“Kid, are you ready?” Zach called from my living room.

“Hold on please, Zacky.” I answered, struggling to pull up my tight-fitting black cocktail dress.

“We’re already late, and we’re the guests of honor!” Zach complained. I groaned as I pulled the dress up over my strapless bra, the air being knocked out of me at how tight the dress was.

“Tell them that beauty takes time!” I screamed. I heard him let out a moan and I sighed. I slipped my feet into my black heels and looked at myself one more time in the mirror. I pushed my curly hair over my shoulders and touched up my eyeliner before grabbing my clutch with my money, ID, and phone inside of it and leaving the room. I opened the door and Zach glanced at me, his mouth dropping. He had on a black button-up shirt and black dress pants, with a Zacky touch of a red bowtie.

“You look stunning.” Zach complimented in awe. I blushed and looked down, flattered by his compliment.

“You’re looking pretty fly yourself.” I replied, messing with his bowtie. He grinned and entwined our arms together, turning towards the door.

“Are you ready to leave, Miss Caron?” Zach asked me, looking over to me. I smiled and nodded.

“After you, Mr. Baker.” I said, grinning. He led me out of my apartment and down to his car. We hopped in and drove to Minerva’s to meet all the others. Everyone was ecstatic that Zach and I were going to be related soon, so all of them decided to bring us out to dinner to celebrate. Well, all except Matt. Apparently Zach gave him a concussion the other day, so he had to stay home. I was slightly disappointed since we had just patched things up, but it was health related, so I didn’t complain. We arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes late, so everyone was inside. Zach helped me get out since I had restriction of movement in my dress, and we walked in. We were escorted back to where everyone was, and Jimmy spotted us first.

“There you guys are!” Jimmy yelled. Everyone at the table looked towards us and I smirked. “For fucks sake what did you do, build a space shuttle before you came here?” I held back a laugh as I watched the waitress give Jimmy a displeased look before taking Zach’s and my drink order and promptly leaving.

“Sorry Jimbo, little miss princess over there took forever to get dressed.” Zach apologized, pointing to me. I narrowed my eyes at Zach before standing up.

“You try fitting your ass into this dress!” I exclaimed, doing a 360 turn for everyone to see how tight the dress was. Brian let out a whistle, but everyone else just gave me a crazy look.

“On the bright side, your ass looks fine.” Emma commented. I winked and blew a kiss to her before sitting back down. We all made small talk until the waitress came with Zach’s drink as well as my drink because it was time to order. The waitress continued making weird looks at Jimmy as he continued being his loud, inappropriate-for-a-fancy-restaurant self.

“Hey Jimmy, it looks like you have a secret admirer,” I giggled, pointing to the waitress as she walked away. Jimmy smirked and eyed her as she walked out of sight.

“Eh, she’s not my type.” Jimmy replied, dismissing my comment quickly.

“I don’t know dude, she looks pretty turned-on by your loudness,” Johnny persisted.

“And I mean who could resist your lack of table etiquette?” Zach continued, sending a smirk to Jimmy.

“I know that if I didn’t have Johnny I’d snatch you up.” Emma interjected.

“Alright, guys. I get it. I’m not lame and tasteless enough for this restaurant.” Jimmy retorted. We all laughed and looked around, giving each other all weird looks.

“Dude, none of us are lame and tasteless for this restaurant.” Brian pointed out. All of us agreed, except for Jimmy. He eyed Emma and me before smirking.

“I don’t know, guys. The girls seem pretty lame.” Jimmy commented. Emma and I glared at him, and when no one was watching, we both threw a piece of bread at him. Everyone burst into laughter, especially Jimmy. “I stand corrected.”

“Damn right you were.” Emma snapped playfully, throwing another piece of bread at Jimmy.

“Enough about Jimmy and his odd antics,” Johnny announced. We all looked at him and he sent me and Zach a soft smile. “Tonight’s about celebrating the addition of a new family member.”

“That is correct, Johnny-boy.” Jimmy agreed, looking over at me. “I say we have a toast, to the addition of a new sister. Cheers to Kid.”

“To Kid.” All of the guys said in sync as we all clinked our cups together. I grinned widely and sipped on my wine, feeling overwhelmed by how happy everyone was with me being added as a family member.

“So how long have you guys known that you would soon be related?” Emma asked, staring at us in wonder. I looked at Zach curiously and he did the math.

“About two, maybe three weeks. We found out the day we had that flour fight.” Zach informed them. I nodded, remembering the bitter-sweet memory of that phone call.

“Wow, you guys kept it from us for that long?” Brian asked, his face looking shocked and impressed.

“Well we were going to tell you,” I warned them. They all eased up a little and I smiled. “But we thought we should wait a bit. I mean it just didn’t seem that appropriate to tell you before we were able to accept it ourselves.”

“So how do you feel about this?” Emma asked, giving me a worried look. I sent a sad glance to Zach, who returned it. We smiled a little and looked at our friends, who all sensed our melancholy.

“Well, we’re not super excited about it,” Zach admitted, grabbing my hand from under the table. I squeezed it reassuringly and he smiled a little. “But I mean I’m happy for our parents and I’m glad they were able to find someone else who makes them happy.”

“Exactly.” I agreed. “We were both really upset at first, but I mean, we’re their children. As their children we have to respect their decisions right?” Everyone nodded and I smiled widely. “And anyways, it wasn’t all bad. Because now I get to have a wonderful older brother and be a part of this fucked up family even more than I was.”

“So, I guess remarriage isn’t all bad when you get a bunch of mentally seven-year old men as your brothers, right?” Brian joked, nudging me with his elbow.

“Definitely. I’m super excited because I get to have a sex god as my indirect brother,” I retorted, nudging Brian back.

“What are you talking about? We’re going to be step-brother and sister. Not just indirect.” Zach interjected, smirking at his own joke. Everyone laughed and we all began joking when our food was brought out to us. For a while we just sat and talked about how wonderful yet expensive this food was, until Johnny cleared his throat and looked at Zach and I.

“So when’s the wedding?” Johnny questioned. Zach’s eyes shot to me and I bit my lip.

“I don’t know. I think in a few months. My mom didn’t have a set date.” I answered. Johnny nodded, but that got Jimmy curious.

“Are you guys gonna have to go up for the wedding?” Jimmy inquired. I looked at Zach and he looked back at me.

“Well, yeah, probably. We’re their children.” Zach answered. Brian raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.

“Dude, we’re gonna have to start working on our new album in a few months.” Brian informed Zach. Zach’s eyes widened and he groaned.

“Shit. You’re right.” Zach moaned, throwing his head back. I bit at my lip before looking at the others.

“Couldn’t you guys just come up with us?” I asked. They all gave me a look and I shrugged. “Well I mean, James said it himself that you guys are like his sons. Maybe he’ll want all of you there. Then while you’re up there you can still work on your album.”

“I don’t think we can send that much equipment to South Dakota, Kid.” Brian snorted. I glared at him and he smirked.

“You wouldn’t have to. Just ask like, fucking Guitar Center or something to let you borrow their equipment.” I retorted. They all shrugged and I sighed. “Well we don’t have to worry about it right now.”

“You’re right.” Zach agreed. We all went silent for a little bit, quieting chewing on our food. As I came close to finishing my food, I looked up at Emma, who was staring between Zach and I. I smirked and sent her a smug look.

“Well, well, well, Emma.” I began, sitting up a little. Her eyes locked with mine, and she pursed her lips. “I believe you have something to say to me.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Emma snapped, looking down at her food with a red face. I leaned down against the table a little and continued to stare at Emma with a smug glare.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Missy.” I answered, my hands going onto the table. “And I believe you owe me an apology.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Johnny asked with wonder in his voice. Emma glanced up at me and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“You know you were wrong Emma. I suggest you start apologizing.” I spat.

“What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Jimmy asked, raising his voice a little

“Emma. Say it.” I snapped.

“Fine! I’m sorry.” Emma groaned in defeat. I leaned back in my chair, feeling triumphant.

“What was that for?” Zach asked. I glanced at him, slightly irritated.

“Remember when I told you one of the first times we hung out that Emma thought we were together?” I questioned. Zach nodded and I grimaced, shooting another glare at Emma. “She never stopped thinking that.”

“For God’s sake, Emma. Seriously?” Zach asked, looking over at Emma. I glanced around the table in shock as I noticed everyone else with an awkward look painted on their face.

“You’re kidding me right?” I snapped, grabbing all of their attention. “You all thought Zach and I were together?”

“I didn’t.” Jimmy stated bluntly. I made a heart out of my hands towards Jimmy before shooting an accusing look to everyone else.

“I knew you guys weren’t.” Brian added. I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. “I just thought sooner or later you guys would get out of your ‘brother-sister’ phase and get together or something if the whole Matt thing didn’t work out.”

“Okay, well now we have it settled.” I announced, looking at everyone. “Zach and I have not been together, nor will we ever be together. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Everyone replied in sync. I smiled and raised my glass.

“To family, then?” I questioned.

“To family.” We all repeated, clinking our glasses once again.