Chapter 2

As soon as Dmitri and Serena made their way downstairs with their equipment, the doorbell rang. Dmitri opened the door, and in walked two taller guys. One was skinny and had shoulder length raven hair. The other was muscular, blonde hair and looked like he came out of a warrior comic.

"Hey you two. Thanks for coming by!"

"Anytime, Dmitri. Thanks for having us." The muscular male looked at Serena and scooped her into a hug. "You look great, Serena! So, you said we would meet your friends.."

"Mmhmm! First, thank you for stopping by, Vincent. And you too, Anthony!" Serena grinned and waved to the male with the raven hair. "So, these are our friends from skating! This is Emil, Mickey and his twin sister Sala!"

"Nice to meet you all. I hope you're excited to hear us play."

"We are. Dmitri always talks to us about practices and we have always wanted to hear him play. And hear Serena sing, too." Mickey smiled and shook Anthony's hand.

"Well, speaking of, we're about to play for you all! Let's get set up and we'll start. Oh, we still need to grab our gear. Give us just a second!" The two men rushed outside and came back moments later with pieces from a drum set and then a guitar case. Everyone piled into the den and made themselves at home while waiting for the band to assemble.

"So, Dmitri, you never did text Tony or I. What exactly are we playing tonight?" Vincent began to set his drums up in the corner of the den.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry dude. Serena and I had to deal with a shocker today. But, ask Serena." Dmitri pulled his guitar out of its case and began to tune the strings.

"Ask me? You said we were both going to pick something!" Serena hooked the microphone up and plugged the cord into the amplifier.

"Choose, and I'll tell you if I think it's okay."

Serena glared over at Dmitri. "Fine. Start with 'Addicted' by Saving Abel. Then 'Bodies' by Drowning Pool, and, let's throw in some 'Talk dirty to me' by Poison."

"Three different generations. You're bold, kid."

"You're a year older than us, Vincent. So, is that okay or not?"

"Fine with me."

"Same here." Anthony tuned his bass guitar and looked at Dmitri.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, dude. Stop teasing your sister." Anthony plugged his bass in and began to strum.

"Fine, fine. It's better than the time that she suggested that we play all White Stripes songs."

"Shut up, Dmitri. I forgot that they don't have a bassist."

"Alright, I'll give you that. Okay, so let's get started." Dmitri began to strum the first song's chords as Serena began to sing the first few lines before Vincent and Anthony began to play.

I'm so addicted to
All the things you do
When you're going down on me
In between the sheets
Oh the sounds you make
With every breath you take
It's unlike anything
When you're loving me

It was almost like they were really playing at a concert, because their friends were getting into the music with the help from the alcohol. It was almost as if the twins became different people as soon as the spotlight was on them. After their short round of songs, they decided to call it quits for the night and play drinking games. By the end of the night, the bottle of vodka was gone, and nearly 3/4ths of the Jägermeister bottle was empty.

Despite there being only seven people at the party, the house's appearance turned rough within no time. Serena and Sara took turns calming the men down when they became too loud with their conversations and games. But even their moods were beginning to fade by 1 AM.

"I'm so exhausted.. I thought your brother said this was only going to be a few hours." Sara rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I'm sorry, that wasn't nice of me to say."

"Don't worry. I'm getting tired, too. You're going to stay in my room, right? I was going to let Emil and Mickey sleep in the guest bedroom since Dmitri's room is pretty small."

"Sounds good to me. Do you mind if I go to bed?"

"Not at all. You know where the blankets and pillows are."

"Thank you, you're too kind. Oh, did you see where Mickey went?"

"No. I don't even know where Dmitri and Emil went to. I can hear Anthony and Vincent packing up."

"Well, if you see him, tell him I said goodnight." She smiled and hugged Serena. "You and I can talk more tomorrow. You and your band did an amazing job tonight."

"Aw, thank you. We still have a few things to practice and work on. Like setting up a legit song list for example. Maybe you'll hear more during your trip here."

"I'd like that. Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow." She pulled away and disappeared up the steps.

Serena stood there for a moment before she snapped back to reality. "Right. Maybe I should go to bed, too." She walked into the den and looked at her other band members. "Thanks again, you two. I hope you both are okay to drive home."

"We are. Thanks again for having us. We both had fun."

"What Anthony said. We'll call you in a couple of days to discuss our next practice. We would contact Dmitri but.. you know.. he's not exactly good at that type of thing."

"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry about that."

"It's no problem. Tell everyone we said goodnight." They walked towards the door and walked outside. Serena leaned against the door frame and waved to them.

"Will do. Be careful!" She shut the door and looked around. "All right. Now where did everyone go?" Serena walked towards the kitchen and heard stumbling coming from the basement stairs. She looked down the stairwell and saw that Emil was struggling to climb the steps.

"Emil?"

"Heyyyy! Serena! Thank goodness I found you.."

"I found you, actually. You reek of liquor!" She frowned and knelt to his level. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up. I highly doubt you are able to do so by yourself right now." She lifted him as best as she could and threw his left arm around her shoulders. "All right. So far, so good."

"Oh, thank you so much!" He grinned and let out a shaky laugh. "I may have drank too much."

"You think? That's not good for you."

"I know. I'm sorry. Oh! But I did want to talk to you about something.." He slurred as he wiped his mouth. "I never knew you were so good at singing! I've only seen you skate before."

"What, so you thought my life was dull or something? Jeez.. you need to help me out here. You're putting your dead weight on me. I'm shorter and smaller than you." She helped him to the staircase and began pulling him upstairs.

"Sorry. I was looking for Mickey before you found me."

"You were stumbling up the stairs. From the basement. Why were you down there, anyways?"

"Dmitri took me down there to the wine cellar. He popped a bottle of champagne and challenged me to drink it all! I got half way, and then threw it all back up."

"Oh my god! Emil, how much did you drink tonight?!"

Emil looked at his hand and then back down at the steps. "Like.. at least a fifth of Jaeger by myself. And that champagne. And then vodka.."

"Idiot, you're not supposed to mix alcohol. Never mind that, it's Dmitri's fault for breaking into the wine cellar and stealing a bottle of champagne. Dad's not going to be happy about that one."

"Well, don't worry! It was tasty."

"I'm sure it was." Serena laughed and shook her head. "Alright, but more importantly, where is my brother at?"

"Downstairs. Passed out from what I can remember. Oh god, I feel sick again.." He groaned and covered his mouth with his right hand.

"Alright, in we go. Bathroom." Serena dragged Emil into the bathroom and as soon as he caught sight of the waste basket, he grabbed it and became sick. "At least we got you in here in time."

"I-Yeah.. I'm sorry, Serena." Emil wiped his mouth and gave her a weak smile. "I guess I've been drinking to forget some things."

"It's all right. Life is stressful for a lot of people right now. Here, can you sit up against the outside of the bathtub? I'm going to change out the trash can. You'll have the toilet if you get sick again. Oh, here's some mouth wash. I know how it feels to have a bad taste in the mouth."

"Thank you. I really do appreciate you being so kind."

"Haven't I always been kind to you?"

"You have." He reached over to Serena and picked up the small bottle of mouth wash from her hands. "But taking care of another man.. aren't you worried that Dmitri will become angry?"

"He can get over himself." She sighed and tied the bag up. "You and I have been friends since before his hatred for other guys came about. He only seems to trust you and Mickey around me. Because he knows you both so well, and he knows that you would never harm me."

"I'd never dream of it." He smiled up at Serena. "We've always been really good friends. Just the five of us."

"Yeah, but you see Mickey and Sara way more than you see us."

"Doesn't matter." Emil opened the small bottle of mouth wash and swished the minty liquid around in his mouth before spitting it out into the toilet. "Spearmint. Nice."

"Figured you'd like that." Serena reached up in the bathroom cabinet and pulled out a wash cloth. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm starting to feel pretty good.."

"Are you sure? Or are you still drunk?" She turned the faucet on and wet the cloth thoroughly before wringing the excess water out.

"Yeah. Just a little."

"Just a lot." She knelt to his level and began to wipe his mouth and chin off. "There. That's much better, isn't it?"

"Serena."

"Hmm?"

Emil reached out and scooped the back of Serena's head up into his right hand. He pulled her to him and embraced her with a kiss. Serena's eyes widened as she pulled away. She covered her mouth and stood up. "Emil.. why did you-"

Emil leaned over the toilet and began to throw up once more. Serena sighed and knelt back down to his level, as if she had completely forgotten what had happened moments before. "Get it all out.. it's okay." She spoke softly as she rubbed his back.

Emil sat up and wiped his mouth off. "I'm so sorry, I didn't throw up because I kissed you, I swear! I'm just.. I'm just.."

"Really drunk. Come on. It's almost 2 AM. You need to rest this off. I'll get your bed ready in the guest room and then I'll get you some water."

"Alright." Emil tried to stand up, but fell back down. "Maybe I should just stay here."

"No, I'm going to get you to a room. And then I'm going to find Mickey so he can watch after you for the night. Sara's staying the night in my room, and Dmitri's passed out in the cellar. I'll give him a few blankets, but he can stay down there." Serena helped Emil up and down the hall to the guest bedroom. "Here. It only has one bed, but it's queen sized so it should be enough for you both to share. Hope you don't mind sharing a bed with another man. Not that doing so is a bad thing."

"Yeah.." Emil stumbled out of Serena's reach and towards the bed. He flopped back and looked up at the ceiling. "Hey Serena…?"

"Yes, Emil?" She helped him up, unzipped his jacket and hung it on the bed post.

"You know you're gorgeous, right?"

"Gee, Emil, that's so nice of you to say." She rolled her eyes and helped him underneath the blankets.

"But, that's not all."

"Oh, and that is?"

"Hey Serena?"

She let out a long sigh and looked down at him. "Yes, Emil?"

He closed his eyes and smiled weakly. "Do you think Mickey will ever return the feelings for me?"

Serena paused. "Emil..? What are you talking about?"

There was a long pause before Serena heard snores coming from the bed. She turned the light off, and left the room. "This weekend has already been weird. Is this my consequence for taking a bigger bite than I could chew?" She slipped down the hallway and into her room. Sara was already curled up on the floor, asleep.

"At least someone knows what's up." Serena smiled and walked out of her room and downstairs. "I guess everyone left. Good." She made her way to the basement door and walked down the stairs. "Dmitri? If you're awake, make a sound."

"What time is it? Why am I in the cellar?"

"Emil was right, you DID pass out." Serena began to laugh as she walked into the cellar. Dmitri was propped up against one of the cellar walls with half a bottle of champagne nesting in his left hand and his cellphone in his right. "Please tell me you didn't take drunk selfies and post them on Instagram for everyone to see."

"Maybe. I don't know. We'll find out tomorrow. Jesus, I feel like I've been hit by a train. Wait, why am I by myself?"

"You weren't. You brought Emil down here and challenged him to drink a whole bottle of champagne."

"Oh shit! No way!"

"Yes, way. And you possibly gave Emil alcohol poisoning. He's already thrown up twice!"

"Nice. That's my guy." He began to laugh and stumbled while trying to stand up.

"No, it's not. I had to help him to the bathroom, clean him up, and help him to bed."

"Whoa whoa, you didn't see him naked, did you?!"

"What? No! Have more faith in me and in your friend!"

"I do. I just know that he's had a crush on you since he first met you. But, he's got this creepy attachment to Mickey."

"They're best friends. Emil looks up to Mickey. It's great."

"If you say so." Dmitri gained his balance and stood up straight. "Well, at least you were kind enough to help a friend out."

"I always try. You know me."

"I do. You and I may have gotten most of our good looks from dad, but you got mom's pure heart and soul."

"So did you. Well, to an extent."

"If you say so. I'm like dad. You know it's true."

"I know. But, that's a good thing. Come on, let's get you to your room. Everyone's already gone. By the way, do you know where Mickey is? I haven't seen him in almost an hour?"

"Last I heard, he was going to grab something to eat from our fridge and take a shower."

"Alright. Well he wasn't in the upstairs bathroom when we were up there."

"Then the downstairs one is your ticket. Why does it matter?"

"Emil was looking for him. He's drunk. He needs someone else to look after him. I'm exhausted." Serena helped Dmitri to his room and sat him down on the edge of his bed. "Are you at least coherent enough to change out of your clothes? You smell like alcohol."

"Yeah. I think I can manage."

"Here. Just in case you end up like Emil." She grabbed a small waste basket and placed it by his bed.

"Thanks. And, try to get a good night's rest. You and I are waking up early to go train."

"Really? While our friends are here?"

"They're going to help out! I talked to Mickey and Emil while you and Sara were talking. And, we're pretty sure that Sara will be more than willing to help. We've got to get you a gorgeous routine down so you can slay all of the competition."

"That's nice of you all, but I'll become embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because I have only skated in front of you for the past 5 years. Although they're my friends, I just don't want to be judged."

"Well, too bad. It's going to happen. Take the help. We actually want to succeed, remember?"

"Alright, alright. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight."

"Night sis."

Serena walked out of her brother's room and down the hall. She heard someone walking up the stairs, and noticed Mickey making his way towards her. "Ah, there you are! I was wondering how long I would have to look for you."

"Not very long, it seems." He smiled and stopped in front of her. "You didn't get trashed too, did you?"

Serena shook her head. "Sara and I got tipsy, but I didn't drink enough to completely mess me up. My brother and Emil on the other hand.."

"Yeah, I know. Dmitri drug him down to the wine cellar for a little challenge. I knew it couldn't be good, but when Emil is drunk, he can be too stubborn. But, I really do appreciate you drinking with Sara and keeping an eye on her intake. You know how she can get."

"True. And you all know how I can get after one too many drinks."

"We all stick together and take care of each other. You know the rules. So, why were you looking for me?"

"Well, as I said before, Emil drank way too much. He got sick, so I helped clean him up and took him to the guest bedroom. He was asking where you were."

"Sounds like Emil." Mickey shook his head and sighed. "He needs to watch how much he drinks. I don't want him to make himself really sick."

"I know. Oh! I forgot to get him a glass of water! I'm so awful."

"Don't worry about it. I'll grab one for him. You go get some sleep, I'll take care of him from here."

"Thank you, Mickey. You're such a good friend." Serena walked over to her door and opened it. "Goodnight."

"Same to you. Goodnight."

"You're already asleep, huh?" Mickey walked into the room with a glass of water in his hand and looked over towards the bed. Emil was sprawled out across the bed and hugging onto the extra pillow next to him. Mickey smirked and sat on the edge of the bed as he ran his fingers through his damp hair.

"I don't blame you. Tonight was pretty crazy. You drank a lot. You kept asking me to take shots with you, but little did you know that I can hold my alcohol pretty well." Mickey looked back, and his smile frowned. "Still.. you need to take care of yourself. You have competitions to win." Mickey stood up and took his shirt off. "I don't know why I'm talking to you like you can hear me. You're out cold." He slipped into bed and looked at Emil before brushing his fingers through his friend's soft hair.

"Mmm.. Mickey.."

He snapped his hands away and watched as Emil's lips curled into a smile.

"Are.. you awake?".

There was no reply. Only the faint sound of breathing.

"Thank god." Mickey exhaled roughly and caressed Emil's cheek quickly before closing his eyes.