Yes, time to gather in the living room

Mike is among the first to finish unpacking, leaving Dani to finish her shower as he travelled back down the stairs to the first floor to find Brianna sitting on one of the leather couches in the living room. With a fond smile he greeted her and took a seat at the other end of the sofa.

"Finished unpacking already?" he asked,

Brianna nodded, "Yeah, you too?"

A returning nod, "Sure have. Whatcha been up to in the meantime?"

Withdrawing her novel, she lifts it up. "Just a bit of reading."

"You're speeding through that thing you know. Not going to have anything to read if you spend all your time like that." he advises her, "You know, I think I saw like, a reading area on the second floor."

"Really?" Brianna raises an eyebrow, being a sucker for libraries and other such places.

"Yeah. I mean there were board games and a few other things up there as well, but it looked mostly like other books and a few seats. Yknow, in case you needed somewhere quiet. It's just next to my room."

With an appreciative nod, she kept that in mind. Though his mention of his room prompted her to ask, "So, how's Danielle? She seemed pretty happy about sharing a room with you."

"Yeah, it's been fine so far. Just wanted to show the bedroom off a little, she's having a shower now." he stated, omitting a few of the more embarassing details, given he didn't want to share too much.

"Be careful with that one Mike" Brianna warns, her green eyes trying to scan him for any sense of discomfort. "We've both heard what she's like. Messing around with one dude after the other, getting her fun and moving on."

Knowing where she's coming from, Mike agrees with a pensive nod. "Yeah I know. Don't worry I'm not so lonely that I'd chomp at the bit just because a pretty girl flashes me a smile."

"I don't know dude, you were pretty eager when Nicole was around." the redhead recalled, "And Amanda... and Lily." she continued, recalling the many instances where Mike had been out of his depth and gotten hurt as a result.

"I get it, I get it." he cut her off impatiently, not needing a reminder of his notoriously shoddy record with women. "Believe me, I'm all too aware that I have a terrible time finding the right girl."

"I just don't want to see this become the next chapter of all that bullshit for you. I know what you're like, you want an actual relationship with someone, but you always end up involved with the one girl that just wants a pump and dump." she recalls. "Just... be careful alright? I don't intend to see you happy for a day, and then spend the rest of the vacation sulking."

Mike waved the conversation off, especially as he saw James approaching the two of them, a large white console in the guy's hands. "James? Thinking of setting that up down here buddy?"

The slender guy nodded. "Yeah. I figured the TV down here would be perfect, maybe we can play some SteelFist later?" he offered excitedly, as Kate slipped into the room a few moments afterwards, tapping away on her phone.

"Sure. I don't see why not, just don't plan on hogging the TV the whole time yeah? Pretty sure the others will want to use it for other things as well." the Australian reminded his friend, who began setting things up and fumbling around with the cords.

"I know, I know. But in the meantime right?"

Christian ventured into the room a few minutes later, immediately catching the sight of the console James had set up. "Oh yo, you have one of those?" he said, clearly impressed. "I thought they were super hard to get these days, I only ever see scalpers selling them."James smiled with a slight bit of pride, "Yeah! I uh, I have an Uncle that works at one of the warehouses, he set one aside for me for Christmas."

"That's dope dude, what games have you got on it?" the sportier of the three men in the room follows up.

"Well uhh, I mostly play SteelFist with Michael, but I've also got Dark Spirits, Brianna told me to get Overbaked, Gloom, Medal of Duty, a few other things like that." James listed, showing off the installed games as well as the obscene amount of hours each one had listed.

"Damn. No sports games then huh? My swim team buddies and I usually liked playing those when we were at Jonathan's place" Christian asked,

Mike shrugged, "Those games are alright but they're usually just rehashes of the previous installment with like... one or two new features right? Trust me, you should give SteelFist a go, it's pretty hard to get used to but it's dope. I wasn't into games much before I met James, but after he showed me that I got kind of hooked."

"Fuck it I'm game. Show me how to play" Christian agreed, planting himself down in the centre of the couch between Brianna and Mike as James handed him a controller.

"Okay so... first thing you'll want to do is pick your character." James began.

After drying her hair off, Dani got dressed once again and headed downstairs, almost bumping into Amy as she left the first floor bathroom.

"Hey! Settling in okay?" the hostess asked her best friend,

"Mhm! Just needed to wash up quickly... Christian and I got a headstart on all the debauchery you were so excited for." the blonde teased with a light giggle,

"Pfft, you whore." Dani laughed, the two of them walking down the hallway to find that everyone else was already down in the living room, three of the guys playing some game on the TV while Brianna watched and occasionally made a comment. "Hm, looks like everyone's already getting comfortable" she smiled,

The duo caught sight of Kate, sitting on one of the dining room chairs a small distance away, and they sauntered over before taking their seats around her.

"So, what are we thinking for the rest of the first day?" Amy asked inquisitively,

"Well." Dani thought, "I think we should whip up some lunch in the next hour or so, maybe see if anyone wants to take a dip in the pool? Then later on I think we'll start drinking, maybe play a few games to get to know our new friends. How's that sound to you both?"

Amy nodded, "Sounds like fun!"

Kate smiled softly, "Yeah, decent way of breaking the ice."

"How's rooming with that new guy?" Dani asked with a look towards Kate, knowing that out of the three girls, the punk was probably the most introverted, and seeing that she was paired with easily the biggest introvert of Mike's group, she was interested in knowing if things would be okay.

"It's fine" Kate shrugged, "Exactly what you think basically. Dude's awkward as hell, quiet, almost had a heart attack when I changed shirts. Doesn't seem like a creep though, wasn't attempting to ogle me or anything."

Dani snickered, "Poor guy. Though I guess it makes sense, even Mike's got a bit of that going on."

Amy narrowed her eyes and nudged Danielle, "And by that you meeeean?"

Lifting her hands up like she'd just been caught, she shrugs. "Just saying he's not the only guy here who gets a little awkward when a girl starts undressing in front of him."

Kate shook her head with a smile, "I'm betting though, that unlike me you didn't warm him before you started taking things off, right?"

"Guilty." Dani chuckled. "I mean he's sweet, but oh my god you should have seen how red his face got."

Amy shot a glance over to Mike from behind, seeing him smiling and laughing as James handily crushes Christian in a round of that game. "Hmmm."

"What?" Dani asked, knowing the sound Amy makes when she has some juicy details about someone.

"Well, it's just, now that I think about it. I've heard a bit about Mike before." the blonde began, "He's had a few girlfriends, but it never lasts like, more than a few weeks. Pretty sure his longest relationship was with Nicole, but that only went for like half a year and... apparently she cheated on him."

Kate and Danielle both frowned at the information, the latter girl asking, "What about the other girls? What happened there?" she asked, wanting to know if she was setting her sights on a guy that she shouldn't.

"Couldn't tell you. Christian insists he's a great guy, but hasn't had a lot of luck. My guess? He shoots for relationships but gets hung out to dry a lot of the time, I dunno, that's just what I'm reading here."

Dani knew Amy well enough that her hunches were usually right about people, and in that moment felt a small amount of pity for the guy. Though before she made any concrete opinions, she was going to need more intel.

"Right. Well, then it sounds like tonight will be the perfect chance to learn more won't it?" the cheer captain asserts, standing up from the dining table and calling over to the first group. "Who wants lunch?!"