Once Upon A Song

Chapter Five

The sound of an explosion shattered the air. I groaned, blearily prying open an eye. The world seemed unusually intesne and bright. I moaned painfully and shut my eye again. There was another explosion. 

With an oath, I pried both of my eyes open, blinking as I took in my surroundings in bewilderment. I was in my bed at the Grimm Brothers' house. I frowned, rubbing my crusty eyes as I tried to remember why I felt so abysmal. My head was pounding and my mouth felt dry and tasted weird. There was another loud bang, and I finally realized the noise was someone  knocking on the door. 

"Um, come in," I croaked hoarsely. The door swung open and Charlie bounced in, launching himself at my bed. I groaned.

"Morning, sunshine," he grinned, his caramel eyes sparkling with humor. 

"Ugh," I replied, putting a pillow over my face.

"Last night was bomb," Charlie said happily. "I got these two girls' numbers and then this one gitl, the blonde, she had a boyfriend and he came over and was all mad and whatever, but I just told him, 'hey look man, if you can't keep her interest...'" he trailed off and poked my side.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I groaned.

"Are you upset because you puked all over Aiden? 'Cuz he's pretty pissed."

I sat up abruptly, the pillow sliding off of my face.

"What?!"

Charlie bounced up and down like an excited puppy. "Yeah, you were totally wasted, man. Aiden tried to get you to come back inside the club, and you threw up all over him."

I flopped back down, biting my lip. 

"He's going to kill me."

"Probably," Charlie agreed cheerfully. 

I glared at him, but he merely grinned back at me. 

"Anyway," he said, shaking his shaggy brown hair out of his face, "I came to get you because breakfast is ready."

My stomach revolted at the very thought of food.

"Um, I'm not really hungry," i said, running a hand through my short, messy hair. 

"Come on," Charlie urged. "Trey made his famous hangover cure breakfast. Works great!"

I sighed, and Charlie beamed, hopping off the bed. I stood up shakily, noting I was still in the same clothes as last night. The same vomit-streaked baggy jeans and extra-large hoodie. I grimaced.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen," I told Charlie. "I need to change."

"Okie dokie," Charlie said happily, leaving the room. 

I changed into an oversized black sweatshirt and clean jeans. I swiped on some Old Spice deodorant, the most manly scented one I could find, and briefly contemplated brushing my hair, but it seemed like too much effort. I sighed and made my way to the kitchen. 

 Charlie was sitting at the table stuffing his face with syrup-covered French toast. Trey was standing at the stove, and Aiden was slumped miserably over a cup of steaming coffee. 

"Um, morning," I said, my voice cracking. I blushed. 

"Morning," Trey said, shooting me a smile. "You look like hell."

"I feel like it, too," I admitted. Trey chuckled. 

"I bet."

I pulled out a chair and flopped down in it, casting a timid look at Aiden. 

"Er..." I cleared my throat nervously. "Um, Aiden?"

Aiden very slowly lifted his head, his scathing green eyes burning me. The sheer look of absolute hatred on his face was extremely unnerving.I swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry...about last night."

Aiden stared at me for a long moment. 

"Fuck off."

He slumped back over his coffee.

Trey slid a plate full of scrambled eggs and sausage in front of me. 

"Don't worry," he said. "He's just not really a morning person."

"Fuck you," Aiden said, his voice muffled. 

"You wish," Trey shot back. "I'm too hot for you, McKinley."

Aiden groaned. 

"Did it take ages to wash the vomit out of your hair, Aiden?" Charlie piped up, his mouth full of food.

I shot him a pleading look, but he just grinned at me.

"Charlie," Aiden said very slowly, "One more word and I will kill you."

"Was it all, like, chunky?"

M stomach jolted, and I pushed my plate away.

"Charles..." Aiden said, clear anger in his voice.

"I bet it clogged the drain, huh?" Charlie said, grinning mischeivously. 

Aiden stood up so fast his coffee tipped over, spilling across the table. He lunged at Charlie, who dodged him nimbly, laughing;. 

"How much perfume did you have to use to cover up the stench?"

Aiden growled, chasing Charlie as the shaggy haired boy darted out of the kitchen. Their  pounding footsteps echoed up the hallway and I heard a door slam as they ran outside. 

"He loves baiting Aiden," Trey said, taking a bite of pancake calmly. 

I groaned, sinking lower in my seat.

"I feel like such an idiot."

"Was it your first time drinking?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I've never really gotten around to the whole partying thing."

"Hmm," Trey said, taking a sip of juice. "Well, it happens to the best of us, so don't worry too much about it."

I sighed dejectedly. 

"So," Trey said suddenly, "I don't really know too much about you."

"There's not much to know," I replied. 

"What about your family? You haven't ever talked about them."

I poked at my scrambled eggs. "Well, the only family I have is my br...sister. Her name is Juliet."

Talking about myself in third person felt incredibly strange and awkward. 

"Sister, huh?" Trey asked, the corners of his lips turned up slightly. 

"Uh, yeah."

"Where is she?"

"Oh, around," I said vaguely. "We aren't very close anymore because I left to focus on my...career,"

"I see," Trey said. I shifted, uncomfortable.

"Yeah. So how about you?"

"I'm an only child. My father left to go get milk when I was seven and never came back. My mother tries to cope by acting like a teenage girl, partying all night and constantly making new 'friends' of the male persuasuion."

"Oh," I said, blinking."I'm sorry."

Trey shrugged, taking another bite. "Not your fault." 

I nibbled some toast. 

"So, your sister," Trey said, smirking at me. "Is she hot?"

I choked, and Trey laughed. I shook my head, but grinned. I couldn't help liking Trey. He was just so easy to talk to. Charlie, too, was easy-going and had a good sense of humor. Aiden, though, was an entirely different story. I bit my lip as I thought about the look of loathing he had given me. Winning him over wasn't going to be easy.