Sticky, uncomfortable and somewhat cold; not how she was used to waking up. She felt someone blowing in her face, "Ari s'not funny," she mumbled, "Givivack."

She had been referring to her blanket until she realised her pillow and bed were not solid, nor did they rise and fall as if they were breathing. Tensing, she pushed herself up off... Ian, who was equally as surprised at the way he was waking up.

"Aww, ewww, you drooled on me!" his face was scrunched in disgust as he pulled his shirt away from his body. She gaped at him, unable to say anything in her confused hung-over stupor. "Wha? Oh...OH!" Ian flushed, "Nothing happened, Cherish!"

It was then that the bed moved, and Cherish stared wide eyed at Seven as he chuckled, "Well, sure nothing happened, unless you count-"

"Oh my God!" Cherish mumbled, trying to free herself from the mess of legs and arms on the bed. They were all sprawled out on one bed- even Juss and some other girl. As she fell in a lump on the floor, she took most of the blanket with her, tangled as she was in it.

"Cherish!"

Under the blanket, she winced as they yelled in shock of the cold air, ducking her head to her knees and plugging her ears. She found herself looking at an upside down semi-naked torso that looked an awful lot like hers, only it was clad in Ian's unzipped hoodie. She let the wave of nausea that washed over her pass before she opened her mouth, "Um, where's my shirt?"

"Dunno," was the simple answer she got from Ian as she zipped up the sweater. She poked her head out from under the blanket and glared at them up on the bed.

"Relax!" Seven sat up, his hair plastered to his face, "Nothing happened, Cherish. You got extremely drunk, some guy was all over you, Ian thought he could save you, I had a damn good fight- thanks by the way, I needed one of those- you cried like a freaking girl and then you passed out on top of Ian."

"Oh."

He was most probably right, she supposed, but she didn't think on it as much as she would have had she been fully sober. Some part of his sentence flagged a part of her mind that was beginning to panic. But all was forgotten and she averted her eyes with a blush as Ian pulled off his shirt and flung it aside. Her eyes washed over the body of the half naked girl, face down on Juss' chest, "Who's she?"

Seven stretched, his muscles rippling under a layer of ink, "She said she's a friend of yours, Trish."

"I don't know a Trish," she said after a moment's thought as she struggled to stand up.

"She thought you were Trish, and she was really worried about you till she met Juss."

"Oh."

She gave up trying to get up and curled into a ball on her side, her matted hair falling like a curtain over her face. Seven regarded her with a look of lazy amusement, a smile playing with the corners of his mouth, "So, you made quite a few friends last night, Cherish."

She began to respond, slurring about not needing the three of them to have fun, but she paused, her face draining of any colour it had. He had said last night. Last night. Of course he said last night. She sat up quickly, ignoring the rush of pain in her head, "Oh my God! What time is it? I'm going to die!"

Digging into her pockets she frowned, cursed and punched the side of the bed in anger.

"Looking for this?" Seven waved the phone in her face, "Your Dad calls you a lot."

Lunging forward in anger, she grabbed it from him, her skin pale and covered in a fine sheen of sweat, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

She fumbled with the phone and then paused, staring at it, deciding what to say.

"Woah there, party princess!" Seven snatched the phone away from her swiped the call screen away, "I already dealt with that!"

Ian looked at him curiously, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you,E. I had Pam call her dad and say that we took her out, but we got back late, so she's sleeping in Jo's room and we'll bring her back today."

"What?" Cherish shrieked and surprisingly Juss didn't even stir. "You told my dad I was sleeping over at your place?"

It was with a great deal of effort that Seven kept his playful smirk off his face; he was enjoying her suffering way too much. "No, Ian's." he said plainly, as if it were the most obvious answer.

She grimaced, holding her head in pain, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die..."

She continued to chant the words, a mantra of impending doom, blocking out all other comments made; Seven raised an eyebrow at Ian.

"Her dad wants to meet us," he said after a minute, grinning when Cherish's gaze snapped back up to his face.

-.-

Anger didn't even begin to describe what she was feeling as the guys took their sweet time getting her home. She was tired, cranky, and not to mention the many degrees of sick her stomach was putting her through. Her clothes were stiff and stuck to her in the most awkward way and her head ached beyond belief. And, to top it all off, she had to worry about what her father would do to her when she got home. He wasn't abusive or mean, no, he just cared too much about his daughters- like a normal parent. A normal parent that she wasn't used to. Her mother had been more a friend than a normal parent, letting her get away with far too much.

If it were her mother she was going home to, she would not have to worry. Coming home would merely be a, "how was your night, Babe? Here this will help the hangover." With her father, she was entirely unsure of what to expect, but she knew it would not be so easy. With her father it would be grounded, or put into a strict uniformed school run by evil nuns. Or worse yet, maybe he would force her to become a nun! The speculation was not doing much to help the nausea she was trying hard to hold down.

With every minute that passed, she knew it would get worse, which only fueled her hatred towards Seven and Ian further. Stewing in her loathing, she sat silently, not even bothering to glare at them as she normally would have. She had wanted to go home first thing after they woke up, but Ian and Seven had refused to give her the clothes Delia had brought over for her. Going home in some guy's sweater, a bright red bra and jeans that reeked of drunk was not an option.

Ian insisted on making everyone breakfast; a breakfast that just looking at made Cherish violently ill. A soppy, syrupy mess of eggs, bacon, french toast, and something that looked as if it should have been pancakes. Then, when Cherish demanded she get her clothes and go home, they insisted on waiting for Juss and random girl to wake up. It was impolite to wake them, especially since they had been up so late last night, you know. She was barely able to contain her anger when she discovered that they had been up the whole time- fooling around!

"Hey, sorry- I didn't know you guys were in such a rush!" Juss said, red faced as he and the girl hid behind the blanket.

"Juss! Aw fuck, get out of my sister's bed! I don't mind you pissing her off, but in my sister's bed??"

Seven shuddered as he pulled the sheets up off the bed, mustering about having to burn them. Still, they didn't go home after that, to Cherish's dismay. Instead, they all watched uncomfortably as Juss shoveled down most of what Ian had cooked, as gross as it was, asking Allison, if she wanted hers. By this point, Cherish was livid, it was three hours since they had woken up- at 12:00 no less! She didn't find it odd that her father hadn't called, only knew that by the time she would get home, he would blow up on her.

When Juss finally pushed himself away from the table, looking a little green, Cherish once again demanded they take her home right away. No such luck, as Allison, Juss' random girl, needed a ride home too, and since she was actually nice to them, they decided she was first. On the plus side, they finally gave her the change of clothes Delia bought her the night before, though being comfortable did nothing to improve her mood.

-.-

The lurching and lilting of Seven's truck was matching the churning of Cherish's stomach in an unsettling way. She frowned, imagining that she was sitting absolutely still, but it was difficult and instead she felt like she was floating. Being seasick on land was not an easily accomplished task and she would have laughed, but she was terrified of opening her mouth. Beside her Allison was twisting her hair into delicate little braids, her dark fingers doing the work easily without her even having to look at it. Almost sensing her discomfort, Allison placed a hand on her head, "You know, Trish. I was so worried about you last night! You really shouldn't drink so much."

Seven choked on the laugh that was threatening to escape his mouth, smirking at Cherish through the rear-view mirror. Allison didn't notice and gently pulled Cherish's hair away from her face, tying all the tiny braids into a giant knot at the back of her head.

"It's too hot as it is," she said plainly, "Your hair only makes it worse."

Cherish managed a grateful lip twitching toward Allison, shivering as the air contacted the layer of sweat on her uncovered skin.

"I was trying to keep an eye on you, but someone called me and you just disappeared. I hope you'll be okay."

She kept a comforting hand on Cherish's lap and turned suddenly on Ian, "Really, Ian, you shouldn't let your girlfriend drink so much!"

They all laughed, this time including Cherish, and Allison looked at them confused, "What?"

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Cherish managed to say between giggles.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Ian protested, hurt by her hysterical reaction.

"Oh! I guess I just thought..."

Cherish's giggles subsided and she went back to feeling sick in the front seat of Seven's truck, leaning awkwardly onto the dark skinned girl beside her. Allison broke the ensuing silence with a sweet smile, "You know, Trish-"

"It's Cherish!" everyone sighed at once, having already told her many times.

Allison brushed it of, "I know."

"Then why do you keep calling her Trish?" Juss asked.

Allison avoided looking at him, and answered as if Cherish had asked her, "Well, because that's what I thought you said at first, last night."

Cherish wanted to be annoyed with the girl, but she was so genuinely caring and kind that she didn't have the heart to say anything mean. Though when they stopped outside the apartment building Allison called home, Cherish was relieved to see her go. She wasn't being ungrateful for Allison's help, just worried about getting home herself.

With Allison gone, Juss and Ian both squeezed into the front seat on either side of Cherish. They fought childishly, pushing her roughly into each other. Closing her eyes, she held her stomach; would it never end? She didn't even react when Juss elbowed her in the side of her rib cage, the sharp pain dulled by everything else she was feeling. They weren't taking her home, no. It was four 'o' clock, and they were driving around aimlessly.

"Hey! I know what we can do for your hangover," Ian piped suddenly, "They have the best place at the mall to cure hangovers!"

She didn't even look at him, beginning to accept that she would be murdered when she finally got home. Numbly, she let Ian drag her around the mall till they came to a juice stand. He chattered away to the girl behind the counter, choosing the ingredients to his perfect hangover cure. She took one look at the thing and frowned, she was supposed to drink that? Thankfully Ian was too preoccupied with the juice barista that he didn't notice her passing the drink off on Juss.

"Done already?" Ian asked when he turned back around. Cherish nodded handing the empty glass back to him, hoping he didn't notice the grins that both Juss and Seven had on their faces. True to the rest of the day, their trip to the mall did not end there. Ian and Juss decided that while they were there, they would run a few errands and left her sitting in front of a T.V. store. As she sat on the bench watching the children's movie, she was vaguely aware of Seven sitting at the other end of the bench. When the boys returned she looked at them sadly, "Can I go home now? Are you done making things worse for me?"

Ian glanced at his watch, grinning wickedly at Seven, "No can do, Cherry-kins, I gotta be somewhere soon, and I'm not dressed!"

Accepting defeat, she nodded and shuffled to the truck ahead of them.

"You're coming, right Sev?"

"I don't want to," he replied blandly as he started the truck. Cherish didn't care what they were talking about; she took the window seat this time. Though, to her dismay, Juss and Ian were being good little boys, and she spent the drive pressed against the window with the hot sun making her headache worse.

"What? Come on, please?"

"Yeah, come on, Sev, think of all the havoc we could wreak!" Juss said like the villain of a substandard movie.

"You know they don't really want us there- it's just because-" Ian elbowed him and he said nothing further.

The house they pulled up to was quaint, white and blue and very neat. In front of the house, a gaggle of little people ran around, toys and other such stuff strewn about. Cherish stood awkwardly beside the truck, squinting her eyes against the sun as the guys chased the screaming kids around. One of the little girls stopped running and paused to look at Cherish, her head cocked to one side.

"Whooth that?" she asked, her tongue sticking out between a cute space in her teeth.

Ian grinned as he grabbed Cherish's hand, "This is Cherry!" he left the children on the lawn and dragged Cherish into the house. Pressing her into a chair, he skipped over to a woman who bounced a baby on her hip, "Hey Pam!"

He muttered something into her ear, pecked her cheek and disappeared up the stairs, jumping them two at a time.

"Be right back!" he winked at Cherish who groaned and slumped her head onto the kitchen counter. Juss followed after him; he needed a change of clothes as well.

Seven leaned languidly on the counter beside Cherish, "Hi Pam."

"Oh, hi, Seven-Honey. Chester- NO! Don't touch!"  She slapped his hand away from a pot on the stove and hobbled across the kitchen, as he fought with her, sighing, "Seven, please hold him."

She smiled when she saw Cherish, "So, this is Cherish? Oh, you're such a pretty one!" she gasped, winking at Seven who shifted uncomfortably. With a halfhearted smile, Cherish nodded, glancing worriedly at the clock.

"Oh, relax, Honey, you don't have to worry! I've already spoken to your father- he's a delight by the way! Didn't the boys tell you-"

"Hey Cherry, I see you've met my mother!" Ian jumped into the conversation suddenly and with more enthusiasm than seemed necessary. He latched onto Cherish's arm, yanking her up from the chair, "Well, since you've already taken care of the introductions, we've gotta run!"

He made a quick funny face at the howling Chester in Seven's arms and dragged Cherish out of the house before Pam could say another word.

5:30 pm. It was 5:30 pm and Seven was just pulling into her driveway. She didn't feel so good, having spent most of the day baking in the front seat of his truck. She didn't want to move at all, but before the truck had even stopped, she managed to propel herself out of the vehicle. She just wanted to get to her bed- and fast.

Leaning heavily on the door, she fumbled in her bag to find her keys. When she turned the key, she stumbled into the house, unable to catch her balance when the door swung open. She sat on the doormat for a minute before getting up slowly and going inside, not bothering to shut the door. Behind her Ian, Seven and Juss shuffled in, grinning stupidly as they examined what they could see of her house.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys? Leave me alone!"

She was not nearly as aggressive as she normally was, sitting at the bottom of the stairs tugging uselessly at her shoes. They didn't move to get out, rather stepped further into her house. Sighing heavily, she stopped fiddling with her shoes and glared at them.

"But, Cherry, we just wanna see your place- I let you see mine!" Ian squealed girlishly.

"Get out of my house!" she yelled, finally pulling her shoes off and flinging them at Seven, who caught them all too easily and set them down gently. She didn't have the energy to go after them when they walked past her and into the living room.

"Woah, Cherry! You gotta pool- can we go swimming?"

By the time she got there, she saw Ian slipping through the door into her backyard.

"STOP IT!" she yelled, "You can't go swimming!"

The fact that there was no pool in her backyard was far beyond her at that moment. Pausing to momentarily lean against the couch, she blinked away the wash of white that clouded her vision. Grabbing the backdoor she yelled again, "Get the fuck out!  I just wanna be alo-"

"SURPRISE!"

"Oh. Shit."

* Title song by The Stray Cats