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"Wooo!" Kez whistled loudly as Lewis blew out the candles on his cake. She always tried to be louder than everyone else, and they couldn't blame her because that's her best friend. Lewis chuckled, Kez plopping down next to him and throwing her arm around him. "Happy birthday, bro." Kez grinned, pressing a big kiss to his cheek which had some of his friends whistling. Those must've been the ones who didn't believe Kez and Lewis were just best friends.

A few hours later, the party was over and everyone went home for the night. Kez stayed with Lewis in London, she always had. She used to have a flat but he insisted that she just stay with him as he had plenty of room. Kaylen also came back with them, but as soon his head hit the pillow on the couch, he was out cold. They laughed for a solid 15 seconds before leaving him to sleep in peace. He was going to wake up with one hell of a hangover.

"I forgot to tell you! Fuck!" Kez frantically flipped the pillows to grab her phone, Lewis watching her in confusion as he tossed some mini pretzels into his mouth. "You remember that girl who was staring at you?" He nods slowly, recalling that early in the night. "I got her phone number for you." Kez smirked, tossing him her phone as his eyes widened.

He sat up, the pretzel bag sliding off his chest, "seriously?"

"Would I ever let you down?" She scoffed, moving closer to peer over his shoulder as he sent the number to his phone. "Should I call her?" He queried, passing her phone back as he turned on his own, ignoring all the missed messages and calls from his friends and some of his family. "Yes, obviously! Why do you think I got it? It's your birthday, mate. You deserve to get laid on your birthday." She said as if it was obvious, and it very much was in her perspective.

"What about you?" He asked, pausing so his thumb hovered over the call button.

"I will be getting picked up in 5 minutes by a smoking hot married man." Kez chuckled, standing up and pulling some sweatpants off. "Married man?" Lewis deadpanned, shooting her a judging look. "Relax! I'm not like a home wrecker. It's Aaron Taylor Johnson, and we're just going to go over the movie script tonight. Besides, if I was fucking him, I would be doing everyone a favor because his wife groomed him." She shrugged.

"Something tells me you'll fuck him anyways," Lewis added, and Kez chuckled, pulling a cardigan on.

"You know me so well. Have fun with the model. I'll see you tomorrow! Let me know how it goes! Love ya!" Kez grinned, pulling open the door and blowing him a kiss. He smiled, offering a wave before she was on her way out. He could hear a faint honk from outside so clearly she wasn't lying. Once he knew she was gone completely, he called up that model because Kez was right. He did deserve to get laid on his birthday.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, California...

"I can't believe she didn't invite me." Merida scoffed, scrolling through her Twitter as people posted clips and pictures of Keziyah at XNDA's birthday. "Maybe she forgot," Victoria reasoned, shrugging softly as she watched her daughter sleeping soundly on the baby monitor. "No, that's bullshit. I was just in London. She left me out on purpose. Who does she think she is?" Merida sneered.

"Uh...one of the most famous singer's like ever?" Victoria chuckled, laying down comfortably on her couch.

"No, no, it was on purpose! She invited fucking Kendall knowing that we're not friends anymore," Merida scoffed, throwing her phone to the side before she grew more angry just ended up breaking it. Jhené returned to the living room holding a bowl of popcorn, "maybe you're jumping to conclusions. Keziyah probably didn't have control of the invites, and in case you forgot, it was Lewis's birthday, so he probably controlled the invites. It could've just been family and friends."

"Exactly. Jhené is right. I doubt they would purposely leave you out." Victoria assured, taking some popcorn out of the bowl.

Merida shook her head, her mind already made up, "nah, they definitely did it on purpose."

"Why would you even wanna go to his party anyways?" Jhené questioned, not really seeing anything interesting about these parties that the two best friends were known for throwing. "Who? Mr. NDA? I think not. I don't care about him. He's pretty and all, but he's an arrogant slut. I wanted to go so I could get closer to his friend, Miles." Merida explained, crossing her legs under her as Jhené searched for a good movie.

"What if Keziyah didn't invite you because she thinks you like Lewis and that made her jealous?" Jhené suggested. She wasn't a shipper of them per say, but they did have some moments that made her question if it was more than friendship. "I doubt it. They hook up with everybody, so there's no way they could be dating. If they were, it would be catastrophic with their big ass egos." Victoria comments.

"Fuck, I hate them so much but I love their music. Why do they have to be so talented? It's so annoying." Merida groaned, lounging with a scowl etched on her lips. "His voice is the only thing I like about him," Jhené mumbled, clicking on a movie she figured they'd all enjoy.

"He's alright, just a little intolerable," Victoria shrugged nonchalantly.

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"Fuck, that hurts!" Lewis winced, Kez focused on removing the small glass shards from his hand. The bottle of Almave had dropped on the floor when he was sleeping, and fell off the bed and his hand fell right into the glass pile. "You're such a baby." Kez mumbled, receiving a glare from him that she just ignored, but it didn't make her press down a little harder.

He clenched his jaw, silencing his groans as the two best friends watched the model- who's name he couldn't remember- leave the house, offering a small wave goodbye that he returned with his good hand. Kez pulled the last big shard out and he groaned, slamming his good hand against the counter. "Fuck, I'm starting to see why you didn't become a doctor. You're so aggressive." He complained, wincing as she dabbed alcohol over the wounds to clean them and prevent infection.

"Or you're just a big baby," she shrugged, slapping the side of his head before reaching into the kit to grab some bandaging. "You remember that promise I made to you after signing with Mercedes and not telling you?" He spoke, the woman grabbing a needle to inject the numbing medicine. The shard had went in deep, so he would need a few stitches. Luckily, she knew how to do sutures perfectly.

"You don't even need to say it. You signed with Ferrari and you're really sorry you didn't tell me, but it was a decision you had to make on your own. Don't worry, I completely understand. I'm happy if you're happy." Kez spoke, and he blinked, a bit taken off guard, not expecting her to have gotten that so easily. He would've at least expected some close guesses.

"Wow. You really are my best friend," Lewis chuckled, and she smiled triumphantly.

"Am I the first one to know?" She pondered, distracting him as she injected the numbing medication. He just winced before focusing on the question again. "Yeah, I haven't told anyone else yet. I want to wait until a little later." He replied. "Well, don't wait too long. You know how people are. That information is worth a lot, so it'll get leaked sooner rather than later. Don't take your time telling them," she advised.

"Do you think I'll win my 8th with Ferrari?" He questioned. It wasn't rare that they got vulnerable around each other. They knew every deepest darkest secret about each other. She was the only one he could be completely real with, and it was the same way for her. She had deep rooted trauma, and he was the only one she could really confide it. It wasn't every day you found someone like that.

"You're already an 8x champion. But I do believe you can get a 9th with Ferrari." Kez answered, receiving a smile from him. "And I'll be watching and cheering you on every step of the way until you're back at the top of this sport where you rightfully belong." She added, and she wasn't lying because she literally canceled a whole movie production just to watch him win his 6th championship in 2019.

"You know I love you, right? Like, you're my best friend. You're the reason I'm still going," He expressed. "I appreciate that, but all I did was be there, like a friend is supposed to be. You're still going because you're strong, and determined, and you have resilience. But, I love you too, brother." Kez smiled, looking back down at her work as she finished the next suture.

"You remembered to send in our nomination requests for the album, right?" He questioned.

She nods, "of course. I had Neela do it like last year. Why? You think we won't win?" She mused.

"To be fair, we are going up against Taylor Swift and SZA, so I'd say there's a 85% chance we go home with nothing," Lewis shrugged, wincing when she had pinched him. "Stop being so negative. All we need to win is Album of the Year, and the other ones won't mean a thing." He shot her a very pointed look, dramatically gesturing to himself and her. "You do realize we're black, right? If Beyoncé got robbed for years, then we're not winning shit."

"Can you stop being so negative? We're going to win. It's not my first album of the year win. It's the same thing, except it's a collab album. Our parents did not raise us to give up, so stop questioning it or you'll jinx us, and then it'll be your fault." Kez smiled mockingly, receiving an eye roll from him. She wrapped his hand up gently, but making sure there was a good amount of pressure.

"Sorry, I just really can't afford another loss. We put everything into this album. I don't want it to be for nothing." He explained, holding his bandaged hand close to him as she put everything away and threw the needle away because she obviously wasn't going to keep it. "It won't be for nothing. Even if it doesn't win, think of how many people we helped without our music? That's truly better than any fancy award," she said.

"It's still morning and you're already going sappy on me," Lewis teased, gaining a light laugh from his best friend.

"You didn't tell me how it was," Kez spoke, causing him to look at her in confusion. "How what was?" She rolled her eyes at his forgetfulness. "The sex, with the model last night. Was it any good?" He hummed in thought, and that's how she knew it wasn't very good. If you had to think about it, then it wasn't even worth the memory. "Oh, I know that look. It was bad, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't bad- but it wasn't exactly mind blowing or anything," he excused, just choosing to shrug it off.

"Eish, man. Who's fault was it?" Kez smirked, and he snorts, shaking his head, "I'm not answering that."

"Ah shit, it was her fault, wasn't it? What'd she do? Bad head? Did she scrape her teeth? Come too fast?" Kez questioned, watching as he stood up to get something from the fridge, trying his best to ignore her questions. "If I tell you, will you shut up?" He spoke pointedly. She grinned sarcastically, "yes, I will. She's a teeth scraper, isn't she?"

He sighed deeply, nodding his head in reply and she bursted out into laughter. "Oh, I knew it."

"Then why would you set me up with her?" Lewis asked in disbelief.

"To teach you a lesson. That's what you get for breaking your promise," Kez retorts, and he frowned, completely baffled by her. "You said you understood!" She nods, "I do! That doesn't mean I liked it. I'm your best friend, and we don't break our promises without consequences. You should know that. You threw my car keys in the ocean."

"That- that was completely justified. You fucked her when you promised you wouldn't," Lewis scoffed, shooting her a knowing glare.

"I told you she seduced me!" She defended, taking the water bottle he handed her.

"That's such bullshit. You don't get seduced. You do the seducing. We both know that. I would know, I'm the exact same way." He said knowingly, sitting back down on the stool, switching bottles for her as hers was opened and he didn't want to tear the stitches by trying to open his. "Actually, no, that's where I have to disagree. You may be very good at seducing, but I know for a fact that the right woman will have you on your knees without so much as a breath."

"That's not true," Lewis denied.

"And why is that?" Kez hummed in interest.

"Because Nicole didn't make me feel like that and I was in love with her," he answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Exactly. You just haven't met the right woman. But trust, you will and I can't wait to make fun of you." She mused, bringing the bottle to her lips and taking a large sip. "I don't believe you," he scoffed. Before they could entertain their playful argument, a loud thump echoed the house, clearly coming from the living room. A minute later, they seen Kaylen rushing into the bathroom to vomit.

They both chuckled in amusement at this, whilst Kaylen sounded like he was fighting for his life. "How's Kamari doing? UConn treating her well?" He questioned. Kamari was 15 years old, and currently the youngest college basketball player. She could've already passed college if she wanted, because she was that smart, but she was committed to playing basketball. She gave up football/soccer just to put her sole focus on basketball.

Originally, Mari had wanted to play for Iowa, but things didn't end up going that way. They agreed to put her in UConn for three years, and then she'd be eligible for the WNBA draft. Kez pulled many strings to make that happen, and by that, she just threatened to sue everyone if they didn't allow her daughter to play. They did agree, and ended up doing a private tryouts to see just how good she was, and she excelled. It also helped that she hit puberty early and constantly worked out with a private trainer. If she was going into a physical sport with older girls, then best believe she was gonna be prepared for it.

"She's doing great. Coach is giving me updates, and lots of the players have taken her in. She's been practicing with Azzi Fudd a lot, and Paige Bueckers has taken her under her wing. They want to put her in the game against Iowa, which I think is too early, but Mari agreed to it." Kez sighed, clearly still stressed out about everything that had to do with her daughter. She was so worried for her daughter's safety that she had her other bodyguard Jamie keeping a close eye on her and making sure she was safe.

"I fucking hate that I can't make the game," he expressed. The day of UConn vs Iowa in the NCAA tournament was April 5th, which was the day he had to be in Japan for media day. He felt horrible about it because he tried his hardest to never miss her important games. "She understands. You can't control the schedule. Don't feel bad," Kez assured.

"How's Kaidyn been? Does he like the school?" Kaidyn was eight, but he was also academically skilled, so Kez put him in the same school Mari went to before going to UConn. "He's uh...still adjusting. It's hard to connect with him. I'm always getting complaints about him being non-verbal, so they want me to work with him, and get him to talk more." She explained, sipping on her water some more.

"Well, that's not gonna work. You tried for years. He just doesn't like talking." Lewis stated in confusion.

"Yeah, but he can hear just fine, so they think his lack of speaking is caused by trauma. Basically, they're blaming me for it." Kez sighed, utterly exhausted with both of the duties for her kids. That's what she got for having two mini geniuses like her. "That's makes no sense at all. You didn't do anything wrong. You're a great mum. He's always been quiet. The only word he's ever said was a cuss word and he was only mimicking you."

"Yeah, it's why I'm thinking of putting him in a different school. I just don't wanna overwhelm him by all the moving places. You know, they actually suggested that maybe he should live with his dad so he could be surrounded by more masculinity because apparently they think I'm too feminine for him." Kez rambled, running her hand through her long black hair.

"That is ridiculous. And Mike is literally always with him anyways. He can't bond with him at all." Lewis scoffed in disbelief, and honestly, Mike really had nothing in common with Kaidyn except for his looks. Mike bonded more with Kamari because of the sports, but even that took a while for him to adjust to. "Maybe that's what we should do. See what Kai enjoys doing. Maybe it'll help him open more," she suggested.

"I have some free time, so we can take him to try out some sports or activities he might like." Lewis offered, ready to do anything to help his nephew make some progress. "That sounds like a plan. I'll call Mike to let him know we're coming over." Kez smiled, getting up from her stool to go off to her room so she could get ready.

Yes, Kaylen was still fighting for his life.

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"It would be rude if we didn't invite them." Victoria scoffed, moving over to take Merida's phone. "Then let it be rude! When have they ever invited me to anything? She should be banned from our parties!" Merida exclaimed, taking her phone back. "That would be like not inviting Beyoncé and Jay-Z! We can't leave them out!" Victoria argued, snatching the phone back.

"Fine!" Merida groaned, taking the phone back and dialing the number of Keziyah.

Jhené sat back, muting the TV so they could eavesdrop. The line picked up, shockingly. "Hello?" Kez answered, holding the phone up to her ear as she watched Lewis fail miserably at explaining tennis to Kaidyn. That boy did not like tennis. "Hey, it's Merida," she replied, and Vic nudged her to tone down the tightness in her voice. You never wanted to come off as rude when you were speaking to Keziyah.

"Merida? Uh...?" Kez looked at Lewis for help and he pursed his lips in thought, trying to think of a Merida. Then he got it, "the model." He whispered, and Kez sighed in relief, remembering the face. "Right! Merida. Hey. How'd you get my number?" She questioned right away, and Lewis rolled his eyes. Of course she'd forget giving out her number. She always did. It's why she had so many contacts in her phone. He literally had to search up someone just to call them.

"You gave it to me at Paris Fashion Week, like five years ago," Merida answered, her expression looking quite unpleasant.

"Right, yeah, I remember now." Kez faked a laugh, receiving a snort from Lewis because he knew she didn't remember for shit. "Uh, what's up?" Merida held back the urge to roll her eyes at Keziyah's voice. "I'm just calling because myself, Victoria Monét, and Jhené Aiko, are working with the academy to plan a Pre-Grammys party for all the nominees and guests, and with you being a nominee, we wanted to invite you and XNDA. Is that something you'll be up for?"

"Uh, a party?" Kez looked to Lewis and he shook his head in objection, already having plans with her and some other friends.

"I'm sorry, we're gonna have to pass. Our schedules are really just messy and chaotic right now. But, thank you for thinking of us. Have a good day, baby." Kez said smoothly before hanging the phone up.

Merida scoffed, looking at her phone in disbelief. "I literally want to kill her."

"Then why are you blushing?" Victoria questioned in confusion, making Merida go quiet as she buried herself into the couch. "If Keziyah called you baby, I'm sure you'd understand how I'm feeling, okay." Victoria and Jhené both stared at each other before bursting out in laughter, causing Mer to throw a pillow at them.

"What kind of party was it?" Kez glanced up from her phone as Lewis got her attention with his question. "Uh, a Pre-Grammys party. I think it's hosted by Merida, Jhené, and Victoria Monét. The one with that On My Mama song." She replied, setting her phone on the chair as she replaced it with the tennis racket. They were going to play a little bit before finding something else to do with Kaidyn. He just sat on the chair doing a crossword puzzle from the book she bought him.

"Shut the fuck up. Are you serious? You turned down a party request from Victoria Monét?" Lewis fully dropped his racket, looking completely baffled and annoyed by this revelation.

"Yes...? You told me you didn't want to go! We have other plans." Kez scoffed, not seeing why he was acting that way when he was the one who didn't want to go. "It's Victoria Monét! Have you seen her? She's so fucking hot. You have to call her back." Lewis insisted, receiving a very annoyed look from his best friend. "I already told them no, I'm going to backtrack because you fancy the host," she decides.

"I don't fancy her. I just wanna have mind-blowing sex with her." Lewis scoffed, and Kez glanced over to her son to make sure he didn't hear that and luckily he had his noise canceling headphones on so he didn't hear anything. "Are you being serious? Do you recall the part where she's already dating someone...like maybe, the FATHER of her child!" Kez scoffed, punching his arm with a glare.

Lewis scoffed in offense, "you are the last one to talk! As if you didn't sleep with a married man last night." Kez rolled her eyes, "please, I did him a favor. Nobody in their thirties wants to wake up knowing they have to fuck someone older than the president for the rest of their lives. You should've seen how relieved he was to actually see no wrinkles on me. I gave that man some life back!" She defended.

He grimaced, shaking his head, "oh God, please don't ever put that picture in my mind again."

"Relax, you'll still get to meet her at the Grammys. I'm pretty sure she's sitting at the table next to us." Keziyah shrugged, and he picked up his racket with a sigh. "I'm just saying- have you seen her? Especially in those music videos! The way she moves..." Lewis groaned, the thought of her already taking over his mind. "I know, I seen it. She did some tributes for me in the Party Girls video. She's got nice hips. She could pass for my sister."

"Exactly- not the sister part, but the hips part. Imagine how good she is at fucking." Lewis spoke, starting the game of tennis as he hit the ball to her. "You are 39 years old, you need to be looking at your future wife and not some singer who looks like a good fuck." Keziyah shot back pointedly, hitting the ball over the net again. "I can do both," he shrugged carelessly.

"You could've already had a wife if hadn't let her slip through your fingers," Kez teased.

He rolled his eyes, "don't remind me."

"I'm just saying, don't be a homewrecker, okay? They look like a happy little family. There's plenty other single women who are probably just as good- if not better, at fucking." She suggested, hitting the over the net again. "Oh really? Well, if you could send me a list of the ones you didn't already fuck, then I'm sure I can find someone who is perfect for me." Lewis retorts sarcastically.

She grinned, teasingly winking at him, "you still mad I fucked your ex?"

"No, you fuck everyone's ex. I'm still offended that she said you're better than me," Lewis answered, feigning offense.

"What can I say? It's a gift." Kez chuckled, hitting the ball back to him but he missed it.

"I bet you can't even remember how many people you've had sex with," Lewis laughed, hitting the ball over the net.

She pursed her lips in thought, "..yeah, I've got nothing."

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a/n: first chapters are always so hard to write wtf

my fav lil besties, lew & kez <3 ALSO, lewis being insanely down bad in every universe >>

the amount of times I've written kallie instead of victoria- ITS SECOND NATURE 😭😭 and yes, I've aged Mari and Kaidyn up in here bc it was the original plan for persuasion

anyways, we skipping to Feb. 4th, the day of the grammys! 😆

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