The Lost And Forgotten Memories

      Meanwhile, Jamie and Rebecca are accepting Frederick and Alicia at home, who took Amanda. Also, Letitia and Anthony and Victor and Lydia are going to join them soon, but they are a little late. However, Terrence and Edward’s parents and Raquelle’s grandfather and aunt do not have to be bored, and they get a lot of pleasure from speaking to each other and spending time with Amanda, who is playing with her teddy bear and eating something delicious that Rebecca just gave her.       “M-m-m, it’s so yummy!” Amanda pronounces with enjoyment, eating what’s on a small plate. “Mrs. MacClife, you’re a magician! You cook amazingly!”       “Thanks a lot, my sunlight,” Rebecca thanks amicably, getting blushed and fixing her hair shyly. “If you want more, feel free to say it.”       “We’ve heard a lot about your cooking skills,” Alicia replies confidently with a shy smile, moving Amanda’s hair off so that it does not get into the plate with food. “Whatever you cook, it becomes a masterpiece.”       “I’ve always loved cooking. I’ve been doing it since I was seven – when my mother allowed me to come to a cooker and take a knife. And I will not be shy… Everybody in my family loved my dishes much more than my mother’s. And she confessed that I cooked much better. And my father said I should’ve become a cooker and gone to work at a restaurant.”       “Will you teach me to cook?” Amanda asks with widely open, little naive eyes. “So, I can give Mommy something tasty when she’s back home from work.”       “With pleasure, my princess.”       “But start with simple dishes,” Alicia says confidently. “I don’t want Amanda to hurt her hand accidentally or turn a pan of hot water over her.”       “Of course, not, Mrs. Middleton. Only the easiest and quickest dishes. Everything I could cook at the age of your daughter.”       “Awesome!” Amanda exclaims happily.       “Don’t worry, Amanda, you will have time to learn to cook,” Jamie replies with a slight smile, leaning back in the sofa. “Don’t rush to grow up. That’s very good you aim to learn everything early, but all in time. And you get experience only after a long practice.”       “I know, Mr. MacClife. But I’d like to amaze my friends, Mommy and you. Let everybody know that I’m very household and can do household management not worse than adult people.”       “It’s so good you’re helping your mother at your wish,” Frederick notices confidently, sitting on another side of Amanda. “She comes back home tired and needs to do many things before going to sleep.”       “I cook dinners for Mommy! Sometimes I wash the floor and make a bed for her… She doesn’t make me – I do it at my wish. I just want to do nice things to her.”       “It’s true,” Alicia smiles shyly. “Sometimes I ask her to leave it all and play with her friends or do homework. But Amanda does everything first and then does her homework and calls her friends.”       “Oh, gosh…” Rebecca laughs shyly. “Some children can’t be made to do homework and clean their rooms… And here’s such an obedient and good girl. You’re so lucky, Mrs. Middleton.”       “I know, my darling,” Alicia smiles amicably and caresses Amanda’s head softly. “I’m very lucky to have a daughter like her.”       “Boys will stand in a line soon,” Frederick assumes funnily. “Many of them would love such a careful and hard-working girl.”       “That’s right!” Jamie exclaims cheerfully. “Get ready, Mrs. Middleton! Your daughter is going to have many possible partners.”       “I don’t think so,” Amanda assumes shyly. “Boys don’t love me, and they always hurt me, even if I always say they must respect girls.”       “Boys just don’t know how to get a girl’s attention and do what she calls bad,” Jamie explains amicably. “All boys are the same at your age. Not just yours. They will learn to treat girls well, but not very soon. It requires experience. And brains.”       “But why do boys always hurt girls and laugh at them alongside their friends? Why do they have fun when a girl gets into an awkward situation and becomes an object for mockeries?”       “They’re children, Amanda,” Frederick smiles shyly. “Boys grow up and get smart much later than girls. While they’re young, they only care about laughing and playing. But even if a man grows up and gets wiser, a little baby is still living inside him and may let him know about themselves many times.”       “Do you want to say a baby is also living inside Terrence? And Edward? And their friends?”       “Of course. Those guys seem very serious and responsible, but sometimes they let themselves relax.”       “And there’s nothing bad in it,” Rebecca replies amicably. “Anyway, Terrence, Edward, and their friends may only play the fool in the company of each other and their girls. But when they have to, they get too serious and responsible.”       “But when will boys be as good as Terrence?” Amanda asks.       “Who knows, sweetie…” Frederick shrugs. “But when a boy is ready to take responsibility for his actions, it means a lot. A boy would not love to be responsible for anything and often makes others, maybe weaker people, do everything. The difference between a boy and a man is that the first one would not love to be responsible for anything, and the other always fixes his mistakes and takes care of his close people, friends, and family.”       “Do you really think so?” Amanda opens her eyes widely.       “We went through that, my sunshine,” Jamie replies with a slight smile. “We hurt girls, refused to pay for our actions, and didn’t have goals… We just enjoyed our lives and wanted to be responsible for nothing.”       “My gosh…” Amanda opens her mouth, looking at Frederick surprisingly. “Mr. Cameron, you’re so smart! How much you know!”       “Trust me, Amanda, you’ll understand a lot when you grow up,” Frederick replies confidently. “To understand some things, you need to grow up or overcome them. It’s hard to understand a person when you’ve never run into it.”       “But I understood Raquelle well when she was crying, while Terrence was in the hospital. I know she appreciates him as much as I appreciate my mommy. If Mommy feels very bad, I’ll cry, as well. Because I love her so much.”       “Don’t think about it, sweetheart,” Rebecca says softly with a slight smile. “Terrence is fine now, and Raquelle is very happy. And your mother has no reason to be sad and cry.”       “Would you also cry as bitterly as Raquelle did if something, heaven forbid, happened to Mr. MacClife?”       “Of course, sweetie! Jamie is my husband, the father of my sons, and my beloved man. I love him with all my heart for what he is and can’t imagine my life without him. We’ve been married for a bigger part of our lives and gotten through a lot.”       “And you, Mr. MacClife?” Amanda moves her eyes to Jamie. “Are you afraid to lose your beloved woman?”       “Gosh, Amanda, don’t make Mr. and Mrs. MacClife blush,” Alicia laughs shyly, fixing Amanda’s hair and hugging her cutely around the shoulders.       “No, it’s alright, Mrs. Middleton,” Jamie waves his hand with a slight smile. “Rebecca and I are happy to talk and spend time with your daughter.”       “Forgive her, please. She is quite talkative, sociable, and very curious.”       “No hurt, Mrs. Middleton,” Rebecca pronounces confidently.       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which the adult people drink some water from their glasses, while Amanda eats the rest of her food.       “So, what, Mr. MacClife?” Amanda asks shyly.       “The same Rebecca did,” Jamie replies confidently with a slight smile. “She is my wife, my beloved woman, whom I adore and am afraid to lose. She’s the amazing mother of my sons, whom I’m madly proud of. My family is the reason I live and can give a lot. I may lose everything and accept it, but if I don’t have my wife and children, I will have no reason to live in this world.”       “My family is the meaning of my life, too,” Rebecca smiles shyly. “Without my husband and children, I’m not interested in living.”       Rebecca and Jamie take each other’s hands confidently and share a tender gaze and slight smiles with each other.       “Aw, it’s so cute…” Amanda pronounces dreamily with a wide smile.       “Listen, sweetie, don’t you wanna walk and play on the back of the house?” Alicia suggests, chuckling quietly and hugging Amanda around the shoulders. “The sun is shining outside, and it’s hot. That’s what you love.”       “Yes, sweetheart, take your bear and play there,” Rebecca suggests amicably.       “Can I do it?” Amanda opens her eyes full of gloss wider.       “Of course, honey,” Jamie nods with a slight smile. “But be careful and don’t fall into a pool. There is a slippery surface near it.”       “Alright, I will be careful! But can I take that rag doll, which is placed on the table in the corner? I like it so much!”       “Yes, of course,” Rebecca shrugs.       “Thanks a lot! You are amazing! Terrence and Edward are so lucky to have such amazing parents like you!”       “Nice to hear it,” Jamie replies shyly.       Amanda smiles widely at everybody, then runs quickly to the table in the corner of the living room with a teddy bear in her hands, and takes the rag doll she talked about. Then the girl runs funnily to the glassy door leading to the back of the house, opens it, and goes outside, leaving the adult people watching her with a slight smile alone.       “Oh, gosh, what a precious child!” Rebecca smiles widely.       “Yes, that girl is a gem,” Jamie nods confidently. “And I think of Raquelle when I look at Amanda.”       “I will tell you more, Mr. MacClife: Amanda is very similar to Raquelle at the age of my granddaughter,” Frederick confesses confidently. “Yes, there are some differences, but they look alike at the age of Alicia’s daughter.”       “It’s one of the reasons why Amanda stole my heart when I met her,” Alicia says with a slight smile. “Raquelle has always been like my own daughter, whom I adore so much. But realizing that my girl is no longer a baby and is living her own life made me think better. I am not able to give birth, but I could take a child from an orphan house.”       “You made the right choice,” Jamie replies confidently. “I’m sure that Amanda is going to be an amazing daughter to you. And trust me, she’ll always be grateful to you for taking her to your home.”       “I believe she is going to be a good housewife,” Rebecca assumes with a slight smile. “She will not be a lazy girl.”       “No, no, she will not be lazy!” Alicia shakes her head. “Amanda can do a lot and doesn’t have to have her nose put in something.”       “A girl must be able to do everything, even if she doesn’t meet the one to give her a chance not to do all of that.”       “Anyway, her future husband is going to admire her,” Frederick assumes with his head proudly raised.       “Undoubtedly,” Jamie adds confidently. “Boys will get a crush on this girl and get to get her.”       “Who knows, Mr. MacClife…” Alicia smiles shyly. “Anyway, I will do my best for my daughter’s life to be good. And I shall only give her to a trustworthy man.”       “She can bring her admirers to us,” Frederick suggests cheerfully. “So, we can surely say whether Amanda can date them.”       “Yeah, we’ll see them all through!” Rebecca adds confidently.       “When I looked at Terrence on the day we met, I told Raquelle that she would be in the trustworthy hands.”       “I was also sure that she would be lucky with him,” Alicia confesses shyly.       “Same in Raquelle’s case,” Rebecca replies amicably. “I liked that girl at first sight. I quickly realized that my son would be happy with her. She wasn’t like the girls that Terrence had dated before. Many of them seemed shy, but there was something that pushed me off so badly.”       “And we liked Natalia when we met her for the first time,” Jamie notices. “But I’m going to tell you that Edward has always had a good taste for girls. I saw some of his girlfriends, whom he brought home, and I liked all of them. Intelligent, shy, educated… And very beautiful.”       “As they say, he’s got a good taste.”       “Yes! So, ladies and gentlemen, the sons of Rebecca and me are in trustworthy and caring hands.”       “Just like the girls, who are in the strong and trustworthy hands of the wonderful men,” Alicia replies with a slight smile.       Everybody nods with a shy smile and says nothing for a few seconds, drinking water and eating sweet food, the plate of which is placed on the coffee table.       “Listen, the Rochesters and the Johnsons are late…” Frederick notices thoughtfully. “They should’ve come a long time ago!”       “Yeah, they’re a little late…” Jamie nods.       “I’m not surprised about Mr. Johnson because he has a lot of work and warned that he could be late,” Rebecca replies thoughtfully. “But the Rochesters have a free day, as Mrs. Rochester told me.”       “Maybe, they are in a traffic jam?” Alicia throws her hands up. “Mr. Cameron and I were in the one for twenty minutes.”       “Oh, being in a traffic jam in such hot weather is terrible,” Jamie moans quietly. “When it’s cold, you can at least turn on the heater in a car. But even an air conditioner doesn’t save you in hot weather. And a car warms up while standing under the hot sun.”       “Right!” Frederick agrees. “When I was driving a car in my youth, I always had problems with it. I wasn’t lucky with my car because it always got broken. I always changed and fixed something.”       “Once, I didn’t have money for a bike.”       “Oh, I’m not a lover of such hot weather…” Frederick takes a handkerchief from the pocket of his t-shirt with short sleeves and wipes his little sweaty forehead. “I prefer coldness… Young people do feel good! They are always glad when it’s more than eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit.”       “And we, mature and old people, should carefully watch our health in such hot weather.”       “Oh, I have an extreme reaction to short changes in the weather,” Alicia confesses, putting her hand on her heart. “If it was very hot for a week, and then it suddenly got cold, I’d literally fall, feel very bad, and take a lot of drugs. My bones hurt, my heart beats faster, and my blood pressure gets higher. It started some time ago – literally two years ago. I hadn’t cared if it was hot or cold outside before.”       “Yeah, old age is bad,” Jamie sighs quietly. “You may get envy young people, who don’t know what blood pressure changes are. I’ve personally, lately suffered from a low one.”       “We’ll always have some illness now, Mr. MacClife,” Frederick replies. “But if you try to think of good things and live an active life, it will be much better for you. My legs hurt, my heart does bad things, and my blood pressure is jumping. But I take it easier because I always try to get busy with something and move a lot. When you lie and do nothing, your illness visits you with pleasure.”       “Ah, Mr. Cameron… Nowadays, it’s so hard to be happy and funny all the time. One or another person may give me problems at work. Or something happens to my family.”       “Well, as for the family, all the problems are, fortunately, solved,” Alicia notices with a slight smile.       “You noticed it right,” Frederick replies confidently. “The guys are coming to themselves after the hell that happened to them.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Rebecca looks at Alicia and Frederick hesitantly.       “Yeah, before the Rochesters and the Johnsons come…” Rebecca says carefully. “Do you know Terrence and Raquelle made peace after the scandal because of the miscarriage?”       “Yes, we know,” Frederick nods. “Terrence went to my home one day after their scandal, explained everything to Alicia and me, and apologized for the way he behaved toward Raquelle.”       “We let Terrence know he did a disgusting thing and disappointed us again,” Alicia adds. “But we showed sympathy for the loss of the baby and gave him another chance. For Raquelle. She loves him.”       “Jamie and I also scolded him and judged his disgusting behavior toward his parents, Raquelle, and Edward,” Rebecca says quietly. “But we weren’t mad at him for a long time. However, we were shocked when Terrence went to our home, screamed at us, blamed us for all possible sins, and dared to behave terribly toward his brother.”       “Listen, we feel very embarrassed for you,” Jamie expresses regret with sadness in his eyes. “Raquelle didn’t deserve what she had to tolerate from him. Sadly, we can do nothing about his excessive aggression. Life has given Terrence so many lessons, but it doesn’t lead to any result yet.”       “And Alicia and I feel very embarrassed for you because of Raquelle,” Frederick confesses guiltily. “She did not also behave well. Your son is her husband, and she should’ve solved that problem with him, without getting Edward, you, and me involved in it.”       “Don’t worry, Mr. Cameron, Mrs. Middleton,” Rebecca replies quietly. “It doesn’t make sense now. Thank God, Raquelle and Terrence solved that problem and learned some lessons.”       “And I hope their baby will be born someday and make our dream come true,” Alicia expresses hope with a slight smile.       “At least, now they openly talk about a wish to make a baby,” Jamie notices confidently. “It means we will have grandchildren!”       “Yeah!” Frederick exclaims with his head proudly raised. “Now we only need to wait!”       Everybody in the living room shares an amicable smile with each other, eats something, and drinks some water from their glasses.       “Yeah, don’t you know when Raquelle is going to tell the others about the baby?” Jamie frowns slightly. “Terrence and Edward promised to keep silent until she said. And we can’t tell the Rochesters and the Johnsons that.”       “Who knows, Mr. MacClife,” Alicia shrugs. “Raquelle hasn’t said when she wants to tell her friends she had a miscarriage. But she promised to do it. Everybody suspects something and looks at Edward badly, who’s been aware of that for a long time.”       “Maybe, she will do it when she meets her friends?” Rebecca assumes. “Mrs. Rochester said Raquelle, Anna, and Helene went to store with Natalia to buy something for the wedding.”       “Come on, Mrs. MacClife!” Frederick laughs shyly. “The girls are now interested in trying on dresses and jewelry.”       “Yeah, these girls are such fashionistas,” Jamie chuckles amicably. “And getting ready for the wedding is a holy thing to them! The brides and their bridesmaids must look gorgeous on that day.”       “And the men will think about what to put on at the last moment,” Rebecca laughs shyly. “At least, I haven’t heard Edward or Terrence are going to pick up a suit. And Daniel and Peter don’t rush to order a suit.”       “It’s okay, my darling!” Alicia chuckles quietly. “They will wake up when it’s one week or less before the wedding!”       “Brushing and picking up a good suit takes a few minutes,” Jamie notices confidently. “We, men, do it fast. But you, ladies, should start getting ready six months before the day. And stand in front of the mirror and dress up since the morning.”       “A woman, who respects herself, must take care of herself at any age.”       “And not all women get ready for a long time,” Rebecca adds confidently. “I have had a habit of getting ready for ten or fifteen minutes.”       “I’ve known Natalia for way too long and always noticed that she might take a lot of time to get ready,” Frederick notices. “That’s why she was late for school, meetings with her friends, or somewhere else. But Raquelle could get ready super quickly: if she said she needed five minutes, she would be ready in five minutes.”       “Sometimes Edward complains that Natalia doesn’t often come at the right time,” Jamie notices. “He says he could do a lot of things while waiting for her to come to him and say she’s ready to go.”       “The girl just wants to be beautiful for her soon-to-be husband,” Alicia replies. “Showing herself with bad hair, in shabby and dingy clothes, and with a bad manicure and makeup is a catastrophe to her.”       “Gosh, my son would be happy to see her without these things. Edward is a fervent supporter of nature. He doesn’t like when a girl tries to change what was given to her by nature. And he has never dated girls, who did makeup to become different people.”       “You know, we can understand him,” Frederick notices confidently. “On TV, I see many young girls, who make themselves frightful consciously and think it’s beautiful. They get a lip augmentation and breast implants, put on hair and nails, and inject something into the face.”       “Because they’re insecure,” Rebecca assumes. “Those girls try to change themselves because they can’t love themselves for what they are. Though it hurts when a good, sympathetic girl makes herself nobody knows what. And she believes she will become beautiful and popular with boys. While adult men, who want serious relationships, reject someone like them!”       “Absolutely agree! Gosh, I…” Frederick shakes his head. “I get horrified because girls watch this and believe it’s fine. They’d better learn to do makeup to express their beauty. Not like prostitutes, heaven forbid, but naturally.”       “Edward looks at these ladies and gets mad,” Rebecca replies confidently. “And I absolutely agree with him. It’s hard for me to imagine what it’s like to have something in your body. And I don’t want to see a different person in the mirror. I am used to seeing me, my face! Even if it has many wrinkles! Even if I don’t have the perfect skin that I had in my youth! I want to be me! Mother made me like this.”       “Thank God, for saving Raquelle, Natalia, Anna, and Helene from this trend!” Frederick raises his hands. “Thank God!”       “I don’t know what I would do to Raquelle if she wanted to do that stupid thing,” Alicia replies confidently. “We would not let her get implants in her breasts and make her lips worse.”       “The men will not also let the girls make themselves ugly,” Jamie replies confidently. “Their beauty criteria are definitely right.”       “No, no, no, we can be quiet about these girls,” Rebecca raises her hands. “And we will ban their children from thinking about any changes to their appearance.”       “The Rochesters will also not caress Natalia’s head for that,” Frederick assumes. “And Anna’s parents and Helene’s grandmother will do something to wash the girls’ brains.”       “With God’s help, Mr. Cameron!” Alicia exclaims.       A few seconds later, everybody in the living room stops talking with a glass of water in their hands because someone rings at the door, and they move their eyes to it.       “Here are the visitors!” Jamie exclaims.       Jamie puts his cup of coffee on the table, gets up, and goes to the hall door, which he opens quickly. Then he sees Anthony and Letitia Rochester in a wonderful mood.       “Oh, hello, Mr. Rochester, Mrs. Rochester,” Jamie smiles slightly. “We’ve been waiting for you!”       “Hello, Mr. MacClife,” Letitia and Anthony greet after crossing the line.       Jamie greets Anthony by shaking him tightly by the hand, hugs Letitia, and shares an amicable kiss on the cheek with her.       “Come in,” Jamie makes an inviting gesture.       Anthony and Letitia enter the house confidently.       “We’re sorry for coming late,” Letitia apologizes. “The engine of our car overheated in the middle of the way in the hot weather, and we couldn’t start it. We barely brought it to life.”       “It’s alright,” Jamie pronounces, closing the hall door. “Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Middleton were also in a traffic jam for a long time.”       “Yeah, we've had so many problems due to the heat,” Anthony replies tiredly. “Working is impossible…”       “Absolutely agree…”       A few seconds later, Letitia, Jamie, and Anthony come to the living room, where Rebecca, Frederick, and Alicia, who are waiting for them, get up from the sofa and put their glasses on the table.       “Oh, what people!” Frederick exclaims with a slight smile. “Mrs. Rochester! Mr. Rochester! We thought you wouldn’t wish to join us.”       “If you think so, you’re hurting us,” Letitia replies amicably.       Everybody greets Letitia and Anthony, who just came here, by hugging or shaking their hands, and Alicia and Rebecca share an amicable kiss on the cheek.       “Oh, Mrs. Middleton, it’s so good you joined us,” Letitia says confidently. “We talked a lot about you.”       “Yeah, I finally managed to spend time with wonderful people,” Alicia smiles shyly.       “By the way, ladies and gentlemen, Letitia and I are apologizing for coming late,” Anthony apologizes amicably. “The fault is with the car that we couldn’t start due to the overheated engine.”       “It’s alright!” Rebecca waves a hand. “They say buses may be late and overcrowded.”       “It’s true,” Letitia nods. “And one woman collapsed when Anthony and I were going by a bus stop.”       “Oh, gosh…” Alicia sighs tiredly. “I’m not used to this heat…”       “Only children and teens feel good now,” Jamie replies, looking at the back of the house.       “Listen, who is that girl playing at the back of the house?” Letitia frowns slightly, seeing Amanda playing with her teddy bear and the rag doll. “I’ve never seen her before.”       “It’s my adopted daughter,” Alicia replies with a slight smile.       “Your adopted daughter?” Anthony rounds his eyes.       “Yes, I suggested she come here and meet all of you, and she agreed with pleasure. I mean, she has known Mr. and Mrs. MacClife since the day Terrence ended up in the hospital. And I’m ready to introduce her to you and the Johnsons right now.”       “A sweet girl,” Anthony notices.       “Wait, Mrs. Middleton, did you already finish adopting your daughter?” Letitia frowns slightly, moving her eyes to Alicia.       “Everything is over, and I officially became the mother of that wonderful girl,” Alicia replies with her head proudly raised.       “That’s incredible!” Anthony exclaims with a wide smile. “Congratulations on this amazing event.”       “I’m sure that girl will have a wonderful mother,” Letitia adds with a slight smile.       “Thank you so much, Mrs. Rochester, Mr. Rochester,” Alicia thanks gently.       Letitia and Anthony share a slight smile with Alicia, who accepts their amicable hugs with pleasure.       “Listen, let’s sit down and drink something,” Rebecca points at the sofa. “What do you want, Mr. Rochester, Mrs. Rochester?”       “Oh, if I drink something in this hot weather, I will only drink something cold,” Letitia replies confidently, putting her purse on the sofa. “I don’t care what…”       “Me too,” Anthony pronounces, putting a hand on his forehead. “Give us something cold, with ice.”       “One second,” Rebecca nods. “And you relax here.”       Rebecca goes to the kitchen, while the others sit on the sofa and install themselves comfortably.       “Hey, will Mr. and Mrs. Johnson not come?” Anthony asks.       “Of course, they will,” Jamie replies amicably. “They’re also probably in a traffic jam. Or the engine of their auto broke.”       “Only those, who swim in the sea on a beach or go to a store where an air conditioner is working, feel good now,” Letitia assumes, taking a magazine from the table and starting to wave it at her. “And those, who are sitting at home. Drinking cold water.”       “I think Natalia and her friends feel good now…” Alicia notices with a slight smile. “As well as men…”       “Yes, the girls went to stores to pick up dresses for the bridesmaids.”       “Thank God! They couldn’t get out somewhere due to their problems.”       “I hope Raquelle, Helene, and Natalia will distract Anna from everything that happened to her,” Frederick expresses hope. “The poor girl suffered much more this time.”       “Oh, thank God, those sick stinkers got caught,” Anthony exhales sharply. “And we made sure again that Mr. Johnson and his colleagues know their job.”       “Not only, Mr. Rochester,” Alicia replies confidently. “The men, especially, Daniel, and their doggy also completed their mission.”       “Yes, the men are really good fellows! Brave, confident, and ready to cut anyone’s throats for close people…”       “Daniel did an especially good work,” Jamie notices confidently.       “I’m starting to like that guy more and more,” Letitia smiles shyly. “He decided not to wait for everything to be over by itself and did everything he could.”       “He really did it well. A real man that keeps his promise, does not want to expect anything and be cowardly while standing aside.”       “I like the fact that Daniel recognized his mistake and knew he should’ve fixed it,” Jamie confesses confidently. “Even if he wanted to bury his head in the sand from shame.”       “A real man!” Anthony exclaims.       “By the way, Mr. Johnson praised him a lot. And Anna’s parents, as Victor said, started to love that guy much more. They’re so thankful to him for saving their daughter from those stinkers.”       “Yes, as it turned out, Anna’s parents aren’t so bad,” Letitia says thoughtfully. “The girls described them as if only Anna’s offender could be worse.”       “Does none of you know them?” Jamie wonders.       At this moment, Rebecca returns to the living room, holding a plate with a couple of glasses of cold water, puts them on the table, and sits on the sofa, while Anthony and Letitia take the glasses and drink some water.       “They weren’t quite sociable,” Alicia confesses. “They didn’t know the girls and their relatives. And Anna didn’t aim to introduce them to us. Though, she never hid that her family didn’t like the girls and the men, who she had ever spoken with.”       “Maybe, we will meet them someday,” Frederick shrugs.       “Listen, what if Anna’s parents attend the wedding of Edward and Natalia and Terrence and Raquelle on their invitation,” Rebecca says with a slight smile. “And if Helene’s grandmother comes…”       “Well, Natalia knows Helene’s grandmother well and may invite her to the wedding,” Letitia replies thoughtfully. “And Anthony and I talked to her well.”       “She’s a good woman,” Anthony adds. “She had a husband, but Helene said he died three years ago. But he was also a good man.”       “We originally thought her parents died, but we recently found out that they just abandoned her when they were teenagers. Her father got out before Helene’s birth, and her mother rejected her and wanted to leave her in the hospital. But Mr. and Mrs. Marshall took the newborn girl and raised her when their daughter left home.”       “Yes, Terrence mentioned that,” Rebecca frowns.       “And I’m shocked, to be honest,” Jamie adds. “Yes, those people were young, but that’s wrong. Rejecting the newborn girl, your own child…”       “My heart squeezes when I think about it,” Alicia confesses. “But thank God, Helene didn’t end up in a strange family and was raised by her family. They did a good thing by not leaving their granddaughter.”       “That’s right, but I will never understand Helene’s parents,” Letitia shakes her head.       “Me too…” Anthony agrees. “Nobody’s guilty of them not protecting themselves.”       “Erm, excuse me, Mr. Rochester, but will Natalia’s grandmother go to the wedding?” Alicia asks.       “Of course, she will,” Letitia nods confidently with a slight smile. “She’s always wanted to be at Natalia’s wedding. But first, my mother wants to meet Edward. She says, ‘I will not marry my granddaughter off before I meet her partner!’”       “So, when will they meet?” Frederick asks.       “We’ve wanted to introduce Mrs. Lascano to Edward for a long time, but we’ve had to cancel this meeting due to the problems,” Anthony confesses.       “Oh, I wouldn't even be worried because it’s clear that Mrs. Lascano will like Edward,” Jamie replies confidently, waving his hand. “My son can easily charm people.”       “We aren’t worried,” Letitia smiles shyly. “Mother is sure that Edward is very good, seeing the way my daughter gets blush when talking about him.”       “But she wants to meet him and talk face-to-face anyway,” Anthony adds.       “Be sure, Mr. Rochester, my son will easily charm Natalia’s grandmother,” Rebecca replies confidently.       “Edward has his own demons, but he’s very sweet, kind, and charming,” Frederick notices cheerfully.       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, after which the smiling Amanda returns to the living room, holding a teddy bear and a rag doll in her hands.       “Oh, it seems like it’s much hotter outside…” Amanda complains. “Being in this house is much better… I love hot, but not such a strong one…”       Amanda moves her eyes to Rebecca and Jamie.       “Mrs. MacClife, Mr. MacClife, can I drink some water?”       “Sure, sweetheart, one second,” Rebecca smiles shyly.       Rebecca gets up from the sofa and goes to the kitchen for a glass of water, while Alicia seats her daughter between her and Frederick, and Anthony and Letitia watch the daughter of Raquelle’s aunt with slight smiles.       “Girl…” Letitia addresses Amanda softly. “Girl, say, is this your mother?”       “Yes, this is my mother!” Amanda exclaims and presses herself close to Alicia. “The best and most beloved one in the world!”       “Do you love her so much?” Anthony asks.       “Much! Very, very much!”       “By the way, my dears, let me introduce my daughter Amanda to you,” Alicia introduces her daughter and hugs Amanda around the shoulders. “Honey, meet Anthony and Letitia Rochester. They are the parents of Natalia. The girl with blonde hair that you liked so much.”       “Nice to meet you,” Amanda replies amicably.       “We’re also happy to meet you,” Anthony smiles shyly.       “You have very beautiful hair, Mrs. Rochester. And you’re very beautiful, as well.”       “Oh, thanks a lot,” Letitia thanks shyly, softly fixing her blonde hair brushed up.       “By the way, when Edward introduced me to Natalia, I was nicely admired by her beauty. I had never seen such beautiful people. And her hair is so gorgeous.”       “Yes, my daughter is a beauty. She’s been told she’s very beautiful and memorable since childhood.”       “Hey, Amanda, have you already met Raquelle, your mother’s niece?” Anthony asks.       “Yes, I’ve already met her! Raquelle is also very beautiful! Mommy had told me a lot about her before. And it was very hurtful for me when my cousin cried bitterly because Terrence got a little sick. But when he got better, she started to smile. Her smile is so beautiful, and her fiancé is so good and kind. He loves me so much.”       “Raquelle just loves him very much and is worried even when he’s sick and sad. And Terrence would be madly worried if something happened to your cousin.”       “Even my teddy bear couldn’t calm her down, even though it had always made people smile.”       “Don’t think about it, sunshine,” Alicia replies softly, caressing Amanda’s head. “It’s alright now.”       “Thanks to God! I don’t like when someone is sad and suffering! And I want everyone to be happy!”       “Nobody suffers, sweetie,” Letitia says with a slight smile. “We’re thinking about the wedding.”       “Hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray!” Amanda happily claps her hands. “I wanna visit a wedding! I wanna look at the brides’ dresses. I wanna see how handsome the grooms would be.”       “Of course, sweetie,” Letitia replies thoughtfully. “Natalia and Edward and Raquelle and Terrence will be so happy to see you.”       “But what do I put on? I don’t have beautiful dresses!”       “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You and I will go to a store and choose the most beautiful dress.”       “Yes, yes, yes!” Amanda claps her hands happily. “I can’t wait!”       Meanwhile, Rebecca goes to the living room and gives the glass of water to Amanda.       “What can’t you wait for?” Rebecca wonders, sitting on the sofa.       “Go to the wedding!” Amanda replies confidently and drinks some water.       “Soon, sweetie, soon.”       “Do you think they’re gonna have a beautiful wedding?”       “Sure, sweetie. The wedding is going to be like the one that is described in tales about princes and princesses.”       “Yeah!” Amanda exclaims happily. “Are the princes and the princesses gonna get married before the guests and go to their castles in a beautiful carriage with horses and live happily ever after?”       “Something like that,” Letitia nods with a wide smile. “My daughter is gonna be a queen for her king.”       “Wow! Wow!”       Amanda falls into silence for two seconds and drinks some water from her glass, while the adult people do not hide their smiles and happiness that this little girl gives them. And then all of them hear a doorbell in the living room.       “Here are the Johnsons!” Jamie exclaims.       Jamie gets up from the sofa, goes to the hall door, opens it quickly, and sees only Lydia standing on the doorstep.       “Oh, hello, Mrs. Johnson,” Jamie greets amicably.       “Good afternoon, Mr. MacClife,” Lydia replies softly, crossing the doorstep.       Lydia and Jamie share a short kiss on the cheek and give each other an amicable hug.       “Where’s Victor?” Jamie frowns slightly. “Did you come without him?”       “Victor is now working on the car,” Lydia explains. “We barely came here.”       “Not surprised.”       “By the way, he asked you to come to him and help. My husband can’t do it alone.”       “Alright, I’m coming. And you go to the living room. Everybody’s waiting for you.”       “As you wish.”       Jamie goes outside, closes the door, and comes to Victor to help him, and Lydia goes confidently to the living room, where she sees everybody, whom she greets with some words and an amicable kiss on the cheek.       “You’re kind of late, Mrs. Johnson,” Anthony notices cheerfully.       “I know, I’m sorry,” Lydia pronounces shyly. “Our car barely survived this trip, and we almost got stuck in the middle of the way.”       “Oh, we also barely came here,” Letitia confesses, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.       “Yeah, I can’t wait for cold days… I am going to be honest, I do hate the heat.”       “I absolutely agree, Mrs. Johnson,” Frederick says confidently. “What’s happening now is too much.”       While Amanda gets interested in playing with her teddy bear, Lydia sits down with the others, and Rebecca, who goes to the kitchen again, offers her a glass of water that the woman takes with pleasure.       “Yeah, where’s Mr. Johnson?” Rebecca frowns slightly. “And where is Jamie?”       “Victor is working on the car, and Jamie went to help him,” Lydia replies quietly. “And my husband wants to smoke a cigarette.”       “I have the feeling that all cars will break down due to the heat,” Alicia chuckles kindly. “As well as buses…”       “Yeah… And I heard that it will be so hot for two or three days.”       “Oh, we’re going to suffer for a long time…” Frederick replies thoughtfully.       “At least, we’ll surely save ourselves from the heat here,” Rebecca replies confidently.       “At the moment, someone’s home or a good store are the only places where we can hide from the heat,” Lydia says quietly, drinking some water.       Everybody shares a slight smile with each other, slowly drinking water from their glasses and saying nothing for a few seconds. And a little later, Lydia pays her attention to Amanda sitting between Frederick and Alicia as quietly as a mouse and playing with her bear.       “Oh, I didn’t notice this sweet girl,” Lydia says with a slight smile. “Who is she, folks?”       “This is my daughter,” Alicia replies confidently, hugging Amanda, who distracts herself from the toy and looks at her mother. “I’ve recently finished adopting, and I have taken this girl with me.”       “Really?” Lydia shows true happiness. “Gosh! That’s awesome! Mrs. Middleton, my darling, congratulations.”       “Thanks a lot, Mrs. Johnson. By the way, my daughter’s name is Amanda.”       “Hello!” Amanda waves a hand. “Nice to meet you!”       “Me too, sweetie,” Lydia smiles shyly. “My name is Lydia Johnson.”       “Oh, your name is so beautiful. And you are very beautiful, Mrs. Johnson.”       “Aw, thank you for the compliment, sweetie.”       “How did you do such an amazing hairstyle?” Amanda asks, closely looking at Lydia, whose hair is brushed up beautifully. “I want to get the same one!”       “If you want, I can show you how to do it later. It’s not very hard and can be done without someone’s help.”       “I want to do it for the wedding of Edward and Natalia and Terrence and Raquelle! They say it’s gonna be a royal one, and I want to look like a princess on that day.”       “I got it,” Lydia nods confidently with a slight smile. “I promise I will teach you to do this hairstyle with pleasure or something better.”       “Do you know how the brides are gonna look?”       “Nobody knows it, darling,” Letitia replies amicably. “But you can have no doubt that the brides are going to be stunning. To my daughter, it’s very important.”       “And the grooms? The grooms also must be handsome!”       “The grooms will also be incomparable,” Rebecca smiles shyly. “The friends of the grooms and brides will do their best for the guests to admire their looks.”       “Ah, I can’t wait…” Amanda sighs dreamily. “At least to look at the brides in long dresses…”       Everybody in the living room starts to chuckle, getting tender feelings for Amanda, who stole all of their hearts, again. And two seconds later, Jamie and Victor come to them, being happy.       “Victor, finally!” Rebecca exclaims.       “We’ve been waiting for you,” Alicia adds.       “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I had some problems with my car,” Victor exclaims, raising his hands. “But now everything is fine.”       Everybody greets Victor by hugging him and shaking his hand, and the women share an amicable kiss on the cheek. Then he and Jamie go to the bathroom to wash their hands. Then the captain of the police sits next to Lydia and drinks some water from the glass offered by Rebecca, next to whom Mr. MacClife sits down.       “What are you talking about?” Jamie asks.       “About the wedding of Edward and Natalia and Terrence and Raquelle,” Anthony replies confidently. “About Amanda wishing to go to this celebration.”       “Erm, excuse me, but who is Amanda?” Victor asks thoughtfully.       “She is,” Frederick pronounces confidently, hugging Amanda around the shoulders. “This is Amanda. Alicia’s daughter.”       “Really?”       “Yes. By the way, Amanda…” Frederick moves his eyes to Amanda. “Let me introduce Victor Johnson to you.”       “Hello,” Amanda waves her little hand with a slight smile.       “Hi, hi! I wondered, who was the good girl holding a bear and sitting between Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Middleton.”       “She’s my mommy, and he’s the grandfather of my cousin Raquelle. And this is my favorite bear, Tommy.” Amanda waves at Victor with the paw of her little teddy bear. “I never leave it alone. It gives me luck and brings people gladness.”       “Do you take it everywhere?”       “No, I don’t take it at school because I’m afraid to lose it. Or some nasty boys may steal it and tear it apart.”       “That’s right! You go to school not to play with toys or do stupid things with your schoolmates. You should study very well, make your mother happy with good scores and perfect behavior, and choose a future profession.”       “I study very well!” Amanda says with her head proudly raised. “I’m the best student in my school and often participate in school competitions.”       “And has time to do homework, help mother, and take care of her when she’s tired,” Alicia adds with a slight smile.       “My gosh!” Victor exclaims.       “Amanda is very independent and can do many things. I don’t have to remind her of something because she knows what to do.”       “Gosh, what a precious daughter you have. I’m so happy for you, my darling. Congratulations. With all my heart.”       “Thanks, Mr. Johnson.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which everybody shares a slight smile.       “Excuse me, Mrs. MacClife, can I go to play in the back of the country?” Amanda asks.       “Sure, darling, go,” Rebecca replies amicably. “The adult people will talk a little.”       “Alright!”       Amanda gets up quickly from the sofa, runs to the door that leads to the back of the house with the bear and the doll in her hands, and goes outside.       “Gosh, what a precious child!” Lydia admires truly, putting her hand on her heart. “I suddenly thought of my Diana being as young as Amanda. She was also a good baby that everybody admired.”       “She kind of reminds me of Raquelle,” Victor confesses thoughtfully. “It’s like this girl is her sister.”       “I thought about it when I saw her for the first time,” Alicia replies confidently.       “I hope a teenage age will not make her worse, and she will remain as obedient and kind as now.”       “I want to believe I will get through it. I’d like to believe I will have no problems with her, just like I didn't with Raquelle. Mr. Cameron and I never had great problems with her behavior when she was a teenager. My niece has always been very shy and obedient. Of course, we had hard moments, but we went through them, after all.”       “Maybe, girls are more obedient, but you must watch boys very closely,” Rebecca replies confidently. “Terrence gave me too many problems when he was a teenager. He always had a hard character, but he went out of control at that time. And when that time was over, I crossed myself and said, ‘Thank God!’ Though, that guy still can’t be called shy and obedient.”       “As if Edward was a good boy!” Jamie nods energetically. “That tomboy never stayed in the same place and always looked for trouble. However, nothing has changed since that time. He’s still restless and tries to put his fingers into a socket.”       “All boys are the same…” Anthony replies thoughtfully. “When I was younger, I hated to stay at home and go to lessons. I wanted to run, jump, and something like that…”       “Nevertheless, you built a career, got married, and raised a wonderful daughter,” Victor says confidently. “You only need to raise your grandchildren. And you can think you lived your life for a reason.”       “Oh, Mr. Johnson, it’s too early to talk about grandchildren,” Letitia laughs shyly. “Let our daughter get married and live with her husband for a while.”       “Besides, they will get a chance to babysit their nieces or nephews if Terrence and Raquelle get ready for a child earlier,” Anthony adds.       “By the way, I think it’s weird that Terrence and Raquelle are about to get married, but none of them talks about a wish to make a baby…” Lydia notices confidently.       “Come on, Mrs. Johnson, don’t hurry the time up!” Jamie waves his hand. “They recently solved their problems and their friends’ ones. Give them some time to come to themselves and put their brains in order.”       “I hope both of them really want it,” Victor expresses hope. “It doesn’t make sense to make a child that is like a fifth paw of the dog to you just to please someone.”       “Of course, they want!” Alicia exclaims. “You know that Terrence has always dreamed of it! And Raquelle wants a baby, even if she doesn’t tell everyone about it. Both love Amanda so much and play with her with pleasure.”       “Don’t be mad, folks, but sometimes I have a different opinion about Raquelle…” Letitia confesses. “When Anthony, Natalia, or I talk to Raquelle about children, she reacts kind of weirdly. As if… She doesn’t want to have a child.”       “Mr. Rochester, how could you think about it?” Frederick gets horrified. “Of course, Raquelle wants to become a mother someday. She’s never said she didn’t like children and would live without them.”       “But somehow Natalia talked to Letitia and me and assumed that Raquelle’s weird behavior had to do with a baby,” Anthony replies thoughtfully. “It’s kind of what she’s afraid to tell Terrence.”       “Gosh, haven’t you found out what happened to her?” Victor wonders, rounding his eyes.       “Alas, Mr. Johnson, she hasn’t talked to her friends about it,” Letitia shrugs.       “But it’s been so long!”       “She’s probably afraid,” Lydia shrugs. “For example, Terrence’s reaction. We’ve talked a lot about his hard character!”       “Listen, what if it really had to do with a baby? What if Raquelle doesn’t really want to have children but says different things, so you don’t judge her? And she’s afraid to tell Terrence the truth?”       Before breaking the silence, Rebecca, Alicia, Jamie, and Frederick look at each other, realizing they need to change the subject as soon as possible and take off any suspicion.       “Anyway, Raquelle can’t be silent forever,” Jamie says quietly. “She’ll have to confess everything early or late.”       “Yeah, she’ll reveal everything when she’s ready,” Frederick adds thoughtfully. “Don’t press her and take everything out of her by force. Or my granddaughter will withdraw into herself much more.”       “But how long is she going to keep silent and torture everybody?” Victor throws his hands up. “Raquelle must understand that everybody will know what’s happening to her, early or late.”       “We understand it, Victor,” Rebecca says quietly. “But we must not press on her. The fact that she is afraid of Terrence is enough. Afraid of his reaction that might be unpredictable.”       “Listen, folks, I believe you must take control of this situation.”       “We surely will,” Alicia promises confidently. “But we will not make her speak against her wish. Let my girl get ready for the confession.”       “Excuse me, but it can’t last forever,” Lydia notices confidently.       “It’s alright, we will wait.”       “So, do you want to do nothing?” Letitia wonders.       “Our efforts will lead to nothing.”       “Yeah, Raquelle will be stubborn again,” Frederick adds thoughtfully.       Victor, Lydia, Letitia, and Anthony frown slightly and look at each other. At first, they decide to question Alicia, Frederick, Rebecca, and Jamie better because they see these people definitely know something and look too quiet. But later, they decide not to meddle in their family’s businesses and to wait for them to wish to say everything.       “Alright…” Anthony shrugs. “Let’s wait… Maybe… We will be lucky, and Natalia, Anna, and Helene will find out something from Raquelle while waking in stores…”       “Who knows, Mr. Rochester…” Rebecca replies thoughtfully.       “Or maybe, the men will make her sure to speak out,” Jamie adds. “They did make Anna sure to speak out, and she stopped denying what everybody saw.”       “Ah, yeah, Anna…” Victor sighs quietly with sadness in his eyes. “I’m so happy that girl will no longer become a victim of those sick people.”       “Yeah, will those stinkers get a long sentence?” Letitia asks.       “From my side, I will do my best. But the Seymours’ lawyers, whom they hired, will also play a major role. The words of fewer witnesses and the victim, the good clues… We’ve got enough of that.”       “So, no reason to worry?”       “Don’t worry, my dears, those stinkers will get what they deserve. They are about to get a long sentence. The father of Anna’s offender will surely go to prison for a long time for the murder of his wife. And his sonny will not do away easily.”       “Gosh, how nasty some people are!” Alicia resents. “How could he poison his own wife?”       “I personally feel sorry for the younger son of that stinker…” Victor confesses with sadness in his eyes. “I saw him in despair when he told us everything about his father and brother. And how confidently he testified at the police station.”       “He lost his mother because of the two stinkers, who have never loved him…” Letitia sighs heavily. “And that woman’s death was so early and terrible…”       “That man showed an absolute readiness to collaborate with the police and was ready to do his best to put those men in prison. We took a statement from him on the day of the arrest of his father and brother and took all the clues that he gave us. The guy let us know he would be ready to come to us at any time if he had to. When examining the case and giving a sentence, the judge will surely examine his words and clues.”       “The most important thing is that those two don’t find a good lawyer and get acquitted…” Jamie replies confidently.       “No, Jamie, don’t worry. No layers will help them. Everything is going to be alright!”       “I hope those stinkers will go to prison for many years,” Alicia expresses hope.       “They will, don’t worry.” Victor drinks some cold water from his glass. “I’ve always said I believe in our law and justice.”       “Well, if you believe they will, we can be quiet,” Rebecca cracks a slight smile.       “By the way, I must confess that Anna has very good parents,” Victor notices confidently. “I don’t know what someone said, but I liked those people. So intelligent, educated, and caring…”       “The girls and the men liked those people, too,” Anthony replies with a slight smile. “And the Seymours accepted them well.”       “They were worried about their daughter… I remember the day I talked to them after Anna got beaten. Her mother and father were so excited and could barely keep their emotions inside. They blamed themselves for not being good parents. And during the operation, the Seymours were on pins and needles. They could not calm down and were worried that everything would go wrong. They had to give their everything not to betray themselves early and mess up everything.”       “Oh, I’m so happy that nightmare is over!” Frederick raises his hands. “That nobody threatens Anna, and her parents actually love their daughter and worry about her.”       “By the way, I’ve gotten kind of close to the Seymours. At some moment, we managed to talk about the girls, the men, and their families. I told them about all of you, and they expressed hope they’d meet you someday.”       “We’d be happy to meet them, too,” Lydia shrugs with a shy smile. “There would be more people! Not only do young people always come together. Adults also want to talk to their friends and relatives.”       “I promise I’ll introduce my mother to you someday,” Letitia promises confidently. “She’s very sociable and gets on well with anyone quickly. For example, all the doctors, who work on her, talk to her like close friends.”       “You’ve promised to introduce her to us for a long time, my darling,” Rebecca recalls.       “Sorry, Mrs. MacClife. Now my mother has some things to do, and we often go to the hospital. But I promise that you will meet her very soon. Maybe, Anna will introduce her parents to us someday, and Helene will let us meet her grandmother. And we will spend time together not worse than the youth!”       “I personally love spending time with good people with a cup of coffee or tea,” Alicia confesses with a slight smile. “You can rarely rush nowhere and spend some time with the people, many of whom you’ve known for ages.”       “We can easily go somewhere to have a rest!” Frederick says confidently. “Not only do young people go somewhere. Mature and old people also have a right to have a rest with their friends and could go to the country!”       “Oh, Mr. Cameron, I can’t stop being surprised by your endless energy,” Anthony laughs amicably.       “Life must be bright and unforgettable, my dear Mr. Rochester. While your legs hold you, you must not lie and stare at the ceiling.”       “You know, I think you’re going to have the energy to raise your great-grandchildren and marry.”       “Me?” Frederick rounds his eyes. “Marry?”       “Yes, Mr. Cameron, you can still be a groom,” Lydia adds with a slight smile. “Why don’t you get married to someone? Meet a good woman! So, you have someone to take care of you! You stayed alone after your granddaughter moved into her soon-to-be husband’s home!”       “No, no, come on!” Frederick laughs shyly. “What kind of wedding at my age?”       “Don’t say everything is over. Mr. Cameron!” Rebecca protests confidently. “People get married at any age!”       “No, marrying at my age is a bad thing!”       “Who told you this stupid thing?” Letitia wonders. “Marrying has never been a bad thing, no matter what your age is!”       “Gosh, what kind of groom am I? I’m about to turn seventy, but you make me a groom!”       “Don’t you watch a TV?” Rebecca wonders. “Somehow, I saw a reportage about a man getting married at the age of seventy! He lived at a nursing home and met a woman, with whom he decided to spend the rest of his life.”       “Yes, yes, I heard about it,” Victor nods confidently.       “I am for people, who conclude a marriage at least before thirty-five,” Frederick says confidently.       “No, it’s a stereotype: something is early, something is late!” Jamie exclaims. “It’s never too late! Vice versa, people, who get married late, are more ready for it and understand what marriage is. They’re more responsible for it than young people, who get married and then split up.”       “Yes, yes, Jamie is absolutely right!” Victor agrees. “It’s not too late to get your happiness.”       “Yes, you’ve still got it!” Lydia adds.       “No, no, folks, I’m out!” Frederick jams loudly, raising his hands. “Let young people get married!”       “Listen, do you want me to tell you something funny?” Alicia asks a little hesitantly.       “What, Mrs. Middleton?” Anthony asks.       “Once, Amanda tried to arrange a marriage between Mr. Cameron and me.”       “Come on?” Rebecca smiles widely. “Amanda tried to get you two married?”       “She always said we’d look good together. And she believes I would be a wonderful partner for him.”       “Gosh, Alicia, why did you say it?” Frederick gets confused, closing his face with his hand.       “What, folks!” Jamie exclaims cheerfully. “I believe that girl is absolutely right! Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Middleton would look good together.”       “Indeed!” Lydia agrees. “As far as we know, they are both single and somehow became widowed! And these two have always gotten along well. So, why don’t they get married?”       “What are you talking about?” Frederick protests.       “And don’t worry about a big age difference!” Victor adds confidently. “Many people, who are older or younger than ten years, get married nowadays.”       “Listen, that little girl does know everything about good couples!” Anthony notices cheerfully. “Maybe, she is a future matchmaker?”       “I can’t exclude it!” Letitia exclaims.       “Listen, we should take Diana and her husband to that girl and ask her about their couple,” Victor says cheerfully. “Maybe, Amanda really has a chance to become a professional matchmaker!”       Everybody starts laughing quietly and smiling, while Frederick and Alicia being a little confused look at each other and shake their heads.       “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we joked, and it’s enough!” Frederick says confidently. “Forget!”       “And actually, any couple may seem cute to children,” Alicia adds with a slight smile.       “Ah, that girl is going to have no time to watch other couples soon because she will be interested in making her own,” Rebecca replies confidently with a slight smile. “Be sure, Mrs. Middleton, that smart beauty will not stay without boys’ attention.”       “Her mother is going to push her admirers off her,” Anthony laughs shyly.       “No, my daughter will not date random people,” Alicia says confidently. “If she dates a boy, she will do it with my approval. I must know him and his wishes. I met Terrence, saw that he didn’t mean to do anything bad, and accepted his relationship with Raquelle.”       “That’s absolutely right, Mrs. Middleton!” Victor supports with his head proudly raised. “Parents must know those, with whom their children communicate.”       “But sometimes it’s very hard to talk to a child and make them sure to stop talking with bad people,” Letitia notices. “You know, they may be too in love, protest against their parents, want to be independent and mature… And something like that!”       “In this case, I would prefer letting a child learn from mistakes,” Frederick replies confidently. “I would undoubtedly talk to them and be by their side anyway, but if they didn’t listen, I would just say they have to understand it.”       “Trust me, Mr. Cameron, in some cases, a child may be too stubborn and do everything as they want, no matter how many times you explain something,” Jamie replies confidently. “I’ve gotten through it many times thanks to my two restless sonnies. The first one makes scandals out of nothing and can’t control his emotions, and the other one can’t stay in the same place and understands nothing when he gets a hit on the head with a stick.”       “It’s life, Mr. MacClife…” Lydia replies thoughtfully. “Boys dream of growing up and being independent as soon as possible. And girls easily lose their heads from being in love, often complain about something, turn any little weakness into drama, and worry about being criticized and reproached for something. Teens are worried about what others might think of them… They are dependent on their friends and protest against their close people.”       “Oh, you said everything right…” Letitia nods. “But thank God, we all got through this nightmare.”       “Ah, ladies and gentlemen, there’s no need to talk about it…” Victor sighs quietly with a slight smile. “Now our children don’t stop making us happy and proud of them and their successes.”       “You know, I’ll raise this glass for everything to keep going as it is,” Alicia replies confidently, raising her glass of water. “And for any problems not to rain thick upon them out of the blue.”       “Nice idea, my darling!” Rebecca exclaims, taking her glass. “Let’s drink for our children to be fine.”       “With pleasure!” Letitia and Lydia agree at a different time, taking their glasses of water.       “We’re with you, dear women!” Frederick says confidently, raising his glass up.       When Anthony and Jamie take their glasses, everybody says a couple of toasts, clicks each other’s glass with pleasure, and drinks some water. Then they keep talking about something interesting, not forgetting to watch Amanda, who keeps playing at the back of the house but comes back to them some time later.       

***

      After a long walk in the stores, Raquelle, Anna, Natalia, and Helene decide to spend some time with Scarlett, who is truly happy with the visit of her granddaughter’s friend. Sammy is also terribly happy to see the girls and does not leave them, naively believing that at least they will give him something tasty and give him some attention.       “Ah, girls, you all have grown up,” Scarlett says with a slight smile, sitting in a small armchair in her room and holding a glass of a cold drink. “You were little girls when I saw you the last time.”       “Helene and I often talk about you,” Anna confesses shyly, petting Sammy’s head and yanking him softly by the ears. “Somehow, we even thought of the late Mr. Marshall.”       “My granddaughter and I do not forget Roger. We often remember that amazing man and try to visit his grave regularly.”       “He was a good man…” Natalia replies with sadness in her eyes, holding a glass of drink with both hands as she is sitting on Scarlett's bed alongside her friends. “It’s been too many years since I met him, but I still remember him.”       “He changed since then so that you would’ve hardly recognized him. And looking at him before he died was terrifying.”       “It’s true,” Helene nods. “We barely recognized my grandfather… And we felt that his death was close.”       “Ah, it’s all so sad…” Raquelle replies quietly, running her fingers over the edge of her glass. “Very sad…”       Sammy barks with sadness in his eyes, as if he says everybody should better talk about something funnier.       “I think Sammy is right, girls,” Scarlett says thoughtfully and yanks Sammy by the ears after he comes to her. “Let’s not talk about bad things. You better tell me how you walked in the stores. Did you pick up dresses for the wedding?”       “Well, we tried on some dresses and asked them to put something aside for us,” Anna replies with a slight smile. “But the girls and I will check out a few more stores. Maybe, we will find something much better than those dresses…”       “Natalia, Raquelle, do you imagine the way you and your friends should look as brides and bridesmaids?”       “Sure, Mrs. Marshall,” Natalia smiles shyly.       “Picking up dresses for the wedding is a very hard but terribly interesting thing,” Raquelle adds.       “Besides, I’m a real fashionista and love experimenting with clothes.”       “I hope your future husbands will love your wedding looks,” Scarlett expresses hope.       “They will love it, trust me. My future husband will be overwhelmed when he sees me on the wedding day.”       “Helene and I will find the best dresses for Natalia,” Anna replies confidently.       “The grooms will be thrilled!” Helene exclaims.       Sammy barks quietly and confidently, while Scarlett smiles shyly and pets the doggy’s head.       “By the way, Mrs. Marshall, don’t you want to come to our wedding?” Natalia asks. “I’m inviting you personally.”       “Yes, Mrs. Marshall, come, please,” Raquelle says. “I promise it’s going to be very funny. And you will talk to our relatives and meet those you don’t know.”       “If I have time and the strength, I will come to congratulate you and the lucky men, who will be your husbands,” Scarlett promises confidently with a slight smile.       “Don’t refuse, Mrs. Marshall,” Anna says softly. “Maybe, my parents will also love to come there… They’ve lately talked a lot about their wish to get to know the families of my friends better.”       “Wow!” Helene exclaims. “Do they really wanna come?”       “It depends on their job. But my parents didn’t decline Natalia and Raquelle’s invitation when they asked if they wanted to attend their wedding.”       “So, I see you finally established your relationship with them, and they have nothing against your friends,” Scarlett notices amicably.       “Yes, now I’m much closer to my parents and feel their love, care, and support much better,” Anna replies with a slight smile. “And I’m so happy with it! I am happy that Mom and Dad learned to show their feelings.”       “You must not reject those, who raised you, Anna. You should take care of your parents and make them happy. Your mother and father have always wished you only the best, even if they don’t say it. There are those, who don’t love to tell everyone about their feelings. They love silently.”       “I’ve never thought of rejecting my parents. They’re very close people to me, and I madly love both of them. We didn’t just understand each other and wanted different things. But now everything is different. We started to hear each other. And actually, after getting divorced, Mom and Dad began to get on much better.”       “That’s right, sweetie. Your parents are the most important people in the world, who gave you life, raised you, and gave you everything.”       “I know.”       “Appreciate them for what they’ve given you, Anna. When you don’t have them, you will regret not giving them more attention.”       “I infinitely value everything they’re doing for me. And I try to be as close to them as possible.”       Sammy barks confidently, while Scarlett drinks some drink from her glass with a slight smile.       “Well, how are you doing, girls?” Scarlett asks. “And how are your men doing?”       “Our men are doing fine,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully. “They’re having fun all together.”       “Yeah, their debut album is going to be released soon, and then they’ll be touring around the world,” Natalia replies with a slight smile. “The guys are terribly excited and getting ready for that.”       “And where would they like to go more?” Scarlett asks.       “I don’t know, Grandma…” Helene throws her hands up. “Peter didn’t say it. But I think he’d go anywhere.”       “Well, Terrence has seen everything!” Raquelle exclaims. “For the years of his acting career, he’s traveled around the whole world!”       “And Edward wants to go to Spain,” Natalia confesses with a slight smile. “And he often talks about a wish to go to Mexico. The place where my grandmother and her Mexican husband lived for a long time.”       “Peter and Helene said Edward spoke Spanish.”       “He learned it at school and speaks it very well now. And I’m fluent in it. Since the early age. Thanks to Mom, Grandma, and her husband.”       “I know. They said it, too.”       “But who knows… Maybe, Edward and I will go there before the shows. Have a honeymoon after the wedding.”       “Have you discussed all the questions about the wedding? You do not only need to pick up dresses for the brides and the bridesmaids!”       “Our friends and parents help us with everything. At first, we wanted to solve all the problems on our own, but later we realized we wouldn’t do that. So, we let them know we needed their help.”       “But honestly, we’ve decided nothing and started to get ready for the wedding more seriously today,” Raquelle adds shyly.       “You don’t need to rush with these things,” Scarlett notices confidently. “A wedding day must be special to future spouses. Think of everything well, so nobody regrets anything. So, you don’t wish to change anything, viewing wedding photos twenty years later.”       “No, Grandma, you can have no doubt about Natalia and Raquelle,” Helene replies confidently with a slight smile, putting a hand on Natalia’s shoulder. “The girls won’t let themselves look bad. Cameron and Rochester are too responsible for getting ready for the wedding.”       “Ah, babe, when you’re gonna get married, you’ll also treat any little thing carefully,” Scarlett smiles shyly. “I felt all the same when I was getting married to your grandfather. I was terribly afraid that something bad would happen and was worried that I’d look bad. But luckily, everything was fine.”       “No…” Helene smiles cutely and moves her eyes down as her cheeks get blushed. “Talking about my wedding is too early.”       “Why, friend?” Anna wonders with a slight smile. “I think Peter sometimes thinks about proposing to you to marry! He isn’t gonna leave you and is more than just serious with you.”       “I’ll be terribly glad if it happens,” Scarlett smiles slightly. “I loved Peter since the first minutes after meeting him. And I advised Helene to pay attention to him many times. I saw that the guy looked at my granddaughter kind of specially.”       “And as you see, your granddaughter did it,” Raquelle smiles mysteriously.       “I’m not afraid to let my granddaughter go with such a trustworthy guy. Peter is just a gem. The real treasure that has a very high cost. Losing such a wonderful man would be a great mistake.”       Sammy barks confidently, making everybody smile shyly.       “Yeah, but I’ve lately had two wonderful protectors,” Helene notices shyly, grabs Sammy’s face softly with one hand, and slaps him on the nose with a finger. “But someone still can’t accept Peter as my man and always gets jealous of him and me. And sometimes this jealousy reaches all the limits.”       Sammy whines with great pity and sadness in his eyes and closes his face with a paw.       “No, Samuel, don’t even try,” Helene shakes her head confidently with an innocent smile, raiding her index finger. “Your punishment will last for one week. Maybe, you will realize that breaking someone’s things is bad. As well as jumping on beds and sofas.”       “But what did he break?” Natalia wonders.       “The shelf in the hall at Peter’s home. This restless, jealous boy broke it not to let Rose and me stay alone. And he was walking on his bed and lying on it with a happy face for five minutes. So, Peter and I decided to punish this little monster by depriving him of his favorite treats and hiding his favorite toys from him.”       Sammy whines with pity again and starts to look at Anna, Natalia, and Raquelle with a begging look, hoping to get help.       “Maybe, you won’t deprive him of food?” Anna asks with sadness in her eyes. “Especially, for such a long time!”       “Yes, friend, you just look into his eyes full of pity!” Natalia says, petting Sammy’s head and grabbing his face with both hands.       “He won’t do this anymore, Helene,” Raquelle adds confidently. “Forgive him.”       “No, girls, the decision of Peter and mine will not change,” Helene replies with her head proudly raised. “No treats for one week.”       “Don’t be so harsh to him,” Anna says shyly. “Sammy understood everything and wouldn’t do that anymore.”       “Even if it’s so, let him understand it better. And yeah, don’t feed him anything, please. When he serves his punishment, he will get his favorite treats.”       “No, sweetie, I think two days is enough for him,” Scarlett says with sadness in her eyes, stroking Sammy’s hair down. “How can you stay indifferent to Sammy’s eyes full of pity?”       “It’s okay, Grandma, if he wants his favorite food, he’ll be a good boy. If he breaks a thing at someone’s apartment or jumps on a bed, he’ll pay for it.”       “Oh, Helene, Helene… You’re too harsh on him. That’s wrong, babe.”       “Right, when someone starts to hang on your neck and thinks they are a commander.”       Sammy keeps whining quietly and looking for the support of Helene’s friends, who caress and scratch his hair with pleasure.       “Hey, Helene, forgive him,” Anna says with pity in her eyes. “Look how he’s regretting and trying to prove that he’s sorry!”       “Gosh, girls, Sammy has you tied up in knots, but you’re letting him do it,” Helene notices confidently. “Haven’t you understood that he’s trying to pity you?”       “And what?” Raquelle wonders, stroking Sammy’s hair. “Your grandmother is right: two days were enough for him to understand everything.”       “He should understand it much better. Understand that he should know the limits and not go out of moments that can be accepted quietly with humor.”       “He’s jealous of you for fun!” Anna exclaims with a slight smile. “You know that Sammy loved Peter so much and finds him a close person. Right, boy?”       Sammy barks loudly and confidently two times, looking at everybody amicably and wagging his tail.       “And I’m sure that he wants your wedding with Peter not less than all of us,” Scarlett adds with a mysterious smile.       Sammy barks much more happily, jumping happily and running around everybody with his tail wagging.       “He would be thrilled if Peter and Helene got married!” Natalia exclaims cheerfully.       “No, girls, don’t expect our wedding in the nearest time,” Helene replies shyly. “At least because Peter needs to find a good place to live.”       “But would you like to get married to that guy?” Raquelle asks.       “Of course, I would like. But I wouldn’t like to rush. I feel very good with Peter, and I feel special and beloved when I’m with him. But I won’t hint at anything or dare to take him down the aisle by force. But if Peter proposes to me to marry someday, I’ll agree immediately.”       “You know, if it doesn’t happen in one or one and a half years, the lads will start to rush Peter,” Anna assumes with a shy chuckle. “Just like it happened to Daniel… He said the guys laughed at him because of that…”       “What’s wrong?” Scarlett throws her hands up. “The guys wanted to see their friend happy and pushed him to the decision of marrying the one, who gave him happiness!”       “That’s right, but they also need a reason to have fun,” Raquelle replies confidently. “The lads find any reason to laugh and joke. Come all together and become little children.”       “They can’t always be gloomy! Let them relax and have some fun. After everything they experienced, they especially need to get some energy.”       “We have nothing against it,” Natalia shrugs. “We also need to come to ourselves.”       “Ah, if only doing something was as easy as saying…” Anna sighs quietly with sadness in her eyes.       “Anna, my girl…” Scarlett replies with pity in her eyes, sitting next to Anna on the bed, hugging her around the shoulders, and pressing her to herself.       “It’s all over, friend,” Helene says softly, caressing Anna’s hands folded in front of her. “We understand it’s very hard for you now, but you should forget everything that happened.”       “The problem is not about it, Helene…” Anna replies thoughtfully. “I just still can’t make a decision about my future and… I doubt every choice I can make.”       Sammy puts his face on Anna’s laps and looks at her with greater sadness in his eyes.       “Anna, dear…” Raquelle pronounces softly.       “I mean Daniel,” Anna pronounces quietly with sadness in her eyes. “I can’t decide what to do to him… Whether I should forgive him… Or we better break up… And… Try to remain friends. Because… We are gonna see each other at times.”       “I believe the decision is clear, friend,” Natalia replies with a mysterious smile. “If you love, you need to give the person a chance.”       “I don’t know, Natalia…” Anna puts her hands on her heart. “On the one hand, my heart is tearing apart at the thought that I might lose the one I love… Lose the one, whose sufferings I can’t stand. But on the contrary, I doubt… Fear is chasing me… A fear that I might be betrayed and left again. There are no guarantees that the same thing won’t happen again.”       Sammy whines with great pity in his eyes, while the others look at Anna with sympathy.       “My girl, but he didn’t want to betray you and proved his loyalty,” Scarlett says. “That guy almost sacrificed his life for you.”       “I know, Mrs. Marshall, but I still doubt,” Anna replies hesitantly. “I still have that scene in the hospital before my eyes! I remember how he kissed that girl. I remember everything I felt. I was so shocked that I can’t remember how I went to his home to take my stuff and leave.”       “We understand you, babe. But don’t forget about the events when they happened.”       “Anyway, he betrayed me. And I’m afraid that even if I come back to him, I may always think of that betrayer. By constantly reproaching and charging him for the betrayal, our relationship may get worse. I may not forget and forgive, and he may get sick of hearing all my charges.”       “You can do anything for love, darling. I know how much that guy loves you and is worried about what happened. The guys are helping him somehow, but having their support is not enough.”       “Yeah, but it’s going to be hurtful to get another knife in my back from the one I love so much.”       “Don’t turn your back on him, babe. Breaking up wouldn’t give you two anything good. You wouldn’t get happy, and he wouldn't either. No, maybe, love will be gone, but it will take a lot of time. It’s super hard to forget someone you’re attracted to so badly.”       “You did see his condition and the way he tortured himself,” Helene adds with sadness in her eyes. “These emotions are impossible to be false.”       “I don’t wanna come back to him because of pity, so he doesn’t do anything to himself,” Anna confesses quietly. “I wanna come back to him at my wish. To be with the one I love. The one, who I want to take care of. Without whom my life wouldn’t have a meaning.”       “But you do want it, darling,” Natalia replies softly. “You wanna be with the one, who’s dear to your heart. You saw everything. You saw what Daniel did to save you. After that, there are no doubts that he is as loyal to you as a dog.”       Sammy barks quietly but confidently.       “Sammy won’t lie,” Natalia smiles shyly.       “Ah, girls, I don’t know…” Anna sighs heavily, doubling over and running her hands over her face. “My heart wants to love and forget all the offenses, my soul wants peace, and I wanna be beloved and desired… But my brain tells me not to dare to forgive Daniel and, speaking rudely, to piss him off. Giving a damn about the fact that he could make me happy and help me become the one I was.”       “You’ll be unhappy without him, Anna,” Raquelle replies with sadness in her eyes. “Your friends and parents can’t make you as happy as Daniel. You need him. He’s your only chance to get peace.”       “I understand it… I understand I need him… I understand that I can’t live without him. But doubts always get obsessed with me and don’t let me say confidently that I’m ready to come back to him. That kiss makes me hate that man after I get a little softer toward him.”       “It’s always hard to take the first step, sweetie,” Scarlett notices softly. “You’ve already confessed that you want to be with him, and that’s good. Now tell yourself you want to be with your beloved man and get peace with him. Let him get closer to you. Overcome this barrier. Break it. And you will feel better. When you melt in his hugs, you’ll later forget to think about being mad at him.”              “If I break this barrier, I won’t surely be able to leave him and will attack him,” Anna says with a slight smile. “Not with insults, charges, and slaps, of course…”       “Then, do everything to let it happen,” Helene replies confidently with a slight smile. “Think of all the good things that Daniel has done for you as often as possible. Look for the dignity in him. The reasons why you got a love for him. Why he got you attracted to him.”       “I’d really love to find the strength to forget and forgive. But I can’t do this yet.”       “You don’t have to do this now, Anna,” Scarlett says softly. “Helene, Raquelle, Natalia, and I don’t make you forgive him immediately. You all need to wait for some time, calm down, and come to yourself. I don’t think Daniel himself wants to talk to you or is rushing to establish his relationship with you right now. It was much harder for him than all of you.”       “I know, Mrs. Marshall…” Anna looks at everything she sees with sadness in her eyes, sighs heavily, and pets Sammy’s head, while he puts his head on her laps. “And I’m really sorry for him. Truly. No matter how terrible his act is, Daniel doesn’t deserve everything that’s happened to him.”       “Grandma Scarlett, the girls, and anyone else don’t make you come back to Daniel against your wish,” Helene says softly with a slight smile. “But still, listen to us. Remember that you’ll feel very good with him. He wouldn’t disappoint you if you gave him another chance.”       “Your parents are literally in love with Perkins,” Natalia notices with a slight smile. “If you tell them you’re with Daniel again, they’ll be jumping with happiness.”       “Yeah, this is the first case when they got such a strong love for the guy, who may get my heart,” Anna smiles shyly. “They used to reject even those boys, to whom I just spoke, and say they didn’t fit me. But this time, everything’s different…”       “Well, maybe, they were also waiting for the one to fit you,” Scarlett smiles mysteriously. “Maybe, Daniel had to give his best to get the love and the trust of your mother and father. But he did it.”       “Yeah, the Seymours consider Daniel literally their own son,” Raquelle notices shyly. “Anna’s parents adore that man. As well as you adore Peter.”       “Yeah… Peter is really like my own son to me. I adore that guy with all my heart and only want to see my granddaughter with him. Helene didn’t have so many admirers, and they were decent enough. But Peter is the best.”       “Oh, Mrs. Marshall, you can be quiet about these lovebirds,” Natalia replies confidently. “They’ll surely be together and make us happy by announcing their engagement someday. Even Sammy and his jealousy won’t be reasons not to do it.”       Sammy barks quietly two times.       “Yeah, our men can get the love and trust of our families,” Anna notices with a slight smile. “All our relatives are delighted by them and don’t want us to have a relationship with nobody but those men.”       “And your men’s families admire you, girls,” Scarlett replies amicably. “There is nobody in their families, who doesn’t love you.”       “You’re right, everybody likes us,” Raquelle smiles widely.       “Well, or it just happened that being with those, who were sent to us, is our destiny,” Natalia smiles mysteriously. “And our families understand it.”       “Good people love good people, my darling,” Scarlett replies confidently. “You, smart and educated girls, found the gallant and amazing men.”       “Ah, how right you are, Mrs. Marshall…” Raquelle smiles shyly.       Sammy barks shyly two times.       “That little tomboy also agrees with you,” Helene adds shyly with a slight smile.       “Maybe, Sammy loves playing the fool, but that doggy does know who needs support and comfort,” Raquelle says, petting Sammy’s head.       “Yup, I really need it so badly,” Anna replies thoughtfully, smiling shyly at Sammy, who glances at her. “Sammy helps me feel relief…”       “I hope he’ll also help you make the decision that you will never regret,” Natalia expresses hope.       “And Sammy agrees that you will feel much better if you just give a chance to the man,” Scarlett adds with a slight smile.       Sammy barks confidently two times, while Anna looks into the distance with her sad eyes and inclines her head slightly. Raquelle, Natalia, Helene, and Scarlett watch her with sadness in their eyes and look at each other and the doggy still trying to tell them something in his dog language.       

***

      After spending a lot of time at the café, Terrence, Peter, Edward, and Daniel went to the home of the latter to rehearse as a band for the first time in a while. Even though they are playing for themselves, the men give their everything as if they are at a show in front of many people. Looking at Daniel brilliantly playing his bass guitar and performing his lyrics in a low, charming voice, it seems that his life has always been alright. Terrence also looks very happy, playing the rhythm guitar confidently, showing the power of his voice, and not forgetting to rule the process as the band’s leader. Peter has fallen into the music and shows his brilliant skills of drum play and his vocals that drive all the girls crazy, not caring about having drops of sweat rolling down his hair and face due to the intensive play. Again, Edward proves that he was pronounced “the motor” for a reason and shows that he takes his responsibility too seriously, performing hard guitar parts without mistakes, controlling his voice well, and dancing actively to encourage his bandmates not to stand like columns.       Performing the songs from their debut album makes their mood much better and makes them forget all the bad things and understand how much they missed these rehearsals together. The four men do not hide their wide smiles and let themselves have some fun, playing their instruments and performing their lines at ease. A few minutes later, they finish playing one of their songs. Peter cannot do it without tricks with the drumsticks, which he is absolutely perfect at. Terrence jumps highly, and Edward falls to his knees and finishes his guitar solo brilliantly. And Daniel grabs the microphone stand tightly, leans it aside, and holds it suspended with his head proudly raised. Silence settles in the air for a second or two, and then the men clap quietly at themselves and each other.       “Good job, guys!” Terrence exclaims cheerfully. “You're all good fellows!”       “Let’s mark this rehearsal as one of the best ones ever,” Peter suggests confidently.       “Listen, it’s so cool we finally played all together,” Edward says cheerfully, fixing the sleeves of his gray sleeveless shirt.       “Oh, yeah, how much I lacked these rehearsals!” Daniel exclaims confidently, gesticulating actively. “I’m so happy we’ve reached our instruments.”       “Good, guys, good,” Terrence encourages with a slight smile. “I thought everything would be terrible… I was worried that you had forgotten everything.”       “But, as you see, my beloved brother, we played incredible,” Edward smiles innocently with both arms crossed over his chest.       “If you played bad, I would crush a guitar against your head!”       “Keep dreaming!” Edward fixes his hair with his head proudly raised. “I was incomparable. I will always be like this.”       “Oh, yeah, you were incomparably running around the garage,” Peter laughs shyly. “Running so fast that the walls were shaking!”       “Yeah, I can give it a hot! Walls shake, girls scream, men get jealous…”       “Anyway, I’m happy with my play. Again, I make sure that nobody can play as magnificently as I do. If it keeps happening, I have a chance to become the best drummer of this decade.”       “By the way, this is the first time you didn’t break the drumsticks or drums,” Daniel chuckles quietly, putting his hands on his hips. “For once, we don’t have to go to a store!”       “Don’t say I always break them!”       “Not always, but rehearsals often get canceled ‘cause you’ve got a little fucking piece.”       “Just like because of you when you often screwed it up and forgot the lyrics and your part,” Terrence chuckles kindly. “But I see you’ve finally learned your lyrics, played as you should’ve done it, and didn’t screw up when singing. I can’t believe I got this moment!”       “And I’m still waiting for you to become shyer. But I believe I won’t get it. I’ll get old and never see you sweet and obedient.”       “M-m-m, you said it right. You’ll get old and never become the second Terrence MacClife. Nobody will become.”       “Ah! That’s bad you didn’t trip on cords and fall down when you were running around here with your brother and almost destroyed my garage. We could find a reason why Terrence MacClife isn’t actually perfect.”       “Huh!” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest. “Well, I’ll get up, shake up, and keep going with my head proudly raised.”       “I’m afraid you’re gonna lose your crown when falling,” Edward smiles slyly. “And while you yawl and stroke down your rooster feathers, someone may take it and take your place on your throne. And you wouldn’t be the first handsome guy in the world.”       “Okay, I shall allow you to feel like a king for a while!” Terrence exclaims with his head proudly raised. “And wear the crown.”       “To feel like a king, I don’t need a crown. Perfect hair, a cool look, and a confident look before girls fall at my legs at once.”       “Keep showing off, bro. You’re far from me.”       “Yeah, knowing how popular Edward is at that café, I doubt that you’re still first,” Daniel laughs quietly.       “Seriously?” Terrence smiles slyly. “The girls started to whoop at the whole café when I showed up for them! Nobody could resist such a sexy man.”       “I dunno, I didn’t notice it…” Edward says thoughtfully.       “Yeah, lads…” Peter shakes his head. “It seems like MacClife, Sr., suffers from a mild narcissism.”       “Huh, mild?” Edward scoffs loudly. “No, Rose, it’s not the first stage! It’s the last one! Which is impossible to be cured!”       “He’s kept his nose up and struck everyone down with his peacock tail since childhood!” Daniel replies confidently. “He got the sighs of narcissus at that time. And when MacClife got famous and started to get tons of compliments from girls, who made him God, the illness got worse.”       “It’s okay, Dan, we won’t let him relax,” Edward promises confidently.       “It’s gonna be a hard mission,” Peter says thoughtfully. “If you can’t deal with your brother, MacClife isn’t gonna hear the others.”       “It’s okay, bros, we can take it! Although our mustang can’t be trained yet, we won’t give up and will keep holding him on the leash.”       Daniel, Peter, and Edward laugh quietly, while Terrence shakes his head, holding the fretboard of the guitar and looking at the three gloomily.       “Alright, gang, stop crowing and talking some stupid bullshit,” Terrence says confidently. “Keep playing! We’ve gotta play all the songs from the album!”       “Erm, what if we make a little break?” Edward suggests a little hesitantly. “We’ve already played five songs!”       “I’m for!” Peter agrees confidently, showing something in the air with a drumstick. “I need to walk a little. Or my ass is gonna get stuck to this stool.”       “And I wanna sit down,” Daniel confesses, massaging his neck and back.       “You three are idlers!” Terrence shakes his head with a kind chuckle. “How are you gonna play ninety-minute shows if you start to moan after twenty minutes of playing five songs?”       “But we aren’t on stage!” Peter notices confidently.       “Who cares! If you’ve got a goal, you must reach it.”       “If you didn’t lose your memory, we played a few songs with short breaks during the shows of ‘The Loser Syndrome.’ We talked to people a little, drank water, caught our breath… And Liam, Nate, Zach, and Brad didn’t perform non-stop!”       “Now we need to play as much as possible, so none of you screw it!”       “Relax, old man, it’s gonna be cool!” Daniel exclaims with his head proudly raised. “Everyone’s gonna be freaked out by our play and listen to us open-mouthed!”       “Practicing is always good, even if we know everything perfectly.”       “Oh, Terrence, don’t be nasty…” Edward moans tiredly. “Let’s take a break… We’ll continue in five minutes!”       Terrence exhales slowly, rolling his eyes and running his hand over his face, and says nothing for a few seconds, while Edward, Daniel, and Peter are silently waiting for his answer.       “Alright, you won!” Terrence exclaims. “A five-minute break!”       Daniel, Peter, and Edward put their instruments aside with slight smiles and come confidently to Terrence, who leaves his guitar where it’s usually placed.       “Oh, many thanks, Your Highness!” Daniel exclaims solemnly, inclining his head slightly.       “You are so generous, Mr. MacClife,” Peter inclines his head.       “Thank you so much for this, dear brother!” Edward bows with a sly smile.       Terrence looks gloomily at Edward, Peter, and Daniel laughing shyly, takes the first thing that he sees on the small table, and gets ready to throw it at the trio, throwing this thing in his hand, but the men quickly go aside with quiet chuckles.       “Fuck, how much you irritate me…” Terrence blunts under his nose, frowning strongly.       “What are you blunting, lord of roosters and peacocks?” Peter asks funnily.       “Nothing!”       “You better come to the mirror and fix your hair,” Edward laughs shyly, comes to the small table, on which a few bottles of water are placed, takes one of them, opens it, and takes a couple of big sips.       “Yeah, now he looks like a wet, shabby cat,” Daniel laughs shyly, holding the bottle of water and taking the entire sofa, on which many things that he probably does not need are lying. “Have you seen a cat that was put under the water and washed?”       “Oh, c’mon!” Terrence exclaims loudly, strokes down his wet hair, which has lost its volume, and moves a couple of strands off his forehead. “Yes, my hair got wet, but it doesn’t make me worse.”       “That’s wrong!” Peter chuckles kindly, taking a bottle of water. “We should rub you with a towel and dry you with a hairdryer.”       “Don’t forget about you,” Terrence laughs quietly, opening his bottle of water that he took from the table. “You’re now similar to the shabby cat that was splashed with water.”       “Any girl would sell her soul for such a gorgeous cat.” Peter runs his hand over his hair with his head proudly raised. “But if he’s wet and half-naked, everybody will scream louder than during sex.”       “Yeah, you definitely got more popular than my bro,” Edward laughs shyly.       “Just because he’s got cool muscles that make girls hysterical?” Terrence chuckles kindly.       “It’s true, buddy,” Daniel smiles slyly. “They call Rose their Apollo, not you. The girls would tear each other apart for the half-naked blond.”       “When they see my perfect naked body, the girls will get wet for a few seconds. Nobody will stay indifferent to such a masterpiece.”       “Before undressing, go to a gymnasium a little,” Edward advises with an innocent smile. “I can’t remember when you were there the last time. If male slimming underwear existed, you would probably need it.”       “Well, knowing how much he eats every day…” Daniel laughs shyly. “Slimming underwear cannot help him…”       “Oh, oh, come on!” Terrence rolls his eyes. “You haven’t been in a gym for ages! If you’ve actually been. Somehow in your life!”       “You’ll shut up for sure when I get tough enough muscles,” Daniel says with his head proudly raised. “Of course, I’m handsome anyway, but I will be much more irresistible after two months of hard workouts.”       “Just go to the gym first,” Peter says confidently, opens his bottle, and drinks a little bit of it. “It’s gonna be a great achievement for you.”       “I will, blond, don’t worry. And if you want, you can join me.”       “Only after it’s less hot. Having a workout in this hot weather is self-murder.” Peter gets a thin flow of cold water on his face and hair and shakes his head sharply so that splashes get on different sides. “Ugh, it’s good!”       “Here’s one more reason why I’m gonna start my workouts next week.”       “Oh…” Peter dries his face with both hands and the edge of his white sleeveless shirt, on which there is now a big wet spot. “Listen… It’s kind of hotter today than yesterday.”       “Hold on, bros,” Edward replies, leaning on the table with his free hand and drinking a lot of water. “The Internet says the hot weather won’t be gone ‘till the end of this week.”       “Oh, no…” Terrence moans quietly, leaning on the table, on which bottles of water are placed. “I feel like I’m gonna lie in a bath with ice to save myself from this sauna.”       “And we’re gonna drive in the city in a car more rarely,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “My car overheated in the sun while standing in the parking lot nobody the fuck knows how long…”       “I thought we wouldn’t leave that café.”       “Yeah, I couldn’t start the car for twenty minutes…”       “Today, everybody can’t start their cars after one attempt,” Peter notices thoughtfully. “The man, who parked his car next to yours, kept dealing with it when we left. A couple of buses stood right on the road… And how many people got sick… Ambulance cars constantly passed by us.”       “Yes, it’s not heat, it’s kind of hell…” Terrence says tiredly. “Since it’s kind of fine at the house, you should not go outside. I wonder, are there some brave people, who would go to the beach in this hot weather?”       “Now you can’t even eat ice cream ‘cause it will melt in a few minutes,” Peter replies quietly and takes a big sip of water.       “I feel that everyone will give a fuck about the rules and start to walk in the city in a bathing suit and underwear,” Edward assumes with a quiet chuckle.       “Right!” Terrence laughs shyly. “Imagine the faces of those, who see half-naked staffers, who excuse it with the hot weather!”       “However, even walking naked wouldn’t save us now.”       “Hey, guys, imagine that you order a pizza, and a delivery person comes some time later and rings the bell,” Daniel says cheerfully, spreading his legs widely. “You go to open the door and see a boy in underwear but with a snapback on his head. Or a girl in a bikini…”       “I’d use the services of this company,” Terrence confesses confidently. “Leave a wonderful five-star review… And put a good tip in the girl’s bra.”       “And girls would actually stop cooking and start to order food to admire a young, half-naked guy with cool biceps and a six-pack on the stomach,” Edward adds funnily.       “Maybe, girls would agree to shake their butts for a good tip,” Daniel laughs shyly.       “They can add the service ‘Express sex for hungry men and girls’,” Terrence says cheerfully.       “Yeah, and you’d get a strong hit on the head from your beauties if they heard you dreaming of half-naked delivery girls,” Peter replies confidently.       “As for the MacClifes, I agree, ‘cause they must not think of half-naked delivery girls,” Daniel agrees thoughtfully. “And you must not! But I could think about it.”       “Don’t take all the girls to your bed with the hope of getting lost,” Terrence advises.       “But I can’t live without sex! I haven’t had it for nobody the fuck knows how long!”       “We understand, but don’t forget that you haven’t become single yet,” Edward replies confidently.       “You can think I’m literally single now!” Daniel smiles a little falsely. “So, I can start to get ready for a brand-new life.”       “The most important thing is that you don’t drink to the fuck and wake up somewhere without your underwear,” Peter advises.       “Do I look like a pervert?”       “At least, you love walking naked more than us.”       “Yeah, I love it! I love wearing fewer clothes. When I don’t wear them at all.”       “Here’s the proof that you’re insolent and shameless.”       “And as long as I remember, he dared to talk about his love for being naked during one of the live chats with our fans,” Terrence says thoughtfully.       “Yes, yes, I remember!” Peter exclaims cheerfully. “That snippet was cut out of the recording and published as a video. And people still have fun in the comments section. I sometimes read and laugh.”       “Do you remember how many perverted girls contacted him on Twitter? How many girls got excited because of this statement!”       “And the most popular plea was publishing a photo of the absolutely nude Perkins.”       “All the comments and replies to our posts were the same! “Leak a photo of the nude Daniel!” “I wanna look at Perkins’ naked ass!” “Where do I download photos of Dan without clothes for free?”       “I believe I even saw a few articles on the Internet dedicated to the naked Dan,” Peter says through a loud laugh.       “I’ll never forget that moment!” Edward laughs shyly. “Some people were even looking for photos of nude men on the Internet and trying to tell everyone those were the photos of the naked Perkins. Though, all those dicks and naked torsos were too good for our friend.”       “After that, parents will surely ban little girls from listening to our music,” Terrence assumes.       “Aha! We told this idiot that children were watching him, but he openly talked about how much he loved walking naked!”       “Huh, I haven’t gone crazy to take photos of the naked me and leak these on the Internet, so everybody examines anatomy on me,” Daniel crosses his arms over his chest.       “Oh, I’ll never believe you don’t have those photos!” Edward exclaims. “You just don’t wanna show!”       “Aha, keep dreaming! I do know you! If I show you something, you’re gonna leak everything on the Internet!”       “Aha, do you have something spicy?”       “No!”       “C’mon!” Peter exclaims with a sly smile. “You may not show. We've already seen everything. Very well. Not just once.”       “You saw, and so what? I have the right to self-expression. I can show myself in the way I was born! Show what nature gave me!”       “Yeah, but girls look at you and start to think it’s right,” Edward notices confidently. “You should give them an example, buddy. But claiming your love for nudity is not good for you, for sure. It has the smell of some kind of perversion.”       “Hey, I’m not a pervert!”       “Pervert!” Peter exclaims. “You are!”       “Oh, Rose, shut up!” Daniel rolls his eyes. “If you were allowed, you’d easily play the drums in underwear! And as far as I remember, it has happened once in one of our rehearsals.”       “It was just too hot!”       “That’s good you didn’t dare to take off clothes before a show for our fans. Girls would’ve been hysterical if they’d seen you like that.”       “Oh, c’mon! I’m silent about you meeting me at your home absolutely naked.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, and then Terrence and Edward start laughing loudly, literally hysterically, opening their mouths widely and grabbing their stomachs.       “What?!” Terrence thrills with a laugh.       “Are you serious, Pete?” Edward wonders.       “I am!” Peter chuckles kindly. “Though, why you’re surprised: it’s not a secret to us that Perkins is a shameless, insolent, and uncultured idiot.”       “I ain’t surprised. I just can’t stop laughing as I imagine that scene.”       “Me too,” Terrence pronounces with a laugh. “My gosh… The absolutely nude Perkins greeting guests…”       “If I’d barely known him, I would’ve thought he was sick,” Peter confesses and puts his bottle of water on the table. “But as I knew Dan as well as my five fingers, I wasn’t surprised by such an incredible welcome.”       “Ha, you shouldn’t have slammed the door as if robbers were chasing you,” Daniel replies, rolling his eyes up with both arms crossed over his chest. “If you’d waited for two minutes, while I put on clothes, you would’ve seen nothing. But no! You knocked at the door with a fist and made a hole in it!”       “If only you’d heard the ring of the door after the first time!” Peter puts his hands on his hips. “His Highness was sleeping with his stomach up, you know!”       “You know I sleep deeply!”       “I know! You can’t be woken up with an orchestra!”       “Yeah, he’s our sleepyhead,” Edward chuckles kindly, comes to Daniel sitting on the sofa, and tries to ruffle his hair a little.       “Hey, MacClife, get your hand off my hair!” Daniel moves Edward’s hand sharply off his hair. “Move off, I said!”       “Yeah, I dunno what to say…” Terrence shakes his head with both arms crossed over his chest. “How insolent was he supposed to be if he greeted the guest in what Mother gave birth to him?”       “I repeat, don’t be surprised,” Peter shrugs. “It’s time to get used to the fact that the chocolate head has no sense of shyness.”       “Hey, how did it happen that he greeted you naked?” Edward asks with a shy laugh.       “Oh, it happened when we didn’t know you,” Peter confesses, coming to the drum set, taking the drumsticks in his hands, and starting to walk slowly in front of his friends. “Two or three years ago, I guess… In short, Daniel and I agreed to spend time at his home with a bottle of beer and talk and go somewhere to hang out. Well, I went to his home by two hours in the afternoon and started to ring at the door. But there was no reaction. I tried to ring the doorbell and knock on it and decided to type his number. I said I was standing in front of the door when he was pleased to answer. But I had to wait for one or two minutes. And then the door finally opened, and Adam himself showed up for me.”       “Adam…” Edward laughs shyly, closing his mouth with a hand, while Daniel gets up from the sofa with a quiet sigh. “The one, who was thrown out of heaven?”       “Yes, yes! Himself! Adam thrown outta heaven came to me! Oops…” Peter bites his lips slightly. “I mean… Mr. Perkins was pleased to open the door… Absolutely naked, sleepy, with a blanket in his hands… And he stared at me as if he didn’t understand what was going on.”       “And after seeing me, Rose was laughing like an idiot non-stop for five minutes and couldn’t stop,” Daniel adds, putting his hands on his hips. “I wanted the fuck to die, but this blond idiot had fun!”       “But that was really hilarious! I pitied him and didn’t photograph him. Though, if I had a photo, I’d be happy to show his stupid face to you.”       “So, do you wanna say this creature slept at two in the afternoon?” Edward laughs quietly.       “Sorta!”       “I’m ready to bet that he drank to the fuck and passed out,” Terrence laughs shyly.       “Oh, you know everything, MacClife,” Daniel shakes his head.       “Oh, did ya really drink?”       “I had a free week from rehearsals that I spent very well. And one day before that case, I met some familiars, who invited me to go somewhere to drink… And I agreed.” Daniel exhales sharply and crosses his arms over his chest. “But those idiots mixed the alcohol too hard and added something that immediately made me feel much worse. I don’t know what, but I almost died… And I barely reached my home. When the blond went to my home, I still felt fucking bad.”       “Finally, you’ve confessed you just drank too much!” Peter exclaims, stopping sharply and turning on Daniel. “It hasn’t been four years! I quickly realized what was wrong, but you furiously denied everything and found stupid excuses for your condition. Anyone would’ve realized that you had a hangover. Knowing you drank too much water and took two or three tablets for a headache.”       “I could drink to the fuck earlier, but I had never felt as bad as I did then. And I still curse those idiots, who gave me nobody the fuck knows what!”       “Yeah, Daniel, you’re really nuts,” Edward says with both arms crossed over his chest. “What were you thinking of when going to open the door, being naked?”       “About my head that was tearing apart because of the loud doorbell and the melody of my phone.”       “What if someone else visited you instead of Peter? What kind of shame you would’ve felt if one of your neighbors or a girl had come to you! You would’ve surely been called a pervert! Fucking exhibitionist!”       “Fuck, I didn’t realize I was naked immediately! I understood it only when Peter said I should’ve at least put on my underwear. So, I looked down and saw I really wore nothing.”       “It’s okay you at least covered yourself with a blanket,” Terrence laughs quietly. “Protected your treasure…”       “By the way, I always used to walk naked in the whole house. Using the fact that nobody lived with me, I could quietly walk like that for a whole day. If I wanted, I could take off my clothes. If I wanted, I put on my underwear or didn’t take off a towel.”       “Huh, how many times I saw you like this when I lived with you!” Peter crosses his arms over his chest. “I was sitting quietly in the kitchen, eating something, and checking out my phone, but then a naked and wet creature left the bathroom.”       “It didn’t get you too shocked.”       “I don’t care about how you walk – naked or in clothes. You should just have a sense of shame. You should know when you should be shy and put on clothes.”       “Oh, I wouldn’t actually wear clothes! Without them, I feel even better! I still love walking naked and letting my body breathe!”       “Yeah, Anna got in touch with a pervert…” Edward says thoughtfully.       “She’s a brave girl,” Terrence laughs shyly. “She didn’t run from the one, who loved shaking his balls!”       “No, guys, when Anna moved into my house, I stopped doing it not to get her blushed,” Daniel confesses confidently. “Not only because I didn’t wanna get her shocked. She was just terribly shy, even when I was shirtless. She got instantly blushed, turned around, and asked to put on just something.”       “Yeah, the girl didn’t know who she got in touch with,” Peter replies thoughtfully.       “I wouldn’t be surprised if you walked naked in front of Cassidy,” Edward replies confidently.       “No, never!” Daniel protests. “I always kicked her out when Cassidy wanted to go where she could see me naked.”       “Yes, Tarzan, you won’t be able to walk naked anymore,” Peter laughs shyly. “Cassidy’s living with you, and you aren’t children anymore.”       “I know. I ain’t gonna do this.”       “Hey, how did other girls react to your love for nudity?” Terrence shows interest. “A girl would definitely be scared if a man was not only naked in a shower and during sex. Especially if she dated him for two days and has a very tender soul.”       “Don’t say it like I walked naked in front of all the girls! And don’t make me a shameless pervert!”       “We’re just telling the truth,” Edward shrugs.       “Don’t worry, lads, now I will always be dressed ‘cause my younger sister is living with me.”       “That’s right ‘cause people may think of something bad about you,” Peter advises confidently.       “Aw, Peter, you’re so caring!” Daniel smiles innocently. “What I would do without ya, bro!”       “Don’t worry, man, you won’t feel bad with us.” Peter starts beating on the table quietly with the drumsticks. “We won’t let you become a fool and get into some shit.”       Peter throws one of the drumsticks, catches it, and hits Daniel on the head with both of them.       “Hey, get off me, blond head!” Daniel demands through a laugh, trying to dodge sharply. “I ain’t a drum to beat me with your sticks! You hear what I say! Stop hitting me on the head! Hey! Get off, I said!”       A little later, Daniel takes one of the sticks and starts hitting Peter on the head with it, while the blond laughs quietly and answers back with the other stick, and Terrence and Edward standing not far from them laugh so hard.       “Hey, gimme!” Peter demands harshly.       “Now, pretty boy, you will ask for trouble!” Daniel threatens with a sly smile.       At some moment, Daniel takes the second drumstick from Peter and starts hitting the blond on the head with a loud laugh.       “Hey, it’s unfair!” Peter resents.       “Try to take them,” Daniel smiles innocently and pulls the sticks on himself when Peter tries to take them.       “If they’re broken, you’ll buy new sticks!”       “If they’re broken, you’ll go to a store now!”       “Keep dreaming, tough guy!”       Peter takes the sticks from Daniel with one easy movement, hits him with them a little, and easily wraps them in his hands with a sly smile and his head proudly raised. Perkins tries to take at least one of them again, then uses a chokehold on the blond and ruffles his hair strongly along with Edward’s laugh, while Terrence shakes his head and glances at the watch that he is wearing on his left hand.       “Alright, guys, save the games for later!” Terrence orders confidently. “Keep rehearsing! We’ve got a lot of work! Guys, I’m addressing you!”       “Maybe, let’s have a little bit more rest?” Edward suggests with a sly smile, drinking a little bit of his bottle of water. “We’re having such a cool time!”       “When we rehearse, we’ll have a rest!”       “I wouldn’t mind eating something sweet.”       “Sweet food makes your stomach bigger!”       “I don’t get fat from sweet food.”       “Alright, stop drinking and go to your place!”       “Can’t I do it?”       “Listen, kid, how did you the fuck drink half of the bottle for a few minutes?” Terrence puts his hands on his hips. “I know it’s hot, and we wanna drink. But drinking a fucking bottle of one and a half liters is too much!”       “It’s weird that you haven’t begged for food from Perkins and gotten into his refrigerator.”       “I have nothing!” Daniel meddles, still using a chokehold on Peter, who hits him with the drumsticks. “No food!”       “Alright, stop playing!” Terrence orders loudly. “And thinking of drinks and food! Perkins, Rose, stop it all right now!”       “Tell him the same!” Peter exclaims, trying to get out of Daniel’s grip. “Alright, chocolate head, let me go! Let me go, I said! Ar-r-r, fuck… Why are you so mean! Just like Sammy!”       “C’mon, we don’t have to rush,” Edward shrugs with a slight smile, still drinking from his bottle. “The whole day is ahead!”       “Hey, kid, stop drinking water!” Terrence demands confidently. “Gimme the bottle!”       Terrence sharply takes Edward’s bottle of water from him, puts it on the table, and does not let his brother take it by covering it with his body, while Daniel lets Peter go, and the guys put their hair in order.       “Hey, lemme drink!” Edward demands harshly.       “You’re gonna go to the restroom every five minutes!” Terrence protests confidently.       “I wanna drink!”       “When you perform our full album perfectly, you’ll do what you want. Even dance on your head.”       “I remember everything much better than you.”       Edward tries to come to the table, on which his bottle of water is placed, but Terrence stands like a stubborn donkey with an innocent smile. And after two unsuccessful attempts to break in, MacClife, Jr., growls irritably with rolled eyes.       “Oh, a stubborn donkey!” Edward throws gloomily.       “Your bro is right, Edward,” Daniel says confidently. “We had a little break – it’s enough! It’s time to work again!”       “Explain it to this asshole!” Terrence exclaims, pointing at Edward. “If my little brother drinks all the water that we have, we’re gonna have nothing to drink.”       “Oh, that’s good there’s no food here,” Peter chuckles kindly. “Otherwise, you’d attack it like a hungry wolf and eat everything.”       “Listen, I think I should take the water away from here,” Daniel says confidently and pulls down his t-shirt. “So, nothing seduces MacClife, Jr! There is no food here, and here’s the excellent result: MacClife, Sr., is ready to work like crazy.”       “I don’t understand why you actually brought it here.”       “Hey, talkative lads, stop working your tongue!” Terrence exclaims loudly, clapping his hands quietly. “Take your positions! Let’s work! Focus!”       Terrence comes confidently to his guitar, takes it, and decides to tune on something. Daniel also comes back to his place and starts to correct the sound of his bass guitar, while Peter scratches the back of his head with a drumstick with a thoughtful face, runs it through his hair, and pulls down his sleeveless shirt. And Edward gets his desired bottle of water and drinks the rest of the water. But at some moment, MacClife, Jr., glances at the small window, looks at something better, and frowns slightly. He pays attention to the young guy standing in front of Daniel’s house, shaking his leg nervously, and looking around a little excitedly.       “Hey, lads, what’s Connor doing here?” Edward frowns slightly.       “What?” Peter pronounces amazingly. “Connor? Where?”       Peter sharply runs to the window, near which Edward is standing, looks through it, and recognizes the guy standing in front of Daniel’s house as Blake Connor, the band’s assistant.       “Yeah, similar… But I can’t see his face without my glasses. He’s too far…”       “That’s Connor!” Edward exclaims. “One hundred percent!”       Daniel and Terrence frowning slightly look at each other, come to Edward and Peter quickly, and look through the window.       “Ha, has the pretty boy shown up?” Terrence chuckles quietly.       “Okay, what’s that snotty boy doing in front of my house?” Daniel resents. “Why is he the fuck staring at my house? Does he wanna rob me?”       “Doesn’t he live in this neighborhood?” Edward frowns slightly.       “Live? Here?” Daniel chuckles nervously. “Ha! Are you kidding me? If that stinker lived in my neighborhood, I’d move somewhere as far as possible!”       “If I saw that insolent kid on the doorstep of my apartment, I’d kick him out,” Peter says confidently.       “And I’d tell the security not to let him get into the territory of my house,” Terrence says confidently. “Territory of my neighborhood.”       “Because of that kid, I definitely should think of setting up a camera near the hall door of my house,” Edward replies thoughtfully. “And set up an alarm system…”       “Okay, but how did that little bastard get my address?” Daniel wonders.       “We ain’t idiots to give him our addresses and numbers,” Peter shakes his head.       “Maybe, he was just passing by?” Terrence assumes.       “Not sure…” Edward confidently shakes his head. “Connor’s staring at the hall door of Daniel’s house and standing like a column. As if he is looking for him…”       “Me?” Daniel rounds his eyes. “And what does he need from me? Did he decide to bully me again? Remind of that fucking article that’s the reason why everyone wished me to die?”       “Listen, isn’t he drunk there?” Peter frowns. “Why is he shaking from one side to another and barely standing on his feet?”       “Drinking in such hot weather? If you want to die!”       “Oh, does he care if it’s hot or cold now?” Terrence smirks quietly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that kid really had drunk somewhere!”       “What kind of brain the nineteen-year-old boy may have!” Peter exclaims. “He only thinks of drinking, casual sex with any cutie, and hangouts with his friends. If he has them, of course.”       “And the most important thing to him is hurting us as hard as possible and reminding us of all of our sins.”       “He’d better think of his sins!” Daniel throws gloomily. “I know he’s not ready to be responsible for anything and think of something at the age of nineteen. But he should be responsible at least for himself!”       “At least, he understands that money for food and hangouts won’t fall from the sky,” Edward notices thoughtfully. “So, the boy has to work… Though, if he had a lot of money, he’d drink and hang out with lots of young dolls with heavy makeup, augmented lips and boobs, and clipped hair, nails, and eyelashes.”       “Yeah, a harem of fake dolls for the pathetic sultan without a cent in the pocket and wonderful castles,” Peter chuckles.       “Not everyone would have a crush on him,” Terrence laughs quietly. “Maybe, only a prostitute or a little girl that’s obsessed with a wish to have sex.”       Peter, Edward, Daniel, and Terrence watch Blake for a few seconds, but the boy does not move and keeps standing as if he wants to talk to the owner of the house.       “Listen, is that little ass gonna leave?” Terrence asks. “We’ve gotta rehearse!”       “What if he doesn’t get out?” Peter assumes. “I’m sure that he’s here with a certain goal.”       “I have nothing to talk to Connor about!” Daniel says confidently. “I don’t wanna listen to that kid and would be glad if he disappeared again.”       “But notice that he isn’t gonna get out!” Edward exclaims. “And he’s staring at the window of your house too hard!”       “I see… And while he’s here, I won’t calm down.”       “Listen, how long has he been here?” Terrence frowns slightly. “I looked through the window a few minutes ago but didn’t see him!”       “Not for a long time, I guess,” Edward assumes thoughtfully. “I just noticed him standing in front of Daniel’s house.”       “Okay, what do we do?” Peter asks, glancing at the men. “Give a fuck about him and continue to play? Or hide here and wait for him to get out not to get his attention on us?”       “No, no, I will not come to him!” Edward says confidently, raising his hands. “That little ass is surely gonna make me hit him much stronger than I did the last time.”       “I also wanna come to him less than everything,” Terrence shakes his head.       “I suggest waiting here like mice,” Peter says quietly. “I don’t also wanna go there and waste time on him.”       “You can wait here, but I will come to that snotty boy, find out what he needs, and kick him outta here,” Daniel suggests.       “You’ll find out nothing good, trust me,” Terrence says confidently. “He’ll just shower you with lots of dirt and make your mood much worse.”       “I know, Terrence, but Connor is standing in front of my house! If that scumbag destroys something here, I will make him pay for everything!”       “Let’s really wait for a while,” Edward suggests. “If he stays here for some more time and sees nobody, he will understand he’ll get nothing and get out of here.”       Daniel says nothing and just exhales sharply, gloomily watching Blake still standing in front of the house along with Terrence, Peter, and Edward.       “No, guys, seems like he isn’t gonna get out,” Daniel concludes one minute later. “And I’m afraid that I’ve gotta come to him and make him leave at his wish.”       “Maybe, you won’t do this?” Peter asks hesitantly. “That shorty will leave early or late. He won’t be stuck here forever!”       “I have a feeling that he will. And we better end this as soon as possible and kick him out of my territory.”       Daniel steps back from the window and glances at the closed bottle of water placed on the table.       “Yeah, take a bottle of water if you decide to go, as well,” Daniel adds quietly. “It seems like he really drank. And close the garage door. Not to let that snotty boy get his long nose into here.”       Daniel turns around, comes to the exit from the garage confidently enough, opens the automatic door, and goes outside, while Edward, Peter, and Terrence watch him with a little sad look.       “Fuck, that kid is chasing us again…” Peter moans quietly, running his hands over his face.       “I’d be happy to stay here…” Terrence says thoughtfully. “But I don’t wanna do it…”       “Fuck, if Connors knows our home addresses, it’s gonna be a catastrophe,” Edward notices with both arms crossed over his chest.       “If it’s the truth, we’ve gotta move somewhere.”       “Oh, so what, guys?” Peter puts his hands on his hips, exhaling sharply. “Follow Perkins and find out how that idiot Connor was brought here?”       “I have a feeling that we will not avoid it,” Terrence exhales resignedly.       After looking at each other again and shrugging, Peter, Terrence, and Edward decide to follow Daniel. MacClife, Sr., takes one of the closed bottles, and Rose closes the garage door when the three leave the garage. And Daniel already comes close to the place where the excited Blake is walking in a shaking walk and looking around constantly with both arms crossed over his chest. And the guy shakes slightly when he hears Perkins’ loud voice behind him:       “Hey, Connor, what did you forget here?”       Blake quickly turns on Daniel, who comes much closer to him and crosses his arms over his chest.       “Daniel…” Blake pronounces hesitantly.       “I am only warning you once: if you destroy just something here, you will have to pay a lot for that,” Daniel threatens with a finger.       “Oh, Daniel, I’m so happy I found you… I…”       “What did you the fuck forget here, kid?” Daniel asks a little louder. “How did you end up here? How did you find me? How did you get my home address?”       “I was looking for you and the men… I need to talk to you… It’s very important. At least, to me.”       “Ah, you wanted to talk!” Daniel rolls his eyes.       “Please, listen to me. Try to understand me.”       “Understand you?” Daniel smirks contemptuously. “Connor, are you serious?”       “Listen, Daniel…”       Blake does not speak his mind because Terrence, Peter, and Edward come to him and Daniel with their arms crossed over their chests, keeping a cold look at the young guy, who looks kind of tense and insecure. Not what he was before.       “What do you need, Connor?” Edward asks coldly.       “Get out of here before you get another hit on your balls!” Peter demands much colder.       “Oh, guys…” Blake pronounces in an excited, shaking voice, looking at Peter, Edward, and Terrence with widely open eyes full of a scare. “I’m so happy I met you!”       “How did you end up here?” Terrence demands an answer in a low voice, squeezing the bottle of water tightly. “How did you find us? Who gave you the address?”       “Erm… I want to talk… To all of you…”       “None of us gave you our home addresses and numbers,” Daniel says confidently, raising his index finger. “How did you get mine?”       “I…” Blake stutters, getting sharply white, while his eyes are chaotically running from one side to another. “Erm… I f-found it by myself…”       “Don’t lie, Connor!” Peter throws coldly. “You didn’t find it by yourself! And not from us! Because we don’t give our addresses to everyone!”       “Guys, please, don’t be so rude to me…” Blake begs with pity in his eyes. “I swear I will do nothing bad to you. I just wanna talk to you.”       “Oh, this is how you’re speaking!” Edward crosses his arms over his chest. “So, Connor, did something jam in your brain after the last time? Did you become sweet and soft?”       “Yup…” Blake moves his eyes to his hands and looks at the men. “I won’t deny it… Many things changed after that moment… I… Thought about many things…”       “Alright, Connor, let’s not avoid the answer,” Terrence says quietly. “Confess, where did you find out Daniel’s home address?”       “Oh…” Blake exhales sharply with closed eyes. “Okay, George told me where to find you.”       “George?” Peter pronounces surprisingly.       “What, what?” Daniel frowns strongly. “George gave you my address? Connor, are you the fuck nuts?”       “He couldn’t do that!” Edward says confidently. “George does know what a little jackass that always did bad tricks on us!”       “At first, he didn’t wanna give me any addresses,” Blake confesses. “But I made him sure to help me. I made George sure that I wanted peace between you and me and wanted to talk about something very important. And… I asked him to give your contacts…”       “We have nothing to talk to you about, Connor!” Peter replies confidently with his head proudly raised.       “You can tell us nothing interesting,” Terrence adds coldly. “You can only insult and make us wild. And make our mood worse.”       “No, don’t say it,” Blake shakes his head. “I…”       “We don’t want to see you, kid!” Daniel throws coldly. “I am giving you one minute to get out of my territory!”       “But…”       “And don’t dare to come back here and stand in our way! If you don’t obey, you will regret it!”       “Lads, please!” Blake exclaims with pity in his eyes. “I swear I’m not going to insult you and your band. I just wanna talk to you about something important to me.”       “Don’t pretend to be good! You showed yourself as a rat from the beginning.”       “But I wanna reconcile with you. I want us to get along well.”       “Reconcile?” Peter sneers loudly. “With us? After everything you’ve done to us?”       “I swear I came to you with peace. And I won’t insult and humiliate you like that anymore. Please, trust me!”       “Sorry, Connor, but we don’t need friends, who could easily betray and frame us,” Edward throws rudely. “And we don’t wish to work with you.”       “And we told you were fired the last time,” Terrence adds confidently.       “Yes. So, be nice, get out of here, and leave our lives once and forever. And don’t dare to chase us.”       “Please, guys…” Blake pronounces with despair.       “You’re just drunk and don’t know what you say!” Terrence says, feeling the smell that Blake spreads. “You smell alcohol from a mile away.”       “Exactly!” Daniel nods. “You drank to the fuck and came here to tell your tales!”       “I didn’t drink to the fuck!” Blake protests.       “Lie, you’re drunk!” Edward exclaims loudly.       “It’s okay, he’ll get sober now,” Peter says confidently.       Peter takes the bottle from Terrence, opens it, and splashes some water onto Blake’s face. The boy shakes slightly from a sudden feeling of coldness, dries his face, and couches two times.       “So what, better?” Peter asks coldly.       “What are you gonna say now?” Daniel asks with both arms crossed over his chest. “Will you shower us with lots of insults? Remind us of all of our sins? Make us regret deciding to get famous?”       “No, no, I won’t do that…” Blake shakes his head sharply and runs his hands over his slightly wet hair. “I promise.”       “Come on, kid, go! We missed your insults and humiliations so badly! Make our mood worse to the fuck! May everything go wrong for us again!”       “Guys, please, let me explain everything,” Blake begs with pity and despair in his eyes. “I wanna establish my relationship with you and tell you the truth.”       “Ah, establish our relationship!” Terrence rolls his eyes. “This is how alcohol impacted you!”       “I drank just one glass… For braveness… And I wanted to elevate my mood.”       “So, did you turn from an insolent and pompous turkey into a sweet and soft lamb and start to suck up to us with the hope that we’d forgive you for the insults that we didn’t deserve?” Daniel smirks evilly.       “You know nothing about me!” Blake exclaims loudly in despair. “None of you knows why I was behaving like that and was rude to all of you.”       “What should we know?” Peter crosses his arms over his chest. “You were just jealous of us and thought you’d get better for others if you humiliated us. You thought you’d make the lads and me believe that we were worthless and had no talent. You wanted us to disband our band, but you won’t do this. There are many people, who admire us and can’t wait to get our album.”       “No, no, Peter, it’s not true, I swear! Yes… I insulted you, but… But I don’t wish you bad things!”       “Oh, guys, did you hear it?” Peter sneers loudly. “Connor has finally learned my name! It was always Rose, Rose… I thought I’d forget my name because I only heard my last name.”       “Why don’t you believe me? I came to you with peace and wanna be your friend!”       “Edward said that we don’t need such mean and nasty friends like you.”       “Oh…” Blake exhales sharply, closing his face with both hands for two seconds. “Terrence, at least you believe me! It’s okay that these three are mad! I get it. But can you understand me?”       “Understand you?” Terrence rounds his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “Why should I believe you? You’ve been showering us with mud, blaming us for stupid things, and constantly doing bad tricks.”       “I know… But I’m so sorry.”       “And you know well that I don’t like when someone hurts my friends and brother for nothing. Do you think I’ll easily forget how disgustingly and dishonorably you treated them? You respected me somehow. Because my name is known to the whole world, and I’ve reached a lot. But why are they worse? The fact that they’re speaking to me, the celebrity?”       “Yes, I treated all of you badly. But I swear it won’t happen again.”       “We don’t make anyone love us, Connor,” Edward says confidently. “If someone dislikes us, it’s okay! But we want the simple respect that we deserve, for sure. Dislike us as much as you want, but be pleased to respect us. If you had to work with us, you could not open your dirty mouth to try to hurt us.”       “I know I wasn’t right, guys…” Blake confesses with sadness in his eyes. “And I’m really sorry it happened… I was terribly unfair to you all the time.”       “Unfair is soft to say,” Daniel throws coldly. “You behaved disgustingly!”       “Please, guys, let me explain everything.”       “Connor, I think we clearly said that we didn’t want to see you and told you to get out of here,” Peter says coldly in a low voice. “We don’t wish to talk to you and spoil our mood.”       “I won’t take a lot of time. I promise I will quickly tell you what I want and leave.”       “Get out of my territory, Connor,” Daniel demands coldly. “At your wish. Or I will kick you out by force.”       “But…”       “I said, get out of here!” Daniel glances at Terrence, Peter, and Edward and makes a calling gesture. “Let’s go, guys! We have a lot of work. Don’t waste time on this snotty boy.”       “Please, guys…”       “You have five minutes! If I see you in five minutes, I will take measures!”       Edward, Peter, Terrence, and Daniel turn around quickly and want to return to the garage to keep rehearsing. But Blake says something to the friends loudly with some despair:       “You should keep yourself far from Eugene Wainwright! He’s a very dangerous man!”       Daniel, Edward, Peter, and Terrence stop sharply, look at each other, and half turn slowly on Blake.       “What have you said?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Eugene Wainwright,” Blake pronounces hesitantly. “I know you have to do with him.”       “Why do you the fuck care?” Daniel throws rudely. “It’s our business that you don’t have to do with!”       “I want to tell you something that has to do with that man.”       “Thanks, but we don’t care.”       “You aren’t the only ones to suffer because of him! That scumbag ruined my whole life and deprived me of what was madly important to me.”       “Wainwright is dead, boy!” Edward says rudely. “We don’t care about anything related to that bastard! I wish he burnt in hell!”       “What?” Blake rounds his eyes, getting a little white. “He’s dead? Eugene died?”       “As if you didn’t know…” Peter snuffs with both arms crossed over his chest.       “I didn’t… Really…”       “You often need to check out newspapers and news on the Internet! Instead of hanging out with young sluts, fuck everybody, and drink to the fuck.”       “Wow…” Blake moves his shocked eyes aside for a second and shakes his head. “But what happened to him? Why did he die?”       “Open the Internet or a newspaper,” Edward throws coldly. “We aren’t your walking sources of news.”       “Guys, tell me what happened!” Blake begs with pity in his eyes. “I need to know what happened to that stinker.”       “Edward told you what to do,” Terrence says quietly in a low voice. “You will find out not only what happened but also much more interesting things.”       “He did something else?”       “Listen, Connor, get off us with your questions,” Peter says sharply. “We’re going to tell you nothing.”       “Please, guys…”       “Alright, shut up and go where you want!”       “Wait, guys,” Daniel pronounces quietly, raising his hand, while Terrence, Peter, and Edward look at him questioningly. “Hey, second, Connor! How did you know Wainwright? And why do you say he ruined your whole life and deprived you of something?”       “It’s true,” Blake nods. “If not for that sick scumbag, my very close person would be alive now.”       “Huh, you lost nobody!” Edward snuffs contemptuously. “Stop telling tales!”       “I don’t lie, Edward! I swear I tell you the truth!”       “We don’t believe you.”       “Just give me a chance to tell the full story… That has to do with the reasons why I acted in this way… I promise it will be worth the time you’ll spend on me.”       “So, boy, did you get sad and decide to pity us?” Daniel asks with a sly smile. “Girls give a fuck about your confessions, ‘cause they only need sex from you. And you don’t have and have never had friends!”       “I’ve always felt sad…” Blake confesses, moving his sad eyes to his hands. “Since the day I lost my only close person.”       “You know, we all feel sad at times,” Terrence notices confidently. “You can’t always get pleasure and smile like a Cherish cat.”       “But I really feel sad! And lonely! I’ve never been as happy and careless as it seems to everyone. It was a lie… What you saw was a fake. I didn’t just show that I felt bad. I did my best to get lost and feel needed, funny, and happy…”       “Oh, how touching it is!” Peter rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna shed a tear!”       “Don’t believe if you don’t want to. It’s your right… But I want to reveal the truth. Tell you who I actually am.”       “Talk to someone else about it,” Edward replies gloomily. “We don’t need your confessions.”       “I don’t ask you for so much. Just listen to me and let me tell you the truth about me.”       Daniel, Peter, Edward, and Terrence say nothing for a few seconds and share a look, as if they are trying to find out each other’s opinion.       “So, let him say what he wants and get out?” Terrence suggests. “Will we allow our drunk boy to talk a little?”       “I doubt that we’ll hear something good and interesting,” Edward says thoughtfully and waves his hand. “But okay! Give him a chance to speak out!”       “I hope he won’t take too much time from us,” Peter expresses hope.       After listening to his friends’ opinions, Daniel nods silently, turns to Blake slowly, and makes a calling gesture with a gloomy look, saying quietly:       “Okay. Let’s enter the house.”       Blake inclines his head with sad eyes and silently goes where Daniel points, while Perkins himself, Terrence, Edward, and Peter follow him.       “We’ve gotta get off him quickly and keep playing,” Daniel says quietly.       “Ar-r-r, we’re wasting our time…” Terrence growls quietly. “We could’ve played one or two songs!”       “You better don’t stop watching him! If this kid breaks or steals something from my house, I swear I will strangle him with my own hands.”       “Don’t worry, buddy,” Peter replies confidently. “We’ll watch him very closely.”       A few seconds later, the men come to the entry into the house of Daniel, who lets everybody in, follows them, and closes the door. Then he makes a gesture to ask the young boy and his friends to sit on the sofa and joins his friends, with whom he sits down in front of him.       “Alright, say anything you want,” Daniel says quietly. “But do it quickly, please. We have a little time and many things to do.”       “But first, we’d like to know, how did you know Eugene Wainwright?” Edward asks gloomily, locking his fingers. “What connected you with him?”       “I knew that man for a long time,” Blake confesses with sadness in his eyes. “He was a longtime drug addict. Took hard drugs and had contacts with those, who could easily get them for a lot of money.”       “Well, you don’t really lie about it,” Peter replies thoughtfully.       “So, did you also want to taste this shit?” Terrence smirks contemptuously. “Hanging out with girls and drinking wasn’t enough for you, and you decided to get addicted to that shit?”       “No, no, come on! I’ve never taken that shit and ain’t gonna do that. At least because I saw the consequences of drug dependence with my own eyes and experienced them on my own.” Blake doubles over and looks down with sad eyes, locking his fingers tightly. “Scumbag… I hate Wainwright… If I had seen him a meter away from me, I would’ve strangled him… If not for that sick bastard, I wouldn’t have lost my brother, who got addicted to that shit because of him…”       After hearing about Blake’s brother, Terrence, Daniel, Peter, and Edward look at each other, being surprised.       “Brother?” Daniel frowns slightly. “You have a brother?”       “I had…” Blake confirms with sadness in his eyes. “My twin brother… I lost him three years ago…”       “Do you want to say he got addicted to drugs because of Wainwright?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “I couldn’t understand how it happened. But when my brother got addicted to that, my life turned into a real nightmare.”       “I don’t know what about you, lads, but I don’t believe in this story,” Edward says with both arms crossed over his chest. “Connor dreamed up a twin brother! He actually has nobody.”       “Agree, he just decided to play on pity,” Peter throws gloomily. “He believes we will pity him and caress his head. After everything we had to tolerate from him.”       “No, no, I swear I didn’t dream up this story!” Blake protests excitedly. “I really had a twin brother. His name was Matt. He died because of Wainwright, who got him addicted to that shit.”       “Ha, did you get our time to cry out about your brother?” Terrence scoffs contemptuously.       “He died because of the one you were connected with!”       “Listen, boy, we aren’t babysitters to comfort you and dry off your snots. Find a girl and tell her about your dead twin brother.”       “Doesn’t any of you believe me?”       “We don’t care about it.”       “But that’s the truth! Matt would’ve been alive if that bastard Wainwright hadn’t killed him with that shit.”       “You must say, ‘thank you’ to us for deciding to sacrifice our time and listen to your tales,” Daniel replies coldly. “Instead of rehearsing, we’re sitting here and listening to your tale about your twin brother, who allegedly died because of Wainwright.”       “Alright. I will show you something.” Blake takes his mobile phone from his pocket, finds something for a few seconds, and shows it to Peter, Terrence, Daniel, and Edward sitting in front of him. “Look.”       Daniel, Edward, Peter, and Terrence look at the photo that was definitely taken on a very old mobile phone, judging the bad quality. It’s possible to see Blake himself being much younger than he is now and one more man, who is as similar to him as two peas. The guys look happy enough and do not hide their wide smiles, hugging each other tightly. But there are differences between Blake and the boy. For example, the hairstyles of the twins are different, but someone to be similar to Connor has black hair, a black round earring in a pierced ear, and a middle-size tattoo in the form of a dragon shooting fire on the curve of his neck.       “Nobody can confirm that you didn’t make this photo in Photoshop,” Edward says confidently. “We have a reason to believe you took two photos of yours and pasted them together.”       “How?” Blake throws his hands up. “I can’t use Photoshop! Besides, I don’t have a computer in the place where I’m living. Yes, I know how to work with it, but I don’t have it.”       “Okay, you asked someone to create this photo. I could also ask someone past two photos together and tell everyone I got a twin.”       “This photo is not a fake, I swear! That’s my late twin brother, Matthew. Matthew Connor. My brother and I took this photo a long time before he got addicted to drugs. We were about twelve or thirteen in this photo. It’s one of the few photos I have. But I would’ve had much more if Matt had loved photographing. But I barely persuaded him to take this photo.”       “Well, I don’t know…” Terrence exhales sharply, holding Blake’s phone and viewing the photo. “That boy is really similar to you. Not saying your hair color is different, and he got a tattoo and a pierced ear.”       “Yeah, but when we were younger, people couldn’t differentiate us. People always confused me with him and him with me. So… At some moment, Matt decided to do something to differ from me. That’s what it brought to… We never cared that people didn’t know who was who, but I agreed we should’ve… Helped them memorize us…”       “Got a tattoo and pierced an ear?” Daniel frowns.       “And he dyed his hair and pierced his tongue. It’s not his natural hair color – Matt and I were almost blonds when we were born. Just like I am now.”       “Did your parents allow him to get a tattoo at such a young age?” Peter wonders.       “Matt and I didn’t have parents,” Blake confesses with sadness in his eyes. “We grew up in an orphan house.”       “Orphan house?” Edward rounds his eyes.       “And how did you end up there?” Terrence asks and puts Blake’s phone on the table. “You were separated from your parents?”       “Our educators said we ended up there when we were newborn babies,” Blake replies. “I don’t know why: either our parents rejected us or we lost them because of tragic events. But my brother and I never knew our mother and father.”       “So, did your educators let your brother do those things?”       “Nobody let him do anything. My brother found some familiars, who gave him a tattoo, pierced his ear, and dyed his hair. Speaking rudely, he did it illegally. Without adult people’s permission.”       “And what did your educators say?” Edward asks.       “Nothing. They didn’t care.”       “So, you lived in an orphan house since you were newborn babies?”       “Yup, ‘till we turned fourteen. And then we ran away. Ran away forever. We often went to the city, but always came back.”       “And nobody swore at you?”       “They had no time. The older the children got, the less they watched them. Younger children, who couldn’t speak, walk, or serve themselves, got all the attention. It happened to everybody, who turned more than fourteen or fifteen. Many brave guys ran away and never came back, but our educators didn’t care. And how much pleasure they had when kicking out eighteen-year-old folks! I remember many enough of them…”       “And where did you and your brother live after your escape from an orphan house?” Daniel frowns slightly.       “We were walking down the streets, hiding from cops, so they didn’t get us caught… And when we were lucky, we spent one or two nights with kind people… Homeless… Or those, who had a home… We ate fine food… But despite these difficulties, we didn’t want to come back to the orphan house.”       “Didn’t anyone want to adopt you?” Terrence wonders.       “One family couple wanted to adopt me once. Good people… They decided to take a child from an orphan house because that woman suffered from infertility and wasn’t able to give birth.”       “Why didn’t they adopt you?”       “I would’ve gone with them with pleasure, but they only wanted to adopt me. Though, I didn’t want to separate from my brother. I tried to persuade them to adopt Matt. I reminded them that the woman wasn’t able to give birth, but she could’ve had a chance to have two children. But they were stubborn.”       “And you refused?” Peter specifies.       “I had a choice: choosing a beautiful life with adopting parents, who could feed me, dress me, and help me get a good education, or refusing to leave my brother, without whom I always felt lonely. Seriously, I wouldn’t have overcome the separation from Mat… We… We had a special relationship… A special connection… We felt each other very well. And… I was afraid to break that connection.”       “That’s how…”       “I know I sound sentimental. But I couldn’t really live far from my brother. I was shaking at the thought that we’d live in different families. So… When those people refused to take Matt and me, I chose the second way. I didn’t wanna separate from my brother, whom I could never see again… So, I did my best to make those people reject me. They didn’t give up for a long time. And my educators tried to make me sure to go with them. But I insisted and said I wouldn’t leave without Matt. And I got what I wanted: those people eventually adopted a little girl. I knew her badly, but I heard she was good.”       “What did your brother think of that?” Terrence asks.       “He didn’t also wanna separate from me and got horrified that we’d never meet again.” Blake falls into silence for two seconds and looks around the living room with a sad look. “And when those people refused to take me, Matt got terribly happy. Happy that we’d still be together. And we swore at each other that nobody would tear us apart. If someone had wanted to adopt us two, we would’ve agreed. But we refused to live in different families and said it to our educators.”       “Did someone else try to adopt you?” Daniel asks.       “Nope, that case was the only one. Nobody else wanted to try to adopt us. But my brother and I were happy.”       “Were you and your brother so close that you didn’t want to separate?” Edward wonders.       “Matt and I were very close. He was my best friend, who never betrayed me. My brother could easily refuse something if he had to go against me. Yes, we had many friends, but we weren’t as close to them as to each other. There were things that we never discussed with others. What we only said to each other.”       “Didn’t your connection get anyone confused?”       “Our educators told us many times not to be stuck with each other and to speak to other people. They didn’t like that we always hung out together. Though, Matt and I never avoided other guys. They weren’t so close to us, but we were always happy to talk, laugh, and have fun with someone…”       “But you probably fought a lot,” Daniel assumes.       “It happened,” Blake cracks a slight smile. “Very seriously, at times. We could get too mad and stay far from each other for some time. But Matt and I couldn’t take it for a long time. One of us came first to suggest reconciling. We argued a lot, but we stayed close.”       “And did you, of course, use the fact that you were twins?”       “That was our favorite thing to do. We loved joking with people, using the fact that we were twins. When we were kids, we often pretended to be each other. We did it so well that people noticed the replacement only when we told them. I loved being a twin and was glad there was an absolute copy of mine in the world. There are many pluses about it.”       “Okay, but how did your brother get addicted to drugs and die?” Peter asks.       “It happened after the escape from the orphan house…” Blake gets sad enough, looking aside for a second. “One or one and a half years later, Matt met some guys. They were a little older… But he quickly got along with them and joined their party. And on one of their walks, those guys offered him a doobie, and he smoked it for the first time.”       “You saw it?”       “He said that. And… Matt was slowly getting addicted to this shit more and more and taking much harder drugs. And as it turned out, his pals bought drugs from Eugene Wainwright, whom I told you about. He knew someone, who could get it, but he demanded a lot of money for that. However, those men always had it somehow.”       “And I can guess what happened later: your brother asked his pals to introduce him to Wainwright some time later and started to buy that shit from him?” Daniel assumes.       “Erm… Yes… It happened. Those guys really introduced Wainwright to him. And later, my brother started to buy drugs from him. And, as you understand, he needed money. We needed money.”       “But how did you have it if you were homeless?” Edward wonders.       “At first, we didn’t have problems with it: we earned some money for side jobs or doing some easy missions at the plea of familiars or people from their circles. It was enough. Moreover, we weren’t used to luxury. No sweet or tasty food… We could quietly eat only buckwheat, potatoes, or pasta and drink clean water.”       “And what’s next?”       “Next, I started to notice that we had very little money. Even though we always bought the same things in the same quantity. I talked to Matt about it, but he just threw his hands up with honest eyes. And I believed him. Not knowing what kind of shit he got into.”       “And when did you begin to suspect something?” Peter asks.       “When I took his coat somehow. I mean… Our clothes were common, and we didn’t divide them into ‘my’ and ‘your’. We both wore them.” Blake clears his throat quickly. “In short, I wanted to put it on but saw how something got out of it. A couple of matchboxes. I originally thought that matches were inside, but something made me open them. And I found some powder in one of them and grass in another. I didn’t know what that was and didn’t try to smell or taste it. I was scared. Matt was home, and I came to him shortly and told him to explain it. My brother started to say it didn’t belong to him. Someone kind of planted it… Or asked him to keep it with him… He didn’t know how he got that… He looked for any excuse not to confess that those scumbags got him addicted to drugs.”       “Did you realize these were drugs immediately?”       “I guessed. But my mind screamed that it wasn’t the truth. That my brother didn’t get attracted to that shit.”       “But why didn’t you try to change his mind?” Terrence wonders.       “As if I didn’t try! I tried! Many times! But Matt was kind of deaf and didn’t hear me.”       “Why did Matt actually get addicted to that shit? Curiosity? Personal drama? Something else?”       “I don’t know…” Blake exhales sharply, running his hands over his hair. “But my brother never looked unhappy. Vice versa, he was faster, louder, and funnier than me. And his tattoos, his piercing, and his dark hair were the way to express himself. Matt always adored those things and loved black, gray, and brown colors… While I prefer light shades.”       “Being happy outside doesn’t mean being happy inside,” Edward frowns slightly. “A happy person would never destroy themselves in this way. What if your brother had a reason for a personal grief that he didn’t talk about?”       “I don’t know, Edward, I can say nothing… And I’ll never know it…” Blake exhales slowly, leaning his head back with closed eyes for a second. “But if I’d known he had problems, I would’ve done my best to help him. I would’ve done anything for my brother.”       “And what happened later?” Daniel asks.       “I felt that Matt distracted himself from me more and more,” Blake replies with sadness in his eyes. “He only cared about his new friends… The friends, with whom he sniffed and took that shit. Who became more important to him than me. Our connection was breaking slowly. While I was still attracted to Matt, he gave a fuck about me.”       “And who paid for that shit?”       “His pals paid for themselves for some time. But later they had problems, and only Matt could get money. I mean, he didn’t also have money in his wallet. By that time, he stopped earning money for food. And he began to beg for money from me. I was always responsible for money because I counted it better. But… As I suspected nothing and believed him when I found the matchboxes with powder and grass, I gave him as much as I could. I believed his lie about wanting to buy a gift for the birthday of a certain girl.”       “And when did you wake up?”       “Some time later, I found out that he spent money on drugs. I was told by one person, who saw him with his friends giving a lot of money to Wainwright and someone else to have a horrible appearance. And that person confessed that he saw my brother with those people not for the first time and saw that they were not adequate. So, I found out that Matt was strongly dependent on drugs.”       “Everything comes to light early or late,” Edward notices thoughtfully.       “On that day, Matt and I had a strong fight. I tried to talk to him quietly and said I’d understand him anyway, but he started to show aggression, scream, wave his hands, and lie insolently. My brother shamelessly confessed that he secretly stole the money that we had earned with such difficulty. And sometimes he took some things and sold them. You imagine… My brother was a drug addict and a burglar. A person with no shame and coincidence.”       “Yes, we understand,” Terrence nods.       “Then I realized I was losing my brother… Losing my brother, who was always by my side and was ready to refuse anything not to betray me. The one, who never said bad things about me. Didn’t judge me when I did something wrong. Was always by my side when I felt awful. I really stopped recognizing Matt. Matt, my twin brother, whom I loved so much… Whom I considered my best friend… I lost him. Forever. Was sure nothing would help him.”       “It’s really terrible…” Daniel agrees with sadness in his eyes. “Too terrible…”       “In short, I refused to give any money to my brother and watched every single cent much more closely,” Blake sighs quietly. “But it didn’t stop Matt… He kept getting money for drugs… He robbed people in the daylight! I personally saw Matt robbing a young girl and stealing her bag, in which he found a lot of money and a couple of good things that he sold. He just came to her car, opened the door, grabbed her by the hair, and told her loudly to give him money. The poor girl got white from fear and gave him her bag immediately. I wanted to calm her down, but she started to press on the gas pedal and got out. And I couldn’t stop my brother ‘cause he ran away.”       “Were there times when he took nothing?” Peter asks.       “There were. At those moments, we talked quietly. And he kind of apologized and promised to get better. But he quickly got a withdrawal, and Matt came back to the old ways. By the way, on the day of the robbery, he broke down after holding on for two weeks.”       “Okay…”       “It was absolutely different Matt. Matt, who hated me for nothing. Who blamed me for what I never did. Who could easily hit and attack me with fists or scream. Who openly started to be mean to me. Insult me. Humiliate me. Get mad that I cared about him like a chicken cares about an egg. I even got bruises on my whole body after his hits many times. My brother had a heavy hand. He could hit me so that I could barely move.”       “Who was older?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Judging the documents in our personal cases at the orphan house, Matt was twenty minutes older. And he was considered older because he was braver and more confident… And a little bigger… Heavier. I looked like a cowardly stick against my brother.”       “Alas, drug addicts don’t have feelings,” Daniel notices with sadness in his eyes. “If you give them no money, they hate you and treat you like a mat. If you give them something, nothing will change.”       “It was madly hurtful to me to realize that my brother was destroying himself, but I could do nothing. I was really powerless! You can’t stop taking drugs by yourself, and you need a lot of money to get therapy. What kind of therapy could we get if we literally lived in our bags and walked around the city to find housing? That’s why I started to accept the fact that I couldn’t help my brother. I made myself believe I lost him a long time ago… And I stayed all alone. At such a young age… That I should’ve accepted the fact that nobody would protect me, comfort me, listen to me, and help me…”       Blake starts to look at his hands, exhaling slowly, while Edward, Peter, Daniel, and Terence getting a little softer watch the boy with sadness in their eyes.       “I didn’t know too much about my brother’s dependence. Well… I made conclusions by what I saw. Or what I heard from some people. I couldn’t even imagine that the situation was much harder. And I found out everything when I met Wainwright himself during one of my walks.”       “You met Wainwright?” Edward wonders.       “He confused me with Matt. He started to choke me strongly and beat me… Eugene told me to give him the money that my brother should’ve given. I tried to tell him that he confused me with my brother and said we were twins. But it didn’t impact him, and Wainwright started to threaten me openly with words, fists, and a knife.”       “If he was already on high, saying something to him didn’t make sense.”       “I was really terrified… That man immediately made me feel horrified. And I was walking where there was nobody. Nobody could hear me and help me, even if I screamed out for help. I… I couldn’t protect myself. I couldn’t. I was afraid. Eugene was a big, adult man on high, and I was a little kid, who was used to hiding behind the back of my strong brother and hoped he’d protect me. But I couldn’t count on him. I couldn’t feel safe.”       “We’ve gotta agree…” Daniel exhales sharply. “That bull was too hard to strike down.”       “A miracle helped me get off him and run away as far as possible. But Wainwright said if Matt didn’t pay his debt, he’d work on him. That he’d be made to do dirty work. And since my brother didn’t have money, he was taken into a criminal stash house where there were many crazy drug addicts. But they let him go after he worked off his debt. I tried to get him out a couple of times, but I didn’t have money. They wanted too much money that I didn’t have.”       “So, is that how you met Wainwright?” Terrence asks.       “Yup… By the way, Matt often forgot his phone when getting out here, and I saw that Wainwright and his pals called him many times. And I even responded to one of those calls once… That was Wainwright. Who told Matt to give money again. And one fateful day, I received a call on my mobile phone. It was Wainwright again. He found my number on my brother’s phone. And… Do you know what I heard?”       “What?” Peter frowns slightly.       “My brother was dead… Matt died in that stash house…”       “Overdose?” Daniel specifies.       “Sort of.” Blake falls into silence and swallows up nervously. “On that day, Matt found a great dose of cocaine that was very dangerous for life. By that time, I stopped trying to change his mind and even started to be happy when he got out, ‘cause we constantly fought for any reason. And somewhere two hours later, he ended up in the stash house when Wainwright’s pals found him.”       “He said it?”       “Yes. Matt was brought there by force. He was made to do dirty work again to repay his debt. So, he did what they wanted. For the last time. The dose of cocaine was too dangerous for life. He started to feel too bad. But nobody even thought of helping him, and Wainwright beat my brother with a stick, so he wasn’t lazy. And at some moment, Matt lost consciousness. Eugene said he had an epileptic fit, after which death happened… That he choked… My brother didn’t wake up… He died… Died because of those scumbags. They saw what happened to him, but they did nothing.”       “My gosh…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully with sadness in his eyes.       “You can’t imagine how overwhelmed I was when I heard it…” Blake looks at the window with a greater sadness in his eyes and at his hands, holding down tears that wet his eyes slightly. “How loudly I screamed into the phone… How I cursed Eugene and those, who got him depended on that shit… Even if I thought I almost lost my brother, his death was a great hit for me. I didn’t believe I stayed alone for some time and thought it wasn’t true… That it was my nightmare. I wanted to wake up and see my brother next to me. Alive. Unharmed. Not dependent on that shit. But it didn’t happen. And all of those identification parades by some of the things that I was given, talks to doctors, and people, who we lived with for a long time, but who didn’t know about my brother’s dependence, made me realize that I lost him… Lost Matt… I… I didn’t literally wanna live… I didn’t know how to survive in this world alone. I didn’t have anyone closer than him.”       “Did those people support you?” Terrence asks.       “Yeah, but it gave me nothing! I couldn’t come to myself. I still can’t accept his death. I will never do it… No matter how many years are gone, I will still believe I will see Matt alive someday.”       “And didn’t you say farewell to him?” Daniel asks with sadness in his eyes.       “Nope, I didn’t see him for the last time… I didn’t talk to him… I only see Matt in our photos and the photo on his grave.”       “Do you think he thought of you when dying?” Peter asks carefully.       “Wainwright said Matt often repeated my name. My brother kind of asked me for forgiveness, felt sorry for doing that to me, and begged me to help… And I wanna believe it. I wanna believe he recalled that I still existed and was ready to be by his side, despite nothing.”       “You miss him?”       “I madly miss my brother and would give everything to see him again… Alive and unharmed.” Blake closes his face with his shaking hands for a second and exhales sharply. “Without him, I feel very lonely… And nobody can replace him. It will hardly happen. Nobody will understand me better than he did.”       “It would probably be stupid to ask if you’re mad at him for what happened…” Edward says hesitantly, ruffling his hair.       “No, I’m not mad at him at all…” Blake shakes his head. “Even a little. Despite all the insults, humiliations, and hits, I kept loving my brother and was ready to sacrifice anything to help him. Because… Because I knew what my brother actually was. And I am sure that he would’ve never hit me, insulted me, and blamed me for everything… Matt would’ve never acted as terribly as he did after getting dragged into a world ruled by drugs. Any dependence is your way down.”       Blake falls into silence for two seconds, looks at his arm, rolls the sleeve of his t-shirt, and gets sad when looking at the black, beautiful letters “M,” “B” and “C” that are tattooed on the inside of his bicep with a gothic font.       “And some time ago, I decided to get this tattoo and dedicate it to my brother. I gave almost all the money that I had… These are the initials of his full name – Matthew Bradley Connor. Looking at this tattoo, I think of my brother. And I say I’ll never forget him, and I forgave him for everything he did to me. I mean, I didn’t think of being mad.”       “Beautiful tattoo…” Edward appreciates.       “Before the story of drugs, Matt and I wanted to get tattoos dedicated to each other. I couldn’t find the courage to go to a salon and was afraid it would be hurtful. But my brother was braver and wasn’t afraid of asking his familiars, who gave him a tattoo illegally twice but with all the safety measures. At first, he got a dragon on his neck, which you saw in the photo, and then he got a tattoo dedicated to me. These were the initials of my name – ‘B,’ ‘J’ and ‘C’… That meant Blake Jared Connor. He had them on his chest. The place where the heart was… Matt waited for me to dedicate a tattoo to him. But I decided to get my first tattoo some time ago.”       Daniel, Terrence, Edward, and Peter try to accept what they heard for a few seconds, not even thinking about mocking Blake, who has experienced so many bad events by his age.       “Oh, what a story…” Terrence pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “It touched me, to be honest.”       “Me too,” Edward nods. “Really.”       “It…” Blake pronounces in a shaking voice and rubs his eye with his fingers. “It was very hard… To tell this story… But I should’ve done it. I should’ve revealed what didn’t let me calm down for ages.”       “I’m really very sorry for you and your brother,” Terrence expresses regret. “I’m sure that guy didn’t deserve it.”       “It all still seems like a nightmare. It’s like I’ve been living someone’s life for three years. Everything kind of should be different.”       “Didn’t you tell anyone about that?” Peter rounds his eyes.       “I didn’t want to talk about it,” Blake confesses quietly. “Because I felt a strong pain… And I didn’t want to show my real emotions and soul to people.”       “So, that was a mask?” Daniel wonders.       “Yes. I’m actually not such a sassy and unbearable guy that everybody knows. I’ve always been insecure, indecisive, and cowardly… That’s why I was always next to Matt, who could easily fuck off everyone and hit them strongly. I never thought he wouldn’t be next to me. I naively believed he’d feel that I needed help and come to me shortly. Though, I can’t say I ran after Matt. Of course, we sometimes spent time apart. But with him, I felt safe.”       “But you should’ve understood that your brother couldn’t always stand up for you,” Edward says confidently. “No matter how scared you are, you should protect yourself. A weak person will never get off it easily. Strong people don’t pity weak people.”       “I realized it much earlier than Matt died. And I had to tell my cowardice to fuck itself and become different. I understood I had nobody to count on. It was madly hurtful, lonely, scared… I was afraid to be alone in this world. But I couldn’t show it. I… I showed aggression. I showed it constantly. I thought if I behaved like a bully, nobody would guess I was actually a weak coward.”       “Well, we got it…” Terrence says thoughtfully.       “I wasn’t afraid to tell the truth, said anything I had on my mind, and sometimes mocked and insulted weaker people. Fear of showing the real me played an evil joke on me. I really overplayed a sassy, shameless guy and forgot what it was like to be kind, fair, and gentle. I became a scumbag… And… I didn’t notice how a weak, cowardly boy died at some moment. But if I’d known I’d become a senseless scumbag, for whom insulting and humiliating would’ve been super easy, I would’ve laughed for a long time three years ago.”       “So, is that why you insulted us when you had a chance since the day we met?” Daniel concludes.       “Aggression was my protective reaction. I thought if I attacked first, I’d feel confident. And I’d avoid fights with stronger people.”       “Yeah, but we did nothing bad to you to be treated like that!” Peter notices confidently.       “I swear, guys, I’ve never had anything against you! I… I’m really very sorry about behaving like that and treating you like you were guilty of everything that happened to me.”       “It happened!” Edward exclaims.       “I know… And… Yes… Maybe, you’re right that I was jealous of you… It’s partly true. But it’s not the jealousy you think about. I just dreamed of what you had: money, home, love, close people… At the age of nineteen, I’ve really reached nothing, and I swim like shit in a pool. I only learned to fuck young girls and puff my tail for them. I’m lonely, unhappy, and poor… I was jealous ‘cause you all were loved, but I didn’t have even a shabby cat… I live in a half-ruined hostel where it always smells terrible… I was jealous, ‘cause you all were lucky to live much better. Lucky to get the love of your fans so easily.”       “A beautiful picture always leaves people delighted,” Terrence notices quietly. “But nobody knows how much work was done for it. How much someone worked on it, so everyone wants to buy it for millions of dollars. Everyone believes that the guys and I did everything easily. But that’s not the truth! It was hard. The band has been about to break up many times. We sometimes gave up. We managed to do nothing. Everybody wanted to give up… But still, we worked like crazy to get what we have now.”       “Yes, yes, I know… You… You’re good fellows… I’m delighted anyway. I admire your commitment. You kept moving on, even though many people disliked or hated you.”       “There are no people loved by everyone,” Peter says confidently. “Sometimes even the most perfect, most innocent, and most generous people are hated.”       “But your unity admires me much more. Your strong friendship. You, guys… Always defend each other, support each other, and help each other hold on even in the hardest situations… I made sure about the power of your friendship more and more every day. I was especially delighted by the event in the café… Well… When the little girl came to you and asked you to sign a CD… But when she showed hate for Daniel, you pissed her off. You… You didn’t go against him. You didn’t close your eyes to these insults. You protected him when the media said he was guilty of making Peter kill himself.”       “And you were one of them!” Terrence exclaims.       “Yeah, I believed it, too. But because I didn’t know anything about what really happened. I just recently decided to get deeper into it and find out more about that story.”       “Anyway, that’s good you realized Daniel was guilty of nothing.”       “It… It was also a reason why I was jealous of you. I was jealous of your friendship. I’ve always wanted to have the same loyal friends, who would do anything for me…”       “But that was stupid, Blake!” Edward notices. “It was stupid to insult us for nothing! We can understand your jealousy. But sorry, dude, you’re guilty of everything. You make people turn their backs on you and behave as if everybody is the reason why your life is bad. If you were a little kinder and more gentle, you’d have friends.”       “I’m really very sorry, guys,” Blake confesses with sadness in his eyes. “I know I behaved disgustingly.”       “Trust me, I somehow had the same situation you did. I was also homeless when I left the home of Father and Stepmother at the age of seventeen. I didn’t have a home or money… I lived with everybody, who let me in. I also had problems with my job. I even wore clothes that I had had since I was a teenager for a long time. I was lucky that size still fit me. And you don’t know how many times I was called a beggar. A beggar with no home, money, job, or family… You know how hurtful it was to hear all of that!” Edward shakes his head. “I was also swimming like shit in a pool for many years. To some extent, I was lonely. I also had no one. Even if there were people, who I spoke with, and who I even befriended. However, there weren’t close people, to whom I could come to ask for help and just say something. Though, I never asked anyone about something. I never asked my family to help me with money or a job. Never. I just accepted what I was given. And I started to sort everything out on my own. Because I knew I had no right to be insolent and wait for someone to do everything for me.”       “At least you had friends…” Blake sighs quietly. “But I’m lonely…”       “I say again, you’re guilty of that. The lads and I never refused to speak to you and were happy to give you a chance to join our gang. But you made us turn our backs on you and hate you. Because you treated us the way we didn’t deserve.”       “Yes, Connor, you didn’t really give us a chance to get closer to you,” Terrence agrees confidently. “We were good to you, but you, speaking rudely, turned your ass on us.”       “I know,” Blake replies with pity in his eyes.       “Listen, we understand that you were probably a little ashamed to tell people that your brother was dependent on drugs,” Daniel says quietly. “We know you were afraid to be judged. It’s okay, nobody made you talk about it. But turning people against you was wrong.”       “Sometimes I wanted to complain to someone and tell them how bad I felt. But I could not. Because I’m a man and couldn’t go so far. It was okay if I were a girl! Nobody would judge me for breaking down. But nobody would forgive me for… Wishing to talk openly.”       “Being honest and open is not a sin,” Peter notices confidently. “You should just know who you could be open with, and who you better shut up with. It goes without saying, you must not tell everyone everything about you. But your close people have the right to know what’s happening to you.”       “These stereotypes pressed me so hard… My educators at the orphan house always told me that boys must tolerate everything. I always heard it when I cried for something in childhood. Skinned a knee, hit something, got hurt by someone… Yes, I’ve always been weak… Morally… And psychically…” Blake exhales sharply, running his hands over his face. “But now I’m done! I’m sick of being silent and making everything worse. And I realized I wanted to confess everything. I wanna stop being a senseless scumbag to everybody. So… Now you know why I behaved in that way…”       “I must confess that you hid it well,” Terrence confesses. “Nobody would’ve thought you cared about it so much.”       “Maybe… And I tried to think less about it. That’s why I began to live like a bonehead. That was… My outlet…”       “The fact that you hang out with girls is absolutely fine,” Peter notices thoughtfully. “You’re in the age when a boy is obsessed with sex and ready to attack any young, sexy girl.”       “I am… I need sex at least once per week. Without it, I literally start to go crazy and get nervous and evil. At those moments, I don’t care who to fuck… Just someone…”       “There’s nothing critical about it. But as for your situation, you could share your story with us. The guys and I would’ve listened to you and shown our support.”       “I know, but I was afraid to seem weak and be judged for what Matt did.”       “It can’t be judged, Blake. You’re not the one to blame for your brother getting dependent on that shit. Just like he wasn’t. Matt wasn’t just lucky to mess up with a bad party and that bastard, Wainwright. And someone hardly explained to him what could happen if you smoked some doobie.”       “But I’m guilty of not watching him closely and not saving him in time. If I’d done that, my brother would’ve been alive. He would’ve been with me. We would’ve been together.”       “You can help a drug addict only when they want to get cured. As I understand, Matt didn’t wanna get cured and stop taking that shit. So, trying to help him come back to a normal life would’ve been worthless.”       “He believed he could stop at any time if he wanted. Sometimes he threw that shit on purpose to prove that he could do that. And when I naively began to believe that he stopped, Matt started to sniff and inject drugs into himself again.”       “Maybe, he wanted, but he had nobody to help him,” Daniel assumes. “Nobody could pay for his therapy at the clinic, ‘cause it requires a lot of money. And it doesn’t mean he won’t start taking drugs after a successful therapy.”       “And I understood it. And I felt despair because I was powerless. I was ready to do anything to help my brother. Even rob a bank or a rich family.”       “Anyway, you shouldn’t have been silent,” Edward says confidently. “Even if you felt guilty.”       “And you should actually speak out any problem aloud,” Peter adds. “Sometimes you can only solve some problems with someone’s help.”       “I know, but even if I had gone to beg on the streets, I wouldn’t have found a little part of the money for his therapy,” Blake replies thoughtfully. “And if Matt had known it, he would’ve spent it on drugs… He could turn the whole house upside down just to find some money… Especially when he had a withdrawal…”       “We get it.”       “All of that really drove me crazy. But after a cool night with a girl or a couple of glasses, my life always got better. I forgot everything… And I loved that feeling… I loved getting lost. Not thinking that my brother was sick, and I wasn’t able to help him,” Blake exhales sharply. “But everything started again the next morning… Hangover, a wish to die… The aggressive brother, who turned the whole house upside down again and looked for money again…”       “It’s just a temporary effect. Trust me. Drinks and sex will not solve your problems. They will not solve them as well as if you wanted to hide with the hope that a fairy would show up and wave the magic wand to make everything better.”       “I know, but I needed to relax. Or I would’ve gone crazy and killed someone. For example, Matt. No matter how much I loved him, I sometimes really wanted to strangle that guy.”       “I get it.”       “It’s all madly hard…” Blake complains, running his hands over his face. “I’m surprised that I haven’t gone crazy…”       “Looking at you, I thought you had everything, and your life was freaking cool. I was sure that you were the son of rich parents. And I was surprised that you wanted to work. But I assumed that you could be forced to go to work.”       “Oh, come on…” Blake chuckles quietly. “Being a rich son is my imagination. I’m actually an ordinary guy, who grew up in an orphan house along with my twin brother, who died under such terrible circumstances. A pathetic beggar without a home, money, a job, and a family…”       “But we all really thought you were a major boy from a rich family,” Terrence replies confidently. “Seeing you sad and thoughtful was the impossible mission. You were always happy and funny and hung out with girls… You especially loved hanging out with the twins from Brie’s backup dancers.”       “Courtney and Hannah?” Blake cracks a slight smile. “Oh, they’re silly! There’s nothing to talk to them about! I hang out with them just because these girls are gorgeous and compliant. And they’ve got cool bodies… We spend time with no obligations. Even if I want to sleep with them, nothing happens after that. We keep hanging out together when we meet somewhere. What? They’re incredible in bed! They can please a man very well! It’s a sin to resist when such beautiful chicks are ready to do nice things to you.”       “We got it,” Daniel nods.       Blake says nothing for two seconds and thinks about something with sadness in his eyes, doubling over and locking his fingers tightly.       “Hey, how do you know we had to do with Wainwright?” Edward frowns slightly.       “I’ve been aware of the fact that you had to do with him for a long time,” Blake confesses confidently. “I heard about a trial of the old man, who that bastard was working with. And I know they were put in jail. I also know Wainwright ran away from prison. And when I found it out, I realized that the story wasn’t over…”       “Didn’t you meet him?” Daniel asks.       “After his escape? No, I didn’t! Though, I was terribly afraid that he’d find me and do something terrible. For example, I could work off the money that Matt didn’t manage to pay.” Blake throws his hands up. “So, since you knew him, I decided to warn you about the danger. I thought you weren’t aware of that and were more interested in saving your band. In helping Daniel…”       “But as you understand, we knew everything,” Edward replies thoughtfully. “And wishing to make him pay for everything, we got into a bad situation that led to some consequences.”       “Do you mean that Terrence ended up in the hospital?”       “You know it, too?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Everyone talked about it! The media dreamed up some horrible stories! One was more horrible than the other! They literally started to bury you.”       “Luckily, everything ended well,” Peter cracks a slight smile. “Terrence recovered quickly, and Wainwright died after the fall that led to many traumas incomparable with life.”       “My educator said you must not wish people to die and say bad things about dead people. But guys… I’m madly happy that jackass died!” Blake puts his hand on his heart. “It would’ve been terribly unfair if he had killed my brother but kept living.”       “I’m glad, too,” Edward says confidently. “That bastard wanted to rape my fiancée. He was obsessed with it. And he didn’t care that she was afraid of him. That scumbag only thought of one thing – undressing her, feeling her up, and getting his fucking dick into her.”       “I read about it. And I’m glad she avoided it.”       “And I’m sorry for your brother. I can imagine how hurtful you feel, ‘cause I’d go crazy if something happened to mine.”       “Thanks, Edward.”       “You know, Blake, the story of your brother reminds me of the story of my sister,” Daniel notices thoughtfully. “When you were talking about him, I was thinking of what she experienced.”       “Wow, you have a sister?” Blake rounds his eyes.       “Yup. Younger.”       “She died, too?”       “No, luckily, we saved her in time.”       “But how did she get attracted to drugs?”       “As well as Matt. Bad people. She got in touch with them at her wish. Because she fell in love with a guy. And she suffered from a lack of our parents’ attention. And they, by the way, also knew Wainwright and got drugs from him. At first, everybody paid for themselves, and then only my sister did it. And when she wasn’t able to pay anymore, everybody left her, and she became his slave. Wainwright tortured her the way he wanted to torture Natalia, Edward’s fiancée.”       “Oh, poor girl…” Blake pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “I’m so sorry… And what was her age?”       “She was thirteen when she took grass for the first time.”       “Such a baby?”       “She couldn’t accept Father’s death… And after Mother’s death, she went out of control. She once tried to kill herself, but then she left home and didn’t come back. She was found on the day when Wainwright brought Terrence to a hospital.”       “Wait, did both of your parents die?”       “Yup. Both.”       “Wow… I’m very sorry, Daniel.”       “It was madly hard, but I accepted it more or less. Though, I sometimes wanna see Father and Mother again.”       “I get it… But I’m glad your sister is okay. She was lucky she didn’t become another victim of that bastard.”       “She would’ve become if we hadn’t found her.”       “As I understand, she’s nineteen now?”       “Yes. Just like you are. She’s your coeval.”       “I hope that girl will not end her life in the same way as my brother.”       “I’ll do my best for her to get well. Luckily, I can help her, and she wants it. So, my sister must survive. It’s gonna take a lot of time, but we are both ready.”       “Anyway, I wish you two luck.”       “Thanks, Blake.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Blake nods, throwing a sad look at his hands.       “So, boy, we gave you a chance to say what you want,” Terrence says quietly. “That’s all? Or do you have something else?”       “Yes, I…” Blake stutters, understanding that he is shaking slightly. “I… I’d like to ask you something… If it’s possible, of course… Erm…”       Blake swallows up nervously and exhales quietly.       “I should probably start with apologies, not a plea…”       Blake says nothing for two seconds, glancing at his hands.       “Guys…” Blake pronounces hesitantly. “Forgive me for insulting and humiliating you. I understand it’s gonna be hard for you to forget the bad things. I know you’re mad at me. But… I don’t want you to keep thinking I’m a scumbag. And I would be happy to get along with all of you. Now I won’t even ask you to invite me to your gang and make me your friends, ‘cause I need to try hard to deserve it. But I want you, guys, to know that… I’m really ashamed of everything I said. I didn’t really want it to happen.”       “What if you start it all again after we believe you?” Edward frowns slightly. “Start to insult us, blame Daniel, Peter, and me for using the famous name of Terrence, and call us his suckers? Or actually wish to frame us?”       “Yes, Connor, no guarantees that you will not betray us,” Terrence adds confidently.       “No, no, lads, I promise I will no longer insult you,” Blake promises in a little shaking voice, shaking his head sharply. “I will try to become your friend. Because I’ve always wanted to speak to you as friends. And who knows… Maybe, thanks to you, I’ll meet new people. I don’t wanna be alone anymore. I need friends.”       “We aren’t fools, Connor,” Peter notices confidently. “And we can differentiate a joke from an insult. It’s easy for us to understand when the phrase ‘you look suck’ is said as a joke, and when it’s said to insult and humiliate.”       “I promise you’ll no longer hear any insults. And you can always count on me. I will do anything you’d ask me about.”       “Well, as for trusting you, we’ve got great problems with it…” Daniel notices with both arms crossed over his chest.       “If you don’t wanna befriend me, don’t. I don’t make anyone do it. But please, don’t deprive me of the chance to earn money.”       “So, do you need money or friends?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “One and another. But I have no right to ask you to become my friends. At least now. However, I really need a job.” Blake looks at one of the images in the living room for a second with sadness in his eyes. “Please, guys, don’t fire me! Take me back!”       “Do you think we’ll let you stay after what you’ve done?” Edward wonders.       “I’m begging you, guys, let me keep working with you,” Blake begs with pity in his eyes. “How could I get a lot of money? Wherever I worked before, I earned peanuts, for which I could barely buy food! I couldn’t buy good clothes and drinks! Sadly, I have no father or mother, whom I could beg for money. I’ve gotta survive on my own. And I was so lucky when I met a girl getting promised by George. She told me that one band and she were looking for assistants. I liked the very good salary. And the fact that the helper was supposed to go to other cities and even countries with a band. I always wanted to go somewhere else, except the place where I grew up.”       “But you wanted to work with the other girl, not us,” Daniel recalls confidently.       “Yes, I originally planned to become her assistant and asked that girl to talk to George and introduce me to him. But after talking to him, he gave me the job as your assistant because that girl had gotten a different one. It took too much time for me to decide whether I should’ve agreed.”       “And you weren’t happy that you were made to work with us,” Terrence says quietly.       “Yes… At first, I wasn’t happy working with you. But later, my opinion changed. Somehow, I talked to her assistant, and he told me that the girl was very capricious and exacting. He told me he was sick of her. And he was kind of even jealous of me ‘cause I was working with you.”       “That’s how!” Peter crosses his arms over his chest.       “Everybody at the agency and the studio said that working with you was a pleasure for them.” Blake glances at Edward, Daniel, Terrence, and Daniel and cracks a slight smile. “And you turned out not to be stick-up, capricious, and lax. You don’t have any peculiarities and don’t suffer from ‘star-struck.’ It seems that you were supposed to go crazy from such crazy fame, but you didn’t… You remained the same and didn’t demand that people treat you specially. You remained simple guys, who weren’t shy of being themselves. Who have fun whenever they wanted. Who do what they want, listening to nobody.”       “We agree with it,” Terrence nods. “We’re lucky that our managers let us be ourselves and don’t try to make us someone they need. They put an accent on trueness. And it works.”       “You seem free and open on the stage. If you wanna jump and run from one side to another, you do it. You have the pleasure of communicating with your fans: waving your hands at their cameras or taking someone’s phone to take a photo or record a video… You don’t run from them and are always ready to give attention to every single one.” Blake cracks a slight smile. “And actually, you’re cool dudes! And I understand I’m freaking lucky to work with you. So, I’m ready to sink my teeth into this job because it’s like gold.”       “Of course, you speak beautifully, but you should’ve thought earlier,” Edward replies quietly.       “I don’t wanna believe you fired me.”       “Sorry, Connor, but we’ve found someone to replace you,” Terrence confesses with sadness in his eyes. “That’s the person, whom we know very well and trust him at one hundred percent.”       “Please, lads, don’t get me fired!” Blake begs a little louder with pity in his eyes. “I do really need this job! I will do anything you say! But I’m begging you, take me back! I don’t dream of owning a house, but I really need money for food, clothes, fun, and other things. I wouldn’t get another job, knowing that I dropped school after getting out of the orphan house and didn’t graduate from a college or university.”       “It’s your problem,” Peter pronounces a little coldly. “We fired you and found the one, who will treat us with respect.”       “No, guys, please!”       “We can’t trust you, Connor,” Daniel says confidently. “You had drunk before this talk, and you are now surely drunk.”       “No, I ain’t drunk! I just drank a little to calm down a little… If I hadn’t drunk, I wouldn’t have found the courage to start this talk. I was shaking when I just thought about it.”       “No guarantees that you will not take your words back some time later.”       “I won’t do it, guys, I swear! I want peace! I wanna fight with nobody anymore. I don’t wanna pretend to be tough. I don’t wanna show aggression with the hope of hiding my pain.”       “We’re obviously sorry that you lost your brother,” Edward says quietly. “But your touching story will not fix everything you’ve done. Everything would’ve been otherwise if you had treated us well from the beginning.”       “I really wanna fix everything. Or at least just something. Our last meeting made me think of many things. It made me realize that if I kept behaving in that way, I would be about to lose my job. Besides, I…” Blake swallows up nervously, glancing at his hands. “I’ve heard many times that you four talked to George and begged him to find someone to replace me. I thought you bluffed, but later, I realized the case was bad.”       “It’s too late to regret it, Connor,” Peter says confidently. “You’re nineteen. You’re an adult man, who’s able to be responsible for what you do and say. You must have brains.”       “Please, Terrence, Edward, Daniel, Peter…” Blake puts his hands together, looking at the men with pity in his eyes. “Give me one more chance… I will never betray you and will do anything you say. I swear on my late brother’s grave… Please, guys… Please…”       Seeing Blake shaking slightly from excitement and nervousness, Daniel, Edward, Terrence, and Peter say nothing for a few seconds and look at each other questioningly. And before breaking the silence, Terrence clears his throat quickly.       “Blake, I think you understand that we aren’t ready to forget all your mockeries yet,” Terrence says quietly. “We accept your apology, but it doesn’t mean you’re now a part of our gang. And we agree to give you one more chance to show your work and prove that you can be a good assistant.”       “But we will not stop watching you,” Daniel adds confidently. “If we don’t like something, and you show the worst side of you again, we will dismiss you without warning.”       “Yes, you can work with us if you want it,” Edward says with his head proudly raised. “But our attitude toward you will depend on your attitude toward us. And we don’t exclude that we may find one more assistant.”       “If you prove to us that we can really trust you, we’ll be more friendly and much opener,” Peter adds quietly. “Maybe, we will become friends someday, but you’ll have to try too hard for it.”       “Yes, yes, I get it,” Blake jabs happily and excitedly. “T-t-thank you… Thank you so much, guys! You won’t be disappointed.”       “We want to believe it.”       “So… Let’s shake our hands… To… Reconcile?”       With these words, Blake gives his hand hesitantly to shake. Edward, Peter, Terrence, and Daniel look at each other and silently shake the young guy by the hand, while he cracks a slight smile.       “Thanks…” Blake pronounces hesitantly. “Count on me for everything.”       “Good,” Terrence nods. “You can be free for a while ‘cause we don’t have scheduled appearances in the nearest time. But when the lads and I are back to work, you’ll have to do it, too.”       “I have one week before George is back in the city. Before your management team agrees on your public appearances.”       “We know, but you can be free now,” Edward replies quietly.       “Okay…” Blake looks around hesitantly and exhales slowly. “Thanks… Thanks a lot for listening and not dismissing me. I… Really got better after revealing myself to you. And I’m glad the business of your band got better, that bastard Wainwright paid for everything, and Daniel remembers everything now.”       “You’re right, everything’s getting better,” Daniel confirms.       “I’m glad.” Blake gets up slowly and looks at the four men silently watching him with sadness in their eyes. “Forgive me for everything you tolerated from me again. I was unfair to you and didn’t want it to happen…”       “Let’s try to forget everything and start it over again,” Peter suggests quietly.       “Sure… And…” Blake glances at his hands. “I’m sorry about bothering you.”       “It’s okay. We had a break.”       “Okay… Then, I shall go…” Blake half turns and moves his eyes to the men. “But I’m gonna say something before…”       Blake falls into silence for two seconds and swallows up nervously.       “Terrence, Edward… Please… Take care of each other. Spend as much time together as possible. Help each other in any way. If it’s otherwise, you will really regret it someday. And you, too, Daniel. Don’t leave your sister at such a hard moment. Don’t let her end her life the way Matt did it.”       “Don’t worry,” Daniel nods. “She’s gonna be fine.”       “We're all gonna be fine,” Terrence adds quietly.       “I hope,” Blake cracks a slight smile. “Good luck, guys. See you soon.”       Blake takes his mobile phone from the table, puts it in his pocket, turns around, comes to the hall door slowly, opens it, and closes it after leaving the house of Daniel, who stays along with Peter, Edward, and Terrence.       “Wow, I didn’t expect this turn,” Peter confesses thoughtfully.       “Do you think he really regrets it, or he just drank too much?” Edward asks hesitantly.       “Who knows…” Terrence shrugs. “But his eyes were very depressed. And he was literally afraid to move when he was with us. So, I don’t exclude that he’s really regretting…”       “I wonder what impacted him so much?” Daniel frowns slightly.       “Maybe, he really feels lonely?” Peter assumes. “As I understand, his brother was the only one, to whom Connor was strongly attracted. And after losing him, he stayed alone. And he was ashamed to say that his brother was a drug addict.”       “Yeah, but we shouldn’t listen open-mouthed,” Terrence says with both arms crossed over his chest. “He’s done too many bad things to us to forgive him so easily.”       “Who said we believe him? We just gave him a chance to get better. And if he uses it, our opinion will probably be different.”       “Exactly! Let him prove that we can trust him, and we’ll see it. We aren’t evil people and are ready to give a second chance to someone, who asks for it and deserves it.”       “I must confess that the story of Connor’s twin brother is very similar to Cassidy’s story…” Daniel notices with sadness in his eyes. “Both were drug addicts and got in touch with Wainwright, who tortured them when they had nothing to pay with.”       “I think his brother could’ve been saved if he’d gotten therapy in time,” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “If he’d had money for going to a clinic.”       “Yeah, if he died three years ago, he was sixteen,” Terrence counts quickly. “Too young kid…”       “It’s clear that something wasn’t right with Matt if he got in touch with that shit. Cassidy did that because of a lack of attention and the deaths of her father and mother. So, something bothered Connor’s brother.”       “Anyway, that bastard Wainwright tried hard,” Peter says confidently. “He brought the boy to death and almost did the same to the girl.”       “I wish that scumbag burned in hell,” Edward pronounces in a lower voice. “Scumbag! How many people he hurt! How many people he had killed before he tried to rape Natalia.”       “I’m shaking at the thought that Cass could’ve experienced the same things if we hadn’t saved her in time,” Daniel confesses, fingering over nervously. “I haven’t accepted the death of my parents. But if something happens to Cassidy… No, no, I don’t even wanna think about it! No…”       “But we saved Cassidy,” Terrence notices, putting his arm on the back of the sofa. “She’ll go to a clinic soon and wean herself away from her dependencies and psychologic traumas.”       “Already did,” Daniel confesses.       “What?” Edward wonders.       “The day after yesterday, I called the clinic, whose number I got from her doctor. They explained everything to me, and I agreed to her therapy. I’ll have to spend a lot of money, but it’s okay.”       “So, is she at the clinic?” Terrence advises.       “Yes, I drove her yesterday.”       “I hope she’ll do this,” Peter expresses hope. “The girl is good. Cassidy deserves to live a good life. Just like any young girl.”       “I will do my best for the money not to be spent for nothing. For her not to even look at that shit.”       Edward, Peter, and Terrence say nothing and just smile slightly at Daniel to support him a little.       “Hey, I wouldn’t have thought Connor lived in an orphan house,” Edward confesses thoughtfully, running his hand through his hair. “Since an early age…”       “Anyway, I must confess that his story touched me,” Terrence says quietly. “Really. Even if it was an attempt to play on pity, Connor’s story didn’t leave me indifferent.”       “But how did he and his brother end up in an orphan house? Did their parents reject them? Or were they taken away? The guys were born absolutely healthy, without illness…”       “Who knows,” Peter shrugs. “But now it’s more or less clear to me why he behaved so disgustingly.”       “Maybe, Connor is a good man, but let’s not believe him blindly,” Daniel suggests confidently. “Let’s keep him on a short leash.”       “I am not also gonna trust him so easily. That guy didn’t deserve it.”       “But I wouldn’t refuse to find a new assistant,” Terrence says thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “We can have two assistants!”       “Good idea!” Peter exclaims. “Bigger is always better!”       “Besides, we could ask a second one to watch Connor closely and complain about any bad thing.”       “Ha, listen…” Edward smiles slyly. “I’d be happy to watch Connor suck up on us, try to be good, and do everything after our first order.”       “So, we’ll see how good he can make our orders,” Daniel replies confidently and chuckles kindly. “I’d also be happy to chase that idiot and laugh at the way he does all of that.”       “I think there is nothing bad in giving him a little lesson and treating him the way he did it to us,” Terrence smiles mysteriously. “Next time, he’ll think very well before insulting us. Or trying to spread any kind of rumor.”       “No, lads, don’t worry, we have that boy on the hook now,” Peter replies confidently. “Did you see him putting his tail between his legs? So, if Connor is really afraid to lose his job so badly, he’s gonna be ready to put his hands on the ground, so we don’t kick him out.”       “And we will use it,” Daniel says with his head proudly raised.       “Listen, bros, I can’t wait to come back to work as soon as possible,” Edward replies with a sly smile, leaning back and putting his arms behind the back of the sofa. “I wanna mock him and teach him to respect us. And trust me, I won’t miss this chance.”       “Right!” Daniel clicks his fingers. “The kid is gonna do anything we want if he wanna keep his work.”       “But let’s not go too far, guys,” Terrence warns confidently. “If it’s time to stop, we will stop. I think shaking him up a little would be enough. If Connor is not a stupid boy, he will understand everything. I think he’s got some brains.”       “We aren’t gonna turn him against us,” Peter shrugs. “Moreover, we’re always ready to give a second chance if someone really regrets it.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which the men say nothing and smile shyly at each other, sitting comfortably on the sofas in the living room.       “Okay, lads…” Daniel gets straight sharply. “Let’s leave Connor alone for a while and do more important things. We’ve lost so much time that we could’ve spent playing a few more songs from the album.”       “Erm, I don’t even know…” Edward replies thoughtfully, leaning his head back with a sly smile. “I feel good on the soft sofa. And if I drank something sweet, it would be much better…”       “Okay, Perkins, get a bucket of cold water…” Peter moans tiredly. “And splash it over this rutrag. Our future groom, who has gotten too lazy.”       “Hey, why am I lazy?” Edward resents. “I am the most hard-working one of all of us!”       “No, kid, I am the most hard-working one!” Terrence says with his head proudly raised.       “When the case is about the band, I’m ready for anything!” Daniel says confidently.       “Oh, c’mon, guys, why are you so nervous?” Edward sighs tiredly, scratching the back of his head. “I remember everything well and would easily play any part of our song.”       “Get up, you, lazy ass!” Terrence demands loudly, grabs a pillow from the sofa, and throws it on the laughing Edward. “That’s all, brother, the rest is over! It’s time to work!”       “Don’t fuss over him!” Daniel exclaims. “Take him under his arms silently and drag him to the garage.”       “Obviously. But let’s take something to eat.” Terrence smiles slyly. “What do you have to eat, huh?”       “Listen, MacClife, aren’t you sick of eating?” Peter resents. “You ordered literally everything from the menu at the café! And now you complain that you wanna eat again!”       “Say it to my stomach, not me.” Terrence runs his hand over his stomach. “I’m not guilty of having such a good metabolism.”       “When you’re old, it’s not gonna work.”       “I will aim to look as cool as my father. He’d be much better than any man at his age!”       “He doesn’t just eat as much as his older sonny,” Edward notices with a sly smile. “And he loves swimming in a pool and running around the whole neighborhood in the early morning.”       “I also have workouts, just saying! I swim in a pool, work on fitness equipment, and run a lot of miles in the whole neighborhood!”       “That’s good you get along with sports. Otherwise, the fat on your stomach and hips would be your loyal partners for life. And you’d have a flat stomach with a six-pack only after the professional retouching photos in Photoshop.”       “Say it to yourself when you eat tons of cakes, chocolates, cookies, and more! They make your ass much bigger super fast.”       “I know my limit and can stop in time.”       “Oh, c’mon!”       “Hey, pretty boys, fold your feathers into a tube!” Daniel exclaims, jumps up from the sofa, takes a bottle of water placed on the coffee table, and drinks half of it. “No food and drinks ‘till we rehearse all the songs.”       “At least, a little sandwich…” Terrence pronounces with a look full of pity.       “And a glass of sweet water…” Edward adds in a begging way.       “I know and hear nothing!” Daniel jabs loudly and goes confidently to the kitchen, leaving the half-empty bottle there and returning to the living room. “No threats now! Now it’s time for the rehearsal! C’mon, get your asses off, you three! C’mon, let’s go!”       “Oh…” Terrence sighs quietly. “Okay…”       Terrence gets up tiredly from the sofa, while Edward and Peter keep sitting on the sofa comfortably. The first one leans back and puts his hands under his head, and the second one shamelessly places his legs on the sofa right in his snickers and puts his arms behind the back of the sofa.       “Hey, what about you, princesses?” Terrence wonders and claps his hands loudly. “I understand that you’re relaxed because of the heat, and you’re lazy to do something. But we need to work.”       “Listen, let’s sit a little bit longer or actually reschedule the rehearsal for tomorrow?” Peter suggests with a sly smile. “It’s so hot outside that there’s no wish to do anything…”       “Hey, I will kick your ass now! Get your ass up now!”       “Oh, let’s better drink some cold beer and watch a movie?”       “Cool idea, dude!” Edward clicks his fingers with a wide smile. “Something funny! To laugh a lot! What do ya think, gang?”       “Yes, cool,” Terrence throws gloomily, nodding sharply with both arms crossed over his chest. “Cool! It’s a fucking cool idea!”       Terrence grabs one of the pillows from the sofa and starts to beat Edward, who laughs loudly and closes his face and head with both hands.       “Get up, I said!” Terrence orders. “Bring your ass to the garage before I get a firecracker into it!”       “Hey, hey, you’re about to destroy my hair, idiot!” Edward exclaims. “Stop!”       “Are you, mangy dog, gonna argue with me?”       “Hey, guitarist, get up!” Peter says through a laugh, grabs a pillow placed next to him, and throws it on Edward, getting right into his face, and ruffles his hair a little. “Did you hear what Daddy said?”       “Oh, let’s start a pillow war?” Edward suggests cheerfully. “It’s gonna be super funny!”       “You will have fun now!” Terrence says confidently, still beating Edward with the pillow. “Now, unbearable rutrag, now…”       While Edward grabs the pillow that got into him and tries to protect himself against Terrence and give him hits, Daniel watches the MacClife brothers with both arms crossed over his chest and then moves his eyes to Peter laughing loudly.       “So, why are you lying here like a king?” Daniel wonders. “You want a couple of kicks in your ass?”       “It’s very good to be here,” Peter notices and places his hands behind his head. “Soft, cold… And a bottle of cold beer would make my mood much better.”       “Ah, you want a cold beer…”       “Maybe, you have a bottle of beer in your refrigerator?” Peter smiles innocently. “Light bear, preferably! At least for your old friend!”       “The bear is for those, who deserve it!”       “Didn’t I deserve it?”       “If you play brilliantly, you will probably get it!”       “C’mon, Perkins, don’t be greedy. And don’t worry about my play. I played, I play, and I will play brilliantly.”       “Prove it, then. Get up now and take your ass to the garage.”       “What if I don’t?”       “Stop arguing with me, Rose!” Daniel takes a pillow from the sofa and starts beating Peter with it. “Get up, I said! Do you hear what I say?”       “Quiet, buddy, quiet,” Peter jabs, closing his face with both hands. “Hey, you’re gonna get into my eye!”       “The youngest guys went out of our control. Though, they pretend to be so shy and sweet…” Daniel moves his eyes down for a moment, slaps Peter on his legs, and takes them sharply off the sofa. “And take your sticks off the sofa! You hung around nobody the fuck knows where, but now you decided to dirt my sofa!”       “Oh, oh, when did you care about it?” Peter smiles slyly. “You’re a pig! The pig that lives well in the dirt!”       “Hey, you will ask for trouble now!” Daniel beats Peter with the pillow on the head for some time. “Get up, I said!”       “Okay, okay, I get up,” Peter raises his hands, sighing tiredly. “But stop beating me and ruffling my hair.”       Peter gets up from the sofa slowly, fixes his hair, and pulls his sleeveless shirt down, while Daniel fluffs the pillow with a happy smile and puts it aside. Meanwhile, Edward and Terrence still keep fighting and beating each other with pillows so hard, as they thrill with a laugh.       “Hey, MacClifes, maybe, you will save sorting out your brotherly relationship for later?” Daniel puts his hands on his hips.       “It’s okay, I am educating this insolent rutrag!” Terrence says confidently, beating Edward with a pillow. “Whose ass missed a belt.”       “Come on!” Edward exclaims, giving Terrence hits with a pillow on everything he sees. “You’ve got no right to educate others when you must be kept on a chain next to a doghouse.”       “Do I call Father right now?”       “Or the Pope!”       “Quiet, Terrence, I know a better way to solve everything,” Peter says confidently and makes a calling gesture. “Guys, help me…”       Daniel decides to help Peter and comes confidently to Edward still sitting on the sofa. The men take him under his arms, pull him on themselves to make him get up, and take him aside, while Terrence puts the pillow in its place with a happy smile and follows them, fixing his hair on the way.       “That’s all, too little to do!” Daniel smiles happily and slightly rubs his hands. “Everybody’s up!”       “So, let’s go to the garage now?” Terrence puts his hands on his hips.       “Yes, yes, guys, exit, everybody!”       All the four come to the hall door slowly and leave the house in the end.       “Hey, kid, move!” Terrence exclaims and pushes Edward in the back when he sees him walk as slowly as a snail. “Move, I say! You aren’t on the runway where everyone looks at you!”       “Ar-r-r…” Edward growls a little irritably, rolling his eyes and raising his head up, while Daniel closes the hall door. “How much you irritate me sometimes…”       “You irritate me even when you aren’t near me.”       “Fuck, why do I always get kicks from my brothers?” Edward moans quietly, running his hands over his face. “First, the younger half-brothers were annoying me to the fuck, and now the older sibling accepted the challenge…”       “If you were a good boy, nobody would kick you. But you actually start to understand something when someone beats you on your head.”       “Interesting, if I had a twin brother, would he mock me in the same way?”       “It would depend on your actions. But I’m more than sure that your twin would kick your ass, too.”       “You’re almost like twins!” Peter notices cheerfully. “A little bit of effort before your mother and father aren’t able to differ you.”       “No, blond, Terrence MacClife is unique and similar to nobody,” Terrence says with his head proudly raised. “Well… Okay… Maybe, my little brother took something from me. But he’s too far from me. And actually, if he were a twin of mine, I would be more irresistible anyway."       “You were the most irresistible one at the beginning of the 00s,” Daniel says. “But sorry, your time is gone now.”       “It’s not gone! I’m still freaking attractive! It’s impossible not to love such a handsome man like me.”       “Comfort yourself, Terrence, comfort,” Edward smiles slyly. “Now people love me much more.”       “Just because you’ve got a cute face and the soul of a snotty romantic?”       “I have everything young girls love. Besides, I’m madly sexy and charming. People get attracted to me ‘cause I can charm anyone. I only need to look at a person to become their best friend.”       “Maybe, But I am so confident and proud that people recognize my authority and find my opinion very important.”       “I can’t remember anyone saying it!”       “Trust me. Terrence MacClife’s word is a law. It’s very important.”       “Oh, fuck, how long are you gonna find out who’s better and sassier?” Daniel moans tiredly. “For the millionth time today!”       “Confess that Cassidy and you often argue about who’s better,” Peter says confidently.       “Why would we argue? I am definitely the best and most irresistible one!”       “You asked her?”       “Why? My sis must listen to me ‘cause I am older.”       “She’d kick your ass if she heard this.”       “Cass can be rebellious as much as she wants, but I do know that she recognizes my importance and my authority deep inside. As well as Edward recognizes Terrence’s authority.”       “I know it, too,” Terrence says proudly and sharply raises his index finger, looking at Edward. “Don’t say a word! Don’t even dare.”       “Okay, I won’t,” Edward shrugs. “You know what I think of that.”       “Older brothers are better than younger brothers,” Daniel says confidently.       “Aha, and some of them are much more shameless,” Edward chuckles kindly.       “What are you hinting at?”       “Nothing! I’m just sure that Cassidy will not dare to walk naked in the whole house and meet visitors like that.”       “If I see her like that, I will kill her immediately.”       “So, you should give her a good example,” Peter says confidently. “And don’t forget to put on at least your underwear when someone visits you.”       “Oh, c’mon, stop it! I met the person without clothes just once, but you all got excited, as if I always do it.”       At this moment, the four almost come to the automatic door of the garage, which Daniel is going to open with a special button.       “Huh, if you were allowed, you’d wear no clothes and walk here like a Tarzan,” Terrence chuckles kindly. “How did you say? Huh! You like that ‘your body breathes!’”       “Hey, I’m surprised that you don’t show your whole body,” Daniel says confidently. “If you find yourself so handsome, why should you be shy, buddy?”       “I’m shy of nothing! And I feel incredible when I only wear underwear or nothing. But I’m not as insolent and shameless as you, and don’t run naked in front of everyone.”       “Said by the person, who walked naked in front of hundreds of cameras and many people for a bigger part of life,” Edward chuckles kindly. “And whom everyone examined out and out.”       “Why not? I’ve got a magnificent body! Apollo’s body! Millions of girls around the world still get wet after seeing this masterpiece. And millions of men are jealous of me and want the same one.”       “I don’t know, I personally like mine.” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “And girls have a crush on it. When I go to the beach in my swimming suit, all the girls move their beautiful eyes on me. That’s why I wanna show them what I was given by nature much more. And what I still keep working hard on.”       “By the way, walking naked in the house helps you feel more confident and attractive,” Daniel notices with his head proudly raised. “And I knew a couple of girls, who secretly loved walking naked and felt much better with no clothes.”       “The most important thing is to cover yourself and meet visitors in clothes,” Terrence replies confidently. “Or at least half-naked. Not to get confused if your neighbors, your mother-in-law, or your father-in-law are on the doorstep.”       “At least, I don’t cry about my awesomeness and uniqueness everywhere. Even if I think I’m quite handsome and sexy. Not Apollo, of course, but I’m a very hot guy.”       “But you cry about your heroism and a lack of fear everywhere,” Peter smiles innocently. “Pretending to be a hero is actually your favorite thing to do.”       “It happens, I don’t deny it. But I’m really afraid of nothing and could do anything, even if it’s very dangerous.”       “Oh, yeah! We do know about your show-off very well!”       “Don’t worry, blonde! While Uncle Dan is alive, nobody will dare to rebel against me and agree against someone from my circle.”       “Oh, that’s how!”       “So, be quiet, my bro.” Daniel claps Peter on the shoulder. “With you, your ass will be safe.”       “Oh, if I had a brother like you, I’d probably hang myself,” Peter chuckles kindly. “My life would definitely be much worse than Edward's or Terrence’s.”       “Hey, how do ya dare to say it?”       “At least, you could surely try to dye my hair a rainbow while I sleep. And I’d yell at the whole house, running after you and threatening to kill you for what you did.”       “You’re hurting me, Peter, hurting…” Daniel shakes his head.       Two seconds later, the door of the garage opens, all the men enter this one, and Daniel closes it with a black button inside the room.       “Hey, it would be cool to look at Rose with rainbow hair,” Edward chuckles kindly.       “Thanks, but I like being a blond,” Peter replies with an innocent smile.       “However, it would be good for all of you.”       “What if we look at you and laugh after someone dyes your hair all the colors of the rainbow?”       “Over my dead body!” Edward raises his index finger sharply. “If someone does something to my hair, someone will pay for it!”       “C’mon, bro, let’s really make an experiment?” Terrence chuckles with a sly smile. “I’m sure that your rainbow hair is gonna be a hit on the Internet!”       “Dye your hair! So, you get the attention that you want so badly.”       “C’mon, kid, I can dye you personally. I promise to make you pretty! So, you’re happy!”       Terrence ruffles Edward’s hair with a sly smile, and the guy does the same, gives him a strong clap on the back of his head, and beats him on everything he sees several times, while MacClife, Sr., thrills with a laugh.       “Hey, hey, okay, stop!” Terrence exclaims through a laugh. “Stop, I say!”       “Hey, guys, if we keep doing this, we’ll not actually start rehearsing today,” Daniel says with a quiet laugh.       “Say it to him!” Terrence uses a chokehold on Edward, ruffles his hair a little, and squeezes his yawl to show some funny faces. “This rutrag, who went loose!”       “You heard it, bro?” Edward pronounces, gets out of Terrence’s grip quickly, and pushes him slightly in the back toward the instruments. “Move your gorgeous ass!”       “Ar-r-r, I shall kill you someday…” Terrence moans irritably, running his hands over his face.       “C’mon, c’mon, Terry!” Edward ruffles Terrence’s hair strongly. “Show everything you can do.”       Edward loudly starts singing a song that Terrence does not like.       “Oh, fuck…” Terrence moans tiredly, grabbing his head and rolling his eyes. “Shut up, Edward…”       But it does not stop Edward, and he keeps singing loudly and showing something with both hands, annoying not only Terrence but also Daniel and Peter.       “MacClife, close your mouth, please…” Daniel growls quietly. “You found a good song to sing…”       “What?” Edward smiles innocently. “It’s a cool song!”       “Since which minute?” Peter wonders.       “It’s cool at any minute.”       It seems like nothing can stop the funny and cheerful Edward because he keeps singing the lyrics loudly with a wide smile. So, Terence thinks of nothing better than to close his brother’s mouth with his hand. It calms him down for two seconds and makes him moan something, but then the man starts getting loose and moving MacClife, Sr.’s hand off himself.       “Idiot…” Edward exhales sharply when his mouth is open for a second. “Why do you close my nose? I can’t breathe!”       “Stop singing this song!” Daniel demands confidently.       “Ha, so, are you and Rose allowed to sing the song, with which you annoyed Terrence and me?”       “It’s gonna be much better than this one!” Terrence exclaims.       “Someone not to like it can close his ears.”       Edward keeps singing much louder and funnier, using the moment when his mouth is not closed. Terrence growls quietly, clenching his hands tightly into fists, sharply uses a chokehold on him from behind, and ruffles his hair strongly, while MacClife, Jr., tries to get out of his brother’s grip.       “Listen, let’s rehearse…” Daniel sighs tiredly. “How long are ya gonna do nothing?”       “We will start it when this idiot lets me go,” Edward replies with a little heavy breath.       “If you sing this song again, I don’t know what I will do to you,” Terrence says confidently.       “I can sing it as much as I want!”       Edward slightly hits Terrence’s ankle with a foot, making the man let him go sharply and grab the hurt area, and starts singing his favorite song again, while Daniel and Peter growl tiredly with rolled eyes.       “Ar-r-r, fuck, MacClife, shut the fuck up!” Peter moans tiredly. “Stop singing this song!”       Two seconds later, Peter throws one of the drumsticks at Edward with a quiet growl in the hope that it will get into the back of his head that he tries to reach. But MacClife, Jr., literally feels it and brilliantly catches the stick without looking back. Then he turns slowly on the surprised men and looks at them with his head proudly raised.       “Nice attempt, blond,” Edward smiles slyly.       “What the fuck?” Terrence wonders. “How?”       “I can do much more,” Edward wraps the drumstick in his hand with his head proudly raised.       “I can wrap sticks better than you,” Peter replies confidently, crossing his arms over his chest.       “Not only that.”       Edward throws the drumstick at Peter, who catches it brilliantly, raising his hands up and putting them together when the thing gets into him.       “You can’t surely do these tricks,” Peter says with his head proudly raised, wraps skillfully the drumsticks in his hands, and adds throwing and catching with opposite hands.       “Well, having such long fingers, it’s easy to do these tricks,” Daniel shrugs with both arms crossed over his chest.       “The case is not about your finger length, buddy. It’s about sleight of your hands.” Peter wraps the drumsticks in his hands two more times. “Long practice. Wonderful reaction.”       Peter suddenly throws one of the sticks at Edward, who immediately does a backflip and catches the stick.       “My reaction is incredible,” Edward says confidently and throws the stick to Peter. “So, men, who can do the same?”       “Nothing super hard,” Daniel says confidently.       “Not for everyone…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully. “What about this?”       Edward does a handstand on both of his hands and on one hand and gets straight quickly.       “It was easy. Better something harder.”       Edward looks around for two seconds and does two perfect backflips without his hands.       “So what, bros, who’s gonna challenge me?” Edward asks with a sly smile.       “Not at the garage,” Daniel says confidently. “Destroying everything here would be much.”       “Only once,” Peter pronounces with his head proudly raised. “So, MacClife comes back to the earth from heaven.”       Peter gives the drumsticks to Daniel, asks Edward to go aside with a gesture, looks around, and perfectly does two front flips with both hands, one front flip with one hand and another one, after which he gets straight sharply and looks at all the men proudly.       “Of course, your technique is poor, but it’s not bad,” Edward says thoughtfully. “Seven of ten.”       Edward does a backflip and stands on his hands for a few seconds, while Terrence, Daniel, and Peter look at each other and chuckle kindly.       “Impressive, very impressive…” Terrence says thoughtfully with a sly smile, stroking his chin, and comes confidently to Edward with his head proudly raised. “But you aren’t as good as you think.”       Terrence pushes Edward standing on his hands on a hip with a sly smile. That’s why the man falls immediately to the ground with a quiet squeak and winces slightly, starting to rub the small of his back along with his brother and friends’ quiet laugh.       “Ha, that was very impressive!” Terrence exclaims cheerfully, putting his hands on his hips. “One hundred of ten!”       “Oh, shit, my ass…” Edward moans quietly and looks at Terrence gloomily.       “Now see how you should do this.” Terrence does a backflip and stands on his hands for a few seconds, on which he keeps his weight and balances. “Here we go!”       “Oh, yay, you’re imitable!” Edward rolls his eyes.       “I know,” Terrence gets up slowly and shakes dirt off his hands. “I can’t be compared with anyone.”       “You didn’t surprise me. Not at all.”       “Hey, MacClife, stop sitting here and talking,” Peter demands with both arms crossed over his chest. “We’ve wasted too much time!”       “Faster, kid!” Daniel adds and pushes Edward on the hip with his foot. “And stop caressing your ass.”       “Oh…” Edward moans quietly and sits up slowly. “And you zip your pants up, at last.”       “What?” Daniel frowns slightly, moves his eyes down, and finds out that he really has his short pants unzipped. “Oh, shit…”       “Okay, bro, tell your ass to wait with caresses,” Terrence says, clapping Edward on the shoulder.       “I don’t caress my ass!” Edward growls quietly. “I rub my tailbone…”       Edward exhales sharply, shakes his head, and takes Terrence’s hand when the man offers his help. But MacClife, Sr., loses balance and falls with a quiet squeak, along with Peter and Daniel’s chuckles when his brother pulls him sharply on himself.       “That was cool!” Edward smiles slyly, gets up easily in a jump, and shakes something off his clothes and hands. “So… We can rehearse now!”       “Oh, what wise words, Edward Robert MacClife!” Peter raises his hands.       “That’s right,” Terrence agrees. “We’ve finally heard at least one wise thought from Edward for the last twenty minutes.”       Edward ignores these words, takes his rhythm guitar, comes confidently to his microphone, places the belt above his shoulder, and starts playing and singing something, while Terrence gets up, shakes off something, and fixes his hair.       “Now we’ll surely shake the walls of this garage,” Peter adds confidently.       “We will do it if you have this,” Daniel says confidently and throws the drumsticks at Peter.       “Oh, thanks, man!” Peter exclaims cheerfully, catching the drumsticks, sits on the drum set, throws one of them, and beats on the nearest drums and plates with a couple of tricks. “That’s better!”       “So what, lads…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully, plucking the strings of the bass guitar quietly. “Go?”       “On the three!” Terrence gives a sign. “One! One! Two! Three! Let’s go!”       The band starts playing the next song from their album confidently and cheerfully, trying not to think about anything bad and focusing on the lyrics and the melody. The men do not hide their wide smiles, let them play the fool, change places with each other sometimes, and sing at the same microphone together. After playing this song for three or four minutes, Terrence, Peter, Edward, and Daniel keep performing songs they have not played yet, getting through every single word and expressing the emotions that are caused by what they gave their heart and soul to.