Back from San Diego... had a pretty good time there... And I'm really too lazy to check through this chapter, so if something seems weird, that's why.

The next morning, Keely tapped on Ashley's door. "It's almost eleven o'clock," Keely said. "Are you gonna get up?"

"I'm up, I'm up," Ashley muttered, the knocking on the door sounding like accountants cranking adding machines in her head. Keely nodded and went downstairs.

Getting to her feet, Ashley slowly shuffled to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and recoiled slightly. She looked an absolute mess: her hair was frazzled, her eyes were bloodshot, the spots beneath her eyes were reddened and slightly puffy. She breathed out, and nearly gagged from the smell. She quickly brushed her teeth, took one last disgusted look in the mirror, and walked downstairs.

"Keely, could you tell me what happened last night?" Ashley asked, her head in her hands. "Because I cannot remember for the life of me just what did…"

Keely smiled. "Well, I wasn't there for all of it… but Phil did fill me in on what happened in my absence. He came to drop off my purse that I left at his place. He noticed you were obviously drunk since you were laughing at everything. You ended up tackling him and started to kiss him. He pushed you off… well… hm… did he say that he pushed you off?" Keely looked up to the ceiling for a moment. "I must have a talk with that boy soon… anyway, he took away the champagne you had been drinking. When I came in, you had him pinned on the couch. Then we took you upstairs, and I'm guessing you fell asleep…"

"Wow," Ashley said, shaking her head. "I don't remember any of that…"

"I must say, you sound like an interesting drunk. I only wish I was around more before we sent you to sleep."

"Yeah, well you won't be seeing that side of me again. I'm never going to do that again."

"Well, that's good to hear," Keely said, giving her sister a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"The thing I'm worried about, is how am I going to tell Mom about this?"

"Relax, Ash," Keely said. "She'll be understanding… sure, she may be a little disappointed in you, but… after all, 'to err is human, to forgive, divine'."

"Yeah… yeah, I guess so."

"Of course so," Keely said. "Mom will totally not be mad at you. You've got nothing to worry about. I'll even tell her with you."

"Really?" Ashley asked, raising her head to look at her sister.

"Of course," she replied. "I've got your back."

"Thanks," Ashley said, flashing a smile of gratitude.

"No problem, really."

"Not so loud… Feels like I've got a bunch of kids shaking those damn rattling noisemakers in my head."

"Oh, you mean those ones that spin around and make that annoying noise that sounds like one of those stupid roulette wheels?"

"The very same," Ashley muttered. "I need pain-killers…"

"Don't do anything too hasty," Keely said. "I found myself staring at those pills for a long time before I put them away."

"I'll be sure to do that," her sister said, walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Mom," Keely greeted as Mandy came in the front door.

"Hey, there, Keely," Mandy said, giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek. "Where's Ashley?"

"Oh, she's upstairs… she's got something to tell you, I'll get her down here."

Whenever Keely usually said this, she would normally shout at Ashley to get downstairs, but this time, Keely actually ran upstairs and told Ashley her mother was home without deafening Mandy in the process.

"Hey, Mom," Ashley said, as she came down the stairs.

"Hey, Ashley. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Um… okay, last night… I… I did something that I really, really regret… Um, see, I was home alone; Keely was at Via's, like she said she'd be… and I was just thinking of the past few months… and I started to get pretty upset about it, you know?"

"That's completely understandable…" Mandy reassured her daughter.

"Well, I hadn't exactly been feeling that great in the past few days anyway, and when I looked in the fridge… I saw this bottle of champagne at the back… I don't even know why I decided to drink it, but… I guess I thought it'd help me feel better… it did, I guess, but… I just really, really regret it… I'm sorry, Mom…"

"Oh, sweetie…" her mother said, bringing her older daughter into a hug. "It's okay… we all make mistakes…"

Keely was surprised at how well her mother was taking this.

"One thing's for sure, though," Ashley said. "I'm never going to do that again. I know that it can't just make my problems go away… I'm really sorry."

"Oh, honey, if none of us made any mistakes, how would we be able to learn anything?"

This question interested Ashley. Her mother was right… if she hadn't made that mistake now, she wouldn't have been prepared for something like it in the future.

Keely's eyes widened. "Mom?"

"Yes, Keely?"

"Can I make a mistake and learn a lesson I'll never forget?"

"No. Maybe when you're older."

"Ohh…" Keely groaned. "That's so not fair…"

"Trust me, Keely," Ashley said. "You don't want to make this mistake…"

Keely looked at her disheveled sister, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the thought of me looking like that is horrifying."

"Hey… shut up," Ashley said. "So… you're not mad at me, mom?"

"Well, I am a little disappointed in the choice you made, but… I'm not mad. And I suppose that I can relate to the lengths you'd go to in order to cope with something like this… the important thing is that you've learned your lesson."

"Trust me, I have…"

"So, if I can't drink," Keely said, "can I at least make a different mistake for the family to learn from?"

"No," Mandy said.

"Aww… Ashley gets all the fun…" Keely crossed her arms, playfully rolling her eyes.

I cranked that chapter out pretty fast… surprising.

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