"Nico honey, are you awake?" Nico's dad said, knocking on the door several times, checking on his daughter. 

After a couple more knocks and no response from his daughter, her dad opened the door and noticed Nico was still asleep. Nico's dad chuckled at the scene he saw in front of him. Nico was lying on the bed, passed out, with a book open across her chest and her still holding it. Nico's dad walked up to her and noticed one of her binders was lying there and papers scattered around with many numbers written on them.

"Hm, maybe she was doing math," Nico's dad thought and shook her slightly. Nico stirred a little in her sleep, slowly opened her eyes, and was met with her dad looking at her. She sat up, and the book fell off her chest onto the bed.

"Is everything okay, dad?" Nico asks, rubbing her eyes.

"I was letting you know that breakfast is ready unless you want to skip it," her dad said.

"No. No, I'll be down." Nico said, and her dad nodded his head, walked toward the door, stood in the doorway, and stopped in place.

"One thing, do you want to tell me why a hungover Nate is sitting in my kitchen eating my food with Emily," Nico's dad said, looking at Nico.

"Um, well, the party we went to had some drinks there, and Nate had a couple. So I thought it would be easier to let him nap here than be alone at home. Emily volunteered to stay over," Nico said, rubbing the back of her neck and looking everywhere but at her dad.

"Who was driving," Nico's dad asked, leaning against the door frame with his arm crossed.

"Emily," Nico said.

"I see. Were you drinking too?" Her dad said, and Nico looked up at her dad, confused.

"No, I didn't," Nico said. Her dad stood there in silence before sighing.

"Okay, come for breakfast before your friends eat them all." He said before turning around and walking out, leaving Nico alone. 

Nico sighed and stretched before getting off her bed. She turned around, grabbed the papers scattered around her bed, shoving them in her binder before walking over towards her desk and placing them on top. Nico scratched her head, looking down at her binder before walking towards her bedroom door.

 Nico walked down the stairs and heard Emily talking to her dad, thanking him for breakfast. Nico walked into the kitchen, looking at Emily sitting at the table drinking coffee, looking at her dad, who was at the stove removing the pancakes from the pan and onto the plate next to him, smiling at Emily. Nico looked over at Nate, sitting at the table with his head down and a plate full of untouched food sitting in front of him. Nate looked up at Nico, standing in the doorway, and he looked horrible. Nico shrugged her shoulders, walked further into the kitchen, and sat in the chair next to Emily.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Emily said, smiling at her and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Moring Emily seems like you are in a good mood, unlike some people," Nico said, glancing over at Nate, who looked angry.

"Well, I would be in a better mood if I didn't wake up on the floor," Nate grumbled.

"Take this as a lesson that you shouldn't drink." Emily nagged, and Nate groaned.

"Alright. Alright, you don't have to be so loud." Nate said.

"Oh. IS THIS TOO LOUD?" Emily yelled, causing Nate to wince. Nico chuckled at Emily. Her dad walked up to them, placing a plate full of pancakes in Nico's front before sitting next to her with a coffee cup.

"Nate, you should eat. It will sober you up." Nico's dad said, sipping at his coffee, and Nate only nodded his head before digging into his plate.

"You know I said that same thing to you. How come you listen to Nico's dad but not me." Emily said, looking at Nate bewildered.

"Have you seen him? If he told me to jump off a cliff, I would do it without any hesitation." Nate said, stuffing his face and pointing a fork at Nico's dad.

"Well, that is my cue to leave," Nico's dad said, clearing his throat and getting up from his chair.

"Yeah, I think that is best," Nico said, taking another sip of her coffee.

"So, what are your plans for today." Nico's dad asked, looking at the group.

"Probably go to Joe's and see what the day brings us. What about you," Nico said.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Nico's dad said.

"Let me guess, sleep," Nico said.

"You know it," Nico's dad said, walking over to the sink and putting his cup in it.

"Good, you need it," Nico said, crossing her arms and looking at her dad.

"Yea, you're right." So he walked up to Nico ruffling her hair. "Before you go, don't forget to come and wake me up and let me know that you are leaving." He said, and Nico nodded, and Nico's dad walked out of the kitchen, leaving her and her friends alone.

"So what are we doing," Emily said.

"I don't know, as long as it does not involve alcohol," Nate said, pushing his now empty plate toward the center of the table.

"Well, I am cashing in on my free meal at Joe's, but other than that, no clue," Nico said, grabbing the plate and hers, getting up, walking over to the sink, putting the place inside before turning the water and started to clean them.

"Ugh, I forgot about that," Nate groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Why don't we go to the bowling alley?" Emily asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, we can do that," Nate said.

"Great, so we'll go to Joe's after bowling," Emily said. Nico nodded her head, finished up on the last of the dishes, and dried her hands, sitting back in the chair.

"Since we are going to the bowling alley. Nate, why don't you invite Evan." Nico suggested, and Nate looked at her in surprise, then back at the table with a sad look.

"I don't know. I am pretty sure Evan doesn't want to see me again after how I acted last night." Nate said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You'll never know if you don't ask him," Nico said, leaning back into her chair.

"I guess you have a good point." Nate reluctantly said.

"And besides, it gives us a better opportunity to get to know him in a calmer setting. Right, Emily?" Nico asked, looking at Emily, who was silent. Emily looked at Nico with a surprised look before looking at Nate nodding her head in agreement before taking another sip of her coffee.

"Okay, well, I'll text him," Nate said, pulling out his phone and texting Evan. Then, after a few moments, Nate smiled, looking up at Nico and Emily. "He said yes. He asks what time he will meet us there," Nate beamed.

"Tell him we'll be there at 7," Nico said. 

Nate nodded and proceeded to text Evan back, trying to hide a smile and failing horribly. After a while, he placed his phone down and looked over at Emily, who was silently sipping her drink.

"So, since we are inviting people. Em, why don't you invite Andy?" Nate asked, making Emily choke on her coffee.

"W-what why," Emily said, placing her cup down and looking over at Nate with a troubled look.

"Well, why not? He is a pretty good guy, and Evan will have another guy to talk to," Nate said

"What about you," Emily said, raising an eyebrow at him, confused.

"A guy he is not dating," Nate said, waving Emily off.

"You know, that does make sense," Nico said. Emily shifted her gaze towards Nico and then back at Nate.

"No, I am not doing it," Emily said, crossing her arms.

"Fine, then I'll ask him," Nate said, shrugging his shoulder before texting Andy.

"Nate, he is not going to agree to this, and how did you get his number," Emily asked.

"Simple. I just asked him, and he gave it to me. "Nate said, shrugging his shoulders, and Emily groaned, slipping deeper into her chair.

"I don't know why you are bugging out about this. It is not a big deal," Nico said, looking at Emily. She sat up and looked at Nico, but before she could say anything, Nate interrupted them. 

"Well, it doesn't matter. He said yes," Nate said, showing Emily his response leaving Emily to groan, covering her face and sinking back into her chair.

"Man, it must suck to be you. Glad I don't have someone I like," Nico said, chucking at Emily. Emily peaked through her finger, looking at Nico, and lowered her hands, staring at Nico.

"You know, something just dawned on me," Emily said, slowly sitting up from her chair, not breaking eye contact with Nico.

"What," Nico asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Last night at the party, you disappeared for a while, and when you came back, you looked different," Emily stated.

"Okay, so what of it," Nico said, shifting uncomfortably because of Emily's gaze that never faltered.

"Did something happen?" Emily asked.

"Yea, I went outside," Nico said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Come on, Nico, you know what I mean," Emily said, huffing in frustration.

"I really don't know what you mean," Nico said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You know, I remember I picked out the dress and some heels for you. I didn't remember adding a jacket to that mix." Nate said, rubbing his chin.

"That's right, she was still wearing that jacket even when we dragged you into the house," Emily said, facing Nate and pointing at him.

"You know it is just a jacket. It is no big deal. Did it ever occur to you that I could've brought it with me, left it in the car, and got it when I went outside?" Nico said, crossing her arms.

"Yea, true, but the difference between your jackets and that jacket was much bigger, and you wear oversized sweaters and some t-shirts but not jackets," Nate said, leaning forward.

"How do you know that," Emily said, bewildered at Nate's well-known knowledge of Nico's wardrobe. 

"You tend to notice a lot of things when you are always in Nico's closet," Nate said, shrugging his shoulders. 

"You know I should ask questions, but I don't want to," Emily said, scratching her head, and Nate waved her off. 

Nico gulped, forgetting that Zane had given her that jacket. She mentally curses herself because she should've given him that jacket back instead and listened to him when he said to keep it. She stilled, wondering why he did that in the first place. Nico forced those questions to the back of her head, focusing on her friends talking in front of her. The only thing going through Nico's head was how she would get out of this.