Fifteen hours later, a bunch of very tired, very pissed off teenagers made it to St Lucia. The journey had been long, with uncomfortable seats and babies screaming all flight without a break. The only one who had managed to get any sleep was Thy, who, much to everyone else's annoyance, woke up full of energy and excitement for the day ahead.

Tired and jet-lagged, the group decided to skip breakfast at the airport and head straight to the Travel Huggers Hub. It was mid-morning in St Lucia, but it would've only been around seven thirty in California, so they opted to buy some snacks and wait to have brunch once they'd dropped their bags off at their new place.

Marie, their Travel Huggers helper, was very nice and respected that they were not in the mood for a chat (unlike Frankie had) and simply gave them their keys, telling them to get settled and to meet her tomorrow for a proper briefing.

"Thank God," Imogen groaned. "I was worried she'd be talkative like Frankie was."

"Yeah, no offense Carlos, I know you were screwing her, but she was a little too over the top, and that's coming from me," Thy added.

"You were what?" Giani and Aster asked, both looking disgusted.

Carlos shrugged, in a what-did-you-expect way. "I agree."

"Knowing that almost makes it worse," Gi put her hand to her mouth like she was going to throw up.

"Ew!" Mila exclaimed. "You made it weird. I mean, weird-er."

"How did I make it weird-er?"

"Ah," Thy sighed happily amid the overlapping argument. "It's like we're family already."

<<*>>

"I'm back!" Mila called into the bungalow, slamming the door with one hand and balancing the takeaway boxes with the other.

"Finally, I'm starving," Giani complained, rushing up to them to take the boxes and rummage through them to find her food.

"Manners, Gi," Carlos nudged her shoulder, and she rolled her eyes. "I appreciate this service, Mx Sláviková."

"Why thank you, Carlos," Mila smiled. "For that, I'll let you have this quesadilla free of charge."

"Hey, that is not fair!" Giani exclaimed.

"Hey kiddos, let's not fight," Carlos interjected, making Mila smile at his use of the word 'kiddos' and Gi roll her eyes at the complete and utter Carlos-ness it.

Imogen walked down the stairs, drying her curls on a bright blue towel as she did so. Her expression perked up when she saw the boxes. "Ooh, what did you get?"

"You were in the shower when we ordered so I got you shrimp fries," Mila held up the box, and Ginny made a confused face.

"Shrimp fries?"

"The salesman was adamant they're good," they explained slightly sheepishly.

"They're saying they were bullied into it," Giani spoke through a mouthful of burrito with yet another eye roll.

"At least it's not those horrifying fries from Pier 39," Carlos shuddered.

"You mean the Gnarly Garlic Fries?" Lou asked as a way of announcing her entrance into the room.

"Do not mention those things to me ever again," Carlos raised a hand dramatically to block her from view.

Giani snorted. "You're just salty because you still can't pronounce it."

Leaning across the counter, she high-fived Lou who shrugged apologetically at Carlos' outraged gasp.

"It's not that deep, Carlos," Gi pushed the takeaway boxes towards him, and the group was distracted once more by grabbing their dinner items.

<<*>>

@milaslavik new location who this 

❤️ 100 💬 5

@asterelodie xx

@carlosmrossi thanks for cropping me munching on my burrito out of the photo

↪ @milaslavik of course <33

@riaa.slavik this looks so cool! (call me!!)

↪@milaslavik (of course!!)

<<*>>

Later that night, after much unpacking and procrastination of unpacking, the group gathered around the coffee table in the living room area, the electric fire switched on and everyone holding a mug of hot chocolate (Mila's and Imogen's with sprinkles, Carlos' spiked.)

"I have an idea," Aster suggested. "Let's play Never Have I Ever to get to know each other a bit better!"

"Politely, the fuck does that mean?" Carlos asked.

Thy laughed good-naturedly. "Someone says something they haven't done, and if you've done it you take a sip of your drink. It's usually with alcohol, but..."

"Huh."

"I'll go first," Imogen offered. "Never have I ever... met someone famous."

Aster and Lou took sips of their drinks.

"Who did you meet?!"

"I've met a couple of authors, and some Doctor Who companions at various conventions," Lou shrugged.

"That's cool!" Mila smiled supportively. "How about you, Aster?"

"I met Josh Hutcherson once," she grinned at the memory.

"What? How?!"

"When the final hunger games movie press tour came to Canada, I was old enough to go and I got lucky. Really lucky."

"Do you have a picture?"

"I'm sure it's on my Instagram, I'll find it later," Aster told them. "D'accord, I'll go next. Never have I ever cheated on a test."

Both Carlos and Gi drank and so did Mila, who looked very guilty.

"Those two I get, but Mila?" Thy gasped as if he'd been personally wronged. "No!"

"It wasn't my fault! The teacher left the classroom, and someone started calling out the answers," Mila explained, near tears.

"Hey, it's okay, we're not judging you," Lou said, emphasising the final word.

Carlos and Gi looked unbothered at the implication.

"Carlos, it's your turn," Thy prompted.

"Oh, Jesus, this will take a while," Giani groaned, earning her the middle finger from her brother.

"Never have I ever... hmmm..."

"Wanna watch a movie while we wait?" Imogen held up the remote control like an award.

"Oh, why don't we see if we can get an episode of Friends on?" Mila pitched in.

Carlos mumbled something in Italian, and Giani snorted.

"What did he say?" Aster inquired.

"Believe me, you don't want to know." 

A/N

advent day 3!!

 I forgot how to write this fic so this chapter is me rediscovering my ability to write it

will be updating soon, check my profile for gift chapter info & advent updates! 

also carlos m rossi is 10/10 thank you for coming to my ted talk