Mid October

Recovery and Rehearsal

Jeremy woke up to the obvious wet sloshing sound of someone retching into the toilet. He groaned as he had a bad headache himself, courtesy of having a couple more gin and tonics with a beer chaser after he'd intending on calling it quits. Swinging his feet to the floor, he carefully stood up.

"Morning Jeremy," greeted Ulrich, who was mixing some ingredients together in a large glass.

"Hey..." the genius groaned.

"I was making this for Odd, but since you're already here you can have it and I'll just make another one for him... that is, if he can keep it down." Jeremy winced as more disgusting wet sounds came from the tiny bathroom as Ulrich stirred a small amount of gin into the mix.

"What... is it?"

"Gatorade, whey protein powder, and a little bit of 'hair of the dog.' It should help with any hangover you've got." He handed it to Jeremy, wrinkling his nose when he sniffed it. "It's kinda nasty, but a guy I used to play soccer with in college would swear by the stuff." Jeremy leered skeptically at his large friend, but took a sip anyway.

"Blech, that's disgusting!" He coughed. "Did you drink one of these?"

"No, I didn't need it. I'm a lot bigger than you and I didn't drink as much." Jeremy scowled into his cup. "It'll probably be easier if you hold your nose and chug it." Jeremy reluctantly did as Ulrich suggested and managed to finish the vile concoction, practically gagging at every chunk of not-quite-dissolved protein that slid down his throat!. Just as it was gone, Odd stumbled out of the bathroom wiping his mouth.

"He should drink his outside," suggested Jeremy, to which Ulrich nodded in agreement and got back to work mixing another one of his gross remedies. This time instead of gin, he put in a splash of tequila to match Odd's alcohol of choice from the night before. He offered the drink to the short blond.

"Take it outside." He did as he was asked and shocked both Ulrich and Jeremy by downing the contents of the glass without hesitation or complaint! When he turned around and saw his friends staring he chuckled lightly.

"Anything's better than this hangover..." he affirmed. Walking back inside he got dressed for the day and flopped back down on his bed.

"Oh, no you don't," admonished Ulrich. "We need to get all packed up so we can take this thing back."

With a grumble the short blond grabbed a trash bag and started gathering up empty beer bottles while Ulrich and Jeremy started disconnecting the gaming systems. With all three of them working, the RV was quickly cleaned out and they were on the road.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Asked Yumi. It was almost noon, and Three girls were at Sissi's apartment. Aelita was still laying on the couch with a cool rag over her eyes.

"A little better. I had a good time last night, but please don't let me drink that much again... ever..." moaned Aelita. She'd been up over half the night in front of the toilet.

"Do you want to try some fluids again?" Asked Yumi? Aelita sat up, holding her head. She pulled the rag away for a moment and replaced it almost immediately after seeing the sunlight coming in through the edges of the window shade.

"Too bright..." she groaned.

"I'm sorry, but the lights are already off, and the blinds are still closed. We can't make it any darker."

"Darn. Could you at least make room stop spinning," she griped. Yumi placed a glass of water in her hands and she took a little sip. Her throat was burning from all the stomach acid she'd heaved up the night before, so the chilled liquid felt very soothing and finally seemed like it would stay down.

"Well?" Aelita took a bigger sip, and when she didn't feel sick she greedily gulped down the rest of the glass.

"More please...?" Yumi took the cup with a chuckle and went to the kitchen.

"Hi, guys," greeted Sissi, who had just walked in the door. "Feeling any better?" She asked Aelita.

"Well, I can drink water now..."

"Good. That means you should be able to eat this." Hearing the crinkling of a paper bag, Aelita pulled the washcloth aside to see a bag of fast food hanging from her friend's hand and her stomach turned.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope! Carbs, protein, and grease in abundance."

"I can hardly eat that stuff without the hangover!"

"Ah, you're back. Good." Both of the girls looked at Yumi as she came back into the room, having refilled Aelita's water. "Let's get you to the table so we can get this food in you." Aelita scrunched her face at the bag, but said nothing when Sissi helped her off the couch and guided her to the apartment's dining area.

"So I got you a double cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake to wash everything down with," listed Sissi as she was pulling the items out. Aelita wrinkled her nose at first at the thought of eating the greasy mess... but much to her surprise, when she caught a hint of the aroma it smelled delicious and her mouth started to water! Her stomach growled loudly, audibly reminding her that it had been nearly eighteen hours since she'd last eaten. Sissi smirked as Aelita grabbed the burger and started greedily devouring it, only pausing to have some of her shake.

"You know, this is" gulp "a lot better than" slurp "expected..."

"Figured you'd appreciate it!"

"If I didn't know otherwise, I'd say you were trying to prove that Odd really is your cousin!" Teased Yumi, earning a glare from her pink-haired friend.

"I love the little Odd-ball, but trying to feed him can be a real chore sometimes!" Exclaimed Sissi and all three of them laughed. Aelita resumed eating, and found herself feeling a little better as her hunger subsided.

"I think you should probably try to get some more sleep," suggested Yumi, once the fast food was gone.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," agreed Aelita with a yawn. "I'd rather not be falling asleep at my own wedding rehearsal!"

"You might want to take a shower first..." added Sissi. She smelled at the air, causing Yumi to chuckle. "I'll run your clothes through the wash and we can make pack them tomorrow morning when they're dry." Aelita sniffed the shirt she was still wearing from the night before and wrinkled her nose from the scent of club mixed with a hint of vomit...

"That's probably a good idea."

A little while later she was showered, in clean clothes, and sleeping on Sissi's couch much more soundly that she had the night before.

It was early afternoon, and having dropped off the RV, The guys had just arrived at Ulrich's apartment.

"I'm taking a snooze," announced Odd the second they'd gotten through the door. The other two friends laughed as he walked straight into Ulrich's bedroom and flopped onto the bed face down

"How about you? How are you feeling now?" Asked Ulrich, turning toward Jeremy.

"Not bad, actually. That remedy worked pretty well."

"Odd must have just been too far gone!" Both of them chuckled again at their small friend's expense.

Jeremy looked at the time and sat on the couch.

"Well, what now?"

"I say we just chill out for a bit, things are gonna get really busy soon enough," replied Ulrich. "Can I get you anything, something to drink perhaps?"

"Ugh, not after last night," groaned Jeremy, making his friend chuckle.

"I meant something a little easier on the system like water or milk." Jeremy thought for a moment, but then realized he felt more tired than the evening should have left him.

"Do you have coffee?" He asked.

"No, but we do have a pretty good selection of tea."

"Anything caffeinated?"

"I think I can find something," Ulrich answered with a grin. He left for the kitchen and a few minutes later he was back with a couple mugs of steaming beverages.

"This is good," complimented Jeremy after having taken a sip.

"I'm glad you like it. Me and Yumi drink a lot of tea." He picked up the remote and the two of them relaxed until it was time to leave for the wedding rehearsal.

"It's time to wake up." Aelita groaned and looked at Yumi, who was gently shaking her shoulder. "Feeling any better?" Glancing around front room, the pink-haired woman breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that her headache was gone and the room wasn't spinning anymore.

"Yes, thankfully. I'm a little groggy though," she replied while rubbing her eyes. "How long did I sleep?"

"About three hours."

"I guess I needed it," Aelita said through a yawn.

"Probably. You were in rough shape this morning."

"Yeah, please don't ever let me drink that much ever again!" Yumi smirked.

"You've said that and I'll try to keep it in mind," she replied with a chuckle. "In any case, it's about time to get ready."

Aelita changed into the outfit she had brought for that evening in Sissi's bedroom, and after a little bit of sprucing up the three women were on their way out the door!

Jeremy had just arrived at the old church he'd gone to when he was younger and waited inside near the front entrance. When he saw his fiance walk through the doors, the two closed the distance quickly and hugged tightly.

"Did you have a good time last night?" He asked.

"Very much so! I had a bit of a rough morning though!" Replied Aelita making Jeremy chuckle. "How about you?"

"I had a good time too, but my morning probably wasn't much better!" This time both of them laughed.

"Are you two about ready?" Asked Jeremy's father cheerfully. He had just arrived and walked up to the young couple. They grinned and Jeremy took Aelita's hand in his.

"Yes."

A/N: They're almost there! In other news, I've got a reasonable work schedule at the moment, so I can get the chapters out in a reasonable time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and are still enjoying the story!