Ethan's luck to find a parking spot never ceased to amaze Vian, he'd apparently inherited it from their dad, who persistently defended that having a positive attitude about it was the secret trick to always get one in record time. They left the car in a slower traffic service street, between other cars that were like from patrons of the club as well, and didn't have to walk too far to reach the end of the queue to enter the club. Vian texted Lyra they had just gotten there and just as he hit send when her voice turned his head up. Four feet above the crowd, Lyra waved fluffy neon pink arms, calling out his name with a smile that could light up an entire stadium.

"Holy shit, you guys really are identical." Kepler exclaimed after putting his girlfriend back on the floor, to which Vian chuckled and Ethan rolled his eyes but didn't comment, probably for Vian's sake. The group of cheerleaders was half-way down the line and there were so many of them that the people from the other groups didn't bat an eye at two more joining them. Vian introduced them to each other and they made college small talk as they approached the doors, it turned out that Ethan shared basically all his classes with at least one member of the squad and just like that he was integrated into the friend group.

The bouncer checked their IDs with indifferent barely-there glances, more focused on saying hello to the guys in the squad and ogling Vian as he took off his coat to hand over to the receptionist in exchange for a ticket. It made his cheeks burn, but he smiled and made a show of sauntering into the club all the same. When they all made it to the inner doors the music was not quite enough to muffle the girls squealing at how good he looked, to which he was genuinely disarmed because they were all absolutely stunning and said as much.

Still, he couldn't quite stop himself from tugging at the ends of the curls hanging by his lower back as the group started splitting between going straight to the dance floor, where Kepler and Lyra were already turning heads as they danced like professionals, or trying their luck at the bar for more drinks. Since the twins hadn't pre-gamed with the rest of them they were the only ones completely sober. Ethan didn't let him hesitate for more than a second, nudging him to follow the group headed to the bar.

"For fuck's sake Vi, let's get a shot in you before you rip out half your hair." Ethan said next to him.

Camila, the girl that had called out Kepler's ignorance on their first meeting took a headcount for shots and all but climbed onto the bar to flag a bar tender. John, one of the other spotters Vian had tried to work with but hadn't been as good a match with, kept a protective hand hovering behind her in case she tipped over in the wrong direction. Vian had noticed the way John looked at her when he thought nobody was looking and felt sorry for the guy, as Camila held the firm belief that intra-squad relationships were doomed to fail and would bring everyone else down with them, with the one notable exception of Kepler and Lyra.

Vian had quietly spent the week learning about his new friends' lives and how they all fit together. More than once they had tried to ask him about his own life and he mostly talked about Ethan and their life growing up moving as often as they did. That wasn't what they were after, however, as they kept coming up with different and sneakier ways to ask him about his romantic life. He dodged the subject as much as possible, like he had done that first day with Kepler, but most of them weren't satisfied without real gossip and were dead set on figuring out what kind of guy he was into so they could set him up on some dates. He didn't love how pushy they were at first, but when they moved on from asking about his ex romances to speculating about who could be a good match for him, regardless of Kepler reminding them that he wasn't interested in dating, the whole thing made him feel like he was part of the group.

They waited for their shots to be poured and drank them in unison. It had been well over a year since Vian had any alcohol, but the familiar warmth making its way down his throat was equal parts comforting and nerve wracking. A second row of shots was poured and he was handed another glass, Vian looked to Ethan who simply shrugged and grabbed his own, drinking it before the rest of them started another countdown. Vian got swept up in the moment and drank with them, taking the opportunity to scurry off to the dancefloor with a couple of the girls who had already drank enough, leaving Ethan behind with the rest. Soon enough, half of his anxiety had dissipated with the heat emanating from the bodies surrounding him. He had started dancing with the girls but as they coupled up he let the music move his body without a care of who was watching.

It wasn't long before hands made their way to his hips from behind. He looked back and saw it was a stranger, a cute one at that, so he played up to what the guy probably expected. Vian draped himself on the guy, swaying his hips whichever way the guy led him. He let his head fall back on the guy's shoulder, exposing the column of his neck and pulling the guy's face into it in one smooth motion. He was vaguely aware of his friends cheering him on as the guy didn't hesitate to lean in and trail slobbery kisses all over his neck, but he didn't mind. When he'd had enough, Vian turned around and kissed the guy, enjoying the warm hands groping his ass. The guy then pulled away tipping his head towards the general direction of the bathroom, but Vian still had enough of his inhibitions to know that was not the best idea.

"This was fun, let's not ruin it, handsome." Vian said close to his ear, kissed his cheek and peeled himself away faster than the guy could react, rejoining his friends with a chuckle.

He kept dancing with the girls, sometimes performing pieces of different choreographies when a specific song came up, but more often than not they were grinding against each other to the rhythm of endless bass beats catching the eye of other dancers, most of whom they ignored in favor of simply having fun as a group. Vian kept jumping between different groups of cheerleaders through the night, every so often making his way back to Ethan who had taken a perch at a tall table near the bar and guarded purses and drinks with an equally shifting assortment of the guys. Just as often, Vian made his way to the bar with one or more girls, either buying their own drinks or getting lucky when a guy offered to pay for a round in exchange for a dance. It was on one of those rounds when things started looking a bit fuzzy in Vian's vision, he was warm and more than happy to dance with a passably hot guy.

He was a giggling mess when a guy asked him to dance after getting them all shots which they drank in unison, and was barely able to hear as one of the girls told the guy that Vian was also a guy.

"That's fine by me, you're hot and look like you know how to have fun. Are you game?" The guy asked Vian and he just giggled a nod, vaguely aware of the same girl telling them not to wander off.

The guy started spinning Vian to the rhythm of the music, making him lose track of where the bar was but seeing as they were still on the dancefloor it was probably fine. They danced for what felt like a really long time before the guy's hands started wandering over the vast planes of exposed skin Vian's sequin mini dress displayed. At this point, the touch felt so good and it had been so long since… Vian couldn't hold back and started kissing the guy, melting into his embrace and letting himself be pulled this way and that. He hadn't even realized they'd made it all the way to the bathrooms or that the guy's hands were creeping into his dress until he was dragged away by Ethan. The harshness of the movement made his vision spin, the angry scream of the guy being interrupted drowned by the now-too-loud music as he stumbled over his heels trying to keep up with his brother.

He tried fighting Ethan off but there was no use, they were cutting through the dancefloor when Vian's head started to hurt, both his and Ethan's voice getting too lost in the music and the writhing mass of bodies around them for Vian to register what they were actually screaming at each other. He saw some of the cheerleaders concerned expressions among the sea of people, or at least he thought he did.

The thumping in his head changed from bass to Kepler's voice yelling after them just when a gust of wind nearly froze Vian in one second.

"Ethan what the hell?!" Kepler yelled.

"He's trashed, I'm taking him home." Ethan replied, Vian was barely able to register they had made it to the car before he doubled over with nausea. "Great." Ethan groaned but rubbed a soothing hand over Vian's exposed back, his skin was covered in goosebumps as he shuddered both from the cold and the force of his puking.

"Shoot, give me your coat tickets so I can get them for you guys while you get him in the car." Kepler said somewhere above Vian's head.

When he finally stopped retching, Ethan helped him up and into the backseat, where Vian lied sideways with his legs tucked close to his chest. Kepler had made it back in record time and Ethan laid both his and Vian's coats over him, closing the door promptly after. Vian saw Ethan and Kepler arguing but he couldn't make out the words through the splitting pain in his head.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ethan asked after getting in the car and looking back at him.

"I fucked it up didn't I?" Vian sniffled, "They're gonna hate me now…"

"Dude, people getting fucked up is nothing new to them, trust me." Ethan reached back and patted his knee awkwardly. "Let's get you home and out of that inhumane amount of makeup, or else you'll be whining all week about your skin breaking out."

"So mean even when you're nice," Vian groaned, "this is why you're still single."

"Yeah, yeah." Ethan replied, finally getting them into the midnight traffic back to campus.

"Ugh, can you drive slower? I'm dizzy…"

"Dude I swear, if you puke in my car I'm dumping your drunk ass on the curb." Ethan threatened but Vian could still feel the car moving less harshly.

"Our car." Vian reminded him, more to keep his head from spinning than to actually reignite their endless bickering about it.

"Get your license and then you can claim it's also yours." Ethan replied instantly, the argument all but scripted at this point. "We're here, come on, I'll help you upstairs."

They made it to the elevator at a snail's pace, Vian kept stumbling over his heels while refusing to take them off until they actually made it to his room. He didn't notice if there were other students in the common area, too focused on not puking all over the place and barely managing to make it to his own bathroom in time.

"You're gonna feel better when it's all out." Ethan murmured, stroking his back and keeping his hair out of the way. "Being sober for half a year really did wreck your tolerance, if you're getting this drunk after only a few shots, huh?"

Vian could only groan in response as his body finally stopped shaking. Ethan helped him sit up on the toilet lid and they both brushed their teeth in silence. Then Ethan took out a couple of makeup remover wipes and started working on Vian's face.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess." Vian murmured, eyes burning.

"Dude you got drunk at a club, it's practically a rite of passage." Ethan replied, tossed the wipes away and rummaged through the fifteen or so bottles scattered around until he found what he was looking for. "You'll have to survive with just moisturizer tonight." He teased and Vian whimpered. They finished cleaning up then Ethan helped Vian change and get into bed, after a moment's hesitation he asked. "Do you want me to stay over?"

Vian wanted to say no, Ethan wouldn't even be that far away if he went back to his dorm, and yet, he nodded.

"Scoot over then, these beds are tiny as fuck." Ethan climbed on the lifted bed and lay next to his twin as Vian turned to face him. "Did you at least have fun?"

"Thank you for tonight. I know you didn't want to come." Vian murmured.

"It wasn't that bad. Your squad are nice people." Ethan replied as he pulled Vian's face into his chest. "Now try to get some sleep, Vivi, I'm not going anywhere."