"I have to keep working hard if I want to keep the crowds coming." Brinley got paid by how well the club did so the harder she worked the better outcome for all of them. It was like a little network, with multiple employers. She was her own boss so she was always weighing the risks, if she made even one bad decision it could all come crashing dowm on her. Besides, she didn't just work hard for herself, though she wanted to prove that she was better than the background she came from, but for the guys. They all took care of each other with CK being the disappointed father of the group, only when the other three were acting like fools of course. Mack acted like the biggest fool but she and Cam were not innocent, they all got into their own troubles and CK was picking up after them sometimes. The guy really could use a break, they all could, so she would be sure they got their getaway. "Ah, that's my secret, I hate all of the tracks I mix." She scrunched her face up, sticking her tongue out at no one in particular, as if she were really disgusted but she wasn't. Brin had to listen to the tracks over and over again though, it did get tiring after some time. "Just try not to get into any trouble this weekend, I can only jump in to save you so many times during the sets you come to."
"You saved me from trouble at your set twice," Cam corrected her, not wanting Brinley to get more of an ego than she already had. He loved her for it, even when it became a little inflated. He took care of himself just fine on his own. "And one of those I didn't even need you jumping in, but if I remember correctly you were looking for a fight and hopped into mine." It was sweet, he thought, how quickly their friends were to jump in to fight for each other even if they didn't necessarily need it. He'd known Brin to be a wild one, it was why the two of them got on so well, so if she was itching for a fight she would hop in to take care of whoever caused the issue. Maybe it wasn't the best and other people would criticize the two of them for the way they jumped into those things without thought, but it was part of them at this point. Besides, he did think before he got into fights; he always thought the opposing party was an idiot and deserved a punch in the face, and he was always right about that. "I can't make any promises I won't get into trouble because...well, you know me, I like it, but," he shrugged, giving a moment of thought before he continued with a smirk. "I can promise you won't have to jump from your set unless you've got some pent up aggression."
"Well if I hadn't then we would have never met. Unless you would have preferred that." Brinley pointed out since one of those fights they had in fact not known each other. He had been in a spot of trouble with these two guys and she had jumped in to the rescue. Really it had been a close call for him, who knows what would have happened if she hadn't. Alright, maybe he would have gotten out of it just fine but they wouldn't be friends now. It seemed like so long ago, but it really hadn't even been two years. They just fit so well together that it felt like they've known each other forever. The whole group actually. Everyone supported one another in their good and bad times, fight or no fight they were there for each other. It's why she said they were more like family than anything. "Cam, I'm tiny. I always have pent up aggression." She was shorter than average, having to stand on a stool for her sets, small people were angry people. According to science, or society. Brin fit it to a T whatever it was. People wondered how she could take on people three times her size and she was pretty sure it was all of that aggression. "We're just lucky I haven't killed anyone, yet."
"Brin. Are you forgetting I'm not much taller than you?" Cam asked; he was the shortest guy out of him, Mack, and CK, and somehow Brinley conveniently forgot he was also short. "Please don't kill anyone. I can't go through that trauma. How the fuck will I pay for this alone?" He asked, gesturing around them to their shared apartment. "Unless you plan on letting me be part of your plot, that way we get sent away and wreak havoc in the prison." There was no way it would happen, neither of them would ever dare, but they'd always made the joke that if one of them got arrested the other would too considering in the near two years they'd been friends they were always right behind the other whenever any kind of incident happened. "And to go back to your original point, no, I would not have preferred if we never became friends, don't ask stupid questions," he said, pointing at her. In truth, he had no clue where he would be without her and the others. He suspected he would have left the city at this rate, or perhaps made friends with someone else at the club if the fight hadn't escalated to a point where things could have ended far worse.
Brinley waved her hand as if waving away that little detail; he was still taller than her. She looked around the apartment knowing she did make more money than him, but she never brought that up. It didn't matter to her and she didn't mind covering bills or just spending on her friends. Now she did have a pretty good savings for any emergencies, but she did have some to spare and she did. CK and Mack probably made even more than her though considering one owned his own business and the other danced half naked for a living. They were good at what they did, all four of them, but they were still going to get Cam working in the clubs instead of the stupid restaurant. "I'm sure that after one day they would separate us. Honestly it's amazing CK and Mack haven't separated us." The two knew better and thought they were good for each other, but CK often said he could do without the dramatics. He truly was like the father of the group. "I think you'd be fine, but your life would be so boring without us."
Cam found himself grinning at that, shaking his head. "If CK and Mack separated us, they'd never hear the end of it and they know that," he said, chuckling. It was true, they would complain so much that they would be put back together near instantaneously. "That's why they won't try." His mind trailed back to his own comment that was a joke, about not being able to afford their apartment alone; it sucked to essentially be the poor one in the group, even if his friends didn't view it that way. He made a living, but barely a survivable one on his own. Thinking about that made the urge to quit the restaurant even stronger; he knew he'd make way more money, and that wasn't even including tips. He forced himself to sit up, sliding off the couch and right onto the floor. "Yeah, my life would be a lot shittier, I think," he told her, reaching to stretch for his feet and holding the position; stretching after work helped him not hurt so much in the morning, and luckily he was very flexible. He moved in favor of being in a position where he could be in somewhat of a split and lean forward to help his back. "Or I would have ended up addicted to hard drugs, because that was offered to me that night we met."
"Probably. CK hates when we complain, Mack would just join in on it." Mack complained the most out of their group but it was all in good fun for him. Whenever he seriously complained about anything they listened, he was the most likeable out of them all so if anyone messed with him it was a pretty big deal usually. It was nice to have people to care about. Before any of them Brinley had been alone for so long, she wasn't anymore. "Show off." She muttered, slumping further into the couch as she watched him. How he was so flexible she would never understand, she couldn't even do a full split and that was just unfair. Didn't that hurt? He was a guy so the question was fair, but Mack was also pretty flexible due to dancing and he never mentioned pain either so maybe it was just a thing. Suddenly she started laughing aloud. "Yeah I remember. You just looked like such a hardcore drug addict ya know."
Cam lifted his head to stick out his tongue at Brinley. "I can teach you, y'know," he said, pushing himself up to reach for one leg. He'd never remembered any sort of pain when it came to stretching like this, it was just always possible for him to move this way. "And I still do. They really wanted me to do a line of coke that night. Apparently I look like I would do that," he laughed, shaking his head as he reached for the opposite leg. It was funny to him considering he never sought those people out, but it somehow still happened. Probably because he was known to do other things, much tamer but it didn't matter to crazy nightclub attendees. "Could you imagine? Like, yeah, I have fun at the club and parties, but wow. To be fair, none of them looked like they would do it either. Maybe they were just looking for someone to say yes that knew what they were doing."
"No thanks, too busy." Brinley had too much on her plate, she couldn't fit flexibility lessons into her schedule too. Besides, a flexible girl was oddly more inviting to creeps and she didn't want to worry about all of that. Creeps hit on her enough as it was. "Yep you're the biggest crackhead." She teased, resting her arms under her head. It would be a lie if she said none of them hadn't tried stuff before, but nothing that big. Hardcore drugs ruined lives and CK would beat the living hell out of any of them if he found out they were doing it. That guy took no bullshit, especially from the group. He had high standards for them. "I should probably sleep soon, going to be up all weekend and I don't want to be looking like a zombie." On weekends she slept during the day a lot because she would be up all night cranking out tunes. Being a DJ was a tough job but she loved it, she lived for it. "What time even is it?"
"Past your bedtime at this rate," Cam said, sitting up so he was cross-legged on the floor. He worked long hours at the restaurant, often losing track of time himself when he went multiple days in a row. "Go sleep, I won't keep you up. I need to actually unwind, and the longer you stay out here while I do the less sleep you get." He leaned back against the couch, looking up at Brinley from the floor. He wasn't going to be the reason she messed up her sets this weekend. He waved her off as he pushed himself to stand. "You're still sitting here? I'll drag your ass to bed," he called as he headed in the direction of his room to grab something from his bag and returning with his hoodie. It wouldn't be the first time he threatened her with that or actually did it. "Bed time, firecracker. You better not be out here when I come back," he warned, grinning a little as he held up his lighter as a silent explanation to where he was going.
Brinley rolled her eyes, eyeing the lighter as she got up off the couch. He would cart her off to bed and she knew it, he's done it before. "Don't stay out there too long." She chided, not exactly disappointed in his habits since she had her own, but she would remind him to not stay out there too long. It was that sisterly part of her she supposed. She watched him for a moment longer before making her way to her room, stripping off her jean shorts and throwing them in a small pile of other clothes by the door. Pajamas were too much work, she slept in whatever shirt she was wearing that day and her underwear; it was far more comfortable in her opinion. Her eyes didn't want to stay open much longer, cursing herself for letting herself get so tired. Despite how she acted she did her best to keep up with her sleep schedule, it was important to make sure she was well rested. Especially before sets. She sighed and fell into bed, pulling her covers over and falling asleep soon after. This weekend was going to be a good one, she could feel it.
Cam waved her off before he made his way out onto their balcony, though not fully until he saw her head down the hallway. He slid the door open, heading to sit on the corner of the small couch they had out there. Pulling his legs up onto the seat to get comfortable, he cupped his hands around his pre-roll to light it without the wind interfering. It was sweet how Brinley cared about him and tried to act disappointed despite her own habits, and their friends'. He stared out over the city, the lights flickering in familiar neons and the streets still bustling as he took a long drag. It was peaceful to sit and overlook the city he called home, flicking some of the ashes away. Now that he was alone, though, his mind went back to what had happened with that girl; who was she, and who was Connor? After the day he'd had, he needed this moment of solitary; smoking eased his nerves. He didn't know how long he was out there, but he knew his blunt was finished when he felt the burning sensation on his lips. Tossing it into the ashtray, he got up from the couch to head in for bed. The comfortable haze was there, the one that would keep him asleep which was exactly what he needed as he locked the sliding door and headed for his room. He didn't hesitate before he landed face down on his bed, reaching for his comforter; he was out within minutes. Finally, his weekend off began.
Danni woke up with a mild groan, her head pounding as if she had smashed it against the wall maybe ten times. It wasn't often she acted so recklessly or spent a whole night, well most of it, out but things happened. After leaving the others at the restaurant she had found herself at a bar, downing alcohol as if it were water and she had been in the Sahara desert. The last time she had done this was right after Connor died, and considering what happened the night before she felt it was warranted. At the moment she regretted everything. She was hungover, feeling like she was going to throw up at any second but she managed to keep whatever was in her stomach down. If she remembered right the bartender had at some point taken her phone and called Zachary to pick her up after struggling to get who he could call for her out of her. How she had gotten into bed probably had a lot to do with them and she wasn't that embarrassed if they had to change her. Being drunk let one go loose sometimes. Well she was a little embarrassed now that she was sober, but it was the events of last night that bothered her the most. That guy looked so much like Connor, but how could she just let herself confront him like that? The whole thing had been stupid and now she could never go back to that restaurant knowing that guy worked there. It was bad enough he probably thought she was insane, she didn't need him embarrassing her if they ran into each other again.
What time is it?
Luckily it was the weekend and she was off from work, that was one good thing at least. She pulled the blanket up over her head and curled up into a ball. No matter what happened she was going to stay in bed today, she felt like crap and there was no reason for her to go out. No one could make her.
Zachary had barely slept. Something was telling him things weren't right, and the phone call from the bar confirmed that. He and Elliott had gotten Danni home and into bed, he even changed her into something more comfortable. But when the morning came, he'd only slept a maximum of four hours that was scattered. He was tired, and he was most likely going to be tough to deal with and handle. Luckily Elliott was used to him like this. He yawned, sitting on his bed with Elliott while he played one of his games and Elliott watched TV when he noticed the time; Danni had been in bed awfully late. It was nearly a quarter to one. He tossed his Switch aside, pushing himself up off his bed and ignoring Elliott's questions as he headed down the hall to Danni's room. Of course he understood she was hurting, but this wasn't how she should have been handling it. Tired Zachary had little patience; he let himself in, immediately heading for her curtains to let the light in before he yanked her blanket away from her face. He didn't care if she got upset or thought it was rude. It wouldn't get her very far. "Seriously?"
Danni had been laying on her side facing away from the window, her face half buried in her pillow so the light didn't bother her as much as it could have. It was still rather rude to rip away ones bedding but she could tell he was in a mood, when wasn't he, and she didn't have the energy to deal with that today. Her head was throbbing, her stomach was turned inside out, and her throat burned from all the alcohol consumption she had taken part in. Was it healthy to deal with things like this? No, but in the moment she hadn't cared and it wasn't like she did this all the time. Twice, in a two year span; she was doing pretty good if one were to ask her. Besides, he never dealt with things in a healthy way so why was he coming for her? She too was in a mood, but she bit back her words like she always did, always having to walk on glass around him. She sighed softly in discontent, burying her face further into the darkness of her pillow. It was the weekend, she was allowed to stay in bed.