---

---

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"Where's Didi?"
Kip heard a tiny chirpy voice sound back but couldn't understand what it was saying.

”Hey, little brother” Dom greeted as Kip beamed his smile, the asian man looked like a smiling little twig next to the mountain man. It was easy to see how they get along even without words being exchanged, there was just something about the air between them.
”Little sis is here somewhere, I know I saw her come in” Kip looked around and saw Didi being hogged by Claire oh so that's what the chirpy voice was about, I don't want to stand between that, he thought. Kip loved Didi to the bottom of his heart like a sister minus the sibling rivalry, he's practically glued to her like bad glue but sometimes he just needs to give her some time with others like she gives him and he's deathly afraid of getting in Claire's bad side so...

”Nat is just opening her presents, give me two minutes and we can chat” the Mountain Man requested with a little huff, Kip felt something tense up in Dom.

Everyone started giving Nat her present and realized he left his on the other side of the hall and thought it would be rude to leave so decided to just give it later... and as each gift was given his core started to swell up and the butterflies started fluttering... was the gift good enough? he shook it off by focusing on Nat's smile, she had the loveliest of them all he just couldn't help but sneak a few snaps *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* okay maybe a few was an understatement. The warmth in her face made him feel flushed and relieved, Benji gave her a cactus for god's sake, what's off with a little painting? It was Nat we're thinking about, of course she'd appreciate it, Kip felt a bit bad he even doubted.

More gifts were exchanged, everyone literally brought something new to the table, faces were made, feelings were let in and out and Kip felt like he belonged to something... something he never really had, her Aunt and Didi came closest but this was something else, this was bigger, this was more and this is something he's been desperately hoping for deep inside. He was about to tear up.

”I was thinking little brother, maybe we could make a documentary, some big mountain stuff. Us hiking some peaks then riding them….maybe”
Documentary...mountain stuff... riding peaks... it was all coming too quickly, and coming from Dom in a rowdy little circle of cheery noise, Kip was a tad overwhelmed with happiness and excitement. I get to hike a mountain? with big bro? "YES!YES!YES!" Kip exclaimed, his rusty voice was basically drowned by everybody else's so for once he didn't felt bad about shouting.
"Wait... like, alone? I mean like just the two of us?" Kip followed up and realized the squeal he let out after, blushing instantly. "I... I mean we can like... also maybe uhhh, bring everybody else if you kind of maybe wannttobutjust if youthinkthatsa aaa... a good idea Imeanif it'snotimposingforyou and stuff but you know YEAH we can go alonewithjusthtetwoofus we can just do whatever youre comfortable with." He was indeed, overwhelmed... overwhelmed and flustered.

---

"Guys, I want to thank you all for being here tonight and being apart of my life. This moment truly makes my heart happy and I love you all and my presents. Let's just have a great time tonight with no drama or whatever and let's think positive and happy thoughts." The Birthday Lady gave her little speech and conveyed her thankfulness to every single person in the circle, just as a cute-assed man with so much jagger and danger approached them. *click* *click*

"So, you're the birthday girl?" He went, his glass above his head.
"Then cheers to you, sweetheart." he poured his drink down Nat.
Uh-oh

What fresh fuckery? The tiny asian man thought, instantly backing out. What could go wrong? he remembered the thought as it rang in his head.
He couldn't pass on the opportunity though and impulsively shot a few snaps.
*click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click*
Immortalizing everyone's reaction on his camera, starting to shake from the tension as it registered in his head.

I haven't even given her my gift yet.

---

---

Tas couldn't believe what she just saw, her fists tightened and she wanted to lay into the man. Seeing Dom's face, she opted to take care of Nat. She knew if Dom stepped in, Claire would as well. As if on cue the two exchanged looks as she took off towards Nat. She hadn't even had a chance to respond to Eva but things had heated up quickly.

"Didi, Kip, over here out of the way, this isn't going to be pretty," Tas yelled at both of them.

Grabbing some napkins she handed them over to Nat and helped her dry off. This was not supposed to be how the party went. Hell if a fight broke out, Tas was sure people would have bet on Tas and Dom being the two squaring off. This new guy out of the blue was not something anyone had expected.

"Nat, take a deep breath," Tas said softly as she wiped the tears away. She hated seeing Nat like this, no one deserved this on their birthday. Tas kept an eye out on the fight and had to snigger as she watched Dom and Claire tear into the man. Then a look came over Doms face and she got worried but it wasn't something she wanted to make Nat worry over. Best to direct attention to Claire.

"Claire, let the others have him," she shouted over the noise. Thankfully Claire listened. Looking over at Eva she sighed. "Take care of Nat, I'm going to check on the twin tornadoes," she added as she handed Eva the rest of the napkins and walked over towards Dom and Claire.

"Alright, post fight check up, deal with it," she snapped as she shoved them both down in a chair away from Nat. Opening her purse she pulled out a small kit she kept with her at all times, she had been around the group enough to know that they would eventually do something and need medical attention.

She checked Claire quickly, woman had some bruised ribs but nothing broken. Finishing up with her she sent her over to Nat before she turned her attention towards Dom and grabbed his wrist, checking his pulse.

"Breath," she said quietly as she checked his vitals before shinning a mini flashlight in his eyes. She hadn't seen him get hit but she wasn't taking any chances. "We need to talk, later. Go see about Nat, I'll clean up your fists later," she said coldly before stepping away from him and putting her things back in her purse. The way Edgar was getting beat down she figured she'd have to be the one to make sure no one went to jail for murder tonight and kept his ass breathing. Till then though, she was just going to let the group rip him apart.

---

From his seated position, Jejomar had already seen enough. Grabbing two beer bottles from the table, he took a swig of each one, emptying both bottles with speed that could only be rivalled by the worst of drunks. He flung them both at Edgar's head, both missing him by centimetres and then smashing against the wall behind him. He stood with righteous fury, dropping his karaoke machine on the floor. He took another bottle of beer, this time empty, and slowly walked towards his prey. Karaoke Jay had taken over and he wasn't happy.

"Oi! Tarantado boy! Ya messed with the wrong group today, little kupal!" As stated numerous times, Karaoke Jay was nothing like Jejomar. Oh no. He was the direct opposite and when normal Jay wants a piece of someone, he gets drunk and let's Him to take over. When he stood in front of the swearing man, he grabbed him by the throat, bringing the woozy man to his feet. Raising the beer bottle, he slammed it down on Edgar's head with anger that could only be second to Dom's. It shattered on his skull, the man letting out a cry of pain.

Karaoke Jay let him go and stepped back. There was a tense silence between the two of them before the Filipino spun on the spot, delivering a deadly roundhouse axe kick to Edgar's face. He was knocked to the floor, groaning in pain and no doubt hurting from several places. Not letting him recover for one second, he picked Eddy up from the floor, punching him in the eye before pummelling his solar plexus and gut with a mixture of punches and palm strikes. He followed up with grabbing his throat and bitch slapping Edgar with powerful swings, a mix of blood, teeth and saliva escaping from his mouth. The drunkard let him go after a full minute of slapping, letting him fall on the ground. Karaoke Jay looked done but paused, grinning from ear to ear. He stomped his foot on the gonads. The precious ones. The balls of ecstasy. The stomp magnets. He let him cry as he stood over him, taking another swig of a half empty vodka bottle lying on the ground.

Echo ran over the moment Jay had finished beating the life out of Edgar, putting a foot on his gut before mustering up every ounce of courage she had in her and yelling “Enough!” as loud as she could, which was a very surprising move coming from the fairly small girl. She looked around at all of her friends with almost disappointed eyes as she brushed a lock of hair from her face “Yes, I get it. He humiliated Nat and everyone hates him. I know” she pushed down on his stomach harder “But he’s not worth it. We’re here to celebrate Nat’s birthday, so why don’t we all sit down, have a drink and get Nat cleaned up.” Looking to Nat, she took her foot from Ed’s gut and stepped on him to walk over to the birthday girl, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

“You alright girl?” she asked, her voice now gentle and comforting, a bottle of her famous Irish cream in hand. “Here, brought you something.” she held it out, a ribbon decorating the bottle’s exterior and a small tag around it’s neck reading “Happy Birthday Nat!”

Meanwhile, Karaoke Jay looked down at the whimpering Edgar with a twinkle of madness before stepping away from the bloodied mass of cuts and bruises. Echo wouldn't have noticed the fact that he snuck in an extra stomp because the man made sure that his cries wouldn't be heard. She might've thought that he had done enough but the drunkard certainly didn't think that. But ruining a relationship with such a girl would've signed him a death wish with Jejomar. Walking towards the table and sitting down, he looked down at the bag on the floor. He grinned once more but decided that dealing with his now empty were more important than karaoke right now. It was more important than his bleeding knuckles as well. He took a slice from the cake and stuffed it into his mouth.

---

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---

From her peripheral she got a glimpse of Kip, having a chit chat with good old Dom in close proximity which is practically one of Kip's lowkey wet dreams. Didi remembered her own brothers when Claire mentioned hers. Although a bunch of assholes Sonny, Fredo, and Mike were, she awfully missed the belligerent presence whenever the siblings were together,cruel as they were sometimes it was their own way of showing affection to each other. Of course there was Connie, her gentle little sister, who always looked up to her even tho she shouldn't, Didi knew she was no perfect role model for the girl.

Claire's face was just a few inches from her, close enough to smell the reeking beer from her. She was looking tipsy and with the leprechaun get up, this whole image would be so amusing if she herself weren't in this predicament. And it surely made her freeze when she received a suave kiss from the leprechaun.

"Umm.... thanks." she mouthed with slightly flustered cheeks, not being able to think clearly for a retort and although liquor was out of the question, she surely needs a glass or two for something to witty produce.

It didnt take long for some shitstorm to happen, after all, it aint a true party without some WWE action happening at some point, and this Edgar dude, whoever the hell he is, is going to get murdered for what he's done to Nat. It all escalated so quicky that Didi couldnt even keep up with the sordid events. One hand over her mouth, while the other clutching the present, she saw Kip at the corner while he, of course, was taking pictures of the tag-team and of everyone's astonished reactions. Kip has that natural impulse, w/c Didi is all too familiar of, and in the most unflattering of moments.

"Jesus Christ." she muttered, as she saw Dom flipped his beast mode on at the guy, passed him to Claire who got all Ronda Roussey on his sorry little ass, swinging some hooks and pinning him down.

"Woow.." Was the only thing that Didi muttered as her eyes glimmered at the steaming hot leprechaun warrior.

"Didi, Kip, over here out of the way, this isn't going to be pretty," Tas yelled at both of them.

The girl took Kip by the hand, who stood there all stunned from the commotion, moving as swift as they can to get to Tas.
And there Nat sat, she felt how shaken the birthday girl was and couldn't help but feel a bit of rage from the inside, this Little asshole just went in, unannounced and conclusively unwanted, WHAT IS HIS DEAL? she curled her hand into a fist, unfurling it after realizing it was Kip's skin she was digging into. "Sorry." Didi muttered under her breath, Kip nodded in response and locked hands with her.

"Claire, let the others have him," Tas shouted, "Take care of Nat, I'm going to check on the twin tornadoes." she added handing the tissues over to Eva.

Didi motioned for Kip to sat beside Nat as she sat on the other side, then pointed at his cardigan. The little man complied as he placed his cardigan down Nat while they made a little fort of human warmth, Didi brushing Nat's shoulder and Kip grasping Nat's left hand. The commotion of the frenzied and slurred bar fight continued on and it was the only help they could offer.

---

Still standing beside Tas, Eva smiled softly at Nat's direction as she began opening up her presents. The situation looked so sweet. Everyone Nat cared about was with her, celebrating her special day alongside her and making her feel special - the model was glad that Natalya was elated. She crossed her arms, bringing her clutch against her elbow as Natalya began thanking everyone. Eva wiggled her fingers at Nat's direction when she looked at her during her thank you speech, winking at the birthday girl before she looked at the next person in the group. Everyone was happy, the night was going well, everything was perfect. But of course, nothing good lasts for long.

"So, you're the birthday girl?" Eva heard Edgar ask, her eyes darting over to her newest roommate. 'Oh, he's here? I wonder where he was all day...' The girl hummed in thought, almost drifting away in her mind until chaos occured. Edgar poured his drink over Nat, as if he were pouring liquid down the sink. The girl's hands flew to her mouth in shock, her clutch falling to the ground as she watched the once happy moment go sour quickly. "Ed! What the fuck are you doing?!" She cried out, but her voice came out muffled against her palms.

Eva inhaled sharply when Ed spat on Nat, and that was when she knew that he was going to get it. She looked at Claire and Dom mainly, knowing that they wouldn't take this lightly. She could tell that Tas wasn't very happy either - hell, who would be happy when some ass poured their drink over their close friend's head and then spat on them? On their birthday no less! "Didi, Kip, over here out of the way, this isn't going to be pretty," Eva was startled at Tas' sudden words, bringing her back from her thoughts. When Nat ran towards the bathroom, both Eva and Tas followed after her. Eva remained behind Tas as she helped clean Nat up as much as possible with the napkins.

Eva didn't know what to say. She almost felt like a third wheel, cursing herself for leaving her clutch on the ground where she'd dropped it in shock. Eva could hear Dom and Claire having a go at her new roommate, surprising Eva as she realised she didn't pity the taller model. 'He's getting what he deserves. The model stepped closer towards the mother of the group, nodding as she took some of the napkins out of Tas' hands. Eva's first priority was to wipe away the birthday girl's tears, along with any of the drink that could've run down her face. "I'm so sorry, Nat. No one deserves such a bad thing to happen to them on their birthday." Eva disposed of the used napkin, running her hand under the tap, getting it slightly wet so she could wipe whatever was left on her face. "If it makes you feel any better, it looks like he's being slapped to death by Karaoke Jay out there." The girl winced at the sound of fighting and fist meeting flesh.

---

---

Tas watched as Jay tore into the man and groaned inwardly, this was ending a lot worse than she had expected. It wasn't that she didn't think the man was getting exactly what he deserved but Tas was more than just a friend to Nat, she was a doctor. Damn Hippocratic Oath... Taking a deep breath she stepped over towards the man as he lay on the ground groaning. Kneeling down she grabbed his head, rather gently; surprisingly so. He tried to push her hands away, cursing at her.

"I'm a doctor, hold still," she said in a clam and professional manner. It was a side of her only a handful of her friends had seen; Tas was no longer there, Dr. Brinne was in the house now. Seemed to be a good thing she was as well as she got a good look at him. Just from first glance it looked like the man had a cracked jaw, broken nose, probably some cracked ribs, most likely a concussion and who knew what else going on under his pants after the way Jay had laid into the family jewels.

"Okay, just hold still. I'll be right back," she said, only getting a nod from Edgar as he held his nose. Standing she walked over to the bar and grabbed some clean bar cloths and a bottle of high grain alcohol. Claire perked a brow and rushed over to her.

"You're not seriously going to help this guy?" Claire asked surprised. Tas let out a huff as she looked over towards Claire.

"Yes, I am," she said as she stepped past Claire.

"After what he did to Nat?" Claire asked as she stood there dumbfounded.

"Listen the man is pretty tore up, if I don't who knows what could go down. Cops will show up, paramedics, the whole nine. I'd rather this not turn into a manslaughter charge on you and Dom and Jay, alright?" Tas snipped before she continued over and knelt down next to Edgar.

Setting everything down first, she then placed her fingers on either side of his nose and snapped it back into place. Edgar screamed out and Tas didn't even smirk like would be her usual reaction to someone getting what they deserved. She was cool and even tempered right then.

Grabbing a towel and the bottle of alcohol she wet it and started to clean him up. He had a lot of cuts, abrasions and bruises were forming but thankfully nothing was extremely deep; he might need a few stitches for the surface wounds. Edgar kept cursing and threatening the group but nothing he said or did seemed to phase Tas. He even tried to throw a punch at her, she just knocked it away and help working. She had dealt with worse in the ER.

Edgar started to gasp for breath and Tas grabbed his face, tilting his neck back. "Shit, Claire grab me a straw!!!" she yelled as she pushed Edgar down onto his back and straddled him.

"Like hell!" Claire said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Bitch, you grab me a fucking straw or I'll cut your heart out with a spoon!" Tas shot back. Claires eyes widened and she stepped over to the bar, grabbing one before strolling over to Tas. In the meantime Tas reached into her purse and pulled out a pocket knife she kept with her. They didn't call her Dr. Cut Throat for nothing. Edgars eyes widened and he tried to buck her off his hips. Tas pinned him down and looked him dead in the eye.

"Your right left lung is collapsing If I don't do this now, you could suffocate before the paramedics get here. Hold still," Tas said quickly but her voice was still as calm as ever.

Taking the knife, she opened the blade and poured some of the grain alcohol on it. Pinning the mans shoulder down she cut his shirt away from his side. Placing the blade between the forth and fifth rib she quickly made an incision. Edgar grabbed her shoulder, yelling out as he clawed at her skin. Tas didn't flinch, simply reaching back for the straw and taking it as Claire handed it to her. Pushing it into the opening a quick hiss came out of it as the skin closed around the wound.

Edgar slowly stopped his mauling of Tas's shoulder and took some long deep breaths. Tas let out one of her own as she slid to the side and sat down on the ground, pulling her knees up slightly. This was not how she wanted to spend her evening, she seriously doubted it was how Nat wanted to. Looking down at herself, she was covered in the mans blood and shook her head. So much for getting dolled up, she might as well as kept her scrubs on from earlier in the day.

"Stay there, don't move. Paramedics should be here soon," she said quietly as she picked up a rag and started to wipe the blood from her hands. Then her demeanor changed as she sat there.

"Press charges, do anything to ever insult my friends again and I'll make sure you're under my care when you end up in the ER," she said coldly before leaning over and whispering against his ear. "And eventually the morgue," she finished before standing up and letting out a tired breath. She had been up nearly thirty six hours at this point and she was getting a bad headache quickly. Placing her hand at the back of her head she cringed, stumbling slightly. Claire quickly helped her over to a seat and looked at her oddly.

"You okay?" Claire asked quickly.

"Yeah, just a headache and lack of sleep," she explained before leaning back in the seat and closing her eyes for a moment. Claire nodded and headed back over to Didi, getting her wig and tux coat from her and placing them back on.

"Thanks for holding these," Claire said to Didi with a slight smile. Claire may have been drinking that evening but she might have to drink a brewery to actually get drunk. Beer to her was like water, she was as sober as the day was long.

"Sam, I could really use that drink now," Tas half laughed as she opened her eyes and looked over to him.

"Enough!"

Echo's voice broke the trance Benj had been in since the fight started. If you could call Eddy getting his face smashed in with little to no resistance a fight The way Dom and Claire jumped him, and Jay beat him, it didn't seem entirely fair. I mean yeah, the guy had pulled a pretty dick move on Nat, especially seeing that it was her birthday, and while he initially had felt a flash of righteous anger now he just felt sorry for the guy. While Tas was tending to their two fighters, and Jay gave up after Echo's pleas, Benji stepped in.

"Okay guys, Echo's right, enough is enough." He held up his hands in a peacemaking gesture. "I don't know what this asshole thought he was doing, but I think it's safe to say he's learned his lesson. Let's stop now before someone gets seriously hurt."[/color] Unfortunately, glancing quickly down at Edgar, it seemed like it might be a little too late for that.

Seriously, what was this guy thinking? And didn't he live with Claire? Maybe he just had a death wish. In any case, everyone was going to be really pissed off at him for a while, he'd gone ahead and done a great job of making enemies of everyone. New guy, Mr. Fancy Pants Perfect Face--who Benji had to admit was hella good looking in spite of everything--shows up out of the blue to ruin Nattie's day. Definitely not cool. But also not cool was Eddy getting the living snot beat out of him without even putting up much of a fight. Maybe he deserved it, or maybe there was some other reason for his actions other than him being a total douchebag. Well, he was basically a stranger to everyone in the room so who could know?

Thankfully, Tas took over and played doctor for Edgar. Hell, he needed it. "Should I call for an ambulance?" he asked her, and after getting a nod proceeded to punch 911 into his phone. After using a few words as possible to explain the situation to the dispatcher, he hung up and cringed as Tas punched a straw right into the guy's lung. Gross. "Uh, they'll be here in 10 minutes. More or less." he announced, backing out of the way so Doctor Tas could do her job.

Numbly, Benji shuffled back over to the bar where he'd left his beer bottle. It was only half empty. Shit, it's too early for this kinda thing. He thought, draining the bottle and then helping himself to another. His nerves were all jittery now as the gravity of the situation sank in. He hoped Dom wouldn't get into any trouble. Shit gets real when Dom manages to say a whole and complete paragraph. Or Jay for that matter, man that guy was dangerous when alcohol was involved. Not Benj. Benj was a happy drunk, so he needed to get buzzed ASAP if he was going to be able to put up with whatever happened next.

Spotting Nat, Didi, and Kipper he headed over and plopped himself down next to them. "Can I join the club?" he said. He put an arm around Nat's shoulders as Eva wiped her face and clothes. "Hey, are you gonna be okay? Can I get you anything, cup of coffee maybe?"

He was gone for a second, off to get him and Tas drinks when Nat was doused with a drink of her own by some random stranger. What made things worse was that by the time Sam could react Dom, Claire, and a drunk Jay had gotten their hands all over the guy. "Hey stop! What the hell!" The line cook tried his best, but the crowd was working against him as they were all just watching the action go on. The guy picked the fight with the wrong girl as everyone in this room was her friend, and like what Claire had stated would probably kill for her, Sam knew he would. He deserved whatever he was getting, but to be honest, no one deserved to die just yet.

By the time he made his way to the front of the crowd the drinks in his hands were empty as Tas was doing her best to keep the man alive. After, she looked at the advertising intern and asked: "Sam, I could really use that drink now."

That was one way to have the night go, Sam sighed, thankful for having Tas. "After that, I'll give you whatever you want."

Lucie Keller

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---

Amidst her blushing, Lucie was glad to know that Connor had enjoyed her gift. That made her efforts all worth-while then. He'd said he'll make it to her unless he was distracted by something later in the night. Make it up how? She was about to think further when she shook that thought from her mind. It probably won't happen anyway, as the guy is bound to get distracted one way or another tonight. Walking off, she made her way to Dom as he called for her. "Hey Dom, thanks! I'm totally up for drinks anytime! Just give me a call, and I'll be there." She chuckled as her best friend made a mistake of confusing the place she had recently came back from. "Oh, and it's Germany not Russia!"

Lucie then gathered around with the rest of the group as the birthday girl began to make her thank-you speech. The speech was lovely and Lucie was all smiles, happy at the joyous occasion that was Nat's birthday. Unfortunately, this period of happiness was not to last. A guy popped up from nowhere, someone who she wasn't in the least familiar with. "Who's that?" She asked, but her question soon went unanswered, totally swallowed by the act the unknown guy did next. Lucie thought he was probably another friend of hers that she didn't know about, she had been gone for a while after all, but it was after he made his greeting that he committed the outrageous act.

He poured his beer all over Nat's head, soaking her head in beer, and if that wasn't bad enough, the guy then spat at her. Lucie was utterly flabbergasted. The gall! Unsurprisingly, her fellow friends soon took action as the surprise of the act wore off. Dom went at him, unleashing a tirade at the offensive smaller guy. The action soon started, as Dom went at him. Claire was next, and she had her time with the guy. She was eventually stopped by Tas to prevent further damages to the guy, whose name she had learnt (courtesy of Eva) was Edgar or Ed. If Ed thought that was all he had coming, he would be terribly wrong indeed. The worst had yet to come. What came next was even worst. The wrath of the drunken Jay. She bade good luck to him, Lucie wouldn't even wish the wrath of the drunken Jay on the worst of her enemies. The punches soon came flying soon enough along with the slaps.

Backing out of the immediate vicinity to get out of the action and avoid any stray punches, slaps or kicks from landing onto her, yet still close enough to see clearly what was going on. While everyone's attention was solely concentrated on the Jay having at it with Edgar, Lucie whipped out her phone, angling the phone correctly to get the lot of it in the frame. Brandishing a peace sign accompanied by a series of cheeky smiles, she took several selfies with the violent scene of Jay thrashing Ed in the background played out. *Snap* *Snap* *Snap* With the pictures taken, she then adeptly captioned the picture "At Nat's Birthday Party! xD" and included the following trendy hashtags before uploading the picture onto her Instagram account.

#Natsbirthdayparty #UnleashtheJayJay #WhoisEd

---

---

"Thanks Benji," Tas said gratefully as she rubbed her temples. This was going to be one hell of an event to have to explain, what she dreaded more than the cops questions that were sure to come was the ride to the hospital she would have to take with Eddy. The paramedics were good but this was basically a war zone field surgery when she reinflated his lung. She'd have to go to make sure he made it.

Sighing slightly, she hoped it wouldn't take too long. Then she could just grab a cab back to the party and hopefully enjoy the rest of the evening. As Sam came over, she smiled softly. Of course she did; world could be crashing down and it was kind of, and she couldn't help but smile around him.

"Just you," she said gently as she reached out and squeezed his hand with a light touch when he told her that he'd give her whatever she wanted after that.

She didn't even think of the implications of what she had just said and it took her a good several seconds before it dawned on her. "Damn I must be tired," she thought to herself. If she pulled away and tried to explain would it make it worse? If she didn't explain would it make it worse. Neither seemed like a good way to go.

"I..um.. I'm going to have to ride to the ER with Sir Idiot over there. It shouldn't take long. I'll try to grab a cab to get back over here," she explained to Sam incase anyone asked after she left. Last thing she wanted to do was give Nat more to worry about if she vanished for the evening. It also seemed like a decent way to change the topic, not realizing she was still holding his hand.

It didn't take long for the EMT's to arrive, the sounds of police sirens in the distance, and Tas rose from her seat, her hand slowly slipping from Sam's. Looking over at him she gave him a weary expression before she took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back, time to be Dr. Brinne once again, being just Tas would have to wait.

"Oh well, save me some food incase I can make it back tonight," she said in a disheartened voice before stepping away from him and over to the paramedics. She went into ER mode and kept it short. She wanted to get this over with.

"Dr. Brinne. UCSFMC - Physical altercation, nasal fracture, possible hairline mandible fracture as well as third and forth ribs, mild concussion. Patient has abrasions and lacerations. Had a pneumothorax on the left side. Creative chest tube inserted between the forth and fifth rib, will ride until ER arrival and can hand over to trauma surgeon," she quickly and calmly explained as the paramedics rushed over to Eddy and started prepping him to move.

As she explained the police wandered in and Tas groaned deeply. "Great, just great," she thought. Hopefully this would just get passed off as a St. Patrick's Day Brawl and they'd let it go. She recognized one of the officers, he had brought people into her ER before, maybe she could get him to look the other way this time.

Once the paramedics were brought up to speed, the police officer pulled Tas aside. She looked calm as they spoke but their voices were kept low. She would nod, he would take notes. She'd glanced around pointing to Nat and then Eddy, she wouldn't look at anyone that threw a punch at Eddy. After a minute she nodded once again and shook the man's hand. The officer started walking around, making his way towards no one in particular as of yet.

Tas let out a sigh and spotted Jay shoveling cake into his mouth, seeing his hands she cringed inwardly. Quickly grabbing some things from the paramedics bag she rushed over to him and pursed her lips.

"Okay Million Dollar Jay, time to fix you up," she said as she held up some bandages. "Just don't take a swing at me like the idiot on the floor did and I promise to make this as painless as possible," she added as she held her hand out so she could get to work on fixing him up.

---

"Did Edward Cullen throw up on you?”

Feliks scowled at Eva as the girl dragged him along after Benji, “Excuse you. I look awesome. Glitter is back in and I’m making it happen.” Lies and blasphemy. Glitter was a terrible idea and he was not pulling it off at all. Feliks trailed along after Eva, watching the majesty that was the reveal of Benji’s gift.

Man, dude did good. That was a quality gift. Which, okay, so the sarcasm guidebook would probably never be read and he had totally lost the present giving contest, but whatever. Feliks and Nat weren’t even that close anyways. He could stand to lose this round of presents. Although….

Maybe he could still save it. He did have the extra Yoga cash, he could splurge some of it, eat more Ramen, and lay off the texting…Yeah. That’d do it. He just had to slip out, grab a gift, and come back. No, that would take too much time. Maybe he could just see if the club had anything he could get as a tacked on B-day present. All right, yes. That would work. New plan go.

Except, shit, he couldn’t find his cash.

Stepping away from Eva and Benji Feliks began frantically attempting to locate the mula he’d just gotten a short time ago. A self-pat down turned up nothing, nor did digging through his yoga bag. Ugh, he could not lose that cash. There was no way he was going to be able to keep his cell without it.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna step out for a sec, be right back.” Brow furrowed hands clenched around the strap of his bag. Feliks exited club fully prepared to search through hell, highwater, and the apartment of the glitter traitors to get back his mula. Except, awesomeness, today was his lucky day. He spotted the cash wad a few feet away just as a portly balding dude in an unfashionable trench scooped it up.

“Oh, hey, man, that’s actually my cash, I kinda dropped it. Swear on my life, its’ one hundred and seven dollars, you can count it.” Feliks grinned, crouching a little to try and seem less threatening.

The guy stared at him for a few seconds, “This...is yours?”

Feliks nodded rapidly, “Ch’up. Mine. Yoga money, kinda sweaty you probs don’t want it anyways.” Except, wait; the unfashionable trench, and the smell… dude was homeless. Feliks could take the money, but then he’d be a total asshat. Besides, he hadn’t even planned on having it, t’was bonus cash not essential cash. “It’s chill man, you can keep it. You need it more, being homeless and whatnot. I’m Feliks by the way.” The guy gave him a weird look. It was probably the glitter.

“Bob.”

“Well Bob, what do you say to coming inside?” Bob nodded hesitantly. “Awesome, throw this on.” Feliks shoved his jacket and a black tee into Bobs hands, pulling him along back towards the club once the dude had reluctantly complied. When they got to the door the bouncer stopped them with a raised eyebrow and a quick inclination of the head towards Bob. Feliks waved it aside.

“It’s chill dude, he’s my boyfriend. Just had a bit of a rough day.” The bouncer raised his eyebrows further.
“Dude relax,” Feliks pulled Bob in for a kiss. Leaving him even more wide eyed and silent than before, ”See it’s chill.” Looking like he was about to crack up the guy waved Feliks inside.

Which was a total shit show.
Holy mother of god what happened, and HOW HAD HE MISSED IT?!
Abandoning the befuddled, and slightly traumatized, Bob at the doorway Feliks sauntered further into the room over to where Connor was.

As he leaned into his side he threw an arm around his shoulders and surveyed the room with a grin, “Dude. I was gone for legit ten minutes. I also kissed a homeless man, but that’s a bit of a non sequitur. What happened here?”

---

As soon as the police came into the bar, Karaoke Jay slowly hid his hands under the table, though not before taking a few gulps of more vodka, the liquid fire oozing down his throat. With a bloody man on the floor and his bleeding knuckles, there was a chance that he was going to be arrested. And that's not what his boss wanted. He slowly turned his head the other way just in case one of the police recognised him. Tas, one of the girls that Jejomar wasn't as familiar with, approached him with bandages after talking with some of the police and first responders on the scene.

"Okay Million Dollar Jay, time to fix you up," she said as she held up some bandages. "Just don't take a swing at me like the idiot on the floor did and I promise to make this as painless as possible," Karaoke Jay nodded before slowly bringing his hands out for her to fix. As she started to do whatever the hell medics do to bleeding knuckles, he fidgeted as he realised how deep he was in the shit. "I'm probably going to get arrested, aren't I? Fuck, I need to call Jay out. " He muttered the last but to himself before shaking his head. It might've been the first time that he ever willingly let Jay take over while he was in their body.

Jejomar groaned, a massive headache exploding in his mind. If you looked close enough, you would see a major difference in mannerisms. While KJ moved faster and more confidently, Jay moved much more slower and carefully. If you weren't, you wouldn't have noticed anything. He blinked twice, letting his eyes refocus and headache slowly creep away from his head. He looked at the current scene. There were cops all over the place, Ed was being taken away into an ambulance with cuts and bruises all over him and Tas was currently working on his bleeding knuckles.

The Filipino immediately found the connection between the three. His eyes widened but let himself calm down because of the risk of being suspicious. "Wha-What happened?" He whispered towards Tas as she finished up on his knuckles. "D-Did I do that t-to Eddy?" He gestured to the man as Edgar was taken away into the ambulance and ferried towards the nearest hospital.

---

---

Tas took out some hydrogen peroxide and gauze, carefully tending to Jays bloodied knuckles. As he mentioned being in trouble with the law she shrugged lightly. She didn't want to say anything this way or that. The new comer Eddy could decide to press charges but it would be a hard case. He went after Nat first, what he did was considered assault in the eyes of the law.

Granted the group had gone overboard but people were protective of Nat, especially Dom and if Dom was involved, sure as the sun rises Claire would jump in. Jays reaction seemed a bit odd but Tas didn't know if the two were close, she really didn't know much about Jay.

She did know the lead officer on the scene, what they had been whispering about was simple. Either he looked the other way or she'd call his wife and ask where the bill for the antibiotics that she used where to be charged. You know, for his chlamydia. She would have to call, public interest for all his sexual partners.

She leaned back at the look on his face and sudden change in demeanour. Sighing she went back to cleaning his wounds and began to bandage his hands up. They were raw and cut but nothing he needed to go to the emergency room over, long as she could keep tabs on them incase of infection.

"Not all of it," she said in a calm voice as she kept working to take care of Jeje. "Don't worry, he'll be fine and so will you," she said, giving a small wink.

---

---

"Are we close?" asked in a thick Irish accent, brown eyes looking around the street. The man was a bit taller than six feet tall, wearing worn out jeans and a black knit shirt with cracked Doc Martins on his feet. His rough cut dirty blonde hair spiked a bit on his head as puffs of smoke came up from the cigarette held between his lips. He had a lean frame and sported several tattoos showing on his hand and neck.

"Ay, should be nearly there," a matching accent responded. The other man dressed the same but he stood a few inches shorter with short brown hair that clung to his head and crystal blue eyes. Looking at his cell phone, a map on the screen that had a small Irish Rose as an icon for the GPS locator.

Seeing the police squad cars outside a building as they turned a corner the two men looked looked at each other and chuckled slightly.

"What did she get into this time?" the first man laughed.

"Long as she won, I don't care," the other said smirking as they continued down the street.

"She's going to flip, then kill us for tracking her," the first man said.

"Like we'd let the lass move across the country without keeping tabs. She'll get over it. After she hits us," the second man laughed as he tucked the phone back into his pocket.

"Ready?" the first one asked, getting a curt nod from the second before they pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

Flicking their cigarettes out onto the sidewalk behind them before the doors closed. One let out low whistle seeing the party going on, noticing the blood on the floor. Seemed they already had a brawl in there tonight, cops about, paramedics loading up a man on a stretcher. Typical St. Patrick's Day as far as they were concerned. The other scanned the place and then pointed to the Leprechaun in the crowd as he patted the other on the shoulder.

"Claire?" they asked each other in unison. "Claire," they confirmed with a curt nod towards each other before turning their heads back in Claire's direction. Placing their hands on either side of their mouths they both took a deep breath. "CLAIRE!!!" they bellowed over the noise of the party.

Claire stopped moving, something she rarely did; the woman was always in constant motion, like the Tasmanian devil. Slowly she turned around, her eyes widening, her jaw dropping, mouth agape. The leprechaun was speechless, another first. Her eyes fell on the two men; widening even further.

"Holy shit Connor, she's speechless," one said to the other laughing as he grasped his chest in mock shock.

"Murphy, grab a camera, we need proof for pop," Connor said trying to keep from smirking as his hand came up to cover his mouth.

"Well, you going to say hello Claire Bear or not?" Murphy teased. Claire finally broke the deer in headlights look and darted over to them, leaping up into the air and slamming into both of them; an arm around each one. The men caught her mid air and hugged her tight.

"Connor! Murphy!" she exclaimed excitedly as they set her down. "How, why, fuck! It's good to see you!"

"Think she missed us?" Murphy smirked as he wrapped an arm around his only sister's shoulder.

"Ay, maybe a wee bit," Connor laughed as he ruffled her red wig.

"What the hell you two doing here? And how'd you know where I was?" Claire asked batting Connors hand away.

"See, she always did like me more," Murphy taunted his twin brother as he pulled Claire closer.

"Like hell she does," Conner said shoving Murphy slightly. Murphy narrowed his eyes and shoved Connor back. Claire narrowed her eyes and grabbed both of them by the ear, pulling them down to her level.

"Jesus Christ, you two stop, we already had one ass beating in here tonight, and answer me. How did you know where I was?" Claire demanded to know.

"Um...you tell her," Connor stuttered.

"Well, we.." Murphy started as he pulled his phone out and showed her the screen.

"You Gps tracked me!?!" she hissed as she tightened her grip on their ears.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Connor said crunching his face up. Claire let go, both men rubbing their ears.

"Well, it could have been..." Murphy started but was unable to finish as Claire's fist connected with his jaw and sent him flying back, sprawled out on the ground. "Worse...." he grumbled.

"Claire, Claire..." Connor said stepping back, laughing, and holding his hands out but it was no use. She batted his hands away yet again and gave him an identical punch with identical results.

"You're lucky it's Nats birthday or I'd give you a right good ass whopping that be making ya wish it was pop tearing up your rear end with his belt!" she said with a growl.

"Happy St. Patrick's Day to you to," Murphy groaned as he wiped the blood from his busted lip.

"We love you," Connor said stumbling back to his feet.

"Oh piss off," Claire said before she spun around and headed towards the bar. Connor took Murphy's hand and helped him up, both of them supporting each other as they tried to contain their laughter.

"Want to press charges?" a police officer pipped in as he motioned towards Claire. Murphy and Connor gave the man a what the fuck look.

"She's our sister, bugger off," they said in unison as they pushed past the officer and headed after Claire. Connor made a beeline after Claire, trying to catch up to her. Murphy on the other hand caught sight of something he had been hoping to see since they arrived in town that morning and turned his course, smoothing out his hair as he strolled over to a table.

"Evenin' Lass," Murphy said with an overly cheesy grin on his face. Tas was standing there cleaning up Jays hands from the fight, slowly glancing over to him out of the corner of her eye.

"Murphy? What are you doing here?" she asked as she turned her attention back to Jay. Murphy rubbed the back of his neck and bounced a bit on the balls of his feet.

"Came to see Claire, St. Patties Day surprise," he explained as he stepped around some to be in her line of sight.

"I see, that's sweet," she said as she finished up with Jay. "Okay, keep the bandages clean and come see me tomorrow at my place. I'll change them out for you Jay," she said as she patted him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, well I figured I'd say hi and everything," Murphy added as he stood there, Tas finally took a close look at him and noticed the busted lip.

"Claire do that?" she asked with a smirk.

"Just a love tap, Irish Hello," he said wiping the blood away. Tas just shook her head and started to walk off. "Um, catch up later?"

"Yeah, sure, I gotta ride with the patient. See you later Murphy, try not to end up in my ER," she said quickly before grabbing her purse and darting out the door, climbing into the ambulance and sitting down next to Eddy.

"I'd stab myself to end up in her care," he said to himself as he watched her leave, letting out a slow whistle. Turning he looked over towards Jay and gave him a small wave before taking a seat. The doors closed and Tas, with Eddy, were on their way to UCSFMC.

"Names Murphy, Claire's big brother," he said introducing himself. "Friend of hers and Tas's?" he asked in a friendly manner.

Ignore

---

---

---

When the chaos seemed to die down a bit, along came Karaoke Jay, the crazy fun alter ego of plain ol' geeky Jay. (the former w/c Didi personally prefer). The guy went apeshit on Edgar, who was already badly battered by Dom and Claire earlier and seeing so much crazy in one day, Didi felt like she was watching a live episode of Jersey Shore. Good thing Echo was there to stop him before he could literally kill the poor fool, and karaoke nights wont be as much fun with Karaoke Jay locked up in Rikers. Didi stood up and went towards Claire to hand her stuff, she had never seen Claire go crazy like that before.

"That was... Intense!" Was the first thing she said to the irish rose, eyes wide in awe. The whole mayhem was a distaste for Didi, but the way Claire (and Dom) handled herself in a fight, her arm muscles flexed from the raw yet agile motion, like Xena the Warrior Princess in episode 17, The Royal Couple of Thieves, and pulling it off so well even in a semi leprechaun outfit she looks totally badass af. " I mean, yeah, sure, poor Edgar, but wow. The way you kicked his ass to shit, it was friggin amazeballs!" Didi pulled her shoulders a little bit too hard from the excitement, and saw Claire winced from the pain in her bruised rib.

"Oh, God. You're hurt. I'm..I'm sorry. I didnt mean to.." Her hands gently brushed just slightly above her waist. The gesture was innocent but Didi couldnt help the feeling of butterflies when she met the other woman's gaze, like in every single plot of a cheesy romantic chick flick where they'd literally take forever to gaze at each other's eyes, and Didi wont deny that Claire has a pretty set. A flash came out of nowhere, particularly from Kip's direction and his camera perfectly aimed at them. Didi quickly retracted her hands away from Claire, her face angry and blushing as she moved towards Kip, grabbing him by the arm and unto the buffet. "Delete it. Now." She said brashly, but Kip can see through her angry stare, helplessly pleading, "Please?"

Good(ish) news is that Edgar will make it thanks to Tas' medical magic, and with the cops still questioning some people the party has yet to start again, if it ever starts again. Realizing that she hasnt given her present to Nat yet she clutched the present wrapped in the sunday comics, she thought she could wait until everything calmed down. Didi has her eyes the whole night on the calamari buffet when suddenly she felt Kip gripping her arm, turning around to see her friend pale white and breathing heavily, anxiously watching the cops walking around the room . This is when Didi had realized that Kip is having one of his episodes, without saying anything else she held him by the shoulders and quickly headed for the door. From her peripheral, Didi saw Nat approaching and then shyly dismisses her with a nod, mouthing "I got it." before they head out since she doesn't want the birthday girl to get anymore troubled, than she already is.

"Look at me. It's gonna be ok."Her hand on his cheeks, she said reassuringly to the young man. Brushing his back for comfort, she watched the cops come and go, followed by the paramedics pulling Edgar on a stretcher.

---

Jejomar sighed, realising that he couldn't really do anything about what was happening. If he got charged, he wasn't sure what would happen. Eva might be able to help but forcing her to ask her parents? That would just be rude. As Tas finished with his knuckles, she went away with Eddy towards the hospital. 'You really screwed up my friend.' There was no response. Soon enough, he was approached by one of Claire's brothers, Murphy if he heard the conversation right, and introduced himself. Fatigued from fighting and pained from the amount of vodka he had consumed, this was the when he was the most confident. Excluding Karaoke Jay of course.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I guess you can call us friends. Name's Jejomar but call me Jay. Claire's brother huh? Sit down. Have some cake if you want." Jejomar motioned to the seat next to him, accidentally revealing his bandaged knuckles. He really needed to head for Echo and apologise for what a mess he turned into but she was busy right now. Grabbing one of the vodka bottles from his karaoke bag taking two glasses with it. He filled the two to the max, emptying the relatively small bottle. He passed one to Murphy, keeping one for himself. A song as he didn't get too drunk, Karaoke Jay wouldn't come out.

"It's the finest vodka I can find." Jejomar paused, as if realising he just did. "Oh, uh, sorry if you don't drink. It's just that I've never met an Irishman that doesn't drink. Tip 'em over if ya want, I have a fridge of them back home." He took a sip, the liquid burning his throat as it went down. He took a glance towards the karaoke machine then to TV hanging against the wall and finally the police. He shouldn't risk it but nonetheless, the sober Jay looked Murphy dead in the eye and asked "Do you like karaoke?"

---

Eva sighed in relief as the fighting was finally over. She kept looking in Edgar's direction from the corner of her eye, watching with morbid curiosity as Tas pretty much performed some sort of surgery on the ground on Edgar. The girl shivered slightly, whether from the cold or from nervousness, she wasn't sure. She washed her hands carefully, as she gently wet the paper towels so she could clear out any sticky alcohol on the birthday girl's face without wiping off her makeup - she wanted to make sure that Nat would at least remain looking great even after this ordeal. Eva stepped back as Dom arrived, letting him take over comforting mama bear, her ears perking as she heard Natalya mutter her name and a question. "Uh, Edgar is my- our roommate back at 3C. Uh... I- I want to apologise on his behalf, I don't know why he did what he did but uh, I'm really sorry for what he did." The aspiring model looked down at her hands, playing with her fingers nervously. She didn't know why she was feeling so nervous, especially when it wasn't even her fault for all this. "I'm sure he'll be apologising to you later too, once he's out of the hospital..."

Eva hoped the girl could hear her, but she wouldn't be surprised if Natalya wasn't listening. Eva gave Natalya (what she hoped was) a comforting smile as Natalya moved back next to the model. Making sure that her hands were dry, Eva carefully ran her hands through Nat's hair, just trying to make sure there was nothing still in it, while trying to neaten her hair at the same time. Once she was sure there was nothing else to clear up, the girl washed her hands again. "Just hold on a second, I'll just grab my clutch before someone trips over it or the police decide that it is evidence." She said, trying to lighten the mood. Whether it worked or not, Eva didn't know as she left the bathroom not a second later.

The girl kneeled beside her clutch, grabbing her fallen bag carefully and quickly checking the contents - her phone was fine, there might've been a scratch on the cover but she wasn't certain that it was caused because of this incident. The lipstick and blotting paper she had bought for whenever she wanted to touch up on her makeup was fine, and her keys were still safe in the inside pocket. "Right, everything is fine..." She muttered to herself, before standing up again. Spotting Feliks and Connor off to the side, she decided to hang out with them for a bit while Natalya was comforted by the rest of the group inside.

"You two were quiet throughtout that entire ordeal." The girl said, in form as a greeting as she stood beside Feliks. She watched warily as Edgar was taken away on a stretcher, feeling slightly guilty for not checking up on her roommate, even if he did cause the whole mishap. "Wait, who're those two?" She asked, pointing at the two newcomers hanging around with Claire.