A/N: Sorry for the long wait…I had to finish up finals and such! But I am done now and ready to write Thanks to all those who reviewed xoxo

Disclaimer: Don't own The Voice, or Adam Levine blah blah

CHAPTER TWO: A Drink and a Wink

Back at home (which was in Irvine, California), Arianna was greeted with a surprise party when she walked in the door. Family members, old high school and college friends, it seemed like almost anyone she had ever known were there.

There was a banner congratulating her, lots of food, and of course dancing. While Arianna was stressed for the knockouts (she still had no idea what song she was singing), she allowed herself this one day to relax and enjoy herself before she was thrust into one of the most stressful moments of her life.

"Sooooo, aren't you glad I signed you up?" Sierra mused, nudging her best friend's shoulder.

Arianna let out a chuckle, "Yes, I am beyond happy. Now I have yet another chance to screw up in front of the world! Hooray!"

Sierra rolled her eyes, "You're so dramatic oh my god. You did amazing and are going to be amazing. Especially now that you're on Adam's team."

"Uhm, yeah, can we talk about that for a moment? I'm actually shocked like what the fuck and when he hugged me? I almost died."

"Oh my god I know! I was freaking out when they showed that in the back room, I literally don't know how you didn't faint."

"It was really hard not to, trust me."

"Do you know when you'll find out what song you're singing?"

"Nope, I have to go back to the studio next week and we'll be told who we're battling and what song we're singing. I'm freaking out a little." A little was an understatement; Arianna was worried sick that she would be paired with someone who would out-sing her.

"You're going to be fine," Sierra soothed, always the encourager. "Just let me know when he tells you and we can work on it together."

Sierra was a singer, too, although not quite as good as Arianna. That was the special thing about Sierra, though; she never tried to outshine her best friend. She was comfortable being the wingman in all of the adventures- she never hogged the spotlight.

Smiling to herself at the thought, Arianna slung her arm around her best friend's shoulders.

"Whaddyou say we get into some real trouble tonight?"

Sierra grinned, "I thought you'd never ask."

Arianna groaned from her spot on the floor, her head still spinning. Where the hell was she?

"Sierra?" She mumbled, eyes still closed with her hands on her head to try and subdue the pounding. "Cee-cee?" She called again.

Arianna heard slight movement from across the room, and she opened her eyes just enough to see a girl's body slung over the bed.

"What the fuck happened last night?" Arianna asked, as the pounding in her head would not allow her to think hard enough about what had happened.

"Fucking Chase Simmons happened." Sierra growled back, also moaning and holding her stomach.

Ah, Chase. Well that would make sense. Chase was Arianna's ex…fling. Or boyfriend. Whatever. He was what you expected any male guy in California to be- hot, tan, with a major in douche and a minor in drinking. Chase was one of those guys who acted like he couldn't care less about Arianna, but yet when she was around, he was suddenly all into her again. Waste of time. And space, for that matter.

"What all do you remember?" Arianna asked, slowly getting up off the floor and wiping her mouth. She felt like she had thrown up at least twice over the course of the night. "Gross," She mumbled to herself.

"Before or after you slept with Chase?" Sierra asked while Arianna let out a screech.

"I slept with Chase?!"

Sierra laughed, "No, but I wanted to see what your reaction would be."

"Fuck you." Arianna growled, being sure to slap Sierra's ass on her way to the bathroom.

"Ow!" Sierra whined, "Don't have to be such a grump. Anyway, I think we just grinded on a few guys, made out with a few more, and got hammered. You would not shut up about winning The Voice though."

Arianna blushed and scrunched up her nose. She didn't want to be that girl. "Ew, well hopefully I got it all out of my system. That's just unattractive."

"It really was." Sierra replied, half joking.

Sierra was interrupted by Arianna's phone blaring Daylight into the room.

"Ah shit fuck fuck!" Arianna shouted, fumbling her way to her phone, "It's The Voice! They're calling me!"

"Well pick it up!" Sierra replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. Right, duh. Hello?" Arianna asked, trying to clear her throat in an effort to sound somewhat awake. And not hungover. "Huh uh. Alright. Uhmmm, yeah I can make it there. Ok. Thanks, you too. Bye."

"Well?" Sierra asked, making her way to the bathroom to shower.

"They want me back at the studio at 3, I need to get ready! I'll talk to you later, ok? Love you!"

"Love you too!" Sierra shouted from the shower, trying not to laugh at the misfortune that was her best friend.

Leave it to Arianna to get hammered the night before she had to go in the studio and not only find out who her battle partner would be, but also what song she would be singing. Fuck.

In an effort to try and put herself together, Arianna had showered, brushed her teeth a million times, done her make up, and straightened her hair. She had quickly googled a few "hangover" cures, and had tried a some of those as well. Though honestly most were just downright stupid.

At the studio, she was escorted into a room with the rest of Adam's team. Arianna scanned her competition; most were about her age, there was one who was quite a bit older, majority of them were guys, there were only 3 girls including herself! Before Arianna could really get settled, Adam had graced them with his presence.

"Hey, Team!" Adam was greeted with a chorus of 'hi's and 'hey's from his team, he smiled before continuing. "First of all- congratulations on making it this far. Getting past the blind auditions is a huge accomplishment so give yourselves all a pat on the back." Most of the team laughed, but some actually did it. Arianna smiled slightly, "I know that what must be on most of your guys' mind is: what am I looking for? How am I going to decide who wins what battle? And I'm here to tell you guys all to breathe. I will be deciding not based on practice, but who kicks ass the day of the knockout round. And that's all I'm going to say about that. So! Today is the day you've all been waiting for! Who am I going to pair you up with?" Adam chuckled to himself, and then began with the matching. For the post part, it seemed random, but Arianna was sure he had a plan.

Finally, she heard her name, "Arianna," Adam looked at her with a smile, did he wink at her, too? No way, he wouldn't have done that on national television. "I want you paired up with Luke." Arianna tried her best not to be surprised. Luke? He was a country singer, and at least 7 years older than her. "The song you guys will be singing is Demons by Imagine Dragons."

Imagine Dragons. How interesting. Arianna had heard a few songs by them, but wasn't sure if she had heard that particular song. This was going to be interesting…

Luke and Arianna followed one of the show workers to their "waiting room" (essentially it was their practice room, as there was a piano in the room).

"So, er, Arianna, right?" Luke asked, snapping Arianna from her thoughts. She smiled, and held out her hand for him to shake.

"Yup. Nice to meet you, Luke."

"And you as well, ma'am." His country twang was almost as strong as Blake's. Admittedly, if he were a lot younger, Arianna may have found him attractive. "I wonder who he's going to have as the guest artist." Luke mumbled nervously, looking around the room.

"I have no idea…" Arianna breathed, still feeling like the entire experience was rather surreal. "Have you heard the song before?" She asked him, hoping that he hadn't.

Luke began laughing, "I sing and listen to all things country. I'm not even sure I remember what the band is called."

Arianna laughed, "Imagine Dragons. They're pretty good actually; they're just now getting big. I'm surprised that Adam had heard of them, though."

"I'm sure there's a lot about Adam that we don't know." Luke said with a wink.

Arianna was about to reply when the doors swung open, and Adam burst in, half-singing, half talking nonsense. Arianna resisted the urge to laugh.

"Hello team!" He seemed to like to use that phrase a lot, "Alright, so before I bring in my handy dandy helper, I wanted to touch base with you. See how y'all are feeling about the song. Oh god, did I just say y'all? I'm turning into Blake. Goddamnit."

Arianna couldn't help the snort that slipped out, and Adam caught her eye. "Sorry, you're just funny." She said, still half-laughing.

"I get that a lot," Adam winked, and then burst into laughter. Oh my god, what a dork! And what was with all the winking? "Ok ok back on topic, so I chose the song Demons, as I said earlier. And I'm not sure if you guys have heard it before so I was going to take the time to let you hear it once or twice, and then I'll bring in my help, sound good?"

Arianna and Luke nodded simultaneously, as Demons started playing. Arianna focused on the lyrics, closing her eyes, trying to see if there was an angle she could connect with the song. Arianna immediately felt a connection as the song reached the chorus.

Don't get too close,

It's dark inside

It's where my demons hide

It's where my demons hide

As the song came to a close, Arianna let out a breath. So Adam was going for an emotional performance, huh? Well Arianna could definitely manage that. This was a song she almost immediately felt a relationship with. She smiled faintly.

"Haunting song, isn't it?" Adam asked, more to himself than to anyone. Arianna nodded, "Alright I'm going to go grab my guest and be right back!"

Turned out the guest that Adam was referring to was Adele. The fucking Adele. Arianna was mind-blown when he brought her in, and was star struck on a whole new level than when she had met Adam. Her and Luke worked through the song a few times; Adele had complimented her on her delivery, but warned her about belting out too much. Emotion was going to be key to this song. Luke sang well, but had a few pitch issues and had trouble learning the song.

After about 45 minutes, they were free to leave for a lunch break. Afterwards, they each got a one-on-one session with Adam to discuss the song and what their difficulties were going to be. Arianna saw this as more of a tidbit for the show, rather than actual help. But hey, who wouldn't turn down alone time with Adam?

"So, how old are you, again?" Adam asked, once the cameras started rolling.

"I'm 26." Arianna replied with a smile, while Adam raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, I would have never guessed. You don't look a day older than 20."

Arianna laughed, "Oh please, this coming from the guy who looks like he's 25."

Adam scoffed, "Stop it, we all know that's not true. So, you're 26 years old, you've got possibly the biggest thing going for you right now, how are you doing?"

"Uhm," Arianna paused, and then laughed nervously, "I mean, good, I think? I really haven't had much time to think about it. I'm nervous and worried, I mean Luke is an amazing singer and he has a lot of talent. I just want to do the song justice, and preferably not make an ass of myself on TV."

Adam laughed, "I literally try not to do that every single day. No, but look, you have so much talent, and you seriously have this amazing way of connecting with every song." Arianna shook her head as in 'no', "No seriously, you do. It's incredible. You only heard Demons like twice, and already in rehearsals you had that shit down. It will really give you an advantage for the knockouts. But one thing, similar to what Adele was saying, is don't be afraid of Luke overpowering you. He's a male, so naturally he's going to be louder than you, and you're not necessarily a powerhouse singer- but that's ok because that's what gives you your edge. Just sing from your heart, and the audience will connect with you."

Arianna nodded, "Thank you so much, Adam. I just hope I make you proud."

Adam laughed again, and Arianna could have sworn it was the cutest thing she'd ever heard. "Just sing your heart out and you'll have nothing to worry about."

The cameras clicked off and Arianna wish she could have stayed and talked with him more. Honestly throughout the conversation she had forgotten that she was even being taped. She rubbed her head, sighing. Her headache from the extra curriculars of the previous night still hadn't gone away.

"You know, I remember hearing that you had signed up for The Voice drunk, but I really am surprised that you showed up to practice today hammered also." She heard a voice from behind her and jumped a little. It was Adam.

She blushed slightly, "I'm not hammered." She lamely said, "I'm just, er, fighting a migraine."

"A hangover migraine?" Adam smirked, popping a grape into his mouth. "Look, I'm not judging, God knows I've been there, but try to take this competition seriously? I know you're beautiful but I'm counting on you. Try not to let me down."

Adam winked at her and walked out of the room, whistling as he left. Arianna felt so embarrassed, she thought she was going to collapse and die.

And what the fuck was with all the winking?