We'll Still Have Each Other

"Shit, guys," Danny Davis muttered as he walked down the stairs, kicking a passed out Scotty Lago, who grumbled in return. "We've got to clean this place up," he said, looking around their living room, which was currently covered in plastic cups and beer bottles, trash dispersed all over the room from their party from last night.

"Chill, dude," Luke Mitrani said, sitting up on the couch, where he had fallen asleep the night before. "It'll get cleaned, it always does. Why are you so concerned about it, anyways? Isn't that Jack's job?" he asked, referring to his brother.

"Anya's coming in today," Danny reminded him.

"So?" Scotty asked, finally getting up off the stairs. "Why do we have to clean up for your sister? She lived with you for how many years? You'd think she'd be used to disasters like this," he joked.

"Because I'd like her to at least be able to get inside the place when she comes," Danny responded. "Besides, she may have lived with me, but she's still a girl. She doesn't live like we do."

"We don't clean up for Harper," Luke pointed out, referring to Mason Aguirre's girlfriend, who always seemed to be over.

Danny opened his mouth to argue, and Jack found this the perfect opportunity to walk down the stairs, putting an end to the argument before it even started."How long's she staying with us?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"A month. Maybe more, maybe less," Danny told him, forgetting all about Luke for the moment. "Depends on how long her job keeps her here." Anya was a photographer for a small, winter sports magazine, and they had sent her to southern California to get some pictures of the competitions that were coming up. She wasn't sure how long she was going to stay there, as it was all up to her boss and the editor of the magazine, but Danny had offered her to stay at the house.

"Cool," Jack nodded. "Let's get this place cleaned up before she gets here then," he said, walking into the kitchen to get some garbage bags, handing them to the guys. "Where's Mase and Kev?" he asked. "They pass out upstairs?" he inquired, just as Mason began climbing down the stairs, followed by Harper.

"I heard my name," Mason grumbled, still obviously hung over from the night before.

"Just making sure you didn't die," Scotty said, slapping him on the back before giving him the trash bag he had in his hand. "Here you go, start cleaning this place up," he told him.

"What?" Mason cried. "Why do I have to clean it up?"

"Here," Harper said, snatching the bag from his hand. "I'll do it," she rolled her eyes, used to the bickering between the guys. "So, what's the special occasion? Why you cleaning the place up so quickly?" she asked. Usually, they wouldn’t clean the house up early the morning following a big party.

"My sister's coming today," Danny answered.

"Oh right!" Harper said excitedly. "Another girl's going to be here. I can't wait!" she beamed.

"You make it seem like you never see any other girls," Mason told her as she pushed all the trash that was covering the table in the middle of the room into the trash bag. "What about the girls they all bring home?" he asked, motioning towards the rest of the guys.

"You mean the one-night stands?" she asked with a laugh. "Yeah, I don't tend to get too attached to those girls since I'm pretty much guaranteed to never see them again. But, Anya, she'll be here for a while, so I can actually have another girl to talk to!"

"Oh God, girl talk," Luke muttered, earning him a smack to the arm from Harper. "What?" he cried. "You'd think this was your house!"

"It practically is," Scotty laughed. "She's here more often than she's at her own place."

"You're just jealous you don't have a girl," Mason told him, and Scotty rolled his eyes at him.

•••

"Dude, I don’t think I've ever seen this house so clean," Kevin Pearce said, walking into the house, seeing all of his roommates scattered around the living room, looking exhausted after having just cleaned the entire house.

"Nice of you to show up after we've cleaned up the entire place," Jack told him. "Where the hell were you anyways?"

"Out," Kevin said vaguely. "And, why's the house cleaned up? Oh wait, Anya's coming in today, isn't she?" he asked, looking at Danny, who was laying upside down on the couch, his feet hanging over the back of it.

"She should be here soon," Danny told him.

"Can't wait to see her again," Kevin told him, having met her a few times before, but not having seen her for over a year.

"She's changed, dude. She's not the same girl that you knew," Danny admitted.

"What do you mean by that?" Kevin inquired.

"She got the job at that magazine and she changed her look. She's a little edgier now, not the same innocent girl that we all knew."

"She must have taken after you," Mason joked. "So, she's not so innocent anymore, huh?" he asked. "She a little promiscuous?" he smirked, as Harper rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, used to this kind of behavior from him.

"Something like that. But, she's off limits, okay? She's off limits to all of you," he said, sitting up and looking around the room at all of the guys. "If you even think about touching her, I will castrate you. I don't care who you are, none of you guys are going to touch my sister," he threatened.

"If you're giving us this big of lecture, she better be fucking hot," Scotty said, earning a laugh from everyone else in the room besides Danny.

"I'll be watching you, Lago," he eyed him, just as the doorbell rang. He stood up to go get it, knowing it was Anya.

"Don't worry," Scotty said as Danny walked to the door. He stood up, following him, wanting to meet his sister as well. "There's no way I'll hook up with your sister," he promised as Danny opened the door, welcoming his younger sister in.

"Guys, this is Anya. Anya, these are the guys," Danny introduced.

Scotty felt an elbow go into his side, and he looked down at Harper, who was standing there, laughing at him. "Close your mouth," she told him quietly, not wanting Danny to hear them. "And, I know what you're thinking, Scotty, but remember, you promised you wouldn't touch her," she smiled.

"That was before I saw how hot she was," Scotty said, instantly quieting down when he saw Danny look over in his direction.