted to assign her a protective detail in case it was her foster brother looking for a little revenge, but Alice felt that if he didn't know where she was now, putting cops on her constantly would be using a big neon sign saying 'she's right here'. But the trade off of not having cops follow her was that she spent every moment jumping and checking the area around her for signs of Stuart.

Alice was desperate for an escape, and needed time to catch her metaphorical breath. She'd dropped even more weight by the time February ended and she was concerned over her health. Getting too skinny could make her weak for dancing and a lot of what she planned to do in the Gala required her at top strength. Ace bulled through and put hte finishing touches on the dance sequences with the others. Other than the fight scene, everything else had been perfected and could now be practiced until they could do it in their sleep.

And Alice wasn't the only one on short supply of sleep lately. All seniors that were in the Gala had to haul a** and prove to Mrs. Moodie and Ms. Avery that they were prepared to go on the trip and do well in the Gala. Ms. Avery would demand a dance sequence the student was in and they would have to be able to do it without thinking. Alice passed hers without a hassle and finally got some good news. Ms. Avery expected everyone to practice over March Break, so she made a special request and the students that had to practice dancing were excused from having to wear the GPS monitors. It was too likely the unit would be damaged in practice or hurt the dancers. Ms. Avery even took Mrs. Moodie's spot as chaperone to ensure that every day a few hours were put into practice.

"You're so lucky you don't have to wear one." Sammy sighed. As a choir member she would still wear one of the clunky braceletts.

"Come on, it's not so bad. At least you get to go." Alice tried to soothe. Sam's crush on West had died when it became obvious that his attention was on someone else. He talked about 'his girl' constantly, but only Alice knew who the lucky girl was. So now Sammy's attention had returned to where it belonged, to Butch.

"You get to sneak out without them knowing. It gives you all kinds of opportunity to be naughty." Sam wiggled her eyebrows as Butch's ears turned red. Alice was about to make a scathing retort when suddenly Lexi's voice said smoothy,

"Like a pig like you has anyone to be naughty with. You probably mean sneak out and go get midnight munchies." Lexi insulted the weight conscious girl.

Sammy's face crumpled, her lack of self-confidence an easy target for a bully like Lexi. Since hte blond hadn't been able to make Alice miserable, she was trying to destroy her friends. But Ace just had no patience for this kind of dirty dealing, especially not now. As Butch hugged hte teary eyed Same to him, Alice grabbed Lexi by the hair and jerked her head back.

Lexi gave a screech as Alice pulled her into hte girl's room by the hair, kicking hte door open so she wouldn't have to let go. The noise attracted the attention of the departing student body, and a crowd gathered outside, playing witness. Alice held Lexi right in front of the mirrors. Sammy opened the door and watched, but Alice didn't acknowledge her friend.

"Look at yourself." Alice demanded of Lexi. "Look at how hateful and cruel you are." she paused, then let go of Lexi's hair, but stood in her way. The blond jerked away, but seemed unwilling to brush passed Alice to try and escape. "There isn't a single girl in this school who deosn't have some kind of hang up. I'm too tall, too short, too plain, too round, too quiet. We are all afraid we're not good enough. You've got hang ups too, even though you're goregous. You know how it feels to have that doubt. So why the h*** would you make someone else feel that if you were a good person? Do you have such a low opinion of yourself that the only way you feel good is if someone else feels bad?" Alice demanded, her weeks of abuse at Lexi's hands and the years under Stuart causing a bubbling rage to spill over. Lexi saw the crowd watching them avidly and was so embarassed she couldn't speak. "I think we'd all be better off if there was someone reminding us once in a while that we are beautiful. Every single one of us is absolutely, perfectly beautiful. Sam's unhappy with her hsape, but you know what, who cares? Have you heard her sing? That girl has more talent than you and I combined." Alice stated with confidence. "My issues are etched into my skin. I have over a thousand dollars worth of ink on my skin to cover the scars my foster brother gave me. Lexi don't you get it? You won't break me. I survived seven years of him beating and raping me whenever the h*** he wanted to. You're just not that evil." Alice fumed, knowing she'd regret confessing all that where everyone could hear it. But she was just too sick and tired of Lexi's attitude to let it pass. "The best thing you cna do for yourself and everyone around you is to take all the energy you waste making our lives miserable and focus on gettting yourself to where you think you belong." Alice stated, rant done.

"You ever f***ing touch me again I'll..." Lexi screeched but Alice cut her off.

"I don't need to lay a hand on you to make your life a living h***. You hurt my firends again and I'll start making it my life goal to tear your world apart." Alice threatened. This was why Alice was so comfortable with Malcolm's violent side; she had one of her own. Lexi took one look in Ace's eyes and believed the threat, swallowing whatever response she'd been about to make.

Alice turned away and her exit cleared the door, student body melting away as htey realized it was time to go home. The seniors were all packing for their big trip, heading to Cozumel Mexico bright and early the next day.

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A/N: BIG THANK YOU TO WHATSTHESTORY10! The dress pictured to the side is hte one Alice is gonig to wear. WTS10 suggested it and has been rewarded with a spoiler. Jelly?