Gina and Lianne watched, amused, as the band they admired groaned with pain as they descended to the breakfast lounge with hangovers. Logan, who had seemed the most sober the previous night, appeared to have the worst headache out of the four of them.
"How do you guys do this?" asked Carlos, who was without his helmet for once.
"Practice," chorused the girls with a grin.
"I'm not sure whether to laugh or be worried," stated James, eyeing the girls with concern. They continued to beam at him.
"You know what would be great?" asked Logan, clutching his head and looking irritated. "If you all shut up." He took a seat opposite Gina. "My head kills."
Gina solemnly held out some paracetamol for him. Logan took them with a grateful smile and swallowed them with some water. "I probably shouldn't have bought so much stuff," she said quietly. "I should've figured you'd all be lightweights."
"Ah come off it Gina," said Lianne. "They're gonna have to get used to drinking at some point, considering their chosen career path."
"That is true."
"Did you guys sleep okay, anyway?" asked Lianne.
"I guess, I don't really remember much," said James.
"So you don't remember all the sex we had?"
"All the WHAT?"
"Ow," said Logan.
Lianne was giggling. "I'm joking." James visibly relaxed. Gina rolled her eyes.
"I'm getting some breakfast," Gina said, getting up.
"I'll come with," said Kendall.
"I think I'll be fine," Gina said icily, her voice forcing Kendall to stay seated. He looked over to Lianne, confused, but she only shrugged. Lianne got up and followed her best friend.
"You okay?" she asked over the island that held the hot food. Gina was staring intently at the mushrooms and shrugged. "You shouldn't be so cold to him, you know. It'll make things awkward later." Gina shrugged again. "Come on, this is something we've both been dreaming about for ages, you're not gonna screw it up for us, are you?"
Gina finally looked up. "No," she said guiltily. "It's just… I thought that maybe, maybe, I'd have a chance with him. A tiny chance, sure, but still a chance."
"I know."
Gina scooped up some mushrooms onto the plate she was holding. "Can't have everything, I guess," she said with a sigh, but then she gave a smile. "They have pancakes."
"OH MY GOD!" Lianne rushed away to find the pancakes, leaving Gina chuckling to herself. After helping herself to some more food, she returned to their table. Lianne appeared a few moments later, pancakes stacked high on her plate.
The boys, groaning somewhat, also went to get their food, returning with an assortment of sweet and savoury. The six of them ate in companionable silence.
Kelly chose that moment to appear. "Hi guys!" she said cheerfully. The boys winced. "Woah, you look terrible. What ha-"
"Don't ask," interrupted Gina, not even looking up from her mushroom sandwich (the bread replaced with pancakes and the butter replaced with ketchup).
"Alright then. Have you decided what you want to do today?" she asked, slipping back into her cheerful tone.
"London Dungeons!" Lianne burst out. "I love that place, it's so cool!"
"Sure," said Kelly, giving a nod. "I'll let the chauffer know that's where you want to go. You can leave whenever, just jump in and you can go."
"Sweet!" said Lianne, pumping her fist. The boys looked relatively excited.
As she left, Kelly didn't notice Gina's pale face.