The Fourth of July - America's birthday and another day for family and friends to get together and have a great time while commencing in celebration with others on this national holiday. The stores around the area were hustling and bustling with people doing some last minute shopping for their parties or whatever they were doing tonight. Standing in line stood and curvy Latina, with a cart full of chips and dip, hamburger and hot dog buns, along with a few sodas. She finally made it to the cashier and smiled while paying him then exiting the store.

She placed the items on the backseat of her 2013 Tahoe, which was red in color then started driving back to her place. Vanessa was currently living in a beach house, which she obviously didn't mind since her and her friends would have more room to have fun and party tonight. She smiled at the thought of her friends - Well, the ones she invited to her Fourth of July party, something she did almost every single year or they would take turns hosting the party.

While pulling up at her residence, she grabbed the few bags and walked inside of her home, placing everything on the counter. With a soft breath over her parted lips, she realized that she didn't have any ice for the sodas. "Oh, shit." She cursed underneath her breath then pulled out her cell phone with a slight smirk. She knew the one person she could get to go and get her some ice.



She sat her phone down onto the counter then started setting up for the party, she placed the chips in a bowl while sitting the dip in the middle of them. Vanessa had already grilled the hamburgers and hot dogs earlier so she just them sat them down on a tray with them already placed on buns. She eyed everything and made sure it was perfect then looked around to see that she wasn't forgetting anything. She made a small checklist in her head and breathed when she finally realized that everything was good to go.

After she had everything set up, she went to her room and started to get ready for her party. She showered and brushed her teeth then got dressed in a small, knee length skirt that was blue in color. Vanessa placed a white blouse onto her body and a pair of blue heels upon her feet. She reviewed herself over in the mirror then walked over to her vanity and applied a small amount of makeup. Vanessa combed her hair then tied it up in a small bun. She stood up and walked back into the kitchen as she looked out her window, to see if anyone had made it yet.

Her eyes scanned over towards her phone, which she picked up and sent a group text out to her friends.



Vanessa sat the phone down then slightly jumped at the sound of someone already popping fireworks. The sun was slowly setting now and the sky had a very nice glow of red orange. She grabbed the trays of food and sat them on a long table, which had an American flag tablecloth she had placed out back along her patio. Vanessa had also cut up a watermelon but decided to leave it in the fridge until later that night. She then walked back into her beach house and sat down on the couch, waiting for her friends to show up and Dominic to bring her some ice.

Dominic snapped awake to the distant calling of his name. He checked the clock to see that he had napped for two hours, way more than needed. As his brain began absorbing the surroundings, his head quickly darted to the left, startled by the presence of a little girl. A girl he had the privilege of calling a sister. She held his smartphone up in full display.

"Your phone made a noise.", she said rather calmly as she placed the phone on Dominic's extended hand. "You should keep it with yourself at all times.", she advised before making her way out of his room and down the hall. Although he considered himself to be her guardian, he needed her more than she needed him. She always made sure that he didn't forget anything, gave health advice and hell even fashion advice. She was the most insightful ten year old girl ever. He unlocked the phone which immediately displayed the notification that caused the noise. It was a text, by Vanessa of all people. Once he began reading it, his heart almost skipped a beat or two. Any text by her which had the words "love" in it gave him a shiver down his spine, comparable to being left outside, butt naked, during winter. However, once he grasped the context behind the message, he let out a barely audible sigh of relief, and maybe a little disappointment...only to shift into a panicking state.

He was late. It was the Fourth of July party, and the poor bastard was late!

"Oh shit, shit, shit!", he mumbled to himself, aimlessly circling around his bedroom as he decided what course of action to take. He rushed himself to the bathroom, causing a commotion as the doors bashed. He couldn't control his feet, his hands, he had no control over any part of his body. Standing in front of the mirror, he turned the water on the bathroom sink and formed a cup with his hands, splashing and rubbing his face as a few drops of water made it into his t-shirt. It was his nap time t-shirt, so no big deal. He had no time to brush his teeth, so instead he just opted for a replacement; a mouth freshener. He opened his mouth wide and sprayed it until he could no longer feel his tongue, before skipping out the bathroom and back into his bedroom in a haphazard manner. Alerted by the noise, Natalie, his little sister, climbed the stairs up a second time to see what was happening. She caught him trying out a rainbow colored, v-neck t-shirt which he'd bought on discount. It took a while for Dom to notice she was standing on the doorstep.

"If you walked past someone on the street who was wearing this exact t-shirt, what would you do?", he asked, his sentence phrased to be his equivalent of 'how does this look on me'. She pondered for a little while before quipping.

"I'd give him directions to the nearest gay bar."

"Right.", he sighed before taking the t-shirt his sister so cleverly mocked off and throwing it on top of the bed sheets. Realizing he's practically hopeless, Natalie leaned on, rummaging through his wardrobe until her small hands held onto another t-shirt. It was colored gray, and had a black and white picture of what seemed to be an European neighborhood in the middle. He had never even tried it up until then. It just got lost in the pile of all the other clothes.

"Try this one.", she said.

Surely enough, the t-shirt fit him like a glove. It was also made by a pretty thin material, which was good since it was hot as hell outside. He looked at his sister as she put on a shit-eating grin, as if trying to say 'where would you be without me', before asking her to leave the room as it was time for him to change into his pants. Putting on his favorite pair of dark blue skinny jeans, he grabbed his phone, his wallet and his car keys and went downstairs. Their house was a rather large one, and beautifully decorated too. It wasn't the sort of house you'd be able to afford with a minimum wage. Whatever his old man did, it surely wasn't a janitor.

Before leaving her, he knelt before Natalie and handed her a couple of dollar bills while providing instructions.

"I've told our neighbors to keep an eye on you the minute they hear me leaving. Keep your phone with yourself at all times. I'll call to check up on you."

"Don't worry. I know the drill.", she responded, effectively maintaining her matter of fact attitude. "Besides, I've invited a couple of friends for a sleepover. They got permissions from their parents."

"Awesome. If you need snacks or anything, I've left some treats on the cupboard.", Dom pronounced excitedly, landing a quick peck on his sister's forehead and then prancing out of the backdoor. Normally, it would be a risky move for him to leave a 10 year old alone in a big house unsupervised, but they had a state of the art security system. Plus, he had everyone on the neighborhood alerted beforehand so that they could keep an eye out on her occasionally. She didn't worry about her doing anything - she was a cool-headed, reasonable human being, and probably the best child anyone can have. It's a shame she never got to meet her mother.

Boarding his Ford F 150, a car his Dad had picked himself, he started the engine and drove away, saluting some of his neighbors who were taking a stroll around the neighborhood. It was after a while that he got another text from Vanessa, but this time it was a group text. She was just being her cheery, caring, usual self. It were those qualities that made him so attracted to her, among other things. He shook his head and, consequently, he also drove his thoughts away. It was a long drive to her house, and Dom needed all of his brain cells to keep himself from hitting a lamp post. He stopped at a convenience store and got a bag of ice, all while making sure the cashier understood he was in a hurry, and then drifted away once again.

After an exhausting trip to her house, Dom parked the car in a driveway nearby. He got out, grabbed the bag of ice and then made sure to lock the car before heading to her lovely beach house. He expected at least one familiar face standing on the porch, but no one was there, which meant that he was the first to join the party. Excellent. Assuming that she had already seen him through her window, he positioned himself in front of her doorstep and rang the bell twice.

"Don't fuck this up.", he whispered to himself, the prospect of being alone with Vanessa, even for a brief time, making him sort of anxious.

Séamus was dancing around his bedroom, singing along to some music, not dressed yet, when his brother, Patrick, walked in. "You look so stupid like that."

"You look so short like that," Séamus replied smugly, happy that he was the tallest in his family by at least four inches.

"Just shut up!"

"You're not my supervisor!"

"You're so annoying! I cannot wait until you move out!" Patrick shouted, leaving the room.

Séamus finished singing the song, and then looked at his watch.w He needed to start getting ready, so he went into his wardrobe and picked out his usual clothes. Whilst putting his shirt on, he saw how pale he was, and decided that he should probably try and get a tan, before realising that that was too much effort and he would probably end up getting a sun burn instead. Séamus walked to the garage, and saw the cases of beer that his dad had bough for him. It might be illegal to drink alcohol, but that wouldn't stop him. Whilst thinking about illegal things, Séamus remembered to message John.



Séamus began packing the alcohol into the boot of his 2005 Altima, and then drove off, going slowly to make sure that the police didn't stop him. He then messaged the group.

Robyn was getting ready when Nessa's text went through. Since it was the Fourth of July she decided to dig into the very back of her closet where the clothes from her paternal aunt(who was very cool but very country) were stored, only to be removed from the closet for trips back to North Carolina or for special occasions26. She found a pair of flag shorts and a red and white plaid top that she tied just under her chest. She grabbed her boots, deciding to go the whole mile, and a charm bracelet with red white and blue charms. Her aunt was really passionate about having an outfit for big days. Her St. Patrick day outfit was just ridiculous.
"I'm going over to Nessa's, I'll be back tomorrow probably, it depends on how drunk I get!" Robyn called, not joking but what he didn't know, didn't hurt him. Her mom was out with her brothers, shopping or something. They were gone before she woke up and her dad was vague about it, making her think that they left before he woke up as well.
"K, don't be doing anything crazy. If the cops get called, I'll know." Her dad joked. Robyn had only been caught by the police once but it was a rookie officer that she knew had a crush on her, so she used that to her advantage. She had to be very good at keeping away from the police, otherwise there'd be bars on her window and a dog flap on her door to let food in.
"Whatever, love you daddy." Robyn said before grabbing her keys from the counter and her purse from the floor before leaving the apartment. They were lucky enough to be on the ground floor and it was an open style complex so her car was right next to the entrance. It wasn't anything fancy, 2000 Chevy Cavalier, but it got her from point a to point b and it was small enough for the city.

---

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---

Candy was home alone as her older brothers both had girlfriends now to spend the holiday with and her parents are going out to celebrate with their relatives. While she had plans of her own, she still enjoyed these few hours of having the house to herself. She jumped on the couches while singing as if she was a lead singer of a band performing a concert. Yup, this is what she did whenever she was home alone. Well... sometimes she did other things.

Eventually, about 10 songs later, she realized that she had to get ready for Nessa's party. She took a quick shower to get rid of the sweat from goofing around and decided to wear her American flag dress just for the spirit of things. She combed her hair, unsure of what to do with it though. Looking through her drawer, she found a white headband with a large bow on it and found that it fit with the look she was going for. As for make up, she simply wore some lip gloss, blush, and eyeliner. After all, she was just hanging out with her closest seven friends and she didn't need to impress them.

After she finished getting dressed, she packed her cute tote with sunblock, a swimsuit, sunglasses, an extra change of clothes, pajamas, her phone charger and a bunch of other stuff. Call her a bit over-prepared but she wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. Once she was satisfied with how she looked and what she brought, she got out of the house, put on her white flats and got into her beloved blue 2002 Mini-Cooper. People often teased her for it but she loves it and treats it as if it was her baby. Before she started to drive, she texted her friends to let them know that she was on the way. It was only then she noticed that she had already received texts from Nessa, Seamus, and Robyn. She chuckled as she read Nessa's test and thought to herself, "That's so Nessa..." Her thoughts as she read the other texts went as followed:

"Seamus is bringing drinks? Sweet! I hope he remembers my drink this time. LOL Robyn! She has a point though."

She then proceeded to write her own text:



She clicked the send button and put on her seat belt. She rolled down her window, blasted music from her car, and sang as she made her way to Nessa's beach house.

---

---

Kaitlyn was lying in her bed when her phone buzzed loudly. She sits up and turns, picking it up from her nightstand, quickly unlocking it and reading the message. Rubbing her face, she sits up, moving over to look at herself in the mirror. She's dressed rather plainly, wearing blue jeans and a simple grey t-shirt. She mumbles to her reflection, "This won't do, Kat..." She turns, moving to her closet. She pulls out a red blouse, before grimacing. "Don't want to overdo the patriotism..." It gets tossed on the bed, and is followed by a few more possible choices.

A few minutes and after receiving few alcohol-related texts later, Kaitlyn is wearing a low-cut blue shirt, and a fresh pair of jeans. She nods into the mirror, before applying the only makeup she'll allow herself, a dark eyeliner to contrast her pale skin. With a quiet giggle, she pulls on her accustomed light blue hoodie, pulling the hood up and arranging her hair into her face.

She leaves her room, checking the time on her phone as she walks past her mother, headed to the door. She offers a terse, “Going out” as she opens the door, her brown eyes widening a bit at the time. “Going to be late, Kat…” She walks quickly out to her car, sending out a text before setting out for Vanessa’s.



“At least being late’s supposed to be fashionable…”

---

---

Bryce's face was scrunched up in determination as he began to write down a few chords that he thought would make a good song. But it felt like his creativity had left him. In the last few hours he had wasted most of his time plugging tabs together, testing them, playing videogames, and jamming out to broken mutterings. It was truly one of those days were you felt like giving a hundred percent, however, somewhere a bit of your body disagreed and bumped the productivity down drastically. "Maybe I should-"

His phone let out a muffled beep as if the stack of papers it was under tried to strangle it. He scrambled to get it from on his desk and then fumbled to read the text. A brief smile clouded over his features before he realized that he was pretty far from ready. Bryce had only taken a rather quick shower, that just wouldn't do, and brushed his teeth harshly. His hair was pretty messy from sleep... And, well, he still had on his pajamas. "Shit." And like a rather startled deer, he ran to the bathroom faster than when the local music shop had a discount on amps. Within minutes of voracious cleansing he then found himself hurriedly cleaning his teeth and styling his hair.

When he deemed his appearance fit enough, he ran back into his room to grab the first thing he saw that was Bryce-enough to wear. A fade green and blue flannel shirt with a black shirt underneath, plus a pair of slightly ill fitting cargo pants. He scooped his phone up to check the time. He wasn't going to exactly be late, but then again traffic was something you just couldn't predict. The teen sighed before putting on a worn cap and rushing out of his room's door. As he walked towards his keys' resting place, next to the front door, he actually took the time to ready all of the messages more thoroughly. Great, Seamus was going to most likely get everyone pissed drunk, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.



At times like these Bryce really wondered about his time management skills. Before he left he shouted up to his parents that he was leaving. A few curious footsteps filled the hall, but he decided things would get much too awkward if they asked where he was going, or tried to spout nonsense about all of the dangers of going outside the house... Like him. So instead of going through that he just slammed the door shut and actually walked like an normal human being towards his 03' Ford Crown Victoria.

Vanessa sighed a bit, wondering where everyone was. She was just too anxious to see everyone again even though they just hung out last weekend. She chuckled softly herself, remembering a few details of that night. 'Ah, good times. Good times.' She thought to herself, her ears twitching as she heard an engine outside. Vanessa nearly tripped over everything to get to her window and glance through the blinds. It was Dominic. Her heart skipped a beat or two after seeing it was him. Before he arrived at her door, she practiced on what to say to him besides hey, hi or anything else too bland.

She heard the doorbell ring then walked over to the door, her heels clicking lightly against her tiled floor then muffling on the carpet. She reviewed herself over in the small mirror she has beside her door then closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling before opening the door. "Hey, Dominic. You're the first one to arrive." Vanessa stated the obvious since her Tahoe was the only car visibly seen. She smiled brightly then walked up to him and gave him a hug then broke it with another smile. Her words stammered together to ask him how was he doing today but she cleared her throat and just simply asked. "How are you doing today?" She asked while inviting him inside with the wave of her hand.

"I hope you found the place okay. I understand it's a long drive for you and I apologize for that." She said, completing forgetting the fact that he was holding a bag of ice that was probably melting by now. Her phone chimed multiple times as she held her finger up at Dominic. "Sorry, one sec." Her eyes reviewed over everyone's messages and she did nothing but laugh and started typing a reply of her own.



She sent the message then stared at Dominic for a brief moment before turning her head away from him. She bit her bottom lip nervously then stared at him again. "So, want to see how I set my patio up for this special occasion?" Whether he answered or not, Vanessa was already walking towards the back of her beach house, where she herself had set a patio assemble up at. She walked outside and felt the cold breeze brush against her as she eyed the food. Everything looked so delicious and she don't think that she could wait for the others to get there before eating. 'Fuck.' She thought while grabbing herself a plate anyway and fixing herself something small.

She honestly hoped that Dominic would not judge her at the moment.

Holding a bag of ice in his right hand and an unhealthy amount of anxiety in his heart, Dominic waited for Vanessa to finally open the door. His phone was constantly buzzing by what he immediately assumed to be texts from the rest of the pack. That surely explained why they were taking their sweetass time to get to the party. The door finally opened and out came Vanessa, as stunning as ever. "Hey, Dominic. You're the first one to arrive." Usually when someone's opener is stating the painful obvious, Dom replies with the classic "No shit, Sherlock" while doing an inappropriate jerkoff motion. However, Vanessa was one of the few exceptions. Actually, Vanessa was the only exception. He responded to her by giving out a hearty smile, the kind where his eyes almost get shut completely and wrinkles start appearing on his forehead, while his mouth stretches from one cheek to another thereby revealing his teeth. As soon as she leaned in for the welcome hug, everything seemed to switch into slow-mo. He wanted to throw both his arms around her and just enjoy the moment, but he had a melting bag of ice in his hand which he couldn't drop down, so all he could do was a friendly pat on the back using his free hand. Yes, he was cockblocked by a bag of ice. What are the odds.

"How are you doing today?"
"Good, good.", Dominic responded, resisting the urge to point out to her that it was almost night time. He used his left hand to reach his right pocket, pulling out his phone and looking at the group messages while Vanessa did the same. Apparently, Seamus was bringing alcoholic beverages. Usually when Seamus got drunk, he would start hitting on Dom, but he abruptly stopped doing that since around six months. Dominic couldn't understand the reason behind it. His best guess was that he found someone, but he didn't try and find any evidence to back it up. Prying is not Dom's type of thing, except in those cases when it totally is. The rest of the group simply wrote about how they were en route to the party, with the exception of John who was absent. As soon as he was finished viewing the texts, he slinked the phone down to his left pocket and initiated a staring contest with the host, Vanessa. He looked back a couple of times to see if she had noticed something wrong going on with the scenery behind. Nothing. He then wiped the edge of his mouth with his hands. Maybe he had drool all over his face but failed to notice it. After all, the bathroom at his house had very dim lighting.

"So, want to see how I set my patio up for this special occasion?", Vanessa queried, finally breaking the awkward silence that was reigning over the residence.
"Sure thing.", Dom replied, soldiering on with the bag of ice still in his hand. He had that bag of ice with himself for so long that he briefly considered running to the nearest Church and baptizing it. It was only after Vanessa began putting food on her plate that Dom carefully laid the bag down on the ground, knowing full well that it would soak the floor.

"I'll leave this bag of ice here.", he said, hoping that it would serve as a reminder to her. The food released an amazing smell. He could understand why Vanessa was so eager to try some before the party even started. He was actually going to do the same once the lingering taste of fresh mint went away from his mouth. "How long did it take you to make all of this?", he spoke, meaning to break the ice.

---

As the afternoon drew to an end, the shops gradually became empty, the customers leaving to be with their friends and family on this festive day of the Fourth of July. John stood in the middle of the spacious hairdressing salon, cleaning up the remaining hairs. He had been assisting his sister throughout the entire day, it being incredibly busy with everyone wanting to look pitch-perfect for this special occasion. Although he had about two years of experience by now his sister would only let him do the easy tasks: shaving, buzzcuts, cutting layers, that kind of stuff. Not that he minded much though. At least he didn’t have to spend hours on just one customer.

It was only when late sunbeams entered the room, lighting up the room with an orange hue that John realized how late it was. He quickly looked on his phone to check on the time only to find a bunch of texts. “Shit, never felt the buzzing,” he murmured. He grinned as he read through them and rapidly swiped his fingers across the screen, composing two messages.

To: Séamus
Hey love ;) Yeah I’ve got some on me. Tonight’s going to be a blast!

To: Everyone
Sorry I’m late guys, finishing up at my sister’s right now. Will be there in a moment.

After he had sent them, he let the device slide back into the pocket of his jeans. “Yo, Sophie!” he called out to his sister while taking out his hair tie, the strands falling over his shoulders and along his face. From the storage room came a muffled “Hmm?”. “I kinda forgot to tell you but I’ve got a party tonight, so uh, I gotta go now,” he said all the while stroking his fingers through his hair, fixing up the tangled mess. “I’m late already,” he added as if that would make his excuse to leave early seem any better. His sister peeked around the corner, who, a little bit to John’s surprise, didn’t look the slightest of irritated. “Sure,” she said wholeheartedly. “You worked hard today, so go ahead and have some fun with your friends. Just don’t get too wasted alright?”
John stood still for a moment. “Like… For real?” he questioned which was answered by a short nod. “Heh, thanks!” he smiled in return, before running up the stairs which led to their apartment.

Entering his bedroom, he looked around for some clean clothes to change into. Cutting hair wasn’t exactly a job which required much physical effort but still his shirt was stained with sweat; it was hella hot outside and even the small airco they kept in the salon didn’t help much. He rummaged through his closet before finally deciding on darkgrey sweatshorts and a white shirt with red and blue details. It wasn’t exactly an American flag, but it sufficed. Looking down at his red Vans he decided those would do the job as well. He took a small plastic bag out of the jeans he just slipped off and put them into the pocket of his shorts. He then grabbed the keys to his car along with a bag he had prepared the day before which held some items he might need later that night.

Throwing the thing on the backseat of his convertible he got in and slammed the doors shut. As soon as he started the engine he went full throttle, music blasting from his stereos as he drove off.

As Séamus was driving to Vanessa's beach house, he reached over to the passenger seat, where there was a bag that he had packed full of stuff he would need tonight. Stuff like a sleeping bag, a spare change of clothes, etc. He reached into the bottom of the bag where he had a sports drinks bottle (as to not let any police get suspicious) filled with Irish whiskey. He pulled the lid up with his teeth and drank some of it. Séamus let out a happy sigh as he tasted it, he hadn't had any good old Irish whiskey in a while, and he quite liked it. He thanked his luck that he was Irish, and had a high tolerance to alcohol - any normal person would risk getting a DUI if they did this, but it wouldn't affect Séamus's driving at all.

After a few minutes of driving, he looked at his phone due to the new messages that he had received. He looked at them and then replied.



After about 20 minutes of driving, Séamus arrived at Vanessa's house. He parked as close to her house as he could, and noticed that the only cars there belonged to Vanessa and Dominic. He felt like seeing what they were up to, and got out the car quietly, not bothering to bring in the alcohol yet. Thankfully, the door was unlocked, which meant that Séamus could sneak in unnoticed. He walked through to the back garden, and noticed that they we're at the buffet. Séamus put his arm around Dominic, asking "How've you been?"

When Dominic mentioned the bag of ice, she cursed under her breath. "Forgot all about that, honestly." She sat her plate down then picked up the bag of ice with ease and walked over towards the cooler with it. She dropped the bag of ice to crumble it up a bit then opened the cooler nearby, dumping the whole bag in. She tossed the bag in the trash can she had outside then smacked her hands together with a breath. Vanessa turned heel and went back over to where Dominic was, just in time to clearly hear his question. "Eh, I didn't make it. I stole it all from the homeless shelter." She chuckled while picking up her plate then looked at him.

"Dominic, I am kidding." She bit her bottom lip then mentally gave herself a palm to the face. "Actually, it took me at least five hours. I should've called my grandmother over but she is a bit too festive, you know." That was fact. She could see her grandmother now wearing her usual red, white and blue attire and the thought just made her laugh. She loved her grandmother style and all but on the Fourth of July, she hated the clothes she wore.

"So, are you..." She was interrupted by Seamus as she smiled towards him even though he didn't greet her. She liked Seamus and adored him more when he got together with John. "So, are you going to continue to be rude towards me? The hostess? I could kick you out, you know." Vanessa spoke seriously but then smiled while walking up towards Seamus, giving him a small hug then breaking it. "So, how have you been, stud?" She spoke towards Seamus while walking over towards the table, grabbing another plate and setting it up with various things. Vanessa walked over towards Seamus and handed it to him with a smile.

She heard her phone buzz on the table then walked over to it, picking it up and reading the text from John. She didn't bother replying since her and him wasn't really that close though she still cared for him, for Seamus' sake. "So, Seamus, you're not too drunk yet, are you?" She asked with a slight smirk then took a bite out of her hamburger, making a small sound to herself. "Mmm." She then stared at Dominic and Seamus. "So, let's go inside and sit. Shall we?" She walked past them towards her living area and sat down on a two seated couch.

"Eh, I didn't make it. I stole it all from the homeless shelter.", Vanessa quipped, prompting Dom to snicker at her joke. She still felt the need to clarify that it was a joke, which was understandable. People nowadays get offended for no reason at all so establishing context is needed in some cases.

"Actually, it took me about five hours. I should've called my grandmother but she is a bit too festive, you know."
"Five hours?! That's impressive.", Dominic replied as his tone elevated slightly higher than usual. He also fully understood her statement about grandmas. While his grandma wasn't the festive type, she was fun at parties too, if said parties were being held by a Neo-nazi branch. If he was to bring his grandma to meet his friends, she'd keep preaching about how they'll burn in hell because they don't believe in Jesus. She also harbors a deep hatred for people of Celtic origins, Afro-Americans, Asians and anyone who wasn't Caucasian. Long story short, she wouldn't approve of any of his friends especially Candy and Seamus. Just as his mind drifted to that Irish bastard, he felt a pale arm slither around his shoulders. A little bit startled, he looked to see Seamus occupying his private space. Speak of the devil. He checked to see if he was holding the promised goods in his free hand, but apparently he was either lying or he left them in his car. The latter was more likely, as it's very rare to see an Irish man lie about stuff related to alcohol. He had also barged just in time to interrupt Vanessa as she was about to say something, leaving Dominic in a cliffhanger.

"Impeccable timing, pal.", Dominic grumbled sarcastically in response to his greeting, a smug grin covering his face. "I've been fine.", he proceeded, shifting his sight away from him and back to Vanessa. For a brief moment, Dominic was left to be the the third wheel as Vanessa and Seamus initiated their small talk. He grabbed the phone from his pocket yet again to check an earlier message. It was by Seamus, so he didn't even bother to read it, predicting that it's related to alcohol. Just as he was about to slide the phone back into the pocket, he heard a buzz at the table followed by a vibration in his hand. He unlocked the phone for the third time to see a message by John, announcing that he'd be there shortly. Good. He liked John. Anyone who had a good relationship with his sister was okay in Dominic's book. Plus, he was a technology nerd too, so they had that in common. Dominic put the phone back into his pocket just in time to see Vanessa devour a delicious burger and act like it was the best thing in the world. That totally sold him. He wanted to get his hands on a plate too, but that goddamn fresh mint spray still didn't leave his mouth.

"So, let's go inside and sit, shall we?"
Dominic did a double take at Vanessa's invitation, eyeing her as she went and took a seat in a double-seated couch. Throwing his gaze at the towering Ginger, Dominic extended his hand toward the furniture as if doing a solemn bow before saying "Ladies first.".

Robyn wasn't too far from Nessa's beach house so it was only about a twenty minute drive for her, although she sat in her car for awhile, messing with her phone before she went in. It looked like Seamus and Dom were the only two to arrive yet so she wasn't in any big rush. She grabbed two bags from her back seat. One of them were her clothes, and the other was fireworks. Nothing big or illegal since the last thing she wanted was someone calling the cops on them, but the they'd be cool to look at. She walked into Nessa's place, and set the bags down.

”Honey I'm home!” Robyn called before stepping into the living room area. She licked her lips subconsciously as she observed the room. It was just Nessa, Dom, and Seamus, and since she knew when Seamus left, he must have just arrived. She smirked to herself before moving over to couch, sitting down next to Nessa. She slipped her shoes off so she could fold her legs under her. She grabbed her phone, feeling it vibrate once more but it was just her dad. She ignored that but sent a text to Candy instead, before tucking her phone away in her pocket.

To: Candy
I think that project Amor is a go tonight.

”So...how are y'all tonight? Oh, I brought fireworks! We can set them off tonight if we have a fire.” Robyn smiled, her accent getting stronger towards the end of the sentence as she got perkier. She undid her hair from the ponytail it was in only to redo it, since she felt random strands brushing her face before looking at Nessa's food. She turned thoughtful for a moment, her desire for food warring with her desire to mess with Dom. In the end, her desire to mess with Dom won out, and she decided to get food later, when the others arrived. She did, however, look around for the alcohol, seeing none on her first cursory glance.
"Hey Ginger, where did you stash the drinks?"

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The drive to the beach house actually went pretty quick for Candy. Probably because she was singing all the way there along to the radio. Time flies when you're having a good time. Once she has arrived, she checked her phone and saw that more people have texted the group. It was a good thing she brought her pajamas though perhaps she'd be too drunk to change into them if the party was like any other party they had. Then she got a text from Robyn. Project Amor is a go? Perfect.



She parked her car and skipped cheerfully towards the beach house. Strangely enough the door was unlocked. That was an unsafe practice, but she supposed that was convenient. She looked around and was impressed at the niceness of the place. She saw that Robyn, Nessa, Seamus, and ugh... Dom were already here. She walked over towards them in the living room and waved. She gave Nessa a quick hug and said, "Hey! Thanks for hosting. Everything looks great!" Then she walked over to Seamus and gave him a playful nudge. "Yo, where's my drink, bitch?" she joked, knowing he wouldn't take her seriously. Afterwards she went up to Robyn and gave her a hug as well. "Miss me, darling? _{Ready for our secret mission?}" She whispered the last part softly in Robyn's ears so no one could hear her.

And finally, there was Dom. She looked at him with mock-disgust. "Ew, it's you. Hey loser, you actually wore something decent. Where's your holiday spirit though?" She didn't even want to wait for his response so she went to the garden real fast to get some food instead. She knew whatever he wanted to say could probably wait til after she got something to eat. She grabbed a burger and went back to the living room where everyone was. She held up her hand, took a bite of her burger and only after swallowing it, turned to Dom and said, "You may proceed."

Vanessa eyed both of the fabulous and delicious guys before her as she kicked her heels off, letting out a sigh of relief. 'Shit.' She thought to herself as she eyed Dominic, forgetting to fix him a plate. She was fucking up already towards the one person that may actually like her back. Vanessa quickly got up from her seated position and scrambled to fix Dominic a plate. She even went to extent of putting a little bit extra on his plate. While carrying the plate back inside, she was shaking and it could be seen as the plate rattled a little. "Here you go, Dominic." She smiled then knelt beside him. "Even though I love your minty fresh breath, you still need to eat." She stood back upright and patted her hand upon his chest before walking back over to sit down.

Her eyes glanced to the side of her as Robyn enter her home. She didn't hate Robyn but simply didn't get along with her but she never let it showed in front of her other friends. "Hey Robyn. I am good. How are you doing tonight?" Vanessa asked towards her, getting up and going outside after her answer to fix her a plate. "Here you go." She handed her a plate along with a soft drink with a smile. "Here you go, Dom." She tossed a soft drink towards him with a wink. "And you brought fireworks. Glad someone did because I completely forgot." She lowered her head with those words then sprung it back up. "That's cool. We can walk to the beach and pop then later." She smiled with a thumbs up as she looked towards Seamus and Dominic now.

She took another bite out of her burger, looking at Candy as she entered the house now. She squealed and got up after sitting her plate down and giving Candy a tight squeeze. She adored Candy and moved to go fix her a plate but seen her walking that way to fix herself a plate. Vanessa threw her hands up then sat back down, though slipping off of the couch and busting her ass. 'Fuck. You've got to be kidding me.' She thought to herself as she laid down on the ground for a moment, not wanting to get back up and see Dominic's face.

She was so embarrassed but she got up anyway and chuckled a bit nervously then sat back down, clearing her throat and acting like nothing happened. "So, I see you guys brought extra bags. Good thing I brought air mattresses and blankets for everyone." She smiled while taking another bite out of her burger, trying desperately to strike up a conversation.

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When he arrived a while later, John parked his car a small distance from Vanessa's beach house, assuming her driveway would already be crammed. He stepped out, taking out the bag and swinging it across his shoulder. As he approached her home he saw more than half of them were already there. Figuring which car belonged to who, he found only Kaitlyn and Bryce were still absent; unless they had taken some other form of transportation, but that was rather unlikely since driving yourself was by far the best way to get here. Recognizing his boyfriend's car he smiled slightly, brushing his hand alongside it as if were Séamus himself he was touching. He walked up the few steps leading to the porch and wanted to ring the bell, but noticed the door was unlocked already. He raised an eyebrow before shrugging and waltzing in.

"'Sup everyone," John announced himself, raising a hand and dropping his bag next to the door. He went around the room exchanging bro hugs and brief words with everyone, the hostess first. "The place looks incredible Nessa!" he complimented her, nodding and looking around impressed. Moving on, he leaned in and hugged the person sitting next to her. "Hey Robyn, long time no see," he said, partially joking since it was only last weekend that he had last seen her, partially meaning it since it felt like a much longer time had passed.

John's mouth started to water at the delicious smell of food lingering in the room. "Ooh! If you don't mind, I'll get myself one of those as well," he exclaimed at Candy who had just gotten herself a fresh burger before disappearing to the back of the house. With a plate in his left hand and a hamburger in the other he then returned to the living room. Settling himself in between Dominic and Séamus, he slipped an arm around the waist of the latter and pulled him close. "Yo Dom, how have you been?" he asked as if to avert the other man's attention from John's hand.

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Most of the ride consisted of Bryce humming to a slightly old rock track while checking the time every now and then. When he finally got to Vanessa's house he realized nearly everyone else were there. He grabbed a small bag filled with his clothes and scrambled to get out of the car. Upon getting to the door, he realized that it was already open which could only mean two things. 1) There happened to be a murdering spree, and everyone arrived to play murder train. Quirking a brow at his own thought, he immediately went with two: 2) It was definitely okay to go in. Bryce adjusted his clothes slightly. He felt a bit naked without one of his vests, but come on, it was hot as all living hell. "The rockstar has arrived!"

Bryce scanned around the room quickly, noticing everyone was there except for one person... He pushed it to the back of his head, because there were so many possibilities. It was the Fourth of July. Traffic, lines to get gas, eh, anything really. Kat could've possibly even stopped to acknowledge the distant sounds of fireworks, car lights, well, probably even the sky. He shook his head gently and threw a quick smile on. He gave Vannessa a rather awkward fistbump (assuming she's still sitting), quirked a brow to acknowledge Dominic, and then threw a smirk in his sister's direction. The aroma of burgers settled in the air and Theo started to regret eating at home. He'd surely try one as soon as the real party started. Drinking, smoking, probably dancing around as idiots somewhere on that list, and just having fun.

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Kaitlyn pulls into the beach house driveway, blushing lightly in embarrassment as she sees everyone had arrived before her. She steps out of her car into the hot air, wincing slightly under her two layers of clothing. She walks up the driveway with her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, irritably blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. Noticing the open doorway, she simply walks inside, knocking lightly on the doorframe with her left hand.

Kaitlyn smiles slightly as she sees everyone inside, offering a half-wave with her right hand before it returns to her pocket. “Hey...sorry I’m late…” She stands awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, before going to sit wherever there’s room, on the floor if need be. She giggles quietly at seeing her friends already lively and excited, with the party hardly having begun. She glances at the food in their hands, before shrugging one shoulder and remaining seated.

As his head darted around the room, Dom's sight shifted at a rattling noise that was becoming closer each second. Vanessa had actually bothered to set him up a plate, which while very nice of her, it would probably taste bitter because of the fresh mint. Regardless, he couldn't say no so he took the plate, threw a smirk and thanked her as she got back to her couch after making a comment about his fresh breath. So she had noticed. He could never notice the extra attention he got since she acted like that with almost everyone. In came Robyn, the country girl. Her behavior ticked Dom off right from the start. She didn't even acknowledge him, which isn't something she would normally do, and her body language was weirdly ominous. He did let out a smile when she mentioned fireworks, though. He enjoyed watching fireworks. As Vanessa got up again to fix Robyn a plate, Dom decided to engage the country girl in conversation. "Where did you get that firepower, Birdie? Dad's stash?", he put on a smug grin, turning just in time to catch the soft drink Vanessa tossed at him. Great. He could drown the taste of mint with a soda. As he took a sip, his face got more sour. It felt like there was an entire bee hive taking shelter in his nose. Putting his plate aside, he drank a couple of times more until he got used to the taste.

In was Candy. "Finally someone to keep me occupied.", Dominic thought, smirking to no one in particular. She began greeting everyone, although she was visibly disgusted at seeing him, which was good. A sassy Candy was what he needed to get through his awkward interactions with Vanessa. She went on to hug Robyn, but instead of breaking away almost immediately, she lingered for a while as if saying something to her ear. First Robyn, now her. Those two were definitely plotting something, and usually when Candy plotted something, Dominic was her target. He had to stand on his toes, lay off the alcohol and the weed. It was not like he was gonna get drunk/high anyway, considering he was planning to get home by the night. He couldn't leave his sister unsupervised.

"Ew, it's you. Hey loser, you actually wore something decent. Where's your holiday spirit, though?", she asked before skipping over to the garden to get herself a burger, leaving Dominic with no chance to respond. It was true, Dom was not much of a patriot. But then again no one mentioned anything about a dress code. Dominic put his plate down and then got up, speaking in a tone higher than his usual one. "No hug for me?". His attention diverted at Vanessa who, for some reason, was sitting on the floor. It seemed like she had fallen. Dom was about to move and help her get up, but she was perfectly capable of doing it on her own.

"So, I see you guys brought extra bags. Good thing I brought air mattresses and blankets for everyone.", Vanessa uttered.
"About that...", Dominic said, a hint of disappointment detected in his tone. "...I'm afraid I can't stay here until morning. Natalie's alone in the house, and she won't let me get her a babysitter. So, I'm gonna have to drive back at some point.". He really wanted to be part of the sleepover, but he couldn't. He had no time to delve into that though, as Candy had returned and was asking him to proceed. At first, he was dumbfounded. "Proceed with what?", he thought for a second before his brain was able to recall her earlier statement about the holiday spirit. Letting out a snicker, he quipped back. "Sorry. I left my patriotism viagra pills at home.", he moved a few confident steps towards her. "You, on the other hand. Wow. How many American flags did you and your posse violate just so that you could tailor yourself this outfit?", he eyed her clothes, circling around her like a kindergarten kid playing a game of 'Doggy, Doggy, where's your bone'. He then decided to sit back on his place, near Seamus and grab onto his plate. He took a bite off the burger. It was just as good as it smelled. And his taste of fresh mint had already left, so 'yay!' to that.

From then on, Dom remained in a seated position. In came John who decided to sit near Dom and Seamus. Dominic actually moved a little bit to the left so that John could take the middle. He disliked being the guy in the middle. "Yo Dom, how have you been?", John said.
"I've been good bud. How have YOU been?", Dominic responded, his English not as comprehensible as before due to his mouth being full. That burger tasted good. It was then that he noticed Bryce was in, as he nodded in acknowledgement, before turning his head back to John who was leaning dangerously close to Seamus.