SIS UPDATING IN LIKE 12 DAYS? WHAT? It's a hella long chapter again but I kept adding to it because I'm extra. All the love to Nameless, Virtue01, mnbvcxz-xx, Epiccupcake28, delovlies, and RunawayGirl8125 for your reviews! I mentioned a lot of songs in this chapter, and even though this story is set in the future I figured it would be more fun to include songs from now instead of making things up yall it's fanfiction. Also more flashbacks because I'm extra. MASSIVE APOLOGIES Vera and Veyra both appear together in this chapter, but you guys are smart. I believe in you.

-shades

…

The smoke in the air was thick, stinging his eyes, burning his lungs, and making it impossible to see. The bones of the plane shrieked as the metal collapsed, destroying his only chance of survival. He stared at the corpse of his friend, and grabbed his forearm, slick with blood. He didn't know what came over him as he shook the body, the terror was so real.

"Drake, come on. Wake up, Drake. Wake up, you dumbass, wake up!" He cried, his voice cracking. He coughed, trying to breathe with all the smoke. The trees were on fire now, and there were other voices and gunshots.

He shook the body of his friend as hard as he could, blood splattering on his face. "You can't be dead. You can't be dead. YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!"

Drake's forehead was a mangled mass of blood and bone, his leg was blown off, his brown eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky.

He was hitting him, trying to get him to get up, punching him in the face.

"No, no, no, NO!"

The dirt four feet away from him exploded, and then again two feet away, followed by retorts from guns.

"Royalist plane down!" Someone shouted, hidden by the smoke.

There was important information on that plane. It was on fire, but it would burn slowly, with the gasoline spilled all over the trees, and being made of metal. He saw the other gasoline tank, intact and not yet burning from the crash. He pulled out his sidearm, fumbling to load it his hands were shaking so bad. He fired three bullets into the tank, and it exploded. The heat washed over him, replacing the cold momentarily as he hid his face in the ground to protect his eyes from the blast.

He blindly fired the remaining bullets into the smoke, but there was only silence.

He reloaded, pulling Drake's ammo out of his pack too.

The forest went silent, except for the flames.

Maybe they were gone.

Slowly, he released his grip on the gun, and grabbed Drake by the coat, shaking his friend in a desperate attempt to turn back time.

He didn't realize that he was screaming until the bullets were back, and he was only saved when they entered the body of his dead friend instead of him.

Drake was dead.

The terror burst through him, even in the cold he was sweating, his heart racing so fast, breathing coming in gasps between the smoke and the fear.

He didn't say goodbye, he just ran…

"You're really the best, you know that?" she whispered as he grabbed her hand and tiptoed up to the third floor, creeping up the stairs like a ninja even though it was just a game of sardines.

"Yeah, I know," he said as they came to the landing. Empty.

"Shoot, they're not hiding up here." Panicking, he turned and ran down the stairs.

"It's not a matter of life or death!" she called after him, laughing…

Wesley threw off his blankets as hard as he could as he sat up. He sucked in as much air as he could, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough to chase them all away. He was out of bed before he quite realized it, and only stopped to grab his hoodie out of the closet before he was slamming his door behind him and running down the hallway.

Dawn was one of the few times the palace was completely quiet. Only a few guards were out and about to witness him in all his pajama glory as he hurried down the stairs.

Get out. Get out. Run.

It was still hammering in Wesley's mind and like a wild animal he obeyed as he stepped outside onto the terrace that spilled down into the gardens, still shrouded in half-darkness in the early hour. It was quiet out here, aside from the faint hum of some sprinklers further off. The doors slammed behind him, and Wesley squeezed his eyes shut. He stuffed his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt, finding his lighter. He took it out and flicked it open and closed, over and over again, but his stupid hands were still shaking. He took three deep breaths, but his heart was still pounding in his chest.

The memories never ran far anymore. It was becoming a steadier occurrence, the same things over and over again. And just like the real thing, every time he thought he was going to die, he would get this little memory stuck in his head of Lissa at Trentworth. It was all so real it took him a moment to realize what was happening when he woke up. Sometimes he didn't even need to be asleep.

He was going out of his freaking mind.

Behind him, the doors opened, and Wesley whirled around, just as surprised to see Georgia as she was to see him. It was probably the only time he had ever seen the tall cool blonde caught off guard, and he liked to think it was because of her awe of his impeccable pajama pants fashion. It didn't last more than a moment before she pressed her lips together and fixed the impassive look she always wore.

"Are you making a habit of crashing my spot? This is the second time."

Wesley gave her an awkward grimace, remembering the rainy night after the Report interviews when she had sat silently with him. "I didn't know it was your spot."

"It's your palace," Georgia shrugged. She didn't say anything as she busied herself with lighting a cigarette. Seeing her do something so normal was weird, but it reminded him she was actually just a person like him. Sometimes, she was acted so cold and isolated it was hard to see her as anything more than that girl on the posters. It seemed like she had warmed to him a tiny bit since they had first met, so he counted it as progress. She casually typed something on her phone as she smoked, looking like she had just come from the palace gym without makeup, hair in a ponytail. She was wearing leggings and a zipped sweatshirt over a workout top, her cheeks slightly pink and sweat dotting her hairline.

"Are you going to keep staring?" she asked, not looking up from her phone.

Wesley looked away, an unexpected heat flushing his cheeks. "Sorry." At least his heart had stopped racing. He pulled his hands into the sleeves of his sweatshirt and turned his gaze onto the empty gardens.

"I know I look like shit right now, that's why I try to come out here so early," she gestured vaguely with her cigarette. "I make myself workout before I have one."

"Can I be a bum and ask you for one?"

Georgia fixed her eyes on him for a long moment, before taking a box out of her sweatshirt pocket and tossing it to him. "I never thought a prince would have to bum his cigarettes."

Wesley laughed quietly as he lit one and then tossed the box back to her. "You and everyone else I've bummed off of. My valet usually gets them for me, but he doesn't start until seven. And don't worry, you look-" he stopped, deciding that saying "normal" would be kinda harsh. "You look fine. Like a badass."

Georgia glanced at him and raised her eyebrows as he took in a deep breath of smoke and rolled his shoulders a couple of times to try to relax.

"You're going to take my cigarettes, give me bad compliments and invade my spot?" she said.

Wesley couldn't be sure, but did she actually smile then?

"Wait, did you just make a joke? Or at least use sarcasm?"

Georgia shook her head slightly, a tiny smile curving her lips. "If you have to ask, it was probably terrible, wasn't it?" She looked down at her phone again. "You're the one who's jokes, baby," she mocked in a low voice, saying what he had told her on their date last week.

Wesley grinned and looked down. "Wow, I didn't think I would ever hear you make a joke."

Georgia raised her cigarette between her index and middle finger to her lips, studying him. She blew the smoke out lazily. "So, I have an excuse, but what's yours for being out here so early?"

Wesley shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

The understatement of the year. He'd been intentionally staying out late with the Selected, his family, or his Selection coordinators, and it still took him a couple of drinks to be able to make himself finally lie down and go to sleep. He was lucky if he got a couple hours before the nightmares woke him. He'd decided as long as he didn't go into REM sleep or whatever it was called, he would be okay.

It usually worked. Not today.

Georgia pressed her lips together. "I can tell."

"Hey, at least I gave you a compliment," Wesley teased. He took another hit off his cigarette, realizing his stupid hands finally weren't shaking anymore.

"I'm not trying to give you a compliment. I'm trying to be honest. You look awful."

"Well, gee thanks," Wesley muttered.

"You might think otherwise, but sleeping is kind of important to your health, and you can't just not do it if you want to, you know, be healthy." She glanced back down at her phone. "Get some pills or something."

He kicked at the concrete with his bare feet. "Yeah, I probably should."

They were quiet for a moment until Georgia held out her phone to him. "Have you seen this?"

It was an article summarizing every single date he had been on in the last week, complete with a massive number of pictures. Even for the ones he didn't have a camera crew with, there were still pictures from his and the ladies' social media. Wesley scrolled briefly through it.

"It's kind of insane," Wesley chuckled.

"Got any plans for today?" Georgia asked as he handed her phone back.

Wesley shrugged. "I have a meeting for the Council that they're actually letting me attend for once this morning. And then another meeting with all my Selection coordinators. I was kinda going to take the day off from dates today since it's Saturday. but I was thinking I would do some karaoke or something with some of you later this evening, just for fun. I take it you would not like to be invited?"

Georgia raised her eyebrows. "What was your first clue?"

Wesley wrinkled his nose. "You just don't suit me as a karaoke girl."

She shook her head and laughed softly. "I'll sit this one out, but thanks."

She kneeled down to put out the remains of her cigarette on the concrete, but not leaving it there. "Well, I've gotta run, but you should ask Ophelia. She likes to sing."

"Thanks for the smoke," Wesley called after her as she walked back to the doors.

"And don't leave cigarette butts lying around outside, either. Birds eat them." Georgia said over her shoulder. She slipped quietly back inside, leaving him all alone once more.

Wesley shook his head as he copied her and put his out. Birds or no birds, if his mom or the really anyone else found out he was starting to smoke more and more, he was going to be in big trouble, so he never left evidence lying around. Although he figured it was only a matter of time before Joseph sent pictures or a statement to some gossip magazine. He was the only person who knew besides Georgia. Not that it was a big deal, even though he had started to smoke with more frequency. It was just something he did when he was nervous or jittery. And it just so happened he was a lot of the time.

He headed back inside. There were a few servants out by now, but he had composed himself enough that no one really looked twice after they judged his pajama pants. Wesley was just glad he didn't run into any of the Selected—Georgia seeing him was bad enough. He went back to his rooms, ready for a well-deserved day off from dating.

He spent the morning in meetings, one for the council, one with the Selected coordinators. He even had time to join everyone for lunch for once, something he had lately been saving for dates. He got in a workout and fulfilled his favorite-uncle role and played baseball outside with Aidan, Evie, and Sophie and the Shreave dogs, Finn and Jack. It was Saturday, so Lissa was off, and luckily there was no repeat of what had happened the other day. For which she was still angry about, not that they were great friends, but at least they had been on more friendly terms—at least until Wesley had decided to tackle her to avoid being caught spying by the Selected. Dumbass.

He spent the remainder of the afternoon doing his favorite activity, laying in bed eating chips and salsa and watching vine compilations until he got off his ass and made himself presentable for dinner. It was nice to finally get away from being the boyfriend of 14 girls. Ever since Callista's untimely departure and the ensuing drama and his 5 dates in 24 hours two weeks ago, he had been cramming as many dates as he could into each day. It was never too late to start getting serious, and he tried to go on at least one a day if not two or three. He was getting to know more and more of the ladies and definitely liked some of them more than others.

Tonight, was more for fun than anything. Of course, with all the kids, they had a small theater down in the basement near the Report studio, and it had this cool karaoke thing on it. He'd done it once before in the early years of the war when he'd visited for Christmas with Evie and Sophie and Aidan was still a baby. Wesley had had it set up for a proper karaoke night with snacks, sodas, and colored lights and a tacky disco ball hanging on the walls. Unfortunately, he was still on his alcohol ban by his mom, so he was going to have to do this sober, but that was a problem for later! He was in a pretty good mood from his me-time though and found that he could easily push everything else to remote corners of his mind. It might have been fun to invite the kids but no doubt they would end up embarrassing him more than he was already planning on embarrassing himself.

While the ladies were at their daily two-hour princess lessons with his sisters-in-law, he'd taped notes to the doors of three of them, telling them to meet him down here at nine, attire casual. It was better than having Joseph doing it for him, and he thought the girls might think it was cute. No cameras for this date, though of course, they would all have their phones. Wesley was just hoping no one would post a video of him belting his little heart out to bad pop music and ultimate bops. He'd taken Georgia's advice and invited Ophelia since she was an actress on Old Broadway, he figured she had some pipes. Speaking of pipes, he also invited Piper. She would probably hate karaoke, but Wesley was hoping that Ophelia, who was like, the nicest girl ever, would help her come out of her shell. Veyra was the last invitee. Okay, so maybe he was starting to have a little crush on her and the memory of her kissing him hadn't helped anything. But he also had to do something for putting her on crutches all last week, right?

All three arrived together, looking a bit confused as they hesitantly walked it, finding Wesley sitting by himself in the front and center really comfy chair, throwing popcorn in the air and trying to catch it in his mouth by himself.

"Hi guys!" he said brightly, "you're late." He missed the next handful and it scattered all over his face. "Oops."

Piper giggled at his actions and beamed.

"I thought you said this place was easy to find," Ophelia said, smiling her warm smile. "Vey was sure we were going to get arrested for trespassing down here."

"Hey, they almost tased me once when I first got here," Veyra said, coming over to steal some popcorn. "You could have said it was movie night, Shreave. I would have worn my P. J's."

"Nah, you look great," Wesley said, standing up. She did look really cute in black leather pants, those trendy little black and white sneakers he didn't know the name for, and a black tank top. "Besides, this is way cooler than movie night," he announced, using the remote to start up the karaoke thing. He picked up one of the three microphones from the chair next to him. "This is the purest of art forms, also known as karaoke."

"Oh, please no," Veyra groaned, face-palming with the biggest grin on her face. "I do not want to hear you sing."

"Ah, but we do have an actual singer in our midst," Wesley said, gesturing wildly to Ophelia. "And I have yet to hear you sing."

"I'm always a slut for karaoke," Ophelia said with a smirk. Veyra, Wesley, and Piper all started cracking up, because coming from Ophelia, it was an unexpected remark. "

Wesley clapped his hand on Piper's shoulder, over her plaid shirt. "And don't worry, no one is going to force anyone to sing," he said to her.

She smiled shyly up at him. "If you thought we weren't going to force you, you're wrong."

Veyra and Ophelia starting clapping and hooting at him, and Veyra tossed him one of the microphones.

Wesley grinned. "A'ight, I guess I'm up first, then!"

In his mind, he totally slayed his performance of "It's Raining Men", and the girls seemed to enjoy it, so he was basically already a pop star. Ophelia was looking like a goddess in the pink sundress she was wearing, and she sang like one too. In Wesley's mind, she took "I Will Survive" and beat it up in an alleyway.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE SO GOOD?" he demanded as Veyra demanded a turn.

Ophelia laughed. "My job is literally to sing on stage. I better hope I'm good," she shrugged. "Vey, hurry up and finally pick a song!"

Veyra took literally forever to find a Bruce Springsteen song she was happy with, but she got an A for enthusiasm. They all took several turns singing different songs. Wesley made Ophelia duet "My Heart Will Go On" with him, and Veyra kept singing classic rock songs she adored, but she stopped long enough to sing Disney songs with Ophelia. Piper wouldn't sing anything unless they all were singing, so they blew their vocal cords out singing (screaming) to that One Direction song that was Wesley's ultimate bop, and then had a snack break.

"I have to admit, I've never done karaoke sober before," Veyra admitted as she was inhaling Oreos.

Wesley popped the top of a can of Coke. "Yeah sorry. No one wants to see drunk me doing anything, much less karaoke, and I guess I'm still banned."

"Well, what if hypothetically one of us were to get drinks? And then, hypothetically, we could share them with you?" Ophelia asked.

"I bet you ten bucks you don't have the guts to sneak into the kitchen and steal something," Veyra challenged, eyeing him.

Wesley held out his hands. "Okay, first off, I'm not a thief."

"It's your own palace!" Piper squeaked out.

"True…"

Veyra raised her eyebrows at him. "That's what I thought."

Wesley opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out, so the next thing he knew he was marching out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Ophelia called after him.

"I think Veyra just dared me to steal from myself," he called back. The girls all ended up following him, so that's how he ended up in the kitchens at 11 pm stealing vodka from himself, basically. The kitchen wasn't a place he went to often, it was a place for the staff. Anything he wanted to eat he could always request.

Veyra snatched the bottle the moment he took it out of the liquor cabinet. "Wow," she said. "This looks…"

"Expensive," Ophelia finished for her.

"It is, so don't drop it." Wesley grinned as took the bottle back and after a little finagling, they managed to get it open. He found some shot glasses and filled four of them.

"I don't really want any," Piper said from behind Ophelia and Veyra.

Ophelia put her hand on Piper's shoulder. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I just haven't ever before."

"You sure?" Wesley asked.

Piper nodded. "You guys go ahead though."

Wesley handed out drinks to the other two and held two himself. "Ok, I'm evoking my status over all of you and saying if anyone takes a video of drunk me and posts it online without my consent, you're headed straight to the guillotine. Bottoms up!" He clinked the two shot glasses together and did his best to drink them at the same time, but it wasn't quite successful.

Veyra shook her head at him, biting back a smile. "Nerd."

"Alright, who wants to do some real karaoke?" Ophelia set her glass down.

"If anyone wants a chaser, I don't know where they keep that stuff, so tough luck," Wesley said.

"I don't know why you actually physically enjoy vodka," Veyra hopped up on the counter, swinging her legs. "It's nasty."

"That's why you do shots," Ophelia said.

"Okay fine, Miss Secret Agent," Wesley poured another shot for him and Ophelia. "Whatever you can find, you can have."

He and Ophelia toasted and drank. Veyra started scrounging around until she found some fancy white beer things that looked grosser than vodka, but even Piper relented with Veyra's discovery. Wesley was starting to get antsy as he waited for the alcohol to take effect. He hated to leave the girls, but he was dying for a smoke. He tried to tell himself he wasn't nervous or anything, but it was all his brain could fixate on. He had sent Joseph into town earlier to get him some cigarettes, and other than Georgia's this morning he hadn't had one all day. He finally excused himself outside to the usual spot, telling the others he was going back to the theater to get his phone so they could take selfies.

He was just trying to get the smoke smell off him by pulling on the fabric of his shirt several times when he realized he wasn't alone.

Vera was coming up the path from the dark of the gardens, wearing jeans and a t-shirt that looked like she had brought them from home. "Hey," she said upon seeing him standing there. Wesley quickly hid all the evidence in his jeans pockets, knowing he would have to return it to his room before rejoining his date.

"Hey, Vera. What are you up to out here?"

Vera shrugged and brushed her blonde hair back. "Just taking a walk. Your gardens are really nice this time of night."

"I like to think they're nice anytime, but whatever floats your boat," Wesley joked. Usually he found Vera to be pretty lighthearted and sassy around him, but lately, she had been subdued. He knew she had lost almost her entire family during the civil war from the Report interviews and had defiantly been through some shit.

"I'm still not used to being inside all the time," Vera came to a stop at the foot of the stairs leading onto the terrace. "What about you?"

"Oh…I just had to make a quick call to someone…important."

"Aren't you on another one of your dates right now? The girls wouldn't shut up at dinner about trying to guess what it was."

Wesley shrugged dramatically. "Oh, you know. Prince business calls."

She cocked her head. "I've always wondered if you use that as an excuse for everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I'll leave you alone," Vera said, jogging a little up the stairs. There was this sad look in her eyes, almost haunted. "I didn't mean to bother you or anything."

"You weren't!" Wesley called after her. "Hey, you busy?"

Vera turned back. "…no?"

"You like karaoke?"

She pursed her lips. "…no."

"HA," Wesley laughed. "Well, that's not important. C'mon." Wesley jerked his head in the direction of inside, and didn't wait for her to respond, he just followed her inside. He made her wait in the Main Hall while he ran upstairs to throw his cigarettes and lighter back in his room. It was way longer than the time it would take to go get his phone by the time he got back to the kitchens with Vera, but the girls hadn't noticed. They had a whole spread of snacks downstairs, but they broke into the stash of fancy cheese Veyra also discovered and they went ham.

"Hey guys, I found another karaoke partner!" He yelled as he arrived. The nicotine and vodka had finally kicked in, and he could finally relax.

"Oh my god, this cheese is so good," Ophelia gushed loudly. "I love cheese so much."

"Hi Vera," Veyra said.

"Hi Veyra," Vera smiled.

Wesley pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh no. Oh no, what have I done? I've been purposely trying to never interact with both of you at the same time."

Piper was giggling like crazy, her cheeks getting red as she made her way through her drink.

"We have nasty ass vodka or…whatever these are," Veyra said, holding out one of her fancy beer things. She turned to Wesley as he drank straight out of the bottle. "Heathen."

Vera took one of the beer things and popped the top. "Didn't you read that article in one of the magazines where they totally mixed up our names?"

"I usually try to avoid reading all that stuff." Wesley leaned over Piper and grabbed some cheese. "I love cheese."

Everyone except Vera was now increasingly tipsy so they decided to venture back to the theater to continue karaoke. The girls insisted they bring the cheese even though they had plenty of snacks waiting downstairs for them, and of course the drinks after another raid of the liquor cabinet. Veyra held the torn open six-pack of her weird beverages of choice and Wesley carried the bottle of vodka that now had permanently lost its cap. Vera had found some random whiskey she said was really good.

Wesley and Piper couldn't stop giggling at everything as they traipsed back through the Main Hall to get to the access to the basement. Still-sober Vera rolled her eyes at them, but it was nice to see a smile on her face for once.

"SHHH!" Ophelia hushed them as loudly as she could. She was pretty buzzed too now, but she was a little less of a disgrace. Veyra stumbled, cursed loudly, and fell down. The remaining three bottles tumbled out of the carton, clattering loudly. Wesley moved past giggling and laughed so loud it was a miracle he managed not to spill his vodka. Unfortunately, it also attracted unwanted attention.

"Is this where all the noise is coming from?" A new voice joined them as the door to the Woman's Room was flung open.

"Oh, hey Darcy," Wesley greeted his least favorite member of the Selected, somewhat sobered by seeing the tiny evil blonde. He usually tried to avoid her at all costs. Eleanor appeared behind her, looking gorgeous, as always. Wesley nodded his head at her. "'Sup, girl."

"We're doing karaoke," Vera explained as Veyra scrambled after her beers on her hands and knees. "They decided to make it a party."

"Can we come?" Eleanor asked hopefully.

"Sure!" Wesley cried. "The more the merrier, right?"

Ophelia bounced up and down on her toes. "Let's go, let's go, guys!" She led the doubled pack of girls down into the basement.

Wesley handed Veyra the last bottle as she struggled to put the others back in the carton. "You total lightweight, getting sloshed on white beers, of all things," he teased.

Veyra shrugged, and then almost knocked him over in her attempt to place a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "No excuses, except secret agents don't get to drink like princes do."

Heat rushed to his cheeks, and it wasn't from drinking. Veyra held his eye contact for a moment and then ran ahead to join the other girls.

Wesley was only a few seconds behind now all six of his dates, but by the time he got back into the theater, Ophelia was already singing West Side Story. Vera made herself and the other newcomers some whiskey and Coke from the snack table, and Piper and Veyra were huddled around the snack table. Wesley inhaled some potato chips as Ophelia sang basically opera until there were tears in her eyes and the other girls refueled with snacks and drinks and cheered her on.

"This is fun!" Eleanor said, coming up next to him. "I would have loved to be invited."

Wesley took a sip from his drink to give him a second to think of a response. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't know if you liked karaoke or not."

"Are you sure you haven't been avoiding me? Because if it's something I did-"

"You're here now, aren't you?" Wesley cut her off.

Eleanor's eyes widened as he raised his voice. "Yeah," she said softly, looking away. "Sorry I said anything."

He sighed. "I know it's unfair of me to not pay as much as attention to you, but honestly? Sometimes you act like we're boyfriend and girlfriend and it kind of freaks me out."

Eleanor smiled a little at him, eyes still sad. "Aren't we all your girlfriends?"

"I just meant-"

"No, I get it. I'll back off." She smiled a little more and turned and left the snacks table, joining the other girls at the front of the theater in front of the screen, where his original three dates were now singing more One Direction together. Badly.

Vera was quietly sipping her drink as she watched them. Darcy snorted with laughter at Veyra's attempt to hit a high note.

"They sound terrible," she said to Vera, who was starting to roll her eyes back into her head at this point.

"Darcy, are you even old enough to drink?" Wesley interrupted, joining them. Actually, he didn't know or care if any of the girls were, he just wanted to make Darcy mad. He hated that girl.

She fixed him with a sweet, evil, evil smile and turned her body towards him. "Aw, you're so sweet for actually caring!"

"Are you?"

"Not really, but what are you going to do about it?"

Wesley shook his head as flashed another sickening smile at him. Vera met his eyes and they shared another eye roll.

"You don't have to be so awful all the time," Vera said to Darcy. "It's annoying."

Darcy widened her eyes dramatically. "Wow, shocking! You hate me too! Maybe you should get past all your baggage and stop being so weepy all the time, Vera."

Vera rolled her eyes. "You're such a bitch."

"Hey Darcy," Wesley interrupted loudly. He had had enough of her in all of ten minutes. "You can leave, if you want to!" he strolled over to her and Vera. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be drinking anyway." He held out his hand for her glass.

"Like, leave leave?" For once, Darcy said it without any innuendos.

"I'm not eliminating you yet if that's what you're asking." Wesley took her drink out of her hand without waiting for her to hand it over. "But if you're just going to be mean, you can leave."

"I think I'm going to stay," she replied sweetly.

"I think I'm going to order you to leave," Wesley said, taking a drink out of hers. "That's what I'm going to do about it."

Darcy opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She only furrowed her eyebrows and stomped her foot angrily. She huffed an angry sigh and stormed out. No one else even noticed.

"Finally," Vera said as the door slammed behind Darcy.

"Good riddance," Wesley toasted with her, and they both drank. "Shall we?"

They joined the other girls. Eleanor was singing an Ed Sheeran song fairly nicely. Veyra and Ophelia were both dancing crazily to the slow song, standing on the chairs. Piper was sprawled out on another, still drunk giggling. Eleanor finished and did a cute little ballet curtsey thing and they all loudly cheered and applauded her. Drunk Ophelia was a karaoke fiend and insisted on going next, singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You". She did a fantastic job, backed up by Veyra and Wesley's ridiculous choreography.

"You got some PIPES," Wesley shouted as she took an enthusiastic bow.

"You got some MOVES," she matched his energy. She sat down with a dramatic flop on one of the spare chairs and smirked at him. "You almost out-danced Vey."

Veyra turned to Wesley and gave him a poke in the side. "Almost," she grinned. She took the microphone next and belted out "Where the Streets Have No Name" with wild abandon. Vera was tipsy enough to sing a couple of Taylor Swift songs with Piper, and Wesley insisted on joining their duet for "Shake It Off", because, news-flash, he knew every line of every Taylor Swift song but only wanted to admit that he knew that one, but as the night wore on the secret started to get out.

Veyra got on a Fleetwood Mac kick, Ophelia sang songs from musicals, and even Piper got drunk enough to sing country songs by herself. Eleanor wasn't drinking as much as the others, but Eleanor liked to duet with the other girls and sing soft pop songs. Surprisingly, she wasn't being clingy with Wesley. In fact, she barely talked to him at all, she mostly just hung out with the other girls. Vera didn't sing much, just watched and cheered for everyone, but she jumped in every now and then to sing a jam.

Wesley made a complete fool of himself, singing every song he could think of. The girls kept making him sing with them, so he sung "Landslide" with Veyra, but they both ended up crying. He didn't know many of the musical songs Ophelia was singing so they sang some more Disney songs together that he knew. They would not relent until he and Piper sang "Before He Cheats", though Wesley was the backbone of the performance because Piper couldn't stop giggling. All the girls sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and Wesley recorded the whole thing on Ophelia's phone at her insistence.

Around two in the morning, Ophelia with her goddess vocal cords was the only one who wasn't too hoarse to sing "I Dreamed a Dream" and they were all drunk enough to cry. Wesley passed out on one of the chairs after that. He had a fleeting memory of the girls singing "Don't Stop Believing" together, and then one of Veyra and Ophelia crying along to what he thought were Dolly Parton songs.

He woke up around five, crunched painfully in one of the chairs, his empty vodka bottle cradled next to him. All the girls had left, though none of them were nice enough to wake him up. For once, it wasn't nightmares that had woken him, just his leg falling asleep. He sat up and jiggled his leg, wincing. He checked his phone. Ophelia sent a couple of the videos she had taken, and Veyra sent him a selfie of all five of his karaoke buddies having a sleepover in someone's room with the text, with the text you're not invited bitch. There were a few more indecipherable drunk texts too.

Wesley rubbed his eyes and left a note on the only thing he could find to write with—a sharpie to write names on drinks on a red solo cup—that they would clean up the room, even though the staff would probably clean it up anyway. He somehow managed to get to his room and passed out diagonally on his bed, not even able to get his shoes off. His last thought was that Georgia was probably having her morning cigarette right about now.

He woke up at noon with a massive hangover and discovered "BITCH" written across his forehead that he hadn't noticed before.

All things considered, not a bad date at all.