A/N: This chapter was so fun to write, and I can't wait to work on the next one! Let me know what you think!

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A week later, Emil sat in his living room with Peter and Erland, trying to get the boys to focus on their homework for even just five minutes. It was a Friday, and both boys were antsy about the weekend and the fact that there was no school that following Monday for teachers' inservice day. On any normal weekend, the two would focus slightly more than this on a Friday, but due to there being a three-day weekend, it was impossible.

"Forget it," Emil finally said, caving into the shenanigans of the brothers. "Tutoring is done. You can do whatever you want until your dad comes for you." He sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket. There were many messages from his friends in the group chat they had going, and there were some individual messages from Leon as well, telling him to check the group chat. "What the hell is so important?" he mumbled to himself, trying not to be heard by the younger boys. He stood up and went to sit at the dining room table as he checked the group chat.

After scrolling through the multiple "Where the hell is Emil?!" messages, he finally reached the topic of the chat for that day. His eyes widened as he read it. They were all planning a trip to Southeast Iowa that weekend. Apparently Lilli had something to do in Fort Madison with her brother but he didn't want her to be alone. He had apparently gotten them rooms at a hotel in a town called Keokuk and Lilli wanted to know who all would be going.

Emil wondered if Lukas and Mathias would let him go. He read into the messages and saw the Lilli's brother and his girlfriend would be staying at the hotel as well. If he told his brothers that, would they let him go? He checked to see who would be taking them and saw that Leon, Yong-Soo, and Mei would be driving. It was about a two-hour trip, and apparently they made this trip every once in awhile.

After seeing the neighbor boys off, Emil cleaned up around the apartment, to put Lukas in the best mood possible before he asked. More than anything, he wanted his brother to allow him to go. According to the messages, they would be leaving tomorrow morning since what Lilli had to do down there would be happening in the early afternoon. He had never really been outside of Iowa City other than when they landed in Des Moines when moving here. A small trip to rural Iowa with his friends would be nice.

Lukas arrived about an hour later than he normally did, but he didn't seem too stressed out. Emil's guess was that he just lost track of time while at work, since that happened every now and then. He kicked off his shoes at the front door and hung his jacket up in the front hall closet. His eyes widened when he noticed the cleanliness of the living room.

"Did you clean the apartment?" the older of the two asked in shock. His sapphire eyes examined the tidiness that was nonexistent when he had left the house that morning. "Takk, Emil." He then looked over at his younger brother. "Now, what are you up to?"

Emil blushed from being found out so quickly. "Remember when Lilli stayed overnight here last week?" he began. Knowing that Lukas really liked Lilli would give him the upper hand in this situation. "Well, her brother works down in Fort Madison, or whatever it's called. It's about a two-hour drive from here. Anyway, he wanted her to go down there for some reason this weekend, and he said she could bring her friends with her. She wanted to know if I could go with her. We would be leaving tomorrow morning and be back Monday evening."

Lukas was quiet for a moment, looking as if he were genuinely considering it. "And you don't have school Monday?" he asked. He thought for a little longer. "It shouldn't be a problem, but I'll have to talk it over with Mathias when he gets home, okay?"

Knowing that was pretty much a confirmation that he could go, Emil couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I can wait until then," he said, nodding. He then headed to his room to text his friends and tell them that he could go. His heart was pounding at the idea of going on a weekend trip with his friends. He was so excited that he could hardly stand it. His hands trembled as he typed out the text to the group chat.

Moments later, his phone nearly exploded with excited texts from all of his friends. They were all excited and couldn't wait for Saturday. A lot of the texts were telling Emil how much he would like this weekend in Keokuk and how they always have a lot of fun whenever they go. Some of the texts were plans for things they could do over the weekend together. Emil's excitement built up as he read all the things they could do, and it made him wonder just how big that town really was. Either way, he was so excited that time seemed to pass more slowly than he wanted to it. It felt like Mathias would never come home.

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The next morning, Emil went through his travel bag one last time, making sure that he had everything he needed. Mathias had come home and was almost as excited as Emil over the fact that he was invited on a weekend trip with his friends. He kept saying things like, "Lukas, our moody boy is likeable! His friends really like him!" Though his teasing was annoying and relentless, Emil could still tell just how happy his brother-in-law was for him. After all, it was Mathias who thought it was going to be hard for him to make friends.

Mathias knocked on Emil's open door, standing in the doorway to his room. "So Lukas and I were talking, and we realized that you don't really have any source of income," he began. "That won't do you any good this weekend, so we have decided to give you some money." He held out his hand, a crisp $100 bill was in it. "We want you to have a great time this weekend, so this is for you."

Emil slowly accepted the bill that was held out to him. He looked up at Mathias, speechless. "What? You mean it? This is for me?"

His brother-in-law ruffled his hair, grinning widely. "Who else would it be for?" he laughed. "Have fun this weekend, kid. You deserve it." Mathias turned to leave the room, but stopped when he heard Emil's cautious voice.

"Are you sure this is okay?" the Icelandic boy asked, overwhelmed with emotion. "Is it really okay for me to take this much with me?"

A smile took over Mathias's face. "If it wasn't okay, I wouldn't have given it to you. Think about it, Emil. You keep your grades up in school. You keep a good circle of friends. You're always looking out for the neighbor boys and helping them wherever they may need it. You've more than earned this money. Besides, you never really ask to go out and do much. That's why we're doing this. We want you to have fun while you're gone."

"Thank you," Emil replied, touched by the generosity of his guardians. He knew that if he saw anything more, he would probably cry. Not even his own mother had done something like this for him back in Iceland. His heart felt like it would explode from an overload of emotions.

Mathias took his small voice as a hint to leave. Having been married to Lukas for awhile, he noticed similarities between the two brothers, even though they hadn't grown up together. One of the main ones was that they both got emotional when happy and were known to cry when overcome with joy. Though he personally found it cute, neither of the brothers did and would commonly get angry over it, so he knew when to leave to avoid danger.

Emil scrubbed at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. He hadn't been expecting this, but he greatly appreciated it. Ever since he had come to America with Lukas and Mathias, he never knew just what to make of his new brother-in-law, but this made him realize that Mathias was actually a pretty cool guy.

There was a knock at the front door moments after Emil tucked the bill into his wallet and slung his bag over his shoulder. He could hear Lilli's cheerful voice practically sing out, "We came to get Emmy!" His mouth formed into a smile but then he thought about it. Who did she mean by "we"? He quickly made his way down the hall and to the entryway.

Lilli stood in the front hall with Natalia and Leon, grinning widely at Mathias, who had answered the door. "Emmy!" she excitedly greeted when she saw him. "Are you ready to go? Everyone else is out in the parking lot." She turned to Mathias, beaming. "Thanks for letting him come with us this weekend, Mat! It'll be so much more fun with Emil there!"

Mathias blushed, embarrassed from Lilli's gushing. It also didn't help that he thought she was just adorable. "Yeah, no problem," he awkwardly replied. "Lukas is already at work, or he'd be seeing you all off." His gaze then rested on the Asian boy who seemed to be examining everything around him. "So you're Yao's brother?"

At the mention of his older brother, Leon nearly flinched, not expecting such a blunt question. "Uh, yeah," he answered, confused. "How do you know my brother?"

"I work triage at the University," Mathias replied. "Yao is probably sick of hearing my voice when he's on-call at the ER. Our breaks are sometimes around the same time, too. You look similar to him."

"Don't all Asians look alike?" Leon joked, a smirk resting on his lips. He laughed to get the point across that he really was joking. "But yeah, our mother always said that he and I looked similar."

Where the Dane felt uncomfortable only moments before, he laughed with Leon, making Emil feel relieved that he hadn't unintentionally offended his boyfriend. "Well, I hope you all have a great time this weekend. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"You talk like an old man," Emil sighed. "You're only twenty-five, Mathias." He knelt down to tie his sneakers after slipping his jacket on. "Don't break your hip or something while I'm gone."

Mathias laughed loudly and ruffled Emil's hair again. "You wound me, Emil. Have a great weekend. See you Monday, kid."

Emil stood up and fixed his hair. "Takk," he stated before heading toward the front door. "See you Monday."

"He seems nice," Natalia said once the four of them were in the elevator. She then turned to her girlfriend. "You seemed pretty close with Emil's brother, Lil. What was that all about?"

Lilli giggled and played with Natalia's hair for a moment. "Mat and Luke find me adorable. I'm sure that they would allow Emil to rob a bank with me if I asked."

The Icelandic boy chuckled. "I would not doubt that for even a moment. They are so charmed by Lilli that she could kill someone in cold blood right in front of them, and they would still say she's innocent."

Leon placed a hand on top of Lilli's head, patting her. "I would let our Lilli get away with murder if it was for a good cause," he stated, smiling. He then looked at Emil. "I forgot that you ran into Yao while out with your brothers the day after the dance. God, he's awful. I forgot that he and your brother were friends." His smile charmed Emil. "At least that somewhat puts me in their good graces, right?"

Emil grinned back at Leon. "It does," he confirmed. "They keep asking me when they're going to meet the rest of my friends, but I doubt we could all even fit in that apartment." He chuckled as they exited the elevator on the ground floor. "So is everyone really out in the parking lot?"

"See for yourself," Natalia laughed. "Mei brought her mom's SUV, but Max is driving it. We're all just putting our bags in the back of it." She pointed to a large, blue SUV that looked brand new and quite expensive. "It's that one over there. Yong-Soo is driving his dad's truck, but it has a full back seat. Leon is driving Max's car since it's got full coverage. I assume you'll be riding with Leon. Lilli and I will be in the back seat. Neo and Raivis are in the SUV with Mei and Max, and I believe it's just Laura and Yong-Soo in the truck, but who would want to ride with Yong-Soo anyway?"

Emil laughed. "I'll go put my bag in the SUV then." He approached the large vehicle and the back hatch opened as he approached it.

"Good morning, Emil!" Mei called from the passenger's seat. "Are you ready for a great weekend?" She was smiling from ear to ear. "We are all going to have so much fun!"

"I look forward to it!" he replied. Once his bag was in the back, he stepped back as the back hatch began closing once more. He made his way over to the silver car that Leon was sitting in the driver's seat of.

When Emil got in the car, he noticed that the seats were heated. The stereo was BlueTooth compatible, with some rock music playing on it from Leon's phone. This car didn't even require a key in the ignition to start it. Emil's jaw dropped as he looked around the interior of the car. To him, it looked like a vehicle straight out of a spy movie.

"Emil, just so you get a feel for the hotel situation," Lilli began. "My brother got a room for him and Irunya, and then two more rooms. One is for the boys, and the other is for the girls, but we always intermingle between rooms. It's not like Vash actually cares." She giggled. "There is a pool and hot tub there, too. That's why I made sure you brought swimwear with you." Her voice rose an octave from excitement as she clapped her hands together. "I'm so excited! It's our first trip with Emmy with us!"

"She's been like this since she's gotten in the car," Leon clarified to Emil. "Lilli is always excited when we get to do fun things like this with a group. You should've seen her that time we went to Adventureland in middle school."

Natalia laughed. "She was nearly bouncing in her seat the whole way to Des Moines. It was actually really cute." She blushed after admitting it. "That was when I knew I was crazy about her."

"That was back when Lilli and Raivis were still trying to fool themselves," Leon explained. "Trust me, none of us were fooled. We could all see the way Lilli and Raivis acted around Nat and Neo, and just knew it was only a matter of time."

"I guess it's true when they say that your best friends really do know you better than anyone else does," Lilli giggled. "All of you knew the truth before we had even figured it out. What I'm most grateful for is that I don't have just one best friend. All of you are my best friends, even you, Emmy. If we don't know each other well, then who really does?"

Emil thought about what Lilli had said. If she knew him like she said she did, then could she tell that he was lying to her at their sleepover? An overwhelming sense of guilt filled his chest as he fastened his seatbelt. He didn't even notice as the car began moving. All he could think about is what he would do if Lilli had known that he was lying to her. Why didn't she say anything to him about it? Was she going to use it against him later? What did this mean for their friendship? Did she even trust him after knowing that he had lied about his well-being?

Leon's hand suddenly reached over and grabbed Emil's, the warmth of it bringing the Icelandic boy back to his senses. "You okay?" he asked, glancing over at him. "You were spacing out a lot. Let me guess, you could hardly sleep last night because of this?"

The silvery-haired boy nodded, smiling. "Yeah, something like that," he admitted. He looked around him and saw that they were already on the highway. "I'm just anxious about the trip. I've never exactly traveled before, except from Des Moines to Iowa City. It's a pretty big adventure for me. Even when I lived in Iceland, I never really ventured outside of Reykjavik." He looked at his surroundings, noticing that most of it was fields and farmland. "So this is what Iowa looks like outside of the city, huh?"

"Pretty much," Natalia answered from the back seat. "It's pretty well-known for it's corn and farming, much like most of the Midwest. We live in one of the major cities. I'm going to warn you in advance, though, Keokuk is a really small city. The locals there are all friendly and will wave at you and compliment you at random. It gives you one of those cute small-town vibes that you experience from watching wholesome horse movies."

The driver of the car snorted before breaking out into a fit of laughter. "'Wholesome horse movie'!" His laughter filled the car. "I never thought that Keokuk could be defined so easily!"

"But am I wrong?" the blue-eyed girl asked. "You've seen the girls our age there. I want you to try to tell me that most of them have not ridden or loved a horse in their lives with confidence."

Lilli was also laughing by this point. "Max was saying this last time we went! He was talking about all the farm girls there." She poked Emil's arm to get him to look back there. "When we went to Wal-Mart the first time we took this trip, people our age wouldn't stop checking all of us out. Six girls approached Leon and Yong-Soo in the course of an hour! Mei glared daggers at any girl who came within five feet of Max and held his hand the whole time we were in public!"

"I drink to forget those girls in Keokuk," Leon sighed, causing everyone in the car to laugh. He squeezed Emil's hand. "They'll come after you, for sure. You're just too gorgeous. I need you to promise me something, Emil."

"And what's that?" the Icelandic boy asked with a smile. He could sense what was coming, so he tried to hold in his laughter.

"Please don't leave me for a Horse Girl from Southeast Iowa," he said. "I don't think that my heart would be able to take it. Also, I promise you that she will always love her horse more than you. Nothing comes between a girl and her horse, Emil. Nothing."

By that point, even Natalia had dissolves into a fit of cackles. The atmosphere of the car was so cheerful that even Emil forgot his own worries and anxieties for the duration of the drive. He was near tears from laughing so hard at one point when Leon pointed out a girl riding a horse in one of the fields and Lilli referred to her as "Miss Steal Your Man". Friends really did make things great, and Emil was glad that he had the best of the best.

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"Okay, so fair warning," Natalia began as they entered Keokuk city limits, "Lilli is almost a carbon copy of her brother. Like, it's insane how much they look alike. You'll see what I mean when we get to the hotel. I just wanted to warn you so you don't go into shock upon meeting him."

"Oh, come on," Lilli sighed. "Vash and I don't look that much alike."

"She's lying," Leon and Natalia stated in unison.

Emil laughed and jumped to Lilli's defense. "Come on, guys. I'm sure it can't be that shocking."

"Just you wait and see," Leon said, turning into the parking lot of a hotel just off Main Street. The hotel was called the Hampton Inn. "You'll be meeting him in just a few minutes."

Leon pulled into a parking space as Yong-Soo and Max pulled into the ones next to his. All of the students got out of their respective vehicles and crowded around the back of the SUV to collect their weekend luggage before heading to the front doors of the hotel.

Once in the lobby, Emil's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. The hotel looked really expensive and classy, but on top of that, the man who greeted them literally looked like a male Lilli. He could barely wrap his head around it. The man was just about a foot taller than his sister and was accompanied by a shy-looking woman with short, platinum blonde hair and large breasts.

"Vash!" Lilli excitedly greeted, throwing herself at her brother in a hug. "It's been awhile!"

The man hugged his little sister back, patting her head affectionately. "It has been awhile, hasn't it? I've been pretty busy with work, so I regret not being home much lately." He then looked up and addressed the group of teenagers around him. "How are you all doing? I hope that you are well." The teenagers all confirmed in their own way before he said, "I decided we would stay at the nicer hotel this time since it's been awhile since we stayed somewhere with a pool. Since I know you will all be on your best behaviors like you always are, I decided that us all staying here wouldn't be too bad."

"Thank you, Vash," replied a chorus of high schooler voices.

Vash then turned his focus to Emil. "I take it that you are Emil," he stated. "My sister has told me a lot about you, especially that you were so kind as to let her stay at your house during a difficult time for her. I regret not being able to help Lilli at that time, but I am grateful to you for being there for her." He stuck his hand out toward Emil. "My name is Vash Zwingli. I am pleased to meet you."

Emil shook the man's hand. "I am pleased to meet you as well. I'm Emil Steilsson, and I appreciate you allowing me to accompany the others this weekend."

The man smiled at Emil's politeness and pointed at him, looking to Lilli. "You always pick great friends for yourself," he told her. "I'm glad that you keep company with such polite people. It helps me rest easier when I'm not home."

"I guess I'm a good judge of character," Lilli giggled. "Emmy is a good guy. He's going to go on to do great things. I'm sure of it!"

"I could see it," Vash agreed.

After Vash greeted the others and doted on Lilli a bit more, he got them all checked in. He then excused himself, Lilli, and the woman, whom Emil found out was named Irunya. They said they would be back after a bit and that the teens should go off and have fun.

As Emil went to put his bag in the room he'd be sharing with the other guys, all he could think about was how great of a weekend this was all going to be.