Asher's heart was thumping in his chest. His mind was wandering every which way. His tongue clicked on his pallet in anticipation. He'd never gone this far. Why was he here? Why did it have to come to this? 2 words. No. Clue.

But he couldn't back out now. Asher is no whimp.

But even Hercules can get nervous. Or so Asher assumed. He never really payed much attention in his AP social studies class.

Asher was shaking as if we was on the Batman themed ride at 6 flags. If only...

An older man shoved a tall glass filled with a clear liquid into Asher's palms.

Not water. Vodka, possibly. It smelled like it...

Asher sighed. Grunted. He needed new friends. Friends like Ash's. Good people. Caring friends. Though Ash's friends didn't seem so to the naked eye, they secretly cared, the slightest bit, in the least.

Some cared more then others in what seemed to be a random order from least to most caring in comparison to their personalities.

Asher's chums on the other hand couldn't care less what happened to their "buddy". And they were willing to put his life on the line to get a quick laugh out of it, demolition fatal or not.

As Asher took the glass into his clammy, sweaty grasp, his hand shook, spilling some liquid into a cut on his thumb from chewing at it in anxiety. The cut tingled acutely for a mere moment until the boy was struck with severe pain in the exact spot.

Yup. Definitely not water.

This had to be some sort of strong alcohol. And nonetheless, Asher would be force to drink it, strong or weak, alcohol or soda pop, sterile or toxic...

Asher lifted the seemingly vibrating glass to his lips, before tilting it back for a taste, he gazed at the leader of his gang of friends for a nod of approval which was given without haste.

Asher chugged the drink. His stomach churned. And his vision turned to a set of smears that resembled a pre-K finger painting.

Next thing he knew, he was set before a leather textured distorted circle. He heard a rumbling, humming noise that greatly resembled himself in the morning, in all honesty.

Then there was movement. And the movement became adjacent to the movement of his hands.

"Imma sooopaaaaheerrow...!" he slurred. "Whoopee!"

Suddenly, he was engulfed in completely darkness as his head fell forward, creating an odd honking noise. Like that of a...

...

Asher soon awoke. His head hurt like hell and he couldn't move. He looked down at himself to see himself mummified along the torso with a hospital bandage. He grunted in agony as the pain set in.

A man entered the room. An unfamiliar man with whitish gray hair and a stethoscope hanging around his neck. One may guess his profession from this alone, yet Asher had also found the convenient placement of a name tag on his lab coat writing "Dr. Brown".

The man pulled up a stool beside Asher's bed.

"Where am I?" Asher grunted, getting straight to the point.

The man smiled weakly at Asher. "You are at the hospital, dear boy. And do you know why?"

Asher shook his head, trying his best to cross his soar and aching arms.

The man placed a hand on Asher's shoulder. "You were found driving drunk. Your car was crashed in a tree."

Asher's eyes widened. He didn't drink. He strictly prohibited drinking. Ash would kill him if he was ever drunk. Which, apparently, he was. "What?!"

"You heard me."

Asher face twisted up in a confused face. "I don't even have a car."

"It was identified as your brother's car.

Asher shot up in the bed. "What?!!! Alex is gonna KILL me!!!!!!"

Dr. Brown gently pushed him back against the mattress. "Stay calm. You don't want your heart rate to falter. You're still weak from the alcohol consumption."

Asher frowned. "What did I drink?"

"Russian vodka was found in the car. So I'd assume you drank that. The bottle was completely empty."

Asher grunted. "I'm so dead..." he mumbled.

"Pardon?" The doctor asked with concern.

"I'm dead. I'm a goner." He said louder. "Alex will hate me and so will everybody else."

"I'd say not." The doctor stated pointedly.

Asher glared at Mr. Brown. "Why not?"

Dr. Brown smiled. "You have visitors. Would you like me to allow them in?"

"As long as they're not my 'friends'." he grumbled using hand quotes.

Dr. Brown seemed confused, but shrugged it off, opening the door. "He's awake." he called down the hall.

4 boys slouched into the room, followed by an ecstatic little girl.

The girl jumped up onto the bed, tackling her big brother in a hug.

Asher fell back as his torso contracted due to pressure. Courtney lied atop him, literally hugging the life outta him. "Asher! You're okay!"

Asher began breathing regularly, hugging the munchkin back. "Hey there, Shorty. What's up?"

Court lightly slapped her brother across the face. "Don't 'What's up?' Me! What did you do?!"

Asher sighed, wrapping his arms around the little girl once more. "It's a long story, cutey. I'll explain later."

He let go of the midget as he was approached by a certain blonde.

Alex crossed his arms. "Asher..." he mumbled lowly.

Asher sighed in defeat. "Alex, I can expl-"

He was cut off as said blonde yanked him toward his chest, using his arms as chains to lock his brother into his grasp.

Asher froze as Alex held him close, completely silent and still.

There was continuous silence for what felt like hours until Asher felt a cold liquid sting the back of his neck just below Alex's face.

Asher sighed, clutching his brother as well.

Alex let out an uneven, shakey breath. "You idiot..." he grumbled staggered-ly.

Asher smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't want to..."

Alex held his little brother tighter. "Asher, we have to talk about this when we get home. Whenever that may be. Okay?"

Asher nodded.

Alex released his brother. Asher gazed around. A sad look flashed in and out of his gaze. "Where is Ash?" he asked.

Alex sighed. "She didn't want to come in with us. She seemed... betrayed, in a sense..."

Asher froze for about a minute in deep thought.

Not a moment too soon, Asher sat up with a jolt. "I have to talk to her!" he all but yelled.

Alex jumped at this, restraining his brother from tearing the IV from his arm.

"Asher, settle down. I'll go get her. You stay here."

Asher sighed. He held a pinky out, childishly. "Promise?"

Alex sighed, interlocking pinkies with his 16 year old little brother. "Promise." He then disappeared into the dully lit hallway in search of the mentioned girl.

He came back in a few minutes later dragging what seemed to be a goth chic behind him.

She was wearing a slate black hoodie with the hood up as to hide her paled face. She wore faded jeans and her hair was straight and jet black. She looked like a demon's shadow in jeans.

Asher gazed up at the girl. He struggled to muster up a sentence but finally located his vocal cords once again. "Ashley... H-hey..." he stuttered, unnerved.

Ashley snapped her gaze up to meet his in a death glare. "You idiot..." she grumbled, fists clenched, eyes scrunched shut.

Asher frowned deeply. "Ash, I know you're mad at me. Just let me explai-"

"Explain?" Ash asked. She took a step forward abruptly, resulting in Asher jumping back an inch. "I'd like to see you 'explain' yourself out of this one!"

Alex put a hand on Ash's arm. "Calm down, Ash. You 2 can talk about this when we're home. When is he getting let out, doc?"

Dr. Brown smiled. "We'd like to run a few tests on him that will take about 20 minutes. He can go home directly after. I suggest you find him something to leave in for the time being."

Asher gazed upon himself only now realizing that he was wearing a hospital gown.

Alex nodded. "Of course. Thank you, Doctor Brown. Johnny, can you call a cab for me so I can go grab it?"

Johnny nodded. Asher was confused for a second. Hm... he thought Why doesn't he just use the-... Oh...

Johnny called up a cab and Alex went outside to wait for it to show up.

The rest of the group left the room, all but 1 giving him a quick hug or kiss on the cheek before doing so.

Once it was just Asher and the doctor, the doctor ran some tests. Most to see if he still had anything in his system, the rest blood tests to see if anything else was wrong.

Asher's tests all came up negative, thankfully.

And by the time the test results came back, Alex was in the room with Asher with a sweatshirt, some jeans and some other articles of clothing.

In the end, Asher changed into some real clothes, Alex signed Asher out, and him and Alex left by cab. The rest of the family was already home, getting ready for dinner.

Once the 2 arrived home, they were greeted by a dinner of chicken nuggets and fries, very nutritional.

And at the dinner table, Ash made it a point to sit at the exact opposite end of the table as Asher.

And whenever he would try to talk to her, she would act like he didn't even exist.

For example:

"Ash, we gotta talk. I-"

"Hey, Zeke. Can you pass me the salt?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

And it was all really starting to piss Asher off. But he didn't dare confront Ashley on the matter, for he was at fault in the situation.

So, when dinner was finished, Ash rushed off to her room before Asher could get a word in.

Asher sighed in defeat. He began to slouch his way up to his room when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

He peered back over his shoulder to see his older brother, eyes drooping, lacking any indication of satisfaction or glee.

"Asher, let's go... have a chat. Okay?"

Asher huffed, depression loomed into the breath, nodding solemnly.

The 2 boys made there way upstairs toward Asher's room. Upon reaching their destination, Asher situated himself on his bed, fiddling with him lucky guitar.

Alex sighed, sitting beside him. He turned to face his little brother. "Asher... Why?"

Asher bit his lip. "Why what?" he croaked, knowing full well what 'what' was. Alex glared as a response, not willing to play games. Asher sighed. "Alright... W-well, ya see... You remember Matteo and the guys?"

Alex grunted. "I never liked those boys. What did they do? Did they hurt you?!" Alex was begging to sound like a distressed, worried mother at this point.

Asher gazed upon the floorboards, not willing to glance upon the rest of the world out of self pity and shame. "N-no. Not r-really... Not directly, I guess..."

Alex place a firm hand upon his brother shoulder, capturing his attention. "Asher, don't sugarcoat it, Buddy. Give it to me straight. You're not in trouble. I promise."

Asher let out the breath he'd been subconsciously holding. "Well..." he swallowed the lump in his throat that was trying to fluster his breathing. "Th-They said that we were going out to party. I-I thought they meant a party at someone's house... As it turns out, they meant the bar. They were all drinking and when Tod asked me if I wanted some, I t-told him that I don't drink. Th-Th-They called m-me a whimp and f-forced me to d-drink a g-glass of v-vodka... A-And..." Asher stopped. He was too disappointed in himself to finish the explanation. He plopped his hands down in front of him and placed his forehead atop them.

Alex sighed once again, pulling his little brother into an awkward side hug. "Buddy, it's okay... it's not your fault..."

"But it is."

"No it's not. Don't tell yourself that." Alex shifted in his spot on the foot of the bed. "Look, Asher. What you did was wrong, albeit, but I'm not angry with you. You just need some better friends. A good influence."

Asher picked his head up, sighing sadly. "But I have one. And she tried to help me. But it didn't work. What now?"

Alex shrugged. "To be perfectly honest, Asher, I have no clue. But maybe you should start by trying to reassure that good influence of yours. She's really upset with you right about now."

Asher nodded very slowly. "You're right, Alex. But you and I both know that she's pretty stubborn. And I did something pretty bad, to say the least. I'm not gonna get forgiven..."

Alex smiled down at his little buddy. "Of course you are, Asher. She cares about you. When we found out what happened, she ran outside and started running around like crazy looking for the car."

Asher chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah... sorry about that."

"It's fine, Asher. Cars are replaceable. Little brother can never be replaced." He pulled his little bro in close and hugged him tight.

Asher shrugged at the cheesy joke. "Well, technically..."

Alex stopped his brother. "Don't ruin the moment, little buddy."

Asher chuckled, hugging his brother back.

They stayed there for a little while before Alex finally released his little brother, standing back up. "Okay, Asher." he said contently. "Why don't you head down to your sisters room to apologize."

Asher grunted. "Alright..." he mumbled. He stood from the bed as well, making his way down the hall toward her room.

Meanwhile, Alex exits the room as well, strutting toward his own room down the stairs. Once he makes it there, he finds Johnny at his desk, twiddling his thumbs, boredly. At the sound of his seme entering, he gazed toward the door.

Sure enough, Alex slouched in, plopping down on the bed.

Johnny smiled, moving to sit beside him. "Hey, Papa." Johnny stated giddily, using the name that he was supposed to call him by, though Alex told him to just call him Alex. But Johnny had refused, going on about something along the lines of "the uke code".

Anyway, when Alex didn't answer, Johnny got worried. Something was wrong. Something happened.

Johnny moved in a little closer to Alex. "Papa?"

Yet again, there was no reply.

It was time for the last resort. Johnny sat in Alex's lap. "Papa, you're not listening. Tell me what happened."

Alex sighed. "I'm worried about Asher, Johnny."

"Why?"

Alex wrapped his arms around his petite sized little uke. "His friends went against him and forced him to drink. He didn't want to. And now Ashley's mad at him for something that he didn't want to do in the first place. They'll probably be angry for weeks on end." And Alex was right.

Johnny gave Alex a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. "They'll be fine, papa. Soon enough they'll be back to being Ash-'n-Asher. Instead of being Ash 'n Asher."

Alex smiled down at Johnny. Johnny always knew what to say.

Alex leaned down and gave his uke a kiss on the forehead. "I'm sure you're right, Johnny. Thanks for all the support, sweetheart." The two began cuddling before they were about to go to bed until they started hearing loud bangs and screams of rage. That's not a good sign...

Meanwhile...

He knocked on the door 3 times before getting a loud. "What?!" in reply.

Asher sighed, sticking his fists in his hoodie pocket. "Hey, Ash. Open up. We gotta talk."

There was no response. Only a small clicking noise. Asher twisted the door knob to find that it wouldn't budge.

Locked.

Asher sighed. "Ashley, this isn't funny. Open up."

"No!" Ashley snapped from behind the closed door.

Asher began to grow impatient. He was about to break the door into a million pieces once he noticed a bobby pin conveniently left unattended on the floor. He smirked, picking said pin up and beginning to insert it into the doors lock. Soon enough, another clicking noise sounded and the door slid open with ease. He entered Ash's room too find her sitting on her bed, ear buds in and turn up so loud that Asher could practically hear from where he stood a yard or 2 away.

Ash grunted, throwing her phone, earbuds and all, aside. She stood up and went to leave right past Asher when he grabbed her arm. "Ash, I'm serious. We need to talk."

Ash rolled her eyes. Not saying a word in response. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she had an angry pout displayed on her features.

Asher looked her in the eyes. "Alright. Don't talk. Just listen."

Ash rolled her eyes once more but didn't move to leave.

Therefore, Asher continued. "Ashley, it wasn't my fault. I-I was with the guys and they forced me. I wasn't doing it willingly, I promise."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "So they literally poured the drink into your mouth for you?"

Asher rubbed his elbow, awkwardly. "W-well... no..." Asher's eyes widened a bit. He continued pointedly. "B-but if I didn't, I'm sure they would've beat me up. Or worse!"

Ash sighed. "And who's to say that you aren't storytelling. I don't suppose you noticed any witnesses while intoxicated. Oh, right. You probably couldn't notice anything since you were drunk!" Ash had a grimace plastered across her face and a hand on her hip as she angrily nagged her dark side.

Asher grunted. "Whatever..." he stormed off back to his room, giving up on his quest to make amends.

The 2 of them fought and fought for weeks on end.

And throughout the fighting, Asher did not conversate with his so called "friends". He knew what was right and they weren't.

They were complete strangers to him. "Friends"? Please. More like bullies, to put it as kind heartedly as possible.

And one day, Asher was sitting in the cafeteria. Alone. While Ash was in the table just to his left as he ate his sandwich in peace. For now.

A swarm approached. A swarm of not jocks, not nerds, bad boys. A gang if you will. Some would even address them as the equivalent of the mafia. If they had a spare arm to give up.

The swarm herded around Asher's barren, lonely table.

Asher looked up from his sandwich at the group. He grimaced. "What?" he grunted.

The group chuckled. Two of the more brawny ones took hold of Asher, grabbing hold of him under his arms and lifting him up from his seat.

Asher struggled in their grasp. "H-Hey! What's the meaning of this!"

The whole group cackled. This quickly caught a certain girl's attention. Her eyes widened as she watched it unfold.

The two brawn for brains' pinned Asher to a wall as a man named Matteo, the leader, proceeded to beat Asher senseless.

Asher grunted in pain at the first punch aimed at his chest. The second one on course for his stomach made him exert a weak scream. And the third was aimed a bit lower, not by fist, but by foot. And it would most likely have caused a loud scream in agony to escape.

As the kick was about to cause him pain for the rest of the school day along with demolish his self esteem,(or what was left of it) The group vaulted all movement at a loud. "Hey!"

The group subsided to reveal an enraged Ash.

Asher chuckled internally. My knight in shining armor, I guess.

Ash approached the group and glared up at them. The group laughed at her.

"How pathetic!" Jim called out, mid-laughing fit. "Asher has to have his sister save him, huh? Ha!"

"I guess she'll have to suffer the same fate." Tod noted with a light chuckled.

Lucas messed up Ash's hair "playfully"."Yeah, girly. You joinin' the party?" The male chuckled evilly. "We still got some bear left!"

The whole goon group started cracking up.

That was the last straw. Ashley kneed Jim where the sun don't shine, throwing him to the ground. She punched a few teeth out of Tod and, well, let's say Lucas was down for the count as well. He was laying flat on the floor along with some blood.

The remainder of the group froze. They then quickly shuffled off, dropping Asher and dragging their other "friends" away.

Asher sat on the floor, groaning in pain.

Ash approached her dark side, a not-so content look on her face.

Asher gazed up at her, a depressed look in his eyes. He sighed, about to stand up when there was a crushing weight keeping him from standing.

He looked up once more to see a certain girl hugging the life out of him, a content smile on her face. "You idiot..."

Asher's eyes widened as he stood still for a moment. Until finally, he wrapped his arms around the girl before him. "I love you, too."