The sound of Alessia's favorite movie filled her ears as she decompressed from a stressful ass week.

She was moments away from exhaustion taking her over when her phone rang out.

"Fuck me," Alessia muttered as she jolted awake.

The screen of her phone lite up with Carmy's name, and she immediately answered, "Carmy? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"I'm so fucked up, Mae." His slurred words reached her ears and a slight wave of relief washed over her.

"Carm— where are you? Do you need me to come get you?" Alessia rubbed her eyes, her heart still racing.

"I'm soooo fucked," her brother muttered, his focus clearly skewed.

A quiet sigh fell from Alessia's lips, "Carmen, I need you to focus, ok? Which bar are you at?"

"Um—I don't...hey what bar—what bar is this?"

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line, and Alessia was already changing out of her pajamas and into normal clothes.

"It's—Jessie's?" He responds, uncertainty lingering in his voice. Alessia nods, not that her brother can see her.

Alessia sighed, "I'm on my way."

The twenty-three year old snatches up her keys off the key ring that her roommate and friend, Reese, had picked out. Alessia made her way down the hall at a fairly quick pace.

She and Reese's apartment complex certainly wasn't in the best area, however it was what they could afford.

Alessia practically jogged down the building's cement stairs. The elevator had been out of operation for weeks at this point.

The smell of cigarette smoke, among other things reached her lungs as she passed through the building's main exit.

The woman kept her eyes down as she passed by the various people lingering on the sidewalk. It didn't take Alessia too long to get to the run down bar.

Alessia knew she probably looked like a wreck, but it could not be any worse than her brother. So, she walked through Jessie's entrance and almost immediately spotted Carmen.

His curly hair was a total mess and his eyes were bloodshot. Peanut shells covered the bar's floor and crunched under Alessia's boots.

"Carm," Alessia spoke as she slid onto the bar stool beside him, "I'm here. Did you close out your tab?"

Carmen looked at his little sister and blinked a few times.

"Is not selling The Beef to Unc a terrible idea?" Carmen asked her, a storm brewing in his eyes.

Alessia sighed, "Carmy. I promise you, now is not the time or the place to talk about this. Close out your tab, okay?"

Both his words and actions remained sluggish as he did just that. Alessia helped him stumble off of his barstool, and he leaned on her for support as they walked through the bar.

"Mae?"

Alessia hummed in response, showing that he had at least a fraction of her attention.

"I'm sorry, that I fucked up your life. I shouldn't have lef—let you follow me into that hell hole of a restaurant." His words slurred together and stuttered apart and Alessia shook her head.

"You didn't fuck up my life, Carm, okay?" Alessia responded, "Now, focus on walking."

Annoyance rose to her voice by the second half of her reply. Alessia could hardly support his weight as she practically shoved him into the passenger seat.

"I'm so sorry, Mae," Carmen apologized as Alessia slid into the driver's seat.

She rolled her eyes, "Carmen. You're drunk, please just drink some water."

A small laugh escaped her brother's lips, "I am so fucking drunk."

"Oh believe me, I know."

Somehow Alessia managed to get her brother on to the couch in her and Reese's apartment. He passed out almost immediately after he hit the cushions. With a quiet sigh, Alessia draped a blanket over him and went to bed.

Sun poured into Alessia's room through the gaps in the beat up sunshades. The woman rubbed her eyes, a tiny headache looming over her.

Alessia yawned, stretching out her arms and neck.  Judging by the smell of coffee that wafted through the air, her roommate was already awake and moving about.

With a quiet sigh, Alessia slipped on her slippers and walked out of her room into the kitchen. Reese sat at the small kitchen table, reading a book.

Alessia pulled a mug out of the cabinet and poured herself some coffee. She opened the fridge and frowned, they were entirely out of cream.

"Damn," she murmured, Alessia pulled out one of the other chairs at the table, "Morning."

"Morning, Lessi," the other woman smiled, before taking a sip of her coffee, "So...who's the hot guy passed out on our couch."

Alessia choked on the coffee that she had just taken a sip of, "The hot— Reese that's my brother."

"Oh?" Reese's eyes traveled to the couch briefly, "Is everyone in your family hot?"

Alessia rolled her eyes, but a small smile still pulled at her lips.

"Seriously, I haven't met a single member of your family that isn't hot." Reese stated.

Alessia rolled her eyes, a minuscule smile evident on her lips, "You better watch out, there's an equal amount of crazy that comes with the hot."

Reese scoffed, "No way."

Alessia shrugged, lifting her mug to her lips and taking another sip of the bitter coffee. She was sure that her brother was going to wake up with a massive hangover.

Personally, Alessia was not looking forward to dealing with that. She loved Carmen, she did. However dealing with a grumpy hungover Carmen was one of her least favorite past times.

"So..." Alessia started her eyes returning to her friend, "The big interview is today?"

Reese nodded, as she subconsciously bounced her knee below the surface of the table.

"It's only the first one though," Reese sighed, "Even if they like me, I'll still have many more hoops to jump through."

"Hey," Alessia said softly, capturing her roomate's attention, "It's a start, ok? I have a good feeling about this one...and I never have good feelings about anything."

Alessia added the later part jokingly, which earned her a small smile from Reese. Not even minutes later, Carmy began to stir awake.

"Morning sunshine," Alessia noted, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

The man on the couch simply scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat up.

"There's ibuprofen and water on the table," Alessia informed him, taking a sip of the bitter coffee.

"Thanks, Mae," he replied, but his voice was still groggy and barely interpretable.

Reese's eyes remained fixed on him, "Want some coffee?"

Carmen hummed, not even taking notice to the fact that it was not his sister's voice. Alessia arched an eyebrow at her roommate, as she moved to the kitchen counter pulling a mug out of the cabinet.

"We don't have any cream, but uh we have sugar? How do you take it?" Reese asked, as she poured some coffee into the mug.

Carmen's eyebrows tugged together as he popped the ibuprofen into his mouth, washing it down with the water. The man's eyes finally landed on Reese, realization washing over him.

"Oh, you really don't have to--"

Reese raised an eyebrow, practically daring him to continue. She needed this, it would take her mind off of the interview, even if it was for only a few minutes.

"Black is fine."