𝕳aving finished their talk in the backyard, Quinn and Cassie move into the living room of the house only to be bombarded with requests to join the ongoing karaoke session seemingly organised by Madeleine and Trevor.

"I don't know guys, I'm kinda sleepy . . . .", Quinn tries to back away but Cassie's hand finds his and she looks back at him with a playful grin.

He will never not get flustered by the feeling of her skin against his.

"I wanna hear you two sing exile", Madeleine looks up hopefully from the couch and Quinn groans.

"Come on, it'll be fun", Cassie squeezes his hand and glances up at him with her big brown eyes twinkling under the mellow light surrounding the living room space.

He stares at her and tries to find a way out but . . . . yeah, he never stood a chance.

He exhales, snatching the mic from a very enthusiastic Cole and gestures for them to put the song on.

The song begins, Cassie taking her place in front of him with a wide smile on her face — one of these days, she's gonna ask him to help her dispose of a body and he is undoubtedly going to say yes — while Trevor decides to join in with the spare mic.

Quinn perks a brow at Trevor but he only shrugs.

"I can see you standing, honey with his arms around your body . . . laughing but the joke's not funny at all", Quinn and Trevor sing, Alex and Cole capturing it on their phones.

Cassie's smile stays on her face, Quinn stepping up to her and wailing his arms around as he sings completely off-key but who the fuck cares when she's still smiling at him like that?

They finish the first verse and now that it is Cassie's turn to sing, Quinn immediately silences.

She's so much better than him and the way she jabs a finger at her chest then his as she gets the feel of the song in her body makes him laugh.

Trevor, who is supposed to be silent like Quinn, joins in on Taylor's verse singing with Cassie as if he is a wronged lover.

Quinn glances at Maddie quietly sitting on the sofa and he can swear she's visibly uncomfortable because of the way Trevor seems to be singing a lot of the song to her.

He suddenly gets the urge to whack the younger boy and tell him to straighten up but the duet begins and he gets lost in singing horribly with Cassie.

She smiles at him throughout, at times frowning as the lyrics get too painful and he stares at her, every single emotion on her face being catalogued by his greedy gaze to take and take and take, and treasure every moment he is fortunate enough to experience with her.

"You never gave a warning sign", he points to her in mock distress.

"I gave so, many signs", she shakes her head with an exaggerated scowl.

Somehow, Cole joins in and by the end of it, they are feeling anything but serious.

"That was so good. You two are definitely winning a Grammy someday", Maddie snorts pointing at Quinn and Cassie.

"Not fair. You're a professional singer", Quinn reminds her at her sarcastic tone.

"I mean, points for effort I guess".

"How was I?", Trevor jumps in.

The blonde simply stares at him for a few seconds before shrugging and looking away.

"Fine. I don't know".

He tries to bicker with her but she's quick to avoid him and let Alex pull her into the discussion he's having with Cole.

Quinn takes that opportunity to tug on Cassie's arm.

"I'm going to bed", he tells her in a hushed voice and she nods, patting his hand with a tiny smile.

"Goodnight".

He finds his own lips tugging up.

"Goodnight".

***
quinn hughes 2024 norris winner trust